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Jacks White Oak Mesmerism Seminar 1 Morning Track 240210
In a mesmerism seminar at White Oak, Jack, an instructor skilled in the arcane arts, introduces his students to supernatural mind control, often termed 'mesmerism.' He prompts the students to consider the ethics and mechanisms behind such powers, revealing the serious concerns intertwined with their use. Jack selects Joel as a volunteer for a demonstration, subjecting him to hypnotic persuasion and compulsion. Despite the students' humorous suggestions, the exercise reveals the potentially invasive nature of such abilities, leaving Joel to publicly divulge an embarrassing truth about himself when under Jack's influence.
As the class progresses, Jack's lessons delve into the varieties of mind control, from hypnotic suggestions to outright seizing command over an individual's actions. The power dynamics at play become evident, with Jack forcing Joel to sneeze uncontrollably, exemplifying the bodily dominance possible through magic. The class ends with Jack assigning homework; each student is to pair up and write an essay on their experiences with such compulsive abilities. Amidst shared laughter, concern, and a collective learning experience, students begin making arrangements for their assignments with Jack available for a brief period to answer any lingering queries. The lesson is a stark showcase of the potency, and the potential moral perils, associated with such powers.
(Jack's [White Oak] Mesmerism Seminar 1 (Morning Track))
[Fri Feb 9 2024]
In the Latin Classroom of the Spender Arts and Wellness Center at White Oak
Aged, leather-bound tomes and meticulously annotated manuscripts line the sturdy, oak bookshelves. The soft, filtered sunlight seeps through the stained glass windows, casting a colorful, ethereal glow that dances across the weathered, wooden desks and the intricate, Latin inscriptions adorning the walls. The faint scent of antiquity lingers in the air and the distant murmur of students poring over ancient texts can just barely be heard in the distance.
It is about 50F(10C) degrees.
"Just been catching up on sleep and stuff," Charlene mentions to Olivia and sticks her leg out to display the tights a bit more. "If I ain't busy tomorrow, we should--oh shit, class started. Sorry!"
"Just been catching up on sleep and stuff," Charlene mentions to Olivia and sticks her leg out to display the tights a bit more. "If I ain't busy tomorrow, we should--oh shit, class started. Sorry!"
Meridith wiggles a little wave of her fingers as classmates filter in. She has a curious expression about the subject material, but dubious too.
Olivia is in the midst of leaning forwrad to catch the best shot of those demonstrated gams. She flashes an understanding look back at Charlene as she settles back into her seat and gives the lecturer his due respect.
"So!" Jack says, clearing his throat to call the class to order. "This will be the first of two classes on supernatural mind control. In the old days, they might call that mesmerism," he says. "So that's the term I am going to use, if only because it is short enough to fit on a course catalog. The second part of this class will be a hands-on practical in the Webster Clinic," he says. "I'm still deciding if I will schedule it as a morning and evening track like I did this first session -- and for those of your friends who couldn't make it today, I'll be giving this same class again on Monday night for students who have internships and the like during the day." He pauses. "Any questions before we really begin?"
Meridith raises her hand. "So...this stuff is real?" she asks, eyebrows raised. A little incredulous
Alexandra face palms in the back of the classroom.
"It's super real," Charlene whispers furtively to Meridith.
Meridith blushes, hearing the face palm, and gazes over at Alexandra. Seeing who it is she shrinks in her chair a little bit.
Savannah leans herself forward someone at the front of the classroom, and she listens on to Jack now, nodding her head, "No questions, Father, seems like..." Then she is looking towards Meridith, "Yeah, this and kobolds." She chuckles softly though, looking back to Jack, "No questions for me, though, Father."
Kayly moves in to find a desk near the front quietly, right before the class starts up. As Jack starts to speak she pulls out some notebook paper and a pen, lifting an eyebrow slightly at Meridith's question.
There's a pause, looking at Meridith. "Miss Walker, have you had a course on the Venetian basics?" Jack asks her.
Jack holds up a hand for the rest of the class to pause while he talks to Meridith.
Joel bites his lip faintly as he sits up straight at his desk, clearly doing his best to look alert and engaged, remaining quiet as he listens to the class.
Meridith nods. "Of course, no I just mean...you know...mesmerism and...supernatural gaze are two different things right?"
Olivia offers a sympathetic smile toward Meridith from the side of the curious girl, only confirming the matter with a brief series of short nods her way. All pause given, you know, except for those nods. Some relief at Meridith's clarifications shows in her face.
Viktorin blinks cluelessly at the board, though he doesn't comment. Humming softly, he simply listens to Jack.
Jack asks Meridith, carefully: "This is important, Miss Walker. If we need, you and I can cover some basics and you can make the evening class on Monday."
Meridith groans. "Sorry! Sorry, we can move on, I was just dubious about the natural application," she insists. Not loving the hot seat.
"We can move on," Jack tells Meridith. "But this is a class for Aware students only, so I need you to make it clear to me that you know at least the basics of the Venetian system."
"Oh," Meridith says. "Uhm. Vampires are real? I have magic powers?" she's searching mentally for what might constitute. "I'm aware!" she insists though it looks like she might rather be almost literally anywhere else right now than the central focus of class.
Olivia nudges the back of Charlene's leg with the toe of her heel, really just being a playful pill for the sake thereof.
Charlene scrunches her nose mirthfully at Olivia and reaches out to pull at one of her friend's suspenders before letting go to make it snap back into place.
"Good enough!" Jack says to Meridith, turning back to class. He pauses a moment to see if there are more questions, as he goes to answer Meridith's. "There's a few different ways people can access mind control power," he shares. "And there's also several different ways those powers can take effect. I won't cover everything in this class, but I'll try to cover as much as I can." He pauses. "I will need a student volunteer in about fifteen minutes, so you all should start thinking about who is going to jockey to -be- that volunteer."
"I ain't volunteering, that's for sure," Charlene remarks quietly.
Meridith groans. "Kill me..."
Kayly chuckles under her breath at Jack's joke about students rushing to volunteer, as she listens to the priest continue to talk.
Viktorin shrugs and says, "Sure. I can. So long as I'm not gonna be doing weird stuff."
"It could be interesting to volunteer," Savannah offers to some of those commenting nearby as she looks between some of the students up close to the front. She does look towards Jack afterwards, shrugging.
Olivia brings up a hand protectively against her chest, albeit belatedly, after Charlene's nasty little suspender snap. "You should volunteer to be the test dummy," she tells Charlene with a wicked grin. She flicks a wadded up paper back at her.
Olivia waves off Viktorin's concern and tells him, "Charlie will do all the weird stuff, don't worry."
Charlene glances uncertainly at Olivia and raises her hand with some hesitation. "Uh, I guess I volunteer, too. But it's cool if you pick someone else."
Joel hesitates a little and shifts a little, before hesitantly raising his hand "I guess... I could" he murmurs. Perhaps not quite sure what he is volunteering for. Or trying to repair some of his earlier reputational damage with Jack.
Meridith says "Everyone so eager to have their heads messed with...noooo thanks."
A little more of a rush for volunteers than Jack might have thought, hm? When Charlene makes her hesitant volunteering Olivia's expression turns from a grin to a more triumphant one, briefly lived as that expression might be before she golf-claps for Charlene. "So which origins and all will we be learning about today, Father?"
"For some of us, it's pretty much an everyday occurance, just living in the world." Kayly remarks with a snort, quietly.
"I don't know why I volunteered," Charlene agrees, making a face at Meridith.
Savannah joins Olivia a little bit as she claps for Charlene also, "Good job, Charlie, changing your mind and being brave. That is admirable, you should definintely be the one chosen!" She smiles though and looks on towards Jack now, waiting to see what comes next.
Olivia nods at Kayly and points out, "Charlie must have a very confident, un-messed-with head to want to volunteer. I think it's a sign of adventurousness. Brava, Charlie, Joel."
Meridith gasps staring at Charlene. With some perhaps real genuine concern on her face she says, "...oh my god, he got to you already."
Kayly flashes a grin at Olivia and nods in her direction, "Clearly. Nice to see more adventerous people around."
Jack nods to Olivia. "That's the first item on our agenda, in fact."
(Throughout this lecture, we'll be discussing some mechanical code in IC terms. When necessary, code explanation will be given parentheticlally below an emote.)
"No he didn't! Everyone knows you gotta stare into someone's eyes to hypnotize them," Charlene remarks and rolls her eyes at Meridith. "I guess I'm just brave."
Alexandra remains quiet in the back after the initial face palm, focusing on her tablet and whatever she is doing on it. She listens intently, watching the students as well during the lecture. She remains aloof of the volunteer storm, letting that be for students, as Jack obviously intended it to be.
Meridith taps the side of her head knowingly. "...that's what they want you to think," she wiggles her fingers dramatically and turns her attention back to Jack
"No, it's true. That's why you see people wear sunglasses all the time around town. When you know you know," Olivia volunteers helpfully back at Meridith, a knowing tap of her temple given to the girl with the shock-white hair. "Think about all the dracula lore."
"So -- first on our outline is the common sources of mesmeretic control," Jack tells the class. "The three most common ways that someone comes to be able to influence others' minds is through mental powers, ritual magic, and the gifts of bodiless entities," he shares. "Of those categories, the first is the broadest: some manifest these abilities through an expression of pure psychic power," he says. "For others, they are just a different sort of magic, or come from some arcane item or practice. I am a sorcerer by training," he says. "So even though I have the ability to command minds without a ritual, when I do so it is still fundamentally arcane. For others, it may be more an expression of some latent psychic ability." He pauses. "Does anyone have any thoughts or insight on why there might be different origins that express themselves in fundamentally similar ways?
(Powers can have varied origins, sometimes reflected in the cost discounts to purchase them. For instance, the Hypnotism power can be purchased with an 'Item' discount, which might represent an arcane item or even a scientific gadget, or a tattoo, which could be a magical sealing, or just be self-mastered, representing psychic power or some other method.)"
"So -- first on our outline is the common sources of mesmeretic control," Jack tells the class. "The three most common ways that someone comes to be able to influence others' minds is through mental powers, ritual magic, and the gifts of bodiless entities," he shares. "Of those categories, the first is the broadest: some manifest these abilities through an expression of pure psychic power," he says. "For others, they are just a different sort of magic, or come from some arcane item or practice. I am a sorcerer by training," he says. "So even though I have the ability to command minds without a ritual, when I do so it is still fundamentally arcane. For others, it may be more an expression of some latent psychic ability." He pauses. "Does anyone have any thoughts or insight on why there might be different origins that express themselves in fundamentally similar ways?"
(Powers can have varied origins, sometimes reflected in the cost discounts to purchase them. For instance, the Hypnotism power can be purchased with an 'Item' discount, which might represent an arcane item or even a scientific gadget, or a tattoo, which could be a magical sealing, or just be self-mastered, representing psychic power or some other method.)
Meridith scribbling down notes she considers the question thoughtfully. "Well, there is the mundane reality of hypnotism, it's simply communication and persuasion, arguably any kind of thing that helps with that can be called 'hypnotism' from mundane realities of persuasion to...the more supernatural?" she offers.
Olivia raises her hand to volunteer the suggestion that, "Kind of in the same way that different people have different like, methods for rituals, right? It achieves the same result, but the difference is in how we trained ourselves to actually do the Thing, whether that be hypnotism or bridging different worlds."
Olivia raises her hand to volunteer the suggestion that, "Kind of in the same way that different people have different like, methods for rituals, right? It achieves the same result, but the difference is in how we trained ourselves to actually do the Thing, whether that be hypnotism or bridging different worlds."
"I heard that animals evolved flying sort of individually, you know? Like birds and bats didn't have a common ancestor that flew," Charlene ventures after briefly raising her hand. "So maybe mesmerism is the same sort of way. Different, like, routes to the same goal."
Joel quietly scribbles in his notebook, glancing up as he adds softly "Or maybe all of these origins are just different ways of interacting with the same mystical medium, which is why they ultimately end up so similar in effect..."
"I think those are all good thoughts," Jack tells Charlene and Olivia. "I like the birds and bats analogy best of all, really: both birds and bats are working on fundamental principles of how air pressure and gravity work," he says, a little fuzzy about the physics of lift. "They may have different muscles and membranes, but -- exactly as Mr. Kalani says. The birds and the bees fly through the same air, just as the sorcerer and scientist interact with the same minds."
Jack nods in recognition to Joel for his answer.
Meridith nods, and writes her own answer down. Clearly she likes it best.
"Hell yeah," Charlene remarks and grins smugly at Olivia. "Told you I was smart."
Meridith giggles quietly.
"If you have to tell people that you're smart," Olivia starts to trade playful barbs with Charlene by sheer reflex, but she pauses both words and notes to admit, "That was a really good answer, honestly."
Simply silent, Viktorin listens to the room with interest.
"The second extremely common method is through ritual magic," Jack tells the class. "We'll discuss it a little more in the next section, but mind control through ritual magic is both stronger and weaker than through mental power," he shares. "Most mental commands last until the person receiving the command does what they are instructed to do, or in the case of more powerful commands for some time after they are instructed. The mental commands from the most common ritual magic create a desire in someone rather than an outright command, but that desire lingers based on the power of the sorcerer -- even after the person compelled has done what they are told." He pauses. "There's a practical tip in this for those who make the poor choice to use magic," he says. "If you use a ritual command to make someone do something specific, they will continue to be compelled to do so for some time, so you may end up 'looping' them in a way you don't intend."
