#santa-claus lives eternally

[izzypaw]

my 6th yr drawing them for christmas instead of idk getting therapy or something

[andi-rigby]

Alright, y'all. Poll time. Synopses of your choices are under the cut, if you want them. I can't decide between my upcoming original stories (I'm gonna write them all eventually), so I'm inviting y'all to choose for me.

On a related note, if I hit 15 followers before this poll expires, I'll do a follower lottery and the lottery winner will get to name a character in the winning story! (More details on that also under the cut.)

Synopses

Adventures in the Gaywild, a queer contemporary portal fantasy with an ensemble cast of queer & disabled adults just trying to live their lives, but who have said lives interrupted regularly by their hometown’s proximity to the fey realm. Beronsgate is a cute little coastal town with a major problem: sometimes the door you open doesn’t lead where you wanted it to. Monster-of-the-week episodic sitcom installments with an overarching denial-of-destiny arc. (If this wins, the "winning story" will be the first installment of the series.)

The Death of Santa, a sapphic Christmas adventure with a transgender Mrs. Claus who’s unhappy in her role as the token female holiday persona, and escapes the North Pole only to find herself in a strange land of eternal winter. Kristina takes shelter in a fortress built over a gate, and finds deadly traps, warped Christmas monsters, and the woman she married 900 years ago. Transgender themes, trans joy/power, and mistaken identity feature heavily in this high-action novelette that tries not to take itself or Christmas too seriously.

Liberty, a gay cowboy friends-to-lovers between a cattle baron’s heir and a gifted horse trainer. Aaron and James have kept their romance a secret for almost a year. When Aaron’s mother makes a big stink about him turning down yet another farm princess, he’s got a tough choice to make: follow the herd, or follow his heart. Forget coming-of-age—let’s talk coming-out, love and support from unexpected avenues, and being true to yourself.

Double Tide, a seaside low fantasy adventure about a dockworker and the inquisitive merrow they met in the local tidepools, who become fast friends despite language barriers and local taboo. When a new fishing technique threatens the local merrow population, they discover whether a lone dockworker and a social pariah can really make a difference. Try this gender-agnostic, hopeful Romeo and Juliet (without the tragedy) that explores the meaning of love and friendship.

The Siege of Helen, an exploration of neurodivergence and (mis)communication in a romantic relationship. Helen’s new pregnancy has made her mood a thousand times more volatile, and her husband is spending more and more time at the office. Hephaestus, already overstimulated and dysregulated from trying to provide for his now-growing family, realizes in the nick of time that there’s only one way not to lose the woman he loves: he’s going to have to talk to her. About his feelings. Short story companion to my novel-in-progress, By Any Other Name, following Ambrose’s parents as they try desperately to keep their marriage from falling to pieces.

The Library, a heartwarming zombie survivor tale about a weary now-single dad and his last remaining foster teen who fight to preserve the ruins of a great library against those who would destroy it for their own short-term survival. Take refuge in the Charles J. LaRose Memorial Library, and let Kaylen tell you about the time they fought off zombies and men with guns to make a safe place for travelers like you to rest and recuperate in the desolate hellscape of the zombie apocalypse.

Lottery Info

Lottery will happen if the total follower count (less myself) on this blog reaches 15 before the poll in this post expires. I'll choose via random selection & contact the winner via Tumblr to confirm you want to participate. If you don't, or I can't contact you via Tumblr because your messages are closed, or if I don't get a response to my initial message within ~24 hours, then I'll choose a different winner by the same process. And so on until someone bites.

Lottery winner will receive a short bio of the relevant aspects of their character (appearance, mannerisms, and plot role), and the name they choose will be used for the described character. I will not accept names that are offensive or that would be considered offensive in the context of the story or character, and I retain the right to ask the winner for a different name if the chosen name is, for some reason, really really not going to work in the context of the story.

[painless-innit-colourful]

Sunset

Their eyes meet, amber flickering in the reflections in Jack’s pupils. Tubbo’s skin is tingling, vision periodically blurring and he feels a little sick: life returning to atoms that were supposed to be done living is a little violent, a little uncomfortable. Tubbo waits for the nausea to subside before he gives Jack a nod, feeling the prickling shimmer of fire resistance in his system, before he turns towards the lava lighting the room and blocking the way. Or, at least, it had been.

“Really?” Tubbo pauses at Jack’s voice breaking the unnatural quiet. “I’m going to go get him.” “How will you get him out? He doesn’t have resistance as well.” “There’s a hole in the cell. We’ll swim out.”

They share a gaze that feels so very final, even after the past few eternities they’ve waited. “I hope you’re right about him.” “I know I am,” Tubbo affirms. “Have a good rest of your life, Jack.” “You too, man. You too.”

—

“You okay?” Tubbo’s voice bounces around the hollow chamber, echoing off warm obsidian. Tommy’s on his knees, cast in light by the fire at his feet, looking up at Tubbo like he’s looking at an angel. Maybe that’s a bit what it looks like. Tubbo’s not completely sure they count as alive anymore.

“Tubbo-” He stumbles as he tries to get up, as Tubbo scrambles down soft-sharp rock to reach him. They each stop a handful of strides from each other, just staring, just breathing, the amber light washing them out and making them look like the ghosts they feel like, and then Tommy closes the distance with a shriek of pained relief and they crash to the floor and they are very corporeal and very real and very alive. 

They are alive.

Tommy’s crying, he realises, tears falling and very quickly drying due to their proximity to the lava in the floor. They almost ended up in the lava due to Tommy’s lunge, but it doesn’t matter because Tubbo’s teary too, and the warm glow around them is nothing to the warmth inside Tubbo that starts in his heart and expands outwards, steadily, steadily, bringing a feeling that might be life back into his bones and sinew. Coming back to life is new to him, but it’s not the worst feeling.

“I’m-” Tommy sputters between sniffs, “I’m sorry-” “Don’t you dare,” Tubbo pulls him closer, tucking him under his chin, like that’s ever had the power to keep him safe before. “Don’t you dare say that. Don’t.” “Oh- Okay…” After a moment, he laughs. “Hello stranger.” Tubbo smiles and kisses him on the top of his head. He smells like smoke and death. “Hello. We gotta get out of here-” “Yeah…” “-We gotta get you home.” “Home?”

He kisses him one more time, before shifting to his elbows. Their eyes meet, and the light in Tommy’s eyes outshines everything else in this godforsaken room. “Home. We gotta go home.”

—

The room is golden with a refracted autumn sunset when Tubbo hears the click-clonk of the front door through the house. He’s still adjusting funnels and tubes as he hears the approaching footsteps get louder and louder, until Tommy’s leaning on the only empty counter by the door, smiling.

“You’ll never guess who I ran into.” “Who? No, don’t tell me,” Tubbo swaps a full bottle for an empty one. “Santa Claus?” Tommy splutters, “Obviously not. No, Jack. Jack Manifold.”

Tubbo stops to look at him properly, “Wait, really?” “Yeah, and-” He ‘rounds the counter and leans annoyingly on Tubbo’s shoulder. He’s so annoying. The Most Annoying. Tommy ‘The Most Annoying’ Innit. Tubbo feels that familiar warmth he feels whenever he’s near.  “Get this- He’s been in the casino this whole time. In Las Nevadas. He’s a fucking gambler!”

Tubbo mulls this over for a moment, “Y’know… not what I was expecting.” “Right? But he says he’s happy enough, says he likes who he is now more than who he was before, and, I figured, that’s good enough, right?” Tubbo smiles, turning the knob on his filtration contraption, and the golden liquid thins to a stop. He pulls off his gloves and pulls Tommy into an embrace. “Yeah. Good for him. And, y’know, hopefully he does alright. Financially.” “That’s what I said too. He was pleasant. Much more than I was expecting actually. Y’know, considering.”

Tubbo closes his eyes a moment, thinks back. “He was a good guy. Just- Just another victim of… of that place.” He gives Tommy a squeeze, “I believe it’s your turn to cook tonight, Big Man, and you’re late.” “Bloody hell,” Tommy pulls back. Standing behind Tubbo’s equipment, the light cast through the window is the rich colour of butterscotch, and Tommy looks like he’s been dipped in honey. His eyes, his hair, the buttons on his coat all shine gold. They share a wide smile, and Tubbo would bet his life Tommy’s thinking the same looking at him - that neither could go into the darkness without reaching out for the other.

Except he already did. And won.

[dem-obscure-imagines]

Christmas/Holidays/New Year's Eve Masterlist

In the mood for some winter fluff? Look no further than these curated picks from my collection.

General Winter Imagines

Arthur Curry x Reader

Sweater Weather - Fluff

When it gets colder outside, the king of the sea loans you his sweater.

