Practical Ethics, Friday, February 1, 2019

[sith_happened]

"As I oh-so-handwavily informed you earlier this week," Anakin said, "today we're going to talk about traditional dress. As a diplomat, what you are wearing will convey certain non-verbal cues to your counterparts, as well as to those you interact with casually."

He gestured down to the robes he was wearing. They were the same he was always wearing, but today he'd explain them! "This is what Jedi wear in my home galaxy," Anakin said, swinging his black robe off overdramatically, just like Obi-Wan taught him to reveal the tabard, tunic, boots, and utility belt underneath, all in shades of black and deep brown.

"Jedi are not bound by material possessions," he said, "and so our utilitarian robes, designed to blend in on a thousand different planets, are part of that philoposphy. Our tunics, tabards, and boots tend to be either in earth tones or black--unless you're from Corellia, and then your robe is green because the Corellians like to feel special."

Did you see the eyeroll, class? It wasn't a subtle one. "Our utility belt holds our comm device, credits, and our lightsaber." He held his hilt out for the students to inspect from a distance. "This is the weapon of the Jedi, and the amount of work and effort it takes to construct one is a closely held part of our Order. Only Jedi--" he tipped his head to Lana, "--and Sith carry them. They are an elegant weapon, not as random as a blaster, and take a great deal of time and practice to wield correctly."

He lit his with a snap-hiss, the blue light bright in the classroom. "The lightsaber is practicallly an extension of our body, and is always a part of our uniform, and the sound of that weapon, even more so than the robes I wear, convey the authority of my Order." He turned the lightsaber back off and put it back onto his belt. "I will only wield it when absolutely necessary, and those I negotiate with know that."

Of course, Anakin's idea of "absolutely necessary" wasn't every other Jedi's, but that was a different lecture!

"Now, tell me about what you are wearing, and what it is meant to tell others about the culture you represent."

Comments

Sign in 2/1

[sith_happened]

Formally!

Re: Sign in 2/1

[chirpchirpchirp]

Vette

Re: Sign in 2/1

[in_sidon_we_trust]

Prince Sidon

Re: Sign in 2/1

[justice_undone]

Breq

Re: Sign in 2/1

[unusual_sith]

Lana Beniko

Re: Sign in 2/1

[mylandmyrules]

Nell Ingram

Listen to the lecture!

[sith_happened]

Ask Anakin about his amazing ensemble! No, he won't teach you how to flip a robe off like that. It takes decades of drama-queening to master.

Re: Listen to the lecture!

[chirpchirpchirp]

Did Vette look faintly amused through the lecture? Yes, absolutely. It was kind of hard to take a Jedi's authority seriously when you'd had a running bet with him over butt shots at paintball, once.

Re: Listen to the lecture!

[unusual_sith]

Really? His Jedi all dressed like this?

That explained so many who fell to the Dark side.

Explain your outfit!

[sith_happened]

What are you wearing? What does it say about your culture?

Re: Explain your outfit!

[chirpchirpchirp]

Vette had worn the only clothing she really had from home, which was the tight-fitting adventuring gear she'd had on when she'd been raiding that old Sith tomb. Really, it was pretty fancy by her standards anyway.

"So," she said, "what I'm wearing is a modest outfit, put together from various outings," read: questionable jobs, "on Nar Shaddaa. It's meant for ease of movement more than fancy presentation, which is important to a good many of my people."

You know. For several reasons including but not limited to avoiding slavery, escaping slavery, or the generally shitty things that they were expected to do as slaves.

"My clothes are well-worn at the moment, which is also a sign that," she was poor, okay? She was stupidly poor, "we value our resource management skills above much else, because life on Ryloth, the Twi'lek homeworld, isn't easy, and natural resources are scarce, there."

Some of that last bit actually wasn't total poodoo! She was so proud.

Re: Explain your outfit!

[sith_happened]

"Good," Anakin said. "For the other members of the class, would you mind talking about your lekku a bit? I know some Twi'leks tattoo theirs--is that based on societal hierarchies, or just personal preference?"

Re: Explain your outfit!

[chirpchirpchirp]

"Oh, on Ryloth there might be some kind of familial thing to it," Vette offered. "But for Twi'leks around the galaxy, since our connections to home and family might be," gone, irreparably, "weaker, a lot of tattooing might be for more personal reasons. Showing off- lekku are incredibly sensitive, you're essentially tattooing the part of your body where it'll hurt the must. Or maybe the tattoos have personal significance or maybe they're to make the lekku more visually appealing to," slave owners, "others. That last one is actually why some Twi'lek women tattoo eyebrows on, too. Since we don't actually have hair. It makes us more... palatable to people who do."

Wow, did she ever keep a lot of bitterness out of her voice there.

Re: Explain your outfit!

[sith_happened]

Anakin gave her a little smile, gone in a blink. "They shouldn't have to do that, but sometimes what they want isn't...paramount."

Re: Explain your outfit!

[chirpchirpchirp]

"Yeah," Vette replied, answering that smile with one that was just as fleeting. "Sometimes."

It was nice to have someone here who got it without her really needing to spell it out.

Re: Explain your outfit!

[in_sidon_we_trust]

Well, this explaination shouldn't take too long, all things considered.

lol, jk, it was Sidon. He didn't even need to be wearing clothes to spend far too much time talking about what he was wearing.

