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

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco laughs softly; trust Kate to get right to the heart of things. She is the only person he had told, about Eddie, back when he was still freshly heartbroken and feeling very sorry for himself. She isn't the first one he is telling, now that things have changed, but she is the one he is happiest to tell. There is no awkwardness, ]

Yeah. Especially, um. Since he sorta asked me out, a couple days ago. It turns out he - we had a miscommunication, before.

[ He tries to sound casual about it, but he can't help the fact that he starts smiling just saying it. He tries to duck his head and hide it, to cover it up by holding up his menu, but it couldn't be more obvious how joyful he is about it. ]

Do you think... I mean is there someone back home...?

[ Before when he'd spoken to Kate about their mutually dismal love lives, Cisco hadn't had anything to feel guilty about. Now, though, he does feel a little bad, being so happy when she doesn't have anybody in that way. ]

[littlemisskate]

[Kate's smile brightened.]

And you were worried. [Her voice is light, warm and a little teasing. It's obvious that she's purely and completely happy for him.] Oh, your roommate is Eddie right? I ran into him a few weeks back. He helped me out when I was walking home one night.

[There is no hiding that excitement from her. She's so happy to see him happy.

At his question Kate shakes her head.] Not like love or soulmates but people I care about and worry about. Our fates were connected. [Until she died.]

[franciscoramon]

Yeah. That sounds like him, alright. Kind of a compulsive sweetheart.

[ ...Cisco tries to toss it off like it's nothing, just a little joke about Eddie, but it couldn't be clearer that he's got it pretty bad for that guy. And it makes him happy, in some obscure way, that Kate's met him. It makes this place feel a little more like a home, when these unexpected connections between people pop up. Like there's a real community here, that he is living in. ]

Tell me about 'em? I mean, if you want to. I just feel like I still barely know anything about your life before you came here. I mean - obviously. Some things. [ Some really heavy, really personal things... ] But not in general you know?

[littlemisskate]

[Kate laughs softly.]

Yes. [She can tell that he likes Eddie very much.] I'm glad you two found each other. [It gives her hope. If Cisco can find Eddie, then maybe she can find the people she loves too.]

I don't mind. [She assures him in a kind tone.] It was me and my brother Scott. Then the Gecko brothers, Richie and Seth. We met... I want to say it was by accident but I think it was fate.

We traveled to Mexico together. With my father.

[franciscoramon]

I think you mentioned them before. Just the names. Which, you gotta admit, 'The Gecko Brothers' definitely sounds like a band name. Like, one of them should be playing the ukelele and they should be laying down some choice indie tracks where you can only understand every fifth word.

[ He may be exaggerating a little for comedic effect, but it's also not entirely inaccurate. ]

What're they actually like? 'Cause I'm assuming if you were friends with a band you'd have brought it up by now.

[ He knows that Mexico is where things had gotten complicated - her brother getting turned into a vampire, and all that. So he's a little tentative as he asks: ]

What makes you think it was fate?

[littlemisskate]

[Kate laughs at the mental image that Cisco provides for her.] I don't think either of them would enjoy that but, if I do see them again, I'll ask. [She'd love to see the look on Seth's face when she mentions that Cisco imaged him playing the ukulele.]

They were thieves. Richie was always a little confused and he sometimes did bad things because of it but Seth was always looking out for his brother. Trying to find a safe place where they could relax on a beach somewhere. They love each other very much but are awful at showing it. [She smiles affectionately when she thinks about it.] Seth had been teaching me how to pick locks and become a thief before I showed up here. [It's why she hadn't known what to do with herself. She never thought she'd have any normal options.]

It's just a feeling. No matter how many times we all separated, we were always brought back together again.

[franciscoramon]

[ All of it - them being brothers, and thieves, protective of one another - reminds Cisco almost at once of the Marden brothers. He doesn't know exactly what kind of 'bad things' Kate is referring to, but even with just the stealing, they sound like the sort of people that he and Barry and Caitlin would have stopped.

But Cisco's not naive; there's a hierarchy of bad guys, and as far as he's concerned, thieves who don't actually hurt anyone are pretty damn low on that list. At least, that's how he justifies it to himself. Maybe the reason he doesn't assume worse is because, well, they were friends with Kate. He can't imagine her putting up with anyone all that terrible. She has too much sense for that. ]

Right, I remember now you told me about the lock picking, I'd totally forgotten.

[ There was a time in Cisco's life when he might have been skeptical of what Kate's saying - would've said that scientifically it was bullshit, that fate didn't exist, that that feeling was just confirmation bias. But things don't seem as clear cut to him, lately. He's seen too many things he can't explain, at home and in this place. Hell, he has visions of the future. At some point, quibbling about what is and isn't real just becomes pointless. ]

Do you still get that feeling, even since you came here?