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@bullied.by.children

Hello everyone! Today is the beginning of a New Year!
(Not by the calendars of this strange place, but by the world I and many others here come from.)

Please be sure not to wash your hair or sweep your floors today, otherwise you'll be washing and sweeping away all your good luck for the year.
And we could use all the good luck we can get...

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A happy new year to you, then, and I wish you luck as well.

Is there anything traditional that I could offer you and yours--gift or greeting or otherwise? You joined me for my new year's celebration, after all.

Thank you, Daemon-gongzi.

If you want, you can join us for a meal. I caught some fish in the lake and I bought noodles at Foodland to prepare. They're not traditional longevity noodles, but they're a good enough substitute.

I would be honored. Shall I bring wine, then? And may I ask while I have you here, what makes a noodle of the longevity variety?

Wine would be welcome, thank you. The wine here is different than the kind we drink back home, but I know at least one of my housemates would appreciate it.

Longevity noodles are supposed to be made in one long strand, without being cut or broken. It symbolizes the wish for a long, healthy life. They're eaten at special meals, like the New Year and birthdays.

the new year already?

thank you for the reminder wen-gongzi. you're right luck is something we can not afford any less of

So it would seem.

I'll be making my best attempt at a traditional New Year meal. You and Xiao-daozhang are welcome to join us.

[It's nothing against Wen Ning or the others, but big gatherings aren't his style... but he's sure Xingchen would accept the invitation. So.]

thank you that's very kind

what time would you expect us?

You are of course welcome to come over at any time, but I expect we will be sitting down to eat around sundown.

we'll be sure to come before then

Great! I'll be expecting you.

That means I should wish you a happy new year, doesn't it?

[ Certainly seems to check out to her, although she's been caught a bit unawares by this whole late changing of the year thing, so better to ask. (No matter, it's reason enough to be glad either way.) ]

How long are we supposed to wait before we can clean up again?

If you like! I know that the calendar I'm used to isn't the same as the one this place uses.

[ It's the New Year and not the New Year at the same time... Awkward. ]

You're alright to clean tomorrow. It's only today that it's bad luck.

I don't see why it should make any difference. If you're celebrating it today, then that's enough.
Happy New Year.

[ They may not be in their homeworlds anymore, but that doesn't mean they have to give up the traditions. ]

I'll remember.
Although I've never heard of luck being on the floor or in someone's hair.
Maybe it would sound strange no matter where someone said it was.

[ Just... luck having a physical location at all is an odd concept. ]

I'm not really sure how the tradition started. I suppose people are just very superstitious about these things where I come from. Having good fortune is considered very important.

It seems like a lot of stories and traditions are so old that no one's certain where they came from anymore.

[ So, you know, his not being sure is probably to be expected. ]

I guess good luck is something everyone would want, whether they're stuck in a place like this or not.
Are there any other superstitions from your world that are like those?

There are a lot of things that are considered bad luck. Like breaking a dish, or certain numbers. The number 4 is considered bad luck because the word sounds like the word "death."

Wouldn't breaking a dish by accident mean you've already got some bad luck?
Or does it have to be on purpose?

[ Assuming that's actually a thing, anyway. ]

That's funny. I've never thought that much about the way numbers sound.
Now that we're talking about it, I'm starting to realize there's probably a lot about my worlds that I don't know.
I never really spoke to very many people when I was there, so there could be all kinds of traditions that I'm not aware of.

[ Sure, she went through plenty of memories, but that's not necessarily a fully adequate substitute. ]

New Year? You've been here a year!?

[ oh no oh no oh no LET'S CHANGE TOPICS SO WE DON'T HAVE TO THINK OF THAT PROSPECT ]

Good luck? I don't think I have any of that at all...

[ Uh oh. ]

No, that's not what I meant! This is just the day of the year that would be the New Year back in my home. I've only been here for

[ Wait. How long has he been here? ]

...eight months?

Eight months?! That might as well be a year! Oh no oh no oh no...

[ It seems like someone is typing as they think. ]

Please don't be frightened! I'm sorry to be the one to break the bad news to you, but none of us know how to leave this place willingly.

BUT IT'S SO FRIGHTENING!

And we're stuck here... I'm going to get killed and then you'll have to bury me in a grave but then animals are going to eat my body and then there goes poor Bernie, dying as she lived.

It's probably an ending I deserve though..

[ Oh no. ]

If it makes you feel any better, Miss Bernie, those that die here don't actually stay dead. You would return to life, whole and healthy again.

[ Not a fierce corpse like him. ]

[ Bernadetta is trying so hard to comprehend this. Death is...Kind of permanent mostly where she comes from. ]

Somehow that feels even worse! What if I don't come back right? Like a zombie or a ghost instead? Then I'll be stuck that way forever! If I become a ghost or a zombie please send me to the otherside.

I don't really know what a zombie is, but being something like a ghost isn't all that bad. You can still live a happy life, with people who care about you.

[ Don't invalidate him like this. ]

[ If she knew you were some sort of zombie in a sense she wouldn't be saying this, let this be her foot in mouth moment. ]

They're dead people come back to life and they're really scary!

...Though I guess if I'm a ghost people will leave me alone or won't have to deal with me.

[ She conveniently glosses over the whole happy life and people who care bit. ]

Not every dead person who comes back to life has to be scary. Sometimes they're just the same as how they were before they died.

I never thought of that. That there can be good zombies.

...Do you think that people can come back different? Not scary, just different. I mean if I don't come back to life normal! I..I just don't know if I'd want to come back like I am right now. I'm useless and an idiot..

I know that people can come back stronger than they were before. Where I come from, at least, that is one side effect of reviving the dead.

I'm sure you're not useless. And I know you're not an idiot, because you're thinking of all these insightful questions to ask.

That sounds better to me, I wouldn't be weak and certain people couldn't bully me.

[ Wait. NOPE. No. Too much sharing with a stranger! At least she didn't mention that person was her father. BACK UP. Unfortunately what's sent is sent. The stress of this place must be getting to her...

She's also taken aback at the complement - People, sans the professor and a few other Black Eagles house mates, never complement her. In fact, she's so much more used to insults that her mind scrambles to figure out what to say when a stranger complements her. ]

You really think so?

[ Thank you, Bernie. The correct answer is "Thank you". ]

Now that's a sensible tradition. Spending the last day of the year scrubbing floors instead of getting drunk sounds like a terrible way to celebrate.

I don't really think that's the intention behind the tradition, but... I suppose you could view it that way.

It's not a party unless people are getting drunk. Especially when someone else is paying.

You sound a lot like a friend of mine.

[ Has Wei Wuxian met this shrike person, he wonders? ]

Why would washing your hair affect your luck?

I'm... Not really sure, actually? That's just what the tradition is.
Maybe you would be washing the luck out of it by cleaning it?

I guess I wonder how you'd get luck in your hair.

Traditions don't always have explanations I guess.

Like I said, I don't really know. I guess it's just there naturally?

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you start thinking really hard about it.

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@bullied.by.children

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TEXT | @nobodyspecial

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