#yep that is art i have certainly made

[crow-parts]

some drawings i've done | 2022

[hermitadaymay]

WELCOME TO HERMIT-A-DAY MAY 2024!

I'm thrilled to bring this challenge to you all for the second year in a row! Hermit-a-Day May is a challenge inspired by Hermitober, but with a twist: instead of theme prompts, we focus on a specific Hermit every day!

THE RULES: 1. Any type of fanwork is welcome so long as it features, or is otherwise inspired by, the Hermit of the day. 2. Tag #hermitaday to have your fanwork reblogged, or submit it directly to the blog (Please note that while I recognize the value of fanworks involving more mature themes, and they can certainly count toward challenge completion if you're keeping track for yourself, content on this blog will be kept "PG-13" so that all may enjoy.). 3. Fanworks for one Hermit posted after the day rolls over to another Hermit's day (per the US Central time zone) will be reblogged in a big queue in June. 4. I am not interested in seeing captions or tags in which you disparage your art/skills. We're all improving all the time. Be kind to yourselves.

WHY SHOULD I PARTICIPATE? To show love to every Hermit, from the most to least subscribed, from those who have been on the server from day one to those who only joined this season! And because challenges are fun! And because, this year, there's an extra dimension to the event: a fundraiser for Gamers Outreach, featuring art incentives by @rendiggitydog and @belmarzi.

GRAND TOTAL INCENTIVE: For every $150 we raise for Gamers Outreach, belmarzi will make 10 seconds' worth of animatic, featuring as many Hermits as she can fit into the time frame.

INDIVIDUAL DONATION INCENTIVE: For every $50 (formerly $65 - changed 5/3) you personally donate to the fundraiser during the month of May, Rae rendiggitydog will draw you a shaded flats commission of a Hermit of your choice.

WHO’S RUNNING THIS? Hi! My name is Luna! You can use she/her, he/him, ze/hir, or ro/ros/roseself pronouns for me. My main blog is @as-if-unreal. Yep, before you ask, it really is just me, but to be fair I've had a lot of help.

BONUS SUNDAY PROMPTS EXPLAINED UNDER THE CUT

TFC - May 5th While he may no longer be with us physically, TFC left behind him a legacy of quiet care and good humor, and Hermitcraft would not have been the same without him.

FRIENDS OF HERMITCRAFT - May 12th There are plenty of shows, podcasts, competitions, other servers, and more woven into the internet ecosystem around Hermitcraft, and plenty more people involved in them: just as a small number of examples, Season 9's Rift opened up to a whole server of Emperor friends, and there are always allies to be made in MCC and enemies to be made in the Life Series. Today is for celebrating all of those who, while they may not be Hermits themselves, exist and entertain in proximity to them.

FAVORITE "ALT" HERMIT - May 19th HoTGuY and Poultry-Man. Helsknight and Evil Xisuma. Renbob and - look, you get the idea. This server is full of theater kids ready to toss on an alternate skin and play into a brand new character at the drop of a hat. Who's your favorite?

GROUPS AND COLLABS - May 26th This month is all about one Hermit a day... but what we really love is when they interact with each other. What does your favorite duo or group of Hermits get up to together?

[clockwayswrites]

City Pigeons Bleed Green Part 19

(I know I'm tech on a break this week, but I could use the serotonin.) masterpost

“He understands that I am coming over?” Damian asked as he inspected his pencil case to make sure he had everything he needed. Father would be picking him up from art class to fetch lunch.

“Yep, Danny knows we’re bringing lunch over,” Grayson answered. His thumb swiped idly across his phone.

Damian took a slow breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. He loved Grayson, but it did not mean that the other was not an idiot sometimes. Sometimes family meant loving someone even though they were an idiot, Damian reminded himself.

In an attempt to start again, Damian stayed silent until he was sure that he had all of his supplies in his messenger bag. “I meant, does Danny understand that it is specifically me bringing the food? Does Danny understand who I am?”

“Oh, Dami baby, yeah,” Grayson said, voice softening in a way that made Damian bristle. At least Grayson finally set his phone down. “Jay talked to him about it and is still there at the apartment with Danny now. I’ll over over to give Jason a break and be there when you and Bruce come. Do you want me to double check with Danny before you arrive?”

Damian frowned as he adjusted the strap on his bag.

“Yes,” Damian answered after a pause and when he could meet Grayson’s eyes confidently. “I believe that the redundancy would not go amiss.”

“Okay, yeah, I’ll be sure to double check before you and Bruce get there.”

“Acceptable,” Damian said and let to find Pennyworth for his ride to class.

Doing art calmed him. That knowledge had been a surprise at first. While Damian had, of course, learned about art as part of his cultural and historical training, actually being able to engage in art was was something entirely knew. Something that was available to Damian only because of his Father’s allowance.

No, that was not quite right. Father didn’t allow Damian to do art, Father simply wanted them to be happy and art is what made Damian… perhaps not happy, but at least more at peace.

Peace had been such a rare thing in Damian’s life.

He still didn’t quite know what to do with it.

Annoyingly, class that day didn’t quite manage to tamper the churning in Damian’s gut. He could (and would) ignore the feeling, of course, but that did not mean it wasn’t there.

Or that it didn’t grow as Damian was waiting for Father to pick him up for class.

“You have put in the order we discussed?” Damian asked as he buckled his seatbelt.

“Yes, it should be ready shortly after we get there,” Father answered. “You were out quickly today.”

“Tch,” Damian looked away from his father’s searching gaze and focused on the world outside the window. He hated to have tells, but in a family of detectives it was impossible not to. “If it unlikely to be ready, perhaps we should stop by the Turkish bakery that is near. Surely there are items there that are not too sweet for his diet.”

“That’s a nice idea,” Father agreed with a thoughtful hum. “He may have never had them before so we can get a little selection of what you think he needs to try.”

Damian worked not to physically freeze. That felt suddenly like a great deal of responsibility. Which was silly, it was simply food.

“That is a sound idea,” Damian said instead of trying to face his sudden worry.

It was even more overwhelming in the face of all the options. Damian certainly spent far too long making a selection, but Father doesn’t rush him, so Damian tries to allow himself the time. The food is easily acquired after. Far too quickly that they were in front of the safehouse door. Father rested one hand on the back of Damian’s back, a bracing presence, before he knocked.

“Coming!” Grayson called needlessly through the door a few moments before he it swung open. “Hey guys, come in. It’s all good.”

Damian resisted the urge to nod to that, took a breath, and crossed the threshold.

Danny sat on the couch. The fabled day saving blue bear was clutched in the boy’s lap; clutched too tightly. Damian shot Grayson an accusatory look. Clearly it wasn’t ‘all good’.

Grayson rolled his eyes and took the box of sweets from Damian to take to the kitchen with Father.

Damian was left alone with Danny.

At least it gave Damian time to properly study the other boy. Not blood son. Clone. Better and worse at once— a copy of Father. It was clear how much Danny looked like Bruce, a redundant thought now that they knew Danny was a clone, but it crossed Damian’s mind all the same. It was odd to see the still slightly sunken cheeks and too prominent collar bones on someone that looked so much like Father, so much more like Father than Damian did.

Idly, Damian wondered if Danny would ever reach Father’s stature, what with his past. Damian himself had started to grown into wild shoulders and broad chest that would someday be his body over the last year, but Danny had not.

Danny, at least a year older, was still far too slight.

But older.

The oldest blood.

Would he try to take Damian’s place now? It would only be just, with how poorly Damian had behaved when he first arrived, especially to Drake. And Damian’s brash attacks, Danny would have the right to his. He was oldest…

“Are… are you alright?”

Damian’s head snapped up at Danny’s words. When had he lost his focus?

“I do not know,” Damian said, too honest words tumbling across his tongue without his permission.

He didn’t know.

[loudclan-clangen]

in light of fiercestripe potentially dying in the next update, I just wanted to say how much I adore how you write her. After running away from a group who seems to only value women as mothers, I really appreciate that you still kept motherhood as a key part of her character. Like, she learns how to be independent and becomes an AMAZING warrior (she has fierce in her name for a reason!) but she's still a great mom. Not only that, she still loves BEING a mom! Her love for fighting and her love for her kits are never seen as contradictory and I really enjoy that about her character. Motherhood itself is never framed as a bad thing and the cats who want to be moms are never framed as lesser for wanting that, and I just find that really cool :)

Thank you! I tried very hard to make sure that Fiercestripe's storyline came across this way. I think it's very poetic that she had daughters who she gets to watch grow into competent warriors of their own accord.

They searched for Fiercestripe for a couple of days, but not to the extent that they're pursuing these current she-cats. They might have caught up to them the first night or two but two healthy adult cats would have easily been able to out maneuver and outpace them. The culture of the farm-cats has gotten much more extreme following Fiercestripe's and later Thorn and Frost's departures. Loudclan territory is more than two weeks travel from the farm, chasing someone that far means that they're either pretty desperate or incredibly angry.

You're certainly right about that! Here's a sneak peak sketch:

Yep!

It was the rogue attack patrol event, as many of you have figured out, but it could have killed anywhere from 1 to all 5 of them, so you'll just have to wait and see!

If you made it this far, hi, thank you! I've got a question:

Warrior's stated policy says that they allow selling of fanart that doesn't include official art or symbols, and clangen has stated that they don't mind so long as you do not use game assets so

No pressure, I know Loudclan's just a tumblr blog and I have no ideas of grandure, I just thought it might be fun!

