monthly mingle: SAMPREMI

[riverviewmod]

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

Comments

[hylights]

[The cat warbled a digitised miaow in return. Zelda smiles down at it, still marvelling at how well put-together it is. It's something else to see a machine animal on a smaller scale like this.

She glances back up at Dorian, surprised crossing her features. Talking machines...?]

Oh--! You mean that you are? [A beat.] Then that's what that woman thought you were...

[Goddess, how embarrassing. She flushes at the thought of it. She had tried not to think too much about what 'sex bot' meant, but it's hard not to given the festivities.]

[sentiences]

[ Dorian just smiles softly. ]

A common mistake, considering my location and my obvious look. I don't blame her.

[hylights]

[She can't imagine it being a common mistake, since she's only just learning that robotic people are even possible. Much less can be used for.... that. After a moment Zelda remembers to blink, and turns away for a moment to put the catbot back in its show pen.]

I-I see. I hope you don't mind my saying so... [Manners, manners, control your excitement Zelda.] But I've never met a talking machine before! How amazing.

[sentiences]

[ He does his best to disguise his bemusement. ]

They're quite common. At least in my reality. My name is Dorian. Designation DRN-0167.

[hylights]

I'm Zelda; it's a pleasure to meet you, Dorian.

[She puts out her hand to shake, regaining her composure.]

Much of the technology here is beyond what we have in my world, other than some of the ancient kind we've discovered. We don't have the knowledge to build things like this-- [A hand sweeps out to gesture at the Tech Expo around them.] --ourselves anymore.

[sentiences]

[ He shakes it warmly. ]

Oh? Well, this is very similar to the city I work in. So it's all normal for me. I imagine you have a lot of questions though?

[hylights]

I do, though not as many as a month ago. I've been taking lessons in how to use the computers, and I try to do research on my own time as well. I'm fortunate that some of the technology is similar to items I've seen before at home, even if we weren't sure of their uses.

But it must be an easier transition for you then, if this is like your own home.

[sentiences]

To some degree. As a machine, there are some things I need to relearn.

[ And accept. ]

[hylights]

Really? Like what?

-- if you don't mind my asking. [Is it rude to ask a machine what they need to relearn? She's not sure.]

[sentiences]

The rules of engagement. I wasn't allowed to be on my own until coming here.

[ Here it doesn't seem to matter. ]

[hylights]

Rules of engagement...? Oh.

[She realises he must mean something about his function. If the Guardians were programmed to work only in certain ways, then was a robotic person the same? This is getting ever more complex to think about.]

Then it must be a very new experience, regardless of how familiar a city itself must be. How are you finding it?

[sentiences]

Oh, I'm rather enjoying it. It's very freeing.

[ Having money, clothes. Anything he could want. ]

What about you?

[hylights]

[Zelda brightens, pleased to hear that it's not too intimidating for Dorian. Her underlying fascination is still there too, and it's intriguing to find out more about how he feels about such things.]

I'm enjoying it for the most part. There's such a wealth of information here that I could occupy myself for years with it. My understanding of machines is already much better than it was at home, and I'm hoping I can apply what I learn to the technology of my own world.

[sentiences]

You said that the level of technology is a bit lower in your world. What do you currently possess?

[hylights]

That's a bit of a complicated question, actually. We don't have anything like the phones, trains or computers in our world. Many thousands of years ago though, the ancient Sheikah did make a great many machines that work in similar ways. It's just that the knowledge was mostly lost over time.

[sentiences]

What did they make?

[ A long time ago . . . curious. ]

[hylights]

[By way of response, Zelda unhooks a rectangular object from her belt and holds it out to Dorian. It clearly has a blank screen in the middle, and looks for all the world like a tablet, albeit with odd designs around the edges and a large handle.]

This is one of their creations: the Sheikah Slate. It does a number of things, like holding a map of Hyrule and taking pictures.

[She switches it on and the screen activates, showing a grid of twelve photos. It's obviously stuff Zelda's been taking snaps of around the tech expo.]

It took us quite some time to work out how to get it operational again.

[sentiences]

[ Interesting. Similar to a tablet. The lights run on Dorian's face, blue crisp lines that stand out brightly. ]

Fascinating. The power source is unlike anything I've seen before.

[hylights]

[Wow, it's almost like they match. Zelda grins despite herself, and flips the Slate back over.]

We don't know what powers it either. It could be a form of magic, but whatever it is still works after thousands of years. All of the ancient technology we found does, given the right triggers.

[sentiences]

Well, magic and energy are known to be linked or similar. Whether it's a magical battery or one simply using energy, I imagine the principles are the same.

[hylights]

Yes, I think so too. I'm hoping that while I'm here I might be able to identify what powers the Slate and learn more about it. There are definitely more tools at my disposal than what we had at home.

[sentiences]

Do you know anything else about them?

[hylights]

I know its purpose, and what functions it has. Some of them don't work here of course; they're tied to places in Hyrule. Being here hasn't affected the rest of the Slate's functions though.

[So it is self-contained in terms of power and process. Taking it away from Hyrule hadn't affected its use beyond the lack of teleportation and storage. She shakes her head, thinking it through.]

A lot of the original work to get it operational again though was done by people who are no longer with us.

[sentiences]

[ That's fascinating. Technology that lasts so long that the knowledge was forgotten. Still . . . ]

If they were so advanced, how was the knowledge lost? Did they face an attack of some kind? A disease?

[hylights]

[Zelda returns the Slate to her belt, pursing her lips in thought.]

It may well have been an attack. There have been many great calamities in Hyrule in the past. At some point, the knowledge was simply lost. It must have been devastating.