fandomhigh | Language Classes, 12/01

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Language Classes, 12/01

Hello.

First, I would like to remind those of you who have not yet done so to complete the poll on classes for next semester. Unless, of course, you are done studying languages.

Languages of Europe: Go to the computer terminals in the lab and play French verb hangman. You will get extra credit for telling me which verbs you played with and conjugating them appropriately.

Cat: I already told Miss Hopeless-Savage this, but I am suspending classes in cat-form for the remainder of the semester. I believe it would be irresponsible for me not to do so, given the plague of involuntary animal transformations at the school. Today, you may read through the web archives of "Cat and Girl", by Dorothy Gambrell. The cat in this strip is drawn largely in human form; discuss how its body language remains feline.

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Sign in and discuss here. Also, if you want to try to convince Dream to rethink the transformations policy, now's the time to do it.

Work in the lab or visit Dream here. Archie, your midterm is calling.

Reads the strips and discusses.

Sir, I feel that we should continue to transform in class. It seems that the transformations have mainly been due to books or strange spells rather than being related to the controlled transformations that you do here. I would hate to lose the opportunity to truly experience Cat in it's native form.

*Looks up from reading the strip.*

But both of the people who have been turned into cats, in particular, have been in this class.

Lisa lucks out and gets etre on her first time playing. The choice of a V, however, as her first letter was probably not logical. So she did get a head drawn before she won.

She then does her conjugations flawlessly.

"Exactly, and I doubt that is a coincidence," Dream says. "The class is already down to three students. One is occasionally a cat regardless of my intervention. Another student who turned into a cat has since wandered away. I do not wish to take the risk of losing any more in my care."

He strokes his forehead. "This island exists at the juncture of many worlds. It is unstable. I cannot in good conscience add to the instability in the course of teaching my classes. Mr. Samuelle, I do not disagree that learning cat in human form is far from ideal, but it does seem the option that offers the least risk to you and Miss Matthews."

And both were turned into cats when touching books in the library. The other two of us have not turned into cats. And the people who turned into the hamster and wolf cub were not in the class.

"Um, sir?" Rory asks, knocking on the doorframe. "You wanted to, um, see me? About my nightmares?"

Dream rises from his chair. "If you do not mind discussing them," he says.

[OOC: Headed home in a few. Pick this up around 7?]

"I don't," Rory says, fidgeting. "I mean, if you think you can help, or something."

[ooc: Sure thing!]

Piper signs in and plays. She then conjugates the verbs.

Dream pulls his cloak around him. His expression is one of concern. "I have some power over dreams," he says, simplifying things considerably. "The dream that Bridge alerted me to was terrible. You are an excellent student, and you know pain enough."

He taps a finger against his chin. "Is the dream something that happened to you, as you remember it?"

"Also a reasonable point," Dream says. He folds his arms, clearly thinking. "I will make a final decision before class on Tuesday. Thank you for your input, Zero, Michael."

"Yes," Rory says softly. "It's like living it over again."

"That changes my options," Dream says. "Let me lay them out, and you can pick.

I could erase that area of the Dreaming. It would be gone, as would your dreams. That always feels like a violation, and I do it only as a last resort.

I can drop a cloud over your dreams, so you will not remember them. They will still come, though.

I can assign a guardian to supervise the dreams and protect you if at all possible.

Or I can teach you some techniques that will help you fight them, to control them and be aware they are only dreams. That helped Miss Parker and Miss D'ancanto, I believe."

"Um, the last one, I guess," Rory says hesitantly. "You helped Parker and Rogue, too?"

"Yes," Dream says. "Many students here have troubling dreams."

He glides over to his bookshelf. "The main technique I would suggest is something called lucid dreaming. If you are aware a dream is a dream, you retain power over it; you can turn the situation to your advantage, or leave it altogether. Turn the vampire into a kitten, for example, or overpower him yourself, if that is your wish." He hands Rory a slim blue volume. "Here (http://www.lucidity.com/) is a text on the subject."

"As a secondary control, I had one student select an object that she could focus on during the dream. Maintaining awareness of the trinket allowed her to rise above the horror around her. Do you have any jewelry, or personal objects, that might work that way for you?"

Parker amused herself with punir (to punish) (Je punis, nous punissons, tu punis, il punit, vous punissez, ils punissent) and mettre (to put) (je mets, nous mettons, tu mets, vous mettez, elle met, elles mettent). Then goes back to play Hangman again.

Parker stops by during office hours, wearing a bemused smile. "Professor? I ran into a friend of yours. In Special Collections."

Rory's hand automatically goes up to the necklace (http://pics.livejournal.com/rory__gilmore/pic/000065rp/) she's wearing, and she frowns thoughtfully. "Will it work if it's an object I associate with...him?"

Dream glances at the looped cross. "It might even be more powerful," he says honestly. "Does it have other personal significance? Did you buy it in a store, or is it something someone gave you?"

"Oh?," Dream says.

His tone is friendly, by his own standards.

Parker bites her lip. "A Lucien, in the library? He was catalogging a new quarto and looking for a raven. He said to tell you that everything continues well." She shook her head, looking bemused. "He gave us directions out, which was very nice of him."

"Ah, Lucien. He is one of my oldest and must trusted aides," Dream says. "I wasn't aware students could find the spot where the Dreaming and Fandom meet. I'm glad he was there to point you the way home."

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Language Classes, 12/01

Cat, 12/01

Languages of Europe, 12/01

Office Hours & Language Lab, 12/01

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Re: Cat, 12/01

Re: Languages of Europe, 12/01

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Re: Languages of Europe, 12/01

Re: Office Hours & Language Lab, 12/01

Re: Cat, 12/01

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Re: Office Hours & Language Lab, 12/01