fandomhigh | Powers, Identity, and The World; Embracing the Real You

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powers and identity

Powers, Identity, and The World; Embracing the Real You - Friday, Period One

//Right,// Jono said, once the class had gathered in the Danger Shop today. //So, we've lost a few weeks from our syllabus by this point, a few of us are probably feeling more than a little worse for the wear, there's a camping trip on the weekend for those who are feeling so inclined, and Easter is in two days for the handful of you who care. What we had wanted to do is to let people come in here, in a safe environment, and if they were feeling up to the challenge, encourage them to let go, with or without their powers, to see what they're really capable of. And that offer is still on the table, for the record. If anybody would like a chance to use the Danger Shop as a safe place to find the upper limits of their powers, either Rinoa or myself would be happy to assist you.// He glanced over at Rinoa, who was sitting quietly across the room with her dog keeping her company. Okay, on a better week, maybe they'd both be happy to assist. Jono was here for people either way, at least. //If you're worried about our safety, there's no need. We're both shockingly difficult to damage.//

He shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged his shoulders.

//Since March was… one hell of a month and all, we're going to give you a few options today. If you care to talk about what happened and what that means for you and your identity, stay right here, and I'll have the Danger Shop bring up some cushions so you can make yourself comfortable as you do so. If the last thing you want to do is more sharing, over there are some punching bags. Beat th'shite out of them, work off some of that frustration, feel free to use your powers if you're comfortable doing so, otherwise, I'm pretty sure we've all got perfectly functional fists and feet that'll do the job just as good. And...// He tilted his head a little. //If any of you want to take us up on that other offer, if you want to step into a private, safe corner of the Danger Shop and really let loose to test your upper limits, come talk to me. I'll have to do this one at a time, but I think there's enough time in this class to handle any takers, and if we don't have time or you aren't feeling up to it quite yet, know that the offer is going to stay on the table for at least as long as I'm still a teacher. Please, come talk to me any time.//

That seemed like it about summed it up, so Jono waved a hand out toward the room.

//Here in the pillows to talk. Over there to the punching bags to let off some steam. Anyone who wants to test what their powers are capable of in a safe space, come talk to me.//

[Open!]

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//Not... strictly?// Oh, this was going to be fun to explain. //Well, yes. But not in any way anybody would expect. There was a telepathic poison. Which would've done me a lot of damage even if I hadn't traded most of myself over to some homicidal elder god.//

"Ohmigosh." That was... whoa. "I don't-- okay, I'm guessing the homicidal god guy is gone, and you didn't know he was homicidal or goddish when you ... traded yourself? For what?"

Eeeegh.

//You don't want me to answer that,// Jono replied, after a moment. //I will tell you, and you will hate it, and then probably be upset.//

"Oh, Jono." She was already sad. Upset wouldn't be too far off. But. "I'm not going to judge. I promise. Remember what I turned into last year? If you don't want to tell me, that's cool. You don't have to. But I don't think there's much that would make me think less of you. If that is what you're worried about." She paused. "And if you don't want to tell me what you were getting, that's okay too. I'm just hoping someone kicked this guy's ass."

Edited 2015-04-04 04:26 (UTC)

//Not so certain about the arse-kicking,// Jono replied. //But I, er... I don't... mind telling, but I feel almost as though I have to quantify it first. It's bloody insane no matter how I frame it, but marginally less insane if there's context. Maybe.//

He didn't know. He had no damn idea anymore.

"Okay then. Hit me," Dinah invited. "I'm listening."

//Have you... ever had one of those months, maybe years, where it seems like everything is building up on your shoulders and you have no choice but to keep going until your knees give out and it finally weighs you down?//

Months. Years. Lifetimes. Something.

Dinah took a breath, and let it out slowly. "Yeah," she admitted. "That last month in Glacia." That one came to mind as the most recent. The last month in Fandom when things were winding down with Jaime; the last few weeks she'd lived in Missouri... "When you're desperate enough to think of doing stuff, or actually do stuff, you never thought you'd do before. At least. For me, since I kind of melted down right about then."

//Yeah,// Jono echoed, quietly. //I was having one of those. Started avoiding Glacia, things were messy with Raven, Karla put a stop on my contract because she figured it was the best thing for me, and mostly it just left me feeling like a huge bloody failure.//

He'd found out that the guy he was seeing was apparently a cannibalistic serial killer. The same one he'd been trying to track down in Glacia. That seemed like something he couldn't exactly talk about, here. For whatever reason.

