#pumpkin carving still not widespread

[jomiddlemarch]

For the five lines meme: "something wicked" for Mary/Jed? Please and thank you!

“Put whatever that knitted farrago is aside, Nurse Mary,” Jed said, grimacing in a manner he hoped she would see as humorous, one which might ease the furrow in her brow and provoke her into a tart rejoinder. Before she could speak, he’d laid the pack of cards down before her.

“I’ve no time to waste being frivolous,” she replied, but there was a bit of a quirk to her lip, one he could fairly construe as wry amusement if he wished. He wished, for that and any number of things.

“Having your fortune told with Matron Brannan’s cards on All Hallow’s Eve is the furthest things from rank frivolity and I should think any self-respecting descendent of the Celts by way of Manchester would already know that and I must admit, I couldn’t get her to let me carve one measly turnip, so this will be the sum total of the night’s observation,” he said, waiting for her to nod and set aside her handwork before he sat down before her.

[modanon]

Lumina Crookneck Wizard Idea stolen from Kruggsmash

Whole homebrew Pathfinder race undercut if anyone wants that Homebrew race stuff pulled from here

Pumpkinheads

Standard power level

Plant (10 RP) Medium (0 RP) Low Speed (-1 RP)

Standard Ability Score Modifiers (0 RP) Dexterity +2 Constitution +2 Charisma -2

Standard Language Quality (0 RP) Low-Light Vision (1 RP) Cold Vulnerability (-2 RP) Fearless (1 RP) Glow (1 RP)

=========

Plant (10 RP)

This type encompasses humanoid-shaped vegetable creatures. Note that regular plants, such as those found in ordinary gardens and fields, lack Wisdom and Charisma scores and are not creatures, but objects, even though they are alive. A plant race has the following features.

Plants have the low-light vision racial trait. Plants are immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms). Plants are immune to paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep effects, and stunning. Plants breathe and eat, but do not sleep, unless they want to gain some beneficial effect from this activity. This means that a plant creature can sleep in order to regain spells, but sleep is not required to survive or stay in good health.

Low-Light Vision (1 RP): Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Members of this race can see twice as far as a race with normal vision in conditions of dim light.

Cold Vulnerability (-2 RP): Prerequisites: Plant; Weakness: When exposed to Winter weather conditions for at least an hour, Strength checks are halved.

Fearless (1 RP): Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Members of this race gain a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against fear effects. Special: This bonus stacks with the bonus granted by the lucky (greater or lesser) racial trait.

Glow (1 RP): Prerequisites: Pumpkinhead; Benefit: Members of this race create a 10 foot area of dim light around them in the dark.

=========

-Where does your race tend to live and why?

Pumpkinheads hail from the Autumn kingdom. They are not a particularly widespread race, preferring to stick to the temperate (between low 70s and low 40s with minimal snow and rain fall) forests and plains of the Autumn kingdom. While other races may struggle with the inability to grow many crops due to the climate, Pumpkinheads, being plants, can survive easily on what they can grow and forage in addition to their own pumpkin livestock. While they can process meat and dairy, Pumpkinheads prefer bones and blood to gain such nutrients.

It's only been within the past 30 years that Pumpkinheads have begun to travel and immigrate outside of the Autumn kingdom. They're still a rare sight outside the strip of land on the south side of the Darkwoods Mountains that comprises the Autumn kingdom.

-What does your race look like? How does the members' appearance help them adapt to their typical environment?

Pumpkinheads avoid traveling to much cooler temperatures due to being plant life. When temperatures become too cold, they will wither and enter a temporary hibernation state until warmed up. While they can die in this state, it would take many months of intense cold for the body to finally die. They dislike intense heat, but they can weather it better with additional water.

Pumpkinfolk possess magic, specifically the ability to trans-mutate other pumpkins. This is the origin of their pumpkin livestock, and how they reproduce. Pumpkinhead reproduction requires two Pumpkinheads and three plain pumpkins. One of these will need to be carved with a face, one will become the torso, and the other will be used to create the vines that form a Pumpkinfolk's limbs.

Pumpkinheads start life as the equivalent of a young human child, and age rapidly after creation. They reach physical adulthood after about 3 years, and their age of majority is 5. Pumpkinheads live for about 20 years after creation. An elderly Pumpkinhead will be softer as they near the end of their life. You can tell a Pumpkinfolk has died as the vines that form their limbs will shrivel up and fall from the pumpkins that form their body.

Pumpkinheads notably glow with dim light from inside their faces in darkness.

-What is your race's history? Does it have a creation myth? Were there pivotal events in the race's history?

The exact creation of Pumpkinheads can actually be tracked to the day. Originally, they were created by a powerful witch, Lavinia, who followed the teachings of Baba Yaga seeking to live unbothered while she attempted to gain greater powers. In order to deter those who would seek to destroy her, she created pumpkin golems to serve as her own private army. Settlements of the Autumn kingdom reported sightings of these pumpkins in the distance. Whether the witch was slain or simply moved on from the Autumn kingdom is lost to Pumpkinhead kind. Whatever happened, these golems were left behind. Left unchecked, the magic grew within the golems as they slowly gained their own sentience. Slowly, they began to form their own settlements.

Pumpkinheads today are recognized as a native race of the Autumn kingdom. They are one of only three races recognized as such (Strangelings (Catfolk, Batfolk, Ratfolk), Boogeymen, and Pumpkinheads).

The most famous Pumpkinhead was a Medium, Mosch Ambercup, who was often consulted by heros seeking to quest in the Darkwoods Mountains beyond the Autumn kingdom. Most notably, he foretold of an undead army attempting to march on Aureas from beyond the mountains in an attempt to seize a priceless artifact housed there: the awakened cauldron, Elias, used by the Pumpkinfolk and visitors alike to enhance potions. Thanks to this forewarning, the Pumpkinheads were able to send for help from nearby Strangeling and Human settlements and defeat the undead hordes. It was a difficult battle, many lives were lost, and over half of Aureas and several Pumpkinhead and Strangeling villages in the warpath were burned down. Mosch gained notoriety as a prophet, at which point, he disappeared, possibly captured, possibly dead, possibly just hiding in the mountains to avoid the pressure of being a celebrated prophet.

-What kinds of relationships does your race have with other races? Does it have allies? Competitors? Enemies? Hated foes?

Pumpkinheads are a non-confrontational race despite their origins. They tend to keep good relations with other races for trading purposes. They have very little contact with non native races aside from humans, who have settlements towards the outskirts of the Autumn kingdom. Their largest settlement is a Pumpkinhead city, Aureas, to the Northern part of the Aumun kingdom. Certain villages have had trouble with feral Strangelings or aggressive humans, but these are not widespread problems.

Following the Darkwoods Raid, the Pumpkinfolk, Strangelings, and a few Human settlements forged a loose government, the Golden Council, comprised of the leaders, or other representatives, of the various villages that meet yearly.

-What classes does your race tend to favor?

Pumpkinfolk tend to favor fighter and ranger with a smaller population of wizards, clerics, and gunslingers. There are a few notable alchemists, specifically in Aureas.

[kariachi]

And lo, more commission! 1.1k words of Nova/Tetrax fic for @gr3y-etiola!

Just a fluffy little scene.

~~

“So, this is a common Earth thing?”

“More of an America thing- they might still do it in the UK? I don’t know.” Shaking the worst of the gunk off her spoon, Nova inspected the inside of her pumpkin for what spots she’d surely missed. “I think it’s- it used to be some sort’ve ‘keep evil spirits away’ thing? But now people just do it for fun.” Tetrax nodded, cleaning out his own pumpkin- which had been a bitch to get home, thank you, the largest she’d been able to find- with a sharp focus that never failed to be charming.

“I suppose if there’s anything you want to become common and widespread tradition it’s protective wards,” he said, flinging another load of gunk off his re-purposed serving spoon. Nova eyed the pile forming between them and idly wondered if it would be worth the effort to introduce him to the concept of roasted pumpkin seeds.

Probably.

“Did you have anything like this,” she asked carefully, “back on Petropia?” There was always the risk of hitting a bad chord on the topic, but she hoped something this innocuous wouldn’t be a problem and was rewarded with a thoughtful rather than pained or aggravated look, his head tilting in what she was assuming at this point was a universal gesture. She’d seen Lucy, Albedo, Rook, and Argit all do it as well.

“Not quite,” he eventually answered as they continued to clear out the squash, “but similar enough, I guess. I don’t know if it’s still done, but you would get a little doll of yourself made and put it in your entryway. One for everyone in the home. Supposedly if monsters or ghosts or anything came to hurt you, they’d be tricked and attack the doll instead. People would even travel with them, for good luck.” She could picture it, a little crystal table by a front door, stacked with little copies of the residents. A million questions came to mind- Did they dress them up? Did they get little chairs? How alike did they have to look?

“Did you?” Tetrax went quiet for a long moment, then nodded.

“At first. I… lost it, somewhere along my journeys.” Uh-huh, ‘lost’, she was sure. Getting a loose grip on his sweater, she pulled him in for a quick kiss, ideas forming in her head. She was a celebrity, hero of the galaxy, it couldn’t be that hard… “Anyway, I think I have this clean enough,” he said as they parted, smiling but very much not keeping the topic, “now what?”

“Now,” Nova said with a grin, “you carve something into it! Like- One second!” Setting her spoon aside, she jumped to her feet and ran off to grab her tablet, pulling up pictures of jack-o-lanterns as she returned. “Things like this, see? Faces are traditional, or spooky Halloweeny stuff like witches and ghosts, but really you can do anything you want. Then we stick a candle or light in them so people can see the design at night and put them outside.”

Nodding along, he looked over the images on screen with a keen eye, gesturing for her to scroll as he did. Crystalline bodies weren’t made to use Earth tablets. They went passed classic faces, painted pumpkins, designs too intricate for a beginner, designs that were just eyes, ones that made use of multiple pumpkins at once, for pages before he finally stopped. Just as they found a cat one, of course. Nova couldn’t help a fond chuckle.

“Want me to find you a cat design,” she asked with a grin. Tetrax nodded.

“I would appreciate it.” He picked up and set to work finishing cleaning her pumpkin as he said it, Nova leaning back against the dining room wall as she began her hunt.

“Okay, do you want a cat face, a scary cat, a calm cat…?”

“How about something classic? The normal sort’ve thing you’d see.”

It didn’t take very long to find something that would work, skipping over a few basic ‘cat with arched back’ designs that wouldn’t take full advantage of the size of his pumpkin. Still, with his larger spoon Tetrax was done by then, Nova’s pumpkin back in front of her as he watched over her shoulder.

“How about this?” A simple outline of a branch with three cats sitting on it, within a carved circle that let light through.

“I like it,” Tetrax said with a nod, then pointed out the circle. “It doesn’t look like it’s carved through here?”

“Yeah, that’s one style of carving,” Nova explained. “You only cut away the outer skin and as much flesh as you need to let light through, rather than carving whole chunks out of the pumpkin like more traditional ones. It makes the light softer.” He nodded again.

“I think I’ll give it a try.”

“Okay!” Knee bouncing, she reached over to drop the lid of his pumpkin back in place and propped the tablet against its stem, then handed him a marker. “You should probably draw it out before you start, so you aren’t just carving by eye.”

“Thank you.” Tetrax accepted the marker with a smile that slipped back to confusion a moment later when she didn’t pick one up for herself. Instead, she went straight for one of the knives, slowly and carefully driving it into her own squash. “Are you not going to?” She shook her head.

“I’m just going with a face. You can’t really mess them up, just make them look either scarier or goofier.” She nodded as if this was sage advice, and he followed along.

“I’m sure it’ll come out perfect,” he said, so of course she had to take a moment to kiss him again.

“Thanks. Now get to your cats, we’ve only got half a month left to get these out.” With a laugh she mirrored and a quick kiss of his own to the top of her head, he turned back to his more-or-less intricate work.

“Well, that’s practically no time at all.”

“Is what I’m saying!”

