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dessertgeek · 7 months

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The Twitter Mari Lwyd saga (2019 - part two)

Since people seem to be happy that I'm copying over the Mari Lwyd sagas, have another transcription! This is for the second round of 2019, between @seananmcguire and @kbspangler. Part one is here, the source to this round starts here.

(Seriously, these aren't mine, they're the property of @seananmcguire, @tkingfisher, + @kbspangler, I'm just transcribing so extra records exist. Support their works!)

That being said, if anyone can find the 2020 Twitter thread, can you send me a link so I can transcribe it (or transcribe it and link me)? It has been found! Thanks to @dor-min for finding the thread, it's going to take me a bit to transcribe.

CWs for food, alcohol, and caps.

K.B.: SO YOU SAY YOU WANT A BATTLE? YOU'RE BRINGING NAUGHT BUT PRATTLE TO THIS FESTIVE DAY WE DESIGNATE WITH LIGHTS AND FOOD TO CELEBRATE THE SOLSTICE, DEAR, WITH ME AND MINE AND YOU AND YOURS AND HIS AND HERS AND THEIRS AND OURS A BREAKING DAY A FRESH NEW YEAR WE CALL SPRING UP AGAIN

Seanan: WE'RE PAST THE LONGEST NIGHT AND I'M ITCHING FOR A FIGHT IF YOU'RE COLD, WE'RE COLD, SO LET US IN. WE HEARD YOUR LARDER'S STOCKED, SO GET READY TO GET ROCKED THIS TALE'S OFTEN TOLD WE ALWAYS WIN.

K.B.: YOU SAY YOU'LL FIGHT THIS GARDNER'S MIGHT?! THE GROUND IS COLD MY PLANTS ASLEEP I'VE GOT ENOUGH STRESS TO PUNCH A SHEEP I AM WIGGING TO GO DIGGING AND HERE YOU COME TO STEAL MY PLUMS?

Seanan: I DON'T WANT YOUR PLUMS THE MARI LWYD COMES TO SAMPLE YOUR CHEESE AND YOUR BOOZE. YOUR GARDEN IS SLEEPING SO WHY ARE YOU KEEPING A SENTRY POST YOU DIDN'T CHOOSE? COME WASSAIL WITH US. THERE'S NO NEED TO FUSS. THERE'S NO SHAME IN CHOOSING TO LOSE.

K.B.: I'M NOT YET CONVINCED A DEAD HORSE HAS ENVINCED THE SPIRIT OF THIS WINTER'S PAST CAN YOU SWEETEN THE DEAL WITH A CAROLING PEAL? THEN MY GARDEN WILL HAVE TO HOLD FAST

Seanan: WE ARE NOT RETREATIN' THIS HORSE WON'T BE BEATEN, IT A BATTLE OF HOOVES VERSUS HANDS. THE JINGLE OF BELLS IS A SOUND THAT FORETELLS OUR CONQUEST OF ALL OF THESE LANDS.

K.B.: THEN I GOTTA SAY NO SORRY, CAN'T GO YOU SEEM LIKE A NICE HORSE AND ALL BUT MY HOUSE IS QUITE HAUNTED AND I AM UNDAUNTED BY YET ONE MORE SPECTRAL ODDBALL

Seanan: IT'S NOT REALLY RESPECTFUL TO SAY THAT I'M SPECTRAL. I'M CORPOREAL AS A GIRL COMES. YOU CAN PURCHASE MORE CHEESE SO JUST GIVE ME THESE. DON'T FORCE ME TO BREAK OUT THE DRUMS.

K.B.: (My parents are about to arrive so)

FINE, I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE BIRD, DOG, OR MARE ON THIS DAY WE'RE SUPPOSED TO EMPLOY THE LOVE OF THE SEASON SO HERE, HAVE SOME CHEESE IN PRECUT SIXTY-FOUR SLICES OF JOY

Seanan: DESPITE THIS GRAVE LOSS, YOU'RE A SHEPHERD TO MOSS, AND I AM A CHILD OF THE GRAVE. SO I'LL GO NOW IN PEACE, AND I WON'T BREAK YOUR LEASE, THOUGH YOU DIDN'T ASK ME TO BEHAVE.

K.B.:

[Alt ID: A small Black child in a crowd. The child takes off his black baseball cap as if to say "I tip my hat to you dear sir," which has RE2PECT embroidered on it in white thread.]

#Mari Lwyd #Seanan McGuire #K.B. Spangler #Twitter history and lore #Getting the meter right this round was neat #You both did such a great job weaving in your styles #I am so not transcribing another tomorrow though #These take a bit to confirm meter and that nothing is missing #But it is nice to have a non-Twitter copy in the world now #food #food cw #alcohol #Mari Lwyd Project

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no-see-um-incorrect · 5 months

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How the rest of the Yuurivoice boys are spending their New Year’s Eve

The bittersweet trio and big red already have new year’s specials, so they will not be included

No proofread

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Charlie 🐀🍕

He’s sitting on the couch with the little guy in his lap, Charlie is covering lil dudes coon ears with his hands. Casper comes around and sits behind him, laying their head on his shoulder.

“little dudes getting spooked from the fireworks, so he can sit in my lap so he doesn’t get scared, and I can sit in the lap of my Casper. to ring in the new year with the person who made this year Fucking incredible”

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Finn🌻

A little tipsy. Finn makes his way to the Hamic and crawls into the arms of his sunflower. watching the fireworks irrupt in the sky illuminating their faces with a variety of different colors.

“you OK baby?”

“Yea. Just a little too much wassail. i think…”

“Tipsy pink is a good look on you”

“oh, is that so~ well, the light from these fireworks is a very good look on you”

They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment. Soaking in yet another year of what they’ve built with each other

“Happy new year Finn”

“happy new year My love”

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Faust✨🎮

He’s on call with Star. They talked about a lot of things.

