#25 saints of christmas

[thatpikmin]

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a saint in a mean girls outfit

To celebrate my beginning of officially posting art on tumblr I will be posting 25-30 saints to the end of the year

So I’m asking for RW artist to send me their saints, there is a limit so I won’t be accepting all saints since there is a 25-30 day limit so be fast!! (If you have a Christmas outfit in mind you can also send it my way)

[ddaz3d-and-cc0nfused]

𝙳𝙰𝚈 𝚃𝚆𝙾: Getting the Tree w/ Murphy MacManus

a/n: this is my first time writing for murphy as well as his accent, so i hope i captured his character well enough, seeing as though i've rewatched these movies more times than i can count!!

masterlist | ficmas masterlist | AO3

When you lived with the MacManus Brothers, there was always something new, something going on; either that range from waking up to one of the men's bare asses facing you as they shower, to the two of them leaving you to rest as they went to Morning Mass.

You had known them long before you and Murphy had gotten together, a family friend of you will. Anything that they had done didn't compare to what you were woken up to in the morning. You had been left sound asleep as they attended Mass, but a loud slam following by some bickering then laughing greeted you as the two men and a... Tree? Breached the threshold of the door.

"Murphy?" You all but mumbled as they made a bunch of noise. "Aye lass! We've got ourselves a tree!" You heard your boyfriend sound from behind his twin. "Aye! It's quite a beauty, isn't it?" Connor sounded with a bright smile on his face. You sat up on the mattress, watching as they tried their best to shove it into a corner. "Yeah.. it's nice. But, we have no space, and no decorations." You countered unsurely, trying your best not to burn out their holiday flame. Their spirits were difficult to darken.

"Then we'll jus' have to get some, right little brother?" Murphy asked with a shit eating grin on his face. It was hard to take both of them seriously as they were covered in tinsle, a fight already breaking out as Connor was determined to prove that he was the bigger brother. You just sighed, getting up as the two of them tackled each other, practically tripping over the others' limbs. You stared at the tree. It most definitely was nice, probably the biggest tree they've could've gotten, one that definitely expensive. Your eyes traveled down to the very unclean cut bottom limb.

"Did you guys cut this down yourselves?" You asked incredulously. Their fighting ceased, instead replaced by grins as their hair was ruffled, sweat beading on their foreheads and eyebrows.

"Aye, lass! We spotted her on our way home from mornin' mass! She was practically callin' to us!" Connor exclaimed excitedly. "How'd you cut it down?" Curiosity was evident in your tone as you scaled the tree. "We stopped by McGinty's. Crazy old bastard had one in the back." Murph spoke as he wrapped both of his arms around your waist, resting his chin on your shoulder as he now spoke into your ear.

"We figured we'd surprise you, love." You reached up to run your fingers through his hair. "Well, consider me pleasantly surprised."

ೃ⁀➷ my lovely taglist!: @alina02 @louderfortheback @minervadashwood

[e-louise-bates]

I am delighting in following all the friend bingos on here, but when I thought about joining in myself I realized I simply do not have the energy to make a bingo card for myself or follow through on checking off all my mutuals' cards, so I am (as usual) enjoying observing without actually participating.

[likirahub99outfitstees]

Just Say Ho Ho Ho Merry Fly Xmas Hanging Santa T-shirts, Mugs, Hoodies, Mugs, Baby Bodysuits, Pillows, and Many More…

Treat Yourself Shop at - likirahub99

[animusrox]

LETTERBOXD

1.   The Batman 2.   Everything Everywhere All at Once 3.   Prey 4.   Triangle of Sadness 5.   Barbarian 6.  The Northman 7.   Bodies Bodies Bodies 8.   The Banshees of Inisherin 9.   Bones and All 10.   Avatar: The Way of Water

