Cuddle Party

[ysabetwordsmith]

Everyone needs contact comfort sometimes.  Not everyone has ample opportunities for this in facetime.  So here is a chance for a cuddle party in cyberspace.  Virtual cuddling can help people feel better.

We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket.  It has a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs.  A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper.  The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone.  There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity.  Come snuggle up!

Comments

CUDDLE PARTY!!!!!!!!1111ELEVEN!!!!

[technoshaman]

*ahem*

Brings a huge tin of caramelcorn (Dairy!) and bowls for sharing, and a couple of sixes of assorted Dr. Brown's (kosher!) sodas, sets them on the table, grabs a small bowl of corn and a ginger ale for himself, along with a SNUGGLE ME sticker for his shirt, then flumps down semi-gracefully on the CuddleCouch. Shoots an inviting look at Ysabet. :)

Re: CUDDLE PARTY!!!!!!!!1111ELEVEN!!!!

[alatefeline]

*a winged feline headbonks your leg and trills invitingly*

*clearly they are saying PET ME? in cat-to-human large-font body language*

Re: CUDDLE PARTY!!!!!!!!1111ELEVEN!!!!

[ysabetwordsmith]

*flop* Caramel corn nom nom nom!

Re: CUDDLE PARTY!!!!!!!!1111ELEVEN!!!!

[(Anonymous)]

Crawls in and flops down in front of the couch on the floor dragging a fuzzy fuzzy fuzzy blanket, wraps self in it like a burrito until head and hair sticks out in a wild, staticky poof.....*holds up soft bristle brush*

Re: CUDDLE PARTY!!!!!!!!1111ELEVEN!!!!

[pronker]

Ooh, celery soda must be part of Dr. Brown's stash - love that stuff! :)

[alatefeline]

Oh, heck yes.

*strolling calmly around a corner: a purple-furred feline, of approximately housecat size and shape but with a longer tail, tuftier ears, and with feathered wings on their back*

*manifesting with a soft 'pop' on a handy table in the kitchen: oranges, homemade shortbread cookies, quinoa pilaf, and fresh veggies cut in crunchy little shapes, with recipe cards*

*appearing mysteriously in crafting space: lots of soft, chunky, easy-to-use yarn in balls or skeins, and lots of large beads made from natural materials, all organized by material, texture-type, and color*

*the alate feline knocks a soccer-ball-sized ball of purple T-shirt yarn out of the box, and chases it into the main cuddlespace room*

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

<3 shortbread!

*adds some Buddha's hand shortbread*

[technoshaman]

Mmmm, seconded on the shortbread! *takes one of each*

[technoshaman]

t-shirt yarn? Very fine?

[redsixwing]

Oh, oranges and shortbread! *acquires snacks*

Wingkitty, would you like to play chase with some of that yarn? If you would, I'll drag it and flick it for you.

[mashfanficchick]

*A large, flat, open box of myriad different sensory and fidget toys, all of them safe for all types of animals and humans, appears next to a selection of blankets, comforters, and beanbag-type chairs. A small, short-haired humanoid appears from underneath one of the blankets. She waves expansively and invitingly*

"Hi! I brought things! There are multiple kinds of curry in the kitchen--each labeled with ingredients and spiciness level--and name/pronoun/touch-level tags up front. Anyone wanna cuddle!nap?"

[redsixwing]

"Yes, please." A brown-haired human of indeterminate gender, wearing 'they/them' stickers and a nametag that says "Six," waves back. "Would you prefer your own blanket, or sharing?"

[talewisefellowship]

YO I'm here for cuddles wassup

[manglefox]

*Pounce* Hello there! :D :D :D

[thnidu]

A small winged dragon, about a foot long, flies into the cuddle room and around the kitchen. As he goes along the wall, empty bowls appear on the floor beneath him. Everyone hears his voice in their minds: "Hey, anybody, just tell a bowl what you want in it!"

He alights near the small humanoid and rubs up. "Cuddle?"

[manglefox]

OMG those bowls are awesome! I'd love popcorn with M&Ms please. <3

*Is a little robotic squirrel, but that doesn't necessarily stop her from nomming cuddlespace popcorn.

