heartofalioness | Empatheias IC Contact

[She shakes her head, not letting herself thing about that now. There's a lesson to teach.]

If I feel annoyed or insulted when I first hear a comment, I do my best to not respond right away. I take a second or two to breathe, to go over what the person said again, why they might have said it, remind myself that they're likely not trying to attack me. In a similar case to your festival idea, I'd say something like "I apologize for not clarifying that point, what I meant was..." and go from there. That little acknowledgement, that bend, will show you respect the person talking to, and they'll respect you back.

If it's someone bringing up an idea I strongly disagree with, I do the same breathing and waiting, and then ask them to rephrase the point I disagree with in a calm, neutral tone. Perhaps a change in the wording will be all I need to understand it better. If you still disagree, lead by pointing out a part that you DO agree with or at least appreciate, so they see that the criticism is constructive. And in a forum situation, you can usually give another person the opportunity to speak instead.

And if they actually DO go for personal slights, you can either remind them of the topic of the conversation as code to back off, or stay silent to let someone mediate. Let THEM be the shouting, angry one, Usagi.

I can't... promise I'll be able to get this the first time.... or second or third. Like I said, I'm a pretty terrible student.

But...

[She took a deep breath.] I can try.

I mean, can't do any worse than I did before, right?

[Allura gives a pleased smile when Usagi says she'll try.]

That's what practice is for. We can meet a few days a week for short lessons, if that works for your schedule. And it'd also give us time for both of us to prepare topics to bring to the meeting: how to phrase them for the best clarity, and practicing answers to possible questions.

Well, I can give you my work schedule, if you want, you can come visit me too. I love being around you!

[She WAS going to offer to give Usagi her schedule too, when Usagi says that last sentence. A light blush rises to the surface despite Allura trying not to, and there's a bit of that sparkly steam again. Instead of trying to dismiss it with a cough, though, she merely smiles and nods her head.]

And I love being around you too. Let's schedule our next lesson then. And please eat, don't think I've noticed you're the only one who's had pancakes during all this.

Don't need to tell me twice to eat! [She digs in, because she had been holding off on eating so that she and Allura could talk, but she also didn't want all her hard work to go to waste. She only burnt 2 pancakes this time.]

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