I think philosophy was my favourtie class in first year. I was one of the two people that the class declared couldn't ask questions or comment in the last 15 min. Else no one was getting out of there on time. So instead you get to learn my inner musings, since I felt like having a discussion with myself. Tell me what you think of my veiws, and if they're decently IC, please. I love feedback and learning new ideas.

"So what do you think of the situation regarding our friends?" Zoi asked idly. Receiving no answer, he tilted his head down to look at the girl currently using his chest as a pillow. He stopped stroking her hair for a moment due to his inattention. "Ami? You still awake?"

"Mmmm, don't stop. Feels good." She mumbled, obviously half asleep. He chuckled and complied, returning his hand to its earlier task.

"You know, you seem to like being petted as much as Xena does. What does that tell you?"

"… Callin' me a bitch?" She asked sleepily, smiling slightly. "… don't bite or nuthin'…"

"Much." He retorted dryly. She chuckled and nestled her head deeper into his chest.

He returned to his previous activity of watching the sun dance through the leaves of the tree they were lying under. Watching the soothing patterns eventually entranced him so much he didn't even hear his girlfriend the first time.

"Neph's got the best chance."

He shook his head slightly, still somewhat caught in the spell of summer. "Wha…?"

She turned her head up slightly to see him better. "Neph's got the best chance. Rei is everything Jad finds overwhelming in women and Kunz has a lot to learn before he'll gain Minako's respect. She thinks he's an egotistical bastard, and a cold one at that."

He twirled a strand of her hair around his fingers. "She's not wrong. He's one of my best friends, but she's not wrong."

Ami giggled, bringing her hand to her mouth in an almost conspiratorial manner. "That's why it's so funny. As soon as he realizes what she's been doing, he's going to be furious. Then he'll have to try and beat her at her game. His pride won't settle for less. She's probably the only female he's ever met that he could consider an equal. That doesn't mean she feels the same way."

Zoi poked her lightly in the nose with his free hand. "Right on the button, sweetheart. It'll be incredibly gratifying to watch him chase after a girl without even realizing he's doing it." Suddenly a less than pleasant thought occurred to him. "Hey, what happens if he tries to seduce her for the win? He plays a wonderful gallant, but what happens if she really does fall for him?" A messy breakup would put more strain on everyone around them. He was sure it wouldn't end his relationship, but the collateral damage would be a problem.

"Let him try." Ami responded casually, a wicked glint in her eyes. "Last guy to seriously try that ended up voluntarily taking a position in a remote city with little ever hope of career advancement. He didn't even get her to the bedroom. The harder anyone chases Minako, the greater the hold she has on them. She doesn't mind honest liking, or even lust. She considers those compliments. It's attempted emotional manipulation she doesn't like."

He frowned lightly, considering. "But isn't that what she does? Both in her work being an idol and with you guys?"

Ami closed her eyes for a second, considering. "Yes and no. Emotions are what defines manipulation, really. I asked Mamoru about this after I found out about some of her abilities and choices a few years ago. He said something about stages and types of emotion. Now, how did that go…" She fell silent for a few moments, pondering.

"He talked about positive and negative emotions. Let's start with her job. We both agree that she manipulates the public, as do her PR people, right?" At his assent, she continued. "How does she do that?"

"Well she… actually… um…" he trailed off, none of the words coming to him suiting his thoughts on the matter.

"Take your time. Make sure you understand what you're saying, instead of just taking a shot in the dark."

He nodded his assent, obviously still lost in thought. Finally he seemed to come to a decision. "She acts like a friend. She treats all of her fans like friends, and presents a wholesome 'this could be you' type of vibe."

Ami nodded. "Now, imagine if someone were to show up with a vibe that said 'if you were as awesome as me, I might consider being your friend'."

"That sounds kinda like some rockers." He observed.

"Yes. How many of their fans adore them?"

He blinked, startled. "Don't all fans adore the people they're fans of?"

