Fandom High School

"Hey, guys, and welcome to your last class of the semester," Kitty greeted everyone. "I decided not to give you guys a final, A) because half the semester was insane and not everyone was really themselves for all of it and that makes things really weird, and B) it's hard to grade you on whether or not you're expressing yourselves when you know how you're doing better than I do. But I do want you to take a minute and just on a sheet of paper, write down how you honestly think you're doing at this whole expression thing and if you think there's anything you need to work on. You don't even have to put your names down if you don't want to.

"And then we're going to watch Space Battles. You've been a great class, thanks for not making me give anyone detention, and I hope you learned something."

Kitty was at least in a better mood today than she had been last week, which was probably good since she was planning on making everyone argue today, basically.

"A couple weeks ago, before things went even more insane than usual, we were talking about being able to argue without being a jerk about it. Which is one thing when you're on the internet. Sure, people are more likely to be terrible when there's some anonymity there, but you have the ability to look over what you're going to say and edit it before you hit post and put it out there. In real life, you don't get that time to plot out what you're going to say, and their reaction is more immediate because you can see it.

"So today, you're going to debate some topics. I want you to come up with a cause that means a lot to you, and talk about why it means a lot to you. And then everyone else gets to give their opinion on it, especially if it's different. You can talk about any cause, whether it's mental health or mutant rights or something specific to your home, and you can feel free to ask any questions you need to to form a real argument. Just try to be as civil as possible."

The class met in the Danger Shop today, which was set up like a computer lab, with one for each student.

"We've been talking about using your words as an effective means of expressing yourself, and part of that means not coming off like a jerk," Kitty said, and wasn't that a fun way to start class. "Don't get me wrong. Honesty is a great thing, and sometimes you have to be the jerk, but in everyday conversation, when you want people to listen to your opinions and not write you off, you might have to work on how you put things. And sometimes that means dealing with people who don't agree with you, or who have terrible opinions, and your goal should be to at least try to come out of it like a normal person.

"Speaking of which, today we're using the Internet! For those of you who might not know how to use it yet, let me know and I'll give you a little tutorial, but I'm going to give you all an article. And while I don't suggest trying this at home, you're going to read the comments. It's pretty innocuous but I know for a fact that there's at least one guy calling someone a liberal idiot in the comments, because that's what some people do for fun. I don't know. Anyway, you're going to make up an account, and you're going to comment. You can post your own thoughts or reply to others, and no one else in this class is going to know who's who, so you can even reply to each other. Just try your best to say what you want and not be that guy who's calling people names."

It was the first day after vacation and Kitty was in a bad mood? Awesome. Luckily she wasn't the type to take it out on her students.

Except for the public speaking. Which she'd have given them even if she was in a good mood.

"Welcome back to class. Hopefully everyone's relaxed enough by now to put any potential nervousness aside," Kitty greeted them. "Obviously, if you want to express yourself, get your points and ideas across, talking's the best way to do it. And it's not always easy, but there are always going to be times you either have to do it or sit down and shut up, and that gets you absolutely nowhere. For next week I want you to give a speech. It shouldn't be any longer than five minutes because we don't have all day and there are a few of you, but otherwise it can be as long as you need to get what you want to say out. I want it to be about something you feel strongly about, whether it's something that's going on in your own time or world, a cause you're into, or something like you being mad at the Oscar results. I don't care about the subject, as long as you sell it to us.

"I'm going to give you the rest of class to work on it," she continued. "Whether it's brainstorming topics or starting to write it, or getting help if you need it, go ahead and get to work."

Today the Danger Shop looked a little like the inside of a very plain room. What the students might really notice, though, were the sledgehammers and various tools on the floor.

"Well, I had other ideas in mind for today's class, but then I spent the weekend as a crazy person," Kitty began. "So I decided to take Fandom weirdness as a good way to teach about expressing yourself when you have feelings to deal with. Sometimes stuff happens, and it sucks or it's weird or you're left dealing with something you don't want to deal with. There's the option to talk about it, of course. Probably the best option. You could bottle it up or try to repress, but that doesn't do you much good in the long run. Or you could find some other outlet for it, even if it's just finding a room where you can just scream or cry for a minute or two. Or, you can do something physical. I advise taking a look at the gym if you haven't yet.

"But today, we're gonna get a little destructive, because sometimes that's fun. I want you to take a section of wall, and just destroy it. Really picture something that makes you sad or angry or frustrated and just go to town. It's the Danger Shop, so you can't get hurt, just don't use anything on other students. Also there are markers so if you want to draw or write something on the drywall to help you visualize whatever you're going to wreck, you go ahead and do that."

Today the Danger Shop was done up more or less to look like Caritas. There were a couple changes: you couldn't get alcohol at the bar because hello, class, and the zombies were gone, replaced by a much more normal karaoke system.

Yep. Karaoke.

"I see everybody made it through the weekend," Kitty greeted them. "Some of you may be regretting that because today we're doing karaoke. For those of you who don't know, that means you find a song you want to sing, get up onstage, and you can read the lyrics off a prompter while you sing with background music. I'm going to give you guys time to figure out your songs- I tried to get songs from as far back as I could so if you're time displaced you should be able to find something- and then you all have to take a turn. It doesn't matter if you're good or not. Just find something that you can have fun with and make it your own."

The class was in the Danger Shop today, which was looking quite a bit like a clothing department of a store.

"Guess what we're doing today," Kitty greeted them with a smile. "Clothes are pretty much the easiest way to tell people who you are, due to it being one of the first things people see on you. Which isn't to say you need to care about things like shopping or fashion. But due to things like laws you do usually need to wear clothes, so what you put on says something about you, even if it's just jeans and a t-shirt." Which she was totally wearing.

"Now, you're all young, and what you like to dress in now might change as you get older. Whether the styles change or you get more money to dress better or the way you feel about your body changes and you start dressing it differently. I've had... probably between one and two dozen phases since I was about thirteen, sometimes changing it up every couple weeks." She wasn't going to get into the costume thing in class because that was a potentially off-topic can of worms she didn't want to open on the second week, but let's at least narratively never forget the thing with the legwarmers and rollerskates. "It was fun, being able to change my look and figuring out what worked. So that's what you guys are doing here. I programmed in a wide range of clothes and accessories of all different price ranges, and there are things from different time periods since I know some of you are from the past, and maybe some of you have an inner flapper you're dying to let out or something. There's also makeup and some wigs back over there, so this is your chance to make yourselves look the way you want to without limitations, and no judgment for any of it. Feel free to help each other out, and if you need any help, I'm right over here."