Coping With Change, Friday, Period 3

[furnaceface]

//Change,// Jonothon said, stepping into the classroom and starting his lecture without preamble today, //happens. Winter turns to spring, puppies turn into dogs, people come and go. There are very few constants in the world. But, I hope, you knew that. Anyone who's had me as a teacher in semesters past can likely see that I'm no stranger to the idea, either.//

He leaned back against the front of his desk, arms crossed over the bandages that kept his flames from licking out from his chest and face into the room.

//If you're in this class, it's likely you've either recently gone through a major change in your life, or else you're expecting one.// Pause. //Or else you'll be telling me the office has made a terrible mistake. In which case, congratulations on having some stability in your life. We're all terribly jealous.//

And also, your teacher was a bit of a snarker. You'd have to cope with that on top of all of that change in your lives.

//For those of you who mean to be here, expect this class to be just as much theory as candid discussion of how you might apply it to your own life. I'm not going to make anyone discuss what change they've been through if they're not comfortable sharing with the class, mind, though obviously anyone is welcome to come talk to me if they need someone to confide in. I respect your right to privacy and I do keep rum on hand for squirrel bribes if need be. And, for what it's worth, this telepathic voice of mine doesn't mean that I'm rooting through your brains looking for your deepest secrets. I have much better things to do.//

Much, much better things. Like keeping his own brain in order.

//Today we're going to start off simple. Introductions, because there are new faces here I'm not familiar with. Name, class, and why you're taking this one. Feel free to share any recent changes you might be adjusting to - coming to this ridiculous bloody island absolutely counts - and we'll get into the real meat of dealing with those changes next week. For example, I'm Jonothon Starsmore, Fandom High graduate, 2011, and it's been a very long three years since. Call me Jono or Jon. Please. I'm here teaching this class because when I was your age, I was stuck figuring out how to handle everything that had turned upside-down for me on my own. And if you're wondering just what I know about change…// His psionic voice took on a wry tone. //Remind me to bring a photo album with me to class sometime.//

He waved a hand at the room.

//Any questions or volunteers to go first? I'll pick for you, otherwise.//

[OOC: Open! Have at!]

Comments

Introductions!

[furnaceface]

Name, class, why you're taking this class, any questions you might have, and, if you like, feel free to discuss a change in your life that you want to come to terms with.

Anything from 'my dog just died' to 'I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the return of these vastly destructive mutant powers and I really miss having a mouth but this is still better than being blue,' is fair game.

... This is a flexible sort of topic.

Re: Introductions!

[pulseof_life]

She smiled at Jono. He had changed, yes, but that didn't mean Yeul wasn't happy to see him.

"I am Yeul," she said softly. "I... do not remember what class I am." It just wasn't the sort of thing that she paid attention to. She didn't sound concerned about not remembering. "This class sounded interesting as I have a... lot of experience with change."

Which Jono already knew.

Re: Introductions!

[furnaceface]

//You do,// Jono replied, giving her a small nod. //I look forward to hearing more about your own method of handling it. I suspect it works somewhat better for some people than others, though.//

Really, simply not caring about what happened, particularly to yourself, wasn't exactly the most healthy outlook for people who weren't immortal.

Re: Introductions!

[pulseof_life]

"I don't know that it would be easily learned," Yeul said, tilting her head slightly. "It takes time."

Which was one thing she never, ever ran out of.

Re: Introductions!

[walkswithcoyote]

"I'm Mercedes Thompson and I'm a senior," Mercy said. "I thought the class sounded interesting. I've had a lot of changes to adjust to in the past few years, like losing my home and stuff, and I haven't always handled them well or easily, so..."

Re: Introductions!

[furnaceface]

//Good to see you, Mercy. I know you've done a lot of growing in the past few years, don't sell yourself too short.// He offered her a reassuring nod. //Change isn't always an easy thing to handle, and you've been through some extreme ones. Still, hopefully you'll pick up something in this semester that'll make it easier for you to get by in the future.//

Re: Introductions!

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"Good morning," Celia said cordially, smiling. "I'm Celia Bowen, and I'm a sophomore. I didn't sign up for this class on my own, though I'm delighted to be here all the same." She cleared her throat, a touch nervous as she thought about the change she wanted deal with, as long as she was here.

"And for the first time since I was five years old, I don't have my father around to teach me how he'd like me to use my powers."

There. That was a nice, vague way of putting it. The smile playing about her lips might have given an indication that this wasn't an unwelcome change, necessarily.

Re: Introductions!

[furnaceface]

Delighted! Jono didn't get many students who were delighted to be in his class.

//Ah, freedom,// he noted, nodding his approval. It was good to see a student talk about a change with a smile on her face. //Your first week on the island has been good to you, then, Celia?//

Re: Introductions!

[wildandbrave]

"My name is Cosette, and I've only just moved here from France," said Cosette, with no sign of any earlier surprise. "My father and his brother were gardeners at the convent where I was going to school, but then his brother died, so Father and I left. We've come from 1829 -- that's quite enough of a change as it is, isn't it?"

Re: Introductions!

[furnaceface]

//It's more than a little,// Jono replied gently. He'd noticed her staring earlier, during his lecture. That sort of thing was difficult to miss. But he was going to let it slide. He knew how shocking his voice could be. //How are you finding 2014 so far, Cosette?//

Re: Introductions!

