#Wild Goose Festival

[firstumcschenectady]

“The Tower” based on Deuteronomy 29:10-15 John 11:28-44

Last Summer Diana Butler Bass gave a sermon at the Wild Goose Festival that was shared and forwarded to me approximately 100 times, which was good because that's how many times it took for me to read it. And once I read it, I participated in the sharing and forwarding too. Her sermon was entitled “All the Marys”1 and it shared one of the biggest breakthroughs in Biblical Scholarship in generations.

Which, I know, is THE SINGLE MOST EXCITING THING I COULD EVER SAY! Or, perhaps, maybe, it might not be?

Stick with me.

It's worth it. This is a case where a huge break through in Biblical scholarship has pretty big implications for those of us who follow Jesus. I'm well aware they aren't all like that.

What I find interesting is that I've now read her sermon several times over the course of 10 months, and I can't seem to retain it. The implications are actually so big and require such an enormous re-framing of how I understand the early Christian story, that my brain keeps erasing it in favor of the familiar.

If you have spent less time in Gospel commentaries and/or seminary than I have, I suspect you are going to find it easier to accept these very simple truths than I do. Which is great! This is really awesome stuff, and I'd love for people to hear it, know it, and even retain it.

Diana Butler Bass tells the story of Elizabeth (Libbie) Schrader who felt moved to study Mary Magdalene, landed at General Theological Seminary in New York to work on a Masters of New Testament, and wrote her final paper on John 11. Her professor encouraged her to look at the newly digitized version of the oldest known text of John, Papyrus 66, from around 200 CE, and find something new in it.

I'm going to quote Diana Butler Bass here:

And so Libbie is in the library looking at the text and she sees this first sentence. And it’s in Greek, of course. “Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and his sister Mary.” And Libbie said, “What? That’s not what my English Bible says. My English Bible says, ‘Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister, Martha.’” But the Greek text, the oldest Greek text in the world doesn’t say that. The oldest Greek text in the world says, “Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, at the village of Mary and his sister, Mary.” There are two Marys in this verse. And Libbie went, “What the heck? What is going on here?” And she started digging into the text, zooming in on it to try to see what she could see over the digitized version in the internet. And lo and behold, Libbie noticed something that no New Testament scholar had ever noticed.

And that is, in the text where it had those two Marys, the village of Mary and his sister, Mary, and her sister, Mary, the text had actually been changed. In Greek, the word Mary, the name Mary, is basically spelled like Maria in English, M-A-R-I-A. And the I, the Greek letter I, is the letter Iota. And it looks basically like an English I. Libbie could see by doing this textual analysis that the Iota had been changed to the letter TH in Greek, Theta. That somebody at some point in time had gone in over the original handwriting and actually changed the second Mary to Martha. And not only had that person changed the second Mary to Martha, but that person had also changed the way it comes out in English. It says, “The village of Mary,” that would’ve stayed the same, “and her sister, Martha.” Someone had also changed that “his” to “her”; that “her” was originally a “his,” but they had changed it to a “her.”

Admittedly, the original text is a confused and not very good sentence. “Now, a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, at the village of Mary and his sister, Mary,” it’s almost like they’re heightening the fact that Lazarus has this sister, Mary. They lived in this village together, and Mary is Lazarus’ sister. Someone had changed it to read, “Mary and her sister, Martha.”

Libbie sat in the library with all of this, and it came thundering at her, the realization that sometime in the fourth century, someone had altered the oldest text of the Gospel of John and split the character Mary into two. Mary became Mary and Martha.

She went through the whole manuscript of John 11 and John 12, and lo and behold, that editor had gone in at every single place and changed every moment that you read Martha in English, it originally said, “Mary.” The editor changed it all.

Now, that's a pretty big deal, but I imagine that maybe you don't... umm... I think the words might be “Care that much.” But let me say, “yet.” I haven't gotten to the part where this MATTERS yet, that was a really important BACKGROUND. It also makes John 11 as we know it really hard to read and make sense of. But that's OK too.

So the underlying question in this is “why?” Why would someone go through so much trouble to create the character Martha out of what was once Mary? The key may be in the part of John 11 we read last week,

25Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: the one that believes in me, though they may die, yet shall they live; 26and the one who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to him, “Yes, Lord: I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one that comes into the world.

In the Bibles I have that “she” appears to be Martha but if she doesn't exist, then the she is Mary. And now we're getting to it. Christianity has long claimed that the first declaration that Jesus was the Messiah comes from Peter, the Rock, who is presented as having done so in Mark, Matthew, and Luke (the “Synoptics”) and that answer kinda worked because Martha was a pretty minor character and even though she says so in John, it is easy enough to ignore because Peter is THE ROCK, and Martha is... well, kinda a nobody.

Back to Diana Bulter Bass:

But if it is Mary, the Mary who shows up in John 11 is not an unremembered Mary... This Mary has long been suspected of being the other Mary, Mary Magdalene. Is it really true that the other Christological confession of the New Testament comes from of the voice of Mary Magdalene? That the Gospel of John gives the most important statement in the entirety of the New Testament, not to a man, but to a woman, and to a really important woman who will show up later as the first witness to the resurrection.

You see how these two stories work together. In John 11, Lazarus is raised from the dead, and who is there but Mary Magdalene? And at that resurrection, she confesses that Jesus is indeed the son of God. And then you go just 10 chapters later and who is the person at the grave? She mistakes him, at first, thinks he’s the gardener. She turns around and he says, “Mary,” and she goes, “Lord.” It’s Mary Magdalene. It is Mary Magdalene.

