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

[starspangled]

[steve turns, looking from the younger man to the skewers in his own hand. yeah, he can see how this might look bad.]

I probably shouldn't. It might ruin my lunch.

[he steps closer, holding two of them out.]

Have you tried them? Nothing beats barbecue.

[ragnarsson]

I haven't.

[But, being a teenager and a Viking at that, Ivar is always hungry. He takes the skewers and promptly bites into one of them. He speaks around a mouthful of meat, heedless of any manners he should possess.]

Hey, it's good!

[starspangled]

Careful, it might still be a little hot.

[but he eats like he doesn't feel it or doesn't care. steve steps closer, pointing to the bench.]

Mind if I join you?

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar gestures to the spot beside him on the bench with his free hand, mouth too full to answer. Both his arms have leather braces on them, meant to help support his wrists and upper arms while he gets about from place to place. When he swallows, he answers in a Scandinavian accent.]

Sit. [He's still eyeing Steve's general physique with a practiced look. Ivar's always been very observant. It comes from being immobile more than he'd like, which gives him a lot of think to think.] You have the look of a warrior.

[starspangled]

[steve sits, a quick glance noting his legs, the braces on his arms, but he doesn't stare. he does, however, look over to give him a smile at his observation.]

I guess you could say that. I was a soldier. [he shifts his skewers to one hand, offering him the free one.] I'm Steve.

[ragnarsson]

Was? What happened? [The thought of not fighting was inconceivable to the Viking warrior. If he wasn't able to fight, it was only because he was dead. He shakes Steve's hand, his fingers hard and callused from a lifetime of dragging himself from place to place using only his hands.]

I'm Ivar The Boneless.

[starspangled]

The war ended. [though technically the fighting never did, not for steve.] After that I was part of a team for awhile. Different kinds of warriors who came together to protect people.

[steve shrugs and smiles at him. get it together, rogers, this kid isn't your therapist. he finishes off another one of the skewers.]

That's quite a name. They used to call me Captain America.

[ragnarsson]

Wars may end, but there's always another battle to fight. There's no honor in just standing still. Sometimes, it feels like I've had to fight all my life. [A surprisingly philosophical statement from the young Viking. It seems people here have a way of opening up to him. Maybe it's because he looks harmless on the outside, which makes him a good listener.]

Blame my father for it. When he gave nicknames to people, they tended to stick. I've got a brother nicknamed Ironsides.

[starspangled]

I know the feeling. [steve murmurs before elaborating.] I was a little on the small side growing up, but that didn't stop me from finding trouble. I've tasted my own blood more times than I can count.

[he smiles at him. that whole opening up and ivar being a good listener certainly seems to be ringing true at the moment. he hesitates for a moment, trying to decide if now's a good time to ask about something that's been at the edge of his thoughts.]

So Ivar, do you mind if I ask about your legs?

[ragnarsson]

I have trouble picturing you as small. [Steve looks like he could wrestle an ox to the ground. But he guessed everyone had to start somewhere.]

[Feel that chill in the air? That's the look coming from Ivar's ice-cold blue eyes. His hands tighten imperceptibly as a jolt of anger runs through him. No matter how many times people ask, he never gets used to it.] That depends on what you ask. [The snarky response is his natural defense mechanism after a lifetime of being made to feel inferior. Steve's next words will either make him relax or go into a rage.]

[starspangled]

[he's used that tactic himself. sometimes his tongue was a little quicker, a little sharper when he was just that skinny kid.]

Did it happen in battle?

[ragnarsson]

No. Too bad for me because at least then I'd have a good story out of it. I just had the bad luck to be born a cripple.

[He watches Steve very carefully, waiting for any signs of the pity that he despises.]

[starspangled]

I wouldn't say that.

[steve's gaze shifts, his eyebrows lifting.]

You look like you could give me a run for my money in arm wrestling. I haven't met a lot of people who could.

[ragnarsson]

[Something in the teen's manner visibly relaxes at what he sees in Steve. None of the dismissive attitude he's encountered so many times back home.]

I said I was born a cripple, not helpless. I do alright for myself on and off the battlefield.

[starspangled]

What was it that you did off the battlefield?

[it surely couldn't have been a fight all the time. even steve got the occasional sunday off.]

[ragnarsson]

Think, mostly.

[Being slow and unable to keep up with everyone else has always given Ivar plenty of time for that. He's learned to compensate by becoming more clever than everyone around him. He works things over in his head until he's got them sorted out.]

There's not one brain between all of my brothers except for me. Someone has to plan for them.

[starspangled]

We need more thinkers in the world. Any world.

[steve can't help smiling. he also can't help but think of bucky, the person who was always trying to look before he leaped, tried to keep him out of trouble even when steve was determined to find it.]

Do you have a job here yet?

[ragnarsson]

I joined up with the Perimeter Guard.

[There was that unspoken question of how the hell a kid who couldn't walk joined up with guardsmen who were required ot have a lot of physicality in their job description. Well, Ivar had never let anything stand in his way before, and when someone had the gall to question if letting him join was a wise decision, he had punched him in the throat. This got him both a warning never to do that again and had thoroughly convinced any doubters all in one blow.]