fandomhigh | Entries tagged with tricks & cons

"Hey guys," Neal greeted his class. "So..." He counted heads. "I'm pretty sure you're all alive." Nice, Neal. "Which is great, because we're having a final today, so if you can all take off those eyesores and leave them at the door--" yes, Snuggies, he meant you, "--we can get started."

No Snuggies in his classroom. Ever.

He handed out thick test booklets to everyone, filled with questions that he hadn't taught the answers to. But on the back of each test booklet, there was stapled -- apparently erronenously, except not really -- a quarter-sheet of paper with space for the student's name, their grade and Neal's signature.

So, you know. Hopefully you'd learned how to forge his signature by now?

charming_thief

Today, upon arriving at class, students would learn that Neal was not there. And he'd left a note:

Not here. Sorry.

Because that wasn't at all rude for a first-period class. Enjoy the creepy walk back to the dorms, kids.

charming_thief

"Hey, guys," Neal greeted his class as they came in. Today's class was meeting in a normal classroom, but there were two paper cups on every desk. That was new.

"So according to radio, not everyone's been having the best week," Neal said. Huge understatement, but okay. "So I thought I'd have a nice easy class today. Just some deductive thinking." He gestured to the cups on the students' desks. "Tell the difference between the wine and the juice, and you can leave. That's it."

Look. He'd heard there was no drinking age on the island, and apparently there were students here whose friends and family had vanished off the face of the earth. The least he could do was offer booze. Plus, he would be able to tell the smart (and probably more traumatized) ones by who deliberately guessed wrong in order to get refills. It was a win.

charming_thief

Class today had been ~~handwavily~~ scheduled to meet in the Danger Shop, which was set up to look like a Thanksgiving dinner table. There was a place for each of the students, some (sadly) holographic food, and a small envelope at each place setting with a student's name.

"Hey, guys," Neal said from off in the corner, where he was enjoying some non-holographic food. Sorry. "So. Show of hands, who's ever heard of a mystery dinner theater?" Too bad he was too busy focusing on his coffee to count the hands. "So what it basically is is a dinner where you show up and you get assigned roles, which you then take on for the rest of the meal. It's sort of tacky."

Thank you for that, Neal.

"Anyway. The backstory is that someone in the group is responsible for stealing a priceless painting that belonged to someone else, who's also at this table." No murder. He had to draw the line somewhere, you guys. "Using the cards assigned to you, you will each take on a role that was randomly assigned to you. Someone here is the thief, someone's the victim, and so on. How much you disclose is up to you, but your goal by the end of class is to appear innocent to everyone else if you're guilty, and figure out who the perpetrator is, while keeping whatever secrets your character has, if you're not."

A beat.

"And stay in character, guys? That just makes it fun."

Tacky, Neal? Riiiiight.

charming_thief

Today the classroom had a stage set up at the front of the room, and there were colorful lights and a shiny, shiny floor. Be wary.

"Hey, guys," Neal greeted the students from a comfy chair in the back. "So... some of you may have heard there was a puppet show in another class last week. From what I hear it was pretty controversial--" actually, he'd just heard that it was Madrox, so he was assuming -- "but it's not bad to have talents like that on hand in case you ever need to stage a distraction. Or, who knows, maybe you'll run into a situation where the ability to parody your classmates in puppet form is actually important." A beat. "Though I might not hold my breath for that one."

He was maybe a little disappointed that he hadn't been depicted in the puppet play. Because Neal was twelve.

"So I thought I'd let this class be an opportunity for you guys to show off your skills." Some of the colorful lights rotated around, creating a spotlight oin the middle of the stage. "I'm sure you all can... probably do some things. So. Head up there and show off what you can do. Or just embarrass yourself. I'm good either way."

charming_thief

Today, entering the Danger Shop, students in Neal's class might be a bit surprised by what they found.

Which was a room set up to look like a police station, complete with uncomfortable reinforced chairs, no open windows, and a box of almost-stale donuts in the corner. Neal went for the classics.

"Hey, guys," he said from over by the appropriately terrible coffee maker, where he was experimentally adding creamer after creamer to the coffee and making no progress on improving it. "So one thing we haven't talked about yet is the reverse of all this stuff, or law enforcement. Not gonna lie to you guys -- this job is not fun. It's a little more interesting if you're FBI and get the good cases, but here it's pretty much redirecting calls and fighting over the last chocolate glazed."

