I've even tried internet dating!

[youngandbeautiful]

The Dating Meme

Dating is, when you think about, really weird. It's a totally different thing for different people. Some are friends for years before they date; others start dating on the same day they met. Sometimes, there's a lot mushy stuff involved; other times, the couple acts just like friends. None of this is necessarily right or wrong.

Whatever it is, your character and the character you reply to are now dating. How? That's up to you. Whether it be awkward or not, the relationship will be uniquely theirs.

How to Play
-Comment with your character and preferences.
-Reply to others.
-Have fun.

Prompts

1. Best Friends to More: Oh, wow, you've been this person's friend forever! But then you realize you have feelings for them, and they for you. Will things change when you change your status?

2. The Sudden Decision: Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here I am, date me maybe?

3. Confession: You've had feelings for this person for, like, ages, and you want to ask them to date you. Or maybe the confession just slips out...
4. Hate Date: You really don't like this person; actually, you hate them. But you don't want them to be with anyone else!
5. I Guess We're Dating: Huh. We are dating, aren't we? Everyone else knew before us...
6. Slow Decision: For the more mature and seasoned, they might fall into something sweet without needing to rush.
7. Been Burned Before: One of you has had a bad relationship, and now both of you have to bear that brunt if you want to date now.
8. Innocence: This is your first real relationship, so you have to figure it out together. That's harder than it looks.
9. Courting: You're from an old-fashioned world or are old-fashioned yourself, so it's courting, not dating. Still, maybe you can sneak away from the chaperon.
10. First Date: Your first true date. What's it like? What would happen if...I don't know...it went bad?
11. First Kiss: Of course.
12. First Time: Together or in general.
13. The Perfect Couple: The couple that never argues and is more like best friends than a couple.
14. The Not-So-Perfect Couple: Ugh, these guys always argue and seem to despise each other. Why are they even together?
15. Comfortable: You can do anything around or in front of your honey.
16. Not Cut Out for Dating: One of you is anti-social, a jerk, a stoic badass, whatever. You're not dating material...yet here you are.
17. Getting on Each Others' Nerves: Spending too much time together can get even the most patient people annoyed with the person they're dating.
18. Know What You Like: It's almost like they can read your mind, whether it be in the kitchen, at the store, or in the bedroom.
19. Trouble in Paradise: Maybe it's external factors, or perhaps internal, but whatever the case may be, things aren't looking so sunny.

20. Test the Strength: Someone else has an obvious crush on the person you're dating. What do you do?
21. Pregnancy Scare: Hey, it happens. So, how do you feel when the period turns up missing?
22. Getting Serious: Things are getting way deep with this person. They may be the one...or maybe they think they are, while you're not too sure.
23. Old Hat: This relationship is dull. Can you get back the spark?
24. End It: You don't want to date them anymore. You want to see other people.
25. Taking It to the Next Level: You don't want to date them anymore. You want to marry them.
26. FREE SPACE

Comments

[jc_superstar]

"I only went because there was an insinuation that A-Ling needed me." If they had told him this was a matchmaking in progress, he would have laughed and shut his door in their face. "By the time I figured out otherwise, I was already here and it was late." Wanyin didn't mean to take it out on Xichen and he paused, tilting his head and then turning to face the Lan, he saluted. "This is not your fault and I am wrong to snap your head off about it."

Forcing himself to settle, he sat back down in his seat, blowing air out of his pursed lips. He took the time to look around their little cottage, his brows furrowing the more he noticed. There wasn't much here. But they left them with their swords. They could leave at any moment! So what was keeping him from doing that?

"And they're going to hold us to our honor to not leave," he concluded softly.

[lan_xichen]

“You are entitled to your anger, I do not blame you.” Xichen shook his head and watched the other finally settle down. He’d offer to play Liebing but doesn’t think that would be quite as welcome.

“As you are aware from your time in Cloud Recesses, Gusu Lan Cultivators hold themselves to their honor on the Wall of Discipline. Even if others would not I would hold myself to the honor of staying here. As would my family hold me to it.” He pauses a bit at that, a smile twisting on his lips. “Well, my Uncle. Wangji would perhaps ask what you did wrong.” His brother held a real grudge against Jiang Wanyin even if he would pretend he didn’t. His distaste for the man he did not hide well.

“I however will not blame you if you leave, nor will I hold you to any expectations.” What he does not say is that it would be rude and it would reflect badly on him. Both as a person and as a Sect Leader. But Jiang Wanyin does not need Xichen to say that to already know it himself. The rules of their world are plainly laid out before them in this regard, if he abandons Xichen people will look at him poorly. Even if Xichen does not blame him. “I suppose, at the end, the question of the matter is quite simple. Can you handle staying with me for an entire month, Sect Leader Jiang?” Or was Xichen’s company so bad he’d prefer dishonor?

