riverviewlogs | monthly mingle: SAMPREMI

Entry tags:

monthly mingle: SAMPREMI

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: sampremi
when: The month of March.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: there will likely be nsfw content; please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

sampremi

In the days leading up to March 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Sampremi. This is one of Riverview's four yearly celebrations of love, this one focused on sexual love and lust, and sexual relationships that might bloom into more (or not). Traditions associated with Sampremi are a roving street market, raves where residents can seek out some free love and get a little crazy, a massive week-long kink convention, and a tech expo with all-ages and adult options.

a celebration of sexual love and lust

Riverview has always been a place focused on love and building connections in order to foster community, and for a lot of people, sex is part of that, which makes it something worth celebrating! For people who use sex as a way to connect with others, even if only for a short time, or those who use it as a way to connect on a deeper level with the ones they already love, Sampremi is the perfect holiday to get their freak on in a host of new and exciting or comfortable and familiar ways. The holiday features a large kink convention, where various entities in the city can show off their toys, explain their niche kinks, and share their insights with anyone who might be interested, a series of raves that are both all-ages and adult where residents can find someone(s) to share a night (or a week, a few months, or even a life) with. This year, there is a large tech expo where cutting edge tech companies in the city are sharing their newest toys, like improved virtual reality, robotics advances, and many other types of toys - all for work, play, or, in the spirit of the holiday, pleasure. And for those who don't want to connect through sex or who aren't old enough to, there are dances, games, and an entire market full of street food that's meant for sharing, so they can connect in other ways.

● OOC NOTE: Please be sure to warn in subject lines for any threads involving sexual content, drug use or other content that fellow players may wish to avoid, and do not use the prompt mechanics to circumvent consent in your threads, as non-consensual sex is not permitted on the game communities. Items such as aphrodisiacs, VR, or party drugs mentioned in the prompts are intended to facilitate consensual sex, not to encourage sexual assault, or to 'trick' characters into having sex that they would not normally have. ICly, please remember that there is always security to intervene and make sure everyone is safe.

i. color raves

Advertised on flyers and digital screens around the city, made to pop as if they were under blacklight, is a series of what's called "color raves" that are happening in various large empty warehouse spaces around the city. They are called color raves for the bright colorful lights, the preponderance of glowsticks that attendees wave around, and for the brightly colored powder for attendees to play with, some of which is spiked with a mild party drug and some of which is just for fun (with the difference clearly marked, of course). There are three types of color rave - adult, all-ages, and youth raves.

(CW: DRUG USE) At each adult rave and all-ages rave there is one specific room where attendees can enter (after proving themselves 18+), and dance or play tag with brightly colored powder that contains small amounts of a legal party drug commonly available in Riverview, which is absorbed through the skin. Not much more intoxicating than having a few beers, the effects of the drug are a pleasant low-key buzzing euphoria, positive sensitivity to touch, a heightening of desires for intimacy, and a mild lowering of inhibitions. Once a character has been hit with the powder, the color lingers on the skin so other attendees can know who has partaken, but once the powder makes contact with a surface (whether it is skin, clothing, or structural) it deactivates, meaning that partakers can safely dance with non-partakers without sharing the intoxicating effects.

Adult raves will have bouncers at the door to ensure that anyone entering is 18+, and there is no limit to when and where the debauchery happens. Clothing is optional, showing skin is encouraged, and there are a lot of neatly tucked away spaces for attendees to get some time alone with one or more than one person, as well as spaces intended for orgies. The atmosphere is sex-positive and non-judgemental, open to any orientation or preference, with various forms of protection available for free, however, to ensure that everyone plays safe there are sober security teams out en masse at all premises to oversee the events.

All-ages raves are open to anyone who wishes to attend, regardless of age. There are bouncers at the door who will check ID and stamp the hand of anyone who is 18+ with a special ink that shows up under blacklight for easy identification. At all-ages raves, 18+ and underage characters can mingle, but there are specific areas set aside for only 18+ characters where they can get down and dirty either in private or the open.

Adult and all-ages raves will have only spiked powder to avoid confusion.

Youth raves are intended only for younger characters under 18, so they can stay up all night and dance like crazy, and meet other young people in the city. The legal drinking age in Riverview Quarantine is 14, and so anyone over 14 can enter and indulge in a few drinks, dancing, and playing tag with a version of the colored powder featured at the adult raves that won't give you anything but a sugar high. There is copious amounts of security on site to ensure that everyone is safe, as well as nurses and off-duty police officers to offer advice or care for anyone who overindulges out of lack of experience. Youth raves will have only sugar powder, brightly colored and sweet to the taste, meant for fun and to play tag with rather than to cause intoxication.

ii. kink convention

For the week of March 4-10 there will be a massive kink convention on the top floor of one of the large exhibition centers downtown, limited to characters 18+. The exhibition is a sexy adult informational convention featuring various kinks and fetishes. Whether you're into leather, latex, lace, or anything else, you'll be able to find the clothes, toys, guides, books, erotica, fiction, and a wide variety of other interesting stuff to explore. While the atmosphere is sex-positive and there are private and public (for the voyeurs and exhibitionists in the room) venues for having sex, it's definitely focused on exploration and information about different stuff to try.

