Magic/Support Reserves, The Preserve, Wednesday After Workshops

[trigons_child]

The usual table of baked goods and refreshments was available for the reserves meeting, with plenty of ice to keep the drinks cool in the heat of the afternoon. It was Raven's turn again to lead the meeting, and she was trying not to flail. She was never going to be used to public speaking. And yes, she'd changed clothes since leaving 'Dite's, thank you very much.

"Last year we had a discussion about recognizing when people were not themselves," she began, "but in light of this past Friday, and because we have many new people here now, I thought it would be acceptable to speak on this topic again." Without love spells this time, please.

"Fandom has many ways of affecting us," Raven went on, "and it is often said that the island has a whimsical sense of humor. People have spontaneously changed sex for a day, or turned into children or animals, or become another person entirely, or just...not been themselves. If you have not experienced these things yet, you likely soon will, or you will observe your friends being thus transformed. While it may be amusing to watch, if something has altered your friend's personality, it is advisable to keep an eye on them so they do not do something they will later regret." No, her eyes totally weren't darting toward Karla when she said that, and she definitely wasn't blushing.

"And -- if they're going to do it no matter what you say?" Tara put in with a blush of her own, thinking of her turn as a chanteuse, "Keep an eye on them, and be reassuring afterwards. Remind them it happens to everybody and not that many people saw whatever it is that they did. Unless it's physically dangerous. Then you have to stop them."

"I personally would consider mental scarring to fall into that category," Emmett added. Not blushing, just... looking mentally scarred. "And yet another afterwards option would be What Happens When Hell Freezes Over Stays In Hell, aka looking your friend straight in the eye, saying "I have no idea what you're talking about" and passing them an ice cream sundae."

Karla nodded. "And when it comes to dealing with the consequences of their--or your--actions, it's important to remember that people might literally have not been in their right minds. It may be hard to be forgiving or just in the aftermath, but, most times, people have no idea anything is happening or different until whatever weirdness has struck has ended. Until then, they are acting 'normal' by the standards of that new reality, and that new reality. You have to understand that whatever actions or behaviors they displayed during that time, they have very little to do with how the person thinks, feels, or acts normally, and take that into account when you decide how to respond in the aftermath."

"Do you have any abilities that might be useful in detecting if someone is not themselves, such as reading an aura and seeing it has changed?" Raven finished. "Or if their form has been entirely altered, would you be able to sense their true self? What could you do to restrain someone who is acting out of character?"


[Co-written with the spectacular spectacular glacial_witch, hazlehurstmiss, and life_inshadow. Please wait for the OCD is up!]

Fifth Floor Common Room [evening]

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

Armed with her share of the pavlova she and Jacob had made in class today, Sookie was camped in front of the television. Her conversation with Loki had cheered her up considerably, as had the reserves, so tonight she was combating the depression that threatened to set in via two very well-known techniques: sugar, and horribly, horribly inane horror/sci-fi movies on basic cable.

She wasn't exactly sure what was happening on the screen -- there seemed to be a large insect-person, but moments earlier there had also been a dinosaur, and there was scary music playing the whole while -- but it certainly was distracting. As was this awesome marshmallow thing they'd made, though she'd probably share some of it.

[I am not being dragged out into a funnel cloud, so let us celebrate with a CR and a completely moddable SyFy-esque movie.]