fandomhigh | The Art of War, Week #15 [Period 3, Monday]

When the students arrived, they would find that Ghanima had once again provided ~~moddable~~ treats from JGoB and the Perk, all of which were piled on tables against the back wall of the classroom.

"Welcome back," Ghanima said brightly. "You've managed to make it all the way to the last class, and hopefully you even picked up a thing or two along the way. We've made it all the way through Tzu's Art of War, so today you'll get a bit of a break on the note-taking aspect of class."

"Last week, I asked to uncover some tidbit of information to which you would not normally be privy, either via another spy or by doing the digging yourself. You will not need to share exactly what you learned, if that makes you uncomfortable, merely the method used to discover the information. I am curious to find out how your foray into intelligence gathering went. How do you feel about it? Is this information something you could use to your benefit? Would you?"

After the students had recounted their ~~possibly handwavey~~ exploits, Ghanima nodded thoughtfully. "To some, the ethics of spying are rather straight forward. To others, it holds infinite shades of gray." She smiled brightly at the students as she wandered the rows between the desks. "To yet more, it simply is, ethics be dammed. I will admit to being in the latter category, and quite happily."

"So now I am going to ask you to indulge my curiosity one last time. I'd like each of you to tell me what you learned this semester. It can be something about class, something about yourself, something about your own ethical outlook, it doesn't matter, so long as you have learned something. In return, feel free to ask me any question you like. I will do my level best to answer you honestly."

[OOC: Last verse, same as the first, but a whole lot louder and whole lot worse. ~~Please to be waiting for the~~ OCD is ready and waiting. Do battle!]

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In a final manner

It's short and sweet this week. Pass notes, take notes, use the time to formulate your question for Ghanima.

How did your foray into intelligence gathering go? Is it an experience you'd repeat? What did you learn?

[OOC: Feel free to treat this in typical discussion-style and ping off each other. Commiserate, start arguments, just be mindful of Ghanima's detention guidelines.]

Edited 2008-12-15 14:45 (UTC)

What have you learned from this class? How does it affect your own ethical outlook?

You've got the Princess Royal of House Atreides ready and willing to answer your questions. Ask her anything - from how many people she's killed personally, to what her favorite color is. Ghanima will answer, as long as it does not compromise the safety and security of her House.

If he's around

She's available for the students, both before and after class.

It's been a blast! Hopefully I'll see ya'll again next semester.

Tahiri Veila

Lee Adama

"Mine went okay," Lee said. "The person who told me something trusted me so she shared it openly. Of course, it's not information I'd share with anyone but I can see how getting someone to trust you, getting them to tell you information and then betraying them would work well for a spy. I'm not a spy though and I wouldn't use her information against her."

"What's your favorite luxury thing about this world?" Lee asked curiously. "Something you don't have back in your world."

Yamanaka Ino

Ghanima laughed. "Something we don't have on Dune at all, or just something not available when we're in sietch?" she asked. "The imperial palace has many luxuries not available to the rest of the planet, such as a constant supply of water."

"If it's something that's not on Dune at all..." she paused, thinking for a moment before smiling. "Cinnabon. A friend got me hooked on them at the mainland, and I must confess a weakness for the frosting."

Tahiri propped her chin up on her hands and tried to think of a question, but mostly to her irritation a lot of what came to mind was Jacen's side of the constant arguments he'd had with Anakin about Force philosophy and the role of the Jedi. In light of what Ben had told her recently, the memory made her more than a little annoyed, and her expression was stormy as she listened to the lecture.

Ino waited until after class to ask her question. For various reasons.

"Ghanima-sensei? Do you have a moment?"

"Of course, Miss Yamanaka," Ghanima replied, looking up from her notes with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Last week, while Agnes and I were discussing the question of spies and you intervened," Ino started, almost standing at attention, "you appeared to be more irritated with myself than Agnes although I said that she wasn't a ninja, while she said I had no human feeling or conscience. My question for you then, from this class is only this: why?"

"Because when I told you both to cease with the insults, Agnes apologized where you acted as if you had done nothing wrong," Ghanima explained. "'Because I know better than you' isn't a reason, Ino, it's insulting. Considering the many ways people come to Fandom, assuming that you know death better than anyone simply because you are a ninja isn't just rude, it's a potential fatal hubris."

"She apologized to you," Ino said, with a tilt of her head. "Not to me. And less than that, in my opinion, she only apologized because she was caught making a disturbance. I felt, and still feel, there was no point in apologizing when I was not sorry for saying 'So if I say I see no difference in the deaths caused in protecting my home, and the deaths caused because of the specific job a client wants, then I think I know what I'm talking about better than you who isn't a ninja.'," she quoted what she'd said from memory, down to the intonation she'd used then. "Would you rather a false apology uttered only to appease you, or nothing at all? I could give you one now, but it would mean nothing to me."

"I don't deny that, perhaps, I could have said it more... diplomatically, but I do stand by my words then. I said nothing about saying I know better than anyone, Ghanima-sensei. I know I don't, I only said that I think I know better than she does."

...and Ino was going to wonder now if, maybe, this was a time that she'd have been better off keeping her mouth shut.

Edited 2008-12-15 16:29 (UTC)

"I don't think I've had Cinnabon yet," Lee said. "I'll have to try it now. Mine's video games. They are so frakking addicting."

"She acknowledged some wrongdoing, whether it was regret over her words or getting caught does not matter, so long as the potential for a lesson exists," Ghanima replied. "I don't insist my students agree with each other, merely that you use reasoned arguments to try and make your cases. Even if all Agnes learned was to make sure other people are out of earshot before setting loose her sharp wit, well, it is a lesson that needed learning. I'm not here to turn you all into nice people, that would be counterproductive. I'm here to teach you to think first."

"You are here to learn from each other, as well as me," she stated. "Do you know every bit of Agnes's background, Ino? Do you know why she feels the way she does? Did you bother to ask?" Ghanima folded her hands together, keeping her voice neutral. "The first thing you did was roll your eyes at Agnes, as she pointed out that in her world, at least, there are different legal ramifications for espionage. You were behaving in a manner that came across as judgmental and condescending, and acted as if you knew better than anyone else in the classroom. That is why I was disappointed in you."

Agnes Nitt

Alice Liddell

"I just listened when people were talking around me," Agnes ~~handwavily~~ answered. "Sometimes, they don't notice that I'm there."

She glanced around the room defiantly, expecting someone to make the obvious joke about her being hard to not notice.

She shrugged. "It's not anything different than I normally do. And it's going to be annoyingly important to me as a witch."

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The Art of War, Week #15 [Period 3, Monday]

Sign-In #15

Listen to the Lecture

Discussion: Spying

Discussion: What You've Learned

Discussion: Ask Ghanima

Talk to the TA

Talk to Ghanima

OOC

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