captainborgue

Looks good so far! Did you wanna jump in and work on backstory as the game progresses?

Aww, okay. Well, if you change your mind, you know where we are. :-) @Unicorncob: Kerigan teaches headshrinky stuff like psych. Which in retrospect is kind of a pain, as I have to find accurate sources to draw from and it's difficult to find a curriculum online that is both accurate and free LOL

You could have her go to class with Kerrigan.

"According to Mom, anything can combust if you get it hot enough. So yeah, it works on anything. Something something physics, something something chemistry. I dunno," Nova said, blushing sightly. The day had taken an interesting turn. "Ok, so I don't normally do this- but since you've been pretty cool about 'stuff bursting into various colors of flames' thing, I figure what the heck. Here's my number," Nova said, blushing a little as she jotted it down on a scrap of paper. "I've gotta head to class, but we'll catch up later ok?"

"Huh. That's not at all how people usually react," Nova said, a little startled at his enthusiasm. "But I'm glad to meet someone who can appreciate random things bursting into flames. Or rather, rapid onset oxidation and/or catalysis resulting in an effect that mirrors the flame emissions of a mass spectrometer. That's what Mom says, and as smart as she is and with all those big words, se's probably right," Nova said, laughing. "Hey, you wanna see something really cool?" Nova said, with a conspiratorial wink. She took a banana out of her lunchbox, broke off a piece, and set it on the table, before eating the rest of it. "Okay, potassium. With me so far?" she asked, before pulling a small bottle out of a little first aid kit in her backpack. She dropped a single drop of the dark liquid onto the banana piece. "This is iodine. Now, this trick took me six months to figure out, ok? So no laughing," Nova said, focusing intently on the materials in the center of the table. She rubbed her hands together, and held them over the materials, concentrating intently, before the pile burst into a beautiful, lavender colored flame. A couple seconds later it fizzled out. "Tada! What do you think?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukubkvCAyA4

Kimi was taken completely aback, and spent a moment trying to think of how to respond. "Thanks. That's really sweet of you to say. Corny too, but still sweet," Kimi said, smiling. "Not at all what one thinks when they see a dragon. I like that. Bucking the trend," Kimi said. Blitz was making a good impression on her so far- and it would be nice to have a friend around here. 'Easy now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. So far, he is an interesting person, let's not go making besties just yet', Kimi thought to herself.

Nova grinned. "Only a little. Trick is not to read the scary ones at night. Or while trying to study. Especially Lovecraft. But in a well lit room on a gorgeous sunny day, the Old Ones are less likely to plant seeds in your brain," Nova said, laughing. "You know... I bet you could stick a rocket under it and really zoom!" Nova said, waving her arms enthusiastically- and inadvertently causing her coffee cup to burst spectacularly into greenish flames. "Oh! See, that. No big deal, right?" she said, laughing sheepishly and putting her hand over the cup, immediately snuffing out the flames.

"That's cool, though! I mean, the whole 'helping people' angle is neat and all. Altruism for the win and everything. But the having a family connection to it is neat," Nova said, smiling. "Not big on the head sciences myself. That's ok though, to each their own," Nova said, smiling. "I'm mostly into awesome things, like 'sitting on the floor reading a book' or 'eating peanut butter straight out of the jar with a spoon', that sort of thing. It's a non-stop thrill ride, but I get by ok," Nova said trying hard to keep a straight face.

Nova's ears perked up at the description. "So it's coffee, is it? I like strong coffee. All right, I'll try it," Nova said, taking a tentative sniff of the bag. It smelled wonderful, and made her nose tingly in a good sort of way. "Ok, so... how much do you know about chemistry? See, because my mom is like... a freaking prodigy. Like, her magic can, literally, take stuff apart at the molecular level and put it back together. So long as it isn't organic or radioactive, that is, since that kind of stuff that is constantly changing. And to DO that takes breaking atomic bonds- which releases energy- and recreating them, which costs energy," Nova said. "I've tried controlling my magic with that level of precision, but it doesn't seem to work for me. I can only break bonds, which releases energy- and usually that manifests as lighting things on fire. Though I mean technically, it's not actually fire per se. As far as majors go, I've been hoping to find something that I can actually use the magic I have. I'm good at blowing stuff up, and I've gotten better at doing it only on purpose. So I'm majoring in Chemical Engineering, with the goal of going into demolitions or pyrotechnics as a career field," Nova added, with a well rehearsed tone. She'd given a similar speech to her parents on numerous occasions. "All right, turnabout is fair play. What's your story?"

