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

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Credit (left to right): Theo Prins, andreasrocha @ tumblr, hrormir @ deviantart, nkabuto @ deviantart

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street food

It's surprisingly taken Derek a short while to regain a proper appetite. Apparently three weeks straight of nothing but Soylent and an occasional apple will take its toll on one's palate. Or maybe it's having regained his abilities in the absence of Friend Computer; smell has an awful lot to do with taste, as it turns out. It's something Derek always knew, but never really thought about until he'd gotten to Riverview. Now, he's back to his normal self and while he isn't typically terribly interested in "citizen improvement" type gatherings, the smell of the food alone is enough to draw Derek out and toward the Sampremi Celebration.

He doesn't even know what half of this stuff is, but if it smells good, Derek wants it. The problem is that he still has pretty limited funds, so he has to pick and choose. At least he's allowed to choose now, though, so Derek isn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

There are people everywhere, but he's sunken down onto a curb, paying little attention to any of them at the moment, because he's entirely engrossed in stuffing his face. At the moment, with pizza. He never thought he'd reach a point in his life where he'd missed pizza enough to practically inhale it, but here he is, doing exactly that.

fair games

Games like these used to be Derek's favorite challenge. When the county fair would come to the next town over when he was a kid, he and his sisters used to spend hours and hundreds of dollars playing these stupid things and trying to prove to one another that they were the best. Sometimes the werewolf abilities helped, but most of the time, they didn't. Their family's wealth afforded them the opportunity for such frivolity and seeing these types of things again, Derek can't help the pang of pleasant nostalgia.

Laura would've loved this. Cora had always been a little less interested than he and his older sibling, but then they'd always been closer with the age gap between Cora and themselves. He thinks of the way that Allison had shown up as a clone in the Complex and wonders if this place can do things like that; whether maybe it'll be his turn for a lost loved one to come back. Maybe when they do, they'll stay. Cora hadn't.

He's mostly lost in his thoughts and doesn't realize he's actually gotten into a line until he's at the front of it and he rebukes the offer to step right up!, instead looking to the person in line behind him and offering to let them go first. "Sorry, I didn't actually realize I'd gotten in line, go ahead."

roommates/wildcard

There's an ache that's settled between the games and the walk back to the housing and Derek wonders why it is that he can't ever seem to hang onto a pack? His born pack was killed. The one he created...half had died and half were smart enough to abandon him. He'd built up a small, but incredibly tight knit pack in the Complex, but now it's just him again. He wishes that they were here. He'd do anything to get them here, where it might not necessarily be safer, but least there hasn't been a daily terrorist attack specifically pointed at them for being different.

At some point, he wanders back to the room he shares with entirely too many people. He'd thought it was bad enough when he'd had to share with four people; he'd been down to one and now he's up to nine. Privacy? What privacy? Derek's lost his right to that almost a month ago. Now, it's just a matter of getting used to it, he tells himself as he drops heavily down onto his bed and lays back to stare up at the ceiling. He's surprisingly tired after having been at the celebration; maybe because he hasn't had a chance to do anything fun in so long that it took the wind right out of him. He's not really sure.

There are no words for how good it feels to have his wolf back. There had been a time when Alcide had loathed the wolf parts of him. Over time he'd grown to accept it back home. But having it stripped from him without his consent as it had been in that other place? That had really fucked with him and not in a good way. The price paid for getting his wolf back is almost too much though. Sure, he knows that he has no real home to go back to. But losing Zee, Derek and Buffy? That's left him with another gaping hole inside. It sucks, truthfully.

He's walking the halls heading back to his fifth floor communal room that he shares with a bunch of strangers, when he catches the scent of something familiar. No, he hadn't had his wolf scent back in Alpha. But he still used his scent out of pure habit. Now that he has that ability back, he catches just... it feels like familiarity even if he isn't sure what exactly it is.

Alcide starts down the hallway and ends up following a guy, realizing that that's the scent. It looks like Derek from the back. His throat tightens with emotion, because yes, that was a part of his makeshift pack in the place he was before. What if it isn't Derek though? What if he doesn't remember him? You don't know if you don't try... right?

"Derek?" He says, stopping in the hallway and waiting, hoping, to see some kind of recognition.

The first couple of days in Riverview had been, in a word, overwhelming. In every sense of the word, but most especially to his nose and his ears. He'd forgotten how loud the world could be. Three weeks isn't a long time for most things, but it's long enough to forget something that simple until confronted with it again. It only took him a day or two to adjust, but those first couple of days, Derek realized that he'd been lazy in the Complex. He might not have had his senses proper, but he could have tried and he never did.

A testament to that is the sound of a familiar voice calling after him. He knows that voice and turns with hope etched on his face. Seeing Alcide standing there, he realizes he should have been able to smell the approach. He shared a tiny room with the other man and Buffy for weeks and they spent more time in it than out of it, if one excludes their troubleshooting duties. The smell of a member of his makeshift pack should be ingrained...and he doesn't recognize it at all. It's new and it shouldn't be.

