Philosophies of Mana (Extended Edition), Thursday Per 3

[deathsmajesty]

Today was the last week of the original information, next week they'd get to the new material and could anyone blame Liliana for being excited? It helped that they were also talking about her mana this week, the mana she felt most connected to. For something new, she programmed in the ruins of Vithia, from the Alaran shard of Grixis, the class meeting not on cushions and pillows as usual, but on small boats and rafts, floating along the remains of the Vithian aqueduct system.

Power
• What does black mana desire? What is its end goal?

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

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

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

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

( Power Through Ruthlessness )

"Again, because free will is paramount, there is no such thing as a 'slippery slope' whereby using more black mana will somehow condemn you to become a power-hungry monster or to see the rest of the world as a toy to play with. Black does not provide a set of goals that black-aligned individuals have to pursue; we are not required to chase political, martial, or financial dominance. Abyss, we do not even even need to pursue selfish goals. Black provides only only a method - do not abide by needless restrictions - and a worldview - power enough to secure our own free will is mandatory. Beyond that, one can choose any goal they desire, for whatever reasons they desire. To have it any other way would be anathema to free will itself. Of course, black encourages people to take care of themselves and discourages putting others first, but - and this is vital - it neither commands the former nor forbids the latter. Black is not above being humble or empathizing with others, or radically changing its self-image and priorities when it's necessary. Black's goals can include finding love, true friendship, and happiness within a community, even living out a life of self-sacrifice or servitude to another without any difficulty at all. The only, only intolerable thing for a black mana philosopher is not being able to decide the course of their own life, everything else is negotiable."

Norse Mythology, Thursday, Second Period

[ifwebeworthy]

"Okay," Don said, and glanced at the family trees that were still on the whiteboard like a jump scare. "Let's talk about our major players." He pointed with his walking stick at the first name on his list. "Odin. The Allfather. Head of the pantheon, king of the gods. His wife, Frigg--not to be confused with Freya. These are two different goddesses. His son, Thor. I think we're all at least somewhat familiar with him, right?" he joked. "His other son, Baldr, and his other other son, Tyr." Felt weird to just acknowledge them as Odin's sons out loud like that. "Tyr, Odin, Thor, and Frigg remain significant in our day to day lives, because they are the source of the names of four of the English days of the week: Tuesday is Tyr's day, Wednesday is Odin's day, Friday is Frigg's day, and today, Thursday, is Thor's day. Don't let him get a big head about it," he joked.

"Then, of course, we have--" Don tapped the second family tree. "Loki. A trickster god. God of mischief, technically, and thus the troublemaker in many tales and general all-around pain in the ass. Among his children we have Fenris--sorry, Fenrir, it's spelled different here--the wolf that will devour the sun at Ragnarok--more on that to come--and Jörmungandr, the serpent that encircles the world biting its own tail, and also Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse ridden by Odin. And I did promise to explain that and I will. Just...not this week." You could continue to suffer from curiosity.

"Now, of course there are a lot more gods, some of whom will come up in this class and some of whom may not. If you have any questions about anyone I just talked about, or anyone else on the board, please feel free to ask."

Library, Thursday 2/12

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle did not know who had wrapped up books in brown paper and made very glittery signs about having a blind date with a book.

But she was intrigued by the idea. And so tempted to rip open the paper to see what was what, honestly. But she refrained. Someone else might be very into the mystery!