Liliana Vess (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
deathsmajesty) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2024-05-30 01:37 am
deathsmajesty) wrote in fandomhigh2024-05-30 01:37 am
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Philosophies of Mana, Thursday, Second Period
When the class opened the doors of the Danger Shop, they were greeted with an idyllic rolling grassland, the air warm with the occasional refreshing breeze scented by the wildflowers growing in profusion by the babbling stream. Nearby a small stand of trees where there were equal parts shade and sunlight to sit in, was a large circle made of colorful blankets, complete with cushions to either sit upon or rest against, and cunning little lap desks to enable people to take notes even while lounging in this impromptu picnic. A low elegant table with a basketful of various fruit-filled pastries, next to several rustic charcuterie boards, with meats, cheeses, breads and the like. There were also several glass decanters, one full of pure spring water, another with milk, the third with a green juice with an almost iridescent sheen. And, of course, enough fine dishware, utensils, and glasses for the class.
The only thing out of place of this little idyllic countryside picnic was a whiteboard behind one of the blankets. Much like the first week, there were multiple questions written on it, but instead of a star with words written at each point, there was only one word written at the top of the board:
Peace
"First of all, class, I apologize for the abrupt cancellation of class last week; I was a cat." What a purely Fandom sentence that was. "My appreciation to Mr. Scientia for informing you all. And, secondly, welcome to a small slice of Lorwyn, a truly lovely little plane I lived in for about a decade or so, some fifty or so years back. Had we the time and I the inclination, I could have programmed in my tower, a half-hour's ride to the northwest from this exact spot. Furthermore, while our surroundings are a simulation, the food on the table before you all is real, fetched this morning from a kithkin marketplace. The cloudgoat milk is fresh, I have extensively tested the briarberry tarts to ensure their quality, and the rowan treefolk nectar is tangy and quite refreshing. If you are confident in your ability to eat and drink while taking notes, please feel free to help yourself. Otherwise, it would be wiser to wait until we enter the discussion part of the class. Unfortunately, my unexpected transformation left us with less time that I had anticipated, so we're diving into the material immediately."
Hopefully the class had spent the time up until this point getting whatever food they wanted and preparing to take notes, because Liliana was not kidding about immediately. "As I hope most of you have already deduced, we're in this small bit of meadow to begin discussing white mana. To give our class structure, because I could spend all seven weeks exploring each color individually, we'll be referring back to these questions from our first week to guide our discussion."
• What does white mana desire? What is its end goal?
• What means does white mana use to achieve these ends?
• What does white mana care about? What does it represent?
• What does white mana despise? What negatively drives it?
• What is white mana's greatest strength? Greatest weakness?
"What does white mana desire? Peace, pure and simple. White mana desires an end to suffering. White mana believes that a healthy and fertile plane has enough resources for everyone, and the fact that there is want, deprivation, and suffering comes from the selfishness of individuals. White believes in organization, teamwork, in building connection and cohesion. White believes in community, and believes that community is best created and enforced by structures. Laws, religion, morality, government, the founding blocks of civilization." She smiled at all them, serene and almost pious, a reminder that she was once a holy healing cleric of white mana.
"The key to making this happen, of course, is teaching individuals the importance of taking actions which benefit the group as a whole, even if those actions might not benefit them personally," she continued earnestly. "Because white's plan can only succeed if everyone is working toward the same unified goal. As soon as some individuals prioritize other things, like, say, their own desires, the plan falls apart. And, to be clear, white mana does want as many people as possible to understand its motives and share them! But white realizes that in order to accomplish its larger goal, some individuals will have to be lead down the path rather than venture there of their own accord, and sometimes that leading must be by any means necessary." Her smile grew darker, less pleasant. "Unity becomes conformity becomes uniformity. Socialism becomes communism becomes fascism. Morals and religion become dogma, beyond reproach and question. Strength becomes inflexibility and then rigidity. The idea that the individual should take actions that benefit the group as a whole becomes a loss of individuality, of creativity, or freedom. Becomes oppression. In some cases, becomes a hivemind. And when there is too much chaos, too much selfishness, too much suffering? Then the only peace is that of emptiness and obliteration. There can be no suffering where there is nothing. Wipe the slate clean, try again. All of these are permitted within white's philosophy - in fact, some of the most devastating spells I know of are purely white mana. We call one such spell The Wrath of God. When it is cast nothing survivesunless it is indestructible and that is a stupid mechanic, all that is left behind is a desolate wasteland." For a moment, the meadow vanished, leaving behind air thick with dust, the ground withered, cracked, and barren, covered in bleached bones.
