Intro to Magic, 5th Period (Week 1: 9/6/06)

[romanywitch]

Jenny has cinnamon rolls, pecan rolls, and lots of other pastries and bagels in the classroom, along with juice and coffee.

"Please sign in, and take a copy of the syllabus that's on my desk, okay? First off, for those of you that know me, I'm Jenny Calendar; please call me Ms. Calendar. My last teaching job was at Sunnydale High, and my qualifications for teaching magic include having the subject drilled into me by my grandmother when I was way too young. I'm a technopagan, which means I like to mix magic with computers, and if you don't think that evolved out of a teenage rebellious phase, you're totally wrong. In addition to learning what to do with magic, I hope to go over what not to do with it.

Today? Introduce yourselves, tell us why you wanted to take this class, and give us your definition of magic. Not the kind of magic you see used in Vegas. On stage, anyway. Real magic, oogedy-boogedy stuff.

And then you can check out this handout on the elements. Not the periodic table of. Magical elements."

Set out on a separate table are a bunch of different items--runes, an I Ching set, Zener cards, a Tarot deck, small semiprecious stones and metals, dried herbs, salt, various books, feathers from different birds, paints and paper, fabrics with designs from many cultures. There are also a couple of laptops that are set up with various mystical programs running on them.

"Check out the tools of the trade. Everything on the table is moddable, so long as there's nothing modded that will cause harm to anyone. Cool? Nothing here will bite, and we're going to go into detail on a lot of these things later. If there's something you're particularly interested in? Lemme know. If I don't already have plans to include it in the class at some point in time, I can probably shoehorn it in. My office hours are pretty much gonna be on Wednesdays, if you need me. Unless, of course, I get totally overwhelmed, in which case I reserve the right to have them on Thursdays."

Course Syllabus & Roster

OOC: First note! I am at work, and though I should be good, if things get abruptly busy, I'll be slowplaying for a while. Secondly, while I do have the entire semester roughly outlined, it may change. If there's anything that your character would like to go into, or if you want to drop something plot-related in, give me a holler.

Also, I do not have gmail access during the day, so it's best to ping me in the OOC thread for this course if you need anything. If you need something private, head over to Jenny's voice mail, as all comments there are screened.

Wait for the OCD threads, please. Start posting whenever!

Comments

Re: Introductions & Definitions

[kitty--fetish.livejournal.com]

Alphonse looked a bit hesitant to say much of anything, but knew sitting and not doing anything wasn't going to help. "My name is Alphonse Elric, and I'm in this class because, um... -- but I'm hoping to make the best of it anyway. The only real magic I'm familiar with is the stuff floating around at Fandom, so to me it's like supernatural stuff that's able to do otherwise impossible things."

Re: Introductions & Definitions

[romanywitch]

"Not everything that can be accomplished with magic is impossible by mundane means," said Jenny. "But some of it is."

Re: Introductions & Definitions

[kitty--fetish.livejournal.com]

"It seems like most of it is, but I hear about it more than I've seen it," Alphonse admitted. "Which isn't very much."

Re: Introductions & Definitions

[romanywitch]

"So what've you seen?" asked Jenny, leaning back on her desk. "And what do you think of it?"

Re: Introductions & Definitions

[kitty--fetish.livejournal.com]

Alphonse thought, and then began to list off his fingers. "The first time I saw it was with one of my friends; she has a deck of cards that can do various things depending on which one you summon," he began. "Then there was the aftermath of messing up on a spell a little after that, and then a magic barrier of some sort, a binding spell... I think that's about all I've seen." He stared at his hand for a moment, wondering if he got them all, but shrugged it off. "Ah, it's... okay, I think. I guess because I'm not very familiar with it, I'm kind of wary of it as well."

Re: Introductions & Definitions

[romanywitch]

"You should be wary of magic." Jenny smiled ruefully. "If you're not careful, it can come back and bite you."

Re: Introductions & Definitions

[kitty--fetish.livejournal.com]

Alphonse nodded once. "I've already had a few others ask why I am, but that's exactly what I don't want to happen to me."