fandomhigh | Philosophy classroom: Ethics class #4, Monday, 2-4pm

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Philosophy classroom: Ethics class #4, Monday, 2-4pm

"Today's topic is power and responsibility, and I would like to remind you all that your grade comes from your discussion, not your presence. If you don't feel comfortable talking, write something down and hand it in to me. Being a silent warm body in the classroom is no different than not turning up."

[ooc: And I would remind you that I leave posts open for the whole week. If you post 'shows up and takes a seat' I know you're still alive, but you need to actually address the discussion topics to pass the class.]

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Xander turns to her and winks. "Obviously there's no better choice than you, Ins-- er, Shane."

Grinning, Shane drums her pen on her desk. "Obviously," she murmurs, eyes twinkling with amusement. "Wanna give this a try anyway, though?"

"Sure." Xander nods. "You wanna argue for the rescuer, or the Eee? I've probably got more experience with the second one, myself, but it's hard to think of a time when I didn't want to be rescued."

"I don't really have much experience with either of them," Shane says with a slight shrug. Her eyes wander over in Angelus' direction for a moment and then she glances back at Xander and grins. "But... where I come from, there aren't real vampires, either."

"Most people where I come from don't realize there's real vampires," Xander points out. "And wouldn't believe you if you told them. Which makes most people a hell of a lot more likely to need rescuing if they run across one." He frowns, thinking. "Ok, so I'm Buffy. I'm shorter, blonder, and more boobified, and I'm the one girl in every generation born with the strength and skill to blah blah blah that ends with 'dead vampires.' I see you being attacked by one - or at least I think that's what's happening - and I stake it. Why wouldn't you want that?"

Shane worries on her bottom lip for a few moments, trying to consider the situation from a different angle. "Kink?" She says, arching her eyebrow. "Maybe they're into the whole bloodplay thing and they don't know what they're getting into?"

Xander nods. "Ok, I can see somebody thinking they're in the middle of an Anne Rice movie. But if they're in my dimension, chances are it's actually a snuff film. If they don't know their kink's about to turn deadly, they're not in full possession of the facts."

Nodding, Shane chews thoughtfully on the end of her pen. "Right. So you know something they don't," she says.

"What if they... I don't know... what if they wanna get bitten and die? If they know the facts and want it anyway? Suicide by... fang or whatever."

"Some people would say they're not in their right mind, then," Xander says. "But let's give 'em the benefit of the doubt and say they are. Hmm. Maybe they're dying, even, and they just wanna go out with a bang. So, I come along and slay their vampire..." He shrugs. "And at most I got in the way for a minute, right? Still a million ways they could kill themselves if they're really set on it; probably a bus coming along in a few minutes they could walk in front of. Easy enough to find another vampire, even, if they're in my hometown."

Shane nods slowly, leaning her head on her hand to scratch at her hair. "So... you saved me," she concludes. Looking at him, she grins. "Damn you."

Xander grins, then tilts his head, looking more serious. "It's possible I screw up, though - I could think it's a vampire attacking you and it's not. That happened to ..." He's not sure what makes him not name Faith, especially with the number of second chances she's already blown, but he doesn't. "A Slayer - not Buffy - once; killed a human by accident."

Shane's grin fades and is replaced by a troubled look. "That's awful," she murmurs, brows furrowing at the thought. "So... wh-what happened? To the Slayer?"

Xander winces. "She kind of flipped out and joined the bad guys, at least for a while. If she hadn't... I dunno. I think they were gonna get her some kind of hearing or therapy or something. She didn't do it on purpose, and everybody knew that, but... I guess she didn't trust anybody to help."

"That's... so sad," Shane says quietly. Something about the story clicks in her mind and she blinks and looks over at Xander. "Faith," she whispers, arching her eyebrows just slightly as she gives Xander a questioning look.

Xander blinks, then nods. "Well, not this Faith; this one's from another timeline; I couldn't tell you for sure if exactly the same things happened to her or not. I have a feeling it wasn't too different, though; she told me she's on 'good behavior' these days."

Shane nods. "I -- we talked... one night," she says with a slight shrug, giving him an almost apologetic look. "She was ... pretty drunk. Some stuff slipped out that kinda wasn't supposed to, I think."

"So yeah," Xander says, nodding, but not really touching the subject of what Faith -- any Faith -- might be likely to confess when drunk, "I guess there's times when you could be wrong about rescuing somebody or killing the bad guy, or at least need to be careful about it and check things out first."

"Yeah...no arguments, there," Shane says simply.

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Philosophy classroom: Ethics class #4, Monday, 2-4pm

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