Kimi shrugged. "Not sure, really. Had to go somewhere, and this school has a certain reputation for being more open to unusual types of students. I like that I don't get a lot of stares here," Kimi said, smiling. "It's almost like just being one of the 'normal' ones. Not that I mind being different, it's just... I dunno, taxing, I guess." *** "Not at all," Nova said, smiling. "Fair warning though, I may or may not accidentally light something on a lot of fire. It's been known to happen. I guess that's why my folks named me Super Nova. Which is my awkward way of introducing myself, I guess. Huh. So, er, who might you be?" Nova said, haltingly. Part of her was a little put-off by the wolf in front of her. Wolves had BIG POINTY TEETH after all. But aside from that, he also had a nice smile, and had asked to sit down instead of just taking the chair or something. There was no need to be rude to him. And whatever he had smelled amazing, to boot. "That's either impressively strong, or some kind of radioactive acid explosive. I'm not awkward at all, obviously."

Nova puzzled for a moment, before deciding to move along. Clearly, she was off her game today. Oh, well. There was a group of students nearby chatting away, mentioning exotic sounding places and events that Nova didn't recognize. It was such an interesting environment at this school. Still, Nova was feeling particularly off today. She'd already been ignored by everyone she had tried to be friendly to. Nova found herself wandering about the quad aimlessly for a bit, before she gave it all up as a wash and headed to the Deja Brew. A cup of strong coffee would help chase away the blues, it usually did. "A caramel mocha super thunder biggun' or whatever the biggest size is," Nova said, waving to the guy behind the counter. "Ever have one of those days where it feels like you're just... taking up space?" Nova asked. The barista just shrugged, and set her drink on the counter. Nova sighed, swiped her meal plan card, grabbed her coffee, and sat down at a table with a view of the doorway. "At least I didn't set anything on fire," she chuckled to herself.

Pretty sure I already did. He has the blob, right?

"The pleasure is mine, Blitz," Kimi said, smiling. "So. What brings you to this particular school? Not to pry or anything, I'm mostly curious. The only other dragon I've ever met is the Bey, and she's... not really all that pleasant to talk to," Kimi said, sheepishly. *** Kerrigan nodded. "Yes, that is an accurate example, very good Ocean. Now, I trust you all have a schema in your minds of what constitutes classical conditioning. While there are some ethical questions that arise when using conditioning methods on sentient beings, when used responsibly it can provide insight towards three of the five major tenets of Psychology," Kerrigan said, turning her back to the class and writing on the blackboard behind her. "1. Describe –The first goal is to observe behavior and describe, often in minute detail, what was observed as objectively as possible. 2. Explain –While descriptions come from observable data, psychologists must go beyond what is obvious and explain their observations. In other words, why did the subject do what he or she did? 3. Predict –Once we know what happens, and why it happens, we can begin to speculate what will happen in the future. There’s an old saying, which very often holds true: “the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.” This is the part that involves a great deal of math, by the way. 4. Control –Once we know what happens, why it happens and what is likely to happen in the future, we can excerpt control over it. In other words, if we know you choose abusive partners because your father was abusive, we can assume you will choose another abusive partner, and can therefore intervene to change this negative behavior. 5. Improve –Not only do psychologists attempt to control behavior, they want to do so in a positive manner, they want to improve a person’s life, not make it worse. This is not always the case, but it should always be the intention. Now, the methods of conditioning can assist in these three- explain, predict, and control. Now, there is a great deal of power in this field. You will learn the tools and skills that will dramatically alter the lives of whomever you use them on, often without even realizing it. That is the danger inherent in studying Psychology- when you understand how memory and thought and emotion and behavior tie together, you recognize the faults in yourselves and those around you that have shaped you in the past. Or, to use the common parlance- you all have baggage. And your challenge is to keep yourself from inadvertently giving your clients the same baggage you have," Kerrigan said, turning back around to face the class. "I have provided a link on the portal page to all the required reading for this course. On the main page, select your course section- this one is 113- and there will be links under each date for the readings. As this is the first class session, I have not assigned a reading- but I want you all to think about what made you decide to take this course for discussion next time. We will be finishing up a bit early today, consider it a gift. Additionally, I want to inform everyone that the university provides counseling services to all students, and those of you in my class will have someone else as counselor to prevent biases. Feel free to email me any questions you have, or save them for next session. Dismissed."

