#most famous reindeer indeed

[howgaytobequeer]

I posted 116 times in 2022

That's 116 more posts than 2021!

9 posts created (8%)

107 posts reblogged (92%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@/taggthewanderer

@/typhlonectes

@/sparkylurkdragon

@/maiiau

@/uncharismatic-fauna

I tagged 116 of my posts in 2022

#wildlife - 67 posts

#queue - 16 posts

#marine life - 15 posts

#original posts - 14 posts

#insects - 12 posts

#colour morphs - 11 posts

#pets - 11 posts

#birds - 7 posts

#cats - 6 posts

#botany - 6 posts

Longest Tag: 62 characters

#the librarians did the right thing by summoning animal control

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Apparently your beautiful dolphin is TOO weird for tumblr...

Indeed! I have a ticket open.

I can only assume it got hit because of the URL, either due to Shitty Algorithm or perhaps Malicious Reporting.

5 notes - Posted July 17, 2022

#4

About/FAQ

What is this?

A queer dragon expressing their thesis that the weird is worth celebrating, with a particular focus on weird animals because that’s what I’m interested in. You may find the origin of the phrase “how gay it is to be queer” in this post of mine. It’s a play on older meanings of both words: “how joyous it is to be weird.”

You can’t say that! That’s a Bad and Naughty Word!

I can and I am. If my identity bothers you, you should probably not follow this blog. For the record, “gay” was the Bad and Naughty Word where and when I was growing up, and I don’t tell gay folk they can’t use it.

I found an error in your Fun Facts.

Happens to the best of us! I’m always happy to learn new things, and zoology is a fast-moving science.

What is your content warning policy?

This blog will often include frank discussion of human and animal disease, as well as predation. I use the tags ‘veterinary medicine,’ ‘infectious disease,’ and ‘predation’/’predation cw’ for these, as well as ‘animal death cw’ and ‘human death cw’ as appropriate.

If there’s a critter you don’t want to see for whatever reason, I tag with plurals, eg ‘dogs,’ ‘insects,’ and so on.

What is your profile picture?

A common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), a very queer animal indeed.

What is your blog header?

A titan arum bloom (Amorphophallus titanum), a very queer plant indeed.

5 notes - Posted July 17, 2022

#3

I’m currently reading The Invisible Siege: The Rise of Coronaviruses and the Search for a Cure by Dan Werb as part of my local library’s Summer Reading Program, and in the third chapter there’s the story of how Dr. Ralph Baric got into studying coronaviruses back in the early 1980′s, long before the virus family became known as a danger to humans with the SARS epidemic in the early 2000′s and longer still before the COVID pandemic. He became interested in this viral family because, by RNA virus standards, they’re enormous: bigger than any that should exist based on our knowledge of RNA viruses at the time. How very queer, right?

I would love for SARS-CoV-2 to be eradicated from the world as smallpox and rinderpest were. I would love to never even encounter its basically harmless cousins that only cause common colds again. I shiver at the fact that the pandemic is not yet over, from compassion and fear for my fellow humans and from fear for myself.

And yet, it struck me, once again, how even terrors like pathogenic coronaviruses are still, at some level or another, beautiful and marvelous pieces of our intricate biosphere. Infectious diseases have been a long-term special interest of mine, since on one level disease and poison are one of those things that terrify me the most, the thought of something being Wrong within you that you cannot see but you can feel the pain of, and on another level preferring informed terror over uninformed any day.

So, Coronaviridae... I may hate what the most famous among you is doing, but you are, after all, only a family of viruses. Giants of the RNA virus world, you are equal parts fascinating and terrifying.

7 notes - Posted July 25, 2022

#2

Reindeer are queer animals indeed.

(Female reindeer. Image source)

Rangifer tarandus, also known as the caribou, is a cervid who lives in the Arctic. Both male and female reindeer grow antlers annually - certainly a strange feature within the Cervidae family!

See the full post

8 notes - Posted July 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

About that vampire bat that ate Quincey's horse...

First, so we're clear, actual vampire bats are pretty tiny. They only drink about about two tablespoons/30ml of blood in a single feeding. (For comparison, when you give blood the goal is to get about 500ml out of you.) And they don't suck blood so much as lick it up after delivering a bite with an anticoagulant in their saliva. It wouldn't be much more than an annoyance, like a larger mosquito bite, except for the fact that they often carry rabies, a disease with a functionally 100% fatality rate once symptoms appear.

But, as luck would have it, I think I can explain Quincey's story about his horse getting eaten by No Vampire Bat I've Ever Heard Of: Like many things, the story of vampire bats grew in the telling and the farther away the tale got from their homeland. I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Stoker thought Quincey's account of a gigantic vampire bat was based in reality, because of the kinds of sources he might've had access to in the English world about the animals.

I'm reading a book about the cultural history of rabies right now (Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy), and at one point they quote from a 1796 account from J.G. Stedman of his encounter with one while travelling in Suriname. This account is... almost definitely exaggerated and very definitely incorrect about how vampire bats work! But I've included the excerpt below, and you can tell me if any of this sounds familiar. (Content warning for blood, vomit, and tall tales; paragraph breaks added for readability.)

On waking about four o'clock this morning in my hammock, I was extremely alarmed at finding myself weltering in congealed blood, and without feeling any pain whatever... I had been bitten by the vampire, or spectre, of Guana, which is also called the flying dog of New Spain, and, by the Spaniards, perrovolador. This is no other than a bat of a monstrous size, that sucks the blood from men and cattle when they are fast asleep, even, sometimes, until they die; and as the manner in which they proceed is truly wonderful, I shall endeavor to give a distinct account of it. Knowing by instinct that the person they intend to attack is in a sound slumber, they generally alight near the feet; where, while the creature continues fanning its enormous wings, which keeps one cool, he bites a piece out of the tip of the great toe, so very small, indeed, that the head of a pin could scarcely be received into the wound, which is, consequently, not painful; yet through this orifice he continues to suck the blood, until he is obliged to disgorge. He then begins again, and thus continues sucking and disgorging till he is scarcely able to fly, and the sufferer has often been known to sleep from time into eternity... Having applied tobacco-ashes as the best remedy, and washed the gore from myself and from my hammock, I observed several small heaps of congealed blood, all around the place where I had lain, upon the ground; upon examining which, the surgeon judged that I might have lost at least twelve or fourteen ounces during the night.

61 notes - Posted September 19, 2022

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[tu-writers-room]

December 24th

The Most Famous Reindeer of All

There were Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Dunder and Blixem, they were all there, even some of the lesser-known reindeer she had never heard about before, but, most importantly, Rudolph wasn't. The most famous reindeer of all was very busy these days, it was practically impossible to get him for an interview, but that was fine with the journalist. She was more interested in the outside perspective, in the reindeer who were not the public spotlight, and what they would have to say about their superstar colleague.

She crossed her legs and pulled out the freshly sharpened pencil. She was *so* ready for this interview. It was going to be the story of the year; she could already see the headline in her mind: Rudolph -- Behind the Red Nose. This is how she knew it was going to be good. It always turned out to be good when she had a title this early.

"Sooo," she said, her gaze wandering over the reindeer surrounding her. She was pleased to notice that they anticipated this even more eagerly than she did. The journalist almost licked her lips in excitement. They were about to tell her everything. "We all know Rudolph as a public figure, a dazzling celebrity," she went on when she felt she had dragged this out long enough, "but tell me more about him as a person. What's he like when the cameras are turned off?"

Hooves were pawed on the ground nervously, eyes twitched, Dancer and Prancer exchanged a quick glance. "That's hard to say," one deer said in a diplomatic tone, maybe it was Cupid? "We don't get to see a lot of him these days." Cautious nods all around. They wanted to talk, but none of them was ready to start it. Not yet. But she was a professional, she was prepared for this. Uncrossing her legs and crossing them again, she cleared her throat. "But it hasn't always been like this. What was life on the north pole like before that one foggy Christmas Eve? From what I've heard, it seems Rudolph had trouble connecting with his peers growing up?"

Someone scoffed. Probably Dasher. "This is about the song, isn't it?"

"It's always about this cursed song", Dancer muttered under his breath. "If I get my hooves on whoever wrote that thing, I'm gonna give them a whole new sort of red nose!"

"It got my name wrong," said another, "it's Blixem, spelled B-L-I-X-E-M!" The journalist made a smart face and silently crossed out the name Blitzen on her clipboard.

"I'm not even in the song!", a small, antlerless reindeer called Piper complained loudly. "I wished I wasn't in the song!", yelled another.

"Let's answer the lady's question", an older, also antlerless reindeer said in a calm but firm voice, and the others immediately went quiet. "Yes, Drummer," Piper squeaked.

"It is true that Rudolph has always been an outsider to the group," he told the journalist, "but the song isn't giving quite the right picture here. In fact--" "It wasn't our fault!" Cupid interrupted, and chaos immediately broke loose again.

"He was the one who never wanted to join us!"

"He always felt so special with his stupid nose!"

"We never mocked him, he made that up to hurt us!"

"I would have loved for him to join us once in a while."

The journalist raised her hand to quiet them. As great as it was to get some emotions, she needed facts, too. When the others had calmed down, the older reindeer spoke again: "Rudolph had been Santa's favourite long before that one foggy Christmas Eve, basically ever since he was born, and he rarely let a chance to remind us of that pass by. He preferred to spend his time inside the house with the humanoid part of the staff and considered most of the things that happened outside beneath him. He would call them 'reindeer games', mockingly."

"It was so mean of him to put that term in the song," Cupid complained. "The whole song is a lie," said Blixem, "but with most of it, I at least understand why they did it. Putting the reindeer games in there, though, that was just to rub it in." Even Drummer agreed and nodded: "That was uncalled for, yes."

The journalist frantically took notes, determined to record every detail. "So, to get this straight," she asked without looking up, "Rudolph was never actually bullied for his deformation?" When she didn't get an answer, she raised her head and was met with blank stares. "For his nose!"

Everyone tried to look like they had understood her at the first try, and shook their heads. "No, never!"

"It wouldn't have worked even if we tried," Prancer muttered, obviously ashamed to admit this in front of his peers. "I wanted to mock him for it, just once, when the song was already out, to let him know what it's like when someone makes fun of you. But the only emotion he ever showed about it was pride."

"Don't feel bad about it," Dancer comforted him, gently nudging his shoulder with his nose. "We know you're a good person, you were just angry back then."

"I have another question though," the journalist interrupted the sweet moment, "why? Why make all of this up?"

This time Drummer was the only one who spoke. "People love a good story. The story of an underdog, someone who had to earn their place at the top. It's inspiring. Even more so as a Christmas story, it gives people hope. And more importantly," he sighed, "it's what keeps this place running."

"But...," came small voice from the far back, "that's going to change now, right? Now that you're here?" When she looked around, the journalist saw herself faced with a herd of huge, begging reindeer eyes. "Please?"

When she left the stable two hours later, she had more notes in her bag than she would have deemed possible, and she was determined to tell that story. She felt good about it, so good she started to hum the melody to 'Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer' as she walked back to the sleigh that had brought her here. Except the sleigh had disappeared, along with the driver and all the huskies. She turned around to start looking for an elf who could tell her where they went, and she found one quickly, several elves even, several elves with guns.

One of them approached her. "You can stop looking for your ride. You're not leaving here." Following an instinct, the journalist tightened the grip on her bag. They noticed. "This isn't leaving here either."

"This story is going to get told," she said, but, faced with several weapons aimed at her, handed over her notes regardless. "If not by me, then by someone else. Others will come looking for me."

The elf closest to her handed the notes to one of the others without taking his gun down. "They won't. Everyone already knows what happened to you. Misjudged the cold out here, the vastness of the eternal ice, tried to walk somewhere on her own, it didn't seem that far when taking a sleigh, did it? Happens to many. They freeze to death in the darkness of arctic winter, and when spring comes, their stiff bodies are found next to their clothes, taken off in the late stages of hypothermia." He shook his head, sighing as if he actually regretted it.

"You're not getting away with this," she started a desperate attempt. "Santa's going to hear about it!"

One of the elves laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh. "Some investigative journalist you are. Santa's the one who sent us!"

Before she could think of an answer she heard hooves on snow, and a moment later the group of elves parted to let him through.

His nose really was exceptionally bright. She had assumed the pictures that reached the public were edited to make it look more glowing, but now that she saw him in person, it was so bright it blinded her in the winter night. She could hardly see anything else.

"Do it", he said to the elf next to him, and the journalist felt a sudden, sharp, but warm pain in her stomach. She hadn't heard a shot. As she sunk to her knees from the pain, still blinded by the red nose, one of the elves asked if they should destroy her notes. "Nooo," Rudolph said, dragging the word out really long to make sure everyone knew how bored he was by all of this. "Bring them to my room. Some of it might be useful for my biography."

She heard footsteps leaving. As far as she could tell, it was only her and the reindeer now.

"Who knows," she heard him say as the red light slowly grew dimmer, "maybe I'll even keep the title."

- Susanne

[angel-tries-to-write]

9 reindeers to feed

#LevihanChristmasCountdown

“Levi, look, I’m a reindeer!” Hanji laughed, showing their partner a headband with reindeer antlers.

“No, you’re not. Take it off, you look stupid” Levi sighed with his usual lack of enthusiasm.

“I thought I always look stupid and I have a stupid face anyway” they said, sticking their tongue at him. That left him speechless, he couldn’t deny saying these things, he was saying them quite often. Satisfied with the result, Hanji bought the headband and left the shop.

“You know I don’t mean it” he tried to somehow defend himself anyway.

“So it’s your way to express affection?”

“Yes! No, wait…”

“Exactly. So as a punishment for your reckless words, you’ll have to bear me being a reindeer now” they announced triumphantly. Levi gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath. It was indeed reckless of him to keep saying Hanji looked stupid only because he was too scared to say out loud that they looked beautiful. They always looked beautiful in his eyes, because he loved them too much. Even though he had never said it.

“And if I apologize?” he asked, hoping they would change their mind.

“Too late, babe, you have to suffer” they just gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Levi sighed, completely defeated.

“Is there anything I can do to convince you?”

“Nope” they shook their head and started to hum happily. “You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?” they suddenly started to sing. At least he got to hear them sing, he loved their voice. “Hanji the Four-Eyed Reindeer, had a very pointy nose. And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call them names. They never let poor Hanji join in any reindeer games. Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say. "Hanji, with your mind so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" Then how the reindeer loved them as they shouted out with glee: "Hanji the Four-Eyed Reindeer, you'll go down in history"!”

“Okay, I admit, this is quite funny” Levi hummed with amusement. “You really have a knack for songwriting.”

“Babe, I wrote half of our songs and you still doubt me?”

“I don’t, sorry. You’re right. I should say nice things to you more often” he sighed again.

“It’s okay. You wouldn’t be my usual grumpy Levi if you weren’t affectionately unpleasant” Hanji gave him a warm smile.

“Good, because I don’t think I could ever stop being the way I usually am. But even if I promised I would stop, you wouldn’t stop being a reindeer, would you?” he asked with a spark of hope.

