② video. 12:06am

[projectkr]

[Conner knows that it's the middle of the night. He doesn't care. Right now he's sitting at the kitchen table of house 16 with a cupcake lit in front of him. There might only be one candle but to anyone who knows really knows him will get why. There's a small white card next to him but whatever is written on it can't be seen.]

What is so important about holidays? Last Thanksgiving I got into a fist-fight with my half-brother and met one of my "parents" who I don't want anything to do with. Ended up here on the fourth of July and the one before that wasn't a lot better with my other "parent".

[He pokes the cupcake, like it might have answers.]

Three hundred and sixty-five days later and I'm having a fight with my girlfriend on my birthday. [The very first birthday of his life.] Well, what counts as my birthday anyway since I've just relived the last four months.

So why does anyone even enjoy holidays? Are they all like this? If so, then I'm totally skipping out on Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.

[Sorry Robin but he's serious.]

Comments

not here. ( yet )

[bioshift]

[ It's almost startling to see Conner's name come up on the Network so soon after she's left. Brief panic settles into something a little more somber as she actually listens to what he says.

He's still calling me his girlfriend... It's more relieving than she thought it would be. It wasn't that she'd been afraid they were breaking up (or maybe a little), but it was still comforting to know he wasn't so upset with her that he dropped the silly label.

It was a little disheartening (a lot) to hear how awful each of his holidays had been. Thanksgiving back home... She'd been planning so diligently to make it good, and yet apparently it still turned out awful. Meeting Luthor and finding out about all of that. What lousy luck did they seem to have? ]

not here.

[projectkr]

[He knows, M'gann.

Just because this is the biggest fight they've had, doesn't mean he's given up on it. Conner cares too much to give up - he's just very upset with what she did.

It feels like he's all out of luck when it comes to holidays. The only good one has been last Halloween and if something doesn't change, it might ruin that too.]

action

[animalage]

[As quiet as Connor may have been leaving the room, Gar's hearing is just a bit too sensitive to keep his sleep from being disturbed.

Garfield comes down the stairs just as Connnor finishes his post, with the bedsheets still wrapped around him. He makes some disgruntled sleepy noises and rubs his eyes then flops down in a chair across from Connor.]

How are you awake? It's like butts-o'clock at night. [Totally a legitemate time of night.]

And why are you talking about skipping Thanksgiving and Christmas? Those are the fun ones, y'know, with like food and presents and family and stuff... [Yaaaaawn. He pulls the sheets tighter around him.] Besides, those are the family one, so you have to be there.

[projectkr]

[Does he at least get a 'you tried' sticker? Because it might help things.

He catches sounds coming from his room and down the stairs, clearly he needs to take some stealth lessons from Robin to be able to sneak out on Gar.]

I haven't slept as much since I got here. Maybe it's the strong sunlight. [He shrugs.]

Gar, last Thanksgiving I found out I had a crazy half-brother and we proceeded to beat each other. [Kryptonian punches hurt.] I froze him then found out my other DNA donor is Lex Luthor who manipulated me to get what he wanted. It's my first birthday and M'gann snuck into my room because we're not talking to each other.

[Motions to the cupcake that's still burning.]

Not really looking forward to other holidays if they're like the ones I've already had.

audio; private

[andaway]

They are important because they give us something to look forward to. I think we’re more disappointed when something goes bad during our holidays because we expect them to be something good and wonderful. You've just had bad luck.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, actually. [The ‘you’re at least eating a bit of the food I’ll cook’ is kind of. Implied.]

audio; private

[projectkr]

[For a moment there, he forgot one of those 'fathers' could listen in. Conner doesn't blame this one for the relationship he doesn't have with the Superman of his world since the first day they met, Clark approached him. But it still hurts how quickly this one accepted him when the other one didn't.] I wouldn't mind if it was a crummy first birthday but I at least want to be able to spend it with all of the people I care about the most.

[He can spend it with everyone but M'gann. Isn't that kind of how first birthdays are supposed to go?]

Last Thanksgiving, I spent it being manipulated by Luthor. [Just sayin'. Really it just means he can't have a worse holiday.]

Private; Text

[hydraated]

Some people would argue that family's the reason. That people have a chance to all be on the same page. It's bullshit, but it matters to some people.

Private; Text

[projectkr]

half of my blood family is not who i want to spend the holidays with
the family i chose usually had family of their own so i didnt see them

video;

[theoryandcalculation]

Oh, happy birthday.

[So if they're fighting they can't go on a birthday date? Sad...]

I guess people like them because they get to be with their family and friends, and eat whatever traditional food comes along with it, or if there are activities they participate in those. And some people just enjoy the time off from school or work. Of course, it's also an expression of culture and tradition. Some people feel more connected to their countries and people on those days.

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[projectkr]

Thanks, I guess.

[Not unless M'gann tags along invisible.]

What if you can't spend it with friends or family? Would anyone even enjoy eating or doing activities without the people they care about?

VIDEO;

[forcowardice]

Birthday. Wait, I heard this term before. Uh.