Jack Frost x Reader

Snowflake - Fluff, Soulmate AU

Your soulmark is a snowflake, and thus, winter easily became your favorite season. However, you have a good feeling about winter this year, a tingly feeling that makes your mark glow...

Tired of Gray - Fluff, Soulmate AU

It’s Christmas time and you’re just about sick of your gray, gray world. Luckily, your soulmate is known to visit in the winter.

Christmas/Holiday Imagines

Bernard the Elf x Reader

The Way it Was Before - Alternate Universe, Bernard exists during Escape Clause Plot, Magic!Reader, a light angst, a lot of fluff.

Something is VERY wrong this Christmas, and it seems you’re the only person in the world who remembers the way things were before. Well, almost the only person. It’s up to you and the Head Elf to save the day before Jack’s wish becomes irreversible.

Home for the Holidays - Fluff, Christmas, Santa’s Daughter!Reader

When you come home for Christmas, Bernard realizes that you’re the reincarnation of someone very dear to him.

All I Want For Christmas - Fluff, Christmas, Santa’s Daughter!Reader

Being Santa Claus’ daughter, it was only inevitable that you’d catch feelings for his head elf…

Dear Santa… - Fluff, Writer Elf!Reader

The writing department has been especially short on elves this year, and this means you find yourself responsible for writing a whole bunch of letters. Luckily, the head elf has his eye on you.

Druig x Reader

Merry Little Christmas - Fluff, Christmas, GN! Reader

Christmas with the Eternals is a little extra special this year because of a certain mind-controlling telepath…

Prince Eric (Barbie in the Nutcracker)

Real - Fluff, Christmas

After arriving back in your living room, you’re startled to find out that the previous night was real, Mouse King, Nutcracker, and all.

Home - Fluff, Christmas

The locket is supposed to take you home, but in your heart, you know you’re already there.

Steve Harrington x Reader

About Time - Fluff, Soulmate AU, Time Travel

You discover a time-traveling wormhole in your closet and a hot guy from the 80′s on the other side of it.

Steve Rogers x Reader

The Nutcracker - Fluff, Ballerina!Reader

When your winter recital finally comes around, Steve is more than happy to support you.

Warren Worthington III x Reader

Merry Christmas, Darling - Fluff, Christmas, Mutant!Reader, Gender Neutral!Reader

The Holidays are in full swing at the X Mansion, and as always, you are tasked with helping run the place. But things are a lot less dull with a certain winged mutant around.

Santa Baby - Fluff, Christmas

You use the power of invisibility to put a Santa hat on each of the X-Men. 

New Year's Eve Kisses

New Year’s Eve Kisses 2017 - Steve Harrington, Marty McFly, Edmund Pevensie, Thackery Binx, Wanda Maximoff

New Year’s Eve Kisses 2020 - Alex Vreeke (Jumanji), Jack Frost, Ben Tennyson, Diaval, Peeta Mellark

New Year’s Eve Kisses 2021 - Bernard the Elf, Bucky Barnes, Diana Prince, Killian Jones, Pietro Maximoff

New Year’s Eve Kisses 2022 - Eddie Munson, Druig, Kili, Neville Longbottom, Peter Pan

[sorakazeno]

Sailor Moon Museum Part 9

The start of the Sera Myu Room!!

Newer versions of the fuku.

Tuxedo Kamen at the end. I realized later that is one pic I have of the outfit. Rats. I could not get over how tiny the waist lines are on these dresses.

The classic ones I grew up on.

Took a picture in front of Sailor Mars for a friend.

Eternal Sailor Moon. I thought the wings were larger. But then again.... the woman that wore these outfits were are a lot shorter than I am so it probably fit them for the portions.

My favorite Inner Senshi

My second favorite Inner Senshi. Atlas no Outer Senshi. >.<

Nogizaka46 Version Musical 2019 on the left.

Kaguya-hime no Koibito on the right from 2021.

Le Mouvement Final on the left from 2017.

Super Live from 2018 and 2019. I need to take pictures of the poster released in the US... and a post for this musical. It was amazing.

La Reconquista from 2013.

Fumina Hara, the second actress to play Usagi in the musicals.

Ohyama Anya, the first actress to play Usagi and will always be my favorite.

Close up of Jupiter and Mercury.

Just realized this my only Chibi Moon one.

Shin / Henshin - Super Senshi e no Michi - Last Dracul Jokyoku. Also commerates the 500th musical for Sailor Moon. I was able to purchase a coin for this that was in a previous post.

Starlights - Ryuusei Densetsu 2003.

Now entering the Nakayoshi room! Lots and lots of little giveaways as the series are original being published in the 90s. Most of these I never seen before.

Notebook, playing cards, and Sailor Moon mask.

Usagi and Tuxedo Kamen bag, poster with the Inners.

Better view of the mini poster.

Stickers, postcards and various inserts.

Bags, inserts, sticks, trading cards

Mini poster is some kind of Santa Claus game. Bag and cute little cardboard box.

Senshi cards are listed as "Super Premium" cards.

Calendar and bag.

Chibi Moon bag, fan books and a card game in the upper corner.

Sailor Moon was constantly featured on the cover of Nakayoshi

More covers.

So many covers.....

I believe all art was published in the five artbooks from the 1990s.

[drunktuesdays]

Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, 'If you see it in The Sun it's so.' Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. -Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus (1897)

[loominggaia]

what would the FGG be divines of? what would they do with it?

I think there are many possible answers to this question, but here are some random ideas...

Evan, Divine of Righteousness. He uses his divine powers to make the world a better place in any way he can. He continues to help people with their problems and tries to set right every wrong he encounters.

Lukas, Divine of Melancholy. Suicide was a choice that has now been taken away from him. Perhaps he wallows in self-pity forever, or maybe he decides to get his shit together and make the world a place worth living in. Probably teams up with Evan in that regard.

Glenvar, Divine of Drink. Just sails around the world and drinks himself to death over and over again with no consequences.

Alaine, Divine of Music. Uses her powers to become a world-famous pop star, fulfilling her childhood dream.

Jeimos, Divine of Nerds. Hacks into a Damijani news feed and broadcasts a special message for Chieftess Serafeen. All of Damijana sees Jeimos' bare ass that day, and no one can do anything about it because they're a divine.

Isaac, Divine of Joy. Tries to bring fun and laughter wherever he goes. Gives toys to children. Believes everyone deserves happiness and uses his powers to bless everyone who needs it. Becomes dort of a Santa Claus-like figure.

Linde, Divine of Self-Care. She's like the yin to Miliko's yang, the good to his evil. Miliko promotes vanity and self-criticism, while Linde promotes acceptance and loving onesself.

Balthazaar, Divine of Dudes. He gives a voice to all the Regular Joes of Looming Gaia, the middle-class blue collar guys. Not flashy rich men, but the average dude.

Skel, Divine of Ego. He's too busy obsessing over himself to help others. He uses his powers to obtain wealth and gobs of fancy bullshit that helps him feel "above" everyone else.

Javaan, Divine of Promiscuity. Breaks the record for "largest orgy on Looming Gaia" every year for a thousand years in a row.

Elska, Divine of Vengeance. If you piss her off, you can never stop running because she'll never stop chasing. Whoever gets on her bad side is screwed.

Mr. Ocean, Divine of Devotion. He is bound to whoever or whatever he loves for all eternity, forced to protect them with his immortal life. Everyone selfishly seeks his love, and he is so overwhelmed that he's forced into hiding with Salina and Marina. They're like "we told you so, bro..."

Zeffer, Divine of Vampire-Slayers. He forges monsters that seek and destroy vampires. They get out of control, and now they're after him too. He's forced into hiding for all eternity.

Zacry, Divine of Automatons. Can a robot contain a divine soul? I don't know. But if it did, this would change the way people view automatons forever. Zacry would become some kind of Machine-Jesus for all robotkind.

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

Read the Series

[rocknrollsalad]

Steddieholidaydrabbles: Day One - Open Mic Night

🎙️ Steve and Eddie (years down the road) go to the local open mic night because they're both mean girls out living their best lives...together.

🎶 content/trigger warnings: drinking, smoking

🍺 word count: 1330

Across the street and down blocks was the dive bar of Eddie’s dreams. It was everything he wanted his regular spot to be. Active but never packed, great music blasting out of the speakers constantly, occasional live music, and cheap drinks were among the top selling points. 

Rising up the list, though, was open mic night. Something Eddie really thought was going to ruin this place where he and Steve were just about at regular status. They’d worked so hard to be someone worth folding into this weird little area of Chicago they’d moved into a couple of years ago, Eddie wasn’t ready to give that up. 

