riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: DRAGOSTA

Entry tags:

introductory mingle: DRAGOSTA

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Dragosta celebration
when: The month of September.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

dragosta

In the days leading up to September 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Dragosta. This holiday is in celebration of romantic love, and seen as a time of the year for Quarantine residents to try to find someone special to cuddle up with in preparation for the cold winter months. Romantic love is highly valued in Riverview Quarantine, as it can foster an incredible sense of wellness and belonging, and is often the cornerstone of found families as well as biological ones. While there are no official city-sponsored parties, there are various holiday traditions and a paid day off on September 8th so anyone who wants to indulge in them with their loved one can do so.

a celebration of romantic love

Rather than anything structured and organized by the city, Dragosta is a celebration usually left up to the citizens of the city to organize for themselves - there are a few traditions that many businesses (obviously) capitalize on, mainly the tradition of special date nights with small gifts exchanged for people who've already matched up or want to. There are also various singles dances intended to help people without partners find someone to share the special holiday with, and a tradition among the various magic users in the city of preparing soul mate potions and spells intended to help people find the person they're meant to be with.

i. soulmates

Almost as soon as it hits midnight on August 31st, booths and street corner vendors are popping up all around the city offering various magical potions and spells in little rows of bottles. The number of types are overwhelming, with a different concoction available for every type of magic that exists across thousands of different worlds. But the purpose of every single bottle and its contents is exactly the same: to help you find love. Specifically, these are the traditional magics that promise to give anyone who uses them the ability to find or identify their soulmate.

These little bits of magic can have various effects on the person using them (reminiscent of the soulmate trope in fiction), depending on the type of magic and the person who prepared them, and the options are almost endless. There are a few comfortable standbys, though, that pop up pretty much every year:

● Rainbow Potion: Tiny bottles of a soft rainbow-colored potion that affects the vision. Once drunk, the potion will remove the partaker's ability to see in color until the first time they meet their soulmate after ingestion, then all the colors will come flooding back.
● Time Spell: Purchasing a time spell will get you a little vial of liquid with a tiny hourglass inside. Pouring out the liquid and turning the tiny hourglass will result in the appearance of a timer counting down on the partaker's skin somewhere - like a moving tattoo, it will count down the days, hours, minutes, and even seconds until the person will meet their soulmate for the first time after the spell is initiated.
● Red Thread: Some residents might've heard of the legend of the red thread of fate, a red thread that is tied between the ankles or little fingers of two people destined to fall in love. Tiny jars with a delicate red thread attached to a note (the contents of which are unreadable) are sold to invoke this legend. Once opened, the user should tie the red thread around their smallest finger on the left side and a red thread only that person and their soulmate can see will appear, tying them together. It may stretch or tangle, but will never break.
● Ink Potion: Small vials of a mysterious black liquid are one of the more common offerings - this liquid, once carefully spread on a portion of the partaker's skin, will result in a tattoo-like marking in a particular shape, that matches the marking that magically appeared on their soulmate!

While these are the most common types, there are almost infinite numbers of other types of potions, spells, and magics intended to help people find their soulmates, of varying type and quality.

A Few OOC Guidelines:
● Soulmate potions/spells can be used multiple times with different partners, and the effect can last as long (or as briefly) as you want it to.
● Since there is a wide variation of different types of potions/spells, they can vary in effectiveness. Feel free to use this prompt for either serious shipping or silly pairings for comedic effect.
● There is no compulsion involved in this prompt. The potions/spells will only show the character who their supposed soulmate is, not compel them to fall in love with the other character.
● Because there is no compulsion or alteration of behavior involved, and all effects are temporary and mildly annoying at most, characters ARE allowed to use them on other characters without asking. If your character wouldn't take one of the potions/spells, one of their friends can definitely spike their drink with a potion or use a spell on their behalf. Also, only one party has to use the potion/spell in order for it to work, both parties do not have to partake, though it is up to player discretion how heavily affected the person who did not partake is.
● A long list of trope ideas and variations can be found here. I've only included specific potions/spells for the most common ones I've seen, but please go as wild as you'd like with the types of potions and effects they have, so long as everyone involved is on the same page.
● Mod questions and plotting regarding this prompt can be found here.