Nice, Neal. Real nice.

"So today for the duration of class, I'd like you all to experience it for yourself. Each of you guys, pick a desk, grab a cup of coffee -- non-negotiable on that last one, by the way, because you should definitely taste this -- and a donut, and sooner or later your phone'll start ringing and you can deal with real police business."

Real police business that he'd programmed into the Danger Shop with cop-resenting glee, thank you very much.

"Ready? Okay, get started."

With that, he gingerly took a sip of his coffee, gagged, and threw it into the garbage can like it was poisonous. Ugh.

charming_thief

Today, the classroom was set up with a projector in front and rows of seats behind it. Movie day, y'all. Sadly for anyone who had taken the class last semester (Kenzi), this would be a repeat showing. Sort of. The stage show was still better.

"Hey, guys," Neal greeted the class. "So we're going to keep class light today and watch one of my favorite movies."

He hit play, then paused it and added, "Maybe take notes." Then hit play again.

It was a really good movie!

charming_thief

"Hey, guys," Neal greeted the students as they entered the room. Today it was set up to resemble an actual classroom, with desks and chairs set up and a projector in the front of the room clicking through slides.

"So today we're going to talk about image," he said. "It's important to have one. A lot of the time, you'll need to blend in to get away with stuff, and other times it's a better strategy to deliberately stand out. Now, I was going to have you guys just try on clothes and stuff, but I decided to make it a short class today, so let's just discuss." He clicked through his slideshow, showing slides of ~~moddable~~ public figures in various stages of put-together-ness, many of them taken during scandals involving the figure in question. "Tell me who you guys think has a good image, who's handled it badly, and anything else that comes to mind."

A beat.

"Also," he said, gesturing to the enormous buckets of ~~moddable~~ colorful paint stashed by the door, "if anyone wants to grab one of those and head over to Madrox's room after this, you get an A."

charming_thief

Neal had only gotten back to Fandom half an hour before class today was supposed to start. Which meant he hadn't yet seen his office, so he was still in a reasonably good mood. Lucky students.

Becase he had spent a grand total of no time planning today's lesson, and because Peter Burke had a habit of making sarcastic suggestions that actually sounded like really good ideas, class met in the Danger Shop. Where students would find a dark room without any furniture, but with two red buttons on opposite walls.

"So part of pulling off a good con is stealth," Neal said, which would've sounded much cooler except that he was kind of exhausted and had to yawn on that last part. Oops. "You have to be fast and move very carefully to avoid being seen or caught. So we're going to work on that today."

He hit a switch, and suddenly the room was filled with bright green laser beams, starting just feet away from where the students were standing. "The object is to get all the way from here to the other side, and hit that button there, without touching any of the lasers," he explained. "Meanwhile, for every twenty seconds you spend past a certain time, five more lasers will go up near the back wall. So you want to be fast, you want to be precise, and... you probably want to take off any jackets or loose jewelry you have."

If asked, he would run through the maze wearing the fedora and still not touch a single laser. But that was just bragging.

"The board up there will keep track of high scores," he added. "You can run through as many times as you want to to beat your time. Oh, and guys? Don't zap the lasers for your classmates while they're going through. That's just obnoxious."

charming_thief

Today, Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles was being held in a hallway. And not during its usual scheduled time.

The particular location of the hallway might've been the students' first clue to be afraid.

"So we've talked a lot about theory, and done some simulations," Neal said upon the students' arrival. "But today we're going to try a practical application."

Students might hear some faint French-accented speech coming from the room they were standing outside of.

"Anyone here heard of a Professor Madrox?" he asked, conducting a quick poll. "Apparently he's not too popular with the faculty. And I heard from a credible source -- " The squirrels -- "that his class is meeting here today. And they're working on some art today." So maybe the squirrels were a little loose with that word. Still!

"Today's class is on art theft," he said simply. "Go in there and steal as many sculptures as you can. It'll take courage and the spirit of adventure, but I have faith in you guys. Take 'em, hide them, and try to avoid getting caught."

Pause.

"Kenzi, don't touch his wallet." That was Neal's. All Neal's! Muahahaha!

