silversnowfall | [66] [voice/action]

While I can't speak for other worlds, in Auldrant we celebrate the "new year" in the middle of winter, shortly after the longest night. It's a bit different from the way things work here...but regardless, I am curious as to how many other worlds share a similar tradition.

[filtered to the Auldrant folks with whom she has made conversation]

Would you like to have dinner, at this house, for the new year? We have some new arrivals, and I think it might be good for all of us to visit with each other. ...You are, of course, free to decline. It's just a thought.

[and further filtered, away from Asch and Luke]

...And to an extent I thought we might...be able to celebrate. Even if time here is a bit different.

[Then? Then she's out and about town, doing things. She'll stop at the bakery, the grocery store...briefly at the battledome, pausing at the programming station but not really doing anything there. Once, she thinks about visiting Professor Nebilim, but she can't be sure of how late the woman stays at the school after class, and she wouldn't want to interrupt.

In short, she's a little bit of everywhere, ending that evening at Good Spirits. For a change of pace. And a drink, of course. Facades can be such a strain on the system.]

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I said the same thing to Asch earlier - don't put yourself through something you'll hate. Especially as some sort of favor, or because you feel obligated.

[have a smile] Not everyone enjoys a dinner party. There's nothing wrong with that.

I thought so, too. Even at home, the opportunity would be rare for some of us.

...I didn't mean any sort of large or elaborate celebration, for them. Just something in acknowledgment. Certainly nothing embarrassing or forward.

Oh! Hello, Anise. You seem very enthusiastic about it.

Right. It's one of the most important.

What makes it important?

I have a feeling Anise will want to handle the dessert. That shouldn't stop you, though, if you want to bring something like that too.

It's a fresh start. People clean up from the old year, and celebrate the 'firsts' of the new.

But your world...has something of a shorter year, does it not?

I can certainly see the appeal of that. ...How many 'firsts' can there be in this place, this year, I wonder.

Maybe not the first temple visit... but the first sunrise, the first cup of tea, the first smile...

I'm all right. Just trying to appreciate the non-hectic portions of these past few weeks.

There seems to be another sort of cycle here, separate from the New Feathers - one of chaos and calm. We have long stretches of...everyday life sometimes, don't we?

Oh, no, that's fine. I could make something else. How about a curry dish?

These stretches hadn't used to seem long before. But perhaps there comes a point of... understanding that there will be chaos, and the opportunity to make use of when there is not. Or in some cases... maybe just living for the sake of living.

That sounds wonderful, Professor.

Some experiments, or even...experiences, are more exhausting than others. ...I think it makes us hold tighter to the calm moments.

It's the calmer moments that can provide more of a sense of... normalcy. However normal being in these circumstances can be, anyway.

It's my understanding that people from some worlds are much more accustomed to what I would call abnormal circumstances. [Including some of her friends.]

Of course, having that normalcy jolted away from you can be that much more startling.

Indeed. Everyone does have their own perception of what the word represents. [A pause, as she considers; it's much of what she brings up in classes.] There are a lot of words like that here... and yet with so many meanings around us somehow the community is still holding up. That makes it interesting, don't you think?

Edited 2011-12-08 17:30 (UTC)

Interesting, and fragile. ...Or perhaps not fragile, at least not in the way that a world full of people with the same history would be.

There's... something about it. Something... unifying about the situation, at least in some ways. While our way of thinking is bolstered by that of what we've experienced at home, being here forces a sort of ... acceptance, in some ways. Not for everyone, of course, but... the option is there, anyway.

We can't fall apart, because we may be the only ones capable of holding us together. ...Does that sound right?

If we allowed the divisions between ourselves, our backgrounds, and what we're familiar with to get in the way... then what good does it do? But at the same time, we can't throw it all away.

.... so... yes. I think that does express it well.

I think it's more interesting that in Auldrant - perhaps even in other worlds - such a belief wouldn't stand against...other things. Hatred, power, ambition. ...And yet there is arguably more at stake, in the world in which we actually belong.

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