crouching_sin | [Video]

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[Video]

[Today's video finds Naoya sitting and drinking a cup of coffee. He's bundled up in a green sweater, and he looks fairly amused.]

I thought I'd tell you a story today, for those of you who care to listen. This is a story about the Norse gods, and mistletoe. Let me define a fe things before I begin, for those of you who do not know those terms.

Gods are like… very powerful beings. Think of them like very rare, very powerful Pokemon. Gods in most traditions are similar to humans in the sense that they live out their lives, look similar to people, and have relationships. Generally, they're thought to have certain domains of power.

Mistletoe is a plant with white berries that looks similar to this.

[He pauses to lift up a picture that he's drawn to illustrate it.]

There's a tradition to meet under it to kiss people.

'Norse' refers to a people in my world that lived in the far north. Their culture is mostly known these days for being one that was full of warriors and raiders.

Now, on to our story. One day, the queen of the gods, Frigga, had a dream about her son Baldur - the god of light - dying horribly. Baldur had the same dream, and Frigga set out to see that it didn't happen. She traveled all the realms, making each and every object swear that it would never harm Baldur. Every object swore an oath - except for mistletoe, because Frigga thought it too young and unimportant to swear an oath.

The gods heard of all of the oaths sworn, and played a game where they threw things at Baldur and watched them bounce off. However Loki, god of fire and mischief, heard of this, and found out that mistletoe had not sworn that oath. He took mistletoe and made an arrow of it, and handed it to Baldur's brother, the blind god Hod. Hod threw the arrow at Baldur, which killed him.

Frigga went to Hel, the mistress of the dead, and pleaded for her son back. Hel agreed, on the condition that every living thing in the world weep for Baldur. She went to every living thing and begged for them to weep, and all did - except one. That was the giantess Thokk, and because she would not weep, Baldur did not come back to life.

[He takes a sip of his coffee, before speaking again.]

It's unclear whether Thokk was Loki in disguise or not. Certainly, he'd never tell one way or the other, god of mischief that he is. The fact remains that, though many see mistletoe as a symbol of love, it's in fact the reminder of a dead god.

... Though said god did reappear recently, though that's a story for another time.

I hope you all learned something today.

[Aaand the video clicks off.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

It's considered 'literature', I guess, and many schools just don't cover it like they should.

wait do schools actually cover mythology in reading class?
huh
i was being sort of ironic because i havent seen the inside of a school since i was thirteen on account of the world ending and all

Some of them do, usually under 'classical literature'. At least the Iliad and the Odyssey.

But yes, that would definitely stop school from happening.

i dont have to take make ups or anything do i
i dont remember schooling being a big part of the pokeworld zeitgeist

There's a Trainer School around but that's voluntary and focuses on Pokemon, so no.

good
i reserve my right as a lawless orphan in this video game world to be as uneducated and feckless as i want

It would only be traditional, wouldn't it?

and im all about respecting the great traditions of this world
especially the ones that align with my total lack of interest in experiencing what human high school is actually like

It's not fun. I was incredibly bored during all of my high school classes.

they had high school 5500 years ago?

I graduated from high school about six years ago.

[Private]

But no, they didn't.

it took you 5500 years to graduate high school?

[Well, he can see why Naoya would want that private...]

No, I reincarnated.

oh
that makes sense
well shit dude i hope you didnt have to go through high school too many times
that sounds like it would probably suck

After the first few times that I had to do it I started to just get moved up to the advanced classes, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

wait
isnt this not how reincarnation works
i thought you werent supposed to remember past lives
like only your karma gets transferred on and not your memories and stuff

Karma isn't really transferred so much in my world, but yes, that's how it's supposed to work.

I'm somewhat of a special case, unfortunately.

oh
so do you have grown up memories when youre a baby
because that seems like itd be supremely frustrating

They seem to be somewhat fuzzy before I'm a few years old, but most babies don't really handle memories well. But then yes, when I'm first really aware of myself I have all of those memories coming back.

[...]

does it suck as much as it sounds like it sucks

Pretty much. It's a literal and metaphorical headache.

sorry that happens to you then
and keeps happening
id be pretty pissed off at god too if i believed in that stuff

He'll pay for it eventually.

uhh
how...so?
i mean
isnt god by definition pretty much unassailably omnipotent

All gods can be defeated. They're powerful, but not insurmountable. The King of Demons is the only being with the power to stand up to Him.

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