#scholastica

I wanna ask about Musketio's thoughts on my ocs.

(No force intended of course)

"A query on my thoughts of your beloved citizens? Splendid! I would be most happy to share with thee, Your Majesty! I am at your command, and thou are always privy to my thoughts!"

Vivian: "Silent they may be, but The Lover is lovely company indeed! A dutiful citizen who seems eager to aid the kingdom however they can."

Musketio genuinely likes Vivian! He would always say hello whenever they cross paths and try to ask him about her day. His elegant clothing would have Musketio automatically treating him like one of the nobles; lots of flowery language and compliments on how she carries herself. However, knowing that healing isn't linear, Musketio would struggle a lot on the days Vivian's delusions act up. They'd spook him, would most likely run off to fetch someone in a higher position, and just not bring it up the next time they meet. He doesn't hold it against him, but Musketio has a bad habit of glossing over stuff like this: both for other people's comfort and himself.

Beast: "O-Oh... A very skilled beast tamer, and a VERY dutiful member of the kingdom! ...Have thou sought him out? Tis not my place, b-but perhaps thou would consider doing so?"

Beast and his predicament open a lot of old wounds for Musketio. When he looks at him he sees himself, and sometimes he feels the urge to look away. I can picture him on a night where he's very emotionally vulnerable that he tries to get the scold's bridle off without properly offering his help... He's quieter around Beast, always kind and gentle, and often leaves little trinkets around for him: attempts of both comfort and apology.

Scholastica: "Ah... A very... Interesting, citizen. N-Not a villain, I assure thee, Your Majesty! Just... Different."

Vivian's bad days spook Musketio, but it's Scholastica's general vibe that puts him completely on edge. Her state of undress scandalizes him, and her wandering and rambling make him want to dive for cover. He's as tense as a bowstring whenever he strolls down the darker halls of the kingdom, worried that he's going to stumble into her. He would never dream of laying a hand on her for the sake of harming her, but he still tries to keep his distance. Perhaps a third party playing mediator would help improve things?

Chromo: "A true master of his craft! So vibrant! So skilled! Not to mention their noble goal for our beautiful kingdom!"

I am so thrilled! I loved this book when I was a kid for the art. I couldn’t remember what it was called, what the cover looked like or the names of any of the stories! 🤦‍♀️

I just remembered some of the illustrations and a boy being turned into a deer. I have been doing all sorts of google searches for a couple of years off and on and I finally found it!! And archive.org has it!

Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) Scholastica (1933) Source (20+MP each)

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT SCHOLASTICA The Twin Sister of Saint Benedict Feast Day: February 10

"Humility is the foundation of all virtues."

Scholastica was born circa 480 AD in Nursia, Umbria, Italy, of wealthy parents (Anicius Eupropius and his wife Claudia Abondantia Reguardati).

After her brother Benedict had gone to Monte Cassino, she settled in the nearby Plombariola, ruling a community of nuns. She visited Benedict once a year in a small house near the monastery.

One day after dinner, Scholastica asked her twin brother to remain a little longer, but he refused. Thus, she joined her hands and invoked the help of the Lord, who sent a violent storm, so that neither Benedict nor his companions could return home.

Benedict exclaimed: 'May God forgive you, sister; what have you done?'

Scholastica answered: 'I asked a favor of you, and you refused it; I asked it of God, and he has granted it.'

Benedict was therefore forced to comply with her request, and to spend the night talking about holy things and eternal happiness. The next morning they parted ways, and three days later, Scholastica passed away on February 10, 543 AD near Monte Cassino.

Benedict was at that time alone in his cell absorbed in prayer, when, lifting his eyes, he saw his sister's soul ascending to heaven as a dove. Filled with joy, he thanked God and sent some monks to bring his twin sister's body to his monastery, and laid it in the tomb he had prepared for himself.

Today's Flickr photo with the most hits: this image of the brother and sister duo - Ss Benedict and Scholastica.

The pair were born in the late 5th CE, and were founders of the Benedictine Order. The Rule, and the monks and nuns, endure to this day. The Rule was so esteemed that it was adopted all over western Christendom as a way to regulate life in religious communities; it was both spiritual and practical, setting forth the rhythms of life within a monastery, and describing how to run one efficiently and fairly.

The Terrible Adventures of Scholastica

Why All This Talk of the Valley of Silence?

Two words: Sacred Pilgrimage.

Here I am now, at 18 and I’ve learned to feel the seasons. Take my hand and come away with me to a place we’ll understand. ...much to see in such a short time... —from the song Bound to Happen by The Empire Hideous

This woodland was my spiritual haven for four years of my life. It’s an enigmatic place, like Parth Galen or Amon Hen from The Fellowship of the Ring, replete with mysterious ruins, structures, and statues. All these years I’ve assumed it’s about 100 acres, but I don’t ever remember asking anyone or measuring it until now. According to Google Earth, the area outlined in blue in the satellite image is exactly 200 acres, and the perimeter is four miles. 

I don’t think the college owns the whole parcel of land, because an old plat map I found that dates to sometime before the 1940s indicates some of the land is owned by the City of Duluth, some by the State of Minnesota, and some by the College of Saint Scholastica. The housing development on the left hand side of the satellite image above was built around 2005. Before then the woods were about 240 acres.

In 2003 or 2004 after lamenting the lack of a trail map I ventured out with a compass and notebook and counted my paces while tracking my heading. I drew a crude map that was woefully not to scale; I could have made a surveyor cry. Then for fun I wrote everything on the map in ancient Gothic, a long dead Germanic language.

After another year or so I bought a handheld GPS tracker and made a better map with it. The tracker had its drawbacks, most notably that the line it drew had no map of its own or any points of reference. It sometimes had a tendency to wildly redraw lines into different polygonal shapes long after they had been mapped just fine, hampering the accuracy significantly. The Mark II map was closer to scale, more detailed and complete, and I opted for plain English. By the time I was done, the then-new housing development had cut down dozens of acres of trees and obliterated a length of the trail that looped around the westernmost parts of the Valley of Silence.

My Mark III map was all digital, and was a hybridization based on aerial photography I found, and from my hand-drawn maps where the trails couldn’t be seen through the tree canopy. It was an improvement but still plenty inaccurate, especially the encroaching Private Land; the dimensions were wrong and it severed much more of the trail. Lots of my measurements were also still off because I didn’t account for changes in elevation, forcing me to figure out how to make some of the trails fit together by stretching, shortening, or changing angles.

From the latest satellite imagery, it seems a lot has changed since my college days, and I was motivated to redraw all the trails over the course of an hour or so. It even looks like a new trail emerged along the edge of the housing development, but I’m in the mood to use a mapping app on my phone and hike the miles of trails again. I do need to indicate more of the hazards on the Mark IV map I want to make, such as some of the spots where the trail is actually mud that is at least knee deep, or trails that are murky boggy water except in winter.