Culture: an overview

Functionally New Lyrane is a single-sex society. Everyone has the same rights and the same duties. Everyone gets conscripted into the military. Everyone is expected to have children. In many ways, you are not considered to be a full adult until you are a soldier (or sailor) and a mother.

The first thing most people notice is that Lyranians don't wear any clothes. This is partly a result of the tropical climate, and partly a result of the prevailing Pure Land philosophy that considers the wearing of adornments to be an outward and visible sign of an inward moral turpitude. Many historic civilisations were positively gaudy with jewelry and body paint.

Of course, Lyranians do in fact wear quite a lot of protective clothing. A farmer or a fisher will typically wear nothing, unless maybe a hat or a small religious token. Likewise, a typical office worker or salesperson. A butcher will wear a white headscarf and apron, and so will most people who work in food preparation. Physicians and nurses often wear aprons and masks. Soldiers wear boots. Engine drivers wear goggles and neckkerchiefs. And of course, deep sea divers and astronauts have their own peculiar garments. But all those garments are treated like tools. When the job is done, you put your tools away.

Despite the prevailing animosity towards personal adornment, some adornments are actually practised, even common. Many ceremonies involve body paint. Sailors often wear a gold ring in one ear; this is actually approved by the Navy as well. Tattoos are a part of Islander life, so much so that even Pure Land adherents in the Islands often have a few inconspicuous tattoos. University students have a fashion of writing patriotic slogans on their skin in permanent marker.

Stages in Lyranian life

Birth

The Book of Births is traditionally bound in leather that is dyed red ochre, the auspicious colour.

School

Education is compulsory from age 6ye. to age 18ye. (primary school 6 years age 6ye. to 12ye., secondary school 6 years age 12ye. to 18ye.). A further three years of high school is required to attend university. Lyranian schools actually have school uniforms. In a sense. Each school has its own compulsory hairstyle. Primary schools typically do not use any colours in the students' hair. Secondary schools use one colour and high schools two or more. Other than that, the hairstyles in use vary wildly. Teachers usually wear the school hairstyle as well. Getting your first school haircut is a time for a family celebration. You are going to school, you are no longer a baby.

Menarche

Erasanu means menarche, but it is also a rite of passage, a big family celebration, held the first full moon after menarche. At your erasanu, you must give a speech that begins "Today, I am a woman." Traditionally, erasanu marked you entrance into adulthood. Nowadays, you become legally adult when you turn 21ye. But already when you turn 18ye., you gain some of the rights and responsibilities of adulthood. You may give your consent; if you break the law you will be tried as an adult; you may sign employment contracts; you may spend any money you earn without needing permission from your mothers. Tuvu, or pubic hair, is an important sign of adulthood. Having ones tuvu shaved is a major humiliation: one is symbolically reduced to the status of a child.

Conscription

New Lyrane has compulsory military service. Everyone is required to serve in the Army or the Navy for 11 months (for rank and file) or 17 months (for NCOs and officers). Non-medical exemptions are granted only for extraordinary reasons. After finishing the year of active service, a citizen is enrolled in the active reserves until the end of the year she turns 60ye. (for rank and file) or 70ye. (for NCOs and officers). While in the active reserves, she may be called in for refresher training from time to time.

Conscripts get their head shaved when they report to duty. During their conscript service, they must not let their hair grow longer than 1 cm. Professional military have no restrictions on hair length.

Active military may be recognised by their lavender headband which also bears their unit badge and rank insignia in the form of metal pins. Also, they wear on a string or leather thong around their neck a small metal plaque that is scored down the middle so that it is easy to snap into two halves. Both halves have on them the person's serial number. This ID tag is snapped in half in case of death, one half left with the body and the other half collected for recordkeeping.

Marriage and divorce

Most Lyranians get to choose whom to marry, although arranged marriages are also found in some regions. A legal marriage is solemnised by the District Registrar and entered into the district's Register of Births, Marriages, and Deaths. Those who wish may also have a religious ceremony, but not many do. The requirements for marriage are simple: both prospective partners must be of legal age and sound mind, ie. legally competent; not already married to someone else; and not too closely related to each other.

There is no polygamy in New Lyrane. The closest thing to it that you can find is probably the custom of line marriage that is practised in Sumiapa Province. When a woman dies, her widow will marry a young woman, who will then have children for them to raise together. Some line marriages have lasted in this way for more than four centuries. But even that is still only two people at any one time. Also, these line marriages are deprecated by mainstream society, because they involve a wide age difference between the partners. This is considered a violation of ñi, or propriety, as lovers should be equals, but the younger generations owe obedience to their elders.

But sometimes a marriage doesn't work out. Some people just aren't a suitable match for each other. Divorce may be filed for jointly or by one partner. It is normally granted after a six month period of trial separation.