She shook her head. "They respect and admire them. They like their music, or whatever it is that makes them attract fans. They go to shows and buy CD's. That doesn't immediately mean that the fans like them. You follow?"

"I think so." He mused. "I'd never considered there to be a difference between liking a band and liking a band's music, but now that you've pointed it out I can see it."

"What Minako does makes them take that one step further and like her. That's what sells everything else. Afterwards, she's happy, the fans are happy, the networks are happy, and the public in general is happy. Is that manipulation a bad thing?"

He considered that deeply for a moment. "I don't think so. I can't see any way that it harms anyone."

"Okay, now imagine a politician. He says 'like me, vote for me, and I'll do this for you'. Is that a bad thing?"

Zoi pondered for a moment. "It can be. It causes people to worry, and creates stress about which issue facing society is the most important."

"But it's the same thing, isn't it?"

"No." He shook his head. "Not really. What she does is make people happy. The other one threatens their happiness, I think, more than helps it."

"But if they're using it to do good things, doesn't that make it good?"

He gave her an incredulous look. "Ami! I know you're too smart to think the end justifies the means! And too good of a human being!"

She smiled up at him. "Thank you. That was very sweet. But imagine it wasn't me who said that. What is wrong with that statement in general?"

He gave that idea some thought. His head was going to buzz like a wasps nest after he was done sorting through everything Ami was saying. "It's saying that you can't have one good thing without losing another. That's not fair."

"Ignore fairness. You're close, though. That statement strikes us as untrue because it's contradictory, and we know that deep down. It states that you have to be unhappy to be happy."

He looked at her oddly. "Sometimes that's true, though. Sometimes you have to do something unpleasant to get pleasant results. The old phrase 'you can't build a house without cutting down a few trees' comes to mind."

"Yes, but why does cutting down the trees have to be unpleasant?"

He blinked. "Run that by me again?"

"Why does cutting down the trees have to be unpleasant?"

"Well, it doesn't really… I mean, it sounds like some tough physical work, but that's fun in its own way…"

"Exactly. So the difference is, do you approach the forest thinking 'I'm going to build a house' or 'if I don't do this I won't have a house'."

"That makes some sense." He rubbed his forehead tiredly. "What does that have to do with Minako?"

"Let me phrase this another way. In teaching Xena a new trick, do you praise her when she does it or berate her when she doesn't?"

"Praise."

She squirmed a little on his chest, getting more comfortable. "And how about me? Do I get to use you for a pillow because you can be physically with me when I do or because I wouldn't be touching you if I weren't?"

He blinked. "Because you are here, not because you wouldn't be. The first, very strongly."

She nodded. "I believe you've heard of that. It's called positive reinforcement. Praise for doing right. Scorn for doing wrong is called negative reinforcement."

"Yeah, I've heard of those." He said, back on familiar ground for the first time since this conversation had started.

"Minako works almost entirely on positive reinforcement. I cannot, with all honesty, say only, but I think she does use only that type."

He considered that for a moment. "But from what I've heard, she still uses positive reinforcement to hurt at times."

"Of course. If you want people to take a fall, you can either push them off the edge or tempt them to jump on their own. She does the latter."

"Oh, cause that really sounds so much better." He said sarcastically.

"Well it isn't." She replied simply.

"Wait, what?" He couldn't believe she'd just said that.

"It's not better. But Minako is only human. She gets insulted, and upset, and protective. When she gets like that, she reacts to protect herself and the people she cares for. That's what all of us do."

He just stared at her, slightly taken aback. "O-kay… I guess that makes sense. But how does that make her ruining a guy's career with a twitch of her hips better than him trying to catch a ride to wealth with sweet words, except in who moves first?"

"He wanted to control her with her affection. 'Give me money or I won't tell you I love you' sort of thing. She presented him with a 'this is the type of man I could love and you're not it yet' counteroffer. He left because he realized that he could never be that type of person the way he was and was ashamed of it. If she'd fallen for him, however, she would likely have been damaged badly inside, not just in pride."

