riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

Entry tags:

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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ She seems like a person nobody 'normal' says "no" to, as well. Clark shakes his head a little and smiles privately to himself before he follows her. There's no harm in a second opinion.

The shop they get to has one other patron busy with the full-length mirror. An assistant marches up to them, so Clark cuts in quickly. ]

Just walking shoes, please.

Walking shoes. He's got that aw shucks midwestern thing going on. It's in his accent (assuming his world lines up at all with hers) and his muscles and the way he holds himself. A no frills kind of guy, and not very fashion forward judging by how badly his clothing fits. It's not bad quality, and probably chosen with some care, just not a lot of confident thought.

The idea that he's choosing them to purposefully hide his physique doesn't occur to her, because who would do that if they looked like him?

The assistant looks a touch confused, but walks to one of the cramped shelves anyway, selecting a few pairs. Natasha leans into Clark just a little bit, more for the spectacle of camaraderie then anything. He's tall enough that she can't actually whisper and still be heard, so she's still just talking. "You found shoes in the other place that fit you, didn't you? You just didn't buy them because they all looked--" She's interrupted by the assistant coming back, flourishing some very ornate shoes. Reasonably comfortable looking, yes, but crafted for fashion first, a nod to the romantic holiday. "Like that."

[ Clark ducks his head so she can see the small smile and whisper if she wants to. She doesn't know how acute his hearing is.

He shrugs minutely with both shoulders. ]

Guilty as charged.

[ They're not bad-looking, it's just not what he wants. To the assistant, Clark shakes his head. ]

Not these, please. It's all right, we'll browse.

Once she does know how acute his hearing is, this might all seem a little foolish. If she ever finds out. Some day. Still, that hypothetical day is not today. She looks along the shelves of shoes which, while a little less ornate than the last stall, still cater to the flourish and sentimentality of the holiday. "I think... the market stalls might not be the best place for you to look right now."

It's not exactly outside the norm for a person to know a little more about this city. Perfectly normal to go exploring once you find yourself in a new place. Maybe not with the methodical precision Natasha has been using, or the heightened attention to detail, but he doesn't need to know about any of that. It's just one little piece. "There happens to be a very nice permanent store for shoes not too far from here. You might have better luck there? They aren't really catering to the festival, but in your case that's probably a good thing."

[ Clark, following her as she looks over the shelves, is coming to the same unfortunate conclusion. Pity, because there's a sale.

It's also not weird for her to know more about this than he does. It's not a women and shoes; people who look like they know what they're talking about are either faking it very well or they know their stuff.

Clark can hear the confidence in her voice and the steady hum of her heart. ]

You might be right. Thank you, Miss...

[ He waits for her to fill in her name. ]

"Oh, where are my manners?" She's not actually embarrassed, so her heart rate won't change at all to indicate that she is. Still, she does a good job of acting it. That's enough to fool most people. "Call me Nat." It's not quite an answer to his question, but it still fits. She holds out her hand for him to shake. "And you are?"

[ Clark shakes her hand. His grip is firm without being domineering. He's careful of his strength.

Her voice inflects but the rest of her doesn't follow. It's a very small incongruence, but it's also because she isn't really embarrassed.

Clark discreetly checks her for weapons anyway. He's not a suspicious person, but Ellie carries a gun and a knife on her. As well as 'Simon' with that metal arm. They're not the only ones.

If they're prepared for something, Clark feels he should at least keep alert, and make a note of who's around him. ]

Clark. Did you just arrive, Nat?

( please let me know if anything he hears/notices about her are not ok with you )

Natasha doesn't usually go in for conventional weapons. Clark won't see a gun or hunting knife anywhere on her, but she's got a pocket knife (an early lift from one of the market stalls) which is larger than most people might purchase, but also has a very beautiful ornate inlaid design. She can always claim that it's too large, but was just so pretty she couldn't resist it. It's also clear that her wrist braces have some sort of circuitry running through them. Maybe they're just really high tech? Maybe they vibrate or send electronic pulses through her. Some new treatment for a deep muscle issue?

He's free to speculate, but she's comfortable about them, whatever they are. She's not obviously nervous or in any sort of measurable heightened state. "I did. Today, actually. You?"

[[OOC: No, it's perfect. I'm trying to include things for him to pick up on, too. If there's ever anything that you write that I don't feel lines up, I'll tell you. I'm not shy about that, no worries.]]

[ She has a pocket knife within easy reach, ornate yet practical. If she's looking at him, she'll see his brow crease very slightly then smooth over as he glances at her wrists for what's subtly longer than normal. He can't figure out what those wrist braces are. They don't look like weapons, and she scans as human, but Clark knows better than to trust appearances.

He looks human too. ]

Last week, just before the storm.

[ In a day, she's already found a shoe store with something she thinks might suit him. Lois has the same kind of drive. ]

I'm from Metropolis. Have you heard of it?

Edited (tweaked) 2017-03-17 05:21 (UTC)

She notices him looking, but the idea that it's because he's scanning her Bites with x-ray vision and is confused by what he sees doesn't even cross her mind. Curiosity. That's what she puts it down to. They are a little strange looking. Especially now that she's shaking his hand, the sleeve of her jacket pulled back to show that the fingerless gloves have a bulkier attachment around the wrist. "Support braces. I know they look a little strange, but they work wonders." And then, moving right along. "Can't say that I've heard of Metropolis. Sorry. Still, I'd be happy to take you to that store, if you'd like to see it. Maybe you could tell me about where you're from on the way?"

