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

Hence the 'if you wanted' clarification. Nice little verbal asterisk there, Stringbean, meant to indicate the idea of it being your call? I've had the overbearing friend do the 'set you up against your will' thing more than once, it's not fun and not cute and not something I'm about to do to anyone else. [ Not even if it'd be hilarious, that's a trick played on the closest of friends when you can predict the outcome. Not someone he's just met where there are still too many variables. ]

I don't have the patience for teaching, trying to bring a concept to an introductory level sounds too much like condescension from me unless I'm dealing with the very young because kids tend to not give a shit, they're just happy to learn something. Much as it pains me- Where's Siri will probably be a decent place to start but MetaMalt's research department- that looks interesting. Not my strongest field but I've dipped my toe in 'get godlike figures drunk' before.

[ His instinctive defensiveness fades into sheepishness as he glances over at him sidelong. ] Sorry. It was never such a hot topic until I came here. [ This is only sort of true. His teammates are always encouraging him to get out there and take chances and meet people, suggestions that Reid almost never takes. It's hard when the vast majority of people he meets are either unsubs, victims, or witnesses. Dating someone he meets from work is extremely inappropriate. And Reid doesn't do anything but work. Usually he gets to wiggle out of the whole issue.

In Cadelle, well. Not so much. ]

I'd be a terrible introductory level teacher, [ he agrees frankly. ] I never even took those classes. [ He had them all in high school at age ten like a good child genius. ] I'm doing seminars in upper level topics, or subjects niche enough there is no intro class.

You said your company produced phones, right? Everyone seems to use theirs here. You could suggest upgrades to the social networking system. It would build brand recognition. [ If he sounds even slightly like he knows what he's talking about, it's just because he's repeating things he's heard and read. ]

Phones, tablets, computers, personal security systems, Intellicrops, anywhere I can make the phrase 'better living through technology' stick. Anything I can think of that's at least a little bit marketable; but my CEO's usually the one that helps me make that call.

[ Even if they'd fallen out of whatever they'd been able to build together- they're still professionals. He could (did) still work with Pep to help the Company along as it's as much her baby as his Legacy now. Tony drums his fingers on the side of his cart, grimacing. ] Here I'll be throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks. Making a mockup of a starkphone for use here won't take long and it'll have better memory; but I'm not sure how much more affordable I can swing over 'free'.

Why not free? [ he asks, in a tone of suggestion as he pushes his cart, leaning on it with his cane laid across the top instead. ] Aren't you trying to fulfill your wish?

Get some publicity with an act of goodwill and then charge for whatever you put out next. Serve both purposes.

Generating good will and positive energy for this place is- I can buy that. Will. Am, in fact, buying that. But wishes dont just come true where I"m from- let alone what I want.

[ God does he want so many things- all of them impossible. You can't go back and unfuck a fuckup. You can't change the past. Maybe he earns a stone and maybe he wishes but trusting it'll work?

He can't do that. ]

But I can do good here and- sure. Free will work. Upgrades and additional gadgets I'll charge for. Not a bad business model. Stark Tech: The first taste is free.

[ Actually, Reid is not very convinced the wish granting thing works, either. He's glad his wish is something he would be ecstatic if it were fulfilled, but something he can live without being true. Because, same as Tony, he doesn't truly believe the past can be changed.

But he's game to give it a shot, nonetheless. It seems pretty win-win, or at least, harmless. ]

All of this is completely against the native laws of reality on my plane of existence, [ says Reid cheerfully. ] It's an ongoing suspension of disbelief for me to be here at all. I did get some answers out of the volunteer coordinators on how the Energem system works. They've been extremely patient with me on questioning them.

[ Reid on a mission to understand the impossible is... a lot to take. ]

Mind filling me in? When I arrived and signed on I was a little- [ Concussed. ] Preoccupied.

[ Understanding how it's supposed to work in greater detail than the usual rundown would put his mind at ease. As long as it has a system and rules it's something he can follow, it's not as ambiguous or mysterious. ]

[ Reid actually pauses to take a breath before speaking, which should be any listener's warning they're about to get an exposition dump. His hands leave his cart to gesture in the air in between pushing it along. He assumes Tony wants actual detail, not a hard and fast summation, so he launches right into it. ]

I've learned several things, the most interesting of which is that our progress toward wish fulfillment is tracked, and we can check in and see what our status is at any time. Someone aggressive at building up goodwill and physical intimacy can achieve wish fulfillment in an average time course of three months. It's currently unknown if there are wishes that are too big to fulfill, as we return home for the fulfillment and the administrators of Cadelle don't interfere or keep track after that point. They are aware, however, that wishes interfering with someone else's consent don't work, in keeping with city moral code. In addition, progress is tracked in general, not toward specific stated wishes, so there's no concern about us changing our minds or picking a different wish at the last minute.

