Wapsi Square Forum

Patience. Restraint. Two things that a high-level predator needs to learn.

Remember when Paul had an original on eBay titled "Atsali Fishing"?

Surf-casting, wading in the surf with the rod, fisherman's hat, cut-off shorts ... all so very teen-age slightly gawky cute.

Well, apparently she wasn't having much luck, and lost her patience, because Paul also did another, rather sketchier drawing titled "Atsali Catches a Fish":

Hoooo doggie!!! That's one pissed off mama bear...

Castela... you're doing great with holding your human form sweetie... but taunting mama bear isn't a good idea... EVER.

The best tack Kath could take right now would be to tell Atsali how scared she is of losing her and the little stink weed. She needs to impress on both Atsali and Castela how tenuous their family situation is. One slip... one wrong decision, one bad incident and Kath is held responsible and she could lose the kids. She could then steer it towards how badly she would hurt if they took Atsali and Pickle away from her. I think that should bring Atsali around to understanding things much better than getting angry about the lie. Yes, you address the lie, but don't put too fine a point on it. Kids Atsali's age tend to get defensive anyway.

What I'm wondering is are there any school-sponsored activities that allow predatory species to... "Get it out of their system" so to speak?

Hell, humans were in the middle of the food chain until we wised up... And we still have the occasional case of people going apeshit. I'll be damned if there isn't some predatory instinct happening on some level... And one of the main ways to deal with that so we don't start ripping faces off (a la Phix) is to take that violent energy and do something constructive with it. Sometimes that involves beating the shit out of someone in a safe and controlled manner with pads and gloves and stuff.

You'd think there'd be options like that for beings that evolved higher up the food chain. There's gotta be, otherwise Gryphon High would have a shooting or a "Sphinx ate five people today" sort of incident every friggin week.

Right?

I dunno... Maybe like "cull the local deer population day" or "help tear down a derelict nuclear bunker" field trips.

Maybe even a scaled-up version of those fundraisers where people pay to smash the living daylights out of a junker car with a sledgehammer... Apex predators get to violently tear up a Caterpillar 797. Godly beings have to be taken to the far side of the galaxy where they can rip up a neutron star?

OOOH! Or everyone gets to go to the Library and just wreak havoc! Turn off the self-repair function for a day while everyone rips everything to pieces, then once everyone is tuckered out, turn it back on!

Sgt. Howard wrote:I don't know what had me laughing hardest- the look on the coach's face, or the look on Katherine's! Alder really stepped in it this time!!! Predators are not allowed in contact sports for a reason... I wonder... how many times was a quarterback sacked and eaten before they figured that one out?

Even in non-para schools a sacked lunch is pretty common...

One would also wonder if Astali really understands just how lethal she is. Maybe some sparing with the golem girls, Aunt M or Aunt Shelly might be advised. Not however tata Phix, she has some control issues.

FreeFlier wrote:

AnotherFairportfan wrote:Atsali is gonna have hours 'n' hours in her room with no TV or music or phone or computer ...

Or books . . . excepting only textbooks and assigned reading.

. . .

I wonder if it would occur to her to ask for extra reading?

And do you have any idea how annoying it is to have your mother remove every piece of reading material you can reach . . . not even allowing the cereal box to stay on the table because you might . . . err . . . would read the back?

--FreeFlier

If I don't remove every piece of writing, and everything that could possibly be a toy, or interesting fiddly bit for his hands, he won't eat his breakfast, and then I have to find a way to get him to school in the morning.

One other thought: I suspect that some of the students at Griffon might be para-aware normals . . . there because they are para-aware and can't be trusted to keep their mouths shut.

--FreeFlier

GlytchMeister wrote:What I'm wondering is are there any school-sponsored activities that allow predatory species to... "Get it out of their system" so to speak?

Hell, humans were in the middle of the food chain until we wised up... And we still have the occasional case of people going apeshit. I'll be damned if there isn't some predatory instinct happening on some level... And one of the main ways to deal with that so we don't start ripping faces off (a la Phix) is to take that violent energy and do something constructive with it. Sometimes that involves beating the shit out of someone in a safe and controlled manner with pads and gloves and stuff.

You'd think there'd be options like that for beings that evolved higher up the food chain. There's gotta be, otherwise Gryphon High would have a shooting or a "Sphinx ate five people today" sort of incident every friggin week.

Right?

Chess club.

It's not limiters to the predators. In fact it was founded by a Minotaur.

Dave wrote:
Chess club.[/url]

In fact it was founded by a Minotaur.

Bull.

Deposits two pair of badly-soiled Wellingtons in the pun jar...which prompty regurgitates them.

Akeche wrote:No one else considers this to be rather silly?

I'd barely consider a Siren terribly dangerous compared to many other types of paranormal creatures. By this sort of reasoning, Devyn shouldn't be allowed within a mile of the school because she can cause extreme emotional/possibly physical trauma to people if she gets upset.