Grade A

11.   Turning Red 12.   The Menu 13.   Babylon 14.   Hit the Road 15.   Cow 16.   Watcher 17.   Funny Pages 18.   Mad God 19.   On the Count of Three 20.   Armageddon Time 21.   Terrifier 2 22.   Marcel the Shell with Shoes On 23.   Smile 24.   Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery 25.   Holy Spider 26.   Aftersun 27.   The Fabelmans 28.   Breaking 29.   Decision to Leave 30.   The Whale 31.   All Quiet on the Western Front 32.   Brian and Charles 33.   Piggy 34.   Saint Omer 35.   Thirteen Lives 36.   Men 37.   The Fallout 38.   Resurrection 39.   Causeway 40.  The Black Phone 41.   Official Competition 42.   Nope 43.  Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio 44.   Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood 45.   Till 46.   TÁR 47.   Happening 48.   A Love Song 49.   The Outfit 50.   The Innocents 51.   Jackass Forever 52.   BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths 53.   Montana Story 54.   Three Thousand Years of Longing 55.   You Won’t Be Alone 56.   The Sadness 57.   Halloween Ends 58.   Pearl 59.   X 60.   Vesper

Click "Keep Reading” For My Full List

Grade B

61.   This Place Rules 62.   Fresh 63.   Windfall 64.   Kimi 65.   No Exit 66.   Top Gun: Maverick 67.   “Sr.” 68.   Farha 69.   The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent 70.   Weird: The Al Yankovic Story 71.   Nitram 72.   Speak No Evil 73.   Run Sweetheart Run 74.   She Said 75.   White Noise 76.   Puss in Boots: The Last Wish 77.   V/H/S/99 78.   The Wonder 79.   Women Talking 80.   Hatching 81.   Soft & Quiet 82.   Scream 83.   To Leslie 84.   Hustle 85.   Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers 86.   Dual 87.   God’s Country 88.   Emancipation 89.   Vengeance 90.   Fire of Love 91.   Bullet Train 92.   Incantation 93.   The Valet 94.   Hellraiser 95.   Christmas Bloody Christmas 96.   Significant Other 97.   Cha Cha Real Smooth 98.   Lucy and Desi 99.   Not Okay 100.   A Christmas Story Christmas 101.   Blonde 102.   Deadstream 103.   Sissy

Grade C

104.   The Bad Guys 105.   The Cursed 106.   Empire of Light 107.   A Man Called Otto 108.   Broker 109.   Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 110.   The Princess 111.   Beast 112.   After Yang 113.   RRR 114.   Fall 115.   Jackass 4.5 116.   Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe 117.   Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 118.   Jennifer Lopez: Halftime 119.   Lightyear 120.   The Pale Blue Eye 121.   The Woman King 122.   Violent Night 123.   God’s Creatures 124.   Ambulance 125.   Elvis 126.   You Are Not My Mother 127.   Emily the Criminal 128.   Crimes of the Future 129.   The Apology 130.   The Lost City 131.   Wendell & Wild 132.   Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 133.   The Found Footage Phenomenon 134.   See How They Run 135.   Spiderhead 136.   Studio 666 137.   Bros 138.   Spin Me Round 139.   We’re All Going to the World’s Fair 140.   Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank 141.   Honor Society

Grade D

142.   Thor: Love and Thunder 143.   Summering 144.   Strange World 145.   Glorious 146.   The Gray Man 147.   Devotion 148.   Clerks III 149.   The Forgiven 150.   Enola Holmes 2 151.   Father Stu 152.   Jurassic World Dominion 153.   DC League of Super-Pets 154.   She Will 155.   The Bob’s Burgers Movie 156.   Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody 157.   Hellbender 158.   Samaritan 159.   Day Shift 160.   Sonic the Hedgehog 2 161.   Prey for the Devil 162.   Troll 163.   Uncharted 164.  Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile 165.   Dashcam 166.   Firestarter 167.   Do Revenge 168.   Catwoman: Hunted 169.   The Munsters 170.   Amsterdam 171.   Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Grade F

172.   Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris 173.   The Bubble 174.   Dead for a Dollar 175.   Jerry & Marge Go Large 176.   Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. 177.   Infinite Storm 178.   Marry Me 179.   Don’t Worry Darling 180.   Spirited 181.   Disney's Pinocchio 182.   Alice 183.   Black Adam 184.   Orphan: First Kill 185.   The Adam Project 186.   The Invitation 187.   Texas Chainsaw Massacre 188.   Ticket to Paradise 189.   The 355 190.   Umma

