Jono Starsmore (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2015-01-09 07:21 am
furnaceface) wrote in fandomhigh2015-01-09 07:21 am
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Powers, Identity, and The World; Embracing the Real You - Friday, Period One
When the students filed in for class today, they would find themselves stepping into a typical classroom, desks neatly arranged, with two teachers standing at the front of the room. One of them had his arms crossed over his leather-wrapped chest and was looking over the students thoughtfully. The other was a girl in her early twenties, dressed in a simple blue sweater and dark jeans. She kept fidgeting with a necklace around her neck, specifically with the pendant, which appeared to be two rings.
It was the thoroughly leather-wrapped man who spoke first, because what better way to break the students into having a class about powers than by kicking off the first lesson with telepathy?
//So, as you lot might have gathered, today's class is about powers. And identity.// A beat. //And the world. Which is pretty much what it sounds like on the tin, if you get right down to it. Over the course of the semester, we'll be exploring the impact that having powers might have had on who you are, what the rest of the world might think of you, and how it all ties together. As you might have guessed, we'll be teaching from experience. Last I checked, there weren't exactly textbooks on this sort of thing.//
“If there were, we’d probably throw them out,” the dark-haired girl said. “We’re also going to be talking about who you are, as a person. The word ‘you’ includes your powers, because that’s who you are, but that isn’t all you are. You have interests, friends, wants, needs. You have a favorite color, pet peeves, a secret crush. You’re a complete being. Never forget that. What your powers are may be part of it, but they can only ever be part.”
//Today, we're going to… do that thing you've all got to be sick of by now,// Jono said, shrugging his shoulders. //But at the very least, once we get this out of the way, you won't have to do it for the rest of the semester unless you have other Friday classes. Introductions. I'm Jonothon Starsmore. I'll grudgingly answer to Professor Starsmore if you insist, but I much prefer Jono, or Jon. My power ought to be at least partway obvious by this point,// he tapped at the side of his head, //and I've got a good deal of experience with the world around me expecting me to be defined by what my mutant genetics allow me to do, because besides the telepathy, I'm a walking force of flaming destruction. But… besides all that? I was Prom King my graduating year, and I run the music shop in town. Wanted to be a musician growing up, actually. Still play the guitar from time to time.//
That was relevant to the introductions, yes. They would get to that part in a minute.
“My name’s Rinoa Heartilly, and you can just call me Rinoa,” the girl said, calmly. “I own the Magic Box. When I was seventeen years old, I became a Sorceress. No one here seems to know what that means, but I have nearly limitless arcane power at my fingertips. The difficulty is not getting lost in it, whenever it gets out.”
She lifted her shoulders. “But that’s not all I am. I also have a dog named Angelo, and she’s a trained rescue puppy. I own the Magic Box store downtown. I’ve been dating Squall, the grumpy guy who owns the comics shop, for years now, and he’s really taking his time proposing. I love reading. I’ve been restoring an ancient library, back home, and it’s really fascinating stuff.”
Rinoa looked around the room. “It’s your turn,” she said. “Like Jono said, we’re doing introductions. You can talk about what powers you have if you want, but you don’t have to. That’s not what we’re interested in, right now. What we want to know is, who are you? What’s something you love, and something you hate? What are your hobbies? What’s something interesting about you, the person you are outside of whatever powers you have?”
//In fact,// Jono added, //during the course of this semester, you are never, under any circumstances, going to be required to tell us about your powers. Which brings us to the rules for this class. We don't have many, and the ones we do have all boil down to your personal comfort, and to respect. Nothing anybody discusses in this room leaves this room, unless the person doing the sharing brings it up outside of the classroom themselves. It's nobody's bloody business what we can do, not until we decide it ought to be. Most of you, I'd wager, are already well aware of why.//
“If you’re ever asked a question you don’t want to answer,” Rinoa offered, “it’s simple. You say that you don’t have any powers and you must be in the wrong class. That’s it. It doesn’t matter if last week you were talking about your telekinesis abilities; this week, you don’t have powers and you’re in the wrong class. That’s the universal sign for ‘drop it, I don’t want to talk about it.’ And if you really are unpowered and did end up in the wrong class, you’re welcome to stay, so long as you have respect for everyone around you.”
