asgardeventide | 16th Spark || [Video]

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16th Spark || [Video]

The weather's gotten a bit cooler, don't you think? I guess that means it's harvest season now, or at least Asgard's version of it.

[This time, Merlin is quiet and pensive. He's had time to cool off, now that the effects of Thiazi's manipulation have worn off. Oh and his king is safe, too. Everything is ~~mostly~~ dandy.]

In Camelot, we have a festival around this time, too--called Samhain. It doesn't just mark the end of the harvest for us, though. Samhain is also a time when we honour the people who have fallen, both friends and family alike. I know we're all from different worlds, but...perhaps we could do something together for Samhain this time around. A lot of us have been here long enough to have lost friends who returned to their world, and we've all probably lost someone in our own worlds before all of this.

There's a custom that some people practice...tying ribbons and cloth to the branches of a tree for good luck. Well... [Merlin exhales nervously and moves the bracelet until it shows a young oak tree in the castle's courtyard.] I asked the gods if I could plant it, and they've been helping it grow since.

I thought, instead of wishing for good luck, we could write messages for the people who have left us. If the veil between the worlds of the living and dead is at its thinnest this time of the year, then why can't the veil between all worlds be the same? If we send our well wishes to our lost friends this way, maybe it'll even reach them.

[Merlin looks back at the tree again.] I think it'll be ready soon. If you want, you can join me at the castle courtyard in the evening, three days from now and leave some messages of your own.

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A beautiful thought.

[ But also one that more or less punched her right in the soul. ]

You think so? I wasn't certain if people would like the idea or not.

An' you've ... got a whole festival for it? Back home, I mean.

Yeah. Samhain was a really important to us.

[He smiles suddenly.]

Well, things are a bit different in the villages and in the castle. The king would have a lot more in his coffers to spend on the feast, after all.

[And well, there's the religious part, too. Not really a good idea to mention thanking the gods for the good harvest and all that in Camelot.]

Yeah, it's the same everywhere. S'like Mayfair or Knightsbridge, all the food an' expensive cars they could want.

But I always kind of liked the party outside of the castles, anyway. [ Hadn't in the beginning, but. ] Better gossip.

Would it be ... all right to use it for both? Those lost from here, and those who have lost their lives.

[Though for Harry, it's a bit of both, isn't it? Sirius certainly falls into both categories.]

Of course, Harry. The tree is for both.

The friends I lost here are important, but it wouldn't be right to not honour the people I've lost in Camelot as well.

All right, then. I believe I'll be doing this.

Thank you for thinking of planting this. I guess it's really appropriate that we have it now.

You don't need to thank me. After...last week, I think we all need something else to focus on.

Well. [His mouth quirks at the corner.] I admit, I'd been thinking about this before those two gods decided on having a festival, but at least cheering ourselves up won't be as difficult.

If you'd been thinking about appropriate things already, then maybe next time, you can just plan the festival yourself.

Oh ah, that sounds like a very lovely practice, Mr-.... [Whoops.] Merlin. I should like to write a letter to someone.

[He grins.] Caught yourself in time, Alice.

Who're you thinking of writing to?

It's really very hard, where you're concerned. You're Merlin! [And she still fangirls like crazy.]

Oh ah... two people, actually. My sister back in Oxford and Emmy. Emmy used to be here, actually, but he left and I miss him.

... you think it could really work?

I'm not completely certain. [Things like this never are.]

But I think it's worth a try, don't you?

Sure, why not. I'll give it a shot.

Did you already have someone in mind?

Uh... yeah, I guess. But I've never really met a couple of them.

[Now that's an interesting reply.]

What do you mean by that?

Um...

[Fuck, this will sound weird.]

They kinda -- I was still a baby when they died.

[He doesn't think that sounds weird at all. Rather, he looks sympathetic.]

Your family? [Parents, he's thinking.]

Yeah.

[The understanding and lack of pity is nice, actually. It gets a slight smile.]

Why not, right?

Edited 2013-10-08 00:11 (UTC)

[Merlin smiles back, and changes the privacy setting.]

Why not is right. I'll tell you a secret...I wouldn't be surprised if a friend of mine wrote to his mother. He lost her when he was just a baby, too.

Family is...important. Why shouldn't you write to them if they mean a lot to you?