Life, Sex, trauma, how unbelievably sexy Arthur Morgan is.

Faust doesn’t really like alcohol. So he chugged a buzz ball at like 7:30 and shook his ass to Old FNAF Fan Songs for an hour. But now they were just chilling. waiting for the ball to drop.

“thanks for making the silence a little less silent starshine”

“thanks for being the friendly face that helps me bring in the new year”

“I would totally make out with you at midnight if you weren’t across the country”

“Yea Same”

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Auron 📚🖌️

Looking through the window of his office, Auron has an almost perfect view of town Square. He can see the people cheering hear the singers performing. but something or more accurately someone was missing. But just as the thought started to linger, he heard an all familiar knock.

“Hello Rook~ come to ask me why I’m in the office so late..especially on New Year’s Eve”

“Actually. I was going to ask if you wanted me to show you a lot better off of a view than that office window of yours”

“what did you have in mind?”

Rook extends their hands gesturing for him to follow them. He reluctantly takes their hand before he is quickly pulled down the hallway. many objections from him along the way. things like.

“why are you running so fast?”

“Where are we going?”

Met with answers like

“Thats not important”

“You’ll see”

They stop at the end of an obscure hallway to a door.

“This is the door to the roof…”

“…..👀”

“OH! Where going to the roof!…why are wE-”

Rook swings open the door grabs his hand and runs up the stairs all the way to the rooftop

“…..” he looks at the city below him.

All of the lights, the people, the music

“I also got this bottle of really tasty strawberry champagne if w-…..Auron?…You ok?”

“Sorry i…I’ve never seen the city from up here…”

“Well now you know there’s a better view then that stuffy office of yours”

“……”

“Thank you for being with me this year Rookie. You’ve actually made this year enjoyable”

“you’ve made it easy”

Auron turns towards Rook and wraps his arms around them, and pulls them into a soft slow kiss

“happy new year…lover”

“Your never gonna let me live down that break room whisper. are you?”

“Nope. Not for a second”

————————————————————————

Happy new year’s guys

Love y’all to pieces

#yuurivoice

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albaillustration · 6 months

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My latest painting, "Here We Come A-Wassailing" was created for my 2023 Patreon holiday card! The painting is 5x7.25, created with ink, watercolor, and acryla gouache. And the actual holiday cards have now arrived! They printed fantastic and I love the gold foil text. If you'd like to receive one of these in the mail, consider joining my Patreon at www .patreon. com /elisabethalba (link in my bio on the left at albaillustration.tumblr.com). They also come with a new vinyl cat sticker (plus other stickers and such for signing up). There are a range of tiers to choose from.

It's a tough time to be a career artist right now, but I know it's also tough for many of you, too. If you can't sign up, I'm also grateful if you reblog my work!

Whatever you celebrate, I hope you all have a very lovely holiday season!

#christmas #happy holidays #yule #cute animals #illustration #hedgehog #mole #mouse #animal art #wassailing #caroling

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chronotsr · 2 months

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Pre-G1 Modules, part 4...A - The Judge's Guild Roundup

Part 4a? This is one of those projects that keeps ballooning in scope forever.

Again, keeping with the theme of "trying to not get too historical", Judge's Guild was a group formed by Bob Bledsaw and Bill Owen to release DM aids, in part because then-TSR didn't think it was a viable market. Note that this is Bob Bledsaw Sr., the guy responsible for the nazi incident at Judge's Guild a few years ago was Bob Bledsaw Jr. Anyway, JG was responsible for a lot of materials ranging from setting materials, adventure modules. A lot of luminaries ultimately come from JG, including recently passed legend Jennell Jacquays, so they're a very worthwhile topic to review. I will not talk everything they put out between 1976 and G1 because I'm already planning on touching on (edit: 3 of 6) items today, so we will focus only on their for-sale, non-serial modules.

City-State of the Invincible Overlord (1977)

This is stretching the definition of module -- it's more of a setting book. CSIO is a setting supplement for, yeah, a city state of an invincible overlord. I hope you like maaaaaaaaaaaaaps! Essentially, an overlord stays above and aloof to the factional struggles of the people beneath him, roman emperor-style, and details out a bunch of characters and places within a city. It's, actually pretty good, I think a modern revision of CSIO would probably be pretty fun to play in, especially if you omitted a lot of 1970s gunk (like the frequency of slavery). It has this nice quality where it's much more brief per-location than modern city sourcebooks, but has many many varieties of the same concept. You might want a tavern, and there are so many to choose from. Here's a random assortment of buildings you can find in this book:

A park of sexy statues with a pleasure cult hiding in the rush

A 'fear shop' where the owner will go to ridiculous lengths to scare you

A GILF brothel

The tavern that Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser always go to

A siege engineer you can bribe for promotions

The map is almost, too comprehensive. I'm not sure what % of buildings are described but it's gotta be close to 20%, which is REALLY HIGH by ttrpg city standards. I'd guess that Green Ronin's Freeport is maybe 1% described. The book also has the traditional regulars of a city book (laws, sewer maps, factions) as well as the admittedly novel idea of a full advertising system to acquire hirelings. It, probably didn't merit a full page, but the idea of caring this much about where precisely those hirelings is coming from is kinda novel.

Regardless, this is an adventure module review blog, not a city review blog, so we have done our due diligence and may now proceed.

Tegel Manor (1977)

Oh boy, it's a megadungeon. Here we go. So despite that ominous cover, it's only 30 pages, so it could be worse. The essential schtick of the adventure is that there's a destitute (by noble standards) paladin who owns the deed to an extremely haunted mansion and is desperately trying to pawn the problem off on someone else. You can bully him into helping, but he's a complete coward.

