riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

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introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Sampremi Celebration
when: March 8th - March 15th
where: In several different locations in the downtown area of the Inhabited City.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

sampremi celebration

In the days leading up to March 8th, new residents may notice advertising around the city, everywhere from digital screens to paper flyers pasted on blank walls, featuring the name of the spring holiday in celebration of new beginnings, new love, and lust: Sampremi. The advertising mentions that there will be street festivals set up at various locations throughout the week and lists where the market will be set up on each day.

street market

The main draw of the holiday is a roaming street market that features special treats and street food that can only be found during Sampremi, a bustling bargain market with any kind of goods you can think of, and fair games that allow a person to win a prize for that special someone.

i. street food

One of the major draws of the festival is the special street food that can only be obtained this time of year. Almost everything you can buy at the Sampremi Festival is meant to be shared - whether it's one piece of meat on two sticks or desserts baked with a narrow part in the middle for convenient tearing, everything is built in twos. The stalls sell everything from cups of soup, sandwiches, roasted or fried meat, deep-fried vegetables and cakes, dumplings, donuts, bagels, turnovers, and anything else you can think of.

Many of the savory dishes are based on the meat of a particular fowl native to the moon Riverview is situated on that has a taste and texture halfway between chicken and duck, cooked to be spicy (ranging from very mild to throat-burning). Many of the desserts are based around a fruit native to the moon that is spherical, red-orange, and has a light sweet taste that is similar to a combination of mango, pineapple, and strawberry. Both ingredients are considered to be aphrodisiacs. Of course, the foods aren't actually aphrodisiacs and any effect is purely placebo.

ii. fair games

The festival features an entire row of fair games ranging from very high-tech games featuring virtual reality and neon holograms to extremely old-fashioned games with darts and balloons or balls and glasses. The games all have prizes in various shapes and sizes, with the standard stuffed animals, but also with goods and special items donated by any business in the city; ranging from tiny prizes to huge and expensive ones.

Due to the nature of the holiday, many of the stalls are set up to cater to winning a prize for your partner, and due to the nature of the Quarantine, a lot of them involve aiming or other aspects of pretending to fight.

iii. shopping

Originally, the part of the street festival that involved an actual market, with stalls and booths set up with goods, was aimed primarily at romantic trinkets like flowers or jewelry, gifts intended to be purchased for a loved one. As time has gone by, however, this aspect of the market has increased, with many businesses participating, though the emphasis is still on small businesses and anything relating to local culture rather than booths for any of the larger more corporate businesses.

There is still plenty of jewelry to be found, for sure, mostly handmade and artisan, but the scope of the Market has widened immeasurably. The Sampremi Market is an excellent place to find specialty foods, clothing, jewelry, art, or other goods that were originally native to cultures on other planets in this reality, or other realities altogether. Many residents in the city use the market to share their unique cultural goods and traditional dress with others.

iv. adult

In a side alley of the Sampremi Market on any day, one can find an area roped off with a red silken cord, attended by members of the Perimeter Guard in casual dress who will ID anyone entering to make sure they are 18+. Once characters are permitted entry, they will find all of the adult offerings that the market has to offer.

Since Sampremi is, historically, a celebration of lust and physical love, the adult offerings are all set up to cater to two or more people of any sex or gender configuration. One can find an adult or sexualized version of almost anything that's featured in the main market, from fair games to adult goods to street food laced with actual aphrodisiacs (there are always warnings for food spiked in this way to avoid accidental consumption).

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to set up headers for a communal floor, or threads open to roommates for the purpose of getting to know each other. Or if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set at the Sampremi Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit (left to right): Theo Prins, andreasrocha @ tumblr, hrormir @ deviantart, nkabuto @ deviantart

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I. Street Food (OTA)

There is nothing in the universe, in any universe, that gets Lola's attention like food. She grew up around it, and while she only recently started learning how to cook, it was always a thing her father had almost the same care and attention to as her. She came first, but it was a narrow victory. So naturally Lola is using a little of her tips to try a thing here or there. Taking her time to really experience the foods and not just taste them. ...Unless they're too spicy, because Lola's a bit of a wimp, who promptly hunts down a sweet dessert to take the edge off.

"Ohmygod, you have to try this! It is the best," Yes, yes she is saying that to anyone that happens to be nearby. She's just like that.

III. Shopping (OTA)

Lola had bought herself the essentials as quickly as she had the cash for it. Most of her stipend from the government went to clothes, make-up, and personal care. Maintaining her hair until she could find a stylist, so little was under her control. But she could still look and feel like herself. Now? Now she was exploring just to see what the local color was like. Looking for bits and bobs she could wear in her hair, or on her person to really make her look pop.

