fandomhigh | Practical Philosophy, Monday

Class gathered in a well-airconditioned classroom this time - considering the weather, Ender didn't think it prudent to go outside this time. All the chairs had been shoved aside to the walls, however, and a blanket spread on the floor. He sat down there before anyone else had entered, and waited.

"I'll tell you what I told my previous class," Ender said, "If you've come here for a lightning lecture on the dialogues of Plato or the nihilism of Nietzsche, or any other firm, philosophical field that gives some manner of answers, you're in the wrong place."

He shot the class a wry look. "I don't own any answers," he said. "I've got a great deal of questions, though. I'm always willing to share. While the philosophers of yore might make for a good touchstone for our existence, I believe most things are too complicated to rely exclusively on the wisdom of our elders."

"My name is Andrew Wiggin," Ender continued. "Some call me Ender. I answer to both. I'm a graduating student who's been here since his freshman year. I suppose that gives me some form of seniority."

He nodded towards his TA. "That's Tara Maclay," he said. "She's my teaching assistant. I think between the two of us, she might have more wisdom of her own-- so please, don't feel afraid to ask her questions, too."

Then he turned back towards the class. "This class is about opening a dialogue," he said. "It won't work if we're all silent. I believe each and every one of you has some defining experiences that are likely to be worth poking with a stick, because otherwise you wouldn't be here, and because I'm an inquisitive fool who enjoys prodding things with sticks and dodging any angry ants that might appear."

"Don't get me wrong, though. If you don't want to talk about yourself, don't. I'm perfectly happy to spend a class debating Hegel or something with you instead - though I do expect everyone to participate, no matter what the topic. If you have something to say, say it, and we'll judge between the lot of us whether it merits the conversation."

He smiled again, briefly. "We don't do introductions here," he added. "That's not to say there's never a good reason to have introductions-- it's a very neat way to put everyone in their place and define who we are to one another. I just don't think it's terribly constructive within the bounds of this class."

"I want to know what you find worth talking about," he continued, "and judge for myself whether it is. So we're going to talk. And we'll see where we wind up." He paused. "However, if anyone here chooses to be a jackass about how they react to anyone else, I personally maintain the right to kick them out of the class and shove their face into the pond."

Don't think he wouldn't.

"This is the time of the semester when everyone here is new in one way or another," he said. "Maybe you've been slacking off all week, forming new thoughts or new experiences or enjoying a complete lack thereof entirely. Maybe you're actually new to the school, and you're currently bewildered, flailing around for something to hold on to. I want to hear about that."

"We can talk about that. Or we can talk about something else. I'm open to talking about anything, as long as you think it's worth questioning. God knows I don't actually know a damned thing about anything, and maybe if you can think of something worth educating me about, you'll find something worth educating yourself about. Or maybe you won't. Wasting your time is your own prerogative."

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Sparkle looked around, and then shrugged, pulling whatever the first thing on his mind was and just kind of puking out some sort of conversation starter with it.

"Yesterday was Canada Day. Never really gave a damn about it before. Woo, parades and fireworks and shit. Big deal, right? Didn't think I'd actually miss it, but it was... like... extra quiet in a little place like this after coming from Toronto. I guess maybe I'm hoping that in a couple of days, Independence Day is going to manage to like split the difference or something."

Was that how it worked?

That was the way it worked, yes. Good work.

"There's usually a reason cliches like 'you never know what you've got until it's gone' came into existence," Ender mused. "Usually it's because they stem from experiences we've all had at some point. Like homesickness."

His own experiences with that particular one were a little complicated, though.

"What would you usually do on Canada Day?"

Sparkle shrugged.

"'Usually' is a funny word," he settled on. "I don't usually do anything. It's what everyone else usually does, you know? Like there'll be everyone all dressed up in red and white and people out getting drunk and partying and maybe some sort of free entertainment somewhere, and I might try to get lost in the crowd or see if someone is passing around a joint or I might, I don't know, just find some people and grab some booze and find a place to watch the fireworks, it's never the same, I don't ever do the usual. But usually, at least the choice is there."

He'd just skipped work yesterday. Whoop.

"Well, a certain number of choices are offered to you," Ender said, "And a few are taken away, like being able to have a peaceful day, I'd imagine. But I think that with holidays like this... they're shared experiences. There's a sense of belonging about it, even if you don't buy into it at the time."

"I guess, yeah," Sparkle replied, thoughtfully. "I mean, okay, whatever. It's just another holiday, fine. And like crap like Christmas or whatever, that's for certain people, and people learned to stop talking to me about shit like Mother's Day because I'll punch them I don't care, but I guess... I don't know, there are a couple that are kind of everyone's. You don't need to be religious or in love or a parent or anything, and that was one of them, so it was kind of always mine too, even if I didn't give two shits."

"Because 'Canadian' is an identity you're still comfortable assuming," Ender replied. "Makes sense. I had friends who spent... a great deal of time living elsewhere, and when they returned to their nations, they were expected to take that identity as their own. They never quite managed it."

That was... actually kind of interesting. Sparkle tilted his head a bit, curiously.

"So... they... lost it? After a while?"

"Well, they were very young when they left," Ender said, "Suffered through some heavy experiences."

That was one way to put it.

"So part of their allegiance - mentally, in the heart, however you'd describe it - that stuck with the home they'd lived in for most of their childhood."

Sparkle gave a slow nod at that. Okay, that made sense enough, he had to admit.

"You're comfortable with what you know, kind of?"

"I think if you get to know it young enough, you'll always compare the rest of the world to those rules, that kind of belonging."

That just brought to mind the earlier bits of Sparkle's life, and while he wasn't volunteering those bits up for the rest of the class to pick apart, he'd certainly gone quiet for a moment, dwelling on that.

And then, finally, he nodded.

Ender was right. At least within his own experiences. It applied easily enough to so many other things, beyond just nationality. Things that would shape who he became, for the rest of his life.

"Those are the rules that made more sense than any of the others. Of course I will."

Anna perked up a little at the mention of Canada Day, making a little involuntary excited, "Oh!" sound. Then she sort of deflated when she realized she'd missed it, and said softly, "Oh, I...didn't realize it was yesterday."

Anna still wasn't so good with the keeping track of time thing.

~~Also it was Dominion Day when she was alive but we'll just pretend she found out about the name change somehow, shh.~~

Edited 2012-07-02 23:46 (UTC)

Sparkle turned a wry little smile in Anna's direction.

"If we're both still around next year, I'll remind you," Sparkle offered. "We can, like, claim a chunk of the island in the name of Canada. I can get my hands on something to blow up..."

Fireworks. But that was a much more fun way to say it.

"... And we can beat all these Americans at the patriotism game by a few days."

Practical Philosophy, Monday

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