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[thebestnose]

I've noticed the Admiral likes to celebrate holidays. But what does that actually mean for you? We might as well talk about something other than the fact that this place is turning brown and there are ghosts or pookas or whatever you want to call them. At least the colour garden hasn't wilted

Comments

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[metallonkardia]

I can't remember the last time I celebrated a 'real' holiday, to be honest.

I understand Morse.

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[thebestnose]

Why not? It seems like something everyone likes to do.

And how well?

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[metallonkardia]

Didn't really have time.

Fluent. Requirements of the service, etc. You looking to dot out something?

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[thebestnose]

It would be more of a backup. If something should happen to the communicators, rather than delivering messages back and forth between levels or all of us gathering in one place, it might be easier to send information through through Radtalk.

That is, tapping them out on the pipes. It can be heard between levels. At least the one above and below for sure.

[mrs_persson]

They're not. Some involve a lot of drinking and getting in fights with relatives. That wasn't in the original plan, of course, but it's practically a ritual in some parts.

And I do know Morse code.

[thebestnose]

...why? How did it evolve into something like that?

I thought you might, Una.

[mrs_persson]

Well ... take Christmas. It starts out as one of those "life-affirming holidays in the middle of winter" and largely retains that meaning even after being co-opted by Christianity. It becomes the main holiday for getting together with family and friends and exchanging gifts, but in so doing it accrues expectations about familial togetherness and so forth. Of course, few families have members who all get on perfectly with each other, so tensions rise and eventually people start quarrelling. And then the next year comes around and they do it all over again.

[Private]
So was that you, then, tapping out books on the pipes?

[thebestnose]

It just seems like a waste of time. But...I'm not surprised.

[Private]

Yes. Eddie and I would talk to each other that way. Books, too.

[strangehstorian]

Well, I'm not Previous, but we have one holiday similar to this - the rest are quite different.

[thebestnose]

Sorry, most people are and they usually aren't correct when they claim they aren't. You might be right.

Which one is the one you enjoy the most? And does the Admiral do anything for your holidays? Or just Previous ones?

[strangehstorian]

Well, Noblegarden is a new one, but I quite like it. It's usually in April, to celebrate the spring - fake eggs are hidden outdoors with candy or chocolates inside for children, there are flowers and friendly rabbits and general cheerfulness after all the drab winter. I don't know if the Admiral will do anything for it, though. He didn't last year. I might set something up myself.

[thebestnose]

That makes no sense. It sounds like something National Colour would set up.

[most_feared]

I know Morse code.

There's a lotta reasons behind Halloween. But it doesn't really involve all of this. It involves when people were scared that things this scary might happen to them, so they did things to try and keep themselves safe. Little ceremonies that I think set them at ease more than it actually kept them safe.

Eventually it turned into sweets and dressing up as people.

[thebestnose]

I'm just trying to see who do. How well?

Interesting how that seems to happen. What about the other holidays?

[most_feared]

Pretty well. [He almost says his father taught him it when he was a kid, but he realizes how personal that is. And he's become less of a faceless nobody lately.] I've known it for a while. A little brushing up never hurts, though.

Some of them are like that. Christmas shouldn't be at the time of year it is, because the sheep were in the fields. But the Christians needed to turn another winter festival into it to make the change easier for an overtaken culture. Then there's things like Thanksgiving. One one day for one country. On one for another. In another it doesn't happen at all. Some celebrate it with eating. Some with fasting.

Did you have any special commemorative days?

[thebestnose]

A few, but nothing like that. Why is each country different?

[notiaraincluded]

I'm sure you can probably find some book going over all the history and crap dealing with Halloween. Today, or at least "today" where I'm from, it's just a reason to let kids dress up in costumes, stay up a bit past their bedtime, and eat lots of candy. Whatever the "original" purpose, most holidays have just become excuses to have fun, throw a party, and/or not have to go to work.

[thebestnose]

I'm starting to realise that. I've read enough books on Previous history. It's difficult to try and catch up on thousands of years of history, especially when I don't know what I'm looking for. It's easier to hear it from the source.