[lil-nikita.livejournal.com]

Alex was considering exactly what she was going to say. There was so much to choose from.

"Hey, I'm Alex," she said after a moment. "I'm a junior. Things are sorta stable right now, but there has been a lot of change in my life. I'm handling it better now, but that hasn't always been the case."

That's all she decided to share for now.

Re: Introductions!

[furnaceface]

Ah, that was good and vague. Jono was curious, but he wasn't going to push.

//It's always harder at first,// he noted. //You get better at dealing with the big changes after a few rounds, but until then, it's not unheard of to flail about lost for a while until it starts to make sense.//

Re: Introductions!

[fly-so-serious.livejournal.com]

"My name is Jeff Moreau, but you can call me 'Joker'. I'm a Junior, and... I don't know. I had my whole future ripped away from me and then put back into place last week; that was pretty stressful. My mom died over a year ago, and I haven't coped with that yet. Not sure I'm going to. I haven't had a sky over my head my whole life, except on vacations, so that's pretty weird... and either I've traveled a century and a half into the past, or everyone else on the island is crazy. Me 'n Occam need to sit down for a long chat about that one and make a final call."

Re: Introductions!

[furnaceface]

//That's quite th'list, Joker,// Jono noted, taking the whole lot of it in stride. He'd heard stranger, really. //I can, at least, attest to how insane the island is, though I suspect that's more due to the island itself than the people on it.//

Welcome to Fandom, Jeff.

//... Perhaps some of it is the people on it.//

Re: Introductions!

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy gave Joker a sympathetic smile after Jono moved on. She knew what it was like to accidentally call down a teacher's ire for a misspeaking.

"How're you settling in?"

Re: Introductions!

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor wasn't sure which change to discuss. She'd been open about many of them, but it was still frightening, talking about them out loud.

"My name is Eleanor Lamb," she said. "I'm a sophomore, and I didn't pick this class, but I'm glad to be in it."

She took a nervous breath for the last part. "Until one week ago," she said, "I was my mother's prisoner, isolated from the rest of the world. So all of this is very new."

It surprised her at times, how loud groups of people could be. It had been harder to notice when she was little, cutting through the throngs in search of corpses.

Re: Introductions!

[furnaceface]

It never seemed to fail, did it? Jono would always, inevitably, have a student who managed to completely break his heart on the first day.

No small feat, considering his utter lack of one.

//I'm... sorry to hear that, Eleanor. How do you feel you're adjusting, so far?//

Re: Introductions!

[voiceoverdue]

"Hi, everybody! I'm Cecil; I'm a freshman. I'm taking this class because you can never have too many coping mechanisms, right? I mean, you never know how many arms or tentacles or strange voices in your head you might wake up with."

Or maybe that was just him.

"I guess my biggest change lately is being fourteen. I mean, until July I was...well, it sort of depends on how you count, time being what it isn't," he rolled his eyes, "but I was a lot older."

Re: Introductions!

[furnaceface]

Definitely not just him. Jono knew plenty of people with tentacles.

//I imagine that would take a bit of adjustment,// he agreed, looking curiously at Cecil, and then shrugging it off. That wasn't even the strangest thing Cecil had said since they'd first met, after all. //And how is being fourteen treating you?//

Re: Introductions!

[dressedinblood]

"I'm Anna Korlov," Anna said, "and I'm a senior, and for a very long time I was trapped in my house, before the curse was broken, and then owing to circumstance I'm trapped on this island, and that's been a big enough adjustment on its own, but I suppose now I'm beginning to get nervous about what comes after the island."

Re: Introductions!

[furnaceface]

Jono gave a little nod at that.

//I could see how that could be cause for concern,// Jono agreed. //That's... a pretty wide-open set of possibilities. Hopefully, it won't be another situation that can be prefaced with 'trapped in,' though.//

Re: Introductions!

[justbeingbay]

"Hey, I'm Bay Kennish, I'm a senior," Bay said, twisting a piece of hair around her fingers as she hesitated on how to phrase her reason for being there. "So -- this isn't exactly recent, but almost two years ago we found out the hospital swapped babies back when I was born. We're still, um, kind of integrating the two sets of parents. And also my big brother eloped like six weeks ago, but that's more the normal kind of change, right?"

Re: Introductions!

[furnaceface]

//Even normal changes can be a bit overwhelming,// Jono replied, lifting a shoulder slightly. //Just because it's something people are more likely to have some experience, doesn't mean it's something you've had a chance to wrap your head around.//

Re: Introductions!

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hi, I'm Kathy and I'm a sophomore," Kathy said with a small nod to Jono. "I'm the office mixup of the class, sorry."

Because there was absolutely nothing weird going on in her life. Nothing. No changes incoming, nope!

"But, like you said, there are a lot of things to adjust to. I'm from L.A. normally and it's weird being here and hearing only English all the time. And, err, well, I grew up in Koreatown. Everything here is very..."

She wasn't sure how to say 'white' without coming off as racist, so she was just going to trail off.

Re: Introductions!

[furnaceface]

The first step was denial, Kathy.

//White?// Was it still racist if Jono supplied it? He had no idea, but he wasn't going to judge her for noticing, either. //I know what you're getting at, luv. Fandom might have a lot of different cultures and backgrounds around it, but it's not exactly a pinnacle of equal racial representation. I grew up in Leyton, on London's East End-- Less than half the population there is white, too.//