cuddlecity | EVENT: WHY DON'T YOU GET A JOB?

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EVENT: WHY DON'T YOU GET A JOB?

Congratulations, cuddlers! You've survived your first month here in Cadelle, and with only (cough) minimal catastrophe. The city administration is beyond grateful for all of your help in the rebuilding efforts, and cannot thank you enough for all your hard work. Well, maybe that's not entirely fair. After bribing visitors to move out, meeting the seemingly endless caloric needs of hungry superheroes, and funding the reconstruction efforts, the city's coffers are starting to feel a little light... which leads us to today.

The festivities kick off with a time-honored Cadelle tradition: the skills fair! In keeping with local customs, Cadellians traditionally volunteer to host a booth and teach a skill of their choice for the day, a good deed that helps to refill the city's energy stores after the busy summer season. This year, the city has graciously agreed to let anyone interested sign up to host, and has set aside a small number of booths for the exclusive use of their newest visiting citizens... and while money isn't on the table (sorry, y'all, but they did say they were a little tight on the wallet), teaching out of the goodness of your heart still counts as a good deed done.

Whether you choose to host a booth and teach a skill of your own, or to wander the fair and learn something new, be sure to take time to appreciate the day's other offerings. Like any good late-summer fair, there's plenty of delicious food and drink from some of the city's best loved vendors to sample, upbeat music in the air to dance courtesy of the local top 40 radio station, and lots of opportunities to escape the heat thanks to special seminars hosted by the city's own university. Yes, seminars — there's one every hour, with topics ranging from underwater basket weaving to particle physics to the careful art of walking more than one dog on the same leash. Classes are free, seats are plentiful, and hey, what else do you really have to do? You don't have a job yet, do you?

Speaking of jobs... after the fun in the sun of the skills fair is over, it's time for the main event on day two: the job fair! Yes, that's right, a job fair, because it's time for all you freeloaders to start paying your own way.

That might be a little harsh.

In any case, Flora and Cornelius are glad to welcome to you to Cadelle's first annual Employment Extravaganza, complete with brightly colored booths, friendly vendor representatives, and plenty of applications to go around. Come say hi, shake some hands, and maybe even get hired on the spot!

In addition to the city's many and varied culinary venues, there are a wide variety of cultural institutions, learning centers, recreation spots, and shopping destinations to appease even the most restless of visitors. (Hint, hint: there's even a DIRECTORY.)

While the sky's the metaphorical limit, be sure to check out the sponsored booths currently hiring:

▸ Barred is currently hiring for dance instructors! From classic ballet to interpretative dance or hip-hop, any style is welcomed. Please note: all classes are fully-clothed. (If you prefer to dance in your birthday suit, we suggest a more personal arrangement.)

▸ Blue Springs Pool is looking for qualified lifeguards to supervise the annual 'Learn To Swim' and 'Mommy and Me' programs this fall. While being able to breathe underwater is preferred, it's not required.

▸ Chop Shop has an opening for an even-tempered (... or not) culinary instructor for their evening cooking classes. Exceptional candidates may even be considered for the chef's academy, where they will be tasked with training Cadelle's next great generation of professional chefs!

▸ Crunches is eagerly hoping to fill a variety of positions, from gym staff to personal trainers and fitness instructors. If you've got a passion for fitness and want to get paid to ~~join a multi-level marketing company~~ sweat, come on down!

In case meeting and greeting with desperate to hire vendors doesn't sound like a great time, or if you need a little practice with the concept of having conversations with real people, Flora and Cornelius have graciously agreed to host a speed networking event. Much like your beloved speed dating events, this special event is intended to help you quickly and easily meet a variety of ~~hot singles in your area~~ professional colleagues and friends, and to potentially find a new career if you're lucky! (Plus, it's air-conditioned. How can you go wrong?)

Be sure to visit the welcome table to sign in and pick up your name tag. You'll be pleased to note that the name tags have been prefilled for your convenience, so just find the one with your name on it and slap it on. Don't mind the descriptions underneath...

