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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"But even if there is a 'real' destiny, then it's still a matter of what the human voice wants," he said, "What the oracle wants, what the people who hear the oracle want. It becomes about what you want to believe anyway, and so there's still a lie." There were always lies. And when there weren't, the truth could be used like one. "Or a truth that's a tool."

Oh, she liked him.

"Is it ever really a lie, if a man holds it to be true in his heart?" Ghanima challenged. "Or can you force a truth into a lie, if another holds it to be untrue? Isn't it all in the eye of the beholder?"

Lies and truths, they were all tools, weren't they? And so it didn't even really matter, because the intent stayed the same.

She was asking him questions to try to challenge his point. It wasn't really a new strategy at all. "It doesn't really matter if it's a lie or a truth," he said, "Only why the other person is saying it." Because if you knew the goal, then you knew what they were trying to do, and you could do things on your own terms.

In theory, anyway, because there was always some bigger goal you didn't see.

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?