Heartbeat stays steady through it all. Lying comes very easily to Natasha, and rarely has an impact on any of her biological functions. Her resting, default state is something of a lie. It makes it all much easier.

[ He's also curious. The technology isn't anything he's familiar with. ]

I wondered.

[ She pushes on. Clark doesn't add anything, just makes a note that the muscles and bone underneath don't look damaged. It could be a muscle issue, especially if she's from a different world.

He shakes her hand with a strong grip that's not overpowering. ]

Sure, lead the way.

[ Once they're outside the store, he continues their conversation. ]

You're not the first person to say that to me. Where are you from, Nat?

Natasha gives the stall owner a nod, and then leads Clark out into the lane and away from the festival. "I move around a lot, but I'm most recently from New York. It's nice. I like it. Looking forward to getting back. Did you mean to come here, or was it an accident?"

The further they get from the celebration, the quieter the streets become. Which makes sense. She pauses a few times as she wanders South, looking around like she's confused before picking a direction, like it's taking effort to remember exactly where they're going.

[ New York: still the same across the multiverse. ]

It was an accident.

[ He'd been more afraid than anything, thinking it was another trick like Zod getting inside his head and making him see Smallville. ]

I hope this isn't a strange question. What's the year?

"It's not a weird question." Though she takes a moment to decide if she wants to answer truthfully, before concluding that there's no issue with it, really. "It's twenty sixteen. You?"

One more down for accidental acquire. How can their system be screwing up so many times? There's got to be something there, right? Something to go looking for. As soon as she figures out where to look.

2013.

[ Most are from around 2015 in this decade. It's not a large gap unless technology is changing as fast as it is in Clark's world. ]

Coming here... it doesn't seem weird to you?

[ It's not weird to him either but Clark can claim having had more time to adjust. ]

"Oh, it's absolutely insane. I'm barely holding it together, but I figure if I break down I might just completely dissolve." The brittle smile and slightly pained expression at the corner of her eyes is some of her best work, but there's nothing about her vitals that show the slightest bit of distress. She's fine. Not happy, but absolutely level and steady.

She points to turn him down another street. "Just down here."

[ Her vitals are as steady as they've been since the beginning, but Clark doesn't see what she says as a lie. If she's forcing herself to stay calm and only break it in private, it makes sense. ]

What did you do back home? If I can ask.

Lucky for her, he's doing all of her explaining for her. Even if she doesn't know that she has to explain. It's still convenient.

She smiles up at him. "Oh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I bounce around a lot. I like to travel." It's not strictly a lie. Not that she's overly invested in giving him the truth, but it's an easy enough thing to keep consistent. If a story is easy to remember, she sticks with it. When they're even with the door to the shop, she nods at the view of the goods through the window. "We're here."

[ A little bit of this can explain a lot, if the audience fills in their own ideas. Natasha could be a flight attendant, or an actress, or a model. Most people say that up-front, though. If Clark was a guesser, it'd be the second or the third.

He pushes up his glasses. ]

Thank you.

[ He doesn't want to impose, but he wouldn't say no to her help either. She's been friendly, and Clark doesn't think it's just propriety.

He cuts ahead to get the door for her. ]

Edited (tweaked) 2017-03-20 06:40 (UTC)

She smiles when he opens the door for her, exactly as she was expecting. "Thank you," she says as she ducks under his arm and steps into the cool interior of the shop. "Now, let's find you some shoes."

They should be able to find something here. Definitely. The stock is extensive, the frills and such are nowhere to be found, and Natasha recognizes the logo on the business card as one she saw in the market, at a stall offering a generous holiday discount. She'll be able to work with that later.

[ Clark glances behind them, looking for any trouble on the street, before he closes the door and follows Natasha into the shop. He can tell from a glance that this is much more in line what he wants. The discount is encouragement. ]

Are you also looking? They have a special if you buy two pairs.

"Always looking for a good pair of shoes." Which she means to come out as a little shop-a-holic sounding. What other reason would she possibly have for noticing this random shoe store so far from the festival after only one day? "Hopefully we'll both find something."

Though she does wave off the help of an approaching sales clerk almost immediately. "We're just going to look around. Thank you."

[ Hopefully. Clark looks down at her feet, taking a guess at her size.

There's no separate sections by gender. The shoes are divided by running shoes, flats, and then heels by high, mid, and low, along with boots. There're no sandals or flip-flops.

Clark finds a pair almost immediately, probably because the laces and sole are bright orange. ]

Natasha watches him browse as she picks up pairs of high heels, examining them and putting each one back. She doesn't need or want a pair of high heels right now. They'd serve no purpose. She's glad for the excuse to come over to the section of more practical shoes when Clark finds his. "Do you... like orange?"

[ Clark smiles sheepishly. ]

It's not my colour.

[ They look very comfortable, however. He finds one with bright green laces under it, and then finally one that's plain black. ]

How about you, has anything caught your eye?

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