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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[Wanda wouldn't say that she's relaxed since her arrival in Riverview Quarantine, and she hasn't always found it easy to get to know the other displaced here either. Still, this feast has brought out the best in her. It's a small remnant of the life she used to have, a piece of home that no longer exists and for a day it's nice to pretend even just a little bit that everything is okay. She's not Scarlet Witch, she's not the former pawn of Ultron or Hydra, or the one responsible for twelve deaths in Lagos. Instead she's slipped on the identity of Wanda Maximoff, one with far less troubles than she had back home.]

It is, and I am. [She looks over to the dark haired man offering his hand, and it's easy enough for her to give her own to shake, to offer him a small smile.] And you are?

[ He shakes with a firm grip. ]

Call me Dick. Just wanted to drop off some, uh- [ Well. Cheap packaged snacks. He glances over at the rest of the table, where there's some clear evidence that he's kind of misread the intended food vibe of the party. He has the grace to look a little abashed. ]

I almost went for the fruit basket, but I thought you'd be overrun.

[Wanda's gaze follows his to the snacks, but she's far from offended by the offering. He looks a little embarrassed but Wanda's eyes alight with recognition. She picks one up for herself and tears it open.]

I'm glad you didn't. We have a lot of main dishes and sides but no snacks. And these are some of my favorites.

[She's not just saying it to make him feel better, either. With money being scarce most of their lives, Wanda and Pietro used to eat a lot of cheap food, things like these pre-packaged snacks.]

Would you like anything to eat? There's still plenty to enjoy. [And the portability of the snacks means she can serve him up whatever he likes. There's stew and rolls, vegetables, and tarts as well. There's even some of Sam's macaroni and cheese left, her tarts, and his pecan pie.]

Sure. [ The worry vanishes from his face, traded out for a broad, warm smile. ]

Where I'm from this stuff was- well, you could find it anywhere. We weren't always in one spot for the holidays, so we tended to go the comfort food route.

[ Which is sort of the feeling he'd been wanting to impart. ]

[Wanda doesn't hesitate to slip back over to where the food is being served. She doesn't ask what he prefers but just starts serving up a bit of everything. The plate is first, with vegetables and rolls, Sam's macaroni and cheese and one of the fruit tarts as well.]

It was much the same with my brother and I. We never could really make plans for the holidays but the food we had some control over. With that and each other what more would we need?

[She hands the plate off, as well as a napkin with silverware--but she's not done. No, she grabs a bowl next and spoons some of the beef stew into it. It's her mother's recipe and most people have responded well to it.]

Is this enough?

[Never mind that she's handed him a small feast.]

You seriously don't have to- [ but it's clear he won't be stopping her. ] -wow, uh- definitely. That's fine.

[ And he'll accept both gratefully. ]

You got a minute to sit? Don't let me steal you away if you need to run, but- [ But with the way she's piled on his plate, he's kind of wondering if she's taken any time to enjoy it herself. ]

[Sorry, but people haven't really been helping themselves the way they ought to. She's taken it upon herself more than once to play hostess fully and serving good sized portions for everyone.]

No, by all means steal away. I haven't sat down much today. [Only when invited to join people. It's hard not to take the weight of this festival upon herself when she's the only one who knows how it's supposed to go. When there's no one else here to help her welcome others. She reaches up, brushing hair away from her forehead with the back of her hand.]

Just let me get something to drink and I will sit with you.

[ He steals an open seat near the table, digging into the pile while he saves a spot for Wanda. It's been... well, it feels like days since he's had a meal with more to it than cold cereal. He's been so tied into the mission, so pulled by the need to figure this place out and get out that his surroundings blurred.

He really should have something more. ]

If you were looking to make friends, I think you found about 200. [ And he flashes her a bright grin when she returns. ]

I should thank you again for sharing.

[She grabs a drink, something fruity and only barely alcoholic, before settling at the other open spot that Dick has saved for her. It pleases her to see him already eating, glad that the food is to his liking and everyone else's as well. Taking a sip of her drink, she offers him a smile in return.]

You can thank me by enjoying the food.

[Looking around, she considers the people there, placing flowers in their hair and around their wrists, drinking and eating and bringing more food to replenish everything that's quickly disappearing.]

As for friends, I think you're right, or at least the beginnings of some friendships. [Some people were more interested in the free food and flowers than the community spirit attached to them. Which is fine.] Though I think two-hundred is a bit much for me. Are you looking for any friends? There are more than enough to go around.

Oh, sure. Where there's room for one there's room for two hundred. [ And he's digging into that stew like someone starving. ]

Honestly I haven't really had the chance to get out much yet. Seemed like a good time to change that.

You have a good sense of timing if nothing else, I think. Now when everyone is out and at their best.

[Resting her chin in her hand, she watches him eat, a faint smile still playing on her lips at his enthusiasm. It warms her heart to see someone enjoying the stew that much.]

What have you been doing since you arrived, if not looking around Riverview?

I'm gonna be working with the police department. They're pretty hard believers in the "drop and punt" school of on the job training. [ His grin is a little sheepish. ]

Same question, back atcha. What are you doing when you're not...

[ well, this. ]

Mm, I went out beyond the fences to help deal with the monster threat, and in addition to getting to know my way around the city I've been looking for work.

[Wanda offers him a wry smile and shrugs.]

I have a few leads I'm pursuing, the help with this feast has given me some new contacts, but nothing is quite clicking yet.

[She's reluctant to join the perimeter guard, another team, considering so many of her own are still here. Perhaps she's not an Avenger here but she wants the freedom to work with her teammates as necessary. Besides, she's never been the sort of girl to fall in line with a chain of command. The Avengers...the Avengers are different. Were different.]

At least you're probably not gonna be low on options.

So, cross-universal kidnapping notwithstanding, what made to want to come out and... share?

[ And it kind of occurs to him a little too late how that might sound to Wanda. He winces. ]

...You don't have to answer if it's personal. I'm just- [ well, he's curious. ]

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introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

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