“Nope” they replied, crushing all of his hopes.

[lihikainanea]

thinking about bill and tiger going on a winter road trip around the rural parts of europe. they take turns driving and eat at awful for you restaurants, go to all the cheesy tourist attractions, and a spontaneous mini golf sesh because tiger made a bet she could beat him. and once they get to their first stop, he goes in for a sweet kiss once they’re settled, but it naturally progresses into something more intimate. soft gasps, little giggles when he accidentally tickles her, and they have sex to the sound of the fireplace cracking.... brb gonna cry for a bit -🧚‍♀️

Ohhhhh bullseye, baby.

I don’t know if it’s just my Canadian side talking--we’re basically just a few chromosomes away from being polar bears--but there is something deeply engrained in me, something that really loves the winter. I am an autumn girl through and through, but something about winter is just...undeniably magical. Yes, sometimes it’s awful--the road conditions, the slippery sidewalks, the -40C, the 8 feet of snow that gets dumped on us weekly. But there’s also such a mysticism to it, a uniqueness, a lovely and serene quality.

There is the way that the bright snow illuminates a dark night--soft blankets just coating everything. It’s the way that it somehow makes everything much more quiet--most who have experienced cold winters can tell you that there is indeed silence that most of us associate with only the winter months, when the snow just seems to insulate everything and block out all echoes. A peacefulness. There’s the bright winter sky that is somehow just impossibly blue, a blue that you only see in January or February, and usually when the temperatures drop to insufferable degrees that no human should live through. The coldest days bring the brightest skies, and it’s a blue I’ve never seen anywhere else in the world. It’s the different kinds of snow that fall--soft and powdery, the type you want to just pelt at each other, or heavy and wet--the perfect kind for making a snowman.

Bill said a few years ago that the winters in Toronto were the coldest he had ever felt, and I felt some weird Canadian pride that we had successfully beaten a Nordic man into wintery submission. To boot--Toronto ain’t even all that cold compared to our prairie brethren. I wonder if he’s ever visited Landon in February.

In any case, despite its tribulations, winter holds a special place in my heart--and winter in Europe? Oh man. The November/December trip I took to Oslo and Copenhagen two years ago was the prettiest thing I had ever seen--Europe does cozy winter right. Everything is warm drinks, big knits, patios outside with heating lamps, blankets on chairs. It’s beautiful.

And maybe this trip is kind of her dream--but listen, for non-Europeans, driving in Europe can be terrifying, you know? I nearly get killed when I just try to cross the street on foot, let alone attempting to drive. But Bill grew up in these countries, traveled all over ‘em, and he’s more than fine with driving. Maybe he doesn’t even tell tiger the plan--he has a rough outline, but he keeps it secret. Tiger just thinks it’s the greatest thing, hitting the road in Europe with her big dude. He drives everywhere, confident and calm, through snowy mountains in a nice car, holding her hand. Maybe they start in France, drive on over to Switzerland. He rents a small room in a beautiful log cabin in the Alps, and it’s all fire place and cheese fondue and huge, fur blankets on the bed. They take a fondue tour. They hop on a beautiful scenic train that takes them around the country in a day. They go ice skating (he won’t let her ski, he’s not falling for that again). They drink mulled wine on their outdoor heated patio when they get back, all red noses and huddled together. They absolutely have sex under a blanket in front of the fire place, and it’s intimate and warm, both of their skin glowing in the soft light of the fire. The bed is huge, a big wooden frame complete with four posts, but they sleep glued to each other. He stuffs her silly, full of melty cheese fondue and raclette.

Maybe they head to Austria from there, he brings her to all the small pastry shops he knows of. He takes her prancing through the famous garden, takes her on a hot chocolate tour, gets enough chocolate snacks for the road. He brings her to Mozart’s house, introduces her to her first Mozartkugel, and he has to forbid her from eating anymore wiener schnitzel because she almost made herself sick. Maybe if it’s around Christmas time, he takes her to a few Christmas markets.

Then they head up to Germany, the whole time locked in an intense debate about glugg versus gluhwein--tiger can’t tell the difference, she just likes both but it’s very important, kid--maybe Bill has to stop along a few roads, let a herd of mountain goats go by. Even the ROADS are pretty in Europe. They stop for snacks in roadside restaurants and shacks, and god even the small motels along the way from country to country are just so beautiful. He takes her to all the German Christmas markets, hosts an elaborate mulled wine tasting (see tiger? glugg is so much better), feeds her bratwursts. Tiger is amazed that Bill can literally down an entire 1L stein of beer in just a few gulps, along with a pretzel the size of his face. In fact, maybe this time it’s tiger that has to intervene--Bill had 4 pretzels in a row and as he went for a fifth, she yanked him the other way. Got him a sausage on a stick instead, because somehow that’s better.

They head up to Scandinavia from there--a quick stop in Denmark, and that is entirely at tiger’s request. Bill’s Swedish side says fuck Denmark. But he takes her shopping on Stroget, tries to get her to properly pronounce stegt flæsk med persillesovs, maybe even takes her for a romantic stroll near Tivoli. Tiger makes the cardinal sin of mentioning that Danish Gløgg is her favourite so far and Bill almost like, smacks the mug out of her hands. They eat aebelskiver, and she laughs when he gets powdered sugar all over his nose. They stay a night or two in a beautiful little inn, before hopping back in the car.

Tiger loves that she’s just not worrying about anything. Bill knows how to gas up in Europe. He knows how the roads work. He knows how to park and read the parking signs. He knows where they can stop and get food, he knows where they can stay--tiger is just in the passenger seat, holding his big hand, and she’s glowing. He gets her a cute winter hat, a warmer pair of mittens when she’s cold. They pick up a few beautiful Christmas ornaments along the way, because the Christmas markets are just too beautiful not to.

They finally end back up in Sweden, but they’re not done yet. Bill drives way north into the countryside, where it’s dark all the time and where you can see the Northern Lights. He knows his way around--he rents a glass igloo for a few nights, gets a ski doo, drives her out to the middle of nowhere and parks it. The Northern Lights light up the entire sky, and tiger swears she’s never seen anything so beautiful in her life. She cries about it--god granny would have loved this. He hugs her and tells her to try to stop--wet tears on cold cheeks is never a good thing.

They sleep that night on their backs, still huddled together, watching the lights dance across the sky. He convinces her to try reindeer the next morning--tiger is a big fan of Christmas and eating reindeer just seems wrong--but it’s a pretty normal thing out there. She hates how much she loves it. And it’s a great way for him to reveal their next destination--none other than Santa Claus’ legit village, in Rovaniemi, Finland. Her squeal is so loud it nearly cracks the glass igloo.

[asexual-hugger]

The moment Allison reaches her parents’ house, the Christmas display of lights lining the porch railings and the outside catches her eye. Even the small plants on the stoop have strings of lights wound around them, and the Santa sleigh with the reindeer and Allison’s Christmas Olaf from the movie Frozen are set out in the front yard. Her father had once again gone all out.

“Does your family decorate like this every year?” Detective Sinclaire is looking at the decorations with amazement.

“Basically, yes,” Allison answers. “Dominic gave me the Olaf the year after Frozen came out in theaters, and it’s been used as a Christmas tradition here ever since.”

“Oh!” Sinclaire seems to notice the snowman after a moment. “Oh. Wow! I didn’t even see him! He’s adorable!”

“I know, right?” Allison gushes. “He’s my favorite character in the whole movie. Dominic said he saw him at the Disney store and thought of me right away. My mum made the Santa hat and scarf for him.”

“That was so thoughtful of your brother to do that,” Sinclaire remarks. “I never even knew Olaf was your favorite. I was going to guess Elsa, since you seem to be into the songs and the dresses.”

“Wellllll, maaaaaybeeee Elsa is my second favorite.” Allison puts on an innocent expression and shrugs. “It’s kind of hard to choose, to be honest, but if I were to make a choice, my number one would be Olaf. He’s got so much personality and in some ways reminds me of myself.”

She grins at him widely and knocks on the door. Voices can be heard from inside, and then footsteps. The knob turns and a young man with slightly tousled dark hair opens it, staring out at her.

“She’s here!” he cries out.

“Hello, Harry.” Allison greets her second oldest brother with a smile. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you, little sis.” Harry McQueen smiles widely and wraps his arms tightly around her. “How’ve you been? Where’ve you been? We’ve been waiting for you for what feels like an eternity!”

“Sorry; I got held up in the town square,” Allison tells him as he releases her. “I got distracted by the big tree and all the decorations. It’s my fault. I hope I didn’t keep you guys waiting too long. I texted Mum and Dad to say I didn’t know when I’d be coming over. Am I allowed inside or are you going to stay out here interrogating me on the invisible witness stand?”

“Sorry.” Harry backs up and opens the door all the way. “Come on in. You must be freezing!” He beckons her in almost desperately and then his eyes fall on her guest. “Er...what’s going on? Who’s the dude?”

Stranger Danger. Allison had warned Detective Sinclaire that her brothers would ask questions. This was most likely the start of it.

“Harry, meet my boss, Detective Ernest Sinclaire,” Allison says proudly before things get awkward. “Detective, my second oldest brother, Harry McQueen. Attorney.”

Detective Sinclaire steps forward and grins at the older sibling. “What she said,” he states, digging into his heavy layers and pulling out his lanyard to flash his badge. “Ernest Sinclaire, Private Investigator. You’ve probably heard of me from your sister. We work together at Ledford Park Detective Agency.”

“Private investigator, huh?” Harry narrows his eyes, almost suspiciously. “You look awfully young. In fact, you look almost the same age as Allison. Are you pulling my leg?”

“I assure you, I am not,” Sinclaire answers confidently. “I am indeed your sister’s employer, and believe me, you are not the first one to notice my youthful appearance. I may be young, but I am quite capable of running an entire detective business on my own. Consider me a self-made man. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Allison has told me great things about you and your elder brother Dominic.”

“I would believe she has.” Harry eyes his younger sister protectively. “All I can say is, sir, if you are truly a private detective, then you’d know my brother and I do not take kindly to strangers harassing our only sister.”

“Detective Sinclaire has never touched a hair on my head, Harry,” Allison announces firmly. “I already warned him about your Brother Code. He knows that he has to earn the Older Brother Seal of Approval in order to get out of the Stranger Danger zone. If you have doubts, Mum, Dad and Kade will back him up, since they met him last summer when I came home to help on the farm. Believe me when I tell you this: Detective Sinclaire is the most trustworthy, honest man I’ve ever met, and he would never hurt me on any account. This isn’t the courthouse. This is our family home, so drop the lawyer act and let us inside. Please.”

She looks back at her boss and gives him a firm, confident nod.

“Harry? What is going on out there? Is Allison here yet?” Allison recognizes her mother’s voice from inside. “What’s taking so long?”

“She’s here, Mum,” Harry calls, stepping aside to let his sister in. He continues to give Sinclaire a long, hard look, following his movements closely. “She brought some guy. Says he’s her boss. Did you know anything about this?”

“Oh! Is it that sweet detective???” There is bustling from around the corner, and Lady Eleanor McQueen appears, her long evening gown twirling around her ankles. “Well, hello there, Detective! Now, Harry, I do hope you are being respectful to your sister’s guest! Let them in, for goodness sakes! It is deathly cold outside!”

Allison and Detective Sinclaire wipe their snowy boots on the front mat in the hall and Allison gives her mother a warm hug.

“Merry Christmas, Mum; it’s so good to see you,” she says. 

“Merry Christmas, dear,” Lady Eleanor answers. “I am so glad you could come back for the holidays. And you,” she adds, turning to look at Sinclaire. “I did hope you’d come back as well. You just keep looking better each time I see you. Your cheeks are so flushed!” She places her hands on each side of his face and holds them there for a few seconds. “What have you two been doing out there? Your skin is absolutely frozen, young man!”

“I am feeling very warm, I assure you, Lady McQueen,” Sinclaire explains, looking rather embarrassed at being caught in the grip of Allison’s mother with Allison standing next to him. “I spent a lot of time indoors. It’s your daughter you should be worried about. She looked even colder than I did when I met up with her. We’re both fine; we just needed to get out of the cold. I am very sorry if I made the wrong impression on your son.”

“Nonsense,” Lady Eleanor insists, dismissing him. “Harry is just looking out for his younger sister. He and Dominic have always been that way. It’s in their blood. They carry their father’s courage. Family ties, you know. I’ll have a talk with him and Dom later on about it. You are a guest in this house. As long as Allison feels comfortable with you, I do, too. She could have brought home someone much, much worse. Speaking of which, Dominic should be in the living room with Kade, and I haven’t any idea where my husband went. Come on in and say hello.”

Allison leads the way into the living room, where her oldest brother, Dominic, is entertaining Kade with a model airplane and some flight stories about his latest mission.

“Well, go ahead and tell the story of the famous Air Captain McQueen without bringing your little sister into it,” she remarks good-naturedly.

Dominic McQueen, Air Captain, pauses the story and puts the model plane down on the coffee table the moment he hears her voice.

“Junior Commander!” He gets up off the floor and races over to her, tackling her in a giant bear hug. He squeezes her tightly to his chest, kissing the top of her head.

“Hello to you, too, big bro.” Allison giggles.

“Man; I haven’t seen you in MONTHS!” Dominic remarks, pulling away and gripping her shoulders to study her. “You look great, sis. How’s the jungle treating you?”

“Oh, you know; it’s London,” Allison responds. “Big city life and all that. I’ve been hard at work running errands and helping my boss with case files. Whom, by the way, I brought with me to introduce you. I texted you and Harry to let you know he was coming, although Harry seems like he didn’t have time to read the message. Dom, I’d like you to meet...”

“Pleasure to meet you. Ernest Sinclaire, Private Investigator.” Sinclaire pulls out his badge and exchanges pleasantries before Allison can finish, smiling and extending his hand towards Dominic. “You must be Dominic, the eldest McQueen. Allison’s told me a great deal about you. I hear you’re a pilot?”

“I am indeed.” Dominic gives the newcomer a look almost similar to the one Harry had given him. “And you’re a cop. With a badge.”

“Don’t forget the pistol and handcuffs, too,” Allison adds. “He’s the real deal, Dom. I’ve been working under him for the past three years as his personal assistant. He has his own business in London. Ledford Park Detective Agency. He may be young, but he’s a very savvy businessman.” She sneaks a wink at Sinclaire.

“Thank you, Miss McQueen.” Sinclaire blushes under the praise, although he looks proud at her glowing recommendation. “Yes, it’s everything she said,” he says to Dominic. “I’m a private investigator with my own detective business, and I hired your sister to work for me after I learned she was studying criminal justice. Apparently she wants to be a crime scene investigator.”

“We know that, bud.” Harry appears almost out of nowhere. “Don’t think we don’t know our own sister, and yes, Allison, I did get your text message. I’ve just been so swamped with work that I haven’t had a chance to really read it. Boss or not, Mr. Private Investigator better not be taking advantage of his police skills to investigate YOU, and I mean that in more ways than one.”

“Harry!” Allison cries out. 