ii. singles dances

All around the city, various businesses are hosting and sponsoring singles dances. These dances are an ancient tradition of Dragosta, originating from the reality of a very early group of displaced arrivals. Observed since the founding of Riverview Quarantine, the events have grown and changed with the times, still serving the interests of the modern citizen. The dances will be advertised throughout the city and range in quality, size, and tone, but they will always have the same objective and methodology: to match people up based on chemistry on the dance floor.

All singles or polyamorous pairings/groups looking to add additional members will sign in at the dance of their choice, and attach nametags or stickers to their clothing - pink, blue, or purple to indicate their preferences in partner (female, male, or any), and a "P" or "D" for "poly" or "duo" to indicate their preference for a polyamorous match-up or only one partner. Once they've indicated these preferences, they head out onto the dance floor, where they can either seek out someone they're interested in or wait for someone to come to them. As the dance goes on, and one person approaches another (or a group or pair), the person (or people) approached can either accept or reject the advances, and after finding someone with chemistry, the happy couple (or triad, etc.) can leave the floor together.

Every person who attends and participates will receive vouchers for free dinners and discounts or gift cards for various places in the city to have a nice dinner and get a present for a new paramour, or two or three...!

iii. date nights

This one is pretty simple: restaurants, clubs, hotels, movie theatres, and anything else in the city that might even vaguely be construed as a date location will be offering romantic date night packages, discounts, and other promotions to the lovebirds of the city. There are a few highly-anticipated special events that crop up every year, though.

One of the most popular are the movies in the park, hosted on almost every night of the month, these are romantic comedies and other good date movies from dozens of realities featuring romantic stories in a multitude of different configurations. Lovers are encouraged to bring a picnic blanket and settle on the grass for a nice relaxed show, or tickets can be bought for special experiences such as the mini-deck, with romantic table settings, wine, and catering with a waiter, or the cuddlebug, where a comfortable couch is set up with popcorn and blankets for the lucky lovebirds to curl up on together. The variations are endless!

Another popular option is a retro-futuristic drive-in experience, where any type of vehicle can be driven up to a temporary drive-in diner for a meal, and then pull up to a temporary outdoor theatre. Once parked, the lovebirds can "park" - that is, cuddle and neck in the car to their hearts' content, probably instead of actually watching the movie.

For this prompt, any type of date night discount is cool to assume, or make a mingle top-level with a special event of your own imagining and earn bonus activity points!

iv. kiss and tell

Something a little different is happening during Dragosta this year - one of the magic researchers at Gramarye, who was recently married and only just returned from her honeymoon, got hit with a confusion spell by accident. A little muddled and love-drunk, she acted on her intense desire to make everyone in the city feel just as happy as her, and shared the love by whipping up a potent spell to do so. As a result, residents will see bright little glowing 'fairy lights' floating around the city throughout the entire month of September. What do the fairy lights do, though?

Two or more characters walking under one of these glowing, floating lights will get stuck for one hour, trapped inside an invisible enclosure with an approximate three foot radius. The only options are to either wait out the hour, or to kiss! Characters will know they're meant to kiss, because part of the magic spell is the sudden and intense knowledge that they should kiss in order to break free. There is no compulsion to kiss, just the knowledge that that's how to get free. What the characters won't immediately know is that any kind of kiss will work - a hand, forehead, cheek, or butterfly kiss will work just as well as a kiss on the mouth, but that will require some experimentation to find out.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during Dragosta, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Anya Goo; image ii & iv: unknown; image iii: Raphael Grimm

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[ He hadn't expected to have stayed here long, mostly on account that he hadn't expected Jessica to let him. It had already been enough of a surprise that she was willing to offer him the space of her couch despite her routine grand display of wanting every level of privacy available.

