Holidays Academy

‍'‍Twas a long time ago; Longer now, than it seems,
In a place that perhaps you have seen in your dreams.
For, the story that you are about to be told,
Took place in the holiday worlds of old.
Now, you've probably wondered where holidays come from...
If you haven't, I'd say it's time you begun!
For, the holidays are the result of much fuss
and hard work for the worlds that create them for us.
Because you see now, quite simply, that's all that they do!
Create one, unique holiday, especially for you!
But once, a calamity ever so great,
Occurred when two holidays met by mistake.

...and finally, everything turned out just fine.
Christmas was saved, though there wasn't much time!
And after that night, things were never the same!
Each holiday now knew the other one's name!

Not so long ago, Jack Skellington nearly destroyed Christmas one year. As a result, though, the holidays were, if you will, in a flurry. Are there really other holidays? What are they like? Do they prepare like we do? Who lives there? What's it called? How long have they been around? Everyone was curious to say the least, but none more than the Pumpkin King himself.

His enthusiasm, though it started severely out of hand, was now the key for the Academy you see before you. With the help of the other founders, Cupid, Saint Patrick, The Easter Bunny, Squanto, May Flower and Santa Claus, he built the Academy from the ground up. Though he and some of the other founders thought it would be beneficial to invite all to come to the Academy, they had to start small. It was only an idea, after all, and we all know what curiosity can do in high doses! It was then that the idea was raised to invite only the citizens with the most potential, the people who would most assuredly grow to be influential in their adulthood! Then they could teach their friends, and create a mindset of unity that could be learned. But how could they seek out these special students? Who would be taught, and who would teach them?

Most of the founders had a thought already. They accepted applications, but for the most part, recruited themselves or sent a close assistant or other authority figure to scout out students. Some would reject, especially in the towns with the least supporters of the Academy, such as Thanksgiving or Easter, but most accept and attend, excited to learn about the towns that were both so near and so far to them all along. These special students would be molded to be someone the towns could look to for inspiration and guidance. These would be the future ambassadors and leaders, teachers and organizers. These would be the pinnacle of each town's greatness.

This is where this group's story begins.

Holidays Academy caters to the students of:

Valentine's Day Town
St. Patrick's Day Town
Easter Town
Halloween Town
Thanksgiving Town
Christmas Town

Holidays Academy is a roleplay that has been running on DeviantArt since 2012, founded by C-You and six other DA users. As of 2020 it has 54 participants. Set in the metaphysical world of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, it takes place in an institution founded by the mayors of the various holiday towns where their towns' children could learn about the other holidays and how to co-exist with them peacefully.

It can be found here. It appears moribund; the last activity on DeviantArt was in late 2018. However since the actual roleplay takes (or took) place on a weekly basis in an IRC channel (see the page for the schedule and link), this lack of text traffic may well be deceptive.

Tropes used in Holidays Academy include: