FB: School Days

on my last post I kinda implied that Tibbs didn't like Perry when they first met, but that's not actually true~

Tibbs is (was) a school custodian. Fellow faculty and staff tended to treat him like he was invisible, only addressing him when they needed a spill cleaned up. It didn't help that Tibbs is naturally pretty quiet (he prefers to listen), so his coworkers assumed he was standoffish, or foreign, or just another big dumb prey animal. Perry the science teacher is the first to speak more than a few sentences to Tibbs, often shooting the breeze with the boar when they catch each other in the hallways......at first Tibbs is startled and doesn't really know what to do, but finds himself enjoying Perry's random tales of how trying to substitute applesauce for eggs in his grandma's cobbler recipe led to him learning just how flammable flour truly is. Tibbs slowly starts opening up, giving one-word answers and occasional dry remarks that make Perry light up....hmm. It seems Tibbs has found his very first work friend.

raaaambling notes:

Perry (and Tibbs) worked at a prestigious private school that is not just historically all-carnivore, but also largely consists of feline students and faculty. It was founded so that carnivore kids would have a safe, accommodating space to learn (young predators don't often know their strength and can accidentally destroy furniture or claw classmates). Prey animals did not want their children attending such an academy out of worry for their kids' safety, and largely treated the school like an ugly blemish on the city map. As the decades passed, the academy would eventually blossom into an insular, snobby institution all its own. Administration in particular tends to look down on prey animals. Sure, prey are fine people, but they're just not cut out to be leaders, makers, and shapers, not like the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed students of Klawfanger Academy!  

In Fuzzbutts, predators are meant to be noble, powerful, and dominating. It's seen as highly undignified, even fetishistic, for a predator to date prey. And for Perry, a small lynx, to date a giant, powerful boar (and a janitor to boot).....it's seen as unforgivably disgraceful. Perry should be with a predator his size or larger.....not a pig. Clearly, Perry is a pathetic simp or a pervert getting off on a prey animal lording its power over him, in a total perversion of the natural order! I guess the closest analogue in our (patriarchal) world might be how people might view a man dating an especially tall, powerful, or wealthy woman. Attitudes range from dismissive to openly mocking- Perry and Tibbs face a unique sort of stigma, where Perry is the one shouldering most of the social scrutiny. In an unfortunate sort of double standard, Tibbs tends to get approval from other prey animals ("Congrats on making a pred your bitch!"), which deeply upsets and irritates him, because Perry is his equal, and always has been.

The school....does not like the optics of one of their teachers consorting with swine- Perry taking lunch breaks with Tibbs was embarrassing enough, but the discovery that they've started dating is the final straw. Faculty and parents turn on Perry in an instant and demand he be terminated. The principal instead plans to quietly fire Tibbs and claim Perry had a “lapse in judgement” that’s since been resolved. After all, Perry is a highly trained educator, much more difficult to replace than Tibbs, a “lowly” custodian. Perhaps the school moves to terminate Tibbs, but Perry takes a stand, threatening to walk if they do so. Unfortunately he’s overplayed his hand. The principal was a little sympathetic to Perry (who among us hasn’t indulged in a foolish flight of fancy with prey?), but the parents have her backed up against a corner, and no way is she risking her position (and the school’s integrity) for one teacher. Perry, now a target for ridicule and harassment by the community, argues that society won’t change unless people are brave enough to take a stand, that she and the other administrators will set a good example for the students by doing the right thing (even if it’s hard!). The principal tiredly says that’s a nice sentiment……now be sure to have your classroom cleared out by noon tomorrow.  

It’s a difficult situation all around, made worse by the fact that other local schools consider Perry too scandalous and deviant to employ. It’s Tibbs who proposes they end their relationship, as it’s caused nothing but trouble….and both of them do seriously consider it. But ultimately, neither can pull the plug. Because their relationship was never about some perverse, socially aberrant fantasy (like the parents claimed), or about proving something (like the principal thought), but just the simple fact that they like being around each other, and don’t want to stop.   

And who’s to say it was all for nothing? Perhaps many years later, one of Perry’s old students visits the bed and breakfast. She says she just HAD to come visit once she learned about it. She’s a small wolverine, timidly holding the hand of her girlfriend, a moose. Their parents don’t approve, but it's comforting to know they aren’t alone? To say Perry was touched would be an understatement, and Tibbs might’ve tried to drown the girls in blueberry pancakes.