But there's nothing permanent about the arrangement and he knows he's overstayed his welcome, despite the fact that she hasn't kicked him out on his ass just yet. He makes it a plan to leave tonight before she makes it back, but papers pile at the office and a few extra hours at work delay what he had hoped would be a quiet move back to his apartment.

The shift of her boots can be heard even before she makes it onto the elevator, and the lasting scotch painted on her lips is one he's memorized with so many nights in the same room. Still, he doesn't rush, simply continuing to carefully pack his clothes into his bag as she steps in. ]

Was just finishing up. You'll get your place Murdock-free sooner than you know it.

Not soon enough.

[ she bites back, merely because she can. a part of her is as perplexed as he is, truth be told. jess still doesn't know why she allowed him to stay over. the invitation wasn't her idea, not initially. but at the end of it all, she couldn't let him sleep on the streets. while she's an asshole, jessica isn't heartless. with a tired exhale, she places a paper bag on the table in the living room. inside is a large bottle of bourbon, along with a few smaller ones from a stand near the liquor store. the dumbass there was practically handing them out for free, and she's never been the type to decline alcohol. ]

[ Corners of his lips curve upward into the smallest chuckle. Despite the subtle kindness in her acts, it's nothing that Jessica is ever bound to display audibly, and he doesn't quite expect much else.

He zips up the bag and makes to grab his rose-colored glasses from the coffee table, but his hands pause as they rest upon the frames. Instead, he draws back, turning to step over closer to her. ]

Jessica. [ He says almost quietly, his fingers resting on his hips as he gives a lick to his lip, taking a brief beat before continuing. ] Thank you. [ He says it softly, with sincerity, as his waves a hand. ] For this. For letting me stay here. You didn't have to and you probably hated it, but you did it anyway, and I — I really do appreciate it. It isn't the first time you helped me since I've been here, and it — [ Losing his memory, losing his sight all over again, and breaking into a panic, her warm hands on his cheeks, bringing him back, calming his heart. He stops short, slipping into a small laugh. ] And I know you're going to roll your eyes any second, and turn your back, doing that curling lip thing you do when you're annoyed, followed with saying something like "whatever, Murdock", which is, well, entirely fine. But I, [ he shrugs with a huffing breath. ] I wanted to make sure you knew.

[ jessica freezes in place, her posture growing rigid. she doesn't need a gesture of gratitude from him, never truly desired it. hearing his sincere reply places her in a vulnerable position, and she presses her lips together before shaking her head. ]

Whatever, Murdock.

[ it's easier this way, to dismiss his words as if they're meaningless. to suppress the memory of his tormented expression from her mind. after mumbling that response, she bends down to pick up two of the small bottles from her bag, then tosses one of them in his direction. ]

Here.

[ She says the two words and he can't help the natural formation of a smile. Reading others was a bad habit, and one he'd come to find quite the talent in. But reading Jessica always came with both guarantees and surprises all the same.

His brow raises as he feels the shift in the air, a solid object falling in his direction, enabling him to reach out and grab it.

A bottle, he realizes. ] Celebratory drink?

[ she had to say it. not only was the phrase the perfect fit for a retort, but it was also what he expected her to say. most of the time, she clings onto her callous demeanor because it's far more comfortable than accepting the alternative. ]

Yep. Finally free of you.

[ the edges of her mouth curl into a smirk. all bark, no bite. still, she feels better saying it. twisting the top off, she tips the drink to her lips and drains the bottle in seconds. ]

[ He isn't offended. Knowing her typical vocabulary makes it difficult to find any reason to be. She drinks to celebrate getting rid of him and all he can do is laugh, shaking his head over the humor as he takes the top off of his own drink. ]

To getting rid of Murdock boys. [ He shrugs a shoulder, tipping his own head back as he drinks the liquid.

There's no familiar in the scent, and neither the taste, the contents oddly more sweet than anything necessarily alcoholic. His lips purse together as his eyes squint shut, swallowing the entirety of it. Instantly, he feels almost faint, a dizziness forming, making him wonder just how powerful the drink really is.