“He does have a point,” Dominic states. “Tell me, Detective. You say my little sister is your personal assistant. What exactly do you have her do?”

“It’s simple stuff, really,” Sinclaire explains. “She goes on errands, helps me with case files, organizes my schedules. It’s nothing bad. I’d never, ever put her in harm’s way without my being there to protect her. I know how much you two love her. She’s told me all about it already.”

“So she’s your slave then.” Harry frowns. “Don’t try and argue with me, Detective, but the way you’re describing her job, it’s definitely slave labor to me. Why does she do errands and organize your schedules? Is she your secretary or your assistant?”

“Harry, I really enjoy it,” Allison insists. “It’s not what you think it is at all. I’m not his slave. The reason he has me do certain things is because he doesn’t have the time to do everything himself. He’s the big boss man. It’s kind of to be expected. He’s got enough on his plate dealing with phone calls and emails all day from elite clients hiring his services. He gets paid very well. Did you know he’s the most popular P.I. in his field? People all over the place call in to his office asking for his help on cases. He’s basically the Sherlock Holmes of the 21st century.”

“I thought that was Benedict whatshisface,” Kade calls out from the couch.

“You know what I mean,” Allison replies. “And how’s it going with you, bugger? I haven’t even greeted you yet. How silly of me! You remember Detective Sinclaire, right?”

“Sure I do!” Kade answers enthusiastically. “After you guys left last summer, Mum and Dad couldn’t shut up about you. You remember me, right, Detective?”

“I do,” Sinclaire responds, winking at him. “How are you doing, Kade? You’re looking well. I see you got the cast off your foot. I’m so glad you’re walking again.”

“Yeah, I am, too,” Kade responds gratefully. “It took months, but they finally took it off. I’m pleased to announce that I am all healed up and walking around like a normal person. Mum said that she hopes I can keep it like that, although she knows me. Kade the Klutz. I can never go for one day without tripping over something.”

“I am happy for you,” Sinclaire tells him. “Elated, actually. It must be wonderful to not have that crutch on you. You definitely look healthier than I saw you last.”

“So how much of that money you earn goes to my sister?” Dominic is speaking. “I’m guessing that you pay her a percentage of what your clients pay you, right? What kind of clients hire your services? Private investigators are not common and therefore very expensive. We don’t get very many rich folks around these parts.”

“He’s got plenty of rich clients,” Allison answers, “and it doesn’t matter how much I get paid. I’m not working for the money. I’m working for the experience and the enjoyment. It’s just like you fly in your plane for enjoyment and Harry works cases at the courthouse for enjoyment. It’s always about more than money. Mum and Dad taught us that.”

“Sure they did,” Harry states. “And while I do enjoy being a lawyer, it’s also equally important to make a living. Mum and Dad taught us that, too.”

“So, since you’re a high-and-mighty detective with a badge and gun, and that’s cool and all, it still doesn’t excuse you for any harm you might put our sister in,” Dominic warns. “You got that, buster? I’d better not be hearing that you’re taking advantage of Allison the next time I get an update. London is a big city. Lots of crazies. Being a police officer proves nothing. Cops can hurt people just as much as anyone can. You’d best be using that pistol and handcuffs for protecting my sister and not throwing yourself on her. You don’t know what we McQueens are capable of doing to those that bring harm to our younger ones. I’ve had plenty of physical training in my pilot’s license program, and you can bet Harry can pack a punch on an unsuspecting citizen just like he does in the courtroom on murder trials.”

“I’ve got it loud and clear, Mr. McQueen,” Sinclaire answers, not even flinching. Being a private investigator also means getting used to threats. “As I said, I’m a detective. I’m certified to protect those I care about. Nothing bad will happen to your sister as long as I’m around. I won’t let it. I never leave anywhere without my pistol. I’ve got it holstered right now under my jacket, and I already told Allison that if anyone tries to hurt her on my watch, they’re going to be looking down its barrel in a flash.”

“How much of a flash?” Harry demands. “Can you be fast enough?”

“I’ve got a quick-draw arm,” Sinclaire answers. “Meaning that I’m fast as fast goes. My mates at the academy used to call me The Flash. I can pull out my pistol the second a lightning bolt streaks across the sky.” He stands in front of Allison in a protective stance. “I swear to both of you that I will keep your sister safe. Scout’s honor.”

“Is everyone ready for dinner?” Lady Eleanor’s voice calls from the kitchen. “The turkey is almost out of the oven. I expect all of you to get along at the table. This is Christmas. Detective, I have placed a chair right next to Allison for you to sit. You aren’t vegetarian, are you?”

“I am not,” Sinclaire answers. “I love meat. And thank you for the seating assignment.” He looks into Allison’s eyes and nods towards the dining room. “Are you ready for dinner? I’m getting famished.”

“I’m definitely ready,” Allison answers. “I was just going to ask Mum if you could sit next to me, but it looks like she was one jump ahead. We have a huge feast every year for Christmas. There’s something for everyone, so if you don’t like turkey, there are plenty of other choices.”

“I can already tell it’s going to be wonderful,” Sinclaire comments. “I don’t think I’ll be disappointed with the selection. I’m not a picky eater.”

[popculturebuffet]

Paul Dini’s Jingle Belle: The Mighty Elves (Comissoned by WeirdKev27)

Well well boys, we’re back to Jingle Belle with another kevmission, though per his request i’ll be getting back to Life and Times Of Scrooge McDuck at long last. I also have some other stuff planned and all that, but for now, let’s focus on everyones faviorite elfen hellion as we dive back into Paul Dini’s Jingle Belle. 

I covered most of the behind the scene’s stuff last time so in short in case your just joining us, since this one’s got a bit more stuff to tag: Jingle Belle is an indie comic book character created by animation god Paul Dini, the daughter of Santa Claus and the Queen of Elves who acts like a standard rebellious teenager sterotype and causes trouble for her dad.  Last time I touched on the character a good two days ago, we looked at her first appearance, where she sent her family to Family Therapy. At the time I’d ONLY read that story, and hadn’t gotten that far into Jing’s world just yet. As you probably guessed despite plugging a decent amount of time into re-reading the rest of Scott Pilgrim (shout out to my good friend Mike for the early christmas present), on digital and in color and into the Switch port of the first Fire Emblem, I still got 2/3 of the way through the omnibus Kev gifted me of almost all her stories up to 2018′s The Handmade’s Tale.  Honestly not a lot has changed from the pilot.. while Jing’s designs changed a bit, she’s still more of a rebellious hellion, and while Santa’s no longer a slut shaming jackass, he’s still hard on her while her mom tries to keep the peace, The humor’s still edgy, if toned down enough to support returning whenever Dini felt like it but it’s largely the same for better or worse.  Overall the stories haven’t been bad but have been a bit reptitive to read in one giant omnibus. This really is down to the format they were made in: These were one off stories spread months apart meant to be picked up off the shelf with no real ongoing stories or character development and only some slight worldbuilding here and there. In short not bad stuff, just clearly not built to be collected in a huge omnibus like it was and not the first comic collection i’ve encountered with this problem and definitely not the last. 

That being said the stories are creative and still well put together. It is Paul Dini and he has wrote pretty much every story collected here with few exceptions, so it’s still good stuff, just as I said clearly not meant to be read all in one block like i’ve been doing. And today’s story happens to be one of my faviorites so far, breaking the formula up a bit by having Jing do something a bit diffrent and also involving hockey, a sport this story made me realized might actually intrest me on some level.. if in part due to letterkenny. 

God bless those two handsome idiots. So let’s ice up or skates, get those letterkenny refrences at the ready and see what the Mighty Elves have to offer. 

We start at Hockey Practice for Santa’s Hockey Team, The Elves, the kind of sentence that makes me really happy to type for money. Santa’s team is naturally for this kind of story and what the title references, are the last place in the bi-polar hockey league their in.. presumably ran by commissioner bi-polar bear. 

Again, I really love this job and that i’m actually getting paid for this this go round. Anyway, Santa’s team isn’t all that agressive because.. well i’ts a team coached by Santa, why would they be? But Santa’s still proud of his boys... as for his girl on the otherhand he gets a call and we soon find out via mugshots Jing dragged her two friends, up from just one in previous stories, to an air force base, somehow got arrested for hitting on enlisted men, not a crime, and stealing and crashing a helicopter, very much a crime.  Naturally Santa isn’t pleased, so we cut to a few days later where he’s letting her friends off making robo kitties, damn I want one of those now, while leaving Jing to do the packaging, though like most stern but fair dad’s he admits he dosen’t like punishing her and is right in saying there’s more to do with her summer vacation than you know, piss off the military. Santa needs his flight clerance dammit. Jing complains there isn’t much to do but feed the reindeer and make toys to which I say.. really santa? You haven’t set up anything else for your eleves to do? Making toys is their job. Build a fucking movie theater. And at the very least if not for them than for your bored and rebellious daughter to distract her from doing crimes. She’s still likely got a few hundred years of teenagering left, give her something else to do other than piss you off.  Santa does have a least a little something: Hockey! Which Jing’s cousin Rusty has taken up. Rusty showed up in the first story but I kind of glossed over him, he’s basically Jing’s Dorky cousin she frequently abuses. Not really much more or less to him. Jing isn’t on board mostly because their team always looses, to the other teams: The Penguins, the Polar Bears, The Snow Leopards and the Eskimos because they don’t really have killer instinct, which yeah is kind of necessary for hockey. To her..

But during her rant she does show Santa she’s got genuine talent for the sport, so he makes her a deal: Do a little favor for him, and she’ll swap that for making toys.. it’s a deal.. one she soon regrets but hey. 

Jing naturally makes an ass of herself pretty quickly beating the shit out of Rusty with her dad repremanding her and threatning to throw her off the team if she has another outburst like. That is until she runs into the Huskies Coach, Stan. 

I mean i’ts a hairy old man who makes a side bet with Santa Claus despite it technically being against commission rules, might as well be. So Santa tells Jing screw it, as long as it’s the opposing team violence is a-okay.  And naturally our first target is the world famous hockey player, aka snoopy aka a snoopy stand in. And being a big fan of peanuts i’m a sucker for a good peantus parody. Doubly so since Dini did his homework, and as I’d remembered and a quick google confirmed “The World Famous Hockey Player” was indeed one of snoopy’s many personas.

 Not that it was much of a stretch: just about any time snoopy played a sport he was “the world famous X player”, but still it’s a nice little nod. Not so nice is Jing within seconds slamming him into the air and under a Zamboni and getting sent to the box for it naturally. So clearly she’s the shorsey of this team, all chirps and ultra violence. 

Snoopy is thankfully still alive, if barely, though he’s off course been through much worse.

But while in the Box jing helps advise the team and a presumed combination of her beating the shit out of the other team’s best players and her team now not only having something to inspire them but a strategy means the Elves win for once! Santa and Jing share a hug, though Santa advises her not to go for his wallet, it’s still a sweet moment as she’s genuinely invested now.  So we cut to..

Okay Hank Ribbon seal is genuinely one of the best things humanity has made but as for Quiki I just... wow that joke is mildly racist at worst, confusing and unfunny at best. I mean... it really just makes no sense on any level and that’s with me not knowing a lot about hockey, but knowing just enough to know Kathy Lee Gifford existed. Just.. what even was that? I know Paul can do better than this.. because as my first review outlined he wrote a LOTTTT of Tiny Tune Adventures including my favorite episode. He also wrote most of the best Joker episodes for BTAS, so it’s not like the guy CAN’T be funny.. so I have no idea how he could fail so hard with this. Just.. what is this. Who thought this was funny? what was the joke? 

That.. utter bafflement aside, this newscast is used to push things ahead as the elves are on a winning streak, having also beaten the Polar Bears and the Penguins.. though weirdly we DON’T get a cameo by this guy despite having already had Snoopy show up. 

That’s my boy. But yeah there’s only two teams left with this, the Eskimos and tonight’s matchup the Snow Leopards, aka snow catgirls lead by Tashi Ounce, who Jing met at the winter games last year and lost too and thus has a whole rivlary thing going. In a really nice moment Santa stops to make sure Jing is okay going into the game. 

It’s part of why I REALLY like this story: Santa instead of just being disapointed in his daughter genuinely bonds over her over something and Jing shows she has a softer side to her. It’s some good character stuff, helps shake up the normal formula nicely. Back to the usual though she and Tashi naturally go at it, phrasing, and fight the whole damn time, with Belle eventually scoring the winning goal. Though noticably while Tashi is just as competiive as belle and lost this time.. she’s fine with it, knowing she’ll win next time and congradulating the opponent.  But before she can leave the rink, Tashi is approached by a mysterious figure with an offer and we cut to said figure’s lair... it’s THE BLIZZARD WIZARD! dun dun dun!.... yeah I haven’t introduced him the Blizzard Wizard is.. well exactly what he sounds like, as well as the former ruler of the North Pole. He enslaved everyone there to do his bidding and was essentially, a butt till Santa showed up, united all the various animals and kicked his ass. Since then he’s been reduced to basically a rankin bass villian, lurking near bye and scheming to get petty revenge on Santa for it. So essentially....

Minus the tragic backstory. He offers them a deal: The championship cup for him defeating the elves. As he puts it the cup symbolizes hard work, respect and team work.. i.e the things their throwing out to get payback. Tashi wants none of it, but the blizzard wizard has his slush minons capture her and with the rest willing to sell out, he gets to work. 

Bliz snows out the eskimos, and brings up accusations of Santa gambling, which he gets away from by.. having his wife donate the money real quick don’t ask just go. But he has a waiver signed by the other coaches so their playing his goons. But Jing isn’t phased and Santa asks her to give the lockeroom some inspiring words. 

10/10 no notes. But naturally Bliz has a sneaky trick up his sleeves.. to win.. specifically a hot french canadian player which.. makes jing fall to pieces flirting with him and makes her entirely ineffective. Okay time out.... huh so this is the timeless void known only to zack morris, that girl from the reboot I haven’t watched, and Regis Filbin. But yeah while I wouldn’t expect Jing to slaughter the guy it feels out of character for all she’d do is to giggle like an idiot instead of making a move. She’s been established as forward and knowing what she wants. I’m not against her being distracted by this it’s just the how that feels off especially since the opening reinforces this. She hit on air force guys. She’s not going to just be giggly and awkward. Jing may not be the most complex charcter but she’s better than this. Aside from the baffling Kathy Lee Gifford gag, this is the only thing I really don’t like abotu the story, and it lasts two pages before it’s resolved and in a 22 or so page story, that’s a good chunk of it spent on something that isn’t funny and that’s out of character even within story. That being said it dosen’t drag the story down entirely, still a good story. Just a bit uneven is all. 

But unsurprisingly Tashi escapes her earlier imprisonment offscreen to let Jing know not only the full extent of Bliz Whiz’s machenations, i.e. that the other coaches are in on it, but that the hockey player is really just one of Bliz’s minons uner a glamour. WIth that knowledge Jing asks why she’d help and Tashi shows her inner honor beneath the whole rival deal, pointing out she wants to win from a GOOD team next year. With the jig up Jing pulvirzes her former crush, claims to have been under a spell (no one byes it) and the elves clean house and win. Super fuckin shooter. As for Bliz Whiz he tries to steal the trophy but instead gets booted into the snow leopards box, phrasing... it doesn’t end well for him. 

