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

click on thumbnails for larger view

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

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Not expecting to be addressed at the moment, except perhaps by the vendor in front of her, Caitlin startles just slightly when she hears the voice off to her side. When she looks up, she notices the other woman holding her arm out, a pretty bracelet already adorning her wrist.

With a little facial shrug to match the movement of her shoulders, Caitlin pauses to consider. "I don't know," she admits. "It's definitely cute." Which it is. "What if you wiggle your wrist a little? Does it make a lot of noise? If it makes too much noise, cute or not, it'll drive you nuts, I bet," she replies with a smile. Then, she holds out her hand. "I'm Caitlin," she offers. "I, too, am indecisive when it comes to wrist wear," she adds with a little smile.

Normally, Buffy goes shopping with Willow or Dawn; she's used to having someone else's opinion other than her own. She'd noticed Caitlin was looking at the bracelets as well and figured why not?

At Caitlin's suggestion, Buffy does wiggle her wrist. She makes a face because it does jingle a little. I'm torn. It could be great for date night, not that I'm thinking about dating anyone. I just got here, but it's definitely not a work bracelet." She doesn't immediately take the bracelet off, opting to leave it on a moment to test the jangleyness. "I'm Buffy. Maybe we can help each other with the indecisiveness," she adds.

Caitlin, too, wrinkles her nose a little at the jingling that comes from Buffy's wrist. "It's really cute, but I don't know. That would drive me crazy, even on date night," she replies and then, she smirks a little, knowingly. "Especially on date night," she jokes. "But if that doesn't bother you, I say go with it. It looks nice," she adds. Maybe they don't know each other, but hey. She might as well make an honest joke.

"Nice to meet you, Buffy. That would be kind of awesome," she agrees. Iris and Caitlin are friends, she thinks. Felicity and Caitlin are friends. ...but Caitlin doesn't have any shopping friends. She's not close enough with either of the other women and the latter, to whom she feels a little closer, lives in Star City anyway. "I can't decide if I want this one," she says holding up the one she's been trying to get on, "because I think it's prettier, or this one," she says, fingering another one that's a little less dainty, but still sort of pretty, "because it'll be easier to get it on and off by myself, since the clasp is bigger. Aesthetics or practicality...decisions, decisions..."

Buffy frowns a little, clearly considering it. She sighs then slips the bracelet off, reaching for a solid silver bangle instead and slipping it over her wrist. "I think this one might be better because...yeah. I like it, but it's too loud." Oh, she'd definitely prefer honesty from anyone.

"Shopping friends are important. I know I've made dire mistakes when my friends weren't there, like printed pants." Willow probably would have approved the printed pants anyway because that's Willow's style and somehow she gets away with it, but Buffy is certain that she can't pull it off. Buffy wrinkles her nose a little, contemplating both bracelets. "Sorry, but I've got to go with the more dainty one. It's prettier, not that the other one isn't but...yeah, that one." She reaches for it as she speaks in a silent offer to help Caitlin put it on.

"If there was any doubt, better to err on the side of caution," Caitlin says sagely, nodding her agreement to Buffy's final decision. "For what it's worth, that one's really cute, too," she assures her new shopping companion.

The mention of printed pants surprises a little laugh out of Caitlin. "Ouch," she replies sympathetically. "There are, to my knowledge, a very finite number of people who can pull those off. I, however, am not one of them, personally," she adds with an amused little smirk. "Most of my friends are men," she goes on to explain, "I'm not as close with the women I know as I would like to be." Which might or might not have something time do with the tumultuous relationship Caitlin has with her mother.

The input from the other woman only confirms what Caitlin had already nearly decided on her own, but it's nice to have that second opinion. "Yeah, I was thinking that, too," she sighs wistfully, handing the bracelet over and holding out her wrist in an almost automatic response to Buffy's reaching. "Thank you," she adds both gratefully and preemptively.

Buffy nods as well then smiles at Caitlin's compliment. "Thanks. I think I'm going to get this one." She looks longingly at the rings, brushing a couple of the silver ones with her fingertips. "Not really a ring person though." She is, but they're not practical given the way she works with weapons.

"Exactly," she sighs. "I'm pretty sure Willow is one of the few." Buffy has been lucky to always find good girlfriends then once the mini slayers came along, she'd been surrounded by women all the time. Now, she's back to just a few and a fairly even mix of men friends. "Yeah? I've got a couple of those in my life, but I've always kind of been surrounded by women. I've got a little sister back home." One that she worries about and reminds herself constantly that the others will take care of. It makes being away from Dawn bearable, but not okay. "Hey, as long as you've got friends and people who care about you. I'm highly suspect of people without friends," she says with a dramatic seriousness. It's sort of true though.

