Diplomacy, Relationships, & Tactics: The Art of War, Week 1 [Wednesday, Period 2]

[atreideslioness]

Each desk had a copy of the syllabus ready and waiting, and Ghanima sat on her desk, hiding her smile behind her tea as they filed in; mentally cataloging the new and familiar faces. Apparently, a few of them were gluttons for punishment. MARA.

Tahiri was standing instead, hands tucked behind her back and boots unceremoniously shoved under her desk (look, she was indoors and in no danger of frostbite, so you couldn't make her wear those things) but just as busy taking stock of the familiar and unfamiliar students. And resigning herself to another semester of brain-breakage.

Sorry, Tahiri, but you were co-teaching with your former teacher. There was bound to be at least some brain-breaking.

"Good afternoon and welcome," Ghanima said in a clear voice that carried effortlessly. "This is the Art of War, and I am Lady Ghanima Atreides. You may address me as Miss Atreides, Lady Ghanima, Miss Ghanima, or some variation thereof. If you are in the wrong class, please feel free to leave at this time. For those of you whom I have had in class before," she smiled suddenly, looking far less severe. "Welcome back."

Tahiri nodded and offered the class a smile. "And hello to the students who weren't in our class last semester. I'm Tahiri Veila, but Tahiri is fine. Miss Veila, or Jedi Veila, if you have to be formal." Her tone suggested that she wasn't particularly encouraging formality.

"This is perhaps the one and only class at Fandom High that you'll ever have a textbook," Ghanima said, not particularly apologetic. "Thankfully, it's not one written by the American educational system or textbook writers in Texas."

GHANIMA. NO.

"Instead, we'll be using a translated copy of 'The Art of War,' Chinese military treatise that was written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it has long been praised as the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time. It is divided into 13 chapters, or P'ien, and the collection is referred to as being one Ch'üan, or chronicle."

"Which is a long time ago, yes, but you'll find the principles are easily applicable in almost any setting. As I discovered while I was taking this class," Tahiri added with a slight chuckle. That had been the semester where she, Jaina, and Ben had all been in the class, and one or more of them usually ended up missing class because of some mission back home. It was sort of hard to forget.

She started around the classroom to distribute copies of the text to the students. "Though let's just be clear, a battlefield isn't the only place these principles can be applied. They're just as useful if, say, you're dealing with a difficult person."

Ghanima was tempted to offer a cookie to anyone who beat the Jedi Attendance Record of 2008, but, well, that seemed like a terrible idea.

"I'd like to point out that people who take this class have a higher-than-average rate of surviving Very Impulsive Ideas," she said instead, dryly, giving Tahiri a fond smile. "The book is not only popular among military theorists, but also among political leaders and those in business management. The book addresses strategy in a broad fashion, despite the title, touching upon public administration and planning. The text outlines theories of battle but also advocates diplomacy and cultivating relationships with other nations as essential to the health of the state."

Tahiri laughed and -- once she was done with the handouts -- held up her hands in a 'you got me' gesture. "Politics has never been my strong suit, but the last few years I found myself working to resettle war refugees and help them adjust to coexisting with different cultures. At first I was surprised how much of this class I could apply on any given day there, which I guess means I really should've paid a little more attention to the lectures."

"It can even be used in regards to your personal relationships, platonic or romantic," Ghanima continued. "Or, just for navigating the high school social scene. In examining the text, you might even get to know yourself better, which is the biggest war of all."

"Sun Tzu himself is a bit of a mystery, and historians debate whether or not Sun Tzu was a real historical figure. Which, really, is par for the course with anyone truly interesting." Ghanima smiled at the class brilliantly. "If you're larger than life, they'll never believe you were real."


Tahiri was tempted to make a joke about how that must mean she knew a lot of mythical people, but instead she just grinned. Maybe her glance flicked over to Mara if she was there for a moment, but that was totally coincidence, right? "We're actually going to start off with a lesson from the text today, but don't think this means you get out of introductions time."

Ghanima knew many mythical people, and people who'd grown to mythic proportions due to circumstances beyond their control. Friends, family, family of friends. She wasn't going to look at any of the students in particular, if only because Fandom had taught her that they would, perhaps, all become larger-than-life within their time.

Ghanima moved to the front of the room, picking up her chalk to write quickly;

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will fight without danger in battles.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.

"Know thy enemy, know thyself. We'll cover it more in-depth later, but for today I would like you to go around the room and introduce yourselves. Give us your name, class, and some random fact about yourself. Pay attention to what your classmates have to say, you never know when such information could come in handy."

Tahiri nodded to the class. "Just . . . try not to use it to take advantage of them, okay?" In class, at least.

[OOC: Going up early for funsies. Wait for the OCD is up!]

Comments

Sign-In (AoW 1)

[atreideslioness]

Tactically!

