Practical Philosophy, Monday

[endsthegame]

Ender preferred to keep his classes outside when the weather allowed for it at all. As the temperatures were decent and it didn't look like it was going to rain just yet, he took the class outside to the dorm lawn where he sat down on the ground. "Sit down in a circle, please."

He had a bag of sandwiches and a bag of bottles of water with him, which he put in the middle of the circle.

"Welcome," he said. "My name is Andrew Wiggin. I'm an alumnus of this school; I graduated several years ago." That was all they needed to know, as far as he was concerned. "And you might be wondering what you signed on for."

"While 'philosophy' is in my class's title, we're not here primarily to talk about the philosophers of old or the specifics of particular lines of thought in philosophy. In this class, we try to put our own experiences into a greater perspective through conversation and debate. That means I expect some level of participation from all of you."

This was the part where he smiled, at least a little. "That doesn't mean you always need to speak up about yourself," he said. "No topics are everything to everyone. If that week's subject veers too close to something you want to keep private, be my guest - just try and pitch in when someone else speaks. Ask questions."

"Because that's the point of this class: to ask questions of ourselves and of the people around us. You can even ask questions of me, if you feel the need. And maybe together we can get to the core of our joint and individual experiences." His mouth quirked a bit more. "That doesn't mean we're always going to be lingering on the existential questions - or staring at our belly buttons. It just means we're going to try and dig and come to some understanding about each other, ourselves, and the world."

He picked up a bottle of water. "As for today, let's open a dialogue," he said. "For some of you, this is all new. How is it working for you? Are you elated? Annoyed? Don't want to be here? Achingly happy to be here? And for those of you who aren't - how has the past year treated you? Has there been anything that made you cry or made you think or made you wonder?"

"We can talk about that. Or you can bring up something else you feel is worth questioning. You can assume from here on in that I really don't know a thing; but maybe by educating me, you can find something worth educating yourself about."

He paused, then nodded at the surly tattooed youth also sitting in the circle. "That's your TA, by the way. His name is Cade."

Comments

Talk.

[endsthegame]

Let's answer some questions, and ask them.

Always feel free to make this thread messy!

Re: Talk.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"This place is fine," Barry said with a shrug. "A couple of things surprised me but that's about it."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"What surprised you?" Ender asked.

Re: Talk.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Well the pet dinosaur and ostrich-flamingo and potential sex changes was a new one. But I knew this palace was fucked up so I can deal with it."

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Last semester," Elsa said, maybe just a little softly, "there was a... a break, in reality. I don't know how far it reached, I don't know who it affected, but here it was changing people into other people. I can't speak for the impression it left on anybody else, but I spent some time as a strong, outgoing young woman who wouldn't hesitate to do things that I've spent my life terrified of trying."

No, she wasn't going to elaborate on what unless she was asked specifically.

"It raised a lot of questions about myself, and about what the people in my life are willing to accept. Or what would have to change in order for some things to actually be okay."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Did you figure out any answers yet?" Ender asked. He wasn't exactly surprised to hear about the Fandom shenanigans themselves, though he hadn't been affected. "Do you know where to start?"

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Not yet," Elsa admitted. "I do know that there are things that people around here can just... accept, without question. I still don't think I could take those same things home and expect people to take them with a grain of salt. They're two different worlds, two different times. I'm very different things to people, there compared to here."

Re: Talk.

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

"Transformation wavefront." Jalian perked up. "Changes ripple through timelines - but it was turned back?"

Was that possible? If she could stop Armageddon without losing Ken Selvren...

"Is that what turned your hair white, too?" she asked curiously.

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"My hair...?" Elsa had seen somebody's hair shift to shock white once before; her sister's, where she'd accidentally struck her with her powers. But her own? "No, it's always been this pale. I was born with it this way. The changes through the timelines were fixed by undoing what had broken everything in the first place, before it even started."

She bit her lip as she looked at the other girl, curiously.

"Your hair wasn't always that way?"

Re: Talk.

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"I think ... that I'd like to meet her," Eleanor said softly. "The other-you who was so sure of herself."

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"I don't know her, personally," Elsa noted, gently. "But maybe around here, we'll both get a chance to."

She smiled at Eleanor almost wistfully.

"It would be nice to know what it's like to be so brave."

Re: Talk.

[not_every_mage]

"I'm too new to have much of an opinion on this place yet," Anders admitted. "I'm still trying to work out why the little light in my ceiling goes on. But it's not the Circle, and no one seems inclined to clap handcuffs on me, so I'll take it."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"You were in danger before coming here?" Ender surmised.

Re: Talk.

[bjornstjarna.livejournal.com]

"I like it, so far," Soren admitted. "Things have been- not bad, exactly, at home. But strange. I don't fit the mold people expect me to. Here's a fresh start, kind of, but at the same time I'm glad to have a friend from home around," he added, with a glance at Vider if she was there. That in and of itself was progress; this time last year, he hadn't been sure he could ever speak to her again, and now here they were, going to the same school, attending the same classes.

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

Ender followed his glance briefly, then smiled. "Did you know your friend would be here?"

Re: Talk.

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"I love it here," Celia said softly, initially addressing her hands but then looking up as she gained momentum. "I love how -- accepting, everyone is here. I love that I can rely on people for support, when I need to. And my time here has made me wonder how...how much my upbringing has shaped who I am, and how much this environment is allowing me to grow in contrast."

Her magic felt stronger here, even if she didn't practice as strenuously as her father made her. She couldn't explain it aside from how much it never seemed to be work, when she practiced here.

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Take it from me," Ender said with a faint smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Upbringing can say a lot, and very little, about who we are."

But far be it from him to bring his own problems into this. "What changes in yourself have you experienced so far?"

Re: Talk.

[justwantedfriends]

"I wasn't happy about coming here at first," Kira admitted, "but it's also a lot more interesting here than I thought it would be, so I've come around on the idea."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Why didn't you want to come?" Ender asked.

Re: Talk.

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"I think I'm learning who I am," Eleanor said carefully. "Before, I ... I just reacted to stimuli, to my situation. Now I'm free, and a person, and that means I can choose."

That might be the greatest gift her Father had given her.

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Don't you think the exact contents of your reactions contained, if nothing else, at least a hint of yourself?" Ender asked.

Re: Talk.

[bearmaidenfair]

"I had some changes right before I came here," Vider said, "and I chose them, but it takes some getting used to. I'm glad I came here; in a lot of ways it's been easier without everyone being afraid of me."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"The island does have a habit of putting you at once-removed from local preconceptions about yourself," Ender noted. "Do you think that makes you better prepared to deal with them when you come home again?"

Re: Talk.

[fly-so-serious.livejournal.com]

"Okay, so, here's the thing: This place is crazy, it's unpredictable, it's pretty much impossible -- and I love that. It's so amazingly awesome, and I wish I could stay forever, but -- and this is a big but -- it keeps messing with people. And I don't mean messing with people in the fun way, I mean it keeps changing who we are." Joker grimaced. "I don't like that. I feel kinda violated. I'm in control of who I am, you know? I don't like having that taken away."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Neither do I," Ender said. It was one of many reasons why he'd usually been loathe to come back here. "Though an argument could be made that it reminds you who you really are, just by contrast alone."