//After introductions, we'd like to talk a bit about what you're hoping to get out of this class,// Jono added, nodding in agreement with what Rinoa said. //If it's a better understanding of people with powers because you're in the wrong class, excellent. Be respectful of your classmates. If it's a better idea of how to balance your identity with what the world expects you to be or fears you are, good, let us know. We'll do our best through the semester to accommodate. And with that… we're opening the floor.// He waved a hand at the class at large. //Whoever wants to kick this off, please, do.//
[OOC:Please hold for OCD! Open!]
It was the thoroughly leather-wrapped man who spoke first, because what better way to break the students into having a class about powers than by kicking off the first lesson with telepathy?
//So, as you lot might have gathered, today's class is about powers. And identity.// A beat. //And the world. Which is pretty much what it sounds like on the tin, if you get right down to it. Over the course of the semester, we'll be exploring the impact that having powers might have had on who you are, what the rest of the world might think of you, and how it all ties together. As you might have guessed, we'll be teaching from experience. Last I checked, there weren't exactly textbooks on this sort of thing.//
“If there were, we’d probably throw them out,” the dark-haired girl said. “We’re also going to be talking about who you are, as a person. The word ‘you’ includes your powers, because that’s who you are, but that isn’t all you are. You have interests, friends, wants, needs. You have a favorite color, pet peeves, a secret crush. You’re a complete being. Never forget that. What your powers are may be part of it, but they can only ever be part.”
//Today, we're going to… do that thing you've all got to be sick of by now,// Jono said, shrugging his shoulders. //But at the very least, once we get this out of the way, you won't have to do it for the rest of the semester unless you have other Friday classes. Introductions. I'm Jonothon Starsmore. I'll grudgingly answer to Professor Starsmore if you insist, but I much prefer Jono, or Jon. My power ought to be at least partway obvious by this point,// he tapped at the side of his head, //and I've got a good deal of experience with the world around me expecting me to be defined by what my mutant genetics allow me to do, because besides the telepathy, I'm a walking force of flaming destruction. But… besides all that? I was Prom King my graduating year, and I run the music shop in town. Wanted to be a musician growing up, actually. Still play the guitar from time to time.//
That was relevant to the introductions, yes. They would get to that part in a minute.
“My name’s Rinoa Heartilly, and you can just call me Rinoa,” the girl said, calmly. “I own the Magic Box. When I was seventeen years old, I became a Sorceress. No one here seems to know what that means, but I have nearly limitless arcane power at my fingertips. The difficulty is not getting lost in it, whenever it gets out.”
She lifted her shoulders. “But that’s not all I am. I also have a dog named Angelo, and she’s a trained rescue puppy. I own the Magic Box store downtown. I’ve been dating Squall, the grumpy guy who owns the comics shop, for years now, and he’s really taking his time proposing. I love reading. I’ve been restoring an ancient library, back home, and it’s really fascinating stuff.”
Rinoa looked around the room. “It’s your turn,” she said. “Like Jono said, we’re doing introductions. You can talk about what powers you have if you want, but you don’t have to. That’s not what we’re interested in, right now. What we want to know is, who are you? What’s something you love, and something you hate? What are your hobbies? What’s something interesting about you, the person you are outside of whatever powers you have?”
//In fact,// Jono added, //during the course of this semester, you are never, under any circumstances, going to be required to tell us about your powers. Which brings us to the rules for this class. We don't have many, and the ones we do have all boil down to your personal comfort, and to respect. Nothing anybody discusses in this room leaves this room, unless the person doing the sharing brings it up outside of the classroom themselves. It's nobody's bloody business what we can do, not until we decide it ought to be. Most of you, I'd wager, are already well aware of why.//
“If you’re ever asked a question you don’t want to answer,” Rinoa offered, “it’s simple. You say that you don’t have any powers and you must be in the wrong class. That’s it. It doesn’t matter if last week you were talking about your telekinesis abilities; this week, you don’t have powers and you’re in the wrong class. That’s the universal sign for ‘drop it, I don’t want to talk about it.’ And if you really are unpowered and did end up in the wrong class, you’re welcome to stay, so long as you have respect for everyone around you.”