Bottom 10

191.   Green Lantern: Beware My Power 192.   Deep Water 193.   Where the Crawdads Sing 194.   Blacklight 195.   Mack & Rita 196.   Memory 197.   Me Time 198.   Death on the Nile 199.   Morbius 200.   Moonfall

[britcision]

So I’ve been thinking about cultural Christianity lately and how people tend to get very upset about it without really understanding what it is, so here is a primer

Cultural Christianity is not a choice you make. It does not mean you are Christian, or even that you remotely like Christianity; a lot of people who vehemently hate the religion do so because of their own cultural Christianity

It is not a shortcoming, or a moral failing, or a sin. It just means that the culture you were raised in was predominantly Christian.

Note: I did not say “majority Christian”. Christians don’t need to be a majority to have a dominant cultural influence

Cultural Christianity means you inherently understand and probably use swearwords like “damn”, “hell”, or a variation on the name “Jesus Christ”

It means when I say cultural Christianity is not a sin, you understand exactly what I mean without needing to have it explained - and you probably know the phrase “original sin” or “seven deadly sins”, even if not in full detail

It means hearing about Hades, god of the dead, wealth, and volcanoes, and assuming he’s the bad guy of Greek mythology… y’know, like Satan

(EVERYONE went to Hades when they died. The Elysian Fields, where the best heroes went, was in Hades’ underworld. The Eleusinian mysteries, a cult to Demeter and Persephone, was basically about asking them to tell Hades to give you a cool afterlife

And he would cuz he drank his “respect wife” juice if not all of his “respect women” juice. Did still kidnap her. But she is a major feature and often makes the decision herself or influences his when they’re mentioned together

Meanwhile, people try and cast Zeus as a good parent)

It means having to have a dreidel, a menorah, or a kinara explained to you at a time when you already knew about Christmas trees and Santa

(Yes, Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, major host of the Mass of Christ, is culturally Christian. Even though Coke invented his aesthetic - that’s the “cultural” part)

It’s when you go to make up a new non-religious or pan religious winter celebration… that is centred around a day with family and gifts which is obviously the 25 of December. Maybe counting down 12 days before

It’s defaulting to calling a place of worship you don’t know the name of a “church”

Cultural Christianity is not something people have a choice in; you don’t pick where you’re born, and there are so many other cultures in places like Canada, America, and Britain that are culturally Christian out the ass! But… you will catch Contact Christianity in any of these places

It’s damn near impossible to consume any American or most Western media without brushing across it; cross imagery is everywhere, Christian demons and devils sneak into media all around the world

Western (and some other) Gothic fashion leans heavily on gothic architecture and, yeah, heavily Catholic imagery

Now, brushing across the media in other parts of the world does not impart the same level of cultural Christianity as growing up in a city with four churches on a single block and a Santa Claus parade

And you can grow up heavily in an entirely different culture even in the Bible Belt (but you know what Bible Belt means); you don’t have to abandon all other culture just because Christianity has a chokehold on your home

But when December (or fucking November these days) hits and you hear Mariah Carey in 3/6 stores, yes, you probably have some cultural Christianity

You sure as hell don’t need to be able to name half the denominations (can you name more than 4?), you may never set foot in a Christian church in your life, and still have a cultural Christian influence

If your street names have “saint” in them

If there are crosses or angels on more than half the graves in a cemetery

If you know how to cross yourself but aren’t really sure when you learned; you didn’t look it up or do research to find out

Now note: none of these have an inherent moral judgement attached to them

It’s just about what the culture you live in has taught you about the world, and there’s no culture that is magically the Right One or better than the others

There’s no reason to expect even specifically Christian culture to be the same around the world; it isn’t. It has the same root, but what flowers from the soil is another matter entirely

There is nothing wrong with acknowledging that you have culturally Christian influences and biases; being human is 90% absorbing information from the world around us and half processing it at best - there’s just too much input, and intentionally filtering out Everything Christian Ever?

Well unless you started at 2 years old, odds are pretty good it’s not really a personal choice kinda thing

And you cannot compensate for these influences unless you acknowledge that they exist, that you did not choose to form them, and that you do get to choose how they affect your actions going forward

Christmas stuffed a bunch of other religious traditions into a single package to make itself popular, but if you learned them as Christmas traditions first… do I even need to say it?