[genericpuff]

Are there any characters from LO that you actually like/don’t mind

I have a lot more appreciation for Minthe now with all the hindsight that Hades and Persephone are often way worse than she is. She still had a lot of issues on her own end that she didn't deal with well, and while I would have liked to see her actually develop properly beyond her struggles both internal and with Hades, I think the best thing we could have asked for was Minthe being written out of the story the way she was. At least then Rachel couldn't continue to use her as a punching bag (she just tagged in Leuce for that, sigh)

Helios is great, zero issue with him. This scene is a lot funnier and more relatable to read in hindsight:

like ofc Helios is gonna rat on her, he's the fucking sun who's been around for thousands of years, why would he put any more of his limited freedom on the line for macaroni art LMAO (and yes, Rachel herself confirmed that Persephone made macaroni art cards for Helios, it's like... yeah okay it's cute but Persephone and Demeter still hid a crime from Zeus, the sentimental value of the birthday cards have no bearing on that LOL)

Thanatos is also in the camp of "characters I appreciate more in hindsight and wish got better character development". Adding in the 'twist' that he was Hades' adoptive son after we just spent nearly two seasons watching Hades treat him like just a lowly employee who didn't deserve his respect was certainly... a choice. And I don't think I should have to explain why it was a very very BAD one LOL

Hephaestus is also great, I know he's an extremely minor character whose only real role was to delete the blackmail photos from Apollo's phone but, like. look at him???

amazing. precious. sweet boy. and it has absolutely nothing to do with my absent older brother issues why would you say that- (｡•́︿•̀｡) that said, there are still flaws in his design (his prosthetics especially because he's constantly wearing running blades for every occasion which I feel like Rachel only chose because they "looked cool" and were "easier to draw" but like. his poor hips and back, that's gotta be uncomfortable 😭) but even just his face on its own is ironically one of the most unique character designs across the entire cast, not for any sort of outstanding or creative reasons, you just can't possibly mistake or color swap him with anyone else LMAO and though I can't feasibly give credit to Rachel for writing a neurodivergent character - because I have no clue if that was her intention here, afaik she's never really talked about it - I can wholly relate to him being the introverted computer guy who just wants to be left alone with his work and his airpods, like that's literally just me LOL

And of course nothing Rachel could ever do would make me hate Demeter, I think it's so ironic and tone deaf that Rachel claimed she "didn't get" why Demeter was so hated by the fans and didn't "agree" with the comparisons to Mother Gothel, but like... Rachel literally wrote her that way. And while she did "resolve" it, it wasn't with any actual empathy towards Demeter's own side of things, it was just bandaids on top of bandaids and then going "yep! She's all better now! That's character development!" Out of all the characters who deserved better, she was the one who deserved the most 😔💓

[thana-topsy]

I’ve lost count of who all has tagged me in a WIP Wednesday post, so THANK YOU all my beautiful tesblr buddies. I was very busy yesterday, and today was hectic as well, so I’m rolling in late.

I’ll double whammy my wips and include some art and some writing. The brainrot continues, and I believe it to be terminal at this stage.

Urag with an undercut. Urag With An Undercut.

And here's a snippet from the fic I'm currently working on featuring these guys again some more:

---

“Thought I might find you up here.”

Enthir took another long drag from his cigarette, his eyes trained on the lights of Winterhold, winking like distant stars across the dark chasm that separated the city from the college. He exhaled, the wind snatching away the smoke as soon as it left his lips. “Were you looking for me?”

Urag leaned against the wall to his right, upwind. “It’d been a few days since I’d last seen you slinking around the grounds.”

“Business in town,” Enthir said by way of explanation. “Been staying at the Hearth.” 

He saw Urag study his profile out of the corner of his eye, but Enthir didn’t look at him. “There’s more to it than that.”

Fuck you, old man, Enthir thought. He sighed and put the rolly out on the stone wall before flicking the butt over the side, watching it fall down into the darkness. “Got a visit from an old… friend.” He tongued the inside of his cheek. “Troubling news.”

“It never ends, does it?” Urag said with a sigh.   

“Apparently not.” Enthir arched his back, stretching until his sternum popped. “I’ll tell you more. Inside, though. Not gonna freeze my nuts off over all this.”

Urag followed Enthir back to his cramped quarters in the Hall of Attainment. He wasted no time making himself at home in one of the chairs, toeing off his boots and propping his feet up on Enthir’s bed. Enthir paced around the room, organizing some of the bits and bobs he’d left lying around—shuffling papers into stacks, dropping loose jewelry into various boxes. 

“I’ve long known the Guild has been going through hard times,” he started to explain. “Thanks to the near-endless business of our colleagues, I don’t have to rely on them as much as I used to. The new Arch-Mage had me nervous for a while there, but I think we’ve reached an understanding.”

“Wickwing is no Savos,” Urag agreed. “But she’d make an enemy of herself if she tried to push you out of the college. She’s smart enough not to mess around with the established order of things, so long as it’s good for the school.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” Enthir muttered. 

“Did you step away from the Guild when it started going downhill?”

Enthir paused, looking down at the book on the top of the stack in his hands: The Nightingales by Gallus Desidenius. “You know when I stepped away from the Guild. And why.”

Urag grunted, but said nothing else on the matter. “So why’s their business your business all of a sudden? Just wash your hands of them. You’re doing them a favor, the way I see it. A fence this far north?” He clicked his tongue in lieu of finishing his sentiment. 

“That’s where this friend comes in.” He shoved the books one by one onto the shelf over his desk. “Karliah.”

“Karliah.” Urag repeated the name, as if thumbing through the dusty catalogs in his mind for the association attached to it. “Ah, right. Gallus’s woman.”

A needle of pain in Enthir’s chest made him wince. “Yep.”

“Didn’t she–?”

“Nope.”

Urag grunted again. “Well, that certainly shakes things up.”

[craziechwiv]

The Paladin and their Succubus Frenemy - 5 Pt.1

Early in the morning, as Ruby was sleeping soundly in her new bed, she was rudely awakened by the large pounding of one of her teammates. If she had to guess on who, it'd be the...short redhead one...what's her name again?

Dwarf Nora: Ruby? RUBY! It's Nora, time to get up~! We're needed by Priestess Glynda!

Ruby: W-Whuh? Why?

Dwarf Nora: IT'S IMPORTANT NOW GET UP BEFORE I BUST DOWN THIS DOOR!

Ruby: Right, right! I'm getting dressed now!

Ruby sighed to herself about the immediate wakeup call from her teammate but sucked it up. If she'd want her stay among their ranks to be permanent, then she'd have to act the part and be ready for anything they go through. Even if that means saying goodbye to her precious beauty sleep, although she doesn't need it to gain Jaune's affection anyhow~.

Ruby took some time to stretch out her wings and claws, as she then retracts them back as if they weren't shown at all. Within due time, she got dressed in her standard outfit, putting on some basic armor on top of it, and put on some arm braces in quick haste and exited her bedroom. As she ran through the hallway towards the living room, she saw her team already waiting for her.

Jaune was in his usual Paladin armor, a iron like chest piece with arm and leg bracing strapped tightly on him. He held his shield in one hand and sword sheathed but ready for combat. Ruby had to admit it made him look more hotter when he was in this than his regular hoodie with a knitted bunny pattern on it. Although, both made him more adorable~.

Pyrrha was decked out and had a serious look on her face, wearing an iron type of gladiator wear with some stitched in cloth around some lining. She held onto her spear tightly in one hand and her shield in the other.

Ren was getting done wrapping his hands in wrap while Ruby saw one set of light green daggers besides him. He was also dressed in cloth clothing with flower petals stitched onto the center. Ruby had to admit, the petals were a nice touch.

Non-biased opinion of course...

As for Nora, she was rocking a lamellar helm with some armor matching it. However, she also wore a secondary layer of quilted cloth that was underneath the lamellar. Once she was done dressing up, she grasped a large hammer in both of her hands, before yelling out some war cry? Ruby couldn't tell as she covered her ears from how loud she screamed.

Paladin Jaune: Great, you're here. You're ready to go?

Reaper Ruby: Yep! Just quick question, what's happening? I only got that it's important and we're meeting a Priestess.

Champion Pyrrha: We can't say for sure, but if we're called in together, it certainly isn't bandits this time.

Reaper Ruby: So, demons?

Monk Ren: That is what we're pointing towards at the moment. But let's go to the Priestess first. we can't waste any more time.

Paladin Jaune: Right, c'mon guys! If it is demons, we'll think of a plan on the way.

With the confusion out of the way, the team all rushed out of their dorm and headed straight towards the main area of the Cathedral. Ruby looked around and saw many members of the place, the art on the walls, and of course the stained glass depicting the four heroes. Again, she'd had to admit they we're doing well here. She had to remind herself to 'reward' Jaune on asking her to join their team.

Before she knew it however, they approached a pair of doors guarded by some knights. The knights opened the door, letting the members in one by one. Before Ruby could enter, one of the knights stopped her, raising his sword as she raised her hands up on instinct.

R. Knight: I haven't seen you 'round here. State your rank her!

Reaper Ruby: I'm with them, I swear! I-I'm a new member, ask the leader!

The Knight turned his head towards Jaune who nodded his head back at them. The Knight looked at Ruby intensely as if he was peering into her soul but sheathed his sword and let her pass into the room.

R. Knight: Apologies.

Reaper Ruby: It's okay, I would be paranoid too.

After that brief hiccup, the group arrived into a large room, with many tables and chairs arranged in corners. In the far back was a lone woman, reading a note on her desk as she looked distressed. As she looked up, she saw the team and Ruby approach her. She sighed, taking her attention away from the note and stood up, walking towards them. The five stopped in line, with Ruby stumbling of course that led to a snicker from Nora, and the Priestess stood across from them.

Priestess Glynda: I'm glad you all could make it in short notice, not to mention on your day off as I apologize for. But we've got a note sent to by a scout of a nearby settlement.

Monk Ren: What's the state of the scout?

Priestess Glynda: He is being treated now, but he was severely harmed. It's a miracle he had the strength to endure it, nay, even walk such a distance for our help.

Paladin Jaune: Poor guy...

Priestess Glynda: Indeed. I'll cut to the main problem since you all possibly already figured it out on the way here. It is demons, a bulk of them. From what the note said, their warriors and those lending a hand managed to slay a decent chunk of them, but there is still at least 20 more roaming the settlement. They've seeked shelter in a cabin and barricaded it. They don't know how long they can last, and they have some of their fighters severely injured with limited supplies.

The team all stood still as statues as Ruby heard it all intently, trying to remain as professional as possible.

