Naoya (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
crouching_sin) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
victory_road2016-12-03 05:21 pm
crouching_sin) wrote in victory_road2016-12-03 05:21 pm
[Video]
[Naoya's drinking coffee, looking amused. Alice the Gardevoir is hovering near him, looking slightly Concerned.]
Ah, it's that time of year again. I told this story last year, but some of you may not have been here. This is a story about the Norse gods, and mistletoe. Let me define a few things before I begin, for those of you who do not know those terms.
Gods are very powerful beings. Think of them like very rare, very powerful Pokemon. Gods in many 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 lifts 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, our story. One day, the queen of the gods, Frigga, had a dream about her son Baldur - the god of light - dying horribly and messily. Baldur had the same dream, and Frigga set out to see that it didn't happen, out of concern for her son. 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 the 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 not clear whether Thokk was Loki in disguise or not. Certainly, he'd never tell one way or the other, considering he's a god of mischief. The fact remains that, though many see mistletoe as a symbol of love, it's in fact the reminder of a dead god.
... Said god did reappear fairly recently in my world, though that's a somewhat more complicated story.
Hopefully you all learned something.
[The video is about to click off, but Alice touches Naoya's shoulder. She communicates silently with him for a moment, before he hands the Pokegear to her, frowning. He knows better than to try to deny her.]
Still... I think meeting under the mistletoe to kiss is a very cute tradition. I wonder if that's something Pokemon can do, too?
[Her shoulders shake a little in silent laughter, and Naoya in the background facepalms as she turns the video off.]
Ah, it's that time of year again. I told this story last year, but some of you may not have been here. This is a story about the Norse gods, and mistletoe. Let me define a few things before I begin, for those of you who do not know those terms.
Gods are very powerful beings. Think of them like very rare, very powerful Pokemon. Gods in many 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 lifts 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, our story. One day, the queen of the gods, Frigga, had a dream about her son Baldur - the god of light - dying horribly and messily. Baldur had the same dream, and Frigga set out to see that it didn't happen, out of concern for her son. 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 the 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 not clear whether Thokk was Loki in disguise or not. Certainly, he'd never tell one way or the other, considering he's a god of mischief. The fact remains that, though many see mistletoe as a symbol of love, it's in fact the reminder of a dead god.
... Said god did reappear fairly recently in my world, though that's a somewhat more complicated story.
Hopefully you all learned something.
[The video is about to click off, but Alice touches Naoya's shoulder. She communicates silently with him for a moment, before he hands the Pokegear to her, frowning. He knows better than to try to deny her.]
Still... I think meeting under the mistletoe to kiss is a very cute tradition. I wonder if that's something Pokemon can do, too?
[Her shoulders shake a little in silent laughter, and Naoya in the background facepalms as she turns the video off.]
[Video]
[Video]
You don't. But I think, dedicating one day out of the whole year reminds you how special it can be. Right?
My trainer thinks about that sort of thing a lot. I don't think he realizes.