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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, now that I understand. The reason I'm here, really. Gotta stop the War... It should've been over yesterday. You know?

[ But this is clearly a rough patch to walk about. Buck doesn't want to say much more, neither does this guy. So he tries something else. ]

What about terrible monster movies, pal? You can't say no to those, right? I think they're showin' one soon...

You know much about what happens after? [ Is it even appropriate to mention? He's not sure, doesn't know if he'd want to be told-

Skipping to a new subject works just fine, too. ]

Monsters and robots. Give me sci-fi without the space and I'm golden.

I know we win. [ And he knows he dies. So, yeah, happier thoughts! Let's move on! You know what's happier? Popcorn. A large tub of popcorn with whatever "butter flavoring" is. And soda, because sugar. ]

Oh yeah? Me, too! Damn, where have you been all my life, pal? Ah, right. You weren't born! Ha! [ Ohhh crazy parallel-timey/space joke. Good shit. Buck even slaps the guy on the back amiably. ] C'mon, I wanna see just how they think tomatoes can ever be scary, let alone attack poor and hopefully semi-nude women.

Not born till the 70s, so you miss me by a couple of decades. Shame, really.

[ God, what would his dad think of this salty little bastard? They might get on pretty well. Dad always did have a soft spot for the underdog.

Or maybe that was just Rogers.

Who knew.

Tony snags a box of junior mints (to mix with the popcorn) and a diet coke (old habit) before pushing off, pocketing his phone, and making to follow. ]

By making them large and toothy, if I remember correctly.

Right. Because science can just genetically engineer teeth on a tomato. Christ on a cracker. I hope I bought enough popcorn to throw at the screen.

[ Because there will be throwing or verbal abuse at these tomatoes. Bucky isn't good at staying quiet, unless he's thoroughly entrenched in a movie. Once they enter the theater, the lights are still bright enough to walk—The movie hasn't started yet. ]

Where're we sittin', pal?

It's a B movie, you don't go for scientific accuracy. [ Weirder things have been thrown together and come out in the name of science- not that he'll bring them up. Wandering back in to the credits on the last film rolling and it's good to know he can...breathe.

It's irritated huffing, a little, and a lot of eyerolling, but it beats an anxiety attack. ]

Depends, you actually going to throw popcorn and talk the whole movie through?

Oh yeah. No point in lyin'. I'm a talker.

[ Steve never minds, but everyone around them sure doesn't appreciate his running commentary. ]

And it'll depend on how good the popcorn is. And if you want any. [ Buck can share, he's a good like that. ] Have you tasted the butter flavoring yet? Aw man, it's like... I dunno, there aren't words for it!

Middle back. Fewer people to be bothered and less chance of getting popcorn thrown at us for chattering.

[ because he'll talk back in a heartbeat; one sided conversations aren't all that fun. ]

Us, huh? Aces! [ Yay, a friend to talk smack with! OUTTA THE WAY, BITCHES!! He's gotta cut a path through the aisles for the best of seats with his popcorn and soda. Everyone's lucky he doesn't have a machete to hack his way through. ] I have dibs on one of those junior mints, bub. I hope you know that.

Did you just call me bub? [ That feels wrong. Dirty and wrong. He shrugs it off, wandering with no particular hurry; no need to take all the attention since this guy's handling it just fine on his own. ] The mints are for mixing with the popcorn, I hope you know that.

Yeah. Bub, buddy, bozo. Take your pick, Stark.

[ He decides their seats and sits down, feet immediately resting on the back of the seat in front. ]

Literally? Are you going to dump your junior mints right into my popcorn? You're one odd duck.

Tony works just fine. [ Or anything that calls him awesome but for now? He'll stick with 'Tony'. He sighs and settles, slung back in his chair in as close to a sprawl as he can swing without getting his feet up. He's not an animal, after all. ]

What, we're sharing, right? You think the butter flavoring is 'the bees knees' wait until you've had it with mints.

Fine, then you can call me James. Because that's my name, and I'm not from New York.

[ HINT HINT!! ]

Pff, okay, fine. [ Buck presents the mountain of popcorn for Tony to defile with chocolatey mints. And then suddenly the lights dim and the opening starts. ] Ohhh shit, hurry. Double time that mint!

...Huh. [ What are the odds? Tony huffs a soft laugh. Years ago when he was young and full of salt and rage and eccentric wiles a James walked up to him and tried to settle his ass down.

Turnabout is apparently fair play. ] How 'bout that?

Sure, James. [ He tears open the box, shaking out a handful of mints onto the popcorn. ] Bossy, so bossy.

.... I guess? [ He's not sure what that even means. James is James. Pretty standard name when he's from. But what's more important right now is keeping the mints in the bucket before the opening credits end and the actors start their tomato-y bullshit. ]

Believe me, I shoulda been a General. [ He knows just how bossy he is. Everyone thinks Captain is the one making all the decisions all the time. No, no, no. Bucky has plenty to say during these missions. ]

What were you, petty first class pain in the ass? [ He snorts under his breath, getting a palmfull of popcorn and mints before the theater goes dark. One bite and it's like being in college again, all fat and sugar and cheap beer- no beer here but the nostalgia's thick enough on his tongue to count. ]

Private First Class. I'm infantry. And I am loved by all of the Army, thank you very much. Everyone is so excited when I come to town! There's a party, some USO girls inevitably show up, it's swell.

[ So there, bitch. ]

All for a private first class? Wow that's really something. [ Insert eyerolling here. ] Lemme guess, you were someone's mascot? Wore tights and hopped on the end of the USO kickline?

[ Bucky immediately opens his mouth to retort that he's not anyone's mascot, but thankfully his brain kicks in just in time to save itself. The whole tights wearing, villain busting thing is heinously confidential.

So while Tony doesn't provoke him into angry words, his expression more than makes up for the uncanny seven seconds of silence. ]

I am a very respected interpreter, and I'm friends with Roosevelt even. I've shaken his hand, like, three times! So, you know, I'm pretty swell.

How many languages do you speak? [ And it is, for once, genuine curiosity. English is well and good but he misses, a little, someone to speak to in Italian. It's been ages. ]

Uhhh, five. Including English.

[ Which for a twenty year old is a little insane, but Buck has never been normal. He soaks up information like a sponge—one reason he was picked to be Steve's partner in the first place. ]

[ Dipping into Italian then just to test the idea is- well. If it's not one he knows? A little mean. But why wouldn't he know it if he was acting as an interpreter for the military? ] That's pretty impressive for someone your age, from your time, from Jersey.

Gee, thanks! Pick the one Axis language I don't know!

[ And there's a reason for that! because Italy is nothing more than an inconvenient doofus in the Second World War. They can do nothing right, so why bother wasting brain cells on those bozos? ]

Jerk.

It was a Romance language before it ever became an Axis language.

[ Which makes as much sense as it is a little sad. Still. Time for another stab in the dark. ]

Please say you know French at least.

[ Bucky laughs. ]

Of course! They've got the best women.

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