And yeah while he comes back eventually, some how, apparently, for most of the stories after this he’s just.. dead. He was killed and then his remains eaten. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

But Jing admits she had fun, she and her dad bond and we get one last gag as he assumes she learned not to showboat only for her to block everyone else in the team photo. Falalallal we’re out. 

Final Thoughts: As I said, one of my faviorites. It’s really well paced, has a good premise and only one part drags at all and only that part and one gag really don’t land. The rest of it is really funny, nice and touching, and overall a nice shakeup from these stories usual pattern of “Jing getting into hyjinks”. While she DOES here, her and her dad are literally and figuartvely on the same team, and she does show a sweeter side genuinely bonding with her dad and it’s nice to see them actually enjoy each other’s company for once. It’s a nice change of pace and one I wish more of the stories had. I’m not saying they all have to be holly jolly but i’d be nice if more of them had a bit of heart to them is all. Tis the season and all that. Still for what it is, it’s a fun ride and I highly recommend it. We’ll probably see her again sometime this season but that’s a bit off.  For now coming up I have some ducktales to tell, a chapter in a man’s life story that’s long overdue, a holiday mess I wish I didn’t have to clean up, and in the distant future.. an old friend to reconnect with. Until then if you liked this review reblog it, comment etc all that good stuff, and you can send me asks with suggestions fo ra review or direct message me, or ask for my discord, to comission a review yourself. Until then, happy holidays. 

[girl-in-the-tower]

Glacier Mountains

As seen in Kore’s Profile she comes from a place called the ‘Glacier Mountains’, which is, of course, a fanmade location. As I’m working on expanding Kore’s Background I thought I should first see what kind of place this is. So here is a small introduction! 

As stated in the post about the White Dame, the Glacier Mountains came into existence only after she froze over the land and crowned herself queen. Before that it was merely a small kingdom that was ruled by a strict royal family and whose economy was based primarily on mining, goat, and cattle raising and forestry. It was also hidden away from the world at large and very few outsiders ever took residence there. 

Nowadays, the Glacier Mountains have become a popular tourist spot for snow-enthusiasts all year round. The kingdom is known for its ski resorts, gorgeous landscape, ice sculpting, and skating competitions, and winter festivals. Its economy relies entirely on this and the majority of the locals own huts that they rent to visitors or shops that sell skiing, ice skating, or snowboarding gear and work in a related field.

It is one of the most popular spots for famous social media influencers and wealthy people to visit, so being able to stay there even for just a few days became something of a status symbol. As a result, it is universally known that if you want to spend your holiday there you will need to make your reservation well in advance. It’s not unusual to be told that you might need to reverse your cabin for two or three years in advance. 

Due to the eternal winter that still covers the country, the locals have come to rely entirely on magic when it comes to agriculture, rather than importing them from another place. Each family has a plot of land in their backyard which is magically enchanted to mimic warmer seasons so that people can plant and eat fruits and vegetables all year round. It is also not uncommon for people to raise animals in their backyards, whose products they trade or sell to other households in exchange for services or other products.

Reindeer are a popular sight in the Glacier Mountains as they have entirely replaced horses. Indeed, many young people who leave the Glacier Mountains for the first time are said to think of horses as exotic animals and take great joy interacting with them. 

Among the most popular festivals that take place in the Glaciar Mountains is the ‘Eve of Winter’, which celebrates the White Dame who brought about the never-ending winter which, unlike previous times, is now considered a great blessing. During this day people build snowmen resembling those said to have been created by the White Dame outside their houses, bake desserts, and go watch the local children perform in the ‘Winter Pageant’ that is organized by the schools each year. It is a play that presents the White Dame’s ascension to power and reign in a fun and light-hearted manner, complete with unique songs composed by the actors and the director. Most of these little shows are recorded and judged by a committee that decides which ones are worthy of being played on TV.

Another event that takes place on the ‘Eve of Winter’ is an ice skating performance held on the royal palace grounds which is also televised for the nation to enjoy during the evening. Most families usually gather together to eat and drink while watching the beautiful choreography.  

Another popular event is the ‘Lantern Festival’ in which paper lanterns are released in the sky by people the day of the ‘Eve of Winter’. People are encouraged to customize their lantern before they are given over to the organizers who use magic to make them float.  

Rice pudding is one of the most popular dishes in the kingdom and is seen as comfort food. It is also a point of contestation among the locals as every family seems to have its own personal recipe for the dish and establishments only serve a particular kind which is made only by said restaurant. 

A popular saying is ‘You shouldn’t marry a person until you’ve tasted their rice pudding.’ Apparently many couples have broken up due to differences over what type of rice, what topping, and which ingredients should or should not be used.

As a result, another important event is the yearly ‘Rice Pudding Contest’ in which many chefs gather together to present their best rice pudding dish that is taste-tested by the royal family. 

Ice sculpting is perhaps the most popular hobby in the kingdom and there are many specialty magazines that cater to it specifically, followed only by ice skating, skiing, and snowboarding.

Because the people there are so used to the cold climate, they do rather poorly in warmer places such as the Land of Hot Sands and Afterglow Savannah. It is said that you can easily spot a tourist from the Glacier Mountains from how often they complain about the heat.    

[ebaeschnbliah]

THE  KNIGHT  OF  BASKERVILLE

________________________________________________________________

ACDs novel The Hound of the Baskervilles tells the story of Sir Henry Baskerville who returns from Canada to take up the inheritance of his family, the Baskerville estate with the old manor house Baskerville Hall. 

The Sherlock BBC adaptation, The Hounds of Baskerville, transforms the centuries old manor house into the modern high-security military base BASKERVILLE, supervised by the britisch government. Because the character ‘Sir Henry Baskerville’ had to be included as well, it’s understandable that a renaming of this important character became necessary. 

But why Henry KNIGHT? Names are important in Sherlock BBC. Reason enough to take a closer look at the name and significance of ‘knight’. 

TBC below the cut ….

What’s a knight?

- Nowadays, a knight is a person who has been given a rank of honour by the Queen or King of GB because of special achievements

- In the past a knight was a man of high social position, trained to fight as soldier on a horse for his liege lord

- In myths, legends and fairytales knights are often depicted as brave and valiant men who fight against all kinds of evil forces. They defend not only their king or queen, they often become ‘a last refuge for the desperate, the unloved, the persecuted … a final court of appeal for everyone‘. They stand up for justice and fight for those who aren’t able to help themselves. 

Knights and pirates

Mycroft mentions in ASIB that his little brother Sherlock initially wanted to be a pirate. In TFP, right after Sherlock jumps through fire and flames onto a ship which will bring him to Sherrinford, he calls himself a pirate. Are there connections between pirates and knights? Of course there are:

One of the most famous pirates of the British Empire was Sir Francis Drake -Elizabeth I awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581 which he received on his ship, the Golden Hind. 

William Knight  was a 17th-century English buccaneer (pirate). Reading the Wikipedia entry about him, it looks like ‘Captain Knight’ has indeed raided ‘the seven seas’. 

William Sherlock Scott Holmes, consulting private detective, the only one in the world and additionally dragon slayer, pirate and knight …. this man really loves to be dramatic.  

(For more delicious pirate treats look up this post about Sherlock and the Pirates of the Caribbean, black spots and Treasure Island)

Knights are guardians, defenders, soldiers ... pirates ... who slay the most dangerous dragons and save damsels in distress …  

(With every quiver of his beating heart   The Black Defender).

Two ‘damsels’ in Sherlock BBC

A damsel - is an old fashioned term, meaning a young woman, often unmarried and of noble birth. Synonyms are: demoiselle, girl, maid, maiden, miss. The word comes from the Middle English damesel, from Anglo-French dameisele, from Vulgar Latin domnicella (young noblewoman), diminutive of Latin ... domina lady   (x)

‘Damsel’ appears two times in Sherlock BBC in two different scenes from two different episodes. It is used by two different characters and aimed at two different persons.

Mycroft in ASIB talks about Sherlock and ‘dominatrix’ Irene Adler:

That’s all it takes: one lonely naïve man desperate to show off, and a woman clever enough to make him feel special. …. The damsel in distress. In the end, are you really so obvious? Because this was textbook: the promise of love, the pain of loss, the joy of redemption; then give him a puzzle … and watch him dance.

Magnussen in HLV talks about Sherlock and ‘eternal friend’ John Watson:

Very hard to find a pressure point on you, Mr. Holmes. The drugs thing I never believed for a moment. Anyway, you wouldn’t care if it was exposed, would you? But look how you care about John Watson. Your damsel in distress.

What an interesting combination of characters on both sides of Sherlock. And one more confrontation of the two (so often hinted at) opposites in this story - sex and friendship (Solutions or choices). Irene and Jim represent the female and male incarnation of sex, while John-I’m not gay-Watson represents the ‘eternal’ friend and fixed point in a changing age. Both aspects - sex and friendship - are called Sherlock’s ‘damsels’. And it’s even more interesting to see who makes those statements:  

MYCROFT - owner of a laptop on which depends the security of the free world (”with potatoes on it - shelves in exchange for chips - I am glad you liked my potatoe -  you’re suicidal, you’re allowed chips”)

MAGNUSSEN - who runs the western world from a library of secrets and scandals that isn’t stored on computers but on hard copy in vaults

A computer versus hard copies in vaults … Well, this reminds me of Sherlock’s explanation in The Great Game, regarding his brain. He compares it to a computer hard drive and adds that  ‘it only makes sense to put things in there that are useful ... really useful. Ordinary people fill their heads with all kinds of rubbish, and that makes it hard to get at the stuff that matters?‘   And what might be a ‘hard copy in vaults’? This seems to be a perfect metaphor for informations stored inside the brain. That organ occupies the space in the skull called ... cranial vault. 

(Mycroft & Magnussen   A shadow of massive proportions)

A computer versus hard copies in vaults … two paraphrases for one and the same thing … a brain. Janus-faced, one could call it. A mind in conflict with itself. Time to choose a side for Sherlock Holmes. Friendship or sex? John or James? Saint or sinner? 

What if Sherlock chooses neither? ‘I could just walk out of here’ (and carry on torturing myself in an isolated dungeon, locked up in solitary confinement with my worst enemy, that’s ME by the way,  for another couple of centuries … I can’t die anyway, I’m an immortal literal character ... an undead)

What if Sherlock chooses both?  A tempting idea …. :)))

A game for the brain

Chess is called the ‘game of kings’ (’Am I the current king of England?’) and chess plays a vital role in Sherlock BBC. Serial killer Jeff Hope compares the game he wants to play with Sherlock to chess … ‘it’s chess not chance’. There’s a chess board in 221b, the pieces are always standing on it, ready to play. It turns up in each episode, placed at different locations in the living room. The third episode of S1 is called The Great Game. A fake chess game in TEH. A game of chess in Tiblisi, Georgia between two massive lion statues. And let’s not forget the three mysterious promo pics for S4 … Sherlock and Mycroft playing chess and John sitting between them. There are no visual connections whatsoever in S4 to those pics. Anyway, chess is important … especially one certain piece type of the figurines, it seems. 

Chess is a very old two-player strategy board game, originating from India around the 6th century. The oldest archaeological chess artifacts were excavated in Uzbekistan, central Asia, and date to about 760. Chess is played on a checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid, with16 pieces for each player: 

One king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Each piece type moves differently and ... these are the moves:

The knight is a specialist ...

The chess piece called ‘knight’ is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. The area a knight is able to cover - to protect or threaten other pieces - forms a circle. 

The knight moves unconventionally compared to all the other chess pieces. Whereas other pieces move in straight lines, knights move in an “L-shape”—that is, they can move two squares in any direction vertically followed by one square horizontally, or two squares in any direction horizontally followed by one square vertically …. a bit similar to the strange sitting arrangement of Sherlock and John, chosen for the plane scene in TST. 

Presumed both men were knights on a chess board, each move of either man could bring him to the place of the other one. Mary isn’t in the way at all because knights are able to …. jump.

The ‘jumper’

Another characteristic feature of a knight is the fact that it is the only piece in the game of chess that can “jump over” other pieces, regardless of whether those pieces are black or white. Because of this, some languages refer to the knight as ‘the jumper’ (in german ‘der Springer’). 

Of jumping and jumpers

Jumping in front of trains, of ‘transport’ and leaving behind strawberry jam, connects the Andrew West case from TGG with the Strawb-Fizz-Explosive-Flavour-Bus from TST, in which John meets E (Eurus/Sherlock). A quite explosive meeting indeed, thinking of Eurus’ passions grenade a little later.  

(Bus spotted on and speculated about during setlock, in the night-shot with Faith 12.06.2016 x x)

Jumping from a rooftop, taking a leap of faith from the edge of a waterfall, throwing oneself through fire and flames out of windows onto an island ..... jumping, falling, flying and landing …. those are definitely main topics in Sherlock BBC.  (Developement of the fall)

Considering the fact that the creators of Sherlock BBC obviously enjoy playing with names, words, double meanings and innuendos really very much, I seriously wonder wether there is a reason behind the decision to dress John Watson in his, by now, famous oatmeal coloured jumper or let Sherlock tell a room full of wedding guests that he ‘could go on all night about the depth and complexity of (John’s) ... jumpers ...’

PS:  Taking the screen caps from the wedding, I noticed for the first time that a female voice says ‘jumpers’ simultaneously with Sherlock in this scene. It’s a bit like Mrs. Hudson suddenly chiming in with ‘softer, Sherlock’ during his conversation with Molly in TFP. 

The Christmas jumpers shouldn’t be forgotten either. There are two of them which play a role in Sherlock BBC: John wears one in ASIB, the other one turns up in the fisherman deduction scene in THOB. @sagestreet  wrote about the fisherman and his mother  here.  By the way … that’s most likely a reindeer on the fisherman’s jumper. Reindeer’s are a species of deer and deer, stags and harts are another heavy featured topic in this story. 

(Sherlock the stag and the skull   Stalking the deerstalker   The three Garridebs   Study in pink and green)

Change of colour

Also interesting … due to its L-shaped movement, a knight, beginning on a white square, will always end up on a black square, and vice versa. The colour of the square it stands on, changes with each movement. Changing is definitely another main theme - if not THE main theme - of this story.

Short version for the transformation from Rosie to rainbow:   Rosamund=rose of the world=rosa mundi=rosa versicolor=changing colours/many colours/iridescence=rainbow   

(longer version in these comments   The elephant in the room/womb   Prism)

Back to the game and the knights

Looking at the chess pieces on the board and the captured ones lying next to it, one can safely say that it had been Mycroft who started this game, because according to the rules of chess, white moves fist. 

