genessia | Easter [Video/Action Open]

[What, the world makes a big hullabaloo about Christmas, but not its supernatural conclusion? You can't just proclaim Christ's birth without its telos! This will not stand! Genessia's about to be schooled by the lone man who cares enough about the holiest of holidays.

Ted's there, somehow even more gaily dressed than usual, along with all seven--the number of completeness--of his pokemon behind him.]

Good evening, ye merry gentlemen, and God bless you as we celebrate Easter, the day when the world died only to be reborn from dusk to dawn.

Christ, the paschal lamb, who had been slain but three days prior, was risen by the power and glory of God. Just as sin and death entered through men by the first man, Adam, so Christ became the firstfruits of life. He bore sin and death that he might trample both, and resurrect the sleeping ones yet in bondage to sin.

So Death, the last enemy, is and was destroyed by the Redeemer, who means life and life abundant for all who cleave to him. Take that, Hades! The tombs are emptied, the visible is overcome by the invisible! Rejoice, men and angels and all alike for whom life is freed!

[His pokemon rustle; clearly eager to join in on whatever festivities are planned. Ted turns around, laughs, then spreads his arms, gesturing to them.]

We were graced with parcels of life's abundance one month ago, and rightly rejoiced. How much more, then, for the life and liberty from sin granted two thousand years ago? Happy Easter, everyone; God take you all.

[With that his pokemon make a joyous, clamorous farewell as he ends the feed. With but an hour of Easter left, Ted takes his court of Pan--such wonderful representatives of life!--to the city streets for more happy singing.]

"Christ is risen from the dead, Allelujah!
Every people, every nation,
Soon shall hear the gladsome sound;
Joyous tidings of salvation,
Borne to earth’s remotest bound.
Then shall rise in tones excelling,
Praise for grace so freely shed;
And the Easter hymn be swelling,
"Christ is risen from the dead!"

[It did say every people. Neither Ted nor his personal zoo will be slack in spreading this gospel, oh no! He felt extremely happy, as though he were Adam himself, back with his named creatures in Eden.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hah, got it in one! You've an intellect above the commons; you'll make a name.

[Ted's too earnest to riddle anyone. Intentionally, at least. Not above light mockery though.]

But what I'm really about is your mysterious definition of "mystery", especially given the mysteries of the here and now, where we have many facts and next to no understanding.

[ Meanwhile, it's just making her think he's deluded. ]

No one with a pendant is actually from this universe and I highly doubt your world's religion is the same as this one's. Don't tell people otherwise when there are people who are actively trying to get answers and you'd be wasting their time. Just because something is a mystery doesn't mean you should apply it to everything because you don't have another answer yet. It's a mystery where my socks go in the laundry, I don't spend my whole life assuming the entire universe has sock-consuming Grimm taking them to build a sock-consuming Grimm nest in some kind of world-crossing nexus.

I see. So, do you believe religion is an entirely provincial thing, then, too limited and local for any universal truths? Oh, and I use "universal" to mean "all that exists", here.

Do you also believe that a mystery is but a placeholder, usually wrong, for something more explicit, which is usually right?

I believe each world might have different ones and if yours was so special as to be true of all worlds, someone would've heard something about it on more than one world. The idea that yours is universally true when we know certain things to be true about mine is ludicrous. [ She sounds calm as she's trying to explain this. She's not particularly religious, particularly since she's finding out some stories she previously believed to be fairy tales are in fact true, so this is just interesting to her. ] If this Mr. Christ had died for my world's sins as well as yours, I don't think we'd have a bunch of monsters that feed off of negative emotions roaming the planet feeding on humans and faunus. I think the story of the two brothers has much more credence than yours would on my world. It's just April 16th for us.

A mystery is something that you don't yet have enough information to have a real answer for.

Oh, but they have. I can name three or four of them off the top of my head. Not to mention Genessia's consistent celebration of Christmas, the name of which may ring more than just sleigh bells.

Mm, well death for sins doesn't immediately lead to paradise on earth; it takes two to tango in that exchange.

Huh. Would you say, then, that it would be silly to act upon or even hang your life on facts known only by association?

I mean, it always seemed like a more general holiday thing to me, and as far as I can tell Santa has nothing to do with this religion at all.

It takes a lot more than two, but I'm not sure what exactly the point of him dying for anyone's sins is if there's no positive effect to doing so. [ She's really trying to understand here but she's missing a lot of the story. ]

No. I think you can believe in whatever you'd like to unless you're harming someone else while doing it. [ Like banning necromancy, thank you very much. But she's trying not to hold a grudge, especially since that's long since no more. ] I think it would be silly to expect others to believe as you do without providing them with effective reason to, though.

Pff! A "general" holiday? The origin of the name "Santa" (saint) may interest you. [He doubts it, but it might. Then again, even he had to admit the Santa here was a little insipid; he certainly didn't hold a candle to the face-slapping Bishop of Myra. On the other hand, he got a pretty sweet from coat from him, so he couldn't complain too much. It made him a little sad, the way Genessia could manifest myth, only to drain the blood and sap out. All body, no soul.

Speaking of soullessness, Ted's eyes glaze at the usual line about believing whatever so long as it has no consequences or any material manifestation. A flaccid and indifferent endorsement, if that. He recalled a certain whipping of money changers. His own faith was all about taking up the cross, with all that entailed. If there's no pain--for yourself, possibly others--, one's only playing at religion. He'd be happy to explain what, precisely, the upsides were. He could go on about the correspondence of evil within and evil without. But then the faith was clear on that too. It's vain trying to communicate spiritual things to nonspiritual people. It's a different language; the words won't mean anything to them. He's had pearls trampled before, and isn't interested in a repeat. He figures he's gone as far as he can.]

Mm. Well, I should be going while the day lasts. Good evening, Weiss, and happy Easter.

Edited 2017-05-01 05:29 (UTC)

[ And this is why she has very little respect for him. He expects people to accept his word as law without even telling them what his word is, then giving up when they ask questions. Weiss wants to learn, and now that she's making arrangements for her company, difficult as they are becoming, she's actually got time to get back to that. But apparently Ted has no desire to teach anyone who won't obey his religion without even knowing what it is beyond a mythical man who delivers presents and a man who dies to pay for peoples' sins to (in her understanding) little end. He doesn't offer follow up, he just ends the conversation. ]

Enjoy your Easter.

[ She'll at least give him that, though she does sound a little less than pleased, but she hangs up before he can respond again. ]

Easter [Video/Action Open]

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