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

[naz]

Laughing, Caitlin nods. "Fair enough. I think I could probably manage to be a little less obnoxious than is obligatory from younger siblings. At least, from what I hear. I'm an only child, so I wouldn't know," she explains. Hearing that Buffy works at the Quarantine Cup surprises Caitlin, because she's in there an awful lot and hasn't seen her. Or, well, more accurately, maybe Caitlin has seen Buffy there and neither woman noticed because they weren't familiar with one another for anything other than a quick exchange of currency for coffee.

"Oooh, I'll have to try that!" Caitlin exclaims as she moves toward the register, slowly enough to suggest that Buffy follow. That way, they can buy their bracelets before they change their minds and end up here for hours perusing the beautiful selection. "Back home, I really like the Flash, which is just basically a Red Eye, but...I don't know, I switch it up a lot between sweeter drinks and more bitter ones. It depends on the day. If I'm already wide-eyed and bushy-tailed when I'm up and around, I go for something more sweet, whereas if I'm having A Morning," she says with emphasis, "then I'll go with something more bitter to kick me into gear."

Caitlin approaches the counter and shows her wrist to the clerk, not wanting to wrestle with taking the bracelet off again only to have to ask Buffy to help her put it back on. Once she's given a price, Caitlin rummages through a little handbag to find the funds to purchase and then steps aside for Buffy to have her turn at the register.

[whattingawhat]

"Then we'll be all good," Buffy says with a grin. She wrinkles her nose a bit. "I wouldn't tell her, but I miss her. My sister, I mean. She's okay though, back home." And Buffy refuses to entertain the idea that she isn't. Spike, Xander, Willow and Giles will make sure sure of it. That certainly makes sense. Buffy doesn't know even close to every customer, especially as she's only been here a little while. She'll definitely make a point to notice Caitlin and say hi from now on.

There really is far too much selection for Buffy's bank account and everything is beautiful. Buffy moves toward the register behind Caitlin, in silent agreement that they should move on if she's going to be able to eat the rest of this week. "That makes sense. I do the same thing depending on how much caffeine I need to function." She doesn't like espresso shots, but a couple of them generally kick her into high gear when she needs it.

Buffy hands over the simple bangle she's chosen, pays for it then slips it on her wrist before turning to look at Caitlin. "I was going to go check out some of the food stands. You're welcome to come with if you want."

[naz]

Caitlin's smile softens with empathy and she nods. She might not have siblings by blood, but Cisco's as good as a brother, anyway and he's not here, so she knows the feeling, to some degree. "Yeah, she's okay. And if you're aiming to go back, I'm sure they'll figure something out in no time," she tries to reassure her new friend. "Then we can all head back. We just have to be patient and not think on it too much. 'A watched pot never boils,' and all that."

As she waits for Buffy to pay, she looks around again. She'll have to come back here, because she's bound to want another one of these trinkets; they're super cute. At Buffy's question, she looks back at her. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure! Sounds good," she agrees. She can get to know Buffy a little bit better and get something to eat. Sounds like a win-win to her.

"Onward ho!"

(( ooc: ftb so we can do new stuff? ))