cuddlecity | EVENT: SWIPER, NO SWIPING!

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EVENT: SWIPER, NO SWIPING!

As the blustery winds and steady snows of January give way to the cool breezes of February, the city begins to notice strange trends amongst its volunteer citizenry: an uptick of online searches for things like flower shops and cheap romantic meals, a surprising increase in chocolate purchases (though, perhaps more surprising, no increases in consumption), and a report from the local pharmacies regarding a sudden shortage in contraceptives, of all things! Consider the administration officially flummoxed — that is, until the city's favorite and only volunteer coordinators begin to investigate further.

You see, Valentine's Day isn't quite the thing in Cadelle. Here, St Valentine never led couples in matrimony under Roman rule, and so, no time-honored capitalist dream could be established. However, the date of February the 14th is still a special one in the city — it's the day that many honor as St Trifon's Day, or "Winemaker's Day". It's a day of celebrating the first pour of the prior year's winemaking, with the first bottle of each vintage reserved for drinking with one's special someone... preferably privately, where post-drink merriment may commence uninterrupted. (Scandalous.)

Not wanting to leave out any of their volunteers from the city's special day, the volunteer coordinators have arranged a collection of meeting locations, each perfect for getting to know a potential special somebody in advance of the big day. To help people get acquainted, they've partnered with that reclusive (and anonymous) mogul behind okCuddle to add a limited time special feature for the season — that's right, a matchmaker!

Simply press the bright red button on your app's home screen to be enrolled in a Match Meeting. There are five unique locations, each offering a different experience to appeal to those who might find true love or common ground in its midst, and each location will host a different couple each day to ensure everyone has an opportunity to meet their one-and-only... or maybe just their one-night-only. (We won't judge.)

▸ Any opportunity to incite a little romantic feeling would be remiss if it didn't include the time-honored date experience: a candlelit steakhouse dinner at the city's best dining experience, DeWolfe's. Whether you're hungering for a porterhouse medium rare or a more demure airline chicken breast, the wait staff here will be more than happy to attend to any needs you may have, and delighted to disappear shortly after, providing plenty of privacy for quiet conversation and those ever-important lingering glances. Feel free to extend your night with a walk through DeWolfe's famed gardens out back, or perhaps a nightcap... the only question left, then, is their place or yours?

▸ Let The Good Times Roll offers those who enjoy athleticism and coordination an evening of nostalgic fun under twinkling lights — courtesy, of course, of the disco ball hung prominently in the center of the risk, a perfect match for the classic jams that are piped out from the speakers on each wall. Strap on a pair of rental skates, and when the lights get low, be sure to hold your honey's hand tight for that all-important couple's skate. When you're done zooming around the linoleum, be sure to try a bite of the rink's famous pizza and popsicles meal, the perfect treat for summer campers and kids at heart alike! Groovy!

▸ The Vinery, while not necessarily a classic first-date location, offers a bit of non-traditional romance with its gorgeous hill country views and a seemingly endless assortment of local blends to sample. Visitors paired up for a Match Meeting here will have the opportunity to enjoy a rarely experienced grape-stomping session, during which they'll become bonafide vinters (winemakers, for the uninitiated) and the proud recipients of a complimentary bottle of the Vinery's own St Trifon's Day special blend — the perfect reason to ask for a second date, no? (And if you don't want to wait, there's always the cover of a gazebo or the fields nearby...)

▸ Animal aficionados, fear not: the expansive nature reserve at Nahtazu offers an opportunity to get up-close and personal with your favorite wild beasts — no, not the ones in your pants — and one of the reserve's most knowledgeable guides to show you the way. Of course, since it's an hour away aboard the local trains, the city has arranged a private compartment for two, where Match Meeting attendees will enjoy a catered lunch, the perfect way to fuel for a long day of hiking, climbing, and maybe even a few jungle swings. On the way back, feel free to enjoy the plush seats for a little post-adventure cuddling... or more, we won't tell!

▸ At The Worm Hole, nerds and geeks and casual gamers alike will find plenty to shoot and score on over pints of everything from sweet ciders to dark ales. There's no shortage of games here, so if your idea of a great night out involves beating your date at Super Smush Brothers — and no, that's not a typo — you'll definitely enjoy your time here. To help set the mood, a special booth has been set aside for Match Meetings in the far corner of the room: get cozy, play some Pong, and maybe make things interesting. Strip Marco Kart, anyone?