Instead, it was the perfect mix of talented to absolute trainwrecks. Steve would grab them a couple pitchers of beer and they’d settle into their favorite booth and judge the absolute shit out of the acts. 

Not professionally, of course. Though their thoughts and opinions were brilliant, any act would be lucky to hear them. No, they kept the comments to their booth, giggling into their beer, chain smoking, and laying against each other. The belles of the ball if only in their own heads.

Ages ago, when they couldn’t afford Christmas because Eddie had crashed his uncle’s bachelor pad for good, he told them traditions aren’t what’s on TV or in books. They’re little things you make yourself, the special touches that Hollywood can’t figure out. Wayne had plenty, he was good at working in little things, but now it was time for Eddie to make those moments himself. Or with Steve, technically. 

Maybe the weekly open mic night wasn’t a long-standing tradition but Eddie was already conditioned. He woke up that morning craving cheap beer, even going as far as wanting that last flat cup they always fight over who has to drink so it doesn't go to waste. And that, to him, was tradition enough. 

Steve came home from work still ready to go out but it was mostly for the alcohol tonight. Work had done a number on him and he was ready to forget that he had to show up again tomorrow (and for the foreseeable future) if they wanted to keep a roof over their head or afford nights like this. 

It took a lot for Eddie to work the comments out of Steve. He sat cross-legged in the “corner” of the round booth that everyone else hated sitting at. With its perfect view of the stage, Eddie didn't understand why the place was avoided but thrilled to claim it. Steve was propped up under Eddie’s arm, barely watching the stage, legs stretched out across the seat, and sulking into his glass. Eddie played his part with jokes and running commentary, struggling to get even a groan of agreement. 

Not a part of him cared. Steve still came out and if Eddie took it personally every time Steve was moody and sulking over something Eddie had no hand in they’d have broken up years ago. All Eddie had to worry about now was knowing the line, just how hard to press and needle to bring Steve out of the funk he should have let go of at work. A craft he'd practiced for too long now. He was confident he could fix this

Though tonight seemed particularly rough, Eddie was going to have to get him to talk about it later but back home. In private. He almost had to bust out the ace up his sleeve and order nachos but then the gods smiled on them. 

A biker walked in and right up to the mic. Eddie would have paid so much to see this guy stiff-arm the usual geeks that fill the second hour but he didn’t have to. This time slot was his and apparently everyone knew it. 

With a bald head, beard down to his belt, and the physique of Santa Claus in the off-season, this man in head-to-toe black stood at the microphone and asked “You got my tape?” 

Someone from somewhere said “yes” and left them in silence for probably an eternity. The scene was interesting enough Steve was sitting up now, and they both watched with matching tilted head looks of curiosity. 

This was either going to be the best thing they’d ever heard or absolutely tragic. No in between. Before the track started, they looked at each other and took their bets. Eddie knew, in his bones, this was going to be amazing and Steve naturally took the side of it being terrible. 

Wagers settled, they propped their elbows on the tables and leaned into their hands. Seconds later drums filled the room, and Eddie instantly felt at home. Washed with the peace of familiarity. They went at a speed only known to metal, involuntarily, his head started bobbing along. Ready and willing to take whatever was to follow. 

None of those drums or the piercing guitar riff could prepare them for suddenly recognizing the song. It was Steve who figured it out first, already looking at Eddie with that wide-eyed stare of his by the time Eddie was willing to admit he also knew the song. 

The man on stage, who has now shed his leather vest, sucks in a breath that takes all the air from the room and bends over to hover over the microphone he’s holding with both hands. Looking almost nervous or, at the very least, uncertain. Something that left in a blink as the man called sounds from the depths of hell he starts. 

“Some boys kiss me, some boys hug me. I think they’re okay.” 

Eddie let out a scream, unlike anything he'd ever heard fall from his lips. A reaction so pure he can’t control it or name it. There’s a piece of the sound for being right, they did recognize the song. There’s a much bigger piece for this interpretation of the song. The man took a sugary pop song and made it the most metal thing Eddie’s ever heard. All without changing the pronouns. Had Eddie not met Steve already, he might have fallen in love. 

By the time the second chorus rolled around, Steve was singing every word. He’s figured out the changes enough to keep pace and it was Eddie’s new favorite sight. That mouth moving along to that sound? Yeah, Eddie was willing to forget every bit of math he’d retained just to keep that mental picture safe. 

Eddie, on the other hand, was standing on the seat. One foot on the table, rock fingers in the air, head banging along. Because it’s true, we’re living in a material world and we are all just material girls. The message had never been delivered so beautifully or rang so true. 

As the song faded away with that notorious line, repeating like a new mantra, the biker pointed at Eddie and they saluted each other. Giving a single nog as Eddie recognized the genius this man brought, with that the biker grabbed his vest and walked back out. 

A ghost that would forever haunt open mic night, breezing out the same way he came in and leaving everyone speechless. There was no way anyone could possibly perform after that. Eddie couldn’t even sit to listen if they tried. He was now rocking from heel to heel in front of the table silently begging Steve to acknowledge what just happened. 

He, however, was too awestruck to come up with words. Again, something Eddie loved to see. Filling the void, Eddie pressed his hands to the table and hoisted himself to his tiptoes. “That is now our song. One day, we’re gonna get married and our first dance will be to that but that specific version. I declare it now, you have no choice.” 

Steve nodded. 

“Chug your beer, let's go. I can’t listen to any more music for, like, three hours. We’re taking some sort of vow of silence or something. We're nuns now. I don't even know, man.” 

[sammy-smiles-531]

Personal Project: Holidayze

Designs Pt.1

Today I feel like revealing a personal project that I started back in 2023. I dubbed it Holidayze. A world where famous holiday figures, myths, and nursery rhymes are represented through people who have died from a curse. They now spend their lives together in an eternal purgatory, to bring the joy of their holidays to the human realm… for the most part anyway. Their main hub is this huge castle-like mansion. A lot of these interpretations, specifically those based on holidays, are inspired by my own experience with them. These are all the characters I’ve made so far

Dawn Nouvel-New Years

She’s the story’s main protagonist and the newest guest of the eternal purgatory. The story follows as she attempts to grow accustomed to her new home and her eventual role as the guardian of New Years. She’s very much on the shy side but has grown to be one of the few voices of reason within the purgatory. She gets along fairly well with the others, even though some of them intimidate her. Though she gets along the most with Buddy, Rudolph, and Jack Frost. Buddy and Rudolph are her best friends. She and Jack appear to have a more intimate relationship. Has bruises on her body indicating that she had a rough life before she died. Very existential. She is said to have died during New Years, she doesn’t remember the cause though. Her symbol is the Norse rune Dagaz.

Nicholas Claus-Santa Claus

The appointed leader of the eternal purgatory, though mostly because he was one of the first to arrived. In human life he was an orphan along with his brother, wife, and toy makers they all worked to bring the joy of Christmas to other families. He was also a huge horror movie and comic fanatic. Though his favorite was the movie Alien. Due to his… unfortunate appearance, he prefers to deliver presents at night when he can absolutely confirm everyone in the house is sleeping. He has a magical gift sack that can summon any gift that is on someone’s mind. Not only does he give presents to kids. He also gives at least some presents to the adults. Though if a kid is naughty… he straight up vomits up coal for them. Very fatherly and despite his appearance he had the same jolly personality as most traditional interpretations of Santa. His cause of death was going in to save his brother from a fire at a Christmas Event, only for the building to collapse in on him. His symbol is that of a present.

Valentino-Cupid

The hopeless romantic of the gang. Believes that everyone has that special soulmate somewhere. He has the ability to have someone fall in love with the soulmate he senses is the perfect match. He was modeled after that of a biblically accurate angel. He tends to be very clumsy and slightly over dramatic. Tends to get lost in his own daydreams. He actually does have bow and arrow. If someone is hit by the arrow, they become more romantic and forward, they are also immediately aware of the whereabouts of their soulmate. Valentino just wants to see someone’s happy ending happen. His girlfriend is Cordelia, who appears to be the spirit of Valentine’s Day. His best friend is Pascal. He died the night of Valentine’s Day at the hospital, believed to be because of a broken heart. His symbol is that of a heart with an arrow through it.