Buffy fastens the bracelet easily. "I'm on the second floor if you need help with it in the future. I'm not much of a morning person though."

Caitlin's thumb reaches to stroke the empty space on her left ring finger where her wedding ring had been before Ronnie died. Her ring is on a chain, now, but she hasn't been wearing it lately because of the pendant to keep Killer Frost at bay. Suddenly, a part of her sort of wishes she had, because now that last piece of her late husband is back on Earth 1 and she's on...who even knows which Earth, now... "Me either," she replies softly. "Not anymore." A quick pause before she takes a deep breath and smiles as she lets it out again. "I feel like you've made a good choice. It's pretty. I think I'm going to get this one, too," she says thoughtfully as she waits for Buffy to unclasp the bracelet so that she can help her put it on.

She can't help feeling a little bit jealous that Buffy seems to have no problem being close with other women. It isn't so much that Caitlin keeps them at an arm's length, because she doesn't, really. But Iris is...Barry's fiancee. She'd always been Barry's friend first and Caitlin's second. The same had been and remains to be true with Felicity, and Felicity she doesn't even get to see all that often considering the distance between them.

"As well you should be," Caitlin replies honestly and starkly. "They're usually bad news to some degree or another. Thanks," she adds when Buffy gets the bracelet fastened on her wrist. Caitlin moves her wrist a little to see how the bracelet looks and she lifts her eyebrows in question, seeking a second approval from the other woman now that the bracelet is on; a look as if to say what do you think? "I'm on the third floor and I'll definitely keep that in mind, thank you. I'm...absolutely a morning person, but I'll try to refrain from bothering you too early in the morning for help with it," she says with an amused lilt in her voice as she smiles back at the other woman.

Buffy notices the way Caitlin's strokes her left finger, but she doesn't know why. She would understand about wanting things from home, though her object is a scythe, not anything tied to one person. She remembers feeling that way when they'd left Sunnydale though. So much of her life had been there and so much of it had ended up buried under tons of dirt and rock. The cross and ring Angel had given her that she no longer wore, but kept, Mr. Gordo that her mother had given her. She's gotten used to not having any of that stuff, but she knows it takes a while and she mourns it even now. She smiles a little at Caitlin, a smile of solidarity or something like that. "Thanks. I think it's a good one, even if it will be a little tricky to put it on." She unclasps the bracelet and puts it around Caitlin's wrist to clasp it on.

Maybe she'll be able to make some female friends here. Buffy treasures her friendship with Xander, but she doesn't know what she'd do without Willow's friendship. There's just a difference. After all, they've got to make some good things out of being here away from home.

Buffy nods in acknowledgement to Caitlin's gratitude. "No problem." When she shows the bracelet off, she gets a bright smile in return. "It looks really good on you." There's absolute approval on Buffy's face. It was a good choice. "We've got a deal then. I'm okay once I've had a cup of coffee. I'm a brasita at the shop here."

Caitlin smiles a little at Buffy's compliment. "Thank you. I'll get used to it or I'll just have to drive you bananas to make sure I have someone to put it on and take it off for me all the time," she says playfully. It certainly looks prettier than the power-dampening cuffs had. Those had been...well. Not horrible, or anything, but she'd always looked like she'd been walking around wearing a smartwatch on both wrists, like one wasn't enough or something. Needless to say, she'd stuck largely to long sleeves back then.

"Oh, which one?" Caitlin asks. "Sorry, I've just seen a couple of them. There's two on the way to the hospital, which is where I work," she adds to clarify. "I'll have to stop in sometime and visit. I'm a sucker for a good cup of coffee. Have been for as long as I can remember. Geez, even when I was a kid, I used to sip off my mom's coffee when she wasn't looking," she laughs.

Buffy smiles at that. "I've got a younger sister at home. My tolerance for being driven crazy is high," she assures her teasingly, but there's a little pain there as well. Buffy misses Dawn; she even misses being annoyed by her and at this rate, she doesn't know how long it will be until she sees Dawn again.

"The Quarantine Cup. It's closer to the hospital than not," she tells her. "They've even got a pretty good salted caramel mocha if sweet is your thing." She wrinkles her nose a little. "I'm not sure when my love for coffee begin, but not that early. I'm still mostly stuck on the girly drinks like lattes and mochas. What's your drink?"

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.

"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."

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? ))

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introductory mingle: SAMPREMI

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