"Alright, go."

[[Le tiniest of OCDs for the sign-in, and then head over here for the theft!]]

charming_thief

Today, the Danger Shop was set up somewhat oddly. With a TV in the front and a few couches facing it, it might at first glance look like one of the school common rooms. But if someone perceptive happened to notice the picture frames on the wall, assorted paintings and way-too-nice furniture, that might be a hint that it wasn't a common room at all, but a standard household living room.

"So a bunch of you probably have guests coming this weekend," Neal ventured. "Some of you might not, which is pretty lucky for you guys -- " He only wished he could be so lucky -- "but I thought we'd work on an important skill in case you guys need it."

( Lying To Your Parents )

charming_thief

Today, students had been ~~handwavily~~ told to meet in the Danger Shop, which was programmed on this fine morning to resemble a busy transit hub that students might recognize as Grand Central Station. Although they would learn that it was actually set up to resemble most of Upper Manhattan.

Stationed toward the middle of the chaos near a circular booth, Neal was holding a paper bag full of bagels, which he was handing out to students as they arrived. He could be generous! Sometimes. Though he wasn't handing out coffee. That stuff was all his.

"Welcome to Grand Central Station," he said once everyone had arrived. "This is the largest¹ train station in the world, and over 750,000² people pass through it on a daily basis. Suffice it to say that it's not exactly the kind of place that's convenient for making a quick getaway."

Since he assumed that his students would be having need of that, possibly within the first two minutes of class. (Put that commuter's wallet down, Kenzi! Or keep it and share. Whatever.)

( Read more... )

charming_thief

Today in class, the students were fortunate enough to have a fully-human, fully-clothed teacher. Sure, that teacher was one who had spent the weekend sobbing into an empty bottle of Bordeaux, but that was neither here nor there.

“Today,” said Neal, “we’re going to do a couple of workshops.”

The room was set up with three main tables, with various pieces of equipment in buckets on each one. Yes, the class was a bit small to do workshops like this, but that was what he was doing and that was that.

“I’ve set up three main stations for you all, and each one focuses on a different manual task that’s pretty much essential in this field. I’m not saying you have to be experts at it, especially if you want to move to the more white-collar stuff, but you’ve got to know the basics. So here we have lock-picking, pickpocketing, and forgery.” He pointed to each table as he spoke, then shrugged.

“Any questions?”

charming_thief

"So okay. Me and Mr. Caffrey have decided to start simple, with the parts of the con." Kenzi had brought candy for everyone else this time. Lots of her other classes had food, after all. Plus coffee.

"The roper, the store, the walkaway, the fix; give me examples of each."

Mr. Caffrey was drinking milk-and-coffee out of a bowl again.

Until suddenly he wasn't, and the class was treated to the sight of their actual teacher. Without very much on.

Except the fedora, which he good-naturedly swiped off his own head and held in a spot that needed a bit more covering right now, thank you very much.

He blinked. Even looked surprised for a moment. Then he held out one hand to Kenzi for the clothes she had on hand, and once they were provided, scurried off to change. From halfway down the hall, he called, "Discuss! What she said!"

[[Cowritten, of course, with the fabulous

regretiz4suckas!]]

regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com

There was a Perky Goth sitting cross-legged on the desk, eating a black licorice whip and watching people come in. There was also a fluffy gray Russian Blue sitting next to her, wearing a jaunty fedora. Somehow. If you looked closely, you'd notice that he was also wearing a tracking anklet.

"So," Kenzi said, when it seemed like most everyone was there. "I'm already sick of introductions, and it's only Wednesday. The last time this class was taught, the teacher didn't make us do them then, either." She reached out to scratch behind Mr. Caffrey's ears.

"So I'm going to take a page from his book, and say: lie like a rug. Like a rug squished flat under a 200-metric-tonne weight. Convince us you're someone you are completely not. And we'll try to trip you up by asking questions."

"OR. You can tell us how you'd pull off the greatest con or theft in history, using just yourself, a cat, and possibly a rubberband."

"Go!"

charming_thief

Today, the Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles students had been ~~handwavily~~ told to meet in the Danger Shop, which was set up to mimic an enormous museum, complete with (simulated) guards stationed at the exits and patrons milling about, not to mention the (imitation) priceless art hanging on the walls.