Or do. While the city administration had graciously agreed to loan an intern to Flora and Cornelius for this event, they didn't exactly send their best and brightest. Grumpy intern Monty Montague has decided to have a little fun with his boring assignment — instead of the requested polite descriptions, Monty's opted to fill in the blank with more... well, colorful phrases. Things like:

▸ Hello, my name is Inigo. I am a revenge-obsessed swordsman with daddy issues.

▸ Hello, my name is Marshall. I am what? who? chicka chicka Slim Shady.

▸ Hello, my name is Moana. I am MOAAANAAAAAAAA.

What will your name tag say? Do you agree to stay and wear it? While you may seek out blank nametags (or even just an extra marker to scribble out the offending message), you'll be sorely disappointed to find them all conveniently missing. Tearing it in two won't work, either — there's no penny-pinching on supplies here, and that thick plastic sticker won't rip for anything.

Oh, well. It could be worse, right? At least there's a snack bar, and everyone's suffering together... right?

Pull up a chair, find your next match, and try to avoid the enormous elephant in the room. Or don't. Whatever floats your boat, cuddlers!

In conjunction with this event, the mod team is glad to announce the launch of our official JOBS DIRECTORY! Should your character find honest employment at the jobs fair or even on their own, please be sure to let us know!

Helpful Hint: As a reminder, players are always welcome to suggest a location that may be missing from our directory, and characters are also welcome to open up their own venues with help from the city administration! For help with this, or to make a suggestion, please drop us a line at our GENERAL INBOX (or SCREENED INBOX, if you prefer).

As always, we're here for you, cuddlers, to make this game a success! We couldn't do it without you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( Some people (read: Kate) couldn't find a pen to scribble anything out, so her name tag still states her full name (Katherine Galloway) and her stupid nickname (Katydid) rather than anything she would have actually put on it.

(If she had her choice, it would have been: My name is Kate, I like free beers.)

Anyway. She's not too concerned about her name tag right now, because she's trying, and failing, to read the guy's name here. )

Your name's what?

( Fine. She gives. )

[Katydid? Katydid what, he wonders, squinting at her nametag and wondering if it's just his bad reading skills or if this is just some ridiculous English name that Vasquez just shouldn't bother with trying to understand because it's not worth the frustrations]

You ever think that maybe if it's scratched out, it's that way for a reason?

[Probably not the best manners for someone who's at an event to get hired, but then, Vasquez could be difficult sometimes. Besides, the pen hadn't scratched it all out, so there's hints of it. He's just wary about someone saying it out loud and bringing a half dozen sheriffs down on his head out of nowhere]

( Look, all she even knows is that a Katydid is some sort of insect or bug and her friends really enjoy calling her it. )

S'posed to call you Scratch or summat?

( Which, by the way, is probably what's going to happen. She can understand hiding things, even here - perhaps especially here - but Kate can't pick out a reason someone would have for coming here and avoiding even their name. )

You could. If I give you my real name, you won't go around telling it to everyone?

[He might not be wanted, but there are still good precautions to take, seeing as he's been doing them for so long. It's part of why he's even here; if he's not wanted and he can get work, then he can avoid robbing and stealing, ending up on someone's wanted list again. Second chances don't come to easily, so he needs to take advantage of them]

( Her second chance waits back home, after she's finished the task this place asks of her, with her failures unwritten and things restored to where they're meant to be. )

Pretty good at keeping secrets.

( Honestly, it's not really Kate's business to tell that shit. Even if she doesn't entirely get the whole secrecy around his name, not yet, she knows the desire for privacy all too well. )

[Secrets, then. Well, it's probably not really a secret because if people with their phones on all the time haven't taken his picture and sent it in, he's probably safe. It's the probably part that he's not so sure about, though, because even a little bit of probably could get you killed if you're wrong]

In that case, Vasquez.

[He's not going to jump into full names just yet, never mind that he hasn't even used his first name in years. But still, she can take it as truth or not, it's up to her whether she thinks he's lying]

( See. That wasn't so hard. Kate looks indifferent to his name, though - if we're being fair - she looks indifferent to a whole lot of everything most of the time. )

Alright. ( She shrugs, pulling a hand out of her pocket. May as well shake. ) Kate.

