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! |
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But women aren’t expected to be that in America any longer, correct? I rule my house now but I still must serve it and its interests. I have to put my house before any personal desires.
( It’s something Sansa has always grown up knowing and it’s a part of her as much as her hair or her eyes. She doesn’t know if Reid understands that but he seems kind and well-meaning and she hopes he does. )
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His free hand makes a see-saw motion in the air. ] Sort of. Nominally speaking, we're past all that, but the mentality still exists. For example, women still do the majority of the housework and child rearing, even if they work full time as well. You should think of it as an ongoing struggle. Some women are more traditional or more progressive. I'm sure there's variation in a woman's fealty in Westeros, like there is in anything.
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( And, yet, Sansa has two examples ready to hand in spite of how unusual that is. Hmm. )
Desperate times call for houses to adapt.
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You sound pretty progressive yourself. Your brother must trust you if he's leaving all that to you.
[ Probably that's a safer topic. Probably. It's complimentary, at least? ]
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( Sansa pauses, trying to think how to explain her relationship with Jon. )
I think of him as my true brother, though. I miss him.
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I don't blame you. [ A moment's hesitation, because he doesn't usually talk about this, but-- Spencer affects being casual about it, pausing to pull down a book. ] I spend so much time with my team, I probably should've expected how much I'll miss them while I'm here. I got used to having them around.
Here. [ He hands her over the book, which is a nice, readable history of colonial America and the Revolutionary War, not too textbook-like. Probably best not to overload her, and starting at the beginning is always logical. ]
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( Sansa is thinking of Jon at the Wall with the other brothers of the Night's Watch or some sort of dancing troupe. The word team, while not unfamiliar to her, isn't familiar in the context he's using it. She takes the book and dips her head a bit. )
Thank you. Hopefully this helps to fill in some of the gaps in knowledge.
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We do serve the public at large. I don't know if you have anything like formalized law enforcement. Hm. We travel the country, finding people who break the law and bring them to justice. My team specializes in the worst crimes. It's made us pretty close.
[ Hopefully that makes sense and translates well enough without sounding like he's dumbing anything down for her. Reid also knows that trust-building by necessity has to go both ways or it will ring as false, and it's not like he minds explaining about the BAU, so he isn't about to begrudge the question. ]
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the famed Brotherhood without Banners. Hmm. )
We have a few groups of men like that in Westeros but I don't think they're so honorable as bringing the worst to judgment. There's...coin can always buy freedom. If you have a trial by combat, you simply buy the best sellsword to defend you. If you have a trial by the faith of the seven, you pay the septons in bribes.
No one is without a price. I learned that early on.
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I won't deny that bribery and corruption are an issue everywhere, but I'd say they're much less than you're used to, [ he says. ] Even a credible accusation could make me lose my job.
Money has power, but it can't buy everything. [ Wryly, ] And I can guarantee it's not going to work on my team. The people we bring in, there's no price we'd think worth it to let them go free. They'd keep hurting people. They wouldn't stop. [ And how they hurt them-- this isn't the right environment or conversation, he thinks, to get explicit, but it's clear from Reid's grim tone that it's as bad as she might imagine. ]
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( Sansa knows plenty of cruelty after Joffrey, after Ramsay. She needs no descriptions. )
I am glad you're part of a team who prevents that.
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He's not sad, exactly, but he is calm and empathetic. He hates pity. He wouldn't imagine pitying anyone. ] I'm sorry, Sansa. [ The apology is transparently sincere. ] If you ever want to talk, there's nothing you can say that would shock me.
[ That's maybe a bold statement to make, but Reid is positive he can back it up. He knows he can stay calm. Sensationalizing acts like this only feeds the people who commit them. ]
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( Sansa toys with the edge of her sleeve a bit, trying to decide how to talk her way out of this particular conversation. She doesn't know that she can. )
I have my home back now and my brother is king. No one can protect anyone but...people can be stopped. I trust in my brother to keep those who want to harm me away from me. ( she shrugs a bit. ) Here in Cadelle, there is no one to fear. Not that I've met, anyway.
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Just, if you want to talk, I'll listen. Silence is the ultimate weapon of power. Charles de Gaulle. [ A beat, and then he lowers his hand. His voice softens. ] Or, if you don't want to, don't. I just thought you should have the option.
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( Sansa swallows a bit and tries to regain her mask and her composure. She doesn't think Reid means badly. On the contrary, she genuinely thinks he's a kind person. She just thinks he comes from a place where good people can triumph over evil and that just isn't how the world works, in her (limited) experience. )
To survive, you have to become a little less good each day.
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On the other hand, he thinks her perspective here just solidifies that she probably needs some kind of outlet. ]
You're not the only one to feel that way, even in modern society. [ A moment's pause. ] My boss, someone I greatly respect, wouldn't compromise or make deals with a man who had tortured and killed dozens of people. So a few months ago, that man tracked down and murdered his wife. If you asked him if he thought good men could win, I think he'd give you a different answer every day.
I didn't offer to listen so I could pass judgement, or tell you what to do or think. I just-- want you to know that I will. Listen to you.
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If I have a story to tell, someday, I might share it. If I have questions about these books, may I ask you?
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Of course. Here, we're in the 19th century literature section. [ He reaches out and plucks a book off the shelf to hand to her-- Oscar Wilde, the Importance of Being Earnest, a slim volume. ] This is actually a play, but it's widely regarded as one of the funniest pieces of classic literature.
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( Sansa beams him a quick smile, just a flash. )
Thank you, Reid. I appreciate it.
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[ This might as well be a Moral Absolute in Reid's view of the world. ]
Come on, I'll find you a few more and we can get you a library card.