fandomhigh | Destiny & Free Will, #1 [Period 1, Monday, July 7]

Ghanima was already in the classroom as the students assembled, leaning against her desk as they filed past her. Holding a steaming mug of Spice in her hands, she subjected each person to an apparently disinterested inspection from her glowing blue-on-blue eyes.

Not even a Bene Gesserit Truthsayer would have been able to tell what she was thinking.

The moment the bell rang, her eyes snapped from the door to the children seated around the room. “Good afternoon,” she said in a clear voice that carried effortlessly. "This is Destiny and Free Will. If you are in the wrong class, please consider this your opportunity to leave. Although it is entirely possible that if you are here, then you are where you are supposed to be, no matter what it says on your schedule."

"I am Lady Ghanima Atreides. You may address me as Miss Atreides, Lady Ghanima, Miss Ghanima, or some variation thereof. Be warned, however, that I do not answer to Lady Atreides. Lady Atreides is my grandmother, the Lady Jessica, and I have no desire to claim that title from her. For those of you whom I have had in class before," she smiled suddenly, looking far less severe. "Welcome back."

"This class is designed to look at the differing opinions on predestination and freewill from a variety of religious, temporal, and philosophical schools of thought. Regardless of any personal experiences you may have had on this topic, I expect everyone to maintain a respectful and open mind towards the subject matter and your classmates. Mocking destiny is a dangerous pastime, and not one I will permit during class hours," she said, collecting a stack of papers from her desk and walking down the rows to hand one to each student. "What you do on your own time, however, is your business."

"This is your syllabus. Be aware that it is subject to change at any time, unless a particular class is predestined to happen, in which case the syllabus is moot anyway, isn’t it?" The smile she flashed the students was decidedly impish.

"For now, I would like you to go around the room and introduce yourselves, and state for the record whether you believe in destiny, free will, or are currently undecided."

[OOC: ~~Please wait for the~~ OCD ~~to go~~ up! Have fun!]

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"What sort of thing do you think could control a destiny, Mr. Winchester?" Ghanima asked. "Do you mean the shaping of the prophecy by its oracle, or by another high power?"

"Another high power, like a god. Or a demon," he said. "Something more powerful than the mere mortals they're controlling."

"They are demons. Or like them," Helen said, feeling her fists clench despite herself.

"The ones in control?" Sam asked. "I won't argue with you on that. It never seems to be that they want a person's destiny to be a good thing."

She smiled a bit fiercely. "But they need to play by the rules too. And when they set our destinies into play, we found a way to detroy most of them and chase away the others. But still I hate them for what they did to my world and the others."

"What did they do?" Sam asked. "Um, if you don't mind me asking."

"They played with the worlds and the people of the worlds. Like a game. Adam showed us one that people on the worlds sometimes play - with dice and figures and even boards sometimes. But They, They played with us. Real people and real worlds. And almost no one knew They were doing it." Her fists were clenched tightly.

"Anyone who saw them was exiled, forced to travel randomly from world to world so that we could not interfere with their games."

"Never underestimate the 'mere mortals,' Mr. Winchester," Ghanima said, smirking slightly. "As I've told my mythology students, we often get the better of our mystical counterparts for a reason."

"Because they're not expecting us to try?" Sam asked.

"They really don't," she said simply. "And when we do try, they don't expect us to succeed."

"The peril of having astronomical power is that one tends to rely on it. It becomes a crutch, and they loose the ability to think outside the box. I like to think of it as a failure of imagination."

Destiny & Free Will, #1 [Period 1, Monday, July 7]

Re: Introductions & Discussion: Destiny, Free Will, or None of the Above?

Re: Introductions & Discussion: Destiny, Free Will, or None of the Above?

Re: Introductions & Discussion: Destiny, Free Will, or None of the Above?

Re: Introductions & Discussion: Destiny, Free Will, or None of the Above?

Re: Introductions & Discussion: Destiny, Free Will, or None of the Above?

Re: Introductions & Discussion: Destiny, Free Will, or None of the Above?

Re: Introductions & Discussion: Destiny, Free Will, or None of the Above?

Re: Introductions & Discussion: Destiny, Free Will, or None of the Above?

Re: Introductions & Discussion: Destiny, Free Will, or None of the Above?

Re: Introductions & Discussion: Destiny, Free Will, or None of the Above?