Philosophies of Mana (Extended Edition), Thursday Per 3

[deathsmajesty]

Finally! As much as Liliana adored talking about mana philosophies, she was also quite excited to finally get to move into teaching new material: mana pairs. Today, when class entered the Danger Shop, they'd find themselves high up on a rooftop in a bustling city. No, not Ravnica (but great guess!), Insomnia. Rather than pillows and cushions, there were scattered tables and chairs set up under a string of the so-called 'fairy lights' (they had nothing to do with faeries at all, Liliana had checked), though the omnipresent whiteboard was, once again, omnipresent. Drawn on it were five different symbols in a circle: a sun, a droplet, a skull, a flame, and a tree.

( Wealth is power--and you can ABSOLUTELY take it with you--Orzhov Syndicate )

The corner of her lips curled a bit. "But before you decide that black and white mana is bad guys all the way down, there are a number of positive qualities that go along with this pairing. The first is unwavering discipline, the result of black's determination to succeed and white's absolute dedication to a cause. Relating to the shared patience I mentioned earlier, black and white demonstrate excellent stewardship, with a focus on long-term planning and incremental gain. Sure, strip mining an area bare of all its resources makes for fast profit, but that profit will eventually come to an end. Better to take care and ensure that your profit lasts forever. This relates to their shared concept of orderly self-interest. While black and white philosophy cares primarily - if not solely - for their in-group, they are aware that a rigid, organized, orderly system benefits everyone. The tide raises all boats, after all. And, of course, loyalty and devotion have already been mentioned, but deserve to be acknowledged again."

Norse Mythology, Thursday, Second Period

[ifwebeworthy]

"This week is also not the week you get to learn about why Loki's kids are like that," Don told his class, apologetic, "because we're covering something a bit more basic first. You'll have to remain in suspense for another...two weeks, actually. Today we're going to talk about the world. Or, more accurately, the worlds. Nine of them, hanging on a tree.

"The Norse believed that at the heart of the universe there was a massive ash tree, Yggdrasil. Creatures lived within the tree itself--a squirrel, a hawk, several stags, a dragon...you know, your usual forest creatures that you might find living in a tree." Note sarcasm. "Amongst the branches of Yggdrasil are nine worlds: Asgard, the realm of the Aesir; Vanaheim, the realm of the Vanir; Alfheim and Svartalfheim, the realms of the light and dark elves; Jotunheim and Muspelheim, the realms of the frost and fire giants; Nidavellir, the realm of the dwarves; and Niflheim, the primordial realm of ice and water. Sometimes instead of Niflheim, Hel is one of the worlds on the tree, depending on who you ask. And, of course, Midgard, the realm of men, the one we are standing in. Sort of. I don't really know how interdimensional nexus points work. In theory, one can access the other worlds by traveling out of their world and along the tree, but that way is roundabout, so most entities that can traverse worlds do so by other means, such as the rainbow bridge known as the Bifrost, which allows the Aesir to travel between Asgard and Midgard.

"So," Don said. "What do you think? Is the universe a tree? If you don't buy into it, what might have made the Norse conceptualize the world this way? Why do both a squirrel and a dragon live in the tree? Discuss."

Library, Thursday 2/19

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle was reading up on Greece.

Which, today, meant reading about Greek mythology. Except she kept getting distracted by other mythologies. Like, say, Norse. She was trying to resist researching the whole horse thing. So far she'd been successful. So far.

The gremlins were mysteriously absent today though they'd left behind evidence of what appeared to have been a feast either this morning or last night. They hadn't even shared. So rude.