Pre-Jump Earth Literature

[aestrix]

It's a new term, and the end of the break between terms most students have been enjoying. But time marches ever on, and so at 1:00 PM, just after lunch, twenty-six students all around the age of fifteen are finding seats in an obnoxiously decorated classroom. It's one of those classrooms that tries very hard to be peppy and inspirational, and only succeeds at being very out of touch, and kind of creepy.

Soon it will be time to read about things long-dead people wrote.

Comments

[poll_the_stars]

She laughs.

"Remember Miles, we don't want either of us to be persuaded to punch our teacher. And if we compared it to Barrayaran history..."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Punching would ensue, oh yes."

[poll_the_stars]

"So the real question is how do we spin all of our complicated Barrayaran emotions into a form that will not ensue in punching, but will make him cry."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Yeah, that's the tough one all right."

[poll_the_stars]

She hums thoughtfully, scrolling through the play to skim it a bit while she thinks.

"Mm. A - theme I'm noticing is that - the people in charge are all not very responsible? The church failing to protect the prince, the guards failing to protect Richard's brother, the king being crazy right up until he dies, Richard and his murder spree, I'm not seeing anyone here actually trying to rule in a fair manner?" Pause. "No idea how to connect that to our complicated Barrayaran emotions, but, it's a thought."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Ooh, yeah, that's an interesting angle. ...But I might want to stay away from it because I'm at least theoretically supposed to be pretending I'm not anybody important while I'm on Beta Colony, and my perspective on power and responsibility is very much the perspective of somebody who played tag with his Emperor as a child, you know?"

[poll_the_stars]

Yvette flashes him an understanding smile.

"Fair enough. We'll skip the interesting angle in favor of not making ImpSec unhappy."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Uncle Simon thanks you for your understanding."

[poll_the_stars]

"Uncle? You call Simon Illyan uncle?"

[thisvorlunatic]

He laughs. "Well, not so much recently, but when I was a kid, yeah."

[poll_the_stars]

She giggles. "That's incredibly adorable."

[thisvorlunatic]

Snort. "Thanks?"

[poll_the_stars]

Grin. "You're welcome."

Skim skim skim. "... Maybe something about minorities and cycles of cruelty? Victims becoming perpetrators? Not just Richard, Margaret definitely did it too."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Yeah... there's something there, but I don't know, how much agonizing emotional suffering can you bring to life in Margaret? Because I can get a lot out of Richard."

[poll_the_stars]

"I don't believe I can match you and Richard there," says Yvette seriously. "Not with just Margaret. I mean I can probably make some eloquent points but that's not quite the same as agonizing emotional suffering." Pause. "I am maybe bad at attempting to make someone cry."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I don't think I've ever deliberately set out to make someone cry before, but I have high hopes about my ability to pull it off."

[poll_the_stars]

She snorts.

"I'll make you be the one to type the essay, then."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Reasonable."

[poll_the_stars]

"I try! ... That being said I do want to uh. Actually help."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Well, help as in contribute to the essay, or help as in contribute to the goal of the essay? Because if it's the second thing, your most effective role might be as a test audience. ...Although I'd rather not make you cry, you haven't done anything to deserve it."

[poll_the_stars]

"Probably the first thing, but I can do the second. And I don't mind crying."

[thisvorlunatic]

"...What, really?"

[poll_the_stars]

"I mean. If you made me cry in front of people I'd be annoyed, but this is not in front of people? This is in a tiny out of the way study room, I can cry here without feeling the need to snarl at concerned but useless people that I am fine or deal with the awkward stares or finding a quiet corner to be left alone in until I'm out of tears. I mean, it'd. Be kind of embarrassing, I'll probably be trying desperately not to cry, but if I happen to in this environment it's not the end of the world?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"I cannot promise I won't stare awkwardly and/or hypocritically offer to hug you if you start crying about my agonizing literary interpretations."

[poll_the_stars]

"That's still - I trust you to mysteriously make yourself busy spellchecking or something if I asked you to stop awkwardly staring? And offering to hug me is fine, I'd probably accept. It's - large amounts of people doing it that makes it awful. And it's three that's the crowd, so I think we're all right."