audio since im an idiot from gwen's cabin: catfish day 26 - night

[hibana_incursa]

One of the most annoying things about the calendar system here is it's hard to tell when important days happen.

Like holidays. I'm pretty sure it was around thanksgiving before I showed up here, and that means it was also close to my birthday.

But it's been so long since that I have no idea if we've missed it here or what.

Not that I want to do anything for my birthday. I'm happiest not doing anything for it. It's just an example for anyone that has holidays coming they enjoy, or for those who like doing things for their birthdays or, hey we have a married couple or two on the train. What about their anniversary?

So, tell me about holidays from home? What's your favorite one? What traditions do you enjoy?

I'm pretty sure a lot of you are from some version of my universe, and that probably means you have Christmas and Thanksgiving and all the fun that entails, but I still want to hear about your traditions.

It sounds like fun.

Comments

[schrodingersghost]

If not having a decent calendar here means no Christmas, I think I can be okay with that.

[hibana_incursa]

Why? Does Christmas have a habit of being bad for you?

[schrodingersghost]

Let's just say I've never had a Christmas I actually enjoyed. I promised to give it a try this year, but that obviously isn't happening.

[hibana_incursa]

I think I'm with you there, Danny. I mean, it's not like we can't try for something this year? But...I don't know.

We need voidtrain traditions. I just have zero ideas for them.

[schrodingersghost]

We could count anniversaries since arriving on the train, I guess? If that's a thing people want to celebrate.

[hibana_incursa]

Would you want to celebrate your time on the train? I know there are some people that might, but it's not for me.

[schrodingersghost]

"Eh, not really. What would the cards even say. Congratulations on one month since you got dropped off in an endless void of an alternate dimension?"

[hibana_incursa]

"One year since your voidspace kidnapping!" isn't exactly something that'd be popular at Hallmark.

Funny, but...also no.

[schrodingersghost]

"Has anyone been here a year yet?"

The last few weeks had been bad enough, in his opinion.

[hibana_incursa]

I don't think so. I think Peter and myself and a handful of others were the first passengers.

the OG void-crew or something.

[schrodingersghost]

Oh, right. That other guy who was there.

[When he'd failed at walking through a wall, dodged questions on what he'd been doing, and then tried to do his best to avoid them.

Well, the main reason he'd had for avoiding them wasn't really relevant any more.]

[hibana_incursa]

Yeah. That guy.

On the one hand, being here for a year probably would mean I have some weird kind of seniority, but that's not seniority I want. One year being kidnapped is far too long.

[schrodingersghost]

Even if we get dropped back the same moment we left, like everyone keeps saying?

[hibana_incursa]

Do we have anyone that can confirm that?

[schrodingersghost]

Not as far as I know? But a couple of people said that same thing, and that kind of seems to match when I went back in time before, so...

[But now he was wondering if he maybe shouldn't have accepted that so easily.]

[hibana_incursa]

[ Gwen will accept it easily for the both of them. It makes wanting to stay with Peter and everyone she knows so much easier. She doesn't want to leave the people she cares for, so if she lets herself think that time is holding still while she's here, this will be fine. ]

I think I'm going to hold onto that idea. I like it.


You went back in time? What was that like?

[schrodingersghost]

[Danny makes the decision to focus on some of the more recent times. Because that one time... No, he still wasn't ready to think too hard about it.]

Confusing? Important tip, Salem in the 1600s and ancient Rome are not good places to travel to. But ancient China was cool and I got to see the Wright brothers, so kind of a cool trip overall.

[unholyandbroken]

As a preacher's kid I basically lived at the church during Christmas and Easter. But my best friend Tristan made sure there was fun too and so did daddy.

[hibana_incursa]

Did you guys have traditions during Christmas? Easter's not relevant at the moment. I just want to know about the end-of-year holidays.

[unholyandbroken]

Yea, Tristan and I would ditch the second service and go to Burger King. Daddy would deep fry a turkey and one yearly gift was a 6 pack of Pepsi.

[hibana_incursa]

[ The only thing the teenager is taking away from that is Burger King. ]

Man, I miss fast-food. And food truck festivals.

It's been ten million days since my last Whopper.

[ Gwen, what the fuck? No, it hasn't. Don't mind her. She's being dramatic. ]

What the hell, Pepsi doesn't count as a gift. That's weird.

[hashtagparkerluck]

I don’t know.. I mean I haven’t really celebrated since like three years ago. Just not really the same since Uncle Ben, you know?

[hibana_incursa]

I get it. I'm not really a fan of the holidays anymore? They make me really miss my mom.

But I also have my dipshit brothers to think of, so I fake it for them. Try to get them stuff mom would have gotten them.

But it's still hard.

[hashtagparkerluck]

I don't... really wanna talk about this over the intercom, okay? I uh..

[ He doesn't want to make Aunt May sad and if she hears him talking about Ben she'll definitely get sad. ]

I'll meet you in the LDR or something.

[hibana_incursa]

Sorry. See you in a bit.

[ She's going to grab a couple blankets to drag to the LDR, and a couple pillows and have that set up for when Peter gets there. ]

[bombashbunny]

I was always a fan of the Starlight Festival. I stayed with House Haillenarte and we would have mulled wine around a fire. They'd regale me with stories of old heroes and tell me stories of Stephanivien when he was young.

[hibana_incursa]

Tell me more about the Starlight festival? That sounds exciting.

[bombashbunny]

It's at the end of the year when it grows coldest. It is a time for merriment and selflessness. Gift giving is common, among friends and family and those less fortunate. The history behind it is sad, but it's a source of merriment now.

[hibana_incursa]

It sounds a lot like Christmas. It's at the end of the year. Sometimes there are parties. There's always a lot of food. Cookies. Ham. Mashed potatoes. All kinds of things. And we give stuff to people. Family. Friends.

Mom always had us donate stuff to shelters. We'd buy new stuff to mix in with clothes that were still in great condition but didn't fit any of us anymore.

[bombashbunny]

Yes, they sound quite similar! Some of the other noble houses throw parties, but Count Baurendouin de Haillenarte prefers smaller gatherings when possible.

Last year's Starlight we had a particularly cruel storm and I managed to convince him to let the orphan children of the Brume join us for dinner and stay the night.

Shelters? I fear I am not familiar with the idea outside of the basic definition of what a shelter is?

[hibana_incursa]

Where I'm from, we have places for people who might be between homes. They're called homeless shelters. They rely on donations of food and clothing and money so they can keep helping the people that need it.

[bombashbunny]

I see. It warms my heart to know that such a thing exists in your world and that you and your family donate to them. I'm sure that they were much appreciated.

I don't mean to change the subject, but it's a bit dreary to linger on that subject, don't you think? You mentioned some of the food your world would prepare - is there a kind of cookie that is representative of the season? Or did you just always make your favorites?

[mtsilver_conquor]

I'm working on a roughed out version of a calendar! I'll have it ready by next station.

[There's a smile in her voice.]

Doing nothing for a birthday still counts as celebrating it, though it also depends on age bracket. For me, my next 'big' one will be when I hit thirty. As for favourite holiday?

Shunbun - it marks the start of spring and it's bigger than new years. It's a time of fire, rebirth, renewal.

[hibana_incursa]

How? It's not even acknowledging a birthday.

What do you do for that holiday?

[dredefulchilde]

Christmas rather loses its shine after so many years, but I do miss Twelfth Night celebrations. They've fallen out of fashion, sadly.

My birthday is the sixth of January--Epiphany. Also known as Twelfth Night. So it was doubly fun, back when I still cared about that sort of thing.