(The 'ritual imprint' ritual creates 'want' imprints, not 'need' imprints, but it lasts as long as your arcane power and cannot be satiated. That can create strange cognitive dissonance if you use it for something like 'you want to reply to John's text message', because it will continue to exist after the text message is replied to, possibly up to several days for a powerful arcanist.)
"Father, I understood that ritual magic and the assosciated dangers were considered corrupting, but if they all share the same root, wouldn't that imply all of this is...evil? I mean, not that controlling peoples minds -isn't- evil, but wouldn't it just by its nature?" Meridith asks Jack curiously.
A frown works its way into Charlene's expression. She ponders something for a while and eventually raises her hand to ask, "Is there any way to know if someone did that to you? Like with magic?"
Olivia springs off Charlene's question with a raise of her own hand and checks, "And can you teach us that ritual or whatever too? That seems really, really important to know."
Kayly glances over to Charlene as she asks her question, and remarks, "Think I've read there's some sort of ritual to trace who's put one on you, or something?"
Meridith gazes suspiciously Olivia
Meridith gazes suspiciously someone
Meridith gazes suspiciously Olivia -wards
"If you use it on me, I'm gonna beat you up," Charlene hisses at Olivia.
Olivia clears her throat and says, "I mean, let me clarify, I mean the ritual to tell who ensorceled us. Ladies. Context."
Meridith giggles and nods, moving to jot knots.
Meridith jots NOTES
Jack takes questions one by one. To Meridith, he says simply, "Yes. We can quibble about the degrees of corruption, but magical power, of any sort, requires more and more sin as one grows more and more powerful." To Charlene, he says, "Not generally. Part of hypnotic power is that it makes it seem like your idea," he says. "There is a ritual, called a trace ritual, that will tell you the last person who targeted you with ritual magic -- but it won't tell you what they targeted you with. They could have scried you, or cast their own trace ritual, or anything like that." He nods to Olivia. "I am very careful about ritual magic," he says. "But we can discuss it after class, Miss Myers -- ah. That ritual, the trace ritual. Yes, I can hold a class on that."
Meridith nods, mollified somewhat. Though, it doesn't seem like she was all that worried about the answer?
Olivia takes notes on her paper and offers quietly towards Charlene's back, "Full disclosure I did use magic to make you volunteer earlier. It's still a binding legal contract you gave Eff-Jay."
Meridith gasps! "I knew it!" she declares to Charlene and Olivia. She stares in mildy horror at Olivia.
"You did?! Ugh, I knew it," Charlene mutters and gives Olivia a harmless little kick under the desk.
Terribly late, Sienna ducks her head down low as she moves into one a few spare seats along the front of the class rows, dropping her backpack down onto the floor next to her feet.
Olivia cackles quietly at some ripple of conversation amongst the note-taking students, turning to offer her warm welcome to Sienna and Caelum through a quiet waggle of her eyebrows at that pair of suspiciously-timed late-comers.
Meridith gazes suspiciously at Caelum and Sienna.
There is every attempt to be as inconspicous as possible while Caelum trails after Sienna - coming up from the other end of the desks to slide into a seat on the front rows himself.
Kayly nods over at Sienna as she arrives to the class late.
"Finally -- nice of you to join us," Jack tells Sienna and Caelum as they walk in late. "Finally, there are mental powers that can be granted by bodiless intelligences," he says. "There are a lot of different sorts of entities; conventionally, we call them eidolons, but they are considerably more different from each other than say one of the Fae-blooded is from someone who is has a Godsrealm lineage or even is afflicted with lycanthropy. Still: like Miss McCormick's insight about mental powers earlier, they are all working in the same medium." He nods to Joel again with some recognition. "They can grant such powers in a few ways," he says. "First, they can grant some supernatural powers directly in the forms of enhancements or blessings," he shares. "Second, they can give people -- even those who might otherwise be able to use such a power -- enchanted relics that give them powers they might not dream of." He pauses. "And finally, they, like mortal sorcerers, can enchant objects to carry a compulsion with them as a curse."
Sienna raises her hand in easy wave toward Olivia, Kayly, Meridith and Charlene when she spots the familiar faces of the sorority girls. "Hey," she whispers over. "Anyone got the notes so far?"
Meridith slides her book over towards Sienna. Notes kept, though there's quite a few doodles in the margins, mostly ornate borders with flowers crudely done.
"Hey, Sie. I never take any notes. I got a great memory," Charlene tells Sienna and gives her a finger-wiggle. "Are you in a Nirvana cover band?"
Sienna fishes out her phone, swiping into the camera app and lining up Meridith's notes for a quick shot, doodles and all. "Thanks, babes. You're a life saver," she tells her sorority sister before giving a snicker at Charlene. "No, but that's kind of on my bucket list. You been reading my diary again?"
"Human brains aren't all that complicated, a half gram of a certain chemical'll turn anyone into a blood craving cannibal," Meridith notes somberly, louder than perhaps she intends.
Charlene grins cheekily at Sienna.
"Charlie technically cannot read," Olivia grins slyly at Sienna before she belatedly returns an earlier kick Charlene gave her with a tug on the back of her sweater. "She is brilliant though. You would've been proud of her evolutionary biology metaphor." Caelum also gets the tea shared his way, and more specifically offeres, "It's been pretty low drama so far."
Meridith says "Violations of free will, aside"
"The physiology of the human brain and its marvels are still baffling a lot of scientists, in terms of learning how much it controls and the way it intrinsically works. So, can't be that easy if the brightest minds of the supernatural and natural world can't answer simple questions quite yet," Sienna gives her opinion over toward Meridith in musing aside, teeth tonguing lightly the inside of her cheek before she puffs out a breath.
Meridith giggles mischeviously.
"I can too!" Charlene retorts and makes a rude face at Olivia.
Jack glances at the clock. "This is a 90-minute block," he says. "If we haven't gotten through it all by the end of class, I'll consider scheduling a second classroom session before we do our practical lab in the Webster Clinic. The lab will probably be a two-hour block," he shares. "As we turn to -types- of supernatural mind control," he says. "Now it's time for a volunteer." He pauses. "Mr. Kalani?" he says. "I know you and Miss McCormick were both vying for it. I should make Miss Swann come up here, since she was late, but..." He gestures to armchair. "If you could come up here and sit down and get comfortable," he tells Joel.
"Well, simple in the sense that the levers and mechanisms, crude as our understanding is, are easily pulled," Meridith explains in defense to Sienna.
"I think like most temptations and things, there is the ability to try and resist them," Savannah says to Meridith after a few moments, giving a wave towards Sienna and Caelum at their arrival.
Olivia raises her hand and asks, "What is the uh, what is the cannibal chemical and how do we even know that?" she asks as Joel gets picked for the test dummy this class.
"I swear to God, you might as well just sign yourself up for another degree at this point," Sienna mutters over toward Savannah when she spots the deputy behind her. "You're attending more than enough classes to accumulate like, all the credit points you need." Her lips quirk at Olivia's words, before wondering over to the cheerleaders, "You guys ready for our practice?"
"I wasn't vying that hard," Charlene assures Jack, looking a bit relieved when Joel is selected. "Liv made me do it. She already confessed."
Caelum returns a wave towards Savannah, with a bit of a smile at that- before his brows knit in slight confusion, and he backtracks at Olivia - tilt of his head just enough to peer over others to stare at her. "Why can't Charlie read?" But the look is leveled at Charlene as well, right after, "Why can't you read?"
Joel:blinks a bit, clearly regretting his decision a little, but he doesn't put up any protrest, instead getting up to his feet with a faint flush to his cheeks. He takes a deep breath and slowly makes his way toward the front. He sits down on the chair, shifting nervously as the vantage point makes him face the rest of the students.
Interestedly, Viktorin watches Joel and Jack, tilting his head fractionally. He glances towards Sienna and Caelum before offering them a slight wave, returning his attention forward.
Kayly writes down some more notes as Jack continues the seminar, and then glances in Joel's called up as the volunteer, curious to see what's in store for the fairly new student in the demonstration.
"Hell yeah, I'll be there a hundred percent," Charlene whispers and nods vigorously to Sienna. Then she narrows her eyes at Caelum. "I literally can read! I scored eight points above the threshold for special needs, okay? Quit bullying me."
Meridith nods to Savannah. "Yes, thankfully the ability to secrete dopamine and sertonin appear out of the hands of the Supernatural," she remarks gladly.
Viktorin says "Outta what? Numbers are important..."
Meridith gazes at Joel and Jack. She looks very uneasy.
"A hundred," Charlene tells Viktorin, shrugging noncommittally.
"Eight -whole- points?" Caelum stares at Charlene, faux surprise in his features with the lifft of his brows and the slight parting of his lips. "Holy shit. Christ, Charlie - you're like, hyperfunctioning, then?"
Viktorin says "Uh... what's the threshold then? "
Meridith says "...Guys, come on."
Meridith frowns at Vik and Caelum.
"Well I know you've been slacking, so we totally need to get together and work out together so we're not caught slipping for practice," Sienna immediately voluntells Charlene, lips twitching in quiet amusement at Caelum's needling. "Oh, come off it, Cae. I've seen your grades. You have no room to talk."
"Oh, the one on National Mistress Day? Hell yes, I am so pumped! I will bully Joel into joining us, since he was interested in trying out. If we're looking for donations, should we do like... photo ops? Baked sale? Concessions?" Olivia ventures amongst the other girls, doing her damnedest to get the words out without laughing at Charlene and Caelum.
"Like twenty or something. It was a while ago," Charlene remarks and shushes Viktorin irritably. "I gotta pay attention to this so I know if Liv is messing with my brain."
As with most lectures, Caelum slowly folds both arms on his desk, something chatted towards the row prior, but his chin is set over his arms. There is a briefly stifled yawn into his wrist, but otherwise, his attention is spared outward. Lazy and languin in the lid of his eyes set upon the lectern and the armchair Joel put himself on.
"The simplest and most common sort of supernatural mesmerism is hypnotic persuasion," Jack shares with the class. "It's notable because it's not something we can notice easily." He moves from the lectern near Joel. "All of us should gather around for this section," he shares. "This is the sort of thing best seen close up." Asking the class, he says, "I'd like students to volunteer -- via text message -- something you think might be interesting for Mr. Kalani to want to do," he shares. "I'll pick one."
"Do you think someone mesmered Elon Musik into buying Twitter?" Charlene asks Jack, leaning forwards with her elbows on her desk to watch Joel expectantly.
"Don't joke about my grades, I'm only failing Latin." Caelum chides at Sienna with a slight tilt of his head - then there is a smirk, baring not so subtle fangs beneath narrowed eyes. "You've been spying on my grades? Stalker."
Jack moves to stand near Joel.
(Everyone should join 'a circle of students and staff near the armchair' because not all messages propagate in crowded rooms.)
"Um what's your number, sir?" Meridith asks
Olivia leaves the front row and makes a playful bump against Savannah and Charlene's desks as she passes them. Texting as she goes, she reasons, "I wouldn't mess with your head twice in a row, Char. I have some sense of decorum. Of manners."
Savannah stands up from her chair now and begins to move towards the armchair and Jack, looking to Joel with a little sympathy, "Good luck, Joel, I'm sure you're going to do great."
Joel:shifts a little, clearly not sure whether the delegation to the other students should make him more or less worried. He gives a faint grin of bravado at Savannah in reply, hish ands clutching the arms of the chair a little.
"It's 710-7295," Jack shares with Meridith and the class.
Alexandra is a little slow to get to the circle, walking up from the back, but she lingers at the outside of the circle, watching between taps on her tablet.
"You do not," Charlene remarks and grins lightheartedly at Olivia. Now on her feet, she joins up with her and Sienna. "I was at the game last week, Sie. I even lifted Sammie. It was pretty cool."
Savannah smiles at Olivia's bump and one her way towards the circle, she leans into the woman with a little nudge.
Meridith is very nervously observing this.
Caelum seems entirely reluctant to get up from his newfound comfort slouched on his desk - but he does, regretfully. Hands easily find his pockets while he slips up to stand with the group - interested - but not enough to pose a text offering what poor Joel should be made to do.
"I'm getting some good suggestions here," Jack tells the students casually. "I think my favorite so far is from Miss Myers, who wants Mr. Kalani toget up and pose like a bodybuilder in the corner of the room -- I suppose he's muscled enough, don't you think?" he asks with some humor. "Anyone else have any good thoughts?"
"Shoot. I'm so mad that I ended up missing the game, but you bet your ass I won't be missing anything else. I'm tired of the FOMO," Sienna complains to Charlene as she moves to congregate around the staff and students, rolling up her spiralbound notebook to swat at Caelum's shoulder. "Pay attention."
Kayly snickers a bit as Jack reveals the suggestion about bodybuilding poses.
Jack keeps checking in on messages as they buzz. "Getting some great ones here," he shares with the class.
Olivia bears a pleased grin as she bows her head amongst the circle for that recognition. As she raises it she ventures to Sienna, "We definitely missed you there. It was so, so close. Next game I thinknwe should preemptively sabotage their team. What was that cannibal chemical again?"
