near the end of the week

[thornsofmalkav]

Hokay. So. Me and Claudia have been talking and we've noticed we aren't being affected by the weird Song thing or even many of the side effects and one thing we both have in common is we're both pretty good at psychic protection--that is, shielding our thoughts and stuff--so we're pretty sure there's at least somewhat a psychic component to it.

I was thinking that maybe, even with the other precautions happening, it might be a good idea to teach anyone who doesn't know it yet how to do that psychic protection. At least the beginners version of it, if not the extra-strength version we both know.

Also...

[And here she hesitates, guilt warring with guilt. An entire year of not telling people something they really should have known, versus the desire to protect someone dear to her. But if she didn't name names, maybe that would be protection enough. And people should know. She was tired of covering for him, especially since as far as she could tell he'd never stopped doing it.

She wonders if he'll be mad at her after this. Fine. Let him be mad. She'll remind him that she could have used his name.]

Also, I kind of really think that everyone who can learn psychic protection should, for the simple fact that there are people among the Travelers who will listen in to your private conversations. Some of them will listen into every unprotected private conversation that passes through the network. Because they think they have a right or a need to listen to them.

I know. It's happened to me.

So. Yeah. I can't force any of you to learn this, but I think it's a really good idea. And I'm here to walk you through it over the network or I can go find you if you'd rather have an in-person lesson.

Comments

[memoryandtheft]

You're right. It is.

It'd just occasionally be nice to be proven wrong, you know?

[thornsofmalkav]

Yeah, I know.

[memoryandtheft]

[There's a pause, long enough to become an actual stopping point before she comes back with,]

You were saying you could teach us to dodge eavesdroppers?

[thornsofmalkav]

Yeah. Uh, but first off, do you understand computers at all? Because my go-to metaphors for psychic stuff are kind of computer-based, but I can adapt them for the non-computer literate these days.

[memoryandtheft]

Just treat me like one of those people who has to get someone under the age of twenty in to reset the clock on her microwave every time the power goes out, and you'll be in the right ballpark.

[thornsofmalkav]

Okay. Right. Well, all right. I'll need you to close your eyes first. Imagine you're in a tiny house with walls made out of paper. They're technically there to keep you hidden, but they're not very thick and people can still see and hear you if they have mind to.

What we have to do is make the paper walls into wood.

Concentrate on making them thicker. Solider. More opaque. You following me?

[memoryandtheft]

I think so.

[It's a little bit distracted, which is probably only to be expected, considering.

Fortunately, she's alone out in real space, so there's no one around to hear her reciting a snippet of The Three Little Pigs under her breath like it's something poetic.]

[thornsofmalkav]

Thicker, solider, more opaque. You can poke a hole through paper with a finger. You can't poke your finger through wood.

Thicker. Solider. More opaque.

[memoryandtheft]

Can someone still kick down the door?

[Still distracted, though there's an air of genuine interest. And why wouldn't there be? Knowing just how strong a ward can potentially be is always useful.]

[thornsofmalkav]

Did you make a door?

[memoryandtheft]

No. Just...going with the house metaphor.

[thornsofmalkav]

If they can kick down your door, it's not strong enough yet.