[incomingalbatross]

Traditional feast days within the Twelve Days of Christmas:

December 25: Christmas Day, the Nativity!

December 26: St. Stephen the first martyr

December 27: St. John the Evangelist

December 28: The Holy Innocents, murdered by Herod

December 29: St. Thomas a Becket and David

December 30: The Feast of the Holy Family (traditionally celebrated on the Sunday within the Octave, but on this day if there is no such Sunday)

December 31: St. Sylvester I, pope during the reign of Constantine and the Council of Nicaea

January 1: Octave-Day of the Nativity, traditionally the Feast of the Circumcision (and now of Mary, Mother of God)

January 2: Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus

January 3: Traditionally no particular saint (that I can find)

January 4: Traditionally no particular saint (now St. Elizabeth Ann Seton)

January 5: St. Telesphorus (second-century pope and martyr) and St. Edward the Confessor (King of England 1042-1066)

January 6: Epiphany! Feast of the Coming of the Magi, the Baptism of Our Lord, and the Wedding at Cana

(An eagle-eyed observer may note that there are thirteen days on this list. Opinions differ slightly as to whether the Twelve Days begin on the 26th or end on the 5th, but I don't think it matters terribly.)

(Also I probably missed some feast days.)

[petergwaelod]

Cŵn Annwn

Cŵn Annwn (the hounds of Annwn) are spirit beings associated with the Welsh lord of the otherworld, Arawn. He appears in the Mabinogi, a medieval literary cycle. Welsh mythology suggests that the twilight landscape of Cader Idris was the hunting ground of the hounds of Annwn. 

The Cŵn Annwn are associated with the Wild Hunt. They are supposed to hunt on specific nights (the eves of New Year, Saint Agnes (21 January), Saint David  (1 March) , and Good Friday) St. Martin, (8 November) All Saints (1  November). Also on the eves of the following quarter days:

• Midsummer Day (24 June, the Nativity of St John the Baptist)

• Michaelmas (29 September, the Feast of St Michael and All Angels)

• Christmas (25 December)

According to Welsh folklore, their growling is loudest when they are at a distance, and as they draw nearer, it grows softer and softer. Their coming is generally seen as a death portent. 

[seasons-beatings]

Season’s Beatings Info And FAQ!

Hey friends! This is the official information post for the event, plus answers to the questions that have been popping up!

What Is This Event?

Season’s Beatings (formerly Saint Whumpolas) is a gift exchange in the style of a Secret Santa. Everyone who signs up will both give and receive a whumpy gift based on their OCs!

How Does It Work?

When you sign up for the event, you will be paired with two people- one person who you will make a gift for, and one person who will make a gift for you. You’ll be sent an ask with your gift person’s OC/story/favorite trope/disliked tropes information, and you’ll use that to create something amazing for them! Meanwhile, your own gifter will be making something wonderful using your OCs! I’ll collect all the gifts here, and on Christmas Day, everyone will receive their gifts!

When Does It Start?

I’m hoping to have the sign-up form finished this weekend. Stay tuned!

Sign-ups will close on November 28. I’ll hopefully have everyone paired up by December 1.

The deadline to send in your gifts will be December 25, giving everyone three weeks and a bit to complete their gifts, and five days for the standby people to fill in if necessary.

Gifts will be sent out on December 31!

What Makes A Gift?

A gift can be anything! Art, writing, moodboards, other types of art- anything you can think of! There’s only three restrictions- for writers, gifts have to be 500 words minimum (no maximum!). You’ve got to put at least some effort into your gift- five minutes to make a vaguely whumpy meme edit is not going to cut it. And this event is SFW only, so please make your gifts accordingly. (For the purposes of this event, NSFW is anything sexual- so implications, references, fade-to-black, etc., should all be left out.)

Who Can Join?

For this year, the event is open to OC whumpers only. The holiday season is very busy for me this year, and I’m not able to accommodate fandom whump in this style of event right now. However, if anyone would like to create a similar event for fandom whumpers, they have my blessing and I’ll be happy to offer assistance!

And that’s it so far! If I need to, I’ll come back and update this post with more information as the need pops up. Sign-up form is OPEN! Happy holidays!