Pregnancy and childbirth

To have children, a Lyranian will have to visit a stud house. She will have to pay a stud fee to use the services of the stud house. Typically the stud fee is paid 50% up front and 50% after the child is born. If the child is male, the remaining 50% stud fee as well as the stud fee for the person's next child is waived. Also, the national government pays the mother a stipend equal to ten months' median salary in her home province. The mother may choose to nurse the male child herself, or she may surrender him to the stud house immediately.

Female children are presented to the District Registrar's office by the sixth full moon after birth, to be enrolled in the Book of Births. As most children are born in hospitals, District Registrar's deputies bring the Book of Births to maternity wards for taxpayers' convenience. The Book of Births is traditionally bound in leather that is dyed red ochre, the auspicious colour.

It is customary for spouses to try to use the same male to sire all the children of the family. In traditional village communities, there would only be one or two males in the village stud house, so it would be practically inevitable that sisters would have the same sire, whether their mothers wanted it or not.

Death

Typically, a funeral is held within three days of death. All mirrors are covered or turned to face the wall in the house that a person has died in, as well as the home of the deceased. The chief mourners, the widow and other immediate family of the deceased, shave their heads and paint their faces ash white, the colour of mourning. In smaller towns they may paint their whole heads, in some rural areas even their whole bodies. The guests at a funeral also paint their foreheads ash white. The deceased is wrapped in a shroud and cremated. Traditionally this was done at a cremation ground, with the oldest daughter of the deceased lighting the pyre with a torch. Nowadays it is done in a crematorium, with the oldest daughter pressing a richly-decorated big white button.

When two full moons have risen after the funeral, mirrors may be uncovered in the house of the deceased, and her estate may be settled. The chief mourners may also stop painting their faces, if they so desire.

The Book of Deaths is traditionally bound in leather that is dyed ash white, the colour of mourning.

Entertainment

Theatre

Traditional Lyranian theatre, called eiha, is highly stylised. The actors have elaborate face and body paint and headdresses that show immediately who or what the character is: god or demon, hero or villain. There is a limited number of props that may be manipulated by stagehands, who are painted all in black to make them "invisible". The language is stilted and archaic, often interrupted by songs.

Modern Lyranian theatre, in contrast, strives for verisimilitude. The actors look, talk, and act like regular people. There are usually many props on stage: appropriate furniture for indoor scenes, elaborately painted flats for walls etc.

Motion pictures and television

Lavish historical epics or "facepaint dramas" are popular subjects for motion pictures. Due to production constraints, television can't compete with the big motion picture studios. Made-for-television drama tends to be set in the modern day and concentrate on interpersonal issues. Every television network has one or more long-running drama series that concentrate on one or two families and their relationships. Another popular genre is detective shows.

However, one of the classics of television, Star Patrol, was a science fiction show set in the far future. The crew of a starship headed by a horndog captain, coldly logical executive officer, and compassionate medical officer deal with aliens and monsters in literally outlandish settings, meanwhile offering fresh insights into the human condition. Usini Uterinu, the creator of Star Patrol, worked wonders with her limited budget and tight production schedule. The sets and special effects, while now seeming rather rudimentary, were literally groundbreaking at the time.

There are no laws regulating what can be shown to the public. Parents are fully capable of deciding what their daughters can and can not watch or play. To assist parents in their decisionmaking, most picture programs and video games are rated with the scale originally created for motion pictures by the Lyranian Institute of Motion Picture Arts.

The Lyranian Institute of Motion Picture Arts has a rating scale of three codes:

Children - Aimed especially at children. No profanity, no blood and gore, only cartoonish violence, unambiguous morality.

General - Suitable for all audiences. Some profanity, some blood, fairly realistic violence, moral ambiguity acceptable, sexual innuendo acceptable.

18 - Over 18ye. only: anything goes.

Sports

Pole Dancing

Main article: Pole Dancing: Beauty and Grace

Tañoyora, or pole dancing, is the number one sport in New Lyrane. Most citizens have at least some training in pole dancing, professional pole dancers are very highly regarded, and no major gathering is complete without a pole dancing demonstration.

Even though tañoyora literally means 'pole dancing', it seems galactic pole dancing and Lyranian pole dancing are rather different activities. Although both do involve metal poles, naked women, and graceful movements.

Other Sports

Endurance sports are also popular: running, swimming, diving.

The most popular team sport is nestball, a vaguely baseball-like stick and ball game. The two teams on the field wear headbands of different colours for ease of recognition.

Kick volleyball has also gained popularity in recent years, thanks to Sosi Patorete, the current Utenene, being a keen player.

Triathlon and soccer are the first galactic sports to garner noticeable popularity.

Travel

Lyranians enjoy travelling, usually in large groups. Tour groups can be immediately recognised by their distinctive, garishly coloured bucket hats. Tour guides carry either umbrellas or little flags with the exact same colours for ease of recognition. In addition to, or instead of the umbrellas or flags (especially on wilderness tours), tour guides will also wear boonie hats in the same colours. It is a widespread custom for tour companions to sign each others' hats at the end of the tour, usually on the last night.