And then, just as quickly, it was back to the lush beauty it had been when they'd walked in. "When discussing mana, I like to start with white and end with black, because people usually carry the most underlying assumptions about those two, even if it's just as simple as white is good and black is bad. Even on this plane, where there isn't mana, we hear about white hats and black hats. Entire subcultures seen outside the norm for dressing in a black clothing. The color white being associated with purity and virginity, as if those concepts have anything to do with one another either. And beyond simple color theory, we look at what each color of mana wants - white, peace; black, power - and we immediately assign those a moral weight. Peace is good, power is bad, the end. That kind of thinking is lazy, reductive, and weak, and has no place in my classroom. So when you are tempted to think of white as being good, remember that image from the aftermath of the Wrath of God spell. Is that what goodness looks like to you? That devastation? No? Then remember, mana has no morals. White mana uses morality, yes. Morality is an excellent tool to bring people together, to get them to believe in the same thing. But mana itself is amoral. It wants the fulfillment of its goals and for every color of mana, the ends justify the means. There is fundamentally no difference to white between a halcyon utopia and an authoritarian regime, because both fulfill its end desire. It is not that mana doesn't care about these differences, it doesn't understand them.
"Furthermore, white is the most authoritarian of all the colors, because for it to function, people must obey the structures that have been put into place. Laws require punishment for those who do not conform and white mana does not limit or question what those laws regulate, nor what the punishment should be nor how deep the conformity goes. To truly understand the white mana outlook, think of the phrase the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Individuals will always lose to the larger group. That is the greatest division between red and black mana, who prioritize individuality and personal freedom. Within the doctrine of what mana, diversity can be a strength, but is also a danger, needed to be carefully watched and measured. A little diversity is good, it helps ensure that all needs are met by offering different skills and experiences. Too much diversity, however, can undermine the feelings of inclusion and unity. White works when everyone thinks as we and not us versus them."
She smiled again, and this smile was filled with humor, rather than simple artifice to make a dramatic point. "Now, before I am accused of letting my personal mana prejudices attempt to color your personal understanding of it, let me be clear. White mana isn't does not require a society into an authoritarian murder-regime, where diversity and personal freedoms are banned. White mana will not force a society to descend into fascism and annihilation to better uphold its end goals. This is not some slippery slope argument, nor am I trying to teach that white mana cannot be trusted. Most societies that are influenced by white mana and its philosophies are decent and kind, with great emphasis on healing and order and community. The main weakness of white mana is that it, more than any other color, relies on the systems, structures, and organizations that people put in place - and living people are all fallible and corruptible. Even the most moral people with the best intentions can still find themselves laying cobblestones straight to hell. In its own way, white has the potential to be both the greatest good and the worst cruelties, because within people lie the seeds of both.
"But when those systems and structures work, white is unparalleled. It understands the need for both moral and civil laws - moral laws shape how people think and the civil laws control how they act. Together, these two forms of structure create a framework that helps ensure individuals are working for the benefit of the group. There is a reason that the concepts that white values most are the underpinnings of most societies; more than anything else, white wants us to succeed as a group. To set aside selfishness, recklessness, and carelessness, and truly embrace our fellows, to care about each other as we care about ourselves, and to ensure that everyone has a chance to live peacefully, with their needs met - not simply physical, but emotional, spiritual, and mental, as well."
