It's For Your Own Good

[thechurbyboxmod]

Blind Date Meme



Let's face it, sometimes it's difficult finding someone to share your time, and your heart (or maybe just your body), with. Luckily for you, you have well meaning friends. Unfortunately for you, you have well meaning friends who didn't tell you this was coming. That's right. They have taken it upon themselves (and no doubt friends of friends or family members or someone else who clearly doesn't know you) to arrange a date. Without telling you.

That's right. The dreaded blind date. Which means now you've got to get through at least a reasonable amount of time with a total stranger (or maybe not a stranger if you're particularly, well, we can't say if it's lucky or not) before you can reasonably escape. Maybe it will go well. Maybe this will be the start of the rest of your lives. Maybe you'll get laid. Maybe you'll have a horror story for the ages.

No matter what plays out, though, you're here. Might as well see just how your luck is going to play out.

How to Play

1. Post your character and canon below along with any preferences. Then go back and edit your comment with the next number in order (i.e. first TL is 1, second is 2, etc)

2. Tag other TLs. If a character isn't in normal preferences, ask if they might want a date that goes poorly instead!

3. Optionally, get yourself a truly blind experience by going here and randomly generating a number. Then find the matching TL (numbered back in step one) and enjoy your blind date.

4. For more fun, use the list in the first comment for randomized date locations!

Comments

[seed_pilot]

Oh very inevitable. Selphie has so much potential for making trouble.

[Oh boy, rules.]

Garden can be strict in a lot of ways. For one thing, we're not allowed to fraternize with other cadets while we're cadets. Which of course a lot of people try to ignore. I think that's shy she's so happy to meet someone from outside of the school.

[ask_whydunit]

[ That made sense, he guessed. ]

Hm… I guess that would make sense if that’s the rules. [ And Melvin had been excited to meet someone as interesting as Selphie, so it seemed like it worked pretty well. ] We’re not discouraged, though at a certain point mages tend to go their own way unless relations are beneficial to one or both families of the mages in question.

[ Which was why arranged marriages were still a thing. Waver didn’t have to worry about that, at least. ]

[seed_pilot]

Okay, that sounds shady as hell. That's like... marrying out of obligation. That's what you're saying, right?

[ask_whydunit]

Yeah, basically. It’s pretty common in mage society for families to marry their kids off to other advantageous families for either their magecraft or political power in different factions.

[ Waver snagged another free to eat with an exaggerated shrug as he continued. ]

There’s like a bunch of antiquated bullshit traditions carried on from forever ago, like they’re all trapped in the past.

[ He eyed Melvin’s table thoughtfully for a moment. Technically, the other teen’s family was considered one of the most elite branch families of the Trambelios… Which meant he’d probably get caught up in that mess someday. Then again, with his health, there were murmurs that he might not be fit to be the heir. So who knew what would happen? ]

I don’t have to worry about any of that nonsense, though.

[seed_pilot]

[Yeah, Nida looks horrified at that. He looks so upset. Like, how could someone do that to their kid.]

Should I warn Selphie off then? Is your friend... Would he end up being engaged to someone soon? God, that'd be horrible.

[But he is worried. Super worried.]

[ask_whydunit]

[ The sad thing was this was both normal and just scratching the surface of what went on in the older families. Waver can see the upset in Nida’s expression, and considered how to answer it. ]

Melvin’s an idiot, but I don’t think he’s so much of one that he wouldn’t tell her. I don’t think we’d even be here if there was something already planned.

[ So there was that at least, but Waver also couldn’t just say it would never happen. ]

But it’s hard to say that it would never happen in his case. His family is kind of one of the more prominent ones… But I don’t think there’s anything planned right now. His health makes things a bit complicated in more than just socializing.

[seed_pilot]

[Nida sighs and shakes his head. No, that sounded pretty sad and painful to him.]

What about you? Are you going to end up tangled in that? Do you get freedom of choice? You deserve it.

[ask_whydunit]

[ The question and the suggestion of what he deserved got a little glance up in surprise from across the table. ]

Oh, no, definitely not. I wouldn’t have to worry about that. For one thing, I don’t have any family left that might want to arrange that, and even if my Mum was, she hated a lot of that kind of stuff. For another, no one would want their kid attached to my family to try to suggest something like that.

[ There were small positives to being a nobody that was largely seen as a joke, he got to stay on the outside of all the idiocy involved with traditional mage society and the politics of the clock tower… His future self will miss these days. ]

[seed_pilot]

Why?

[No, he's got so many questions here. Why would someone not want attached to Waver? Wait, no, he said Waver's family.]

Are they... dramatic? I mean, I can't imagine a reason otherwise.

[ask_whydunit]

No. It’s because everyone at the Clock Tower is an elitist, high and mighty asshole, and my family has only been practicing magic since my grandmother started.

[ His shoulders raised in a shrug, waving a fry around lightly before eating it with a small huff. Professor Kayneth loved to remind him of this every time he tried to suggest something that went against the grain. ]

It’s because in magecraft, generally it’s thought that the older the family, the more power they have because they’ve had more time to perfect and add knowledge and power to their magic crest. [ He paused, wondering if Nida knew what a magic crest was. Probably not if he didn’t know the rest of this. ] Magic crests are like… a kind of magical organ that gets transplanted to the heir each generation. So, no one sees much value in a family that’s only been practicing for such a short time. It’s pretty stupid. They refuse to look at the possibility that with the right approach and hard work, even a new mage could keep up with the rest of them.