Let's say "horns" for simplicity.

"That could be considered several different forms of child abuse. But, technically, that would be operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is when a response occurs after a stimulus, operant conditioning occurs when a stimulus occurs after a behavior as a means of reinforcing it. Still, it is a very similar process, so I suppose partial credit for responding," Kerrigan said, unperturbed. "Now, for future reference, interrupting somepony or nonpony who is speaking or about to speak is not something I look favorably upon. It is still Ocena's turn to speak."

Kerrigan suppressed a flare of indignance as the lupine student was late, though his volunteering to answer, and providing a reasonable answer to her question, made up for it. "Partially correct, Zeke. Were the fire alarms to go off this moment, you would all respond by exiting the building in an orderly fashion. However, since professors and administrators would enforce such a response, it is not- strictly speaking- classical conditioning. Still, I appreciate your response," Kerrigan said, as her eyes scanned the room. She saw a great deal of anxiety looking back at her- these fresh faces were still so accustomed to the destructive social mores of high school, they had not yet realized their own voice. Kerrigan would have to encourage them to self sufficiency. Her eyes fell on a female snow leopard, with a facial expression that suggested she very much wanted to avoid attention. As a predator in a predominantly prey institution, she would draw disproportionate attention anyway, which Kerrigan considered a valuable life skill. Perhaps this girl- Kerrigan checked her student roster- this girl 'Ocean'- could use some... encouragement. "Ocean, do you have another example?"

Approved.

This topic is going to inflame tensions sooner or later. Who I'm voting for and why is nobody else's business.

Jump on in whenever you're ready. :-) You're fine. I'm working on a post for Kerrigan now. :-) It's ok to be unsure of stuff, there's not much set in stone as it were.

Nova slipped away from the small cluster of students as though nobody had seen her. Which was a nice change of pace, as she usually drew attention to herself. Luckily, the crowds were thinning, as most students had already gotten to their morning classes. Nova looked at her watch... and it dawned on her that she wasn't late at all- she was two hours early, as she had woken up thinking it was a different day of the week. Which meant her classes today didn't start for hours. Nova sighed, resisting the urge to facepalm, and wandered the quad. There was some kind of music playing, so out of boredom she followed the sound of it. The source was as strange as the tune- an instrument Nova had never seen, being played by a guy with a pet... blob... thing. "Never heard anything quite like that before. Who- or what- is your little friend there?" Nova asked, genuinely curious. "Oh, I'm Nova, by the way." *** Kimi was able to slip away as the others were in the midst of conversation. While it was strange for her to see anypony actually taller than herself, there was stll the primary matter of actually getting to class to deal with. Luckily, Kimi made it a point to give herself plenty of time- and in this case, her actual class session was a ways off. She intended to stop by the Deja Brew for a morning pick me up. Still, something else unusual caught her eye. A dragon- dragons ere still fairly rare to see this far in the interior of Equestria, and the only other dragon Kimi had ever met was the Bey of Psychology- and meeting her was not exactly a pleasant experience. Perhaps it was a racial tendency of dragons, or perhaps just a personal quirk of the Bey. Kimi mulled it over in her head for a moment, before deciding on an impromptu experiment- she would go introduce herself, and if this one was as brusque and fastidious, then it would lend credence to the idea that dragons in general were of a similar bent, as it were. She followed it (it? him?) into one of the cafes that lined one side of the quad. It smelled like eggs and bacon inside, a not unpleasant scent, even though she did not care for bacon. Still, she was here for a reason, and there was no need to stand on ceremony now. "Mind if I sit with you?" Kimi asked, pulling up a chair. "I'm just gonna come out and say it- don't often see dragons on campus. Not that I have room to talk- I've never met any other zuffalo. I'm Kimi Matozi. What's your name?"

