fandomhigh | Practical Philosophy, Monday

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practical philosophy

Practical Philosophy, Monday

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."

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"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."

"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?"

"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."

"Fandom can be something of a consequence-free playground," Ender said. "It can be tempting to buy into it. And it's useful, I think, to a point - to help you become more confident about yourself. But it doesn't teach you much about negotiating societal expectations back home, no."

He tilted his head. "What does home expect of you?"

Elsa ducked her head a little. Oh dear.

"The perfect little princess, mostly," she replied. And did she mean that literally? Figuratively? Who knew! "I need to be the very image of perfect manners and self-control, constantly. Here, that's not entirely the case."

The self-control part was no less important, but she could at least be more herself while she worked on that.

That didn't sound familiar, or anything.

"So what you're looking for," Ender said, "Is a level of compromise that's fair to both you and the image you have to project for your people."

He assumed there were people in the picture.

'Her people.'

Well, that was... accurate.

"My people," Elsa replied, "have a very specific idea of the person they need me to be. And whether I'm that person or not, I have to be very, very good at pretending that I am."

She fidgeted a little with her bottle of water. Unladylike, perhaps, but it was either that, or she wring her hands together at her breast anxiously.

"I don't think that compromise actually exists. But being here makes me wonder regardless."

"Then I guess the genuinely pertinent question," Ender said, "is 'do you think you'll be able to live with those expectations again'."

There was little use in getting too used to something you could never go back to.

"Whether or not I think I will doesn't matter as much as I would like it to," Elsa replied, frowning a little. "I don't get the choice. I need to return to Arendelle after my time here. I need to... to fit in that box. Nothing else will do. But while I'm here..."

She shook her head.

"It would be nice to appreciate the chance to relax, for once, while I'm here. It almost seems worth it."

"Responsibilities are always going to chain us to some extent," Ender said. "Especially when we're born into them. That doesn't mean there are no other choices - but it does make those choices harder."

He leaned back. "How long will you be enrolled here?"

"I suppose I'll be starting my..." Elsa frowned a little. "My Junior year? So I have another two to go."

And then it was back off to Arendelle, back off to become Queen.

"So you have time," Ender said. He offered her a slight smile. "My advice is to treasure it while you can. Seek out as many questions and as many answers as you can, while you can."

Re: Talk.

iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com - 2014-05-05 17:48 (UTC) - Expand

"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.

"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?"

Edited 2014-05-05 17:57 (UTC)

Jalian sighed. She had been hoping, but she hadn't expected to be able to prevent the wavefront, so it wasn't too much of a disappointment.

She shook her head. "My hair was brown before I -" She sighed. She could barely explain what she'd done to other silver-eyes; the chances of her being able to explain it to anyone unfamiliar with the technology... "It was brown. I've never met anybody else with hair like yours. Except for very old women, of course," she noted matter-of-factly.

"Of... course."

Elsa wasn't entirely certain how she felt about that. But then, she was well aware that her hair was probably a reflection of her powers, and she wasn't about to announce that to everyone gathered for class today.

"Of course, with people from so many different facets of reality coming to school here, I suppose there's a first for everything."

"There is always a first for everything," Jalian answered practically.

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

"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."

"They were all just variations on ourselves," Eleanor said. "As near as I can tell it. Small differences that reflected in big ways across our lives. So that means ... it must be possible to be her, if that's what you want."

"I think the difference that reflected most obviously was that she didn't have a sister," Elsa noted, frowning thoughtfully. "I'm not willing to go quite that far, but that can't possibly be the only factor that contributed to who she was."

It had just meant that there wasn't a decade of fear weighing her back. No big.

Eleanor was nodding. "It makes sense," she said. "Loving someone is -- it's wonderful. But it gives you something to lose. It makes you afraid, on their behalf. It's easier to be fearless when you have nothing left."

"Or when you never had something to be afraid for in the first place," Elsa agreed. "I'm here because of Anna. If anything ever happened to her..."

She didn't know what she would do, really.

"So we make sure it doesn't," Eleanor said firmly. The 'we' was perhaps presumptuous, but deliberate all the same.

Presumptuous, but reassuring. Elsa gave Eleanor a small smile at that.

"We do."

Even if the thing Elsa was most afraid would hurt Anna was herself?

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