Priestess Glynda: You all know what must happen now, save those poor souls and make sure each of those vile demons is sent with a mark from your weapons.

As the Priestess finished her orders, her gaze peered onto Ruby, who jolted. She walked over to her and stared at her for a reasonable amount of time, making the demoness in disguise scared before she spoke again.

Priestess Glynda: I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met yet. Are you a volunteer adventurer here to help or...?

Paladin Jaune: Actually, she's our brand-new member!

Priestess Glynda: Really?

Reaper Ruby: Uh, yes! I am here to help out with whatever I can. Although, I may not be as efficient as the others, I can still fight!

The Priestess showed a slight smirk towards Ruby but backed away from her, clapping her hands together.

Priestess Glynda: Well, that's just wonderful to hear we still have some people not in it for money nor fame to help save others. I welcome you to our ranks. What is your name?

Reaper Ruby: Ruby, Ruby Rose ma'am.

Priestess Glynda: Well, I hope you survive your first mission. It'd be a shame to lose such a bright spirit in these times...

Reaper Ruby: Trust me, I intend to.

Priestess Glynda: Good. Don't break that promise. Now, all of you better make haste towards the settlement! It is north-east of here. No telling how long it has been since the attack but save and salvage whatever you possibly can. And make sure those vile menaces are put in their place.

With her last bit of orders being said, the team nodded in unison before making their way out of her quarters, leaving the Priestess to ponder to herself.

Priestess Glynda: Hmm, Rose. That name...It's been a while since I've heard it. I guess that wench did birth an offspring like she said she would. Let's hope she doesn't stray the path her mother did, or else.

Next Chapter >

[tomorrowusa]

« Donald Trump thinks that we should trust him on the economy because he claims to be very rich. But take it from an actual billionaire; Trump is rich in only one thing – stupidity. »

— Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, speaking Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention.

That was just one of many zingers the governor lobbed at Weird Donald.

Trump is certainly not a highly successful businessman. He's a nepo baby who got a huge bundle from his wealthy real estate developer daddy and stupidly squandered it on useless failed projects. Savvy or stable geniuses don't declare bankruptcy 6 times.

Trump's big break was getting that gig on The Apprentice. He portrayed a successful businessman in the series. Sadly, a lot of Americans have difficulty distinguishing between so called "reality TV" and real life.

The New Yorker published a long article about Trump and The Apprentice in December 2018 and related how TV producer Mark Burnett helped create the Trump success myth. Here are two key excerpts.

Trump had been a celebrity since the eighties, his persona shaped by the best-selling book “The Art of the Deal.” But his business had foundered, and by 2003 he had become a garish figure of local interest—a punch line on Page Six. “The Apprentice” mythologized him anew, and on a much bigger scale, turning him into an icon of American success. [ … ] "The Apprentice" portrayed Trump not as a skeezy hustler who huddles with local mobsters but as a plutocrat with impeccable business instincts and unparalleled wealth—a titan who always seemed to be climbing out of helicopters or into limousines. "Most of us knew he was a fake,” Braun told me. "He had just gone through I don’t know how many bankruptcies. But we made him out to be the most important person in the world. It was like making the court jester the king." Bill Pruitt, another producer, recalled, “We walked through the offices and saw chipped furniture. We saw a crumbling empire at every turn. Our job was to make it seem otherwise."

Yep, "a crumbling empire" is a great metaphor of where Trump was prior to The Apprentice. He's no self-made man but somebody who egotistically leveraged the mythology which Mark Burnett created around him.

Random idiots on the street would have done better than Weird Donald if they had gotten that much money from a rich daddy.

^^^ They left out my favorite: Trump Vitamins – fortified with B and S.

[embyrinitalics]

What a Surprisingly Thoughtful Defunctland Documentary Taught Me about Writing Fanfic

In case you weren't aware, Defunctland (Kevin Perjurer) is an artist and documentarian whose delightful films cover the strange histories of theme parks and themed entertainment (my favorite is the FastPass+ retrospective). I just finished watching one of his videos, and I found the conclusion so inspiring that I wanted to jot down some impressions.

I didn't think a documentary about trying to track down the composer of the Disney Channel theme song would lead me on a deep dive into artistic identity and legacy, but here we are.

So without spoiling the ending, the film concludes in part with various artists (and even the filmmaker himself) introspectively discussing the complicated relationship between an artist, what he creates, and the legacy he want to leave behind.

Usually an artist hopes to be remembered for something meaningful and lasting, something "serious," probably the culmination of years of labor that they would consider to be their best work. For a composer, they might imagine a grand piece played in a concert hall, or something similarly complex. Almost certainly not a four note jingle played between commercial breaks.

Kevin himself admitted to having difficulties reconciling his love for his work and the films he creates with his disappointment with his outward facing identity: a YouTuber and Content Creator, who gets called pretentious for trying to identify himself as an artist, filmmaker, and documentarian.

Part of what's put forward in the film is that maybe we need to stop obsessing over how grandiose or serious the work we're remembered for is, which is really a thing of ego and largely outside our control. Maybe what we need is some humility, and to learn that what's important isn't how fantastical the work was, but the amount of joy it brought to people.

It got me thinking about being a fanfic writer. I've never had anyone call me pretentious for claiming I'm an artist, but I've felt like I am. And I have had people tell me that I'm "wasting my talent" writing fanfic and that I should eventually outgrow this hobby and do real writing. It's made me timid to tell my friends that I write, and made the pride I feel when I finish a piece a tad tarnished.

But if I step back from the notion that the value of a piece of art is determined by predefined measurable parameters, instead of by the passion, talent, and love and dedication of the craft poured into it by its maker and the joy it sparked in others, maybe I'd stop pooh-poohing the stuff I make—THE FANFIC I WRITE (louder for the people in the back!)—and treat it like the lovingly-crafted, handmade, one of a kind, fresh-squeezed out of my brain SPARKLY WORK OF ART THAT IT IS.

And the same goes for you! So, uh, yep! That's it. That's the post.

Mmkay bye!

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Fossil Novembirb 14: Lost in the Woods

Eurotrochilus by @iguanodont

Even though parts of the landscape were opening up, the forests of Europe weren't done yet - in fact, many began transitioning to the drier temperate forests we know from Europe today! This transition through the Oligocene would have major consequences for bird evolution - I mean, why else would I bring it up? The formation of the first permanent ice sheets in Antarctica made the world drier, and in turn lead to many of the European Islands of the Eocene connecting with one another, forming an actual continent. Well, sub-continent.

So we saw h ow birds were adapting to the plains - how did they adapt to the temperate forests? Well, by more modern groups appearing, too! In fact, this was a busy period of evolution for most animals, as early forms gave way to modern clades and the early adapations that make those clades unique begin to pop up.

Aviraptor by @otussketching

Eurotrochilus, known from Germany during the Oligocene, is a prime example of this phenomenon: it looks almost identical to living hummingbirds, but - unlike living hummingbirds - it was in Europe, not the Americas! Though it wasn't quite a modern hummingbird, having long finger bones like ancestral forms, it had the adaptations needed for feeding on nectar and hovering while foraging for food. As a pollinator, it would have been a key component of the forest ecosystem, helping to pollinate flowering plants and keeping the forest growing. It was also exceptionally common, and may have lead to many plants co-evolving with hummingbirds in the Eastern Hemisphere - so that when hummingbirds disappeared from the region, the niche was left open for the passerine Sunbirds to one day fill it.

We also start to see more and more flighted birds of prey, like Aviraptor. Though small in size, it had long slender legs and sharp talons, and was thus the first raptor adapted for eating other birds as prey - to capture them in the air mid-flight. Sure, it mainly ate small ones, but we all have to start somewhere! And, with all of those lovely hummingbirds and early passerines and barbets around, it certainly had enough food to eat.

Rupelramphastoides by @drawingwithdinosaurs

Yep, I said barbets - the earliest known barbet-like bird comes from the Oligocene European Forests, Rupelramphastoides. One of the smallest members of the Toucan-Barbet group, it had a lot of very modern traits from the group for its early evolution - including long and slender foot bones like living Toucans! It had a small beak, like barbets, and squat wings for flitting about between the trees. Like its living relatives, it probably ate fruit - which would have been plentiful - as well as insects.

Wieslochia, which I discussed on Passerine day, was also present in these forests - it was just a great place for modern tree-dwelling birds to really get their start! Relatives of hoopoes and hornbills, like Laurillardia, were also present - and had long wings and tails, probably for display in addition to movement. Palaeotodus was present in these forests as well as in the savannah, indicating that it was flexible in its preferred habitat - like the living todies of the Caribbean today. Why todies today are only limited to the Caribbean islands, however, remains a mystery.

Oligocolius by @quetzalpali-art

Mousebirds haven't been limited to their modern range yet, either! Though not a Sandcoelid, Oligocolius was a weird Mousebird with the hooked bill of a modern parrot! So, clearly, Mousebirds were experimenting with lots of different niches prior to the modern day - and this is a neat example of convergent evolution to boot! It had a crop, unlike its living relatives, which allowed it to digest tougher plant material. It was common in its environment, found both in the forests and in more lacustrine and coastal areas, indicating it was flexible in this changing world - an extremely helpful adaptation as the ecosystems evolved!

Primotrogon, an early relative of trogons, breaks the pattern of "Like Modern Relatives but Slightly Off" that we've been seeing with these birds - unlike living trogons, it had long wings, a short tail, and small eyes! In addition to it's weirdness, we actually know the color of this bird - it had green secondary coverts, with grey secondaries and primary coverts, though the color of the primaries is not known. Given the rareness of green in animal colors, but how commonly it comes up in birds, this is another example of that phenomenon!