-Sara

[erulisse]

A tall woman with pale skin, a long auburn braid down her back, and pointy ears wanders in. She is wearing green and pink floral print PJ pants, a baggy t-shirt that says "I like hugs and cuddles, please ask first" in English and elvish, and a long burgundy devoré velvet robe whose floral motif echoes the print of her pants. Her body language is cautious and after looking around she heads for the table with the cookies.

[manglefox]

A small humanoid animatronic pads over, being careful to not spook you, and says, quietly, "I think your robe is beautiful."

She gives a friendly smile, and offers you a balloon or a hug, whichever you'd prefer.

[redsixwing]

A brown-haired human of indeterminate gender arrives, selecting a name label and writing "Six," and affixing "they/them" pronoun stickers. They're wearing a heavy, comfortable sweatshirt over loose trousers and thick socks, and carrying a dish of hot, steaming casserole.

On their shoulder is a large, red-and-gold bird of roughly pheasant conformation, whose long tail feathers and bold colors advertise him to be male.

Six sets the casserole down (being a virtual treat, it is nonallergenic and contains savory, creamy favorites) and gathers a bowl of popcorn to share with the bird, then heads for the main cuddle room.

*pops in*

[ng_moonmoth]

*picks up a green "hug me" sticker and a lavender marker*

*writes "ng_moonmoth" on it, and underneath that, "xe/xyr/xyrs/xyrself"*

*sets bowl of fresh kumquats from our tree on kitchen counter*

*fills a plate with jicama, casserole and tiramisu*

*finds Six, says hi*

*samples casserole, finds it delicious*

I'm wearing a soft 3/4-sleeve pullover top and a floaty knee-length skirt. I'm open to touch anywhere except places that might be wrongly assumed to be associated with my gender.

Can I skritch the pheasant? What sort of touch would you like?

[alexseanchai]

Redheaded pale freckled human wanders in, wearing a black Oregon State T-shirt and blue yoga pants and muttering something about the "mysterious and indeterminate gender" Fallen London shirt being in the wash. They have a bunch of pages taken from old calendars, and a bunch of thumbtacks, and they would like to start sticking the yoga cats and the butterflies and the owls and the Caribbean beaches to the walls.

Go for it!

[ysabetwordsmith]

<3 calendar art.

joining in

[dialecticdreamer]

A middle-aged, gray-haired woman with a tentative smile and a recalcitrant rollator eases into the cuddle room. The seat of the rollator is overflowing with bowls of crudites, cucumber spears and slices of jicama to go with the enormous bowl of hummus and a smaller bowl of olive tapenade. Draped over her shoulders like a cape is a fuzzy lap blanket. She sets the food in a safe place, out of foot traffic, and makes her way to an overstuffed chair. "This way, I can brush hair if someone wants," she offers shyly.

Re: joining in

[ysabetwordsmith]

*flop* Brush me?

[dreamwriteremmy]

Neil (he/him, gentle touch is ok) enters the cuddle room first, cane supporting him in one hand and a cake dish held aloft in the other. He shouts, "I made a killer tiramisu!" And then proceeds to hum the Portal theme song as he delivers it to the kitchen.

Behind him are Eva (she/her, ask me for hugs) and their daughter Anya (she/her; I <3 cuddles).

Eva gathers fort cushions and blankets and builds a family-sized fort in a corner visible from the kitchen, waving Neil over when he returns with a tray of samples from the kitchen.

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

<3 forts.

[pronker]

Eee, the lawn tent! ❤

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That was a request from a previous occasion. I save references to infrastructure that we may want later.

Does virtual touch make you feel better?

[ysabetwordsmith]

Some of us were discussing virtual touch and whether it meets some of the need for contact comfort. What's it like for you? Do you derive enjoyment or comfort when someone types *hugs*? What about if someone describes brushing, petting, or rubbing you in more detail?

I see a lot of that going on in these cuddle parties, which are consistently very popular. People get quite physical in here and it's delightful. I surmise that it meets a need for contact, because a lot of my readers don't have friends they can pile up with locally, and that's very much what happens in here. Thoughts?

Re: Does virtual touch make you feel better?

[ng_moonmoth]

>> What's it like for you? <<

The physical intensity is missing (unfortunate), but so is the morphogendering and its consequential poisoning of meatspace tactile interaction with cultural dynamics and sexualization (big win for virtual cuddling). Getting to the point where we are this very moment, both of us actively and intensely pairbonded, and having a nonsexual (virtual) tactile interaction with someone who is not our pairbond with only favorable comments from other people here, would be a real challenge in meatspace.

