Practical Philosophy, Tuesday

[endsthegame]

It had always been Ender's wont to have this class meet on the school's lawn, in the sunlight. There were pillows and picnic blankets, simple sandwiches and thermoses of coffee, tea and water. He was already there when class arrived, looking content to sit and enjoy the feeling of the wind in his hair.

"Sit down in a circle, please," he said when class arrived. "I like to keep things equal, when I can at all help it."

There were quite a few familiar faces here. "Most of you know who I am," he observed. "For the rest of you, my name is Andrew Skywalker. Dean Skywalker," he nodded at Anakin, "is my grandfather-in-law, and Ben here," another nod, and a smile, "is my husband and father to our three children. I'm sorry, sometimes it's hard to escape making something on this island a family affair. Especially when you are an alumnus."

He looked at the students he didn't know. "I am a Speaker for the Dead," he said. "When someone dies, and I am summoned, it's my job to poke and pry into the life of the deceased, to learn about the decisions they made and why they made them, so we can form a true picture of a person without claims to higher judgment. I'm not here to teach you how to be a Speaker, obviously, but this is the lens through which I try to conduct this class: we ask questions. Sometimes we pose hypotheses. But I won't tolerate harsh judgments, because they close the blinders on us, and make it harder for us to understand both ourselves and the world."

"While 'philosophy' is in my class's title, we're not here to talk about the philosophers of old or the specifics of particular lines of thought in philosophy. Here, we make some attempt to put our own experiences into a greater perspective through conversation and debate. Above all, philosophy is about asking questions about everything in the world around us - and about everything we feel about it. That means I expect some level of participation from all of you."

He smiled wryly. "That doesn't mean you always need to speak up about yourself," he said. "No topics are everything to everyone. If that week's subject veers too close to something you want to keep private, be my guest - just try and pitch in when someone else speaks. I'll try to raise a theme each week, but don't feel beholden to it. If there's something on your mind you'd like to discuss, please do throw it into the group."

He picked up a bottle of water. "So let's talk," he said, twisting off the cap. "How do you feel about where you are now? What kind of experience has the island been for you? Has there been anything that made you cry or made you think or made you wonder?" He glanced at Ghanima and Anakin with a wry curl to his mouth. "Perhaps I should say 'in the past five years', just to give ourselves some kind of a limitation."

Comments

Sign In!

[endsthegame]

In a circle.

Re: Sign In!

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana Vess

Re: Sign In!

[pocketpretzels]

Llewellyn Watts

Re: Sign In!

[unusual_sith]

Lana Beniko

Listen to the Lecture

[endsthegame]

Grab a sandwich and something to drink.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana was still full from her lunch at Luke's, so demurred the sandwich, but was took a lemonade, keenly interested in what Professor Skywalker* had to say, especially when he was explaining what a Speaker for the Dead was and did. More veneration for the dead.

Hmmm. That might be an interesting question to pose to the group at some point.



[*Apologies in advance all the times I fuck this up and call him Ender or Wiggin, BLAME KARLA.]

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[unusual_sith]

Lana listened respectfully and nodded along.

And possibly gave Anakin a significant side-eye about "harsh judgements".

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[atreideslioness]

Ghanima was openly delighted by this turn of events, and poured herself some tea.

She drew a vial from a hidden pocket in her dress to tip some spice into it, carefully stirring it in discreetly.

This was going to be delightful.

Talk.

[endsthegame]

How do you feel about where you are now? What kind of experience has the island been for you?

Re: Talk.

[deathsmajesty]

"My name is Liliana Vess," she said when the discussion came around to her. "The island has been a range of experiences for me, as I gather it is for most people who arrive here. It does have the honor of being the most different of all the planes I have 'walked to. And while that encompasses the usual things - having children, becoming children, people from various times and places - it transcends them as well. In my...I suppose home dimension is good enough as any, I can travel from one plane to another. The people may be different, the cultures, the climate, even the creatures, but they still follow the same rules. Magic works the same way, and there are...enough repeating patterns that when you have traveled far enough and long enough, that you start to notice. Traveling from the haunted, windswept moors of Innistrad to the heart of the bustling ecumenopolis of Ravnica, you are treated to a vastly different world but, hmm..." She paused a moment to think. "The underlying principles that govern how things work remain the same. Coming here, nothing could be further from the truth. And, what's more, few of the planes and dimensions that connect here do either. It is like moving from worlds where throwing a rock up means that it will come back down in deference to gravity, and then discovering a plane where gravity says that throwing a rock upward make it go sideways. And you come from worlds where gravity says there is only up, never down."

