It's that time of year again — when the temperature starts to dip down, making way for thick cable-knit sweaters and coffee drinks flavored like bright orange gourds to pop up around every corner, and the long days of summer fade out in favor of early twilights and cool autumnal breezes. That's right, it's nearly fall in Cadelle, and you may have noticed the city's busy bees looking a little busier than usual around the city center.
The Energy Festival takes place in time with the changing of the seasons — a time when energy is high in the air, ripe for the harvesting; it's a time-honored tradition in the city of Cadelle where citizens gather together and work towards doing good deeds for our fine city and for cities near and far. In keeping with the city's emphasis on charity and compassion, citizens both new and old will find a variety of opportunities to give back, all while enjoying the very best that the season has to offer.
▸ Give thanks for good fortune, health, or friendship at the nightly lantern release. Decorate your own lantern at an arts & crafts booth sponsored by Colortopia, the local art supply store, or purchase a hand-crafted lantern from local merchants — all proceeds are donated to the city's volunteer organizations! At night, meet your fellow citizens on the beach to release your lanterns up into the milky night sky. At last, you might just see the light!
▸ Enjoy a sweet treat, like creamy white mooncakes filled with the season's harvest or a tart glass of freshly pressed apple cider. If sugar and spice isn't your bag, dive into something savory — the city's food venues have come out in full force to showcase their new fall menus, which feature such city favorites as creamy pumpkin soups, hearty meat pies, and other stick-to-your-ribs comfort foods.
▸ Make like a tree in autumn and shed your leaves at the clothing donation drive! Come drop off your gently-used garments in exchange for tokens, redeemable throughout the festival for souvenirs, treats, and more! You can even browse the sorted racks of your fellow citizens' donations and find some new digs of your very own! You never know what you might find — good or bad. (Please, no intimate apparel.)
▸ Share your talents at a variety of volunteer-hosted giving circles. From knitting and quilting blankets for the children's wing at the hospital to sorting donated canned goods for the food pantry and soup kitchen to simply offering a helping hand in carrying heavy boxes wherever they might need to go, your time and energy are always appreciated! There are plenty of volunteer citizens around to point you in the right direction... or, at least, what they think is the right direction. Fingers crossed!
Of course, good deeds aren't for everyone, and the city administration has certainly noticed a particular proclivity in its newest citizens for the newly discovered —
er, alternative means of energy generation. (Ahem. You know what we're talking about. Don't make us say it.)
Not wanting to pass up such a perfectly-timed opportunity to maximize on this discovery, the administration has tasked sweet, innocent Flora & Cornelius (the poor dears) with determining an appropriate venue for encouraging this unique form of energy generation.
While they're not exactly sure where the idea came from, they're delighted to announce the city's very first Togetherness Tent! Hosted in the city's smaller Eastern Gardens, there's plenty to see and do for those that may prefer something a little less charitable...
▸ Feel free to explore the OUTDOOR SEATING AREAS — there are plenty of places to relax and get comfortable, with both single chairs and larger booths all around. With a cool breeze in the daytime and a roaring firepit in the chillier night hours, and a carefully selected catalogue of instrumental music to enjoy, your hosts hope you'll be plenty comfortable while you chat and get to know each other!
▸ Just beyond the outdoor area, you'll find an assortment of beautifully decorated BEDOUIN TENTS. Some are completely open to the public, with various couches and pillows and comfortable blankets in the main spaces, and others offer more private, curtained-off areas for the shyer (please read some air quotes around "shyer") sets.
▸ If you're not much for sitting pretty, or need a little liquid courage before you start exploring, there's always the OPEN BAR, where talented (and attractive) bartenders will mix up anything under the sun with a smile. Feel free to linger, or take your drink to go. Request a little extra something in your drink (and be extra nice to the bartenders), and they just might be able to add a drop of a golden substance to your beverage that makes you even more keen to meet new people — and maybe even a little braver, too.
▸ Just like a mouse with a cookie, your hosts know that any good drink needs something savory (or sweet!) to go with it. Just beyond the bar, you'll find an expansive display of SNACK TABLES, each filled to the brim with city specialties sure to encourage a feeling of goodwill and togetherness in anyone who eats them!