~~

They did not, it should be noted, take half a month to get their jack-o-lanterns out, plus a handful more. A host of faces- scary, goofy, ugly, and unique- in pride of place at the base of the largest pumpkin on the block. Not the best carved, though who could tell from the road, but plenty good enough, and marked with a pair of cats framed in a full moon.

If any guests or trick-or-treaters noticed the conspicuously empty gap on the little carved branch, nobody mentioned it.

[inllustria]

It’s lovely to think about how individual ancestors live on through our traditions. For example, carving pumpkins at Halloween and hanging mistletoe above doorways at Christmas. Even idioms like “the bee’s knees.” I know these things became widespread in culture but at their roots each of them was probably just one person’s idea. We may not know their names but even now, hundreds or thousands of years later, we still keep them with ourselves by maintaining their personal traditions or habits. That’s beautiful.

[strawberriestyles]

Part 1: Kidney

(BANNER MADE BY MY TALENTED SWEETIE PIE @adashofniallandasprinkleoflunacy)

Harry X Reader (AU)

In which you’re persuaded to help a young witch named Harry.

Read previous part here.

Word count: 4k

Author’s note: Originally, everything was kinda supposed to line up and the part that I was going to post on Halloween was actually supposed to be set on Halloween night, but life gets in the way and things don’t work out. :( I’m sort of sad I wasn’t able to get everything done and give it to y’all the way I had envisioned. This is the best I can do, and I hope it’s enough. Please let me know if you enjoy it or if you have any thoughts at all! Happy Halloreading. Xx

The telltale signs of fall have truly begun to reveal themselves. Along every sidewalk, there seems to be chunky knit sweaters and scuffed Chelsea boots, pumpkin-flavored snacks and mulled apple cider. Normally, Harry would roll his eyes at the widespread commonality of it all, but he’s too preoccupied. He’s got his nose buried deep in a page of words that he can’t seem to make out, nothing more than a bunch of gibberish.

If anyone was watching, they might notice that the heavy library door swings open before Harry has even made contact with the handle. They might catch the way his eyes seem to glow as this happens. But no one is watching and no on notices.

The thick heels of Harry’s boots click against the stone floors. He carries himself across the deep lobby, eyes still perusing his sheet of paper, until he reaches the stairs that will lead him to the library’s next level. At the top of them, he swings left, maneuvering between shelves so effortlessly that it’s like he’s in his own home. Books on Latin language are tucked away in a dark corner, one that he’s very familiar with. He spends large portions of his free time here. And he’s never worried about books being checked out, because after all, Latin is a dead language. But Harry is confused when he reaches reflexively for the book he always uses, the one that’s easiest to navigate, and his fingers find nothing but air. 

His eyes finally lift away from the paper in his hand. Layers of dust have settled over everything in this section, but in the empty shelf space for his book, there are tracks through the dust from his constant readings. It’s coated the tips of his searching fingers, and he wipes the residue on the side of his jeans, sighing. Frustrated and disoriented, Harry yanks another book from the shelf and retreats from the corner, back into the main walkway. He taps across the room to his usual spot, at a table disconnected from the main reading area, but again he’s surprised.

Your foot is bopping out of beat to the song playing through your earbuds, and a ready pen is caught between your teeth as you skim a few pages of text. You don’t even notice that someone has approached you. You don’t notice the man leaned up against the edge of your table until your music suddenly begins to cut out. You jump when you do notice him.

“Jesus!” Without even removing your earbuds, you can hear your own voice echo off of the stone floors. You clap a hand over your mouth. You’re not supposed to make noises that echo in a library.

Pulling your earbuds out, you take a moment to examine their cords, looking for any damage that might explain their spotty sound. You find nothing. The stranger clears his throat and when you look up he’s staring at you. His eyes are bright, almost glowing in the dim light from a wall sconce.

“Can I help you?” you ask when he still hasn’t spoken.

“Yeah. Are yeh gonna be usin’ tha’ book for much longer?”

You notice his gaze divert to the thick Latin book you’d been studying. Your fingers splay over your page to make sure that you don’t lose your spot.

“Um, yeah. I was gonna be here for a few more hours.”

You can see the man grit his teeth, see him twist to stretch his neck. The wall sconce, your only source of light in this corner, flickers momentarily. It draws your attention.

“You read Latin?” he asks, pulling your gaze back around to him. Maybe you imagine it, but you’re sure you can hear sarcasm, condescension in his voice. “Yes, a bit,” you answer, shifting in your chair. “I’m a language major.”

“Are yeh?” The man seems to consider this, glancing down at his own book. Then he settles his mind and looks back up at you with challenging eyes. “Yeh think yeh could try t’translate this for me?”

He holds out a piece of paper to you. After a brief hesitation—you have an exam coming up later this week—you take the sheet from him. It’s scribbled across with sloppy Latin. You flatten the page out on top of your book.

“What’s this for?” you ask. “A class?”

“No, ‘m not a student.”

You frown, but this is all the information he gives you. He watches you expectantly until you turn your attention to his page of text and begin to piece together words. Then you glance back up at him, unamused.

“Wha’?”

“Is this a joke?”

“No, ‘s not. Wha’ does it say?”

You slip the paper toward him across your table. “It’s nonsense. Something about boiling the kidney of a raccoon.”

The stranger’s face lights up, and you don’t think you’ve ever been so confused and uncomfortable. “Yeh’re pretty good with your Latin, aren’ yeh?”

“I like to think so.”

“I’m Harry.”

You lick your lips and hesitate when he holds out a hand decorated with old-looking rings. But he raises an eyebrow after a moment, so you shake his hand, nearly flinching at how cold the metal of his jewelry is against your skin.

“Y/N,” you introduce.

“Well, Y/N, d’yeh think yeh could do some more translations for me? I have a whole book at home tha’s takin’ me forever t’get through, and yeh would speed the entire process up a lot.”

Your face contorts as you finally set your earbuds down. “Is that supposed to be a pick-up line? Because it’s the strangest one I’ve ever heard.”

“If yeh’d like it t’be a pick-up line, sure.” Harry grins, and it seems genuine and charming. “But if tha’s not enough, I’ll pay yeh for translatin’.” By now he’s set his book down and his hands lay flat on the table. He’s a lot closer. You notice that he doesn’t smell like most men your age, like cologne and sweat. Instead, he smells of earth and spices. It’s a comfortable scent.

“Before I agree to anything,” you begin, leaning back in your chair and crossing your arms, “what is this book? And why are you reading it?”

Harry grins again and his eyes almost sparkle. “‘S a spellbook and ‘m workin’ on an important spell.”

Despite yourself, you crack a smile. “So, you’re either crazy or you don’t wanna tell me,” you observe. “How much are you paying?”

“How much would I need?” Harry asks. He straightens back up and runs his fingers slowly through his hair.

“Well,” you answer, closing up your book. You don’t feel completely unprepared for your exam, and your grades won’t suffer much even if you are. “I guess we can figure that out once I know how much I’m translating.”

***

“You live here?”

Harry glances up at the house as you slam the car door shut. He shrugs. “Yeah. Rent’s cheap.”

“Probably because people were murdered here,” you mutter under your breath. You’d been surprised when Harry had led you to a car from the library and not directly to his place. You’d been slightly cautious as he took the road out of the town and turned into a dirt drive. But now that you’re here, you find yourself feeling apprehensive. It’s not that the little house is scary. It could certainly use a paint job and some trimming of the ivy that has wrapped its way up the corners, but in fact, it’s quite charming. It’s more the seclusion of it from town, and the strange air that seems to hover around it, thick and perfumed. Trees, beginning to bare their branches, form a tight circle around the building. A short gust of wind blows a group of leaves past your feet.

“Y/N,” Harry calls from the front door, which he has unlocked, and where he’s standing in the frame. “Yeh comin’ in?”

Stuffing your hands into the pockets of your jacket, you trek across the lawn to where Harry is holding the door open for you. He lets you pass by him and then follows you inside. It’s dark. The windows that you can see appear to be coated with a layer of grime. Some thick, dark residue that you’re sure would stick to your skin.

Harry leads you deeper into the house until you’re standing at the edge of a living room. You can’t see much, but then Harry approaches the wall beside you and reaches up. His forefinger and thumb press together over the wick of an unlit candle held in a candelabra. When he pulls his hand away, a flame has sparked. He repeats the process twice more with the other candles on the candelabra, and you can feel your body begin to turn icy from your feet, up through your legs.

“How did you do that?” you ask, licking your lips habitually.

“Magic,” Harry answers, turning to smile at you. There’s a twitch of amusement at the corner of his lips that somehow dulls your anxiety. Despite yourself, you let out a short chuckle.

As Harry rounds into a hallway beside the candles, you take the time to observe your surroundings with the fresh light. It’s rather bare furniture-wise. A single couch is placed in the center of the room. A wooden chair has been tucked away into the far corner, carved with ornate designs that you can’t make out from where you stand. Next to the chair are two windows which barely let any sunlight in. But along nearly every wall stand tall shelves stacked with books and knickknacks. Things that sparkle in the flickering candlelight, things that seem to glow all on their own, things that look to be spinning.

You shriek and jump back against a wall as something rubs up against your ankles. When you look down, green eyes are glowing up at you. It’s a cat.

Harry pokes his head out from the hall that he disappeared down. He chuckles at your defensive body language.

“Tha’s Nicks,” he informs you.

“Is he nice?” you ask softly. The cat sits before you, flicking its tail rhythmically as it watches you. A strange humming reverberates from its throat, and you know that’s not a purr.

“She is nice, as long as yeh don’ offend her. And it looks like yeh might’ve already done tha’, so.” Harry walks around Nicks, who keeps her eyes trained on you as he reaches for your hand. You give it to him, carefully avoiding the cat as Harry pulls you toward the hall. Nicks's head twists around as you leave.

"She gets kinda jealous when I give someone else attention," Harry explains. He drops your hand at the doorway to another room and moves across the floor.

Glancing around, you find that you appear to be in a kitchen, though a small one. There's a short row of counters and dark cabinets to your left. A sink is situated in the center of them. In the middle of the room, taking up a majority of the floor space, is a thick wooden table that looks home-built. On top of it lays a handful of herbs and an unlabeled bottle of something that you can smell from where you stand. Choking on the scent, you take a step backward until you hit the wall. Something digs into your back and when you turn around, it's a light switch. But there is another candelabra hanging on the wall to your right. It holds flames which light up the area of the room that sunlight from the windowed door on the far wall doesn't reach. You look to Harry, who is digging through what appears to be a pantry at the other end of the kitchen.

"Do you not have electricity?" you ask. You take a step forward to observe the bottled material on the table.

"I do," Harry answers. He steps back from the pantry, and what he brings with him isn't food. It's a bouquet of purple wildflowers. You frown as he sets the flowers on the corner of the table and returns to the pantry. "I prefer candlelight. Feels more natural, yeh know?"

"What are you doing?" You round the table to stand behind Harry. "I thought I was supposed to translate a book for you."

He must answer you, but you don't hear his words. You've stumbled back away from the pantry door and Harry. The things that you see on the shelves inside are enough to make your blood run cold. There are the high-stacked piles of herbs and flowers, like the ones that Harry's already placed on the table. But then there are tiny skulls that you think must be the heads of helpless animals. On the shelf at face-level, there's a giant jar of something so red and thick that you can't think of anything it could be other than pure blood. And on the top shelf, tucked to the far right there's a smaller jar full of spheres suspended in a clear liquid. Eyeballs.

The breath leaves your lungs as you hit the edge of the table and it impedes your retreat. You gasp as Harry twists around to look at you, another jar of something in his hand. He's frowning, but he still looks calm. You feel anything but.

"Y/N, before yeh start—"

You shriek as Harry takes a wide step toward you, hurrying back to the other end of the room, where the long table can keep you separated. Harry looks slightly annoyed, but not angry. You stand poised on your toes, ready to run.