Plus a lot of the things were shiny. Sure, they were meant for lovers to buy their significant others, but she loved herself way more than any boy or girl she'd ever known. So it counts right? "Hey, do you think this is me?"

V. Housing - Floor Two (Closed)

One morning the collected members of Floor 2 can wake up either to the sound of someone in the kitchen, or the smell of freshly made breakfast. This is as much a test as it is a present, you see finding ingredients was easy enough. Just... she was fairly sure the eggs didn't come from a chicken. Some of the breads and batters were a little strangely colored, and generally everything had that thin layer of alien to them.

So she needed to test them and figure out what was different. And who else to test on but her roommates! She couldn't eat all of this. The fruits were easiest to test, little samples as she cut them up to put in pancakes and waffles. There was some french toast, bacon (no idea what animal it was), eggs in a few different cooking methods. Lola hummed to herself, something upbeat and pop, as she listened to her earbuds and moved around. This would be a great way to really get to know everyone. And... maybe stop being freaked out sharing a room with more guys than she was used to.

It freaked her out, okay!? You'd be freaked out too.

Scott is totally an adult. A grown ass man, in fact. But hey, he remembers the old rule of college: never, EVER, turn down free food. Especially if offered by a cute girl.

"Hey, this is really good!" Yes, he's talking with his mouth full. "What's it called?"

"No idea. I picked it up because the stand smelled like my dad's cantina. And the spices are almost what you use in Mexican food."

Lola didn't really mind the talking with mouth full thing. She was too excited by, well, everything to get that detail. She also wasn't detail oriented, what with her picking food based on smell not name or ingredients. "It's so great, everything being almost like home. But still unique."

"Yeah, almost." Scott's not a connoisseur in the food area--a few years of San Quentin chow kind of killed the palate. But still, this was damn good.

"Not being like home is kind of okay with me." Life as a hero was not as fun as he'd thought. Or maybe that was all that 'being on the run after a daring prison break' thing. Hard to tell

"You're not fond of home? Guess you're lucky to be here then." Lola did miss a lot about home, but she had to admit there were a lot of things not being known about her helped. That this whole fresh start thing was lonely, but maybe not bad.

OOf, go right for the gut punch, huh?

"There's a lot I don't miss about that place." Truth. "Mostly people that I miss, but that's not the same thing." And he's pretty sure Cassie showing up here would be Bad Parenting.

Clark's bed is often empty. He's around just often enough for them to know it's actually taken by someone, and if he sleeps there it's nothing longer than a few hours' nap. If anyone's asked, he prefers the outdoors.

This morning he's gone grocery shopping to replace some of the items he saw running low in the kitchen. The whole floor is filled with the aroma of fresh breakfast. He knocks before entering, putting the brown bags down on the counter and peering over the plates.

'Hey. What are you cooking?'

"Um, everything. And I'm not sure, is it still an omelette if the eggs aren't from a chicken? Or bacon if it isn't pig?"

At least some of the men were aware of the complicated nature of this rooming. Lola felt bad they didn't sleep in their beds. Maybe if they rotate around who sleeps where and put up curtains? An idea for a later day! Right now, breakfast, "Help yourself, I made enough for everyone. Mostly to try as many different fruits, veggies, and spices I found."

She did work at a diner, so she had some idea of what could be used where from the local groceries that weren't quite... normal. For a girl from a city without aliens, monsters, and all that.

The food looks far more interesting than one's run-of-the-mill breakfast. He's never seen that colour on egg or meat before. It smells delicious.

None of the groceries need to be put away in the fridge in a hurry, so Clark picks up a fork and cuts himself a slice of the ham. The flavour bursts on his tongue. It complements a little bit of the toast and egg perfectly. Clark takes out a plate to help himself to more. He doesn't need to eat that much, it's for the experience of sharing the meal.

'I'd only worry about unknown allergies.'

(He'll be fine, but humans might not.)

The color was one of those mixed blessings, everything is so new and different but she had to trust the shop owner that this food was good, and not spoiled, and every trick she knew to be aware of ingredients was useless. Breakfast was the one thing Lola got to cook most (dad had to open the Cantina in the mornings) so of course she did a good job.

"Yeah, not really sure what to do about that. I don't have any allergies but I've never had to deal with any of this," Lola mused over it, leaning on the counter. "Maybe they do allergy tests here like at home."

'Only one way to find out.'

Clark's appreciation for the food is in the slow chewing, and the little nods to himself as he enjoys the flavour. He's eaten quickly and quietly without wolfing it down.

'I'd say we have a winner,' he says, finally, as he puts his fork and spoon down on the plate.

Lola Pacini | Two OTA + One Closed to Roommates

Street foooooood

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