▸ The center table, decorated with a simple cream cloth, features your standard party fare. Finger foods are the name of the game here, with everything from your grandmother's favorite spinach dip and vegetable crudites to upscale bites like fried ravioli filled with only the richest cheeses. Sprinkled around the table, you'll also find more classics like tea sandwiches, petit fours, and other party planner staples. Everything here is perfectly safe to eat, and shouldn't offer any side effects other than a potential stomach ache if you decide to overindulge.
▸ The table to the far left, however, is a little cooler. Decorated with a rich navy blue cloth, the table is full of small bites and chilled drinks all catering to a very specific, very cool theme. Whether you try Flora's favorite chocolate spearmint cupcake (please don't tell her the icing looks like toothpaste) or a frosty glass of blueberry apple cider, each bite is sure to leave you tingling from new sensations. Treats and sweets from this table will, depending on what's chosen, offer tantalizing side-effects ranging from a literal chill in the air to phantom touches that encourage the eater to seek out the source, or even the sensation of time slowing down around you — eat too much at once, and these side-effects might just overwhelm you! Be sure to read the menu carefully before you choose your bite.
▸ On the far right, draped in a deep red cloth, lies the last table. Like its blue-hued sister, this table is themed around heat, with a variety of items sure to tempt even the shyest into exploring their inner spice champion. Cornelius' favorite cinnamon sweet potato cupcake takes center stage here, but you'll also find other sweet and savory snacks, as well as both hot and cold beverages like the classic hot toddy or crimson-hued sangria to wet your whistle. Items sampled from this table will provide encouragements ranging from a pleasant flush to sudden desires creeping up from your subconscious, or perhaps the immediate urgency of a well-known battery bunny. Forget to pace yourself on these small plates, and you may wind up moving too fast for even a speedster to keep up. Be sure not to speed-read over the menu before loading your plate. (We're looking at you, Mr. Allen.)
As may be expected, Flora and Cornelius aren't exactly the most experienced at planning a tasteful, sensual affair in Cuddle City, so they've enlisted the help of caterers from a nearby city that specialize in aphrodisiac cuisine. However... they may have failed to overlook that those available at short notice aren't always the most qualified for the job. There's a reason, after all, that they're available when others aren't.
The caterers certainly meant well, and they did their best to provide the high quantities requested within the ridiculously short time frame allocated, but consistency isn't exactly their best attribute. Some batches may have come out a little more concentrated than others, while others may lack any oomph whatsoever. Eat a bite-sized chocolate spearmint mini cupcake and maybe your touch will have a pleasant, icy tingle to the recipient, or maybe you'll smooch them and it'll be like a scene out of A Christmas Story. Pop a spicy Red Hots bite-sized cupcake into your mouth and warm your companion right up, or maybe you'll just singe a handprint into their clothes.
It's like Russian roulette. With cupcakes. Normal, right?
It's like Forrest Gump would say. Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. In this case, life's like a giant batch of cupcakes, and you never know which one's gonna make you want to tear your clothes off.
Howdy, cuddlers, and welcome to your first Energy Festival! This is the first of a quarterly event series, themed around the four seasons and timed to align with the solar calendar. While the city certainly emphasizes the charitable options available in the town square, and we are thrilled to see what sort of hijinks will ensue, we know there will be plenty of excitement (and plenty of questions) on the Togetherness Tent and the opportunities it provides.
As a reminder, consent is extremely important both ICly with the city administration and OOCly with our player guidelines. Characters will have full opportunity to know the effects of anything they consume, as labels will be available as well as descriptive menus above each table. There are also NPC'd catering staff as well as party hosts available, should a character have further questions about a specific item's effects or ingredients. However, as players, it is always up to you how thoroughly you wish to have your character read the fine print before diving right in. Should you wish to have your character ignore the menu and all printed warnings, eat an entire plate of cinnamon candies and wind up feeling an irresistable urge to disrobe, you're certainly welcome to do so! We simply ask that you keep in mind our policies on consent-based actions, and should your character's urges involve another character, that you obtain the appropriate IC and OOC permissions before moving forward, and please remember to utilize any content warnings in your subject lines if applicable.
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.
We hope you have tons of fun out there this month, cuddlers, and we'll see ya around! |
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cuddlecity2017-09-15 03:00 pm
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the cooling effect is immediate, and now that they're alone without fear of anyone interruption their fun, he doesn't have to hold back. he slips an hand into her hair, pulling her closer, deepening their kisses until his head spins from lack of air and he has to pull back just enough to grab a shaky breath.]