"Liv, are you sure it's a good idea to make it so we have to play against a bunch of crazy cannibals? Think about it," Charlene remarks, scrunching her nose skeptically at Olivia.
"Pretend he's a college fratboy," Caelum chimes in after Sienna swats at his shoulder. It's a poor attempt, joking, just something rattled off the top of his head - but he gives Sienna a sideway look as if saying 'happy?' along with a roll of his eyes, but no detracted smile.
Meridith says "Definitely not so sure I should have shared that with this crew..."
Joel:blinks just a little as he listens to Jack, murmuring "I'm not..." he trails off, his eyes unfocusing a little. The flush of embarassment recedes a little from his cheeks as he slowly stands up. He takes adeep breath, and slowly unzips his blazer, draping it over the back of the chair before he takes a few steps away from it. He moves into profile, lifting his arms at angles, flexing his bared biceps--only to suddenly blink as he realizes what he is doing, his blush returning with a vengeance.
Olivia has to admit that doesn't sound like the best sort of opponent on the field, but she has to point out, "It's gotta be at least a fifteen yard penalty to bite a guy. I... I admit, I would have to ask someone that knows football better." She makes a grin at Meridith and assures her, "I am absolutely joking, Mere. We'd just do that ipecac stuff."
"I don't think that translated as well as it probably did in your mind," Sienna blurts quietly toward Olivia, her lips pressing into a disappointed pout at Meridith. "You just can't be sharing niche knowledge like that. We'll all suck it up like a sponge and be irresponsible with it." Her gaze cuts over toward Caelum, scrunching her nose at him playfully before nodding her affirmation, eyes turning back onto Jack, going silent to focus on the lesson.
"...of course, I already chose: I compelled him to go stand and pose," Jack shares with the class. "Did anyone notice that -that- sentence was full of some supernatural, compulsive power?" he asks the assembled students as Joel moves into profile. "That's the power of psychic persuasion: it is very easy for someone to resist, if the instruction is counter to their natural inclination, but it's also largely undetectable. No trace ritual or anything else would reveal that Mr. Kalani is under some compulsion," he explains to the students. He raises his voice. "Mr. Kalani, you can come and sit back down, now."
Meridith shivers and clasps a hand against the back of her neck. She takes a deep breath observing the act take place.
"Is there any way to protect yourself against that kinda stuff?" Charlene asks, peering curiously at Joel while she speaks to Jack.
Joel slowly lowers his arms, shifting out of the pose, looking thoroughly overwelmed by how he feels about what just happened. He clears his throat and nods, moving back to sit down on the arm chair, avoiding the gaze of the other students for now.
"So even for observers the only way they might notice something is off, is if the person doing the hypnotizing, worded the instructions in an odd fashion?" Kayly wonders curiously to Jack.
Savannah watches Joel begin his little flexing show before smiling a little bit at the man, "I mean, no need to be too embarrassed." She looks around herself and shakes her head, seeing if anyone else has noticed, "I didn't really notice too much, myself, I don't think?"
"I didn't notice a thing." Caelum murmurs under his breath - narrowing his eyes at Joel. There is a somewhat critical look spanning the pose made, coupled with a shake of his head. "Terrifying." Charlene's question gets raises brows, and a hand removes from his pocket to point at her, as if she just made a really really good point.
"Nice! Bravo, Joel," Olivia tells the young man with a warmth of applause for his show, as un-Arnold as it might have been--and indeed as it might have been expected to see. She remains quiet for Charlene's question, exchanging murmured conversation with Sienna instead.
"Ritual magic," Alexandra tells Charlene, nodding stoicly as she listens, watching everything. She does not elaborate, letting Jack do that if he desires. But she looks back down to her tablet and does some more tapping on it before finally folding her hands together behind her back, both gripping the tablet.
"I dunno, I thought it would be funnier, or at least funner for the poor guy. I like to goof off and flex some," Olivia tells Sienna with a helpless shrug, as if alien that people might not all enjoy the same flavors of goofiness, let alone in a circle of spectators like this.
"Hypnotic persuasion like that is a kind of instruction," Jack continues as Joel sits back down. "It is telling someone something that they need to do. It's not a trick that purely mortal sorcerers can learn; one must have supernatural blood, a gift from an eidolon, or an artifact," he shares. He looks at Charlene. "There is -- and yes, Miss Menendez, that's a good insight. Wording is a challenge when persuasion needs to be spoken out loud." He pauses. "There are more powerful, direct instructions, though," he says. "For them, you need to meet a subject's eyes -- and those nearby will know, so one way to protect against such instructions, so-called "true hypnosis", is to not be alone. He looks Joel in the eyes, now. "But it is much more powerful, and one can be much more direct with instruction.""
Jack says quietly, "You all saw me do that. Mr. Kalani did not."
Caelum lets out a long whistle at what Jack just did to Joel. There is slightly more interest there, now, collected on the other sigma while his eyes narrow. "That is so cruel."
Viktorin shifts his eyes cautiously, anxiously, "Well... uh. Guess I'm going to try to be around more than one person .. For like. Forever..."
Kayly nods a few times at Jack's answer, and then tilts her head thoughtfully at the more obvious hypnotism method.
Sienna folds her arms over her oversized t-shirt, tilting sideways until her head can catch on Olivia's shoulder, a shadow of exhaustion settling under her half-lidded eyes while she observes Jack's interactions with Joel, curious. "Well I won't yuck your comedic yums, so don't worry," she promises her friend turned leaning post.
"I wonder if you can hypnotize a deaf person with sign language," Charlene remarks.
Meridith has gone quiet, she pulls her arms around her chest, just hugging herself as she observes.
Joel blinks a bit as he murmurs "Saw you do what..." he trails off, still staring up at Jack as his gaze unfocuses a little again. He turns his gaze out over the class, clearly his throat as he murmurs "I sometimes... get kind of turned on by people bossing me around..." a few more blinks, before his eyes widen in realization. He lowers his gaze quickly, his flush deepening further.
Meridith grimaces and gazes down.
Caelum whispers in a faux stage-tone aside at the other gathered students; with his hand lifted to mask his lips to no avail or attempt, really. "Five bucks says he's going to say he's a botto-" His hand drops, hands in his pocket. "Close enough."
Viktorin simply states "Oof."
"When you form some hypnotic statement in your mind -- whether it is a direct instruction or some persuasion -- you make choices," Jack says. "You focus on the weaknesses in your subject's psyche. I might call it their sins," he says. "But it is as Miss Walker was saying earlier: this, too, is evil. Magic is preying on the weaknesses of others, whatever its form," he says in grim agreement with Caelum. Looking back to Joel, he says, "I'm sorry, Mr. Kalani. Every time we use magic, someone is hurt."
(When using psychic persuasion or hypnotism, you pick 'psychic pressures'. The closer your list of psychic pressures is to the ones the target picks when considering resistance, the harder it is for them to resists.)
Olivia offers a light hug around Sienna's shoulder as she stands her ground, a loyal resting place. She offers a far more sympathetic expression this go around, but something someone murmurs behind her causes a hitch in that expression, quickly swallowed back to seriousness.
Kayly gives a snort at Caelum's comment and on Joel's remark as well, shaking her head slightly and sighing.
"Typical of guys these days," Alexandra notes with a quiet snicker, shaking her head a little, without looking up from her tablet. "Nothing to be embarrassed by. It is far more common today than people think," she points out to Joel before gesturing around. "Maybe one of these girls will take to bossing you around," she quips then, shrugging her shoulders.
Savannah looks sympathetically up towards Joel when the man is put through being the demonstration now. She fidgets a little with her phone in her hands, and looks around herself to gauge the other's reactions, "Yeah, it isn't so bad, could be way, way worse." She looks to the armchair now and says, "Probably rather have a little of that than some of the asshole attitudes we have in Haven."
"Wow," Sienna blurts out in the aftermath of Joel's confession, struggling to process the weight of it before she shields a half-smothered laugh behind a hand. "Seven out of ten, did not expect that," she admits over to Charlene and Caelum, eyes never straying from Jack as he speaks.
"So in a way by warning us, you're kind of helping us shore up our defenses against the more predatious sorts," Olivia points out to Jack, rather helpfully playing him up and drawing the attention away from Joel.
Joel presses his lips together firmly, casting a bit of a scating look at Alexandra, but finding himself breaking off eye contact soon eough. "Y-yeah, I'm getting that..." he replies quietly to Jack, still breathing heavily, eyes burning a little.
Joel presses his lips together firmly, casting a bit of a scating look at Alexandra, but finding himself breaking off eye contact soon eough. "Y-yeah, I'm getting that..." he replies quietly to Jack, still breathing heavily, eyes burning a little.
Olivia makes a slight sigh and pulls up her phone, the Venmo app coming up before she turns a side eye toward Caelum
"Yeah, but I think it's kinda cool that we get to know that. It's different," Charlene tells Sienna and puffs some hair out of her face. "Bossing people around can be kinda fun."
Meridith says "...I think everyone should share something like that."
Jack shares with the class, "These were instructions -- but as you grow in occult power, you can make them last. When Mr. Kalani confessed, the desire to do so faded from his mind." He pauses. "But I have been schooled in magic for a long time," he says. "And the sacrifices I have made to gain power -- the people I have hurt, like Mr. Kalani -- mean I could give him an instruction that lasted a day or so beyond his immediate compliance. I'm not going to demonstrate that power here, but be aware of that risk. If it's someone who you are truly close to, or if you lack the protection of the town's Sanctuary, they might even be able to make such a compulsion permanent."
(Instructions and psychic persuasion last until satiated. Compulsions last past that, usually until some extended log-off period. If you do not have sanctuary, including because of a relationship or sanctuary dropping from sex, compulsions can be locked and can become permanent. If you lock a compulsion, consider strongly sharing OOCly the pressures you used to lock the compulsion in a note in case you leave the game.)
Meridith shrugs. "Because it isn't fair he had to reveal something like that to us, and that would...make it fair."
"Don't worry, man. Nothing wrong with that." Caelum offers Joel despite his depricating comment earlier. "To each their own." The last bit though, comes with a look at his phone - the honored bet from Olivia has him smirking even more. "Sweet."
"Magic isn't fair, Miss Walker. It's the opposite of that," Jack admits. "Magic is about -you- getting power at others' expense." He pauses. "In addition to mental instructions like we've done, I will cover one other sort of instruction. When you gain power, you can short-circuit someone's mind and control their body," he says. "Anyone want to suggest something to compel Mr. Kalani's body to do?" he says. "This is fundamental, direct control over someone's motor cortex, but it follows all the same rules as we discussed before."
"Absolutely not," Sienna voices against Meridith. "I don't want to know Olivia and Charlene's embarrassing secrets. It beats the fun of like secretly wondering what it could be. Right now, Olivia's secretly an e-girl with a whole Twitch career as a masked gamer online in my head." An elbow nudges playfully into Olivia's side, gaze bouncing back to Jack. "How do you resolve that? Sacrificing parts of your humanity for power? How do you like, carefully make these sacrifices without really giving into the corruption for it?'"
"I mean, life isn't always fair and at least not immediately. Go ahead and share something embarrassing with the class if you want, Mere, but I think we can also just show support by pointing out, you know, it's nothing he should be embarrassed about," Olivia tells Meridith with a light smile and a soft tone. She gets it, but she ain't gonna confess either. She has to grin at Sienna and point out, "Well now I have nothing to share anyway!"
Joel is still recovering from the particular secret that escaped him. The general outpour of support, such as it is, only goes so far in calming him down, so he just remains sitting back in the chair, apparently considering he has a good excuse not to take notes just this second.
"Why not go easy on him?" Caelum offers Jack while slipping his phone away again. A bit of defense for the other sigma, by the sigma. "Make him do a cartwheel - that's harmless." Though, he does give a look over at Joel, as if to assess whether he can pull off a cartwheel. "Probably."
Looking at Sienna, Jack gives her a look. "I like to think I strike the right balance," he says. "I pray a lot on Christ, walking to Golgotha. He knew he was sacrificing himself, didn't he? It seems to me that if I am to acquire power --" And he has, clearly "-- it's in his footsteps." He pauses. "He sacrificed his life for world, Miss Swann, and so I sacrifice my soul to do what good I can." Is the defrocked priest comparing his pursuit of magic to Christ on the cross? Yes.
Meridith gazes into Olivia's eyes a moment and then looks down. "You're right," she says softly, rubbing the back of her neck. "It wasn't all that bad, it's kind of cute," she says softly. She does seem to noticeably relax.
"We all have our secrets and our secret lives," Savannah says to the others nearby, lowering her voice in conspiracy. She then looks around herself as she says, "Joel is a nice guy though, helpful, friendly, and if he likes to be bossed around, more power to him." She crosses her arms in front of herself, wondering now as she looks to Jack, "I don't really have any suggestions, but I'm sure someone will have a few."
Olivia pinches the bridge of her nose and squints her eyes for a moment and nods back at Meridith when she's had her second. She misses most of the Jesus metaphor. She manages an approving smile at Meridith and points out, "Now if he breaks his neck with a cartwheel, then we might have to show more support than that."