He nodded, understanding her point well enough for now. "Okay, so that explains types of emotion. What about stages? You mentioned those earlier."

She grinned. "Minako says 'do this and I'll like you. I will approve of you'. Doing bad with it would be to say 'do this and I'll love you'. She only uses surface, transient emotions. Do what she says and you'll have a brief flash of feeling good. Don't, and all you'll miss out on is a brief flash of feeling good. Nothing earthshaking either way. It still allows for people to make their own choices, guided by their own morals. It's when they don't have morals that she can lead them down the garden path."

She was silent for a minute, letting him absorb that. Then she continued. "All of us always had an example of what negative reinforcement and mucking with stronger emotions would result it. Both Mako and Rei are hurting, and they won't be better quickly. Not until they can shake off all of the negative manipulations they'd been through. I see hints of it in Jad too. I think that's part of his eagerness to please that has him spoiling your puppy even worse than the rest of them."

He nodded, still kind of lost in his head. "That makes a great deal of sense… And my head hurts now. I think I'm going to need to think on this for a while. I'd love to discuss it with my friends, but doing so right now could tip the scales for the worse."

She giggled. "I had it much easier. I'd ask a question, Mamoru would give me a hint as to the answer, and we'd discuss it a few days later. Then another question would be asked, and he'd tell me to mull it over again. Sometimes he was the one bringing up questions too, and we'd both consider it for a few days. However, a half answer would have made you more worried at this point, not less."

"That makes sense." He admitted ruefully. He wished he could have had the luxury of exploring this slowly. "How did Mamoru come to be such a master at philosophy anyways?"

"Experience." She replied simply. "He wants to always know what people want from him. Then they won't blindside him and hurt him."

He raised an eyebrow. "That sounds harsh. I didn't think he was that cynical."

She gave him a 'you've got to be kidding me' look. "Hey!" He protested. "I said that cynical. I never said I thought he wasn't cynical at all."

She giggled. "You didn't know him before Usagi. They met about the same time I met her, and he was a cold, aloof, and hard man back then. Far too mature for his seventeen years. The only person he ever even smiled at was his friend Motoki. I think the only reason Motoki even was his friend was that he's the same as Usagi for picking up the strays of society and making them feel welcome. I like him rather better now. I like me rather better now too. I was a very proper little miss back in those days. I never played a video game before the eighth grade, you know."

"No I didn't." He responded, eyes widened in shock. "Never? Why not? How did you manage to avoid them? They're everywhere."

"No one ever asked me." She said simply, shrugging. "Arcades aren't the sort of place quiet, shy little girls wander into by themselves. And since I'd never tried them, I'd never ask my mother for a home gaming console. I asked for books instead."

He just gaped at her incredulously. "Are you serious?" At her nod, he just shook his head in bemusement. "Wow. Next thing you'll be telling me you've never played grounders tag or four-square or had a bumpy on the tire swings."

She just looked at him quizzically. "You're probably right, considering that made about as much sense to me as if you were talking in Klingon."

He spluttered in shock. "None of them? Wow. I don't even know what to say to that."

She shrugged. "That was then. It's not like I'm missing it."

"Damn right you're not!" He declared, startling her with him vehemence. "Next time we're drinking we're going to take the party to the park and teach you those games! I'm sure if I say it's for you I can even convince Kunz to unbend enough to play! Well, maybe not four-square… that one wouldn't be as much fun or as much of a challenge now. Actually, if we go over to the playground now I can teach you some of the games."

"That's really not necessary. I'm fine not knowing them." She demurred, not feeling much of a need to get up.

"No, no, you need to learn them. Everyone should know these things. C'mon!" He cajoled, getting himself up and pulling her up with him. "Just what we need after a heavy discussion, some exercise to blow a breeze through our heads!"

She just shook her head and allowed herself to be drug off, her boyfriend's enthusiasm buoying her. Even if he was occasionally childish, he was never boring to be around.