#375 words

[felinesomnambulist]

Belated Whumptober 2023 - Day 5

Day 5 - "It's broken".

"I am sorry, Young Master Jiang," Lan Xichen said gently. "It is broken."

"I am aware, Young Master Lan," Jiang Wanyin replied woodenly. Then, belatedly, remembered his manners. "Thank you. It was kind of you to look for a way to fix what has been done."

"Young Master Jiang," Lan Xichen began, gathering his voluminous sleeves. The layers of gauzy fabric bunched in the older teen's palms, crumpling into a sweaty clump, in a rare nervous gesture. "What compelled your father to do such a thing?"

Jiang Wanyin held the detached length of Sandu's blade in one hand and the hilt with its jagged remnant in the other. Unable to meet the Lan heir's eyes, he grinned bitterly at the remnants of his pride, his birthright. Attempt the impossible, indeed. But oh, the cost if you failed, he thought. It was enough to shatter a heart.

"I failed to live up to the Sect's motto, Young Master Lan," he said eventually. "That is all there is to it."

Only partially understanding, Lan Xichen nodded. "What will you do now? Classes are over."

"My mother wrote to me," Jiang Wanyin reassured the other boy. "I will not be a burden on Lan hospitality, Young Master Lan. The Meishan Yu await me."

Unable to stop a blush at the misunderstanding, for he meant to imply nothing of the kind, Lan Xichen stuttered. "O-of course you are welcome to stay as long as you like, Jiang Wanyin! You are my uncle's favorite student of this year's cohort. That alone would guarantee you a life-long welcome at Gusu Lan."

Immune to overtures of friendship in his grief, Jiang Wanyin put the broken blade in the sheath, then the hilt. "Young Master Lan is too kind," he said, bowing formally. "I take my leave at first light. It has been my honor to attend the famed Gusu Lan Lectures. Thank you for hosting one so unworthy as myself. If I may impose upon you once more; please relay my apologies to my sister. I will not be returning to Yunmeng Jiang with her after all."

"Young Master Jiang," Lan Xichen tried again, but Jiang Wanyin was already striding away from the little house, back towards the rapidly emptying student barracks.

[felinesomnambulist]

Whumptober 2023 - Day 7

Day 7 - “Can you hear me?”

“Can you hear me!?”

Jiang Cheng ignored the far-away voice. It was cold. So cold. Too cold to worry about anything else. He was bereft of Sandu and Zidian. He was far from Lotus Pier.

He couldn’t remember anything else and he was so, so cold. It was getting hard to think.

“Can you hear me?”

There had been a nighthunt and a village in peril. A child discovered still alive in a demonic cultivator’s squalid hut. But it hadn’t been a child. It had been bait. A trap.

And now it was so cold, Jiang Cheng couldn’t feel his fingers. He couldn’t feel his toes or his nose, either. Frost rimed his eyelashes, gluing his eyes shut.

“Jiujiu! Can you hear me?”

For a second, he thought he heard A-Ling calling him. But A-Ling was all grown-up and a Sect Leader in his own right. A-Ling hadn’t visited Lotus Pier in over a year. Jiang Cheng understood, even if it hurt.

He was tired. So very tired. Decades of struggle to keep his sect going and to raise Jin Ling had taken their toll. Wei Wuxian’s return had only added to his burdens, somehow. It seemed like everywhere Jiang Cheng had gone, every deal he’d tried to make, Wei Wuxian was there, sticking his nose in and ruining everything. Under the guise of ‘helping’, of course.

“Can you hear me, Jiang Cheng? Snap out of it!”

Jiang Cheng was sick and tired of it. Tired of Hanguang Jun’s stony looks of derision. Tired of Wei Wuxian’s interference. Tired of A-Ling’s neglect. Tired of fighting for his Sect only to be thwarted by those who should have been his allies.

But at least it wasn’t so cold anymore. It was actually kind of warm. He felt comfortable. Cozy. Everything felt distant and floaty. Jiang Cheng ignored the murmur in the background that might have been people panicking in the distance.

