(no subject)

[magneticfields]

Who: Anybody who's interested
When: 12th-20th
Where: Observatory
What: Non-demoninational is all well and good, but Erik is going to have Hannukah.
Warnings: None


On the 11th, Erik sends a message on the Network:

Fellow residents, I would like to invite you to join me in celebrating a Jewish holiday. Normally, the calendar is determined by Earth's lunar cycle. Unfortunately, being so far from the moon, we shall have to do our best to estimate. For eight days this month I will be celebrating Hannukah in the Observatory. Anybody who wishes to participate is welcome.

Hannukah is not a terribly important holiday. It's profile has been raised as a sort of stubborn form of resistance to the incessant Christmas spirit, something Erik appreciates. But all in all it's not on the same level as Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah or Pesach. It seems a good way to ease Peter into the whole idea of the faith. Start with the simple holiday with candles and candy and work up to the all-day fasting and atoning.

He's made a menorah out of scrap metal (what else). Fire on the station is a delicate prospect so he opts for electric lights and does his best to make them seem less tacky than they are. He's also made a dreidel and used some of what he collected on Kaittos to make sweets. It's not much, but it will have to do.

And if nobody else celebrates, he'll have some time to himself to reflect.

OOC: This is a mingle log. Please indicate if your top levels are open to all or closed prompts.

Comments

Stan Uris | OTA

[stantheman]

( We must listen carefully to what the candles are saying )

[ Hannukah is certainly not one of the more important holidays but it'd been one that the kids always looked forward to. Stan doesn't really think there's much downside to it and he'd always enjoyed the celebrations he had back in Derry. What's here, is not nearly as nice but Stan is glad that Erik had done something. It gave him a chance to feel a bit home again even if it made him miss his family all the more. His father wasn't perfect but Stan still didn't want to be away from him like this.

He wishes they had latke but he felt ungrateful for the thought. So, you'll find him eating sweets, studying the menorah and actually being rather impressed at the way it was crafted. Even if it has electric lights he still thinks of the flames and the things that they stand for.

You might find him playing idly with the dreidel which he'd be more than happy to explain it to anyone if asked.

When it's quiet and if there's not many there he quietly looks over V’Al HaNissim, brows furrow as he reads to himself concentrating on the Hebrew text.

Throughout the days his mood is bittersweet but he comes each day to do as much as he can with what they have. ]

( Wildcard )

[ Choose your own adventure! ]

[coercive]

[Laura's never celebrated a holiday before. Once the nurses at Transigen tried throwing all the kids a single birthday party but that was shut down before it could get past singing. She still remembers wanting to try the cake but being taken by force back to her cell before she could get any. That's the only experience she has with any kind of celebration, so she's curious when she tracks down Stan and sees him looking over at some kind of glowing lights. She quietly approaches to stand at his side, and lets her hand briefly bump against his as she silently stands there.]

What is it?

[She asks in spanish at first, before correcting herself and going back and repeating in English. It's strange to be standing so close and admiring a cluster of lights, but maybe Stan has a reason for doing it. She also lightly sniffs at the air and takes note of the fact he's likely has sweets. The scent carries over his definitive scent that she identifies as his; old pages and a calming musky smell of even older and important buildings.]

It's very beautiful. But it is just light?

[She has no idea.]

The Big Sister | OTA

[handofrapture]

[After having her ACE read the message aloud, the Big Sister comes out of curiosity—and stays for the sweets. She doesn’t know what any of this means, but she can at least appreciate that it’s some kind of special event. You can find her with candy in one hand, closely examining the dreidel (what are those strange letters on the sides?) or poking at the electric lights on the menorah (why are so many of them not working?).

Maybe a kind soul can clue her in on these cosmic mysteries— if they aren't intimidated by her imposing stature and yellow eyes, that is.]

[ascendit]

[Having grown up in a Catholic orphanage, Nate has no idea what Hannukah's like, and comes along out of curiosity.

[Of course, the food catches his attention first. He gives a nod to the candy in the girl's hand.]

How's the candy?

[handofrapture]

[She’s fiddling with the dreidel when the boy approaches her, comparing the symbols on its sides to the letters on her ACE’s holographic keyboard. Her expression is a thoughtful frown. If they aren’t letters or numbers, what are these strange symbols?

She looks up at the stranger’s question, giving a quick, approving nod. The candy is good (though perhaps that’s not the most unbiased response coming from someone who grew up scavenging old snack cakes and potato chips). She then pauses, before holding out the spinning top to the boy, head tilted. Does he know how to play this game?]

[ascendit]

[Nate takes the top, peers at it, wills whatever's been translating everything to kick in - probably pointlessly, he doesn't know how to control it - then shrugs.]

It looks like a top. [To demonstrate, he plops down, gesturing for her to join him, and then spins it across the floor with a flick of his wrist.] But I have no idea what the letters are for.

[handofrapture]

[It says something about the growing ease the Big Sister feels on the station that she only hesitates for a couple of seconds before joining the boy sitting on the floor. She watches him spin the toy like a top and then as it eventually tumbles over onto its side. After a moment, she picks it up and gives it a spin herself. This time, it lands with a different symbol facing up. Interesting.

She carefully types her theory into her ACE and has the device read it aloud.]

Maybe like a dice. Marks are numbers?

[That would explain why there’s a different one on each side and why they need to spin it.]

[ascendit]

[Nate blinks at the automated voice, but nods.]

Maybe! But then are you supposed to do something for each different thing, or do the numbers go with more toys for a game...? All the dice games I know use the numbers for something else.

[handofrapture]

[The Big Sister doesn’t have much experience with board games. Her experience with dice comes mostly from watching splicers play their games of chance. She thus has a very simple theory about the spinning top’s function—if only she could spell it.]

Gammling. [The ACE repeats the word and she frowns. That doesn’t sound right.] Gamboling.

[Close enough.]