//After introductions, we'd like to talk a bit about what you're hoping to get out of this class,// Jono added, nodding in agreement with what Rinoa said. //If it's a better understanding of people with powers because you're in the wrong class, excellent. Be respectful of your classmates. If it's a better idea of how to balance your identity with what the world expects you to be or fears you are, good, let us know. We'll do our best through the semester to accommodate. And with that… we're opening the floor.// He waved a hand at the class at large. //Whoever wants to kick this off, please, do.//
[OOC:
Re: Introductions
It was terribly disappointing whenever he realized he couldn't.
Re: Introductions
She shrugged. "But you can get the same kind of people in real life, and you can't really throttle them there, either, you know? And real, live people can be harder to avoid then anonymous jerks on the internet."
Re: Introductions
... Also, he was far less likely to come across old scans of tabloids with his face on them, in the library.
Re: Introductions
Re: Introductions
Re: Introductions
But arguing on the internet was what had convinced her that it was all right to stand up for what you thought was right at all.
Re: Introductions
//Er... sorry... would you mind explaining that? The internet is, or...?//
Jono wondered when exactly he'd stopped speaking fluent high schooler.
Re: Introductions
Re: Introductions
//Alright, no, what I was asking for here wasn't an apology, it was clarification,// he noted, shaking his head. //I'm not internet fluent, Kathy. I'm barely even internet conversational. I've used Twitter a handful of times, and a friend of mine once got me using Farmville and that's the extent of it, so I just got lost, that's all.//
Which brought him to...
//And as for 'it was dumb,'// he continued, crossing his arms over his chest, //we're in a class about identity, any conversation you have here about what you've used to build up who you are isn't 'dumb.' We're not here to undermine what you've used to build who you are, Kathy. And, in fact, I'm thinking I might put a new rule in place. No apologizing for who you are in this classroom. No telling me or anybody else in this room that some part of your identity is stupid. Because... frankly, that's gobshite and it's self-destructive, and I'm not going to be a party to it. You're better than that.//
There were plenty of totally legit things to tell her she was stupid for - crimefighting alone in Baltimore, Kathy? Really? There was bravery and there was sheer idiotic recklessness - without undermining the things that actually mattered.
Re: Introductions
Of course, the answer was irrelevant, because she didn't. But maybe it was the thought that counted?
Probably not, no.
"W-Well, it wasn't really about the internet," she said, cheeks bright red. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be self-destructive. I was just being--" She stopped herself from immediately breaking the rule Jono had just put into place and tried again. "I mean, or rather, what I meant was--"
Okay, this was going nowhere fast. She took a few deep breaths to try to unfluster herself, and her left thumb pressed against her right palm and started moving in slow circles. "What I had meant was that I never really argued with anyone before I did online. I kinda had to learn that that was something I could even do. You had to learn to pick your battles. I had to learn that it was okay to choose any at all."
Re: Introductions
At least Jono was willing to sit patiently and wait for Kathy to piece together a better explanation. He nodded a little once she finally started to manage words that didn't seem like they were about to lead to 'stupid.'
And then he nodded again when she was done. Partly in approval. Partly in understanding.
//And online was a comparatively safer place to learn that lesson,// Jono guessed. //Makes sense. Especially for people who have been taught that their opinions aren't necessarily valid, for whatever reason. I grew up giving a two-finger salute to anybody I thought needed it. Doesn't mean everybody did, or even had the option.//
He was carefully picking his words, here. He suspected that he'd get an 'I'm in the wrong class' reply pretty swiftly if he were to talk about exactly the sorts of people he gave that salute to, and how their bullshit had buggered up his own sense of self-worth for the longest time, too.
Re: Introductions
Kathy dared a small smile. "I was in kindergarten and one of the kids told me that holding up your middle finger was sign language for 'I love you.' I went home and showed my mom and..." She shook her head. "I learned pretty quickly that that was not what that meant at all."
Yeah, her parents had not been pleased. It was a good thing she'd shown off in the privacy of the apartment and not in front of anyone else.
And look at her not touch that 'taught' comment for love nor money, woo!
Re: Introductions
//Kindergarten children are bloody cruel,// he replied, nodding faintly. //And yet that's generally how most of us learn the more unpleasant lessons, I've found. One person thinks it'd be fun to make somebody else suffer for having the gall to breathe the same air as them. Ridiculous power games, generally. All too common.//