Oh, and now I get to place for you the final piece. Do you remember learning that Christ wasn't Jesus' last name? I do. Christ is the English version of Christos which was the Greek translation of Messiah, which literally meant “smeared” as in “smeared with oil” as in “annointed as king” because the Greek didn't have a Messiah concept like Hebrew did. So when we say Jesus Christ, we are actually saying “Jesus the Messiah.”

Well, a lot of people think Mary Magdalene was called that cause she was Mary, from Magdala. Except there was no village called Magdala. Diana Butler Bass summariezes it this way:

When we call her Magdalene, Mary Magdalene, is not Mary from Magdala. Instead, it’s a title.

The word magdala in Aramaic means tower. And so now you get the full picture. In the Synoptics, Jesus and Peter have a discussion. In that discussion, Peter utters the Christological confession. As a result of the Christological confession, Jesus says, “You are Peter the Rock.” In the gospel of John, Mary and Jesus have a conversation, and Mary utters the Christological confession. And she comes to be known as Mary the Tower.

Between these two confessions, are we looking at an argument in the early church? Peter the Rock or Mary the Tower?

But the John account was changed. The John story has been hidden from our view. All those years ago, Mary uttered those words, “Yes, Lord, I believe you are the Messiah, the son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” …

Mary is indeed the tower of faith. That our faith is the faith of that woman who would become the first person to announce the resurrection. Mary the Witness, Mary the Tower, Mary the Great, and she has been obscured from us. She has been hidden from us and she been taken away from us for nearly 2,000 years. …

Or, or perhaps and, you can leave here with a question: What if the other story of Mary hadn’t been hidden? What if Mary in John 11 hadn’t been split into two women? What if we’d known about Mary the Tower all along? What kind of Christianity would we have if the faith hadn’t only been based upon, “Peter, you are the Rock and upon this Rock I will build my church”? But what if we’d always known, “Mary, you are the Tower, and by this Tower we shall all stand?”

OK, that's it. That's my big Biblical Studies breakthrough story. Perhaps you might want to laugh with me that the big breakthrough is simply another affirmation that God loves and cares about all people, JUST LIKE THE TEXT FROM DEUTERONOMY said in a lot fewer words.

But, dear ones, what if we'd gotten both stories? And maybe the even more important question: how can we live now that we have both stories? How can we be followers of Jesus who was seen clearly by Peter and by Mary? How can we be people of faith who both follow a leader who is a rock on which we are steadied and a tower who lifts us all up? What if masculine and feminine were allowed to stand together as holy to the deepest core of our faith? What if there is a whole lot of space for both/and in our tradition!?!?

Someone actually didn't want that. Someone edited it out, and made Mary smaller. Dear ones, may we commit ourselves to the opposite. May we go out and make God, and each other, and all we meet BIGGER! Tower like, even. Amen

1 ALL THE MARYS Wild Goose Festival, Closing Sermon, July 17, 2022 by Diana Butler Bass https://dianabutlerbass.com/wp-content/uploads/All-the-Marys-Sermon.pdf

Rev. Sara E. Baron  First United Methodist Church of Schenectady  603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305  Pronouns: she/her/hers  http://fumcschenectady.org/  https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

May 21, 2023

[abirddogmoment]

These are my beloved friends and I look forward to their visit every year 💛

[blackcrowing]

Authentic Irish Foods for Samhain

🩸 Blood pudding (living cattle could be bled through the winter to provide the material as well as collecting blood when the cattle were slaughtered to keep the numbers down for winter)

🫓 Brambrack

🍲 Stew

Lamb

Beef

Wild boar

Domestic pig

Deer

Goose

Mallard

Hare

🐗 Salted wild boar and domestic pig (it is possible that other meats were salted for preservation but given that salt was an expensive commodity and no records indicate other meats we simply do not know. I will note here that we also don't seem to have records of smoked meats for preservation during this time)

🦌 From Samhain to Bealtaine it was considered inappropriate to hunt wild game, including boar. So while wild meats were likely eaten and preserved through this time, much like crop harvests for Lughnasadh, any game that wasn't taken before this festival was supposed to be left alone to breed. (Very unlike our modern hunting schedules)

🍺 Mead and Barely ale

🥣 Porridge

Oat

Barley

🥛 Dairy (this would likely become more limited as the season progressed, but butter has been found in bogs, presumed to be preserved but potentially given as offerings)

Cow's milk

Butter

Curds

mulchán 'hard cheese' (the exact nature of this cheese is unknown but it was described as being extremely hard and could be stored for long periods of time)

🦪 Sea food

Sloke

Clams

Muscles

Crab

Halibut

Sea Salmon

🌿Native Culinary Plants growing in Ireland at this time of year

Skirret

Apples

Purple sprouting boccoli

Wild cabbage

Blackberry

Raspberry

Rowan berries

Elder berries

Sloes

Rosehip

Acorn

Chestnuts

Hazelnuts

Hen of the woods

Pullball

Fairy Ring Champignon

Chanterelle

Porcini

Black Trumpet

Saffron Milk Caps

Cauliflower Mushroom

Wood Blewit

Penny bun

There would be an abundance of foods at this point in the year, but that food would become lesser as the season progressed do to lack of production in the environment and the fact that this point in the year was a time for traveling and feasting (likely to increase bonds amongs the Tuatha and because people would not be as occupied with farming and raiding).

My Kofi

[arizaluca]

The steep roof of the Temple usually meant it wasn’t an ideal place to sit– there was a flat beam at the top, despite how pointed the roof looked; but straddling a beam to sit up there was a feat that not many peope cared to actually do. So, any follower would have reasonably accepted his immense surprise that he could see somebody sitting up there. He stood there for a moment, hand on his doorknob, trying to make out who exactly was ridiculous enough to scale a very steeply angled roof and sit in what must have been the most uncomfortable seat in the entire cult. If only his third eye was open… Then part of the silhouette shifted, lifting off of the head– Narinder stared for a moment, before muttering an eldritch curse that made the tips of his claws itch, and went striding back towards the Temple.

