#St. Nickolas

[robster2016]

Father Christmas: A Journey Through Winter Folklore

The painting titled Father Christmas is a captivating and atmospheric work that embraces both the mystical and traditional aspects of this beloved holiday figure. Set against a dark, mist-laden forest with moonlit branches, the scene evokes a sense of quiet solitude and timelessness. The artist’s choice of a muted, wintry palette of deep greens, blues, and soft yellows perfectly captures the cold…

[pataguja61]

Ruth St. Denis (1923)

Ph Nickolas Muray 

[northernbluetongue]

❄️🎅

💤👑

🐇

💀💤

Guardians of Affection (and Pitch)

[prodigalsonreturnedhome]

New reading recommandation: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check out Prayers by the lake by Saint Nickolas Velimirovic. The spectrum of divine revelations in those is just: 🫠🫶🫶🫶 👌👌👌👌

[elderscrollsconceptart]

St. Nerevar Statue

3D model for The Elder Scrolls: Online

Modeling by Nickolas Jackson

[northernbluetongue]

🐉❄️🐉

☀️🐻

🐉❄️

Wet laundry hitting you in the face isn't exactly the best feeling ever, y'know

Based on this fic that I'm currently reading, go give it a try! (It's fantasy rotbtd!!)

[lets-try-some-writing]

Christmas and Culture Clashes

The bots have a tendency to take things the wrong way or seriously misunderstand human customs due to their Cybertronian world views. Hence when Christmas came around and the children made it very clear that it must be celebrated, the bots tried to understand the holiday and participate. With varying levels of success as one might guess.

Optimus

All his research and diligent study on the subject of Christmas left Optimus more confused than anything else. A whole quarter of humanity celebrates Christmas as a way to remember the birth of their deity/savior/religious figure. Meanwhile another large swath of humanity celebrates the holiday because of some human named St. Nickolas, who apparently goes out every year is a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer to deliver presents to the entire world.

Not being all that sure about the big red fat man travelling the globe in under 24 hours, Optimus threw in the towel and opted to instead work with what he could feasibly understand. This being the religious aspect of the holiday.

Optimus did not, and does not have any interest in the human religious figure beyond Christ's historical significance and how his life affected earth's development. However, not wanting to offend anyone unintentionally, Optimus decided to stick to the general religious value associated with Christmas instead of the human religious symbol. And so, relying on the old Cybertronian cultural norms regarding foreign practices, namely offering something something similar from ones own culture as a way of showing acceptance and trust. He quickly went about creating gifts that embodied the ideals of the holiday, the ideals being rebirth, salvation, and blessings.

He spent the whole month of December dutifully working on gifts for the children. And when Christmas finally came and the children gathered at the base to celebrate with the bots, Optimus was prepared. Very proud of himself for figuring out a way to work around the cultural differences to the best of his ability, Optimus presented his handiwork. The children however were left rather scarred as they gazed upon the murals he had prepared for them.

The first mural, gifted to Jack, represented Solus Prime's death at the hands of Megatronous Prime and the creation of the well in rather vivid detail. It was meant to symbolize rebirth and the beginning of new life, sort of like how the human Savior died and returned to life, however the very detailed images of Solus's... rather brutalized corpse earned Optimus a shaky thumbs up. The second mural, gifted to Rafael was similarly graphic, portraying the last battle against the Quintessions with the leading Prime at the time standing proudly on a hill of fallen foes. Much like the first mural it was meant to symbolize salvation, more specifically, freedom from slavery at the hands of their ancient enemies. It too earned Optimus a few strained smiles due to the vivid imagery.

Lastly Optimus gifted Miko a mural which showed Cybertron during it's peak. In his mural mecha smiled and sang praises to Primus for his blessings and the peacefulness of their lives. It was a breath of fresh air for the children and was met far more appreciatively. Optimus, not knowing why the children were hesitant about his first two murals and assuming it was a delayed reaction, beamed and went about Christmas day believing he had positively nailed the whole holiday thing.

Ratchet

Seeing Optimus's efforts to show the human children some pieces of Cybertronian culture through Christmas, Ratchet opted to do the same... in a rather unusual fashion.

