silversnowfall | [66] [voice/action]

[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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's correct. How are you doing today?

I'm fine. How are you?

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?

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.

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.

When a particular mindset has been settled in, for a long time... and perhaps especially, if there are more of those who share it, and who have been brought up to... accept certain things and not, for particular worlds, the lifestyle we experience here is probably very different, even unheard of. Those who push for change are likely to find more hurdles in the road if they don't manage to acquire an amount of influence, themselves.

[Nephry's smile is held back, just a bit, by something of dark humor and weariness.]

Even those with influence have a hard time. The world can change, without question, and people will go on denying that it has.

... yes. That's very true.

[There's something about Raine's expression.]

You've been through something similar?

You could say that. Or at least... your words have resonated with something that is very familiar.

Is it all right if I ask about it?

Do you have specific... questions? I suppose it would be all right.

[Seems like it might make Raine uncomfortable. She shouldn't worry - Nephry's an excellent listener.]

Well, I'm curious as to what it made you think of.

It just makes me wonder what's in store for the future of my world. It is as you said... even with chaos and confusion, people will inevitably try to cling to what was once stable and normal. My only hope is... that the new ideas won't leave them, and grow to something better.

Even if "stable and normal" isn't...right. [Maybe things in all these worlds are more similar than it first appears.]

So something in your world has changed drastically as well?

Yes... that's correct.

The world was split into two separate worlds for thousands of years. Not being able to interact with one another, but... affecting one another regardless.

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