Narinder initially has no intention of visiting the Wintertide Festival after his blowup with the Lamb, but is forced to attend in the end. After being sent on a conversational wild goose chase around the festival grounds, populated with awkward greetings and a lot of intoxicated followers, he eventually tracks down the Lamb to finally give his apology.

They have a drink to celebrate making up and end up getting carried away. Befuddled, Lambert ends up divulging even more than they ever intended to tell the former God.

A conversation is had between a Godly merchant and teeth in the darkness.

[yes-i-write-fanfiction]

Do the TFA Cons and their Human Daemons celebrate Christmas? What do they like best about it?

-Megatron's daemon have endured many Christmases since they crashed on Earth all those years ago and so she's more familiar with the holiday compared to other daemons and cybertronians. She used to hate the holiday since it reminded her that she was so far from home, surrounded by aliens that might look like her but could never understand her. So she avoided the holiday, shut herself away and ignored any and all attempts from professor Sumdac to get her into the holiday spirit. That was until Sari and her daemon were born. For the first time in YEARS, Megatron's daemon finally had something familiar. While yes, Sari and her daemon had no clue about their true heritage, something professor Sumdac had requested, they were still her people.

That's why, when Christmas comes around again, she starts to celebrate it. She still does not particularly care about the holiday but it makes Sari and her daemon so happy to just have her there, for her to share this moment with them. So she'll hang the stockings, go shopping for gifts, put on a Santa hat and even sing some silly Christmas songs. She'll do it all, just so she can feel a little bit normal, like she's not alone.

After Megatron returned to life, his daemon pretended to think nothing of the holiday when that time of the year arrived. If asked about it she'd snarl and make some comment about how she "don't have time for such idiotic nonsense". But Megatron knew, he could feel the soft pang of pain and longing. While Christmas itself didn't matter to his daemon, the time spent with the children she had come to see as her own did. She missed them. Not that he would point that out or even mention it, he knew better than anyone that she would never admit it. They were both too proud and stubborn for that.

-Starscream and his daemon... kinda likes Christmas? At least parts of it. Namely, the gifts. Though in their minds, all the gifts should be given to them. They might indulge and celebrate by exchanging gifts with one another and by having some fancy oil/wine but other than that they don't really celebrate. Unless, of course, celebrating also involves ruining Christmas for everyone else by burning all the Christmas trees they can find.

-Blitzwing and his daemon both claim to not care about the holiday but they are lying. Random and the daemon are both wearing Santa hats and Random is screaming the lyrics of different Christmas songs (mostly All I Want For Christmas Is You) at full volume. Similarly, Icy can be found humming some Christmas songs when they are both alone. Hothead watches the Disney version of A Christmas Carol, the one with Scrooge McDuck, and ends up having a whole Christmas adventure. He takes a picture with Santa, creates a snow army with the local children in the park ands ends up working for the soup kitchen.

-Lugnut and his daemon loudly proclaim that they won't celebrate such an inferior holiday! That is until they learn about the whole thing about Christmas presents. Now they are on a wild goose chase to find and acquire the ultimate gift for Megatron and his daemon! In an effort to excuse this behavior, they both proclaim that they have invited a new holiday for the decepticon empire; Con-mas!

-Shockwave and his daemon might as well be the Grinch. Except the Grinch actually ends up liking Christmas. They don't. They think the whole holiday is pointless and a disgusting display of human inferiority and vain. But then they learn that Lugnut and his daemon are going to get a gift for Megatron and his daemon and now they HAVE TO find an even better, way superior gift. Not in Christmas spirit, they just don't want those two buffoons to think they are more loyal than they are.

-Blackarachnia and her daemon, much to their shame, actually likes the holiday. The festive cheer is infectious and the Christmas songs refuses to get out of their heads. They try to act like they don't care but they both end up getting a gift for the other. Eventually they find a secluded rooftop where they share a nice meal and just allow themselves to enjoy the atmosphere.

[jalapainio]

If I was made the Head Batman Writer tomorrow, here are the five comic arcs I would write.

Batman: Break of the Family. Bruce Wayne is doused with fear toxin, and in his fear of losing people he starts pushing others away. He vigorously tries to find the one who doused him, and discovered it was Scarecrow. By that time, everyone had left Gotham, with Damian being the last, leaving the Robin role. Bruce demands to know why Scarecrow ruined the Batfamily, but Scarecrow just says he didn't. That was all on Bruce.

Batman: Solo. Bruce is alone after the events of Break of the Family. There is a new serial killer, but Bruce can't figure it out. Meanwhile, Mia Mizoguchi or ‘Maps’ starts investigating a new company who popularized the idea of Neo Gotham. Maps proves herself to Bruce as she figures out the serial killer is the CEO of the Neo Gotham Corp, but he doesn't turn her into a vigilante.

Batman: One Last Laugh. Bruce finds himself growing older, and this is reflected in the Joker, whose face has started peeling. The Joker decides to have a massive crime festival, as a tribute towards his life of crime, and sends Bruce on a wild goose chase. He captures Bruce because Bruce is too old, but the Joker does not suspect Maps. She dons a Robin costume, saves Bruce, and tells him he needs help. He accepts it.

Batman: Neo Gotham. Under new leadership, the Nep Gotham company builds a new section of the city, one that is futuristic and decades ahead of its time. The company rebrands itself to Powers Incorporated based on their newest CEO, Derek Powers. In the meantime, Maps and Bruce find themselves in many fights. Maps runs off and meets other Batfam characters. While Bruce fights the last vestiges of the Court of Owls, Maps returns back to Gotham.

Batman: Daughter of Joker. Joker, angry that Maps ruined his Batman plans, kidnaps the new Robin and decides to turn her into his own Daughter using drugs. Bruce goes into a near panic, but this time he reaches out to the Batfam, who return to Gotham to save Maps. The Joker almost escapes, but he is cornered by Jason Todd, who beats the Joker to death with a crowbar. When Bruce discovers the mutilated corpse, he decides against trying to figure out who did it; to him, it doesn't really matter. Gotham is once again full of heros, and Maps actually joins the Batfam.

[rottenpumpkin13]

The Firsts are forced to attend a company Halloween party, costumes required. What are they dressing up as and why?

SOLDIERs + Halloween

★ Anon gets a gold star for a halloween ask. You have come to the right blog friend >:) *evil laughter*

• ShinRa is hosting an ultra opulent and fancy Halloween party. It's one of those invite-only events with a guest list consisting of celebrities and politicians.

• And the 1st class trio are absolutely required to attend. No exceptions and that means Sephiroth is forced to partake in the festivities too—kicking and screaming, of course.

• They're having lunch in Angeal's office one October (it's takeout from the overpriced Wutaian place in sector 8) and racking their brains over what their costumes are going to be.

• "I suppose I could go as a gladiator...?" Angeal sounds befittingly unsure of his own words. He rocks himself on his swivel chair, stabbing his chopsticks into a pork dumpling. Just the thought of sitting through some gaudy event nauseates him.

• Genesis, who has long abandoned his fried rice, lounges beck on the chair across from him. He has both boots propped on the desk, something Angeal is far too distracted to concern himself over.

• "What you could do, my friend, is help me choose." He holds up the open notebook he's been sketching in for the past fifteen minutes. Both pages have detailed depictions of Genesis dressed in two costumes.

• Angeal's face drains of color when he looks them.

• "So?" Genesis's grin is wicked as he arches a single eyebrow. "Bloody Little Red Riding Hood or Prince charming?"

• Angeal leans forth, squinting at the Little Red Riding Hood sketch in particular.

• Angeal: Gen, if you wear that you're going to be arrested.

• Genesis: I am going to be praised for my nerve and versatility.

• Angeal: It's lingerie.

• Genesis: It's camp.

• Angeal rolls his eyes, then stomachs the last of his dumplings. "Go with prince charming," he mutters through a mouthful of food.

• Meanwhile Sephiroth is quietly eating his noodles on the couch while doing some arts and crafts himself.

• Genesis swivels the chair around to face him, planting his feet on the ground. "Oh, goddess help me, Sephiroth," he scoffs.

• Sephiroth stops chewing as he stills. He's hovering over the piece of plywood with a paintbrush in hand. "Yes?"

• Genesis is fuming. He drums his finger on the notebook, lips dripping with venom. "This is why you sent that poor trooper on that wild goose chase? To get you art supplies so you can concoct that atrocity?"

• Angeal shrugs. "I like it. It's smart."

• Sephiroth proudly holds up a sign that reads "COSTUME"

• Genesis tosses his notebook on the table with a groan. "You know what? Why don't we just do a group costume?"

• Angeal and Sephiroth exchange weary looks, but ultimately decide to hear Genesis out. They gather around the excited redhead, dodging his flailing arms and animated gestures as he sketches out another two costumes.

• And this is how the 1st class trio end up attending the halloween party as....

• Three medieval Knights! It's ornate enough to placate Genesis, uniform enough to comfort Sephiroth, and Angeal's inner child is healed. Genesis has a red cloak, Angeal a green one, and Sephiroth's is blue.

• Everyone's happy.

• Unfortunately Sephiroth gets wind of the gluttonous amounts of candy offered at the event and Genesis is drunk within the first hour.

• Angeal spends the majority of the party keeping drunk Genesis and hyper Sephiroth from "dueling."

[beezonia]

So I’ve been watching power rangers again and wanted to share a few of my headcannons!

——

Reds definitely tend to stick together or relatively close to each other

It’s their thing (Wes kinda takes in some of the younger reds)

Pinks have a gc to chat shit and you can bet kim takes the younger pinks under her wings, kat is a mother hen for sure

Pinks are definitely more emotional along with blues even if they take a more logical approach to things

But literally younger rangers will just rant to the older rangers if they need too

Their going through a hell of a lot for teenagers

Yellow’s gc blowing up when the Taylor Earhardt tells them she’s getting hitched

Leaving the yellows to ask around the whole grid to figure out who she’s getting married too

Specifically Alyssa she’s going mad trying to find out who (best friend privileges were used)

No one knows because whoever it is has kept it really tight

So it ends up in a huge wild goose chase whenever a ranger announces their engagement

Speaking of wedding’s some of the rangers will appear randomly to join in the festivities

Some rangers have got very drunk and tried to dj or cause some sort of chaos (wes and jens wedding)

Like Tommy appears often, specially at baby showers when that happens to bless the babies along with some of the others

Blues sometimes have like a club for just nerding out or showing of their cool stuff

Reds have arm wrestling tournaments

Just rangers end up always meeting each other for birthdays or anniversary’s

Sometimes if one ranger knows a lot of rangers it can turn into huge family reunion esque parties going on

That happened for Christmas once, it was chaos really

Just rangers always stick together, their like a huge extended family

I feel like ranger teams specifically would live close or with each other

Like kat and tommy live together

I like to think trini, zack and billy live together as like a trio thing which would be cool

Trini would dote on them like an older sister for sure

Some of the younger rangers come to the older ones for love advice

The younger teaching the elder ones slang and cool stuff they learn

So the dino based rangers definitely bond over their zords

Ninja rangers compare skills all the time

Rangers just always sticking together fr

[twentyyearstoolate]

"Harry, of course it's a real festival! Look at all these artists signed up to perform! Look at these luxury villas! This gourmet food and drink! What could I possibly stand to gain from sending a decorated officer of the RCM on a wild goose chase to a fake music festival? I wouldn't waste the Union's resources just to mock up glamour shots and and convince you to get stranded on an island in the middle of the pale! I'm a busy man, Harry!"

