cuddlecity | EVENT: GO FOR THE GOLD.

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EVENT: GO FOR THE GOLD.

With the blizzard come and gone, the city administration makes quick work of transforming the landscape from a post-apocalyptic white dream (or nightmare) to a more picturesque winter wonderland. While the heavy snow drifts are easily plowed away and the sheets of ice quickly cleared from roofs and bridges, the grounds of the city's parks and sidewalks still enjoy their seasonal coating of soft, fresh snow.

By mid-month, new posters begin to pop up on bulletin boards and network advertisements, featuring the cheerful sound of trumpets and the encouraging view of your favorite volunteer coordinators, inviting you to take part in the city's annual winter games. It's not quite olympian, and no previous experience is required — any and all are welcome to sign up for as many events as they'd like, and while medals aren't awarded, winners may very well find themselves bequeathed with something even more fun! (We hear bar tabs and instachecks are all the rage these days!)

Feeling festive? Come join the fun this weekend at the games!

▸ Are you freakishly flexible? Are you beauty? Are you grace? (We recommend not punching the judges in the face.) Ski ballet may be just the game for you! Play your walk up song as you emerge on skis to Cadelle's adoring crowds. You'll have 90 seconds to make your way downhill while twirling, spinning, kicking and leaping your way with style. Don't want to go it alone? This year Cadelle's offering the chance to compete in pairs. Let's hope your chemistry sets the ~~rain~~ slopes on fire.

▸ Does anyone remember that phrase 'Go sit on a block of ice?' Well, the sport of ice blocking takes that little idiom rather literally as participants slide down one of the city's grassier hills with little more than a giant block of ice, graciously provided by the local ice master. First one down is the winner! Though, just as a reminder: the city is not responsible for any stuck tongues, buns, or other body parts that may result from this event.

▸ Are you crazy about water? Are you unafraid of those freezing waves? The sport of polar diving may be perfect for you! Be sure to slather on the providied petroleum jelly all over your exposed skin and climb on top of the recently built high dive board at Lake Bunton — once you're poised and ready, let loose with your best swan dive... or bellyflop. Three judges will score your stylish dive on a scale of 1-10. The best average score wins!

▸ Are you a fixture at Lucky Lanes? Or is that elusive perfect 300 a pipe dream? Either way, what happens when you mix winter weather, pins, and big round balls? Epic fun, of course, in the form of a fantastically frenzied game of ice bowling! Just.... try not to fall over as you do your victory shuffle after you get that 7-10 split.

Of course, if you're not the sporting type, there's still plenty to see and do during the games! Maybe you'll opt to cheer on your friends and neighbors in their exploits — flags, vuvuzelas, and all manner of spectator accessories are available for purchase from nearby vendors, and for those who may not want to spend a fortune, the city offers free decorate-it-yourself kits for banners at the entrance to the viewing stands! More entreprenurial citizens may choose to invest in a willing market; visit the barking traveling bookies to place a wager on your favored winner, or maybe lay down a few cuddlebucks on an implausible yet possible end scenario — Ireland wins but Russia gets the snitch, anyone?

Whether you've opted to practice your best polar bear performance, rolled a turkey on the ice, or maybe just kept warm in your parka on the stands, be sure to keep a space open in the end of your weekend for the city's closing ceremony. There's the traditional pomp and circumstance, of course, in the issuance of awards and winner's trophies; more important and certainly more exciting, though, is the hosted dinner, held outdoors under a gleaming white tent just beyond the shores of Blue Springs Pool. It's a beautiful place to enjoy a delicious meal with friends, so the city certainly hopes you'll make time to attend!

Howdy, cuddlers!

With the excitement of the 2018 Winter Games just around the corner, we thought it might be fun for you to get to enjoy some sportsmanship of your own this time of year. While the Olympic Games are certainly reserved for the best of the best, Cadelle's version is open to all, and focuses less on swiftly navigating down snowy hills on your preferred mode of transportation (because, really, what else differentiates snowboarding from skiing from bobsled racing and luge...?) and more on the way you choose to move! We hope your characters have a blast while they dance on skis, slide on giant blocks of ice, dive into freezing cold water, or just roll an ice ball down a slick plane of frozen grass... or maybe just watch all their friends make fools of themselves instead!

If you have any further questions specific to this event, we encourage you to ask away on our QUESTIONS COMMENT here in this post. If you have general questions, or prefer a more private venue, our GENERAL INBOX (and SCREENED INBOX) is always available for you. In addition, if you've got an idea for a future event, feel free to drop us a line at our EVENTS SUGGESTION POST.

