Throwing Things: Lessons in Athletics and War From a Distance, Friday, Period 2

[thisguyright.livejournal.com]

The Danger Shop was a big lawn today. "The Olympics start today, so we're going to look at the three classic throwing track and field events. The Hammer Throw, the Discus, and the Javelin. Please keep in mind that any of these can and will kill someone through long distance bludgeoning, stabbing or..." Fred held up the discus. "I dunno, accidental swallowing. I guess it could give you a concussion and if that happens enough time you'll end up messed up. Still. Eventually deadly."

The process was as you might expect by this point in the summer: Fred demonstrated the proper way to throw a big ball at the end of a rope, a discus, and a very sharp stick, just like Olympic athletes did! Only better, if you asked him.

"And that's how it's done. Give it a shot, and then get ready for the Opening Ceremonies tonight." He meant 'leave and get some beer before eventually sitting down in front of the TV and mocking NBC.'

How to Win Friends and Influence People | Friday, period 1

[nuclear_snide]

Kanan had a techinicolor dalmatian with him today. He seemed less perturbed about that fact than even he felt like he should be, but he couldn't quite shake the thing, and he hadn't managed to nerve himself to dragging it back off the island and leaving it with its own kind again before the island had moved on.

That, and it cried whenever he left it behind in the apartment.

"How to win people to your way of thinking," he began, and then set the book down on the desk. "This chapter is full of things like 'avoiding arguments' and 'let the other person talk a lot.' Oh, and my personal favorite, 'let them think that your idea was their idea.'" Or something like that, anyway. Kanan was paraphrasing. He shook his head a bit. "And yeah, I guess people do love listening to themselves talk, but the amount of seeding you'd have to do in a conversation to make a person have the exact same idea as you while they're doing all the talking seems less like work and more like some kind of top spy espionage or something."

"Things like that tend to work best in arguments," Bob said. "Get them really annoyed, and they'll agree to things before they know what they're doing. Emotions are your tools." He grinned.

Kanan shook his head.

"A little pleasantness can go a long way. And actually taking into consideration the person you're talking to. You want to win someone over, engage them in a situation where they're comfortable and not on their guard. Ask 'em out for caf. Coffee." He gave Bob a side-eye, and then sighed. "Or you could bribe them."

That seemed to be an answer that came up a lot this semester already, okay?

It was a time-honored tradition! It worked!

"Trickery's a great way, too," Bob offered. "If they're not the sort to be won over by pure logic - if they are, well, there you go, just find a logical argument - get them to feel sorry for you, or as I said, annoy them, or just get them up in arms about something unrelated. Overly emotional people are less likely to accurately judge the worth of what you want. Get them on your side or violently against you, and they're easy to manipulate."

Which he'd actually learned from hundreds of years of manipulating people with talking, and not simply from watching politicians.

"So, pair up again, and pick something interesting, then try to get your partner to agree to your point of view. Any questions?"

So You Just Met Your Relative From The Future, Friday

[saddeserthermit]

"Some of you have had this lesson before," Obi-Wan warned up front, "But as the new semester is approaching once more, it seems relevant to bring it up again for the rest of you. See, not all familiar faces who make it to these shores are actually familiar. This school has a lively history of what is commonly referred to as doppelgangers. People who share the same face as a friend or a relative, yet have no connection to them whatsoever."

"My first summer here as a student there was another student who looked just like my older cousin," Ben said. "It was extremely disconcerting."

"It creates a uniquely complicated situation," Obi-Wan said. "It is easy to simply try and ignore them, though circumstances may occasionally make this difficult. A different path would be to befriend them, so eventually whatever unique features they may have begin to pave over the memories one has of the person they most resemble."

He gave a vague wave at the class. "Of course, that may not be emotionally feasible, especially if that person is tied to... traumatic occurrences. They may resemble an old enemy, or a relative who betrayed you... or died."

Ben nodded hard. "I spent a lot of the summer camped out on the beach, which is really not the healthiest choice."

"Whatever feelings you may have about it when it happens," Obi-Wan said, smiling faintly, "They are valid. It is not an easy situation to find yourself in. Still, it is best to consider how one would handle it: there must be more strategies than simply hiding, running away, or trying to pretend as if nothing is wrong. And, for that matter... Can you think of someone whose very face may cause you anguish to the point of self-banishment?"

Library, Friday

[crimson_sister]

The moving around of the island was getting on Lucille's nerves. She even didn't mind that she had spent the past week in a strange dreamlike state. She tried her usual comforting thoughts, that anything was better than the asylum, and while that was true, it wasn't making her mood improve. Instead she resorted to a combination of reading chapters of her favorite gothic novels and skimming through travel books about the north of England. The books, it appeared, were tired, at least judging from the snoring from the shelves.

[Open library!]