So it's different, but valuable in its own way.

>> Do you derive enjoyment or comfort when someone types *hugs*? What about if someone describes brushing, petting, or rubbing you in more detail? <<

Yes. I get the same sort of feelgood when I approach someone in meatspace with open arms, and a hug follows. As for more detail, I'm still trying to figure that out. I guess I ought to look around for someone offering something I'd like to try, and see how it goes when I ask.

>> a lot of my readers don't have friends they can pile up with locally, and that's very much what happens in here. <<

My take, coming from a culture that heavily contextualizes tactile interactions (US), and a subculture that discourages it further (Midwestern), is that it's as much about the environment being friendly -- no stares or disapproving comments, or people trying to guilt-trip you into stopping. The Rule Six (No PDA's!) police have been banished to Singapore before they can misinterpret what's going on here. Despite which, we still manage to avoid PDA's because that's not what we came for.

So thanks for hosting the World's Oldest(?) Established Permanent Floating Rule Six Party in Cyberspace!

Hot water

[erulisse]

after finishing her cookie, pokes around for a little before deciding to wander outside. The lawn tent looks inviting but it has been cold where she is in meatspace and the idea of a hot tub sounds more enticing.

If you come along the path to the bathing area, you will find a whiteboard that says "nude bathing, company welcome" in graceful handwriting.

Gah

[(Anonymous)]

Someone squish me I'm a ball of nerveeeeeeeeessssss!!!!!!! *FLAILS FLAILS flaps FLAILS*

Re: Gah

[ng_moonmoth]

*squish*

Would you like something more intense? Like being wrapped up in a blanket, plain or weighted? Plus having someone lying partially or totally on top of you?

Or not.

[we_are_spc]

A group of people enters:
One is a winged man with pointy ears and red hair. His green eyes spot the grooming basket and he pops in several tools for feathered grooming before making more for himself. He grabs the lavender marker: Craimar, he writes, he/him. He grabs a sticker that says 'ask before touching, please.'
On either sidede of him are two more fliers, one of them looks older than Fallon, and people will be able to tell that she is some relation to her. Her nametag says that she is Trausio, she/her. She is a bit more open to hugs than her husbands, so she grabs a sticker that says hugs are welcome; ask befor cuddling, though.
The last is a flier with chestnut hair and brown-colored wings, He is one of the shiest, not having been to one of these before, Kaelaren, he writes. Grabbing a sticker that says 'ask before touching.
The three of them sit in such a way that they can brushe and groom each others hair and wings. The sighs of pleasure and slight purring as they do so makes a soft counterpoint for the next two who follow:

Fallon, most know. She also has red hair and wings that are a pretty veragated brown and red )A combination of her mom and Dah's patterns) and her hair is done up in brades that hug her head like a tiara. She is lothed to take them down-though she longs to have her hair brushed. She grabs a sticker that says 'cuddles are welcome and appreciated.


-US~

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I done flopped down close to Jay, but it's good to see the rest of you too. :D

[djbluejay]

Jay follows looking a bit the worse for weah. His usually well-kept dreds look a bit undone at the ends, and he's a bit nervous. He flickers between young teen and adult with the stress of trying to stay calm with everything that's been going on. He flops beside a bodypillow and buries his face. He's affixed a nametag that says "Jay," and has grabbed a sticker that says 'ask befoe touchin' and would rather not have direct contact right away.

He watches Fallon fine NG_moonmoth, and smiles. It's good to see a friendly face here, and it gets him to relax, if only a li'l.

[thnidu]

The foot-long winged dragon, still cuddling with the small humanoid, telepathically whispers "Excuse me— I"m lovin' this, but I think I see someone who needs some help and maybe I can give them some." He flies to the kitchen, where he takes a napkin in his claws and wraps some shortbread and an orange in it. Then, carrying the package in his claws, he flies over to Jay and lands next to him. "Want some snacks?" He unwraps the napkin.

Think I'm in need of a cuddle party.

[bunnylane74]

Tank top shirts defeated expression and.. trigger warning. Not dealing well with crappy emotions and a crappy day with a side of crap trust issues with the man that may be cheating on me. I think I hate today.

Re: Think I'm in need of a cuddle party.

[(Anonymous)]

Pull up some couch or some cushions or some floor, we have snacks! What would you like to do?