Ethics [Thursday, March 13]

[sith_happened]

Anakin stalked into the room and shut the door firmly behind him.

"Today we talk about wrath," he said. "There's something very human about giving in to our temper," he said. "It's freeing, uncomplicated."

He paused. "At least at that moment. The repercussions are always waiting."

He waved a hand and the holoprojector flipped to life. Frozen in time was a young Jedi with two lightsabers at the neck of an older, clearly defeated enemy.

"This was me," he said, pointing at the young man. "And that older man was evil and threatened my family. It didn't make the choice I made--to kill him while he knelt there--any less wrong."

He looked around the classroom making eye contact with every student before continuing. "Wrath is very, very tempting. It urges you to listen to that dark little voice inside of you--to cut loose, live without consequences."

He pointed at the holo again. "There are always consequences. This moment has stayed with me, made me the person I am. It wasn't a positive influence."

Anakin stopped pacing. "What would it take for you to get to that hazy edge? And more importantly, how do you stop yourself from giving in?" He raised an eyebrow. "And how will what I'm telling you affect your decision to not go out after statues like a bunch of idiots?"

Comments

Sign in [March 13]

[sith_happened]

All full of wrath!

Re: Sign in [March 13]

[blackmagic-eve.livejournal.com]

Eve Levine

Listen to the lecture

[sith_happened]

Yep, he totally killed that guy.

Re: Listen to the lecture

[blessed_twice]

Wyatt was in a much better mood than this time last week. He was worried about the disappearances, but glad that as far as he knew, no one close to him had gone missing, most especially his brother and his girlfriend.

As for the lecture, his family killed evil for a living, so he wasn't too worried about anger getting the better of him. Famous last words.

Re: Listen to the lecture

[athosborn.livejournal.com]

It was difficult to look at the image on the projector, and then meet Anakin's eyes, but Teyla managed it anyway. She still knew people and creatures far more horrible than him.

Re: Listen to the lecture

[ecirpnellehada.livejournal.com]

Adah had been a bit late to class today; she wanted to pay particular attention for a few reasons, to make up for her quiet, tardy limping in and to distract herself from everything and to get her mind off of her tension, but she couldn't accomplish it as well as she could. She'd been an emotional and mental wreck all yesterday, and, while those problems had been smoothed over, she was still taking a physical toll for them today, and had been since last night when she tried to sleep but couldn't. She tried to look well, though, or well enough, not exactly wanting to argue with Skywalker about how she was taking care of herself again.

Re: Listen to the lecture

[harrydresden.livejournal.com]

Harry slouched a little lower than usual in his seat. He wasn't a fan of this topic. Massive anger ending up with people dead wasn't exactly new territory.

Take exception to his thesis

[sith_happened]

Explain how you can totally keep your temper in check as you go out smiting statues!

(He won't really buy it.)

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[raspberryturk]

"Don't take much to get me to that 'hazy point,' yo. You wanna know if this class is gonna affect what I do from here? It won't." Reno shrugged his shoulders and scowled. "I'm pissed off. I wanna smash in their angelic freakin' faces. Probably not a bright move. See me care."

What? It wasn't like he was going to lie about it.

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal was frowning thoughtfully. "I'm not sure I understand," he finally said. "Are you saying that the only reason someone would attempt to act against these statues is from anger?"

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[the_merriest]

Rikku shook her head quickly. "It's ... it's a cycle. If I hate the Guado, if I go after them for what they did, then ... then I'm just as bad. I've just become them. And then they hate me for what I did, and ... it never stops. I mean. I'm not saying I don't ... slip up. I just. I try not to ... give in to that. It doesn't help. It never helps." She bit her lower lip. "It just feels like it does, right then, when you're so angry you don't care."

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[ashockingbitch]

"I like anger," Jenny said. "Anger is valuable. You get mad, you get strong. Anger in excess can be a problem, if you get too mad to bloody well think." Jenny hadn't let herself get so angry she couldn't think since around 1920, and generally if anyone under her command reached that point she'd smack them in the back of the head, then fire them. "But I've been given no indication I can solve this problem through application of brute force, so that's hardly going to be my first plan of attack, now, is it?"

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[walks-two-paths.livejournal.com]

It was probably a good thing for all concerned that Savannah had pretty much already had this kind of talk with Johnny and with Eve the night before.