She smiled. "And to me, that is wondrous. It is proof that there is always something new and brilliant and exciting out there to learn, even moreso than I ever thought back 'home,' I suppose I should say."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"In my world, the existence of the alien has given rise to numerous philosophical strains of thought about the meaning of the familiar and the strange," Ender mused. "As in: what is it to be one of a certain kind? And what is it to be something that stands outside of it? You look like any human being I have met in any universe I've visited; yet if you feel this place is strange to you, does that make you a stranger in our world? Do you think you look at us as if we are an alien world? And if so, how does that make you feel about the many planes you've seen before?"

Re: Talk.

[pocketpretzels]

"Detective Llewellyn Watts," Watts introduced himself. "I prefer 'Detective' or just 'Watts'." In case anyone got any notions regarding using his first name. "I am from- this world's past. Or a version of it, as I've met many people also from Earth who come from realities with vastly different histories and rules. I find it- freeing here. Not just in Fandom, but this time in general." The way his gaze had flicked over to Ben when his name had been brought up might have even given a clue as to why.

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Ah," Ender said, lifting his chin. "Social mores do evolve as time goes on. How have you found freedom to be for you, thusfar?"

Re: Talk.

[unusual_sith]

"Lana Beniko." Lana bowed briefly to him. "I come from the same galaxy as your husband, though a few thousand years before his time. When I first arrived to this island as a student, it was a revelation. I met individuals I'd been taught were dangerous and genocidal, and found them to range from difficult to extraordinarily friendly. I learned from them, which left me more open to do the same when I met similar people in my galaxy. I think it was a wonderful learning experience."

She thought about it. "In the last five years, I've been applying that to helping to build an almost entirely new society, which is a daunting task, and returning here to Fandom has helped me learn new perspectives and possibilities I might not have thought of, and bring those ideas back with me."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"I want to say that that galaxy does have a way of trying to pigeonhole people into 'genocidal evil' and 'holy good'," Ender said wryly, "But in many ways that can be said of all our galaxies. Was it hard for you to accept that your enemies were not as villainous as they had appeared?"

Re: Talk.

[sith_happened]

Anakin smiled at Ender. "Hello again, Speaker," he said, inclining his head. "Welcome back. This island has been my home for almost two decades now: something I struggle to wrap my head around some days. It keeps me on my toes: I never know who is going to end up here from day to day and I've discovered myself to be something of a nexus for our galaxy. Many of the people who come from that galaxy to this one have connection to me in some way, and that feels like responsibility."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Howso?" Ender inquired, with an equal inclination of his head to match Anakin's. "And has that feeling grown over the years?"

Re: Talk.

[momslilassassin]

Ben grinned at Ender. "I'm here because I've found babysitting for three children for the length of this class for the entire summer. Can that count as my wonder?"

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"I don't know about a wonder, but I think that does make you a miracle worker," Ender said, grinning at him. "We should be venerating you and singing your praises."

Re: Talk.

[atreideslioness]

"Lady Ghanima Atreides, Princess Royal of House Atreus and Empress of the Imperium, from a time many thousands of years from now," Ghanima said with a warm smile. "Though I would ask not be addressed by any honorifics in this class, as I am here as a student and deplore them when I am not acting in my formal capacity."

"My world is both very similar and incredibly different from that of the other primary spacefaring universe of Fandom, to the point one of their own is a dead-ringer for a younger version of my twin brother. I think, perhaps, we are reflections of each other, in some way."

"Although if we are to limit ourselves to the last five years--" yes, there was a hint of mischief in her words. "--My greatest wonder is that I am now a mother. Trebor is almost a year old now. I did not bring him to class today, he is with our staff, though I would be more than happy to have your children join him if you like."

There was no more secure babysitter than a Fremen staff.

"Long time residents many be aware that I have long resisted stepping into certain... aspects of my duties. This place is an escape for me, from a person I never wished to be and a role I never wanted to fill. I am a teacher and scholar at heart, and Fandom's beautiful nexus of potential is something I feel very strongly about nurturing."

Re: Talk.

[endsthegame]

"Ghanima," Ender said, with a little nod and a warm smile of his own. "Welcome. I'm glad to see you in my class."

Welcome, and promising an interesting class for the rest of the semester.

"And congratulations, even if I am a touch late with them," he said. "Becoming a parent is an enduring wonder - if one filled with sleepless nights and fond complaining." He took a sip of his water. "How have you found it, thusfar? To be so specifically and all-encompassingly nurturing to one human being?"

Talk to the Teacher

[endsthegame]

Or come find Ender before or after class, if you wish.

Re: Talk to the Teacher

[momslilassassin]

Ben lingered after class. "Lunch before heading back to pick up the kids?" he suggested.

Re: Talk to the Teacher

[endsthegame]

"We have another hour, maybe more, don't we?" Ender said. "It'd be a shame not to make the most of it."

OOC

[endsthegame]

*cracks knuckles* Let's see if I still remember how to do this class.