Patrick-St.Patrick ‘s Day

The tough and headstrong Irish man. Tends to be a bit hard to read sometimes. Especially with his resting bitch face, unusually loud voice, and how guarded he is. Has a strong Irish accent. Is also the shorter one, though don’t point that out or he’ll whack you with his cane. Tends to like being in the purgatory, as smoking and beer doesn’t affect him as it does when he was human. The only one he isn’t cold to is his wife Mabel. Can do a traditional tap dance, also knows how to play the bagpipes. Also loves gold. His best friends are Sam, Liberty, Mint, and Reese. He is said to have died defending someone in a bar fight on St.Patrick’s Day. His symbol is that of a shamrock,

Pascal-Easter Bunny

His outfit reflects what his job was in living. Pascal was a church priest who would travel in order to celebrate various Easter events. Though now as his current role as the Easter Bunny, he travels using various bunny burrows in order to hide eggs among various towns. A very sweet yet very meek rabbit humanoid. Tends to view his situation as a sign from God that this is meant to be his eternal life. On his off hours he is often seen praying and reading from his travel Bible, thanking God for giving him this role after death Loves his wife Greta dearly and his best friends are Valentino and Cordelia. Is one of the smarter residents and is often praised for having held on to his sanity for this long. He is said to have died in a plane crash while traveling to an Easter event in another state. His symbol is that of an Easter egg.

Jinx Von Sassafras-April Fool’s Day

Jinx is a jester who loves pulling pranks on the various residents and the human realm. Especially during April Fool’s Day. While most of their pranks are harmless, they also tend to be very chaotic. They wear a mask because they love the air of mystery it brings to humans. They’re very flexible and acrobatic. They’re currently in a poly relationship with Mercutio, Gareth, and Asher. Their best friends are Reese and Bridget. They tend to hate authority and also hates confronting their own feelings. They’d rather just have fun, play pranks, and make people either annoyed or happy. They have the ability to emote with their twin tails. All they want is to give a prank performance to the levels that they would do in life. They are said to have died during a prank gone wrong, which resulted in a full blown fight, that ended in them hitting their head on the side of a road pavement, later dying in hospital from their injuries. Their symbol is a laughing face.

Asher von Sprinkles-Birthday

Asher both in life and currently, is a birthday clown. All he wants is for people to have a happy birthday. While he does appear at many birthday parties when summoned, he mostly shows up when he senses someone is alone on their birthday. He wants to be that friend to help celebrate that person’s birthday, offering them gifts and that person’s favorite flavor of birthday cake. He makes a squeak sound every time he walks. He can also summon balloons from the balloon badge in the middle of his bow tie. He loves making balloon animals. Overall a very happy go lucky and air headed lad. He loves baking and making decorative crafts. In a poly relationship with Jinx, Mercutio, and Gareth. His best friend is Reese. The candles on his hat spark based on his emotions. Is said to have died after getting hit by a truck. His symbol is a balloon.

Uncle Sam-4th of July

A pyromaniac. A man who wants to show that he loves the USA. Loves shooting a huge amount of fireworks in the sky in order to celebrate the 4th of July. It is actually rumored that in life he was a war veteran, though it’s a time of his life that he refuses to talk about. He would rather focus on the good parts of his current situation because at least he gets to watch the fireworks of 4th of July. It is rumored that he’s actually closer to a full loss of his sanity than most of the residents. Though thankfully he has his wife Liberty to keep him calm. Tends to be very forgetful. Loves flying in the air, through this he feels truly free. A very patriotic man, when you get past his loud boisterous personality, he’s actually a nice guy to have a chat with. His friends are Thomas and Eliza. Ironically, he is said to have died in a fireworks accident. His symbol is that of a star.

Bridget Corey-Halloween

Said to be a the spirit of Halloween, other than her boyfriend Ichabod. Though she deals with the more “family friendly” aspects of Halloween. A witch with real magic. She enjoys just flying around on her broomstick seeing that everyone’s in good Halloween cheer. She is also said to comfort people and help them feel less scared about the Halloween. Her favorite pastime is handing out candy and telling scary stories. Also loves sewing various costumes. She’s a very eccentric woman, is also a crazy cat lady. Her best friends appear to be Reese, Kris, Asher and Jinx. Can actually be quite unhinged at times. But that’s mostly just her being passionate about Halloween. She and Ichabod were said to have been murdered by someone modeling himself after The Headless Horseman on Halloween night. Her symbol is a piece of candy.

Thomas-Thanksgiving

He lowkey knows nothing about the origins of Thanksgiving. He only knows how his family celebrates, which is usually by big dinner parties and family coming over. As well as watching the parade. Ironically his favorite holiday is Christmas, implying that the only reason he’s Thanksgiving’s guardian cause that’s when he perished. He could honestly not give less of a shit about the holiday. A great chef. Ironically again… his favorite food is turkey. His hands are covered in feathers and his shoes hide his turkey feet. He can do an accurate turkey call. Meticulously grooms his tail everyday. Slightly aloof and has trouble showing emotions, mostly through his eyes. But for the most part he’s very friendly, also has a fatherly flair to him. Tries to show his emotions through his actions since he knows he doesn’t show emotions well. He loves his wife Eliza and his friends are Maribeth, Nicholas, Buddy and (reluctantly) Sam. It’s believed that he and his wife were poisoned on the night of Thanksgiving at a family party. His symbol is that of a turkey hand craft.

Pt.2 will be posted at some point

[wesleyhill]

On “Things Above”

A homily on Colossians 3:1-4 preached at the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Birmingham, Alabama on the Friday after the second Sunday in Lent 2023

Yesterday I spoke to you from the third chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Colossian Christians in which he tells them: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

I wonder how you think about that exhortation. What exactly is Paul asking believers to do? What does it mean to have your mind focused on heavenly realities, rather than this-worldly ones? A hymn that we used to sing in the church of my childhood spoke of “the things of earth [growing] strangely dim” in heaven’s overwhelming, eclipsing light.

But has that ever really been your experience? For myself, as soon as I start trying to tear my gaze away from my house, my family, my job, my concrete experiences in this life and attempt to focus on God and heaven and eternity, I can quickly experience one of two things. The first one is sheer confusion: a kind of blank, inscrutable screen.

Cicero, the famous Roman statesman who died a half century before the birth of Christ, tells a story in his treatise On the Nature of the Gods of the tyrant Hiero who demands that the lyric poet Simonides tell him about what it means for the gods to exist. Simonides begs for a couple of days to come up with an answer. When the two days pass and Hiero asks, “Well?” Simonides responds by asking for two more days. And this keeps going until finally Simonides confesses, “The longer I think about it, the murkier the answer seems.” And Cicero, the one telling the story, concludes that the nature of the gods — who or what and how they are, if they are — is a “very obscure question.”

The Protestant Reformer John Calvin, commenting on this story from Cicero, says that as soon as we begin to try to use our imaginations or instincts to picture God, we will “hold nothing certain or solid or clear, but [will] be so attached to confused principles as to worship an unknown God.”

But this experience of a blank, gray, faceless god can easily transition into a second experience, and that is the experience of fear. Onto the gray canvas there can start to seep, Rorshach-inkblot-like, disturbing images of a God who is cruel, vindictive, mercurial, capricious. Not just God as cosmic Santa Claus but God, as C. S. Lewis said he experienced him in the wake of losing his wife to cancer, as cosmic Sadist. God as not just obscure, but terrifying. Not just as One to be baffled by, but One to flee from.

Here, I think, it’s vital to read Paul’s exhortation in context: “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

Notice: Paul isn’t urging us to try to cultivate some vague, ethereal kind of heavenly mindedness. He’s directing us to think about a particular person — “Christ,” the Messiah, Jesus, the one who died and is now alive with the one he called “Father,” who will come back and heal and restore us and the whole world. It's as if Paul is saying, “When I tell you to think about heaven, I’m telling you to think about that Jewish man named Jesus, who is now alive again and always lives to intercede for you.”

Paul spells it out in more detail in the great poetic passage with which he kicks off the whole letter:

He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers — all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

To “set your mind on things above,” rather than on earthly things, is to think about Jesus. And not just to think about Jesus in some general way but to allow the life of Jesus to affect and shape and define the way you think about God.

This is — we need to recognize — a claim that should sound more shocking to us than it probably does. Rowan Williams reminds us:

Paul is roughly the same age as Jesus, perhaps a few years younger; and twenty or so years after Jesus’ execution, Paul is saying that this person, his contemporary, somebody who was well known to people Paul knew well, is the image of God — that in him, as he just as startlingly puts it 1 Corinthians 1.24, is the power and wisdom of God; or that — as he says in 2 Corinthians 4.4-6 — in his face shines the glory of God, what the Jews called the shekhinah, the blinding radiance of God’s presence. In Hebrew Scripture, this presence is described as radiating so powerfully that it throws people to the ground; it’s like a dense fog of light that you can’t breathe in and you can’t stand in… And that glory, that stifling intensity of presence in holy places, is what you see and sense if you look at Jesus, so Paul claims: a strong claim, to put it mildly. Imagine for a moment what a leap of imagination would be involved in thinking of someone of your own generation and background in terms like that.

