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

roomie option.

[snarkbark]

[Truth be told, Ben hasn't been spending a lot of time in the communal area, save for sleeping. There's so much to do and so much to see outside after all. But he's not completely avoiding it. He needs somewhere to change, after all, and it's on one such occassion, switching one baggy shirt for another, that he smells the aroma of food and turns, with an eager smile to volunteer. Honestly, it doesn't even matter if Taako was talking to him at all. ]

Okay. [Let him just, pull his shirt back on and then, opening his mouth --] Gimme. I'll need three samples, to be sure.

[spellslots]

You get one and then you can be patient and wait a whole five minutes until the rest of it is ready.

[He holds out the fork, a seared piece of pork skewered on the end. Taako doesn't mind if Ben wants to actually take the fork or just grab the pork off it, so its held at roughly mouth height.]

Tell me if the seasoning's alright.

[snarkbark]

Boo.

[At his essence, Ben's a lazy boy. He cranes his neck forwards to snatch the pork off the fork with his teeth. He chews thoughtfully, as though he knows what it is he's supposed to be tasting. As though he isn't seventeen and capable of eating his weight in food that tastes mostly like grease. ]

More salt, probably. Put I can just put that on myself.

[spellslots]

[What is it with humans and salt? He considers tasting it himself to confirm the salt thing, but looking at the meat makes his stomach turn so that plan goes quickly down the drain.

He'll just have to put a little faith in Ben and adds a pinch more salt to the seasoning before he tosses the rest of the pork through, then adds it into the pan.]

Get yourself a plate if you don't wanna eat straight outta the pan.

[snarkbark]

Well, I can say it'd be the first time, but it'll be the first time eating food off a plate, too, so. [A casual shrug, and off he goes to fetch a plate. No fuss, no muss. It's nice to have someone cook for him, after all, and to have the option to eat it in a civilized manner.

If momma could see him now. ] I have a big appetite, so -- [plate held out, smile in place.]

[spellslots]

That goes without saying, I'm sure.

[The 'teenager with a big appetite' thing. That's universal.

While Ben is fetching his plate, Taako uses Mage Hand to give the pan an occasional shake up, most of his attention focused on finishing up the sauce that's meant to accompany the meat. That part he can taste, and he's happy with the flavor, so he takes it off the heat, along with the steamer that was sitting it.

What ends up on Ben's plate is steamed green beans, neatly arranged slices of pork, and a creamy champagne sauce.]

You better eat the vegetables too, my man.

[That's also universal.]

[snarkbark]

I can give them a try. We're usually on a meat based diet, back home.

[As though he won't anything given to him, really. It looks fancy and homely at the same time, perhaps because the last home cooked meal made for him was one made by his grandfather. And that was a long time ago, now. It smells fantastic too. He beams, taking a seat at the edge of the nearest flat surface before he gets tucked in.

After the first bite of one of each thing crammed onto his fork, he looks up, wide eyed. ] -- Amazing. [aah-mashh-eng.]

[spellslots]

[He dishes himself up some of the beans and the sauce, suddenly wishing he'd picked up a loaf of bread or something to go with it. Note to self: next time.]

Well, yeah.

[He's Taako, like, from TV. Of course it's amazing.]

This is what I do. I mean, and the cool magic shit, but this is better.

[Cool magic shit is fun and all, but his heart lies with cooking, and he'd give up adventuring if it meant he could go back to his show.]

[snarkbark]

The question is, [talking while chewing: a good habit from a boy with good manners,] do you do cool magic shit while cooking. Because that would be amazing.

[Maybe the only cooking show Ben would find worthwhile to watch, in fact.]

[spellslots]

[Taako is, most of the time, pretty hard to read, because he likes to act as if there's never anything wrong, like he doesn't give a shit about anything. But Ben asks if he uses magic while cooking and Taako's hand stills on his fork for just a second, tension creeping into his posture before he banishes it with a grin.]

Hell yeah I do, what's transmutation magic for if not doing rad shit?

[He hears June's voice, telling him that it wasn't his fault, it wasn't his magic that killed those people, but it's a hard fear to shake.]

[snarkbark]

[By nature, Ben is a naturally empathetic boy. By choice, he's also someone who pays close attention to people and all their little tics. There's a pause, while he chews and thinks that something changes on Taako's face before it's gone, and then he shrugs. ]

True that. If you aren't doing cool shit, do you even deserve cool magic?

[He's not his dad. He can't force himself into people's inner most thoughts and drag out what they're really feeling. So he just rolls with it, presumes nothing is wrong at all. ]

[spellslots]

[As if to demonstrate, and to keep away that creeping unpleasantness lurking in his thoughts, Taako picks up an apple from the nearby fruit bowl, tossing it into the air.

It's an orange when he catches it (and it'll be going in the garbage later, when no one is looking).]

You have no idea how boring most wizards are. All they care about is stuffy books, it's sad as hell.

[snarkbark]

I've never met a wizard.

[A few witches, maybe. ] Is that what you are? A wizard?

[spellslots]

Sure as shit am, my man!

[Probably the coolest wizard?? At least in his own opinion, which is the only one that matters.]

It's pretty great, if I do say so myself.

[snarkbark]

I met a witch once. She was kinda spooky? A little goth, which didn't really dispel any stereotypes.

[As he says that, it's obvious he's eyeing Taako to see if he dispels any stereotypes. He's not Gandalf for one, so it's a good start.] No wizards though.

[spellslots]

[He's definitely not Gandalf. He's Gandalf's hot young cousin.]

If you're going to meet any wizard, you picked the best one! I'm absolutely sure I'll leave a great lasting impression.

[Why does that sound vaguely ominous.]

[snarkbark]

[A pause, glancing down at his plate.]

-- It's uh, not food poisoning is it?

[spellslots]

[The lightheartedness drops almost instantly.]

No! I don't-- fuck. It's fine, I swear. I checked everything.

["Food poisoning" isn't the same as "straight up actual poisoning" but the suggestion is still enough to make his heart leap into his throat.]

[snarkbark]

[ah. Ben's quick to lift a hand, mouth grimacing.] I was joking. Mostly. I can take a little three hour bathroom session if all goes awry, don't worry. Your food tastes like, way better than the six day KFC binge my mom had us on before I came here so -- [a thumbs up??]

[spellslots]

[Okay, deep breath, chill the fuck out.]

Uh, yeah, listen. [He feels like he should explain so Ben doesn't think he's a loony.] I used to do this shit professionally until my asshole assistant poisoned forty people and pinned it on me, so it's, you know? One of those things.

[snarkbark]

[Ben's immediate, internal reaction is yikes and the external reaction on his face isn't too far off that either. He's frozen, comically, with his fork inches from his mouth, face the very picture of uuuhhhhhhhh.]

Damn.

[damn] No insensitive stomach ache jokes. Notes.

[spellslots]

Yeahhhhh.

[He recovers pretty quickly after that, if by "recover" we mean "shoves it down real deep so he doesn't have to think about it anymore".]

It was this whole thing, totally cool now, but I would definitely appreciate no stomach ache jokes.

[snarkbark]

I mean, if it makes you feel any better, I probably wouldn't stay dead for long. In the theoretical universe where I wouldn't be joking.

[He pats his belly. ] But I got you, brother. I don't have any allergies so, you know. Nothing to worry about there either.

[spellslots]

[Thanks Ben you're a pal.

But only part of what he said catches Taako's attention.]

That's a, uh, interesting assumption to make. What makes you think you wouldn't stay dead?

[snarkbark]

All the times I didn't stay dead, probably.

[He's grinning, which is -- concerning, probably.]