He saw images of the Christmas tree and read all about how the trees end up rotting, getting grossness everywhere and being both a pain to gain and get rid of. And so thinking that his gift would be a solution to the problem, Ratchet got out his tools, grinned evilly, and got to work. He also spent a good chunk of the month preparing his "gift". Every single time he looked at it and considered his creation done, he ended up adding something else, slowly but surely deviating from the original design of the Christmas tree until what remained was something not of earth.

The end result was a fantastical sci-fi tree looking thing that could have come straight out of a comic book or another world entirely. It started off looking semi tree like, the trunk of the "tree" being silvery and pulsating with energon veins. However as one looked up it started to become something less understandable. The "tree" branched out into large wire like branches which swayed and regularly shook as electricity flowed across them. The wire branches ended with moving cable things which swayed sort of like a twisted version of leaves, each cable searching out warmth and wrapping around warm things when in contact. And lastly there were bio-lights bulging out of the trunk and wire branches filled with multicolored unidentifiable fluids.

Understandably the children were rather distressed when they saw the Christmas "tree" and the horror movie looking pulsating bio-lights and eerie wire and cabled branches. They nearly had heart attacks when the "tree's" branches wrapped around them and sent static running along their skin. Simply put, the "tree" was not well received. But not wanting to hurt Ratchet's feelings, the children tolerated the "tree" until Christmas was over and praised Ratchet's efforts before sternly proclaiming that the next year they would get the tree.

Bulkhead

Surprisingly it was Bulkhead who was the most normal of the bots when it came to Christmas. However "normal" still tends to be rather out there when compared to the rest of the bots. And so for Christmas, Bulkhead took decorating of all things to the extreme.

Not having the build to handle dainty material like paper to make decorations, Bulkhead instead decided that metal was the way forward. He had some experience in construction and so while sitting at his workbench planning out how he was going to decorate, he took some inspiration from Ratchet's "tree" and planned his decorations to match the theme the medic had unknowingly set. Bulkhead still took into consideration the earth traditions when he began his work, but ultimately he got a little carried away bringing a piece of Cybertron to earth.

The finished product took him weeks of work and the team found it to be a sight to behold. Surrounding Ratchet's "tree" were copper lights handing from the rafters setting a more rustic feel for the Cybertronians present. Decorating the human's platform was a carefully constructed "winter" area. The place where the children's couch and other items usually were was instead replaced with distinctly Cybertronain furniture, scaled to size for the children of course. Surrounding this was a rather ridiculous spread of packing peanuts, a replacement for snow. And throughout the rest of the main part of the base Bulkhead had gone to great pains to replicate the only somewhat winterish looking place on Cybertron, namely the Magnanese Mountains.

When the children saw what he had made they were mostly awed, but also left somewhat uncomfortable due to the overwhelming copper and rust colored decorations alongside Ratchet's "tree". Still the children made sure to praise Bulkhead for his efforts and much like with Ratchet, proclaim their intent to decorate by themselves the coming year.

Agent Fowler still found packing peanuts in the children's space even months after Christmas had passed.

Wheeljack

He was a little late to the party when it came to Christmas. And so having only received the bare bones when it came to information regarding the holiday, Wheeljack turned up to base three days late with items that probably shouldn't be given to children.

The only memo he got about the holiday that actually stuck was the concept of giving gifts. And Wheeljack, a mech constantly looking for excuses to give others weapons, turned up with a huge smile and a very large, very ominous looking crate filled with... something. Optimus and the team tried to put a stop to whatever it was that Wheeljack was attempting, but were unfortunately denied the chance as Wheeljack pulled out the gifts and gave them to the kids before any bot could do anything.

Miko got an alien ray gun, which she promptly fired into the far wall of the base by accident, leaving a sizable melted indent. The gun was confiscated even as Wheeljack and Miko skipped around in joy. The weapon was given back after Ratchet disabled it, that way Miko could still wave it around and even turn it on again if needed while.

Jack got himself a nifty energon blade, one sized down for a creature of his size. Being similar to a switchblade he quickly pocketed it without much thought. It wasn't until weeks later when he pulled out the blade to sharpen a stick that he found out what the heck the blade actually did. He came to base with a charred stick and a glowing knife that Wheeljack simply cackled at the sight of. As one might guess, the blade went through a similar human proofing adjustment by Ratchet before being returned.