Of course, those that opted not to sign up for the city's version of eHarmony won't be left out of all the fun! In preparation for the big day, Flora and Cornelius have put together what they're affectionally calling the single mingle: a weeklong invitation to enjoy the best in everything but romantic films and features at the local theatre. Feel free to come alone or bring a pal or two, and enjoy complimentary admission and select snacks each night — just don't let them catch you getting frisky! That's what the drive in is for!

Surprise! It's a Valentine's event that's almost not about Valentine's Day! For those of you that participated in our survey, you should have received a private message from our moderator journal with information regarding your character's match assignment by now. If you did not receive one, please let us know!

Because this event runs a little differently than many of our other events, we've opted to tweak our process a little as well. For your character's date, please locate your appropriate date and location in our BLIND DATE THREAD HERE. If it's still empty, your character has beaten their date to the punch (and maybe the free food, too). If there's already a reply, greet your date! (Pretty simple, right?) For all other threads, including pre/post date experiences, feel free to post traditional open top levels as usual!

For example: Flora may have a blind date with Cornelius on Monday at DeWolfe's, so she'll comment to the Monday thread's DeWolfe comment with her starter. This will make it easy for Cornelius to find her thread and reply. However, Flora may also be lingering outside beforehand looking nervous, or shopping in the mall the day before and looking for help in finding an outfit — these prompts can be posted as traditional open top-levels!

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, cuddle scouts!

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The state, okay, well, that's something. Reid furrows his brow a little at him.

"When are you from?" he finally asks. Having met Sansa and Nate, by now he's more attuned to this as a legitimate question.

Well.

What better way to meet people than being randomly matched together - and, okay, this might turn out to be a total disaster, but Jyn was serious when she promised herself that she'd make an effort to put herself out there, both literally and figuratively speaking.

So.

Here she was, smoothing down what she thought was her best dress, waiting for her match to arrive. This shouldn't feel so nerve-wracking, right? Ah, well. She was here now, and she wasn't about to back away from a challenge.

He hasn't been invited to sit, but Loki still takes a chair from a nearby vacant table and settles into it, eyes on the board to find the next pattern of moves that will lead to a victory. "It came to Asgard at around that time. Thor and I played against each other and against our father, to exercise our strategic abilities," he says, picking up one of the dead white pieces and examining it. Only a horse's head, not the figure of a rearing Valkyrie on her winged mount that Loki had played with in his youth.

"No wings?" he asks, setting it back down and taking a sip of his "Valentine's latte," which proves horribly sweet on first tasting, cherry and vanilla mixing with the coffee and milk, but after the initial shock, it's better than he expects.

[ When his date arrives, Nate quickly swipes his book off of the table, standing as he barely avoids sending the flowers flying straight off. He winces, to himself, before switching to a smile, holding a hand out. ]

No, no, 'course not. I was early. I'm Nate.

[ He was, but she's late anyway. Which doesn't matter. Nate takes a good look at her - she's absolutely gorgeous, if young, although he'd be unable to put an age to her (nor would he want to, he is not that bad, thank you very much). After greeting her, he motions for her seat, the two of them settling down.

He has to chuckle, scratching the back of his neck. He is not very used to blind dates. ]

How are you?

Reid has a plain, uninspired cup of coffee with some cream in it and a little sugar. He's pretty basic that way.

"Why would there be wings?" he asks quickly. "I take it your references to Asgard and Thor aren't incidental." He can't believe he's asking this, but-- "Æsir?" His pronunciation isn't stellar but it isn't awful, either. It's rote, like he's recreating written international phonemes. (He is.) Reid's already been forced, in his short time here, to come to grips with some incredible things, so his brain veers straight down the implausible pathway as the more likely one.

Loki smiles, impressed. "You have a good ear. Yes, Æsir." The pronunciation is almost the same, but with the smoothness that comes of learning the word naturally from a young and malleable age. "Though 'Asgardian' is sufficient. I am Loki of Asgard. Thor is my brother. He's here somewhere."

There's a pause as a bolt of some concern travels across Loki's face, there and gone. "I may bear little resemblance to the Loki of your myths, however." Now he sets down the horse's head and slowly and deliberately edges it away from himself. He doesn't have any children, but he especially never gave birth to Odin's eight-legged steed. "That would be a Valkyrie on Asgard," he adds, gesturing to the piece again without touching it.