If Sherlock BBC is meant to be a great, metaphorical game of chess, with the various characters serving as chess pieces, then Mycroft starting that game, would coincide with a PILOT starting point. Before John Watson walks into the lab at Bart’s Hospital and meets Sherlock Holmes for the first time, before DI Lestrade summons Sherlock to the crime scene of the Lady in Pink, it is Mycroft who sends Sherlock an E-Mail, asking for his help in an ‘impossible situation’. Sherlock answers his brother with the famous Holmes quote from canon: 

‘When you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains must be the truth. ‘

This interpretation would also coincide with the idea that in this story Mycroft represents the brain, Sherlock’s brain. Logic, reason and intellect. After all, it is this organ which starts every movement and every thought in everyones life.  (The reptile in 221b)

It is Mycroft who first kidnaps and investigates the ‘eternal friend’ - Sherlock’s feelings for John. In the wake of the first explosion, it is him who brings the ‘West' case to Baker Street, who later downright forces Sherlock to take the ‘Woman-case’. It is him who releases the ‘Hound’ and also him who brings Sherlock back from the dungeon inside the forest. Jim becomes Eurus’ Chrismas present because ‘big brother’ allowed it. Mycroft is responsible that Sherlock gets involved in the Carmichael case and it is also him who tells Sherlock that ‘We don’t defeat them (emotions). We must certainly lose to them. Because they are right, and we are wrong.’ This case leads Sherlock to his very own Reichenbach Falls - ‘the greatest crisis of my career’ - the point where he throws himself into the waterfall, out of his own free will. No one forces him, there is not the slightest need to do this. Yet Sherlock jumps and flies.

Centre stage for the knights …. the jumpers ….

Henry Knight instead of Henry Baskerville …. it seems there could have been a lot of good reasons for the creators of Sherlock BBC to choose KNIGHT as the new surname for … THE Baskerville … the man haunted by demons.

(Shoes for the hound   Investigator of secrets and scandals)

Source of chess info/pics (x x x), source of Sherlock BBC chess promo pics (x)

I leave you to your own deductions. Thanks @callie-ariane for the scripts.

October, 2019

[foreverleeah]

The Christmas Tale

Christmas may get covered under the indexes of seasonal joy, present purchasing, and a great deal of nourishment prep stress, however the 2 thousand-year-old occasion remembering the introduction of Jesus has one of the most intricate and fascinating timetables of any occasion with regards to the historical backdrop of the world.

The yearly celebration celebrated on Dec. 24, Dec. 25, January 7, and Jan 19 relying upon section, is both a social and profoundly religious event celebrated by billions of individuals around the globe. From the consideration of the Christmas tree to the yearly present giving, the banquet day that ranges through current history has numerous customs, fantasies, and stories that resound the world over.

As a principle festivity in the Christian ritualistic schedule, it pursues the period of Approach and introduces Christmastide, or The Twelve Days of Christmas. It was first chosen to the particular date in the Western schedule by Dionysius Exiguus, a Scythian priest who was an abbot in Rome. With Exiguus' exploration and scriptural writings, Jesus' introduction to the world was chosen to have happened on December 25, 1 C.E. There have been numerous disagreements about the genuine date of Jesus' introduction to the world since, yet Exiguus' date has stuck notwithstanding them.

Before Christian festivals, Roman agnostics praised the occasion of Saturnalia, seven days of rambunctious festivals from December 17-25, where Roman courts were shut and the law directed that residents couldn't be rebuffed for harming property or harming individuals during the devouring. The Romans accepted these festivals, which picked a network unfortunate casualty and constrained them to enjoy nourishment and celebrations, obliterated the powers of malice when they killed this injured individual at the finish of the week, on December 25.

In the fourth century, Christian pioneers were effective at changing over numerous agnostics to Christianity by enabling them to likewise proceed with the festival of Saturnalia, and this was its first association with Jesus' introduction to the world. Since the celebration of Saturnalia had no association with Christian lessons, pioneers attached the occasion of Jesus' introduction to the world onto the most recent day of the celebration. For a long time, counterparts of the time kept on enabling the festival to proceed in its uncivilized manner—with drinking, sexual extravagances, singing exposed through the avenues. Numerous cutting edge conventions have emerged from Christmas' initial beginnings, be that as it may, for example, caroling (we've quite recently chosen to wear garments), and the eating of human-formed rolls (we simply call them Gingerbread men now).

Despite the fact that the agnostic festivals ceased to exist as the agnostics were changed over to Christians, Puritans didn't watch the occasion because of its non-Christian starting points. Different Christians nonetheless, kept on observing Saturnalia and Christmas together, superbly eager to have agnostic occasions transformed into Christian ones as more individuals changed over to Christianity. During 1466 under the heading of Pope Paul II, Saturnalia was purposefully restored to concur with Christmas festivities, and at the beguilement of Rome, Jews had to run bare through the roads of the city. Well into the late 1800's, Christian pioneers and the religious network set out on against Semitic maltreatment of Jews in Europe, including Rome and Poland, and approved the homicide, assault, and damaging, of Jews during the festivals denoting the introduction of Jesus.

At the point when the Saxons, the Germanic clans of Europe, were changed over to Christianity, they brought "yule," which means mid-winter, with them to incorporate into Christmas conventions. In the next years, yule moved toward becoming to be characterized as Jesus' birthday, however it was not utilized until the eleventh century. For a long time, Europeans kept on commending the season by consuming a Yule sign in the chimney, and light a Yule flame, as opposed to following any of the traditions many partner with Christmas today.

Actually, numerous Christmas conventions of Europe, and America were not characterized until the mid-nineteenth century and were not regarded to be especially significant earlier until numerous years after the fact. What many anticipate at Christmas festivities today, for example, caroling, card giving, and tree enlivening, were hardened during the nineteenth century all through Europe and America.

Santa Clause Claus, one of the most unmistakable Christmas customs and one that was included during the mid-nineteenth century, is one that begins right off the bat in the Christian course of events. Nicholas, conceived in Parara, Turkey in 270 CE, would turn into the Minister of Mara and later, after his demise, the main holy person named in the nineteenth century. One of the senior clerics who went to the Gathering of Nicaea in 325 CE, which made the New Confirmation writings, he was well-loved and exceptionally prominent at the time, accomplishing religion status.

In 1087, a gathering of mariners cherished his bones in an asylum in Italy, supplanting a nearby god known as "The Grandma," who was viewed by the network as a kind god who filled youngsters' socks and tights with blessings. Individuals from the religion assembled here and observed Nicholas' passing every December 6. Afterward, the clique and adoration for the holy person spread north to arrive at the Germanic and Celtic agnostics, where his figure joined with Woden, the main Divine force of Germanic convention. Losing his swarthy, Mediterranean looks, Nicholas' appearance took on that of Woden, one with a long white facial hair, riding a winged steed, and grabbing chilly climate dress. As the Catholic Church offer for changing over the agnostics in Northern Europe, they acknowledged the festivals for Holy person Nicholas however moved his devouring day from December 6 to December 25.

It wasn't until Washington Irving's Knickerbocker History in 1809, a parody of Dutch culture, that St. Scratch reemerged. Alluding to a white-unshaven, horse-flying St. Scratch, whom the Dutch called Santa Clause Claus, Irving brought the character once again into pop culture. Under 20 years after the fact, Association Theological school educator Dr. Forebearing Moore read Knickerbocker History and wrote "Twas the Prior night Christmas," where St. Scratch's place in chronicled fantasy was indeed advanced. Flying down fireplaces and being carried on a sleigh by eight reindeer, Moore's St. Scratch is the one that was utilized by Coca-Cola in 1931 wearing Coca-Cola red and donning a carefree face to much recognition. What's more, as is commonly said, in this manner was brought into the world the Dad Christmas we perceive today; a Christian holy person, Agnostic god, and business ploy.

The Christmas tree, was likewise an agnostic convention, one where the Asheira religion, Druids, and their branches, had since quite a while ago venerated trees in the wild, or brought them into their homes and brightened them in respect for regular divine beings. Early Christians enlisted the Asheira, like their enrollment of agnostic Romans, to readapt this custom into one that was acknowledged and received by the Congregation. In the mid-nineteenth century, trees moved toward becoming to turn into a hugely famous Christmas thing all over Europe and America.

The gifting that is related with the special seasons has a murkier past, one that is related both with the Shrewd Men who visited Jesus bringing blessings, St. Nicholas, and the first Saturnalia festivities that Christmas got from. During Roman occasions, heads encouraged their most loathed natives to carry contributions to them, which later extended to blessing giving among the bigger masses. Later this was changed into a Christian custom under the stories of St. Nicholas' blessing giving legends. At the point when Christmas saw it's resurgence in mainstream culture during the mid-nineteenth century, presents were frequently nuts, popcorn, oranges, lemons, confections, hand crafted knickknacks, Merry Christmas Wishes cards, a long way from the colossal contributions individuals find in stores and under Christmas trees today.

[softchenlele]

SKZ secret Santa 2018

hi, this is admin kitty! i’m sorry to be so late, but here’s your present, @mmulti !! I hope you like it!!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and for their second Christmas together as Stray Kids, they’re having a little festive dinner. Jeongin is happily humming along his playlist, setting the table up, decorating the dorms, dancing a little, while the hyungs are out for a last grocery run. Hyunjin had forgotten to buy some salmon (“how could you‼”) and they were fresh out of drinks (“if we can’t have wine, let us have cola‼”); so the youngest decided to stay and finish setting up as he waited for everyone to come back.

So many things had changed since last Christmas. First of all, they had officially debuted; the nine of them standing together at their debut showcase had felt surreal. Enthusiastic fans standing by them and cheering them on, they put out another album, and then a third one, stages following each other, music shows, variety shows, all so fast. It really felt like a blur, a hazy dream, and Jeongin wouldn’t ever want to wake up. He’d wanted that for too long for it just to fade, all the hard work, all the sleepless nights, he’s so proud of it, and he hopes his family is proud too.

Setting nine plates on the table, nine spoons, nine pairs of chopsticks, nine glasses, he thinks about his newfound brothers, not of blood but of heart. Don’t get him mistaken though, he really thinks that bond is stronger than anything. Blood is thicker than water? Chan told him the saying is incomplete anyway. He’s really thankful for the leader, he’s the one who brought them together, and as such he earned so much respect from everyone. He’d watched him work at stupidly late hours so many times before, falling asleep in front of his computer, always working on new music; Chan truly was a force to be reckoned with.

Baby maybe you know me pretty well

That’s why I see your worried look

Closing his eyes, Jeongin sings along to the voice coming out of the speakers. He thinks of Woojin, Woojin and his wonderful voice, a unique tone recognizable between a thousand. Caring, sweet, skilled and trustworthy Woojin, always bettering himself. Minho, confident, strong and passionate, although sometimes cheesy with cameras but never too careless. Changbin, who insists his concept is “dark”, Jeongin can’t help but laugh at the thought. Badass maybe, but no one will ever manage to convince Jeongin that his Binnie-hyung is dark.

Take my hand, let’s go anywhere

Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix and Seungmin, the loud and energetic boys of 2000, pop into his mind, four bright smiles and cheerful voices. Hyunjin, once overlooked by fans or only seen for his looks, carved himself a spot in everyone’s hearts through dancing, and his charisma on stage is nothing to scoff at either; as for Jisung, Jeongin thinks his raps are really cool. Have you heard his part in District 9?? Wonderful. Magical. Felix… Felix went through a lot. From the boy who couldn’t speak well to the boy who adds shine to their songs, he had to possess quite some strength to pull through. Jeongin is grateful for him, and so, so thankful that he got to debut with him; he wouldn’t have it any other way. And finally, there is Seungmin, boy of many talents, like MCing or savageness, to name a few besides singing. He’s caring, snarky, quick-witted, often teases Jeongin, but that’s brotherly love, right?

No matter when, you’re always by my side

Indeed they are, and as he puts the last finishing touches on the table, he can only wish for many more Christmases together. The thought puts a soft smile on his lips, and as he goes to check on the tteokbokki, he finds himself full-on singing now. The next song plays and as he’s nodding along to Day6’s songs, he can’t help but picture Seungmin going absolutely wild over them. Kim Seungmin truly is a successful fanboy, he thinks, and that makes for extremely funny moments.

The door opens and eight boys spill in the living room, carrying a few bags and dropping them on the table. They all share a can of soda, finally resting for the day, gathered around the coffee table, and as he looks around at the people with him, Jeongin feels a warm something settle in his chest. Now, he knows what people mean when they talk about a home far from home. It’s a place where you belong and feel at ease, where you can be just yourself and no one else, surrounded with people you love. Maybe it’s far from his home and family, but he feels safe here, with his hyungs gathered around. Everyone shares stories of past Christmases, Felix in Australia making not snowmen but sandmen on the beach, Jisung with his parents playing card games, Minho watching movies with his family, cuddled up on a couch…

And then it hits him that this is the first Christmas he spends without his parents, without his brothers, and his heart tightens a little. He loved to see the eyes of his little brother fill with stars as he opened his gifts, his father always taking pictures of them all, and smiles everywhere he looked; Jeongin’s eyes get a little watery, he misses his family so much sometimes. But they’re in Busan, and he still has to wait before he can see them. Chan notices the forlorn look on his face, which Jeongin didn’t notice he was making.

“Jeonginnie, is something the matter?”

Jeongin’s eyes widen, scrambling for a response. “Ah, no… It’s nothing! I was just thinking that a lot of things happened to us this past year…”

Minho chuckles. “That’s an understatement! 2018 might have been the most exciting year of my life‼”

“It sure was a busy year,” Felix pipes up, “but seeing where it got us, it really was worth it all!”

Jeongin smiles at his teammates fondly. Ever the optimists, the whole lot of them. This year was also such a bright year, he recalls, the nervousness and anticipation of the debut showcase, the smiles during promotions on music shows, meeting all the Stays who came from far away to attend fanmeetings, those were really good times. Everyone goes to sit at the table, and again he thinks about his parents back home, and about how many things he’d talk about, how many stories he’d tell them around a good cup of tea and some snacks. And the Rookie awards at the end-of-the-year shows, Jeongin still can’t believe they’re real; that he held them in his hands, that he didn’t dream it all up. Performing on huge stages, before a sea of people and famous senior artists is a sight he thinks will be burned forever in his retinas and his memory, a sight at the same time eerie and painfully real as he remembers the stress he felt while going up on stage. But once you’re up there, there’s no turning back, no escaping, and so you give it everything you’ve got, give the people a run for their money, because it’s the only thing left for you to do. You have to make it just as memorable for them as it was for you. With that sole thought in mind, Jeongin became someone else; he sang with all his heart, danced with all his strength, and though he might be still lacking here and there, he goes up on the stage to enjoy it.

Hyunjin goes to the kitchen and brings back the pots that were simmering on the stove, one containing spicy tteokbokki, the other with a generous quantity of spaghetti bolognese (Seungmin had been craving that for a week, he was getting insufferable, so… merry Christmas?). Everyone immediately digs in, and the table goes silent, but as his mom says: when a table is silent, it means the food is good! The pots quickly diminish as they all eat their fill, feeling happy and contented, like a good meal together makes you feel. Jeongin can’t lie, he really loves this feeling, and napping afterwards is the best feeling in the world, he loves to do just that when he has some time. Then Jisung goes to get the dessert, a chocolate cake that looks a bit like a wood log; Chan had told him once that it’s traditional in France, but he had no clue as to why they made the cakes look like logs and not, like, reindeers? Sleighs? Wouldn’t that feel more Christmas-y?