[Sorry for the late, brain would not cooperate]
The only thing out of place of this little idyllic countryside picnic was a whiteboard behind one of the blankets. Much like the first week, there were multiple questions written on it, but instead of a star with words written at each point, there was only one word written at the top of the board:
"First of all, class, I apologize for the abrupt cancellation of class last week; I was a cat." What a purely Fandom sentence that was. "My appreciation to Mr. Scientia for informing you all. And, secondly, welcome to a small slice of Lorwyn, a truly lovely little plane I lived in for about a decade or so, some fifty or so years back. Had we the time and I the inclination, I could have programmed in my tower, a half-hour's ride to the northwest from this exact spot. Furthermore, while our surroundings are a simulation, the food on the table before you all is real, fetched this morning from a kithkin marketplace. The cloudgoat milk is fresh, I have extensively tested the briarberry tarts to ensure their quality, and the rowan treefolk nectar is tangy and quite refreshing. If you are confident in your ability to eat and drink while taking notes, please feel free to help yourself. Otherwise, it would be wiser to wait until we enter the discussion part of the class. Unfortunately, my unexpected transformation left us with less time that I had anticipated, so we're diving into the material immediately."
Hopefully the class had spent the time up until this point getting whatever food they wanted and preparing to take notes, because Liliana was not kidding about immediately. "As I hope most of you have already deduced, we're in this small bit of meadow to begin discussing white mana. To give our class structure, because I could spend all seven weeks exploring each color individually, we'll be referring back to these questions from our first week to guide our discussion."
• What does white mana desire? What is its end goal?
• What means does white mana use to achieve these ends?
• What does white mana care about? What does it represent?
• What does white mana despise? What negatively drives it?
• What is white mana's greatest strength? Greatest weakness?
"What does white mana desire? Peace, pure and simple. White mana desires an end to suffering. White mana believes that a healthy and fertile plane has enough resources for everyone, and the fact that there is want, deprivation, and suffering comes from the selfishness of individuals. White believes in organization, teamwork, in building connection and cohesion. White believes in community, and believes that community is best created and enforced by structures. Laws, religion, morality, government, the founding blocks of civilization." She smiled at all them, serene and almost pious, a reminder that she was once a holy healing cleric of white mana.
"The key to making this happen, of course, is teaching individuals the importance of taking actions which benefit the group as a whole, even if those actions might not benefit them personally," she continued earnestly. "Because white's plan can only succeed if everyone is working toward the same unified goal. As soon as some individuals prioritize other things, like, say, their own desires, the plan falls apart. And, to be clear, white mana does want as many people as possible to understand its motives and share them! But white realizes that in order to accomplish its larger goal, some individuals will have to be lead down the path rather than venture there of their own accord, and sometimes that leading must be by any means necessary." Her smile grew darker, less pleasant. "Unity becomes conformity becomes uniformity. Socialism becomes communism becomes fascism. Morals and religion become dogma, beyond reproach and question. Strength becomes inflexibility and then rigidity. The idea that the individual should take actions that benefit the group as a whole becomes a loss of individuality, of creativity, or freedom. Becomes oppression. In some cases, becomes a hivemind. And when there is too much chaos, too much selfishness, too much suffering? Then the only peace is that of emptiness and obliteration. There can be no suffering where there is nothing. Wipe the slate clean, try again. All of these are permitted within white's philosophy - in fact, some of the most devastating spells I know of are purely white mana. We call one such spell The Wrath of God. When it is cast nothing survives
And then, just as quickly, it was back to the lush beauty it had been when they'd walked in. "When discussing mana, I like to start with white and end with black, because people usually carry the most underlying assumptions about those two, even if it's just as simple as white is good and black is bad. Even on this plane, where there isn't mana, we hear about white hats and black hats. Entire subcultures seen outside the norm for dressing in a black clothing. The color white being associated with purity and virginity, as if those concepts have anything to do with one another either. And beyond simple color theory, we look at what each color of mana wants - white, peace; black, power - and we immediately assign those a moral weight. Peace is good, power is bad, the end. That kind of thinking is lazy, reductive, and weak, and has no place in my classroom. So when you are tempted to think of white as being good, remember that image from the aftermath of the Wrath of God spell. Is that what goodness looks like to you? That devastation? No? Then remember, mana has no morals. White mana uses morality, yes. Morality is an excellent tool to bring people together, to get them to believe in the same thing. But mana itself is amoral. It wants the fulfillment of its goals and for every color of mana, the ends justify the means. There is fundamentally no difference to white between a halcyon utopia and an authoritarian regime, because both fulfill its end desire. It is not that mana doesn't care about these differences, it doesn't understand them.