There are, it seems, two directions we could go at this point. One would be to think through what it might mean to say about a first-century Jewish man, whom we Christians believe to be now alive forever, never to die again — what it might mean to say that in this one individual human person “all the fullness of deity was pleased to dwell.” That would be to ask the question of “Christology,” the Christian understanding of the person of Jesus of Nazareth as God’s Messiah.

But the other direction travels from the ground up, so to speak: What does it mean now to talk about God (to “set our minds on heavenly things”) if we say that this particular human life and death and resurrection, the existence of the man Jesus from his birth to his exaltation to the right hand of the Father in heaven, tells us the true meaning and essence of what it means to be God?

How would it change the way you think about God, the way you pray, the way you worship and seek to obey God, the way you try to put God’s commands into practice in your Christian life, if you really believed that God is knowable ultimately, finally, climactically in Jesus?

The late Reformed theologian T. F. Torrance worked as a chaplain during World War II. One day on a battlefield in Italy, a dying soldier, only twenty years old, grasped Torrance’s arm and said, “Padre, is God really like Jesus?”

Isn’t that a terribly poignant question? And isn’t it also, ultimately, the question of life? Is the God whom I’m about to meet face to face, the One who made me and will judge me and determine my ultimate fate — is that God really going to turn out to be the compassionate Father Jesus said he is and showed him to be in his healings and his pronouncements of forgiveness and his assurance of mercy? Or am I going to find some more sinister character lurking behind the curtain of Jesus’ life and ministry?

Torrance said it was the great privilege of his life to have spent the rest of his theological career spelling out the answer he gave to the dying soldier on the battlefield that day: Yes. Yes. God is like Jesus.

There is… no God behind the back of Jesus Christ, but only this God whose face we see in the face of the Lord Jesus. There is no deus absconditus, no dark inscrutable God, no arbitrary Deity of whom we can know nothing but before whom we can only tremble as our guilty conscience paints harsh streaks upon his face. No, there are no dark spots in God of which we need to be afraid… There is only the one God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ in such a way that there is perfect consistency and fidelity between what he reveals of the Father and what the Father is in his unchangeable reality… God really is like Jesus, for there is no other God than he who became man in Jesus and he whom God affirms himself to be and always will be in Jesus.

Or as Archbishop Michael Ramsey once put it much more concisely: “God is Christlike; and in God there is no unChristlikeness at all.”

Jesus is, as Paul says in Colossians, the image of the God we cannot see. He is the perfect self-interpretation of God. He is the face of God turned toward us in love.

So, friends, set your minds on things above, not on earthly things — earthly idols, false images, distorted pictures of God. Seek the things that are above, where Jesus Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

To him be the glory, forever and ever.

Amen.

[party-gilmore]

To PROPERLY follow the tradition of Die Hard, considering Violent Night is of course the spiritual sequel bastard love child of it and Home Alone, we now of course need a sequel with higher stakes.

May I propose: Jingle Hells.

[spoilers for Violent Night below]

During the events of Violent Night, an ancient enemy of Nicumond the Red, sleeping/locked away, deep within the earth/ancient vault prison, begins to stir.

His enemy has spilt blood again, for the first time in millenia... He can feel it. The stains of his past seeping into the frigid ground, vibrating the threads of destiny tying the two together.

Enraged, not so much at the fact that his enemy still lives and breathes but more because Nicumond has dared to pretend to be something else, to have hung up his hammer for so long, to have run from their eternal struggle...

After an X year long struggle to free his bonds, fueled by a renewed and raging thirst for vengeance, he BURSTS forth from the earth and streaks across the sky through the glimmering trail of the aurora borealis and a conduit, looking to all like a red comet burning away all the glimmering blue and green.

Santa is unprepared, unready. His adventure a few years past, he is no longer actively repressing his memories and accepts that they are part of him, but has still tried not to tap into the violence any more than absolutely necessary. Perhaps a scene or two of Mrs. Claus recognizing the restlessness in him now that it's been awoken, and doing her best to help him express it - pulling him away between breaks for axe throwing and mead, or some fun flirtatious sparring, a couple of other cute couples scenes that are just... sliiiightly violent. in adorable ways (with I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus playing in the BG) - so that he exercises it a little and gets it out just enough it doesn't bottle up and explode.

But it's not enough to fend off his ancient enemy with multiple millennia's worth of rage and vengeance.

After a brief battle, he's dragged down between the cracks in the earth, between the thin slots in the very dimensions themselves, molten rock sizzling and hissing as the craggy ravines begin to seal themselves up behind to leave only the corpses of his elven color guard littering the room as evidence - but not fast enough to avoid Mrs. Clause, jovially entering the room with a tray of cookies.

The platter clatters to the floor, cookies crumbling and scattering everywhere. She takes in the scene, hand to her heart, eyes darting as her brain processes just what's happened.

Then we hear the music change and see her eyes grow stony cold and those low drums from the Nicumond The Red score on the original OST pick up but it's a slightly different melody/song used for her theme and we get the dramatic montage of her braiding her hair and putting half of it up and now for the first time we see the shaved and tattooed side of her head and strapping her Good Boots on and swapping out the floofy dress for war leathers and furs and she grabs her husband's hammer in one hand and her own ornate axe in the other and it's full on silver haired visible buff strength under rotund fat and I can not stress this enough sexy as fuck

Anyways that's the plot of the second movie, she's gotta fight his minions through a couple layers of Holiday Hell to save her husband being held captive by Some Guy He Literally Hasn't Thought About In Millennia And Honestly Kind Of Forgot About And Can't Even Remember His Name, But Who Is Convinced They Are Archenemies With Massive Beef.

Layers include but are not limited to:

Black Friday at Walmart

Creepy Desatured Foggy Massive Christmas Tree Forest Canopy With Ornament Rigged Up Ass Shrapnel Grenades That Explode in Puffs Of Bright Neon And Shattering Glass And The Sound Of Bells, Having To Leap From Huge Branch To Huge Branch As She Fights With Nothing But Eternal Dark Fog Below Shoild She Fall

Silent Hill Style Abandoned Mall Christmas Village

A Distorted Memory Of A Happy Family Christmas Dinner Designed To Try And Trick Her Into Stopping, To Lure Her With A Dream Promise Of Peace And Happiness And Family And Everyone All Okay And Back Home Together (something something tragic child related backstory? a lost sheep son seeming like he's finally come home? a daughter who fell in battle?) That She Has Manage To See Through And Then Kill Everyone She Loves Even Though She Knows It's Not Real It's Not Real Its Not-

Inside A Snowglobe That Keeps Getting Jostled and Shaken And Turned On It's Various Sides For Sick Matrix Style Gravity Changing Fight Scenes

Interspersed with increasing comical scenes of meanwhile back at Hell HQ, Santa is tied up and bloody and frantically wracking his brain and trying to ask leading questions to figure out who the FUCK this guy torturing him IS without clueing the obvious megalomaniac into the fact he's... got no fucking idea.

The big key point the MOST important part of the movie is the way Santa's face lights up and the way he looks at his wife when she kool-aid man's through wall to save him all bloody and clothes torn and hair in disarray and wild eyes, just the biggest brightest most utterly devoted 'I love a woman who can kick my ass' expression possible in the history of time and space.

[whitecappslll]

Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Dear Editor, I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say that there is no Santa Claus. Papa says "If you see it in the Sun, it is so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? Virginia, Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to our life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus? You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your Papa to hire men to watch all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders that are unseen and unseeable in the world. You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, or even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernatural beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else as real and abiding. No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, maybe 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the hearts of children. Written by Francis P. Church in 1897

Merry Christmas

[delta-m]

The current iteration of Qanon is using gematrix which is Jewish letter numerology which is ironic because of the anti semitism

Anyway here’s a list of English demonic things because they equal 666

A Covid vaccine

A martial law

A Ronald Reagan

A accidental death

A Elon musk

A beating heart

A Christmas

Things with an unnecessary a added to the front are hilarious. Someone calculated Covid vaccine, saw 665 and then added the a to make it 666

Kamal Harris

Or removing an a to make it work. Equally hilarious.

Image of satan

Santa Claus

Red suit, lives in extreme temperature area, this tracks

Deutschland

Damn you country of beer, engineering and pretzels the size of your head

Burnt hair

Honestly, yeah

Nicola Tesla

Does this count for cars?

Billie Eilish

I thought she was cool before

Dale Earnhardt

The wall was in the right

Has wisdom

Old people are wise and are therefore the devil. Don’t respect your elders you’ll be respecting satan

Drag queens

Plural, so individually they’re okay but when they voltron into a super queen no good

Papa Smurf

Eddie lizard

White girl

Encoding decoded

Wait, does this count? I’m decoding the encoded numbers oh no

icosahedron

Eg a d20, especially when it keeps flubbing my death saves

Roll the dice

Watch out Yahtzee, there’s a Satan in your little red cup

The nba finals

Sports ammirite?