If someone has thought of it and figured it sounded sexy, it can be found here, and with Riverview's high level of tech advancement and widespread acceptance of magic, things can get pretty kinky. Whatever your kink is, there's probably a VR program, sex toy, potion, or spell that can make it happen, and someone who's got the downlow on how to make it great.

iii. tech expo

Riverview prides itself on its technological advancement, and so, running concurrently with the Kink Convention on March 4-10 and on the bottom floor of the same convention center, various cutting-edge tech companies in the city will be sponsoring a Tech Expo. The expo features demonstrations of all of the most advanced technology that's coming into use in the city, ranging from advancements in VR and holotech to robotics and gadgets, you can find the latest and greatest in almost any area of modern technology. Attendees will be able to come with a friend or a date or anything in between to play VR games, enjoy holoprojected escape rooms and puzzles, meet robot pets, try out the most recent music player or that new cell phone that can bend without breaking, and a wide variety of other gadgets.

While most of the tech expo is all-ages and non-sexual, there is a decently-sized adult area where characters must show ID proving they are 18+ in order to enter, where the technology is mostly related to sexual use. This area features advanced sex toys, VR systems intended to explore sex with other people in a virtual environment with no strings attached, sexy video games and holoprograms, and many other sensual technological.

iv. street market

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 or more sticks or desserts baked with a narrow part in the middle for convenient tearing, everything is built to be shared. 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, though there are some booths (clearly marked and with someone to check ID) that sell actual aphrodisiac-laced foods and drinks to people who are 18+.

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(s), and due to the nature of the Quarantine, a lot of them involve aiming or other aspects of pretending to fight.

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.

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 Sampremi, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: saber XU; image ii: Jose Borges; image iii: Nicolas Sitbon; image iv: Andreas Rocha

navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ A part of Natasha is uncomfortable in the crowd— so many people, so many sounds, it's impossible to keep track of it all. And part of Natasha wants to keep track of everything.

Still, when she sees Tony offering part of his popcorn to, well, anyone, seems like. She takes a handful, and eyes his handful of prizes. ]

I'll play you.

[ She nods toward a nearby game— something with shooting— and tosses another piece of popcorn into her mouth. ]

[There's something familiar about her that Tony can't quite put his finger one, more than just the flash of red hair. Maybe that's what makes him grin easily at her.]

Shark me, you mean. But sure, I'm game.

[He knows how someone who can handle a gun holds themselves, if nothing else. But his ego can probably stand losing a few times.]

[ Something about him is familiar to her too— maybe that's what drove her to bug him. It isn't what she normally does, absent an objective or a mission.]

I don't know what you mean.

[ A small smile, and something that was almost a shrug. She turns to look back at the booth.. ]

I never play these things.

[ And in fact, when she made the offer, she was prepared to lose on purpose. (Most guys would give her the prize, anyway.) But things are more interesting, now. Maybe she wouldn't. ]

[He gives a small disbelieving huff of a laugh at that, but Tony just twists to follow her gaze and face the game himself. And absently holds the back of popcorn back out to her in offer.]

Me neither. But how hard can it be?

[Famous last words.]

[ It's true. She doesn't like video games. Still, she takes some more of the popcorn and walks up to the machine. ]

Are those supposed to be zombies?

[ That or aliens. The premise of the game seems simple enough, though: hit as many targets as possible before the timer runs out. ]

[Tony peers at it as he follows her over.]

Probably. Zombies are pretty standard targets.

[Frankly they just kind of look like little greet vaguely-humanish figures. He's guessing the aesthetics weren't really the main concern here. They can hope that the mechanics are in slightly better shape.

He sets the bag of popcorn down on the ground and gestures for his new friend to choose her weapon.]

Ladies first?

[ She raises an eyebrow. To tell the truth, she isn't sure what to pick. A pistol, probably, at this range, but who can tell how the mechanics work with imaginary guns. She picks one of the smallest guns available, mostly because it looks best sized for her hand. She takes an experimental shot at one of the targets— it seems like they give you a practice round. ]

Oh, it's a laser.

[ There's a hint of resignation she can't keep out of her voice. ]

Whatever happened to the classics?

Probably easier than trying to keep ammunition stocked.

[He can't help but sound a little amused by the obvious disappointment. Though it does lend credence to his idea that she definitely knows what she's doing.

Tony steps up to pick up his own gun, not paying a ton of attention to what it is. A handgun sure, he's not about to try anything fancy. He's probably going to get his ass kicked, but he can at least attempt to look good while he does it. The practice shot he takes does a least hit a target, so that's nice.]

It is just a game.

Careful, they'll hear you.

[ There's a little animation as the game moves to the first real level, with the zombies, doing a— are they dancing? That doesn't make sense. Natasha looks at Tony and raises a single eyebrow.

But then soon enough it's her turn. ] Oh.