[ He pauses for another breath before finishing, ] It's all in pursuit of powering the energy requirements of the city. They fulfill wishes as a thank you for our participation, by granting us a piece of the larger Energem used as the primary power source. These pieces are what's referred to as 'wish stones'.

I was thinking of creating a survey to create statistical data about rates of wish fulfillment, but that information might be too personal to effectively collect on a wider basis.

So as long as my wish, whatever it is, doesn't do something to someone else that they wouldn't want, it's likely to go through- if we're assuming that everything else is on the level and actually functions outside of this dimension.

[ Which is a leap even for him but- it does make him reconsider how it is he's meant to be spending his wish. Or how he wants.

Does it overrule consent? Probably. Well he didn't expect much different anyway so nothing is, honestly, lost. ]

Not a bad idea if we're able to collect it without exposing the wishes made. Make it binary. Yes or No, no elaboration required.

[ Reid shrugs. ] I'm willing to believe time isn't passing in our home dimensions while we're here, since there's no reason time should be progressing at the same pace, and the wishes-- if they don't work, we'll effectively not have wasted time at all.

For the survey data, I suppose I could get around details about the actual wish, but in order to do anything with the data I'd need something substantive on activities used to generate positive energy.

[ It says something about Reid that he can say something so foofy without a moment's hesitation. ]

Edited 2018-02-13 18:45 (UTC)

Dimensional Travel and relativity. Nice. [ Not a bad going theory, honestly, and one that'll be easy to lean into as they move forward. ]

And those details might be a little damning if someone's got specifics on how they operate to do so. [ Odd? Maybe. Utterly sincere? Probably. But working out the math of this is a little fascinating, a lot distracting, and applying numbers to abstract concepts is more or less what he does.

Just to keep sane. ]

Remind me to invite you over when I've got the holographic emitters set up. It'll make putting this together easy.

[ Working out the math of it is going to be what keeps Reid sane throughout the whole thing. That and speedreading Magnus's entire library so he has some sort of context for all the supernatural entities he's been encountering.

He's about to answer on the logistics when Tony distracts him with something shiny and new. ]

Holographic emitters? Are those what they sound like? [ Reid is classically dubious about technology, but that doesn't mean he can't appreciate it. ]

Haven't quite managed hard light projections just yet but give me time. It'll happen.

[ It's a question of power, math, and physics. He's got enough time to toy with that here and now, why not? ] But yes, holographic emitters. Computer displays, calculations, it's petty impressive if I do say so myself.

Hard light projections? [ he repeats, giving him an indescribable look like-- he wants to be intrigued, but this also sounds like Technology, which Reid doesn't like. Sure, his dissertations had had to involve computers, so it's not like he can't use them... ]

... Will you kill me if I sit there and do all my calculations on a pad of paper?

...Is it a sensory thing or a comprehension thing? [ He's never gotten a chance to sit down with someone so tech avoidant that's not from a previous century. Can't hurt to ask for specifics. ]

Comprehension? It's a system like everything else.

[ Please, Tony.

... Okay, he can give a real answer, too, although he sounds reluctant. ] Sensory, I guess. I like paper. And I feel like it slows me down. I use computers to do regression analysis, but anything else I can do in my head or on paper almost as fast. [ That's just the frank truth. ]

Alright. We're going to time you and I will build a system that works as fast as you think. I had that problem when I was at MIT forever ago; it's a simple fix if you know what needs tweaking.

[ He opens his mouth and then closes it once before really answering. ]

I believe you can build a system that works as fast as I think, but can I use it as fast as I think?

Let me put it this way: Mice and keyboards are for other people. Useful but I prefer a more intuitive, kinetic workspace. Whether that works for you or not, we'll see.

... Since you mentioned hard light projections, I'll give it a shot.

[ Somewhere, Garcia is wiping a tear from her eye. Boy wonder finally growing up. ]

Give me a week, maybe two. I'll get them up and running and show you how it works.

Great. That should give me enough time to devise my course curricula.

This is so much like college it's starting to make me all sentimental.

[ Reid smiles. ]

I know. It's been a while for me. But there's not exactly a lot of criminals here given the selection process, so local law enforcement wouldn't have much for me to do.

There's no way you could twist your skills into, I don't know, matchmaking? That'd work here. It wouldn't be as specific or have the same precedents but you could promise people they aren't dating murderers.

EVENT: SWIPER, NO SWIPING!

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