Basic Strategy, Monday, Period 4

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

Tyrion was already standing on his desk as the students got to class. He wasn't concerned about them noticing he was a dwarf; that would be blindingly obvious even if he carted the Iron Throne in and stood on top of that. However, being below eye level tended to put him at a disadvantage that he saw no need to start from today.

"Good afternoon, and welcome to Basic Strategy," he began. "I'm Tyrion Lannister. You may address me as Lord Tyrion, or as Professor Lannister if a noble title is too much for you."

"Before we start, I'd like to mention that I need an assistant. I want someone to go to the market for me, fetch my books, cook from time to time if you're the sort, help out in class every so often, and, most importantly, laugh at my jokes. There's coin in it -- twice whatever the going rate is for student jobs on the island, if I like you. If you're willing to take it on, stop by my office tomorrow and we'll chat."

A pause, there, as Tyrion willed the students to jot this down and looked at his own notes.

"This class is not about how to win a war. It's about how to make the circumstances of your life work for you. How to get what you want, whether it's a crown or some money or a pretty girl. Many of my thoughts may be useful; if they aren't, I hope at the least I'll entertain you for an hour every week."

"The main thing we're going to discuss today is where we all start from. Unless you're an idiot, no doubt you've surmised a few things about me by now. First, of course, is that I'm devastatingly handsome. Second, you might have heard the way I introduced myself, or noted the quality of my clothing, and correctly deduced that I come from a family of some standing. And finally, the thing the world will very rarely let me forget -- I am a dwarf. My limbs are short, my head is large, I wouldn't be the first person you'd call for back-up in a swordfight."

He'd been speaking quickly through his introduction, but here he paused and began to pace himself, as if he wanted to ensure the students were listening. "I can't forget any of that. No one else will."

"And I promise you, there are things about each of you that no one will ever forget, either. It might be a family name; it might be something you've done, or failed to do. It might be very good or very bad. Whatever it is, you need to take it on fully. Make it into your strength, and no one can ever use it to hurt you."

"You" -- and here he pointed randomly into the front row -- "start our conversation. Your names, two things about you that are common knowledge, and one thing you just want us to know. Next week, we'll start discussing how to turn what we have -- and don't have -- into things we can use."

Comments

SIGN IN [8/29]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

Like it's your first class of the school year.

Re: SIGN IN [8/29]

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

Tony Stark

LISTEN TO THE LECTURE [8/29]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

The teacher is a dwarf. He may also have some points.

Re: LISTEN TO THE LECTURE [8/29]

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

Hunh. Kenzi tilted her head, mind already whirring away about what to admit to, and what to make up, or at least conceal.

Also, smart. Good. Smart teachers were yay. Much less boring and pointless. She could deal with this.

Re: LISTEN TO THE LECTURE [8/29]

[hasadestiny]

Lex tapped his pen against his notebook, thanks to the wonders of the free press enough his life was already in the public domain that he didn't feel like sharing the rest, even just in a single class.

Re: LISTEN TO THE LECTURE [8/29]

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

As Bruce listened to the lecture, he was forced to consider that his things that were common knowledge might vary wildly depending on which of his classmates were listening. He'd have to find some middle ground.

Re: LISTEN TO THE LECTURE [8/29]

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

Tyrion's speech struck something of a chord with Toby (as clearly it was designed to do, given the topic of the class). All his life, he'd made people uncomfortable just because of what he was. Oh, none of them could ever quite pin down why, except that many had held the (completely correct) suspicion that he knew more than he should about them.

Re: LISTEN TO THE LECTURE [8/29]

[inaskinnyway.livejournal.com]

The teacher's size didn't matter to Susan at all. In fact, she had to wonder why it would even need to be addressed.

She'd brought a book with her in case she got bored, but when she listened, she found that maybe this class might be interesting after all.

Re: LISTEN TO THE LECTURE [8/29]

[holy-daughter.livejournal.com]

Lord Tyrion had seemed intriguing when they met at the picnic; she was pleased to learn that he was to be one of her instructors. She felt he might have much to teach on the subject of surviving in the world of politics.

As for sharing information about one's self, that was more difficult. It was better to listen, and gather information, than to disperse it too quickly.

She was learning. Cesare would be proud.

Re: LISTEN TO THE LECTURE [8/29]

[withasword.livejournal.com]

What was common knowledge about Kate? She didn't often go out of her way to chat about herself and her past. Her world, yes, but her... not so much.

She tapped her pencil on the desk a few times then forced herself to drop it before that could get too irritating. At least she'd have a few minutes to think while everyone else talked.

Re: LISTEN TO THE LECTURE [8/29]

[batwaffles.livejournal.com]

The dwarf thing didn't phase Stephanie at all, really -- well, okay, maybe for the first second or two it did but once that had passed she was actually kind of envious about how well Tyrion seemed to deal. That had to be about a billion times worse than the kind of critique she took, and she took that hard enough.

By the end of the lecture she'd picked up a little bit of a grin and might, if you squinted at her the right way, be sitting up just a little bit taller.

Re: LISTEN TO THE LECTURE [8/29]

[notmyownage]

Theoretically, Claudia loved the idea of taking what someone might use against you and making it a personal strength. In practice, she was a bit skeptical.

She debating what facts she wanted to bring up in her introduction. Some things were pretty much right out. Maybe she could just claim the facts of her life were classified?