Jack looks back at Joel. "Sorry," he tells the young man, apologetically -- and then he catches his eyes.
Viktorin knots his brow at Jack's words, glancing between him and Sienna, mulling over his thoughts. Gently, he tells Meridith "I'm good. I'd rather not spill my innards for the poignant purpose of equality. Especially since I didn't sign up for that."
Caelum winces at what Jack did, and slightly pulls away.
Meridith giggles at Olivia and nods softly. "Yes, yes..." then gasps. "That's so much worse than a hand stand!" she declares, worried now that she forgot to provide an instruction for Joel.
Kayly listens to the conversation quietly for the moment, content to just observe for the moment, as Jack picks on Joel yet again. Though on hearing the command, she does step back a few steps to get away from any sneezing.
Sienna shakes her head at Jack in quiet disbelief. "Now that right there? That's plain evil," she declares ardently under her breath, a sympathetic look cast in Joel's direction as she pre-emptively edges away, putting Olivia's body between them.
Joel glances back up, eyebrows lifting faintly as he murmurs "Now wha---" before he jerks forward, his arm coming up just in time to catch the sneeze. Again and again the instinct seizes his body, making him jerk and shudder with every sneeze. He manages to get a bit more quiet after a moment, but at the point where the twenty-one is reached, he falls back in the chair with a look of utter exhaustion, face deeply flushed "Fuck..." he mutters quietly.
Meridith reaches forward to pat Joel's back.
"He could choose to do a cartwheel," Jack explains to Caelum, Olivia, and the rest of the class. "But sneezing is something the body cannot control -- but with magic?" His eyes light up, and there is something low and dangerous and predatory in his voice. "I can." He lets that sit. "There is a way to protect against compulsion," he shares. "At least this sort -- if one repeats a mantra of some sort, you can block compulsion out from your mind. But it drains you, and it does not last very long." He pauses. "But other forms of mental power cannot be stopped with such discipline. For instance, you can use a ritual, as I said, to compel not just mental desires but bodily compulsions, and neither are affected by a repeated mantra. Still, if any of you wish to try it, try repeating the Lord's Prayer with a focus on keeping your mind still. That is what I do."
(The 'guardmind' command can protect you against hypnotism and psychic persuasion for a short time at a LF cost, but it doesn't protect against rituals.)
Meridith says "If I wasn't sore sore I'd volunteer to try it..."
"His throat is gonna be raw. Jesus. If... is it two birds with one stone if I boss him into drinking a bunch of honeyed green tea," Olivia polls the audience behind her--including Sienna who is literally trying to hide behind her. She turns back to the front and raises her hand. "I'll try it out. Like pray out loud or in my head or what?"
Joel sits up a little, glancing at someone with a wry smile before muttering "Hey, I'd have done the cartwheels just for the askin" in a rather wry tone, his voice indeed a little raw.
Joel sits up a little, glancing at Meridith with a wry smile before muttering "Hey, I'd have done the cartwheels just for the askin" in a rather wry tone, his voice indeed a little raw.
"Fair enough.." Caelum answers grimly to Jack -- now certainly more severe in his expression while those narrow eyes drift over to Joel, somewhere in midcounts of his sneezes. He doesn't watch him reach total, its an unbearable sight of suffering. Instead, he shoots a glance at Olivia, with a tilt of his head an a somewhat amused shake of his head. "Don't turn him on, now - poor guy's in enough involuntary compulsion as is."
"You mean if I commanded you to...?" Meridith lets out a shy little laugh toward Joel.
There is a slow lean backwards as Savannah prepares for Joel's outburst of sneezing and then she steps away a little bit before she looks between Meridith and Joel, chuckling softly, "You have to give a firm tone of voice and an expectant glare afterwards, Meridith."
"I gotta go charge my phone after class," Charlene mentions to Olivia and Sienna. "But I might have time to hang out later, like around dinnertime."
"It can be silent, Miss Myers," Jack tells Olivia, and then he turns to fix her with his eyes. "But another truth is that you cannot employ hypnotic power constantly," he says. "The more powerful it is, the more it drains you -- but I can use some lesser compulsion on you, if you want to see if you can resist it," he says. "Are you ready?" he asks her, as he tells the class generally, "The only substantial topic left to cover was related powers over emotion control and the ability to wipe memories," he says. "Be aware that others can produce emotional responses in you," he says. "Especially those who dabble in dream magic." He pauses. "And many supernaturals can erase memories, though the power is not as great as you may think. They return in dreams." He pauses. "I do intend to discuss cursed items and alchemy, at some point, but on a field trip to the Goblin Market."
(The amnesia hypnosis has been clarified by Tyr to be pretty limited in scope. As a purely editorial opinion, I much prefer instructions like 'Don't talk about the time Jack made you sneeze' to an amnesia 'Forget Jack made you sneeze'. As an antagonist and a victim, I want RP to go forward and continue to affect you, even if there's an IC reason to keep it secret. That's just my practice as an antagonist, though.)
"Okay, cool, I'll definitely blow your phone up with Feed Me Cookie Monster gifs around dinner time, so we can all get together," Sienna promises Charlene in quick aside.
Olivia takes in a deep breath and maintains a level stare at Jack as she deliberately nods her head. She looks not toward her other students, fully focused on resistance. She. Is. Ready.
Joel flushes a little even as he glances back at someone "I mean they're courting me for the cheerleader squad, so it's not like a cartwheel's that much of an ask" he murmurs wryly, still breathing heavily as he glances over toward Olivia, eyebrows lifted in anticipation.
Joel flushes a little even as he glances back at shock "I mean they're courting me for the cheerleader squad, so it's not like a cartwheel's that much of an ask" he murmurs wryly, still breathing heavily as he glances over toward Olivia, eyebrows lifted in anticipation.
Going quiet, Charlene leans forward a little to watch Jack and Olivia expectantly.
Kayly listens to Jack as he goes over some more stuff, going over to get her notebook to jot some more notes down on it, and then glancing in Olivia's direction as she offers to try and resist the compulsion.
"I can't catch her gaze," Jack tells the students as he looks at Olivia. "Because she is defending her mind. Let's see what happens when I use subtler persuasion," he shares. "Olivia, confess to the last rule you broke on campus."
"Even with her mind guarded, psychic persuasion can be effective. It's easily resisted," Jack shares. "But it avoids most defenses, and it is difficult to detect."
Sienna drifts away from Olivia while she prepares to participate in Jack's next experimentaton, seeming relieved when the professor declares the verdict of an unsuccessful attempt. She sidles around the group, bumping Caelum with an elbow as she draws near. "Do you know who that is?" she wonders quietly, a discreet finger pointed ih Joel's direction. "He's new to me."
"...and in fact, she was able to shake it off because she has her mind guarded with ease," Jack shares. "Apparently, your secrets are safe," he says. "Any last questions before I dismiss class?" he asks. "You do have homework."
Olivia holds up her hands, empty as they are, and simply tells Jack, "No. No I don't think I will." She breaks into a big grin, clearly pumped from her double triumph.
Jack glances around the class.
(When using guard mind, you can't start a hypnotism instruction. You can use psychic persuasion, but if you type 'resist' you resist for free.)
"Fight the power," Charlene remarks and gives Olivia a jovial grin. "No questions, Father Jack. I gotta run but I'll do my homework, don't worry."
Meridith glances at Jack. "No I'm clear," she says.
Somewhat absorbed in the engagement between Olivia and Jack - Sienna bumping Caelum with an elbow is what drives his attention back. "Joel?" A light shrug is offered, with a single slight lift and drop of a shoulder. "He's a newly minted Sigma."
Joel glances up and allows himself to look over the students in earnest for the first time since his ordeal started, now that Olivia has mostly drawn attention. He blinks a little at Jack's words however "Oh uh... homework? Should probably be writing this down..."
Meridith says "Er, wait, what's due?"
"What's our homework this week?" Meridith asks Jack gazing over toward him.
Sienna smacks a palm over her face with a low groan of pain at Charlene's words, barely suppressing a snorted laugh. "I can't stand you," she hisses over, then turns her eyes up to Caelum. "Joel?" she echoes after him, bobbing her head appreciatively with a glance over toward Joel yet again.
"Don't think I have any questions, Father." Kayly remarks with a shake of her head in Jack's direction, glancing around the room to see if anyone else does have any.
"Homework!" Jack says. "Pair up with another student who has some kind of compulsive power -- whether a ritualist, hypnotist, or otherwise -- and try out these powers," he says. "Only one of you need to have the power," he says. "And how you experiment is up to you, but I want one essay from each paired set of students about your experience. 200-300 words, due Friday the 16th."
Meridith says "Anyone wanna help me crack this out now?"
"I'll try to get that done later, but I gotta run," Charlene says and gives a wave before making her way out of the classroo.
Viktorin blinks, mulling over his thoughts. "Uh. Wow. I dunno anyone with that gift..."
Olivia carries her excitement still and offers a little wave toward her other classmates. "You can reach me at LivAndLetLiv on socials or just text me, 710-7231. I promise I'll be gentle! Oh, and for clarity's sake, I can do the hypnotist's part."
"Good luck," Alexandra finally tells the class as they start working on pairing up. She backs out of the classroom then and turns to head away. Likely toward her office.
Joel blinks a little and murmurs "Right..." glancing over the students, clearly trying to figure out who might have said powers. He starts to rise to hist feet, heading for his notebook, before he blinks as he recalls something. With a moment's hesitation he turns back to Jack and clears his throat "Uh... do you still need to talk to me, sir?"
Caelum's eyes are drawn away from Sienna slowly while she turns elsewheere - and instead he briefly stares at Jack. There is a slight knit to his brows there, pondering - before he glances at Sienna again. "You wanna pair up?"
"I do not have any gifts in that regard, but if someone needs to have a partner to practice on I suppose I can offer myself up should you find nobody available," Savannah says to the others now after the class is beginning to slip into finishing up.
Jack tells Joel, "Yes, but I have a meeting about budgets scheduled for the rest of the afternoon." He pauses. "So it may be tomorrow, Mr. Kalani."
Joel nods softly, a mixture of relieg and tension about him "Uh, alright." He moves back to gather up his belongings "Oof. Never figured sneezing to be that exhausting" he mutters.
Viktorin furrows his eyebrows, before decidedly waving towards the rest of the room. "Alright, I'm gonna bounce I guess, see ya later," Viktorin says quietly, slinking away from the circle warily.
"Pssst," Sienna attempts to summon Joel's attention upon herself, lips upturning in a bright smile to accompany the short wave of her hand. "Hey! Joel, right? I'm Sienna, Beta Phi Chi," she introduces herself, before turning her head to look at Caelum, pretending to mull over the question before shrugging a shoulder. "Yeah, sure, I guess. Don't make me do all the work though, Cross."
"Class dismissed," Jack says. "I can answer questions for maybe 15 minutes before my meeting," he shares.
Meridith yawns and steps outside
"Thank you Father Jack! I had no idea about that last technique, so definitely, very helpful lesson. I'll catch the rest of you guys later," Olivia tells the student body, waving her hand at them in farewell.
Joel glances up at someone and blinks, before flashing her a soft, slightly ovwerwhelmed smile. His gaze briefly flickers over her before "Oh, uh, hi. Joel, which you apprently know already. Sigma Lambda Pi." he clears his throat, straightening up in an attempt to overcome his awkwardness. "Nice to meet you, Sienna." His gaze flickers over toward Caelum, giving him a wry little smile of greeting as well.
Joel glances up at Sienna and blinks, before flashing her a soft, slightly ovwerwhelmed smile. His gaze briefly flickers over her before "Oh, uh, hi. Joel, which you apprently know already. Sigma Lambda Pi." he clears his throat, straightening up in an attempt to overcome his awkwardness. "Nice to meet you, Sienna." His gaze flickers over toward Caelum, giving him a wry little smile of greeting as well.
"Thanks for the class and all, Father." Kayly remarks to Jack, while in the process of picking up her stuff from her desk, and getting ready to head out.
Caelum looks at Joel as well, with the way Sienna tries to summon his attention. "Only if you know how to do this stuff." He speaks to Sienna, nodding, towards the armchair - indicative of the whole compulsion business. Joel, at his greeting - gets a smirk, with two digits waving off of his temple in return before his hand slips back into his jacket pocket.
"The practical class will be showing how the machine in the clinic works," Jack tells Caelum and Sienna. "Though Miss Swann may already know that, given her -- technical abilities."
"That was an interesting class, thank you, Father," Savannah says to Jack now as she looks around towards the others here, "I'll see you all around, was nice to see you, Sienna."
"See you around, Dep." Caelum calls over his shoulder at Savannah - then casts a look at Jack, then the chair again. Gone is the smirk, replaced by a more pensive expression. "Right.."
Sienna drops her head to the side as she rocks back and forth on her feet, offering Joel a quick smile. "Yeah, of course I know who you are. I'm psychic and can hear everyone's thoughts all day and night." A beat, before she breaks into a laugh, jerking a thumb at Caelum. "Just kidding. Caelum here told me a few minutes ago." Then, she perks up at Jack's words, beaming, "Oh, really? I've been hoping we'd get time with the machine."
"Wiat is there another part of the class or another scheduled one?" Savannah asks Jack now as she looks over to him.