They all choose that time to exchange gifts, Changbin gets brand new earphones, Seungmin a pretty new jacket, courtesy of Felix, and Woojin even teased Chan by getting him a very soft, comfortable-looking neck pillow. Jeongin looks around, and finds Chan holding out a letter for him to take.

Jeongin,

Maybe you thought you wouldn’t get anything? Don’t worry, your hyungs did prepare something.

Open the front door.

Jeongin stares at Chan, puzzled, looks to Seungmin, then Minho, but everyone has the same conspiratory smile, and so he slowly makes his way to the front door of the dorm, opening it slowly.

He almost falls on his butt when he sees the gift.

His parents are standing right here, in front of him! They came all the way up from Busan, just in time to visit him for Christmas, and he feels like he’s either about to spontaneously combust, or start bawling then and there. He settles for the latter, and tears pour out as he buries himself in his parents’ embrace, he’d missed them so much that hugging them tight is the only thing he can do at that point.

His eight friends are watching him fondly, clearly proud of the effect of their gift. “We didn’t exactly go only to the convenience store earlier”, says Changbin, “we had to perfect our timing with your parents. It was actually Felix’s idea though, so make sure to thank him”, he finishes with a smirk.

Jeongin frees himself of his parents’ hold after a moment, turns around and without missing a beat, goes for a group hug with the best bandmates ever. His voice trembles a bit when he speaks again. “This is the best gift you could have ever gotten me. I love you guys so much.”

Chan is the one who answers him.

“We’re so proud of you, really. Merry Christmas, we love you, Jeonginnie.”

[lilhermitcrab1]

House of Balloons- ENC Project

The Weeknd or Abel Tesfaye is universally recognized as one of the biggest music artists out right now. He has won multiple awards through the years including three Grammys. Through all the success The Weeknd has dropped numerous projects including three mixtapes and an additional three studio albums. Originally releasing three tracks under his now-famous stage name, The Weeknd began drawing some attention online. Up to this point, not much was known about who The Weeknd was. Questions began to pop up with some speculating that The Weeknd was a group and some others wondering whether this was just an alias for a famous artist to release a passion project. All the speculation and rampant rumors culminated in the release of House of Balloons, a mixtape that would forever change the landscape of both pop and R&B music and would serve as one of the greatest and least expected debuts from an artist ever. One very interesting thing I have noticed while researching this mixtape is that every song tells a story. The first line of the entire mixtape comes from High for This. It states “You don’t know what’s in store” and it was genuinely the perfect intro to this mixtape. The song delves into a tale of The Weeknd convincing a girl to use drugs and get high with him as implied by the name of the track. It continues by the crooner stating that for the things that are about to happen the girl will indeed “wanna be high for this.” This track stirred controversy when some said it depicted a non-consensual confrontation when in reality The Weeknd himself has stated that “The tone is dark, the environment is the dark. But there’s not force in it. They want to have a good time. Everybody wants to be there. Whether they regret their choices after is whatever. But everybody is in consent.” The song's ending is almost as perfect as its beginning with the beat slowly transforming into the beginning of the next song. The next song was all about him seducing a woman who already has a partner. The ever so present lyrics on drugs also pop up again but in a very different from with The Weeknd saying that he was the drug she was fiending for the entire time. The next song shares half of its name with the album itself: House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls. The name of the song is derived in part from Tesfaye’s former home on 65 Spencer. “We’d throw these shitty parties and have girls over, and we’d try to make it celebratory, so we’d have balloons.” The first half of the song is very upbeat considering the dark lyrics The Weeknd delivers. The Weeknd sings “This is a happy house, we’re happy here, in a happy house,” almost as if he were trying to convince himself that he was actually happy and enjoying what was happening around him. This verse and track as a whole describe a very interesting underlying message in the album which is that although The Weeknd seems to be enjoying himself, he is not truly happy. The Weeknd is not only trying to convince himself, but he is also attempting to do the same to those around him including a girl is attempting to dominate. “You're in my world now, you can stay, you can stay, but you belong to me, ooh, you belong to me.”

The song eventually transitions into the second half which I interpret as The Weeknd having a “bad trip” due to all the drugs he has indulged in. Speaking of drugs this song as a whole has been linked as a metaphor to cocaine use. This can be seen at the beginning of the second half. The Weeknd chants “Bring the 707 out” which can be interpreted in multiple ways. A 707 is a glass table made by Boeing which can be the inspiration for the title of the second half of the song. It is also a drum machine known as a Roland TR-707 which was most likely used as a tool in producing the song. Another interesting fact that some listeners discovered was that 707 was also the chemical name for a cleaning solution specifically made for glass that maybe The Weeknd used it as a reference to the underlying tone I pointed out earlier which was that it may be used to clean the tables after snorting lines of cocaine. For his fifth song on the tape, Abel unleashes quite possibly the most popular song of the entire album. Wicked Games serves almost as a form of therapy for The Weeknd as he tells of how he cheated on his partner because the relationship was no longer sustainable and he no longer loved her. He tells the girl that he needs to feel something, so for at least the night he needs to hear someone say they love him even if it isn’t true. This goes back to my theory that The Weeknd is looking for an escape from a lifestyle that some see as fun or exciting, but the reality is that he is lonely. The next track is “The Party & The After Party” which is just as the name suggests has two parts. There is some difference however between this two-part track and those before it. Some of these changes are how there is no beat switch and at no point does he change his flow. He does this deliberately because this song, although it does have two parts, tells one complete story. In this track “The Party” is about Abel giving a girl drugs, attention, love, and sex. He takes us back to an earlier track “What You Need” by telling a girl who might perhaps be the same as in that track, that “Everybody wants you, you can have them all, but I got what you need..” With that, The Party ends and now “The After Party” has begun.  His line works and he convinces her to leave the party and go upstairs to a room with him. Once there, his true colors begin to show. Abel doesn’t really care about her and is only in it for himself. He tells her to invite friends if she wants and then he admits how high he truly is. One of the theories surrounding this song is that the drug he is talking about is ecstasy, which is often abused to further the feelings of arousal and lust. It also is one part of the moniker The Weeknd turned into a label and motto: XO. The X short for ecstasy and the O for Oxycodone. He begins confessing that he craves attention and that if he doesn’t get it from her he will “start drownin’ from my wrist.” This can be seen in two ways. He is either threatening to commit suicide or inject himself with even more drugs in order to escape the pain. Speaking of drugs, he continues by talking about the girl he is with. He calls her Rudolph and says that she would probably O.D. before he introduces her to his mother. “Rudolph” is The Weeknd’s way of saying that his girl has been snorting cocaine. Her nose is red like the cartoon reindeer. This girl doesn’t truly love him, but he is still addicted to her. He is so addicted that he says, “no call is worth stoppin' so, momma please stop callin.” Abel has become so addicted that he doesn’t even want to take time to speak with his mother. This song returns to the central message that The Weeknd is trying to convey. He is tired, lonely, and depressed and his only escape is to poison himself with substances that given him moments of relief. The two big ones are drugs and women who do not really want him. This is his curse. He wrote the album almost as his cry for help. He attempted to tell a story about how drugs, sex, and a bit of money can change someone’s life. Even with all his “friends” and “lovers” around him he is truly alone. Even though he is addicted he doesn’t know how to live or function without the drugs. This is why he chose to call his story the “House of Balloons.” He named the album after the one place that his words most accurately described. That home with the lavish parties and that lonely boy who partook in the activities as a way to hide from his depression.

[vikramsingh997]

Origin of Santa Claus — How Real History of Santa Claus Has Evolved Over Last 1700 Years

“Christmas is always a problem for the man who has to convince his kids that there is a Santa Claus, and his wife that there isn't.”  - Evan Esar (American Humourist)

Leaving aside trifling problems like the one discussed above, almost everyone would agree that Christmas is a time of happiness and celebration. And as far as the dilemma of the man concerned in the above quote is concerned, it may have been among other reasons, due to the fact that although most people believe Santa Claus does not exist, he is indeed inspired by a great man who did exist a long time back. This article here is about the history of Santa Claus, which very few people know about.

Christmas is one of the most popular celebrations in the year, but the history of Santa Claus remains unknown to many .

On Christmas eve Santa finally loads these toys and other gifts into a sleigh (drawn by reindeers) and flies around the world, delivering gifts to good children, by entering their house by sliding down through the chimney. The children, in turn, leave milk and cookies, for the visiting Santa, as a sign of gratitude & goodwill for the visiting guest.

Unfortunately, all adults realize that there is no real Santa Claus and quite often it is a father who plays a Santa Claus for the children & sometimes it is some other hired help. However, Santa Claus or the person who was the inspiration behind the figure representing universal friends of children everywhere was a very real person, and the history of Santa Claus started at a time when Christianity was still at its early stages and the modern notion of Christmas had not yet evolved.   

Although when it comes to the real history of Santa Claus there is more than one person (and we shall go through them one by one) who is believed to have inspired the famous character associated with Christmas, the strongest association is with Saint Nicholas – a religious Christian Bishop who lived in the 4th century AD.

Saint Nicholas and His Association with the History of Santa Claus

The Life of St Nicholas of Myra

Saint Nicholas of Myra was the Christian Bishop in the city of Myra, which is located in modern-day Turkey. Born on 15 March of 270 AD, to a wealthy family of Greek merchants in Patara, a city in modern Turkey, his destiny was decided at a young age by his uncle, who at the time was the bishop of Myra, and ordained him as a priest. St Nicholas of Myra would later become Bishop at his Uncle’s Church in Myra, after a few unexpected turns of events.

After the death of his parents, he inherited a large amount of money, which had belonged to his parents. However, the kind-hearted Saint Nicholas of Myra decided to use this money for helping and improving the living conditions of the downtrodden and the poor, which would set him apart from others and would later result in his sainthood.

Saint Nicholas.

As one of the early Bishops of Christianity, St Nicholas of Myra also faced his share of problems from the Roman empire when he was put into the prison during the persecution of Diocletian – which was characterized by the most severe persecution of Christians by the Roman empire. However, he would later be freed by the Roman emperor – Constantin.

He also attended in 325 AD the First Council of Nicaea – which was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea (an ancient town, which at present is in Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantin I; which was of considerable significance at the time. St Nicholas of Myra finally died on 6 December 343 A.D. & December 6 has been named on his honor as Saint Nicholas Day (with the evening of 5th December being known as Saint Nicholas Eve).  

Many years after his death, St Nicholas Church was built in Myra under orders from the Eastern Roman emperor – Theodosius, over a site where the church where St Nicholas of Myra had served as a bishop, had stood. The remains of St Nicholas were also shifted later to a sarcophagus in the newly built church.

In 1087 A.D. when the influence of Seljuk Turks was steadily growing in the area, a group of merchants from the Italian city of Bari removed the major bones of St Nicholas’s skeleton from his sarcophagus and brought it to their hometown where they remain enshrined to this day in Basilica di San Nicola – a church specifically designed for the purpose. The minor fragments of the bones which were left behind in Myra were later removed by Venetian sailors during the first crusades and brought to Venice and placed in San Nicolo al Lido church.

Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy where most of the relics of Saint Nicholas are kept today.

Shifting of the remains of Saint Nicholas of Myra to Europe would make him a very well-known Christian saint in western Europe as news of many miracles performed by him, spread across the continent. By the time of Renaissance, St. Nicholas of Myra had become one of the most popular saints in Europe.

Although it has to be mentioned that it is quite certain that St Nicholas indeed had a very helpful nature and used his resources to help unfortunate people, however, the stories of supernatural miracles performed by him have been looked upon with skepticism, by many other people.

Saint Nicholas The Wonderworker

Due to his charitable actions and acts of miracle, Saint Nicholas of Myra would later become very famous among the people. Some of these certainly are worth mentioning.

1) The Story Behind Hanging Up Stockings to Put Presents

As the story goes, a long time back at the time of Saint Nicholas there lived a man with 3 grown-up daughters. The man was too poor to give his daughters a decent wedding. Without marriage and other sources of sustenance, there was a great likelihood that these 3 unfortunate sisters would be forced into prostitution.

St Nicholas of Myra felt pity for the family but too modest for taking any credit for helping people, one day he dropped a bag full of gold coins into the house (in which the poor family stayed) through an open window. The bag fell into a stocking that had been hanged by the fire to dry. This bag of gold was enough to save one of the girls.

Saint Nicholas dropped another bag the next night, which was able to save another girl. The father of the girls, who was surprised in such sudden reversal of fortunes, hid close to fire the next night. When St Nicholas came on the 3rd night to throw another bag of gold, he was spotted by the father who to his amazement found that it was Saint Nicholas of Myra, who was dropping the bag full of gold coins in secret so that nobody would trace the charitable actions to him.

The dowry for the three virgins (Gentile da Fabriano, c. 1425, Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome).

The grateful father fell on his knees and thanked Saint Nicholas, but the good Samaritan that he was, Nicholas forbade the father to tell anything about the incidence to anyone. However, the story spread and whenever any person in the future received any mysterious gift, the credit for it was given to the St Nicholas of Myra. This story also shows how the custom of hanging up stockings to receive presents first started.

2) Saint Nicholas of Myra Saves Three Innocents from Death

There is another very famous story that is closely associated with the life of St Nicholas of Myra. This story describes how Saint Nicholas of Myra saves three innocents from death. The 3 men in the context were innocent but were proclaimed guilty and condemned to death by the governor after one of the jurors had accepted a bribe and thus facilitated the wrongful conviction.

The story describes how St Nicholas of Myra arrived at the scene just before the sentence was to be carried out and he pushed the executioner’s sword to the ground and scolded the juror (who had accepted a bribe) and released the prisoners from their chains. Thus, Saint Nicholas of Myra saved innocent men who were falsely condemned to unwarranted death.

Saint Nicholas Saves Three Innocents from Death (1888) by Ilya Repin.

3) St Nicholas of Myra Saves Sailors

As the story goes some sailors of the time, were caught in a heavy storm off the coast of Turkey. They were in deep trouble and realized that without timely help their ship would surely sink beneath the giant waves raging all around them. They prayed to St Nicholas to help them, who suddenly arrived in the deck in front of them and ordered the sea to calm down. The storms vanished soon after and the sailors were able to navigate their ship safely to the harbor.

Because of the numerous charitable actions and miracles performed by him, he was later canonized and became famous as Saint Nicholas of Myra. He is known as – patron saint of the sailors, merchants, brewers, prostitutes, repentant thieves, children, archers, students and pawnbrokers in various countries across Europe.

Saint Nicholas calming the storm and saving the sailors.

