How To Get By In A Hostile World, Wednesday

[suitably_heroic]

"All right," Atton said. He'd hopped up on his desk again, because who needed chairs anyway? "Today, introductions are over. Congratulations. None of you annoyed me so much that I wanted to boot you out of my class."

Though some of them came close. Evie.

"Now I'd like to think it doesn't come as a surprise to anyone that if you don't have the muscle - financial, physical, powers-wise, whatever - to push your way into a place of safety in life, well, your brain's going to have to do. The easiest way to use it is to look at the way other people see you and use that-- usually impressions are going to be your first line of defense."

He gestured at himself.

"Having taken a class from me twice and maybe heard about me on the radio, what's the impression I give you? What do you think I'm capable of? What do you think I'm not? What do you think my story is?"

He waited until everyone had taken their turn.

"Okay," he said, "So, that's what you think I am. Now pick another student. Tell them what your impression of them is, and vice-versa. Then talk about what that impression could do for you. Are there places you think you can enter more freely because you give off this vibe? Are there places that are harder to get into? People that are easier or harder to convince? Think about it."

Comments

Re: Impressions: Your Classmates

[gavegoodface]

Face looked around the room with an expression he knew came across as friendly and open, but not particularly bright.

Re: Impressions: Your Classmates

[fly-so-serious.livejournal.com]

"Face, Face, Face," Joker greeted him. "You are smug, and a little pretentious, but you seem like a friendly sort of guy. To keep up that kind of chipper attitude despite the whole" -- he gestured at his own face, mirroring the area of Face's scar -- "nickname thing, that's pretty impressive. Probably got a lot of bitter seething underneath, am I right? And you're also one of Skywalker's great-grand-nephews-in-law, or whatever."

Re: Impressions: Your Classmates

[gavegoodface]

Well, it was more guilt and some unacknowledged self-loathing than bitterness. Still, Face clapped a hand over his heart as if he'd just gotten a blaster bolt there. "If I was, he's seriously behind on the Life Day presents," he said.

"My turn. Assuming your galaxy has the same attitude to visible prosthetics that certain parts of mine does," Face nodded towards Joker's crutches. "You're probably used to dealing with a certain kind of vape-brain."

Re: Impressions: Your Classmates

[fly-so-serious.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I'm used to several different kinds of vape-brain," Joker told him. "The ones who are just cruel, the ones who are condescending and pitying, the ones who have moral objections to me not hiding from their sight... Really, though, the worst by far are the ones who are completely flabbergasted by how smart I am, considering 'my condition'." He shrugged. "You probably get a lot of the same. Can't imagine that decoration goes well with the crowd. 'Course, if it's recent-ish, you had to deal with a whole other class of yahoo before that."

Re: Impressions: Your Classmates

[gavegoodface]

"Because obviously something being wrong with your legs translates to something being wrong with your mind," Face said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"The scar's newer than the nickname," he admitted, rubbing it. "Most of the time it's okay, but you still get people staring because I didn't get it fixed."