"Furthermore, white is the most authoritarian of all the colors, because for it to function, people must obey the structures that have been put into place. Laws require punishment for those who do not conform and white mana does not limit or question what those laws regulate, nor what the punishment should be nor how deep the conformity goes. To truly understand the white mana outlook, think of the phrase the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Individuals will always lose to the larger group. That is the greatest division between red and black mana, who prioritize individuality and personal freedom. Within the doctrine of what mana, diversity can be a strength, but is also a danger, needed to be carefully watched and measured. A little diversity is good, it helps ensure that all needs are met by offering different skills and experiences. Too much diversity, however, can undermine the feelings of inclusion and unity. White works when everyone thinks as we and not us versus them."
She smiled again, and this smile was filled with humor, rather than simple artifice to make a dramatic point. "Now, before I am accused of letting my personal mana prejudices attempt to color your personal understanding of it, let me be clear. White mana isn't does not require a society into an authoritarian murder-regime, where diversity and personal freedoms are banned. White mana will not force a society to descend into fascism and annihilation to better uphold its end goals. This is not some slippery slope argument, nor am I trying to teach that white mana cannot be trusted. Most societies that are influenced by white mana and its philosophies are decent and kind, with great emphasis on healing and order and community. The main weakness of white mana is that it, more than any other color, relies on the systems, structures, and organizations that people put in place - and living people are all fallible and corruptible. Even the most moral people with the best intentions can still find themselves laying cobblestones straight to hell. In its own way, white has the potential to be both the greatest good and the worst cruelties, because within people lie the seeds of both.
"But when those systems and structures work, white is unparalleled. It understands the need for both moral and civil laws - moral laws shape how people think and the civil laws control how they act. Together, these two forms of structure create a framework that helps ensure individuals are working for the benefit of the group. There is a reason that the concepts that white values most are the underpinnings of most societies; more than anything else, white wants us to succeed as a group. To set aside selfishness, recklessness, and carelessness, and truly embrace our fellows, to care about each other as we care about ourselves, and to ensure that everyone has a chance to live peacefully, with their needs met - not simply physical, but emotional, spiritual, and mental, as well."
[Sorry for the late, brain would not cooperate]
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Eat Food, Listen to the (Long) Lecture
Yes.
Re: Eat Food, Listen to the (Long) Lecture
Re: Eat Food, Listen to the (Long) Lecture
Discussion: Your Own Framework
How about people? Are there any people you can think of who embody these ideals?
Can you think of any (institutions or people) that represent white philosophy gone horribly wrong?
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
"Let's actually start with one thing," Liliana said, looking thoughtful. "This sounds like a topic that is both emotionally close to you, as we are discussing your people, and also fraught, since you are no longer at peace. So, first, please don't be concerned that expressing your opinions is going to be a problem. I would rather you be open and honest about your thoughts than run the risk of you choosing not to share some - or losing your train of thought - because you were too busy trying to find a polite or non-confrontational way to express them with me."
She knew he might still need to take time to put words to things he was used to just feeling and accepting and that was fine, but no reason to compound that with worry about offending her. Or, well, however much he could let that go. He had 'earnest type' written over his features that could be seen from the Blind Eternities.
"And I say that because now I'm going to ask you two difficult questions and I hope you will give thought to the answers," she continued, with a gentleness that might surprise many (though hopefully not all) people in the classroom. "First, in what ways have the Jedi failed to live up to the white philosophies mentioned during my lecture, and in what ways have they, perhaps, allowed the more negative aspects of white to influence their culture?"
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
He sighed, knowing he couldn't be impartial about this in a way that was probably what Liliana was looking for. "There was a lot of conformity," he admitted. "Rules to live by, rules I still try to live by even though the Order is gone, because I believe in them. Peace, knowledge, serenity, harmony--these are the values I want to bring back to the galaxy because I don't think they're bad. But our focus on maintaining peace through discussions and treaties left us open to deception. The Empire only understands power and physical force, and so I've had to set my culture aside and learn to respond in kind."
