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! |
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cuddlecity2017-09-01 11:37 am
name tags
It's cute, he likes it. It's also probably better than "I am a recovering alcoholic" or "I am a former Jeopardy winner" or "I am here because I don't want to die and evidently there is a place in the universe where people's prayers can be answered, even if they're atheists like me and by the way according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2% of the world's population self-identify as atheist."
Doesn't quite roll off the tongue so well, that last one.
In any case, he's a little taken aback by her immediate response to his presence, so he falls back on his number one habit: spit out a fact immediately.]
Katydids are primarily nocturnal.
[Hi, Kate.]
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( That... was not the response she expected. Honestly, she doesn't know shit about what Katydids actually are, beyond some kind of bug. She isn't exactly nocturnal, either, but she stays up late and wakes up too early. Gets too accustomed to all the strange hours The Agency requires and the desire to drink until the sun rises. )
...How'd you find that out?
( She's not sure what to say. But asking a person about themselves seems like a good bet. How is one a font of facts anyway. )
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I like to read. [...good explanation, right?] I remember nearly everything I've ever read or learned. It's handy, and it helped me get into graduate school at 19.
[He's not bragging but he does look a little pleased with himself.]
It's nice to meet you, Kate.
[See, he can totally be decent at social skills.]
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Anthropology, weren't it?
( She might not be in possession of an eidetic memory, but she's good enough at remembering the conversation with the guy who was all about facts. )
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Yes. Forensic anthropology. A more rigorous and empirical science than its cousin, cultural anthropology, as my mentor would say. [Well--] She wouldn't say the cousin part.
[Okay okay fact time.]
Did you know that in the Hawaiian kinship system, cousins and siblings in the same generation are all called brother or sister, regardless of whether or not the individuals share a parent or parents?
[Nice save there, Vincent. ...yeah...]
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Can't say I did.
( Though, well done, Vincent. You kind of picked a fact that makes Kate remember why she's here. Not that you can ever truly forget, but lately she's been preoccupying herself with the immediate. The rebuilding of the city. Looking for a new place. Trying to get a job.
All these dumb little things which are supposed to lead to Marc being alive and Kate being able to protect him. )
What if they don't have any?
( Technically, by all means of blood, she doesn't. But Marc is her brother by all means of everything that matters. Experience, time, constant, unrelenting snark and teasing. )
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I don't know for a fact what happens then, but-- adoption is practiced in many cultures around the world. I imagine that in a community where cousins and siblings of the same generation are all siblings, then...
[Nope, he's not comfortable making that guess.]
I really don't know, sorry. [BUT HE WILL FIND OUT. It's his mission now.] For what it's worth, I've found that family doesn't need to mean blood relatives.
[His superiors at the Jeffersonian showed him as much during his first few days, when they spoke of his predecessor with great fondness despite what had happened.]
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I know that.
( That's why she's here, after all. Why she was in Eudio. Because her family is so much more than just blood.
But she's being snappy. And that doesn't win you points in these cities. Breathe, Kate. No point in letting on with too much, anyway. )
Was just curious how different it is.
( Sure, that's all. )
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The, uh, kinship system you and I use is known as the Eskimo kinship system.
[Hooray..?]
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You ever speak without facts?
( Like. Okay, they're interesting. But there's got to be more than just spouting off facts, right? )
Like, you know, a person?
( KATE YOU OF ALL PEOPLE... )
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Oh but he can answer a question, definitely.]
Yes. It's just--
[He stops for a moment. This is going down the path of too much sharing, possibly, but Kate already knows he's a recovering alcoholic. What could be more embarrassing than that? (A lot of things, but he won't list them out now. Maybe later, to himself, in his apartment.)]
Facts are fixed aspects of reality. They... help with-- dealing with the stress of life.
[In essence.]
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But, unfortunately, Kate doesn't care that much about that part. )
So's not sounding like wikipedia.
( She likes drinking, but hey, she won't suggest it considering what she knows. )
Place is weird, but it's not that stressful.
( Unless you get stressed by how ordinary it is. )
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His voice hardens a little as he protests,] It is for me.
[The sounding like wikipedia thing, and this place, in some ways.]
I'm not used to being... without exams or a project.
[A downside of being something of a prodigy is that you're both encouraged and expected to always be working on something or studying a new, difficult subject. You skip grades and spend time with people older than you and miss out on things that are normal to your age group. You develop differently.
Facts, meanwhile, are always the same. They hold life together. Hold his life together. And they make him look like he excels even in the minor, trivial things of life -- hence the word trivia.
Anyway. He shakes his head, the flare of anger gone.] Sorry. I, erm-- you have lovely hair.
[He knows facts about hair dye, but he keeps them to himself. He'll need another coping mechanism if he intends to stay here a while and not annoy people.]
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And maybe she's measuring everything against her own experiences, where this city is a respite. Only stressful because she wants to be home with the people she knows. Wants her world righted again, into a version of itself where she can be more than useless. A daily life of finding meaningless work and trying to gather energy by not being a shithead seems like nothing for the abilities she'll gain when she goes home.
She finds it too easy to forget that other people don't have that. To not even consider it in the first place. )
Weren't so hard, were it?
( She could say more. About how she isn't used to a life this ordinary, without fighting or acts which tear down whatever parts of her soul and heart still exist. But she doesn't know this kid. She doesn't know anyone here enough for that.
Doesn't want to, either. )
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Maybe he can finally take things slower. Wouldn't that be a novel way to live.]
It was harder than you'd expect. [Old habits die hard.] But... it wasn't as hard as I expected.
[There. A compromise. Another novel experience, given how strict the rules are at the lab.
Also excuse you he is not a kid he is 21 years old. >:c ]
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Kate doesn't smile, not really, but there's something more relaxed in her face. Friendlier. A light in her eyes that wasn't there before. He seems harmless. Kinda cute, in an awkward, endearing way. )
That's a start.
( She pauses, running her tongue along her teeth before speaking again, head nodding towards the snack bar. )
Get summat to eat?
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Sure. That sounds great.
[He's not sure where any of this will go if anywhere at all, but that's okay. There's no pressure to excel or be perfect here. Only to connect and be kind.
Not a bad deal at all. Here's to trying.]