[outofangband]

Birds of Dor-lómin

I have decided to make two posts at least for the birds of Hithlum, this one and one for Mithrim and greater Hithlum

As I take inspiration from several European and Asian countries for the environment of Dor-lómin, the species here reflects that however to the best of my ability it is ecologically consistent. Obviously this will not be a complete list and I will go back to it!

And as always requests are open! I’m also always willing to put together ecological world building based on specific real locations!

Flora, fauna, geography and environment of Arda Masterlist

Note: I use Hadorian here to refer to the folk of Hador and of Marach including cultural practices that might predate Hador himself

The eastern mountains and forests around Húrin’s house: hazel grouse, brambling, northern wryneck, common buzzard, Zitting cisticola, grey headed woodpecker, black redstart, grey heron, common quail, great spotted woodpecker, dusky thrush, white winged crossbill, Bohemian waxwing, ring ouzel, tawny owl, common raven

The western border and Firth of Drengist: horned grebe, osprey, black crowned night heron, little gull, black tern, great white pelican, common kingfisher, common starling, little ringed plover, rocky pipit, white tailed eagle

Note: many of the mountain, sea and wetlands birds here are incidental species occurring in Dor-lómin because of migration or other factors. This is also true of some of the species listed for the eastern mountain borders.

The fields and open lands: Greylag goose, corn bunting, little owl, gadwall, mallard duck, wood lark, bearded reedling, hedge warbler, twite, common grasshopper warbler, yellowhammer, greater scaup (migratory), nightjar, stone curlew, barn owl, black headed bunting, whinchat, little grebe, goldfinch, blue throat

Throughout: common wood pigeon, fieldfare, hobby (migratory), common crane, mute swan, house sparrow, merlin, common buzzard (primarily in the Southern mountains), black woodpecker, gryphfalcon

World building notes:

-The people of Hador keep ducks, geese, chickens and pigeons including a species like passenger pigeons. They are the only group of Atani in Beleriand that has a practice of keeping birds primarily for eggs as well as meat and who uses eggs in cooking semi frequently. The Haladin, Bëorians, Drúedain and other groups do eat eggs though not usually chicken eggs and do not often use them as ingredients in baking (although there are some Bëorian dishes that involve bread with quail eggs)

Aerin and bird HCs

-Hadorian food is a combination of farming and agriculture and hunting and foraging. Grouse, pheasant and wild ducks are sometimes caught for food

-Sea birds are relatively rare but can be seen in western Dor-lómin near the Firth of Drengist and the border to Nevrast. The northern Sindar who live in western Hithlum including western Dor-lómin keep oral records of the presence and appearance of sea birds and mentions of them appear occasionally in song

-Feathers of geese are designs associated with the Hadorian midwinter festival. They are sometimes worn but more commonly embroidered or painted.

-The northern Sindar by the caves of Androth paint birds on the cave and cliff walls, using pigments made from minerals, bark and sometimes shells. Herons, gulls and starling shapes are the most common.

-Random character HC: Sador’s favorite animals to carve are birds especially ground birds. Some of these he even paints or polishes when he has the time.

[princesssarisa]

What are the favorite foods of the main cast of "A Christmas Carol"?

Before his reformation, Scrooge likes the simplest, cheapest fare: bread and cheese, oatmeal gruel, or when he's feeling slightly indulgent, a little boiled beef with mustard. But after his ghostly journey, he becomes more fond of festive foods, like roast turkey and goose, roasted chestnuts, and hot punches like Smoking Bishop.

I think the whole Cratchit family's favorite meal is roast goose with mashed potatoes, gravy, and applesauce, followed by Mrs. Cratchit's famous plum pudding. They can only afford it once a year, at Christmas, and they always go wild for it.

Nephew Fred seems like the type of person who would have a sweet tooth, and since he also loves Christmas so much, I think he especially likes plum pudding and fruitcake with royal icing – with plenty of festive brandy in both.

Fezziwig probably likes many foods, considering his size in most adaptations and illustrations. But I'll imagine that above all, he likes beef, because in the book he serves two types of beef at his party, roast and boiled.

None of the ghosts have favorite foods because they don't need to eat, but I imagine that when Marley was alive, he stuck to the same frugal diet as Scrooge pre-redemption. Malnutrition may have contributed to his death.

[endlessly-cursed]

Bringing Good Tidings, Part One: A Royal Ball

AN: It's here! A thousand times late, but here nevertheless! Tis not the 29th till the sun comes out, lol. This is a collab that Guzma ( @hphmmatthewluther ) and I have created for all of you. Do not worry, this doesn't contain spoilers from neither of our series and can be perfectly read! Enjoy!

Summary: Ten years later after the biggest events on Henriette and Lachlann's lives, the heroes reunite for a royal ball hosted at London.

Word Count: 1.2k

OCs involved: Henriette of Wessex, Frederick of Kent ( @that-scouse-wizard ) Lachlann Doherty ( @hphmmatthewluther ) Mathilde Coventry ( @camillejeaneshphm )

Taglist: let me know if you wish to be added!!

24th of December  

Henriette’s estate was chaos.

