The (Forced) Speed Dating Meme

[pantheraliam]

Maybe You Want to Be Here, Maybe You Don't
But You're Here!

It's as the tagline says. Maybe you want to be here - have a few laughs, get to know some new people, make new friends, maybe take someone home - or, maybe you don't. Either way, you're here, complete with a name tag, a list of preferences, and a mysterious magical force that's keeping you from leaving. Whether compelled to sit at your table and wait for your next match, or to visit tables yourself, it's time to partake in a thrilling game of speed dating. And no, you don't have a choice, so you might as well make the most of it.

How to Play:
- Make a top level with your character name and canon in the subject line. Include in your top level what's written on your character's tag. You may use this format if you wish:
<b>Name:</b> <b>Age:</b> <b>Preferences:</b> (insert here either sexual preferences, whether you're looking for friendship/romance, or both) <b>About me:</b>
Feel free to assume that your character filled it out themselves, or that it was magically filled out for them when they arrived and they aren't able to remove it. Whatever suits your character best!

- Assume your character is either seated at a table awaiting matches, freely exploring the room, or being propelled by some otherworldly force to mingle. That is to say, tag around to other top levels and speed date away!

- It may be a good idea to put in your top-level some preferences for whether you are looking for shippy threads, friendship threads, funny threads, etc.. whatever you'd like!

- Tag around, have fun, be respectful, follow basic dwrp rules, etc.!

Anyone and everyone is welcome, including fandom characters, fandom OCs, canon OCs, AUs, CRAUs, etc.! Feel free to spread the word and thanks for playing!

Comments

[dumpset]

[ 600 years... Tobio can't even comprehend how far back that is so he doesn't bother.

He listens (amazingly enough) to Gansey patiently explain to him about this Owaine Glendower he seems to think so highly about.

Tobio does get a little lost when dates are being brought up. But he does manage to catch that all this... is not what makes the King special according to Gansey. Huh. ]

So what is it? [ He asks with a tilt of his head. Even if Gansey may have lost him for a bit, Tobio's still curious. ]

[kingseeking]

[Light dances behind Gansey's eyes when Tobio asks. Now it's time to get to the exciting stuff, the real reason why Gansey's life revolves around a Welsh King that died over 600 years ago.]

The legends say that he's still alive, only sleeping. Those that find his tomb and wake him are granted a favor - anything in the world that you could possibly think of.

And I know where he is-- Well, I know about. [The grin on his face is full of excitement now that's hard to contain. It's really a much different look than the polite and insistent smile he'd offered Kageyama at the beginning of this conversation. This is Gansey's one true joy in life.] Henrietta, Virginia in the United States.

I live there now and I've been searching for him.

And I'm close, I know I am. It's been years coming.

[dumpset]

[ Whoa. Sounds like there's some magic involved here. How can someone still be alive for more than 600 years? This King must really be special.

This kind of explains why Gansey is obsessed and has made his life revolve around it.

Yeah... Tobio understands getting obsessed over one thing like that all too well. ]

What sort of favor are you planning to ask from him...?

[kingseeking]

[Gansey's smile becomes a bit more reserved at that question, but that's not to say he's any less pleased to still be talking about his King. Even so, the expression takes on an air that's almost a bit melancholy. That's not intentional, and Gansey doesn't really notice.]

Good question.

It's not as if I haven't thought about it, but honestly...it's less about the favor and more about finding him.

[Gansey's already had one favor granted by the King, after all - his life. His quest is motivated by different reasons than those of his friends. Gansey just wants to know that he's real - he has to.]

[dumpset]

Oh.

Then what do you plan to do when you find him?

[kingseeking]

[That's a big question. Thank him would be Gansey's first thought. And then there's the matter of his friends' favors. He knows they all have them. Even so, the question is difficult to answer. Rest is his next though.]

It will certainly be an experience. [His lips twist a little, trying to think of how exactly to explain.] That's kind of the point, I guess.

I just want to know he's real. I mean, I do know he's real, but I want to...see him. Up close.

I want that more than I've ever wanted anything, truly.

[dumpset]

[ Tobio nods slowly in understanding. He understands wanting something more than anything. ]

You'll find him, Gansey.

