WELCOME TO DREAMWIDTH, HERO...

[ Somewhat more bitterly than usual -- ] Celebrating Labor Day would be easier if I were allowed to continue my work, but no matter.

[ And then his tone returns to his quiet smoothness. ] It is the first Monday of September. Summer is quickly fading away. The labor unions wanted a day to celebrate workers, and this day was granted to them.

I wonder who here would consider themselves a worker. For some of you, you must live on what the machine grants you. For others, your jobs would fall outside of labor. And I imagine a few of you treat this world as a vacation from your work back home.

It is a day that everyone may celebrate, but who can claim it as their own?

[ Calendar Man is dressed in a casual style suit with a bright red jacket and a very particular calendar patterned tie with exactly 1 to 17 visible. He is wearing a pleased little smile, speaking each word with care. ]

June 17th, 2012.

Seventeen of you are lucky today. Seventeen of you are getting a gift from Calendar Man. Seventeen of you are going to see your fathers.

[ The room he's in has the usual paper pasted along the walls, but the dim lights have started flickering, and a weird sound starts up that could only be described as just plain eerie. ]

Remember, the past can only haunt you if you let it.

Happy Father's Day.

[ Julian turns on the video, with a small grin. He's holding a gift wrapped in black and white, split evenly down the middle, with a black and white bow on top. ]

May 22nd. A Gemini's birthday is today. [ And then, somewhat inadvertently, he starts bobbing his head. ] Happy birthday, Harvey Dent.

[ And then he starts singing and snapping his fingers. It is exactly as awkward as you'd imagine it to be. ]

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party

I would like you to dance
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance
I would like you to dance
Dance

I would like you to dance
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance
I would like you to dance
Dance

You say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too, yeah
You say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

[ He abruptly stops, his shoulders squaring and his smile dropping off his face rapidly. And then he cuts the feed. ]

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November –
All the rest have thirty-one,
Save February, with twenty eight days clear,
And twenty-nine each leap year.

[ A pause. ] There are a few versions of that poem, that is one. [ Another, longer pause. His voice is soft and calm, and almost affectionate. ]

February has been an exciting month, hasn’t it? The first, the fourteenth, the twenty-fourth. There is still time to make a mark, take a leap. Or perhaps recover, and wait to see what March will bring. Today is February 29th, Leap Day. It only comes every four years - take advantage of it.

[ The video opens on a room in the asylum. Calendar Man isn’t visible at first, he’s purposely showing off his cell.

They hadn’t let Julian get his hands on a calendar, but he had managed to persuade them to give him a sketchbook and a marker, at least. He had been very polite and well behaved. He returned the favor by writing down all the important dates in January and pasting them on the wall. The 13th, 16th, 23rd. The most obvious one was in the center and circled - the 6th. On it were the names “Nill”, “Sherlock Holmes” and “Roughshot” written in big letters.

There were also pages with the zodiac signs drawn on them, with tiny notes not quite readable through the comm’s camera. The sign for Capricorn was bigger than the others, with arrows drawn pointing to it and a scribbled note that could be seen and read as “Gamzee Makara”. ]

It is rather reminiscent of Arkham, isn’t it?

[ He turns the comm towards him. He looks rather calm, although he isn’t smiling. He’s still wearing cuts and bruises from New Year’s, including a fading black eye. There’s a couple of small bandages too. He’s healing up. ]

Almost a week into the new year, City. And a very memorable New Year it was. I did make sure of it. [ He pauses, playing with his lip. ]

Today is the sixth. Epiphany. As I am currently contained, I won’t be able to take part of any special offers or birthday celebrations. If my presence is wanted, you would have to come here. Don’t feel obliged.

How has your year been so far?

((ooc: it’s still being tagged and threads are still wrapping up, but I wanted to thank everybody for a great plot! Oh, and remember that you can't private or encrypt things while he's in here. ))

[ There isn't much indication of where Calendar is. He's not at home, and the communicator is rather close. He's wearing a Santa Hat and a knitted light blue scarf with a snowflake pattern around his neck. He's smiling, but it isn't very friendly. ]

Merry Christmas, City. Happy Holidays and Happy Hanukkah.

Was Santa good to you this year?

Birthdays are funny things, aren’t they?

Everyone has a birthday. The day they came into the world. They were birthed, or made, or came to be. The date of their birth gains a special significance for them, for those that know it.

There is always the zodiacs. Chinese. Western. Hindu. There’s more, of course. There are fortunes based on the day of the month, the day of the week, the hour. Layers and layers of meaning.

Some prefer not to think of their birthday. Another year passed, one year closer to the grave. The day they were given life only reminds them of their death. They might think of how many years they have seen, how much older they are.

Any given day is someone’s birthday. Today is someone’s birthday. Tomorrow is someone’s birthday as well.

Have a happy one.

[ The voice is quiet and not quite monotone. It's soft for a man his age, and his stresses on words are subtle. ]

Monday, October 31st, 2011.

I have missed days, months, years.

I've arrived just in time for Halloween. I would have liked to help you all celebrate it, but it seems that there is already something planned. [ Blink and you’ll miss how cold his voice became for that last bit. ]

At the very least, I'll be able to witness it. A party so big a city was emptied for it - quite the spectacle to behold.

Do survive the night, won’t you? There are still plenty of days left to celebrate in the year.