open | happy (earth) new year, everyone!

[genice]

WHO: Any and all!
WHERE: 2nd residential floor lounge
WHEN: OOCly 12/31; today.
WHAT: Victor's ICly claimed the day as being the 31st, and subsequently celebrating the "New Year" with anyone who comes by! After sending out a post on the network inviting any of the new arrivals via anomalies to attend, people are welcome to come enjoy a probably very random seeming New Years celebration.
WARNINGS: There is food and alcohol here, beware!

The lounges are interesting spaces, and Victor didn't hesitate to roll up his sleeves and rearrange furniture in this section of the middle floor lounge. A cheery wave to anyone wandering through earlier on the 31st (by his calendar, he's quite cheerful in acknowledging how arbitrary that really is) while he goes about arranging things to his satisfaction, before he jets off again to finish preparing his olivie salad.

It's nowhere near fancy, but he's shown up again with a big, borrowed bowl from his work, containing the closest approximation of olivie salad he'd been able to manage working with the supplies he found on board. There's a tablecloth tossed over the table he's appropriated for holding the foodstuffs, along with simple plates, utensils, cups and bubbling wines (three, okay, that's toeing the line of careful financial management). He's even figured out how to get music playing, though it's hard to say if there's any unifying theme to what plays.

Perhaps the most ridiculous part of any of this is how he's constructed a small cone cap for the brown, fuzzy creature that had been delivered to his bunk last week. That it's a shaved ice cone inverted with the words "Happy New Year" written on it amuses him. The unidentified creature simply coos and purrs and wears the cone hat, not moving off the smaller table it's been set on.

"Happy New Year!" he says to just about anyone walking by, tipping his (oh so classy) cup their way with a smile. Welcome to the party. Bring something to contribute to the table? Very welcome to the party!

[ ooc: please tag in with your own top levels and enjoy a relaxed, informal celebration of the new year (per Victor)! ]

Comments

2

[yokunaru]

[Once the party had picked up, Yuuri had naturally begun to gravitate toward the slightly more open pockets of the room, avoiding the larger groups of people. Somehow, he ends up in the middle, just to Ax's side. There's a flute of champagne in his hand--he's not sure who even handed that to him, to be honest--that he's staring at with mistrust when he hears Ax's offhand comment.]

Any of what?

[It's a little unusual for him to jump in like this, but Yuuri supposes his curiosity wins out for the moment.]

[canadese]

[Ax startles visibly at Yuuri's approach. He'll never get used to how limited human range of vision is. He has to quickly drink some from his glass to keep it from spilling, so it takes a few moments for him to regain his composure and process that he has never actually seen Yuuri before.

This wouldn't normally be significant, but on a ship with this limited a population, every new face means a new arrival. (Perhaps he ought to start camping outside the orientation hall just to keep track of them all.]

In my culture we do not have this tradition. Its purpose seems arbitrary.

[yokunaru]

Oh, you mean the New Year's celebrations?

[Yuuri brushes a piece of confetti from his shirt almost absently.] I can't much about the party, except that it's for friends and family to spend time together.

The countdown, though... [He pauses, contemplative.] It's to greet the coming year, I think. A new year means a clean slate for many people back home.

[canadese]

A clean slate?

[Right. That's some human idiom for attempting some new mode of behavior while trying to pretend the previous behavior does not exist. Another bizarre aspect of human socialization.]

To focus on self-discipline is sensible, but what does it have to do with a planet's revolution?

[yokunaru]

[Yuuri shakes his head slightly.]

That's just the way a year is calculated in our world. [The words "our world" still taste strange in his mouth, but he supposes he'll just have to get used to it.] The traditions... they've been around for a long time, so I can't say who decided who exactly invented them. It varies between cultures, too.

[canadese]

It does? This is not universal?

[Humans are so baffling.]

How many ways can you possibly commemorate a recurring period of time?

[yokunaru]

Not at all. Some cultures might have similar traditions, but I'm sure there are some unique to each culture.

[He smiles at Ax's confusion.] You'd be surprised.