fandomhigh | The Art of Peace; Thursday, Third Period [09/01].

The students would enter the classroom to find that all the usual desks had been removed or simply moved over to the side, replaced instead with a ring of various cushions and pillows arranged in a circle at the center of the room. And already sitting on one of those cushions, of course, was a rather large man with a very pink kimono draped over his shoulders and a straw hat on his head, hunched over slightly as his sipped as a cup of tea. As they came into the room, he would look up with a crooked, sleepy sort of a smile and invite them in with a rumble of a voice that matched, gestures for them to come have a seat and offering a cup of the tea for themselves.

"And now I believe," he said, once it seemed anyone who was going to show up had, those who were going to get settled were settled, and it was probably a few minutes past the starting time by now, anyway, "it's time for us to begin ♥. Welcome, my ducklings, to the Art of Peace, wherein we shall, together, go on a journey through a gentler, more pacifist approach to life, especially when all signs may otherwise point toward war ♥. It's a rather broad topic, sometimes a rather difficult one, as well, and it will not all be just sitting around and waxing intellectual about such concepts. But that is, mostly," here he passed them all a grin, "what we will be doing today ♥.

"With it being toward the end of the week," he continued, "I've sure none of you will be surprise to hear that I would like to use today to get to know each other ♥. More importantly, though we may all indeed be sitting, I'd like to know where you stand on our topic at hand. Are you a staunch pacifist, much like myself? Do you tend to lean more warlike, but you're interested to see a different perspective? Are you here because someone out there clearly thinks they're very funny?" He chuckled softly. "Whatever the reason, it'll be good to understand where we're all coming from, to better see where it is we might be able to go ♥."

He took a slow sip of his tea, and then softly set it in front of him.

"I'll go first ♥," he said, and thus the class began in earnest.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Peacefully, of course!

Sakaki

Alara Kitan

Clare Devlin

Beta

TJ Wagner

Come in, find a spot in the circle of cushions, get comfortable if you're able, and have some tea if you'd like. There isn't much preamble and lecture today, and there's plenty of room to get situated and chat amongst yourselves before things get started, as well.

"My name is Shunsui Kyōraku," he continued, with a nod of his head, and a tip of his hat, expression almost solemn if not for the amusement seeming to dance in every corner of his face, "and I am the Captain of the Eighth Division of the Gotei 13 of Seireitei. I know that sounds like an awful lot of words, but, basically, we are the main military branch of the Soul Society, which is my universe's version of the afterlife. It is our duty to serve and protect it and the souls both within it and within the mortal realm to the best of our ability.

"Sometimes, this can be quite the harrowing task. As Captain, however, it has been a long time, and thank goodness for that, since I've had to deal with all the nitty-gritty, little daily battles that our officers tend to on a regular basis, but the flip side of that is that those of my rank are often called upon for the big, heavy duty, reality-threatening nonsense that can, alas, occur. These are certainly situations where war and fighting and violence often seem quite necessary, but I do try to find better ways for my officers to spend their time, and if a matter can be discussed or battle delayed, I strive to do precisely that. And, should it become evident that peace is truly not an option, I believe the next course of action should be swift, decisive, and over all conclusive, so we can all be done with it and move on with our lives."

He gave them all another smile.

"That is just scratching the surface, though, of course ♥," he said, "but that is, if anything, a good place to start. Feel free to ask if you'd like me to elaborate at all, either on where I'm coming from or my philosophy, although, I assure you," another chuckle, "you'll get plenty of that in the following weeks. For now, I'm more interested in you, and where you may be coming from, so, if there are any volunteers for who would like to go next....?"

Maybe it was just the fact that there was something familiar in the patterns of Kyōraku-san's speech or the kimono or the just being fresh off a week back home in Japan, but Sakaki found herself bowing a little when it was her turn, even though she was sitting. "Konnichiwa," she started out, and then reminded herself to use English. "Ano, my name is Sakaki, I...have to deal with a lot of....conflict, at my job, and I would like to learn better how to handle it. I don't like to fight, either; I wish everyone could just get along, but I'm not very good at it, and I get very injured, as a result. I'd like be better at solving those conflicts peacefully..."

Or, really, getting the cats to be more peaceful toward her.

And, of course, how could Shunsui do anything but bow back, with a pleased smile on his face. "Konnichiwa, Sakaki-chan ♥," he drawled out, easily and comfortably. "Yoroshiku onegai shimasu ♥! Conflicts at work are never pleasant, and it truly is a shame should they be escalating so far as to include harm to such a sweet and lovely person such as yourself!" He tsk'd slightly. "Downright criminal, really ♥. Hopefully, we can discover some good ways to help you resolve those conflicts in a more peaceable way, my dear ♥."

“I’m Alara Kitan,” Alara said when it was her turn, “I’m from a planet that prefers to stay isolated and not get involved in military conflicts,” she hesitated, “I … I want to join the military when I graduate but I want to learn about different perspectives, I think that will be something useful to know,” she said.

"Ahhh, Alara-chan ♥," Shunsui smiled pleasantly her way. "Always a joy to see your lovely self in one of my classes, my dear ♥. But, if you don't mind me asking, and if you could indulge me a bit to offer some perspective for you in this class moving forward....what is it about the military that intrigued you enough to want to join, mmm ♥? Especially coming from what sounds like a relatively peaceful and pacifist place...

"Oh!" he added, unable to really help himself, his grin broadening significantly. "And how is your sister? She's been well, I hope ♥?"

After all, this was the introductions class! Perfect for getting to know new faces and catching up with the familiar ones!

Alara did smile at that, “Solana is going well, she’s been busy with her phd studies,” she told him and on the note of how much smarter her sister was, she hesitated slightly, “I … I don’t want to stay on Xelaya, I want to see more of the galaxy and I … I can’t do that if I stay, my parents … “ who were currently not talking to her but she figured the class did not want to know about her current family drama at the moment, “they want me to pursue university study like Solana, only … well Solana’s the academically gifted one in the family,” she finally said.

TJ waved when it was her turn. "I'm TJ Wagner. I think peace is great when you can do it, but sometimes you have to make a stand, and it might involve fighting. I signed up so hopefully I can find more ways to avoid fighting. I don't mind fighting myself, but too many people get hurt when there's violence."

Shunsui nodded, smiling in particular when TJ mentioned actually wanting to learn about ways to avoid fighting. "I certainly can't argue with you there, TJ-chan ♥," he said. "Here's to hoping you'll be able to get a few ideas for avoiding violent conflict; after all, having more options to better suit different situations is always a good strategy ♥."

Shunsui certainly has no where else he needs to be any time soon, so he is more than happy to be around and available should anyone need anything outside the context of the class itself.

Might be a bit sparse today, but, dammit, I'm gonna try!

The Art of Peace; Thursday, Third Period [09/01].

Sign In - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Sign In - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Sign In - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Sign In - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Sign In - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Sign In - AoP, 09/01.

Listen to the Lecture - AoP, 09/01.

Class Activity: Introductions - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions - AoP, 09/01.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions - AoP, 09/01.

Talk to the Teacher - AoP, 09/01.

OOC - AoP, 09/01.