乙巳 004: 大寒
Jan. 24th, 2025 12:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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[video broadcast]
Greetings again, Corsairs.
[As usual, following a bow, Shu addresses the video feed with perfect poise and elegance.]
After the... challenging events of the New Year's mission, I wish to call for some levity. In Yan, as the year changes, we visit the temples to have our fortunes told for the coming year. It is just for fun, of course. In Dahuang, I keep a place of worship to... [a faint pause] a Xian of agriculture, Shennong, and occasionally run the festivities.
Please come by. There will be traditional New Year's food, of course.
[If anyone has learned anything about Yan at this point, it is that they have Too Many Holiday Traditions and Too Much Food.]
[option 1: just for fun]
[Shu's doorway is vibrantly decorated in red and gold, and when she ushers you in, the most immediate sight is the table filled with plates and plates of food. Mostly dumplings, for dumplings are easiest for visitors, but also whole fish, noodle dishes, and sticky rice.
To the side, there is a little chest with two sets of burning incense at either side. Fortune seekers are invited to kneel, burn incense if they wish, pray for luck from whatever deity or the general karmic wheel of the universe, and then reach out for a container of what look like sticks. There is a little sign explaining this is the tradition of 'qiu qian,' beseeching insight from the gods.
One must ask a clear question, shake the container a few times, and pull out a stick.]
[option 2: the real thing]
[Shu sits at her 'priest's seat' and laughs lightly at the interpretation of the fortune received. Perhaps she sees something more ponderous in your eyes, for after a moment or two, she clasps her hands together and exhales lightly, bowing her head.
Her red pupils have constricted to tiny dots when she raises her head once more.]
...I could give you a better fortune, if you wish.
((If you pick option 2, Shu will either tell you in very vague prophetic terms something that may or may not happen in the future of your canon, something that happened in the past of your canon, or give you a random item that might be useful to you this year. If you pick option 1, it will be total nonsense.))
Greetings again, Corsairs.
[As usual, following a bow, Shu addresses the video feed with perfect poise and elegance.]
After the... challenging events of the New Year's mission, I wish to call for some levity. In Yan, as the year changes, we visit the temples to have our fortunes told for the coming year. It is just for fun, of course. In Dahuang, I keep a place of worship to... [a faint pause] a Xian of agriculture, Shennong, and occasionally run the festivities.
Please come by. There will be traditional New Year's food, of course.
[If anyone has learned anything about Yan at this point, it is that they have Too Many Holiday Traditions and Too Much Food.]
[option 1: just for fun]
[Shu's doorway is vibrantly decorated in red and gold, and when she ushers you in, the most immediate sight is the table filled with plates and plates of food. Mostly dumplings, for dumplings are easiest for visitors, but also whole fish, noodle dishes, and sticky rice.
To the side, there is a little chest with two sets of burning incense at either side. Fortune seekers are invited to kneel, burn incense if they wish, pray for luck from whatever deity or the general karmic wheel of the universe, and then reach out for a container of what look like sticks. There is a little sign explaining this is the tradition of 'qiu qian,' beseeching insight from the gods.
One must ask a clear question, shake the container a few times, and pull out a stick.]
[option 2: the real thing]
[Shu sits at her 'priest's seat' and laughs lightly at the interpretation of the fortune received. Perhaps she sees something more ponderous in your eyes, for after a moment or two, she clasps her hands together and exhales lightly, bowing her head.
Her red pupils have constricted to tiny dots when she raises her head once more.]
...I could give you a better fortune, if you wish.
((If you pick option 2, Shu will either tell you in very vague prophetic terms something that may or may not happen in the future of your canon, something that happened in the past of your canon, or give you a random item that might be useful to you this year. If you pick option 1, it will be total nonsense.))
no subject
Date: 2025-01-29 05:08 am (UTC)It's only when she starts some sort of future planning that he lifts his gaze, blinking at her.]
Wait, what? "We?"
-but that's basically what I've already been doing, isn't it?
no subject
Date: 2025-01-30 03:04 am (UTC)But not just informally. Officially. We will find you full certification and examination in any of these paths that you wish, such that you have the option of exploring a career path besides 'rebel tinkerer' once we have succeeded in our aims here.
After all, you are nearly an adult.
[She speaks with bold determination, conveying the sense of the Royal We and the possibility that Donnie's input may not be necessary for this decision.]
no subject
Date: 2025-01-30 03:09 am (UTC)Wh.... huh?
no subject
Date: 2025-01-30 03:19 am (UTC)If you begin the apprenticeship now, you will likely be graduated in 3-4 years with full certification. That is the approximate range in Terra. Airship maintenance may require a specialization, though I'm only guessing, which would add a year.
Our work here will likely be concluded within two to three years, if all continues smoothly. This will coincide well with your options - you could transition into formal schooling if you prefer to study more theoretical applications of your skills or seek a career in the new, Empire-free world.
[After that, she will find him a nice turtleperson of the gender he prefers, preside over their nuptials (or their Friend Ceremony, she understood young people were disinclined to be married nowadays and preferred long term partnerships, particularly in towns native to Harvest Moon), buy them a nice house with a white picket fence and a pet... cow, and babysit for their ten turtle children.]
no subject
Date: 2025-01-30 04:03 am (UTC)An apprenticeship sounds nice? Graduating- he has no idea what that is, what is she talking about? Certification is that whole 'official' thing she'd mentioned earlier but wait, years??
If he'd ever be asked about how long it would take them to free the world of the Empire's reign, Donnie would have no clue as to how to even go about estimating that. Two to three years sounds both so soon and incredibly long, no, too long, it's already been too long, why is it so hard to breathe?
He chokes on a breath as he manages to drag something of it in, his empty teacup dropping from his hands to roll onto the table as he abruptly pushes back in his seat.]
-but I don't want to- To whatever all that is! I can't stay away from home for that long, I've already been gone long enough!
[Ah, that's what was missing, that's what was wrong. His family wasn't factored into any of it. He barely seemed factored into it himself, and yet somehow Shu's suddenly laid out the plans for his future without batting an eye. He can't even begin to figure out what sort of emotions he's feeling right now, completely different from any of the worst he's experienced on the battlefield.]
I-I need to go.
no subject
Date: 2025-01-31 03:27 am (UTC)Oh? But -- of course you are going to go home. I thought you had decided.
[Hm. Was it something she said?]
It isn't as if your house needs to be far from where you grew up.
[...This will not make much sense as Shu had not mentioned that he was going to get married / partnered and buy a house out loud yet.]
no subject
Date: 2025-01-31 03:39 am (UTC)He gets up, trying to cap off his overthink but it's like trying to put a lid on an already boiling over pot. It's enough of a distraction that he neglects to say anything more to Shu as he makes a hasty retreat from the room.]
no subject
Date: 2025-01-31 03:46 am (UTC)...It is possible I should spend more time in the present. Perhaps the atmosphere of the fortunes...
But really, he is not too far from grown. I wonder that it so disturbs him.