"Welcome to your final exam," Neal said as the students made their way into the room. And was it a trick of the light, or did he look distinctly more excited about today's class than usual?

"This is the Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts. But we're not here to sightsee." Obviously, Neal, because it was a final exam. Though it wasn't too hard to figure out what he was going to be doing while the students were working, was it? "You'll be working in three teams. I'll number you off, and the team to successfully complete the assignment will receive the highest grade."

Quick, everyone hurry to stand two people away from Kenzi. Or not.

"Somewhere in this museum," he continued, "there's a Fouquet painting called 'Virgin and Child.' It's very expensive and has a lot of security, and it spent the morning being cleaned, so it's not currently on display. Your job, as a team, is to figure out where it's being kept, get past security and the various alarm systems, and retrieve it and bring it to the south exit by the end of the class period without being spotted or leaving any prints."

It was a good thing this class period was as long as it was, because he had a feeling it could take a while.

After numbering off the students, he held out a bag of supplies, explaining, "Each team will receive one pair of gloves and a map of the museum. Any questions?"

He grinned. "Go."

charming_thief

Today in class, the Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles students would be happy to find a projector set up in the front of the room and a DVD set to its home screen. Unfortunately, upon second glance, that DVD on its home screen was a 40-minute long FBI recruitment video. And on each of the desks was a brochure with the FBI logo on top that contained much the same message.

As if that wasn't bad enough, a fairly miserable-looking Neal was holding notes that had just been faxed to him from Peter, containing a script for today's class.

Peter... may have just found out what Neal was teaching here, exactly.

"Hey," he said to the class once everyone had arrived, looking decidedly unenthusiastic about today. Holding up his notes so as to make it perfectly clear he was reading from a script, he recited dully, "Of course, no training in tricks and cons would be complete without an understanding of how you can use those skills to assist with national security." He rolled his eyes. "Really, Peter?"

Monotonously, he continued, "Having been taught how to lie and deceive people over the past six weeks, now you should turn your attention to one of this nation's finest career opportunities that will allow you to put those skills to use while helping your country. Please know that the FBI is an exciting, morally upstanding career choice."

That part made Neal feel a little sick.

Putting down his notes, he clapped his hands and said, "Okay. Movie time. And then a little presentation from Kenzi that has nothing to do with... this."

That last word was uttered with more than a little bit of contempt. He really hated Peter sometimes.

charming_thief

The students had been ~~handwavily~~ told to meet out by the Causeway today, ideally dressed a little nicer than was their usual, which he had had all too much fun snarkily incorporating into the email. Yep, it was field trip time for the Bamboozles class -- which had the added bonus of getting them away from the really creepy feeling Neal had been getting since the arrival of that giant rock.

"So today," he said, looking very dorkily eager about all of this, "we're going to take a field trip to see one of the best examples of conning of all time."

He could've just shown the movie, but that wouldn't have been nearly as fun. Nor would it have gotten him heavily-discounted a student group package to a musical he'd been meaning to see again anyway.

"It's a Broadway show called Find Me If You're Able. It's based on a movie, which in my opinion isn't half as good. And the movie is based on a memoir, and that's based on a real guy who created these incredible scams when he was only eighteen." Yep. That was definitely Neal's dorkface right now. Mock away, Kenzi. "So we're going to Portal over there now, if no one has any questions, and now you can all brag to your friends in Iowa or whatever that you've seen a Broadway show."

Just before hopping into the Portal, he added with a dorky little smile, "It won a Tony."

charming_thief

“Well, we’re now halfway through the class,” Neal informed his students as they arrived, seated (as always) with his feet up on the desk and leaning back in his chair as far back as it went. “So today, I thought I’d take advantage of all the resources we have at this school to work on something kind of different.”

Sure enough, there were several racks of clothing scattered throughout the room, complete with just about any type of clothing a person could want in all imaginable sizes. Don’t ask how. They just were.

“Sometimes, when you’re running a scheme, you’ll need to take on a persona,” he explained. “Maybe it’s a mob leader, maybe it’s a housewife. A big part of it is being able to dress the part. If I showed up in a suit like this one to try to make a case for my being an FBI agent, I’d fall pretty flat.”

