introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

[riverviewmod]

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

navigation

Comments

[ragnarsson]

Ivar looks up as one of his roommates approaches him. He hasn't met this one before, and considering the types of colorful people he's already encountered on this floor, it's with a combination of curiosity and wariness that he assesses Michael with. Still, he sounds polite enough as he answers, though that might just be due to being surrounded by three kinds of weaponry.

"My name is Ivar. Ivar The Boneless to some." No doubt the nickname will make sense if Michael has seen him crawling about. He's got his knife in his hands as he speaks and he plays around with it idly as Michael mentions some unfamiliar things. "If pizza is a food, then yes, I'll have some." In his time, Vikings had only just discovered the Mediterranean. It would take a while for the food to make its way across Europe.

[prisonking]

"Guess you don't need bones with that much muscle." Legs or no legs, Michael has no doubt this kid could wipe the floor with him. The casual way Ivar plays with his knife, the same way Michael twirls a pen, is enough to convince him the weapons display isn't for show.

"You'll like pizza. Everyone likes pizza." He's already walking to the kitchen to get the pizza started, talking back over his shoulder. He returns with the popcorn, hot and buttery in a bright bowl. Michael's a snack guy. He's more likely to go through a bag of chips, a chocolate bar and a few bowls of popcorn in front of the computer than sit down for a proper meal.

He tosses a handful into his mouth and sits on the edge of of his bed, holding the bowl out to Ivar while he munches.

"I'm guessing you're not from the same universe as the other guys."

[ragnarsson]

Ivar sits up a little bit straighter and doesn't hide the pleased expression on his face when Michael compliments him. He's used to having to prove himself every day of his life. For Vikings, physical prowess is everything. Those who can't fight are little more than useless. Here, he's slowly realizing that's not the case.

"I'll take your word for it." Being a growing teenager, Ivar is always hungry, so he wipes his fingers off on his vest, and takes a handful of the popcorn. Food is always important. He takes another handful as he answers Michael.

"You mean Loki and those others? I don't think so. From what I can tell, I'm from way in the past for most people. It was a hell of a shock ending up here at first." But he's slowly adjusting.

[prisonking]

Michael returns the smile. He'd tutored rich high-school kids during college, and mentored at-risk youth on the weekends once he'd gotten a job at the firm. Teenage boys aren't so different, no matter when or where they're from.

"Yeah, no kidding. Me too. And I don't like surprised." He munches on another handful of popcorn thoughtfully, drawing his legs ups onto the bed to sit cross-legged.

"Honestly, I was scared. Still am, to tell you the truth. No one I knew came with me, and I'd never believed a power like what brought us here existed. I'd never really believed in god, or gods, and now I'm sharing a bedroom with a guy who claims to be Loki. Thinking about it too long gives me a headache."

He pinches the bridge of his nose, frowning. It's the closest Michael's come to being honest with anyone in Riverview. Maybe because sitting here, with Ivar like this, reminds him a little bit of home, and his old life. Before everything had gone to hell.

[ragnarsson]

Ivar's good at reading people. It comes from a lifetime of having to do things at a slower speed than everyone else, which gave him time to think things through. He gets the feeling this isn't something Michael tells everyone. "Gods I can accept. I've worshiped Odin and his kin my entire life. Everything else..." He shrugs. Accepting it all had been easy for him, raised on such fantastic tales of the Norse gods as he was. "Getting into impossible situations tends to run in my family."

He looks downcast, reaching for another handful of popcorn as he mutters. "I miss my brothers." They were all the family Ivar had left in the world. As much as he butted heads with them, Bjorn and Sigurd especially, they'd looked out for him his whole life. The four of them were the only ones who knew he had more potential than just being a helpless burden. And they needed him. How were they ever going to match wits with the king's forces without him around to plan their battle strategies?

[prisonking]

God has always felt like a stranger to Michael, something distant and inaccessible, too high above his head for him too reach. What he does have experience with is the impossible, especially when it comes to family.

"I miss my brother too." Michael rubs a hand over the soft bristle of his hair, and down the back of his neck. Just like Lincoln used to comfort him, whenever he cried, or was sick, no matter how old he got. The way Michael tried to comfort himself when his brother wasn't there, and he was alone in the darkness of his mind, and the world. It had never worked.

