Monday DE: I Went To The Zoo

[splash_of_blue]

Happy Monday, all!

Posting this early because today is my birthday, and so I'm off to Cardiff in the morning to spend a couple of days with my bestie.

And thus, I ask you: how does your character spend their birthday? How would they PREFER to spend it, if they had the option? Do they even care about their birthdays at all?

Comments

[have_no_mercy]

Tess has two birthdays and cares little for either. Her friends tend to make a thing of her real birthday, but she's never celebrated it on her own.

Kylo doesn't care. It's just to keep track of how old he is.

Creed doesn't remember his birthday. It doesn't matter anyway.

[zenigatcha]

Zenigata, unsurprisingly, spents it working, because it's December 25th and so he volunteers to work on the holiday because A: He's not Christian, he's firmly Buddhist, and B: Nobody knows or remembers. He's alienated wife and family and etc, so... he just goes "oh it's that day" and goes back to filing evidence or something.

Zuko hasn't had a birthday really celebrated in a few years. When he was home for the first time, the idea of celebrating it was just... weird. Iroh insists, though.


I don't know how the Chinese do things about their birthdays, let alone ancient fantasy china, so I need more info to give an answer for Lan Zhan.

[thebattycakes]

Happy Birthday, Bethan!

Barry's birthday is kind of bittersweet as the anniversary of his mother's murder is just a few days after. He always visits his father, but would definitely prefer to spend that time with the man somewhere outside of Iron Heights prison.

Joe and Iris have always been there to celebrate with him though, and he generally enjoys his birthday and spending the time with the people he loves. There is definitely always cake and a special birthday dinner and thoughtful gifts.

Cisco mostly hates his birthday because it almost always involves a family get-together and family get-togethers invariably turn into a celebration of his older brother Dante and involve the inevitable comparisons between the two which always favor Dante. With Team Flash he'll learn to start loving birthdays because the day will actually be about him and he'll get to spend it with people who actually care.

Matt stopped celebrating his birthdays for a long time after his father died. Once Foggy got a hold of the date though, there has been a yearly celebration since. Sometimes it's an event with the Nelson clan, sometimes it's drinking the eel at Josie's bar, whatever happens, Foggy never lets the day go unmarked. Left to his own devices Matt wouldn't care, but as it is now he's happy to indulge his best friend.

Logan doesn't do birthdays. He doesn't know his anyways and doesn't really need the excuse to drink.

[bjornwilde]

Happy birthday!

Jessica spends the whole day trying her best to be spoiled but ends up fighting crime or saving the world until she gives up and just plans on going home and sleeping. That when Carol, Natasha, and Logan kidnap her and spend the rest of the night eating gelato, getting massages, facials, drinking, karaoke, and live bands.

[inlovewithwords]

Lois: Her mom's lasagna, possibly her dad bbq'ing, maybe some backyard explosions with Lucy and Sam (... yeah...), generally whatever they can manage (and that's assuming Sam is there, might just be Girls Movie Night). And also texting with her bestest buddy.

Anakin: Honestly? Doesn't know. Would find it too painful to think about his mom anyway.
(Vader: See previous.)
(Ghostkin: Still see previous, with the addendum that he does celebrate the Emperor's death along with his kids, because he found out about Leia and Luke saved him and Leia and Luke were--he thought--safe from Palpatine now. So.)

R2-D2: Doesn't care.

Desiderius: Party with his family! But also, honestly, as he hits his teens, there's some kind of formal dinner too. I think Tavi and Kitai try pretty hard to keep some family celebration off the whole, well, "it's the crown prince's birthday" thing, and his parents' wedding being a week later helps a lot with that because I think they can kind of fold his birthday into their anniversary--which Tavi and Kitai care less about because their real anniversary is Second Calderon anyway--so he can have family-and-friends party and his Official Birthday just coincides with Official Anniversary. Imperial life.

Tavi: . . . Okay so this is... really complicated, for him. Deeply. And definitely made worse by the fact that he's a frankly popularly adored First Lord (politicians, less so; average folks are more reasonable). So, you know, celebrate birthday is expected? But also everyone gets that it's kind of fraught.

When he was a kid, like younger than ten, I think Bernard and Cassea and his baby cousins managed to make his birthday... kind of fun? Bernard and Isana and Fade always got him presents (usually books from Bernard and Isana, while Fade would supply tools or toys). But I think after they lost the girls Tavi cared a lot less, and, well. His birthday is the day his father and his aunt--who he grew up thinking was his mother--died. Along with, like, twenty thousand people. Aimed at killing his father. Who would have killed him if they'd known about him.

Tavi has a complex relationship to his birthday, where he was an average kid who wants to be excited about it, and loves presents, but also, trauma. Massive family trauma. As an adult, and public figure? Yeah, that's a hellish political resolution because "Er, on the one hand, we want to celebrate him... but... also... uuuuuuuuh his father was murdered that day... aaaawkward..."

If I had to guess, someone gracefully makes sure celebrations about Tavi are kept to his coronation, wedding anniversary, and the end of the Vord War. They figure out some kind of commemorative something for First Calderon that isn't super awkward.

Look, it's complicated.