Joel lifts his eyebrows a little at the ominous sound of 'the machine'. He gives a wry grin at Sienna, replying "Hey, at this point I'd have bought it. Or that I just blurted it out at some point without noticing."
Jack says to Savannah, "There will be a part 2, a practical, but it isn't on calendar yet. I'm still looking at scheduling times with the clinic."
As the class progresses, Jack's lessons delve into the varieties of mind control, from hypnotic suggestions to outright seizing command over an individual's actions. The power dynamics at play become evident, with Jack forcing Joel to sneeze uncontrollably, exemplifying the bodily dominance possible through magic. The class ends with Jack assigning homework; each student is to pair up and write an essay on their experiences with such compulsive abilities. Amidst shared laughter, concern, and a collective learning experience, students begin making arrangements for their assignments with Jack available for a brief period to answer any lingering queries. The lesson is a stark showcase of the potency, and the potential moral perils, associated with such powers.
(Jack's [White Oak] Mesmerism Seminar 1 (Morning Track))
[Fri Feb 9 2024]
In the Latin Classroom of the Spender Arts and Wellness Center at White Oak
Aged, leather-bound tomes and meticulously annotated manuscripts line the sturdy, oak bookshelves. The soft, filtered sunlight seeps through the stained glass windows, casting a colorful, ethereal glow that dances across the weathered, wooden desks and the intricate, Latin inscriptions adorning the walls. The faint scent of antiquity lingers in the air and the distant murmur of students poring over ancient texts can just barely be heard in the distance.
It is about 50F(10C) degrees.
"Just been catching up on sleep and stuff," Charlene mentions to Olivia and sticks her leg out to display the tights a bit more. "If I ain't busy tomorrow, we should--oh shit, class started. Sorry!"
"Just been catching up on sleep and stuff," Charlene mentions to Olivia and sticks her leg out to display the tights a bit more. "If I ain't busy tomorrow, we should--oh shit, class started. Sorry!"
Meridith wiggles a little wave of her fingers as classmates filter in. She has a curious expression about the subject material, but dubious too.
Olivia is in the midst of leaning forwrad to catch the best shot of those demonstrated gams. She flashes an understanding look back at Charlene as she settles back into her seat and gives the lecturer his due respect.
"So!" Jack says, clearing his throat to call the class to order. "This will be the first of two classes on supernatural mind control. In the old days, they might call that mesmerism," he says. "So that's the term I am going to use, if only because it is short enough to fit on a course catalog. The second part of this class will be a hands-on practical in the Webster Clinic," he says. "I'm still deciding if I will schedule it as a morning and evening track like I did this first session -- and for those of your friends who couldn't make it today, I'll be giving this same class again on Monday night for students who have internships and the like during the day." He pauses. "Any questions before we really begin?"
Meridith raises her hand. "So...this stuff is real?" she asks, eyebrows raised. A little incredulous
Alexandra face palms in the back of the classroom.
"It's super real," Charlene whispers furtively to Meridith.
Meridith blushes, hearing the face palm, and gazes over at Alexandra. Seeing who it is she shrinks in her chair a little bit.
Savannah leans herself forward someone at the front of the classroom, and she listens on to Jack now, nodding her head, "No questions, Father, seems like..." Then she is looking towards Meridith, "Yeah, this and kobolds." She chuckles softly though, looking back to Jack, "No questions for me, though, Father."
Kayly moves in to find a desk near the front quietly, right before the class starts up. As Jack starts to speak she pulls out some notebook paper and a pen, lifting an eyebrow slightly at Meridith's question.
There's a pause, looking at Meridith. "Miss Walker, have you had a course on the Venetian basics?" Jack asks her.
Jack holds up a hand for the rest of the class to pause while he talks to Meridith.
Joel bites his lip faintly as he sits up straight at his desk, clearly doing his best to look alert and engaged, remaining quiet as he listens to the class.
Meridith nods. "Of course, no I just mean...you know...mesmerism and...supernatural gaze are two different things right?"
Olivia offers a sympathetic smile toward Meridith from the side of the curious girl, only confirming the matter with a brief series of short nods her way. All pause given, you know, except for those nods. Some relief at Meridith's clarifications shows in her face.
Viktorin blinks cluelessly at the board, though he doesn't comment. Humming softly, he simply listens to Jack.
Jack asks Meridith, carefully: "This is important, Miss Walker. If we need, you and I can cover some basics and you can make the evening class on Monday."
Meridith groans. "Sorry! Sorry, we can move on, I was just dubious about the natural application," she insists. Not loving the hot seat.
"We can move on," Jack tells Meridith. "But this is a class for Aware students only, so I need you to make it clear to me that you know at least the basics of the Venetian system."
"Oh," Meridith says. "Uhm. Vampires are real? I have magic powers?" she's searching mentally for what might constitute. "I'm aware!" she insists though it looks like she might rather be almost literally anywhere else right now than the central focus of class.
Olivia nudges the back of Charlene's leg with the toe of her heel, really just being a playful pill for the sake thereof.
Charlene scrunches her nose mirthfully at Olivia and reaches out to pull at one of her friend's suspenders before letting go to make it snap back into place.
"Good enough!" Jack says to Meridith, turning back to class. He pauses a moment to see if there are more questions, as he goes to answer Meridith's. "There's a few different ways people can access mind control power," he shares. "And there's also several different ways those powers can take effect. I won't cover everything in this class, but I'll try to cover as much as I can." He pauses. "I will need a student volunteer in about fifteen minutes, so you all should start thinking about who is going to jockey to -be- that volunteer."
"I ain't volunteering, that's for sure," Charlene remarks quietly.
Meridith groans. "Kill me..."
Kayly chuckles under her breath at Jack's joke about students rushing to volunteer, as she listens to the priest continue to talk.
Viktorin shrugs and says, "Sure. I can. So long as I'm not gonna be doing weird stuff."
"It could be interesting to volunteer," Savannah offers to some of those commenting nearby as she looks between some of the students up close to the front. She does look towards Jack afterwards, shrugging.
Olivia brings up a hand protectively against her chest, albeit belatedly, after Charlene's nasty little suspender snap. "You should volunteer to be the test dummy," she tells Charlene with a wicked grin. She flicks a wadded up paper back at her.
Olivia waves off Viktorin's concern and tells him, "Charlie will do all the weird stuff, don't worry."
Charlene glances uncertainly at Olivia and raises her hand with some hesitation. "Uh, I guess I volunteer, too. But it's cool if you pick someone else."
Joel hesitates a little and shifts a little, before hesitantly raising his hand "I guess... I could" he murmurs. Perhaps not quite sure what he is volunteering for. Or trying to repair some of his earlier reputational damage with Jack.
Meridith says "Everyone so eager to have their heads messed with...noooo thanks."
A little more of a rush for volunteers than Jack might have thought, hm? When Charlene makes her hesitant volunteering Olivia's expression turns from a grin to a more triumphant one, briefly lived as that expression might be before she golf-claps for Charlene. "So which origins and all will we be learning about today, Father?"
"For some of us, it's pretty much an everyday occurance, just living in the world." Kayly remarks with a snort, quietly.
"I don't know why I volunteered," Charlene agrees, making a face at Meridith.
Savannah joins Olivia a little bit as she claps for Charlene also, "Good job, Charlie, changing your mind and being brave. That is admirable, you should definintely be the one chosen!" She smiles though and looks on towards Jack now, waiting to see what comes next.
Olivia nods at Kayly and points out, "Charlie must have a very confident, un-messed-with head to want to volunteer. I think it's a sign of adventurousness. Brava, Charlie, Joel."
Meridith gasps staring at Charlene. With some perhaps real genuine concern on her face she says, "...oh my god, he got to you already."
Kayly flashes a grin at Olivia and nods in her direction, "Clearly. Nice to see more adventerous people around."
Jack nods to Olivia. "That's the first item on our agenda, in fact."
(Throughout this lecture, we'll be discussing some mechanical code in IC terms. When necessary, code explanation will be given parentheticlally below an emote.)
"No he didn't! Everyone knows you gotta stare into someone's eyes to hypnotize them," Charlene remarks and rolls her eyes at Meridith. "I guess I'm just brave."
Alexandra remains quiet in the back after the initial face palm, focusing on her tablet and whatever she is doing on it. She listens intently, watching the students as well during the lecture. She remains aloof of the volunteer storm, letting that be for students, as Jack obviously intended it to be.
Meridith taps the side of her head knowingly. "...that's what they want you to think," she wiggles her fingers dramatically and turns her attention back to Jack
"No, it's true. That's why you see people wear sunglasses all the time around town. When you know you know," Olivia volunteers helpfully back at Meridith, a knowing tap of her temple given to the girl with the shock-white hair. "Think about all the dracula lore."
"So -- first on our outline is the common sources of mesmeretic control," Jack tells the class. "The three most common ways that someone comes to be able to influence others' minds is through mental powers, ritual magic, and the gifts of bodiless entities," he shares. "Of those categories, the first is the broadest: some manifest these abilities through an expression of pure psychic power," he says. "For others, they are just a different sort of magic, or come from some arcane item or practice. I am a sorcerer by training," he says. "So even though I have the ability to command minds without a ritual, when I do so it is still fundamentally arcane. For others, it may be more an expression of some latent psychic ability." He pauses. "Does anyone have any thoughts or insight on why there might be different origins that express themselves in fundamentally similar ways?
(Powers can have varied origins, sometimes reflected in the cost discounts to purchase them. For instance, the Hypnotism power can be purchased with an 'Item' discount, which might represent an arcane item or even a scientific gadget, or a tattoo, which could be a magical sealing, or just be self-mastered, representing psychic power or some other method.)"
"So -- first on our outline is the common sources of mesmeretic control," Jack tells the class. "The three most common ways that someone comes to be able to influence others' minds is through mental powers, ritual magic, and the gifts of bodiless entities," he shares. "Of those categories, the first is the broadest: some manifest these abilities through an expression of pure psychic power," he says. "For others, they are just a different sort of magic, or come from some arcane item or practice. I am a sorcerer by training," he says. "So even though I have the ability to command minds without a ritual, when I do so it is still fundamentally arcane. For others, it may be more an expression of some latent psychic ability." He pauses. "Does anyone have any thoughts or insight on why there might be different origins that express themselves in fundamentally similar ways?"
(Powers can have varied origins, sometimes reflected in the cost discounts to purchase them. For instance, the Hypnotism power can be purchased with an 'Item' discount, which might represent an arcane item or even a scientific gadget, or a tattoo, which could be a magical sealing, or just be self-mastered, representing psychic power or some other method.)
Meridith scribbling down notes she considers the question thoughtfully. "Well, there is the mundane reality of hypnotism, it's simply communication and persuasion, arguably any kind of thing that helps with that can be called 'hypnotism' from mundane realities of persuasion to...the more supernatural?" she offers.
Olivia raises her hand to volunteer the suggestion that, "Kind of in the same way that different people have different like, methods for rituals, right? It achieves the same result, but the difference is in how we trained ourselves to actually do the Thing, whether that be hypnotism or bridging different worlds."
Olivia raises her hand to volunteer the suggestion that, "Kind of in the same way that different people have different like, methods for rituals, right? It achieves the same result, but the difference is in how we trained ourselves to actually do the Thing, whether that be hypnotism or bridging different worlds."
"I heard that animals evolved flying sort of individually, you know? Like birds and bats didn't have a common ancestor that flew," Charlene ventures after briefly raising her hand. "So maybe mesmerism is the same sort of way. Different, like, routes to the same goal."
Joel quietly scribbles in his notebook, glancing up as he adds softly "Or maybe all of these origins are just different ways of interacting with the same mystical medium, which is why they ultimately end up so similar in effect..."
"I think those are all good thoughts," Jack tells Charlene and Olivia. "I like the birds and bats analogy best of all, really: both birds and bats are working on fundamental principles of how air pressure and gravity work," he says, a little fuzzy about the physics of lift. "They may have different muscles and membranes, but -- exactly as Mr. Kalani says. The birds and the bees fly through the same air, just as the sorcerer and scientist interact with the same minds."
Jack nods in recognition to Joel for his answer.
Meridith nods, and writes her own answer down. Clearly she likes it best.
"Hell yeah," Charlene remarks and grins smugly at Olivia. "Told you I was smart."
Meridith giggles quietly.
"If you have to tell people that you're smart," Olivia starts to trade playful barbs with Charlene by sheer reflex, but she pauses both words and notes to admit, "That was a really good answer, honestly."
Simply silent, Viktorin listens to the room with interest.
"The second extremely common method is through ritual magic," Jack tells the class. "We'll discuss it a little more in the next section, but mind control through ritual magic is both stronger and weaker than through mental power," he shares. "Most mental commands last until the person receiving the command does what they are instructed to do, or in the case of more powerful commands for some time after they are instructed. The mental commands from the most common ritual magic create a desire in someone rather than an outright command, but that desire lingers based on the power of the sorcerer -- even after the person compelled has done what they are told." He pauses. "There's a practical tip in this for those who make the poor choice to use magic," he says. "If you use a ritual command to make someone do something specific, they will continue to be compelled to do so for some time, so you may end up 'looping' them in a way you don't intend."
