164 Fic: The Front Lines

[rebcake]

Title: The Front Lines
Author: Rebcake
Rating: PG
Word Count: 800
Prompt: 164 - Robin Wood
Characters: Mostly Robin, a smidge of Gunn
Summary: Robin thinks about all the varieties of monster he knows, a couple of years before he comes to Sunnydale.

Comments

[slaymesoftly]

Great way to bring Robin into the RW and make it mesh with the world he knows is out there. Good job!

[rebcake]

Snyder to the contrary, I find that people who go into public education are generally idealistic. We already know that Robin is a fighter, so it made sense to me that he would apply that to his professional life. I'm glad it worked for you! Thanks for commenting!

[brunettepet]

What a richly detailed, sympathetic look at Robin pre-Sunnydale. I like that he can look at himself and recognize that others have it worse than he did, and then he does something about it. He really is fighting the good fight, and the rewards are hard fought and deeply satisfying.

His intersect with the Gunn family worked in this context, and I like that he has no idea the supernatural was involved. I wonder how many students Robin had to lose before he decided to take that cushy job in Sunnydale.

[rebcake]

I think that Wood has a pull to help people in all sorts of ways. The dichotomy of straight-arrow educator and bad-ass demon fighter really isn't too far apart, from his perspective.

As for how many kids he lost, the answer is far too many. There is a horrifying statistic that something like 2/3 of all African-American males do not finish high school in California. Since this is the land of the free, we don't have any way of knowing if those kids are working, sick, dead, incarcerated, or have moved to another state. (Yes, I am an education wonk.) Whatever the reasons, I can't help but feel that each one of those kids is more than a number to Robin Wood.

Thanks for commenting!

[kattahj]

Oh, I loved this! There isn't nearly enough Robin fic out there, and I really liked that you explored his professional life, because I haven't seen that done before. Figures he'd fight the good fight any way he could. (As a school employee, I also get an impulse to do something... I'm just not sure what, yet.)

ETA: This icon is not entirely appropriate, but it's the only RW one I have.

[rebcake]

You're one up on me, because I don't have any Robin Wood icons!

I was inspired to write about Robin Wood: Heroic Educator when I discovered this week that almost 5% of my daughter's 8th grade graduating class is in foster care or homeless. Her school is one of those considered "excellent" by state and federal standards, so what must the proportion of severely disadvantaged kids be at schools that don't meet those standards? You know what I'm talking about, if you work in a school. The challenges are immense, but I see staff members doing amazing things all the time. They offer guitar lessons on their lunch hour, supervise after school sports, and make house calls to talk to families of truants, or those who have suffered a tragedy. I'm so grateful for people who can manage to give a damn in the face of some really long odds.

I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for commenting!

[kattahj]

Yes, I do know what I'm talking about - I think it's better here (better social safety net, definitely), but the frustrations and triumphs are still very real, especially in the neighbourhoods where I work.

[bobthemole]

Excellent story! I can see Robin channeling his anger and his resources toward helping kids not slip through the cracks.

Great parallel between fighting monsters in the Buffyverse and fighting the monstrosity of a system that fails the people it is supposed to help.

[rebcake]

I'm glad you liked it! In BtVS, the monsters were almost always metaphors for something else, and I think that the "War on Evil" is similar to the "War on Poverty" and the "War on Drugs". None of them can be completely won, but you have to keep fighting and you can achieve victory in some battles. Sometimes you get a warrior who can bring innovation and meaningful change (Buffy) and sometimes you just have people slogging along trying to make a difference within the framework of the existing system (Robin and thousands of other dedicated educators). I suspect you need both to keep the world turning.

Thanks for commenting!

[shapinglight]

I didn't understand any of the references except Ivy League, so thanks for that. Could a little understand the context, but only because I've watched The Wire, season 4 of which would be very familiar to this Robin.

Really, really loved this and hope that Robin would be pleased with how Charles turned out.

[rebcake]

I'm sure that Wood would be proud and overjoyed to see Charles, post-Chosen. (I'm not exactly sure what he's up to, or he's even alive, post-NFA.) I think Wood would get quite emotional, although it might be hard to tell, from our perspective. ;-) Or maybe they'd both get emotional, and then try to cover. Heh.

I haven't watched The Wire, as I'm afraid it might be a little too real for me. Man's inhumanity to man always gets me down so. Thankfully, we have vampires to dish out the inhumanity, which just seems like good, clean, fun. ¡Yay!

I'm so pleased that you liked the story. I sometimes feel as if I'm tormenting you with my obscure Americanisms, but hopefully footnotes cure all ills! Thanks for commenting!