"Hurting the people I love the most will get me to that edge, sir." She sighed. "And going off half-cocked until we know for sure what it is exactly that we're dealing with won't do anyone any good."

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[blessed_twice]

Wyatt didn't feel like arguing the anger/emotions thing again (because he knew hew as right, after all) with Anakin, but he was itching to go after the statues. Maybe he could orb them to the middle of the Antarctic or something. Poor penguins.

"I'm not going to run out and attack statues," Wyatt said, which would've been a lie if Isabel or Chris were missing, but that was beside the point, really. "We don't know how they do what they do yet."

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

"Anger can give focus, it's like we talked about last week. There's nothing wrong with wrath, it's loosing yourself in it that's the issue" Anemone said, shrugging. "Do I want to go out and smash something? Yes, very very much. Am I going to? Hopefully not, but I already know that I have issues with my temper and self-control."

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

"I... don't get mad very easily," Amber stated, looking thoughtful.

Well, there was that one time with Becky Leeman but she totally deserved the hair-pull.

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[athosborn.livejournal.com]

"What stops me from giving in is the knowledge that my actions will only lead to more harm," Teyla said. "There are...beings in my galaxy who survive by feeding off of the innocent. They have hunted my people for generations, and I would be lying if I said I did not dream of hunting them in return. But any attack made against them would only result in retaliation. It as, as someone else mentioned, a destructive cycle."

She got quiet for a moment before adding, "But I must ask, would destroying some of the statues not prevent more people from being taken?"

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[absolutesnark]

"I've been known to lose my temper when someone I care about is hurt or if I have been wronged in some way," Summer admitted. "I've even gotten into fights with people. Still, I am not crazy enough to go fighting those statues. Mostly because of the whole creepiness factor. That's one good way to keep my temper in check."

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

Hoshi had no intention of running out there and attacking any statues because they terrified her.

"I don't like what's happened to people, but I'm not angry enough to take on those statues. I'd rather stay in the library where there's lot of other people for safety," said Hoshi.

"I think the only time I've ever really gotten angry was with my mother went she went on this tirade about how non-humans should be kicked off the planet. The anger just made it easier to walk out of that house and not look back."

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[remember5th.livejournal.com]

"It's possible to act with emotion and allow logic to fuel it," Evey said quietly. "Anger doesn't always cloud your judgment."

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[ecirpnellehada.livejournal.com]

Adah's usual thoughtful pause took a bit longer than normal; Adah's brain processes were a bit slower today, but, eventually, she scribbled out a response in her note.

"The benefit of being an internal person: the worst recipient of my wrath when it's there is usually myself. Physical incapability restricts you greatly when it comes to wrath, so I'm surprisingly low on that one, I think. There is no hazy point; if there were, I wouldn't know what to do with my wrath even if I crossed it."

She had stared at her paragraph before pushing it forward on her desk, deciding. She wanted to add something; she didn't know if it was just everything that had been happening, but she felt the urge to comment that at least Skywalker seemed somewhat remorseful for the result of his wrath. Seeing remorse was something unfamiliar to a Price, and it fascinated Adah, and she wanted to comment, but she was tired, drawn out, and mostly exhausted, so she didn't. She just left the paragraph on its own.

Re: Take exception to his thesis

[harrydresden.livejournal.com]

"I'm not going off after any statues," Harry said. Apparently his hero complex wasn't fully developed yet. Besides, if he went after statues and ended up hurting any people, it was all over for Harry. "But you can channel anger sometimes. Sometimes it's useful. Keeps you alive."

Talk to the TA!

[sith_happened]

Hi, Jo!

Re: Talk to the TA!

[wannabehunter]

Jo had never had any dealing involving wrath.

Especially not where her mother was concerned.

Really.

Talk to Anakin

[sith_happened]

Who's planning to patrol for said idiots tonight, yeah.

Re: Talk to Anakin

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Professor Skywaller?" Karal was a bit hesitant about approaching him. "I wanted to apologise for last week. Horses," he rubbed his temple, looking embarrassed. "Horses are not very diplomatic, and Altra really isn't."

OOC

[sith_happened]

Ah, Anakin "Do As I Say, Not as I Do" Skywalker...

Re: OOC

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

Lana is absent due to being angeled and then disappeared into the past. But if she was here she would totally agree that one should go to a responsible adult like Professor Skywalker and not attempt to take the statues on on their own.

Mostly because Professor Skywalker scared the hell out of her the last conversation they had about this sort of thing.