Odin and the Origin of Santa Claus

According to some sources, the Norse god – Odin may also have influenced to a certain extent the origin of Santa Claus. At the time of Vikings, Yule – a pagan festival was celebrated around the Winter Solstice on Dec 21 by the Germanic people for 12 days and nights of winter. The festival was closely related to the god -Odin and the modern Christmas on Dec 25, falls typically in the middle of the Yule. During Yule people would strengthen their relationships with friends & families by feasting, drinking, gift-giving and merry-making.

Odin has been described to have the ability to take on different appearances. However, one of the more popular forms was where he roamed the Earth dressed as a very old white-bearded traveler wearing a cloak with a broad-brimmed hat, which closely resembles the appearance of Santa Claus and may explain the origin of Santa Claus’s pagan background.

The 12 nights of Yule was also associated with the – Wild Hunt, where Odin raced across the night skies along with other gods, elves & beasts in a hunt against the ice giants and other forces of darkness. During the period of the wild hunt, the humans who had invoked the wrath of the gods would suffer from bad luck while those towards whom the gods were favorable received good fortune and gifts. Here it would be important to mention that the wild hunt was especially associated with the 12 nights of Yule, although it could occur in other winter nights too.

Odin in the guise of a wanderer.

Santa Claus of modern-day uses a sleigh drawn by reindeer for travel. Odin of Norse mythology also had an 8-legged flying horse named Sleipnir which helped him move around. Some other similarities with Santa Claus are that –

1) Odin was a well-known gift giver to mankind. During Yule, children would leave their boot by the fireplace after filling them with sugar and hay. This was done with the intention that a tired horse of Odin – Sleipnir, would feast on this and Odin pleased with the children would leave small gifts and other treats in the boots of the children. This closely resembles the story of Santa Claus and placing stockings close to the fireplace.

2) Odin was all-knowing and knew how people everywhere behaved. His 2 ravens brought him the news about all that was happening in the 9 worlds and how the people were behaving. This decided who would need disciplinarian action and who should be rewarded with gifts & good fortune.

3) Like Santa Claus is called Father Christmas, Odin is also called Yule father, and as has been said the 2 festivals (Christmas & Yule) are celebrated around the same time of the year and they also share many other similarities.

4) The dwarfs and elves of Norse mythology were skilled workers, who could create wonderful things. Also known as Odin’s men, they made many small gifts for Odin to deliver.

Odin rides to Hel.

The Tale of Sinterklaas - Before the Origin of Santa Claus

During the protestant reformation, St Nicholas of Myra and other Catholic saints were gradually pushed to the background in all the countries of Europe, except in Holland, where Saint Nicholas of Myra survived in people’s memory as Sinterklaas - a kind and wise old man with a long white beard, who dressed in a white dress, a red cloak and a has a red mitre (ceremonial headdress of the bishops) on his head and a staff in his hand. Here it would be important to mention that – Sinterklaas was a shortened form of Sint Nikolas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas).

The festivities of Sinterklaas starts on the 2nd Saturday of November (around the middle of November), whenhe arrives at a town of Netherland (every year a different harbor is chosen,  so maximum children get a chance to see him)  from Spain (where he supposedly lives) by a steamboat to spend 3 weeks in the country. The boat which brings him also contains gifts that Sinterklaas brings for children.

Sinterklaas arrives in Netherlands.

Sinterklaas is accompanied by a team of helpers/servants called “Zwarte Pieten” (Black Peters – having typical features of a blackened face). Once Sinterklaas and his servants reach the town, the church bells of the town are rung in celebration. On land, Sinterklaas rides a white horse leading his entourage through the town.

Sinterklaas who historically predates modern Santa Claus serves many common functions as his modern counterpart (Santa Claus). Sinterklaas has a book where records of all that the children have done in the past year are kept to judge who has been good and who behaved badly.

Those who have been good would receive a gift from Sinterklaas and the bad ones would receive a variety of punishments. This could range from receiving lumps of coal or to be put in a sack and taken to Spain (on Sinterklaas’s return voyage) for a year by Zwarte Pieten to teach the children a lesson for the future, so they would always be well behaved.

Sinterklaas & Zwarte Pieten.

Sinterklaas like his modern counterpart of Santa Claus, visited the children’s homes at night (although the time is not of Christmas eve) riding the rooftops of the houses in his horse. The children on their part leave a shoe beside the chimney (containing some hay & carrots for the horse of Sinterklaas) once or twice a week, during the stay of Sinterklaas.

This goodwill ensures that Zwarte Pieten climbs down through the chimney (whereby the dark soot blackens their face) and puts some candy & other gifts for the children, in the shoes, after collecting food for the horse from it.

Carrots are left in shoes by kids, who in return receive gifts from Sinterklaas.

Once the festivities are over, Sinterklaas leaves the Netherlands on 6th December by steamboat via the entrance of the port of Rotterdam, as he travels back to Spain. Now, why does the story say that Sinterklaas lives in Spain? It is because, in 11th century AD, the body of St Nicholas of Myra (at least the major bones present at the time) was reburied at Bari, Italy which was under Spain, when the celebrations became popular.

Finally, it needs to be mentioned that Sinterklaas has nothing to do with Christmas. Sinterklaas parties are celebrated on 5th December in the Netherlands (St Nicholas Eve) and on 6 December in Belgium. Christmas is also celebrated in the Netherlands as well as Belgium, but in these countries, Sinterklaas is different from Santa Claus. In the Netherlands, Santa Claus is known as Christmas man or “Kerstman” and the children believe that he comes from Lapland in Finland to deliver some more presents.

Sinterklaas greatly influenced the later character of Santa Claus.

History of Santa Claus in America

The modern version of Santa Claus that we see at Christmas nowadays originated in America. As people from Europe moved to the New World, they brought their traditions with them. These also included the Dutch who brought Sinterklaas and festivities associated with him to the new world, especially to New Amsterdam (now New York City) to be more precise.

The origin of Santa Claus from this Dutch Sinterklaas would occur by the active participation of many English-speaking people over time in these festivals, and Sinterklaas would eventually become Americanised into Santa Claus. It was in 1823, that Clement Clarke Moore a Professor of Oriental & Greek literature of New York, wrote a 56-line poem called – “A Visit from Saint Nicholas”, which is popularly known in the modern age as – “The Night Before Christmas”.

The description of this poem, which would go on to become very popular in America, created the modern version of Christmas. Clement Clarke Moore would take inspiration from Saint Nicholas of Myra & Sinterklaas, the previously described Dutch version of Saint Nicholas.

Clement Clarke Moore would go on to introduce many new characteristic traits for the character of Santa, who would get a more modern look. Santa would now smoke a pipe occasionally, would be dressed in American fur, and could move through a chimney without any difficulty to drop gifts in the hanging stockings. He no longer had the seriousness of a priest but would be a jolly old elf with a white beard and a sack full of toys on his back.

A part of the poem - A Visit From St. Nicholas, by Clement C Moore.

Santa would also get a sleigh drawn by 8 Reindeers, which would fly across the sky, taking Santa all over the world. All the 8 Reindeers had distinct names – Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. In 1939, Robert L May – a copywriter at the Montgomery Ward department store wrote a Christmas themed story to bring Christmas holiday traffic into his store. Here he would introduce a 9th young Reindeer named – Rudolph, having a large glowing red nose; who would be later included in the sleigh drawing Reindeer team, thanks to the incredible popularity that this story achieved.

Here it would be important to mention that in 1902, L Frank Baum came up with a story – “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus”, where he describes 10 Reindeers in Santa’s sleigh all of which had different names than the 8 names of Reindeers that was described by Clement Clark Moore in his poem – “A Visit from St. Nicholas” written earlier.

In 1881, an artist named Thomas Nast added few more characteristic features to create the modern Santa of today, when he drew Christmas illustrations for Harper’s Weekly. Here Thomas Nast would add some more important modification to the previous image created by Clement Clarke Moore. The new Santa would be a large & chubby cheerful man with a long beard dressed in a bright red suit trimmed with white fur.

1881 illustration by Thomas Nast who along with Clement Clarke Moore's poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, helped to create the modern image of Santa Claus.

Thomas Nast would also give Santa a wife (although the wife of Santa Claus is mentioned for the first time in – A Christmas Legend, a short story written by Christian missionary James Reese in 1849) along with a North Pole accommodation & workshop with a team of dedicated elves to help him, who worked throughout the year making gifts & toys.

Santa would also start to receive letters from enthusiastic kids making various demands. Finally, Santa himself would get the ability to know the nature of different children, which would help him to make a naughty or nice list.  These additions would finally create the loving Santa, that we know today.

Origin of Santa Claus – The Conclusion

Now it must be highly obvious that the Santa whom we think of as climbing down from the chimneys to enter the houses of people and putting gifts into the empty Christmas stocking hung beside the fireplace, took origin from a history of Santa Claus, that goes back many centuries.

The Santa Claus of the modern era is happily married, has a home in the North pole and has a team of elves to help in preparing gifts to be distributed to children. The jolly & friendly Santa Claus is a very far cry from a catholic priest who lived in the 4th century. However, the character of nobility, charitable disposition and spreading joy around are traits that have withstood the changes that occurred over the centuries, finally proving that the more we change the more we remain the same.

Irrespective of the Origin of Santa Claus tales, Santa has always, in every form stood for love and happiness.

[kmp78]

FINLAND 1 - 0 - 0 🇫🇮

A QUICK COMPILATION OF ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW - AND WISH YOU NEVER DID.

1. You may call us Finland and Finns, but we call ourselves Suomi and suomalaiset.

2. Altho if you don´t mind, we would rather you did not call us anything ever. Actually if we could both pretend each other doesn´t even exist, that would be just great!

3. Yes we are a notoriously shy and reserved nation with a gigantic inferiority complex - especially when compared to our neighbor Sweden.

4. Who incidentally we loooooove beating in hockey.

5. Saimaannorppa aka Saimaa ringed seal can only be found in Finland and is highly endangered.

According to a count done in 2015, there are only about 320 individuals left, and therefore quite understandably whenever one is found dead in a fisherman´s net or by the hands of a poacher etc., it causes headlines and outrages.

6. 70% of Finland is made up of forests - that´s roughly the size of the entire area of the United Kingdom.

7. Finland was awarded the Summer Olympics for 1940, but then things got all sorts of fucked up thanks to Adolf & co., so those plans were scrapped even tho we had a brand-spanking new Olympic stadium and everything! Dammit!

Oh well, we were compensated in 1952 when we finally got the honor of hosting our only (so far) Olympic games.

8. Those 1952 Olympics were the first time Coca Cola was introduced to Finns.

9. No, we do not have polar bears.

10. We also don´t have KFC, Wendy´s or Dunkin´ Donuts.

11. Yes I am very upset about all those things mentioned above but especially about KFC.

12. Finland was the first country in Europe which gave women the right to vote (1906).

13. The Finnish language does not separate words such as “she” or “he”. We just use a gender-neutral “hän”, which means “that person”.

14. The national bird of Finland is the whooper swan.

15. Helsinki has the world´s most Northern metro system.

16. Savonlinna hosts their annual Opera Festival in a Medieval castle.

17. We are vindictive and petty as HELL. Just ask Silvio Berlusconi.

http://kmp78.tumblr.com/post/155861218049/finland-chronicles-part-14

18. A Finnish person will drink approximately 129 litres of milk a year.

19. Some years ago, the word for mother (”äiti”) was voted the most beautiful word in the Finnish language.

20. Moomins are, as some of you MAY REMEMBER FROM A SPECIFIC DEBACLE FROM EARLIER THIS YEAR, from Finland and were created by OUR Miss Tove Jansson.

21. Unlike many other countries which after gaining independence tore down all statues and other remnants of their history under foreign rule, in Finland we chose to keep ours up as reminders of our past.

For example, on our main square aka the Senate Square you will find Czar Alexander II standing proudly.

22. And speaking of statues, one of the landmarks of Helsinki is Havis Amanda.

It depicts a mermaid who decides to leave the sea and walk on... well, not water.

Each year on April 30th, she is “crowned” with a cap, to represent all those who have graduated from secondary school and earned their caps.

23. As of 2010, internet access has been a legal right in Finland.

24. Do you have one of those cupboard things over your kitchen sink, the kind where you place your dishes to dry?

That was invented by a Finnish woman called Maiju Gebhard in 1945.

25. The longest word in the Finnish language is “epäjärjestelmällistyttämä­ttömyydelläänsäkäänköhän”, which loosely translates to “not even by her lack of organization, do you suppose”.

26. Angry Birds are from here.

27. Finland is also the birth place of the most successful ski jump champions of all time, Matti Nykänen.

28. After his sports career came to an end, Matti has been a permanent fixture in the tabloids with his... issues... involving alcohol abuse, domestic abuse (he even served time in prison for attempting to kill one of his many ex-wives) and an assortment of careers including stripping and now singing. 

He is also responsible for one of our most beloved and useful quotes of all time: back in the 80s when he was still jumping from towers and competing in Canada, he got into some “situations” and was sent back home as punishment. When he arrived at the airport, a journo asked him “Matti, did you drink alcohol?”, to which Matti replied “Maybe I did drink, maybe I didn´t drink”.

All bases covered then!

The man is a fucking genius.

29. There are absolutely ZERO public payphones anywhere in Finland.

30. For a very short period of time back in, Finland had a female president AND a  female Prime Minister. 

Sadly that arrangement came to an abrupt end when the Prime Minister was forced to resign over a scandal involving some sort of Iraq documents which I´m still, a decade later, completely baffled by.

31. As those who come on this blog surely know by now, Yours Truly is a passionate berry picker - and being a berry nut in Finland is easy indeed since a) we have one of the cleanest natures in the world and b) all living things you find in nature, you can keep - within reason, of course.

Usually a good principle is to keep about 100 meters distance from the nearest house. Other than that, you´re good to go!

32. People in in Northern Finland aka Lapland area have a very specific unit of measurement called the “poronkusema” which could be loosely translated to “Reindeer´s piss”. Roughly it means the distance a reindeer can walk before needing to urinate. It´s quite a long distance...

33. Our current President Sauli Niinistö is a survivor of the tragic tsunami which took place in South-East Asia on Dec 26, 2004. Over 200 000 people (including almost 200 Finnish tourists) died in one of the worst natural disasters of our time - Mr. Niinistö and his sons saved their own lives by climbing up a telephone pole and staying there for several hours.

34. In Finland October 13th is National Failure Day which aims to encourage people to share their failures and learn from them rather than hide their heads in shame and pretend all is well.

35. The REAL Santa Claus lives up in Rovaniemi and you can visit his village all year long.

36. Sheldon gave us a good laugh and an ego boost.

37. We like eating Rudolf with lingonberries and mash.

38. On some years we get A LOT of snow, but on others we get practically none. Back in 1997, in Lapland the snow reached up to 190 cm.

Incidentally I am 155 cm.

39. In the Finnish language there is an alphabet called Å which isn´t actually a part of a single Finnish word in the entire Finnish language - it is simply a remnant from our many centuries spent under Swedish rule.