"Hey, man..." he breathes, huffing with a bit of amusement. The other werewolf's timing is impeccable; Derek had just been thinking woefully earlier in the day that Buffy, Katniss, and Alcide would've been beside themselves at the sheer volume of food — real food — here that they didn't have to be wearing special colors to have access to, for a change. There's no hesitation between the recognition that flickers in Derek's eyes and the way he crosses back, grinning, and gives his friend a quick hug before stepping back and clapping him on the shoulder. "Damn, it's good to see you. Is she with you?" Derek's eyes shift to look behind and around Alcide and already he knows that she would've made her presence known by now. They both know to whom Derek is referring; he doesn't have to say it.

The relief he feels at being recognized, at being known, is a palpable thing. Derek knows who he is and right now that's everything he needed. The friendship and bond they'd formed in the Complex is important to him. Alcide doesn't usually get along with other wolves. Derek isn't like the other wolves he's known. He excepts the hug, clapping Derek on the back a few times before pulling back and looking him over to make sure he's okay.

Unlike Derek, Alcide had tried and tried to use his abilities, to keep them sharp. That's why it's so easy to fall back into them now, scenting wounds or any kind of trouble with his friend. Right now, all seems well between the both of them and he's thankful for that.

"You too." He admits, although it feels like an understatement in a way. It is damn good to see Derek. It was also necessary. Alcide shakes his head, looking down to the floor for a moment and back up to Derek. "Buffy and Zee aren't here. Haven't seen Katniss or Prim either. Just you. You're the first." But seeing Derek does give him renewed hope that the others might get here, maybe are here now, or eventually will be. "I'm on the fifth floor, some huge communal room with a bunch of strangers. Where'd they put you?"

Derek smirks a little, realizing how heavily they're both understating their relief at finding one another. In the Complex, one was only as strong as the people with whom one surrounded one's self. Not having Alcide, Buffy, and Katniss here had taken more of a toll than he's going to admit and he can only assume that Alcide feels the same way. One thing they've learned about one another is how quickly they grow attached to the people that matter to them.

The smirk falls away again, though, with disappointment when Alcide goes on. Zatanna hadn't really mattered much to Derek beyond the fact that she meant something to Alcide, but he's upset to hear that Buffy and Katniss may not be here. And, by extension of the latter, Prim. His brow creases a little and he looks back at Alcide. "You think this is where people end up, really, when they get arrested? Because I don't know about you, but I remember getting hauled out of bed but that's kind of the last thing I remember."

Maybe if Alcide was arrested for treason as well, then they've found a common thread. Knowing the girls, they won't have to wait long for them to show up if committing and being caught for committing treason in the Complex will get them sent here. Everything is treason in Alpha Complex, but Katniss and Zatanna, at least, had exactly no fucks to give about it and without Derek and Alcide, Buffy was sure to lose it looking for them. Prim might be the only one safe from it, but maybe not even then just by virtue of being Katniss's sister and, therefore, an assumed accomplice. If this is where treasonous "clones" go, then it's only a matter of time and they'll all be back together again, anyway. Right?

"Same thing for me, except I'm on the first floor. There's a little girl on my floor; can't be more than twelve or thirteen years old. So there's more to it than just the Complex. I don't remember seeing anyone in there any younger than Prim and Zee," he says, frowning.

"If it is, we should've gotten ourselves arrested a long time ago." The joke is well intended but it falls just a little bit flatter than it should given the lack of others of their makeshift pack. He would give anything to have Zee and Buffy here with them. And because he cares about Derek and had started getting close to Prim, he would give anything to have Katniss and Prim here too. He hadn't really had a chance to get that close to Katniss, but for Derek, he wishes it.

Finally, Alcide shakes his head. "Nah, I think this is something completely different. No indication that this is anything to do with the Complex." No bots. No Computer. No sign of the protests and rebellions targeted at them for simply existing. And...

"And I have my wolf. You have yours too." Alcide can feel it. They have their wolves and all that goes with it. "Don't think for a second the Computer would've given us that." No, this is something completely different. The more Alcide thinks about it, the more sure of it he is.

"Man, my room is filled with people who already know each other from wherever they're from except for two or three of us." Meaning he's outnumbered and he feels it. "It's uncomfortable as hell." That's Alcide, being completely honest as always. He's trying to get to know them though... so that's something. "I was just thinking about finding a way to get rid of this jumpsuit. You wanna come with?"

Laughing a little, Derek cocks his eyebrows and clears his throat. "Yeah, no shit," he agrees. But Alcide does have a point, he realizes a little belatedly. Why would they have back the wolves if this is what being arrested in the Complex is? Wouldn't they just keep those parts of he and Alcide repressed? What had their reasoning been, anyway? Besides, like Alcide pointed out, they're clearly not in the Complex. For one, they're able to go outside into the fresh air. Not something they could've accomplished in the Complex. Derek isn't even sure there was an outside, back there.