[whencyclopedia]

Holidays in the Elizabethan Era

During the Elizabethan Era (1558-1603 CE), people of all classes greatly looked forward to the many holidays and festivals on offer throughout the year. The vast majority of public holidays were also religious commemorations, and attendance at service was required by law. Still, the feasts that accompanied many of these 'holy days' were anticipated with pleasure, and many secular traditions began to appear alongside them such as playing football on Shrove Tuesday and giving gifts to mothers on the third Sunday before Easter. Holidays were also an opportunity to visit towns for a local fair or even travel further afield. The Elizabethan period was the first time the idea of a Grand Tour of Europe caught on amongst the rich, seen as a way to broaden a young person's horizons and round off their general education.

Holy Days

The concept of an extended holiday as a period of rest from work is a relatively modern idea. Throughout the Middle Ages, the only time a worker had off work was Sundays and holy days, that is days established by the Church to celebrate a religious matter such as the life of a particular saint or such events as the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas and his resurrection at Easter. In the 16th century CE, these holy days became known by the now more familiar and wholly secular term, 'holidays'. The Elizabethan period was also the first time that such religious holidays came to be associated less with Church services and more to do with taking a 24-hour break from everyday life and, if possible, enjoying a little better quality of food and drink than one usually consumed. However, it is to be remembered that attendance at church on the main holy days was still required of everyone by law.

In the second half of the 16th century CE, there were 17 principal holy days recognised by the Anglican Church, some of which, as today, moved particular dates depending on the lunar calendar. These holy days, and their celebratory or commemorative purposes, were:

New Year's Day (1 Jan) - the Circumcision of Jesus Christ.

Twelfth Day (6 Jan) - the Epiphany when the Magi visited Jesus.

Candlemas (2 Feb) - Feast of the Purification of Mary.

Shrovetide/Shrove Tuesday (between 3 Feb & 9 Mar) - the last day before the fasting of Lent.

Ash Wednesday (between 4 Feb & 10 Mar) - First day of Lent, the 40-day fast that leads up to Easter.

Lady Day (25 Mar) - Annunciation of Mary and considered the first day of the calendar year in England (when the year number changed).

Easter (between 22 Mar & 25 Apr) - the Resurrection of Christ and including nine days of celebration.

May Day (1 May) - commemorating St. Philip and Jacob but also considered the first day of summer.

Ascension Day (between 30 Apr & 3 Jun) - Ascension of Christ and a major summer festival.

Whitsunday (between 10 May & 13 Jun) - Pentecost when Christ visited the apostles.

Trinity Sunday (between 17 May & 20 Jun) - Feast day of the Trinity.

Midsummer Day (24 Jun) - also commemorates John the Baptist.

Michaelmas (29 Sep) - marks the end of the harvest season and commemorates the Archangel Michael.

All Hallows/Hallowtide (1 Nov) - the feast of All Saints (Hallows).

Accession Day (17 Nov) - commemorates Elizabeth I of England's accession.

Saint Andrew's Day (30 Nov) - commemorates St. Andrew.

Christmas (25 Dec) - the birth of Jesus Christ.

Continue reading...

[thatpikmin]

URGENT MESSAGE

I’m needing 8 more saints for the 25 days of Christmas or #25 saints of Christmas

Please send your saints via reblogs, DM’s or askbox, I will say when I don’t need anymore

[liesmyth]

has something from a tlt fic ever become headcanon to you? i ask because i find this happening to me all the damn time with this fandom but not others

OK SO, my tlt headcanons are like schrodinger's cat, they explicitly contradict each other sometimes and all of them exist at the same time in different quantum states of canon. So in that sense I've never read a fic and thought, okay, THIS is my canon from now on.

But I've read so so many fics that burst my third eye wide open and made me consider different perspectives on a character / dynamic, or helped me shape some I already had. A few favourites:

the soul that seeketh him by bittybelle — missing scene pre NtN ft. John and Kiriona. Wherein John Gaius meets his daughter, remembers the women he left behind, and deals poorly with being the male god of a universe in which the divine is essentially feminine.

