t e x t

[restingstitchface]

The time to be scared is upon us again, isn't it?

That one day, where all turn their backs on real life and its ability to hurt, and escape into fantasy to shake off the chaos that comes from living in a disorganised world.

My grandmother used to despise Halloween. She would repeat the opprobrium of being in league with the Devil, were she alive to see it. I didn't listen, if you must know. You would have rebelled too, if you'd watched from the window all those impish, spirited tricksters, dressed in homespun costumes, wielding plastic pitchforks, enjoying themselves.

What I'm saying is that Halloween is an imaginative way of feeling afraid and that no one should stop any child from role-playing. Freakish interests serve a legitimate purpose. The holiday's morbid and gruesome topics are humanity's way of handling one's own mortality, as well as the constant well-founded fear of the harshness of winter. You should consider the feelings of those children aggressively dominated by others. Interest in freaks provides them a forum for psychologically processing their ostracisation from the group; consider the works of Edgar Allen Poe or H.P. Lovecraft and their themes of paranoia and otherness; the identification with inevitability and dangerously misunderstood monsters. Why else do you think Frankenstein's themes of retribution and revenge resonate with children who themselves are misunderstood and persecuted?

Creative attitudes do not require criticism so much as understanding. That is why I find it alarming that certain schools have chosen to ban Halloween completely. Fantasy allows young minds to process apprehension by comparing and constrasting various roles and scenarions.

Banning it is insane.

Comments

[photophobic]

[ Well that's a very strange, winding path around whatever it is Crane actually wants to say.
Which is interesting. ]

Halloween is not a festival I am familiar with. You say it involves children wearing costumes, pretending to be the object of their fears and in doing so, discovering their true identities? Surely the holiday is more an excuse to eat candy than an opportunity to investigate the dark.

[restingstitchface]

Traditions centuries old tend to explore more than indulgence, I think you'll find. But I think you'll agree indulgence exists as part of the dark. It's why we created the sin of gluttony, after all.

[photophobic]

[ did...
did Crane just imply that mashing candy into your face is to explore the dark.

Kylo thinks he did? ]

Mm.
I suppose that also explains the myriad 'slutty cat nurse' costumes. Not a monster I have encountered in your centuries-old folklore.

[restingstitchface]

No: but have you heard of sexual indulgence? Human folklore is filled with myths of impropriety.

[He comments. In all seriousness.]

[photophobic]

[ Kylo hasn't yet mastered the art of the eye roll over text. ]

So what is it you are hoping to indulge in, Doctor?
On this one night. This rare window of opportunity, during which your culture suggests you will be rewarded rather than punished, if you dare to peer into the dark.

[itistolaugh]

do you want to go trick or treating

[restingstitchface]

I'm up for tricking children who come around our house. Does that count?

[itistolaugh]

but i already bought fullsize candy bars!!!
and doggy costumes for the babies
theyre a little small but SUPER CUTE

[restingstitchface]

Did anyone ever tell you dog costumes are insipid and jejune?

[itistolaugh]

your face is insipid in june
they're dressing up as batman and robin
ISN'T THAT GREAT??

text

[am_i_a_monster]

Schools banned Halloween? Completely? I could get banning certain things in case a student has a traumatic past, but all of it?

What about the simple chance for a kid to get to be someone or something else for a day? They spend a big part of the day in school, they should get to wear their costumes there.

That sucks.

[restingstitchface]

So you see the problem?

[Of all people, she's the one to give the answer he most approves of. He is listening intently for her next one.]

[am_i_a_monster]

I do. I feel bad for the kids. They should be able to wear their costumes for more than just trick or treating and they spend most of the day in school. Let them express themselves and be what they want. Plus, letting kids write scary stories or draw scary pictures, is a way that can express what's scaring them. It might even alert a teacher to a problem at home.

[restingstitchface]

It might. I just don't think many teachers are willing to notice. They inhabit a bubble of power from which children are isolated. So they proscribe anything that might challenge their privilege.

[am_i_a_monster]

That actually explains a lot. [About why her teachers and no one else noticed how scared she was of her father in that last year she spent at home.]

[dragony]

Isn't Halloween supposed to be celebrated after dark, at night?

[restingstitchface]

Yes, but I advocate challenging cultural norms. Day, dusk, dark. Any time is a good time to shed one's identity and society's compulsion to abide.

Though even I happen to think that starting on the 25th is far too early.

text;

[fireandhoney]

As someone who just found out what Halloween is, I can safely say that banning it from schools is the dumbest thing I've ever heard

[restingstitchface]

What makes you say that precisely?

[fireandhoney]

Besides the reasons you mentioned?
From what I've seen, it's just a fun holiday with a spooky theme

[restingstitchface]

Well... it's not as if Halloween's all that but for someone unfamiliar with the custom I suppose yours is a good explanation.

[eloquentness]

[ well, that was a really long-winded way of saying... something she agrees with? ]

Yeah, it feels like they're taking a "my way or the highway" approach to things.
You're always welcome to drop by the Nickel's Halloween Party, btw. I can say we're 110% in favor of the holiday there.

[restingstitchface]

Oh, well, that's perfect. I suppose I can pop by for a good look.

Have you a costume policy?

[eloquentness]

Nothing that'll scare small children. Since they'll be around in the afternoon / after school.

Beyond that, no, not really. :)

[restingstitchface]

Wonderful.

[Thankfully, this being text, one might find it hard to recognize his sarcasm.]

I'll have to stitch something together. I can't have myself being outdone by, well, you at least...