Peace out, girl scouts! We'll see you around!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I like things with happy endings. I know that sounds a little strange so far as requests go but so much of Westeros is war, politics and sadness. I would rather something that takes me away rather than something that mires me in it deeper.

( Sansa tips her head, thinking a little. Perhaps she should pick up new hobbies here. )

Do you know of anything like that? Something that might make me laugh instead of shed tears?

It's not strange. We all need a break once in a while, Sansa.

[ Her request makes a hundred different suggestions bubble up at once, and Reid has to swallow them down and say, ] I can think of a few. Do you want to-- go to the library and pick some up? It's not far.

[ Is that an awkward thing to suggest? He has no idea. Reid is always happy to share books, so he easily gets away with himself. ]

( Sansa has never been to a library before. She knows there's a large one at the Citadel, down in the south, but she's never been to it. She's always had other things that occupy her mind aside from reading for pleasure. Here, though, why shouldn't she? Why shouldn't she go to a library? )

I would like that very much, I think. I've never been to a library before. You'll have to teach me how it works.

Of course. I have the whole Dewey Decimal Classification system memorized.

[ Reid waves his free hand in the air as he talks even as they start walking. He has the city map in his head already; that had been priority one. His other hand is occupied with what is suddenly obvious as a non-decorative cane, leaning on it to assist with his limp as he goes. ]

The advent of public libraries like the one we're going to is actually fairly recent, as far as history goes. Institutions like it are less than two centuries old. I know you said reading wasn't your highest priority, but I imagine it wasn't easy to have access to books in the first place, right?

( Sansa nods. There's not a lot of books in Westeros and the ones that exist are very expensive. There had been some at Winterfell, of course, but not terribly many. )

Books are an expensive thing in Westeros. Only the Citadel has enough to be considered a library.

[ He nods in understanding. ]

Has it been difficult to adjust to being here? It was a pretty big leap, wasn't it? [ Reid sounds conversational more than sympathetic, although he is sympathetic. ]

It has been a big shift in how I am used to things, yes. This place is safer than my home and it has things I could only dream about.

( Sansa frowns for a moment, looking for the right words. )

I feel guilty, from time to time, that I get to be somewhere safe and free when there are so many bad things happening at home.

[ Reid makes an understanding noise. ]

It's hard to believe the people we left behind aren't missing us, [ he agrees. ] My team... takes on some pretty rough cases, things I wouldn't want to let them go into without me. I feel like I should be there, too.

[ What they're doing here really isn't something they should feel guilty about. There's no logical or ethical reason to feel that he's abandoned anyone. But Reid understands that no matter how often you tell yourself that, there's some intrinsic part of yourself forever conditioned to react to the immediate environment, and not respond to reason. It would be easier to believe he hasn't left them if they were here with him.

It's early days yet, but Reid is fairly certain it's going to take him a long time to stop feeling like he's abandoned them in some way. ]

There's so much I should be doing at Winterfell and I cannot help but think about it. My wish was to have time for myself and I have it but I still feel...guilty.

( Sansa has given all she has to House Stark and then some, things that no one should have to give. Why is it that she still carries guilt over wanting something for herself? )

I think-- that's normal. But you shouldn't have to. You're not doing anything wrong by being here. Neither of us are. Maybe you can use your time here to... [ he hesitates ] become more confident in that.

[ In herself, really, he means. Spencer sounds earnest and sympathetic, his heart perpetually on his sleeve. ]

( Sansa knows that taking time for herself shouldn't be a bad thing but she cannot help but feel that way when so much of Winterfell needs her right now, especially since Jon is in the South. She shakes her head a bit, awkward. )

I have always been raised to put my house above all else. It is difficult to think of myself.

[ He's silent for a long moment before venturing to say, ] Have you, um... considered that you're part of your house?

It is the role of a woman to give everything to her house, be it the house of her birth or the house of her husband. That is just the way things are where I'm from.

( Sansa thinks he means well, honestly, but she doesn't understand how else to be other than a champion for House Stark. )

I'm not disagreeing with your perspective, I'm sure you know better than I do. I'm just pointing out, putting yourself in the best position to serve your house isn't disloyal.

[ Reid knows better than to argue with someone about their own culture, religion, moral beliefs-- or indoctrinated subservience. Whichever one this is, which he's not really in a position to know. Regardless, he doesn't think it would hurt anything for her to feel encouraged to value herself. ]

I did not mean to argue. I just feel like my house needs me and here I am enjoying myself and talking about libraries. I cannot help but feel guilty about it.