The house is magically fireproofed because adventurers are just like that. A good sign, I think? Surely this won't be a tedious monster closet festival? We have a pretty standard rundown of a town and,

That's one of the most unfortunate names I've ever seen. If I was a dwarf named Cretin Nodcock, I feel like I would also not give a damn about my appearance. Or maybe work on a name change. This adventure really lavishes in its old timey words, we have a paladin described as "poltroonerous" (cowardly), a passing mention of "white wassail" (a mulled white wine), et c. Relatively little is given about the surrounding town and countryside, just enough to get us into the manor asap.

The first floor is a greatest hits of a haunted house. Animated knives, disappearing ghosts, screaming, the walls ooze GREEN SLIME, et c. Here's the stuff (across this entire dungeon) that isn't rote:

A creaky floor that gets so loud that it stuns elves' sensitive hearing while a wall crusher goes off

An animated yellow mold that looks like a sleeping woman

An animated painting of a battle that shoots arrows outward randomly

An animated painting that paints the party, and if it succeeds the party is petrified

Rust monster on flying bed action

A room of opaque gas-filled tubes that contain a variety of people, monsters, objects in animation. I bet the elf lord would have some nice things for their rescuer.

The level of haunting really goes down and it just becomes an assemblage of roughly halloween monsters in increasingly ridiculous patterns. If I was running this, I'd probably shrink the manor down into a greatest hits version of these rooms, because this is a SPRAWLING manor and it's room after room of "there is a wolf, there is a wight, there is a moldering desk". When you think of Gygax going "why would anyone want to buy a module?", this is sticking in my mind. It's not "Dwarven Glory" bland but it IS a never-ending gauntlet of monsters punctuated by silly rooms.

A rare luxury after all the room-by-room shit. Just some good ol' fashioned silliness.

Inexplicably under the house is a further dungeon-dungeon, which is mostly rat tunnels. Happily some of these maps feature little blank lines to mark your revisions from the official map, which is a nice little conceit.

I am always, always, always happy to have a new riddle to throw at my party, although I'm not so good at riddling myself.

Curiously, lich is spelled with an e at the end here, I have no idea how normal this was at the time.

Like most GMs, I have a crippling addiction to random tables for miscellaneous crap. This is a really hard to parse table but I believe how it works is:

Roll a d12 to determine what the statue does from the first list of results

Follow that result vertically down to the array of concepts

Roll a d8 and pick from that vertical list of results So for example, I rolled d12=5; d8=8. I go to 5 in the first list (Advises), follow it down vertically to the third column of results (the one that starts with Location), and index down to 8 (Directions). My magic statue advises directions to the party. What a nice guy! This table bothers me so bad that I rejiggered it real quickly in excel, because with the benefit of widescreen monitors it's pretty easy to fix:

Tegal Manor wraps with some extra resurrection rules, in case you needed more realism in your magical revivification. I think I prefer it just working, thanks.

Modron (1977)

There's honestly a stunning lack of underwater content in RPGs, I think. Underwater is such a magical location, both experientially and in mythology. One of these days I will set an adventure in one of those sets from the old 1986 Journey to the West TV show, the underwater sea dragon palace ones? They're so fucking cool. Everything is better with underwater dragon palaces.

Right. Modron. Focus.

Modron is another one of those "straddling the line between module and setting book" situations, only much smaller than CSIO. The art all looks like Prince Valliant, which by that sentence alone either means you're going to love or hate it (I hate it). Our titular Modron is a goddess, but also a temple, but also a port town. We will deal with these in order.

Goddess Modron is a river goddess who was worshipped by the town and the temple. She is implied to be, kind of like wonder woman in a weird way? She has to exist underwater, or she dies in 6 rounds (so 6 minutes), which is pretty fucking lame but I too know the struggle of dry skin. She's a fertility goddess (who isn't) and she does d20 years of damage when she lovetaps you. Tragically, she is no longer worshipped in favor of Mitra. COWARDS! LOVE YOUR RIVER/SEA GODDESSES.

Modron's Temple is very, very briefly explained. Essentially, only the oldest people in town know how to find it, via the cellar of the tavern. It's completely underwater, and a lot of mermen hang out there. The head priestess can drain your water! Google says that one love tap would exhaust you, two would probably kill you, and three would definitely kill you. It's implied in this section that a JttW-style Triton Coral Kingdom is, in fact, hanging out off the shoreline somewhere.

Town Modron is your standard raided port town. There was once two gods worshiped here, then it got messed up by raiders and ECONOMICS and some light civil war. It's okay, ya boi Invincible Overlord is sending you a bailout, making him a better autocrat than most living politicians. Apparently they have a pet seamonster who serves the overlord directly? Awesome! We need more pet kaiju in the world.

The actual area-by-area is pretty blasé. The local rulers are varyingly competent (the king is competent but a huge sex pest), there's a guy who takes you on guided tours to, anywhere in the multiverse? Somehow the blacksmith has figured out how to rustproof armor, which will really piss off your rust monsters. The book makes a point to say that the jailor is a particular bastard, so Judge's Guild says ACAB? Unlikely but a very funny concept.

Tragically, we end our adventure without a map of the palace, the temple, the other temple, or anything. I don't believe this is the first supplement to contain Mitra as JG's most famous god (well, Mitra is a real-life god anyhow), but this is certainly the first adventure-ish module to feature him. Dark Tower is quite a ways away!

A poison coral table is, one of those things you would only ever see in early DND. That is so unbelievably specific. The book ends with many such cases, there's a pearl randomizer that doesn't include any fun magic effects or anything, merely linking to Supplement II. Boo!

So originally when writing this, I had intended that part 4 be a whole unit, but then I realized that I was going to have to include these semi-adventures in the roundup. So to my great shame, we will continue this later.

#0e #chronotsr #dnd #dungeons and dragons #tsr #ttrpg

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foodandfolklore · 5 months

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Gloucestershire Wassail

A very old carol, to the point that we're unsure who the original composer was. It is at lest as old as the 1700's, where it was sung in England during winter holidays. The song was originally called 'Gloucestershire Wassail' or Wassail Bowl (Gloucestershire was a region in England). Today, it is more commonly known as 'Wassail all over the town'. Some people just call it The Wassail song, but that can be confusing as there are other songs and carols about Wassail.

Wassail was a spiced mead drink served during the holidays. I have more info here if you wanted to maybe make your own. The formula of the song is simple; the first verse is also the chorus. After you sing a verse, you repeat the chorus. Continue the verses until you run out of time, energy, willpower, or just forget what comes next. Most people don't sing all the verses. If you want to get a feel for the tune, this is one of my favorite versions.

Wassail! wassail! all over the town, Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown; Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree; With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

Here's to our horse, and to his right ear, A happy new year as e'er he did see, With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

So here is to Cherry and to his right cheek Pray God send our master a good piece of beef And a good piece of beef that may we all see With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

Here's to our mare, and to her right eye, God send our mistress a good Christmas pie; A good Christmas pie as e'er I did see, With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

So here is to Broad Mary and to her broad horn May God send our master a good crop of corn And a good crop of corn that may we all see With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

And here is to Fillpail and to her left ear Pray God send our master a happy New Year And a happy New Year as e'er he did see With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

Here's to our cow, and to her long tail, God send our master us never may fail Of a cup of good beer: I pray you draw near, And our jolly wassail it's then you shall hear.

Come butler, come fill us a bowl of the best Then we hope that your soul in heaven may rest But if you do draw us a bowl of the small Then down shall go butler, bowl and all.

Be here any maids? I suppose here be some; Sure they will not let young men stand on the cold stone! Sing hey O, maids! come trole back the pin, And the fairest maid in the house let us all in.

Then here's to the maid in the lily white smock Who tripped to the door and slipped back the lock Who tripped to the door and pulled back the pin For to let these jolly wassailers in.

#Wassail #wassail all over the town #Gloucestershire #Carols #song #drinking song #witch #December #Winter #food and folklore #Victorian #kitchen witch #house witch #folklore

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little-diable · 1 year

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Here We Come A-wassailing - Tommy Shelby

Happy 4th of Advent! Please like and reblog if you enjoyed reading this. Enjoy my loves. xxx

Summary: Every year Tommy finds himself waiting for that one woman to visit his house, to sing her Christmas songs to collect donations for the ones that need help after the war. A woman Tommy finds himself falling for, without knowing anything about her.

Warnings: just fluff, pure Christmas fluff

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x fem!reader (1.3k words)

Christmas Drabble Masterlist

header by @hidingsikki

divider by @firefly-graphics

Here we come a-wassailing, among the leaves so green; Here we come a-wand'ring, so fair to be seen

It was dark in the Shelby household, barely any light streamed through the windows, allowing the man to rest in silence. Tommy had one hand wrapped around his glass, eyes stoically set ahead, focusing on the door allowing one to step into the house. He hadn’t dared to move for the past hours, scared that he may miss the silent singing of the woman he had been waiting for.

For the past years she had been the one to walk past his house, collecting money for those that returned from war without as much as luck as the Shelby’s had, soldiers without limbs, men and women without homes or money to make it through the cold months. She’d sing for those willing to open their doors, for the ones with enough patience to listen.

She was the highlight of Tommy’s year, and had been for the past years, without even knowing so. Not once had he asked her for her name, he had barely shared two words with her, not wanting to pull her into the grasp of darkness she was fighting against. He’d taunt her innocent soul, too good to notice that the man that graciously keeps on donating money wasn’t a man with an unblemished fate.

His heart was slowly beating in his chest, body grateful for the warmth the alcohol offered, thumping through his veins like the anticipation he felt. One could only hope that she’ll find her way back, that she survived the harsh year, and that she was still fighting for the good cause. A man like Tommy Shelby wouldn’t dare to pray to a God he had cursed, a God that had left him to rot beneath the French soil, and yet, at this moment, he was close to calling the One’s name.

Tommy didn’t even dare to give into the what if’s, not wanting to paint a darkening picture before the moment had subsided in the waves of the rough sea he was sailing through. She was the siren whose call he’d need to hear to make it to the shore, a call so sweet and pure, the man wouldn’t be able to decipher between her voice and the one of His angels.

His breath hitched in his chest as he looked out of his window and saw a figure nearing, a figure carrying a lantern. Slowly his heart started to pick up its beat, pounding in his chest, louder and louder with every breath inhaled into his lungs. Tommy rose from his chair to move towards the door, grasping the bundle of money he had placed close to the entrance, hoping to see the bright smile tugging on her lips.

“Love and joy come to you, and to you your wassail too; And God bless you and send you a Happy New Year. And God send you a Happy New Year.” Her voice echoed through the air, followed by the sound of her softly knocking on his door, sending Tommy a smile as he appeared. Their eyes didn’t dare break contact, drawn to her frame like a moth following any source of light.

It took Tommy a moment to realise that her clothes were wet, dripping from the rain that kept pouring from the dark sky. Has it rained for long? How could he have missed the drops rolling down his windows like the seconds fading by?

She was trembling, struggling to pronounce the words rolling off her tongue. Without giving it another thought, Tommy opened his door a bit wider, signaling for her to step into his warm home. No longer was she singing, clinging to the metallic cup she was holding, not nearly filled enough.

“Come, let’s find you something dry. I’ll see if I can find one of my sister’s old dresses.” Wordlessly she followed him towards the bathroom, weary eyes watching him reach for a few towels. As she started drying herself, he disappeared into another room, only to reappear with a shirt and an old pair of trousers of his. “I couldn’t find any dresses. Take your time, I’ll prepare you a cup.”

Only as Tommy found himself staring down into the cup of tea he had prepared did he begin to realise that she hadn’t shared any words with him so far, following him around like a lost wanderer, not able to find her way out of this mess. The sound of her naked feet tapping against the wooden ground ripped Tommy out of his thoughts, eyes finding hers.

“Here, sit.” A small “Thank you” rolled off her tongue as she sat down, smiling at Tommy who wrapped a blanket around her, tea held in her cold hands. And for a moment they were surrounded by silence, though not an uncomfortable one, no, a rather calming silence both used to clear their racing thoughts.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you.” He shook his head, hoping that he didn’t come across as too forward, but he had a hard time holding back around the woman he had been thinking of for the past years. “I, uh, I always look forward to coming by your house. You’re one of the few who takes his time to listen.”

“I wouldn’t dare to miss it.” A smile was sent his way, eyes momentarily fluttering close to relish in the heat of the tea. She looked cosy, almost too cosy for his linking, well aware of the growing fondness he felt. This wasn’t what Tommy had wanted to experience, he had hoped that he would be able to keep his distance, something he had clearly failed at.

“Are you hungry?” Tommy couldn’t endure the silence, he had always been a friend of it, grateful for the moments where he wasn’t forced to listen to the ones that took his time for granted. But with her it was different, he needed to hear her voice like the oxygen he needed to breathe.

“Oh, no, but thank you. I don’t want to exhaust my stay here.” All he could do was shake his head, while smiling at her – as if she could ever disturb him.

“You can stay here as long as you want,” he wanted to use her name, to taste the syllables rolling off his tongue like a prayer spoken in the night, and yet he didn’t know the name of the woman he was helplessly falling for.

“(Y/n).” For a second Tommy froze, caught up on the name he’d forever remember, etched into his thoughts. As if he could ever forget about her.

“‘M Tommy, Tommy Shelby.” Cautiously he watched her, waiting for a reaction to the name every person living close by knew, a name even the children on the street feared. But she didn’t react to it, at least not like he had thought she would. All (y/n) did was smile, admiring the man whose house she had visited all those years.

And if fate is on their side, she may visit again, before the next Christmas season will roll upon them.

Good master and good mistress, while you're sitting by the fire, pray think of us poor children, who are wandering in the mire

#Tommy Shelby imagine #little-diable Christmas #Tommy Shelby x reader

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matrixaffiliate · 1 year

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Skirr

New Story! FFN and AO3

Snooping for presents is a common pass time around Christmas, especially in the Potter household. A fluffy family Christmas story featuring Harry, Ginny, and all the kids. Hinny Fluff. One-shot.

A little fluffy Christmas drabble.

For the amazing @thisismegz ! Congratulations, darling! You're beautiful and I hope everyone treats you with the same kindness you've always given to me. Love you!

Skirr

“Hurry, Lily! Mum and Dad are gonna be home any second!”

“When snooping for Christmas presents when your parents aren’t home, shouldn’t you be more worried about me?” Teddy poked his head into Harry and Ginny’s bedroom. “Besides, Ginny wouldn’t lay them out in plain sight when she knows you’re her son.”

Lily’s little head peeped out from under the bed and she blew her fringe from her eyes.

“They aren’t here Jamie.”

Jamie’s shoulders slumped forward.

“What about you, Al?”

Al’s head popped out of the clothes in the closet. “Nothing.”

“Maybe they didn’t get us anything.” Jamie sighed.

“Don’t be silly.” Teddy laughed. “They’re your parents. They got you something. And even if they didn’t, you haven’t been so bad that Father Christmas would forget you entirely.”

“But last year we found them, and the year before that too.”

“Then they probably hid them really well this year. Come on, let’s go back downstairs.”

Teddy chuckled as all the kids filed out of the Potter’s bedroom. He remembered when he used to act that way, snooping around for presents at Christmas time. He was more mature than that now. Now he’s trusted to help set out presents at the appointed time; and he knows that his family loves him enough to find presents he’ll like.

Jamie’s head was nearly down by his shoes as he slumped down the stairs and his older brother took pity on the poor lad.

“How about I get out the biscuits and what’s left of the wassail from yesterday and we can play a game till your parents get home?”

“Alright,” Jamie said with a little shrug of his slumped shoulders.

The game and sugar worked wonders and by the time Harry and Ginny were home, Jamie had forgotten all about snooping for presents.

“Thank you for watching them for us.” Ginny hugged him. “I’m sure there were better things to be doing than watching your god-siblings.”

“I don’t mind.” Teddy placed their mugs in the sink. “Oh, and you should know Jamie had them snooping in your room for presents.”

Harry chuckled. “He won’t find them there.”

“I didn’t think he would.” Teddy nodded. “But I thought I’d give you a heads up.”

“Have you done all your shopping?” Ginny put her hand on his shoulder. “I could take you tomorrow.”

“I got everything with Gran when the train came in. She said we were already in London and might as well take advantage of it.”

“Smart woman, your Gran.” Harry smiled. “Now why don’t you run on up to bed and we’ll get you back home in the morning.”

Teddy wished them both goodnight and headed for the stairs.

“You know.” Ginny’s voice was quiet. “I’m going to take a lot of joy one day in telling Jamie that all the presents were right in front of him the whole time.”

Teddy paused, curious if she’d reveal the hiding place.

After all, he should know so as to steer Jamie in the wrong direction.

“That spot only works for as long as I don’t need my cloak for work.” Harry’s voice was almost too quiet to be heard.

“I’ll be sure to ask Father Christmas to keep all the baddies away until Christmas.”

“You’ll need to ask him to keep the kids off the ceilings as well, then.”

Teddy’s jaw dropped, and he looked above him.

His godparents had hid the presents on the ceiling and then covered them with Harry’s invisibility cloak? Jamie would never even think to check the ceiling! Teddy wasn’t even supposed to know Harry had the cloak, but he’d eves dropped from this same spot before and heard about it then.

Satisfied that Jamie wouldn’t be able to ruin his Christmas surprises, Teddy walked up the stairs to his room.

“He’s in his room.” Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny’s waist and kissed her neck.

“Do you think he believed us?”

“Of course he did, or he wouldn’t have gone upstairs.” Harry kissed her again, ready to move their conversation on to other things.

“Hold that thought.”

Ginny slipped from his arms and laughed at the pout Harry gave her for that. She picked up her wand and brought the box of old mugs down from atop the refrigerator. Then pulled the last of the Christmas gifts from the bags and shrunk them down to fit inside the mugs. She placed the box back on top of the refrigerator.

“There.” She slid up against him. “Now, where were we?”

Harry pulled her close and spoke low against her ear. “Somewhere along these lines.”

Ginny’s response was a quiet moan as she melted into him.

“Take me to bed, Mr. Potter.”

“With pleasure, Mrs. Potter.”

Harry swept her into his arms and up the stairs to their room. No one was going to be finding their presents early, not even Ginny.

Jamie definitely got his snooping from her.

#Skirr #gift fic #hinny #potter family #family fluff #Christmas fic #harry potter/ginny weasley #teddy lupin #james sirius potter #albus severus potter #lily luna potter #fluff

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the-blue-fairie · 1 year

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My favorite Scrooge will always be Ted's Dad from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Hal Landon Jr., who played Ted's dad in the Bill and Ted movies, played Scrooge in our local stage production of A Christmas Carol for over 40 years.

He hung up the scarf in 2019, with Richard Doyle (who in many productions previously has played The Ghost of Christmas Present) taking on the role. Tragically, I was unable to attend the production this year, but I'm sure Doyle is a worthy successor. I'll miss him as Christmas Present though.

This post, though, is about Landon, and in all my years of coming to see the play, I grew to love him. He was able to bring a great humanity and weight to Scrooge during the ghost visitations, especially at Fan's arrival and the final scenes with Belle, while at the same time being hilarious at just the right moments.

The final scene with Belle, in this version, is set against the stark shadows of her father's death. His casket is before them, his body not yet taken to a pauper's grave. There's a line in this version that always cuts me like a knife, where Belle somberly intones, "In death as in life, those with the least must wait the longest." When the young Scrooge tries to use this as a rationale for his own avarice (to, shall we say, "admit it for [his] factious purposes, and make it worse," there is an aching sincerity to Belle's reminder to him that "rich or poor, we all end up like this."

I'll miss the delightful energy Landon brought to the more humorous moments in the show as well. For example, when, after the ghost visitations and after spending most of the production in his nightclothes, he dresses to go to Fred's, he exclaims, "My pants! I've missed my paaants!" I'm not doing it justice. You had to be there to here the delivery!

Likewise, in the play, Fred gives Scrooge a gift that he ignores until Christmas morning. When he finally opens it, he sees it is a scarf and Landon would always squeal, "Was ever a scarf SOOO REEEEEED?"

I can't begin to describe how delightful it always was.

Likewise, this is one of those versions where Scrooge comes directly to the Cratchits to tell them that he'll raise Bob's salary and hand out presents (before heading off to Fred's and apologizing he can't stay), there's this GREAT moment between Bob and Mrs. Cratchit.

Mrs. Cratchit: ...How did he know all the children's names?

Bob Cratchit: ...I DON'T KNOWWW!

Also, this a small thing, but in this version, I love how they give some humanity to old Joe (you know? "I always give too much to ladies. It’s a weakness of mine"?) in this version. We see him at the start, bantering about Scrooge in a relatable way, so when we see him with Christmas Yet to Come, he feels less like an ominous threat to Scrooge and more like... just someone who is poor making a living through not exactly honest means.

Anyway, I hope to see the new Scrooge in the coming years, but I just wanted to give a shout-out to this production and the Scrooge closest to my heart. Wassail!

@ariel-seagull-wings @princesssarisa @thealmightyemprex @toasted-pirate @brokenwild

#a dickens december #a christmas carol #hal landon jr.#bill and ted #bill and ted's excellent adventure

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frodothefair · 6 months

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I've been researching Christmas carols for my Yuletide arc, and I've come upon something interesting. Another word for caroling is "wassailing," as illustrated by the two alternative names for the same Christmas song, "Here We Come A-caroling" and "Here We Come A-Wassailing." There are different versions of the lyrics, too, but here is one of them:

Here we come a-wassailing Among the leaves so green; Here we come a-wand'ring So fair to be seen.

Love and joy come to you, And to you a wassail too; And God bless you and send you a Happy New Year And God send you a Happy New Year.

Now, what is a wassail?

Back in the day, primarily in the British Isles, carolers would go from house to house and get food, small gifts, and money in exchange for singing songs. It was also a means for the wealthy to give to less fortunate (or the lords to their vassals), without it feeling explicitly like charity. That is one of the original meanings of the word "wassail." The "wassail bowl" was also the name for the punch bowl that was passed around during such occasions.

