fandomhigh | Coping With Change, Friday, Period 3

//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!]

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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.//

She was just going to cling to that denial as hard as she could and so there.

"Yeah, kinda," Kathy said, looking down at her desk. "Definitely feeling the whole minority status a lot more than I had before. Not saying that anyone's made a big deal out of it or anything...!"

Seriously, this was probably the best school ever to attend when it came to acceptance.

"But it's kind of weird waking up and seeing no one who looks like me."

Jonothon nodded a little in understanding.

//I can't even say that I get much of that around here as a mutant,// he noted. //It seems every other time I look, someone else is coming out and showing off some power or other. I've been in situations where I stand out, but less because of... well... fine, somewhat because of how I look, but not quite the same way.//

He didn't exactly grow up expecting to see people around with blue skin or fire where their chests went. He grew up in a family of white folks, in a district that was populated primarily of immigrants who didn't look all that much like him at all. Looking different was a concept he wasn't a stranger to, and being the white kid really hadn't hurt him any. He felt minority status a million times more now as a manifested mutant than he ever had as a kid, even in places where 'white British' was the minority, so far as numbers went.

//You mean you're not seeing representation of yourself in the people around you, right? Especially for somebody who grew up having that, I can see how it would be something to adjust to.//

"Exactly, yeah," Kathy said with a nod. "I mean, I very rarely see representations of myself in the media, but that was something else I shared with everyone else around me. Even if I couldn't turn on the TV, I could look out a window. Now, I can't do either. And I don't want to make it sound like that's somehow affected me negatively since I got here. Again, everyone in this school is really nice! But on a visceral level it's a major change that I guess I'm coping with."

Jonothon nodded a little as he considered that.

//I can't quite understand that, not coming from the same place you are,// he noted, half-apologetically. //I am really just another white bloke, in that sense. I pop in a video and everyone I look at looks like I do, from the nose up, at least.//

He got all the representation, in that regard. And growing up in a place where he was a minority with majority status, he was well aware of that fact, too.

//I've had to adjust to other things, obviously. I've got differences that mark me as not quite the same as everyone else, and I think I can start to understand when I approach your observation from that angle. You don't see many mutants in blockbuster hits, say. Back where I'm from, many choose to live near one another, so they're not one of a kind in a sea of baseline humans. But cultural identity and genetic identity aren't even really the same thing. The venn diagram that describes the two doesn't necessarily have much overlap.//

By the time he was finished talking, Kathy was beaming at him. "Still, you get it, even if what you're getting it how much you don't get it. And you don't think I'm making a big deal out of nothing or wondering why I consider it a change to get used to at all. So thank you, Mr. Stars--err, Jono, sir."

Oh, thank Christ she knew what he'd meant. He'd been half worried he'd taken off on some rambling tangent in there.

//You're very welcome, then,// he replied, relieved. //And if you ever feel as though you need to talk to somebody about it, I usually hang around here after class for a while. We can go on at length about how much I don't get it.//

There was a smile in his voice at that, something light, and lightly joking.

//More seriously, though, if there is anything that might help - I don't know. But if you want or need help with whatever you think might, don't hesitate to ask, luv. That's what we're here for.//

Coping With Change, Friday, Period 3

Re: Introductions!

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Re: Introductions!

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