Ethics [Thursday, January 17]

[sith_happened]

"Today we discuss lying," Anakin said as he closed the classroom door precisely on time. "Everyone lies. 'Of course that doesn't make your butt look big.' 'You like her, I like her.' 'I'm totally okay with you moving on.' 'Everything's fine, why do you ask?' It's how the world goes around because no one wants to be trapped in a conversation where someone whines at you for hours on end about how awful their life is."

He looked around the room. "Trust me. Everyone's life is terrible. They're just not telling you about it. Be grateful."

He reached onto his desk for a piece of paper. "Today we're conducting an exercise to see how well you pass this particular social ritual, then we'll discuss whether you think it is necessary. We're playing two truths and a lie. I'll tell you three things about myself and you have to decide which one is the falsehood. Then you'll all tell three things and we'll see how well you can either read each other or keep things hidden."

He gave them a small smile. "I'm very good at this." He schooled his face to absolute neutrality, put his mental blocks up to bar any psychics in the room from gaining an advantage, then recited: "During a war at home I was known as 'The Hero Without Fear.' I named my children after people I met in Fandom. I've never been beaten in one-on-one lightsaber combat." His eyes challenged them to call him out. "Who's next?"

Comments

Re: Two truths and a lie: Rikku

[raspberryturk]

Huh. Convictions that he hadn't even considered might be on the menu. Interesting to know, really.

"Al Bhed's the name of your language, too?" Casual conversation right now seemed so very much more pleasant, no matter what mental notes he happened to be taking on the rest of it. "Never heard you speak any of it. Wouldn't have guessed you weren't a native speaker of English, yo."

Re: Two truths and a lie: Rikku

[the_merriest]

"Al Bhed ec so vencd myhkiyka yht E drehg ed ec y bnaddean myhkiyka dryh drec uha. Dra jufamc numm tevvanahdmo. E secc cbaygehk ed yht raynehk ed ymuit." She shrugged. "Pops thought it was a good idea for us to be able to speak with the Yevonites, so I learned their language when I was little. I don't get to speak Al Bhed much any more. No one else here knows it."

Re: Two truths and a lie: Rikku

[raspberryturk]

Reno squinted and tried to parse... whatever the hell it was that just came out of her mouth.

"I've never heard anything like it," he confessed. "I'm not surprised that nobody really knows what any of it means."

Re: Two truths and a lie: Rikku

[the_merriest]

Rikku lifted a shoulder, carefully nonchalant. "So I don't bother speaking it. I used to run some phrases in the paper, but I don't know that anybody reads them, really."

Re: Two truths and a lie: Rikku

[raspberryturk]

"Huh." Reno nodded faintly. "Damn shame." He paused, considering for a moment, and then grinned faintly. "How do you say, 'damn shame' in Al Bhed?"