"As I'm sure many of you have noticed," said Sidon, never one to mince words...ever, "the Zora choose a rather minimalist approach to fashion. After all, when one spends a significant portion of thier lives surrounded by water, clothing in the traditional sense only becomes a frequent burden, in the way, and much more trouble than its worth! There are exceptions, of course. Our soldiers wear armor, and we are quite fond of accessorizing, usually with jewels; it's rare to see a Zora who chooses not to sport some sort of necklace or belt or bangles about the wrist or ankles."

All of which he had, and he'd made sure they were particularly gleaming.

"I, of course, am also wearing the epaulettes, sash, aglets, and crown that are traditional of both my royal lineage and my position as heir to the throne of Zora's Domain." Said, of course, with no small amount of pride and a sharp grin to match that pride. "You'll not be seeing such details on just any Zora. As for the cravat and whistle, well..." And here Sidon had to chuckle a little. "I've always just rather thought they were quite the dashing touch, ever since I was a little hatchling, wouldn't you agree?"

Also, even with everything extra that he had, he still had to be, somehow, even more extra.

Of course, he'd also discovered more recently some...incredibly practical uses for the cravat, but he was not about to extrapolate on any of that in the classroom.

Re: Explain your outfit!

[sith_happened]

"Does the weight of those jewels indicate how strong and brave, et cetera, you are?" Anakin asked.

Re: Explain your outfit!

[in_sidon_we_trust]

Sidon had to chuckle a little at a question like that. "No," he said, "with the exception of what's intended to denote station," he gestured to the crown in his head, "it is all a matter of one's personal tastes, and the jewelry itself is as light and delicate as the detailing and filigree might suggest. And a good thing, too! For if that were the case, why, I rather fear I'd wind up crushed under the weight of my own decorations!"

Ahhhh, modesty. Sidon barely possessed it even when he wasn't maybe trying to show off a little, and he just couldn't help himself with that one.

Re: Explain your outfit!

[justice_undone]

Breq was wearing the nice, practical clothes that Sparkle had picked out for her: A pair of loose fit jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, a hoodie.

"I chose to buy local fashion when I arrived and needed new clothes," Breq said. "These are practical and I'll fit in if I want to go to the mainland."

Re: Explain your outfit!

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "That's also an excellent point. Wearing the clothing of the planet you are visiting can show respect for their culture, too. In some cases, they may even require you to cover a part of the body they find taboo, like hair or feet."

Re: Explain your outfit!

[justice_undone]

"Where I come from it's hands," Breq said, guessing that Anakin hadn't met Seivarden. "Not wearing gloves is indecent. I'd wear them when I have to return there."

Re: Explain your outfit!

[unusual_sith]

Lana had come to class in what she'd worn when she'd shown up on the island - armored boots and gloves, and a green and black tunic and grey trousers, also partially armoured. The overall style vaguely resembled Anakin's, but it was a bit more fancily cut, with silver piping and stand-out shoulders (that were really quite sedate for Sith fashion).

"I usually wear local clothing," she said, "but since you wanted to go over traditional clothes, I wore things from home today. It's armoured because Sith life tends to be a bit rough. Hence the lightsaber I'd usually have, too." And how did he get away with a weapon at school? It was so unfair. "Otherwise, it's comfortable. And not all black or red, which a lot of Sith go for, because I personally find that to be a bit overdramatic, and I'd rather not match the walls in the sanctum, either."

Sorry not sorry, Anakin.

Re: Explain your outfit!

[sith_happened]

OMG HOW DARE YOU THINK ANAKIN IS OVERDRAMATIC AHAHAHAHHAHA yeah I can't do it.

"Overdramatic seems to summarize most Sith I've encountered. And murderous."

Be nice, Anakin.

"But definitely overdramatic. Darth Maul, in particular, was ridiculous."

Re: Explain your outfit!

[unusual_sith]

"I'm guessing that's someone from your time?" Lana said.

She thought about it. "If you want ridiculous, Darth Kallous is a bit extreme. Then again, when you choose that for your name, it rather goes without saying, doesn't it?"

Re: Explain your outfit!

[sith_happened]

"I've only heard...maybe one not stupid Sith name," Anakin said.

His own, naturally. Darth Vader was freaking badass.

Re: Explain your outfit!

[unusual_sith]

Only in English, dad.

Lana thought about it. "It's about fifty-fifty for me. Maybe sixty-forty if I'm being charitable. Counting just the taken names, not the family or birth names."

Which safely left Darths Marr and Vowrawn out of it, because nobody picked on them.

Re: Explain your outfit!

[sith_happened]

"A bad enough birth name could explain the 'become a Sith' part," Anakin mused unkindly.

Re: Explain your outfit!

[unusual_sith]

"Being born Force-sensitive in the Empire could explain the 'become a Sith' part," Lana said. "I don't really think bad names enter into it."

Re: Explain your outfit!

[mylandmyrules]

Nell was wearing her usual long skirts and tops that covered most of her body. "Girls and women mostly wear this sort of thing to be modest and good servants of God and man," she explained.

Talk to Anakin

[sith_happened]

Are you a Jedi? No? Then you can't see/touch/use the lightsaber.

He's not even sorry.

OOC

[sith_happened]

Ugh, and the schools are closed early now.