Primotrogon by @albertonykus

Tree dwelling birds aren't the only birds that live in forests, and they aren't the only ones that underwent radiation during this period of environmental change. A weird group of "shorebirds", the Buttonquails, first appears in this ecosystem in the form of Turnipax. Like quails, they are small round ground dwelling birds, but weirdly, their closest relatives are gulls and sandpipers! Turnipax seems to have already been much like its modern relatives, and its possible that the lower diversity of landfowl allowed other avian groups to fill these niches. Rupelornis, a relative of albatross, also lived in the forests of this time - and probably was an ocean going bird, living like modern storm petrels and plucking food carefully from the surface of the water. Like other sea birds, it may have been in forest habitats for the protection - for nesting, rearing young, or other activities. It's a lot easier to hide in the trees than it is to hide at the beach!

This time of environmental turmoil gave dinosaurs new opportunities to diversify - and required flexibility to do so, as the landscape ebbed and flowed between savannah and forest much as it does today. Alas, the climate would not remain stable, and as we continue through the Cenozoic, more and more ecological turmoil will continue to have lasting effects on the evolution of living dinosaurs.

Sources:

Mayr, 2022. Paleogene Fossil Birds, 2nd Edition. Springer Cham.

Mayr, 2017. Avian Evolution: The Fossil Record of Birds and its Paleobiological Significance (TOPA Topics in Paleobiology). Wiley Blackwell.

[sneezemonster15]

Hi

was sasuke serious when he wanted to kill naruto at orochimaru hideout?

did he wanted eliminate team 7 with kirin?

and I saw some ss shippers claim that he didn't hug naruto, it was just a foreshortening...

😑

No it is not foreshortening.

Hi. Foreshortening is an art technique where an object or a figure is rendered from a certain angle, usually an unusual angle, which highlights its distortion; it's basically a visual perspective. Kishi certainly is very fond of rendering his drawings from weird angles. He uses other techniques as well, like fish eye lens technique, which is also used for visual distortion, it can be used to highlight an expression or a mood, or to establish emphasis or to create an eerie/menacing effect. It used to be quite popular in films at one point of time, it's not anymore. They are used for very specific scenes nowadays, and aren't as ubiquitous as they were once. Anyway. What would be a good example of foreshortening and fish eye lens? This.

Don't get tangled with SS's delusions and false information. They will say anything to sound smart but ultimately, it makes them sound really dumb.

Now look at this.

Where is the foreshortening? Listen to me carefully, don't doubt yourself so much, trust your instincts, they are there for a reason and Kishi's work only encourages them, any good storytelling does. SS will always be wrong. I have not seen even a single one of them say a single rational thing YET. Just brand it on your brain and enjoy the manga as it is meant to be.

Foreshortening is about visual perspective but it doesn't change the actual action. It has nothing to do with that. It's only a way of looking at something. Sasuke is very obviously embracing Naruto. His hand is Holding Naruto's shoulder and he is close enough to be able to whisper directly in his ear while their bodies are clearly touching properly.

Was Sasuke serious about killing Naruto in their reunion scene?

Now what's important to notice about this reunion is that Sasuke didn't go looking for Naruto. Naruto came looking for him. If Naruto hadn't tried to get in Sasuke's way, Sasuke won't have attacked him. Just like vote one. If Naruto hadn't followed Sasuke with ALL his might, Sasuke would have left Konoha without confronting Naruto. Which means that Sasuke only feels pushed to 'cut Naruto down' when Naruto waylays him. Because seeing Naruto coming after him does funny things to Sasuke. All his intentions about getting strong and following his ambition take a backseat. Seeing Naruto weakens his resolve and he tends to lose grip on his composure. When he sees the person he loves despite his better judgment, he tends to make all the wrong decisions, he becomes a self saboteur.

These couple of chapters were funny and kind of bittersweet because ONCE again, we get to see how Sasuke just CANNOT help himself when it comes to Naruto. And these few chapters only help to underline the fact that Sasuke simply is frustrated, not so much with Naruto, but his own resolve when he sees his 'one and only....friend.' Lol. It's really a pattern with him, like I have written here.

Anyway, let's get into the meat of it.

So Team Kakashi arrives on the scene and Sasuke notices Naruto and his gaze is stuck on him.

So damn much emphasis. Right away, the reader's attention is monopolized and MADE to focus on the tension between Naruto and Sasuke because of the bubbling anticipation. We know how they separated at the end of vote one, and we know it was very painful for both of them. We have so many questions. Are they answered? Yep.

Look at the visual language. They don't have to say anything and yet the reader can viscerally feel the tension between them. Naruto's angst and yearning. Sasuke's more stoic features frozen on Naruto's visage like a magnet. Kishi certainly knows how to render roaring emotions into the characters without having them say a single word. That's just a testament to how good an artist he is.

So after Sasuke acknowledges the presence of the team, he proceeds to mock Sai who has just tried to assassinate him, and whom he correctly interprets as his stand in, by stating how he wanted to protect the bond between him and Naruto. To which, Sai responds by saying that he has changed his mind about killing Sasuke because of Naruto. Naruto reminded Sai of his bond with Shin, which brought about his change and he decides to do his own thinking and not follow rules blindly.

And this affects Sasuke. Look at his face. Sasuke knows Naruto has that effect on people, because he experienced it himself. We only get to know this in chapter 698, but Sasuke clearly admits that seeing Naruto always reminded him of his bonds with his family, just the same as how Naruto reminded Sai of his important bond, Shin. So when Sai tries to bargain with Sasuke about protecting Naruto and Sakura's (lol) bonds with Sasuke, Sasuke tells him that was exactly the reason he cut them off. Meaning, he tried to get rid of anything, or at least attempted to, that came in the way of his goals. Which is exactly why Sasuke says this.

That "personal ties cause confusion....and make you weak."

He tells Sai that he has cut off those bonds and he only has the bond of hatred now, the hatred he has for Itachi.

The truth is that he is not entirely accurate in his statement, heh. And Naruto catches it.

He tried to kill Naruto in vote one but couldn't do it. But regardless, he claims to Sai that he cut those bonds off. Well, he cut them off with Kakashi and Sakura. But you see, he never cut it off with Naruto.

Which is exactly why, Naruto is PUSHED to say this.

Naruto righteously asks him if he wanted to really cut off those bonds, why didn't he kill him off at the valley of the end? He certainly could have. Very easily too, Naruto was unconscious. Naruto also knows that Sasuke couldn't do it because he was afraid. Meaning, he knows Sasuke didn't want to lose Naruto because he cared for him, he couldn't bear to lose Naruto. And look at Sasuke's face when Naruto very emphatically and angrily screams the sentiment out. He is perplexed, obviously a little vulnerable.

He switches his self preservation mode on to balance it out (Sasuke doesn't like to appear vulnerable) by acting stoic, and so he tells him that he spared Naruto on a whim, but Naruto isn't really buying it. Now, we know that Sasuke is lying about the whim part. It's ooc for him. And anyway, it makes no sense.

However the deed is done. A crack has appeared on Sasuke's tough exterior, Naruto has made it happen. Like always. Heh.

And so what happens. Sasuke glides down to hug his precious.

And then he flirts with him. Yes. Flirts.

Sasuke - Didn't you say your dream was to become hokage? What are you doing here following after me when you could have used this time training for it?

Subtext - Do you like me or something Naruto?

Naruto - How can I be a hokage if I can't even save a 'friend'?

Sasuke - Pff

Subtext - Lol. You are such a child Naruto.

When Sasuke glides down and embraces Naruto, it registers itself remarkably in the reader's mind. Why? Because Sasuke has already been established as a person who isn't touchy feely. In part one, it's only Naruto he finds himself comfortable with, physically. He likes his personal space otherwise. Why would he willingly hug Naruto and speak like some femme fatale? Kishi obviously wasn't trying to portray this action of his as platonic. Certainly not in addition with all the flirting.

Did Sasuke want to kill Naruto?

Well he never wanted to kill Naruto for the sake of killing Naruto. He only attempted it because Naruto caused his goals to get blurry. He fogged up his plans for revenge. Sasuke cannot think straight when Naruto is around. Hehe. It happens when something that you want stands directly in opposition to something/someone you like.

Regardless, he didn't come at Naruto to kill at this point. If he wanted to attack Naruto, he could have efficiently done it in other ways. Don't look anywhere else. All the pertinent information is in these couple of chapters themselves.

This is a Sasuke who has trained with Oro for two and a half years. Who knows all the ins and outs of fighting techniques. Look how he analyses and handles Sai's and Yamato's fighting techniques in a matter of fact way. What impression and information does it give the reader? That Sasuke is skilled, and confident as fuck too. Hell, the reason why Yamato gets skewered by Sasuke is because Sakura tries to show off and attacks Sasuke. He stoically proceeds to attack in return. And had it not been for Yamato, Sakura would have been a goner. Like always, someone needs to rescue her. Naruto, Kakashi, Yamato, Obito, Lee...heheheh.

But when with Naruto, he makes a whole show of unsheathing his katana, taking his time, as if savoring these moments with Naruto, and as expected, is stopped.

He just wanted to feel close to Naruto. Feel his presence closely. He has met him after two and half years after all. Remember how crushed he looked being separated from Naruto after vote one? Why wouldn't he want to get close to Naruto? After all this time of not seeing and missing his usuratonkachi?

He could have chidori streamed him right away, he wouldn't even have needed his katana to begin with. Like he did later to Sai and Naruto. Naruto was obviously incapacitated by it. But he chose not to. He chidori streams both Sai and Naruto, stabs Yamato, and then stares and keeps staring at a struggling Naruto. And then proceeds to enter his mind space where he meets kyuubi for the first time. He makes the kyuubi retreat. He, who is so analytical about his moves and he who is so thorough about keeping a close guard on the enemy, just cannot help but look at Naruto. And keep looking.

And what happens? The same thing that happens everytime when Naruto is around him. His concentration gets compromised. His goals get sabotaged. His intentions and rational thinking leave for lunch break.

And this is what frustrates him. No really. It does. He can't even get a straight answer from Naruto as to why he keeps following him, getting in his way, knowing that Naruto's reasons simply don't come off as commensurate with what he does, but Sasuke nevertheless gets embroiled in his feelings for Naruto and it gets his goat. He loathes when it happens, he loathes his own weakness, but it happens.

