Urban Survival - The Uglier Side of City Living, Wednesday, Period 2

[myownface]

"Okay," Sparkle said, clapping his hands and grinning at the students in the... fancy classroom. "So before we get into any of the 'now you are on your own and have to survive in a damn city with basically nothing' shit, first we have to figure out what you have to worry about in that situation. Or like, any situation. Those of you who aren't human are going to have to correct me if I'm wrong here- I don't want to speak for the basic needs for anyone I can't be sure about and lead you astray, but if there's something I miss that's pivotal, or if you actually don't need any of what I've listed, let me know. We want to end this semester with you not having wasted your time, you know?"

Unfortunately, all of Sparkle's extensive googling hadn't unveiled a list of basic Togruta needs or anything, so he was going to have to work with what he had unless directed otherwise.

"So, with trepidation in my heart of hearts, here there is a handout of fundamental human needs, which looked thorough enough to be useful while also seeming open-ended enough that most of it should apply to everyone in the room. Again, please, god, correct me if I'm wrong. I'm from one of the boring Earths." And was apparently the only one in this room who could say that. He was going to try not to let what an intimidating thought that was show on his face as he gestured to a stack of handouts. "This one is a table, most of what I've found are pyramids, which, while pretty, don't, like, actually go into depth about stuff like what 'physiological' is supposed to mean. This one has columns. You know it's being thorough when it has columns."

... Cough. Shrug. Grin sheepishly at the class.

"What we're mostly going to focus on this semester are the things in the 'subsistence' and 'protection' rows. Which isn't to say that the other stuff isn't important at all - I mean, freedom? Hugely freaking important too, and we'll probably touch on it down the road anyway. But a lot of the stuff below the top two rows kind of starts settling into 'suggestion' territory instead of 'requirement.' Especially if you're in dire straits and can't exactly make it to bingo night at the local church or whatever. Things like your health, your ability to eat, clothing and a shelter are a little bit less optional. They're also things that you've got a better chance of having at least some control over. I know 'equal rights' isn't exactly something we all have the luxury of saying we have. It's also not something you can necessarily focus on doing something about while you're struggling to survive. That one's a trap. We are definitely going to talk about that trap later on, too. But today... I just want you to look at the table. Get to know the table, and what your priorities on it are. Then I want you to go through the table from Affection on down and tell me a few things you think are most important, and a few things you figure you could probably get by without, at least for a while. A lot of that stuff is stuff we aren't going to cover in class, but if, like, half of you think I should be, I'm going to want to know."

Because seeing where people's priorities sat was fun and educational, okay?

Comments

Sign In

[myownface]

Needfully!

Re: Sign In

[studyingfear]

Rufus Shinra

Re: Sign In

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

Jalian d'Arsennette

Re: Sign In

[boneyard_girl]

Ada Miller

Lecture

[myownface]

At least his babbling has a point this week.

Re: Lecture

[greenexorcist.livejournal.com]

Shiemi had missed all her classes last week, so this was her first time realizing it but... this was the person she'd met before! With the face!

Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[myownface]

Take a look at the table, at least the stuff below the top two rows, and list off a few things you figure are most important, and then a few things you think are least important. Share with the class, bonus points if you explain your reasoning.

And if you figure any of the stuff in the top two rows is missing something, or that any of it absolutely does not apply to you, please, speak up. Human needs are easy. Getting a cross-section of the needs of all the sentient races in the classroom was harder.

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[studyingfear]

Rufus eyed the table. He suspected, from it's prominence, that 'Affection' was supposed to be rather important to most people.

At least the first two sections were nicely sensible.

"Creation would be a pretty important one," Rufus said thoughtfully. "Don't they say that necessity is the mother of invention? If you absolutely need something, it helps to have the ability to create a way to get it. And having a strong sense of identity as well, because if you don't know yourself, how would you ever know what you need?"

He cast another glance at the table. "I would rate the 'Affection' section and the 'Leisure' sections as the least important."

But then, really, Rufus would.

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[myownface]

"Wow... those entire rows, huh?" Sparkle gave him a wry smile. "Anything in particular in those rows that jumps out at you, or are you going to just blanket rule out affection and leisure entirely?"

Sparkle would go nuts without basic human contact, and there was something to be said for how difficult it was to scrape one's way up from rock bottom without it, but he was curious as to where Rufus was going, here.

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[intotheout]

Tip rolled her eyes. "Well. Aren't you just a bad ass."

She'd agree with him on the creation thing, though.

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

Jalian looked at him, a bit assessing. That was a very sensible way of thinking, particularly for a male.

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[kenselvren.livejournal.com]

Well, this sort of thing was a promising start.

Until Jalian looked at the table, which mostly had her frowning.

"These are supposed to be needs?" She pointed higher in the table. "Food and shelter are needs. The rest..." She shrugged. "They're nice, some of them?"

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[myownface]

So help Sparkle, he was chewing the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning.