[seed_pilot]

[An elitist high and mighty asshole? Nida snickers at the characterization. Especially since he got it. He understood that. It wasn't quite the same at Garden, but it was close enough that he got that energy.]

They'd never handle a Garden education. Because there everyone starts at the same level, more or less. We have to prove ourselves. It doesn't matter who your family is.

[ask_whydunit]

See, that’s how it should be! I keep trying to bring up ideas for a different approach, but I keep getting shot down when I ask about it.

[ He huffed with a small roll of his eyes. No, they definitely would handle a Garden education. ]

I can only imagine the aneurysm Lord Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi would have if he had to face that and the results.

[ There is a dramatic, sarcastic tone in Waver’s voice about his nemesis and professor. Not that Kayneth didn’t have the talent to back it up. Everyone said he was a prodigy… But the teen’s opinion of him was not favourable, given they were always at odds. ]

[seed_pilot]

Of course you are. You're young. We're young. Youth is disregarded because those who are older see things and say 'this is how they were for me so that's how it has to be for you'. They fail to see change.

[Damn, that's a long ass name and Nida has to laugh.]

Maybe you should consider transferring. We'd treat you better I think.

[ask_whydunit]

[ It’s so long, and pretentious sounding. It annoys Waver so much and will continue to for the rest of his life… But he offered a small shake of his head, stubbornness clear in his expression even before he opened his mouth. ]

Probably would. They sound a lot more… reasonable than the rigid traditions of the association? But If I transfer, then both my professor and my classmates trying to make me quit win. I never get the satisfaction of showing them and the rest of the stupid bastards that they’re wrong, so I’m going to stick it out.

[seed_pilot]

Well there is that.

[Though Nida has to wonder.]

Just make sure that pride doesn't outweigh happiness, okay? You've got choices, unlike a lot of Garden students.

[Most of them were either orphans, or had been sent to Gardens to teach 'discipline' because their family was having a hard time with that. Punishment or loss.]

[ask_whydunit]

Maybe…

[ He was an orphan, actually. Waver's parents had died a couple of years prior to his attending the Clock Tower, he had no family left to speak of. And aside from some sentimental or practical things he’d kept, everything else had gone into paying for his dorm and education at the tower. There was truly nothing for him to go back to.

The kid was doing his best to stay afloat and stubbornly trying to cling to a place that didn’t really want him there. Waver would never take the easy option, even if it would be more sensible. It was, in Melvin’s opinion, one of the things that made him interesting. ]

I get what you’re saying, but I think it’s worth it. I’ll be happy with the results, I just need to get through the difficult parts.

[seed_pilot]

[At least he remembered his family. Nida didn't at all.]

Well, I definitely understand how you would want to do that. And you've got a cheerleader in your corner.

[ask_whydunit]

Well… [ It’s weird to have someone openly in his corner. Not a bad weird, though. Gosh, he’s not good at responding to nice things like that. ] Thanks, Nida. I’m um… in yours too, and I’ll do what I can to help. I’m glad we met.

[seed_pilot]

[That makes Nida smile right back. Yeah, he can live with that. He might even be blushing just the tiniest bit.]

Cool then. We'll root for each other.

[ask_whydunit]

Uh… Yeah, definitely. [ Yup, he’s definitely hiding behind his soft drink for a moment. ] Um…

[ How do people do this? The teen wonders. They always make it look way more smooth. Dammit. ]

Do you have a number for your dorm? So I can, you know, call if I find anything you might think is useful?

[ Waver, apparently, could not ask for someone’s number without feeling like he needed a reason. ]

[seed_pilot]

Oh. We, uh... We don't have phones. Not in the rooms.

[There are constraints on a military academy that probably seem wrong to other people. But it's accurate to him.]

I wish I had one though. I'd give it to you.

[ask_whydunit]

Oh, then…

[ He needed to think about that. It made sense, though. A military academy would have more restrictions on the students and all… So he offered a nod. ]

Then how about this? I’ll let Melvin know we could use another meet up and he can let your friend know however they’ve been communicating, and we can work something out then.

[ To be honest, Waver wasn’t sure how Melvin had set all this up to begin with, but it seemed a safe bet the guy had his ways. ]

[seed_pilot]

That would be good. If it works out.

[Because he wants it to work out. The guy is quite charming and he wants to spend the time with Waver if he can.]

Because it would be nice to hang out again.

[ask_whydunit]

Yeah, I kind of hope it does. Melvin would be happy too.

[ Waver takes a small glance at the other table. Melvin is still talking rather animatedly with Nida’s friend, probably telling her some story from class if he had to guess. ]

But yeah, it would be. This has been… kinda cool. You’re good to talk to, Nida.

[ Which was high praise, given he didn’t generally acknowledge enjoying something. ]

[seed_pilot]

[See, the thing was that Nida didn't care much about Melvin being happy to hang out with Selphie. No, Nida just wanted to see Waver.]

Thanks. I'm not used to people saying that. So, you know, uh, thanks.

[He's repeating himself, but he's blushing anyway.]