Journalism Class - Thursday October 6

[jerusalem-s.livejournal.com]

Spider looks like he hasn't slept in a week, and has obviously been chain-smoking with his cat. If he had hair, he'd be in the middle of a bad hair day. Even his tattoos look like they hurt. He has a giant vat of coffee on the edge of his paper-strewn desk, there are take-out boxes everywhere, and he's muttering pretty much constantly under his breath.

The back of the room has fresh coffee with all the fixings, gourmet snacks and tidbits and the screens are running playback feed from last night's debate.

Again, on the screen behind him, there's a message:

Today - Villians. Discuss. Yadda Yadda. Tomorrow we'll be doing a class project tying all three themes together. Double credit.




((OOC: The player is aware that there have been four themes. Spider is just very tired.))

Comments

[jayne-serenity.livejournal.com]

*comes in and looks around, smirking at the PRof as he takes his seat*

[deadlikegeorge.livejournal.com]

Leans over her desk to tickle Jayne on the back of the neck with her index finger. "Mornin', cowboy." she murmurs. "Thanks for the flowers yesterday."

[deadlikegeorge.livejournal.com]

George wanders into the classroom, yawning. She fixes herself an extra-large cup of coffee and sits down in the seat behind Jayne.

"Villians, huh?" George muses. "I have no idea where to go with this one."

[chasingangela]

Angela enters the classroom, blowing on a cup of coffee. She takes a sip as she reaches her desk.

"I used to not think there was such a thing as villains in real life," she says. "But since I came here..." she shrugs. "I guess a villain is someone who wants what they want, and doesn't really care who or what they hurt while they're going for it."

[deadlikegeorge.livejournal.com]

"When you word it that way..." George trails off, taking a sip of her own coffee. "I guess you could say that a villian is an oppressor. "

[courier-gavin.livejournal.com]

Jake walks in, brushing clay off her hands. She takes one look at Spider and decides to curtail whatever whining she wants to do at the moment, and heads straight for the coffee.

[deadlikegeorge.livejournal.com]

((Dude. Are we all coffee fiends at this school?? *grins*))

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe wanders in and takes her usual seat. She smiles at Jayne and then starts going through her paperwork.

"Villians?" Phoebe says and then shakes her head. "There are many situations where you cannot tell the hero from the villian. For instance, you make a deal with the devil to benefit others. Does that make you a villian?" She shrugs. "It would seem so from first glance, but if you delve deeper you find that things with a person isn't always what they seem."

It's obvious that there is something on Phoebe's mind.

"So you get passionate about someone or something and you're willing to do anything to protect your source or further your goal. To some people, that would be the height of villiany. But what if you operate by the idea that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? You sacrifice love..." Here, Phoebe looks sad. "...and you damage the bonds of friendship by doing something that the main portion of society views as evil and bad. However, in your mind, you're defending and protecting. Does that make you a villain, or a misguided martyr?"

[jayne-serenity.livejournal.com]

*looks at her, trying to figure out what exactly shes saying*

[deadlikegeorge.livejournal.com]

*glances with uncertainty between Phoebe and Jayne*

[courier-gavin.livejournal.com]

Jake walks up to her, carrying a cup of coffee. "Hey, Phoebe? Could I interview you for the newspaper?"

[jayne-serenity.livejournal.com]

I think a villian is somebody who dont give a rats ass about anybody else, and just does what he does cause he wants to.

Usually for world domination or some such shit.

[chasingangela]

Angela nods in Jayne's direction. "That's what I was saying, only he did it in way fewer words."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"I like that," Rory says with a smirk. "I'll add on that I think using the word 'villain' is just as bad as, say, 'Evil-Doer,' or something. Not that there's anything wrong with that if you're The Tick, but it creates a caricature of a bad person."

[forlornslayer.livejournal.com]

"A villain is evil, no two ways about it, Phoebe. If the person in your example really cares about the person they're in love with, they'd back away and leave the loved one to be with the one they love." Buffy shrugs. "It doesn't matter how you colour it. If the first person doesn't allow the other two to be together and be in love, the first person is being selfish and racing down the road to being a villian."

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

"What if the two people aren't 'in love'? What if they're merely falling in love? Or what if they're in love but they hurt each other all the time?" Beka smiles to show she's not being antagonistic. "When does it become martyrdom to put aside your own desires for someone else?"

Then she sighs. "And what about those who put aside their own wants, and loves, for others." She's definitely not thinking about having put off Jack O'Neill to be free to pursue the political end of reducing hostility and tension.

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka enters the classroom carrying her own coffee, and wearing, for reasons that have nothing to do with anything but personal taste, black boots, black pants, a black two button vest with no shirt under it.

The question might or might not disturb her. "In this culture, villain is a hero gone bad. Someone who uses their strength, skills, inherent abilities to harm others." She sips her coffee. "Villainy, like heroism, is a construction rather than a fact. It's determined not by the villain or hero but by others and by circumstance.

"For example. A Jedi master wearing fluffy pink robes and calling himself Fifi, who does nothing but contemplation exercises doesn't sound like a villain to me. But what if Fifi went somewhere that wearing pink was a grave insult or actually physically harmed people?" She nods. "To those people, Fifi would be a villain."

"This school is such a place, for many." She might or might not be heard to mutter names like Angelus, Belthazor, Beka Valentine, Parker under her breath. "Someone who looks like you, and in many ways acts like you, may be from a culture so different from yours that their actions make no sense to you and it is tempting to label that person a villain regardless of how their actions impact anyone."

She catches Phoebe's eye, moves toward her, and sits where they can talk, but where others can talk to Phoebe without interacting with her. To Phoebe she completes her last thought. "When what you frelling well ought to do is ask."

[deadlikegeorge.livejournal.com]

*represses the urge to stand up and applause*

[dbiers.livejournal.com]

Getting a coffee and something that looks sweet that she can't identify from the back table, D'anna takes a seat. She is restless, agitated and more withdrawn today than usual. After taking a swig of her coffee, she quietly adds her two cubits to the discussion, "Villains vary by the lighting and lens."

Through out the course of the class she may be seen rapidly tapping her foot (or a fingernail on her desk/notebook), or other small gestures of fidgety behavior.

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

Beka nods to the sharp-witted blonde. "And by point of view."

[krycek-rat.livejournal.com]

Finally coming in to class, Krycek migrates over to the coffee to get a cup and some food, then sits with a small tape recorder and headphones. Before he puts them on, he glances at the theme of the day. "Perspective and perception," he says curtly, then goes back to his half-finished transcription.

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

John slides into a seat in the back and starts doodling a picture of his favorite villain, Lord Zod.

KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!

[mycanonhatesme]

Chloe sits silently in her seat for a few moments, trying to come up with a better answer than she did yesterday. "All I know is that some people can seem like heroes, only to turn out to be really, really talented villains." That said, she leans back in her seat, and looks for someone she can catch to help her with her Criminology homework.

[maias-notebook.livejournal.com]

Villian... fine line depending on the definition one would give it. I don't think there is a true villian or a true hero, just various shades of filth to be honest.

[marsheadtilt.livejournal.com]

Veronica snorts and looks around the room for psycho_jackass. He doesn't seem to be in attendance today, so she speaks up.

"A villian is someone who does something with the express intent of hurting another person - whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally."

[lady-jessica-bg.livejournal.com]

A villain is one who does things without purpose. And, if one thinks about it, "ruling the world" or some such nonsense is not a real purpose.