…It was true.

“So I have assignments for each of you. I want you to come up with a costume that matches your description, then pair up and try to guess each other’s. Everyone clear? Go for it.”

[[WELL THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION, LJ.]]

charming_thief

This time when the Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles students arrived to class, the room was set up without any desks at all. Instead, there was an area set up at the front of the room to be a sort of stage, with the rest of the chairs all facing that direction.

“Today,” Neal said, “we’re going to talk about motivation and incentive. Often, when you’re working on a heist or a project, you’ll need to work with people to get what you want. In a lot of situations, the best way to get someone on your side is to give them what they want. Incentive.”

It also happened ot be one of the things he was best at. It so happened that providing incentive was easier when it was coming from someone with, well, Neal’s face, but he was hardly going to point that out.

“Feeling out the things that motivate people takes skill,” he conceded. “It won’t always be crazy cat ladies who’ll melt for a glimpse of your PETA membership card. So today, we’re going to do a little improv exercise.”

He held up a clipboard he’d been using to write notes, waving it in the class’ direction. “When I call you up in pairs of two, I’ll give you your scenario. One of you will have an assignment – like convincing a bouncer to let you into a bar when you’re too young. It’s your job to motivate the person you’re talking to so that he or she is inclined to help. You’ll have five minutes to get what you want.”

NOT DIRTY.

Then he surveyed the clipboard and began calling out the names of pairs.

charming_thief

Neal was thrilled he wasn’t a pony anymore. Seriously. So thrilled. He didn’t know if he could manage walking into a class and trying to teach while he had hooves and a tail. Fortunately, he didn’t have to.

When the students filed into the classroom, they would find the desks set up in rows of two, the chairs facing each other. On every desk was a small compact mirror. Don’t ask Neal where he got the mirrors. On the board in the front of the room was written in big blue letters:

( "EVERYBODY HAS A TELL." )

charming_thief

So. Teaching.

When the Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles students arrived for class today, they would find their teacher ~~ungodly attractive~~ standing at the front of the room, clad in an expensive suit with his ankle tracker left deliberately visible on the outside of his pants. Some might argue that that would hurt his credibility as a teacher. Neal saw it differently.

“Welcome to Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles,” he said once everyone was seated. “I’m going to be upfront with you and tell you that teaching isn’t something I ever planned to be doing. But you’re here and I’m here, and it’s my job to teach you all a little something about being wily and persuasive – and most of all, successful.”

“But first,” he continued, “I’m going to challenge you all. A lot of teachers might have you introduce yourselves on the first day. I want you to bullshit me.” He doubted this was the kind of school where he could come under fire for using bad language, but if it was, it wasn’t like he’d ever gotten a high school diploma or sufficient experience in a high school environment to teach him that. “Introduce yourselves and try to convince me you’re someone else. Your classmates and I will be free to ask you questions to try and trip you up. Starting now.”

He pointed at someone, then gestured to the front of the room and took a seat on top of an empty desk in the first row. “Go.”

Fandom High RPG

About the Game

---       Master Game Index
---       IC Community Tags
---       Thinking of Joining?
---       Application Information
---       Existing Character Directory

In-Character Comms

School and Grounds
---       Fandom High School
---       Staff Lounge
---       TA Lounge
---       Student Dorms

Around the Island
---       Fandom Town
---       Fandom Clinic

Communications
---       Radio News Recaps
---       Student Newspaper
---       IC Social Media Posts

Off-Island Travel
---       FH Trips

Once Upon a Time...
---       FH Wishverse AU

Out-of-Character Comms

---       Main OOC Comm
---       Plot Development
---       OOC-but-IC Fun

⚙

Disclaimer

Fandom High is a not-for-profit text-based game/group writing exercise, featuring fictional characters and settings from a variety of creators, used without permission but for entertainment purposes only.

Navigation

Fandom High School

Entries tagged with tricks & cons

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

Tricks, Cons, & Bamboozles | Wednesday (8/31) | Period 1

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Tuesday | Period 4

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Tuesday | Period 4

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Tuesday | Period 4

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Tuesday | Period 4

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Tuesday | Period 4

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Tuesday | Period 4

Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Tuesday | Period 4

Fandom High RPG

Tags