Beginning Sith Philosophy, Friday

[unusual_sith]

When the students arrived in the classroom, they'd find Lana up front leaning against the teacher's desk, wearing a green tunic-like blouse, grey trousers, and doc martens. Was this what you expected in a Sith?

"Hello and welcome," she said pleasantly. "It's good to see you all here. I'm going to be teaching Sith philosophy - to be clear, this is not 'how to be a Sith'. That would be impossible for many of you and pointless for the rest. But there's been a lot of misunderstanding over the years as to what Sith philosophy actually is, and a lot of debate about it even among the Sith, and they do say teach what you know."

She gestured back at the whiteboard behind her, on which was written: Peace is a lie, there is only passion. "The first line of the Sith code, which may need a bit of introduction by way of the first line of the Jedi code, which begins, 'there is no emotion, there is peace'. Obviously this was created in direct opposition to that.

"The Sith were partly founded by rogue Jedi who saw the original code, which eschews all emotion, as overly restrictive. They viewed emotion as a valuable way of connecting with the Force, the life force that permeates the universe. High emotion, passion, was important, and the sort of peace that comes of ignoring emotions is, as it says, a lie."

She grinned. "At least, that's my reading of it. All philosophy is debate, after all. So, let's do the traditional introductions, and tell me what you think of this line."

She nodded to the first student.

Comments

Sign in!

[unusual_sith]

Emotionally!

Re: Sign in!

[pun_king]

Graham Cracker

Re: Sign in!

[sith_happened]

Anakin Skywalker

Re: Sign in!

[anomaly_research_nerd]

Connor Temple

Re: Sign in!

[outofthequiver]

Liberty Hazlett

Re: Sign in!

[atreideslioness]

Ghanima Atreides

Listen to the lecture

[unusual_sith]

Boggle at the cheerful and calm Sith, if that's your thing.

Re: Listen to the lecture

[gospel_of_oblivion]

"CLEA?" 'Yana blurted out when she walked into the classroom, shocked to see her Magic Mom, of all people, on Fandom. "Mom, what--?"

But there was a distinct lack of magical signature, and instead a familiar aura.

"... LANA?????"

Why were more people older than they should be? Why? First Kitty, now Lana? At least Kurt had still been the right age (relatively speaking) this morning.

Re: Listen to the lecture

[unusual_sith]

"Mom?" Lana eyed her for a moment, then grinned in recognition. "Yana! It's been...well, ages for me, anyway. How long has it been for you?"

Re: Listen to the lecture

[gospel_of_oblivion]

"Clearly not anywhere as long, I just graduated this spring," Illyana retorted. "WHY do you look like my magical step-mother?"

"I hate this island."

Class activity

[unusual_sith]

Introduce yourself! Discuss the code so far!

Re: Class activity

[pun_king]

"Hi, everyone!" Graham grinned a little as his hand moved in a wave to the class as a whole, and then he started to stand up to make a more proper introduction. "My name's Graham. Graham Cr--"

It was at this point in his getting up that he didn't realize he'd gotten his foot a little wrapped around the chair, and it went clattering behind him, making him wince and cut off his words and sheepishly chuckle as he set the chair back to rights again, giving a little a pat of assurance as he did so, and then turning his attention back to the task at hand.

"Right. So. I'm Graham, and I think that whoever wrote that line has clearly never taken a nap with their best friend on a sunny afternoon with a belly full of choco-chip pancakes!"

If that wasn't the ultimate definition of peace, then he didn't know what was!

Re: Class activity

[unusual_sith]

"Hello, Graham." Lana grinned. "Well, I suppose that's a sort of peace, if you define it that way. But aren't you feeling emotional about that peace?"

Re: Class activity

[sith_happened]

"I'm Anakin Skywalker," Anakin stated mostly unnecessarily, "and I'm a Jedi, so naturally I find Sith philosophy to be actively dangerous. The passion Sith speak of isn't a deep love of dance or of another person: it's to encourage you to tap into your more volatile emotions: anger and fear. Jedi don't ignore their emotions, but they don't wallow in them either."

Re: Class activity

[unusual_sith]

"I had a feeling I would see you here, Master Skywalker," Lana said, bowing. "Hoping for it, actually. So, where do you think acknowledging emotions becomes dangerous, and why do you think 'passion' doesn't include a greater range of emotions?"

