MarinaNova Asylum

[The Not Quite Normal Group Therapy Session was set up in one of the workshop rooms in the Education Center. The individual tables were pushed together into one with the chairs around it to promote a sense of belonging for the outcasts participants.

Activities were fairly free-form with a loose structure of a schedule. Introductions, bonding activities, and snacks. There were also name tags for all to wear, already printed with their names. Paper and pencils are provided.]

Introductions

My Name Is...
Go around the group and ask each young person to state his/her name and attach an adjective that not only describes a dominant characteristic, but also starts with the same letter of his name e.g. generous Grahame, dynamic Dave. Write them down, attach to their name tag, and refer to them by this for the rest of the session.

Catch Me if You Can
Everyone creates two parallel lines facing one another, opposite someone they don't know very well. Partners introduce themselves to one another, having about a minute to talk back and forth about things like hobbies, likes/dislikes, unique features. Both lines then turn back to back. They have one minute to change something small about themselves, like how their hair lies, what hand their watch is on, remove or add glasses, etc. The change should be discreet, but visible. Once time is up, the lines turn back to face one another again. Each person has two minutes and three guesses to identify the change in the other person.

Fact or Fiction
Everyone writes on a piece of paper THREE things about themselves which may not be known to the others in the group. Two are true and one is not. Taking turns they read out the three 'facts' about themselves and the rest of the group votes which are true and false.

Intermission
Snacks will be served! Take a break and talk casually to others.

Bonding Activities

What Makes You Unique
Everyone shares something unique about themselves. Show and tell if possible. Discussion welcome.

What Makes You the Same
Break apart into smaller groups of two or three. Each person must find 10 things they have in common with the person/people they're talking to.

Unique Isn't Bad
Each person talks about a time when the unique thing about them helped themselves or others. Alternately, each person discusses how they could re-purpose their uniqueness if it's something they see as bad in themselves.

Worries in a Hat
Participants anonymously write down a worry or fear related to their unique attributes and drop them in the large hat. Specificity with anonymity is encouraged. For example, "I'm worried that having magical powers and special duties because of these powers will interfere with having a family." Each person then picks a random card from the shuffled hat, reads the worry out loud, and attempts to explain what the person who wrote the worry means, trying to describe their own understanding/reflection of the person's emotions associated with the worry. The next person then picks. If someone picks their own worry, they place it back in the hat, reshuffle, and pick again. If someone figures out who wrote the worry, they must respect anonymity and not say who it was. After all the worries in the hat are read, the group can then discuss common fears and themes among what was in the hat.

Free for All
Feel free to make your own activity until the end of the session!

Dismissed!
Have fun with your new friends! Post session chatting is encouraged.

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{OOC: Group Therapy Event Info}

So, apparently, the prison bots have decided I'm now recovered enough that I need to carry out my punishment from being murdered several days ago, so here I am.

[And here also was a "friendly" reminder bot with taser at the ready in case she chickened out.]

That being said, I'm not really good at actually performing something artistic, so we have two choices. I could do a one-time cooking show or a magic show.

Or a combination of the two. So three choices. I'm kinda... not sure what...

[This was new. Things like this never happened to Trowa. Emotions were practically a foreign world, one that he couldn't really navigate on his own. Short of using a book or some sort of search device to search "what does x mean", he didn't have much of a way to figure it out on his own.

This is what lead Trowa to start the video looking into it as it sat in front of him. As usual, he looked calm and collected. However, those who knew him well enough might know that there was a look akin to confusion in his eyes. Even his cat seemed to know something was odd as she had hopped up in his lap and sat purring as he lightly pet her on the head]

Something... odd happened a few days ago. I was a friend of mine and I got this odd feeling. I... I'm not sure what it means. I'm not even sure the best way to start describing it. I guess I felt kind of... warm being around this person.

Does anyone have any idea what this might have been?

[He's being deliberately vague about when this happened and who this happened with]

[For paying attention, they will note that he has pointed ears protruding from his head. They aren't large by his people's standards, but they are certainly obvious.]

I am ambivalent about being here. I suppose I would not usually make such an announcement to a crowd of strangers, but we are all in this together. And from what I understand about this place is that it barely qualifies as a prison. We are held here indefinitely and cannot see anyone we knew. It is something of a Godless afterlife, then.

[he rubs his neck. He looks tired and uncomfortable.]

