introductory mingle: DRAGOSTA

[riverviewmod]

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

navigation

Comments

[idolpire]

It's free fun lounging around on the corner. Most I thought was that it would give me a bit of a tingle. Didn't expect a mark from it. Certainly didn't expect to have it tie me up with some wench who's gone and sewn her knees shut.

[He reached into his inner pocket, pulling out a flask.]

I don't hate myself that much.

[hardedged]

[ offering a dry snort, she glances at that flask critically. if anyone needs booze right now, it's her. not him. ]

Since when?

[ so far, her main impression of him is that he's a masochist. well, a little shit too, but also a masochist. ]

[idolpire]

Since none of your bloody business.

[Since Buffy had left. Since John had drawn away. Since Spike was left in his crypt alone more days than not. He'd needed something to perk him up. On any other day, pissing her off might do just that.]

Don't worry, lamb. They said it's temporary.

[hardedged]

[ her gaze narrows further at that nickname, yet she bites her tongue. it's better to control her temper when dealing with him. or attempt to, in any case. ]

Better be. Or next time, I'm kicking your —

[ jess turns around, ready to stalk off, though the rest of her response remains caught in her throat. bright lights start to float above them, which can only mean one thing. ]

Shit.

[idolpire]

[He'd been taking a sip of his flask when he saw a light float down and touch her head. The glow that took in both of them had him spraying whiskey down along it, cursing as he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.]

Oh, well, that's just brilliant. Yell at me for something and then go lock us in a bloody bubble. Smart, pet.

[hardedged]

You started this, asshole!

[ in case he forgot. even if spike didn't intend to choose her, it still happened. her nose wrinkles at the display. while she couldn't care less about him choking on his drink, it's still a waste of perfectly good whiskey. ]

[idolpire]

I did no such thing. I was standing here, all by myself. You chose to come over. Then you chose to run head first into a bloody fairy light. A little bloody temporary mark is hardly going to kill you. Just means that maybe this place realizes you're an asshole and should be paired with another one.

[hardedged]

You signed up for the potion crap in the first place. And dragged me along for the ride.

[ it's not fair to blame him, not entirely. but jessica jones has never been a fan of playing fair. ]

There are plenty of assholes here. This dump's got a sick sense of humor for sticking me with the biggest one.

[idolpire]

Yes, I made you come out looking like a pissed off alley cat, ready to scratch at anything that caught your eye. You're right. All me. I clearly control you through a little bloody ink on your hand. If that were the case, there are much more fun things I'd be having you do.

[He sipped at his flask, smirking at the remark.]

Why not? You're the biggest bitch here. Seems we make quite a pair.

[hardedged]

[ okay, that's it. she's had enough. perhaps it's far from the most prudent move, but never let it be said that jess isn't an impulsive idiot. stepping forward, she reaches for his arm. before he can shove her off, she swiftly lets go, propelling him against the barrier. ]

[idolpire]

[He hits it face first, feeling the press of nothing against it, much like coming across a barrier to a household he hadn't been invited into. His flask dropped and as he turned to face her, his appearance changed to fangs and ridged forehead, a snarl leaving him.]

What the bloody hell was that for? You can dish it but you can't take it? Get over yourself. I didn't ask you to manhandle me and I didn't ask to be caught here with you. If anyone's being the dick here, precious, it's you.

[hardedged]

[ maybe don't mention controlling her next time, like a smug asshole, spike. regardless, jessica isn't planning to explain herself for the sudden outburst of violence. ]

Jesus, Miss America. [ that's a face only a mother could love. ] Just shut up, and I won't rip out your fangs.

[idolpire]

Yeah?

[He was going to move to push her back, to shove her against the barrier to give her a taste of her own medicine.]

And I'm the one they call a monster. Just because I'm not human. You lot are so much worse than we could ever be, yet it's okay because 'I'm just having a bad day'. Piss off, you self righteous cow. You want to blame someone? Look in a mirror.

[hardedged]

[ her back collides against the wall roughly, and she sneers. with a grunt of pain, jess straightens up, and charges forward again. ]

You think that's my problem?

[ her fists clench around the fabric of his jacket, as she lifts him up into the air. his strength matches hers, however, so she suspects she won't hold him for long. ]

I don't give a shit. Vampire, human, goddamn Bigfoot— [ a sarcastic scoff. ] Whatever the hell you are, you're still a bastard.

[idolpire]

[His arms come down on hers, a booted foot aiming for her chest as he bids to free himself, even though he'll only get as far as the wall keeping them in.]

So because I exist, that gives you a reason to come after me? I wasn't bloody doing anything, you sodding twat. You. Started. This.

[With that, he came across the area after her, swinging a fist aimed to hit at her body.]

[hardedged]

[ she hits the wall of the barrier again, absorbing the impact with a low groan. enough talking. it's time for action, which spike proves as he comes charging towards her. at the last moment, she captures his fist with her own, then tightens her grip, trying to twist his hand away from her and behind his back. ]

[idolpire]

[Spike plays dirty. He has no problem hitting girls, just as he has no problem using the barrier as a physical thing to walk up, dragging her with him as he walks up along it and attempts to flip over her back.

Just as he also has no problem going for a bite.]

[hardedged]

[ one second, she finally has the upper hand, and then the next, he's behind her with his fangs piercing her flesh. the pain stings like a bitch, and she grits her teeth. ]

Goddammit!

[ the curse flees her lips as an angry hiss. out of pure instinct, she turns around, swinging a fist against his jaw. ]

[idolpire]

[He goes stumbling back, blood smeared around his mouth. He hits the barrier, glad he doesn't have air to knock out of him as he leans against it for a moment. Then he lets out a feral roar.]

Stay the blood hell over there, or I will make a snack of you.

[hardedged]

[ her hand drifts up to her wound, blood starting to stain her fingers. she's fortunate it only lasted a few seconds. although she's a reckless moron, at least she realizes now he's more of a threat than originally anticipated. ]

Try it, and it'll be your last meal.

[ apparently, jess hasn't learned enough. she's still stubborn to the end. ]

[idolpire]

Then stay the bloody hell over there! Jesus, woman. It's bad enough I can't just have a smoke and mind my own business. Now you're going to give me hassle for defending myself? God, I hope you get some sort of nasty bit of infection from that.

[hardedged]

Knowing you, dipshit, I bet I will!

[ she'll probably get rabies or something, ugh. ]

[idolpire]

[Please. There was no such thing as vampire rabies. Vampires didn't even get diseases. She should be happy she'd gotten such a clean bite. And tasted so nasty.]

And whose fault is that, eh? Who started all of this?

[hardedged]

[ whatever. she's composed of mostly whiskey anyway. can't be that bad. ]

Didn't realize you were such a pussy.

[ he's even moodier than usual, which is no small feat coming from jessica jones. her hand finally drifts back to her side, as she wipes off the blood from her fingertips. the wound still stings, though at least her enhanced healing should take care of the rest. ]

[idolpire]

[If he'd been opting for a light tasting instead of an attack, he might agree.]

Oh, I'm sorry. Did the definitions of things change while I was sleeping? Is 'standing around doing nothing' now what pussies do? I didn't get the bloody memo.

[He was still wearing his vamp face, still growling at her as he moved to smooth his trenchcoat into place. He figured that given whatever had crawled up her ass and died and put her in such a nasty mood, he might be in for a fight for the next hour or so, or as long as the lights kept them prisoner.]