#st nicholas

[tomicscomics]

12/27/2024

He's about to deck your halls.

The saints' RPG adventure continues every Monday and Friday through December!

___

JOKE-OGRAPHY: 1. Continuing from the last few cartoons, an angel is running a fantasy RPG for some saints in heaven, namely Sts. Thomas Aquinas, Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, and Nicholas of Myra. At long last, they've all introduced their characters. Surely they'll finally get to play the game now! 2. St. Nicholas was an ancient bishop whose legends of gift-giving became the inspiration for the modern Santa Claus. The name "Santa Claus" even comes from a foreign pronunciation of "Saint Nicholas." In stories, Santa lives at the North Pole and is known for having a magnificent white beard. In fantasy, dwarves are also known for their beards, but also for their compound-word surnames ("Beardhammer," "Oakenshield," "Hearthstone," etc.). Thus, St. Nick makes a dwarf character named Klaus (as in Santa Claus) Northbeard. 3. St. Nick is also known for slapping a priest named Arius at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. At that Council, Arius shared his heretical view that Jesus did not have the same, equally divine substance as God the Father, but was instead a creation with a similar but inferior substance. According to legend, St. Nick, who was a bishop at the council, was so enraged by Arius's heresy that he slapped the man in front of everyone. Thus, in this cartoon, Nick references his impulsiveness and temper and creates a barbarian character, because -- according to RPG-logic -- barbarians can channel their rage into superhuman strength. 4. At the council, the fathers used the Greek term "homoousios" (same substance) for the orthodox belief that Jesus was of the same substance as the Father, and the term "homoiousios" (similar substance) for the Arian belief that Jesus was of a similar but inferior substance. In this cartoon, Francis notes that Nick's character description could technically apply to both Nick's character and also Nick himself. To this, Nick says they have the same substance, but Thomas argues that they have similar but different substances, because Nick is not the exact same as his character. To describe this difference, Thomas is about to use the word "homoiousios." However, Nick dislikes that word due to its use by the Arians, so he throttles Thomas while shouting, "Why iota...!" He shouts this because it sounds like, "Why I oughta...!" which is something people shout when they're flying into a rage (as in, "Why, I ought to strike you!"), but instead of "I oughta" he says "iota", because the difference between the words "homoousios" (which he likes) and "homoiousios" (which he hates) is a single Greek letter: an iota. 5. As Nick assaults Thomas, the angel shouts, "Hey! No PvP!" In game terms, "PvP" stands for "Player vs. Player," describing games or game modes where the players face off against each other instead of working cooperatively or fighting against fake enemies and Non-Player Characters.

[ekbelsher]

I watched Violent Night and it has somehow merged in my head with Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather, and now I can’t see Father Christmas as anything but a haunted, world-weary demigod in serious need of a wash. (Also, David Harbour as Santa is dead sexy. Fight me)

[enchantedbook]

Postcard of Wiener Werkstatte 'Nikolo and Krampus' by Jozef Diveky, (1887 - 1951)

[eghostsofdeadchildren]

Old Saint Nick!

[zal-cryptid]

You’ve probably had this question before but

If Krampus has Toyland as a thing he uses to punish the naughty, then does Old Nick have an equivalent for the nice? Or is it just gifts

He's a WONDERWORKER. He makes and delivers gifts that change lives. They often take a humble form. A rattle. A wooden horse. A doll. Sometimes music, other times small miracles. But don't let them fool you. These little things create a domino effect. Their work is unseen by adult eyes. Only those with childlike wonder can see the magic these things bring and the influence they have on their lives.

Take, for instance, a helpless infant. They have no control over anything in their life, but the rattle gives them control over something. It changes something in them. Sculpts their minds.

Now, imagine if these toys were alive.

[toyastales]

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

[andallshallbewell]

[wgm-beautiful-world]

Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Kronstadt, RUSSIA

[dontforgetukraine]

St. Nicholas Day by Nikita Titov

[ahopefulbromantic]

To celebrate the feast of St Nicholas this year me and my friends were punching heretics together!

We went to our karate training as usual and then we tried to find a heretic among us. It turned out we were all heretics in one way or another (for example i was a heretic according to the Eastern Orthodox Church) so then we beat each other up! It was so fun, highly recommend! ☺️

[my-tiny-notes]

[tomicscomics]

12/02/2024

What classes do YOU think they should pick (NOT CLERIC)?

The saints' RPG adventure continues every Monday and Friday through December!

___

JOKE-OGRAPHY: In most fantasy RPGs, a "class" is your fantasy archetype. Barbarians rage and attack with melee weapons, wizards cast spells from afar, rogues sneak around and backstab, etc. In these games, a cleric is a holy magic-user. They worship a god, and they cast blessings and miracles in the name of that god. Of course, that makes it the perfect class for a saint, and since this series is about a group of saints playing together, of course they all try to pick it. However, these games are usually more fun if everyone picks a different class so the party has lots of different powers, so when the angel running the game catches on, he tells everyone to pick something besides cleric.

[angeltreasure]

Dear St. Nicholas, help us to remember that all good gifts come from God. St. Nicholas, pray for us. Amen.

[xxdunce-demonxx]

I don’t know how to feel about making Santa Clause hot

[rei-ismyname]

The Rarest Mutant of All!

Iron Man and Doctor DOOM shouldn't get too excited about their stockings unless they like coal, although DOOM has never met a powerful being he didn't want to power jack. Maybe in the future. During the King In Black event, the two men were working on various solutions to the Knull, God of Void (maker of Venom/Symbiotes) covering the Earth, when they heard bells and screeching.

Ho ho ho! Neither man believed in this most secretive of mutants, but they believed their eyes. Santa is real in 616! (And yes, he's a mutant, lol. I eagerly await the one shot where sentinels head to the North Pole to kill his ass.)

Unfortunately, he wasn't at his best. Symbiote Claus? Venom Claus? Another childhood nightmare for Tony? A mutant hate crime? All of the above, probably. Comics are so ridiculous, I love it.

[zal-cryptid]

How long did it take for Santa and Krampus to go from enemies to lovers? And who initiated the polycule?

In my canon, Nick and Kramps first met in the Alps sometime around the turn of the second Millennium. Krampus was terrorizing a village one day, so some Christian converts called upon the Saint to come and protect the children from the demon. Krampus is technically a nature spirit, not a demon, and so Nick was having trouble figuring out how to stop the beast.

Fortunately, a young Befana was dispatched by Perchta to fetch Krampus and found the two duking it out in the town square. Thinking quickly, she created chains and shackles out of Nick's shadow, which he used to bind him successfully.

Perchta decided that it would be an apt punishment for Krampus to remain shackled to the Saint and be his twisted reflection. Krampus dispised his situation at first, expecting to be treated like some wild animal to be tamed or put on display. But Nick always treated him with respect. He always treated him like a fellow man. Perhaps it was Befana's mediation...perhaps it was Nick's "I could fix him" attitude...maybe it was even Krampus' "I could make him worse" attitude...but something eventually clicked between the three of them.

By the 14th-15th century, their love for each other became apparent. I think...I think Nick would have been the one to admit his feelings while Befana would have been the one to propose a polygamous relationship.