riverviewlogs | 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

navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Everyone's afterlife is different. I've learned of a lot of different types of afterlifes since I came here. Perhaps in your world it's a less somber affair than in mine - but I was dead for several months, and if my husband hadn't been there I might have lost my mind.

[She DID lose her mind, but seeing as she's here now and sane enough.. she doesn't think it counts.]

Well, mine was the Lawful Good afterlife. And I was out for several months too... and I did spend more time than I particularly care to think about on the clouds outside it dealing with my father. [To judge from Roy's grim frown, that really had been the ordeal.] Still, I'm glad they were able to resurrect you.

[And her husband? He assumes so, since -- well, one does not get into her current state with a deceased spouse.]

Your afterlife separates as well, does it? [The concept of going to different places according to how you live is very odd to her... the only set of rules she's managed to respect thus far is those for Valhalla.] In my world we all go to the Netherworld. It simply looks different from person to person. For me... it was very, very quiet. No one ever spoke to me except my husband.

[Partly because the way she died was extremely taboo, and no one wanted to talk to her after that.]

[...Did she go to an evil afterlife to be punished for her sins? That's a very awkward question, and Roy hurriedly puts it aside as neither fair to her nor something that can be answered objectively. Her afterlife might very literally be just as different as described, based on expectations or divine meddling.]

I'd still trade you for having to put up with my father. Though he'd like you a lot better than me...

I hope it's better for you when you eventually do go back, although I also hope that doesn't happen any time soon.

[She hesitates, for a pretty long time, before deciding how to reply.]

I know many people here would like to go back home... but if I can avoid it, I'd much rather stay here. The moment I go back to my world, I'll stop existing.

[By now, he's starting to pick up that Letha says very surprising things out of nowhere. This latest one, on top of "oh yeah, I wanted to be a warrior" and "hey, I can speak with corpses", doesn't produce quite as dramatic a reaction as the others.]

I admit I'm curious about that, if you're willing to talk about it...

I'm not sure I want to. We are, after all... supposed to be enjoying ourselves here.

[She'll open up if pressed, but... the explanation involves a lot of admitting that she's stupid and makes bad choices, and no one's ever good at that.]

That's fine, no problem. I'll just leave it as saying I'm glad you have the opportunity to be here, then. [He can offer that much without any worry whatsoever.]

I'm very glad to be here as well. If I'm lucky, perhaps my husband will end up here one day. [Although somehow she's very doubtful she'll be that lucky.] What about you, are you planning to go back if the opportunity arises?

Absolutely, without question, on the assumption that we can be returned to the same time as well as the same place. If that assumption is true, I have to -- the fate of the world depends on my presence. If it's not... well, I have nowhere to go back to, because the fate of the world depended on my presence.

[He says this very evenly, because he's been over this fifty times in his own mind at a minimum since coming here, and at last has reconciled himself to it. As much as any man can.]

[Her shoulders slump. That sounds very much like he won't want to stick around even if she tries to convince him. She supposes that means she'll just have to learn to let go of people who manage to go home, eventually.]

Well.. I hope you're able to save them. I have nothing so noble to go back to... and even if my existance wasn't in danger, I doubt I'd want to go back to the life I had.

[Sorry, Letha. The desires of one woman cannot compare to the fate of millions upon millions of souls. Roy can't abandon that, not and be Roy Greenhilt.]

Considering what you've told me, I can't really blame you. Even once you had the luxury to not be a full-time parent, you'd still be constrained by that society's expectations...

introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject