[ dec / open ] what even is the point of december without christmas presents?

[princessvegas]

WHO: Julie + others
WHAT: December catchall
WHERE: Places
WHEN: December
WARNINGS: Language, etc. Specific cws in subject headings.

[ ooc: dec catchall, starters in comments, bitchcraft or bitchcraft#2753 to plot. ]

Comments

[princessvegas]

[ Look, Julie will be one of the first to admit that it's an insane story that doesn't make any sense. But it's also ubiquitous, the largest religion in a planet of over seven billion people, and more or less shaped the entire atmosphere that Julie and Nadine grew up in, so it is what it is.

She scoffs loudly, putting food on plates because she is not a savage who just stands over tables, eating meat with her bare hands. ] No one is eatin' the lamb. I'll probably just turn that one loose in someone's domain, there's plenty of fields and pastoral shit around, but yes, we return rented animals to their owners. That's how rentin' anythin' works. You give it back at the end. Here, eat off plates, for God's sake.

[ Heaping plates are shoved toward both of them. Men. She doesn't put one together for herself, though, only picking up one of her grandmother's biscuits to nibble as she ladles herself a glass of punch (it's not jungle juice, though it is still mostly very strong alcohol). ] Anyway, Nativities are just a common tradition. Usually you have a little one for inside too, like on a table. Lil' figures for all the characters. When I was a kid, it was like playin' dolls when they'd tell me go set it up.

[cointosser]

[Look, they don't come from a place where one rents an edible creature for decoration then returns it. It makes no bloody sense. If he's spending coin on a lamb, it better end up a roast at the end of the day.

He takes his plate with a huff back at her. Who cares about plates? They're all friends here. It's not even real!

He won't say it. For the moment. Unfortunately, the two of them are going to continue eating with their hands, either way, because that's simply how it's done. Cutlery is rarer than books, and Jaskier has only seen its use mostly at royal banquets. Besides, he has to tear up the bloody ham anyway.

It's quite good.]

I'm not questioning the utility of dolls for table decorations. It does look utterly lovely. And... you know, I don't think I've seen so much food in one place since I was moving in the courts.

[gynvael]

[ Geralt takes the plate without complaint. There's food upon it, and he's easy. He feeds a bit of turkey to the wolf at his feet, a thoughtful expression on his face as he listens. Truthfully, he's largely here to keep Julie company more than anything—but he doesn't mind the stories, either. ]

Sounds more like Belleteyn. Birth, fertility. [ Miracle children born from a virgin woman is unique to Julie's tradition, but it is curious to him it's a tradition of the winter, when the lands are barren. Usually mythical stories of childbirth are saved for the spring. Harvest time and such. ] Yule has often been about the undead. They say the Wild Hunt brings its frost across the land when they ride through the skies.

[ Well. Some say. Myth, except not. Ever since Ciri told him, he believes her, but. He still isn't sure what to think. And Ciri herself seems so unwilling to talk about it, Geralt has only gently prodded her now and again.

Like Jaskier, he tears easily into his ham; nor does he hesitate to set a small slice of pie on Jaskier's plate, to take a roll in exchange—a thoughtless action. ]

[princessvegas]

Well, Jesus wasn't really born in the winter. A long time ago, like thousands of years ago, Christians basically stole a bunch of pagan holidays to make 'em about Jesus. Turns out people care way more about parties than mopey, serious religious shit, so they took these big drunken festivals and slapped Christianity on 'em to keep people interested. We got a different holiday about birth and new beginnings and shit, though. That's Easter. When Jesus rose from the dead. It's in like, March or April, depends on the year. But it's the big spring holiday, and if you think Christmas don't make sense, you can't handle Easter. [ Please don't make her try to explain how a candy-distributing rabbit fits in with the resurrection of Christ. Let her have the four months between now and Easter before she takes a stab at that confusing mess.

Downing half a glass of punch that's three-quarters pure alcohol, she makes a third plate, which gets set in front of the wolf. His pumpkin pie has whipped cream. ] So wait, y'all have a for-real zombie holiday? Was Eifstide just like bein' at home for y'all?