As for Rafael, he got himself a small military grade Quintession battle drone. Ratchet nearly pulled a blade on the thing the moment Rafael used his controlled to whirl the drone to life. The drone ended up nearly decapitating the medic, much to Wheeljack's mixed terror and amusement, before it was also confiscated and adjusted for human use.

Arcee

While not all that fond of celebrating a human holiday, Arcee still made an effort to try and be cheery through the creation of holiday attire. Though as a general rule, Cybertronians do not wear clothing of any kind, they are familiar with the concept and occasionally wear capes, magnetized jewelry, and additional cosmetic armor for fancy events.

And so, having some experience in armoring and taking inspiration from the general theme of Christmas and the human attire, Arcee adjusted it to her liking, making some of the traditional human clothing choices for Christmas suitable for Cybertronians. Not only did she craft things for the children, but also for the team, much to the mixed joy and fear of each party respectively.

Optimus received a small red cape and helm ornament that functioned sort of like a crown, being largely gold with blue accents. He accepted the gift happily and attached the ornaments without delay. Ratchet got a broach that read "Doctor of Doom" in Cybertronian, much to the irritation the medic who still put it on despite the light mockery. Bulkhead was given a distinct chest piece made purely for cosmetic purposes but still engraved with runes of protection. And lastly Bumblebee was given a set of bands to wear on his ankles and wrists, the bands of course being a stunning obsidian.

As for the children, it was rather difficult for Arcee to work something out for them but she tried nonetheless. Eventually she settled on small helmets in a stunning red and similarly engraved with runes of protection. However what truly made the children have to stifle their laughter was the little antennae Arcee attached to the sides of the helmets, each were of course being topped with small white balls of cotton to try and meet the Christmas theme.

Bumblebee

Unsurprisingly Bumblebee was all over the idea of Christmas. However seeing the rest of the team merrily working away, Bumblebee wanted to try something the others hadn't considered, that being gingerbread houses.

He was determined to find a way to make a gingerbread house that both bots and humans could consume, and so he spent the whole of December experimenting. Eventually he produced something that could theoretically be eaten by humans and bots alike, at which point he went to town building his "gingerbread house". The end result of his long work was a simple house composed of energon-bread like stuff and similar energon-frosting stuff topped with energon-goodie like things.

Bumblebee was incredibly proud of his creation when he showed it to the team and the children. Both parties came to the conclusion that the eerily glowing structure that looked like it came out of Chernobyl was likely not something that should be consumed. However not wanting to hurt Bumblebee's feelings, Optimus took one for the team and took a bite of the "gingerbread house". Let it be said there are few things that can break Optimus's composure, in fact they can be listed on one hand. However whatever abomination Optimus took a bite of added one more thing to the small list of things that destroy his stoic persona.

He immediately snapped his battle mask in place to hide his horribly disgusted face and shakily giving the piece of "gingerbread house" he had been eating to Ratchet. He muttered something about it being "delicious" with watering optics and a shaky thumbs up before promptly leaving to go retch somewhere private. Ratchet and the team looked at the offending abomination with wide optics and fear before looking to a very pleased Bumblebee. Once again not wanting to ruin the mood of the scout and not wanting the humans to even begin going near the "gingerbread house" Ratchet and the team steeled themselves. Each took a piece of the house and pretended to share it with the children and taking a bite out of it for good measure before giving Bumblebee affirmation through gritted denta.

Not a spark dared to question Optimus's reaction after taking a bite of whatever it was Bumblebee had made. Bumblebee was many things... a baker though? No. Defiantly not.