God’s family

Sacred church

I don’t go to church because church is satanic

Providence

The protected care of god

Name of Christ’s lord

Eternal lord father god

A god is a satan

god IS Satan!!!!!one!

Give me a sign

The number of the beast might be for you

Commercials

Agreed.

Pictures

👁️👄👁️

French fries

Oreo Cookie

Pinky Finger

Moon sun

Orangutan

US of America

It’s Friday

Plaid suit

[someheroescarryfloss]

TSCS Episode 5

Here thar be spoilers!  No tinfoil hat theories this time around, just a few thoughts about what I liked (and didn’t like).

So...First and foremost, Bernard is here!!!  And yes, they did address why he looks older.  The reason for that...well, let me backtrack a bit and say that it was great to see the character again, and David Krumholtz hasn’t lost his touch!  The sass is there, and something I never thought would happen, we actually got to hear him use a minor swear word.  That’s right, folks...they let Bernard say ‘Damn it’!  Which, to be honest, is in no way out of character, they just never let him do it before. XD

Elves having their own version of Rumspringa was a cool idea (the name Kribble-Krabble being somewhat less cool IMO), but...You know, I kind of wish they had said that Bernard chose to live in the human world and left it at that.  I would have liked it if things were left a bit more open-ended there.  And I’m sorry, but it just came off as weird to me that they would pair him up with Vanessa Redgrave as sort of a throw-away not-a-joke-but-a something.  But I choose to view the series as a separate entity from the movies, so I’ll take it as it is and leave it at that.  It was just great to see Bernard again, and now on to the Yule-Verse!

Now, this part I really liked!  I prefer the idea we fanfic writers had going (and can you blame us for jumping to that conclusion?) that all the Santas were human, and they all ended up with the job in different ways.  For Scott to be the first human Santa, and for Carol to be the first Mrs. Claus EVER because the other Santas wanted them to have kids that would inherit the North Pole was...well, it’s fine in theory.  But since Elves are apparently now ethereal beings whose very existence is tied to Christmas spirit (as if Elf myths hadn’t existed in some form or another for literally thousands of years), those kids would have to leave the North Pole to find spouses of their own in the future to keep it going.  And there doesn’t seem to be a plan in place for that.  These guys are just making it up as they go along!  Isn’t that dangerous to do when your very existence hangs in the balance? XD

So, apparently Elves just came into existence as they are.  No ageing unless they chose to leave, no childhoods, no parents...apparently they can get married (Noel and Betty)...but for Elves it’s just kids playing house and calling each other by pet names.  I mean, it’s cute, but at the same time, if they’re eternal and frozen as they are, why include it at all?  Yeah...I didn’t care for that one and I’ll be disregarding it in my own stories, lol.

Krampus was cool!  I didn’t expect him to just be that time period’s version of Santa, and I definitely didn’t expect him to be a pretty okay dude!  Not evil in any way, just kinda scary-looking.  Taking toys instead of giving them, maybe as a reflection of the times?  Eh...well, I mean, having every Santa reflect the time period he’s in sort of makes sense.  It’s a more kid-friendly idea than the actual myth of him being a Christmas demon that kidnaps naughty children!

Cal...buddy...that girl will never speak to you again.  I mean, she will because storyline, but IRL that would have been it.  Sorry, kiddo, but your crush thinks you’re nutso. :(  But I really want to see them resolve that happily!  

Having Cal and Sandra inherit magical powers from having been born and raised at the North Pole?  LOVED IT!  I love the idea that high concentrations of magic would have an influence on humans if they’re around it long enough!  I thought getting Butter the horse to fly simply by believing in himself fit in with the whole concept of ‘believing is seeing’ and it’s important to believe and so on...but I also hope that the parents out there will have a conversation with their kids!  

No, little Timmy, you can’t fly just because you believe you can.  Stay off the roof, don’t jump from the top of staircases, your superhero cape is cool but it’s also the blanket Mom and Dad brought you home from the hospital in, and if you jump, it’s back to the hospital you go!

And NOOO, Betty!  It’s both heartbreaking and a mercy that Noel just missed her!  If he was that much of a wreck when Santa merely wished to retire, imagine if he had walked in on that!  I’m really counting on things being set right in the next episode, and the ‘disappeared’ Elves popping back into existence when Christmas spirit is restored (OMG!  You disappeared Crouton!  You bundtcakes!).

Welp, I’m off to grab a supersized coffee and get ready for work, but I want to end this by saying that Gary is starting to grow on me with his gruff old man attitude and his Hershey’s Kiss tinfoil hat! XD

[mask131]

Cold winter: Frank Baum’s Santa Claus

FRANK BAUM’S SANTA CLAUS

Category: Childhood literature

I) Youth

A long, long time ago – in a time that Baum’s own great-grandfather could “scarcely have heard it mentioned”, somewhere beyond three hundred years from Baum’s time – existed a grand, mighty forest where many of the “immortal races” (fairies, knooks, ryls, nymphs) dwelled, and this forest was called the Forest of Burzee. Most notably, the Forest was the home of the wood-nymphs and their queen, named Queen Zurline. One day another immortal named Ak, the Master Woodsman of the world, who “sees everything and knows more than the sons of men” visited Queen Zurline, and told her about a naked baby he found at the edge of the Forest of Burzee, crying and abandoned as a lioness was about to devour him. Ak, always taking pity on the innocent and helpless, ordered the lioness (named Shiegra) to feed the baby with her milk instead of devouring it, and to warn all of the beasts and reptiles of the forest to not harm the child. But one of the wood-nymphs closest to the Queen, named Necile, out of curiosity and boredom, decided to break the “Law of the Forest” that forced the wood nymphs to stay deep within the woods, all to take a look at the babe Ak talked about. Taking pity on the dimpled, chubby, pink thing, she took it in her arms and brought it back with her in the depths of the wood, to her Queen and Ak. She asked them the permission to keep the child and raise it as her own – a decision which was met with skepticism, as the Law of the immortals insisted that mortals shouldn’t dwell or live among immortals. But Necile defended her case so well that Ak authorized the first (and last) known relax on the Law of the Forests/Law of the Immortals, allowing a human to be adopted by an immortal. The child was named “Neclaus” (though Necile usually called him “Claus”) – which the narration points out has been misunderstood by humans as “Nicklaus” or “Nicolas” – and was raised by the loving and sweet wood-nymphs who kept the forest healthy and safe, fed with the milk of various animals. Ak’s decree protected him from all animals, making him live in the wild without fears, and news of his existence attracted the other immortals: he rode on the shoulders of the Ryls, protectors of the flowers and plants, who loved his laughter; he pulled the beard of the Knooks, guardians of the beasts of the world, who admired his courage ; he slept among the Fairies, guardians of mankind, who loved his innocence… And so the boy grew happy, peaceful and content, friend to all immortals and respecting all of their hard work on the natural world.

Yet something disturbed greatly the wood nymphs… Claus, being a mortal, grew. He grew bigger, older, stronger, from a babe becoming a child – and among ageless immortals who never aged and for whom time was measured in eternities, it was a confusing and puzzling experience. The young boy that was Claus learned everything about the secrets of the trees, the language of beasts, the songs of bees, the history of the owls and the poetry of flowers, and when Ak the Master Woodsman returned from visiting all of the forests in the world (which all belonged to him), he found Claus a sturdy, stout-legged and broad-shouldered stalwart youth, “as high as Ak’s shoulder” (which isn’t actually very tall, Ak being quite small). Ak was satisfied to see the boy was still brave and innocent, but he then thought about the situation and asked Claus to come with him in his next journey throughout the world, so that the boy could see and meet humanity, his natural kind. They rode together through the air around the globe, and Claus was amazed at learning he wasn’t the only one of his kind – he was amazed at seeing cities, and the great masses of humanity, and all their differences in appearance, jobs and emotions… But he took a particular note of the children, and discovered how some of them had to play in the streets and eat scraps because they were poor, while other wore fine clothes on cushion beds because they were rich, and yet both were similarly happy and innocent… Ak taught (and showed) Claus death and what being a mortal meant, he showed him hard work and warriors in wars, he showed him commerce and how gold was used as a currency, and he told Claus of his own story, how he was found and adopted… This made Claus think a lot about his own life, and gave him a wish to help all those of his kind that didn’t know the same blessings he had lived with.