With a small grunt, he mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose. ] Not your typical brand, is it?

Yeah. Tastes like crap.

[ she comments, her expression twisting into a slight grimace. way too sweet, and not strong enough. well, maybe she should withdraw that last statement. her head starts to spin, and one hand lifts to comb through her hair. ]

[ Senses like his make him more sensitive to the twisting and disorientation of the resulting sensations. His stomach churns and his lips part to take in deep breaths through his mouth, filling his lungs to find better ease as he tries to settle himself.

Despite the heightened discomfort, it doesn't last, eventually easing into a return to normalcy.

Taking another breath, he straightens himself, shaking his head to rid himself of any lingering effects. Eyes blink open, everything returning as it was, his "world on fire" before him once more in the form of Jessica's furniture. ] Yeah, I think I'll pass on any seconds of those. That wasn't —

[ His body turns to her, everything seemingly as it should be except it isn't. Because as his sight remains dark as he remembers it to be, not all does. Not her. The haze of it all continues, but there's color to the shape of her. The dark of her hair contrasting against the pale of her skin, lips a smooth pink. ]

Jessica. [ He breathes, his eyes blinking rapidly. ] You're, you're —

What?

[ jess offers helpfully, her tone sharp and irritated. he seems taken aback, reminiscent of the time where his amnesia overwhelmed him. only now it's different. she can't explain why, just that it is.

her brow furrows, as the effects of the potion take their toll. the shift is subtle at first, but then it becomes unmistakable. the haze in her head, the mist of unpleasant memories that always resonate — it doesn't vanish, no, but it diminishes. as if his presence alleviates the storm in her mind, in a way that the constant flow of alcohol couldn't even manage. ]

Holy shit.

[ His surprise calls similarly to when he'd faced the sudden realization of his blindness all over again. Believing he could see to having everything shrouded in dark in a single moment is a heavy burden to face and yet —

And yet, this leans on almost the opposite. Except there is no everything. There's only Jessica.

It becomes evident in his eyes themselves. His gaze typically unfocused and turned to face nothing, they shift and fall on her face directly. He paces closer, slowly, cautiously, but he looks directly at her, the contour of her jaw seemingly sharper as he approaches.

His breath is unsteady, heavy as he tries to make sense of it all. ] I can — [ He swallows, biting lightly at his lip. ] I can see you.

[ matt moves closer, and each step grants her a greater reprieve. the sensation frightens jess beyond measure, down to her core, and as he approaches, she withdraws. it's almost as if she's returned to how she felt over a year ago, before that bastard ever entered her life. like she's regained control over her mind. as much as she welcomes the change, it also perplexes her. ]

What the hell?

[ that goddamn drink. it's doing this — offering murdock his sight back, and giving her the freedom she craves from the past. why, though? what's the price they're expected to pay? ]

[ He sees her shift away, the motion prompting him to cease in his own steps. His own surprise over this newfound sight overwhelms him, and while there was evidently no alcohol in the drink, he is drunk on something, on seeing something.

His head turns to the side, spinning around to the rest of her apartment. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Simply his senses at play as usual, everything dark yet burning all at once, vibrations and density coming together to form vague images deep in his head. He turns his direction back to her, and there she is, clear as nothing ever was, not since he saw the blue of the sky fade away as he lay on that street at nine years old. ]

It's just you. Everything else is dark, but you, you I can see. [ He shakes his head, his mouth gaping open and closed, as if he could somehow piece the correct words together to explain this. ] What did we drink?

I don't know.

[ jess admits softly, then glances down at the empty bottle clenched in her fist. while she attempts to scrutinize the object for any clues, her search proves futile. there's nothing helpful on the label. ]

I thought it was booze. [ she mumbles in consideration, more to herself than for him. after a moment, her attention returns to matt. cautiously, she takes a small step in his direction, followed by another. ] You can see me. Not sense, but actually see?

[ This wasn't done purposefully, not by her, and he doesn't need to listen to the tone of her voice to understand that. Even he'd been fooled, not picking up anything strange through his nose when he had opened up the bottle.