It was quiet here. And peaceful. He wanted to stay. Didn’t he deserve a vacation? Didn’t he deserve …

“Jiang Cheng! Can you hear me? Don’t go to sleep! You’ll die! That’s how the curse works! Jiang Cheng! Wake up! WAKE UP!”

“Please, Jiujiu! Open your eyes for me! Jiujiu!”

[thewritehag]

I’ve gone back and forth on Rick’s initial goal, at first thinking that his desiring romance would be trite, then trying to make him more politically minded, and now back to the romance. Romance isn’t trite and I have to work to unlearn that horse-hockey (as my dad might say). Plus, even if playing politics is done for good reasons, it doesn’t fit Rick’s natural inclinations. Tinny’s (Rick’s older sister)? Maybe. Probably.

[chloeh-globalinsights]

Day 2

3rd of June

Today my sister came for a visit (she has been staying in Nottingham so was able to get the train down). It was very nice to see her and as I didn’t have any meetings today it was lovely to spend it with her. So seeing any family nearby is a nice way to spend a day.

We didn’t do an awful lot in particular but it was good to get my bearings as we walked around a lot and took both the underground and the buses. This was useful because it meant I was able to try the different transportations we’d be using for our meetings.

Emma, Luc (her boyfriend) and I went to different shops such as Harrods and looked at the London Eye. It was really good to get the chance to see some of the iconic places in London. If I were to give advice I’d say to try and do as many tourist things as you want in the days off.

I was very excited because we went past Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, as a Literature student this was brilliant and I hope to go back later in the week and perhaps see a show.

Positives Seeing Emma! Shakespeare’s Globe

Challenges Timing was a little tricky - Emma missed her train to London so we didn’t get to meet up as early as we thought. To prevent this I’d be a little more flexible with expectations on a down day.

Did I do anything for my goals? Independence - This was the first time I had travelled in London on my own. I found using the mobile app really useful for doing this so make sure you have access to wifi or data in order to do so. Confidence - Simply walking around London has helped to build my confidence as I don’t feel so unsure of where I am. Networking - No chance for networking today.

What would I do differently? In my opinion today went quite well so there’s not an awful lot to try changing. If I had to choose something I’d try to organise what we were going to do a bit better as some of our time was spent working out where we’d like to go.

[clarasteam]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Man in an Orange Shirt (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Michael Berryman/Thomas March Characters: Michael Berryman, Thomas March Additional Tags: Community: fan_flashworks, Fix-It Summary:

This isn't how Michael imagined Thomas's life in Cassis.

[rvwix]

Are drugs better than alcohol?

Since coming to uni, my eyes have been opened to the large amounts of people that take drugs on a night out.

  I still remember being in junior school and having the local police come in and tell us all about how dangerous it is blah blah blah. So how come so many people do it? I know people that use drugs weekly, and I’m not talking about smoking weed.

  Coke and MDMA seem to be the most popular ones to take in the group of people I know. In my opinion I don’t see the appeal of taking some substance that makes you dance like a t*at and gurn your face off for the whole night. Like yeah, you look dead attractive babe.

  I just don’t understand why people can’t just drink on a night out?! Not saying alcohol is any safer, ʼcause obviously even that is dangerous in high doses, but surely that’s better, right?

  One of my friends who regularly takes MDMA always says that it’s cheaper and you have a better night. But at £40 a gram I’m not convinced. I can go out with a maximum of £20 a night and get absolutely wasted and still have money left when I get home. That seems like a better deal to me.

  Also, the things I’ve seen people do when they’re off their faces just totally puts me off. The other week my friend cut his head open really bad after smacking it on his front door when he fell over, and that was because he took drugs.

  I’m not bothered at all if any of my friends take drugs because they can do whatever the hell they want. It just really aggravates me when you get judged for not wanting to do it. Sorry, but I don’t want to make myself look like a complete idiot and hence get kicked out of a club and ruin my evening.

  I just feel that alcohol is a lot better for a night out, even though people act just as stupid when they’re drunk. But at least all you have to deal with in the morning is a hangover instead of a two day come-down. 

367 words, 19/03/2014