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
"Now, you say that there are many people who wouldn't see the difference between the Jedi and the Empire," she said. "Why is that? It sounds like there is more than a simple philosophical difference between the two of them, so why might people consider them fairly interchangeable? Who are these 'people'? Distant trading partners? Allies? A mutual enemy? Forgive me, darling, I don't know the ins and outs of your political structures, but it sounds like this Empire is a government regime and the Order is some kind of...religious organization? Were they also part of the government structure? You mentioned making peace and treaties - did they have some kind of temporal authority over laypeople? By what right?"
Liliana very clearly had more questions, but because she was the teacher, she couldn't just rapid-fire barrage them at him the way she did when she was a student.
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
He sighed again, trying to walk the fine line between being truthful and trying to make it clear that he was on the right side. "It's... I suppose 'religious organization' is the closest thing to being a Jedi on this world. We don't worship any deities, we're tied to the essence that links all living things. We fought to defend those that the Separatists tried to harm, and those in the Confederacy are probably much happier now that the Empire exists instead. They can run their unfair trading practices without issue as long as the Empire gets a portion of the profits, and the people who put their heads in the sand and refused to pick a side are still burying themselves away from the truth."
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
She was tabling most of them for now, but don't think she wouldn't be leaping back onto this topic as soon as she caught you somewhere that wasn't a classroom. And pushing back on some of those assumptions she noted there, Cal.
"So, the only people who cannot tell the difference between the Jedi and the Empire are those who aren't looking?" she asked. "So then, the people who have the best right to decide how alike or not alike two groups are would be those who operate within those structures, not those who are witnessing them from without? Those who are able to see the individual trees, not those witnessing the whole forest?"
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
He trailed off and shrugged. "Everyone has the right to feel how they want to about the state of the galaxy. I can't force people to agree with me. But when people hurt others for their own personal gain, I can't stand aside and just let that happen, and if people think fighting against the Empire makes me as bad as them, well, I don't really know how to fix that."
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
In part because Liliana didn't particularly believe in or care about good and evil, but that was unimportant now.
"So, you mentioned that you exile the people who fail to meet your Order's standards. How do they fail? What are those standards? If you don't agree with how some people see you from the outside, then tell me how you see yourselves from within."
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
"We do have colorless mana," she murmured, "though it's not particularly important. But if it's colorless mana, then why do you speak of a 'light' side and a 'dark' side. Isn't it all just 'the Force' and it intensifies everything that you do, for good or for ill?"
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
Yana loved her brother. She was not particularly fond of the man who had taken him away from their family, and indirectly, started the series of events that had led to her coming to Belasco's notice.
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
"I am too much an individual to fit well into the model of self-sacrifice that Xavier demands of this students, and my understanding of morality falls too far outside his requirements."
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
"So, we know that this Xavier strives for peace, structure, morality, and the concept of 'we.' In what ways does he fail to hold up white mana's philosophies? Or lean in to where they turn darker?"
Liliana needs that icon, omg
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
naivelythoughtfully. “—But there’s already uniforms.”“I think where he falls down from the principals is how often he keeps turning the other cheek.”
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
"Oh?" Liliana asked. "Do you mean he doesn't adequately defend his people? That is against white mana; protection and defense are two of their main kinds of spells."
Although, why defend when you could just murder everyone and then raise them back up on your side? Silly white.
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
"Doesn't stop the humans from making giant robots to try to kill us all," she continued, clearly frustrated. "Xavier does not believe in proportional response defense, only understanding and forgiveness of those who hate and fear us."
Re: Discussion: Your Own Framework
Discussion: Your Own Opinion
Feel free to chime into other people's threads!
Play With White Mana
And then use that white mana to do things like:
Summon unicorns, cats, and birds.
Cast spells to get stronger, tougher, and fly, to banish or destroy a creature, bring a creature back to life (works on dead creatures, but not banished ones), and heal.
Destroy literally everything.
Re: Play With White Mana
Re: Play With White Mana
Talk to Liliana
OOC