[jc_superstar]

"You make it sound like your company is revolting," he huffed. Really, Xichen needed to view himself better than that. "And you make it sound like only Lan Clan has scruples," he pointed out. "You make it sound like it's perfectly okay for me to leave a colleague to their fate. I do not leave people to their fates. Not if I can help it."

Well, great. Xichen believed that Wanyin was going to run out on him! Fine. Wanyin wasn't great company to begin with and he made certain that the rumors kept others away from him. He couldn't handle another person he cared for to die. His remaining family was different.

"We have a knife and we have the woods. We can make a go board." If they were going to spend a month together, they were going to try and occupy themselves.

[lan_xichen]

“Of course we’re not, and I believe I remember the main rule of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect well. Attempt the impossible, is it not?” How could anyone forget that when Wei Wuxian made it his entire being to live to that. He could still remember the young man running around Cloud Recesses chasing Wangji saying it, as if just attempting to befriend his younger brother was attempting the impossible. He was sure they had other rules but that was the only shouted around Cloud Recesses. Still shouted around Cloud Recesses after Wangji eloped and married him.

Jiang Wanyin was, apparently, not actually leaving and instead implying more or less that his company was not insufferable. It was, he was not in a great place lately and being dragged from seclusion for this did not help, but if the other believed that then so be it. He knew better than to argue with someone who could more than hold their own, and Lan’s did not argue regardless. They were taught to bite their tongues and move on.

“When I said I was offering a skill I had—it is one of the few skills that I actually possess in a situation like this.” He chuckles a bit to himself and smiles at the other. “You do not want me attempting wood carving, it might end in a loss of fingers.” He wouldn’t even know where to start with wood carving, did you use your sword or a smaller knife? “I can write calligraphy well, if that will be useful at all to your new adventure.” It would not. Not for a Go board anyway, but he could paint the stones white and black at least.

[jc_superstar]

They were stuck together. Might as well make the most of it. Wanyin nodded, thinking about it. "Creating the handle is no problem. Finding hairs suitable for the brush might be a challenge. And why do you say it's just my adventure? We're here for the month." They might as well work together.

Wanyin sat back, looking at Xichen, considering the situation. The man had been through a lot and knowing what little he did know of Lan laws, this was probably the first time he'd been out of seclusion. What the hell was that like? And now he was dragged out to another place to be in seclusion again. Now this time he was in seclusion with an angry man who was tired of people pushing romance and partners on him. "Anyone ever visit you?" It was a change of subject. He wondered what the answer would be.

[lan_xichen]

“In Seclusion?” It was pointless to ask for clarification, he obviously knew what the other meant. “Well, the point of Seclusion is to be alone. Would it surprise you if I told you I never saw my father, Qingheng-Jun? That I cannot even remember what he looked like, that Wangji never got to speak to him before he died?” Any information they had on their father came from their Uncle, the records of the Lan Sect, and whatever he could remember from their mother. Considering she died when he was seven—that was not much.

“Wangji, when he went into seclusion, didn’t get visitors either except to bring him supplies. Our Uncle forbade me from seeing him and even if I was allowed, I do not believe he would have wanted me to. He was very angry, and at this point I cannot even blame him for that anger.” Seclusion for the Lan’s was isolation. A time to reflect and meditate on one's own self without outside influence. It wasn’t so bad, but there was a point during it that he felt as if he was losing his mind from the quiet. “Does Yunmeng Jiang not do something like that?” He didn’t know all of their customs, so he was curious.

[jc_superstar]

"We have our prisons," he started after a moment. He was still digesting what Xichen was saying in terms of their discipline measures. His eyes flicked up to look at Xichen and wondered what the other man would think of him. "Mostly, I pay my 'prisoners' to scream extra when I have dignitaries about. It keeps them from considering that Yunmeng is ripe to take advantage of. A cutthroat reputation has the benefit of protection."

There was no way he would allow his people to be taken advantage of. So if he needed to appear to be some cruel and vicious man-hunter? So be it. It was worth it.

"Part of the healing process is the support of family. Family is not withheld unless the crime is severe or against the family members themselves. After all, what good is punishment if the tools to succeed after are not given?"

[lan_xichen]

“Hmm. This is perhaps why our Sects have different views on things. Seclusion is not a punishment, if you ask my Uncle, it is a personal time intended to give the person a chance to meditate and reflect upon themselves. It is believed that within that time you will manage to balance your own mental wellbeing with your body and heal.” That is what they’re taught, what they’re lectured about. It was believed that one needed to be alone to find themselves again and strengthen one's resolve.

He picks up his tea again and sips the liquid before setting it back down again onto the table. He can still remember finding Wangji in the storage room drunk, searching for Chenqing desperately, and can’t honestly say if he believes that Seclusion helps anyone. He’s been in it himself and can’t say that it helped him. Lan Xichen doesn't even want to think about his father and what Seclusion did to him. One doesn’t even need to ask if it helped him, the answer would always be an instant no.

