Email to Charles and Moira, CC'ed to Pete
Mar. 16th, 2004 10:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_daytripper posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_communicationTo: Xavier, Charles, McTagggart, Moira,
CC: Wisdom, Pete
From: Romany
Dear Professor Xavier, Doctor McTaggart, and by extension, Pete;
I'm tempted to ask what the bloody hell you lot did to Amanda, but I suspect that would be counterproductive. So I'll settle for my ranting at Pete when he brought her here, and telling you what progress is being made on turning the emotional wreck of a junkie that arrived here back into a functioning human being.
Admittedly, I'm being unfair. Amanda's condition is as much my fault as it is yours - I sent her to you without the full story on what magic she did and didn't know, and what effect denying her mutation would have on her. To be honest, the mutation part of her powers is beyond my knowledge, which is why I sent her to you in the first place, but I hadn't reckoned on what particular circumstances were lying in wait. I also failed to provide her with a reasonable tutor in magic, something which I hope to amend before I let her return, if at all. Pete can tell you, I don't deal with guilt well. Or at all, for that matter.
A significant proportion of Amanda's problems should be laid at the feet of the bastard who taught her enough magic to get her into trouble without providing her with the crash course on ethics and consequences every other student of magic receives. Pete, dear brother, please tell me Rack will be found and meet an unfortunate and painful end sometime soon?
To make things simple for the non-adepts - the type of magic you do, the reasons you do it, has an effect on the caster. Psychic residue, as it were. Consistent use of the darker arts, or using benevolent spells for unsavoury reasons, such as love potions, corrupts the user. Rack is a good example of this - he no longer has a concept of right and wrong, and unfortunately it's what he's passed onto Amanda, a propensity to misuse magic for her own ends with no thought for the consequences, either for others or herself.
The power boost she got at the school from a certain individual (and I trust that's well under control now, Moira?) came at the worst possible time. The power itself is tainted, and Amanda was in a highly-stressful situation, and as you've probably become aware (as she herself has, which surprised me. I didn't think she was that insightful) her solution to all problems is to magic them away. Too much power combined with too many spells could only lead to the type of dependence she's shown, and a breakdown in her ability to control her impulses and make appropriate choices.
The situation is salvageable, however, and most of that is mostly down to Amanda, despite the rather self-destructive methods she chose. She became aware of what was happening, and took steps to prevent herself from hurting anyone, first by locking away her components and books, and then by trying to keep herself away from others. Not very good for her, I know, but as I said, her judgement has been seriously impaired by the energies she's been using. It's encouraging that her desire to protect others is so strong - it is, I think, what stopped things from becoming far worse. Shielding the power source helped immensely, despite the withdrawals it caused, but so did the fact she used most of the power she gained from it in helping others, especially the healing spells. If she hadn't, things could have gotten far, far worse. Somewhere along the way she's learnt/taught herself some seriously deadly spells - used only for self defence in the demon dimension incident and that attack last week, I believe - and those are not to be used lightly. They have serious karmic consequences if used for a less-than-benevolent purposes, and if she had, we would have lost her.
As it stands, the situation is this: we have performed certain cleansing rituals to remove the effects of Rack's teachings, the mansion power source, and the energies she absorbed from that demon dimension. Which, I might add, should have killed her at the time. I can only surmise having her ability to absorb power increased by her exposure to Marko prevented that. We couldn't remove everything, but she's working off a much clearer playing field now. Homily has been seeing to her physical well-being, making sure she eats properly and giving her various tonics to ward off the physical symptoms, and trying to get her free of artificial stimulants - not that I think those are a huge problem, despite what Pete told me about her drinking binges, but because I have a nasty sense of humour and think she could do with a cleanout. It's character building. We can't stop her smoking, though; I blame Pete's influence. I'm doing what I can to determine the limits of her powers, and how much mystic energy she requires to function - unlike most addictions, this one is not curable. It's tied into her mutation, and I can't separate them, and her power levels are, to put it bluntly, all over the place. We're testing a portable power source, a rather pretty crystal pendant which she's been complaining bitterly about, which will have the dual effect of giving her enough power to function without cravings, but will cut her off if she gets to dangerous levels. Her being able to do that herself is preferable, but as I said, my field isn't mutations. If I let her return, that would be the biggest priority in her education, I believe. I'm also concerned about this link she told me about, with the empathic student? Such a thing isn't unheard of in our circles, and they seldom end well. Your advice on this would be most welcome, especially since Amanda's own emotions are rather turbulent right now, and I'd rather not be dealing with another influence as well.
Amanda's studying hard, and I'm pleased to see she has succeeded in making and keeping some friends through all this. I'm hoping to meet some of them whilst they're on this side of the pond. She's also developing an interesting streak of self-determination; she's told me, rather calmly and firmly, that she wants to come back to the school once she's able, regardless of what I think. Which was disconcerting, to say the least. So it seems your school's influence on her has not been entirely a negative one. I'm giving her three weeks, to prove herself, and to satisfy myself she won't come to further harm if I let her return. I feel a certain responsibility towards her, one I can't let go so easily, not after failing her so badly this time. At the end of the three weeks, if she still wants to return and I feel she's capable and I've found a tutor for her, then we'll see.