You just get here?

( Honestly, you'd think she'd know the people who've been here since the first month's intake, but there's always people slipping through the cracks. )

Close enough to getting here to understand I'm really not sure about this place.

[It's not that he's going to be quick to say out loud that it could have some potential benefits; after all, no one has looked at him twice or produced a warrant, so he's starting to think that somehow, he managed to come out of Rose Creek and stumble to some place in the future where no one knows of Vasquez, the outlaw. Impossible? Yes. Good for him? Oh, yes, very much so.]

Kate. Not Katydid?

[He takes her hand and shakes it firmly, internally amused at how much this differs from the last woman he'd met, but then, he can't go around pissing off every female he meets, not when they're not here to kill him]

( These cities built on their wishes seem similar enough. Near-identical systems, a city whose level of technology seems on par with her own. Adjusting to that is easy; adjusting to everything else, not so much. She doesn't need to do anything more outstanding than find a job.

It's not as easy as it sounds, living like your past never happened. )

Not if I have an option.

( And, yeah, she is definitely making sure she equals that firm grip. Habit. But the handshake's brief, Kate pulling back after a short moment. )

So, ( Crap. This is the part where she has to talk, isn't it? And she doesn't have a third party to take care of that stuff. You'd think, after a handful of months in Eudio, and now a month here, that she'd be getting better at it. Seems not. ) - came here for the free food?

( ... Sigh. )

[Awkward small talk never usually happens to Vasquez because he doesn't put himself in situations where it exists or he's had enough to drink that he can just ignore it and let things flow over him if he chooses to be part of the conversation]

As much as I don't want to admit it, I need a job.

[He has the feeling that going back to robbing and thieving is only going to cause trouble and if no one is looking twice at him here, that's something to avoid because if he doesn't need to get wanted again, Vasquez is definitely going to try that]

I don't say no to free food, though. Where is it?

( Oh good. They're going to need a third party to save them at this rate. Because Kate favours letting other people talk and dropping in wry comments and answers where she needs to.

Strange to think that once upon a time, Kate could talk for hours. That she smiled easily and hated silence. To be young again. )

Saw snacks over there.

( She gestures vaguely to the snack bar, which she's only really paid attention to in order to find out if there are drinks as well. Though... she is getting peckish. )

Check it out?

( Why not. The jobs will be found, soon enough. She's put applications in already, but it's the whole "be nice and get cosy" shit she's really concerned about. The gathering enough energy to fill her deal and get back home. )

[ Snacks is a start, but given that Vasquez is still making up for months of not getting enough food, his stomach is still demanding more food than snacks, but if that's all he gets, then he'll have to accept it. Gesturing with a hand, he lets her know that she can follow, if she wants. ]

Maybe you can tell me how all this works. People always used to come to me with job offers.

[ There's so much paper and talking and nametags around, Vasquez is out of his element and then some. That's why he's so happy to see the snacks that he tucks away his matches and cigarette so that he can start loading up a napkin.

With more, then some more, and a little more for good measure, but there's no sign about limits, are there?]

( She'd follow anyway. And there's always places to go get real food later. Hell, since this thing is all about making friends and contacts and whatever, she'll even help find somewhere good.

She glances sidelong at Vasquez as she picks out pieces of fruit and vegetables to snack on. Crunchy carrots and sticks of celery, mostly, and a handful of grapes. )

Take an application form from wherever looks interesting, fill it out. They like you, they'll interview you and give you the job.

( It's a weird realisation that this isn't the process for everyone. Even her job at The Agency required interviews. )

S'pose you could always advertise yourself, too. You have any job in mind?

[ Vasquez is already working on the foods he knows, saving the ones that look strange or unknown for last or later. He's hungry enough that he's not very picky, but at the same time, he's not ready for his stomach to ache and growl just because he's given it too much. ]

Does anyone need help on a farm? Ranch? I'm good at breaking in horses, tilling the earth, corralling farm animals.

