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Jono Starsmore ([personal profile] furnaceface) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2015-03-13 08:38 am
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Powers, Identity, and The World; Embracing the Real You - Friday, Period One

//So,// Jono said, leaning up against the desk at the front of the room mostly as usual, with the exception of the extremely large snake that was coiled around his torso, resting his head on his shoulder like he had been invited to do so. (He hadn't, and Jono had tried to coax him off before class, but you try arguing with a king cobra who had decided that he wasn't giving up his warm place first thing in the morning, thank you.) //This week, we're going to talk about those people who love you for who you are, not what you can do. And before any of you pipes up with the protest that there isn't any such thing, I'm not going to immediately counter and tell you that you're wrong, but I might ask you to take a moment and look a little closer.//

He spread his hands a little, as Rinoa nodded her agreement from her seat behind the desk. He'd decided to take point on the topic this week, and considering what it was, that had been a big enough step for Jono that she was going to let him do so.

//Look at your friends, here and on the island. Your family might be supportive, or they might have failed you in a hundred different ways, but family is a circumstance you're born into, and as much as I hate to say it, it doesn't guarantee a healthy, loving relationship right from birth. But your friends, those are important. They're the family that you choose, they're a bond that you forge through shared experiences, good and bad. They might be a shoulder to cry on, or somebody willing to go running headfirst into some terrible decision or other right alongside you. They might be the only people in the world who are willing to give you a swat to the back of the head when you need it the most, because god knows there are going to be people out there who are too busy trying to get on your good side to suit their own ends or who are too afraid of what you can do to ever want to try.//

The snake seemed somewhat amused by that one. Somebody needed that swat to the back of the head quite often, in fact.

//As for romantic love...// Jono would have shrugged his shoulders, but it was a miracle that he wasn't folding over in two at the weight of the cobra in the first place. So he just cocked his head to the side slightly, instead. //A lot of you are going to ask if anybody is ever going to love you that way. Wish I could guarantee a yes. I'm afraid I can't do that for anyone, human or otherwise. But you all deserve it. And if you keep your heart open -- no matter how often that heart gets ripped to tiny bleedin' shreds -- you have a chance. You can't control anyone else. Only yourself. And I'm telling you from experience… in the end, whether your life is defined by hurt or hope is up to you.//

He nodded to the room.

//Today's exercise? We're going to talk. Love. Specifically, what qualities you find most important in those people that you want to be close to. Family, friends, boyfriends and girlfriends. What is it that the people in your lives need to demonstrate to be good for you?// A beat. //For those wondering, yes, 'willing to swat him upside the head' is somewhere near the top of my list.//

[OOC: Open! And that 'hurt and hope' paragraph in there was taken almost verbatim from X-Men Legacy #264, wherein Jono demonstrates that he should teach FOREVER. I had to use it sometime.]