002 | Text | December 12th Afternoon

[theoryandcalculation]

There's something that's been bothering me: if our birthday passes while we're here, or if we're here multiple years, how old do we say we are? I feel like aging and growing wouldn't stop, but we're supposed to be returned to when we came from, correct? Does aging matter? Will we be older when we get back? Does anyone know?

I know there's probably no way to know for sure, but I thought I would ask.

[Someone's birthday is soon and he has no idea how old to say he is.]

Comments

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[fridgeflower]

I'm just going to count my aging here, personally. It's a little wonky, given the time I got here, but it's what's easiest.

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[theoryandcalculation]

But doesn't it bother you that you could go back a different age than when you left?

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[fridgeflower]

I don't think I'm going back. If I do, I don't think I'm staying long enough for it to matter.

[iwatobi]

Do you think we'll remember everything? When we go return.

[theoryandcalculation]

Most people say we don't remember, but can we really de-age after living here? What if we return with no memories but noticeably older?

[He still has room for a growth spurt but he doesn't want it to happen here if it does.]

[iwatobi]

This place can also bring us here from different times. Maybe it isn't so impossible.

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[fistofthejoestar]

[cries these text posts are killing him at about the same slow speed as his typing]

I couldn't say anything as to its impact should we be returned, but aging certainly matters here. I don't see the harm in keeping track of it as usual.

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[theoryandcalculation]

[You can do it Jonathan, we believe in you!]

I suppose not, but it still bothers me. Maybe it wouldn't matter to me so much if I were older.

[There's a difference between, say, going from 16 to 20 than from 24 to 28. Although he hopes he won't be here that long.]

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[fistofthejoestar]

[CAN'T GET BETTER WITHOUT PRACTICE]

I'd think that it would bother older people more, all things considered. But I'm perhaps not the best person to ask about that sort of thing.

[he's twenty and people who don't even know his family situation call him an old man as a joke, after all.]

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[dragony]

Your body still ages, if it's one that does.

[ She could have opted for text in return, but this is one of those circumstances where it serves her better to be heard. Her voice is a level one, pitch on the lower-middle of the scale. Young, but not childish: she sounds late teens, early twenties. ]

Whether you want to keep the same birth date, as it is on the calendar, or figure out where on this one you'll have lived a year since your last one... that's personal preference, really. Besides, it's not as though anyone can verify your real age, anyway; you can be exactly as old as you can get away with.

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[theoryandcalculation]

I guess that's true. Really, it wouldn't be too difficult for me to find out my... new birthday.

[That's weird.]

I don't really care about "getting away with" anything, but... I just want to know, for myself, I guess.

[dragony]

It's good to know, for your own sake. But, I would say... if the exact months don't matter much to you, it's simple enough to keep the same birthday. Just, round it one way or another, if the alternative would keep you the same age for two years, or if you'd age two in the span of a season.

You won't be any older when you return, though. The scars you gain will be removed.

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[animalage]

how are we supposed to know when our birthdays are anyways???

if i go by the calendar day its not even going to be a year between my last birthday back home and when it passes here!

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[theoryandcalculation]

For me it's only a few months off. You could take the difference between when you arrived here and when you left home and apply that to your birthday to find your "new" one.

But that might be confusing to think about.

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[animalage]

bluh yeah id rather stick with that one i have.

maybe ill just celebrate a half year instead of full year on my birthday. 13 1/2. totally official

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[bratziska]

Why wouldn't you count the birthdays you have here?

( Franziska can't wait to be fourteen. )

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[theoryandcalculation]

Mostly because it's not accurate. I lost a few months in between where I was at home and when I came here. And more importantly, if I just lose all the age I gain, what's the point?

[Unless he's here a long time, but who wants that?]

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[bratziska]

Well, depending on how old you are there's special privileges rewarded to certain age groups. Alcohol consumption, for example.

VOICE.

[soldiarity]

I don't know how it really works, but I celebrated my birthday here. It'd be too complicated to keep track of two different calendars, I think.

VOICE.

[theoryandcalculation]

For celebrations, yes, but I'm not worried about that.

[Mostly because he doesn't think anyone's really going to bother with his birthday (he's wrong).]

It just bothers me that my age won't be accurate, or that I'll go back a different age, or lose aging... It's all so confusing.

VOICE.

[soldiarity]

No? Well... it's not so much the celebration, but observing it is the same kind of thing.

[ He shrugs his shoulders, though the gesture obviously goes unseen. ]

What bothers you about it? ... It's better not to worry about it too much. Things are going to be different here no matter what we try to do about it.

[standsproud]

What's the difference between being 17 and 18? Can you feel it?

Just celebrate your birthday on the normal day here, and worry about what you do back home, when you get back home.

[theoryandcalculation]

It's not really the celebration I'm concerned with. I'd just like to keep up with how old I actually am. And it bothers me that I'll lose that age later, or worse, keep it and not remember how I got older.

It might not matter between sixteen and seventeen, but what if I'm here for years?

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[glowsferatu]

obviously aging matters
i was thirteen years old when first i arrived and i have no intention of being thirteen forever
you wont be the age you are now when you return but you are still aging here
theres no reason to pretend otherwise

for observations i believe in accuracy
there is often a discrepancy between the date when you left and when you arrive here
so the date has to be synchronized to the current calendar
as an example i last returned from my native universe in november but it was april there
so while the closest i can understand my own wriggling day to fall on an earth reckoning would have been in september
instead i celebrate it in may

it isnt about the actual date itself so much as the recognition of biological age still passing
it would be a bit silly to stick with the date when its no longer applicable

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[theoryandcalculation]

It still feels strange. Like losing a part of your life. Or looping back through part of your life again, but different the next time.

You're right about it being on a different day, though that would feel strange too, thinking of my birthday being in March. But it's not as if anything truly happens on your birthday as far as aging. I'm sure I could get used to it.