i'm bigger than my body [open & closed]

[tanker]

who: John Proudtar + Shigeru Miyata, Minsu Oh, Cisco Ramon, and anyone
what: Catch-all
when: throughout march
where: various places, mainly the perimeter guard training grounds
warnings: none that I can think of! Will update if necessary



i. meditate (open to all)

[ Since putting his training offers out on the Quarantine network, John has been putting up dates and times and locations for 'classes' - he hates calling them as such, but if the shoe fits.

There's nothing special about the spot he's chosen - it's by the river, shadowed by some trees, pleasant and quiet. John's sitting straight on the ground, cross-legged, as he waits for any 'student' who might be interested in learning about meditation. He's prepared to fight stereotypes, remembering Lorna's reaction the first time she saw him practicing, how surprised she'd been, how long she'd teased him for it after.

John waits, until a few people are seated in front of him, before he says anything. ]

Before we start, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. The goal here is to get some tools for you to center yourself if you ever feel like control, or your sense of self is slipping. Meditation is what we make it out to be - contrary to popular belief, it isn't about sitting on a rock for days at a time, humming to yourself, although you're welcome to do that, if it works for you.

[ John smiles. This should be fun. ]

We're going to start much smaller, here.

ii. combat (open to all)

[ Come one, come all, whoever is interested in trying to test themselves against that mutant who can't get hurt. He'll take your punches and will try to give pointers wherever he can - he is, after all, an ex-Marine himself, and has seen combat situation more than once.

Depending on who's here to train and who's interested in helping, there are several stations set up in the Perimeter Guards training grounds - one, large and further away than the rest, for those who want to try out their powers but might struggle with control, or simply have a huge range. One for hand-to-hand combat, with dummies and training equipment strewn around. One for swordfighting - the weapons are blunt. John's walking around between the different stations, helping out wherever he can, and learning, himself - he's never held a sword before, after all.

Come and train, fight, help out, or whatever else you want to do! ]

iii. wildcard

[ Closed starters in comments! Find me at ellievolia if you want a specific starter, or just hmu with anything, I'm happy with basically anything. ]

Comments

[mysophobic]

Oh I-I see. I'm sorry to hear about...your own troubles. It's strange to think someone like myself can get better when my entire life I've been trying to cope and get over my phobia enough that I could actually...function a bit better in society.

[ He'll cup his hands together around the cup of coffee that he still hasn't drank from. ]

Back home it's a given that phrobiests...people like me I mean, succumb to their phobias. So people make attempts to help us but it never lasts. But it's different here and I-I do believe that I can get better but it's just...hard.

[ He looks a bit worried now, scared even, as he looks down at his hands. ] I don't want to turn into a monster and hurt people. I...I want to stop it or at least try to cure it.

wow i only now caught the autocorrect typos, apologies

[tanker]

[ John can sympathize with that. ]

Being able to function is already a huge thing, something that a lot of people struggle with every day.

[ Celebrate the small wins. John will never stop believing that it is a very important part of any kind of recovery, but also - any life. ]

It's definitely hard, and it's hard to fight against everything you've been led to believe. It's adding another barrier to break through. But, for what it's worth, I don't think you're a monster.

[ Which might mean very little from an almost stranger. ]

Tell you what, what about - one of the things I can do, is track people. Sense danger, too. What if I tried to keep tuned to you, in case something happens? I can't promise it's failproof, but. There's very little chance you could hurt me, and I could help you.

autocorrect betrays once again

[mysophobic]

[ That's because John has never seen his other form. He's never seen him...lose control or get possessed. He was terrifying and even he knew it. But he doesn't say or comment on the other man's words. ]

I-I guess that would be okay. But my powers...disintegrate things. It gets worse when I lose control too, I think. I can't remember sometimes when it happens. I'd feel terrible if you got hurt because of-of me.

[ He'd never want a total stranger who's trying to help him to get hurt. ]

But I would appreciate it if you did that. At least to notify people so that they can try to stop me if I-I can't come back from it.

[tanker]

Well, as I said, it's pretty hard to get me hurt.

[ He doesn't really have a way to show Shigeru, not like he could show Laura, but it doesn't make it any less true. He feels the pain, sure, but he has yet to bleed without some power-dampening action going on. ]

You need to believe that you can come back from any of it. At any time. That's... so important, you know? You've got to believe in yourself.

[mysophobic]

Yes, you're right. [ Believe in himself, huh? It's so hard to do when he's failed multiple times at trying to regain control. Sure he manages to do it, but it always happens after he's caused harm to someone. ]

Um, well, thank you for all of this. I-I really want to work hard and get better. So I'm grateful to have you help me. It's probably a big imposition on you though. I'm just glad that this place has...people like yourself here.

[ He's not sure how he'd get by without people like Genji, John, Aoba or Cisco around. ]

[tanker]

It's really not.

[ John smiles, shrugs a shoulder. ]

Back home, I was leading a bunch of people. I had to look after everyone, and I wanted to. Couldn't imagine living my life any other way. Helping out...

[ He looks out ahead, eyes unfocused on the buildings in front of them. ]

It's the very least I can do.