[queersrus]

Winter theme

[winter theme]

(Nick)Names:

Avalanche, arctic, apricity, andri, aspen, alaska, artica, antartic, antarctic, antartica, antarctica blizzard, bylur cold, coldine, coldina, coldette, coldetta, coldelle, coldella, coldino, coldetto, coldellie, coldello, chill, chilli/chillie/chilly, coat, chan, cherith, cheimónas, claus, cypress demetria, diamond, december evergreen, eira, eirwen, edur, eryi frigid, freeze, freezine, freezina, freezino, freezelle, freezellie, freezella, freezette, freezetta, freezetto, frost, frosty/frostie, freezing, frozen, frozone, frozette, frozetta, frozetto, frozelle, frozellie, frozella, frozello, frozine, frozina, frozino, frosta, frostette, frostetta, frostetto, frostelle, frostellie, frostello, frostella, frostine, frostina, frostino, flake, flykra, fannar, February glaze, glacia, glacial, glacier, gwyneira hail, haukea, haunani, hiver ice, icey/icie, icicle, icestorm, icette, icelle, icetta, icella, icine, icina, iciclette, icicletta, icetto, icellie, icellie, icetto, icino, icicline, iciclino, iciclina, iciclelle, iciclella, iciclello, iceberg, inverno, invierno, iarnă, isolde janus, janara, january, juniper kis, kari lumi, lixue miyuki neve, nevis, nieves, nivia, noel/noelle, noella, nic/nick, nichol/nichole, nicholas/nicolas/nickolas/nikolas, north, norther, northern, november, nevada, neva quilo snow, snowelle, snowette, snowella, snowetta, snowy/snowie, snowflake, snowfall, snowstorm, snowine, snowline, snowina, snowlina, snowellie, snowello, snowlino, snowetto, snowino, sleet, squal, snowdrift snowfield, snowpack, snowcap, snowcone, snowslide, slush, snowbank, solstice, skadi talvi, tuhin, tushar vinter, viola, violet/violette, violetta/violeta winter/wynter, winterelle, winterella, winterello, winterellie, winterina, winterine, winterino, winterette, winteretta, winteretto, wintertide, wintry, wintery, wintertime, warrin, wren xue yuki, yukina, yukio, yule, yuletide zima/zyma, zane

1stp prns: i/me/my/mine/myself

wi/winte/winters/wine(wintine)/winterself sni/sne/snowy/snowine/snowself ni/nove/novy/novembrine/novemberself di/de/decemby/decemberine/decemberself yi/yule/yuly/yuline(yuletine)/yuleself ni/northe/northy/northine/northself i/ice/icy/icine/iceself gli/glace/glacy/glacine/glacialself fri/fre/freezy/frozine/frozenself(freezeself)

2ndp prns: you/your/yours/yourself

wo/winter/winters/winterself sno/snower/snowers/snowerself no/november/novembers/novemberself no/nor/northerns/nothernerself do/december/decembers/decemberself yo/yuler/yulers/yulerself io/icer/icers/icerself glo/glacier/glaciers/glacierself fro/freezer/freezers/freezerself

3rdp prns: they/them/theirs/themselves

wi/winter, win/ter, winter/winters, winter/wonderland, winter/solstice sno/ow, sno/snows, snow/snows, snow/flake, snow/shoe, snow/pile, snow/fall, snow/snowy, snow/snowing no/november, no/vember, nov/ember, november/novembers, no/north, nor/th, north/norths, nor/north, north/northern, northern/light, north/ern, northern/northerns, north/pole de/cember, dec/ember, decem/ber, december/decembers, dec/december, dece/december yu/le, yu/yule, yule/yules, yule/yuletide i/ce, ice/ices, ice/icy, ice/iced, ice/icicle, ice/icle, icicle/icicles, ice/cube gla/cier, gla/cial, gla/glacier, gla/glacial, glac/ier, glac/ial, glacier/glaciers, glacial/glacials fro/zen, fro/frozen, froze/frozen, frozen/frozens, fre/freeze, free/freeze, fre/eze, free/ze, freeze/freezes, freeze/freezing, free/zing, freezing/freezings, fro/frost, fro/st, fro/ost, frost/frosts, frost/frosted

Titles

the cold season, the living north, the snowflake, the fallen snow, the winter monarch/king/queen, the snow queen/king/monarch, the frozen golem, the frozen being of the snowplanes, the dweller of the snowbanks, the snowman, the icicle, the dweller of the frozen late

winter embodied, winter personified, winter incarnate

*one who lives benieth the frozen waters, one who burrows in snow, one who rules winter, one who adors the chilly season, one who celebrates yule, one who was born in the cold months

[aceoflights]

What so many people miss when talking about the weirdness that is Krampus and that whole thing is. He's not in connection with Santa Klaus. We don't have Santa Klaus (talking specifically about Austria here, but I know it's the same with many other European countries).