(The 'ritual imprint' ritual creates 'want' imprints, not 'need' imprints, but it lasts as long as your arcane power and cannot be satiated. That can create strange cognitive dissonance if you use it for something like 'you want to reply to John's text message', because it will continue to exist after the text message is replied to, possibly up to several days for a powerful arcanist.)
"Father, I understood that ritual magic and the assosciated dangers were considered corrupting, but if they all share the same root, wouldn't that imply all of this is...evil? I mean, not that controlling peoples minds -isn't- evil, but wouldn't it just by its nature?" Meridith asks Jack curiously.
A frown works its way into Charlene's expression. She ponders something for a while and eventually raises her hand to ask, "Is there any way to know if someone did that to you? Like with magic?"
Olivia springs off Charlene's question with a raise of her own hand and checks, "And can you teach us that ritual or whatever too? That seems really, really important to know."
Kayly glances over to Charlene as she asks her question, and remarks, "Think I've read there's some sort of ritual to trace who's put one on you, or something?"
Meridith gazes suspiciously Olivia
Meridith gazes suspiciously someone
Meridith gazes suspiciously Olivia -wards
"If you use it on me, I'm gonna beat you up," Charlene hisses at Olivia.
Olivia clears her throat and says, "I mean, let me clarify, I mean the ritual to tell who ensorceled us. Ladies. Context."
Meridith giggles and nods, moving to jot knots.
Meridith jots NOTES
Jack takes questions one by one. To Meridith, he says simply, "Yes. We can quibble about the degrees of corruption, but magical power, of any sort, requires more and more sin as one grows more and more powerful." To Charlene, he says, "Not generally. Part of hypnotic power is that it makes it seem like your idea," he says. "There is a ritual, called a trace ritual, that will tell you the last person who targeted you with ritual magic -- but it won't tell you what they targeted you with. They could have scried you, or cast their own trace ritual, or anything like that." He nods to Olivia. "I am very careful about ritual magic," he says. "But we can discuss it after class, Miss Myers -- ah. That ritual, the trace ritual. Yes, I can hold a class on that."
Meridith nods, mollified somewhat. Though, it doesn't seem like she was all that worried about the answer?
Olivia takes notes on her paper and offers quietly towards Charlene's back, "Full disclosure I did use magic to make you volunteer earlier. It's still a binding legal contract you gave Eff-Jay."
Meridith gasps! "I knew it!" she declares to Charlene and Olivia. She stares in mildy horror at Olivia.
"You did?! Ugh, I knew it," Charlene mutters and gives Olivia a harmless little kick under the desk.
Terribly late, Sienna ducks her head down low as she moves into one a few spare seats along the front of the class rows, dropping her backpack down onto the floor next to her feet.
Olivia cackles quietly at some ripple of conversation amongst the note-taking students, turning to offer her warm welcome to Sienna and Caelum through a quiet waggle of her eyebrows at that pair of suspiciously-timed late-comers.
Meridith gazes suspiciously at Caelum and Sienna.
There is every attempt to be as inconspicous as possible while Caelum trails after Sienna - coming up from the other end of the desks to slide into a seat on the front rows himself.
Kayly nods over at Sienna as she arrives to the class late.
"Finally -- nice of you to join us," Jack tells Sienna and Caelum as they walk in late. "Finally, there are mental powers that can be granted by bodiless intelligences," he says. "There are a lot of different sorts of entities; conventionally, we call them eidolons, but they are considerably more different from each other than say one of the Fae-blooded is from someone who is has a Godsrealm lineage or even is afflicted with lycanthropy. Still: like Miss McCormick's insight about mental powers earlier, they are all working in the same medium." He nods to Joel again with some recognition. "They can grant such powers in a few ways," he says. "First, they can grant some supernatural powers directly in the forms of enhancements or blessings," he shares. "Second, they can give people -- even those who might otherwise be able to use such a power -- enchanted relics that give them powers they might not dream of." He pauses. "And finally, they, like mortal sorcerers, can enchant objects to carry a compulsion with them as a curse."
Sienna raises her hand in easy wave toward Olivia, Kayly, Meridith and Charlene when she spots the familiar faces of the sorority girls. "Hey," she whispers over. "Anyone got the notes so far?"
Meridith slides her book over towards Sienna. Notes kept, though there's quite a few doodles in the margins, mostly ornate borders with flowers crudely done.
"Hey, Sie. I never take any notes. I got a great memory," Charlene tells Sienna and gives her a finger-wiggle. "Are you in a Nirvana cover band?"
Sienna fishes out her phone, swiping into the camera app and lining up Meridith's notes for a quick shot, doodles and all. "Thanks, babes. You're a life saver," she tells her sorority sister before giving a snicker at Charlene. "No, but that's kind of on my bucket list. You been reading my diary again?"
"Human brains aren't all that complicated, a half gram of a certain chemical'll turn anyone into a blood craving cannibal," Meridith notes somberly, louder than perhaps she intends.
Charlene grins cheekily at Sienna.
"Charlie technically cannot read," Olivia grins slyly at Sienna before she belatedly returns an earlier kick Charlene gave her with a tug on the back of her sweater. "She is brilliant though. You would've been proud of her evolutionary biology metaphor." Caelum also gets the tea shared his way, and more specifically offeres, "It's been pretty low drama so far."
Meridith says "Violations of free will, aside"
"The physiology of the human brain and its marvels are still baffling a lot of scientists, in terms of learning how much it controls and the way it intrinsically works. So, can't be that easy if the brightest minds of the supernatural and natural world can't answer simple questions quite yet," Sienna gives her opinion over toward Meridith in musing aside, teeth tonguing lightly the inside of her cheek before she puffs out a breath.
Meridith giggles mischeviously.
"I can too!" Charlene retorts and makes a rude face at Olivia.
Jack glances at the clock. "This is a 90-minute block," he says. "If we haven't gotten through it all by the end of class, I'll consider scheduling a second classroom session before we do our practical lab in the Webster Clinic. The lab will probably be a two-hour block," he shares. "As we turn to -types- of supernatural mind control," he says. "Now it's time for a volunteer." He pauses. "Mr. Kalani?" he says. "I know you and Miss McCormick were both vying for it. I should make Miss Swann come up here, since she was late, but..." He gestures to armchair. "If you could come up here and sit down and get comfortable," he tells Joel.
"Well, simple in the sense that the levers and mechanisms, crude as our understanding is, are easily pulled," Meridith explains in defense to Sienna.
"I think like most temptations and things, there is the ability to try and resist them," Savannah says to Meridith after a few moments, giving a wave towards Sienna and Caelum at their arrival.
Olivia raises her hand and asks, "What is the uh, what is the cannibal chemical and how do we even know that?" she asks as Joel gets picked for the test dummy this class.
"I swear to God, you might as well just sign yourself up for another degree at this point," Sienna mutters over toward Savannah when she spots the deputy behind her. "You're attending more than enough classes to accumulate like, all the credit points you need." Her lips quirk at Olivia's words, before wondering over to the cheerleaders, "You guys ready for our practice?"
"I wasn't vying that hard," Charlene assures Jack, looking a bit relieved when Joel is selected. "Liv made me do it. She already confessed."
Caelum returns a wave towards Savannah, with a bit of a smile at that- before his brows knit in slight confusion, and he backtracks at Olivia - tilt of his head just enough to peer over others to stare at her. "Why can't Charlie read?" But the look is leveled at Charlene as well, right after, "Why can't you read?"
Joel:blinks a bit, clearly regretting his decision a little, but he doesn't put up any protrest, instead getting up to his feet with a faint flush to his cheeks. He takes a deep breath and slowly makes his way toward the front. He sits down on the chair, shifting nervously as the vantage point makes him face the rest of the students.
Interestedly, Viktorin watches Joel and Jack, tilting his head fractionally. He glances towards Sienna and Caelum before offering them a slight wave, returning his attention forward.
Kayly writes down some more notes as Jack continues the seminar, and then glances in Joel's called up as the volunteer, curious to see what's in store for the fairly new student in the demonstration.
"Hell yeah, I'll be there a hundred percent," Charlene whispers and nods vigorously to Sienna. Then she narrows her eyes at Caelum. "I literally can read! I scored eight points above the threshold for special needs, okay? Quit bullying me."
Meridith nods to Savannah. "Yes, thankfully the ability to secrete dopamine and sertonin appear out of the hands of the Supernatural," she remarks gladly.
Viktorin says "Outta what? Numbers are important..."
Meridith gazes at Joel and Jack. She looks very uneasy.
"A hundred," Charlene tells Viktorin, shrugging noncommittally.
"Eight -whole- points?" Caelum stares at Charlene, faux surprise in his features with the lifft of his brows and the slight parting of his lips. "Holy shit. Christ, Charlie - you're like, hyperfunctioning, then?"
Viktorin says "Uh... what's the threshold then? "
Meridith says "...Guys, come on."
Meridith frowns at Vik and Caelum.
"Well I know you've been slacking, so we totally need to get together and work out together so we're not caught slipping for practice," Sienna immediately voluntells Charlene, lips twitching in quiet amusement at Caelum's needling. "Oh, come off it, Cae. I've seen your grades. You have no room to talk."
"Oh, the one on National Mistress Day? Hell yes, I am so pumped! I will bully Joel into joining us, since he was interested in trying out. If we're looking for donations, should we do like... photo ops? Baked sale? Concessions?" Olivia ventures amongst the other girls, doing her damnedest to get the words out without laughing at Charlene and Caelum.
"Like twenty or something. It was a while ago," Charlene remarks and shushes Viktorin irritably. "I gotta pay attention to this so I know if Liv is messing with my brain."
As with most lectures, Caelum slowly folds both arms on his desk, something chatted towards the row prior, but his chin is set over his arms. There is a briefly stifled yawn into his wrist, but otherwise, his attention is spared outward. Lazy and languin in the lid of his eyes set upon the lectern and the armchair Joel put himself on.
"The simplest and most common sort of supernatural mesmerism is hypnotic persuasion," Jack shares with the class. "It's notable because it's not something we can notice easily." He moves from the lectern near Joel. "All of us should gather around for this section," he shares. "This is the sort of thing best seen close up." Asking the class, he says, "I'd like students to volunteer -- via text message -- something you think might be interesting for Mr. Kalani to want to do," he shares. "I'll pick one."
"Do you think someone mesmered Elon Musik into buying Twitter?" Charlene asks Jack, leaning forwards with her elbows on her desk to watch Joel expectantly.
"Don't joke about my grades, I'm only failing Latin." Caelum chides at Sienna with a slight tilt of his head - then there is a smirk, baring not so subtle fangs beneath narrowed eyes. "You've been spying on my grades? Stalker."
Jack moves to stand near Joel.
(Everyone should join 'a circle of students and staff near the armchair' because not all messages propagate in crowded rooms.)
"Um what's your number, sir?" Meridith asks
Olivia leaves the front row and makes a playful bump against Savannah and Charlene's desks as she passes them. Texting as she goes, she reasons, "I wouldn't mess with your head twice in a row, Char. I have some sense of decorum. Of manners."
Savannah stands up from her chair now and begins to move towards the armchair and Jack, looking to Joel with a little sympathy, "Good luck, Joel, I'm sure you're going to do great."
Joel:shifts a little, clearly not sure whether the delegation to the other students should make him more or less worried. He gives a faint grin of bravado at Savannah in reply, hish ands clutching the arms of the chair a little.
"It's 710-7295," Jack shares with Meridith and the class.
Alexandra is a little slow to get to the circle, walking up from the back, but she lingers at the outside of the circle, watching between taps on her tablet.
"You do not," Charlene remarks and grins lightheartedly at Olivia. Now on her feet, she joins up with her and Sienna. "I was at the game last week, Sie. I even lifted Sammie. It was pretty cool."
Savannah smiles at Olivia's bump and one her way towards the circle, she leans into the woman with a little nudge.
Meridith is very nervously observing this.
Caelum seems entirely reluctant to get up from his newfound comfort slouched on his desk - but he does, regretfully. Hands easily find his pockets while he slips up to stand with the group - interested - but not enough to pose a text offering what poor Joel should be made to do.
"I'm getting some good suggestions here," Jack tells the students casually. "I think my favorite so far is from Miss Myers, who wants Mr. Kalani toget up and pose like a bodybuilder in the corner of the room -- I suppose he's muscled enough, don't you think?" he asks with some humor. "Anyone else have any good thoughts?"
"Shoot. I'm so mad that I ended up missing the game, but you bet your ass I won't be missing anything else. I'm tired of the FOMO," Sienna complains to Charlene as she moves to congregate around the staff and students, rolling up her spiralbound notebook to swat at Caelum's shoulder. "Pay attention."
Kayly snickers a bit as Jack reveals the suggestion about bodybuilding poses.
Jack keeps checking in on messages as they buzz. "Getting some great ones here," he shares with the class.
Olivia bears a pleased grin as she bows her head amongst the circle for that recognition. As she raises it she ventures to Sienna, "We definitely missed you there. It was so, so close. Next game I thinknwe should preemptively sabotage their team. What was that cannibal chemical again?"
"Liv, are you sure it's a good idea to make it so we have to play against a bunch of crazy cannibals? Think about it," Charlene remarks, scrunching her nose skeptically at Olivia.
