Diplomacy, Relationships & Tactics: the Art of War [Monday, Period 1]

[atreideslioness]

Ghanima was keeping a careful watch on her students as they arrived today, watching to see if perhaps anyone had had a more stressful weekend than they would have liked. She knew better than some how difficult 'family' could be. Which was why there was lemonade and sweet little biscuits set out for people to take, in case they needed a bit of a boost.

"Good morning. I apologize for being gone last week, but my player lost internet I had some things at home that needed to be taken care of rather urgently."

"Today, we work with chapter four, often known as 'Tactical Dispositions'," she said, smiling at them as she hopped off her desk and walked over to the chalkboard. "Sun Tzu said: 'The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.'"

She picked the chalk up and began to write. "First, he claimed that 'to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.' This is excellent advice, as it reminds us that the enemy is never perfect, and that everyone, ourselves included, has a weakness. 'Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.'"

"'Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive,'" she recited, writing quickly. "'Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.'"

"So, how do we reconcile these differences?" she asked, looking at them. "How can you create a plan of attack for anything, not just combat, using Tzu's ideas? Wooing a romantic partner by using almost defensive-only tactics seems doomed to failure, as does using that mindset during a business transaction. We know from our earlier lesson that a prologued engagement benefits no one in the long run, why do you then think Tzu advocates waiting here?" Ghanima set down her chalk and turned around to face them fully. "I'd like you to get in small groups of two or three and discuss this, and try to come up with a non-combat situation where this would be a viable, and indeed desirable, strategy."

"Begin."

Creative Writing- Monday- 3rd period

[justrealistic]

Daria had spent almost her whole weekend in her apartment watching TV or at the pizza place (seriously- six times in three days) with her best friend, so the narrative would like to state for the record that she was not feeling this week's prompt.

"Last week you had to identify one of your quirks and attack it," she began. "I want to hear how the process went. What did you find to be your biggest issues? Did you think you were successful? Did you figure out anything to make your writing better in the future?

"And for next week, your prompt is 'good riddance.' But I only want to see one character in your story."

Library, Monday

[intotheout]

So J.Lo had taken an impromptu road trip* on his way home yesterday and had, in grand Boov tradition, written an elaborate comic about it. Which he was now texting to Tip page by page, leaving occasional minutes long gaps between messages to build the suspense. He'd apparently had quite the adventure.

how did u find an emu farm in md????

THERE WERE BEING SEVERALS

IT WOULDS HAVE BEENTO HARDEST NOT FINDING THEMS!

So, yeah. Not a whole lot of library-ing was getting done on Tip's shift, today.

* he'd gotten lost

[open!]

Ethics, Monday

[saddeserthermit]

When the students arrived, both teachers were standing at the head of the class. Obi-Wan was straight-faced, as per usual, ignoring Anakin as he spoke. "Good morning," he said. "Today, we'd like to discuss the concept of envy."

Anakin was feeling very judged right now. "No matter how self-assured you may be," he said, "there are occasionally moments where you really wish to have something--a gift, a personality trait, a friend--that someone has and you don't."

"Or chocolate," Obi-Wan continued serenely. "Say, perhaps... a chocolate egg containing a toy. Even such small things can invoke great envy, even though you weren't expecting a gift even a moment ago."

"Especially because Kinder Surprise eggs are astral," Anakin said with a smile. "Just...don't ask how we got them into the United States. Half of you will find a chocolate egg under your desk. The other half, well, you get to watch your friends open up something fun."

"How do you react?" Obi-Wan asked. "What is the proper way to deal with envy?"

Computer Science- Tuesday- 3rd period

[throughaphase]

The class was in the Danger Shop today, which was made up like a workshop, with different tools and a lot of computer parts laid out on tables, carefully labeled. Quite a bit of them were things that Kitty had collected over the years, because she was a hardware nerd who hadn't actually done anything with these parts at least since she'd moved into Clint's house and she really should declutter.

"Hey, guys," Kitty greeted them. "Last week I warned you you'd be building computers, so hopefully you've put some actual thought into what you want it to do. You're getting basic instructions in case you don't know what you're doing, and all the parts you might need are labeled with specs so it should help you know what you're getting into. If you need any help, absolutely ask, and I will tell you probably more than you ever needed to know."

Shhh this was fun for her.