When Sasuke evades Yamato's wood style jutsu attack, he is again asked by an anguished Naruto to rethink his plans, as Oro would sooner or later take over his body. Sasuke has had it. So he emphatically tells him that if being strong enough to kill Itachi meant he would need to let Oro take his life over and over, he would do it and that's the end of it.

Yamato proceeds to attack Sasuke, but Sasuke has really had it. He defeated Sai so easily when Sai tried to attack him, he incapacitated Naruto. He even managed to subdue Yamato. But all in vain, because Naruto makes him weak. He was subdued by Yamato in return when he lost his concentration because it was fixed on his dobe. And he cannot be weak. Not if he wants to accomplish his goals. Yamato saying anything wouldn't have this effect on Sasuke. Why would it? He doesn't even really know him.

So Sasuke decides that he is going to finally take care of it. By legit attempting to kill Naruto. And if need be, the other team members if they interfere, which they obviously would have. Sasuke is done with his ties with Konoha. And he wants to simply erase them. Well, not with Naruto, as we come to know later. But in this scene, he certainly seems to make up his mind finally but Oro arrives at the nick of time and convinces Sasuke not to. And that's that. He disappears with Oro and Kabuto, while still staring at Naruto. CANNOT take his eyes off him, he can't.

It's pretty clear in these chapters that Sasuke is damn skilled, perfectly analytical and superlatively confident and if he really wanted to attack Naruto, he could have done it right away. He is obviously capable of it, like he did to Naruto later on with chidori stream. Or he could have used his katana efficiently like he did with Sakura who got blocked by Yamato which resulted in Yamato getting skewered. You don't even need to go where Sasuke used his chidori spear, which he used to attack Oro and Killer Bee.

The context of these chapters makes it clear as crystal.

[rtcpickyourpoison]

You did such an amazing job with the way the list is presented. Bravo!

Also love the banner for this blog lol

For the free day, would one be allowed to put the focus on a relevant OC? Like a parent or other choir member?

I just really love your work. You very much inspired my AU, "Are We Ever Going Back?" <33

1. Thank you very much!! I can't take credit for that, my buddy @twistthescript made the graphic. We conceptualized it together over vc but she did most of the work on that aspect so I gotta hand it to her. If you aren't familiar with Twist already I highly recommend checking out her page and giving her a follow cause she's a hell of a writer and has one big fat juicy galaxy brain!!

2. Lol the banner I actually drew for someone as a doodle request a while back. Someone wanted Ricky dressed in his SABM regalia and I just find that "Oh my goodness what have I gotten myself into?" line super endearing. Mainly I chose it because I feel that line encapsulates how just about everyone feels when they decide to take on an art/writing challenge, it's certainly how Twist and I felt while we were doing June Doe and June started to wind down and we were on a time crunch. So I just felt it was the funniest and most appropriate choice for this event as well lol

3. Yep, for free day any character or characters are fair game so long as they somehow relate back to RTC!!

4. Oh wow, thank you so much!! Your AU has come across my dash and I've read a little bit of it but I've been sick lately, so I definitely will continue reading it once I feel well enough to give it my full attention. I'm actually a licensed nurse IRL (that's what compelled me to write my fic) so another fic prominently featuring a character as a nurse is really awesome to me. Kind of a "two cakes" situation!!

[tamelee]

Hey so I had a question and am wondering if you want to answer it because for a sns shipper you’re tolerable not to be mean. Yep I don’t ship sns I like nh together so if you wanna ignore this then that’s fine I don’t really care but what sns shippers always forget is that interpretation is the only thing that matters. I like nh so what? I think they were built well and make sense but that’s not going to make me not a shipper. You guys come up with all these theories that don’t make sense and I don’t like sns and that is my interpretation and that doesn’t make anyone wrong because you have no say in how I should think and feel. So this literally debunks y’all sorry. I still really like your art and some meta if it’s not about sns. Cheers.

Hi, glad to know that I’m tolerable lol. Very interesting. 

It seems like you anticipated the possibility of being ignored because we have opposing views on the matter which you’re already aware of, but I wouldn’t ignore you simply because you ‘ship’ something other than me. (Though I’d rather just call myself a fan in the context of SNS.) In fact, you’re always free to challenge anything you want, it’s fun for me and perhaps even informative for us both. 

Anyway- 

You say; 

Interpretation is all that matters

You interpret NH to make sense and well built(/developed) 

Your interpretation is right because it’s how you think and feel

You conclude; 

Because interpretation is all that matters, your interpretation debunks us all (I guess you mean SNS-fans and the theories that support them)

Ngl, that’s an extremely weak argument (if you can even call it that) 😬 but let’s talk about ‘interpretation’.

Interpretation by nature is subjective. 

It’s important for sure, it matters in the sense that your personal perspective helps you determine whether you like/dislike something because your preferences would have no foundation otherwise. 

It’s impossible for an interpretation to be ‘wrong’ in a general sense because it’s something that happens naturally when you engage with any creative expression. You observe something, your brain frames the thing, then you attach personal meaning behind it and of course it’s okay to experience anything however you do, because that’s a natural response and different for everyone. 

So, in regard to your criticism, I don’t think anyone meant how you think/feel about an experience is ‘wrong’ or makes your interpretation ‘wrong’. 

But, using this as a reason to ‘debunk’ us all, makes your logic a fallacy. In other words, I disagree with you. Interpretation is certainly not the only thing that matters here. 

Interpretation can change in different cultural contexts, it may require references from other work and sometimes it is so ambiguous to the point where it is even necessary for a reader to draw a conclusion themselves based on the context when it’s not literally ‘there’. A lot of subtext provides the opportunity to delve deeper to see whether your initial interpretation is supported by the narrative or not. 

The whole purpose of interpretation in a literary analysis (because that’s what’s important here) is to explain the interpretation and make sense out of the meaning to then determine whether it is valid in the context of a narrative. 

In the sense of literary interpretation, there are ways to prove whether an interpretation is correct or not. It is a misinterpretation when you misconstrue the meaning (or any other of the endless elements) behind a story. And thus, theories are made to question and challenge an interpretation/claim/argument etc- which is what SNS fans imo do really well generally. 

And that’s why ‘interpretation’ by itself isn’t the only thing that matters when analyzing because it doesn’t prove anything, and 'the thing' doesn't care about your damn feelings nor is it ever really relevant when analyzing. Claiming your framing does prove it all is such a disrespectful way of looking at the literary work. The nature and meaning behind Naruto and Sasuke’s bond requires (and deserves) further analysis and taking a deep dive towards Kishimoto’s intentions, especially after such a random ending and a horrible, misaligned sequel. There are well-supported arguments which rely on evidence based on a (,or THE one and only~) primary source. (The Manga.) Every ‘meta’ is a case-by-case matter of course and I don’t always agree with them either, but analyzing does require a lot of critical thinking and I have admiration for the people who do so/can. 

You can strengthen your argument by analyzing how your interpretation debunks SNS-theories and, in the context of the story, (the primary source) why NH is developed well and makes sense. Though I get the shortcut, it seems completely impossible to do and too much of a task, but feel free to try anyway :)! 

[bastetreawoken]

Wild Manes review episode 2:

(initial notes were made while watching, then edited and additional were made after)

COCOA STOP TAKING TO THE SCREEN

I'm pretty sure that thing is an advertisement for a toy- looking at the website, yep it's a toy.

The cucumber bit where they eat the spa cucs was a gag in g4

Probably coincidence:P

This episode is basically the plot of the first episode, crazy stuff happens, It circles around to when we first started and it concludes.

There is almost no moral to this episode, the best thing I can say about it is that it *kind of* gives more character to Bailey

I think I have less faith in Wild Manes after the second episode, though I'm also aware that when a show is made the first batch of episodes are already planned and any changes in strategy from the company in terms of writing won't take effect until the next batch of episodes.

I think if this show tries just to market to younger kids it's going to plateau, though I could be wrong and Wild Manes is the next PJ Masks or whatever the kids like nowadays.

I guess at this point I can't tell what age range the show is trying to be for because the show comes off a little condescending to the viewer's media comprehension which I don't like even in shows made for young children.

What made G4 so great is that there was a story to tell, and the viewers, of all ages were in on it. When I was 7 watching Friendship is Magic my favorite episodes were the cutie mark crusader episodes because I loved the characters and knew all of their episodes would have fun character development and a fun moral.

Especially past season 2 FIM was excellent at showing, not telling the story of an episode. I believe that Cocoa's forth wall breaking is here to stay but I certainly hope the format of

1- Something bad happens

2- Flashback to beginning

3- Circle back to where we were

4- Conclusion

Is NOT going to be every single episode..

It was nice rewatching my little pony episodes when I was older and picking up on things I didn't when I first saw them. Coddling the viewer by explaining the plot of every episode, especially in a Dora the explorer esce matter gives a feeling of secondhand embarrassment, at least it did to me when I was a kid.

I know I said I wouldn't compare it to g4 that's much, but even in the sense of mindless fun g3 was I think Wild Manes is a little lackluster.

G3 had beautiful background art and world building, so even if it was inconsistent every time you watched you just wanted to be there.

I don't think the town the Wild Manes crew is in has even been named yet?

Any way I think my potential rating has gone down to a 5/10, only time will tell at this point.

[justamessedupdisneyprincess]

Lost in labyrinth mall! An onward fanfic! This fic focuses on Izzyley, a SI x Canon ship!

Part 3!

Izzy and Barley happily chatted during the drive to the mall. Along the way they had exchanged music, which was a little activity they tend to do during any road trips. Barley may introduce Izzy to a song he likes whilst Izzy would do the same. The elf was quite surprised to learn about Izzy’s preferred genre. He didn’t know exactly what she might like but it certainly wasn’t something so loud and full of energy and melody. Her love of dubstep was quite ironic given how she tends to hate most loud noises around her. She even introduced him to a new type of genre he has come to really like, even purchasing some of those songs for himself! Metalstep. Which is exactly what it sounds like. Izzy enjoyed many of his songs as well, she liked rock and metal as well. But she has a weak spot for a “sick” drop. Which would be the last thing one would expect from her.