AO3 user LesbianJesusLovesYou gave me Big Feelings about Gideon's childhood on the Ninth and her relationship with Harrow, Aiglamene, Ortus and Crux

believing in everything (and knowing nothing at all) — A series of childhood memories from the Ninth

when i call, will you come to me? — “My Lady,” Ortus wheezed, shifting uncomfortably. “I only thought you should know… Gideon Nav was flogged before the congregation.”

A few fics set right after NtN that really stayed with me:

never hear the sound of someone calling me home by @corpsesoldier — Kiriona Gaia returns to the House of the Ninth.

One More Son by captainpeggy — After Nona, Pyrrha Dve walks the Ninth.

two old broads split a cigarette by @forjodssake — Aiglamene/Pyrrha. “sometimes the girl you like becomes one person w her soulmate and you have to jack off about it”

Post HtN missing scenes:

Death in its season by @ancientannoyance — John holds Mercymorn's 24 minutes funeral

recognize them by their fruits by @ceruleanvulpine — John and Ianthe emerge out of the River

Other stuff that Stuck With Me

so I open the window to hear sounds of people by @sunderedstar — post NtN flashbacks. John and Alecto are the only two beings on earth, and he starts working on the Resurrection. This is harrowing and I'm absolutely obsessed with the implications in this fic of WHY John removed everyone's memory.

and they were roommates by @herenortherenearnorfar — pre Resurrection Mercy and Cristabel, from their first meeting onwards and it just really burrowed a hole in my brain and grew roots and sprouts and everything. Latin American nun Cristabel it's all I can see now, and YES they met working with climate refugees when M— was a bright eyed idealistic doctor. It also lines up great with the Asian Mercy headcanon that exist in my head (I have a whole elaborate backstory about M— aged 12 proclaiming to her Filipino Catholic family that she's an atheist now). Anyway, it's just a lovely, gorgeous fic. I think about it every day.

John 25:12 by @halfeatenmoon — pre-Resurrection, John and his friends escape the cow fortress to spend Christmas Day at the beach. With beer, salads, pavlova, and the corpses of a million fish killed by nuclear weapons testing. Ft. Southern hemisphere holidays in Mururoa Atol and 100% canon. To me.

Operation: The Most Honorable Man by @cadmean — Augustine has a proposal for the Saint of Duty (Dios Apate. That's the proposal)

lowkey cheating but I can't choose — absolutely anything AO3 user Raxheim has posted has been SOO up my alley. Every time I read one of their fics I feel like I'm enlightened by some never-before-considered detail. And mean ANYTHING, from Harrow Nova to Wake to Cytherea and the Lyctors to the Universe's #1 Sadgirl Gideon

[leeenuu]

Emergency workers arrive at a residential area hit during a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, December 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Roman Hrytsyna)

A volunteer dressed as Saint Nicholas prepare to distribute Christmas gifts to soldiers in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, December 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Libkos)

People take shelter inside a metro station during massive Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, December 29, 2022. (REUTERS/Vladyslav Musiienko)

Ukrainian army medics Eugenia and Oleksander embrace after their wedding ceremony in Lyman, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Saturday, December 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Libkos)

Ukrainian servicemen from 127 brigade prepare a telescopic tower with a remote camera installed on a Soviet car "Volga" that was recast to observe and correct fire on the front line near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, December 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A man reacts next to the body of his wife, killed during a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, December 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Roman Hrytsyna)

A Ukrainian soldier watches a drone feed from an underground command center in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, December 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Libkos)

Families watching a movie in a parking garage on Saturday, December 24, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Laura Boushnak/The New York Times)

Ukrainian servicemen with the Dnipro-1 Special Tasks Patrol Police regiment Raphael Karapitian, 45, walks with with weapons beside a decorated Christmas tree in the trenches on the front line on Christmas Eve in Bakhmut, Ukraine, Saturday, December 24, 2022. (REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne)

Ukrainian soldier Vasyl Khomko, 42, carries flowers as he waits for his wife and daughter at the train station in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, December 31, 2022. Khomko's wife and daughter have been living in Slovakia due to the war but returned to Kyiv to spend New Year's Eve together. (AP Photo/Roman Hrytsyna)

[multi-fandom-imagine]

Day 16:Baking holiday cookies

Fandom:Criminal Mind's

Character: Spencer Reid

Naughty or Nice.