[ She feigns a bit of surprise, but shoots her way confidently through the round, hitting most of the available targets. She misses a few on purpose, curious to see if he'll call her out. ]

I think they can handle it.

[Dancing zombies and all.

Tony watches with faint amusement, smile widening on every missed shot.]

You know, when I said you might shark me, I wasn't actually suggesting it.

[But he gamely steps up to take his own turn. Tony already knows how this is going to end, he isn't the greatest shot without JARVIS' assistance, but he does at least manage more than half. Honestly, he'll take it.]

[ At that comment, Natasha smiles. ]

It's a game, right?

[ After the round ends, a high score screen comes up. Natasha isn't actually in first, but she's invited to shoot in her initials anyway, which she does: N. R. ]

[He may have been about to answer, but then he sees her initials go up and Tony can't help but arch an eyebrow slightly. There's nothing saying it's anything connected to her actual name, but warning bells are going off in the back of his head anyway.

He does at least wait until she's put the gun back down to casually hold out a hand.]

Tony, by the way.

[ Even when Natasha uses an alias, she prefers to use her real initials. Nancy Rushman, Nadine Roman— it's easier to keep track of, easier to hear when someone else tries to turn her head.

Part of her freezes when he says his name is Tony, but she doesn't let it reach her face. ]

Natasha.

[ She extends her hand. She has a strong grip. ]

[Yeah, saw that coming. Way too much of a coincidence to ignore, given what he knows about everyone else around here. His mouth kicks up into a wry smile as he returns the handshake.]

You know, I've got a friend named Natasha.

Edited 2018-03-11 21:46 (UTC)

Do you?

[ Natasha's tone is breezy, casual. ]

I don't have many friends.

[ This is a lie Natasha has told so many times she occasionally believes it. She can't help but think of the Tony she knew, the last time they'd met, how needlessly cruel she'd been.

For the record, she hates alternate universes. She really ought to put that on her business card. ]

[So they're playing it that way, huh? Tony resists the urge to sigh a little. He's really not good at this cloak and dagger stuff -- prefers to bulldoze through it, usually, but that only works so well when you aren't a billionaire -- but part of Tony feels like he owes it to her to at least play along. Maybe it's some kind of apology to the woman this isn't.]

Yeah, me neither. Amazing what can happen by accident, though.

[He eyes her for a moment, then nods back at the game.]

You forgot to claim your prize.

[ Natasha's about to say that she doesn't believe in accidents, but realizes— ]

Oh.

[ She actually had forgotten. That wasn't part of the act. The prizes available for one round are pretty small— Natasha picks something that looks like a tiny black cat. ]

You know, I think I want the big one.

[ She speaks in the same mild voice, and tilts her head toward a much bigger stuffed cat. She doesn't have enough points for it— she'd need to get the actual high score. ]

Do you mind playing another round?

[Tony's eyes flicker between Natasha and the game for a second before he lets out a deeply amused snort.]

Sure, why not. Anything to help a lady.

[It's more dry than actually flirtatious, he somehow doubts this Natasha would be any less likely than the one he knows to remove various body parts if he annoys her too much.]

Thanks for indulging me.

[ She smiles, and it's still cold, but less coy, with more teeth. ]

You know, where I come from, Natasha is a very common name. Like John, or Mary. It never made me feel unique.

[ The loading screen comes up again, and she picks the same weapon. This time she won't miss.]

[He gives a little snort of amusement, folding his arms across his chest as he moves out of the way to let her have her turn. Tony might be watching her a little closer his time, like he can't help but try to catalog the differences now that he knows to look for them.]

Somehow I doubt you'd need a name to be unique. But what would you have preferred instead?

Oh, I didn't need to feel unique. I think that's an American ambition. [ And not a bad one-- it took her a long time to figure that out.

This time she hits all the targets, not hesitating. A perfect score. ]

I heard there have been three different Tony Starks, here. I wonder which one you are.

[He can't bring himself to be surprised by the sudden run of the table, but Tony claps politely anyway.]

There were three. [He glances briefly at her as he steps up to take his turn.] Down to two now. And I really don't know how to answer that question.

[The fact that the other call him old is not something he especially wants to share. Maybe that's why he puts a little more effort into his shots this time, though he still misses a couple.]

Oh darn. You beat me.

[ Good news, Tony, you're not really old to her. ]

I told you. I want the big cat.

[ She waits a minute for the prize to be brought out. It's not enormous, but it's definitely a bit larger than an actual cat would be and takes a whole hand for her to hold. ]

You aren't half-bad at shooting, you know. [ It's a silly thing to say. But for once, she doesn't know where to begin the other questions. ]

[He shrugs slightly, watching Natasha claim her prize with obvious amusement. It's such an incongruous image, even with what little he can assume about her.]

I spent most of my life designing guns, you'd think I'd at least pick some practice with them up by accident.

[And not all of the targeting the suit does is computer assisted. He's good with angles.]

[ This time, she can say it: ]

I don't believe in accidents.

[ They were a novice agent's favorite cover. She found it difficult to believe this place would bring in any version of Tony Stark by accident, either. ]

Do you have any other friends here?

iv.

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