fandomhigh | Practical Philosophy, Thursday

"I'm seeing a lot of familiar faces," Ender said, as he sank down on a blanket with a bottle of water on the school lawn. "To those of you who were in this class last time: welcome back.

"To those of you who weren't, welcome. This is Practical Philosophy. We don't have text books, and we don't discuss the great thinkers, unless they happen to come up for discussion. This class is here for us to reflect on the things that happen around us, the things that happen to us, and how we view them. I'll raise a topic every class, if possible, but the floor is always open for us to talk about anything that's on your mind."

He sat back. "This is an active class, so I expect you to participate. But we might discuss topics that make you uncomfortable, or that hew close to something you feel strongly about. Know that it's always fine to do nothing but ask questions of, or otherwise engage with, your fellow classmates. Being a little uncomfortable is important for all of us to grow, but not to the point where it causes you real distress."

He considered the class.

"As for today, well, last weekend was Pride weekend. It's a celebration, in a way, of those of us who don't quite fit into a normative mold of sexuality or gender, or both. But it's also a gesture of defiance to a world that still too-quickly tries to eradicate everything that falls outside a narrow band of human experience."

He took a swig of his bottle of water and screwed the cap back on. "I'm going to tell you up front: the humanity and the right to exist in freedom of people who don't fit in this band - straight, cis, and in this part of the world, white - are not, and will never be, up for debate in this class," he said. "But I am interested in your thoughts. What is considered the norm where you're from? How are those outside of it treated? How do you feel about that?"

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Rainbowy.

Wayne

Norman Babcock

Juillenne Milone

Get settled, grab a blanket, a bottle of water and a sandwich if you want...

And, look at that, this was a class already making Wayne uncomfortable, and they hadn't even gotten to the talking yet. He wondered if he could just go ahead and bring his own chair, since he wasn't exactly a sit-on-a-blanket kumbaya type of guy, nor did he consider himself a sort of open-up-and-talk-about-your-feelings kind of guy.

He was clearly a sit-awkwardly, trying-to-find-where-to-put-your-legs-while-sitting-on-the-ground that still allowed for him to be straight backed with his arms sternly folded over his chest kind of guy instead. But, eventually, he settled into sitting cross-legged, definitely thinking of bringing a chair next week.

Still, it was miles more comfortable than his last class...

Considering he was pretty firmly checked on all the straight, cis, and white boxes, this was generally a conversation Wayne didn't really see himself having a whole lot of business being in.

Of course, even if those boxes weren't checked, Wayne would have still felt this was a conversation Wayne didn't really see himself having a whole lot of business being in, because one box that would get checked no matter which way he swung would firmly and unapologetically be the KIND OF A PRUDE box.

So he squinted a bit and did what he usually did when there were conversations or discussions going on that he generally felt uncomfortable about, and that was sort of just existing there and hoping it all blew over before it fell to him to say something, or moved onto something he felt a bit more comfortable talking about, but considering it was a whole class dedicated to talking about a topic, he...didn't think that was going to happen.

Still. He wasn't about to volunteer to start blabbing away, especially if others were more inclined to babble and therefor fill up the time and narrow that window of opportunity a little bit more.

And drink plenty of water in the meantime, because it was important to stay hydrated.

Norman chewed the inside of his cheek in thought. Back home they totally celebrated Pride, it was one of the few things Blithe Hollow actually kind of had going for it. But that didn't change the fact that people still had a long way to go.

So he shrugged a little.

"I mean... I'm pretty sure the general assumption is cishet until proven otherwise," he offered. "At least back home. My sister once spend a whole," zombie apocalypse, "night trying to get the captain of the football team to notice her, and then was kind of stunned when he'd asked if he could bring his boyfriend on a movie night thing."

... It had actually been pretty funny, watching Courtney have to pause and completely reassess her odds, admittedly.

"But I don't know if anyone ever gave Mitch a hard time about it. He always seemed pretty cool with things, and never really talked about it. And, um." He shrugged a bit. "I don't know. I never really had an interest in... any of that."

Romance? Maybe. He wasn't so sure about the rest of it.

Ender's mouth curved, a little. "Sometimes that comes later," he said, "Sometimes it doesn't at all."

He took a sip from his water bottle. "I think the movement to stand up for that latter category is just getting off the ground in this time."

Norman nodded a little.

"Yeah, I've already talked with a couple of friends about that, a little," he admitted. "The whole... ace spectrum thing? Right?"

Just making sure they were on the same page ther.

"Right," Ender said easily. "Easily overlooked, especially when our entertainment is so laser-focused on sex and romance."

Norman nodded a little.

"I kind of worried maybe there was something the matter with me for a while there," he admitted, after a pause. "When the island gets all... full of pollen? You know? And I'm just as frustrated as everyone else, but..."

Shrug.

No dice. No outlet.

"Exercise helps," Ender said wryly. He considered Norman. "But no, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you. I hope you've come to realize as much."

"Yeah," Norman agreed. "Knowing I'm not the only person who feels that way about it helped. And... I mean, there's no saying I can't re-evaluate later, either. Right? Maybe I'm just not ready. Maybe I never will be. Either's fine."

"And we're never the same people we were at 21 when we're 25, or 30, or 35, or 40," Ender said. "We humans, we're always in flux. Maybe it's not about becoming ready to be this other thing. Maybe it's about being this now, and something else later, and something different entirely after that - whatever it entails. Or a mixture of all of it. I certainly didn't think I'd be married with children when I was your age. But I did think I'd be itinerant, and that has proven to be true."

Norman considered that, considered who it was he had been at eleven, who he had been at six, and he nodded a little.

"I have no idea who I'll be in another five years," he conceded. "I definitely didn't think I'd be here making friends and participating in class discussions a few years back."

He had kind of low-key been making plans to follow in his crazy great uncle's footsteps and run off to hide from humanity - or at least the living portion of it - for the rest of his days. Maybe with less ranting and raving about the end times or whatever.

"All in all, though," Ender said, "That makes it vastly more useful to concentrate on making sure you're comfortable with yourself in the now."

"It's less to worry about, I guess," Norman allowed. "Not thinking about whether I'll still be comfortable with myself in the future, I mean."

"And master the art of being open to changes in your self-image if they come around," Ender said wryly. "And fill the rest of us in on what you've learned if you manage it."

"I'll be sure to let people know if I figure out the trick to it," Norman replied, smiling faintly. "I guess we'll see what time brings."

If you're not done talking yet.

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Practical Philosophy, Thursday

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