She draws in closer and the clarity of her forms again, strands in her hair all the more vivid, the faintest of freckles above her brow. He can tell the concern in her expression, how none of this makes any more sense to her than it does to him. ]

Your eyes, they're ... brown? No — [ When had he last seen color, truly understood it? Too long ago. He's careful when he reaches out a hand, only the tips of his fingers touching her hair as he draws it away from her face.

Softly, he whispers, ] Hazel.

[ hazel. he can discern the precise color of her eyes, the man who once described perceiving the world in flames. her gaze narrows, focused solely on him now, as matt brushes a strand of hair from her countenance. she's never felt comfortable with personal contact, unless she's the one to initiate, yet she doesn't seem to mind as much as she perhaps should.

no pang of anxiety stirs within her chest, no ominous whisper from the devil himself in her ear. there's only him — matthew murdock, mere inches from her now. a part of her wants to pull away, but her inquisitive nature prevails. licking her lips, she places a hand on his chest, tentatively moving it down from his shoulder to land on his chest. she can feel his heartbeat beneath her fingers, almost as quick and powerful as her own. ]

[ Despite the clarity of his eyes, of have a focal point that somehow allows him to make sense of light, even if only on one particular person, his abilities haven't changed. He can still make out the details that are ever so subtle like the soft rhythm of her breath, and the beat of her heart, a thumping he remembers from the last time she'd touched him.

Now his own heart echoes as her palm presses over the fabric of his shirt, and he's helpless in drawing his own fingers over them, tracing the bumps of her knuckles.

This doesn't provide answers. The contact of skin doesn't explain why her eyes are the first his own see after twenty years of darkness. It could be as simple as her being in his presence when he drank the liquid, nothing of importance, not significance other than she was there. But it doesn't matter. The liquid isn't what makes his heart pace.

Shifting in closer, he cups her cheek, slowly in seeking permission, knowing any error in his movements could make her withdraw again. But he's drunk on this now, on looking at her, in counting her lashes and watching how the light reflects on the tip of her nose.

Every part of her is real and he can see it, the heat of his breath mixing with hers assuring him this isn't a faint dream. ]

[ her nose wrinkles in confusion as the palm of his hand cradles her face. the bottle drops from the weak grip of her hand, falling forgotten to the floor, while she stares at him in return.

matt looks, for lack of a better word, entranced. it's not an expression she can remember witnessing much, if at all. the last time, perhaps, is when she was with luke cage. the memory twists in the pit of her stomach, leaving a painful ache in its path.

her fingers, resting across matt's chest and underneath his own, curl into a tight fist over the fabric of his shirt. jessica jones knows nothing about emotional intimacy, but she is an impulsive idiot when it counts the most. with a rough tug, she pulls him in before she can reconsider the choice. her mouth captures his, lust and curiosity fueling her every move. ]

[ He was supposed to leave tonight. His bag remains packed with spare clothes on the couch, his glasses placed and forgotten on the coffee table beside it. And yet, Matt stands in the midst of the room, with little intent on walking out just yet as Jessica Jones kisses him.

There's the faint sweetness of her lips, remnants of the same liquid he'd drank as well barely minutes ago, but what he truly tastes is the raw urgency of her mouth as she tugs him in against her, his shirt tight from where she grips tightly.

He doesn't think, rarely does in the presence of a beautiful and questionable woman, as Foggy would remind him, and what had been sheer fascination of being able to see her becomes a sudden need for this, as the physical overtakes the emotion. Fingers slide away from her cheeks, curve back to slip to her hair, angling her steady and close against his mouth.