Recognizing his ignorance of the world, he understood that as a man he couldn’t live in the eternal fairness, youthfulness and innocence of the immortals – as a man he had to take his share of struggle, and doom, but also his share of the mission of helping other, and he made it his life project to go into the world to help the children of mankind as he was helped by the immortals, and to make sure they were happy. He announced his decision to all the inhabitants of the Forest of Burzee, and Ak agreed to this (for it was his intention to set him upon such a path), but he also reminded him that as a child of the Forest raised among immortals he would be privileged and mightier than other men, set apart from regular humanity, and he still would keep the friendship and help of Ryls, Knooks, Nymphs and Fairies. So Claus left the Forest of Burzee, and made his home in a valley nearby – the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, between rolling green hills, with in between a brook surrounded by cowslips, daisies, dandelions and daffodils.

II) Manhood

Claus built himself a small wooden house in the Laughing Valley with very own strong arms (and an ax from Ak himself) and lived there a simple but happy life, frequently visited by his numerous immortal friends. He frequently left the happy vale to visit the numerous human villages beyond, and there made friend with children and parents all around thanks to his merry nature and natural kindness. His mission was to spread happiness, as he had sworn, and he made sure to try to bring a smile to all, but especially children (with whom he always played) and all the unfortunates (the poor, the abused, the crippled and the ailing…). The only place the merry fellow wasn’t admitted at were the palaces of local lords and barons. His first winter at the Laughing Valley Santa Claus got a visit from Jack Frost himself, another one of Claus’ immortal friends – but Claus convinced him to try to spare the children from his “nipping” of noses, ears and toes (see my post about Jack Frost). Said winter was long and heavy with snow, which prevented Claus from visiting the children of the region – and to occupy these long, dark nights alone, Claus started to sculpt little wooden statues and figurines.

These small statues – at first of a cat that visited Santa Claus – deeply pleased the children due to how real they looked, especially when his friend the Ryls decided to help him by providing him the same magical paint they used to color the flowers. These small wooden cats became the first “toys” Santa offered to children to play with – and he promptly started sculpting more of them, imitating various animals (but always mild ones such as squirrels, rabbits or deer – he decided it after frightening accidentally a girl with a realistic lioness statue). He distributed the toys to the sick and suffering children he met, or offered them to the brave kids who went to his house asking him for some, which gave him the reputation of a “fabulous toy maker”. Now quite busy making toys to please all of his old and new friends, Claus welcomed the help of his immortal friends – the Knooks offering him the softest wood, the Ryls their best colors and the Fairies all the best carving tools they could find. He was so happy to have found an occupation that could make children happy that he started to laugh, sing and whistle all day long, honoring the name of his vale.

One day the rich daughter of an arrogant lord came to his door and asked Claus for one of his toys – for, despite having everything she needed, she didn’t have a toy as only Claus made them back in the days. But this caused Claus a great dilemma… On one side he refused to give her a toy, since he only gave them to the poor and the unfortunate so they could have something to play with and be happy – but at the same time he recognized that he had made the vow to make ALL the children happy, and that refusing her a toy did make her sad… So he asked her for a delay and went to seek council into the woods of Burzee, from both the wood nymphs that had raised him and the Queen of Fairies (fairies being the immortals taking care of humans). Both agree that a child stayed a child, despite their riches that were just like an “outfit”, and that deep down all children were alike and had similar emotions, so a rich girl could be as lonely and sad as a poor one, and it is Claus’s duty to make all children happy despite their social status. As a result the little girl received a toy – but one different from the other, a small hard-clay statue of Necile, Claus’ wood-nymph foster-mother, and he called it a “dolly”. This term became popular as other kids asked for similar humanoid figures – even though it eventually shortened to “doll”. And while Claus first made them in the image of wood nymphs, he then made the “dollies” in the shape of babies upon noticing how the little girls acted like nurses or mothers towards them, and finally he imitated the appearance of the rich little girl that had asked her for a toy, even learning how to make little princess dresses with silk brought by the Fairies.

Everything was well and good… Until the Awgwas came. The Awgwas were a race of terrible and gigantic beings only filled with hatred, who elected as their king the most horrible among them – they were neither mortals nor immortal, rather standing in an in-between, but were invisible to humans, and used this to their advantage. For the greatest pleasure of the Awgwas was to corrupt children, by influencing them into quarreling between each other, or tempting them into disobeying their parents to the point of endangering themselves or making themselves sick. It was said that in the time of Claus’ adulthood most of the naughty children on earth only were such because of the Awgwas. As Claus made more and more children happy with his toys, the Awgwas started to lose their influence over the young minds, and decided to get rid of Claus. First they kidnapped him one night as he was asleep and left him far away in a country filled with deadly beasts – but his friendship with the Knooks, masters of all beasts, protected him. In retaliation the Fairies, Wood Nymphs, Knooks and Ryls all placed their protective seals over Claus’ house, preventing the Awgwas from entering inside. But the Awgwas tried a second time – kidnapping Claus as he was on the roads to deliver a gift to a child unable to walk, and then locked him up in a sealed grotto far away. Hopefully he as saved by the Fairies, and understanding they could not kill Claus the Awgwas decided to rather remove the toys themselves. Every time Claus tried to deliver one of his creation, the Awgwas stole them away. Claus was forced to lock himself up in his house, constantly creating more and more toys he could not deliver, storing them until the Awgwas stopped their harassment… But eventually Claus grew too sad to have his life’s mission removed from him, and complained to Ak the Master Woodsman himself. Ak promptly went to the Awgwas, invoking Claus’ exceptional nature and his friendship with the Immortals to order them to stop their wicked deeds… Which only led the Awgwas to insult the power of the Immortals and swear to kill Claus. In return Ak declared war upon them… And this was the Great Battle Between Good and Evil, opposing all the Immortals to the Awgwas and numerous monster allies from around the world… No need to tell you the Awgwas were entirely wiped out, and so Claus could return to doing his usual job.

To get rid easily of the enormous amount of toys he had accumulated during his confinement, Claus decided to stop doing individual deliveries. He rather put it all into a big bag, and made a longer, wider trip around the lands surrounding the Valley, stopping at every village to provide his gifts to the children – then returning home, working hard to rebuild his stash (he had extended his toymaking to making miniature music instruments) and preparing a new bagful of deliveries. Some people mocked him, thinking him silly to dedicate so much time to the childish “toymaking”, or due to having selfish minds not understanding why someone would devote himself to pure charity without anything in return ; but even them respected how kind and devoted he was to the children’s happiness. However, by the time he was ready for this next tour of the lands, he found himself in the middle of a winter deeper and snowier than the previous ones. To travel despite the harsh conditions he enlisted the help of two deer friends of his, Glossie and Flossie, who agreed to pull a sledge Claus built for himself – as long as they returned to the Knooks of Burzee with whom they lived by the next dawn. These deer were the first to be called “reindeers”, because Claus placed ropes on the antlers as “reins”, pulling them left and right for them to understand where they needed to go. Given Claus had been busy all day preparing himself, he was forced to do this delivery by night – and since all the people were asleep and had locked their houses (and he had to return the deer by daybreak), Claus decided to slide into the houses by the chimneys to leave his gifts anonymously in the houses. Thanks to his great fame and sole ownership of the toymaking industry, all the children knew these mysterious nightly deliveries were his work – even though people were quite confused, wondering how he could enter into their locked houses. This eventually led to many people believing that Santa was a “saint”, for such a kind man with such great powers could only be a saint – which led to people calling him “Saint Claus”, then “Santa Claus”. In fact, parents promptly started to tell naughty or disobedient children that they should pray the good Santa Claus for forgiveness, because a child that doesn’t repent is a child that won’t get any of his pretty toys. Claus himself actually disliked this kind of talk – he gave gifts to children because they were little and helpless, and because he loved them, he knew that the best child could be naughty sometimes and that naughty child could be good at some moments. But he couldn’t stop this talk, that soon gave the idea that Claus only gave gifts to good children.

Now, this whole “reindeer” delivery business actually got Claus into troubles with a specific Knook, named Will Knook. He was an ill-natured Knook and the one that had imposed on the reindeers the “daybreak” limit, but since they returned one minute after daybreak they were considered “late” and faced a severe punishment. Claus, to protect his two deer friends, promptly called for his other Immortal friends and Immortal authorities. This led to a big discussion with the Prince of the Knooks himself, and with Will Knook (who hated the idea that the deers would be used “like horses”, which for him degrade these noble animals). Ultimately the reindeers were spared and an agreement was made: Santa Claus could select up to ten deer, who will pull Claus’ sledge and help him perform his deliveries of toys… BUT only one night per year, on Christmas Eve, and they shall return to their kind before daybreak on Christmas Day. PLUS the other Immortals had to offer special gifts to these reindeers: the Fairies have to place a charm on them to protect them from harm, the Ryls to feed them magical plants that would give them extended strength, speed and longevity, and the Wood Nymphs to have them bathe in a magical water that will make them even more beautiful than regular deer. And so Santa Claus got his ten reindeers: Glossie and Flossie, Racer and Pacer, Reckless and Speckless, Fearless and Peerless, Ready and Steady – all exceedingly beautiful with their slender limbs, their spreading antlers, their velvety dark eyes, and their smooth coat of fawn color spotted with white. Each Christmas Eve Santa rode on his sledge through the winter night, singing and laughing, spared from Jack Frost’ nipping thanks to their friendship, while for the rest of the year he prepared toys for his next yearly delivery (and expanded his sleigh as he had more and more toys to deliver).