“Sect Leader Jiang, if it’s not to personal to ask, are you worried your reputation does harm to your person?” He’s heard what the others think of him. Even if the Lan’s do not gossip it’s hard to avoid it at Cultivation Conferences where people talk very loudly about someone.

[jc_superstar]

Cheng leaned forward, his eyes bright and his smile not quite friendly. "Tell me, Zewu-Jun, how does that work? How can a broken cup fix itself without a steady set of hands or silver to bind the edges with? How does a broken cup see with no eyes if all the pieces are still there to bind together?" He wasn't angry at the other man, but angry on his behalf. That was the problem, wasn't it? The assumption that one could rebuild with no resources to build with.

Then the question of his reputation came into play and he scoffed, putting the distance back between them, his eyes moving to an interesting spot on floor to the left. "My person is my own. I have always been the sect heir second to the head disciple. The sect heir unable to embrace the motto of my people. Now I am sect leader only because he is second to his banished head disciple. A part of the impossible only because I needed to receive the impossible, because I couldn't achieve the impossible."

He shrugged after a moment, throwing back the tea like it had been wine-wishing it were. "My person is my own, as tattered as it is. As long as A-Ling is secure in his standing and Wuxian has his...whatever it is that he has, and my people never have to fear smelling their piers burn again, it is but a small thing to do. I will be the monster others cower from."

[lan_xichen]

“I do not believe your view on this is as beneficial to you as you seem to believe it is. Pardon any offense those words might cause.” He sets his tea down and folds his hands, offering the other an apologetic bow before setting straight again. It was the truth though, the more fear that one brought upon themselves could just as quickly turn against them. If the entire cultivation world feared Jiang Wanyin, and by extension Yunmeng Jiang, eventually they’d turn on him. All of them witnessed that when it came to Wei Wuxian as the Yiling Patriarch.

The world did not handle fear well and if Jiang Wanyin became a problem they would find a way to deal with him. Lan Xichen worried that if that time came—he might find himself alone in dealing with it. Yunmeng Jiang, no matter how strong a force, was not enough against the Great Sects on it’s own. Even if Wei Wuxian, and by extension his own brother, decided to stand with them. It almost makes Lan Xiche worry about whose side Gusu Lan would find itself on.

He can’t confidently say who he would have the Sect stand with—and that was mildly unsettling.

“I of course do not believe you are everything you paint yourself to appear as.” He picked up the teapot and poured himself another cup, setting it down gently. “I remember the days you studied in the Cloud Recesses, the following years after that, watching you grow and care for Lotus Pier. You have the same dedication as your father, but the fierceness of your mother. You acquired the best traits of both your parents.” He had faults, but the strengths held in his heart made up for them. At least in Lan Xichen’s opinion. “This is of course an outside perspective, I do not have any ideals of understanding you more than you do yourself. But, out of all the Sect Leaders, I feel I can say I’ve known you the longest and therefore the best.” Even Jin Rulan, but he was a child still.

Huaisang might have a mild argument against his words but honestly, he wouldn’t dare. Lan Xichen picked his teacup up and held it in his hands as he looked to the other. “You might not remember but we did actually meet when you were younger. I tended to accompany my Uncle on trips when he’d meet with other Sect Leaders.” They were Sect Heir’s, it was only natural they’d see each other a few times, in passing at the very least. Lan Xichen accompanied Lan Qiren as a learning process.

[jc_superstar]

And this was the reason why Jiang Wanyin had turned away any future prospects. Even the First Bachelor of the cultivation world didn't ... Didn't what? Blindly accept the character he portrayed? That was interesting on two concepts; everyone blindly followed Nie-zongzhu's character; that burned everyone in the end. He was sure that people would stay away from Qinghe for a while. Ultimately, Cheng admired him for it. He himself didn't have the fortitude, but to find someone who would go at such lengths for familial justice...Cheng did not fault him for that. And he could not fault Huaisang for not trusting anyone with that knowledge, for how could he? Not with the way everyone had gained up on Wuxian. Of course, having Xichen say that there were actually good points to Cheng--No. He had long ago hardened his heart and thickened his face to praise, hadn't he? Of course he did! He bit his lips together and scowled even more. He wouldn't bring up the fact that Xichen had known Guangyao for as long and yet...

"You always look for the best in others," even when they didn't deserve it, he managed not to say. Because while he meant himself, he knew that it could easily be misinterpreted. "And that's as dangerous as a sharpened jianti." Dangerous for Xichen because...well. Everyone knew. But dangerous for Cheng as well, because he didn't want anyone to think that he had softness in him. Not anymore. He couldn't afford it.

"We did?" This time his brows did not clench together in frustration, but contemplation as he refilled the tea cups, trying to remember farther back. The memories weren't as painful, then. "I had to have been very young." There were few memories he had before Wei Wuxian had come to Lotus Pier. Whether that was because of youth or because of his brother's character, he didn't know nor cared to know.