"I already told yeh what I was—"

"There is a jar of eyeballs in your kitchen pantry, Harry,” you snap as he takes a step toward you again. The candle flames flicker, almost extinguished as though a breeze has whipped through the room, but you don’t feel any movement in the air.

“Yes, there is,” he agrees. “I need ‘em for spells sometimes. But ‘s not like they’re human eyes, Y/N.”

“What does that matter?” you shout. “You’re crazy!”

Harry rolls his eyes and begins walking toward you. In a fit of panic, you knock the mysterious bottle onto the ground and rush around the length of the table until you can reach the door at the other end of the room. You yank it open, tripping over the threshold as you escape into the outdoors.

The wind has picked up, lifting flurries of dry leaves into the air and making the tree branches above you moan. Your thoughts churn quickly until you throw yourself around the corner of the house, pressing yourself up against the exterior wall. Heart thumping wildly in your chest, you hear the kitchen door swing open and then slam back into place. You take a chance and peek around the corner to see Harry strolling out into the woods. You wait until he’s disappeared between the trees and then you take off in the other direction, toward the front of the house and the long, winding, dirt driveway that will lead you back to the main road.

The air has cooled since you’ve been here. The sun has begun to fall with the late afternoon. You’re glad that you didn’t shed your jacket inside as you trek along the path.

You don’t know how long you walk for. It took a good few minutes to drive from the main road to the house, and it will take much longer to return on foot. But then you see a building in the distance, old with peeling white paint and ivy growing up the walls���Harry’s house.

“How did I...”

“Ah, good.”

You jump as Harry pushes himself away from a tree to your left. His hands are tucked into the pockets of his jeans. He keeps his distance this time, hoping not to scare you off.

“That doesn’t make sense. I was walking in the other direction.”

Harry nods, flashing you a sympathetic half-smile. "Not really. Yeh just followed the path."

This does nothing to clear it up for you, but you don't respond.

"Yeh must be gettin' cold. D'yeh wanna come back inside?" Harry asks. He tilts his head and waits patiently for your response, eyes calculating. Then he smiles again. "I'll keep the eyeballs hidden."

You frown at his attempt to joke, but you nod. There's no point in staying outside when it will only continue to get darker and colder, and Harry's the one with a car.

He leads you back to the front door of the house and into the living room. "Why don' yeh sit down?" Harry suggests. He watches you settle onto the couch, though you don't look to be anywhere near comfortable. Your veins, which were humming with adrenaline, have dulled to a sort of acceptance. "Do yeh believe me now?" Harry asks, leaned up against a set of shelves, keeping his distance, and you nod. Maybe it's shock, or curiosity, or something else, but your fear seems to have dissipated.

"Tha's good." Harry grins at you in approval and then stands up straight. He reaches up onto the second shelf behind him and pulls down a thick leather book. Its spine is cracked and worn. There are characters on the front cover, but you can't see them clearly enough before Harry presses the book to his chest. He catches you watching him. "I'll be right back," he says. "Need t'copy some things for yeh t'translate."

“Can’t I just read right from the book?" you ask. "Your handwriting is not that neat.”

“No, yeh can’." Harry ignores your comment about his writing and heads toward the hall into the kitchen. "Yeh’re a mortal," he adds as he turns the corner. "It’ll burn the eyes right outta your skull.”

You don't move for a few moments. Your mind is too focused on the picture Harry's words have conjured up. In your palms, you hold your own eyes, alive and slimy. Your sight is aimed at your face, the features slightly familiar, but where your eyes should actually sit there are just empty craters pooling with blood that drips down your cheeks like tears.

You shiver and try to recover from the disturbing image before you glance around the room, this time paying closer attention to the details. The chair in the corner isn't covered in decorative woodwork, it's carved with Latin letters and even more ancient symbols and runes. On the shelves closest to you, you see books similar to the one you had been reading earlier at the library, only older and perhaps less detailed. And there's a large hunk of glass. A crystal ball, you realize. You're in the home of a witch.

Harry returns to the room carrying a big ceramic mug. You sit back again so it doesn't look like you were snooping, but he's not fooled.

"Very subtle," he commends with a short chuckle. "Drink this."

Your eyes widen as Harry holds the mug out to you. You look up at him, perplexed. "Why the fuck would I do that?" you ask. “What's it gonna do, make me grow a curly pink tail? Shrink me into a beetle?"

"'S tea."

"Oh." You can feel your skin tingle with embarrassment.

"T’calm yeh down," Harry explains. He smiles again when you take the mug from him. You note that he smiles a lot. "Yeh have this crazy agita’ed aura around yeh. ‘S makin’ me uncomfortable."

"I'm making you uncomfortable?" Steam unfurls from the tea up into your face and it smells herbal. "What's in this?"

"Rosemary, chamomile, cinnamon, a couple other things." Harry nods encouragingly. "Try it."

As you take a small sip of your tea, taking care not to burn yourself, Harry slips his mysterious book back into its place on the shelves. Then he clasps his hands together at his front, his rings clinking together as he watches you.

"What?"

"Nothin'. Come into the kitchen."

You stand, hands wrapping around the warmth of your mug of tea, and follow him back into the hall. The chair closest to the kitchen's entrance is pulled out from the table and a sheet of paper lays before it. Harry motions for you to sit and leans up against the counter. Just as you take your seat, he turns to the stove and a pot that sits on a burner. He removes the lid and stirs its contents slowly with a wooden spoon before replacing the lid crookedly. Without a word, he skirts around you to leave the kitchen. You lower your eyes to the Latin scribbles before you.

It's then, when Harry's left you and the palpable weight of his presence is gone, that you notice the scent of spices. You haven't so much as skimmed Harry's paper before your gaze is drawn to the stove. A cooling kettle sits off to one side of the grates, on the other side is the pot that is positioned over a blue flame. Steam rises from the cracked lid and you're sure that this is the where the smell is coming from. You cross the floor before you realize what you're doing. Then a black shape is whipping through the room, between your legs, nearly knocking you off your feet. You stagger to keep your balance and let out a hiccuped gasp.

"Don' seem t'be gettin' on very well with her."

Attempting to catch your breath, you turn to find Harry in the doorway again. He takes a step into the room and reaches out to pet Nicks, who after tripping you has found her way onto the table. She purrs at the touch of his fingers. You watch, unsettled, as she stands and creeps along beneath his hands, arching her back, until she's facing you, her beady eyes calculating.

“Are you cooking something?” you ask in an attempt to switch subjects, reaching for the lid of the pot.

“Yeh don’ wanna look in there," Harry warns. His voice has a sharp edge about it that makes you pause.

“Why not?”

“‘S that raccoon kidney yeh told me about.” Harry chuckles as you draw your hand away from the pot quickly enough to tweak a muscle in your shoulder. "Maybe yeh'd be best not t'keep snoopin' through m'stuff."

"I'm not snooping," you protest, but the reality of your behavior makes you keep your mouth shut when he shoots you a pointed stare.

You get the hint and slowly return to your seat, attempting to divert your attention to translating. It's hard to focus.

“So, where’s your broomstick?” you ask after a few moments.

“Wha’ the fuck do I look like t’you?” Harry lets out a breath of disbelief from beside the stove. He's removed the lid again and is stirring in what look to be flower petals.

"I thought you were a... magician, or something."

Harry rolls his eyes, but his lips twitch. "Can call me wha' yeh want. I prefer 'witch'. Has more of a ring to it. But don' get distracted, now."

You remember why you're here. Taking another gulp of your tea, which has cooled just enough to be comfortable, you get back to Latin. But it's hard when you're so preoccupied, when there's a real-life witch standing in front of you, and you barely have any information about him. Harry can see the questions coming before you even look up.

“Do you, like, transform into a bat or something, then?”

“Tha’s vampires, for fuck’s sake.” Harry lifts his hands frustratedly to his hair, but he laughs.

"Do you know a vampire?" you ask, intrigued.

Harry shakes his head, closing up the pot and shutting away whatever solution is cooking inside of it. "Vampires aren' real. Just a creature made up for mortals' entertainment." He sighs and turns to settle into the chair to your left, giving up. "I take it yeh're not gonna get t'the Latin, then."

"I just have a lot to ask you." You slide the page away from you, across the table, and turn your body toward him. He's settled in, his hands tucked behind his head, his eyes resting shut.

"Fine," Harry says, taking a deep breath to prepare himself for the onslaught of questions he's about to receive. "I'll answer your questions." His lips curve upward after a short pause. "But 'm not payin' yeh for today."

Part 2: Hellfire

[magicalcreeks]

Cargo Car Confessions

Day 1: October 15 -First Time-

Summary: When Kenny ditches his bad date he relies on Stan and weed to make him feel better, even if that required them sharing embarrassing confessions and perhaps a kiss.

I’m so excited for @stenny-week and in some places it’s October 15th already so i wanted to post early! Please enjoy!

...

Stan had just stolen the ball from Cartman, blocking him from behind as he clutched the ball in his chest before thrusting it forward in a successful pass. Kyle caught the ball with ease— that was just one of the many perks to being on the basketball team— then he jumped off his back foot to slam dunk the ball into the hoop. The force of the dunk caused the hoop to shutter. it loosened the black sticky tape used to keep the hoop together after years of abuse and neglect.

“This is bullshit!” Cartman huffed with a healthy sheen of sweat coating his face, giving him the appearance of grease-soaked tomato.

“Sorry, dude. We won.” Stan stopped the ball with his foot then picked it up with his hands. Kyle did his winning trot towards Stan, holding his hand out for a high five, “good job, man.”

Cartman wasn’t done with his childish protest, “well!” He began, searching for the words he wanted to say before stammering at the two pairs of eyes staring at him, “well...” again, he struggled, wishing Kenny was here to back him up.

“It’s not a fair game because Kenny isn’t here!” A-ha, he got them now. Kyle and Stan moved over to the bench where Kyle dabbed his forehead and neck with the towel he brought with him. Stan tossed him an extra Gatorade.

“Kenny’s not here because he’s on a date.”

“Exactly, which means we’re down a player, which also means it’s not fair game.”

Stan and Kyle exchanged a look.

“Whatever, dude.”

“Ya know what, screw you guys! I’m going home!” Was Cartman’s declaration. He kicked aside an empty can of beer left by either upperclassmen or a drunken adult. It was hard to tell nowadays.

Kyle rolled his eyes, pushing up a stack of curls that have fallen from his loose bun, “you can’t go home, fatass, all of our shit is at your house.”

“Can’t hear you! I’m busy going home, you gaywads!”

Stan felt three pulses from his pocket, ignoring his friends bickering to divert his attention to the texts he was receiving. His body shifted sideways on the bench, heart racing with excitement as he half expected the texts to be from Wendy. Perhaps she wanted to get back together even though they broke up in middle school. She made it clear that she had no intention of being his boyfriend, even going out with Token of all people, until he suddenly had some sexual awakening; realizing he would rather suck dick instead of being with one of the hottest girls in school.

He rolled his eyes hard, taking on one of Kyle’s many mannerisms as he recalled past events. Cartman and Kyle’s idle chatter sounded nothing more than muffled sounds— like someone yelling behind a thick glass. Stan unlocked his phone.

Kenny: Hey, man, you busy?

Kenny: wanna meet me at our spot?

Kenny: nvm, ur probs with Kyle and Cartfuck—

A quiet chuckle escaped Stan’s parted lips. He continued to read the text:

Kenny: — u know where I am. Ps. I got weed ;)

His eyes glossed over those messages more times then Stan could count, “Stan? Stan? What the hell are you smiling at? It’s kinda creepy.”

Kyle was left standing in front of him with a slight concern dampening his features. The towel he’d previously used now slung around his neck, pale and covered with speckles of faint brown freckles.

“Uh...” Stan licked his lips, contemplating an excuse he could tell his best friend and have it sound believable. They knew each other like the back of their hands. Literally. He pocketed his phone, rubbing sweaty palms on his sweats.