Servants ran left and right, some chasing the children while the others made sure that Lord Frederick and Lady Henriette would be presentable for their majesties and the horses. Henriette was used to this, although her dear husband was yet to get used to some of the customs. Adjusting her travelling veil and hairstyle, she looked at her husband, who dealt with the rather long sleeves. She chuckled, amused by how uncomfortable he looked in festive gear. She got up from her vanity and adjusted them. Freddie leaned on her touch, kissing her forehead “Thank you, my love.”

“Nervous?” She asked.

“About the king? Not really. But I am anxious about the feast… it’s the first time we bring the children with us.”

“I know. I am anxious as well. But we’ve worked hard to train them for court. All will be well. Besides, many of Hogwarts’ professors and friends will be there! Our children won’t be the only ones under scrutiny.” She realised what she said and kissed his hand “Sorry, my love. Being under scrutiny is not something we ought to enjoy.”

“It’s alright. This is how you’ve lived for decades now. I’d be surprised if you weren’t accustomed to it.”

They were about to kiss when a ten-year-old Odalric barged into the room, Juliana in tow.

“Mother! Juliana is misbehaving again!” He complained.

“Denegifu and I were merely playing, mother!” She retaliated.

The two of them looked at each other before each of them talked to their children “Tell me, Juliana, were you? Misbehaving?” Henriette asked calmly.

“No! Denegifu and I were playing tug-of-war and she lost. I merely teased her!”

“Is it true, son?” Frederick asked.

“She wasn’t just teasing! She started laughing at her and made her cry!”

Juliana turned to her brother “It’s not my fault that she’s still a baby!”

Henriette made her daughter look at her “Hey! Never say such things about family, Juliana! Despite what you might think of her, she is your sister and will be for the rest of your life, and you ought to love and respect her, alright?”

“Fine…”

“Is that all, Odalric?”

“Yes, father. I will go dress now.”

As each nanny took the children to their room, both parents sighed. Frederick shook his head “I know that, sometimes, children can be mean, but I worry about Juliana.”

“Me, too. I fear that there is somebody who’s pitting her against her own sister.”

“Let us hope that it stays a teenage rivalry.”

Lachlann was adding the last touches to his riding gear when an owl arrived. Without even turning, he asked his wife “Tillie, love, do you mind getting that for me, please?”

His wife, Mathilde, picked the scroll from the ill-tempered owl and opened the scroll. After a few minutes, she turned to look at her husband “Our contact has no news of Bruna. Still locked at home with the children.”

Both of them fell silent. Ten years had passed since Brunhilda had been married off to her cousin and whisked away for her cruel husband’s pleasure, and despite following them into a wild goose chase, Bruna herself asked the couple to leave her be for the sake of her children and herself. It pained them both to leave her to Wilhelm’s clutches, but they could do nothing at the moment.

A servant broke the silence by announcing that their children were already dressed and finishing packing. Lam smiled. If something had kept him going, it was his beloved family. They were all each his pride and joy, and despite the fact that at court they’d be heavily watched by the king, he looked forward showing London to his children.

“You know,” Mathilde commented “this is the hottest event in town. Not even a savage like Wilhelm would miss it. Perhaps there is hope for us to see her again before the year ends.”

She was right. The last time they saw her, they had all been in a royal hunt, and Brunhilda had looked pale and tired. Nothing like the energetic and vivacious young woman that they both had loved. She had been left behind in the hut to take care of her daughters while Wilhelm showed off his son in the hunt. Lam could speak for him and his wife when he wondered how come someone like Brunhilda took so much from a monster like him.

The moment the servant announced that they were ready for their journey to London, Lam shook off his thoughts and took Tillie’s hand, putting a brave face to his family for the sake of the holidays.

As they approached the castle, which, for Henriette, was already much familiar, she smiled. Much had happened there over the years. She had finally laid eyes upon her husband, they had shared small moments, married there, and many of their six children had been conceived there. She now may look bigger and older, but she was much happier than she had been when she was merely nineteen.

“Shall we?”

“If we must…”

“Lord Frederick of Kent and Lady Henriette of Wessex!” The herald cried, and they both made their entrance.

They both bowed to the monarchs and each greeted them.

“Your Graces, may I present my children? You may remember my oldest, Odalric. These are Denegifu, Juliana, Akelda, Cuthfelda and Hilda.” Each of the children bowed as Henriette and tutors had taught them and the queen smiled.

“Be welcome, Lady Henriette. We hope that your travels were safe.”

“They were, Your Graces.”

“Lord Lachlann Doherty and his wife, the Lady Mathilde!”

Bowing respectfully, they all moved on to their seats. Henriette’s, of course, was next to the Queen. The children were taken to another room, as per tradition dictated. Setting onto the seat, they observed from afar how the former serf was now handling gracefully a conversation with His Grace, who seemed intrigued by him. He had certainly come far ever since the infamous feast at the Thane of Cawdor’s castle.

The couple came over to them and curtsied to them both “My lord. My lady. It is a pleasure to see you here.”

“Likewise, Lady Mathilde. You look well.”

Mathilde nodded “Same to you. I couldn’t tell that you’ve had six children. You must tell me your secrets.”

“I’d be delighted, my lady.”

“I hope to see you for tomorrow’s feast.”

“Christmastime and your lovely daughter’s birthday, no less. We wouldn’t miss it, would we, dear?”

Lachlann nodded.

“It shall be an interesting soiree, indeed.”

They were a bit right about that.

Henriette and Frederick sat on the edges of their daughter’s bed, who was starting to stir up. She sighed and opened her eyes “Good morning, Mother. Father.”

“Good morning, sweetie.” Frederick smiled.

“Happy birthday!” Henriette smiled.

Akelda beamed weakly “Is it today?”

“Why, yes!”