We have Saint Nicklaus. But he doesn't have anything to do with christmas. He comes on the 6th and yes gives the children things. But typically it's tangerines and peanuts. And sometimes chocolate. And possibly small gifts.

Who actually brinflgs the presents on Christmas is the "Christkind" ("Christ child"). It is mostly depicted as a ln angel-like figure with white and/or gold robes. But in meaning should kinda be a kid version of Jesus. It's his (alleged) birthday were celebrating after all. So if course he should be giving us gifts.

I just wanted to clear that up as I often see people talk about European christmas with the assumption that we just also have Santa Claus. Which we mostly don't.

Also there is a completely separate version of Krampus. Which is a Krampus Umzug/Perchtenlauf. It happens in November and has no connection to St Nickolas. But this isn't what this post is about.

[justmepostingstuff]

Just our local St. Nickolas tradition of having Perchten and Witches scare away evil spirits with bells and such :)

[iseo58]

Nickolas Muray. Ruth at St Denis, 1925

[chaoticnutcase]

Nickolas Muray. Ruth St Denis 1925

[emmajh97-mumaji]

What My Tarot Deck Says About My Blorbo?

🐧 TuxedoSam 🐧

...

1st Card: The Hierophant

The Hierophant, also known as the High Priest, is all about rules and traditions. This fits Sam because he is a true dapper gentleman! An old-fashioned Englishman from a venerable family, who enjoys boating, tennis, and other well-to-do sports. The Hierophant is also known as the Teacher, because he passes on sacred knowledge to those under his guidance. Sam might not be a professor, but he does know how to fluently speak both Penguinese AND English. He also looks after his close friend Chip! Because of its religious imagery, The Hierophant is also associated with marriage. Did you know that, before Dear Daniel came along, TuxedoSam was supposed to be Hello Kitty's love interest? Perhaps he still has feelings for her, even though they are no longer made for one another! Sam looks up to Santa Claus because he wants to be "loved by kids all around the world"! I'd say old St. Nickolas fits the imagery of this card perfectly.

2nd Card: Four of Pentacles (Reversed)

The Four of Pentacles is a card of stability and having everything you want. Reversed, it can be a sign of clinginess, or perhaps even greed run amok. Sam is known as a glutton who loves to eat. Also, does one penguin really need three-hundred and sixty-five bowties?! I'd say that crosses the line from vain to hoarding. Note how there is a city far behind the man, as if he's turned his back on society and distrustfully hides from it. This plus his sour expression suggests that he holds on so tightly to his wealth because of a fear of loss. Sam may be adorable but he is, in fact, a veteran. He served in eight navy battles and was honorably discharged once he reached the rank of captain. I can imagine someone out at sea for so long could perhaps have some issues feeling secure and grounded once back at home. Although, perhaps the reversal suggests that this isn't as much of an issue, since Sam has his family (Pam and Tam) to support him. On a more meta level, perhaps the four of Pentacles is reversed because, despite being moderately popular, TuxedoSam has very little merchandise to speak of (in comparison to other Sanrio characters). Those that wish to horde more of this lovable penguin are, sadly, out of luck.

Conclusion:

Tuxedo J. Orville Samuel may be a clumsy round boy, but he's also an old-fashioned lad with years of experience! His dapper bowtie and fine sailors hat aren't simply for show, they reflect a part of his history. He may be gluttonous, and perhaps a bit of a hoarder, but he's also loving and wants to guide his friends to a happier place.

...

Bonus:

The stone from my collection that makes me think of Sam most is--

--this nice smooth Clear Quartz!

...

Thank you for reading~ Information about my cards can be found in this post! A list of my favorite characters can be found here!

[myheartofsorrow]

Nickolas Muray. Ruth St Denis 1920-1932.

[birthday-journey-posts]

Christmas Message

[phibonn]

Nickolas Muray. Ruth St Denis’s hands 1925. Via eastmanmuseum

ruth st. denis’s jewelled hands