#solstitium

solstitium -ii n. “solstice,” “solis statio”   [sol “sun” + stare “to stand (still)” + -tium abstract noun suffix]   [sol- + STA + -tio-] stem, root, and stem   [sol- + statio-] stem and new stem   [solstatio-] new stem   [solstitio-] medial a becomes i   [solstitium] nominative singular

SoMa Week 2020 Day 5: “We’re not dating!”

@soulxmakaweek

Oakdale Grove’s Midwinter Solstice Ritual

It is now an established Grove tradition that we’ll have a very short ritual outside for the observance of Midwinter (and sometimes Imbolc), followed by a retreat into the tropical plants of the Como Park Conservatory in Saint Paul. On the day of this event, the temperature was slightly colder than my Grove Policies permit, but there was no wind which made it feel less cold. I used an older short ritual for Midwinter written by the late Norman Nelson, the second Arch-Druid of Carleton College. Maybe I will memorize it for next year so that I can wear my gloves instead of reading from my giant hardbound copy of ARDA. 

Our sacramental chalice held hot mulled cider as the Waters-of-Sleep. I’m so glad my chalice didn’t crack in the cold air when I poured from the thermos! There were four of us in attendance, which is par for wintry rituals, especially around the holidays. We glorified the mistletoe and the evergreen, which is customary in RDNA Midwinter rituals.

I’ve been a bit behind, but I’m still trying fgsjgdgf

so have this 2k of Soul and Maka watching another Soul and Maka

@soulxmakaweek

Excerpts:

The camera focuses, revealing a handsome young man with silver white hair and hooded red eyes sitting on a sofa.

"Hey guys," he greets, tone calm and cool, if not a tad bit annoyed. "Today we're gonna do something a bit different, courtesy of my [redacted] older brother." He rolls his eyes.

"He's been irritatingly bugging me to watch this one series and I'm honestly just a second away from trying to choke him to oblivion. But since homicide is frowned upon, I decided to be the more mature brother and just watch the thing." He exhales as if this one task is very arduous. "So we're doing a reaction video of A Winter Solstice, first episode."

He stills and looks behind the camera as a faint feminine voice interrupts him.

[Editor: Don't forget about your other penalty, loser!]

The man scowls.

[Editor: Stop dilly-dallying, Soul.]

"Shut up, Liz." Soul's scowl deepens. But he smooths it back to his indifferent expression before speaking, "Right. We're having a guest with me today, as had been widely requested by all of you in all of my social media," he clicks his tongue as he leans back, sounding displeased. 

"A lot of you had been pestering—"

[Editor: requesting]

"—requesting—," Soul parrots, huffing, "—to invite my roommate in my new videos." He pulls his lips into a flat line before continuing, "I've asked her, and she said yes, so…"

He waves at someone off-screen.

"Maka, c'mere."

A petite girl with ash-blonde hair in space buns gingerly makes her way to the sofa, waving a little shyly as she plops herself down beside Soul.

She wears a simple black skirt and baby pink shirt, along with what seems suspiciously like Soul's old orange letterman jacket. (Old fans would recognize it instantly as the iconic outfit he wore when he crushed Wolfree, another professional gamer known by his death-defying skills, in his last official gaming competition many years ago.)

"Hi, everyone. I'm Maka Albarn, Soul's roommate."

"And girlfriend," Soul adds automatically, eyes trained straight to the camera.

Maka rolls her eyes. "And girlfriend."

yes. this is a shameless, shameless self promotion

Soul and Maka as an actual Ishvalan and a military soldier

surprise! I haven’t abandoned this baby yet! wwwwwww

Read it on AO3 or FFN

Chapter summary:

lulz

after a whole fukkin year, I finally finished this thing and I’m so proud of it 👌

Read it on AO3 or FFN!

But wait, their adventure won’t stop here, because the sequel is coming!

Double update of A Winter Solstice in the winter solstice! wwwww ✨✨✨

One chapter to go!

Read it at AO3 or FFN!

Also,

Announcement for Zi’s 2020 Resbang!