"Laurel Lance."

She doesn't take it personally when there's no handshake - she's not here to push anyone's comfort zones. She just nods and slips into the seat across from him and looks around. This place is probably a lot nicer than the kind of place she would have chosen for a date, but at least the food will probably be good.

She hopes.

"Have you been in Cadelle long?"

"Oh." She gives a small shrug as she diverts her eyes to the card choices in front of her. She's seen tricks like this before, but Mason wasn't that great at them, so she's going to try this on it's merits. She grabs the middle card out of the five and pulls it to her chest.

"I've never been to Vegas."

"1945," he tells him without hesitation. But then after going through this song and dance a few times already, Buck decides to clarify. "I already know we win. So."

Truthfully, it's a little too formal for Reid's tastes as well, who isn't someone who follows etiquette for its own sake. He's courteous because he respects people intrinsically, not because he cares about status or social norms.

Correspondingly, he doesn't try to modulate himself when he answers automatically: "Fourteen days and approximately sixteen hours." That's just who he is. Reid knows he's not going to get anywhere by attempting to downplay his eccentricities. It's never before been possible to hide them, so he's never tried, wherever that ultimately leaves him.

He smiles slightly to take the edge off. "So, not long. You?"

"But you are from Earth?" he asks curiously. She'd recognized the city, at least.

Reid shuffles one more time, less extravagantly, and then cuts the deck and holds out half of it to her. "Sorry, I need it back. Right on top, please."

Reid, actually, is extremely good at magic, good enough that he could perform if he were the performing sort. (He isn't.) But part of being good at magic is having people underestimate you, and he plays right into that.

Eyebrows raising, Reid abandons the chess pieces to sip at his coffee, looking at Loki over the rim of his mug in open speculation. He's heard too much to be incredulous of that now, at least not verbally.

He's a good enough profiler to catch the concern, and responds to that first. Maybe to other people, a god would seem abstract, but Reid understands the person in front of him to have legitimate family connections, and that's about the only criterion he needs to treat someone as he would any human, with all the corresponding consideration. He's open to being proved otherwise, but for now, he sees no reason not to treat non-humans as humanely as he would anyone else. Which means not making presumptions.

"It would make sense if you didn't. To start with, you're invariably from another plane of existence; secondly, the extant Norse myths have not survived the years particularly well. They were primarily passed on through oral tradition, and when they were transcribed, they were largely subject to the reinterpretations of Christian scribes, who would have had secondary motives in any recordings of pagan religion."

He finally smiles, just a little, enough to be friendly. "Dr. Spencer Reid, by the way. I've definitely never met a god, or Asgardian, of any sort before."

Yeah, it's definitely slicker. [ Once she's back on her feet, Bucky loosens his hold on her hands, but doesn't let go. You know, just in case she's in danger of falling again. ] Oo, yeah, black and blue is not the best way to end a day. Are you here by yourself?

Trini wishes she could say that she's responsible for the notification which directs her to Nahtazu come Monday, but it's not the sort of thing that she'd have signed herself up for in a million years. Kimberly's the outgoing type, the type to agree to blind dates with computer matched strangers. She doesn't even know that she'd like to go out with anyone, friendly or otherwise. But before she can even think of reneging on the agreement, leaving another person sans date — that thought alone is probably enough encouragement to the right thing if she's being forthcoming about the matter — Kimberly had arrived with a cup of coffee and a sternly arched eyebrow to remind her that her presence was due at the train station.

Unsure of what the activity will entail aside from the location, Trini decides a comfy shirt with some layering for the weather will do. Paired with jeans and a skuffed pair of high tops, she's ready for a day of traipsing around nature.

She leaves the welcome district a little later than intended, suffering through the slow-moving trolleys to get to the station in time for her date, which naturally means she arrives with just minutes to spare before the train departs, leaving her little option but to run toward the platform. Thankfully, the sprint isn't too terribly taxing for a physically fit superhero.

As she comes to a halt in front of the entrance to the train, she looks around for any sign of someone who might be waiting for her. Amidst the sea of faces, not one stands out to her as being the lucky lady, and did she ever hope that her date was a lady, who would be joining her at the nature reserve.

