fandomhigh | 20th Century American History, Friday, January 8, 2016

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american history

20th Century American History, Friday, January 8, 2016

A tall blond man in a ~~hideous~~ plaid shirt and pleated khakis ~~and the shoulder to hip ratio of a Dorito~~ stood at the front of the classroom, trying not to feel like a performing monkey again.

"Hello," he said. "I'm your teacher. Apparently. I'm Steve Rogers, and some of you may recognize me from your own...realities."

He was pleased at how normal he sounded saying that aloud.

"But if not, that's completely fine." Really. Better than fine, if you asked Steve. "This is 20th Century American History, but if you don't know history or aren't American, that's all right, too. We're going to be learning together. My knowledge ends around World War II," if you didn't count the pop culture references Tony had been throwing at him since Wednesday, "but I'm a fast learner." He pulled out a little paper notebook. "So let's start with who everyone is and something you think we should all know about the 20th Century. I'll start. The internet is so helpful."

You sound a million years old, Steve. "I've been using it to catch up. Back home, I would have had to hoof it down to the library instead." He pointed to the student straight in front of him. "Now you."

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Your name and what you think everyone should know about the 20th Century.

"Hey, I'm Cosima Niehaus," Cosima said, with a quick waggled-fingers wave. "And I think everybody should know about the 1953 discovery of the structure of DNA, which is pretty much the basis of modern medicine and biological research."

Steve carefully wrote that down in his notebook. "Thanks for the idea," he said with a smile. "You're also the first Cosima I've met."

"Well, technically it was in Cambridge, but you didn't say it had to be American history so I figured it was fair game," Cosima conceded. "And thanks. I think that's what my parents were going for."

Re: Introductions!

heroic_jawline - 2016-01-08 20:59 (UTC) - Expand

Oh look, it was Isabela's New Friend! Wasn't he a peach?

"H'llo, 'm Ada Miller," she said, giving a little wave. "And, um, I ain't that great with history--" Or actual school topics in general, given that she'd thought England was imaginary until she'd met Lottie. "--but I know that there's 44,000 miles of U.S. highway used to move goods and people, and that was developed in the 20th century."

Look, that sort of thing was important when you grew up on the road nine months out of the year.

"I knew that!" Steve said, looking pleased with himself. "I went on a road trip before coming here and did some research. It was championed by General--then President--Eisenhower, who was a pretty nice guy for a five star general."

"I'm Raven Darkholme," Raven said. "I'd go with the first moon landing in 1969. Of course, then we got bored of going to the moon three years later, instead of building moon colonies or anything, but still. Man has walked on the moon."

And only men. Dammit.

"How can anyone possibly get bored of the moon," Steve asked.

"I know, right?!" Raven rolled her eyes. "The future is so disappointing." A beat. "Though the phones are pretty nice."

Re: Introductions!

heroic_jawline - 2016-01-09 14:18 (UTC) - Expand

"Eric Bittle," he introduced himself. "And, well, I think it's important that we pay attention to some of the not so great parts of American history, too."

"Well, sure," Steve agreed. "Give me an example."

"The Stonewall Riots?" Eric suggested.

Re: Introductions!

heroic_jawline - 2016-01-09 14:24 (UTC) - Expand

Kira had been certain she was going to hate this class, but she'd been so very wrong. Steve was very pretty, and she almost felt bad being unpatriotic.

"I'm Kira Yukimura and I'm going to agree with Eric that we should learn about some of the not great things that have happened in America, like maybe the Japanese internment during World War II?" she said.

Steve nodded, jaw clenching a bit. "Yeah. I have--had--a good friend named Jim Morita who told me a bit about it."

Loudly. With really rude hand gestures.

"I'm Blue Sargent, and I think people should know about the women's rights movement and how we're still not there yet." Because seriously, what the hell.

"Word," Ada agreed from her spot, punching the air in solidarity. "I get that stuff takes time, but this much time just ain't right."

"We're not?" Steve said, looking shocked.

But then his exposure to women in this century had been Natasha Romanoff and Maria Hill...

Blue ticked off on her fingers, "Women earn like seventy cents on the dollar to what men make, and are seriously underrepresented in government, reproductive rights are legislated away more by old white guys every time you turn around, and the US has no guaranteed paid maternity leave. For a start."

Re: Introductions!

heroic_jawline - 2016-01-09 20:16 (UTC) - Expand

"I'm Mabel Pines," Mabel said with a smile and a happy wave at the really cute teacher. "And while I think everybody should know about the invention of the smiley face logo," because that was just how Mabel rolled, "we should probably also spend some time talking about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his civil rights movement."

It was significantly more important than the smiley face logo, after all.

Steve wrote both of them down in his notebook because he was thorough like that. "Why the smiley face logo?"

Because it was so prominently featured on so many stickers, Steve. Think of the stickers!

"Because its legal history brings up a lot of interesting issues regarding copyright law and how it applies to widely-used and recognized terms and symbols that have pervaded modern culture," Mabel said, in a surprising twist of thoughtfulness. Because Mabel knew her sticker history, here. "It started as a logo for a New York radio station, was popularized and marketed by a guy in Massachusetts and again by two brothers in Pennsylvania, but was first trademarked by somebody in France whose company, which is now one of the top 100 biggest licensing companies in the world, took a major American retail company to court because they were using it as their logo."

There was a beat, and then Mabel added as she pulled one such smiley face sticker from her pocket and offered it to Steve, "It's a yellow circle with two dot eyes and a smile drawn on, but it remains an American icon and basically an important example of the lengths people will go to in order to turn a profit on something so widespread and intrinsic to humanity at large as a smile."

A beat.

"And if you scratch that one, it smells like lemons!"

Re: Introductions!

heroic_jawline - 2016-01-09 17:58 (UTC) - Expand

"Xanthippe Voorhees." Bet that was another first for you, Steve. "And like, the Vietnam War?"

She was torn between acting too cool to care about this stuff (because things had been easier before when her social circles at school and elsewhere absolutely Did Not mix) and, you know, being truthful about being a straight A student. The tone combined with the valid contribution was her compromise.

"Anything in particular about the Vietnam War?" Steve asked. "Battles, propaganda, homefront?"

"Armageddon?" Steve repeated a little faintly.

Re: Introductions!

kenselvren.livejournal.com - 2016-01-09 22:17 (UTC) - Expand

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