A little bit of everything. Cupcakes, I know the icing kind of looks like toothpaste but everything's been tasty so. There's some chilled sandwiches too. And I thought you might want another drink. The blue and dry ice is a little much but maybe it'll hit the spot.
no subject
shifting her weight to curl up beside him, her back pressed firm against the solid expanse of his chest and the soft cotton draped over it, kimberly reaches out to pull the tray of items a little closer. she can't resist a laugh in agreement with his assessment — the icing really does look like the kind of toothpaste swirls you see in advertisements, almost too perfect and smooth — but it doesn't stop her from picking one up, or from taking a bite, icing smearing across the tip of her nose in the process.
the cupcake doesn't disappoint. it's a damn good cupcake, the chocolate cake sweet and milky as it melts on her tongue, and the hint of spearmint in the surprisingly light icing feels less like a line of colgate than she'd expected. not to mention the refreshing burst of cold that blooms in her mouth, icy paths trailing across her teeth and down her throat until they spiral out into her limbs. a slow shiver down her spine, and kimberly grins, mouth opening in a small circle as she offers an experimental exhale.
to her delight, her breath is visible, dotted with faint glimmers of white from endless miniscule snowflakes. another breath, this time ghosted across his cheeks and nose, and a murmured, ) Think you can melt the ice?
no subject
and then he's left slack-jawed as kim breathes out frosty cool breath]
I think I'm hot enough that I could melt an iceberg.
[and with that statement, robbie focuses on the heat within, on the rage that fuels the rider and his hand ignites, flames flickering for a moment before snuffing out completely and unable to be restarted.]
Hmm. That's never happened before.
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with a grin that's almost predatory with enthusiasm, she turns; the adjustment leaves her facing him, better suited to reach forward, her own now-chilled hands splaying out over his palms, dragging up his arms with torturously slow patterns of circles and zigzags and aimless swirls. the touch might be teasing and light, but the intent is obvious in her gaze. it's hinted in her eyes, sparkling with mischief even as she leans in to catch his bottom lip between her teeth, a gentle tug that's held for a brief moment before it's released and she settles back again. )
Don't worry, babe. ( she's sure the lack of flames is just temporary, but she's also not really all too worried about it right now. not when there's so many other things she wants to think about... and do. ) You're still hot even without the flames.
no subject
[she offers the hint and promise of more, worrying his lip between her teeth and he's readying himself to be blessed with her mouth again only for her to pull back. and he frowns at the loss.]
You're not so bad yourself. [he slides his hand to the back of her neck, fingertips tangling in the hair at the nape. robbie leans in, treats forgotten in favor of kim's surprisingly cool lips.]
no subject
she's chilled, that's for sure, by the effects of the spearmint and whatever else was in that cupcake, and robbie's body pressed snugly into hers is warm in the best possible way. the temperature contrast only encourages her to get closer, toppling him backwards until they're both horizontal again, splayed out across the patterning of the duvet.
some number of minutes later, when they're breathless and separated only by virtue of necessity, kimberly whispers, both reply and confession: ) I'm cold all over.
( it's not a lie. as the cupcake works its literal magic in her system, the chill extends from the surface inwards, expanding through her limbs until the sensation of cold becomes as intense as the heat had been. there's a need, suddenly present in the soft chattering of her teeth as she talks, to warm up as quickly as possible. )
I don't know which is worse, the cold — ( a pause, to set the tray on the nearby sidetable, in order to tug the duvet up and over her body ) — or how hot it was before...
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[he whispers as his hand trails down until he reaches the hem of her dress, bunching it up as he hurries his way back up, fingertips inching steadily up her leg all the way until he can splay his palm out on her inner thigh.]
I definitely think being hot was worse, but this isn't exactly the all expenses paid vacation I signed up for. I don't want you to shiver to death.
[it's not like either of them needs much convincing to escalate things, so robbie simply leans back in, mouth kissing her jaw, down the side of her neck, as his hand continues to travel upward.]
Babe, how do you feel about a little more skin on skin contact?
no subject
so when he asks her for a green light, permission to undress her within the relative privacy of the tent, kimberly can only think of one way to respond. ) Yes, please, ( comes her answer, whispered breathlessly as she turns into the touch, her own hands slipping under the hem of his shirt to lay flat against his back. they're chilled, she knows, but his skin is hot as always, a relief that slowly inches through her limbs with each second of contact. more of the same sounds like a very good thing indeed. )
But you're a little overdressed for that, aren't you?