Ethics [Tuesday, March 2, 2nd period]

[sith_happened]

"Welcome back," a very tanned Anakin said from the front of the classroom. "Today we talk about wrath," he said. "There's something very human about giving in to our temper," he said. "It's freeing, uncomplicated."

He paused. "At least at that moment. The repercussions are always waiting."

He waved a hand and the holoprojector flipped to life. The blue alien from two weeks ago . "Remember him? As a Padawan who wasn't prone to following the instructions of my master," his eyes met each student who had also made that choice, "I was captured aboard Krayn's ship, enslaved, and set to work in his spice refining plants on Nar Shaddaa. My master escaped, and I didn't see him for almost a month. The intervening time was not pleasant."

He looked around the classroom making eye contact with every student before continuing. "Wrath is very, very tempting. It urges you to listen to that dark little voice inside of you--to cut loose, live without consequences."

He pointed at the holo again. "There are always consequences. At the end of this story, I faced Krayn in combat, ignored the advice of my master again," which would be a theme in Anakin's stories, yes, "and stabbed Krayn through the chest with my lightsaber. I was thirteen. That decision shaped much of my training as a Jedi from then on."

Anakin stopped pacing. "What would it take for you to get to that hazy edge? And more importantly, how do you stop yourself from giving in?"

Comments

Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

"What would it take for you to get to that hazy edge? And more importantly, how do you stop yourself from giving in?"

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[therewaslife]

"Can anyone really know what it would take?" proposed Bod, sounding thoughtful. "Different situations are going to produce different reactions in us all. One day, something might not affect me very strongly but, the next?"

Bod shrugged. Human emotions were a tricky thing. "I don't think I've gotten there as of yet and it's hard to pinpoint what would put me there. The obvious answers are threats against family, friends, your world but what if you don't have those sorts of things? Then what?"

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

Anakin smiled. "That's why I only want to know what would set you off," he said. "Trying to decide for entire planets or societies is a quick way to a large headache."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[likes_scoundrels]

"Anger isn't necessarily a bad thing," Leia said. "It's a powerful motivator. I don't know how you can look at those who are suffering and not feel angry about it. You just don't want it to get the best of you, but if someone were to BLOW UP MY PLANET DAD harm my family, I'm not sure I could."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

"Anger is a bad thing," Anakin countered. "Anger leads to hate, hate leads to the Dark Side. I was motivated by a sense of justice against Krayn, but there was a hefty chunk of vengeance in there as well, and that has no place in any mission a Jedi ever undergoes."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[likes_scoundrels]

"I'm not a Jedi," Leia pointed out. "I'm allowed to feel anger and hate. I won't let those feelings get in the way of justice, but I won't deny that things like slavery and abuse of power anger me."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

Oh, but she would be, and Anakin wouldn't be Anakin if he passed on an opportunity to lecture lecture.

His lips quirked up humorlessly. "Feel them, and then move on," he counseled. "Being driven by them leads bad places."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"Hurting my family would get me there, I think," Claire said. And that included her chosen family, as well as her actual family. "And... I don't know how I'd stop myself from giving in. Or if I would. It would depend on what happened."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

"So you would be okay living with yourself after killing someone in a rage?" Anakin checked.

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"If they killed someone I loved? Yes," Claire said.

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

"You've never killed before, then," Anakin commented.

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[need-no-moon.livejournal.com]

Jacob was going to try to ignore the first question. Honestly, the answer was probably along the lines of 'not a whole lot'.

"Try to remember that you'll hurt someone you actually care about if you don't stop?" Jacob tried. It wasn't like he could remember a whole lot when he lost his temper.

Maybe werewolves needed a Jedi code of their own.

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

"And what gets you to where you need to remind yourself of that?" Anakin asked with a tiny smile. He recognized avoidance.

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[need-no-moon.livejournal.com]

Of course, he would and Jacob glared at Anakin's shoulder.

"Bloodsuckers," he said, weighing his words. "Knowing they've hurt someone or they're going to. It's not good to piss me off."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

Anakin's lips quirked up further. "Me either. It's why I work at keeping a handle on my temper."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[puppy_fair]

Zack fidgeted a bit before looking up and answering the question.

"It takes a lot to get me there," he admitted. "I've had people threaten to kill me, and people try to kill me." And some of them had come pretty darn close. "It's when other people get hurt that I have trouble with it."

What the hell did you do, Angeal!?

"I usually wear down pretty quickly when I give in like that."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "When you can get angry on behalf of someone else?" he guessed.

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[puppy_fair]

"Sometimes, if I don't get angry for them, nobody will," Zack replied, and then heaved a sigh, shaking his head. "I don't know. It's not that my heart isn't in it, but being angry is... It's tiring."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

"It is," Anakin said, "though I knew someone who spent the better part of twenty years in a fury."

That someone had been him, but details.

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[bitchy_smurf]

Illyria shrugged. "Why would I stop myself from giving in? If the power exists to take vengeance on those who have wronged me, then wrath is a strength, not a weakness."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

"Generally society frowns upon slaughter," Anakin replied mildly. "Do they sometimes deserve it anyway?"

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[bitchy_smurf]

"Of course." Illyria nodded sharply, but took a beat to address his first statement. "When I was young, there was no society but what we made. We had no care for the opinion of others unless they had earned respect, or had the power to take it."

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

"And now that things are a bit different, will you also modify your behavior to fit the new standards?" Anakin asked.

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I keep that edge from getting hazy. I've spent a lot of time learning discipline. Because of that I can confidently say that I will never take a life, no matter how angry I am," Bruce said. Both his tone and - if Anakin were peeking - his mind and emotions backed up that confidence.

It was possible that he was lying to himself, delusional, or just filled with a whole bunch of hubris that was just waiting to get out and make an example of him, but he truly believed it to be a simple truth of the universe: he would never cross that line.

Re: Answer the discussion questions [3/2]

[sith_happened]

"I hope you're right," Anakin said, equally sincerely.