voidtreckernet | Never have I ever made a fool of myself [video, nebula 17]

What's up, party people?

[ And here's a cheerful wave from a man in orange, seated in his room with a mug of...something. ]

If we haven't met yet, my name's Jake. Jake Peralta, your clues guy. I'm down to poke things with sticks and solve mysteries! Sooner we figure out what the train's entire deal is, where we're going and all that, the better, right? But in the meantime, I thought it'd be fun to get to know my new squad!

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone would be down to play a little Earth game called Never Have I Ever. How it works is you say something totally cool, or weird, or boring that you haven't done. And anybody who has done it has to take a drink. Unfortunately, I'm as broke here as I was back home, so I can't supply the booze. And we should probably be setting a good example, right?

So just drink whatever you have! Be that water, juice, milk, coffee...or if you happen to have a proper adult beverage on you, go ahead and drink responsibly. You ready? Great, I'll start: never have I ever gone skydiving!

((ooc: it's a big mingle format! Go ahead and add new 'never have I ever' statements as new toplevels, and threadhop all you want.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

... This makes dating sound even more confusing to me than it already sounded. Without having asked or having everyone ask, isn't it more that it feels like no one's interested, but that you don't know that no one is? Some people seem to be great at self-denial. Or lack of awareness.

( help, Ryo, this just doesn't make sense to him. )

Have you even been interested in anyone like that?

[He'd thought he was talking about a universal experience - he'd had no idea Jingyi's already confused about dating, and that changes everything.]

Um-

[Give him a few moments while he switches tracks.]

I mean-

[He sighs.] If you're interested in someone, nothing's going to happen if you don't tell them. Sometimes people don't say anything because it won't work, or because they're afraid, or because they don't know they have feelings. It's complicated, but when it works, it's worth it.

[Says someone with very little experience in relationships.]

I have, but it hasn't really ever worked for me.

( Jingyi opens his mouth to interrupt, then pauses, and breathes out in a sigh. Ryo's at least doing what he can to be helpful, though what degree of I don't get it is a bit off mark. Not that Jingyi had made it apparent, and even now he simply wishes there were some easy shorthand. Maybe he can write a guide called, "If You See This Ribbon, And Someone Is A Lan, Here's Some Assumptions."

No one would read it, so he's sparing himself the effort, but what if. )

It's less that for me, more that my, hm. My Clan doesn't date. We court, and we marry, and that's that. The whole thing has to involve talking to people at some point, or else you're asking to sit around with a broken heart all your life for not having spoken up, instead of getting turned down or whatever.

( Jingyi, this misses context. How does this track. )

Ah, that sucks. People who left or weren't interested or something?

[...well that's certainly an option.]

So you just...pick someone, and that's it? What if you start courting and you find out you're not a good fit? Are you stuck?

[He wants to know more, and he'd also rather talk about Jingyi's traditions than his own romantic problems.]

I, uh. ( He lifts a hand, waving it at the ICP. ) On my side of things, I'd love them. For better, worse, whatever, that doesn't change. Just what they feel, that can, and I'd have to either respect that or be so selfish that any concept of romantic love I know or care about would be a lie.

( The Lans can't demand of their partners what they give of themselves, is what he's trying to say, but there's no real concept of stuck. Stuck implies he wouldn't want to be in love once he was, and while yes, one can regret an unequal, one sided love, it's still his, if that's how it goes. His love. How he feels. )

It's not about good or bad fits, it's what the heart wants. Which sure, doesn't mean your heart's wise, but you feel how you feel. I'd still be in love even if they, ah, fell out of it. So that's my burden to bear, and is why I'm happy leaving everyone to their dating, and want nothing to do with it.

[There's something honestly horrifying about the idea of staying trapped in a marriage with someone who doesn't love you back - horrifying for both people involved - but Ryo doesn't dig into that. That's a bit much for a public post, and if it's a belief Jingyi holds deeply, then he doesn't need to be digging it up.]

Fair enough, but...I meant the practicalities. Love is good, but what if you can't stand living together? What if a relationship would cause more problems than it solved? What do you do then?

( Ask about Clan Horror Stories. They exist, for good (and bad and horrifying and sad) reason. )

I don't think you'll enjoy the answers we have for that. Since you're asking me—if they can't stand living with me, then I have to respect that. If it causes more problems than it solved, we need to keep solving. Look, people get weird about this here, I've heard it repeatedly, and I'm not telling anyone else to love like we do. Just that we don't love any other way.

( When his sect leader and Hanguang-jun are examples of children from a marriage of endless complications, he knows enough in a general sense and in the quiet spoken and unspoken things. Not as immediately as the generation above him; it'd be impossible to know. It was Wei Wuxian who'd mentioned it more and not strictly because he was saying it to any junior, as Lan Jingyi grew up. )

Love can be one of the most beautiful things a person feels. It can also be one of the most destructive.

Never have I ever made a fool of myself [video, nebula 17]

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