The weather in South Park had been warmer than usual considering it was the middle of October. While Halloween decor met the eyes of anyone passing through their neighborhood, some houses started early with stabbing turkey and pilgrim lawn ornaments in their front yards. Global warming, said Randy like a scratched record over their dreaded dinners. According to him, it was real and ready to fuck us raw in the ass.

Kyle tapped his foot impatiently for an answer, hands resting subconsciously on his hips. His posture resembling one of his mothers when she was about to scowl them. Stan snorted.

“I gotta go, uh, my sister wants me to pick her up a box of tampons?” As he spoke aloud it sounded more ridiculous then it had in his head. What the hell, Stan? Your sisters in college you dumb fuck.

“She’s back for Halloweengivings... My parents thought it would be better to combine both holidays. Nothing better than carving a pumpkin and shoveling down cranberry sauce.”

Kyle blinked, “Uh, okay?”

“Great!” Stan shot up from his seat, giving Kyle a pat on the shoulder, “I’ll text you later, dude!”

He walked with a quickened pace, afraid that Kyle would try to stop him for questions. Sometimes he nagged more than he realized, even though he was only trying to be a good friend. A rain of guilt washed over Stan for lying to Kyle. He lied before. Plenty of times actually.

Once safely around the corner of the block, Stan made haste to Kenny doing god knows what by himself when he was supposed to be on his date with Tammy. Without a doubt she was hot, returning to South Park after moving to California. When she returned she developed an ego bigger than Cartman’s ass, along with an attitude comparing to none of the other girls in their grade. California changes people. Too bad she was still a slut.

At least that’s what the girls said.

Stan slowed his walking. He sniffed the burning grass as he approached their spot— the abandoned railway just minutes away from Kenny’s house. Tilting his head up at one of the many cargo cars rusted from years of weather damaged, he recognized the graffiti drawn on the sides. As well as the smell.

“You got a head start without me, asshole?” His voice echoed through the abandoned field of cars, picking up a rock to chuck at the rusted door. It bounced off the metal with a loud hallowed clink.

“Stan the man.” Kenny pulled the door aside, greeting his friend with widespread arms. Stan felt his heart thump.

“Move aside.” He hoisted his body up, then knee crawled over to his respective end of the car. Stan knocked aside the junk they collected; consisting of empty bottles of wine stolen from his dad, single cans of beer Kenny snagged from Kevin’s pack which steadily grew into a rather nice collection for them, darts, slingshots, and a bunch of other shit.

Kenny closed the door after Stan was in. Instead of relying on the crack of light from the setting sun, the inside of the car was illuminated with a string of Christmas lights connected to a lengthy power cord hooked up to Kenny’s house. Together they had made the perfect “man” cave.  

“I thought you were on a date,” Stan said, knees hugging his chest as if he was intruding in the space they created together. Those nauseating butterflies returned to flutter around his stomach.

“I was, then I left.” Kenny passed over the joint sloppily rolled together as if he had done it halfheartedly to quickly get the relief he desired. Stan was no expert at rolling anything. Even he knew it wasn’t his best work.

Kenny hooked a section of his sandy blonde hair behind his ear, exposing the multiple piercings neatly aligned on his outer lobe. He’s done all his piercings himself. Stan bummed off the joint. He attempted to quiet his mind from the indirect kiss from Kenny by smoking it out with the burning kush.

“She’s a bitch. There’s a big difference between being with her to get my dick sucked and actually pursuing a relationship.” Kenny spoke with a bitterness behind his words, “I don’t know. I thought it would be easier to ask her out considering we had a thing before. She’s changed.”

Stan shrugged, slouching back with eased muscles as the joint burned slowly between his fingers, “so you text me?”

A lopsided grin stretched across Kenny’s face, showing off the tooth missing from an accident he had when they were kids and crooked teeth unfixed from his families lack of money to get him braces.

“Of course! You’re my best friend after all. Besides, you wouldn’t judge me like Kyle would.”

“Yeah...” Stan’s voice trailed, eyes following the posters they tapped on the car walls, “he can’t help himself.”

“Yeah, he really can’t.”

They sat in the comfortable silence they created, the two of them passing the blunt back and forth until it became roach and they could no longer smoke it. Their minds were hazed yet relaxed. Nowadays drugs were the only thing able to ease their teenage minds from the angst and stress. Stan found this to be his only escape from the suffering thoughts thanks to his depression and anxiety. Kenny smoked for his own reasons. He just wanted to chill from time to time.

“I thought you were Wendy.” He spoke slow and a bit sluggish, tongue untied and free.

“I thought you were over her, man. She’s no good for you.”

“I love her...” Stan admitted, clutching the fabric on his grey sweats between his hands. He still loved her, he always will.

Kenny spun the dart between his fingers, eyes locked on the boy across from him.

“I could... distract you.” His offer did not go without the flush of red spreading across his cheeks.

“I’m not... I’m not gay.” Stan’s throat tightened and suffocated his words.

“Neither am I... I mean... I think everyone is hot. Guys, Girls, and those in between.” Kenny admitted, crawling over towards Stan to take a seat next to him. They were close enough in the cargo car that Stan could smell the scent of aftershave emitting from Kenny’s body. He felt his stomach twist and turn at two things. Kenny’s confession and the fact they were so close to one another.

He was hot, funny, and Stan could always be himself around him. Instead of Kenny judging or trying to diagnosis his problems like Kyle, Wendy, or his parents, he was allowed to rant and cry out of frustration. They related to each other. Their lives at home sucked just as bad as their friends.

Stan was not gay. From what he knew he was straight with only a few gay mishaps. An embarrassing mishap being the time he got a boner during a sleepover at Kyle’s house. He accidentally walked in on him changing and caught a glimpse of everything. They swore to never speak of it for the sake of not making their sleepover painfully awkward, but Stan could not shake the mental image from his mind as he used his imagination to relieve himself once Kyle had fallen asleep.

Then there was that one time when he was still on the football team and they traveled to Denver to play against their best high school team. He was sharing a room with Craig, Clyde, and Token— to his utter despair since they only spoke in inside jokes which made Stan feel like an outsider. Stan discovered a gay magazine that must have fallen out of one of their bags. While they were fucking around in the pool he stayed behind in the room and allowed his curiosity to roam. He liked what he saw.

Kenny inched closer, resting a hand on Stan’s thigh but doing nothing more because he did not want to do anything if Stan wasn’t comfortable. He did like Stan. A lot.

In those seconds they both sobered up, blue eyes meeting a mysterious purple, adding to the many features Stan loved about him.

“I- I never kissed a guy before.”

Kenny chuckled, “it’s just like kissing a girl, except... Girls taste sweeter. Sort of like fruit because they wear chapstick and shit. Except for Craig-”

“Wait, you kissed Craig?” Stan questioned in disbelief. The weird competition he and Craig had with one another flaring like a newly lit flame ignited from jealousy.

“Spin the bottle. He tasted like a fucking fruitcake.”

Stan chewed on his lower lip. “Since we’re confessing I only kissed Wendy once... And Kyle. We practiced on each other when we were kids.”

“I thought you said you never kissed a guy?”

“T-That doesn’t count! We’re like super best friends so it wasn’t a real kiss!” Stan felt himself get defensive, not appreciating the skeptical looks Kenny was giving him. It was completely normal and not gay for friends to practice on one another.

“Chill, I’m joking-“

Stan silenced him with a kiss. Tensions melted away at the contact of their lips. Kenny tasted as sweet as old candy, also weed. Creating a strange yet familiar flavor. His tongue swept the bottom of his lip, making Stan look more confident than what he was.

Kenny pressed in, moving his tongue around for an entrance into his mouth. Their kiss was sloppy, awkward— because of the angle they were in— but exhilarating.

When they pulled apart for air, Stan was as winded as he was during his game with Kyle and Cartman. He had never experienced a kiss quite like that.

“How was I...?” What else could he say? He and Kenny just kissed for fucksake! Was he going to say thank you?

“Kissing Kyle really helped.” Kenny joked, nearly falling to his side from the playful shove from Stan.

“You weren’t so bad either. That was like my first real kiss, dude, so I guess you took my kissing virginity.”

“You’re so lame.”

Stan flipped him off, hugging his body with his hands. He just kissed Kenny. Him and Kenny, lips locked, in full make out. What were they now?

“You okay?” Kenny pried one of Stans' hands out from his weird human arm wrap, playing with his fingers before sliding his own in between. There was no way he could know how Stan feels now but he only dreamed about being his boyfriend, fantasizing about the pathetic crush he had since they were 13 years old.

“So are we dating?” Stan blurted. He was unable to look at Kenny’s eyes just in case he said no or something else which might break his heart for the second time.

“I would say we are... if you want too. We don’t have to tell the guys yet if you’re not ready.”

“So...” his tone a childlike whisper, “I guess this means I’m gay? Do I have to have, like, a big coming out party.”

Kenny smiled, “you don’t have to put a label on everything. Look at me. Who cares if you’re straight, gay, or bi. Be with whoever makes you happy.”

Stan nodded. He unraveled from his hold around his body to lean into Kenny, holding his hand tight. Right now he didn’t want to think. He just wanted to close his eyes and enjoy the moment.

“I’m going to punch Craig for kissing you, I hope you know that.” He murmured, knocking his shoe against Kenny’s.

“It was two years ago, babe. Besides, I would much rather kiss my boyfriend then Tucker.”

Stan’s heart raced again. Boyfriend. That’s right. They were boyfriends now. The title sounded like music to his ears.

Eat shit Craig Tucker.

...

[rosesnvines]

American anti-Catholic sentiment is so interesting to me. One border between us and things are so different. Catholics are our largest Christian church. Even our 2nd largest church (Anglican) and 3rd largest church being Protestant don't give us the same anti-Catholic sentiment. My ignorant guess is certain large denominations of USA Protestants are the cause, and because their numbers are smaller here it's not so widespread? I was at a Baptist service once 10 years ago and it was the first/last time I heard someone say "Catholics are pagan, etc." in person. Would love to learn more.

It is certain USA Protestant sects, and not all of them, I can guarantee, as I am friends with several Protestants. By technicality, it kinda started with Henry VIII when he created Anglicanism, and further perpetuated by his daughter Elizabeth, hence the Catholic/Protestant divide in Ireland. Many of the Protestants and Anglicans got into the high positions of Academia, and they looked upon anything that the Irish did as pagan, so to speak. They were considered "backwards" and "superstitious". The Puritans were also hated, hence why they immigrated to America, to create their own society. Protestants followed, of course. The Catholics followed later, settling in what is now Maryland. But with the English Protestant also came the anti-Catholic sentiments. And thus it spread in America. France (until the French Revolution) and Spain, England's two biggest competitors in the "colonial race", were the two big Catholic countries, followed by Ireland. So many of the places they colonized were far more friendly to Catholics as a result.

Also, one has to look no further than Halloween. Halloween does occur the night before Samhain, but it does not take any of the traditions from Samhain. Samhain was the Celtic New Year's Day/Thanksgiving, but not a harvest festival. Samhain was the first day of winter, not of autumn. That is Lughnasa, in August, that is the autumn holiday, while Imbolc in February is for spring and Beltane in May is the summer festival. All the traditions that we associate with Halloween are primarily Catholic. The dressing up is from the French and the tradition of dressing up as saints to commemorate All Saints Day. The trick-or-treating is from an English tradition called souling where the homeless went around during November 2nd, All Souls Day, and exchanging prayers for the dead for a soul cake. Carving pumpkins does come from Ireland, where they carve turnips, but the idea that we need to make ghoulish figures to ward off the devil is also the same thinking that got Notre Dame those gargoyles. The spooky scary skeletons? Momento Mori, the remains of saints, and a church in Portugal made of bones. Zombies? Taking God out of the resurrection of the dead. Chanting done by witches? People muttering their prayers under their breath, probably in Latin and most likely the Rosary. Witches? Well, besides the obvious, malicious rumor, typically single Catholic women, probably tertiary, not a nun but not able to marry, as being single was an option for men and women in the Catholic Church. The Headless Horseman? Tales of people still alive after their head was chopped off, usually to ask for a priest. The best known saint to have that was Saint Cecilia, patroness of music. The Gothic style and music? Catholic churches and organ music. Ghost stories? Those were actually used to be told around Christmas time, hence why A Christmas Carol is the way it is. Oh, and campfires too. It's only in recent years that horror stories have become a Halloween staple. In short, this culture has turned everything Catholic into something to fear. Or, well, very nearly. The whole notion that Catholicism stole from pagan traditions is a trend that started in the Victorian era by, you guessed it, a Protestant.

