prismatica | Voice: greenbean1

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Voice: greenbean1

Um, hello. My name is Confidence, and I wanted to ask a few questions. If that's okay?

[ He's holding on pretty well, voice not stuttering... much? ]

There's been talk about undeath and serious things, so I figured it could be nice to focus on the seasonal festivities! I've heard it is called Firalia here, but others call it Christmas?

My home country has something similar, but it doesn't take place in winter...

So I... um... I wondered if anyone would like to share how they celebrate at home...? Especially what they eat and things you do with family and friends.

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By getting drunk.

In April, because the thing humans are aiming to celebrate very definitely didn't happen in December. It was a good friend's birthday, and half the time it overlaps with the anniversary of his execution. [Crowley is really not the ideal person to ask about Christmas.]

You certainly got a... unique perspective on Christmas to start things off. [And Hifumi is 3000 percent intending to follow up on that notion with Aziraphale when she gets a chance.]

For me, Christmas is primarily a religious observance. I believe the shift in dates previously mentioned may have also had something to do with co-opting existing winter holidays as Christianity was first spreading throughout Europe, but for whatever reason December 25th became the go-to date. The midnight church service is my favorite of the year.

In my home country, I'm in the minority, but the secular trappings of Christmas have proven so pervasive that they've wormed their way into popular culture anyway. For most, it's considered a couples' holiday, particularly Christmas Eve.

[And then there's the fact that her best friend apparently spent the last Christmas Eve they were home for summoning Satan to save the world from a malevolent godlike being, but that would just complicate matters further.]

We don't have a "Christmas" back home, but we do have the Glacier Spirits Festival. The main festivities are held in the Southern Water Tribe, though there are smaller celebrations that happen in the North and in Republic City for people who don't have the time or money to make it to the South. Its purpose is to celebrate the unity of the tribes despite all the geography separating them, along with the connection between the human world and the spirit world. It's said that the winter solstice is when the two worlds are closest, so I suppose it's a general celebration of being able to make connections despite the various barriers separating us.

Or something. I mostly celebrated in Republic City since I've been too busy working to take a vacation like that and someone has to organize celebratory public activities for people who can't leave. There's a pretty even split between the people who like a quiet, spiritual experience and people who just want an excuse to throw a party. I've heard in the South it's definitely become more of a party over time, and there are a few people who aren't exactly happy about that.

I don't know, though, I feel like people should be able to celebrate a holiday however they want as long as they're not engaging in criminal activity or anything like that. If you really think about it, it is about finding common ground despite your differences, after all. Maybe the observant should offer up some cotton candy and popcorn unto the spirits to see if they like it.

My world does not have that particular celebration, but it does seem as though many worlds do have holidays this month... or the equivalent, I suppose. I know for many years we would celebrate the founding of Garreg Mach Monastery, which was generally accompanied by a ball for the students attending the Academy. Of course... that has fallen by the wayside over the years, given that there has been a war going on. I'm not sure if I appreciated the ball at the time, but now, I miss those days.

There is also Saint Cichol's Day, which is merely a day of quiet religious observance. There is generally a choir recital on those days, which is pleasant enough. My birthday falls upon the same day, though, so I have a bit of a special place in my heart for the holiday.

I believe I made a post about it a while ago, but simply put: the Feast of Misrule is a riot. People spend the next three days before the new year getting blind drunk before fighting each other as spectacle and playing practical jokes.

The New Year is a much calmer affair, left for rest, visits with friends and family, and exchanging small gifts.

Hi, Connie! [ it's her horn bro from many moons ago! ] Questions are absolutely okay!

Christmas Eve is bigger than Christmas at home. It's a romantic holiday so couples go on dates, exchange presents, that kinda thing. And if you aren't with someone, it's normal to just hang out with friends who mean a lot to you.

Long Shadows... ain't exactly a happy holiday. Mostly it's the three days around the Solstice and they're considered sort of the domain of The Shadow, who's this... god of darkness and black magic and shit. So culturally it's sort of the deep breath before the plunge, when you just need to hunker down and make sure you've got enough to make it through the winter.

Seekers always had a party going, though. Something about how people don't need to be reminded of how bad shit can get, but giving people something to rally around, let 'em know it's gonna be okay if they just stick together instead of just hiding... that helps. It helps a lot.

So we always had the temple open on Long Shadows. Candles all over the place, big bonfire out back, everybody playing music, everybody bringing food... You'd probably love it, Connie.

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