[He scrambles over to his piles and piles of books, mumbling to himself as he flips through pages.]

And I don't know anything about your holidays, but sometimes they're nice. If you're celebrating with people you like, anyway. They're supposed to be a good morale boost.

VIDEO;

[projectkr]

It's the day of your birth. Something people celebrate every year.

[Oh look, distraction.]

What kind of holidays do you celebrate then?

Video

[thebestseller]

Think it depends a lot on the people you spend it with... and how you get along. I can see why you're not wild about them if they're filled with family fights and stuff...

Video

[projectkr]

If you aren't enjoying it, can you just skip out on a holiday?

video

[khajidont]

[...aw, buddy. That blows.]

I'm sorry you guys're fighting on your birthday - happy birthday, by the way - but I know you've got friends who're going to want to spend it with you. Trust me, not all holidays are gonna be bad.

video

[projectkr]

Thanks. [For the birthday wishes.]

We've never had a fight that lasted this long, so it's...weird. Weird that we're not talking and celebrating together. [M'gann is always there to celebrate things with him. It's a lot of firsts for the both of them.] I don't know if anyone else even knew it was technically my birthday.

[Robin maybe.] They're probably busy with stuff.

[video]

[hands4healing]

Happy birthday!

I'm sorry it's not a good one, but maybe it'll get better? [It is the middle of the night, isn't it? Dawn is better.]

[video]

[projectkr]

Thank you.

I don't know. Maybe it will. [He's just not looking forward to it without his girlfriend.]

voice

[viced]

Sometimes, people like to be fucking miserable.

Beyond that, though, some people don't think they're that bad. I'm sure... they can't all be bad, are they?

voice

[projectkr]

I'm not one of them. [Conner likes to be happy. And okay, angry is pretty much a default setting by now.]

All the ones that matter were bad. [Technically it was his first and second 4th of July, first Thanksgiving, first birthday. So yeah, they've all been bad except for Halloween and Wally's birthday.]

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[motherboxes]

Oh, yeah? Well. Happy Birthday. But, hey, this is like. Barely the start of your birthday. A lot could happen to turn it around later in the morning. Day. Sucks with your girlfriend but maybe you'll make it up to each other.

As for the holidays, well. A couple like Thanksgiving and Christmas are generally more family oriented. But that doesn't mean they have to suck too. You can spend them with your 'family' here, your friends? I guess I just enjoy getting into the festivities.

[Even if. Well. Her own parents are out of the picture and her only family is not here, her aunt. But she has Jaime. And for now that's....enough. She's not alone. But Brenda does look empathetic.]

video;

[projectkr]

Thanks. [Is this what a birthday is like? Getting birthday well-wishes from strangers?] Isn't it usually a sign when the day starts off bad or something?

Back home most of the friends I consider family had their own family to hang out with. It was just me, my girlfriend and one of our friends.

[Zatanna had just lost her dad so they were the only family she had left.]

I guess we'll spend the holidays together here if we're all here.

audio;

[iwatobi]

You're not spending them with the right people.

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[projectkr]

Clearly. But when your 'dad' calls you out on Thanksgiving about your half-brother, you get kind of curious.

video;

[terraformagica]

I don't know holidays called "Thanksgiving" or "Christmas", although that one sounds a little like Kwismas. I'm sorry that you haven't had good time so far.

My brother and I almost always start an argument when we have to do something together. But it's still time that we spend together and we wouldn't otherwise, so maybe it's not as bad as it could be.

Happy birthday, though.

video;

[projectkr]

What's Kwismas? [Maybe he'll just...celebrate non-Earth holidays. Just to see if he has bad luck with those too.]

The relationship with my brother isn't really the same. When I say we fight, I mean we really fight and break things. There's no talking involved. [Because his brother is literally crazy.]

Um, thanks.

permavoice

[gonfreaky]

Can you postpone your birthday? I mean, if it's a fight then you can make up with her, right? You could wait until things get better. Then you could celebrate that and your birthday.

[projectkr]

I don't know. Never really celebrated it before but I think it's the kind of thing you're supposed to celebrate around the date.

audio; private

[performance]

I swear they're not all like this, dude. You've just been exceptionally unlucky.

audio; private

[projectkr]

Maybe I'll always be exceptionally unlucky when it comes to holidays.

[A slight pause.]

Are you doing anything with Batman for Thanksgiving?

private | video

[boobwindow]

Alright, so it was a terrible Thanksgiving.

But they're not all going to be terrible.

private | video

[projectkr]

That's what Robin said. Guess I'll just have to experience it.

[Hesitation.]

Have you ever had Thanksgiving with Superman?

video;

[transuniversal]

Sometimes people require an excuse to drink. More adult-aimed holiday movies seem to propose that for many people that's the only appeal, at least when it comes to dealing with family. It's the company that makes or breaks everything.

video;

[projectkr]

I'm too young to drink legally. [And not just because he's technically only one.] Too young to even buy alcohol. My friends are all the same age or younger and I don't really see my family as the kind to drink a lot.