But America is not the only one with such an anti-Catholic history. Look into the Cristero War. The State and Catholics were battling it out a little over a hundred years ago in Mexico. Meanwhile, China has currently banned the Catholic Church, or Christianity of any kind, while also suppressing any kind of religion. It's all happened before, and it will all happen again.

I hope that cleared up a few things for you. The history of the Catholic Church is a long and complicated series of events, full of good people, bad people, and people forgotten in the sands of time. There have been wars and peace, saints and sinners, true belief and masked intentions. And I feel like I've only scrapped off the tip of the iceberg. While the anti-Catholic rhetoric isn't as in your face as openly trucking us off to concentration camps, it is still present. Pay attention to the few Catholic movies out there, to the movies that have a few Catholics in them. Or, more than likely, what the media and Hollywood are saying when we try to stand up for our beliefs. There's one more thing, one thing they want to leave out of our history books. Italians and Irish were treated no better than the blacks, maybe even worse. How do I know? It practically slapped me in the face when I read the original text of The Hidden Staircase from the Nancy Drew books. The version that was originally printed in the 1930s, not the revised version in the 1950s, which did take out a lot of the prejudices. Also, my grandfather, who was Italian, couldn't find work except working alongside blacks in the field. There were signs that stated Italians and Irish were not allowed, right next to the blacks not allowed. Everyone seems to be lead to believe that things were only bad for blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and the Native tribes, but there is a reason why the Native tribes stand in solidarity with Ireland. when your government is trying to slowly eradicate you and your culture, you will stand with others who are being treated the same. By technicality, the Irish and the Italians only gained "white status" in the past fifty years. And only in America.

So, yeah, there's a whole history of it, and hence the acronym, WASP, White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Usually the root of most of our problems, but not every one, like any other group, is bad. But there still is a bit of a prejudice in them, but when you compare it to the prejudices of a hundred years ago, you do get to see just how far we have come. But we still have a ways to go as the anti-Catholic rhetoric seems to be growing another head.

[sasha-chambers]

Short Horror Stories: Jackie Lantern (Joke Monster)

In a small rural American town, it was late into a dark Halloween night. A young girl had locked herself within her room and curled up on her bed, her face wet with tears and red with anger as she had come across her boyfriend cheating on her at a party. A thought crossed her mind as she flippantly wished that Jackie Lantern would kill him for what he had done. Jackie Lantern being a local legend based around a girl by the name of Jackie Heller, a young, talented girl who everyone saw as having a bright future, especially given her gift as a tennis player. Much like the young girl herself, Jackie had been cheated on by her boyfriend at a Halloween party, running off, her mind fogged by a mixture of rage and grief. In her daze she got into an accident that cost her head. The following year Jackie’s boyfriend was killer by what people claimed to be a monster, a creature dressed in a tennis uniform and having a skull carved from a pumpkin. Ever since the legend had been that if a girl called upon the ghost of Jackie Lantern, she would oblige and target the source of their grief.

Little did this girl know, that the legend was little more than an old ghost story. Just as she invoked the name of the spirit, it was already on it’s way to hunt down it’s prey. As the boyfriend and a group of his friends piled into a car and drove off down the road after the party that they had been attending. As they headed down the road, they were oblivious of a figure further down the road, obscured by the dark. Said figure reached into a bag hanging from her waist, pulling forth a tennis ball, made of bone and flesh, casually tossing it into the air before slamming it with a wicked looking racket, the outside edge a thin curved blade while the netting was a thin, razor sharp wire. The ball was struck with enough force to easily reach the oncoming car within a second, breaking through the windshield and shattering the skull of the driver so that the car violently swerved before coming to a sudden stop thanks to a head on collision with a road side tree.

The spectral figure then approached the wrecked car, finding one of the men that had been thrown from the car, barely moving as his senses were still trying to make sense of what had just happened. The specter reached down and lifted the man up by the throat, her face so close to his that they could kiss, a thin wisp of flame snaking from the pumpkin skull sitting atop the fleshy stump, entering the dazed man’s mouth and suddenly setting his head ablaze until it was nothing more than a lump of blackened flesh. Secondly, she came to the last of the boyfriend's friends as he stumbled from the wrecked car after managing to push the crumpled side door open. He too was dealt with swiftly as the specter raised its racket and brought it down on the man’s head, the thin wire making up the netting easily cutting clean through the flesh and bone of his head and turning it into morbid strips of gore.  

By now the boyfriend had also freed himself from the car, having his wits about him enough to attempt to fight back as the chilling specter approached, attempting to throw a punch only for the creature to move her racket in the way so that his hand was diced into cubes and strips of hanging flesh, drawing a pained scream out from his guts just a moment before the specter wrapped it’s fingers in his hair and brought it’s bladed racket back for a powerful swing, cleaving his head clean from his shoulders. Just as suddenly as the specter had appeared, she quickly disappeared, the severed head of the boyfriend later showing up at his house, the eyes removed and replaced with glowing coals and a candle lodged in it’s throat so the flame could be seen flickering at the back of the gaping mouth like a horrific jack o lantern, the same was the head of Jackie Heller’s boyfriend was supposedly found after his death.  

After this incident became more widespread news, the tale of Jackie Lantern spread along with it, in turn leading to more people deciding to invoke the spirit’s name. As the years passed by, more and more victims would make the one simple mistake that gave this spirit all the reason she needed to claim their heads.

[kansascityhappenings]

The origins of Halloween and its impish past in Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Halloween is right around the corner, making it a great time to learn about the holiday’s origins and history. Most scholars agree that the ancient holiday originated from Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain.

During the Christianization of Europe in the middle ages, pagan festivals were borrowed and reconstructed by the early Church into its practices. Today Halloween is a mix of customs from several different cultures across time. The Midwest even has its own unique stamp on the holiday — in St. Louis children are encouraged to tell a joke or story before they receive a piece of candy.

Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve are all names for a celebration observed in several countries on October 31. It is the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day, a festival to celebrate and honor all the saints, known and unknown. Several churches do not practice this and could be unfamiliar with the practice. Several Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Nazarene, Lutheran, and other Protestant churches recognize it in some way. For many, it’s a way to honor the faithful departed, those who made an impact on the congregation, or to remember deceased loved ones.

Halloween didn’t spread in North America until the 19th century when Irish and Scottish immigrants emigrated to the continent. Kansas City’s foundation was primarily laid out by Irish settlers; they built and constructed some of the first buildings and roads here.

The practical and magical uses of Samhain in Ireland

The Irish settlers also brought to the Midwest their ties to Samhain, which roughly translates to “summer’s end.” The festival marks a practical purpose for farmers: the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. Back in Ireland, Samhain marked the halfway point between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is one of four traditional Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Imbolc, Bealtaine, and Lughnasadh.

Some historians argue there is evidence that Samhain, or something close to it, dates back tens of thousands of years. Some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland are aligned to the timing of the sunrise in Samhain. The term is mentioned in some of Ireland’s oldest literature, lore, and mythology. For agricultural peoples, the festival signaled a time for preparation: the harshness of winter is on the way, food needs to be in storage, and homes must be tidied. Religious ceremonies and rituals obviously rose up in conjunction to this.

For thousands of years during Samhain, it was customary for Irish farmers to move their cattle from their summer pastures to shelters — or the cows and other livestock were slaughtered for winter. Bonfires started this time of year for both practical and superstitious reasons — some believed the flames were a protective charm or a type of cleansing magic. Later with the blend of Christianity into Samhain, the bonfires served to keep away the devil.

People made offerings to spirits or fairies — called the  Aos Sí. The Irish did this to ensure they and their livestock survived the cold weather. Many left out food or drink offerings to the fairies. There was also the belief that souls of the dead would revisit their homes for some hospitality. Over the centuries, Samhain and All Saints’ merged to create the modern Halloween we know today. Historians often use the term Samhain to refer to Gaelic Halloween traditions that existed all the way to the 19th century.

In medieval Ireland, Samhain also marked an important switch in the year for economic matters. The holiday ended the season for trade and was a time for tribal gatherings — which often consisted of sharing familiar tales. Irish myths were originally an oral tradition, but many of the stories were eventually written down by Christian monks in the Middle Ages. They put their own Christian spin on many of the tales, particularly ones they didn’t completely understand or agree with.

Some of the ancient customs for Samhain included games to tell the future or as a means of entertainment, such as: apple bobbing, nut roasting, scrying or mirror-gazing, pouring molten lead or egg whites into water, and dream interpretation.

A history of Halloween in the United States

In the United States, Halloween spread from immigrant communities during the mid-19th century. Many of the immigrants were escaping the perils of Ireland’s Great Potato Famine. Millions in Ireland died during the period of starvation from about 1845 to 1849. Those who sought refuge from the crisis moved to foreign lands.

Halloween in the United States gradually became mainstream. By the first decade of the 20th century, it was celebrated coast to coast by people of all backgrounds. Halloween today is a mixture of Christian eschatology; pagan myths, popular works of Gothic and horror literature, like Frankenstein and Dracula; Hollywood movies; ghost stories and lore; and the harvest season.

Trick-or-treating has also taken several different forms over the centuries. In England, from the medieval period up until about the 1930s, people practiced the Christian custom of souling on Halloween. Souling means to ask or beg for donations of food.

Groups of both Protestants and Catholics went from parish to parish begging the rich for soul cakes — often made from currants, oats, and flour —  in exchange for praying for the souls of the givers and their friends.

In Scotland and Ireland, guising became popular among children – they dressed in costumes and went door to door for food or coins. The Halloween tradition in Scotland dates back to the year 1895. Children masqueraders also carried lanterns made from carved turnips.

The practice of guising during Halloween in North America dates back to roughly 1911; that year a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada reported children going “guising” around their neighborhood.

Trick-or-treating didn’t become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the first U.S. appearance of the term in 1934, and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939 — interestingly enough that’s the year the mega popular film The Wizard of Oz released into theaters. An acceptance of the fantastical and spooky was on the rise.

The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s. Costumes over time widen in selection. Traditionally the clothes were modeled after supernatural figures like werewolves, witches, monsters, ghosts, and skeletons. (Costumes like in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.)

Halloween in Kansas’ past

Halloween celebrations in Kansas during the 19th century and early 20th century are vastly different from what we experience today. Newspapers and old records reveal tricks were more common than treats. In fact parents, teachers, and towns came up with other delights to get children to forgo their pesky pranks.

Halloween night in 1897 was rough for the town of Chanute in southeast Kansas. The Chanute Daily Tribune reported widespread damage in the area the following day. The November 1st issue noted that: “The sewer pipe was rolled into the big ditch and some of it broken. Thomas’ wagon was broken, gates were taken off and in some instances lost, outhouses thrown over and broken up, and in some places the sidewalks were torn up.” Earlier in the week the Daily Tribune urged boys not to tamper with property or to “pull up culverts and bridges because you may endanger life by doing so.”

Wichita set rules to prevent Halloween shenanigans in 1899. According to the Kansas History Society, the city threatened those who engaged in pranks with jail time.

The Wichita Eagle reported the following on October 31, 1899: “Chief Cubbon has issued an order that all boys, large or small, caught molesting property will be punished by fine and maybe by imprisonment.” Even still, police found several signs and boxes in the wrong place in downtown Wichita that night.