One would think that maybe the app creator would try and make things a little easier by sending her a picture or giving her a name or something. That is until she thinks to open up her app, and tap on the check in feature. What appears on the screen is some sort of map software directing her forward. Left ten paces. Right three. Stop.

Trini looks up just in time to avoid crashing into her date. She then flashes a sheepish gap-toothed grin in Jo's direction.

"Hey. There. You haven't been waiting super long have you?"

"Oh? Well, by all means," Diana says, pulling it back off the rack. She thinks the purple will suit Caitlin much better than it would have suited herself and possibly it's kismet that they've run into one another here.

"Do you have plans coming up? I was going to attend the winemaker's festival so that's why I was getting a new dress."

Waverly liked to meet new people too. She was pretty friendly and she never had trouble with that. But mostly she was meeting people online, so this would be different. She didn't know anything about who she was meeting. She just had a time and a location.

If he turned out to be some kind of crazy person, well Waverly wasn't as helpless as she looked. But she was sure it would be fine. She almost talked herself out of it, because it felt a bit like she was cheating on Nicole. But this didn't have to be anything other than making a new friend. And Waverly was happy to have friends.

She spotted him, he looked nervous. She also observed he was a bit younger than she was. That didn't bother her. And oh he had a corsage, how thoughtful. "Hey!" She greeted him with a bright smile, offering her hand. "I'm Waverly!"

Oh wow, she's got a nice smile. "Hi Waverly, I'm Stiles." He returned her smile with one of his own. "I take it you're my OKC date for the evening?"

Caitlin takes the dress and looks at the size, uncertain if the sizes in this place are even the same as they are back home. "I'll have to try it on. I've always thought purple and my hair color worked well together..." she admits a little sheepishly, smiling back at the other woman.

She shakes her head to answer Diana's question and shrugs a bit. "Not yet. I guess I was just being nostalgic about Valentine's Day and thought I'd poke around the stores to see what I could find. I haven't celebrated it in a while..." she says, trailing off slightly. She hasn't since the Valentine's Day before Ronnie died, and before that, the one before the Particle Accelerator exploded.

"But I guess it doesn't really matter, it's not the same, is it?" she asks, laughing it off a little, nose wrinkling a little as she holds the purple dress up to herself and looks at the mirror. "The Winemaker's Day thing, I mean."

Jo turns to the sound of a voice and she's more than a little relieved to hear that it's a female. Not that she has anything against guys, because she obviously doesn't — Jo is an equal opportunity lover — but she's been sorely missing the lady love since her arrival, that's for sure.

What she doesn't expect is for the other woman to be someone she knows, but it's a pleasant surprise that registers on her expression. "Trini, hey! No," she replies, shaking her head with a smile. "No, just a few minutes, but we should probably board. I almost did, but then I was a little worried that if you missed the train, then we'd both just kind of be on our own, which would've sucked."

She smiles. She hadn't picked up that Trini might be interested in girls. Jo offers her arm and the smile shifts closer to grin territory. "Shall we?"

I’m supposed to be meeting someone? I signed up to meet someone at random through my device.

( The idea of a blind date isn’t as foreign to Sansa as it might be to some because most matches in Westeros are not love matches. She is happy to agree to meet someone at random to help try and fulfill her wish. )

“It’s still the same date of the year,” Diana says, musing over whether or not this holiday was the same as Valentine’s Day.

“I think it is probably natural enough to attach some of the same feelings to it. I’ve never had a date or anything on Valentine’s Day so I haven’t ever attached any particular significance to it.”

It’s a holiday made up by greeting card companies to sell to couples, loosely rooted in the celebration of a Catholic saint. As Diana is neither Catholic nor usually half of a happy couple, Valentine’s Day hasn’t held much meaning for her.

🜞 Shopping

[ It's a hell of a time to roll into town, the natives and volunteers alike all aflutter over winemaker's day or valentines day respectively and Tony? Is content to leave them too it, taking advantage of the lack of crowds in other areas as he hits up hardware stores and electronic depots to get a miniaturized version of some kind of workable lab up and running. Repairing and reworking the armor into something decidedly nonlethal takes priority, not falling into a bottle and reminiscing over the strained ending to what could've been the best thing that ever happened to him.

