fandomhigh | So You Say You Want a Revolution: Week 2, Period 3

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So You Say You Want a Revolution: Week 2, Period 3

"You all found your way back," Aly said with a teasing smile as the bell rang for the class to begin. "I'd be impressed, but I've met Fandom students before."

"Before we start, I'd like to introduce my TAs for this term - Ino Yamanaka, Rinoa Heartilly, Percy Jackson, and Nico di Angelo. Four isn't usual, I know, but we're trying something new this time around. I'd like each of the TAs to head up a small group of their classmates. When we work in teams or have small discussions, that's the group you'll be with."

She went to flip over the whiteboard to show the groups she'd set up.

*Percy Jackson
Cally
Faramir
Jason Todd
Makita

*Rinoa Heartilly
Cara
Kyle Reese
Leda
Proto

*Ino Yamanaka
Cloud Strife
Karla
Leia Organa
Shira

*Nico di Angelo
Elphaba Thropp
Katniss Everdeen
Luke Castellan

Aly glanced at the groups then back at the class. "If you hate who you're with, talk to me and - yeah, never mind. If you hate who you're with, deal with it. You don't always get to work with your friends when planning a revolution. Pull your desks together, and spend some time getting to know each other if you don't already.

"Last week we talked about the reasons why you personally would rebel against a government. What I'd like you to do today is to stay in the small groups and talk about why you - as a group - would rebel against something. You can look at it seriously or rebel against mandatory cheerleading uniforms for the whole school, but remember, revolutions aren't put together by one person. It's always a group effort. So today, let's start with that."

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"I have plenty of reasons to rebel," Katniss volunteered. "Just not here. And I don't have the capabilities at home."

Finding out she wasn't being watched had made her a little more comfortable in this class.

"I can relate to that," Luke said, unable to help himself even though Nico was there. "It is hard to rebel here when your home sucks in comparison."

Katniss arched a brow. "How much does your home suck?"

She had to use the unfamiliar word to mimic him. After all, Luke had known about Twinkies. His home couldn't be that terrible.

Luke shrugged. "I practically raised myself since my parents are...unavailable."

Yes. That's a good term to describe it.

"And I've been training my whole life to fight, and I make once little mistake and suddenly I'm metaphorically put on a shelf for life," he said. "I'm just supposed to sit around and train others to do what I should be doing."

That was a rant, but he was holding on to a lot of issues.

Katniss studied him for a moment before offering, "My father died when I was eleven, and my mother shut down entirely. I had to feed myself and my sister for years. It's not the same, but you have my sympathy."

The other part, she couldn't relate to. She was in the opposite position, herself -- wishing she could be put on a shelf for life, rather than in the spotlight, and the arena. Though she had her share of training to do, though she was likely dreading it for entirely different reasons.

"I'm sorry," he said immediately. Luke wouldn't describe what happened to his mother as shutting down, but he figured it was close to his situation. "This place is a lot better compared to both our homes I guess, huh?"

"Worlds better," Katniss said with a little smile. "Why don't you want to train others to follow in your steps, even if you can't fight yourself?"

"It's not that. I'm happy to train them if it means it'll give them a better chance of survival," Luke explained. "I just hate being left behind in a fight."

Katniss arched a brow. "And your superiors won't let you fight, even if you're good enough to train others?" she wondered. "That doesn't make sense."

"I know it doesn't," he said with a frown. "I'm only sixteen, they should have given me another chance."

"If you're good enough to teach, doesn't that imply that you should be on the front lines?" Katniss asked. "I'll have my own...trainees when I go home, but only because I've already been through the trials they've faced and survived. That's unfair, if you want to fight. And not very productive."

"I know it's not. But there isn't anything I can do about it." He was in no position to go against the gods at the moment. "I guess that's the whole point of this discussion, to find out if there is something we can do about our crappy positions."

"I don't suppose you're a good enough fighter to take down those superiors of yours?" Katniss asked, knowing the answer was almost definitely no. "Or do they have some kind of leverage over you?"

That was her situation, after all.

Elphaba nodded, empathetic to her plight. "I am sorry," she said. "But perhaps we could devise a way that others could help? I mean, with all the people from this school, the possibilities seem... unlimited."

"No," Katniss said shortly. "No one here is going to change my home for me. Thank you."

She didn't mean to be rude, but curtness was necessary. No one was going to go to Panem, for any reason. She couldn't allow it.

"I was only meaning in terms of the class," Elphaba said, being just as curt back. "As in theory."

"There's not much anyone can do in theory," Katniss said with a shake of her head. "And theory is useless without practice, anyway."

"Well, then I am sorry to have suggested it," Elphaba said, apologizing to be polite even though she thought the girl was being a bit pig-headed. "My aplogies."

"You don't need to apologize," Katniss said with a shrug. "But idealism won't help my situation. Thank you all the same."

That was Katniss' version of politeness. Pig-headed was just the start with her.

Edited 2010-09-09 00:23 (UTC)

Elphaba made a face. "I'm not suggesting that we can help, but that it might be possible. Though I suppose I know nothing of the world you are from."

But Katniss' defeatism bothered Elphaba. While it was possible the girl's world was as bad as she implied, there was something just strange about seemingly giving up on it all.

"Perhaps there is something in this world you wish to rebel against?"

"There's food and a roof over my head here, and I'm safe," Katniss said with an arched eyebrow. "There's nothing to rebel against here. But I have some time before I'll be called back home. I'm trying to learn as much as possible here as I can. That's the help I'll take home."

Elphaba scrunched her face. "I was hoping you'd have an idea for the class discussion," she said, trying to make the intention of her question clear. "I'm not suggesting we do any actually rebelling."

"Oh." Katniss wasn't deliberately being obtuse; she just couldn't see past the end of her nose sometimes. "I honestly have a hard time coming up with anything to rebel against here," she said, a bit of her attitude dropped out of sheepishness. Even Katniss could, eventually, realize when she was being stubborn for little reason. "Is there anything you've found unsatisfactory?"

"I do have one problem, yes," Elphaba said. "Like I told Luke, there is much that could be done to improve the lives of animals. This world seems to think that abusing them is perfectly fine if it improves the lives of people."

Katniss, for once in her life, did not say what she was thinking -- that people's survival, to her, outweighed the feelings of a deer, or whatever animal she might take down that day.

"How do you mean?" she asked, instead. Because surely Elphaba didn't mean to sacrifice people's well-being in the name of animals. Katniss was ambivalent about animal cruelty at best -- the Capitol's mutts certainly made her think about it -- but she was a bit concerned about cruelty to people, first and foremost.

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