“So ummm…I’ve actually been having some weird dreams where I can make music.” Izzy started at some point in the conversation.

Barley laughed a little. “Pretty much anyone can make music if they pour their heart’s fire right into it.”

“Yeah, but I mean like with mind powers. Like I can make my own dubstep out of thin air.” Izzy added.

Barley laughed a bit harder, he can see what she meant by weird then. “Now that would be one heck of a skill! Y’know I would listen to anything you make.”

“Well they actually sounded super good! Which kind of makes me wonder if I could become a DJ or something…but then I try to make music and it’s so much that I don’t have any idea what to do.” Izzy sighs. “I can hear the drops perfectly in my head but I can’t figure out how to make them a reality. It gave me a newfound respect for musicians.” She sounded a bit frustrated. In some cases Izzy had dreams where she wished so hard for it to be real, these types of dreams were one of them. Of course there are ones she is grateful that are not only real but she hopes to never ever have again, such as anxiety dreams about her teeth falling out, those ones always unsettle her.

Barley shrugs a bit. “You might be able to one day with enough practice. Actually ya know what. I know you totally can do that.”

Izzy chuckles a bit. “I dunno, it all seems pretty complex to me. I guess one day I might try and learn more about it.”

Her creativity, that was just one of the many things Barley loves about her. She is talented with quite a few things, such a writing, drawing and even sculpting. But the main thing that made her stand out were her ideas. She had so many of them, so many it can get overwhelming for her at times. She would often describe how she doesn’t get art block or writers block, but rather she gets so many ideas she doesn’t know where to start. She calls her brain a factory for concepts and that it’s both a blessing and a curse. Because of how bizarre and unique her ideas are though, Barley has grown obsessed with hearing any stories she may come up with.

They finally arrived at the mall and managed to find a park as well. Izzy looked on ahead and noticed a large tree just in front of the entrance, but this was no ordinary tree…it was alive! But alive in the sense it was sentient and aware. She saw the movement but this was her first time seeing anything like this! “Barley…Is it just me or is that tree moving?” She says nervously, worried if it may be a sign the ancient mall was haunted. Then she thought…’wait…this place could totally be haunted if it was literally a bizarre labyrinth where hundreds of explorers died in horrific ways!’

Barley nodded her head and couldn’t help but giggle as he saw the unease on her face. “Yep, he sure is!” He says.

Izzy looked over at him with a puzzled expression on her face. “He?”

“Haven’t you ever met a whispering elm tree before?” Barley replied with a little teasing smirk.

The imp’s blue eyes shot wide open. “No, I haven’t met one before! I did see them in movies before though- to be honest I actually thought they were fictional.” Izzy says, clearly amazed.

“Yeah, they are actually pretty rare now. They were rare in the olden days but now…it’s like shiny Pokémon sorta rare.” He says, just to give Izzy a better idea.

The couple began to walk towards the entrance. “I…kinda feel sorry for them though. Do you think they ever get bored or lonely being stuck like that?” Izzy asks, as usual she was the type to overthink things but in this case she did have a good point.

The grin on Barley’s face grew larger, as he had more knowledge to share. “For saplings maybe.”

As he had expected, his inquisitive girlfriend cocked her head to the side like a puzzled dragon pup. “Eh?”

As usual, Barley was happy to enlighten her, after giving her a little teaser for it first though of course. He just lots to see her little reactions! “Old elm trees can pull themselves out of the earth and use their roots to walk around.” Barley stated. “However, they can’t walk too far for too long because of how big and heavy their bodies are. So basically, they prefer to be sitting in the soil but they are not bound to it…or at least most of them are not.” He looked a bit saddened as he said this. He then leaned down to Izzy and whispered into her large pink ear. “Don’t bring it up but…the stupid idiots who decided to modify the place built tiles all around this guy and now he can’t move anywhere at all…he is a bit touchy bout it…rightfully so…but best to keep quiet.”

Izzy’s blank expression changed into an extremely exaggerated look of utter rage. Little wrinkles could be seen around her frown and eyebrows, her scowl was that intense. “Those thoughtless, inconsiderate ****s…!” She says with a growl, she has a very dirty mouth and tends to curse without even releasing it.

It actually took Barley a while to get used to her unique language. “Ok, I think ****s is a bit much. But I pretty much do agree with ya.” He says, smiling as he came to admire her feisty personality. She had a real strong sense of right and wrong and he loved that about her as well.

Although upon arriving it seems like Izzy completely forgot about Barley’s warning to not speak of this topic around the old tree, she was just too worked up! The whispering elm looked over to her in shock as she suddenly asked him a question that came from the heart. “Ummm…excuse me? Are you feeling ok?” She asked, worried for the tree’s mental health.

Barley gulped as he immediately clings onto Izzy, almost protectively. “Haha…pssst…don’t provoke him…” he whispered.

The tree spoke in a loud and booming voice, which caused customers who came and go to stare intensely as they pass. “Well if it isn’t the poor excuse of a knight! Think you can whisper around a whispering elm, can you?” He says, sounding angry.

Barley smiled awkwardly. “Aha…so you remember that do ya?” Izzy looked puzzled as her head flung back and forth between the two.

The talking tree had not only a mouth but eyes and a nose as well! His little face scowled, like an angry bitter old man. “How could I forget the man who broke my favourite branch?!” He says bitterly.

“Aww, c’mon, buddy! That was just an accident!” Barley pleaded.

Izzy looked more and more puzzled but the negative energy was starting to make her anxious. She was desperate for answers but had been cut off by the furious old tree. “Um- what’s-“

“If I tore off an arm of yours will you say it’s an accident?” The tree swayed around, a few leaves fall down to the tiles that were placed over him, locking him in place forever.

“Well that depends. If you tore off my arm with the intent to do so that sure as heck won’t be any accident…but-“

“Don’t play games with me! I’ve had enough of you youngsters! Always treating us elm folk as if we were nothing more than mere objects.” The tree sways more, the creaking wood echos around the parking lot in an unsettling manner.

Poor Izzy’s head kept snapping between the two who seemed to have been arguing. She got more and more anxious as she is still left in the dark. Barley continued to defend himself as best he can. “Hey, I was the one trying to help you, remember?”

The whispering elm scoffs. “Some help you were.”

“What is going on?!” Izzy suddenly shouted out. Every living soul quickly glanced towards her, but she ignored the unwanted attention from strangers who passed by, she was just desperate to figure out what was happening.

That is when the whispering elm finally seemed to acknowledge her. “Well young lady, this man here decided to sit his fat rump on my favourite branch and he broke it right off!”

Barley frowns a bit. “I told you it was an accident! Besides…it’ll grow back.”

The tree laughed sarcastically. “Grow back you say? That branch has been part of me for over 50 years! Do you really think it will even grow back the same? It will look completely different! Not only that but for it to simply “grow back” would be decades worth of waiting! Might I remind you time feels even slower being stuck in this retched gloomy place forever?! Why, with the lack of sunlight I am surprised I haven’t even died by now from malnourishment.”

As the tree angrily went on a rant Barley grabbed ahold of Izzy and dragged her inside the mall. Izzy looked back at Barley, still confused. “What was that all about?” She asks, she knew there was more to the story than that. Barley may be reckless but she can’t imagine he would climb all over him and break branches without a valid cause for it.

Barley groans a bit, seemingly embarrassed. “It…wasn’t my finest moment. I was trying to dig out the tiles and help him escape but…the mall cop got to me and I tried to climb away from him and uh…you can probably imagine the rest….argh! I should have done it by nightfall!”

Izzy angrily glared back at the direction where the tree is. “You were just trying to help…Hey, when a whispering elm’s branch breaks off does it hurt them?”

Barley looked quite surprised to hear her ask more questions so soon. It was not like her to move on so quickly. “Erm…well it doesn’t not hurt, but it sure as heck isn’t like getting an arm torn off. From what I have studied it’s more like a small sting, like a paper cut if you will.” Barley says, he smiled a little at the little joke he made towards the end. After all, paper is made from trees.

“Did he need that branch as an arm to grab things?” Izzy asked next.

Barley thought for a moment. Whispering elms can use their branches to swat at things but they could hardly be used as extra limbs to assist them. “Eh…not really. I mean he can move it for a bit but he can’t actually use it for much of anything other than swatting enemies away in Quests of Yore.” Barley stated casually.

Izzy suddenly turned around and stomped her way back towards the grumpy tree. Barley quickly realised why she asked such questions, to try and figure out if he had any right to be angry or upset. She was already furious to see the way he spoke to her boyfriend, but she needed more answers to try and see his point of view. As she had suspected, the tree was just vain about the branch’s appearance, nothing more, nothing less. “Oh no…Izzy! C’mon, just leave it alone!”

[afatlotofchance]

The Traditional "Burst-your-Gut" European Calendar

The Traditional Burst-Your-Gut European Calendar!

One of my various subjects of interest includes holidays and festivals – mostly of folkloric nature. And Europe is certainly filled to the brim with them, ranging from remnants of religions of Antiquity, to neo-pagan recreation of holidays that maybe never existed, passing by “folk-Christian” celebrations taking back Christian rituals to a more… “pagan” flavor).

And given one of my other big passions is weight gain and stuffing, I thought why not ally the two? More specifically, the idea behind this whole research was inspired by this joke running around of the “weight gain season” in the United-States, centered around the most fattening holidays of the calendar, all piled up at the end of the year: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, an infernal group that ruins everybody’s figure and prompts some slimming down New Year resolutions. A Franco-Chinese famous Youtuber talked of a similar alignment, in videos covering his weight gain and successful diets – he explained that he almost got “destroyed” at the beginning of one of his diet by the cumulation of Christmas, New Year celebrations AND Chinese New Year meals.

