Living on the Outskirts, Friday, Period 2

[furnaceface]

Today when students entered the classroom, they might notice how the usual pastries were completely absent. The seating set-up was the same, if only because the teacher had walked in to see the seats all shoved aside and had decided, to hell with it, he wasn't going to make the attempt to rearrange them. Oh. And the room smelled like burning brimstone. A little.

//Sick bloody joke,// the leather-wrapped teen who had taken a seat on top of the teacher's desk was grumbling. Well, 'grumbling.' Talking directly into the students' heads was more like it. And he wasn't even particularly good at it yet, considering the way he had to pause every few words in order to round up his focus all over again. //'A guide to fitting in... for those not meant to?' Really?//

Today's class might be a touch counter-productive.

//If yer not meant to... yer not meant to. World's got a pecking order to it. We... can't all be superheroes or rock stars or... prom kings. And a person'll just get burned if they set their sights... too high. Whose idea was it, having th'likes of me teach this? 'Those not meant to.' Plonkers.// Was young, skinny, burning Jonothon a little grumpy? Yes. Yes he was. //Th'way to fit in... is to find somebody who... happens to be as big a freak as you are. Anyone else... is probably just trying t'make themselves... feel better.//

He cast a look around the room, chestnut-coloured eyes glowing fire-hot for a moment.

//Tell me I'm wrong. Go on. Try.//

... That was probably about as close to an assignment as the class was going to get from Jonothon today, yes. So, go on. Tell him he's wrong.

[Open!]

Comments

Sign In.

[furnaceface]

Like a freak!

Re: Sign In.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

Cade

Re: Sign In.

[pulseof_life]

Paddra Nsu-Yeul

Re: Sign In.

[ultron_junior]

Victor Mancha

Re: Sign In.

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

Toby Logan

Before Class!

[furnaceface]

No food, no tea, but still a bit of time to sit and talk, if you want.

Lecture?

[furnaceface]

Well... it's lecturey. And delivered straight into your head by a teenager version of your usual teacher, who smells like burning and think you're all idiots who are wasting both your time and his.

Enjoy that.

Re: Lecture?

[ultron_junior]

So Victor knew, intellectually, that Professor Starsmore was probably Chamber.

It was quite another thing to see him being Chamber someplace otherwise than a reality that didn't exist anymore where he hadn't properly been himself anyhow.

He knew that wasn't the point of the lecture (which mostly just made him feel guilty his particular version of freakdom could be hidden from anything except metal detectors), but it was still what he was going to think about.

Re: Lecture?

[pulseof_life]

For her part, though it was perhaps not the point of the lecture, Yeul couldn't help but mull over the differences between Professor Starsmore as a teenager and way he usually was. Especially when it came to the topic of fitting in.

Peculiarly, it made her feel quietly pleased. If this was his teenaged self, it appeared that he was doing much better as an adult and that made Yeul happy.

In a way, things had looked up for him. He just did not know it yet.

Re: Lecture?

[godgavemecable.livejournal.com]

There was something different about actual, telepathic conversation compared to just 'overhearing' the thoughts of others. In any case, Toby was glad the startled sort of twitch he gave when Jono started talking probably wasn't going to seem that surprising, considering everyone could hear their, uh, 'teacher's voice.

... Discuss?

[furnaceface]

It was kind of more like a challenge, granted. But if you have any argument at all for why Jono is wrong when he says that freaks are always going to be just freaks, by all means, speak up.

Re: ... Discuss?

[pulseof_life]

"I cannot think of anything that would make a difference in how those who do not fit in are viewed by others without that trouble," Yeul said quietly. "There will always be those who are uncomfortable, to put it mildly, with people who are different."

Which was desperately sad.

Yeul kept her voice soft and her eyes on her desk. "But I think that, perhaps, though it may not make a difference those who are not 'freaks' and how they feel, that those who are different should know that they are more than just their differences. Reducing someone to just being a 'freak' even if, especially if, that is a belief held by another 'freak' takes away everything else that they are as well."

Re: ... Discuss?

[furnaceface]

//So, you're saying it's dehumanizing... t'be considered a freak among freaks,// Jono paraphrased, perhaps poorly, as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. //And we should... what, keep in mind that we're all... people, even when we're sitting on th'outside, looking in?//

Re: ... Discuss?

[pulseof_life]

Yeul looked up at him. “I would not use the word ‘dehumanizing’,” she said quietly. “But I think it a sorrowful thing if the only people who might even have a chance to even vaguely understand one another spend their time pointing out each other’s differences and crying ‘that person is more of a freak than I am’.” She paused to consider her words carefully. “I do not mean to say that everyone who is a… a freak, to use your word, must get along with one another. But it seems pointless and needlessly cruel to deliberately lash out with harsh words towards the people who are freaks, because of their freakishness, if you’re also a freak.”

Re: ... Discuss?

[whenshewasnice]

Yeul had made most of the points already, so when Natalie chimed in, her contribution stayed on the simple side.

"You're wrong," she said. "And in a few days you'll be happy we told you so."

Re: ... Discuss?

[furnaceface]

//Is that so?// Jono... really didn't seem entirely convinced. She was right, but it wasn't like he'd believe it until he turned back. //And why d'you say that?//

Re: ... Discuss?

[whenshewasnice]

"Because I know how these things work." And she was very fickle when it came to playing along with people hit with Fandom weirdness. "This isn't who you are, usually."

Talk to the TAs.

[furnaceface]

They might or might not actually agree with him today, at least?

Re: Talk to the TAs.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

Cade got a lot out of the lecture, namely the word "plonker."

Heh. Plonker.

Re: Talk to the TAs.

[harpy-daughter.livejournal.com]

Honestly? Surreal thought that Starsmore was actually really not that strange-looking this way. Still not her type - male, for one, - but she didn't think he looked that odd or unattractive.

Eyrians, with the wings, that was strange. He just looked like he'd had a Craft accident.

Talk to Jono.

[furnaceface]

He's... not terribly approachable. But he's here. Grudgingly.

Wanting to punch whoever had the bright idea to have him teach this stupid class.

So, himself. Not that he knew that.

Re: Talk to Jono.

[walkswithcoyote]

At the end of class, Mercy approached Jono quietly. "I know you probably won't believe this, but a while ago you - well, you who you usually are here - showed me a picture of you the way you are now."

All the 'you's were getting a little confusing, but how else did you deal with weird age shifting things?

"You told me a little about what your life had been like and, well, I probably shouldn't say too much, but I can tell you that it gets better. And that you find a place where you have a kind of family."

She shrugged a little shyly. "For what it's worth, I hope maybe that helps a little."

Re: Talk to Jono.

[furnaceface]

Jono was quiet as he contemplated the words the girl said to him, tilting his head at her.

//Not sure,// he admitted, finally. //You're... not th'first to tell me that... it won't be like this forever. Not... sure how much faith t'put into that, though.//

Re: Talk to Jono.

[walkswithcoyote]

"It's hard, I know," she said. "To believe things will change and get better, especially when life really sucks. And I, well, I don't know for sure, but I don't think I can say that the Jono you become has a particularly easy life. I do know that there's a lot of good in it and he's helped a lot of people."

Mercy smiled at him a little shyly. "Like me."

OOC!

[furnaceface]

THIS JOURNAL. THIS JOURNAL I HAVE MISSED IT.

And it still has paid time on it from all of the icon commissions I wound up doing, way back when. I was kind of stunned, yes.