The remaining hand falls away, letting her take full control of grabbing him wherever she likes upon his chest as he lays claim to the small of her back, brushing against her tanktop as fingers tangle in the hem of it. ]

Edited 2017-09-05 04:51 (UTC)

[ her passion is ravenous, and jess deepens the kiss without complaint. her tongue explores his mouth, as she succumbs to the sensation of his touch. she steps forward, maneuvering their positions until they reach the nearest wall. jessica pins him against it roughly, his back hitting the plaster with a dull thud.

her fingers then fumble to unbutton his shirt, though she soon grows impatient. her enhanced strength overpowers the situation, and with a single tug, she tears the fabric. it's enough to pull her sharply back to reality. her eyes widen, and her hands drift back to her side. ]

Jesus.

[ He doesn't fight her as she pushes him across the room, doesn't challenge her when he's braced against the wall. She locks him there, nestled perfectly with his back pressed and her body keeping him nudged close and he's satisfied with every motion, preoccupied with two craving mouths wrestling restlessly together.

In the midst of messy kisses, she works at his shirt as his fingers find her hair, tangling through the wild dark mesh until his ears meet with a rip and she stops.

It's the first break he receives from her mouth, his breath heavy and panting. He doesn't shift away, still not entirely pulled away from his trance but he doesn't make to kiss her again, even if his nose remains close, brushing hers softy. If she finds regret in this, he won't push her, away of all the oddities and insanity of it all. But his eyes open, half lidded, and he could still see her, cheeks red and heated, lips pink and swelled from battling his own. ] Jessica. [ He says quietly, his tone low and still lost in the moment of this, as thumbs comb back loose strands of hair from her cheeks. ]

[ not quite regret, but an emotion akin to it — hesitation. one thought after another crosses her mind. they shouldn't be here, doing this. murdock is almost out the door, in fact, and she shouldn't stand in his way.

however, hearing her name from his mouth, resonating off his tongue, is all the temptation she needs. her gaze focuses on him, uncertain yet intense, before jessica closes the distance between them. her fingers find his jaw, caressing him gently, a notable contrast to the rest of her body. she kisses him, biting at his bottom lip, while her other hand returns to his chest. a frisson of excitement rushes through her slender frame, and she begins to rock her hips against his. ]

[ It's a swift opportunity to find sense, to consider that this heightened emotion comes from recognizing color for the first time in twenty years, that exhilaration pours through him from the newfound sight.

Not just that, no — spending enough time with Jessica, living with her has built up enough of a minor swell of attraction towards her, nothing of impeccable significance for him to act upon (especially considering her previously assumed dislike of him), not until now.

But the brief period to regain themselves passes and once again, Matt becomes consumed with the fervor of her mouth, wild teeth pecking at his lip as hips roll together, jeans scraping over his pants, rendering him hopeless. Shrugging his shoulders, he lets his ripped shirt slide off of his arms before he bends, fingers finding the back of her thighs to clasp at the fabric and lift her against him. Turning their bodies, it's her back that'll find the press of wall now as he leans her against it. It's a better level to angle her hips forward, providing that grind they both seek.

This is trouble, he knows. He knows it even as his lips trail against her jaw, wandering low to plant hungry kisses at her throat. ]

[ she's running on pure adrenaline, refusing to step back and think. all she cares about is falling into this moment — their close proximity, the lustful tension and sensual attraction between them.

matthew presses her against the wall, and a soft breath of surprise escapes her lips. her eyes shut, and jess does not relent. her thighs push up against his, driving both of them a bit closer to the edge. as his mouth attacks her neck, her fingers drift down his back. ]

Jessica — [ He whispers with a harsh breath against her throat, her trailing fingers dragging across his shoulder blades the most welcoming she's ever been towards him.

But the state of their complex relationship, of contrasting personalities and sarcastic remarks, doesn't have a play here. In fact, every argument, every clashing conversation goes on pause to let their grinding hips take charge. Her breath, even soft as it naturally is, is loud at his ears, heat and lust taking the form of sound. His pants tighten as he hardens, grasping at her thighs to press in closer for heightened friction.

Locking her against the wall, keeping her steady, a hand slips up, dipping all his fingers beneath her shirt, save for a thumb, taking the fabric up with him as he slides his touch along her abdomen. ]

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definitely nsfw from here forward

cw: our thirst

cw: matt's super thirsty