0081. Traditions.

[a_bit_put_upon]

[Of course he sounds preoccupied! He's so used to talking to himself, or to another physically present person, that he's nearly forgotten how to use this thing. The mutterings are accompanied by fumblings and tinkles and rustles and dings and bonks.]You know, it's escaped my mind often enough until Cissie brought it up earlier that Earth is very

Comments

Spam - w/ intermittent mistletoe y/n?

[mrs_persson]

[Una happens to be in the neighbourhood when he posts, and decides to drop by and say hello, since they haven't talked for a while. Knock knock, Doctor.]

Spam - YYYYY.

[a_bit_put_upon]

[HELLO, THERE! The Doctor opens the door and brightens into a smile, heedless of the tiny leaf jarred loose from the frame above and fluttering off to the side. A small iridescent metal disc is caught in his celery, and one arm is looped over with a mass of tinsel and holding an odd-looking potted plant that... seems to grow in right angles.]

Una! How nice to see you. You're looking well!

[Blink. Strange... inclinations...] In fact, you look... err, good enough to...

[Can't... help... it! Looking completely perplexed, he leans forward, reaches out and draws her to him, plant still in hand. Cue romantic dip/kiss!]

Spam

[mrs_persson]

[So the "hello, Doctor, you're looking well too" never quite gets said. Una lets out a small squeak of surprise and reflexive protest, although all things considered it's really rather nice and all, but my goodness that was unexpected and not anything she was actively looking for. When they straighten up again, she blinks in astonishment.]

Er.

[Oh wait. I know what this is. She glances up and starts to laugh.]

I knew it. Bloody mistletoe.

Re: Spam

[a_bit_put_upon]

[Aaand he steps back, quite red and scratching the back of his head.] ...Pardon me. Not sure what came over me. Pleasant, but odd...

[He looks up too, brow raised at the weird plant above his door.]

Mistletoe? I've only heard vaguely of-- mostly from Peri, mind you, but I didn't know it was... influential.

[Private]

[leadsthestars]

There is a celebration of an old divinity, a mother goddess, but it is not my celebration.

I understand winter festivals and know they will be different. I look forward to these celebrations. I have also seen the snow on the top deck. It is amazing. May I request something warm to wear?

[Private]

[a_bit_put_upon]

There's snow on the deck? I should go and see it! [He sounds a bit more excited than normal about that. IT'S ALMOST LIKE YOU MENTIONED SCIENCE OR SOMETHING.]

Oh, of course. Why don't you come and help me finish setting all this up in my room? I've got plenty of warm things for you to wear, though some of it might be a bit big--but that's all right, as it would trap more air to insulate you with.

[Private]

[leadsthestars]

It is like the top of a mountain. It is very cold, but very beautiful. I saw people playing in the snow and they seemed happy. The halls are very cold now too, like the deck, so anything will suffice.

I will come to help you very soon, and you can tell me what you are setting up.

[Private]

[a_bit_put_upon]

Playing in snow tends to be great fun. Perhaps if I can find you a pair of mittens as well... [Clack, rustle, rustle!]

I'm decorating my quarters with things from a mixture of traditions--Earthling, mostly, but there are so many traditions on Earth alone to choose from--and some of Gallifrey's Otherstide wares as well.

voice

[a_bit_put_upon]

It is! I'd like to go up and build a snow castle, should there be enough to use out there. Would you like to join me?

voice

[a_bit_put_upon]

As soon as I'm done with the figurines. If you remember anything at all from your time here, remember this advice: never let Peri hang mistletoe in the TARDIS.

[grand_lotus]

It is something of a novelty for me, to see so many people anticipating the coldest days of the year. Winter was a rather...solemn time in my homeland.

May I ask how your people celebrate, Doctor?

[a_bit_put_upon]

Winter, or the distant cycle, is often a solemn time for most civilisations. It tends to be regarded as the death before rebirth, or the fall before renewal... I'm sure you catch my drift. Many of Earth's larger civilisations don't like to dwell on such topics, however, and prefer to festoon their winters with festivities and bright colours. It rather confuses me, seeing the way they treat the deaths of their fellows in comparison.

On Gallifrey, we celebrate Otherstide not for a turn of season, but in honour of... one of our most esteemed historical figures. And it seems we do it simply to vex ourselves: we strew things about in a great mess and then dance on them, and if we haven't done it in a self-cleaning chamber, we spend weeks looking for all of it again. That's probably why I prefer Christmas, actually.

[grand_lotus]

I have done a little reading into the larger festivals, but...well, it is a different thing to see it coming to life. Winter for my people is the time of our greatest weakness - we tended to spend it watching our borders for raiders from the Water Tribes. It was engaging, I will say that much, but...not exactly festive.

Your Otherstide, though, sounds fascinating. That sound I heard was your strewing?

WATCH IN AWE AS I MAKE UP STUFF THAT HAS PROBABLY BEEN DISPROVEN ELSEWHERE.

[a_bit_put_upon]

I shouldn't think it would be. How did it denote weakness? Were your people simply ill-suited to the cold, or was there another factor?

It was, in fact. More popular variants of our language, as are most facets of our lives, are based on polygons, derivative numeric patterns, and ordering it all into shape: namely, circles. There are little discs in a range of colours that we place, preferably haphazardly, around the area of our festivities to remind us that even in chaos, motes of order and pattern exist and shape themselves accordingly, as was discovered by the founding fathers of Time Lord society.