"I keep thinking he'll turn up, like he always does. That I'll be walking to work and hear something in the street, and there he'll be- picking a fight with someone, probably." He turns his face into his shoulder for a moment, just breathing. Or trying to. Forcing his throat to open, and his eyes to stop burning.

Michael's been putting off his emotions for days. He's been too busy. Stretched too thin. He can't handle this place, these people, and his new responsibilities, and still feel his feelings too. Not without Lincoln.

"How many brothers do you have?" He shoves a handful of popcorn into his mouth. At least butter and salt are still good.

[ragnarsson]

"Sounds like your brother and mine would get along. They like fighting, drinking, and women, in that order." Ivar had forever been following them around in his childhood, looking up to them as the example of what good Vikings were like. They were the only ones not to look down on him for not having use of his legs. They'd taught him how to fight, and if he didn't always like them, he'd never stopped loving them.

Bjorn and Ubbe, the oldest two, had taken over as father figures for him after their own had disappeared for ten years. Hvitserk was the quiet one of the bunch, but Ivar could always tell what he was thinking. And Sigurd...well, there was a reason Ivar wasn't missing him as much as the other three. Still, not having his brother around to taunt and tease him felt strange.

He can see Michael's reaction, and while the Viking is usually a blunt little shit, he has enough tact not to say anything. The subject of family was hard for him too.

"Four. Which sometimes feels like four too many." He tries to smile, but the expression doesn't quite reach his eyes. It hurts thinking about the rest of the Ragnarssons too much. "But they're the only ones I can count on. I'm the youngest, so they've always looked out for me." Now, finally when Ivar could turn around and finally repay them by helping out during their attack on England, he'd ended up here instead. Life wasn't feeling very fair right now.

[prisonking]

"That's him in a nutshell. I'm the youngest too. Our parents died and he raised me, more or less." He rubs over his head again. Proud. Ashamed. Lincoln had sacrificed so much of his life for Michael to have a shot at making the best of his. Now his brother needed him, and here he was. Useless.

Seeing the expression on Ivar's face was like looking into a mirror, give or take a couple decades. Michael can feel the weight of his burden as intensely as if it were his own. It takes a moment for him to come back to himself.

"I'm starting to think we might be related." Michael laughs, tossing a piece of popcorn at Ivar. Anything to cut the tension and lighten the mood. They've both got enough misery in them to last a lifetime, what's one night off?

[ragnarsson]

He's glad to get off the subject of family for the moment. He loves his brothers, but they're in England, and he's here. That's not going to change unless one of them ends here. There's a thought that both makes him happy and worries him. He can't see any of his brothers adjusting to their new surroundings as easily as he had. They'd likely try to fight to get home instead. Well, no need to worry about what the future holds. He's got enough on his plate as it is.

Ivar tries to catch the piece of popcorn in his mouth. He doesn't quite get it and it ends up falling to the floor. Oh well. He'll clean things up later. "Sure, give or take a couple thousand years." Trying to picture what the future must be like that far ahead has been nothing short of mind boggling. To think that people have survived that long with Ragnarok happening is hopeful.

[prisonking]

Michael tosses Ivar another piece. Second time's the charm. With all the craziness going on in their communal living space, a few pieces of popcorn on the floor are the least of anyone's problems.

"Do you like it here, so far? I know it must be a lot, but there's gotta be a few perks. Plenty of food, indoor plumbing, easy water access... Have you played any video games, yet?" He throws two flakes up into the air and catches one, the other bounces off his nose. Possibly landing in someone else's bed.

"My nephew loves the arcade. He practically lived there." Michael wrestles his brain away from thoughts of where LJ is now, sixteen and on the run. Another innocent caught in the crossfire. He hasn't been the best role model.

[ragnarsson]

Ivar tilts his head back just far enough to catch the second piece in his mouth. Success! He chews the piece before giving his answer.

"Considering the amount of work that goes into a bath at home and how little there is here, there's some things I've adjusted to well." Compared to the the rest of the people of Europe in the Dark Ages, Vikings were far more caught up in cleanliness then the others. They actually bathed on a regular basis, which meant a whole lot of work when the bathtub had to filled with pails of water and heated up before you could bathe.

The mention of video games gets Michael a somewhat withering look that's been perfected by teenagers since time immemorial, the kind that says the adults in the room are being dumb again. "You're too optimistic. I can barely work the phone they gave me."