Hiawatha, in northeast Kansas, had a terrible time with Halloween trickery in the early years of the 20th century. The Hiawatha Daily World was pleased to call the 1913 holiday “the most sane Hallowe’en that Hiawatha has had in many a year. Outside of the one dangerous act of filling an old delivery wagon with inflammable material, setting it on fire and hauling it along the streets, there was no outrageous acts perpetrated, no pyramids of old vehicles and buildings in the streets, or on the corners.”

The same paper reported a boy from a nearby town was hurt when the horse he was riding crashed into some machinery placed on the road by pranksters.

In order to stop the nonsense, Hiawatha created an annual Halloween Frolic — which continues to this day. In 1914, Mrs. John Krebs held a party for the Hiawatha children. In those first years, the children put on costumes and decorated their bikes and wagons. The Halloween Frolic tradition expanded over the years to include two big parades, contests with trophies and cash prizes, and a Halloween Queen contest.

Towns throughout the United States copied the Halloween Frolic to help prevent widespread pranks. Local business owners who were eager to avoid property damage in Hiawatha on the night have provided cash prizes for the best costumes. The local newspaper proudly reported on the first Frolic in 1915, “There was no destroying of property and the marshals had the lonesomest Hallowe’en they have ever had.”

Private dinner parties also became the norm for Halloween during the early 20th century. The Hays Daily News informed its readers of a Halloween banquet and dance in 1930 at the Lamer Hotel: “A centerpiece in the room was fashioned of corn shocks and piled high with autumn fruits and vegetables. Each table held a centerpiece of a pumpkin filled with fruit on an orange and black paper decoration. Orange colored balloons were suspended from the chandeliers and gangling skeleton figures hung at each window. Jack O’Lanterns were used for lights.”

Widespread antics and methods to bring order

During the late 1800s to the mid 1900s, children, particularly boys, categorically participated in large Halloween pranks — but this sometimes turned into vandalism or even violence. The night of October 31, 1879 in Newport, Kentucky some 200 boys hid a stuffed figure on train tracks spooking the train’s engineer leading him to pull the brake and halt the iron horse just in the nick of time. But it was only the antics of the youth, not a real person on the train’s path. The boys reportedly howled with amusement when the train stopped.

Across the United States in the latter 1800s, common Halloween tricks included placing farmers’ wagons and livestock on barn roofs (great question as to how), uprooting vegetables in gardens, and tipping over outhouses. Youths unhinged gates allowing livestock to escape — which led to the nickname for Halloween: the aptly called Gate Night.

The invention of the automobile invited more opportunities for mischief. Teens removed manhole covers from streets, deflated tires, and placed fake detour signs to confuse drivers.

At first, the pranking was fairly innocent and limited to rural communities, but as metropolitan areas expanded, kids took their pranking into the cities including intentionally setting fires, breaking glass, and tripping pedestrians. It was a really obnoxious time for adults — boys ran through city streets splattering people with bags of flour or black stockings filled with ashes. In 1918, youths in Kansas City, Kansas used candles to wax streetcar tracks on a steep hill. This caused a vehicle to slip and crash into another streetcar, seriously injuring a conductor, Miss Tracy Kloeppel.

The article in The Topeka State Journal reported Kloeppel’s internal injuries might lead to her death. Nine boys were held without bond by police because of the Halloween prank. Kansas state law made parents responsible for the pranks their children created; the street car company announced it “would prosecute the boys now held.”

During the 1930s, civic and religious authorities, community organizations, and families came together in different metros to come up with plans to preoccupy children and prevent pranks. This led to the emergence of Halloween centered parties, carnivals, and costume parades. With the economic free fall of the Great Depression, looting and chaos erupted to its magnum opus on Halloween nights. Some cities were considering banning Halloween altogether.

Every decade posed a new zeitgeist for Halloween in America. During World War II, youth took pledges to support the soldiers and sailors abroad by not engaging in Halloween vandalism. Children in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, vowed to “back our fighting men by observing Halloween as they would want me to. I will share in good, clean fun and merriment, fight against waste and damage!”

In the 1950s, the mischief didn’t die out completely. It just moved to the night before Halloween. The children wanted a combination of tricks and treats, mischief and candy. Sometimes the “preoccupation campaign” failed to distract the kids and made them want more of the holiday altogether.

In parts of the Northeast, October 30 became known as Mischief Night. It was called Goosey Night in parts of New Jersey. Dating back to the old Scottish pranking tradition, it was even known as Cabbage Night by some locales. Vandalism during this time usually involved soaping windows, spraying shaving cream, throwing eggs at houses, or tossing toilet paper over trees and bushes.

The baby boom in the 1950s brought Halloween parties to homes and classrooms.  Trick-or-treating, which had tapered off, was revived this decade. Many families took part in it to give their children candy and steer them away from tricks.

No American city does Halloween like St. Louis

In St. Louis, there’s a whole other spin on trick-or-treat. Children are highly encouraged to tell jokes to get sweets. It’s hard to pinpoint when exactly the joke telling on Halloween started in St. Louis. Dr. John Oldani, Author of “St. Lou-isms” wrote that it dates back at least a century.

Dr. Oldani told USA Today the tradition comes from Samhain. In Irish lore, people were said to come back from the dead on Halloween night. Muck Olla was an entity no one wanted to greet.

Oldani told USA Today: “He was haunting everyone, so you had to go to the house dressed in a costume, so he would not grab you… [if Olla knew] who you were, you had to ask for something to give him.” Oldani said during the traditional Samhain, people would tell a joke or recite a poem as the necessary gift. It was also meant to ward off evil spirits.

The word Halloween dates back in historic records to about the year 1745. Jump to the year 2019, and roughly one quarter of all the candy sold throughout the year in the U.S. is purchased for October 31st. Halloween has grown to become America’s second largest commercial holiday after Christmas.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/10/13/the-origins-of-halloween-and-its-impish-past-in-kansas/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/10/14/the-origins-of-halloween-and-its-impish-past-in-kansas/

[melindarowens]

A One And Done This Week! – Daily Pfennig

Chuck Butler’s: A Pfennig For Your Thoughts

December 27, 2017

* All Three Anti-dollar assets rally!

* Kicking the can down the road again… 

* Tax Bill is ready to put in place… 

Good Day…  And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! I hope your Christmas celebration was grand, mine was! And yesterday was Kathy’s birthday. We were celebrated out, and spent a quiet night at home. Alex has been here with us for the weekend, for now, it’s nice that he’s here. Gerry & the Pacemakers greet me this morning with their 60’s hit song: Ferry Cross the Mersey… I used to sing that song to Alex when he was a baby to help him fall asleep…  That was 22 years ago, and the song was old then! HA!

Well, remember when we came back from the Thanksgiving holiday and I talked about how nice it was that the NY traders were out for a few days, as the currencies and meals rallied in their absence?  Well, so far this week, this is a rinse and repeat of those days after Thanksgiving.

The currencies, led by the Big Dog euro, have all gotten off the porch to chase the dollar down the street. Yesterday, the first day back from the Christmas holiday, saw widespread dollar selling. The euro is knock, knock, knocking on heaven’s door, no wait! The euro is knocking on the 1.19 handle this morning, and Gold found a way to carve out an $8.50 gain yesterday…

Friday, last week, I sent out a tweet, regarding the lawmakers once again, kicking the can down the road. They still don’t have a budget, and they are still playing around with a possible government shutdown. I told you when they “extended” the negotiations the last time for two weeks, that it was ridiculous to think that these guys and gals could come up with a budget in two week’s time, given they had all year up to that time to do it!

And, they didn’t! So, now we’re looking at the deadline being in two weeks… But what says that the negotiations will be finished by then? I just shake my head and wonder what it will take to bring the two sides together to make a budget? It’s a sad, sad state of affairs, if you ask me!

And this morning I came across an article on the Bloomberg that was titled: Subprime Auto Defaults Are Soaring…  Not that these Subprime Auto loans are any near the size of the problem with the subprime Home Loans back in 2007, when that meltdown began.

But yet, Consumer Confidence is soaring higher and higher with every new print… Man, this reminds me of 2000 all over again… The stock market led by the Tech stocks, was soaring, but there were all these problems going on that should have affected the stock market, but it didn’t, and Consumer Confidence was soaring back then like it is now…  And then we drove our Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry… And all the King’s horses and all the King’s Men couldn’t put the stock market back together again until all the excesses were cleaned out…

Can you imagine h9w nasty this correction will be given how high the stock market has run? OUCH! Now that’s going to leave a mark!  But a lot of pundits are waking around with egg on their faces right now, because they’ve been calling for this correction in the stock market for months now and it just hasn’t come to fruition…  I’m not putting any timeline on this thought, instead, I’m just saying that it will be nasty when it happens…

I’m already on the hook for saying that I thought the Fed’s rate hikes were over, and by now they would be talking about the reversal of their previous rate hikes… I still think it’s coming… sort of like the old 3 Dog Night song. Eli’s coming…  And as usual I’m out in front on this call, and my timing is ahead of the crowd…  I wouldn’t be a good comedian, because my timing has shown that it needs a lot of work!

The price of Oil hasn’t taken any passes on all this dollar selling, and has moved to the $49 handle. Last week’s supplies numbers were lower than expected, and that got the price of Oil moving in the right direction, and the momentum is moving in Oil’s favor right now…

So, all the anti-dollar assets, Gold, euros, Oil, are kicking some dollar tail this morning, and taking names later. It’s been awhile since I could talk about all three anti-dollar assets moving against the dollar at the same time.  As I said above, Gold carved out an $8.50 gain yesterday, and is looking ready to move past $1,300 to end the year…

I gave my grandkids some Silver coins for Christmas… Of course the coins didn’t match their legos and American Dolls, but one day… maybe when they’re going off to college, and need some dough, they’ll ask their parents for those coins, and find out that the present from me all those years ago, was something special…

Last week I was reading an article from Ted Butler (no relation that I know of) the Silver Guru, and he was talking about how JP Morgan got into the short paper trades in Silver… They inherited the business from Bear Stearns, when they bought the failing company back in 2007… Ted Butler’s thought was that the agreement to take on the short paper trades was a 10-year deal that would be expiring soon. And guess who probably has the largest holdings of physical Silver?  That’s right, JP Morgan…  Do, you see the reason they not only took over the short paper trades in Silver business but enhanced it?   Ah, said the blind man as he spit into the wind, “it’s all coming back to me now”…

Of course that’s Ted Butler’s opinion, of which I agree with wholeheartedly…  What do you think?

Well, the Tax Reform Bill did get sent to the President who signed it before Christmas.. I was shocked that it got done that quickly or so it seemed.  I’ve dived deep into the tax bill, and I just don’t see it turning around the economy like it’s billed to be… And it certainly isn’t revenue/ spending neutral like it was supposed to be. $1.8 Trillion and probably more once they get going, will be added to the National Debt in the coming years…  So, much for it being neutral, eh?  

So, it’s all finished, signed, sealed, delivered it’s yours…  Happy Days are here again, the… no wait! Let’s see what this does for us first, eh?  

There’s not much in the Data Cupboard this week for us to look forward to seeing. We will see the Consumer Confidence for the first two weeks of this month today, but besides that, it’s all non-market moving data, which is a good thing, because I’m convinced that the major players in NYC are still away, and we don’t need any wild swings going into the end of the year.  

We will see book squaring, and positions close outs going into the end of the year, but those shouldn’t cause too much volatility. So, it’s all about the currencies, Gold and Oil this week as far as I can tell, as the major players are still opening presents and filling their stomachs with pumpkin pie. 

And with that thought, it’s a good week to end early for me… Tomorrow morning is an infusion morning, so no Pfennig Tomorrow or Friday…  But check your Tweets, for you never know when I’m going to send out a Tweet! 

To recap… The U.S. lawmakers had to kick the can down the road again on Friday, as they avoided a Gov’t shutdown, but still couldn’t agree on a budget. This got the currencies and metals moving and yesterday they really took a pound of flesh from the dollar, and Chuck thinks this will be the theme for the week. All three anti-dollar assets, Gold, Oil and currencies are moving against the dollar for the first time in a while..   