"Wassail" also comes from Old Norse ves heill, which means "be in good health." Hence "and to you a wassail too."

Which sounds suspiciously like the Rohirric "westu hal."

Three things follow from this.

If I headcanoned before that the Gamgees go caroling every year and sing and play instruments (very loudly and very badly), this absolutely confirms it. The kids like it as much for the "trick or treating" aspect as the adults like it for the supplementary income. The Gamgees are also probably far more likely to do this than the Bagginses, the Tooks, or the Boffins and the like.

They probably call it "wassailing" as often as they call it "caroling."

This totally ended up in Merry's treatise on words that are similar in Hobbitish and Rohirric.

#lotr #lotr headcanon #lotr headcanons #christmas

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courtleymanor · 5 months

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youtube

Gower Wassail performed by Steeleye Span

from my Yule playlist

A-wassail, a-wassail throughout all the town Our cup it is white and our ale it is brown Our wassail is made of the good ale and cake Some nutmeg and ginger, the best we could bake

Our wassail is made of the elderberry bough And so my good neighbors we'll drink unto thou Besides all on earth, you'll have apples in store Pray let us come in for it's cold by the door...

We hope that your apple trees prosper and bear So that we may have cider when we call next year And where you have one barrel we hope you'll have ten So that we may have cider when we call again

There's a master and a mistress sitting down by the fire While we poor wassail boys stand here in the mire Come you pretty maid with your silver headed pin Pray open the door and let us come in

It's we poor wassail boys so weary and cold Please drop some small silver into our bowl And if we survive for another new year Perhaps we may call and see who does live here

We know by the moon that we are not too soon And we know by the sky that we are not too high And we know by the stars that we are not too far And we know by the ground that we are within sound

#gower wassail #steeleye span #yule playlist #yule songs #yuletide music #wassail #wassailing #Youtube

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copiousloverofcopia · 1 year

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I'm curious about what kind of stuff the Papas and their families get up to during Ghristmas time..... 🤔 ♥

🎄Since it's almost here, I better get a move on answering lol... 🎄

Let's start off with the general happenings during this time within the Abbey/Ministry, shall we?

Also, this one might be a long one ghesties, so buckle up I'm putting it under the cut for space.

While Christmas itself is not celebrated, for obvious reasons, the Winter Solstice absolutely is. Siblings and Ghouls typically give offerings during this time to not only Lucifer during Black Mass but also the Papas and their families as well.

Everyone exchanges presents amongst themselves and also donate to local charities that help others this time of year to share the blessings bestowed upon them.

The gifts to the Papas are more symbolic than anything and aren't the same as buying a video game or a gift card for someone. Think more along the lines of a sibling of sin giving Papa and his Prime Mover the gift of hazelnuts (a symbol of fertility) to symbolize well wishes on conceiving a child.

The Papacy bestows blessings on the congregation during this time of year. Many celebrations in thanks to Lucifer for his abundance and his allowance for indulgence of sin take place. The whole Abbey/Ministry is included in them.

The Papas and their families also give gifts to the children of the Abbey. Seeing each of them as a blessing from Lucifer himself and to be celebrated amongst them.

The Abbey/Ministry is covered in lights and garland. Think warm whites and rich reds. Most of the lights twinkle and amuse the children and ghouls alike. Though Copia has considered dialing them back a bit...especially since he has had to spray bottle Dew/Sodo from getting into them too many times to count.

There is a rather large and ornate Yule (Ghristmas) tree that takes up a massive portion of the Great Hall during the holiday season. It is decorated in the most beautiful ornaments you can imagine.

Things made of gold, silver, crystal, and glass that sparkle in the light that comes in through the huge stained glass arched windows. Some of these are even older than anyone living in the Abbey, dating back centuries. Many even before Nihil's father's father's father's father was Papa.

The presents beneath the tree are a culmination of those from everyone. Everyone within the Abbey/Ministry is family considered to be family and so the Great tree belongs to everyone.

🎄NOW for the individual Papa traditions or behaviors 🎄

Primo

Primo personally picks out the tree that stands proudly in the Great Hall. It is chosen from a forest that is part of the Abbey grounds, one blessed by the Emeritus line for hundreds of years. Primo also helps to pick the smaller trees that adorn the living spaces of each of the Papas' papal suites.

He has a rather fine section of the greenhouse devoted to poinsettias during this time of year. As well as the rest of the greenery of course, things like Terzo's mistletoe, wreaths, garland, etc.

He is a traditionalist at heart and enjoys the more religious aspect of the season. Primo loves sharing the traditions with his daughters and Prime Mover. This includes things like readying the Yule altar with offerings for Lucifer and brewing Wassail for all of the Abbey to partake in. Blessing everyone with good health.

He is especially passionate during his sermons this time of year as well. Almost coming to tears many times as he speaks.

Secondo

Secondo is more reserved with how he celebrates. He prefers to sit back and enjoy his Prime Mover and children partaking in the traditions and events, more so than doing it himself.

HIs favorite thing is watching his kids' eyes light up as they say the finished tree in the Hall. (He helps with the decorations every year as well but does his best to not make a fuss over it).

The only other tradition he adheres to is that for the whole month of December he reads some of his favorite stories to his children before they go to bed each night.

Choosing to sit with them and read beside the warmth of the fireplace, praying that one of the kiddos refrains from spilling their hot cocoa on him, as they listen intently.

After they are all snug in bed and fast asleep, Secondo enjoys spending the rest of the night having some much-desired time um... unwrapping his Prime Mover.

Terzo

Terzo loves everything about the season, but even more so the lavish parties and celebrations that the church is known for this time of year. His favorite thing to do is hang mistletoe in various door and entry ways within the Abbey/Ministry.