Kimi Matozi slowly stumbled into consciousness, after a succession of alarms on her phone went off every few minutes. A cup of strong coffee helped, though Kimi had a habit of adding enough milk and cream that calling it 'coffee' was a bit of an exaggeration, it was more like a coffee flavored shake. Still, it was sweet and comforting, and whether via placebo or caffeine, it helped her wake up. "So many new faces," Kimi said, mostly to herself, as she walked across the quad. There were a few weird glances her way, but less so than last year. The university made a big deal about being diverse, but it was still a mostly pony school- and ponies were usually quite a bit shorter than she was. It took her an entire year to learn to duck going through the classroom doors. Kimi narrowly missed a trio of obviously new students as she tilted her head back to drain the last of her coffee. "Sorry, sorr-" she began, before noticing something unusual. There was another new kid, which made sense. But she was wearing what looked like an old battle helmet, with some kind of decorative things on it. Kimi couldn't help but stare. She made a mental note to ask about it, if she ever saw that kid again, at any rate. *** Nova groaned and reluctantly hit the silence button on her clock radio. Metal wasn't really her thing, but it was a very effective alarm clock. At least, for the intial waking up part. Nova had a habit of hitting snooze and zonking out again, which led inevitably to bolting upright and realizing she was going to be late to class. On the first day of class. For the first class of class. "OHMYGOSHGOTTAGOBYE!!" she yelled, before snatching her bookbag, pulling on the first clothes she encountered, and bolting down the dormitory hall. The air around her seemed to distort as she ran past, and the more observant students may have smelled a tinge of ozone. This was a vast improvement over last year, when she had accidentally set the kitchen on fire while trying to make coffee. And it hadn't even been the coffeemaker that had started it. Nova's magic was similar to her mother's, in that she could affect atomic bonds. But while her mother had precise control in both breaking and forging atomic bonds, Nova had not yet mastered control, and all she could do was break them. Which, for all intents and purposes, meant she could blow up or ignite almost anything, usually without meaning to. She dashed out onto the quad, dodging roving groups of still groggy students. It was remarkable just the variety of people that came here- she'd met a couple of batponies when she was moving in, but in daylight that was so, so much more. And not just ponies, either. Nova was distracted staring at what looked like a zebra girl- only much taller than any zebra Nova had ever seen, and with some kind of little horn things- and being so distracted, she collided headlong with another student. "Sorry, sorry! Totally my fault, didn't see you there," Nova said, sheepishly- and that's when she saw the helmet. "Is... is that a Brodie? From the Great War?" Nova asked, hesitating a bit to try and recall the name. "It has the same shape as a Brodie, at any rate. OH! Sorry, I'm Nova. And you are?"

If *I* were drafted, with my ludicrously long list of injuries and ailments, the only possible reason would be if we were absolutely fucked. Not that it matters. As a pacifist, I would refuse. And any attempt to force me, I would defend myself if possible, and terminate myself if not.

Defenestration, backpfeifengesicht, onerous, and the classic F-bomb.

As I have limited mobility and a host of health issues stemming from severe ijuries and physiological damage, running is not an option. I won't be joining any zombie apocalypse nomadic survivor bands. However, I also know a lot of useful stuff- first aid, how to cultivate penicillin, make soap, brew fuel alcohol from heated wood vapors (wood gassifiers, to those in the know) etc. Short term survival is easy, but without things like antibiotics or soap, long term survival is much more challenging. So I reinforce the windows to my little house, set up rain collectors and an emergency bunker in my attic, and keep my various weapons in good working order and ample ammunition supplies. I will trade the knowledge for supplies or food, and wait it out.