suitably_heroic: (lsp: ahhhh!)
Atton Rand & miscellaneous names ([personal profile] suitably_heroic) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2017-09-14 06:52 pm
Entry tags:

How To Get By In A Hostile World, Thursday

A sheet of paper sat on every desk today; otherwise, the classroom was normal.

"So hey, we've got a lot of normal people in class this go around," Atton said easily, "That's good. Feels like I can actually offer you something useful. Most of you probably can't punch a hole into a wall or anything like that, which means you've got to be crafty. See, most types of people with powers - or just plain power - they think they're a smidgen more invincible than you are. They're wrong."

He waved a hand. "And when I'm talking about people with powers, I'm also talking about me. I'm what my universe likes to refer to as a 'Jedi Knight'. Beyond blah blah religious stuff and eat all your vegetables, what Jedi are famous for is having a connection to the universe that lets us do all kinds of weird stuff. One of the things we can do is read people's emotions, and sometimes even their thoughts. Most Jedi stack shield upon shield to make sure they don't do that all over the place, because it's really not as much fun as it sounds."

He gestured at his head.

"But some stuff always slips through, even in the most well-trained Jedi." Which wasn't something Atton could call himself, though years of experience had shaved off the edges compared to the last time he'd held this speech in front of a class. "This island hasn't been a stranger to people with similar mental powers, either. Some of them have more control than that, some of them less."

He pulled a face. "I don't know about you, but I don't like people poking around my head, which is why I try to avoid doing it from the other end. I mean, not that I'm philosophically opposed to being a hypocrite, I just think it's tacky. What the point is, is that before I got any of these magic powers, I taught myself techniques to keep people out of my head." He nodded at the paper on the nearest desk. "It's not as hard as it seems. You just have to be smart about it. See, most telepaths don't actually want to hear your thoughts. You're teenagers, it's probably full of filth. Lean into that. Walk into a room with a telepath with nothing in your head other than the fact you think you hear something whistling in the next room, and nothing in your heart but the thought that the telepath is looking pretty good in that skirt."

He waved a paper of his own around. "It's easy, because the basic idea is easy. It's hard, because it's easy to slip into thinking 'I have to think this or she'll know', and then hey, she knows. So I want you to practice today. Write down every inconsequential detail you can find in this class. Every emotion you could be feeling about something in this class, too. Then see where your head's at."
intotheout: (on the grass)

Re: Sign In!

[personal profile] intotheout 2017-09-14 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Gratuity Tucci
giveherahand: (neu: tiny dancer)

Re: Sign In!

[personal profile] giveherahand 2017-09-15 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Mara Jade who was totally here
intotheout: (what white nonsense)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] intotheout 2017-09-14 05:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Sooooo the key to keeping telepaths out was to objectify them. Sure, there wasn't anything creepy on either side of that concept.

Tip wondered if spending all your time thinking that everyone with any authority around you was trash counted as thinking about nothing important.
justice_undone: (Default)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] justice_undone 2017-09-14 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Telepaths? There were telepaths here? Breq obviously showed no sign of being worried, but the thought of it did bother her.

Which was why today's class could be useful, she supposed.

Then, on the other hand, she couldn't help remembering what it had felt like to be connected to all her bodies. And while she technically hadn't been able to read the mind of her officers, getting readings of all their physical reactions combined with knowing them well was close enough.
intotheout: (hmmph)

Re: Write Things Down

[personal profile] intotheout 2017-09-14 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
So on the one hand, Tip appreciated the fact that this exercise made deliberate use of just how inane stream-of-consciousness style writing really was. On the other, she had already spent the first fourteen years of her life before Fandom having to spend class time writing inanities.

A lot of the room was getting described as "stupid", yeah.
justice_undone: (bw thoughtful)

Re: Write Things Down

[personal profile] justice_undone 2017-09-14 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Songs. Breq filled the paper with song lyrics, choosing those which were most likely to to bore others.