[Everybody except Ambrose.]

[thezerothlaw]

Pardon me.

[As polite as ever; Daneel rarely speaks on the psychic network at large, though he listens enough. It's rude to interject, he feels.]

I'm interested in what you generally feel are acceptable birthday celebrations, and what sort of details are involved. Ambrose's birthday is very soon, and I would like to do something for him, but I have little cultural experience with birthday parties. Spacer culture is the one I know best, but birthday celebrations past childhood are not common for them.

What would you suggest is appropriate?

Also, I would greatly appreciate help with the creation of food and drink, for those of you capable of it.

Comments

[mytearsaremine]

Cake. You definitely need cake, usually his favorite kind of cake, and usually with like cute decorations on it. And you should have little party hats, like the pointy kind with little elastic bands that go around your chin.

And you have to sing "happy birthday". Loudly.

Usually there's gifts and things, too, but since I guess people can make anything they want here, so that's probably a little less of a thing. I mean, unless you have some really cool idea that you don't think he'd think of, and you can surprise him with. But it should be wrapped in fancy paper for him to unwwrap so it can be a surprise, if you're going to do that.

Also, hi, I'm Jolie. What's spacer culture?

[thezerothlaw]

Hello, Jolie. My name is Daneel.

Spacers are the residents of the planets first colonised by humanity. I was made by Spacers.

Gifts are... important, I understand that. I'm not certain what would be appropriate. Why pointy hats?

[mytearsaremine]

Because they're cheap and easy to make. I mean, they're made out of paper and you unfold them from the party decorations and wear them. Especially the person having the birthday, because that one should be bigger so everyone can tell who the birthday party is for.

It's just a tradition of birthday parties on Earth. What do you mean you were made by spacers? Were you not born like most people? Do spacers make clone babies or something? Are you a clone baby?

[thezerothlaw]

Then I must obtain a particularly fancy hat for Ambrose. I see. This is not something I was aware of. Thank you for telling me.

I'm a robot, in fact.

[wickedestwitch]

I don't think the hats are a good idea, they're....

only Witches wear them where we're from, and he's not a Witch.

[mytearsaremine]

Whoah, wait. Like you have an AI? Artificial intelligence? I mean, in case they call it something different in spacer-land. Space. Spacer-land is space, I'm sure.

[Birthdays are completely forgotten, because her best friend ever happens to be an AI.]

So somebody programmed you? Are you a benign AI?

[thezerothlaw]

This is true, he is not. I was unaware this would be a problem.

Would you suggest a different type of hat or something else entirely?

[thezerothlaw]

I have a positronic brain. And yes, I was programmed by two men.

I certainly aim to be benign, at the very least.

[mytearsaremine]

Well, I mean, they're party hats, not witch hats. They're a lot smaller and don't have a brim and like there's a little pom-pom or sparkly tinsel at the point. But if that's a cultural thing for you guys, I guess maybe not. Sorry about that.

Uh. Where are you from anyway? I'm pretty sure I don't have any actual witches where I come from, since there's no magic or anything, but I know not everybody's from where I'm from.

[wickedestwitch]

Crowns are a thing, I think.

I've never had a birthday party of my own, but I've watched them.

[wickedestwitch]

Oz.

It's fine, really, it's... probably my fault there's a bad association with pointy hats anyway.

If sparkish thinks are important then what about crowns?

[thezerothlaw]

Small crowns can be provided for all the guests, then.

[Watched?]

I see no reason why you would not be welcome to participate, Elphaba. Of course you would be invited.

[wickedestwitch]

I'm not exactly welcome in polite society back home, but this isn't there so it doesn't matter.

[Don't worry about it.]

I think there's also something about getting a new set of clothes, a 'birthday suit' from family to be worn to the party.

[theflyingone]

...I thought they were worn by warrior-queens of the East?

[ Apparently tall hats were the fashion of several vastly different groups of people. ]

[thornsofmalkav]

Dude, we should make him a chocolate peacock. [Look, when you're a bird dude...] I totally copied down the recipe for it. They had it, like, on the BBC website back in Newport.

[HER FORMER INFILTRATION MIGHT HAVE BEEN ADDICTED TO CERTAIN BRITISH REALITY TELEVISION OK OK.]

[wickedestwitch]

Maybe where you're from, but Ambrose and I are from Oz.

Though the Witch of the East is probably the reason there's that association.

[theflyingone]

There is no sorcery where I am from. Just accusations of such, and the executions that come with them.

[ If he could psychically plaster the network with linefaces, he would do it. ]

These women are queens and nobles only, not witches. They take their hats off for battle, I believe, on horseback. Witches take a position of prestige in your world?

[wickedestwitch]

That depends on the Witch, and whether or not you do what you get told or not.

[You're going to get her started, aren't you?]

Technically I was born a noble, but I got disowned for not being what they wanted.

[howexciting]

... it is very rare in my time to celebrate one's birthday. Unless you are a noble of some form - which Ambrose certainly is - you are expected to celebrate your saint's day instead. Nobility and royalty celebrate their birthdays and their saint's days, as a sort of display of wealth - and depending on how rich one's family, the longer the birthday celebrations can last, sometimes up to a week after their birthday.

Given that we can infinitely create food, here, we could easily celebrate Ambrose's birthday for a week, if you so desired.

[thezerothlaw]

A chocolate peacock sounds highly appropriate.

But surely this can be accomplished by merely manipulating liminal space?

[thezerothlaw]

I'm not sure if he would want a birthday celebration lasting a week, but I'll consider it an option.

What is a saint's day?

[theflyingone]

Noble titles do not matter much here, I gather. Therefore, no one can really tell one another what to do.

[thornsofmalkav]

It could, but I like cooking and baking and I really want to try that one. Also, I'm good enough at making rooms now that I can make a kitchen, so I want to take advantage of that.

[uzoda]

That's really great of you to want to do! Uh, but what to do...

That's kind of a hard question to answer. Every place has its own idea of what a birthday party should be, if they even do that kind of thing. So... are you hoping to do something that he'll really enjoy because it's just like from home? Or are you wanting to do something that's just fun?

I mean, you can't go too wrong with cake, at the minimum.

[awondrousplace]

I can help with food or drink if you need me to. Perhaps Naoki would be so good as to help as well.

As for birthday celebrations, the ones I know are from a much earlier time than many here, and quite a lot more... extravagant. I was unaware, however that millinery was a large part of the celebration of one's birth.