Philosophies of Mana (Extended Edition), Thursday Per 3

[deathsmajesty]

Unlike last week's pastoral meadow, this week the class would find themselves sitting around a large table on the balcony of a bustling cafe, overlooking a vast waterway, with tall, elegant buildings that seemed just as much part of the waterway as above it. Rather than more pillows and cushions, they were sitting on a balcony of a coffeashop, many, many stories above ground level, high enough to see the tops of several of the waterfalls. With them was the whiteboard, though the word at the top was no longer peace but
Perfection
And, of course, the same questions from the last two weeks were written out:

• What does blue mana desire? What is its end goal?

• What means does blue mana use to achieve these ends?

• What does blue mana care about? What does it represent?

• What does blue mana despise? What negatively drives it?

• What is blue mana's greatest strength? Greatest weakness?

"Welcome to Ravnica, class," Liliana said and there was no denying the warmth or the fondness in her tone. She loved this plane quite dearly and a lot of care had been put into programming the simulation. "Ravnica is an ecumenopolis, a city so vast it covers the entire plane, serving as proof that mana can thrive even when surrounded by the trappings of industry and civilization, rather than wild, untrammeled nature. This area is rich with blue mana - so much so that the building with the giant statue over there is the home of Isperia, a great sphinx and the guildmaster of the Azorius Senate." Its silhouette was leonine, but only because they were too far away to see the wings folded along its sides.

( Perfection Through Knowledge )

"To follow the philosophy of blue, one must train oneself to examine the world and discover any and every opportunity that awaits - or can be made. Use these opportunities to learn, because with knowledge and mastery one's fingertips, there is no problem that cannot be solved, no question that cannot be answered. Seek not not just knowledge but omniscience, which is just as impossible a goal as perfection, but for blue, it isn't just the destination that's important, but the entire journey to get there, because the journey is where that knowledge is gathered - and where one's own essence is shaped and molded.

Norse Mythology, Thursday, Second Period

[ifwebeworthy]

"Last week, we discussed the Norse traditions' origin story for the world," Don reminded his class, "but it raised some questions. Where did the cow come from? Why was there a god already buried in the ice at the beginning of the world? And the answer is very simple: to come to the beginning, you must start with the end. You may have heard of Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods, before. It's the story of how the world will end, and the survivors will make a new one. Where I come from, Ragnarok is--was--a cycle, until it was ended." By Thor. "The world ended and was made anew, over and over. So the cow and Buri were both survivors of a previous cycle. See? Simple. Why a cow? Why not a cow? Survivorship of disaster is arbitrary." Don shrugged.

"We'll talk about Ragnarok itself in another class, but for now I want you to think about the cyclical nature of it. Leave aside that where I come from it's pure truth. What does it say, allegorically? What do you think about it? Discuss."

Library, Thursday 1/22

[noonedecidesmyfate]

The castle had not survived and it seemed that the cardboard fort had been utilized to fashion a number of bizarre sculptures around the library.

Belle walked around, admiring the artwork, and then settled in to read about various apocalypse.

There were absolutely some post apocalyptic romances out there.

She was hoping no gremlins were feeling bitey.