"Pretend he's a college fratboy," Caelum chimes in after Sienna swats at his shoulder. It's a poor attempt, joking, just something rattled off the top of his head - but he gives Sienna a sideway look as if saying 'happy?' along with a roll of his eyes, but no detracted smile.
Meridith says "Definitely not so sure I should have shared that with this crew..."
Joel:blinks just a little as he listens to Jack, murmuring "I'm not..." he trails off, his eyes unfocusing a little. The flush of embarassment recedes a little from his cheeks as he slowly stands up. He takes adeep breath, and slowly unzips his blazer, draping it over the back of the chair before he takes a few steps away from it. He moves into profile, lifting his arms at angles, flexing his bared biceps--only to suddenly blink as he realizes what he is doing, his blush returning with a vengeance.
Olivia has to admit that doesn't sound like the best sort of opponent on the field, but she has to point out, "It's gotta be at least a fifteen yard penalty to bite a guy. I... I admit, I would have to ask someone that knows football better." She makes a grin at Meridith and assures her, "I am absolutely joking, Mere. We'd just do that ipecac stuff."
"I don't think that translated as well as it probably did in your mind," Sienna blurts quietly toward Olivia, her lips pressing into a disappointed pout at Meridith. "You just can't be sharing niche knowledge like that. We'll all suck it up like a sponge and be irresponsible with it." Her gaze cuts over toward Caelum, scrunching her nose at him playfully before nodding her affirmation, eyes turning back onto Jack, going silent to focus on the lesson.
"...of course, I already chose: I compelled him to go stand and pose," Jack shares with the class. "Did anyone notice that -that- sentence was full of some supernatural, compulsive power?" he asks the assembled students as Joel moves into profile. "That's the power of psychic persuasion: it is very easy for someone to resist, if the instruction is counter to their natural inclination, but it's also largely undetectable. No trace ritual or anything else would reveal that Mr. Kalani is under some compulsion," he explains to the students. He raises his voice. "Mr. Kalani, you can come and sit back down, now."
Meridith shivers and clasps a hand against the back of her neck. She takes a deep breath observing the act take place.
"Is there any way to protect yourself against that kinda stuff?" Charlene asks, peering curiously at Joel while she speaks to Jack.
Joel slowly lowers his arms, shifting out of the pose, looking thoroughly overwelmed by how he feels about what just happened. He clears his throat and nods, moving back to sit down on the arm chair, avoiding the gaze of the other students for now.
"So even for observers the only way they might notice something is off, is if the person doing the hypnotizing, worded the instructions in an odd fashion?" Kayly wonders curiously to Jack.
Savannah watches Joel begin his little flexing show before smiling a little bit at the man, "I mean, no need to be too embarrassed." She looks around herself and shakes her head, seeing if anyone else has noticed, "I didn't really notice too much, myself, I don't think?"
"I didn't notice a thing." Caelum murmurs under his breath - narrowing his eyes at Joel. There is a somewhat critical look spanning the pose made, coupled with a shake of his head. "Terrifying." Charlene's question gets raises brows, and a hand removes from his pocket to point at her, as if she just made a really really good point.
"Nice! Bravo, Joel," Olivia tells the young man with a warmth of applause for his show, as un-Arnold as it might have been--and indeed as it might have been expected to see. She remains quiet for Charlene's question, exchanging murmured conversation with Sienna instead.
"Ritual magic," Alexandra tells Charlene, nodding stoicly as she listens, watching everything. She does not elaborate, letting Jack do that if he desires. But she looks back down to her tablet and does some more tapping on it before finally folding her hands together behind her back, both gripping the tablet.
"I dunno, I thought it would be funnier, or at least funner for the poor guy. I like to goof off and flex some," Olivia tells Sienna with a helpless shrug, as if alien that people might not all enjoy the same flavors of goofiness, let alone in a circle of spectators like this.
"Hypnotic persuasion like that is a kind of instruction," Jack continues as Joel sits back down. "It is telling someone something that they need to do. It's not a trick that purely mortal sorcerers can learn; one must have supernatural blood, a gift from an eidolon, or an artifact," he shares. He looks at Charlene. "There is -- and yes, Miss Menendez, that's a good insight. Wording is a challenge when persuasion needs to be spoken out loud." He pauses. "There are more powerful, direct instructions, though," he says. "For them, you need to meet a subject's eyes -- and those nearby will know, so one way to protect against such instructions, so-called "true hypnosis", is to not be alone. He looks Joel in the eyes, now. "But it is much more powerful, and one can be much more direct with instruction.""
Jack says quietly, "You all saw me do that. Mr. Kalani did not."
Caelum lets out a long whistle at what Jack just did to Joel. There is slightly more interest there, now, collected on the other sigma while his eyes narrow. "That is so cruel."
Viktorin shifts his eyes cautiously, anxiously, "Well... uh. Guess I'm going to try to be around more than one person .. For like. Forever..."
Kayly nods a few times at Jack's answer, and then tilts her head thoughtfully at the more obvious hypnotism method.
Sienna folds her arms over her oversized t-shirt, tilting sideways until her head can catch on Olivia's shoulder, a shadow of exhaustion settling under her half-lidded eyes while she observes Jack's interactions with Joel, curious. "Well I won't yuck your comedic yums, so don't worry," she promises her friend turned leaning post.
"I wonder if you can hypnotize a deaf person with sign language," Charlene remarks.
Meridith has gone quiet, she pulls her arms around her chest, just hugging herself as she observes.
Joel blinks a bit as he murmurs "Saw you do what..." he trails off, still staring up at Jack as his gaze unfocuses a little again. He turns his gaze out over the class, clearly his throat as he murmurs "I sometimes... get kind of turned on by people bossing me around..." a few more blinks, before his eyes widen in realization. He lowers his gaze quickly, his flush deepening further.
Meridith grimaces and gazes down.
Caelum whispers in a faux stage-tone aside at the other gathered students; with his hand lifted to mask his lips to no avail or attempt, really. "Five bucks says he's going to say he's a botto-" His hand drops, hands in his pocket. "Close enough."
Viktorin simply states "Oof."
"When you form some hypnotic statement in your mind -- whether it is a direct instruction or some persuasion -- you make choices," Jack says. "You focus on the weaknesses in your subject's psyche. I might call it their sins," he says. "But it is as Miss Walker was saying earlier: this, too, is evil. Magic is preying on the weaknesses of others, whatever its form," he says in grim agreement with Caelum. Looking back to Joel, he says, "I'm sorry, Mr. Kalani. Every time we use magic, someone is hurt."
(When using psychic persuasion or hypnotism, you pick 'psychic pressures'. The closer your list of psychic pressures is to the ones the target picks when considering resistance, the harder it is for them to resists.)
Olivia offers a light hug around Sienna's shoulder as she stands her ground, a loyal resting place. She offers a far more sympathetic expression this go around, but something someone murmurs behind her causes a hitch in that expression, quickly swallowed back to seriousness.
Kayly gives a snort at Caelum's comment and on Joel's remark as well, shaking her head slightly and sighing.
"Typical of guys these days," Alexandra notes with a quiet snicker, shaking her head a little, without looking up from her tablet. "Nothing to be embarrassed by. It is far more common today than people think," she points out to Joel before gesturing around. "Maybe one of these girls will take to bossing you around," she quips then, shrugging her shoulders.
Savannah looks sympathetically up towards Joel when the man is put through being the demonstration now. She fidgets a little with her phone in her hands, and looks around herself to gauge the other's reactions, "Yeah, it isn't so bad, could be way, way worse." She looks to the armchair now and says, "Probably rather have a little of that than some of the asshole attitudes we have in Haven."
"Wow," Sienna blurts out in the aftermath of Joel's confession, struggling to process the weight of it before she shields a half-smothered laugh behind a hand. "Seven out of ten, did not expect that," she admits over to Charlene and Caelum, eyes never straying from Jack as he speaks.
"So in a way by warning us, you're kind of helping us shore up our defenses against the more predatious sorts," Olivia points out to Jack, rather helpfully playing him up and drawing the attention away from Joel.
Joel presses his lips together firmly, casting a bit of a scating look at Alexandra, but finding himself breaking off eye contact soon eough. "Y-yeah, I'm getting that..." he replies quietly to Jack, still breathing heavily, eyes burning a little.
Joel presses his lips together firmly, casting a bit of a scating look at Alexandra, but finding himself breaking off eye contact soon eough. "Y-yeah, I'm getting that..." he replies quietly to Jack, still breathing heavily, eyes burning a little.
Olivia makes a slight sigh and pulls up her phone, the Venmo app coming up before she turns a side eye toward Caelum
"Yeah, but I think it's kinda cool that we get to know that. It's different," Charlene tells Sienna and puffs some hair out of her face. "Bossing people around can be kinda fun."
Meridith says "...I think everyone should share something like that."
Jack shares with the class, "These were instructions -- but as you grow in occult power, you can make them last. When Mr. Kalani confessed, the desire to do so faded from his mind." He pauses. "But I have been schooled in magic for a long time," he says. "And the sacrifices I have made to gain power -- the people I have hurt, like Mr. Kalani -- mean I could give him an instruction that lasted a day or so beyond his immediate compliance. I'm not going to demonstrate that power here, but be aware of that risk. If it's someone who you are truly close to, or if you lack the protection of the town's Sanctuary, they might even be able to make such a compulsion permanent."
(Instructions and psychic persuasion last until satiated. Compulsions last past that, usually until some extended log-off period. If you do not have sanctuary, including because of a relationship or sanctuary dropping from sex, compulsions can be locked and can become permanent. If you lock a compulsion, consider strongly sharing OOCly the pressures you used to lock the compulsion in a note in case you leave the game.)
Meridith shrugs. "Because it isn't fair he had to reveal something like that to us, and that would...make it fair."
"Don't worry, man. Nothing wrong with that." Caelum offers Joel despite his depricating comment earlier. "To each their own." The last bit though, comes with a look at his phone - the honored bet from Olivia has him smirking even more. "Sweet."
"Magic isn't fair, Miss Walker. It's the opposite of that," Jack admits. "Magic is about -you- getting power at others' expense." He pauses. "In addition to mental instructions like we've done, I will cover one other sort of instruction. When you gain power, you can short-circuit someone's mind and control their body," he says. "Anyone want to suggest something to compel Mr. Kalani's body to do?" he says. "This is fundamental, direct control over someone's motor cortex, but it follows all the same rules as we discussed before."
"Absolutely not," Sienna voices against Meridith. "I don't want to know Olivia and Charlene's embarrassing secrets. It beats the fun of like secretly wondering what it could be. Right now, Olivia's secretly an e-girl with a whole Twitch career as a masked gamer online in my head." An elbow nudges playfully into Olivia's side, gaze bouncing back to Jack. "How do you resolve that? Sacrificing parts of your humanity for power? How do you like, carefully make these sacrifices without really giving into the corruption for it?'"
"I mean, life isn't always fair and at least not immediately. Go ahead and share something embarrassing with the class if you want, Mere, but I think we can also just show support by pointing out, you know, it's nothing he should be embarrassed about," Olivia tells Meridith with a light smile and a soft tone. She gets it, but she ain't gonna confess either. She has to grin at Sienna and point out, "Well now I have nothing to share anyway!"
Joel is still recovering from the particular secret that escaped him. The general outpour of support, such as it is, only goes so far in calming him down, so he just remains sitting back in the chair, apparently considering he has a good excuse not to take notes just this second.
"Why not go easy on him?" Caelum offers Jack while slipping his phone away again. A bit of defense for the other sigma, by the sigma. "Make him do a cartwheel - that's harmless." Though, he does give a look over at Joel, as if to assess whether he can pull off a cartwheel. "Probably."
Looking at Sienna, Jack gives her a look. "I like to think I strike the right balance," he says. "I pray a lot on Christ, walking to Golgotha. He knew he was sacrificing himself, didn't he? It seems to me that if I am to acquire power --" And he has, clearly "-- it's in his footsteps." He pauses. "He sacrificed his life for world, Miss Swann, and so I sacrifice my soul to do what good I can." Is the defrocked priest comparing his pursuit of magic to Christ on the cross? Yes.
Meridith gazes into Olivia's eyes a moment and then looks down. "You're right," she says softly, rubbing the back of her neck. "It wasn't all that bad, it's kind of cute," she says softly. She does seem to noticeably relax.
"We all have our secrets and our secret lives," Savannah says to the others nearby, lowering her voice in conspiracy. She then looks around herself as she says, "Joel is a nice guy though, helpful, friendly, and if he likes to be bossed around, more power to him." She crosses her arms in front of herself, wondering now as she looks to Jack, "I don't really have any suggestions, but I'm sure someone will have a few."
Olivia pinches the bridge of her nose and squints her eyes for a moment and nods back at Meridith when she's had her second. She misses most of the Jesus metaphor. She manages an approving smile at Meridith and points out, "Now if he breaks his neck with a cartwheel, then we might have to show more support than that."
Jack looks back at Joel. "Sorry," he tells the young man, apologetically -- and then he catches his eyes.
Viktorin knots his brow at Jack's words, glancing between him and Sienna, mulling over his thoughts. Gently, he tells Meridith "I'm good. I'd rather not spill my innards for the poignant purpose of equality. Especially since I didn't sign up for that."
