Magical Theory (Wednesday, 2/22/2006, 4th Period)

[romanywitch]

"Today we're all about some history," said Jenny. "Check over this handout on the Salem witch trials and tell me what you think."


OOC: Class is up, but responses won't be coming 'til later this afternoon. However? This is one of the player's favorite historical events to read about, so very much looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with!

Wait for the OCD threads!

Comments

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[soldtoarmenians]

"Lots of people assume anything they're not used to is out to hurt them," Xander said thoughtfully. "Which is true sometimes, but jeez, people, context is nice. Like some evidence that anybody was actually being hurt."

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"But they thought they had that evidence," Kiki pointed out. "The girls who were afflicted either by an environmental toxin or who were faking their symptoms would have been considered evidence. They must have been very convincing for their allegations to be believed so thoroughly, and that their behavior was the result of, say, a demonic possession rather than malicious witchcraft."

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[soldtoarmenians]

"Pretty crappy evidence, though. People get sick, start acting nuts, start accusing other people of making them act nuts, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Four year old kid and everybody's favorite granny are communing with Satan, or you can't trust the accusations to be true because yo, the folks they're coming from are see above re: nuts?"

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[fh_jackass]

"How would you provide evidence that a witch caused something, though?" Logan asked.

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander inclined his head. "You probably can't, unless you live in some kind of society where that stuff's all public knowledge. The only way to really prove somebody's doing something by magic is with more of it, in which case, yay, you've just made yourself a target for burnination. Or if you live in Sunnydale, people chalk the whole thing up to gangs on PCP."

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[fh_jackass]

"So, suppose you were in Salem," Logan said, tapping his pen against his notebook, "and you knew that magic existed and people started having this wacky stuff happen to them. Would you blame the witches or the bread?" The pen slipped from Logan's hand and fell between his desk and Xander's.

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander leaned down to grab the pen, then held it out to Logan. "Dude, after a semester and a half here? I'd blame the witches, the bread, the zombies, and the stealth water-balloon thrower. If it could possibly wack things up, it's probably involved."

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[fh_jackass]

"Thanks." As Logan took the pen from Xander, their fingers brushed for just a moment. [Tag!] "I guess anyone from Fandom would blame the food," Logan grinned.

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[soldtoarmenians]

"Honestly, so would anybody from Sunnydale who's not in the PCP-gangs camp. Remind me to tell you about the cursed chocolate that made the adults go all brain-breaky and hormonal sometime." Xander scratched the back of his neck. "Like just now, for instance. There's not a lot more to that story."

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[romanywitch]

Jenny blinked. "I think I'm glad I wasn't there for that."

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander flashed on certain things Buffy had said about how certain adults had been acting. With each other. "Uh. Yeah. You are."

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[upforachase.livejournal.com]

"Nowadays, no one would believe the accusation of witchcraft in a normal town," Cordy added. "But back in the day it seems like every weird event was blamed on witches."

Re: Discussion - Salem Witch Trials

[soldtoarmenians]

"And it's not like there was any real way to prove you weren't one, either."