"Yeah, I do...and that's a good point. If they would've, I can't figure out what might've made them, anyway. First couple of days was a bitch, by the way. Sometimes I still feel like my ears are ringing. I forgot how loud everything can be, man. I got rusty. Three weeks and I got rusty...that's just lazy on my part," he says with a frown.

"Mine is just a bunch of people; I don't think most of them know each other and I sure as hell don't know any of them. There's a little kid in mine. She can't be maybe twelve, thirteen years old at most. And she doesn't stay there all that often. I wonder if we'd get in trouble if we just...moved. You know? To another room. Or rooms. It's not like there's clearance levels here, as far as I can tell. Which, you know, means that I just look like I broke out of prison or something," he groans. "So yeah, I'm absolutely in. The sooner I can get real clothes on, the better."

He starts to move toward the exit and realizes he doesn't actually know where they should go. The things he'd seen at the celebration were a little more...loud...than the types of clothes Derek prefers to wear. "What I wouldn't give for one of my Henleys and a pair of jeans right now, holy shit," he mutters to Alcide as they make their way back outside. "...hey...did you say, before, that you could—" Derek pauses as they're passed in the hallway and waits a few seconds until he's sure they're not being overheard before he lowers his voice to continue, "—did you say that you could go full wolf when you transition? And you can control when you do it?" he asks, lifting his eyebrows with interest. They talked about it when they first got to know one another, so he can't remember. "Because if you can, why don't we just go sleep in the damn woods?" They could have each other's backs and be off on their own. Seems like a win to Derek.

"Yeah, was like sensory overload." In the very literal sense of the words. At first it had been overwhelming if just because he'd started to forget what having all the 'extras' of being a wolf felt like. He never quit trying though, and maybe that's what made him adjust so quickly. He'd always been trying. "But it's easy to fix. Comes natural." He knows Derek knows this, but he's trying to show support, camaraderie, etc.

Kids are here. That's a revelation, Alcide realizes. This place can't be all that bad if kids are here and he realizes now that he's seen a couple of them. Why the existence of kids seems to take the edge off of the place, at least in an immediate sense, he isn't sure, but he does.

"Man, I don't really care if it's allowed or not. If you're game then so am I." His one conversation with one of his roommates had left him with more questions than answers. And the fact that the group of them knew each other and were 'saving the world' together back home - well, yeah he isn't so sure about all that. He feels on the outside looking in, which is par for the course with him back home. That hadn't been the case in Alpha though, with Derek and Buffy and Zee, and he prefers that.

As they walk, Alcide listens and nods, the idea so damn appealing he can taste it. "Yeah, there's nothin' but full wolf for me. No in-between. And I could do it anytime. Screw this place. We'll go after we find some decent clothes." Alcide pauses and asks someone passing by. That person doesn't know. He stops another then asks again. They give him some directions that he takes in with a nod then returns to Derek. "I know where to go. This way."

There are no other words for the sensation, really, so Derek just gives Alcide a sage nod of understanding. Sensory overload, quite and painfully literally, yes. "Thankfully," he agrees. "I'm not going to lie, I'm a little worried about the next full moon, though. I only missed one, but sometimes that's enough to make a guy forget to find his anchor. ...what's it like for you on the full moon?" he asks. It's important, because...well. If Alcide can keep his cool on the full moon and stay in complete control of himself, Derek might actually need a little help this first one, just to be safe.

"Hell yeah, I'm game," Derek replies. Anything that allows them some semblance of freedom after nearly a month of having nothing but oppression? Derek is on board for that. Hearing Alcide agree that he'd be just as happy to stay out in the woods is a relief. "I can go half, but I'd rather obviously go full if we're going to do that. It'd be a nice change, being outside and surrounded by woodland creatures over people we don't know," he laughs.

Derek's quiet as he waits for Alcide to ask directions and once the other man has them, Derek is ready when he is. "Perfect. Not that I'm going to be able to keep them on if we're going out there, but it doesn't hurt to take them along. ...you know, honestly, it might be more than a little cathartic to shift while I'm wearing this stupid ass jumpsuit, seeing as how when I shift back, it'll be lost to the ether. No better way to shake off the Complex than that, right?" he asks, only half-joking.

They walk together toward the town and Derek's quiet for a moment, still taking everything in. When he does speak again, it's quietly. "...you know Buffy, Zee, and Katniss's scents?" he asks, looking a little embarrassed. "Because I don't. I couldn't...it...I don't know, I couldn't keep them when I tried to memorize them. It's like they just didn't stick." If one of them has the women's scents, though, then maybe all is not lost and they can find them. They've got to be here somewhere, don't they? He's hoping so, anyway. Even if just one of Buffy since she, at least, is important to both of them.

Derek Hale | Teen Wolf

wildcard;

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{ fair games }

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Wildcard -- After Alcide

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