Carpe Diem: Making Your Lives Extraordinary, Period 4, Class 4

[carpe_demon]

Drake had handwavily informed the students that class would be held at the picnic tables outside the dorms. Why not?

"Rules exist for a reason," he began the class. "There are some things you're not supposed to do, like hurt other people or take their stuff without permission. But some rules don't exist to show you what's right and wrong -- some of them are more like guidelines to 'proper'" -- he wiggled his fingers in the air quotes gesture here -- "behavior. Do this, do that, wear this, eat that. Conformity. Rules, expectations, social norms, peer pressure. Garbage.

"If you're going to suck the marrow out of life, you need to be doing it for yourself first and foremost. Otherwise you're just sucking someone else's marrow." Pause. "Not dirty.

"Now, I'm not advocating chaos and anarchy here, though that can be fun sometimes, too. Like I said, some rules exist for a reason, and sucking said marrow doesn't mean doing so at the expense of others. But it's important to be yourself. You are you, not what your family or your world or anyone else tells you you are. If that were the case, I'd still be hanging out in the underworld eating babies or something.

"So today I want to tell me about some time you've broken the rules to be yourself. Why didn't you conform? And if you can't come up with anything, tell me why you've never rebelled against what was expected of you."

Comments

Sign In [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[carpe_demon]

Breaking the rules!

Re: Sign In [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[therewaslife]

Nobody Owens

Re: Sign In [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[glacial_queen]

Karla

Listen to the lecture [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[carpe_demon]

Talk, pass notes, try to look like you're paying attention, as you do.

Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[carpe_demon]

"So today I want to tell me about some time you've broken the rules to be yourself. Why didn't you conform? And if you can't come up with anything, tell me why you've never rebelled against what was expected of you."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[glacial_queen]

"There aren't exactly rules against it yet, at least as far as I know, but, back home, it's not considered polite or politic to admit to being a Black Widow," Karla said, trying not to get bitter all over the classroom. "Admitting publicly that you belong to the Hourglass is at the top of a very long list of things that are Not Done."

She tossed her hair. "I'll be damned if I'm going to deny one of my castes. Especially for people whose opinions I couldn't give a damn about."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[onlykindofdead.livejournal.com]

"My mom was pretty horrified when I dyed the tips of my hair purple," Madison said when it was her turn. "She's one of those proper society ladies."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[justwantsquiet.livejournal.com]

"I spend a lot of time trying not to invade other people's minds. It's sort of a self-imposed rule, for courtesy," Sookie said carefully. "But sometimes, at home, when people call me names or think I'm stupid because they don't believe in my telepathy, I snatch something out of their heads to prove I can do it." She smiled a little, and added, "It's kinda freeing, in a way."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[puppy_fair]

"I left home at an age that most people would say is way too young," Zack offered when his turn rolled around. "I just... couldn't stand the idea of growing up in a small town where nothing ever happens and the worst thing you have to deal with is the possibility of being turned into a frog if you go for a walk in the woods."

Gongaga was a special place.

"So when I was twelve, I just took off. And I really don't regret it, either."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[brat-intraining.livejournal.com]

"I'm gay," Kennedy said with a shrug, and where that could have been bitter or angry from someone else she said it in a matter-of-fact tone; she hadn't personally experienced any of the real discrimination that came with the identity, and she took the verbal insults about it the same way she took any other verbal insults, which was to say not personally. (Though sometimes there was punching people involved.) "I'm sort of breaking a few religions' rules just by existing. But whatever."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[therewaslife]

"Where I'm from, I didn't really know of society's rules and my home didn't have a lot of really well known rules," he explained, "but I think I broke some safety rules by wanting to go to public school the first time."

Of course, it hadn't worked well at all but he'd wanted to go so he could be himself and make friends.

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[eyesofahero.livejournal.com]

"Is going against a corrupt Government breaking a rule?" Because even after getting his head together, Cloud went and fought Shinra, although at that moment there were more pressing matters. Like the end of the world.

"I haven't had much chance to break a rule, actually."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[living_endless]

"Yeah, so I'm really not supposed to date mortals," Didi admitted. "There are reasons we made the rules. Really good reasons. But ... I think meeting Jono while I'm human was a good reason to break that rule, too."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[oops-mbad.livejournal.com]

Diana glanced down at her bag full of cat and shrugged. "I do things that are right in my line of work, not what some people who I may be related to think are right."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[nyotauhura101.livejournal.com]

"I came here, to Fandom," Uhura said. "My parents were dead set against it, no matter how much I argued or pleaded. I eventually won by shear stubbornness, but they're still not happy about it."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

"Does not giving a rat's ass what other people think count?" Dru asked. "Because I've been to a bunch of different schools and I never bothered to play the whole social hierarchy game. I was never in it to be popular."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[dontvotemeout]

"After my mother died, I should have gone into foster care, but I took care of myself instead," Jason said. "It wasn't fun, but I got to make my own rules and protect myself from the creeps who take kids in sometimes."

Re: Discussion [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

"I seduced a priest because I wanted to know what sex was like," Helen said. "Um... two priests."

Talk to Drake [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[carpe_demon]

Not a baby eater!

TAs [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[carpe_demon]

Also not baby eaters, so far as Drake knew.

Re: TAs [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[living_endless]

Didi had never eaten any babies, but she'd killed a whole lot of them. Call it a risk of her career.

OOC [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[carpe_demon]

I conformed my senior year of high school. I wore pastels. I hated it.

Re: OOC [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[puppy_fair]

My sympathies! Back in my senior year of high school, I scared all the freshmen by wearing a black trenchcoat and shades everywhere I went.

Good times, good times.

Re: OOC [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

I used to wear a long black wool cloak with silver lining in the hood. In Southern California.

Re: OOC [Carpe Diem, Class 4]

[oops-mbad.livejournal.com]

I was the opposite. I conformed by wearing black. Then got tired one day and showed up in a neon bright blue jacket. One of my teachers gave me a gold start because I was the only student who didn't look like they were there for a funeral.