All of that made me think about how there are these alignments and series of very-fattening, stuff-your-face holidays, and as I was doing research on old French society, and European folklore, and old England, and whatnot, I collected information, elements and other stuff here and there that explained the origin of these “fattening festivals” as well as presented to me the existence of an entire year-system centered around basically gorging yourself on given dates. I already evoked this briefly in my previous posts, but I want to fully and completely talk about this subject here. And this is why this post is called “The Traditional Burst-Your-Gut European Calendar”. I will focus here mainly on medieval and Renaissance Europe, when this “fattening calendar” was created – and while this exact system was modified and changed past Renaissance and into modern age, the very reason we have today collections of fattening holidays is the existence of this ancient year division and celebration system.

This can be just your random informative post about European culture and history. It can be an inspiration if you want to write gaining stories or make fat art inspired by some folkloric or medieval stuff, I don’t know. You might also completely skip it if you want – I know very well people in the kink circles aren’t here to read crash-courses about medieval society. But hey, I like to talk about “scholarly” things while also talking about fattening up and intense stuffing, so, here I go!

[Oh yes and due to being more familiar with England and France of all European country, with a handful infos about Scandinavia and Germany thrown into the mix, I will focus mostly on Western Europe – though when we talk of European holidays and folklore, they tend to also apply, in variations, to Eastern European countries.]

I) Fat Tuesday, Blubbery Easter, and the diet Christians will NOT stick to

Chubby Easter, Gorging Christmas – and the binging-duality of old timey Europe

One of the “fattening holidays” most American tend to be familiar with, but often without knowing that it is a “fattening holiday” is the famous Mardi Gras. If you are from the USA, Mardi Gras will be for you the New-Orleans celebration – and it is quite interesting that Mardi Gras is so strongly associated with this city, where everybody who stays even just for a week gains at minimum five pounds thanks to how rich and fatty (but delicious) the food is. New-Orleans is one of those cities where you can get overweight pretty quickly if you are not careful, and it is quite fitting that its most famous celebration is actually going by a French name meaning… “Fat Tuesday”. Yep, the glamorous Mardi Gras just means “Fat Tuesday”.

You see, the Mardi Gras celebration originally comes from France (obviously), even though it was celebrated as “Fat Tuesday” or “Pancake Tuesday” in English-speaking countries. Fat Tuesday itself comes from the Carnival season, and the Carnival season comes from Lent, and Lent comes from Easter. So let’s start with Easter. Easter is part of those Christian holidays that were so widespread, so famous and so common they became secular, non-religious holidays shared by everybody (and massively commercialized by Americans). Easter is this springtime celebration of bunnies leaving chocolate eggs everywhere – and while not one of the “great fattening holidays” of America like Thanksgiving, it still gained there a strong “put on pounds” tradition, thanks to an overabundance of chocolate, candy, and dishes such as the Easter ham. But before all that, Easter was one of the two massive holidays of Catholicism, and by “massive” I mean, when it came to the religious calendar, there’s this two behemoth that are Easter and Christmas and form the two poles of the Christian year. Easter being the celebration of the resurrection of the Christ, while Christmas is the birth of Jesus.

A very important note before going forward: the calendar I will speak about here, the calendar by which most Western Europe worked during medieval and Renaissance times, is what we commonly refer to as “agro-liturgical calendar”. Aka it is an hybrid calendar that mixes the liturgical calendar, the year of the liturgy, the various religious celebrations and Christian holidays (since Christianity was the main religion dominating and shaping all Europe at the time, with Catholicism being ESPECIALLY dominant and present, so we’ll go with this flavor of Christian, Protestants can go away), and the agricultural calendar, aka the “natural year”, the various celebrations and holidays related to the seasonal changes and the fieldwork and the farmer’s life. The latter calendar was the one with the strongest “pagan” flavors, since it kept alive traditions and superstitions inherited from ancient religions and forgotten mythologies – and as the two mixed in everyday life, they forged this new “folk-Christian” calendar that was the basis of European culture and beliefs.

So, Easter. Easter was this big, big, very important event. And to prepare yourself for Easter, you need to be REALLY clean and pure, and to help you with that, a thing was invented – a thing commemorating the forty days Jesus Christ spent alone in the desert with no other company than the Devil trying to tempt him into turning rocks into bread, or whatever. This thing is called “Lent”, and it is a BIG European thing (in French “le Carême”). Lent was a forty-days long sequence preceding Easter, and during Lent you had to go on a very strict diet. A diet of everything. You had to limit your meals and food intake drastically so as to fast, but you also were prohibited from having any sex, in fact weddings were forbidden during Lent. It was a time where you just shut down your body and refuse all pleasures whatsoever – this is why in France an old-fashioned expression was “face de Carême”, “face of Lent”, to designate someone who liked skinny and pale. And if Lent was to help you prepare Easter, you were given an additional time period before that to prepare yourself for Lent, a little thing called Shrovetide. Except, where the Church planned for Shrovetide to be all spiritual preparation and good little planning for forty days of nothing in your plate, things got… a little wild.

Shrovetide became the time of the Carnival. THE original Carnival, the Carnival season, a time of wild amusement, savage fun, of misrule and chaos where everybody drank and sang and made dirty jokes and put on offensive disguises. People understood that Shrovetide was the last time they could have any kind of fun before Lent began, and so they went WILD with crazy parties, forming the Carnival time. And the last day of the Shrovetide, the last day before Lent began, Shrove Tuesday, became Fat Tuesday – Mardi Gras. The “fat” part comes from the fact that during Shrovetide/Carnival, people didn’t just ate, they GORGED. Given they wouldn’t be able to eat much for a very long time, people did excessive feasts and over-ate merrily as much as they could, especially on Fat Tuesday, which was a true belly-busting day. One of the specific parts of Lent was that any food deemed too “rich” was forbidden, so it meant that all meat, and all fat-related food (like butter, eggs or pastries) were prohibited during Lent. As a result, during the Carnival, fat was in every plate, and you had tons of greasy meats and deep-fried pastries and so on – hence the “Fat” part of “Fat Tuesday”. Shrovetide became really all about putting on pounds before the “forced hibernation” of Lent. In fact, the more common name of Shrovetide was “Fat Week” or “The Seven Fat Days”, as “Fat Tuesday” was merely the last of the “fat” days, preceded by Fat Monday, Fat Sunday, Fat Saturday, etc…

In return, the same way people got wild before Lent, before also got wild AFTER Lent. If you think Easter is a sinful feast of food today, oh boy, you can’t imagine what it was before! As the Easter celebrations rolled in, people could once again eat all their meat and all their fat and all their pastries, and so Easter was yet again a feast of large meals – though, due to the very religious nature of Easter, it never ended up being as debauched and revelry-prone as Carnival/Fat Tuesday. But it was still a day all about eating a lot of the best and most fattening food.

What is quite funny is that, even though Lent was harshly respected during the Middle-Ages, by the Renaissance (at least in France, I don’t know for other countries), people got a bit more lenient towards it, and decided to had one more “Carnival day” to “break down” Lent into two, so it would be a bit more bearable. So, right in the middle of the forty days, a celebration called “Mi-Carême”, “Half-Lent”, was created, which was a twin of Fat Tuesday, right in the middle of Lent. Officially, the explanation was that on Fat Tuesday men tended to do a lot of favors, gifts and promises to women, and so Half-Lent was created so that women could return them the favors (and indeed in France, the Mi-Carême celebrations are dominated by female figures and female participants), but researchers agree that the true reason Mid-Lent was created was probably because, since eggs turned bad beyond twenty days, people realized they couldn’t stock them before Lent and reuse them by Easter, and to avoid ending up with a bunch of wasted rotten egg, came up with this holiday.

The most interesting thing for us, however, is that it means that traditionally, Lent was actually a time where you had to feast and gorge yourself on greasy and fatty food three times in a row – before Lent, mid-Lent and after Lent. To tell you about the strong presence of the Carnival vs Lent in European spirits, I will direct you towards a very recurring motif throughout medieval and Renaissance art: a motif known as the “Battle of Lent and Carnival” or “The Fight between Lent and Fat Tuesday”. These paintings and drawings typically embody Carnival or Fat Tuesday as a male and fat, jolly, chaotic, drunkard entity, while Lent becomes a female, skinny, elderly and austere figure. One of the most famous variations of this theme was done by Pieter Brueghel the Elder: it is his painting, “The Battle of Carnival and Lent” (in French it has such a nice tone, Carnaval et Carême). At the forefront of this painting you can see the two embodiments, the obese, red-faced Carnival riding a beer barrel and holding a food-covered spear, opposing the thin and sickly Lent on an uncomfortable chair. Behind Carnival, bizarrely-attired and strangely-masked fools come out from an inn, while behind Lent dark nuns walk out of the shadow of a church, surrounded by hungry beggars and children. All is told.

II) Chubby Christmas, winter weight, and the binging-duality of old Europe

I talked before of how Easter was alongside Christmas one of the two big holidays of the European Christian calendar. Well then, let’s talk about Christmas!

Christmas which truly formed with Easter a complete parallel back in the days. Birth and rebirth, one for the “bright” season, summery part of the year, the other for the “dark” and wintery half of the year, AND both preceded by a time of preparation. Lent for Easter, Advent for Christmas… Let’s stick to Advent. Nowadays, we all know the “Advent Calendar”, which is about having a little chocolate or candy every day of the December month until the fateful 25th. The Advent period became a period of waiting-and-snacking. Interestingly enough, this couldn’t be further from what the Advent originally was. While everybody in Europe still remembers Lent, because it was still in practice up to the 20th century, people actually completely forgot that there was a twin to Lent… a winter Lent, a Nativity fasting, and this was the Advent.

Yep, the Advent was originally a forty-days period of full abstinence of all bodily pleasures (so no sex, and lot of fasting) to prepare yourself for Christmas. And do you know what this meant? It meant that, just like with Lent, people went NUTS and gluttonous at both ends of the Advent. The gluttonous nature of Christmas in old Europe stayed prevalent still until today. Good old jolly Santa Claus is the inheritor of the overweight, paunchy giant Father Christmas. Up to the 19th century there were caricatures and illustrations of fat people gorging on enormous Christmas meals. Even today Christmas is one of the most dreaded periods for people who want to stay slim or lose weight, as it is all about eating enormous feasts. So people did went wild once the Advent was over.