[That's if Arthur even decides to participate in this whole thing.]

... I guess so. But I don't know how somebody can mean a lot to you if you... never even met them.

Even if they apparently loved you a lot.

It could be that you've seen how much they mean to other people, and you wish you'd had that yourself. I grew up without a father, and for the longest time I envied another friend for being so close to his. I know now that my father left before I was born, but as a child I always tried so hard to remember what he was like.

Sometimes...people like that are important to you because they give you hope or comfort, even if you've never met them.

[He coughs.]

Er, that's just me. I don't know if it's the same for you and Ar--my friend.

... yeah. I never thought about it much. I didn't even know my mom's name until last year.

Still don't know my dad's. But hearing people talk about theirs here is just... makes me wonder, you know?

[ she's not even sure why she's saying this publicly; normally, she'd say it anonymously or not at all. but .. ]

What .. sorts of things do you write?

Anything. If I was writing to the friends I made here, something like...

"I hope you're doing well back in your world" or maybe "I don't know if we'll see each other again, but I wanted you to know that you're missed here, and I'll always remember you."

[Merlin pauses, looking away.]

I think the worst part of losing our friends here is that we never know when it'll happen. In the end, you don't always get to say the things you wanted to say to them before they're gone.

[ he's got a point there. she could empathize with that and possibly even understand it. ]

Do you think that they can truly get the message?

[ she clears her throat. she hadn't believed in any of this magic nonsense, not until recently but. you know. things changed. ]

Could we write to people back home?

Edited 2013-10-08 01:38 (UTC)

People still celebrate things like that?

[sorry for having to deal with Turlough, Merlin. :c ]

Of course. [Merlin frowns.] People here are from different times and different worlds, after all. Why wouldn't some of us celebrate it?

Well I thought it was...[old and outdated.] I've only heard of Samhein in Earth history books.

[After having listen to Merlin's explanation over the celebration in his world, he can't help ask...]

Are we only allowed to send well-wishes to those who have died? What about those we have not seen in months and are still alive in our world?

[ Arthur toes at the soil around the oak, arms folded across his chest, as Merlin addresses the network. They've given it such a wide plot in the middle of the courtyard, but it's only a sapling. He doesn't understand what they expect of it to fill this unnecessary space, unless it's more symbolism for filling it or whatever sappy rot Merlin is feeding the Travellers.

... Well. Okay. Sappy, but rightly so. How is it Samhain already? ]

Do you think this thing'll even be big enough to get a ribbon about it without snapping? There are hundreds of us here, you know.

[ Still scuffing the toe of his boot in the dirt. He's just complaining for the sake of complaining, because it's a sweet custom and he doesn't want to tell Merlin that. ]

[Oh, this is something that catches Dany's interest, this Samhain.]

Do you think the fallen from my world would be able to get the message? Even if I am here?

What if they have never been here.

This sounds really nice. I wish we had something like where I'm from.

[Instead of just a single funeral. Maybe other cultures had something similar, but she hasn't heard of anything like it.]

I'll be there. ... though oddly, one of mine's back. [She looks uncomfortable.] She doesn't remember anything, and she's... different, but she's back.

[She sighed, and rubbed her forehead. She was not prepared to deal with Eve like this.]

The array's ready, I think.

That seems like a beautiful tradition and a wonderful change you are offering it, sire. I admit, I will be taking part of this tradition.

Could I write a message on someone's behalf? It's just... he's currently a fox, but I know he'd like to write something for his mom.

[ Ahahaha messages... Those things he never really does.

Maybe he should start. ]

Never forget them, yeah. Good idea.

Also, sorry about Turlough.

Is there a limit on how many we can put on there? [ Because there's quite a few people Allison could write something for. ]

People who have left us, is it? Perhaps it would help.

[Mordred holds up pieces of cloth he has saved in his closet hideaway]

For father.

[A pause]

But I shall tie it up here.

[She'll address the Camelot thing in a minute, but there are more pertinent questions she has in mind for now.]

Do you think it might work for those who have never been to this land, the ones we have been taken from who are waiting for us in our homes?

That's a great idea. Planting the tree, I mean. And I really like the idea of Samhain.

[Blaine smiles a little.]

Thanks for suggesting it.

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