Re: Sign-In (AoW 1)

[thatwaslucky]

Rey

Re: Sign-In (AoW 1)

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra Pentaghast

During the Lecture (AoW 1)

[atreideslioness]

Take notes, pass notes, chatter, turn your syllabus into a paper airplane...

Re: During the Lecture (AoW 1)

[thatwaslucky]

Rey had been frowning and looking over the handout for a class she hadn't signed herself up for, but when she heard the word 'Jedi' her head snapped up. She had to have heard that wrong.

RE: During the Lecture (AoW 1)

[crimson_sister]

The subject of this class had intrigued Lucille, and during the lecture she found herself paying close attention. Perhaps she was also slightly in awe that a lady of noble birth was teaching here, although she had to be from one of those 'other worlds' she was gradually getting used to. The title Jedi was unfamiliar, so she assumed the other teacher was as well.

Re: During the Lecture (AoW 1)

[good_for_six]

Isabela was paying more attention to any interactions between the lecturers than the actual content, which was unfortunate, given how it might have aided in making marginally better life choices in the future.

Re: During the Lecture (AoW 1)

[ungue.livejournal.com]

Laura had read the book. Of course.

This looked like an easy class. To Laura, that is.

Re: During the Lecture (AoW 1)

[spin_kick_snap]

As soon as she received her copy of the book, Kathy opened it up and started flipping through the pages. Hopefully they wouldn't have to give this back at the end of the semester. Her fingers itched to start highlighting relevant passages.

Introductions! (AoW 1)

[atreideslioness]

Name, rank, and fact, if you please! Feel free to tag to each other's threads. YAY NEW STUDENTS.

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[thatwaslucky]

At least this time no one was throwing a dodgeball at her head.

"My name's Rey, I'm in this class-" Someone didn't know what a sophomore was or that she was one. "-and I have no idea why I'm on this planet so that's a fact about me."

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[seeks_truth]

"My name is Cassandra Pentaghast, I am a junior," Cassandra said, "And I have been trained as a warrior since I was very young."

She did not particularly see the point in talking around it.

RE: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[crimson_sister]

"My name is Lucille Sharpe," she said. "I'm a junior and..." A fact? Tensing, she realized that she much preferred introducing herself with a lie, as in her other class. There were few facts other than the obvious that she wanted to be known.

"...and I have yet to figure out whether this world is a different one from my own or merely the future."

That had come up in conversation yesterday and was vague enough without being too dull.

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[good_for_six]

"Isabela, junior, and I know myself very well."

Isabela, no.

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[giveherahand]

"I'm Mara Jade, still," Mara said with a slightly bemused smile at her two teachers, "I'm a sophomore," and an Emperor's Hand, but that was a secret except for how the teachers knew it already. Ahh, timelines, "and I spent the break learning how to cliff dive!"

Well, sort of. She'd jumped off a cliff escaping annoyed pirates. Same thing, right?

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[ungue.livejournal.com]

"Laura Kinney. Junior, although I believe I will be a senior soon?" She didn't understand the school system yet.

As for a fact, she popped her claws. Classy.

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[omgnochecksyet]

"Eric Bittle, I'm a sophomore, and," looking around the room, his first instinct was to point out that apparently he was the only guy to sign up for this class. But that was fairly obvious, so he figured he'd go with something less so. "I'm a figure skater."

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[soniaroadsqueen]

"My name is Ringo Noyamano," Ringo began, offering a polite bow. "I am a freshman. And I'm genetically-engineered to have perfect balance and enhanced spatial awareness." It was kind of a boring fact, but Ringo figured she couldn't always introduce herself with "and AirTrek is the best thing ever".

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[sciclone]

"Hi, I'm Cosima," Cosima said, "Junior, and ... I'm kind of having a nerdgasm over taking a class we actually get to read a real book in. Um. That's probably not the fact you wanted. How about, I have a tattoo of the golden spiral on my arm."

Which she'd happily edge up er sweater sleeve if anybody wanted to see.

"It reminds me that all of nature is part of a pattern."

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm Kathy Li, a senior, and I used to be a competitive gymnast," Kathy said when it got to be her turn. "Hello again, Lady Ghanima."

She nodded at Jedi Veila, who she hadn't yet met, offering her a small smile.

Talk to the Teachers (AoW 1)

[atreideslioness]

If you'd like!

Re: Talk to the Teachers (AoW 1)

[atreideslioness]

Ghanima was perfectly happy to talk to anyone who had any questions.

Re: Talk to the Teachers (AoW 1)

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri was around for any questions too! In the meantime, she'd be busy trying not to think too hard about how she'd been taking this class about EIGHT KRIFFING FANDOM YEARS AGO.

OOC (AoW 1)

[atreideslioness]

The Jedi Attendance Record of 2008 was REALLY BAD, guys. But Ghanima loves you anyway.

Re: OOC (AoW 1)

[thatwaslucky]

Now I want so much to go through and read those classes and take mental attendance.