Frederick ordered the servants to dress her as Henriette woke up the rest of the children as she reminded “Remember, we are now at court, and we must be on our best behaviour! Keep the naughtiness to a minimum!” She chided.

“Yes, Mother!” They all echoed.

As everyone dressed, Akelda was presented with a beautiful cream dress and a brooch with her favourite flower, the magnolia. She beamed and hugged both her parents “Thank you. You’re both very kind.”

“Anything for the birthday girl.”

Lachlann had woken up with a certain queasiness. He felt it. Something was off. He just knew, after his training. Mathilde had said that maybe it was the mulled wine, but he knew better.

As the court danced away, his senses tingled, telling him to be alert.

This had just begun. And he wasn’t referring to the party.

[narniansagafamily]

Narnian Saga Family's first event

Harps of Gold

December 0001 AC (Aslan's Country) / December 2555: It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold: “Peace on the earth, good will to men From heav’n’s all-gracious King.” The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing.

With the arrival of the first celebrated Yuletide in Aslan's Country, all those who gained entrance to the celebrated country gather at Saltwood Court Palace - now magically increased in size to accommodate the entire civilization of Aslan's Country. It's citizens travel far and wide, traveling by ships on the Great Eastern Ocean, traveling by carriage, or by barge up the Great River, to Saltwood Court Palace, which sits just North of Aslan's Camp and South of Owlwood. Here, the citizens will sit out the harsh winds of winter and take pleasure in exciting hunts, glorious balls, feasts, caroling, poems, and more. Mistletoe and evergreens will be hung is mischievous places, and ivy and holly will adorn every wall, and hot ale and cider available at every beck and whim. Gifts of fruit will be given out to fair maidens in the hopes of receiving a cheeky kiss in return. The Kings and Queens of old will all gather together and oversee this magnificent time as they celebrate Yuletide and Aslan, celebrating both old and new traditions, and magnificent gifts will be dolled out to everyone. Each day will bring new events, and each night will deliver a new feast - but remember, the court will be both merry and solemn as the court reflects on the history of their worlds, lives, and of Aslan.

Events:

The Lord of Misrule: a commoner would be chosen as the “Lord of Misrule” and would be in charge of organizing the entertainment and revelry for the Twelve Days of Christmas

Yuletide Feast: the main feast, celebrated on Christmas Day. The day starts with gifts being handed out in the morning in a great celebration in the main hall as a public event. Everyone has what's left of the afternoon to do as they please, before gathering together once more in the main hall for a grand feast to celebrate Christmas and honor Aslan.

Mummer's Play's with music and dancing

Carols being sung throughout the Palace

Wassailing: The enjoying of a communal cup of spiced ale.

Bean Queen: a contest for the castle servants whose winner gets to be treated like a queen for a day.

Frost Fair: a winter carnival for the children.

Ice Festival: a celebration of winter where mock duels are held, small plays are put on by children, dancing takes place, music is played, and a feast is served afterward.

Christmas Guide:

Main meal: consists of wild boar, goose, turkey, peacock

Christmas pudding: made of meat, spices, and oatmeal

Lambswool: made from hot cider, sherry or ale, spices and apples, which when hot exploded, to create a white 'woolly' top

Leech: a milk-based sweet made with sugar and rosewater, which was cut into cubes and served plain or gilded, arranged as a chequerboard

Collops of bacon: made from ground almonds and sugar

Marchpane: a round piece of almond paste that's iced and elaborately decorated, sometimes with figures made of sugar. Crystallized fruits added color

Gilded fruit: Fruit gilded in gold used to decorate tables

Sugar-plate: made from sugar, egg-white and gelatin, crafted to look like walnuts, eggs and other food like marzipan is today

The Marchpane: an arrangement made from almond past which was iced or gilded and then decorated with sugar figures and crystallised fruit, was the centrepiece of this court

Mulled wine: wine heated and infused with sugar and spices

Gingerbread: made from bread, ginger, spices, sugar and wine into a stiff paste which was then molded

Syllabub: a hot milk drink flavored with rum or wine and spices

OOC Information

Feel free to play with any character you like, to what extent you like. Please try and tag all threads with the tag nsfevent001

[uncovering-sumac]

I've been spending a lot of time at the library. Can you blame me? My apartment's full of ghosts and work is full of weirdos. Bob's passion for apple varieties was charming at first, but it got old when his draft of the Harvest Festival flyers came back half-covered in informational block text. Lisa's art didn't pass review either- not enough pumpkins and too many screaming faces. After a 2 hour stalemate over the flyer design, we were all exhausted, and Janet threatened to send it out the way it was if we couldn't figure something else out. Bob frantically asked if I could use "the AI" to fix it. I just wanted to go home, so I smiled, nodded, and slapped the festival date onto a stock photo of some hay bales, earning me the title of resident tech genius. Sometimes being the youngest employee isn't so bad.

Anyway, the library is now the only place I can find any peace. I spend most of my free time now in the archives, reading the obituaries over and over. I found a few of the women whose names were on that paper. Their old-timey causes of death alternate between confusing and tragic: typhoid, dropsy, childbirth, "debility." But I can't find any connections between them. I keep searching, reading over the same lines, hoping they'll show me something new.

That's what I was doing today when Aiden found me. He noticed I haven't been at the coffee shop lately and went to look for me. He's a good friend. Better than I deserve.

At first I tried to avoid his questions. I covered up my notes as I scrambled to make up stories of where I've been for the past month. But as I looked at him I remembered Frank and Becca desperately looking for their friend, Evelyn tearing up as she wondered what happened to him. If I get what I want, I'll find whatever led to Pat's disappearance, and we all know how that ended for him. I couldn't do that to Aiden. So I sighed and invited him to sit with me.