"The ones at the top are the ones we'll be putting the most focus on this semester, yeah," he agreed, shrugging. "The stuff lower on the table, as you work your way down are more... psychological needs. Bearing in mind that a lot of them come from a place of bias or privilege on their own. Like, church? Not everyone needs that. But for some it might prove a fulcrum for mental and emotional stability, making attaining those top needs easier. Or they might help in ways you don't even consider. We'll be covering that stuff, too. Just not in as much detail as 'how the hell are you going to eat in a place you can't hunt or grow your own food.'"

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[boneyard_girl]

"Th' first two are kinda obvious," Ada said, looking over her table. "I guess after that I'd go for understanding, since you ain't gonna get nothing accomplished without bein' able t' think critically about your situation, or the intuition on who t' trust or where t' go. After that...Identity, so you know what you want. Freedom, I guess, since you got more freedom t' make choices once you don't gotta worry about food or where t' sleep."

She traced her fingers over the table. "I like affection," she admitted, a wistful edge to her voice, "--but I already know I can do without it."

Ada loved her family, and she knew the Millers loved her, and respected the hell out of her work. But she'd gone seven years with almost no physical affection, and very little in the way of direct emotional support, since no one had known how the hell to handle an eleven year old child in the process of losing her mother and turning into a mermaid. They'd just started buffering their hearts against the pain of losing her, too.

"I'd be sad without creation, but survival ain't about bein' happy."

Leisure and Participation didn't even rank. She hadn't even known what leisure was like, until Fandom.

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[myownface]

"It's not really about being happy," Sparkle agreed, his smile going a touch sad. Yeah, he knew from loneliness, himself. "Though sometimes it can be about finding reasons to keep going. Which kind of ties itself up again in things like identity. Actually, if you go through the rows, there are some points that get repeated here and there. It's not always so cut and dry, you know?"

He wasn't going to go so far as to point out that there was a reason solitary confinement was considered torture, since that was sort of an extreme example. But it made his heart hurt to think that anyone in this room could dismiss people as a necessity, from experience.

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[snipsnspecks]

Ahsoka took her time before replying. "Affection and participation are important," she said, chewing her lip. "Maybe not every single kind they have listed, but my people tend to be tribal, socially orientated, even more than humans are."

And humans tended to be pretty damn gregarious in her experience.

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[myownface]

"It's really easy for plenty of humans to focus on well they can do independently, unfortunately. Hell, a lot of modern society places a value on independence that's... way too high, I think, to the point where people will openly mock those who need other people in order to survive." He gave Ahsoka a little smile. "There's something to be said for knowing you have a place among others, and the safety of knowing that others have your back, if you need it. Too many people sell it short right up until they don't have it anymore. We're told that there's something the matter with us if we can't."

That came out in a tone of voice that really strongly suggested that he thought that way of doing things was all kinds of bullshit.

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[intotheout]

Tip felt a tiny little hole reopen inside of her as she looked over the list and thought back to the first six months after her mom had been abducted, when she'd been living in their apartment all on her own and trying to make everything work.

"So, uh. It can be really easy to think the affection one isn't that important? Like, it's a luxury instead of a necessity? Especially if you don't think you can trust anyone around you. You can get to thinking that the only person you really need is yourself and everyone else can just --" Fuck off, she wanted to say, but thinking back to being eleven made that feel extra forbidden in a classroom. "-- go away. But I'd actually rank that one as high, or even higher, then protection. At least the protections that they list here. You usually don't even notice how touch starved you can get when you're all on your own until you find someone you actually can trust and share things with. But having that someone can make all the difference."

If she hadn't found J.Lo, she knew she'd be dead right now. And not just because he fixed her car and kept her from being stranded at a convenience store in the middle of nowhere.

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[myownface]

"It can," Sparkle agreed, chewing the inside of his cheek and smiling faintly, if kind of sadly. "Like, I get how easy it is for people to say that they don't need anybody else. Hell, maybe some people are actually happier alone. That's a totally legitimate way to live life, if that's your thing. But it can go even deeper than touch, too. Conversation is such a simple thing that so many people take for granted. But, like, people punish people by cutting them off from society. It's a deterrent from breaking the rules for a lot of people for a reason. Most of us are hard-wired to need companionship, in some way or another."

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[greenexorcist.livejournal.com]

"Identity," Shiemi managed. "You can't do anything if you don't know who you are."

Re: Basic Human (Or Whatever) Needs

[myownface]

Ooh, hey! It was the pushy paste girl!

"That's a good one," Sparkle agreed. "A good one for who you are, for where it is you want to go. For how you deal with the world around you along the way. And knowing yourself means you know what your limits are, you know what you are and aren't willing to do to survive."

A beat.

"Or at least you have a better idea of it than everyone else."

Talk to Sparkle

[myownface]

Who is already wondering if he'll get varied opinions on the necessity of 'sexual activity' from all corners of the room. (Look, it's fun, but you ain't gonna die if you don't have it unless one of you is secretly a succubus. Or an incubus, for the one guy in the room that wasn't the teacher.)

Talk to the TA

[myownface]

Hey, Tip!

Re: Talk to the TA

[intotheout]

Tip would not be one of the ones who ranked "sexual activity" super high, no. "Freedom" on the other hand?

She was quite curious to see how Sparkle thought "civil rights" was a trap.

OOC

[myownface]

You would not believe how many lists of basic human needs are actually pretty garbage.