I think it's primarily less a matter of physical ability and more a matter of temperament. Consider a situation where you have a wolf puppy and a golden retriever puppy. There's not really a lot of physical difference between them. Even if they're both raised by humans, however, the wolf will almost certainly have a much different temperament than the retriever. The wolf will be more likely to use what physical abilities it has in a way that is harmful to other animals around it. You can't really treat a wolf in the same way that you'd treat a domesticated dog.

Atsali isn't anywhere near to being equal to Phix or Bud as far as being a physical threat goes. She can do some damage when she gets riled, though. If her instincts are to resort to force whenever she gets upset or worked up, then that would make her a greater threat than those who can technically do a lot more but who are more pacific by nature (such as Devyn may be). A moderately strong individual who will instinctively attack is more of a danger than is a very strong individual who always stays calm.

GlytchMeister wrote:What I'm wondering is are there any school-sponsored activities that allow predatory species to... "Get it out of their system" so to speak?

Hell, humans were in the middle of the food chain until we wised up... And we still have the occasional case of people going apeshit. I'll be damned if there isn't some predatory instinct happening on some level... And one of the main ways to deal with that so we don't start ripping faces off (a la Phix) is to take that violent energy and do something constructive with it. Sometimes that involves beating the shit out of someone in a safe and controlled manner with pads and gloves and stuff.

You'd think there'd be options like that for beings that evolved higher up the food chain. There's gotta be, otherwise Gryphon High would have a shooting or a "Sphinx ate five people today" sort of incident every friggin week.

Right?

In Human schools, the closest thing to what you suggest is wrestling, and they participants are divided into weight classes, because a 200 lb teenager can really hurt a 90 pound teenager without even trying.
Boxing and MMA also have weight classes for the same reason, don't see those in too many schools though as injuries are expensive.
Even so, those sports have rules against going berserk and killing or eating your opponent--predators are called predators because that is what they normally do.

I like the idea of the teenage predators sparing with the golem girls or auntie Monica, they have shown restraint and can't be killed. Sphinxes, not so good at restraint.

Catawampus wrote:Atsali isn't anywhere near to being equal to Phix or Bud as far as being a physical threat goes.

But comparing her against an invincible or an absolute-top predator isn't the right comparison. The wolf doesn't think the housecat is a predator; the mouse does. And there are a lot more mice than wolves in the world.

Imagine Atsali in battle form against a faun...

Warrl wrote:

Catawampus wrote:Atsali isn't anywhere near to being equal to Phix or Bud as far as being a physical threat goes.

But comparing her against an invincible or an absolute-top predator isn't the right comparison. The wolf doesn't think the housecat is a predator; the mouse does. And there are a lot more mice than wolves in the world.

Imagine Atsali in battle form against a faun...

...and do not forget what happened to Tsillah's mom...

Called it

jwhouk wrote:I had a sudden thought after looking at the page again:

Fish fry Friday.

What type of para was the swim instructor, again? I know she's not a mermaid.

Thor wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:
A story without conflict...

Isn't.

Well, sorta. In Western Culture, we expect our protagonists to struggle at every step until they finally finally succeed, after which there is a quick wrap-up and then on to the next story.

But have you ever read a Japanese Light Novel? Some of them are stories as we expect them, but there's a whole bunch of them where the protagonist gets massively over-powered in chapter 1 and then spends the next 100-200 chapters kicking butt and securing a harem without hardly breaking a sweat, all with only the smallest pretense of needing to save the world eventually (or just as often, not even that).

You think that it would get dull after a while, but somehow watching the nice-guy everyman schlub go out and do all the things you wanted to do when you were, say, 13 or so, is strangely compelling and soothing.

There's an anime about a girl and her cat and it just revolves around their day to day lives. It's told from the cat's perspective.

AnotherFairportfan wrote:

Warrl wrote:

Catawampus wrote:Atsali isn't anywhere near to being equal to Phix or Bud as far as being a physical threat goes.

But comparing her against an invincible or an absolute-top predator isn't the right comparison. The wolf doesn't think the housecat is a predator; the mouse does. And there are a lot more mice than wolves in the world.

Imagine Atsali in battle form against a faun...

...and do not forget what happened to Tsillah's mom...

Which is why i suggested the ones i did. We know they can take the damage and not die so the kids could go all out and not worry. Not so much the damage they can do is the factor i used

Warrl wrote:

Catawampus wrote:Atsali isn't anywhere near to being equal to Phix or Bud as far as being a physical threat goes.

But comparing her against an invincible or an absolute-top predator isn't the right comparison. The wolf doesn't think the housecat is a predator; the mouse does. And there are a lot more mice than wolves in the world.

Imagine Atsali in battle form against a faun...

Wasn't she wearing a talisman when she kicked Tsillah's mom's head off?

We're not even sure what she looks like out of human form now.