Thoughts?

[verity-isle.livejournal.com]

Hypothetical scenario : What would Lelouch and Suzaku do, in your opinion, if the world is beset by a plague and their most important person contracts it, and is about to die? The only way they can even hope to cure him/her is a prototype medicine that's being distributed in small amounts, and due to arbitrary reasons, they have to illegally take the part meant for a sick, innocent child who will also die without her share? Would they take the medicine and save the person they can't live without, or will they 'save' the child and watch the one they love die? In any case, one person dies. There is no greater good. Someone loses. In the worst case, there's even a chance the medicine won't work and everyone loses regardless.

A variation of the old 'which drowning man would you save' warhorse, but hopefully more interesting, and I hope it doesn't come off as 'who is better than who', either. ^^;

My thoughts : Lelouch saves his Important Person, though not without a good deal of sadness. He's actually a decently moral person, I think, when he actually sees the prices and sacrifices happening in front of him. But he would be set from the start, with no waffle and no mind-changing mercy. Suzaku is more problematic. I vote he saves his Important Person as well, but with a ginormous amount of waffling and regret. His piety towards strangers seem to stem from his...reactiveness towards losing loved ones, but he ultimately doesn't want to see anyone die if he can help it.

Cookies if you recognize which manga this scenario comes from.

Comments

[nokiirat.livejournal.com]

please put under a cut.
thanks.

[verity-isle.livejournal.com]

I don't think I said anything spoilery? Or is it just too long? :o

Putting under a cut, regardless. Sorry for my lack of consideration. ^^;; (I never read PSME, btw)

[nokiirat.livejournal.com]

~ah, the scenario is from 'please save my earth'.

[mossygirl.livejournal.com]

Ha! I didn't notice it until nokiirat said it, but the scenario definitely is similar to PSME ('cept the "innocent child" part, kind of). In that case, the solution would be to give the medicine to their worst enemy so that he could watch everyone else die around him and be lonely and miserable ^_^ (hope that didn't spoil anyone o__o;;)

Joking aside, I'd say that Lulu would take the medicine to save his important person (Nunally, definitely) but feel some guilt over it, angst quite a bit, and of course would never tell the IP the truth. Suzaku, on the other hand ... somehow I don't see him doing the same. Partly this is because I don't think Suzaku has someone that he needs that desperately (Lulu is his friend, but still; Euphie maybe, but not at this point *Cornelia would do it for her, though!*)--he wouldn't want to see anyone die, but his sense of justice would prevent him from basically killing an innocent for that end. He would of course do whatever he could besides that to save his IP ... I guess I could see him finally cracking and doing it (and he would angst about it whether he did or didn't). *boy, I'm sure waffling ^^;;* But from what I know of his character at this point, I'd still say "no" overall for Suzaku. ... Though I could be convinced otherwise o.o

[verity-isle.livejournal.com]

Well, this is assumed both of them have that particular important person, since using what we have it's kinda imbalanced. XD I know, though! Suzaku would REALLY waffle.

I suppose we can ask another question : In two seperate scenarios, one where Lulu is infected and one where Suzaku is infected, would they actually save each other?

I figure 'eventually no', for some reason...despite the lengths they'd go to, though Lulu is also likely to go "fuck everybody else >:[" and just do the thing.

[defade.livejournal.com]

I have no doubts that Lulu will definetely save his Important Person. He'll definetely feel sad and a bit guilty inside for have stolen others' chances for recovery, his mind will be set from the start, though. He strikes me as the kind that would do nearly anything to save his Important Person, plus I don't think he can just stand and watch as his Important Person dies a slow, agonizing death. He felt pretty guilty for his inability to do anything but watch as his mother and sister is killed and wounded, and he certainly doesn't want to see another IP die while he just stands there and watches.

Suzaku, on the other hand - I'm not that sure about him. He'll certainly want and try to save his IP, but...to the lengths of indirectly killing another child, I don't thing Suzaku will manage to do it. He's your all-around nice guy, with a strong if always sometimes weird sense of justice, he probably wouldn't want to do it, not to mention illegally. I'm sure he'll try his best to find other ways...or maybe, even try to come up with a new cure. However impossible that seems.

