fandomhigh | Paranormal Activity 101, Tuesday, January 11th

When the students came into the room on Tuesday they might have noticed that it smelled strongly of old lady (or like a bunch of dried out flowers, rather), but Alaric was acting like he didn't notice anything. If you thought it smelled like old lady now, just wait until later.

"Okay, guys, today we're going to be covering vampires. I'm sure you all know what vampires are, but we're gonna go over the basics anyway for sake of easy test questions when the final comes," Alaric said with a smile. "I realize there are a few vampires in the room, but I promise to be as unbiased as possible. I know you're good people."

You know, when you're not killing innocent carnival workers or biting your golden retriever-like boyfriend, Caroline.

"Right, so, the word vampire usually refers to anything that gains it's life essence through the drinking of blood," Alaric said. "The word vampire wasn't really used until the early 18th century, but many cultures have had myths referring to human-like creatures that drank blood to live for hundreds of years before that. It's a popular myth to fall back on when you want to scare your kids, I think."

Now that the lame attempt of humor was done, Alaric quickly launched into a lecture about vampires, first going over the historical background of vampires in popular culture and then ditching the whole "myth" aspect and talking about the more scientific facts. What they looked like, where you're most likely to find them and the special abilities some of them possessed, such as mind control and (at least from what his research in Fandom's library told him) flying. When he got to weaknesses and how to kill a vampire he tried to cover all the ways you could kill a vampire in every universe he researched, making a point to tell everyone that your mileage may vary depending on what universe's vampire you were dealing with. But chopping off someone's head is usually a sure thing.

Then, yes, he talked about how some vampires were good and you should make sure that they were really trying to kill you and not just getting fuzz out of your hair before throwing holy water on them.

"Sorry if your wrists hurt from all that writing," Alaric said when he was finally finished. "The activity today will be relaxing. Or you'll burn yourself. Then you can relax after class."

He pointed to the tables in the back where there were tea kettles, hot plates, cups and that dried out purple flowers spread out among them. "Today we're all going to be making tea out of vervain. If you were paying attention in lecture you'll recall that where I'm from vervain and vampires don't mix well. Their skin'll start burning off if they touch it and if they ingest it they get quite sick. Humans that ingest vervain will be protected from vampires since one sip of your blood will have them on the ground wishing they were dead in the more traditional sense. If you choose to wear vervain on you, you'll also be protected from vampiric mind control."

"So today we're going to be making tea from vervain. It's not the tastiest thing in the world, but it's better than dying, right? I recommend you add a lot of sugar," Alaric said. "And, of course, vampires are exempt from the activity. Or if you just don't like tea. Then you don't have to do it either."

[OCD up]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Sookie has never mentioned such a thing about vampires in her own world," Raven said, "but it would certainly be good to know if it did or not."

"I could ask her." If she wanted to get near the redhead again. "Although I can't see her trying it or even sniffing it if there wasn't something in it for her." She gave Raven a small smile. "I forgot to ask her what her reaction to crosses was as well."

Raven nodded. "I do not think she would be willing to share a weakness with you," she said. "I would not put it past her to pretend that it affects her in order to give you a false sense of confidence in the power of the vervain."

Scully sighed, not having thought of this. "The only way to be sure would be to spike a drink with it, but if it works, the results could be deadly." She shook her head at the restrictions of medical ethics. "Hanging a necklace of garlic around someone's neck would probably only elicit laughter, too. And most of the usual weaknesses I've heard of for vampires in my world don't work. Unless the vampire is also an old movie fan."

"Or to have someone drink the tea and offer her their blood," Raven said. She made a face. "But I cannot imagine anyone wishing to do that."

Mulder probably would. Purely in the interests of science. Yeah, right.

Scully snorted at that thought. "And again, too risky, to either the volunteer or Jessica. There needs to be double-blind testing." She half wanted to set up a Clinic day just for vampires to check on these things. Scully shook her head. "You haven't seen her since that time we talked in the bar, have you? The only other vampire I know of subsists on coffee."

"I have," Raven admitted, "but I have not really spoken to her. I have traveled to Sookie's home twice with her, though I have been careful to keep my distance since I do not like vampires."

It took her a minute, but Scully remembered that vampires were legal citizens, publicly acknowledged in Sookie and Jessica's world. "That's probably for the best, yes." She shuddered slightly. "Still. If it keeps even one type of vampire away...." She took a sip of the tea, and fought the urge to spit it out.

"Try adding honey," Raven said helpfully. "That helps make the taste much more palatable."

She took another sip of her own tea. She just wished there was a tea to keep her father away.

Paranormal Activity 101, Tuesday, January 11th

Re: Make Tea

Re: Make Tea

Re: Make Tea

Re: Make Tea

Re: Make Tea

Re: Make Tea

Re: Make Tea

Re: Make Tea

Re: Make Tea