For What It’s Worth… Longtime dear reader Bob, sent me this since I’ve been talking about China’s moves against the dollar for a long time he thought it played nicely in the sandbox with my previous thoughts… It’s about China’s petrol-renminbi move and can be found here: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48497.htm   

Or, here’s your snippet: “Petrodollars have dominated the global energy markets for more than 40 years. But now, China is looking to change that by replacing the word dollars for yuan.

Nations, of course, have tried this before since the system was set up by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in tandem with the House of Saud back in 1974

Vast populations across the Middle East and Northern Africa quickly felt the consequences when Iraq’s Saddam Hussein decided to sell oil in euros. Then there was Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi’s pan-African gold dinar blueprint, which failed to create a splash in an oil barrel.

Fast forward 25 years and China is making a move to break the United States petrodollar stranglehold. The plan is to set up oil-futures trading in the yuan, which will be fully convertible into gold on the Shanghai and Hong Kong foreign exchange markets. ”  

Chuck again… nothing new to regular Pfennig Readers, but a good recap of what’s going on… 

Currencies today 12/27/17… American Style: A$ .7770, kiwi .7075, C$ .7917, euro 1.1894, sterling 1.3410, Swiss $1.0111, … European Style: rand 12.4303, krone 8.2926, SEK 8.2993, forint 261.41, zloty 3.5221, koruna 21.7173, RUB 57.82, yen 113.23, sing 1.3394, HKD 7.8146, INR 63.98, China 6.5448, peso 19.78, BRL 3.3248, Dollar Index 93.04, Oil $59.45, 10-year 2.47%, Silver $16.66, Platinum $922.75, Palladium $1,057.90, and Gold… $1,289.10  

That’s it for today, this week, and this year! Yes, when I come back next week it will be 2018! I’m getting around much better these days and the pain has, not gone away, but has weakened… YAHOO!  I heard from some longtime friends over the weekend.. Ed, and Jack, and Lauren, and Suzanne, and I can’t forget about Kathy G! Now, please be careful this weekend going out and about… Kathy’s dad used to call New Year’s Eve, “amateur’s night”…  And let’s all think a lot about how to make 2018, a better year…  I’m so ready for 2017 to end, I had some major steps backward with my health in 2017, and 2018 had better be better or I’ll not be here next year at this time! I’m just saying…  Steely Dan takes us to the finish line today with their song: Aja…  from my fave Steely Dan album of the same name…  I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday, and fun filled New Year’s Eve, and Be Good To Yourself!  

Chuck Butler

  Source link

source https://capitalisthq.com/a-one-and-done-this-week-daily-pfennig/ from CapitalistHQ http://capitalisthq.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-one-and-done-this-week-daily-pfennig.html

[everettwilkinson]

A One And Done This Week! – Daily Pfennig

Chuck Butler’s: A Pfennig For Your Thoughts

December 27, 2017

* All Three Anti-dollar assets rally!

* Kicking the can down the road again… 

* Tax Bill is ready to put in place… 

Good Day…  And a Wonderful Wednesday to you! I hope your Christmas celebration was grand, mine was! And yesterday was Kathy’s birthday. We were celebrated out, and spent a quiet night at home. Alex has been here with us for the weekend, for now, it’s nice that he’s here. Gerry & the Pacemakers greet me this morning with their 60’s hit song: Ferry Cross the Mersey… I used to sing that song to Alex when he was a baby to help him fall asleep…  That was 22 years ago, and the song was old then! HA!

Well, remember when we came back from the Thanksgiving holiday and I talked about how nice it was that the NY traders were out for a few days, as the currencies and meals rallied in their absence?  Well, so far this week, this is a rinse and repeat of those days after Thanksgiving.

The currencies, led by the Big Dog euro, have all gotten off the porch to chase the dollar down the street. Yesterday, the first day back from the Christmas holiday, saw widespread dollar selling. The euro is knock, knock, knocking on heaven’s door, no wait! The euro is knocking on the 1.19 handle this morning, and Gold found a way to carve out an $8.50 gain yesterday…

Friday, last week, I sent out a tweet, regarding the lawmakers once again, kicking the can down the road. They still don’t have a budget, and they are still playing around with a possible government shutdown. I told you when they “extended” the negotiations the last time for two weeks, that it was ridiculous to think that these guys and gals could come up with a budget in two week’s time, given they had all year up to that time to do it!

And, they didn’t! So, now we’re looking at the deadline being in two weeks… But what says that the negotiations will be finished by then? I just shake my head and wonder what it will take to bring the two sides together to make a budget? It’s a sad, sad state of affairs, if you ask me!

And this morning I came across an article on the Bloomberg that was titled: Subprime Auto Defaults Are Soaring…  Not that these Subprime Auto loans are any near the size of the problem with the subprime Home Loans back in 2007, when that meltdown began.

But yet, Consumer Confidence is soaring higher and higher with every new print… Man, this reminds me of 2000 all over again… The stock market led by the Tech stocks, was soaring, but there were all these problems going on that should have affected the stock market, but it didn’t, and Consumer Confidence was soaring back then like it is now…  And then we drove our Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry… And all the King’s horses and all the King’s Men couldn’t put the stock market back together again until all the excesses were cleaned out…

Can you imagine h9w nasty this correction will be given how high the stock market has run? OUCH! Now that’s going to leave a mark!  But a lot of pundits are waking around with egg on their faces right now, because they’ve been calling for this correction in the stock market for months now and it just hasn’t come to fruition…  I’m not putting any timeline on this thought, instead, I’m just saying that it will be nasty when it happens…

I’m already on the hook for saying that I thought the Fed’s rate hikes were over, and by now they would be talking about the reversal of their previous rate hikes… I still think it’s coming… sort of like the old 3 Dog Night song. Eli’s coming…  And as usual I’m out in front on this call, and my timing is ahead of the crowd…  I wouldn’t be a good comedian, because my timing has shown that it needs a lot of work!

The price of Oil hasn’t taken any passes on all this dollar selling, and has moved to the $49 handle. Last week’s supplies numbers were lower than expected, and that got the price of Oil moving in the right direction, and the momentum is moving in Oil’s favor right now…

So, all the anti-dollar assets, Gold, euros, Oil, are kicking some dollar tail this morning, and taking names later. It’s been awhile since I could talk about all three anti-dollar assets moving against the dollar at the same time.  As I said above, Gold carved out an $8.50 gain yesterday, and is looking ready to move past $1,300 to end the year…

I gave my grandkids some Silver coins for Christmas… Of course the coins didn’t match their legos and American Dolls, but one day… maybe when they’re going off to college, and need some dough, they’ll ask their parents for those coins, and find out that the present from me all those years ago, was something special…

Last week I was reading an article from Ted Butler (no relation that I know of) the Silver Guru, and he was talking about how JP Morgan got into the short paper trades in Silver… They inherited the business from Bear Stearns, when they bought the failing company back in 2007… Ted Butler’s thought was that the agreement to take on the short paper trades was a 10-year deal that would be expiring soon. And guess who probably has the largest holdings of physical Silver?  That’s right, JP Morgan…  Do, you see the reason they not only took over the short paper trades in Silver business but enhanced it?   Ah, said the blind man as he spit into the wind, “it’s all coming back to me now”…

Of course that’s Ted Butler’s opinion, of which I agree with wholeheartedly…  What do you think?

Well, the Tax Reform Bill did get sent to the President who signed it before Christmas.. I was shocked that it got done that quickly or so it seemed.  I’ve dived deep into the tax bill, and I just don’t see it turning around the economy like it’s billed to be… And it certainly isn’t revenue/ spending neutral like it was supposed to be. $1.8 Trillion and probably more once they get going, will be added to the National Debt in the coming years…  So, much for it being neutral, eh?  

So, it’s all finished, signed, sealed, delivered it’s yours…  Happy Days are here again, the… no wait! Let’s see what this does for us first, eh?  

There’s not much in the Data Cupboard this week for us to look forward to seeing. We will see the Consumer Confidence for the first two weeks of this month today, but besides that, it’s all non-market moving data, which is a good thing, because I’m convinced that the major players in NYC are still away, and we don’t need any wild swings going into the end of the year.  

We will see book squaring, and positions close outs going into the end of the year, but those shouldn’t cause too much volatility. So, it’s all about the currencies, Gold and Oil this week as far as I can tell, as the major players are still opening presents and filling their stomachs with pumpkin pie. 

And with that thought, it’s a good week to end early for me… Tomorrow morning is an infusion morning, so no Pfennig Tomorrow or Friday…  But check your Tweets, for you never know when I’m going to send out a Tweet! 

To recap… The U.S. lawmakers had to kick the can down the road again on Friday, as they avoided a Gov’t shutdown, but still couldn’t agree on a budget. This got the currencies and metals moving and yesterday they really took a pound of flesh from the dollar, and Chuck thinks this will be the theme for the week. All three anti-dollar assets, Gold, Oil and currencies are moving against the dollar for the first time in a while..   

For What It’s Worth… Longtime dear reader Bob, sent me this since I’ve been talking about China’s moves against the dollar for a long time he thought it played nicely in the sandbox with my previous thoughts… It’s about China’s petrol-renminbi move and can be found here: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48497.htm   

Or, here’s your snippet: “Petrodollars have dominated the global energy markets for more than 40 years. But now, China is looking to change that by replacing the word dollars for yuan.

Nations, of course, have tried this before since the system was set up by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in tandem with the House of Saud back in 1974

Vast populations across the Middle East and Northern Africa quickly felt the consequences when Iraq’s Saddam Hussein decided to sell oil in euros. Then there was Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi’s pan-African gold dinar blueprint, which failed to create a splash in an oil barrel.

Fast forward 25 years and China is making a move to break the United States petrodollar stranglehold. The plan is to set up oil-futures trading in the yuan, which will be fully convertible into gold on the Shanghai and Hong Kong foreign exchange markets. ”  

Chuck again… nothing new to regular Pfennig Readers, but a good recap of what’s going on… 

Currencies today 12/27/17… American Style: A$ .7770, kiwi .7075, C$ .7917, euro 1.1894, sterling 1.3410, Swiss $1.0111, … European Style: rand 12.4303, krone 8.2926, SEK 8.2993, forint 261.41, zloty 3.5221, koruna 21.7173, RUB 57.82, yen 113.23, sing 1.3394, HKD 7.8146, INR 63.98, China 6.5448, peso 19.78, BRL 3.3248, Dollar Index 93.04, Oil $59.45, 10-year 2.47%, Silver $16.66, Platinum $922.75, Palladium $1,057.90, and Gold… $1,289.10  

That’s it for today, this week, and this year! Yes, when I come back next week it will be 2018! I’m getting around much better these days and the pain has, not gone away, but has weakened… YAHOO!  I heard from some longtime friends over the weekend.. Ed, and Jack, and Lauren, and Suzanne, and I can’t forget about Kathy G! Now, please be careful this weekend going out and about… Kathy’s dad used to call New Year’s Eve, “amateur’s night”…  And let’s all think a lot about how to make 2018, a better year…  I’m so ready for 2017 to end, I had some major steps backward with my health in 2017, and 2018 had better be better or I’ll not be here next year at this time! I’m just saying…  Steely Dan takes us to the finish line today with their song: Aja…  from my fave Steely Dan album of the same name…  I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday, and fun filled New Year’s Eve, and Be Good To Yourself!  

Chuck Butler

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from CapitalistHQ.com https://capitalisthq.com/a-one-and-done-this-week-daily-pfennig/

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The Extinct Species Graveyard at the Bronx Zoo’s BOO AT THE ZOO Event was fascinating–and sad.

Nathan and I love to visit the Bronx Zoo, which is just about an hour from our house—it’s like being on vacation for a day, and it could be said the zoo is part of our lives (we’ve “financially adopted” many of their animals over the years, everything from a bat to a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach we named Mountain King). Since we’re members, we try to make it down for the zoo’s special events throughout the year.

