maskormenace | 02

As a professor, whenever a holiday comes, it's always an opportunity for learning, and today happens to not be an exception, despite the personal nature of the holiday.

I suspect there are not many who celebrate such things, but perhaps it is a nice time to speak of them, considering it's father's day. I'm reflecting on fathers of myth, of course, not real ones -- but, ah, if you need someone to listen, I am, of course, here to listen.

There are, unfortunately, not a terribly high amount of good fathers in mythology, at least from my world. Sometimes, if you think of yourself as a poor parent, you can at least remember that you are no Zeus, or Hiranyakashipu. One was merely...devoted to sowing his progeny around Greece, as we all know, but Hiranyakashipu attempted multiple times to murder his son, because he worshipped a god he hated. [ A soft chuckle, and a shake of his head. ] I worried about moving too much, with mine! I suppose things could be worse. Then again, there is also Cronus, the god who ate his sons, [ he starts ticking on his fingers, ] Tantalus, Izanagi, Abraham...

Well, we're not short on those, are we? [ A soft chuckle, and a shake of his head. ]

I suppose there's something to be said, when we consider ourselves bad parents, yes? Not that we should ever excuse ourselves. [ A beat. ] I suppose I'm just...thoughtful, today. Moreso than I thought I would be. [ Another pause. ]

Are there others out there, who are thinking of things like this today?

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[he hesitates. It's weird to talk about his dad. it's not like he has like, dad damage. But its still weird]

My dad didn't raise me or anything. But he is the nurturer of the pantheon.

Is he? [ A pause. ] I don't think you told me who, but I suspect I could guess, if you follow Nordic conventions. [ A beat. ] After all, there aren't many nurturers among them.

I wouldn't have minded telling, but now I wanna see if your degree was worth it.

[cheeky, but kind]

Edited 2018-06-22 03:39 (UTC)

[ David laughed. ]

Ah, let's see. I seem to remember you mentioning that you were half-Vanir, yes? That limits our options a great deal. Njörðr was a touch too tragic, and his marriage too ill-fated, Vanlandi too obscure and not god-like enough, Kvasir is a possiblility... [ he's ticking off his fingers. ] Ullr and Heimdallr aren't commonly thought to be Vanir but there are theories...

[ David tapped his chin. ] I think, however, the most likely candidate is Freyr.

[Magnus quirks a slightly awkward smile]

Got it in one. Maybe college is worth it for more than the wild keggers...? [a good joke. Magnus is too much of a square for wild keggers, probably] We don't, um. Know each other well. But I know my dad takes nurturing life seriously. More seriously than Ragnarok, even.

[which... is its own problem. still; Magnus is... definitely okay, with being descended from a person like that. connected to those kinds of domains, of growth and plenty and peace. he can't imagine being anything else, really]

[ David hid his mouth with his hand. ] I was never that much of a party animal.

[ A beat. ]

I can imagine, then, that he was...probably one of the better ones, although considering... Compared to other mythologies, your ancestral pantheon is a fair bit better than the worst offenders.

[ Congrats, Norse aren't the worst!! ]

[it feels like a low bar to clear, tbh]

Our violence is just pretty externalized, I guess. It's hard to do much in-fighting with your own kids when Ragnarok's looming. Loki's a piece of shit to his demigods if they don't fall in line, surprise, but the other gods leave their kids alone or help them become heroes.

Precisely, yes, and Loki is...an outsider in many ways, regardless. Perhaps that is how he was raised, we know...so little about the giants and their lines, after all. Not compared to the Aesir or left-over Vanir that signed on with them.

[what is this foreign emotion]

-- They were war hostages. For Mimir and Hoenir. And then they lost the war. I'm not sure that's signing on.

Yes, yes, I'm aware.

[ A touch sharply. Defensive about his knowledge, isn't he? It couldn't be anything to do with that name. ]

The point still stands, Loki, after all, was no war hostage, but more an... ill-begotten friend.

[oh. Magnus feels a bit dumb for correcting the literal professor of mythology on mythology; besides, the familial impulse towards the Vanir is... well, embarrassing, vocalised. his father and he don't have much of a relationship, he's just said as much. why is he so invested in defending an ancient heritage Blake probably knows more about than he does? (because he believes in it, maybe, more than the politics of power and might-making-right among the Aesir)]

[well, whatever]

I dunno. [...] They're all part of the same cosmic lineage at the end of the day, aren't they? Odin and Loki and Mimir and Frey. If Loki's an outsider, he was made that way. And Ragnarok's more of a final straw than like, evidence he never belonged.

[leave it to the child of Frey to have empathy even for those that don't want it]

Edited 2018-06-25 05:38 (UTC)

[ A moment. Blake has to look away, almost distracted for a moment, like there's something out there, to hide the tightness in his jaw, or the way his eye twitched. Mimir was...not a name he had to hear, often. It made it easier to pretend that his son's ghost wasn't hovering over his every step, every action. ]

Yes, they are, and you're correct. Honestly the final straw was long before that, and Ragnarok the conclusion, once he broke free. The revenge -- the twilight of the gods, if you will. [ A brief, scoffing laugh. ] To quote Wagner.

[likely somewhat dissonant (or not dissonant enough), a teenage complaint from a teenage boy, somebody else's divine son giving a teenage opinion]

I tried to watch it once, 'cuz, I dunno, but it was so boring. -- The Ring Cycle, I mean. No offense.

Edited 2018-06-25 05:47 (UTC)

Why would I be insulted? I didn't write it.

[ A beat, and a wave of his hand. ] Norse mythology is always favored by...certain personalities, and they love to...pretend parts of the mythology don't exist to fulfill their desires for a certain narrative.

I'm not partial to that thinking. Although I've found the operas good...background music from time to time.

[ You know. When he's doing his woden stride. ]

The music was good. [he's forced to admit it; the singing, he'd been less into] What narrative was Wagner pushing? Mullets? The romance of incest? His daddy issues?

[he got further through the cycle than he thought. ironically, he just didn't get to the end; he remembers turning it off, annoyed and over all the wailing, when Odin punished the brave Valkyrie for her kindness]

I know the real answer is the German patriarchal myth of superiority, but it seems like there's a lot of other stuff going on. That has nothing to do with what I've seen in Valhalla.

Edited 2018-06-25 05:56 (UTC)

Oh, it's mostly that. [ A scoff. ]

Also, the era of German mysticism and obsession with the great magics in the world, and the idea of a one power being too much for any one person to ever truly escape with. Everyone desires it, after all.

[ A beat. ] It's not surprise Tolkien butchered the story for his own use.

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