[ Somehow, he finds himself believing in this guy. He sure is passionate. ]

[kingseeking]

[There are many different "shades", one could say, to Gansey's smiling. When they first started talking, his smile was polite and insistent. Talking about Glendower, it had become excited and eager. Talking about his reasoning had caused it to take on an almost melancholy air, and now, listening to Kageyama's encouragement, it blossoms into something painfully genuine and grateful.

[That's awfully kind of him to say for someone he barely knows.]

I appreciate that. Kageyama, was it? Or should I call you Tobio? [He's not terribly familiar with how Japanese names work.]

You seem a man who knows what it's like to want something. What's your Glendower then? So to speak, of course.

[dumpset]

[ Uhh, wow. Tobio feels entirely unprepared by the grateful smile Gansey directs his way. It's... p... um... it's a nice smile, Tobio's mind hastily supplies for him.

He shakes his head -- before realizing that it looks like he's saying no to Gansey's question, so Tobio quickly switches to nodding instead. ]

Either is fine. [ Gansey's clearly not Japanese so Tobio looks past the social norms within his culture and allows Gansey to decide which part of Tobio's name is easier for him to say. ]

My Glendower? [ It takes Tobio a while to realize what Gansey means by this. ] ...I like playing volleyball. It's all I ever want to do every day, for the rest of my life.

[kingseeking]

Your Glendower.

[Gansey seems highly satisfied with Kageyama's answer as he repeats this. He himself is not what he'd consider to be a sportsman - he's halfway decent at rowing, and he enjoyed being on the team, but it's certainly not something he'd say he's passionate about. Kageyama, on the other hand, seems to be greatly inspired by his sport of choice, and while Gansey can't necessarily relate to that specifically, he can certainly relate to loving something so much that it hurts. He wonders if that's how Kageyama feels about volleyball - and he suspects that maybe it is.]

I'll show my ignorance - I know very little about volleyball. But it must be quite something if you'd like to spend the rest of your life playing it.

I trust you're on a team? Perhaps your school team? Or would that be assuming too much?

[dumpset]

[ There's something about the way Gansey speaks that's so... charming. Tobio's usually not the type that gets taken by someone who's not part of the volleyball world... But Gansey's been really nice to him, so far. He kind of reminds him of Suga-senpai somehow. ]

It's okay. [ Tobio understands that volleyball doesn't revolve around everyone else's life like it does for him. ]

I'm on my school's team, yes. My position is setter. It's the coolest position on the team... [ Tobio looks down, flushing lightly. Why did he have to add that last part? Is he really trying to make himself appear cool in front of Gansey...?? ]

[kingseeking]

[Kageyama looks nervous, Gansey observes, though he's unsure as to why. He can relate on some level, he thinks. Talking about something you love can be an excessively exposing feeling, and if it weren't for Gansey being so used to it, he might get embarrassed too (he probably used to be once upon a time, but he can't quite remember). He doesn't want Kageyama to stop talking about volleyball though, and he doesn't want him to feel embarrassed for doing so, so he inclines his head slightly and keeps the same genuine smile on his face, trying to see if he can get the boy to meet his gaze.]

Go on, please. As I've said, I really know nothing about volleyball. What makes the setter - setter, was it? What makes that the coolest position on the team?

[dumpset]

[ It works. The slight movement across from him causes Tobio to look up again. Their eyes meet and Tobio swallows. Huh...

He straightens in his seat as he answers Gansey's questions. ]

Um, volleyball is a sport where there are two teams compromised of six players each, a net and a ball. Following a set of rules, the players have to keep the ball in the air and if the ball drops on their side of the court, then the other team gets a point. [ Well, that was a dumb explanation. Surely Gansey already knows the basic mechanics of volleyball. ]

[ But sure enough, Tobio's shyness slowly melts away when he begins to explain his views on setters. ] The setter is the coolest position on the team because they handle the ball the most in a match. They're like the control tower. If you're able to watch a game from the end side of the court, you'll get to see how fast a setter can toss. From one end of the court to the other, like zoom! The ball goes past the enemy's block and you think hey can they really return that?, then a spiker jumps up and hits the toss like wham! [ Tobio acts out the motions so that Gansey can hopefully understand what he means. ] As a setter, you get to trick the enemy's blocks, tear down walls for spikers. It's difficult, it's cool, it's fun, and that's the setter.