October brought Boo at the Zoo: weekends full of activities such as a beer garden, pumpkin carving demonstration, not-really hay rides, marshmallow roasting pits, candy trails, a corn maze—and my favorite, a Haunted Forest in the abandoned World of Darkness Building. Little known fact about me? It was my first-ever walk-through Haunted House, and I did pretty well!

It was lots of fun to see kids in costume.

Look who I ran into in New York City!

…and to visit our hissing cockroach, Mountain King.

My Valentine’s Day Gift to Nathan

Check out Mountain King! He is clearly aptly named. Look how large he is compared to the others, and a spectacular gold color (which you can’t really see in this terrible light).

The exhibit that struck me most was the Extinct Species Graveyard, which was set up in a little-used grove of trees next to The Mouse House. It wasn’t there for a Halloween thrill, nor was it there as just another decoration to fill up space; it seemed part educational, and part memorial. I was surprised by the profound sense of sadness I felt as we wandered through the headstones.

Here’s a tour!

The graveyard was located on a perfect, flat, shady — and unused the rest of the year — spot next to The Mouse House.

The area where this was set up made it feel real.

Officially discovered in the late 1600s, the Falkland Islands Wolf’s tame nature spelled its doom—it hadn’t learned to fear humans, so settlers could easily trick it into coming close enough to kill it. They were hunted for meat and fur, and were considered threatening to sheep. The last one was killed in West Falkland in 1876. For a thorough history (that looks to be well-researched—loads of legitimate sources, here), visit http://messybeast.com/extinct/warrah.htm

Passenger Pigeons were abundant in the 19th century, and tales of their titanic flocks—they took over entire forests, appeared thick as waterfalls, and left entire towns blanketed in feces—are just plain hard to believe. They were basically hunted out of extinction, both for their meat by starving frontiersman, and because they were a nuisance: they competed with farm animals for foodstuffs, among other things. Once the railroads came into being, there was no stopping hunters and trappers from sporting these animals right out of existence. The last known Passenger Pigeon’s name was the Cincinnati Zoo’s Martha, and she died in September of 1914. For more information, check out Audubon’s “Why the Passenger Pigeon Went Extinct” here: http://www.audubon.org/magazine/may-june-2014/why-passenger-pigeon-went-extinct

The Tasmanian Tiger was killed off on the Australian mainland by widespread hunting, but survived on Tasmania until the last one died in a zoo in the 1930s. Australians haven’t given up on the hope that this thylacine is still alive, however—to this day, reports of sightings are frequent, and even a recent episode of Expedition Unknown had Josh Gates out hunting for it. Initially, scientists had proposed many theories for the creature’s extinction on Tasmania, although there is new evidence to suggest that it was a changing climate that was the culprit http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/28/mystery-disappeared-tasmanian-tiger-finally-solved/.

The story of the last authenticated Labrador Duck’s demise is rather sad http://www.chemunghistory.com/pages/labradorduck.html, but literally, almost nothing is known about this bird—its breeding was done in such remote areas (it’s suspected way up in Greenland) that it died out almost before we noticed. Apparently once prevalent on Long Island Sound, we do know, thanks to a journal called Arctic Zoology in 1785, that a specimen was sent from Connecticut to England (see where I got this from here: https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/labduc/introduction). Not very exciting, but there is one ornithologist who made it his mission to visit every single specimen (there are 55) left in existence, which he details in his book The Curse of the Labrador Duck. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-curse-of-the-labrador-duck-16641319/

Probably the poster child for extinction, the Dodo Bird has something in common with the Falkland Island Wolf—it had no fear of humans, because it had never had to fear anything before. Although it’s widely held that sailors arriving on the island of Mauritius, near Madagascar, hunted them and ate their eggs, another theory suggests that it was the cats, rats, pigs and other animals the sailors brought with them went feral. Read more in a Forbes Magazine Quora reprint, “What Happened to the Last Dodo Bird?” here. https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/09/20/what-happened-to-the-last-dodo-bird/#2eb2d48e9c2b

The Pig-footed Bandicoot, an adorable little Australian marsupial, is believed to have not survived the introduction of European cattle, as that would’ve cause a major change to the environment and the availability of food. Although the last verified individual was seen in the early 1900s, there’s photographic, video and audio evidence to suggest the creature may still be alive and well…sounds a little far-fetched to me, but judge for yourself: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2007/04/pig-footed-bandicoot-rises-dead

Related to today’s manatees and dugongs, Steller’s Sea Cow, indigenous to the northern Pacific, were hunted to extinction in the 1700s by Russian and European fur traders. Another theory floating around out there attributes the final blow for this species to the stress on the sea otter population which caused a rise in sea urchins which caused a depletion of kelp—the Steller’s main foodstuff. More information here: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/04/pleistoseacow/522831/

The Golden Toad lived in Costa Rica’s Monteverde Cloud Forest and was declared officially extinct in 2004. This animal was unique in that males were a dazzling orange, but the females came in many different colors, among them yellow and green. For a long time it was thought that global warming killed these stunning animals, but now they think it might’ve been a fungus: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2010/03/global-warming-didnt-kill-golden-toad

In another case of “we didn’t realize what we were doing,” the Quagga, which was indigenous to South Africa, died out in the late 1800s. Like many other animals of the plains, they were ruthlessly hunted—they were regarded as competitors for the same food as sheep and goats. What’s come to light is that they were not a separate species of zebra, but a subspecies of the zebra we all know and love. There is a revival project going on in South Africa, which you can read more about here: https://quaggaproject.org/

The Greak Auk—which I’ve seen referred to as “the original penguin”—was scattered all over the northern Atlantic, and was exploited for its eggs, feathers, oil, and fat. Archeological finds also suggest that it was important to ancient maritime peoples. The saddest story, though, is the one of the crew of a ship which tied the bird’s feet together and attempted to take it home. When a violent storm hit, the sailors were certain it was the work of the “devil bird” they’d brought on board, so they stoned it to death. An extensive history in Smithsonian Magazine’s “When the Last of the Great Auks Died, It Was by the Crush of a Fisherman’s Boot,” here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/with-crush-fisherman-boot-the-last-great-auks-died-180951982/

The Carolina Parakeet’s story is especially tragic, because it was the only species of parrot native to the United States. The last known wild specimen was killed in 1904, and the last captive one died in a zoo in 1918. This bird had a few causes of death: habitat loss, the pet and fashion trades, and farming. There’s a pretty extensive discussion in Audubon’s “The Last Carolina Parakeet” here: http://johnjames.audubon.org/last-carolina-parakeet

I’ve always had an affinity for toads, so here I played around with getting a selfie. Not great.

Me and the toad’s ass. Nathan took this one.

Nathan loves the Tasmanian Tiger. So this is the one he chose to pose with.

The Bronx Zoo’s Extinct Species Graveyard Nathan and I love to visit the Bronx Zoo, which is just about an hour from our house—it’s like being on vacation for a day, and it could be said the zoo is part of our lives (we’ve “financially adopted” many of their animals over the years, everything from a bat to a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach we named Mountain King).

[fucking-nachos]

Obtain 200 Free Halloween Music, Songs And Sounds

Halloween is just around the corner, and whereas I do know many of you'll be tuning into our COMMERCIAL-FREE Halloween Home Get together this Saturday evening from 8pm-Midnight (wink wink), I needed to share 6 songs you could add to your personal Halloween soundtrack. A well-liked Halloween tune featured in spooky movies similar to Johnny Depp's ‘Dark Shadows', Donovan's eerily spectacular observe is bound to get the blood pumping this Halloween. This one in particular is a very enjoyable song, bouncing between two totally different tempos for the verses and refrain — a positive fireplace hit, and a perfect approach to round out our Halloween Top 20! Not particularly a Halloween occasion, but notably suitable for this time of yr, the Amsterdam Ghost Walk takes you on a tour of the haunted metropolis, stopping by sites frequented by Black Matthew,” a 13th-century freeway robber and magician, and other native phantoms. Let's be sincere, no matter every part, our favorite Halloween Songs have been sung by our 2016 favorites. It helps strengthen relationships as a result of these are energetic songs that grandparents or even great-grandparents can share with a younger baby. The Monster Mash” is a kind of songs that comes again with a vengeance yearly. Seek for well-known singers and writers Best Halloween songs or albums to obtain it. Involved one may examine some best Halloween day's sms, messages, wishes and quotes to share their feelings in direction of their preferred one in our page. But there's one inventive thing I can offer you this season, and that is just a few fun songs to sing with your kids (or let them watch over and over on You Tube when you're frantically getting ready that tremendous new recipe from that useful and revolutionary parenting blog) in the course of the month of October. We're getting truly creepy with the Halloween theme tune, which we're certain offers you chills.

Nursery Rhymes like Jack and Jill and Humpty Dumpty have been widespread for hundreds of years but have you ever paid attention to their true origin when educating them to younger children. Add to that creepy lyrics and you have a song goal-made for the Halloween vacation. When selecting Halloween games for youngsters it is important to choose video games that are age acceptable for them. We gave this book to our kids's academics and so they have truly enjoyed this artistic spin on a familiar music. In their own harmless way, kids replace their fear with excitement that the vacation brings. First held in 1972, Rice University's Night of Decadence is among the biggest college parties in America. Carving pumpkins at Halloween and sing some Halloween songs had been imported at the moment. In keeping with standard belief, witches held one among their two primary meetings, or sabbats, on Halloween evening. One other fun activity is to have the scholars make their very own masks, and perhaps wear them while the track is playing. Still, whereas not worthy of a Grammy award, 5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate is a fun song for the Halloween season. The tune is understood in four different variations from previous broadsides, considered one of which mentions that it's sung to the tune of the Mistletoe Bough. Still, of all those nice, great Cramps songs to select from, What's Behind the Masks?,” a question lots of people will probably be asking at drunken Halloween events the world over, seemed probably the most acceptable.

Thankfully, Ray Parker, Jr. is right here to remind us all of the true which means of Halloween: busting makes us really feel good. The Remedy have stories and stories of darkish, bleak synth-rock, much of which delves manner further into the black than Seventeen Seconds appears to go. However, this album affords a subtler model of scary Halloween music, which may be simpler if performed proper. I added some of the verses (the ones I preferred finest) onto the Halloween Tune Lyrics web page. Scarecrows, a well-liked Halloween fixture, symbolize the traditional agricultural roots of the vacation. The kids nursery rhymes assist them avoiding getting misplaced or tangled in the precise plot while having fun with them to the fullest. This is an honorable mention, because it really would not seem on the list YouTube furnished us with, but it ought to.

There are your standard official campus activities just like the Ames Haunted Forest and the Freeman Haunted House, but the dorm costume events are where this college really succeeds. That can assist you get began, attempt these tried-and-true songs for preschoolers and a few fun lesson plans to go along with them! Kai Hansen was the man and this one is among the best Velocity Steel Songs ever.

Explore a number of best books for youngsters, hand-picked by specialists at Youngsters's Bookshelf. Hardcore punk pioneers the Useless Kennedys used the Halloween vacation as symbolism in its final single, ragging on people who find themselves only keen to repersonalize themselves at some point out of the yr, urging them to place social laws in a very private place. Black is usually an emblem of dying and darkness and acts as a reminder that Halloween as soon as was a competition that marked the boundaries between life and demise. Fun fact: The original model of the tune was carried out by Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Response. This quote by him, probably an extract from his works, is probably one of the creepiest Halloween quotes on the market. I am unable to say that I like all of the kinds of music that he listens to, but at a look of the music on the list, I can see several songs that I do know and like.

This music makes a superb sample-recognizing and notice-studying drill even away from the piano, and with a gaggle of keyboard players. Halloween is the time of year when the very best films keep you up at night time, you'll be able to costume like Benedict Cumberbatch and no one bats a watch, and when loading up on bite-dimension chocolate is an affordable daily occasion. Looking for lyric for 2 Halloween songs I realized in elementary school back within the 80's.