A/n: This should have been posted yesterday, I just been so tired.

"You know, Christmas wasn't alway's on December 25." Spencer gave you a smile as he watched you make the cookie dough.

Pausing, you rose your brows giving him a light grin as you tilted your head to the side. "Really?"

Spencer gave you a bright smile as he stepped forward leaning against the counter top. "Oh ya! While Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the actual date of the big event is lost to history. There's no mention of December 25 in the Bible and many historians say Jesus was most likely born in the spring. Some historians posit the date was originally chosen because it coincided with the pagan festival of Saturnalia, which honored the agricultural god Saturn with celebrating and gift-giving." Doing his best to not go on a rant he watched as you placed the cookies into oven.

Shaking your head you had a small smile on your lips as you grasped his chin. "Do you have any other fun facts for me?"

Standing straight, he gave you a bright smile eagerly nodding his head."Oh ya, St. Nick was more generous than jolly.You probably already knew that the idea of Santa Claus came from St. Nicholas. The saint wasn't really a bearded man who wore a red suit; that look came much later. In the fourth century, the Christian bishop gave away his large inheritance to the poor and rescued women from servitude. In Dutch, his name is Sinter Klaas, which later morphed into Santa Claus."

It was cute seeing Spencer get excited over the smallest of things, you liked hearing him spout little random facts and he must be happy that no one is yelling at him to stop.

Hearing the oven beep, you took out the cookies then pressed a kiss to his cheeks. "While I love your cute little rambles, how about you help me decorate these cookies!"

Grinning, he nodded his head quickly grabbing an icing bag. "Okay!" Moving to stand next to you, Spencer gave you a smile. This was going to be a fun Christmas weekend.

[sacredhyacinth]

sorry for the yapping lately but here’s bm’s official playlist IF it did get a series :0

1: in love with the moon by peppermint ollie

I LOVE LOVE LOVEEE this song and it also helped me write a ton of gabriel/Loretta’s conflict, also how I think mel/amara think about eachother

2: duvet by boa

3: christmas kids by roar i

I feel like this is the official anthem of the bm universe at this point

4: I wanna by yours by artic monkey

mina and raquel coded stuff PLUS I really like it and it flows really well with the whole theme and vibe of BM

5: teenage dirtbag by wheatus

yeah YEAH I KNOW

6: Clarence theme song

7: little fang by Avery Tate I LOVE YOU

8: blue hair by tv girl

pronouns

9: using you by mars argo

10: angry by mars argo

11: any song by mars argo

12: carino by the marias

13: from the start laufey and specifically the goodkid cover

14: es by crying

15: me and my husband by mitski

DUH

16: becky by be your own pet

we have to stand up for the national anthem

17: still feel by half alive

18: for elise by saint motel

poor Elise her screen time is so low nowadays

19: animal by sir chloe

20: cooties by Melanie Martinez

21: aristocrat by poppy

22: American kids by poppy

23: money by poppy

24: existential crisis hour by kilo kush

25: fell in love with a girl by the white stripes

never let Gabriel get the aux cord

[useless-catalanfacts]

Photos: quinto being played in Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona Metropolitan Area, Catalonia). Photos from Tot Sant Cugat. Close up to the numbers carton taken in Sabadell (BMA, Catalonia), by Óscar Espinosa for Diari Sabadell.

On the evening and night of Christmas (December 25th), Saint Stephen (December 26th), and sometimes more days around it, many people in the Catalan Countries will be playing a very fun game called quinto, quina, plena, rifla or loteria vella, depending on the area. To summarize it, it could be described as an unhinged traditional kind of bingo, but words can't do it justice.