The truth came out slowly. At first he just sat and watched me shuffle through my notes. Eventually he started asking questions and that got me to talk. It felt good to tell someone. Not as scary as I expected. He took my story pretty well (or, at least as well as someone can when their friend is going crazy). I don't think he believes me, but he helped me look through the archives anyway, probably just to humor me. We didn't find anything though.

After a while the library closed and we had to go home empty-handed. Still today doesn't feel like a total waste. I may not have answered the questions that brought me here yet. But if I made a friend who's willing to join me on this wild goose- er, ghost- chase, maybe I did something right.

[aetheternity]

Saw someone trying to claim that Zhongli is smarter than Venti. Mans is the god of money and forgot to give himself any before he gave up those powers to live as a mortal. He has tried to buy out several stores with money that isn’t his. Normally it wouldn’t be weird for a god to be economically illiterate because they’re above things like human economies and have no need to understand them, but again this is the god of money. And cocogoat. He’s lived in Liyue for over 6000 years and is an unrivaled expert in anything to do with Liyue but he doesn’t know that there isn’t a legendary animal called a cocogoat, and takes an undead amnesiac 10 year old’s word to go on a wild goose chase to find it.

People only question Venti’s intelligence because they refuse to show it outside of the archon quest besides some vague undertones that he knows more than he lets on, which the average genshin player is too stupid to pick up on.

I think a lot of people don't really get that there isn't one kind of intelligence that someone could have. You can easily be very smart while lacking a lot of emotional intelligence and most of Venti's character is him showing emotional intelligence.

In Windblume one when he picks up on Barbara's worry and assures her that Traveler and him are going to stick by her. When he tells Traveler in his teapot voice lines that he'll lend them his shoulder. How he leaves the tavern during the Irodori festival to see that nothing bad happened to Xingqiu or that NPC who was helping him.

Venti always gets sold short but he's definitely more emotionally intelligent than Zhongli. The not making himself any mora was def a blind spot but also I guess he figured he should start working like an actual human since he's trying to masquerade as one. The cocogoat thing.. yeah I will never understand that one.

[regarding-stories]

Teasing Master Takagi-san / Karakai Jouzo no Takagi-san

Wow, finally a Japanese title I can almost read? (Forget about reading names in Japanese, it's utter madness. Separate dictionaries exist only to let you know which sounds go with what kanji when it comes to names.) So the Japanese title basically says "Takagi-san of good at teasing". Try getting a good-sounding title out of that!

This series starts out with a simple premise. Two kids are sitting next to each other in middle school, a boy named Nishikata and a girl named Takagi. Takagi likes to tease Nishikata mercilessly, and Nishikata keeps on embarrassing himself in trying to get back at her.

Frankly, this alone would get stale soon, so even episode 1 teases at the fact that Takagi does all of this because Nishikata is her crush.

Frankly, the initial episodes didn't really get me. It just seems so odd a match. Takagi is orders of magnitude smarter than Nishikata, often plotting a whole series of steps ahead. She's a chess master of teasing, up to an absurd degree. She has such a good read on Nishikata that she can predict what he says next out loud or in his thoughts. And this initially soured me on the series. The pairing didn't make sense.

Well, except if you see it as comedic setup. Takagi possesses perfect delivery, complete poker face if needed, whereas Nishikata is a mix of embarrassed reactions, attempts at grandstanding, followed by his downfall.

And after a few episodes, they have you...

The simple life

It's not immediately apparent, but over time you will notice that this series is set in a rural Japanese setting. Glimpses of the town these two walk through hint at traditional back streets, the sweets store everybody in school visits is a mere shack. Eventually you learn it is set on an island off the coast of one of Japan's major islands, Shikoku.

Separated from a larger world by at least a ferry ride, Teasing Master Takagi-san knows how to charm you. Gradually it introduces the antics of other classmates, growing a small cast of recurring characters. It's a boxed-in place, small but endearing, with a good reason why these two end up walking home together so often. The setting convincingly mirrors the ensemble premise.

This comes to the fore in small ways, like how the local fireworks festival is laid out on a hill below the shrine. How Takagi-san can't return from a visit to the mainland due to a typhoon. A traditional torchlight procession. This show is not set in Tokyo, and it makes the most of it without getting obnoxious. I enjoyed this aspect very much. Some of these scenes are just visually stunning and taking you to a Japan bordering on fantasy.

A rewarding wild goose chase

In order to watch the three seasons and concluding movie, I had to spread my watching over Crunchyroll (season 1), Netflix (season 2), and HiDive (season 3 and movie). I just wanted to know how it ends, it would be a terrible shame to miss the last part! Good thing some streaming services still offer trials... (I think I missed the OVA after season 1, but knowing your typical filler OVA I doubt I missed much...) Netflix has the guts to call it an "original series" for airing only one season of the whole lot...

A lot of the dynamic of the series follows a typical Japanese anime trope. The boy resorts to a "It can't be true" logic after he gets clear hints that Takagi-san is in love with him, whereas Takagi-san gets cold feet and prefers to tease by voicing her true feelings and then leaving it unclear whether it was a tease. The series builds tension quite well here, given these are just middle schoolers. All the blushes and sweet moments...

And thankfully, it being set in middle school, we are spared all the other anime tropes of the rom-com genre. No panty shots, no boob jokes, no people defying gravity by falling onto each other. This is the time when holding hands is a big deal, making this show a rather unadulterated joy (pun intended).

And Nishikata's passion for a silly shoujo rom-com named "100% Unrequited Love" (kyun kyun!!) is the final bonus sealing the deal, both the content of that show-in-show and all of Nishikata's reactions to it. Peering inside his mind is always fun and a bit cringe, anyway.

Do prepare for some tears in the movie, but it's all good.