Sincerely,
Romany.
CC: Wisdom, Pete
From: Romany
Dear Professor Xavier, Doctor McTaggart, and by extension, Pete;
I'm tempted to ask what the bloody hell you lot did to Amanda, but I suspect that would be counterproductive. So I'll settle for my ranting at Pete when he brought her here, and telling you what progress is being made on turning the emotional wreck of a junkie that arrived here back into a functioning human being.
Admittedly, I'm being unfair. Amanda's condition is as much my fault as it is yours - I sent her to you without the full story on what magic she did and didn't know, and what effect denying her mutation would have on her. To be honest, the mutation part of her powers is beyond my knowledge, which is why I sent her to you in the first place, but I hadn't reckoned on what particular circumstances were lying in wait. I also failed to provide her with a reasonable tutor in magic, something which I hope to amend before I let her return, if at all. Pete can tell you, I don't deal with guilt well. Or at all, for that matter.
A significant proportion of Amanda's problems should be laid at the feet of the bastard who taught her enough magic to get her into trouble without providing her with the crash course on ethics and consequences every other student of magic receives. Pete, dear brother, please tell me Rack will be found and meet an unfortunate and painful end sometime soon?
To make things simple for the non-adepts - the type of magic you do, the reasons you do it, has an effect on the caster. Psychic residue, as it were. Consistent use of the darker arts, or using benevolent spells for unsavoury reasons, such as love potions, corrupts the user. Rack is a good example of this - he no longer has a concept of right and wrong, and unfortunately it's what he's passed onto Amanda, a propensity to misuse magic for her own ends with no thought for the consequences, either for others or herself.
The power boost she got at the school from a certain individual (and I trust that's well under control now, Moira?) came at the worst possible time. The power itself is tainted, and Amanda was in a highly-stressful situation, and as you've probably become aware (as she herself has, which surprised me. I didn't think she was that insightful) her solution to all problems is to magic them away. Too much power combined with too many spells could only lead to the type of dependence she's shown, and a breakdown in her ability to control her impulses and make appropriate choices.
The situation is salvageable, however, and most of that is mostly down to Amanda, despite the rather self-destructive methods she chose. She became aware of what was happening, and took steps to prevent herself from hurting anyone, first by locking away her components and books, and then by trying to keep herself away from others. Not very good for her, I know, but as I said, her judgement has been seriously impaired by the energies she's been using. It's encouraging that her desire to protect others is so strong - it is, I think, what stopped things from becoming far worse. Shielding the power source helped immensely, despite the withdrawals it caused, but so did the fact she used most of the power she gained from it in helping others, especially the healing spells. If she hadn't, things could have gotten far, far worse. Somewhere along the way she's learnt/taught herself some seriously deadly spells - used only for self defence in the demon dimension incident and that attack last week, I believe - and those are not to be used lightly. They have serious karmic consequences if used for a less-than-benevolent purposes, and if she had, we would have lost her.
As it stands, the situation is this: we have performed certain cleansing rituals to remove the effects of Rack's teachings, the mansion power source, and the energies she absorbed from that demon dimension. Which, I might add, should have killed her at the time. I can only surmise having her ability to absorb power increased by her exposure to Marko prevented that. We couldn't remove everything, but she's working off a much clearer playing field now. Homily has been seeing to her physical well-being, making sure she eats properly and giving her various tonics to ward off the physical symptoms, and trying to get her free of artificial stimulants - not that I think those are a huge problem, despite what Pete told me about her drinking binges, but because I have a nasty sense of humour and think she could do with a cleanout. It's character building. We can't stop her smoking, though; I blame Pete's influence. I'm doing what I can to determine the limits of her powers, and how much mystic energy she requires to function - unlike most addictions, this one is not curable. It's tied into her mutation, and I can't separate them, and her power levels are, to put it bluntly, all over the place. We're testing a portable power source, a rather pretty crystal pendant which she's been complaining bitterly about, which will have the dual effect of giving her enough power to function without cravings, but will cut her off if she gets to dangerous levels. Her being able to do that herself is preferable, but as I said, my field isn't mutations. If I let her return, that would be the biggest priority in her education, I believe. I'm also concerned about this link she told me about, with the empathic student? Such a thing isn't unheard of in our circles, and they seldom end well. Your advice on this would be most welcome, especially since Amanda's own emotions are rather turbulent right now, and I'd rather not be dealing with another influence as well.
Amanda's studying hard, and I'm pleased to see she has succeeded in making and keeping some friends through all this. I'm hoping to meet some of them whilst they're on this side of the pond. She's also developing an interesting streak of self-determination; she's told me, rather calmly and firmly, that she wants to come back to the school once she's able, regardless of what I think. Which was disconcerting, to say the least. So it seems your school's influence on her has not been entirely a negative one. I'm giving her three weeks, to prove herself, and to satisfy myself she won't come to further harm if I let her return. I feel a certain responsibility towards her, one I can't let go so easily, not after failing her so badly this time. At the end of the three weeks, if she still wants to return and I feel she's capable and I've found a tutor for her, then we'll see.
Sincerely,
Romany.