( Perhaps she shouldn't. Perhaps he is right and she should be thinking of herself and to that end, her wish had even been to get some time to herself, but Sansa still cannot help but feel badly about it. Maybe that feeling will fade with time. )

[ Reid smiles openly. ] You didn't? You can argue. I don't mind.

[ He's such an even-keel person while discussing things like this, serious topics. Unless you try to poke him in a sore spot, aka his own vulnerabilities, or get him talking on one of his favorite subjects, Reid is steady.

There's a lot of things he can say here to make his point further, but that's just not how Reid is. He's about the furthest thing from pushy. He's said what he wanted to say and is content to let her think about it further, or not, on her own time. So, instead: ] We're almost there.

It is not the place of a woman to argue things for the most part. I have done it before, in defense of my house, but it is not what a woman does. Westeros is very different from here. The rules are different.

( Sansa has learned that life is just learning a series of rules for a game and once you're good at the game, the rules change and the players change and you're having to learn a new game. All her life has been a series of games, one after the other, and Cadelle is just another version of the game she's been playing since she was a child. )

[ Reid isn't about to gainsay survival strategies someone has learned for what must be a difficult situation. ]

Well-- you can disagree and I won't take it as arguing. If that's better. It must be difficult to have all the rules change.

The rules always change. It is up to the player to keep track of it, wouldn't you say?

( It's a bit cryptic, yes, but Sansa has learned to try and keep some parts of herself away from others as a shield to keep her true self safe. It hasn't seemed as necessary in Cadelle but she still does it, from time to time. )

[ As an incredibly private person who rarely admits weakness, mental or physical-- Spencer can relate. But he's not sure he'd characterize it as a game, even so. He's never fit in and he's never been compelled to try to.

He thinks about that for a moment. ] If you're determined to play. [ He glances at her sidelong, making steady time even with his cane. ] If there's any 'rules' you need to ask about, you can ask me.

[ Reid says this like it's nothing remarkable, an offer he makes to everyone. Truth is, as a weedy beanpole of a man with a subdued, intellectual demeanor, he often gets the role of unintimidating male on the team. He's used to serving as the line of contact perceived to be safe, and unthreatening. It mostly works, largely because Reid isn't faking any of it: he's a bad shot, he couldn't tackle anyone to the ground, and he has jumped in front of bullets for people he barely knows and would do so again. Hell, he rarely raises his voice. Reid's not ashamed of using that where he can, if it helps someone, or more often, the investigation at hand. ]

It's not a matter of wanting to play, sometimes.

( Sansa gives him a look that's softer, a bit more vulnerable than she usually is. She isn't as reserved in Cadelle as she is back in Westeros but now she feels a little more open than she normally does. Perhaps she shouldn't. Trusting people has ended up hurting her before, after all, but she cannot write everyone off, can she? Not if she wants to achieve her wish. )

Sometimes you just end up having to play by the rules to survive. I have gathered that most people who come to Cadelle don't come from places like I did.

No, I, um-- [ He hesitates for a long moment, purely because he's trying to figure out how to put this the most diplomatically. That's not Reid's strong suit unless he's outright lying, and he has no reason to lie to her, and doesn't want to. Which leaves him... placing her increasingly as someone who talks like a victim, in the legal definition of the word, slotting into the category Reid has for people who've suffered a horrific crime. He doesn't know what the crime was, but he doesn't have to. He's here as a person, not as a federal agent. ]

I get that. Not that I came from anywhere like Westeros. My job, I encounter a lot of people who have... survived extraordinary things. [ Including himself. Not that Reid's about to bring that up. His voice softens. ] You should never feel ashamed or embarrassed for what you do to survive. Some people have a hard time understanding strength that looks like weakness.

[ He'd rather she did feel free to argue with him, but half the reason Reid consistently gets cast at work as unthreatening male is because he doesn't expect more from people than what they can give. ]

( Strength that looks like weakness. Sansa knows about that. She's always had a strong sense of self in spite of circumstances and even when she's been pushed down and broken and beaten she never loses who she is. It's something she's had to learn the hard way.)

The lone wolf dies but the pack survives. My father used to say that.

[ Reid spends a moment ruminating that. ]

Human beings are social creatures. We benefit from continued social support and group hierarchies. [ By now they've reached the library, a formal brickwork building looming up ahead of them, and Reid pauses in front of it. ]

Ready to go in? You can read on site as long as you like, but we'll have to get you a card if you want to borrow anything.

I am ready. It’s strange. I never thought I would be excited to go into a library.

( Books have never really been her thing but here in Cadelle, she’s discovering it’s all right to do things outside of her narrowly defined role as a lady. Sometimes she doesn’t like what she tries but it’s different and new and Sansa supposes that’s the important thing. )

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