Re: Class activity

[outofthequiver]

Libby tried to go with her introduction toward the end, after everyone else, because she really wanted to sit with those lines for a good long while before she decided to say anything. It was kind of a challenge, really, to think about any philosophy other than the one she'd grown up with, which had been hammered into her so much that she felt adrift in the world now that nearly all of it was being challenged and proven to be...not at all what she truly believed in her heart of hearts.

So when she finally did go, she nodded a little, and her voice was a bit quiet, but sure. "My name's Liberty Hazlett," she offered, "although most people just call me Libby. And I think they're both wrong, both those lines, because it's important to be balanced. And, my apologies, ma'am, but I think your reasoning is a bit off, too, because of course what you describe is a lie, that's not true peace. It sounds like you're just trying to justify it by claiming it says something that it doesn't really. And I think there can be peace, and there can be passion, and to ignore either one is no way to go about either, because both are important, and they're not mutually exclusive, neither."

And then she sort of shrunk back a little, because she hadn't meant to quite say so much, and she wasn't sure she really meant to just outwardly call a teacher out like that, and she knew that that sort of thing was more acceptable here, but she was still sort of bracing herself for whatever the response to her just running off her mouth like that might be.

Re: Class activity

[unusual_sith]

Lana nodded. "Very good, Libby. Please don't apologise for speaking your mind; that's a lot of what we'll be doing here, and I actively encourage it." She seesawed her hand. "There's more context I haven't given you that leads to my interpretation; thousands of years of it. But I'm not giving you that context because I want you to draw conclusions from just what's there. Starting from scratch, as it were."

She smiled. "One of the people I know back home has trained with both Jedi and Sith. She says, 'passion, yet peace'. Would that be closer to what you have in mind?"

Re: Class activity

[atreideslioness]

"Ghanima Atreides. Not Jedi or Sith, though I have encountered more than a few Force users over the years," she said, bemused.

"It puts me in mind of two different terms from my home universe. First, Spannungsbogen. The literal translation is 'the span of the bow.' What it means is the self-imposed delay between desire for a thing and the act of reaching out to grasp that thing. How far back you draw that bow, to release the arrow. To let it strike deep and true. The peace of the wait, of the draw, is, in the end, merely a precursor to the violence that will follow."

"Second, is perhaps our answer to the opening line of the Jedi Code... The Litany Against Fear."

"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain," she recited, her blue-on-blue eyes bright as the inner lives within her stirred at her words. "The Litany would have us leave fear behind, to see farther and clearer."

"However, I very much doubt the Jedi would approve of the Bene Gesserit, the order that originated the Litany." Ghanima's smile turned impish. "They would say that the mark of humanity is to stay a course, past pain, past potential death, in the hopes of eliminating the enemy and removing the threat. Move past your animal instincts to retreat, and strike. Tactics, not peace."

Re: Class activity

[unusual_sith]

Oh, Lana was excited now! She'd been thrilled Lady Ghanima had signed up for this.

"So, less peace, and more...hm. I think we're back to control?" she said. "Acknowledging your emotions, but not submitting to them. Using both peace and passions in service of your own needs, perhaps?"

Re: Class activity

[gospel_of_oblivion]

"Illyana Rasputin, I was raised in a hell dimension," 'Yana confessed cheerfully, now that she'd gotten over the 'one of my very good friends now looks disturbingly like my magical step-mother' shock. "There is always emotion. Even peace is an emotion, though it's different for everyone."

"But because the concept of peace is so transient, in the end, it is a lie. All you can rely upon is yourself."

Re: Class activity

[unusual_sith]

Lana nodded. "You're the second one to point out peace is an emotion." She nodded to Graham. "Relying on yourself is always safest, but having others you can rely on is certainly less stressful. As long as you can trust them," she acknowledged with a grimace.

Re: Class activity

[notagoose]

“I’m Shane Gooseman, Goose,” Goose introduced himself when it was his turn.

He paused, tilting his head a bit as he considered the line, “I grew up in a place that viewed any kind of emotions as a weakness,” he finally said, allowing himself to reveal that much, “to be the perfect soldier, it’s …” he hesitated, “well even passion would be considered a weakness as well, our goal was to only prepare for the mission,”

Re: Class activity

[unusual_sith]

"Hello, Goose." Lana nodded. "So do you still follow that belief, or have you chosen your own?"

Talk to Lana!

[unusual_sith]

She's here!

OOC!

[unusual_sith]

Yay Sith?