Social centres (social centres are a big thing here) and other organizations set up the game, which is attended by many people of all ages. When you come in, you pick up a carton with numbers for yourself (each carton has all numbers from 1 to 90 but organized differently) and a handful of dry beans for the table. A person known as "the parrot" (el lloro) will pull out balls with numbers from a bottle basket or a hollow dry squash, but for many numbers he will not say the number, he will refer to it in a cryptic way, through a rhyme, an idiom, a pun or a joke. Each town or area has their own way of naming each number, some of which require the players to sing back or complete the sentence. Here are a few examples of how the "parrot" can say the number 1:

el més menut ("the smallest one"), to which the players shout back to the "parrot" el teu canut! ("your wallet!")

la més petita ("the smallest one"), to which the players say to the "parrot" la teva! ("yours!", you can guess what the innuendo is)

el més petit de tots ("the smallest of them all"), to which the players sing back tocava la trompeta ("played the trumpet"). This is part of a traditional Catalan song about kids who were sent to war.

Cap d'Any ("New Year's Day")

és tot sol ("he's alone")

el primer de mil ("the first of a thousand")

el primer ("the first one"), to which the players reply el Barça! (Barça is Barcelona's football club, meaning it's on top of the charts, the best club)

The rest of numbers follow the same idea. A few more examples:

2: un dos ("a two", said the same way as "one two"), to which the players say tres quatre ("three four").

6: el sis ("the six", pronounced the same as "please, stand up" in formal you), followed by the players' reply alci's vostè ("YOU stand up").

8: un que és vuit/buit ("one that is eight" which is pronounced the same as "one that is empty"), followed by the players' reply el teu cap! ("your head!) or el teu llit! ("your bed!").

2: un aneguet ("a little duck"). 22: dos aneguets ("two little ducks").

4: una cadireta ("a little chair"). 44: dues cadiretes ("two little chairs").

75: l'any que va morir el Paquito ("the year Paquito died", in reference to 1975, year when the despised dictator Francisco Franco died. Paquito is a diminutive of Francisco, here used to ridiculize him)

90: pelat l'avi (all multiples of 10 are called pelat, this one is "pelat the grandpa").

The number of the day of each festivity: 17 is Sant Antoni, 23 is Sant Jordi, 28 is els sants innocents ("holy innocent's", 28th december), etc. 25 is sang el 25 de desembre (December 25th) with the players singing fum, fum, fum (lyrics of a famous Catalan Christmas carol).

Every time a number ends in 1 (21, 31, 41, etc), the players say in a high pitched voice "uuuu uuuuu!"

The list would be never ending if we could see what is said in every town. Some "parrots" might also add some new way of saying it according to some common reference for the people of the town, or even a historical event (I've seen some refer to 23 as "todo el mundo al suelo!", Spanish sentence meaning "everyone to the ground!" which was said by Tejero in the 23rd February 1981 failed coup d'etat).

As you see, there's many things to remember, and the "parrot" sings quite quickly, so you're always busy placing the dry beans on top of the numbers that have been said, trying to get a line or a square. Whoever gets it will shout línia! ("line!") or pleno! ("full!"), and their carton will be taken to the "parrot" to check if they did it right. If it's correct, this person will win the prize (usually consisting on a basket with products donated by local shops as well as the money being played), and then the rest of players might whistle and shoot dry beans at the winner, especially if they or their surroundings have already won a previous round.

But, as if the players didn't have enough things to be busy with, at any moment they can shout more things at the "parrot":

If you have only one number left: busca-me-la! ("search it for me!").

Or you can be more specific with what you need: una de petita! ("a small one!"), una de gran! ("a large one!"), i els vuitantes? ("what about the 80s?"), petits a dormir ("the little ones, bedtime" if you don't want small numbers)...

If numbers that end with the same show up on a row: remena! (shake it!) or remena, nena! ("shake it, baby!", in reference to a famous 1930s song).

If the "parrot" is not saying any good numbers for you or has been the same person for a long time: canvi de lloro! ("change the parrot!") clapping or banging the table three times, said repeatedly. It can be a joke just to say it's not working for you, or if more people join and if the clamor is sang by many players, the person who says the numbers will change.

You can also shout things that rhyme with the number that has just been said, for example: dos! - que n'ets, de gos! ("2!" - "you're such a dog"), set! - tira't un pet! ("7!" - "fart!")

These are only a small percentage of the sentences said, and many jokes and puns can't be translated outside of the Catalan language. It's difficult to explain how fun this game is and how unhinged it can get in some occasions, but I hope you could imagine it with this explanation.

Merry Christmas! Bon Nadal!