INTRODUCTIONS [8/29]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

Names, two things about you the world is unlikely to forget, and one thing you just think is important.

Re: INTRODUCTIONS [8/29]

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

"Kenzi. My given last name is irrelevant and really hard for non-Latvians to pronounce. So I suppose that counts as something important." Kenzi paused, trying to think of what to admit to and what people already knew about her. Curse you, Radio. Curse you, Bo. She'd admit to the theft right now, even if it was warning potential suckers, but it was just about against her religion to be that open. Hmm. Okay. That worked. Maybe?

"I like money. People might know that. And I don't like over-sharing. Which means sometimes I lie and admit it later when people call me on it." Ha. There. Anyone who still thought her name was Astra could bite her.

Re: INTRODUCTIONS [8/29]

[hasadestiny]

"Lex Luthor," he began, deciding to go with a definition of 'common knowledge' that only involved this one island and what people could see with their own eyes. Anyone who wanted more could do their own digging. "I'm left-handed, Lucrezia is my roommate, oh, and I'm bald."

Yes, three downright stunning revelations there.

Re: INTRODUCTIONS [8/29]

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

"Toby Logan," he introduced himself. "I'm a foster kid and, more recently, a runaway." The first two things were easy; the quality of his clothing essentially gave those away. It was the third that was the problem. The most important thing about him was one that he didn't want to divulge just yet, not to a classroom full of mostly-strangers. "I recently got my first real job." That wasn't conning people out of money with mind-reading tricks, anyway.

Re: INTRODUCTIONS [8/29]

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"My name is Bruce Wayne," Bruce said. "In my world and to some people here, I'm probably best known for coming from an extremely wealthy family, and the fact that my parents were murdered in front of me when I was a child as part of a robbery gone wrong."

"And the thing I just want the class to know is that I currently know eleven languages. Not all of them fluently, but enough to get by."

Did that sound like an absurd number of languages for a teenager to know? Sure. But like he said, he wasn't fluent in all of them!

Re: INTRODUCTIONS [8/29]

[inaskinnyway.livejournal.com]

Really? They had to do this? Well, fine. For all she knew, this could be one of the only times people knew she was in class.

"My name is Susan Sto Helit. I've only just gotten here and I'm very definitely not from here," she said. "As for things I want everyone to know... I can't say there's anything I'd like to announce in class."

Which might seem rude, but it was honest.

Re: INTRODUCTIONS [8/29]

[holy-daughter.livejournal.com]

"My name is Lucrezia Borgia," she said, "of the Borgia family, which carries significant weight at home. My father is the Pope of Rome."

That was two, and so, a third.

"I have had my portrait painted. By Pinturicchio."

Harmless enough, and she happened to be vain enough that she was proud of it.

Re: INTRODUCTIONS [8/29]

[withasword.livejournal.com]

"Kate Daniels," she shared. "There are other bits of my name. Russian bits, because my father was Russian." And no, she didn't feel like sharing them, though anyone who looked at school administration documents would know all the same. "I know I lot of ways to hurt people. Most don't forget that." At least, not once they'd seen it.

"I have a sword that glows sometimes." And there was that.

Re: INTRODUCTIONS [8/29]

[forhisfriends.livejournal.com]

Like most people in this class, Simon also spent a good while weighing what his three facts about himself were, and how open he should be.

"I'm Simon Bellamy," he started. "People usually don't forget that... that I'm English. And very pale." He drew a breath, there, before adding, quickly, "And I can turn invisible."

Re: INTRODUCTIONS [8/29]

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"My name is Tony Stark," he said, glancing around. "I technically own a company, my mom died when I was really young--" And his dad was mysteriously alive and from the 40s. Oh god, why?! "--and I have over a dozen patents in my name."

Re: INTRODUCTIONS [8/29]

[batwaffles.livejournal.com]

. . . um. Yes.

Once Stephanie had finished having a private little freakout over Lex Luthor being in her class she pulled herself together enough to come up with an answer; what she said indicated that Tyrion's lecture must have struck a chord.

She took a deep breath before charging right on ahead. "I'm Stephanie Brown, and my father is a repeat convict who's been in and out of prison ever since I was a little kid. Mostly in." Neither Tim nor her Bruce ever let her forget that, and she was pretty sick of the reminders, so it definitely qualified. The next fact was one that wasn't actively mentioned often, but given the company she tended to keep it was hard to forget. "Soooooooooo, Mom and I aren't exactly rich. Quite the opposite, if we want to be specific."

And then the one thing she thought was important, not just because it made her feel worthwhile but because it was her way of making up for that first thing?

Kind of a shame I can't really talk about the big one. Figures.

"And I've lived in Gotham City my entire life, which if you're familiar with the place says something about me. What, I don't know exactly, but . . ." She shrugged.

TALK TO TYRION [8/29]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

Eventually, he'll climb off the desk.

Re: TALK TO TYRION [8/29]

[inaskinnyway.livejournal.com]

It was rare that Susan had ever stayed after class to speak to a teacher. But given the world Susan came from, and the fact that while she hadn't fully grasped how different this place was, she knew it wasn't quite like home, she was curious.

"I had a question, Professor, if you have some time," she said politely.

OOC [8/29]

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

I think I decided he had to teach as soon as he gave this speech to Jon Snow, true facts.

Re: OOC [8/29]

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

*glees on this so hard*