The Gnome King, who had children of his own, made a deal with Santa Claus – for ten following years Santa offered special toys to the Gnome King’s children, and each year in return the Gnome King offered Santa a beautiful string of little bells for his reindeers – so that in the end all of his ten reindeers were covered in merry little bells. Santa Claus’s unselfishness and dedication to making people happy made him more famous than the kings, warriors and scholars of the time. One day he decided to hid some of the toys he delivered into the stockings of children (placed to dry near a chimney because they had used them to dress up a snowman earlier), to cause them an extra-surprise – but these children told it to their friends, who told them to their friends, and one thing leading to the next all children started to hang their stockings near the chimney in hope Santa Claus would leave toys into them.

Thanks to his set of magically-enhanced reindeers, Santa Claus started to work in more and more countries than before. He extended his gift deliveries to more than toys – he sometimes offered children sweets, candies, fruits and edible delights that the Fairies brought him ; and when he reached some of those warmer countries that didn’t have snow for Christmas Eve, he placed little wheels on his sledge to still go on. One day, Santa Claus came upon a poor family that lived in a tent, in a plain without any trees – their children were miserable and unhappy due to their parents being neglectful and ignorant ; so to make them happy, Santa decided to plant a tree near their tent one night, and placed on the trees little candles, some of his prettiest toys, and several bags of candies (which was quite a fast process, as Santa Claus always was a fast worker). It was the very first Christmas tree, and Santa Claus liked it so much that he started to plant several others during his yearly visits, which prompted other people to create their own. And finally one day, all the old lords and barons that had refused him entrance into their castles and palaces died ; and their younger sons and heirs, who knew of Santa Claus’ pure and kind heart, allowed him entry into their domains. This was the moment Santa Claus truly “won the heart of everyone”.

III) Old Age

Santa Claus carried on his work for many years onward. His kindness, his simple life and his hard work gave him strength and health ; and living in the Laughing Valley where everything was peaceful and merry avoided to have his years shortened by stress and trouble. But in time he still grew old. His hair, and his long beard of golden-brown turned gray, then white. He got wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, and he grew quite fat – given he had never been a tall man, his extra-weight led him to “waddle like a duck” instead of walking like a normal person. But he stayed lively, jolly and gay, his kind eyes still sparkling like in his youth. Still, as time went by, Santa’s friends and Claus himself realized it was time for him to make his final deliveries. He stopped whistling, he stopped making toys, he spent his days in his home, dreaming without strength.

One day Ak, the Master Woodsman, visited the Laughing Valley and saw the state his good friend was in. So he called upon a council of all the princes, princesses, queens and kings of the Immortals, a council of all the Immortal rulers in which he asked for the Mantle of Immortality to be given to Santa Claus. The Mantle of Immortality was a magical robe created in the beginning of times by the “Supreme Master” – and any mortal wearing it would become one of the Immortals. However it was the sole artefact of its kind, and could never be used by another person again. Many Immortals raised objections precisely due to the rarity and only possible use of this item, but Ak answered that if the item had been made in the first place it was to be used, not left purposeless; and that if Santa Claus, a good friend of the Immortals and one of the most virtuous men to have ever existed, wasn’t the perfect candidate for the Mantle, then no other mortal would ever be worthy of it. This convinced the Council. The Mantle was taken and brought to Santa’s house: the Spirit of Death, which was by the side of the old man, was repelled by the robe’s magic, and when the Mantle was placed upon him, it fused with his being. His body stayed unchanged – but he regained the vigor of his younger years, and was now free forever from the burden of death or further decrepitude.

The Immortals added as a final gift a small group of selected Immortals, an assortment of Fairies, Ryls, Knooks and others, to act as his personal assistant – and they became of great use when humanity made chimneys smaller and narrower, or removed them altogether to replace fireplaces with stoves and furnaces, for these Immortals could pass through walls as easily as if they were air, and thus deliver the gifts efficiently. And with time Santa Claus, who now had the entire world to cover, ultimately decided to enlist all “good parents” as his “deputies”, merely providing them with the gifts and toys he brought while letting them place the gifts in the stockings or under the trees – and Santa always knew what the children wanted, for his magical assistants took away the letters children wrote to him listing their desires…

And so was born jolly old Santa Claus.

- - - - - -

“The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus” is without a doubt L. Frank Baum’s second most famous work, behind “The Wizard of Oz”. Published in 1902, this children novel found a second fame thanks to several televisual adaptations, be it a Rankin-Bass stop-motion movie in the 80s or a Mike Young animated movie in 2000. There even was an anime made in Japan!

As I said before in my several Santa posts, this book was actually an important step in the “making” of Santa Claus as an American holiday figure. Of course, Baum never invented Santa Claus, and merely expanded an already-existing figure - but it was still an elusive, unclear figure that other illustrators and writers had slowly started to shape and condense out of various traditions in the 19th century. Baum was the first one to actually decide to build a true "character" out of Santa Claus, by giving him a background and a life-story, by making him the hero of adventures beyond just a holiday figure ; by offering explanations for his various traits and the traditions of Christmas. Even more, Baum actually invented an entire mythos around Santa Claus! A mythos that however, unfortunately stayed quite obscure - as despite this work's popularity, which helped boost the figure of Santa Claus, its numerous details and inventions were never picked up by popular culture - the most jarring example being for example Santa Claus' reindeers names. Another fun fact: While conceived as a separate work, later due to poor sales Baum did a marketing move by including his version of Santa Claus into his series of Oz books, even having Santa Claus appear in the fifth Oz book, "The Road to Oz"

[viciouslyfilthy]

Okay so, I believe it's time to infodump about the other Season Spirits, and since I ended uo not having the time to tackle the Autumn Spirit for October, you'll be pleased to know I can and will talk about him here since- spoiler alert- he just so happens to be in a relationship with the Winter Spirit;

Jack O' Lantern is the Autumn, or- well, most commonly known as the Halloween Spirit. He's a blob of neon green slime that can change shape at will, he often has a humanoid shape just to be able to wear his cape; his head is pretty much a floaty pumpkin with a face carved on it (his tongue is a whole candle p much); he's probably the most chill/friendly spirit out of the rest. Unlike Sün, he just lives to celebrate and play mean-spirited pranks on people. He absolutely adores his own festivity of course, he scares people in every way possible just for laughs.

Wherever he goes, all nature around him withers and dries up. This is something he and his lover kind of bonded over since it saddens them both that they can only kill off plants and nature instead of rejuvinating them or making them bloom like the other two spirits can.

And this brings us to the Winter Spirit, whom goes by many names known in a lot of traditions- such as Saint Nick or Rudolph, though as if recently, he prefers to be called Xmas, simply.

Funny enough he was originally meant to be the spring spirit, but given that he would need to take a physical form he wouldn't have enjoyed living in for all eternity, he rejected it and instead preferred to become the winter spirit. You'll be surprised to know that Xmas absolutely loathes his own season (he has a Seasonal Affective Disorder), each Winter, the empty snowy paradise his season creates washes him up with melancholy since he finds the enviroment often very gloomy and lonely. The cold just adds to that loneliness part.

The festivity within his season is actually the one only thing that brings him joy, he's a massive fan of christmas lights and christmas trees since they add a little touch of happiness to the bitter cold, empty land he brings wherever he goes. And the fact that he's often referred to as an entity that brings joy and gifts really touches his heart- long story short he's pretty much the 'Santa Claus' in the flesh in my universe, though he doesn't resemble the big old man in white and red at all (in fact, in this universe, Xmas often gets a LOT of snow stuck in his fur, thus making him look like he has a white beard; and this ended up becoming a misinterpretation with people's portrayal of Santa); he's pretty much a humanoid reindeer with candycane antlers who often has a red glowy nose (he gets colds really easily, especially since he lives in the North Pole)

Another thing that brings him joy of course is his beloved Jack <3 and you best believe they HAVE sometimes attempted to fuse both their holidays together- their Halloweens and Christmas go together like peanut butter and jelly !!!!