40. Unesco has reported that Finland´s tap water is the cleanest in the world.

41. A handy Finnish saying: “Early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese”.

42. For some God forsaken reason, Finland and Estonia have the same national anthem.

43. Sadly accurate these days.

44. Sadly accurate these days.

45. Rosina Heikel (1842 - 1929) was Finland´s and in fact the Nordic countries 1st female doctor.

46. When something is a failure/a dud, the common term in the English language is “a lemon”. Over here, it´s “susi”. Susi also means wolf.

47. And susi should not be confused with sisu! 

48. In Lapland you can spend your vacation in an igloo.

49. Fines for speeding are determined by the offender´s income. Basically if you earn more, you have to pay more. The highest fines have been over 100 000 €. Stay poor, kids!

50. Pamela Anderson´s grandparents were from Finland.

51. Yes we like getting our drinks on, and most of us go abroad to Tallinn to get our drinks on for a lot less €s.

52. In Lapland, the Sun never rises from November to January.

53. In reverse, the Sun never sets from June to July. We call it “The Nightless night”.

54. Finland has exactly 1 Eurovision victory under its belt.

55. In 2018 Saara Aalto will be repping us.

Please vote for us. Please?

56. Nokia became famous for their mobile phones, but originally they manufactured rubber boots.

57. We don´t dub movies or TV shows.

58. We do however sometimes give them ridiculous and extremely SPOILER ALERT-y names. For example, “The Shawshank Redemption” was translated to “Rita Hayworth - Key to escape”.

I mean... C´MOOOOON!

59. Sometimes that´s all you can do.

60. Simo Häyhä aka “White Death” was one of the deadliest snipers of all time. During a 3 month stretch of the Winter War, he shot roughly 200 Russian soldiers before getting shot in the face himself. He survived and lived to be 96.

61. We don´t use the 1 and 2 cent coins. You CAN try paying with them as they of course are legal currency, but there are no guarantees you´ll get very far.

62. Feb 14th may be a day for lovers for the rest of the world, but we know it as “Friend´s Day”.

63. Tipping is not (thankfully) a part of the Finnish culture.

64. The guy longing for Sven in Titanic (the coat dude) was portrayed as a Swede, but was actually a Finn called Jari Kinnunen.

65. Karelian pies with egg butter are the best thing ever.

66. Märket island which is situated between Finland and Sweden had to have the border lines twisted a bit because the Finns who built that lighthouse, accidentally built it on the wrong side...

67. While often named as one of the 5 Scandinavian countries, Finland isn´t technically even a part of Scandinavia: we ARE however a part of the Nordic countries.

68. If you are invited to a Finnish sauna, you are expected to go nude.

69. Finnish armed forces are mandatory for men but voluntary for women.

70. Moomin mugs are peculiarly popular especially among Asian tourists. They can sometimes pay even thousands for rare ones.

71. We never had vikings, but there is one viking tale about a princess called Skjalv, daughter of the Finnish King Froste (those aren´t even Finnish names...), who was stolen as war loot to Sweden but ended up strangling her captor with a gold chain. 

72. Our 4th president was Kyösti Kallio, who was forced to resign from office after the Winter War on December 19th 1940. On that same day he was about to step onto a train to take him back home for retirement, when during his final official ceremony at Helsinki Railway Station, in front of his soldiers and while the orchestra played, he suffered a fatal heart attack and died right there in front of everyone. Legend says he collapsed into the arms of our greatest war hero and later president himself, Marshall C.G.E. Mannerheim (seen in the white hat next to President Kallio).

73. Marshall Mannerheim is the only person in Finnish history who has been rewarded that particular military honor. In fact, he is and forever will remain the only person who has the title “Finland´s Marshall”, an honor bestowed upon him for his services to his home country during Finland´s tumultuous early years of independence.

A few years ago he was voted by the Finns themselves as the most important Finnish person of all time.

74. In June 1942, Adolf Hitler came to Finland to pay his respects to Marshall Mannerheim on his 75th birthday. As a little “souvenir” for future generations, the sneaky Finns recorded a snippet of his and Mannerheim´s private conversation.

It is the only known recording of Hitler speaking with a calm, normal voice, as he was very particular about only being filmed while screaming and ranting his ideologies.

75. Roughly 3 million tourists visit Finland each year and I think at least 2 500 000 of them are always going exactly where I´m going too.

76. We like to make things hard for foreigners.

77. We don´t have any mountains.

78. But we have lakes. We have a shit ton of lakes. 187 888 lakes to be precise.

79. FYI

80. All our days end with -tai (Monday = maanantai, Tuesday = tiistai etc.), except for Wednesday. Wednesday is called keskiviikko.

81. We have a lot of free time.

82. J. R. R. Tolkien used the Finnish national epoch the Kalevala as inspiration for the languages in the Lord of the Rings saga.

83. The St. Louis Arch was designed by a Finn called Eero Saarinen.

84. Every summer we arrange what is called Kaljakellunta aka “Beer float” which pretty much just consists of taking a floatie and a case of beer and... well, that´s about it.

85. If you want to enhance your sauna experience, you can use a birch whisk.

86. The bubble chair was designed by a Finnish man called Eero Aarnio.

87. Thursdays are the “official” pea soup and pancakes day all over Finland.

88. Finns love queuing.

89. Life expectancy for men is 78 years and for women 84 years.

90. In Tornio you can play golf in two countries:

http://kmp78.tumblr.com/post/155901150914/finland-chronicles-part-15

91. Finns invented the so-called Molotov´s cocktail.

92. All people in Finland must pay a TV tax even if they do not they own a TV.

93.  We celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December.

94. Finns love salmiakki aka salty licorice.

I don´t, btw.

95. Finland is one of the few countries in Europe which has not banned sex with animals - and some actually take advantage of that loophole...

http://kmp78.tumblr.com/post/156161829244/finland-chronicles-part-21

http://kmp78.tumblr.com/post/156257574544/finland-chronicles-part-23

96. Armi Kuusela won the 1st ever Miss Universe pageant in 1952.

97. In 2006, Conan O´Brian did a sketch about looking like our then-president Tarja Halonen and it ballooned into a huge movement.

98. Weeeeell...

99. On every Independence day, the current president hosts a party at his residence for about 2 000 dignitaries, celebs, politicians etc. We riff raffers sit at home in our sweatpants and watch it on TV with some nachos and snarky comments.

100. MONTY PYTHON KNOWS. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUOMI, AND THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. 

Despite you reeeeally getting on my nerves SO MUCH and SO OFTEN, I still love you. 💙 💙 💙

[joesterwiththetoaster]

Who Are the Sámi?

The Sami are the indigenous people of the Sapmi (or Lapland) region in Northern Europe. Sapmi stretches from central Norway and Sweden through Finland’s northernmost territory and into parts of Russia. According to the website Arthropolis, there are “more than 40,000 Sami in Norway, 15,000-25,000 in Sweden, 6,500 in Finland, and about 2,000 in Russia.” For thousands of years, the Sami’s ancestors occupied the majority of Scandinavia, only to be pushed further north when settlers moved in. They now have dispersed to both occupy both traditional areas and become settled in major cities, largely abandoning their nomadic past. There are nine varieties of the Sami language, a Finno-Uralic language (a bit like Finnish or Hungarian), and for a time it was banned from being taught in Swedish schools, which also has led many Sami people to not even know how to speak the language(s). Indeed, until the second half of the twentieth century, Sami culture was somewhat stifled, with the countries’ governments trying to force assimilation on them and use their land for development. However, within the last forty-odd years, there has been a resurgence of interest and appreciation for Sami culture. There is a Sami parliament that acts in tandem with each country’s government, and given their territory is situated primarily in the Arctic Circle, they are in close discussions about fighting climate change.

Traditionally, the Sami have made their living as reindeer herders, farmers, and fishers, although there are Sami in virtually every employment sector nowadays. Culturally, the Sami are most famous for the Joik (a form of singing dedicated to a person, place, or animal, and is intended to capture the spirit of the subject) and “duoddji” (Sami for “craft,” regarding their unique traditions of weaving, embroidery, carving, and “kofte,” or traditional Sami clothes). Many of these traditions have found modern ways of implementation, including theatre!

[suppersanchez]

10 Best Christmas Movies - What is the Real List?

When beginning on my own quest for the "10 Best Christmas Movies", I discovered a lot of records that carefully given sentiment on most loved motion pictures to Christmas time - a few conclusions originated from film "specialists" yet were supposition in any case. This would be normal particularly when "best" is included, since the word in itself rather infers a perspective or assessment https://putlocker-online.com/golden-collection/movietube  In any case, shouldn't something be said about the motion pictures that are viewed as the best in general - explicitly including overall population conclusion? I did a touch of burrowing on this point to discover a rundown of motion pictures for Christmas that were the most well known after some time - not simply ongoing top of the line films and not exactly what are known as the "works of art". Here is the thing that I thought of...

Supernatural occurrence on 34th Street: Based on my exploration, this is the film that beat the rundown for the most looked for after, most bought Christmas film ever. It is about a little youngster named Susan who has become to some degree "dwindled" in her Christmas soul and has her questions about the legitimacy of Santa Claus, however comes around when she meets "the genuine article".

It's a Wonderful Life: I was by and by rather amazed when this one was not at the "supreme" of the rundown, yet it is undoubtedly a nearby second. Jimmy Stewart is the principle star in this film, which numerous individuals love and are propelled by over the Christmas season. A magnificent, sentimental and moving story.

White Christmas: This film is another on the rundown that could be viewed as a "genuine exemplary". Bing Crosby sings the title tune (what a smooth voice!) - one of the most loved motion pictures (and music) to fill homes with the soul of Christmas.

A Charlie Brown Christmas: Yes people, one of the motion pictures on this rundown must element the Charlie Brown group, isn't that so? Indeed, it does. This is a sweetheart film, again with incredible music that has since gotten probably the most perceived music for the Christmas season.

Miser: This is the 1970's British-made rendition of the "Penny pincher" films featuring Albert Finney in the fundamental job. There are an aggregate of three films on the "10 Best Christmas Movies" list with this subject, this one is the most well known regardless of having rather blended basic praise.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Based on the story from Dr. Seuss which was initially discharged during the 60's, there are two renditions of this film - the vivified (animation) film from the mid 60's and the more current form featuring Jim Carrey. It was too hard to "even think about splitting separated" these two motion pictures as far as prevalence so I am including them both now on the rundown.

Christmas in Connecticut: Confession - I had never known about this film preceding exploring this rundown, yet it is certainly one that I will look for in the wake of finding out about the story and the audits. A pleasant story featuring Barbara Stanwyck as an author who is by and large under legit about her own life and is going to get captured - among a Christmas subject. Certainly resembles a "blast from the past".

Scrooged: The more advanced form of "Penny pincher" featuring Bill Murray. He does an especially great job of depicting one of the nastiest and most discourteous men alive - however then again he makes a delightful showing of "making a fresh start" and motivating the Christmas soul.

Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer: This is one of various motion pictures described by Burl Ives utilizing stop-movement activity, and is the most famous among that gathering. An exceptionally sweet story, first discharged in 1964 as a TV extraordinary and has been a most loved among youngsters (and whole families) from that point forward.

A Christmas Carol: This is the third in the arrangement of "Penny pincher" subjects and comes in tenth on the rundown. Incidentally, this film has gotten the most elevated in basic praise particularly because of the extraordinary acting by Alistair Sim. This film was made during the hours of WWII and is genuinely a fairly stunning and motivating film to watch.

There are extra films to the "10 Best Christmas Movies" that are likewise much adored by kids, grown-ups and whole families. Many (and maybe every one) of them have an immortal inclination to them that permits them to keep up their situation as probably the most watched motion pictures ever.

[shrus3758]

5 Reasons to visit Norway

Norway is among the richest nations around the world, not just in relation to economic wealth - with the second-highest Gross domestic product per capita in the world immediately after Luxembourg - but also in the wealth of natural wonders. Indeed, Norway is endowed with amazing natural beauty, which sums up all the top reasons to pay a visit to Norway. Still, listed below are the most notable five reasons in great detail.

The Land of the Midnight Sun

Norway is considered the Land of the Midnight Sun for a reason - it is one of the sought after destinations in the world where, during the summer months, you will see the sun's rays constantly for 24 hours. Have a look at Norway from April to July or possibly in late August and savor some activities you won't ever get to do at midnight anywhere else, for instance playing golf, mountain climbing and fishing - all in the light of the late-night sun.

Arctic Adventures

Because of its place, Norway is also a great spot for Arctic Adventures. Experience the magical white plains of northern Norway on a sled dragged by a pack of dogs or maybe a reindeer herd. Capture the glimpse of the breathtaking whales off the sea-coast of Vesteralen or go swimming in the middle of killer whales. You will get your chance at hauling in the greatest codfish on the Arctic, too, or even the greatest red king crab, which may grow up to two meters long.

You can also merely sit still by fire and wait patiently for the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights to show up. These lights, that are a combination of green, purple and red hues, are simplest to see in places where there is little moonlight during the months of October, February, and March. They are also regarded as the most ancient and grandest shows on the planet, appearing in a variety of shapes and sizes each time and galvanizing stories that survive even today, and which you are sure to hear should you drop by a Sami village in Karasjok.

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The Famous Fjords of Norway

Norway is also famous for its fjords - U-shaped valleys loaded with seawater which was formed once the glaciers melted following the ice age. Actually, it has many more fjords compared to any other nation across the world. Many of these fjords can be found in western Norway, and some of these have even been designated as World Heritage Sites, like the Geirangerfjord and the Naeroyfjord. The Sognefjord is the greatest in the country, extending for over a hundred miles. It is also the second-longest fjord on this planet.

Apart from fjords, there are also many parks that offer beautiful hiking trails and camping grounds for you to visit whenever you visit Norway. There's also opportunities for you to climb and walk on glaciers, like Austfonna, the most significant in Europe, in addition to quite a few breathtaking waterfalls for one to enjoy, for example, the Voringsfossen. A holiday to the Vega Islands is usually recommended, as well, particularly for folks who wish to be encompassed by various species of extraordinary birds, sensational panoramas as well as wonderful views.

Have you planned a trip to Northern Lights Norway and searching for a tourist agency that can give you the best offers and services then take a look at TheBackpackerCo which can fulfill your requirements. To know more in detail about their various trips and services do check their website.

Skiing

With six months of the winter season, terrific hills and a lot of good snow, it's no surprise lots of people check out Norway purely to ski. Here, there is scope for all sorts of skiing, including alpine skiing, cross-country skiing as well as telemark skiing. You can also go snowboarding and snowkiting. Popular ski resort hotels in Norway include Hemsedal, with approximately fifty slopes, Oppdal, which is excellent for sophisticated skiers, Norefjell, which is just a small drive from Oslo and Trysil, the most important in the country.

The Land of the Vikings

Perhaps the most prosperous age in the history of Norway is the Viking Age. Even though the country has undoubtedly come a long way from being a kingdom of the Vikings, that were excellent traders as well as dreaded pirates, you might still learn about Norse cultures when you take a look at Norway and discover a little more about the Vikings in galleries such as the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo plus the Lofotr Museum, where you can watch a reconstructed farm of a Viking chieftain - the only person still in existence - and authentic Viking attires.