2010-09-09: Unstable?!

[taltamir]

you know, i think the teacher is actually helping... he is helping bring "her" her to the front and seems to have actually good grasp of the situation overall (she somehow succeeded, and it made her mentally unstable... so he is helping her focus her mind)

[Nell]

I truly doubt the teach has a big plan behind his actions. He's genuinely clueless.

[taltamir]

I truly doubt the teach has a big plan behind his actions. He's genuinely clueless.

he doesn't have to have a BIG plan... a little plan is ok too...
he stated outright that she clearly acquired godlike powers, and that she is mentally unstable.
from that he can impulsively come up with the idea of taunting her to hopefully get her to be less "you are nothing to me but random molecules I can disassemble and reassemble reasonably well" to "you are my teacher, aka a person, no disassemble". This doesn't need to necessarily work, it isn't necessarily the best idea, and he probably has no idea what to do next and is totally winging it.

[jackfrost]

he stated outright that she clearly acquired godlike powers, and that she is mentally unstable.
from that he can impulsively come up with the idea of taunting her

So, you're saying hes not clueless, hes an idiot?

Because in my book, mouthing off to something with godlike power who is currently mentally unstable is a recipe for immediate destruction. Actually, I think thats in most people's books...

[taltamir]

he stated outright that she clearly acquired godlike powers, and that she is mentally unstable.
from that he can impulsively come up with the idea of taunting her

So, you're saying hes not clueless, hes an idiot?

Because in my book, mouthing off to something with godlike power who is currently mentally unstable is a recipe for immediate destruction. Actually, I think thats in most people's books...

well, she was talking about destroying him anyways... he is unable to escape and his captor is talking about disassembling him. So its worth a shot, can't get any deader.
Plus, perhaps he doesn't think she will kill him (he has known her for at least some time), or maybe he was putting his life at risk out of altruism (aka, hoping to snap her out of it).

Or maybe he IS an idiot... idiots are everywhere, both IRL and in errant story.
My point was "he is an idiot" is the obvious thing, the first thing that came to my mind... but since then I thought of other possibilities, which I have mentioned. Of course, some of those are not mutually exclusive with idiocy. He can be a nice idiot. He is having a positive effect, it MIGHT be intentional. its a huge risk and perhaps a stupid thing to do, but its working and it might be on purpose.

PS. I just had an idea. maybe mental instability due to magic causes is not that uncommon, and perhaps his goading is a known to be effective method to help people stabilize in such cases in the ES universe?

[Aajav-Khan]

"I`m trying really hard to ignore the pantless thing" Hehh hhehheh eehhh.....Oh, dear. (*Note to self: breath. Breathing is important.*) That was so refreshingly hilarious. A wonderful balance to the otherwise deadly serious situation.

[ulf]

Taunting as a psycological weapon isn't that uncommon, and by taunting her with something as mundane as grades, he does focus her on the mundane world. Not to mention that he gets her to talk to him in a rational fashion.

[SkArcher]

"you are my teacher, aka a person, no disassemble"

You obviously didn't have my teachers.

[Slamlander]

"you are my teacher, aka a person, no disassemble"

You obviously didn't have my teachers.

Nor mine, starting with Sister Adelaide.

I`m trying really hard to ignore the pantless thing

At this point, she is losing sanity and she knows it. She is less than completely rational at this point. To her credit,she is trying to maintain.

[Itterind]

Yes, as a reader engrossed in this story I am proud of her as a character. She's clearly struggling to remain mentally grounded, I disapprove of her keeping him prisoner (though she may have obvious reasons for it), but given the situation its mostly understandable.

Its a bit disappointing to see that while a harsh but caring teacher (as is obvious from him expressing concern at the start of the comic yet abolishing an entire grade category then simply dismissing the related case with a remark regarding her frivolous planning) he did make the dick move of being overtly in his approach rather than cautiously teacherly without it being important enough or queued firmly enough in his mind to mention it immediately when she first gave him room for a couple of clauses. On the other hand I can understand he's vacillating on his approach due to pressure.

He probably has something mildly useful to say - perhaps as other posters suggested that endangering yourself can earn a fail, or something else mostly irrelevant yet oddly philosophical - but his reckless approach is now being compounded by indecisiveness.

I'm sure Meji won't let this rest without hearing his reason though. She's pot committed to this exam project ^^, she needs closure.