I understood that she wanted a birhday gift and a Christmas gift, both around the same date as her birthday is close to Christmas. But the party in June...well, I did not understand that, to be honest. I thought it was an unrelated thing. Why does she have a birthday in June?

Our family did that too:  the idea is a "half-birthday" party (as close to 6 months' offset as can be made to work) when friends might be more available and when it can "stand out" more from  Christmastime celebrations.
 

... I've never agreed with that. Some people have to know they're the bad guy, at least in a particular situation. Maybe Marcone? I'd have to study Even Hand more to even think about coming to a conclusion on that one.

I think Marcone sees himself as the "least bad bad-guy" for the job; in the sense that somebody will do it, or some anarchic warring factions.  So Marcone is the best option.
 

... In Chapter 1 of Summer Knight, Billy know's that the "wizard's White Council is coming to town." Harry responds with "[W]hat White Council?" Point being that Billy has figured out that the White Council exists, and the Council is coming to Chicago in the middle of a war. Presumably, that information would be deemed sensitive.

I think it's simpler than that.  Once you've got a foot in the Spooky world, you see a LOT.

Most mortal practitioners know of the White Council.  The Council makes a point of giving a Warden-visit to anyone they deem even capable of enough power to do any active Black Magic; Charity's group got a visit.  The Ordo Lebes knew.  Everyone who's a regular at MacAnaly's knows.  Etc...

Most of them probably know there's some territorial/vigilante werewolves who patrol over near the Univeristy.  I presume some of them live in the neighborhood, and know some of the Alpha's personally... and thus, vice versa.

By the time of SK, Billy actually has a huge network of sources who know about the White Council (albeit only low-level / outsider info (mostly low-level:  given female-line magic, I suspect that some minor witches have GENERATIONS of 'watching-the-WC' wisdom they have accumulated in their respective BoS's/whatever)); he doesn't have to rely upon Harry for that.  Harry's "what WC" is a reflexive thing, but if he'd stopped to think he'd have realized how silly it was.

Given that the WC seems to like to use the same warehouse when they come to Chicago, I presume the local supernatural community has picked up on the signs -- greycloaks in the area, etc -- and knows when "the Council is coming," albeit not with any specificity.
 

I think generally it's only capitalized if you're talking about the Jewish/Christian God.

I go with any individual being; the Deity of any monotheistic religion, so in the context of (e.g.) Mithraism I'd talk about God with  capitalization.

But also, Thor is an individual, as is Shiva, etc.  So I might say, "of course Shiva put the beatdown on a few uppity naagloshii -- he is a God, after all!"

But the Norse pantheon of gods?  That I don't capitalize.  Unless I suspect they'll be reading what I write, of course.  But that's the Archive's schtick, so no worries (she's not a god).
 

 

My son's is 26 Dec.

EVERYBODY is burnt-out on the whole "going to parties" thing, and often tapped-out for giving-presents.  Really sucked for him, as a youngster.  Often, friends were away on winter-vacation trips.

We always made sure he had something from us to open on his actual birthday.  Some years we gave a really-big combined gift, and then a little pro-forma thing or minor accessory to the Big Gift.  Usually we tried to do a more-even split, or even a bigger gift on the 26th, so it wouldn't be a let-down.

But getting a party with lots of friends -- or even his few best friends -- was ALWAYS a challenge.
 

You know, Jim very rarely writes the incantations other wizards use. We get Harry's, one from Molly ("Harikii?"), and I think that's it. Every other spell is summarized as "snarled a word and clenched his fist" or something like that.

I'm pretty sure we hear some of Elaine's.
Which... may be telling?

I guess only the boy-wizards learn to snarl and clench?
(Anal-retentive lot, ain't they?)
 

...
This would make the BC seem like rank amateurs - they sent 1 powerful sorcerer with a small army to take on Mab at Arctis Tor??!...

Unless of course Mab suckered them.  Made it seem like she was busy at the Summer/Winter border, like only a few Fetches and other minor forces remained at A.Tor...

Then... yeah, a powerful sorceror (using Hellfire, remember) & backed by a Fallen Angel, with a small army in tow, does look like an overwhelmingly-powerful strike force.

But all of this is offscren, and thus (barring WoJ?) pure WAGing.