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[mightymorbid]

Since I think I've had my fill of childish grandstanding for the month I suppose I'll talk about what everyone else seems to be talking about when it's not graduations or kidnappings:

I suppose I'm among the others who have up to today testified that traditional wards seem to have no effect on the apparitions fooling with doors and appearing in

Comments

[private]

[can_has_vodka]

You neglected to answer my last message, and you failed to meet for our appointment.

Do you want to explain yourself before I talk about penalties, or after?

[private] I actually completely missed her post.

[mightymorbid]

I haven't really been paying much attention to the[staaaaatic]ork. The random pops and cra[staaaaatic]re driving me to distraction.

You could have come and asked me in person if I got your message or[staaaaatic]

[private] ...oh. >.>

[can_has_vodka]

[switching to text]

I have to start visiting you in person, and daily, as part of managing this deepening mess we're in. That was half the point of wanting to talk to you.

There's no controlling what our environment is doing to us right now. 1000101000101010100101001010 control your mental and physical reactions to what is happening. I can help. Name a time. We'll use the CES now that the deck's 1110101101001010

[private] ...oh. >.>

[mightymorbid]

After dinner.

[spam]

[can_has_vodka]

[Arkady kept her word and was there right after dinner, holding a wind-up electric lantern in each hand to fight the dimness. She was meditating quietly, even as something hissed in her ear and a stale wind lifted the ashes around her ankles.]

[spam]

[mightymorbid]

[And somehow, this looks eerily appropriate. Mozenrath sort of understands the whole meditation thing, but he's not yet quiet-minded enough to really wrangle it himself, and he's in a bit of a mood. In fact he kind of expected more of an argument and is meandering now that he's realized there won't be one.]

I'm ready.

[spam]

[can_has_vodka]

Do you have a preference of environment? [her voice is soft as she presses her ring to the lock and opens the door. She decided in the middle of the crisis that it is better to give him the benefit of the doubt; he's quite observant but not omniscient, after all.]

I need perhaps an hour for this.

[spam]

[mightymorbid]

[He strokes Xerxes idly] That's not really going to help things. You don't get to pick, you know. [He nods at the time frame] Yeah, I'm fine. Can we just go? [He won't admit he doesn't like being up here. The smell turns his stomach.]

[spam]

[can_has_vodka]

[She shrugs and smiles, admitting to her ignorance easily.] No, I did not know. Come on then. [She leads the way after shutting the door firmly behind them.]

[Her voice becomes serious.] This is not the order of training I had planned for you, and for that I apologize. I had hoped to start with contemplating your Higher Self first. But this situation demands that we work from a different angle.

[She leads him through to the CES entrance and keys it open. She is careful to look around inside before waving him in.]

[spam]

[mightymorbid]

[He follows her in, pausing to take a look around. It's kind of nice to be able to look up without worrying he'll get ash in his eye.]

You said something about my 'Higher Self'?

[spam]

[can_has_vodka]

Magicians, mystics and psychics of various traditions have used the Higher Self as a focus point for their meditations. That Self is where you are going--your ultimate idealized form. He embodies both the man you want to be and the man you are destined to be.

I have received visions of my own Higher Self, the being of pure energy whom I will some day become. She stands in my future, watching me struggle, just as yours stands in your future, waiting for you to become him.

[spam]

[mightymorbid]

[...It is ridiculous how much actual sense you make, Arkady 8| Mozenrath avoids her gaze, watching Xerxes hover in odd circles around them, smelling all the pretend-smells in the CES and trying to make sense of their non-reality.]

All right, so what is this going to be then?

[spam]

[can_has_vodka]

[She beams at the eel for a moment and then goes serious again.] Eventually you will learn to draw strength and calm from that future self. But for now we'll have to work on preventing the adversary from stealing your strength and focus through fear.

You're brave, no doubt, but the idea in this case is to dampen the impact of fear so that you can handle more, longer, without breaking focus or making mistakes. It's a tool you can use to shield yourself from not only the ambient fear but also any direct intimidation attacks.

[spam]

[mightymorbid]

You'll find I'm already not easily intimidated. [Small point of pride? Well, considering he's gotten the shit kicked out of him at least three times over this he might as well look for the silver lining, right? He crosses his arms.]

[spam]

[can_has_vodka]

Of course not! But refusing to back down in the face of fear isn't the same thing. Your body still goes through the same streses, and it takes some of your mental resources to push through. The techniques I am offering will mitigate that.

[spam]

[mightymorbid]

[He nods, seeming to understand, and in fact he is remembering his experience in the asylum, when he was looking for Libby. For good reason he has no reason to fear his mentor any longer, but he was still afraid there, certainly.]

All right. So how do we start?