//On top of that, the island was being poisoned. One big bloody sentient landmass, bleeding out from the mind, and there was so much of it I couldn't block that out. Solid month of headaches and worse, and then somebody stole Didi's letter and I... just...//

Lost it.

Smart move. Dinah would be horrified on so many levels. And while she tried not to take the crime-fighting into other worlds where she hadn't been invited, this was Fandom. And she'd probably do something irreversible.

"Oh, hon..." You were right, Jono. It made Dinah sad. And also wish that she could be there to hug him hard. "God. That sounds awful. I'm so sorry... Why the hell would anyone steal Didi's letter?"

Damnit, that was just beyond cruel.

[and away I go on road trip! Back Sunday. SP okay?]

//Same reason I traded part of myself away, I'd guess. Still not sure who did it. Can't ask them in person. But Karla got it back for me, it was in some bloody lost-and-found cardboard box after they got everyone's things back from Gaunt, which means somebody gave it to him to get whatever it was he was promising them.//

Jono fell quiet for a few seconds, and then, tentatively, he added, //He... gave me a drug, essentially. It'd take away the hurt for minutes at a time. Carved a little more of me out every time I used it, not that I knew at first, or cared by the time I realized.//

[SP is just fine forever! Have fun!]

Dinah put down the phone for a second so she could screech, about a room away, then come back.

"Bastard, bastard.... Elder god. Gah!" She let out a long sigh, and asked, "How are you now?"

//All in one piece, and just a little bit more tired than my usual,// Jono offered, closing his eyes. //I feel like a bloody moron, but at least the island is healing and if there's anything crazy going on, it's harmless.//

"I think being tricked by an Elder God- whatever that is - is a completely allowable mistake as long as you survive it," Dinah told him. "I know that probably doesn't do much about the rotten feelings. But consider how long that guy probably has been doing this crap." Camille finally made her way back over, now that her girl wasn't tantruming. "Did anyone else I know get hurt, or sucked into this?... I so need to visit you guys, don't I."

//I wouldn't say no to a visit,// Jono admitted. //Somebody stole Karla's Jewel, but she has it back now. A few of my students were victims of the whole thing as well, I think. I don't know for certain who else was involved, though. Sorry.//

He'd been a little bit out of it.

"Right, that's it. Visiting. Fandom or Glacia. Gonna happen, and happen soon," Dinah determined. "There haven't been any major changes in New Gotham in the last month, they can deal with me taking a weekend off."

//Make it Fandom or both and I'd be thrilled,// Jono replied. //I'm... not quite up for visiting Glacia again, not yet.//

He was doing better, but that didn't mean things were any less raw.

"Oh hon." Dinah was quieter now. "Is there anything I can do to help, when I visit? Anything I can bring, or plan for?"

//... Something stupid and distracting,// Jono ventured. //Bad horror b-movies, or... or video games, or, I don't even know. I'm not up to fighting fit again just yet. Maybe somebody to train with...//

He needed something to do in order to feel useful. He hadn't had much of that in a while, and that always gnawed at his head in bad ways.

"All of the above. Got it." And new music, too, good stuff, and the chance to share coffee or chocolate or whatever might help. "I'll let you know when to expect me after I talk to all my bosses."

//I'll do my best to keep whenever it is free,// Jono decided, sounding more thankful than he generally cared to let on. //Friday mornings I teach - you caught me at the end of my class today, actually - and I keep fairly flexible hours at the Groovy Tunes, these days. And otherwise, I... haven't been... really all that busy.//

It was maddening.

"Hmmmmm." Dinah wondered if that was because he was still recovering, or because all his work in Glacia was out of reach right now? Either way, finding him an activity would no doubt help a bit too. "We'll find something cool. Promise... how are you liking the teaching this time?"

//The teaching is... good. Lost a few classes back there, and now I'm worried those are two classes we won't be able to make up. It's a class on powers, and identity. Rinoa and I both figured we could've desperately used a class at that age, there had to be students here now who could use it too.//

They'd been right, apparently.

"Wow," Dinah said, impressed. "I think... maybe I got that kind of help with the classes I had with Prof-- gah. Lady Ghanima," she corrected herself. "But I would've loved something where I could talk it over with other students, with someone in charge of it."

Comparing powers in the island guard group wasn't quite the same.

"If you need a guest speaker, well, you know I'm around. Although I'm not sure what I could say to help."

//I'll keep the offer in mind,// Jono replied, //though we're coming up on the end of the semester rather soon, and we still have a bit of material left to get through. But maybe I'll end up teaching something like this again before long.//

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Powers, Identity, and The World; Embracing the Real You - Friday, Period One

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