No time to be maudlin, no. Tony keeps a close eye on his budget, double checks with FRIDAY as she reminds him that purchasing food is a thing he'll have to do and that costs money and might take a higher priority than a third soldering set. Bickering to thin air in the isles while being interrupted by a pleasantly wry brogue is a thing. Nothing strange to see here, move right along. At least the bruises have faded and he's unknown enough to get by in casual (but warm) clothing, even if his posture remains tense, his hands slung in his pockets or tapping idle tattoos against his shopping carts as he inspects the next bit of whatever in the store.

Which one is it this time? Oh, right. Food. This is why he grabbed a blender. ]

🜞 Movie Night

[ Coming up short on his meal budget apparently isn't going to be the end of him; sure he'll have to pick up employment (ugh, deadlines, actual work hours, being vastly overqualified for damn near everything) later in the week but the movie nights allow him to stretch what he has a little further. A lack of appetite does help. FRIDAY attempts to ping him (silently, even AI aren't allowed to talk during movies) by vibrating his phone to get him to consume something between films. Most of it's familiar in a comfortable way- anything space oriented or set during world war 2? Has him slipping out for another round at the snack table or a bit of fresh air.

Not something he really needs to see again. ]

🜞 Debugging

-imited memory, Boss.

I know, I'm working on it- [ Is it recommended to be poking at microprocessors while a device is still on and powered? No. Does Tony care? Also no. These phones are-

Well they're fine. They're serviceable. But they're also strangling his baby girl and that? That won't stand. ] Should've said something earlier, Fri.

[ Her answer's a garbled burst of broguish static and Tony sighs, fingers rattling on the bulge wrapped by his coat next to him on the table. She's fine as long as the hidden helmet's got it's independent power source running but- she needs space. Two other phones cannibalized in front of him and he really, really just needs to pitch a Starkphone here, but having a working prototype would help said pitch and give FRIDAY her space, so. Sitting at a random table (anywhere, honestly, this happens more than once as she stretches and reaches the new limitations of what he's managed) talking to his girl, and performing a little microsurgery on the fly.

No biggie. ]

🜞 Wild Card

[ He can be found at MetaMalt, Where's Siri?, and The Garage trying to condense his achievements into something marketable, or walking about and getting a feel for the city. ]

Edited 2018-02-06 08:37 (UTC)

That's a familiar look. [ Tony'd only swung through the suiting section on a whim- he doesn't need to paint on the glamour and glitz here and for now? That's just fine. But he does miss it a little, enough to give the local selection a peek. ] You- hmm.

[ Normally? Not something he does, dispensing casual advice. But doing good works and deeds and all that is supposed to be beneficial. So. This guy gets the full Stark Once Over ^(tm), eyes dragging over his shoulders, torso and legs as he attempts to envision-

Well. Something stylish. ] European cut. Italian if they've got it. Who are you trying to impress?

Edited (torso, not troso) 2018-02-06 08:43 (UTC)

Okay. This is a date, but a date in a bar. Which Baby isn't exactly used to - he's not used to dating much anyway, even less blindly, but he is in Cadelle to fulfill a wish. He's got to put himself out there again, get past the hang-ups Isabelle leaving gave him. He's working on it - with Jo, but with this, too. With signing himself up for a blind date. Okay. He can do this.

He's nervous as he walks into the bar, dressed in what he hopes is not too casual, but also not overdoing it, because this is - a bar, for sure. With neon lights and loud music and arcade games pinging and beeping. The sound is overwhelming to him and he flinches, pushing up the sound on his iPod, the reassuring tone of Debbie Harry's voice settling past all the noise.

He walks straight to the back, where the dates booth is, and he can't help the grin that spreads out on his face as he sees who's already sitting here. She's prettier in real life, red fiery hair and short skirt, making Baby speed his step, until he's facing Lydia.

"Hi," he starts, holding out a hand, his smile turning cheeky. "I'm Baby."

Like she doesn't know.

"Stiles. Cool name." She said with another smile. "Yeah, it looks like it." She'd never met another Stiles that she could remember, just like she figured he hadn't met another Waverly. It wasn't exactly a common name. "It's so nice to meet you." She told him. "Is that for me?" She asked, looking at the corsage.

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EVENT: SWIPER, NO SWIPING!

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Tony Stark | Open | Prose or Brackets, whichever you like more.

Shopping

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