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

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)

[atreideslioness]

"I have been asking myself why I'm on this planet with its ridiculous oceans for years," Ghanima offered, bemused. "The best answer I have come up with is that as much as I miss Dune, I still prefer teaching to playing politics in the Imperium."

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[thatwaslucky]

"Dune?" Rey asked, looking curious. "Like a desert?"

She didn't love or hate the desert, it was just where she lived. But she'd been dropped from Jakku into someplace that got below freezing in the day and it was an adjustment.

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)

[atreideslioness]

"Welcome, Cassandra," Ghanima said cheerfully. "What is your preferred weapon?"

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[seeks_truth]

"The sword and shield," Cassandra said. "One can function perfectly fine without the other, of course, but I find the combination to be most suitable."

Because she was a tanky tank that tanked.

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)

[atreideslioness]

"Welcome, Miss Sharpe," Ghanima said. "Fandom Island can be confusing enough upon arrival, without being time-tossed or from another world."

"If you'd like, I would be happy to meet with you sometime, to see if we cannot figure out if this is your Earth or another Earth."

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[crimson_sister]

Lucille's first instinct was to suspect Lady Ghanima had some ulterior motive to suggest this; one that wasn't in Lucille's interest. Trying to keep her exterior calm while negotiating the issue with herself, she tensed a little.

Lady Ghanima was from another world. It was unlikely that she knew anything about Lucille, and instead the most plausible reason for her offer had to be that she cared about the wellbeing of her students. On the other hand, perhaps the school had been told about the events at home, in which case her teachers surely knew. But if so, why would they let her be here in the first place?

"Thank you," Lucille finally said. "That would be kind of you and I would very much appreciate it."

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[good_for_six]

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

Isabela, no.

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[atreideslioness]

"Isabela, welcome back." Ghanima, no, don't be so amused at the tiny student, you're just encouraging her. "If you know yourself so well, what would you say is your greatest weakness?"

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[good_for_six]

Like Isabela needed any encouragement. "Sometimes it gets lonely if only you know yourself."

That was dangerously close to being the truth there.

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)

[atreideslioness]

"Welcome back, Still Mara Jade," Ghanima quipped. "How was cliff diving?"

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)

[atreideslioness]

"That does not cause you any pain?" Ghanima inquired. "As to your question, you will become a senior after the current class of seniors graduates in the spring. It is a yearly rotational system, meant to group students with their age-mates and peers as they progress educationally as a unit."

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)

[atreideslioness]

"Perhaps you will get lucky and the pond will freeze solid enough that you can get in some skating," Ghanima replied. "Welcome to class, Mr. Bittle."

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)

[atreideslioness]

"Welcome back, Ringo," Ghanima said with a smile. "Is your entire population undergoing genetic engineering at this stage, or is it just starting to be perfected?"

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]

"You have a tattoo?" Kathy asked with a slightly pained smile. "Uhhh, about how long to they hurt for?"

Someone had been tipsy and impulsive yesterday and was paying for it today.

Re: Introductions! (AoW 1)

[atreideslioness]

"You even get to keep the book," Ghanima promised, smiling. "I'm not so cruel as to deny anyone the written word."

"And I must say, the golden spiral is an excellent choice. Nature, and even time, have patterns. Knowing how to find them is one of the ways we'll be using Sun Tzu this semester."

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.