Caelum winces at what Jack did, and slightly pulls away.
Meridith giggles at Olivia and nods softly. "Yes, yes..." then gasps. "That's so much worse than a hand stand!" she declares, worried now that she forgot to provide an instruction for Joel.
Kayly listens to the conversation quietly for the moment, content to just observe for the moment, as Jack picks on Joel yet again. Though on hearing the command, she does step back a few steps to get away from any sneezing.
Sienna shakes her head at Jack in quiet disbelief. "Now that right there? That's plain evil," she declares ardently under her breath, a sympathetic look cast in Joel's direction as she pre-emptively edges away, putting Olivia's body between them.
Joel glances back up, eyebrows lifting faintly as he murmurs "Now wha---" before he jerks forward, his arm coming up just in time to catch the sneeze. Again and again the instinct seizes his body, making him jerk and shudder with every sneeze. He manages to get a bit more quiet after a moment, but at the point where the twenty-one is reached, he falls back in the chair with a look of utter exhaustion, face deeply flushed "Fuck..." he mutters quietly.
Meridith reaches forward to pat Joel's back.
"He could choose to do a cartwheel," Jack explains to Caelum, Olivia, and the rest of the class. "But sneezing is something the body cannot control -- but with magic?" His eyes light up, and there is something low and dangerous and predatory in his voice. "I can." He lets that sit. "There is a way to protect against compulsion," he shares. "At least this sort -- if one repeats a mantra of some sort, you can block compulsion out from your mind. But it drains you, and it does not last very long." He pauses. "But other forms of mental power cannot be stopped with such discipline. For instance, you can use a ritual, as I said, to compel not just mental desires but bodily compulsions, and neither are affected by a repeated mantra. Still, if any of you wish to try it, try repeating the Lord's Prayer with a focus on keeping your mind still. That is what I do."
(The 'guardmind' command can protect you against hypnotism and psychic persuasion for a short time at a LF cost, but it doesn't protect against rituals.)
Meridith says "If I wasn't sore sore I'd volunteer to try it..."
"His throat is gonna be raw. Jesus. If... is it two birds with one stone if I boss him into drinking a bunch of honeyed green tea," Olivia polls the audience behind her--including Sienna who is literally trying to hide behind her. She turns back to the front and raises her hand. "I'll try it out. Like pray out loud or in my head or what?"
Joel sits up a little, glancing at someone with a wry smile before muttering "Hey, I'd have done the cartwheels just for the askin" in a rather wry tone, his voice indeed a little raw.
Joel sits up a little, glancing at Meridith with a wry smile before muttering "Hey, I'd have done the cartwheels just for the askin" in a rather wry tone, his voice indeed a little raw.
"Fair enough.." Caelum answers grimly to Jack -- now certainly more severe in his expression while those narrow eyes drift over to Joel, somewhere in midcounts of his sneezes. He doesn't watch him reach total, its an unbearable sight of suffering. Instead, he shoots a glance at Olivia, with a tilt of his head an a somewhat amused shake of his head. "Don't turn him on, now - poor guy's in enough involuntary compulsion as is."
"You mean if I commanded you to...?" Meridith lets out a shy little laugh toward Joel.
There is a slow lean backwards as Savannah prepares for Joel's outburst of sneezing and then she steps away a little bit before she looks between Meridith and Joel, chuckling softly, "You have to give a firm tone of voice and an expectant glare afterwards, Meridith."
"I gotta go charge my phone after class," Charlene mentions to Olivia and Sienna. "But I might have time to hang out later, like around dinnertime."
"It can be silent, Miss Myers," Jack tells Olivia, and then he turns to fix her with his eyes. "But another truth is that you cannot employ hypnotic power constantly," he says. "The more powerful it is, the more it drains you -- but I can use some lesser compulsion on you, if you want to see if you can resist it," he says. "Are you ready?" he asks her, as he tells the class generally, "The only substantial topic left to cover was related powers over emotion control and the ability to wipe memories," he says. "Be aware that others can produce emotional responses in you," he says. "Especially those who dabble in dream magic." He pauses. "And many supernaturals can erase memories, though the power is not as great as you may think. They return in dreams." He pauses. "I do intend to discuss cursed items and alchemy, at some point, but on a field trip to the Goblin Market."
(The amnesia hypnosis has been clarified by Tyr to be pretty limited in scope. As a purely editorial opinion, I much prefer instructions like 'Don't talk about the time Jack made you sneeze' to an amnesia 'Forget Jack made you sneeze'. As an antagonist and a victim, I want RP to go forward and continue to affect you, even if there's an IC reason to keep it secret. That's just my practice as an antagonist, though.)
"Okay, cool, I'll definitely blow your phone up with Feed Me Cookie Monster gifs around dinner time, so we can all get together," Sienna promises Charlene in quick aside.
Olivia takes in a deep breath and maintains a level stare at Jack as she deliberately nods her head. She looks not toward her other students, fully focused on resistance. She. Is. Ready.
Joel flushes a little even as he glances back at someone "I mean they're courting me for the cheerleader squad, so it's not like a cartwheel's that much of an ask" he murmurs wryly, still breathing heavily as he glances over toward Olivia, eyebrows lifted in anticipation.
Joel flushes a little even as he glances back at shock "I mean they're courting me for the cheerleader squad, so it's not like a cartwheel's that much of an ask" he murmurs wryly, still breathing heavily as he glances over toward Olivia, eyebrows lifted in anticipation.
Going quiet, Charlene leans forward a little to watch Jack and Olivia expectantly.
Kayly listens to Jack as he goes over some more stuff, going over to get her notebook to jot some more notes down on it, and then glancing in Olivia's direction as she offers to try and resist the compulsion.
"I can't catch her gaze," Jack tells the students as he looks at Olivia. "Because she is defending her mind. Let's see what happens when I use subtler persuasion," he shares. "Olivia, confess to the last rule you broke on campus."
"Even with her mind guarded, psychic persuasion can be effective. It's easily resisted," Jack shares. "But it avoids most defenses, and it is difficult to detect."
Sienna drifts away from Olivia while she prepares to participate in Jack's next experimentaton, seeming relieved when the professor declares the verdict of an unsuccessful attempt. She sidles around the group, bumping Caelum with an elbow as she draws near. "Do you know who that is?" she wonders quietly, a discreet finger pointed ih Joel's direction. "He's new to me."
"...and in fact, she was able to shake it off because she has her mind guarded with ease," Jack shares. "Apparently, your secrets are safe," he says. "Any last questions before I dismiss class?" he asks. "You do have homework."
Olivia holds up her hands, empty as they are, and simply tells Jack, "No. No I don't think I will." She breaks into a big grin, clearly pumped from her double triumph.
Jack glances around the class.
(When using guard mind, you can't start a hypnotism instruction. You can use psychic persuasion, but if you type 'resist' you resist for free.)
"Fight the power," Charlene remarks and gives Olivia a jovial grin. "No questions, Father Jack. I gotta run but I'll do my homework, don't worry."
Meridith glances at Jack. "No I'm clear," she says.
Somewhat absorbed in the engagement between Olivia and Jack - Sienna bumping Caelum with an elbow is what drives his attention back. "Joel?" A light shrug is offered, with a single slight lift and drop of a shoulder. "He's a newly minted Sigma."
Joel glances up and allows himself to look over the students in earnest for the first time since his ordeal started, now that Olivia has mostly drawn attention. He blinks a little at Jack's words however "Oh uh... homework? Should probably be writing this down..."
Meridith says "Er, wait, what's due?"
"What's our homework this week?" Meridith asks Jack gazing over toward him.
Sienna smacks a palm over her face with a low groan of pain at Charlene's words, barely suppressing a snorted laugh. "I can't stand you," she hisses over, then turns her eyes up to Caelum. "Joel?" she echoes after him, bobbing her head appreciatively with a glance over toward Joel yet again.
"Don't think I have any questions, Father." Kayly remarks with a shake of her head in Jack's direction, glancing around the room to see if anyone else does have any.
"Homework!" Jack says. "Pair up with another student who has some kind of compulsive power -- whether a ritualist, hypnotist, or otherwise -- and try out these powers," he says. "Only one of you need to have the power," he says. "And how you experiment is up to you, but I want one essay from each paired set of students about your experience. 200-300 words, due Friday the 16th."
Meridith says "Anyone wanna help me crack this out now?"
"I'll try to get that done later, but I gotta run," Charlene says and gives a wave before making her way out of the classroo.
Viktorin blinks, mulling over his thoughts. "Uh. Wow. I dunno anyone with that gift..."
Olivia carries her excitement still and offers a little wave toward her other classmates. "You can reach me at LivAndLetLiv on socials or just text me, 710-7231. I promise I'll be gentle! Oh, and for clarity's sake, I can do the hypnotist's part."
"Good luck," Alexandra finally tells the class as they start working on pairing up. She backs out of the classroom then and turns to head away. Likely toward her office.
Joel blinks a little and murmurs "Right..." glancing over the students, clearly trying to figure out who might have said powers. He starts to rise to hist feet, heading for his notebook, before he blinks as he recalls something. With a moment's hesitation he turns back to Jack and clears his throat "Uh... do you still need to talk to me, sir?"
Caelum's eyes are drawn away from Sienna slowly while she turns elsewheere - and instead he briefly stares at Jack. There is a slight knit to his brows there, pondering - before he glances at Sienna again. "You wanna pair up?"
"I do not have any gifts in that regard, but if someone needs to have a partner to practice on I suppose I can offer myself up should you find nobody available," Savannah says to the others now after the class is beginning to slip into finishing up.
Jack tells Joel, "Yes, but I have a meeting about budgets scheduled for the rest of the afternoon." He pauses. "So it may be tomorrow, Mr. Kalani."
Joel nods softly, a mixture of relieg and tension about him "Uh, alright." He moves back to gather up his belongings "Oof. Never figured sneezing to be that exhausting" he mutters.
Viktorin furrows his eyebrows, before decidedly waving towards the rest of the room. "Alright, I'm gonna bounce I guess, see ya later," Viktorin says quietly, slinking away from the circle warily.
"Pssst," Sienna attempts to summon Joel's attention upon herself, lips upturning in a bright smile to accompany the short wave of her hand. "Hey! Joel, right? I'm Sienna, Beta Phi Chi," she introduces herself, before turning her head to look at Caelum, pretending to mull over the question before shrugging a shoulder. "Yeah, sure, I guess. Don't make me do all the work though, Cross."
"Class dismissed," Jack says. "I can answer questions for maybe 15 minutes before my meeting," he shares.
Meridith yawns and steps outside
"Thank you Father Jack! I had no idea about that last technique, so definitely, very helpful lesson. I'll catch the rest of you guys later," Olivia tells the student body, waving her hand at them in farewell.
Joel glances up at someone and blinks, before flashing her a soft, slightly ovwerwhelmed smile. His gaze briefly flickers over her before "Oh, uh, hi. Joel, which you apprently know already. Sigma Lambda Pi." he clears his throat, straightening up in an attempt to overcome his awkwardness. "Nice to meet you, Sienna." His gaze flickers over toward Caelum, giving him a wry little smile of greeting as well.
Joel glances up at Sienna and blinks, before flashing her a soft, slightly ovwerwhelmed smile. His gaze briefly flickers over her before "Oh, uh, hi. Joel, which you apprently know already. Sigma Lambda Pi." he clears his throat, straightening up in an attempt to overcome his awkwardness. "Nice to meet you, Sienna." His gaze flickers over toward Caelum, giving him a wry little smile of greeting as well.
"Thanks for the class and all, Father." Kayly remarks to Jack, while in the process of picking up her stuff from her desk, and getting ready to head out.
Caelum looks at Joel as well, with the way Sienna tries to summon his attention. "Only if you know how to do this stuff." He speaks to Sienna, nodding, towards the armchair - indicative of the whole compulsion business. Joel, at his greeting - gets a smirk, with two digits waving off of his temple in return before his hand slips back into his jacket pocket.
"The practical class will be showing how the machine in the clinic works," Jack tells Caelum and Sienna. "Though Miss Swann may already know that, given her -- technical abilities."
"That was an interesting class, thank you, Father," Savannah says to Jack now as she looks around towards the others here, "I'll see you all around, was nice to see you, Sienna."
"See you around, Dep." Caelum calls over his shoulder at Savannah - then casts a look at Jack, then the chair again. Gone is the smirk, replaced by a more pensive expression. "Right.."
Sienna drops her head to the side as she rocks back and forth on her feet, offering Joel a quick smile. "Yeah, of course I know who you are. I'm psychic and can hear everyone's thoughts all day and night." A beat, before she breaks into a laugh, jerking a thumb at Caelum. "Just kidding. Caelum here told me a few minutes ago." Then, she perks up at Jack's words, beaming, "Oh, really? I've been hoping we'd get time with the machine."
"Wiat is there another part of the class or another scheduled one?" Savannah asks Jack now as she looks over to him.
Joel lifts his eyebrows a little at the ominous sound of 'the machine'. He gives a wry grin at Sienna, replying "Hey, at this point I'd have bought it. Or that I just blurted it out at some point without noticing."
Jack says to Savannah, "There will be a part 2, a practical, but it isn't on calendar yet. I'm still looking at scheduling times with the clinic."