[verity-isle.livejournal.com]

Well, Lulu does give into impossibility easier than Suzaku (S' goals regarding Britannia are impossible personified, yo, and Lulu was pretty hopeless at it before he got Geass), so I guess there's the irony? XD Lulu would cut the time-wasting out and go for the direct available option, while Suzaku doesn't want anyone to lose and try to plow through rock face--because Lulu is actually better equipped for such, Re : Episode 4? But the machiavellian determination to do whatever you could no matter what it takes for your loved ones, instead of signing them as losses if you fail...I'm not sure which is more inspiring in story context. XD

It's interesting that everyone thus far decides that when faced with A and B, Suzaku would pick C.

[sapphire-pyro.livejournal.com]

My opinion of what Lulu will do is the same as yours. He will surely prioritize his imprtant person over others (especially Nunally . . .I think even Suzaku and the others as well) but he'll still guilty for not saving the life of an innocent person. The Lulu right now is still a moral person.

With Suzaku though . . .I can't tell. With his sense of morality, he would highly prefer to save both parties no matter what. It's highly possible for him to save his important person but it's also highly possible for him to save the innocent one instead. He's hard to predict x_X But whichever he saves, for sure he'll have full of guilt and regrets for the rest of his life. But I see him continue to live normally (whichever he chooses) but has not completely forgotten the past (e.g. if he saved his important person, that person will help him recover from regrets; if not, he will recover by thinking that his important person wouldn't want him to live like that . . . or anything else close to that ^^;)

[verity-isle.livejournal.com]

By that, do you infer that while Lelouch wouldn't take no for an answer to save people he feels is important to him, Suzaku would do his best and regret it later if he fails? He seems to have major issues with that, but I can totally see it. Which makes a point : Which method is actually more humane?

Suzaku is strong---I do see him trying to put the issue aside instead of completely dealing with it in his head, though.

[sapphire-pyro.livejournal.com]

do you infer that while Lelouch wouldn't take no for an answer to save people he feels is important to him, Suzaku would do his best and regret it later if he fails<-- That's what I think.

Which method is actually more humane?<--- very difficult to answer x_X . . .for me . . .

[(Anonymous)]

As Lelouch is not an evil man, he would do it without hesitation (he strikes me as the type that would put the world to flames in such a case, or in revenge) but he would not take pleasure in it. He would not be unfeeling towards the innocent girl, he would want to do something for her, and what better final memory than a good ole rogering? Thing is, after centuries of careful breeding for excellence in the royal family, Lelouch has inherited the WonderSperm (or PowerSeed, depending on your school of thought), which is a sort of panacea. Naturally, Lelouch is as of yet unaware of the potent tool he holds in his hands, and would not know he cured the poor soul, and leave with a heavy, but determined heart. The girl, after realizing she has been cured, would look out the window at the sunset with fresh, alive eyes and think "I'll never forget you, kind stranger".

[verity-isle.livejournal.com]

....you should've given me the number for BrainFix Hotline along with that.

And then I think someone's probably writing a fic/doujin about this somewhere in the world, and suddenly everything gains perspective.

[empanadas]

Lelouch is definitely the guy who would automatically put his Important Person over other people; he'll do whatever it takes - even if it means manipulating the one who created the antidote into giving it to him. However, he will feel guilt over the innocent girl in question since he wants to help that person get better.

Suzaku, being very gung-ho about saving other people, will try to save both the IP and the innocent girl at once. He will fail, however, and thus more angst will bring forth for him.

[verity-isle.livejournal.com]

Haha, that's sort of what happened in the original scenario, actually. Except the guy decided to save his IP, then at the last minute had a guilt attack and ran back to the girl. The result was that both died, and he angsted (with disastrous consequences, the manga is cruel in ways that even CLAMP isn't) for two volumes straight.