[ He's also very good at killing people who need being killed, but that's not something Vasquez would ever advertise on a form because he's not stupid. ]

What job do you have?

( That earns him a shrug. She knows nothing about farming, so if there's anyone looking for it, she hasn't glanced their way. )

Handed in some applications. See what turns up.

( Which, I mean, feel free to ask her in future. That'll go swimmingly. )

[ That's not really what he'd wanted to hear, but at the same time, he can sit down and write his name on papers and see who wants him. He's not unintelligent, but he also would much rather lean on the strengths he already has. ]

What do you think, then? Where should I start?

[ That is, once he's done eating. Vasquez suspects he won't be done eating for a long while, seeing as he's still very hungry. ]

( Give her a moment. And a quick glance over. )

You're used to workin' on farms, aye? ( She's not going to dispute that, because-

Hello. )

Could always try a vet's or summat. Maybe th' gyms if you're good at lifting heavy objects.

( Kate, stop. )

Haven't in a lot of years, but once you learn, it doesn't fade away.

[ He gives her a confused look, not sure what a lot of the words mean here in this place, but right now, there's only one that he fixates on. ]

What's a vet? Veteran, like from the war? How is that a job?

( She can understand the first, but not the second. There's only so much explaining Kate can manage before her bewilderment crosses her face. This isn't exactly her forte. She needs a moment just to remember the actual, full word for vet. )

Veterinary. Like... an animal doctor.

( She's not suggesting be one, but there's probably one who needs help of some kind. )

Question. What's it like where you're from?

( Because she's feeling like there's a lot she's having to explain. )

Why are there doctors for animals? Once they're sick, you shoot them for mercy.

[ He's starting to wonder if the future is maybe a little softer than he'd anticipated, because he doesn't think that he would ever actually bring in a horse or something else if it was sick, so much as shoot them to take away the pain. ]

What do you mean? What part do you want to know what it's like?

( Maybe a lot softer. There's gun control laws in the UK and everything. But, with her exposure to animals being entirely due to television and zoos, Kate shrugs. There just. Are. ) Guess people get attached.

( It certainly seems to be the case, with people and their dogs and cats and other things.

But, instead of that, she's trying to think what specifics she wants about his world. )

How different's it from here?

( She can say one thing about Cadelle, and that is that it isn't that much of a learning curve for her. The technology is the same. The society and city seems close enough to easily adapt to. )

[ He doesn't say, but Vasquez knows he'd have trouble putting his horse down. She'd been there for him for a very long time, through a lot of hard moments. Maybe it's easiest not to say that out loud, though, because he has to maintain a reputation. ]

As different as you can be. Smaller, dirtier, dustier. There is no phones or cars, none of what you call technology. A man can go into town and take it over, only to have it taken back with force and guns. You? Where did you come from before this?

[ Looking the way she does, Vasquez doubts it's the West. ]

( The accent might help too, with it's northern English inflection. But his question makes Kate pause a moment, eyes casting off to the side, running a carrot stick between her teeth in idle thought. Where she was before this, well- )

City with the same premise. Guess it were pretty similar. ( Very glossy. All too good to be true. ) Same sort of technology. Weren't any earthquakes when I were there, mind.

( Maybe before then. )

Earthquakes? Haven't had one of those since California, for me.

[ Even then, it had been small, the earth barely rumbling from beneath his feet. Didn't have technology there, either, no one had anything like what they call technology here. It's a new word for him, joining lots of new other words that he's learning about for the first time. ]

What about others you meet? Are they the same? From cities like this?

( You're doing pretty well, Vasquez. God only knows how Kate would do if she wasn't somewhere that felt so familiar. )

Know there's a couple of people from th' same city. ( Will, for one. She talked to people in the network with similar experiences. ) Sure there's probably people from places neither of us know.

( Cadelle, like Eudio before it, doesn't seem that picky. )

EVENT: WHY DON'T YOU GET A JOB?

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