While its adorable and super romantic, it does get a bit ridiculous when he's constantly stopping his Prime Mover to give her "just one more kiss for the day", which turns into 20 more over the next few hours. By the end of the night both their lips are raw lol.

Terzo also very much enjoys wearing a Santa hat around the Abbey and will frequently tell his Prime Mover she's on the naughty list.

As you can imagine this leads to some lascivious activities to be sure. His favorite thing is to tell her he wants for Yule/the Solace/Ghristmas is another baby.

Copia

Copia is very very family-centered during the holiday season. All the Papas' like to stay close to their families during this time, but for him it's even more important.

He wasn't allowed the same childhood as the other Papas' and didn't have the experiences that they had.

While growing up as an orphan in the Abbey/Ministry the only person who would pay him any attention was Sister Imperator (which of course years later would be revealed to be his mother).

He didn't have the same close nit celebrations with presents and family and lacked the ability to fully appreciate the general spirit of the holiday season growing up.

Once he fell in love all of that changed. Once had had a family it became his mission to keep things as magical as possible for them.

He is the one who, along with the ghouls and Secondo's reluctant help, decorates the Abbey/Ministry every year.

The smell of gingerbread and peppermint is constantly coming from the kitchen, as Copia keeps a steady supply of cookies and other candies on hand. He also loves to make dinner, every meal a different dish, focusing on his children and Prime Mover's favorites.

Every night he prays to Lucifer in thanks for his family and all he has been given through his perseverance and the unholy blessings. He can often be found just smiling as he watches his children enjoying the "small things" during the season.

Hope you enjoyed!! Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and Yuletide greetings Ghesites! 💚

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dessertgeek · 6 months

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The Mari Lwyd Twitter saga (2020 - part three)

This is part of my efforts to transcribe @seananmcguire's holiday Mari Lwyd Twitter threads. The hashtag for now is #Mari Lwyd Project, the first post is here, the thread's source is here.

(Many thanks to @dor-min on finding and linking this one!)

There are a couple from this year that are short, and even single replies that Seanan likely didn't have time to reply to. So this is their collection! Authors will be linked in their comments as best I can.

CW for food, just in case.

Lorcan Murphy (Twitter): Alas were I only a mutual, Mari Lwyd I'd offer rhymes crucial. We'd barter o'er offering asked unpredictable Afore presenting a demanded varietal victual The dead from the living must bide dividual But this rhyme for the horse is purely volitional.

Seanan: Your rhyming's exquisite, So clean and refined. I'll grant you a visit, To seek cheese with rind, Or cheese that's been softened, Or processed or plain... When Mari Lwyd's summoned, She sings her refrain.

Cheese or beer! Cheese or beer! I know that you have it here!

Lorcan: Alas all my beer has been spilt in a pan And as unlikely it seems, my cheese melted and ran My flour and yeast in the oven to bake So I'm terrible short of scran you can take Bide if you can, I'll no make it a habit and I'll offer a pretzel and Welsh-German rabbit

---

Cassandra Khaw (Carrd / Twitter): A single wedge of manchego I do possess, Not a wedge nor a morsel more than that, If I was someone who had cheese in excess, I'd offer them to you, and have all your desires.

But lo, you bony equine, Such is all I can give: This lonely cheese of mine, I offer in tithe.

Seanan: To give when there's plenty Is glorious kind: But it's kinder by far When you've little but rind.

I am grateful to you, On this shortest of days, For your holiday spirit And generous ways.

---

The singles!

(I'm posting peoples' handles as I see them, will do my best here. If someone rhymed or made poetry and I couldn't find a 'do not repost' on their profile, I included it.)

John & Bucky: I’m just here to watch A skeletal horse seeking Cheese and wine through rhyme

Stephanie Annand: Alas! For the lack! Of cheese in my home; Will you accept yogurt As onward you roam?

Eleri: I have some ok parm, and a generic swiss A really good chevre would not go amiss This stupid pandemic has cut into my cheese-buying I'm afraid sharing these cheeses, the dead horse would send me flying.

Paige Wolf: Cheese and spiced wine You’ll definitely find; In my kitchen, I’ll fill up your cup!

Come in please, my friend! Time we will spend, In drinking and singing, Bottoms up!

warcabbit: Wassail, wassail? I give you mulled ale and a nice nutty cheese to boot.

It is the season Be kind without reason And generous with gifts and loot.

Stephanie Caitlyn: I do not have cheese, I only have curry, For when I did leave, It was in quite a hurry.

Into the headlights I peer like a deer, But with you I gladly will share my paneer.

Starry_Marie: I know there are many With rhymes that are better But one thing I do have - A large chunk of cheddar

@Chimaera.bsky.social: Oh Mare, at thy feet I lay Some Caveman Blue and olives today. Cambezola roasted with garlic cloves, Squeezed upon fine grilled bread loaves. A bit of Brie to melt your heart, A nutty Parm to fuel your start, Melted Gruyère to dip things in, & Queso fresco (you're looking thin)

Cake and Arsenic: Oh mari lywd, please don't feel down, With your big boney head, in your white cotton shroud, For you'll find that my larder is stocked full of cheese, And you're welcome to come and eat all that you please.

JLH: (not a mutual, but it seems fun and kinda inspired me) Dread equine I hear your call! And in my larder is a prize, A piece of asiago for your skeletal maw Please accept my gift and silence your cries.

#Mari Lwyd Project #Lorcan Murphy #Cassandra Khaw #Seanan McGuire #Mari Lwyd #Food #I love how so many folks got into the spirit #There are two Seanan replies I skipped #As the verses are replies to folks who don't wan't their posts seen by all #It felt rude to interrupt

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