Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for December 13, 2023

Poor Pucky. He’s being swayed by his sweet heart, a desire to believe and one serious snake oil salesman named Lupin. And, so help me Cat, i’m gonna be right behind Pucky!

A changeling isn’t a shapeshifter. It’s a fairy baby left in place of a human baby in the cradle.

Ah, Lupin is using multiple sources. Very good; he’s going for triangulation. I was taught to do that in grad school. Don’t feel bad, Puck. He is making a pretty good case here so far

I still haven’t read the other (I have read the famous movie one) Wizard of Oz books. I was reminded of them recently and sneaked a pretty box set edition into my library requests list this semester (there was room in the budget). I’ll have to borrow them for myself once they get here.

Someone commented a day or so ago that if Santa were a shape shifter, he could reduce himself to something small enough to escape through OZ’s jar’s air holds. That made me think of the wizards duel between Merlin and Mad Madam Mim. But I just can’t quite see Santa as a virus though

“The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus” by L. Frank Baum, an excellent book by the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz if not as well known as his Oz books.

Lupin is very convincing.

I don’t suppose it would do any good to sit Lupin down and tell him, “Little man, that’s not a biography, that’s fiction.” I mean, I would happily travel through Pratchett’s Discworld if it were real, but some worlds are better if they stay fictional.

Being raised by the Fae means all sorts of magic lessons. Probably the reason Santa is still with us. And yes, he learned shape shifting.

Forgets whimsical authors Lupin. Looks at real ones. Like Giorgi…..I!

It’s evidence, Elvis! You believe in evidence, don’t you?

Elvis he’s not doing this just to torment you…this week.

Perhaps Santa uses a Marauders’ Map to avoid being seen at the wrong time..

It could be worse — he could be getting all his information from the interwebz

is it just me or does the fae look like the lady

Still no support for him being an elf. And in Sweden he’s called a “tomte”, which is, as every illustration makes clear, a gnome.An elf is an “älva”.

I hope he’s going to consult Raymond Briggs’ “Father Christmas” and the film “Arthur Christmas”. They may not help his case, but it shows due diligence.

Santa is a shape shifter, if you just beliiiiiiiiievvveee!

When I was young, I read every single book Baum wrote. Every one of them. I devoured them. Couldn’t get enough of them! I LOVED The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause. I’d forgotten about that one. I don’t know how I could, it’s wonderful! It shaped a lot of the way I think about fantasy, the fae and other things and still does.

I’m glad to see Lupin present some plausible arguments for his stance on Santa’s abilities.

Lupin is presenting a strong case. However, I look forward to seeing Elvis on cross examination.

The left page of the book in the second frame looks a lot like Georgia in her Halloween costume, doesn’t it? :D

He is Lupin, readin’ lore

With info too big to ignore

And he knows too much to go back and pretend

Santa’s heard it all before

Why he doesn’t use a door

And Lupin never doubts his ups and downs again

Yes, Lupin’s wise

And it’s Santa he’ll explain

Yes, confidence is nice

And look how much he’s gained

If he has to, he can prove anything

Now Pucky’s strong (strong)

But he’s convincible (convincible)

Elvis is still fumin’

- Ray Burton / Helen Reddy – I Am Woman

This gives me desire to do my own research, not in a skeptical way, but these sources sound fun to read!

Ok. It’s a real book. I just ordered 2 copies. One for me and one for a fairy loving friend.

I’m impressed by Georgia referencing L. Frank Baum’s Santa Claus book! I grew up on reading and re-reading most of his Oz books <3. I’ll have to find The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus now.

Santa is real. Period. End of sentence.

There are at least two L. Frank Baum’s books about Santa on the Project Gutenberg site: the one referenced in today’s strip and one about Santa’s kidnapping that Ora might enjoy : )

Free downloads at gutenberg (not com but org)

But Santa lives in each of our hearts! Isnt he up to our hearts interpretation? Thats what makes him Santa! He is not easily definable or Definitive! There no Santa rubric! We and they are all correct!

So help me Cat- love it!!

I don’t know why they need to be so resistant towards this and make such a big deal out of it anyway. It’s really not that big a deal, and it’s not like Ora Zella wouldn’t have still gotten the idea to try and trap Santa regardless of what Lupin had told her.

Ah HA! I Knew It. The dark arts are at work here, a young Santa hanging around with fairies, magical beings, and changelings. Was he groomed by practitioners of the Dark Arts to look and act nice all the while compiling his “list” and concocting his oh so famous so as to gain entry into homes for his nefarious purposes.

When the Church Lady proclaims “COULD IT BE SATAN?” is she possibly actually saying “COULD IT BE SANTA?”

https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=8_mePjkQW_c

Satan and Santa both start with S, they both contain 5 letters and if you rearrange the letters in Satan you get Santa.

Coincidence???? I think not, what do you think?

For those fans of the Dresden Files, Santa is also Odin (alot of Santa’s habits were first attributed to Odin by the Norse). He’s got magic galore!!!

The fae look like the cartoonist.

Georgia posted on Facebook that she added two new levels to her Patreon site (like all the others they have access to everything). Tommy brings us the $7 Tip Jar tier and Old Mag gives us the $15 Recycled Resources tier. She also now has the option for those who wanted to do a yearly subscription.

It’s all starting to make sense now. Santa Claus really is a shapeshifter!

I’m loving this set of strips, best Christmas work i can remeber. A real thoughtful delightfully imaginative work. Thank you very much

Yeah, Elvis,“Stay strong”, don’t give in to common sense and logic.

O.T. – sending good thoughts for Trouble and the mri

I just got an email that my Zazzle calendar has arrived. I’m on travel…hope the cat sitter brings it in…

Meanwhile, Back on the Nile

Elvis-Anum: _ It’s about time you posted._

Mee: _ Sorry. Around the Yule Season there’s so much to do time gets away from mee. Anyway, to the story._

Maat-Tilda: Thanks so much for letting us use your ink for our art projects. We owe you.

Elvis-Anum: No problem. I know how things get around the holidays. First the Feast of Candy, then the Feast of Gratitude, then the Yule Feast, and then the New Year. We need the Great Nap in January.

Sophititi: One good thing. Trevor-Hotep has developed a line of tomatoes that grow year round. We can have red ink and and fresh tomato dishes in December!

Elvis: That sounds great. What could possibly go wrong?

THWUMP

Elvis Poofs

Adobe Style: Looks like we spoke too soon.

Lupinium: It’s me, Pink Lupinium!

Baum had a boundless imagination. His writing could get a little awkward but his ideas saved it. How many people could imagine the Gump?

My BCN calendar arrived!

My calendars have arrived! Yay! Double Yay!

Was going to leave a comment yesterday but got here pretty late so decided to wait until today. My calendar arrived yesterday, one week earlier than they said it would come! Yay! Because I was able to intercept it before hubby saw and will now be able to display it and he won’t even notice! Thank Cat!

I had to look up this book (it’s real) and I read the Wikipedia summary. It’s very heavy on fae and includes a war with toy-stealing goblins (there’s no description of their species; I’m just picturing goblinish beings)