I hadn't considered what I would do with so much free time, to be honest. Flitting day dreams here and there, but I was always snapped out of it ere long. Always something more important to do!

Goodness me, where are my manners? My name is Haurchefant de Fortemps. Pleased to meet you.

( Action. )

Scenario One

Looking murderous, the small, filthy boy keeps climbing on top of things and leaping off them - as though he's trying to fly. Only when he hits the ground, he growls. Or maybe he'll eventually curl up into a ball and cry.

Scenario Two

Peter found paste. Ooey, gooey, sticky paste. And he's walking around sticking things to... things. Leaves to windows. Paper to trees. Sticks to EVERYTHING. He even tried to stick himself to a wall! And when he got tired of that, well, the paste was rather tasty, so he sits down in the middle of the road to eat.

Scenario Three

If he can't have a real sword, Peter will make do with a fake one. A stick. OK, it's not perfect, but he's doing the best he can, sneaking around one of the parks and jumping out at unsuspecting people, challenging them to a fight. Or fighting trees.

[Rubber Ducky, you're the one. You make everything so much fun. Which is why you'll find them just about everywhere. Maybe even in that pitcher of tea you just made. Never a dull day here in MarinaNova Asylum. Whether you are trying to beat the heat at the beach or at the pool or running errands you're going to encounter a lot of them.]

(OOC: Event Info)

( video )

You guys have an arcade...!

[The video shows off one very fascinated newcomer, his eyes wide with disbelief and mouth hanging open in awe. It seems to take a second or two for him to come back to his senses and once he does, his face breaks out into a huge grin.]

Someone come and play these games with me. It's not any fun if I'm alone. [What concerns about being stuck in prison for the rest of his life? He's practically jumping up and down in excitement.] And if you need to be further convinced, we can make a bet. Why is that convincing? I suck. You'll win. I'll buy you food.

[And then he pauses dramatically for effect, a twinkle in his eyes as he taps a finger to his forehead in an exaggerated sort of way.]

Wait, hold on. That's right... everything's free here. [There's no way he forgot. As someone who's had money struggles for quite a few years, this is the dream.] You'll get boasting rights, then. Or I'll carry you on my back for the whole day. People just need to get over here, please.

( action )

[Well, if there's one thing for certain, Jaesoo doesn't have a career in basketball. Each time he tosses a ball, it either bounces off the rim or just... doesn't get anywhere close. That doesn't seem to be getting him down, though, and he leisurely continues missing every single point like the pro he is not.

He occasionally stops playing to hang around near the entrance of the arcade, ready to swoop in and drag any poor sucker he can find into the game room.]

[Video]
[Seyn is staring down the video screen, not that unfamiliar with the technology, even if this form of it is different from what she’s used to. There’s an awkward, tense smile on her face, as if she’s trying to think of the most polite way to say what’s on her mind. Bright orange really clashes with her hair and eyes in a way that she immediately thinks would make her a rather gaudy Knight, but that's not important, is it? Not when she's just been sent to a virtual prison.]

All right now. I can believe that I’m in prison, considering what I’ve been up to the last few months. But some of these crimes are really just too much. How can they blame you for crimes that weren’t crimes when you were doing 'em? [Or at least not viewed as crimes towards the people she was fighting when it happened. She doesn't sound as angry as she really is, managing to keep most of her tone this side of frustration, the smile more obviously sarcastic by the end than genuine.]

I guess I should be thankful I wasn't sent straight to solitary, but it's hard to feel grateful right this nano.

[Action]
[There's only so much that being on video can tell her, so Seyn starts wandering, using the map to familiarize herself with the locations, especially where the food stores are and the lodgings. She feels like she sticks out like an accident cone in these clothes. It makes her feel too visible, and she's used to wearing white.

So the first place she heads towards is Bull's Eye. She can't get that ankle monitor off, but she's not staying in this jumpsuit. She'll be digging through the clothes and when she finds something she likes well enough--black jogging pants and a dark red shirt--she'll be stripping down to her underwear right there and putting it on. Speed is more important to her than privacy--not that she's really used to privacy in the first place--so sorry to anyone who happens to walk by the women's athletic section right then. She's a bit too tall for the racks themselves to cover her up. After the change, she'll be wandering from sector to sector, trying to memorize everything that she can. Knowing the playing field is always rule number one.]