But what about before the Advent? Was there some “fattening holiday” equivalent to Mardi Gras? Well, technically yes, even though it isn’t very well-known today. It was the holiday (or feast day) of saint Martin. Aka, Martinmas. Also known sometimes as the “Old Halloween”. Martinmas, the day of saint Martin, was a celebration that corresponded to the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. As a result, it mixed the unconscious need to put on pounds for the dark season with the typical festivities of any “harvest festival”. Martinmas was mostly celebrated in England and in Germanic countries of Europe, and it involved 1) tasting the new wine of the season (and getting drunk on it), 2) feasting on the nicely fattened up and recently slaughtered cattle (in Germanic countries, the main course of Martinmas is Martin’s fattened and roasted goose, whereas in England it is rather Martin’s greasy beef) and 3) giving lots of treats, cakes, nuts and apples to children. The latter part is why Martinmas was called “Old Halloween”, because it was a Christianized form of many Halloween traditions – kids wandered with lanterns made out of beets, and saint Martin was supposed to give them lots of candies and sweets in exchange.

What is much more interesting, in relation to Christmas, is the fact that the Christmas belly-bursting did NOT stop at just Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Oh, no! Ever heard of the “Twelve Days of Christmas”? Yeah, well it wasn’t just about giving gifts to someone you like and singing silly songs. Oh no. The Twelve Days of Christmas were a full festival to themselves (and in European folklore you will find many ghosts, monsters, fairies and spirits manifesting themselves during the “Twelve Nights”, considered magical and supernatural) – and in England especially, the Twelve Days were supposed to be all around feasting, merriment and fun, a Carnival-time under the command of the Lord of Misrule. Beginning with Christmas Eve, each day was about more dancing and singing, more drinking, and especially more eating, until it all culminated into the Twelfth Night. Nowadays, the Twelfth Night is mostly known in Christian countries as the Epiphany – you know, Epiphany? The Feast of the Wise Men? The Day of the Three Kings? The holiday where three old men supposedly gave gifts to baby Jesus, and where people eat a special cake and the one who bites onto a little statue is crowned king or queen of the day? That’s the one. Well originally it was basically the wintery equivalent of Mardi Gras, and the culmination of the Twelve Days. The Epiphany “Christmasy” connotations can still be found in Spanish-speaking countries – in Spain for example, the Epiphany is actually the local “Christmas” and the time where people stuff themselves on large meals and pound-putting pastries, while kids receive gifts from supernatural elderly male figures. To use a literary reference, the famous play “Twelfth Night” by Shakespeare has a character designed to embody the spirit of the Twelve Days: Sir Toby Belch, an eccentric, comical and hedonistic man all about making jokes, drinking and eating (hence his name), and truly being a living “Lord of Misrule”.

But if you think the Christmas season ends with the Epiphany, think again! The Epiphany is merely the end of the intense festivities of the Twelve Days (or Twelve Nights). The actual Christmas season, or Christmastide, only comes to a stop much later, to a day that is commonly known as Candlemas. Candlemas is technically supposed to be the Christian holiday of “Jesus being presented at the Temple”, but in truth, let’s be honest, it was just a cover-up by the Church in an attempt to bury the pagan festivities around this time (the Roman Lupercalia, the Celtic Imbolc, and others). Candlemas is not very well-known in the English world today, but it is still a very famous holiday in French-speaking countries, as the Chandeleur, and it does has its food theme, since Chandeleur is the official day of eating crêpes (a French dish that Americans insulting translate as “pancakes” even though crêpes are completely different).

So, in conclusion we have a true duality in this year. On one side, you have the “Lent season”, with the Fat Days of Shrovetide, and Fat Tuesday, as an opening, and the Easter feasts as a closing (plus the Mid-Lent) ; on the other, you have the whole Christmas season, from Saint Martin’s Day, to the Twelve Nights, to the Epiphany and Candlemas. Between those two intense periods alternating between extreme fasting and binging overeating, life returned to a “regular” rhythm. But here’s the twist: the Church was quite intelligent, and didn’t chose to have Lent and the Advent at just any random dates, oh no!

Lent and the Advent, as forty-days periods of fasting, actually corresponded to the times of the year where the food stocks were at their lowest, and there was no new harvest in sight. It was during those specific times (mid February to March ; and November to mid-December) that famines were the most likely to actually appear. As a result, the Church placed these fasting periods there, choosing carefully the times where people would suffer the most from hunger and lack, but giving them an actual reason and a sense of holiness for their starvation. Of course, the result was far from perfect, given it resulted in the very unhealthy behavior of starving yourself forty days between two week-long sessions of overeating, but old times were never healthy to begin with…

III) Other food seasons

Beyond those two “gorging times”, were there other “belly-bursting seasons” in this calendar?

Well… Not really. Usually the three main poles when it came to folkloric and social celebrations in old Europe were the springtime celebrations (Easter for example, but also May Day), the winter celebrations (Christmas and New Year) and the midsummer celebrations (Midsummer, Midsummer’s Eve, Walpurgis Night, etc…). While we saw above that two of these poles had their overeating (springtime and winter), the Midsummer celebrations never really were much about eating… They were more about dancing in the wilds, drinking a lot of alcohol, jumping over bonfires, picking up magical herbs, fearing witchcraft, and the like. In the Christian calendar, there is also a third very important era, beyond the Easter-centric and Christmas-centric periods – it is the time slot beginning with the Feast of the Annunciation, and ending with the Pentecost. But again, there was no big food-focus there, so we’ll put that aside.

What I can add however to this calendar is a certain focus given to harvest celebrations and harvest festivals. For example, let’s take a little look at the “quarter days”. In the British Isles, the year was usually regulated around four important celebrations. These are a leftover of the four main Celtic holidays, which were Imbolc, Beltaine, Lughnasad and Samhain, but it was all Christianized and the result goes as such: Lady Day (the feast of the Annunciation), Midsummer Day, Michaelmas and Christmas. At least, that’s the English version – in Scotland they rather go, Martinmas, Candlemas, Whitsunday (Pentecost) and Lammas. The Scottish divide does recut onto a secondary system to the English one, called the “cross-quarter days”, aka four intercalary celebrations to be placed between the four quarter days. These are Candlemas, May Day, Lammas and All Hallows.

Long story short, what am I trying to say with all that? Well I am trying to say that there is a sort of additional period of food-and-eating related celebrations around the “end of the harvest”, the “closure of the harvest season”. Basically, harvest festivals. I talked about Martinmas before, which was indeed a feast marking the end of the harvest and the opening of winter – but in the same line of thought, the holiday of Michaelmas can be evoked. Michaelmas, originally the day of Saint Michael, aka Archangel Michael, was then extended as the day of “Michael, Raphael and Gabriel”, or as the “day of Archangels” or as the “day of Michael and all the Angels”. All in all, for the Church it is an angel-celebrating day, but in a more down-to-earth approach, it was a harvest festival, marking the end of the harvest. As a result, Michaelmas in the British Isles for example is a day where you eat a roasted goose, special bannock cakes, big heaps of blackberry pies, lots of nuts, and all sorts of other goodies to make a rich and heavy meal celebrating your efforts in the fields. To Martinmas and Michaelmas I will add a third tradition, a purely English celebration: Lammas, also known as the Loaf Mass Day, which is another harvest festival, this time supposed to celebrate the “first fruits” of the harvest, as well as the “first loaf”. Whereas Michaelmas marks the end of the harvest, and Martinmas the arrival of the dark wintery season, Lammas is all about people starting to reap what they sow, and it opens a “season of plenty and abundance” (Lammas is in the beginning of August, while Michaelmas is in September and Martinmas early November). So, technically speaking, there is a sort of “harvest festival” season that could be added to our belly-filling calendar.

And of course, this season overlaps with another series of holidays I have to mention, and that I briefly talked about above: Allhallowstide. Aka, the Hallows celebrations, of which the most famous to this day is without a doubt Halloween. Halloween, All Hallows’ Eve, aka the Eve of All Saints Day, needs no presentation as THE holiday of candies and sugary treats, as well as of apple and pumpkin based foods. What people tend to forget is that in Europe, the Halloween candies were associated with another cake-filled day. I am not speaking of All Hallows/All Saints Day, because there wasn’t much to say there, but I am speaking about All Souls Day, happening on the 2nd of November (right after All Hallows Day). All Souls Day is the European “ancestor” of the South-and-Central American Day of the Dead, for example, as it is a Catholic holiday all about celebrating the dead and visiting graveyards. But All Souls Day had a specific tradition confused and fused with the trick-or-treating of Halloween, called “souling”. It was originally about giving special “soul cakes” to the poor and the beggars, so that they would pray for the souls of those stuck in purgatory (or something like that), but it then became more of a trick-or-treat situation where kids performed songs and entertainment for people, in exchange for good amounts of yummy soul cakes to eat. Not really “belly-bursting”, but it deserves a mention alongside Halloween (and Martinmas) as this time of the year, at the beginning of November, where kids end up overstuffed with candy and sweets.

In fact, it is very interesting to note that while the Carnival is attached to the Lent season, and the Twelve Days of Christmas have a Carnival-nature to them, in some countries and regions of Europe, the Carnival is not a beginning of the year matter, but rather an END of the year matter, and thus they can actually start at either All Hallows Day, or around Martinmas, turning these November/Autumn holidays into masked revelries and belly-bursting debaucheries, just like the rest…

What is a quite interesting, and will serve as my conclusion here, is that the two main opposite Carnival seasons, the Lent one and Christmas one, actually form only one big season in some time eras and countries. Because you see… Some chose to have the Carnival season start at Candlemas. Meaning that right as the Christmas season ends, people threw themselves into the mad parties of the Carnival in prevision of Fat Tuesday… Imagine, stuffing yourself all throughout autumn to spring, only resting for a brief summer and beginning it all over again. Of course we have to forget the whole nasty things of the past such as the famines of old – but just extrapolating those celebrations and literal feast days, and projecting them onto a new, gaining-designed calendar…

Hey, that’s something I might do for fun!