Adventuring Survival Tactics, April 20. Period 4

[nine-and-ears.livejournal.com]

The classroom was back to the boring uniform classroom with plain walls and desks and shelves. The Doctor's desk was devoid of any sign of his holo-projector. The classroom was merely that, again, a classroom. The Doctor himself was at his teacher's desk, sitting back in the chair, his feet propped up.

"For those of you worried about a final, well, it'll be really easy. Boring old essay test. For those of you thinking we'll be having another instance of my sneaky holographic practical exam, sorry, no. Going to take it easy on you, what with summer being so soon. Now, the topic for today, well... it's a matter that will sadly hit close to home, especially what with graduation coming up, and some other incidents lately that I've heard of."

He took a deep breath and stood up.

"People go in and out of your lives. It's inevitable. You can't have everyone around forever. People grow up, move on, die, fall behind, everything. And the most important thing to remember is this: You have to let it happen. Everything has its time. And if you truly love someone, truly respect them, you respect their choices, their decisions. It sounds ridiculous, sounds stupid, but... you have to let go."

Another deep breath.

"Susan Foreman, Barbara Wright, Ian Chesterton, Vicki Pallister, Steven Taylo, Katarina, Sara Kingdom, Dodo Chaplet, Ben Jackson, Polly Wright, Jamie McCrimmon, Victoria Waterfield, Zoe Heriot, Liz Shaw, Jo Grant, Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan, Leela, K-9, Romanadvoratrelundar, Adric, Nyssa of Traken, Tegan Jovanka, Vislor Turlough, Erimem, Kamelion, Perpugilliam Brown, Frobisher, Evelyn Smythe, Melanie Bush, Dorothy McShane, Thomas Hector Schofield, Chris Cwej, Roz Forrester, Bernice Summerfield, Dr. Grace Holloway, Samantha Jones, Fitz Kreiner, Charlotte Pollard, C'rizz, Rose Tyler, Jane Canary."

He left Jack off the list for obvious reasons.

"You know what that list is? That's a list of just some of the people that have meant a lot to me, over the years. The people I've travelled with, laughed with, sat down and had a meal with. People I've loved, people I got furious at, people who were an integral part of my life. I've watched them fall in love and settle down, go back to their daily lives because they couldn't stay up with me, crash into the Earth to cause the dust cloud that would make the dinosaurs go extinct. In two weeks time, a good lot of you will be graduating, and the rest of you will be having friends that do so. Now is the parting of ways. You'll see each other again, if life dictates it. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to each other that they are not mistaken in theirs."

He smiled. "No sense in keeping you around, really. Class dismissed until next week's final. Any questions, come see me after."

Comments

Sign In

[nine-and-ears.livejournal.com]

Collapsing thread, please.

Re: Sign In

[slr-mercury.livejournal.com]

ami mizuno

Re: Sign In

[sonofdragons.livejournal.com]

Tannim Drake

During the Lecture

[nine-and-ears.livejournal.com]

Do what you will.

Re: During the Lecture

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke face got darker and darker as the Doctor rattled off his list of names.

Screw graduation. His list of dead friends and family stretched longer than he cared to think about.

He was not particularly happy to be reminded of it.

Re: During the Lecture

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia folded her arms across her desk and put her head down on top of them.

Just listening made her chest hurt.

Re: During the Lecture

[notafairmaiden.livejournal.com]

Gwynn had sat down near Nadia. Hey, Nadia was family and she had made a promise to Pippi, after all.

Hesitantly, Gwynn reached over to put her hand on Nadia's shoulder quietly.

Re: During the Lecture

[multiplez]

Z spent the lecture looking like she was going to cry, and fled as soon as it was over lest she lose her composure.

Re: During the Lecture

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

Let go? LET GO? LET GO???

Sokka wasn't going to cry angrily. He wasn't. Really.

Re: During the Lecture

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean's expression got more and more scowly as he listened. Just accept and let go without doing everything in your power to stop it?

Yeah like that was going to happen.

Re: During the Lecture

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack wasn't really paying attention as the lecture started, lounging back in his chair, idly doodling on a scrap of paper. As it progressed, however, he sat up straighter, leaning forward.

This made sense to him, it resonated, and he found himself nodding. In a weird way it made him feel better about leaving this all behind.

Re: During the Lecture

[the-right-ray.livejournal.com]

Ray looked blankly at a wall while the list was read.

Re: During the Lecture

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel went very still as the Doctor spoke, not trusting herself to look around the room. She left as soon as class was over.

Re: During the Lecture

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

After the last class? Lana just couldn't take this. She was crying well before he even got to the list and fled the class in tears almost before he'd dismissed them.

She didn't know or care where she went, she just ran. (http://lovelylana.livejournal.com/35979.html)

Re: During the Lecture

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Trying not to cry seemed to be the theme of the day. So who was Teddy to break the trend?

Re: During the Lecture

[dbiers.livejournal.com]

D glared through most of the lecture and muttered under her breath, "thanks for adding to the emo, Doc."

Re: During the Lecture

[stykera]

Stark was very quiet for the lecture. By now, he really ought to be used to this whole line of thinking. And he was. That didn't mean he had to like it.

And the 'no regrets, no tears, no anxieties' bit? That was asking far too much. Wasn't even possible, really.

After Class

[nine-and-ears.livejournal.com]

Questions? Anything?

He's there, cleaning things out from his desk.

Re: After Class

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"Was there a point to that list, sir?" Luke asked, eyes very, very serious. "We all have lists. Many of us would care not to be reminded of them."

Re: After Class

[nine-and-ears.livejournal.com]

The Doctor looked up from his desk. "Because it should help many students put things into proper perspective," he said. "Some, like yourself I gather, already have that perspective."

Re: After Class

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack waited for everyone else to leave before approaching the Doctor, hands in his pockets, looking uncharacteristically hesitant. "That was, umm, I liked that. Well not liked exactly, but..." He shrugged, not having the words, and a quick smile flashed across his face. "It sort of helped."

Re: After Class

[nine-and-ears.livejournal.com]

The Doctor smiled a bit. "I'm glad that it helped someone," he said.

OOC

[nine-and-ears.livejournal.com]

That last quote shamelessly adapted from 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'

Re: OOC

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

And very well adapted, too.

Just FYI that I'm AFK with the sleeping til EST around 4pm.

...and could there have been more TLAs* in that sentence?

____
Three Letter Acronyms*

Re: OOC

[nine-and-ears.livejournal.com]

I myself will be AFK until about... 4:30 Eastern?

Off to see Hot Fuzz!