Video;

[codeoracle]

I'm really not this talkative most of the time but...It's my birthday today. The second one I've spent here.

Anyone else think celebrating birthdays here is kind of, y'know, weird? I mean if and when we go home, all that time is lost anyway, right? I mean, I'll be fifteen again when I get back...if I get back.

Ugh, I feel like I'm already turning into a boring adult.

Comments

video;

[flightforfreedom]

[ Have a Poe Dameron frowning like he's just realised something that he probably should have realised ages ago and just... didn't. ]

... I never even realised. Technically I should have had two birthdays since I've been here, too.

That's uh.

That's weird.

But I think you're right. I don't think time totally makes sense that way for us.

Though it probably makes more sense when you're 15, to be honest. Uh. Happy Birthday?

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[codeoracle]

It's just--I'm living my life here, getting older a-and...I'm not going to remember any of it!

...Thanks though. Maybe we should get birthday hats and streamers...I should probably enjoy the cake at least.

[flightforfreedom]

Well, I mean... Sure, you won't, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. And who knows. Maybe you'll go home and come back and then have two sets of overlapping memories for when you were 14 and get twice as much teenage hood as anyone else.

[ A beat. Well. That sounds horrifying. ]

Cake, though. Cake I can definitely recommend. Maybe two cakes.

[codeoracle]

Somehow, I don't like the sound of being twice the teenager...


...Two cakes is an excellent idea. More cake for me, more cake for everybody.

[flightforfreedom]

Honestly? You shouldn't. I'm quite happy with the fact that I never have to be a teenager again.

But.

There's gotta be some benefit you can milk out of it, right? Lots of things you get to do twice for the first time? First time riding a roller coaster, only you get to feel scared shitless and then realize it's fun twice rather than having the second time temper the first?



Yeah, I'm reaching.

Cake is definitely the only answer.

[codeoracle]

I did like the roller coaster at Destinyland back home...I guess those kinds of things wouldn't be too bad to do twice over. Everything else though? I'll pass.



...Two cakes then. I can go super crazy with flavors that way.

voice;

[plentystrong]

So nothing we do here really matters, huh. We're just doing our time.

[ She... doesn't know how to feel about that. It just sounds like a whole lot of boredom, honestly. ]

voice;

[codeoracle]

I mean, it matters here? It can matter to the people who are from here, I guess. But...back home? It's like this place isn't real, it never happened.

voice;

[plentystrong]

Yeah. So it doesn't really matter. I mean, we can die here and come back!

[ Which sounds kind of awesome, in a way, but also like it makes everything all the more pointless. ]

voice;

[codeoracle]

Trust me, that's not the best experience. I came close once, and once was enough.

voice;

[plentystrong]

[ She huffs. ] Didn't say it was pleasant.

voice;

[codeoracle]

Did you know you can sometimes feel the nanites stitching you back together? It gets weird.

voice;

[plentystrong]

... sounds creepy.

[ But part of Catra kinda wants to try it out. ]

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[codeoracle]

Creepy is part of the whole experience. It kind of...tingles? I should have kept more data...

voice;

[plentystrong]

So... like a wound that itches when it heals?

voice;

[codeoracle]

Pretty much. Just more...intense? Constant?

voice;

[plentystrong]

Huh. Does it last long?

voice;

[codeoracle]

However long it takes to heal the wound. Mine took a few days.

[And a blood transfusion, but let's ignore that bit.]

voice;

[plentystrong]

What kind of injury was that?

[fridgeflower]

It's that "if" that makes or breaks it for people, I guess. It's time gained for some no matter what, and it's as real as anything else.

You're probably not a boring adult at seventeen, at any rate. Nobody here is boring, right?

[codeoracle]

It just bothers me that at the end of it all, back where we're from this place will be nothing more than a dream. I...I've been thinking about that a lot since some of my friends went back.

...I guess when you think about it, we aren't really all that boring.

[fridgeflower]

Nope. We're terribly, horribly exciting.

And don't worry about whether all of this ends as a dream. I think the important part is making sure it's a good dream.

[codeoracle]

Mm. How do you make sure it's a good dream though? Guess that would vary for everybody, right?

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[minorgod]

Happy birthday!

And I think it does matter, even if we forget. We're not dead while we're here, we're still living. Treating it like it doesn't matter will just make you miserable until you go home.

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[codeoracle]

I guess you have a point. I really don't want to be miserable...

[Been there, done that!]

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[goldtoxicity]

I haven't had one here yet, but I mean... You're here right now, right? Who cares if you forget in the future, the here and now is what actually matters.

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[codeoracle]

...I can at least make sure it matters here. I don't think any of my friends back home would want me to waste it...

video;

[goldtoxicity]

Yeah, exactly. A birthday's still a birthday.

video

[am_i_a_monster]

It's kind of weird. I still feel like I'm eighteen. Always.

It's kind of nice too. I've been able to have birthdays that I wouldn't have had back home.

Do something that makes you feel not boring.

video

[codeoracle]

Something...that makes me feel not boring, huh? Any suggestions?

video

[am_i_a_monster]

Laser tag and paint ball are fun.

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[bassriff]

Oh yeah, this place is wild as heck for me, existential-wise. I get all soul searchy and weird if I think about it too long.

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[codeoracle]

I'm feeling like I'm in that weird soul searchy place right now.

video;

[bassriff]

Yeah, that'll... happen. What kinda junk do you usually do for a distraction?

video;

[codeoracle]

Video games. Internet...I should go outside or something.