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

ii

[prisonking]

"Thanks, I've always wanted one of these."

Michael wraps the feather boa around his neck. It's a strong accessory choice for a long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of cargos, but the hot pink does bring out the green flecks in his blue eyes.

He's not in a great mood, the festival is already wearing on his nerves. He'd just been about to leave when the boa happened. It might just be highlight of his evening.

"Seen any over-sized sunglasses? I think they'd go."

[wingedman]

"Always glad to help a guy accessorize," Sam jokes. Judging by the other man's body language, he's not in the best of moods - he seems a little tense, Sam thinks.

"Mm." He taps a finger against his lips thoughtfully for a moment. "Couple stalls down, throwing balls into goldfish bowls. They've got some nice glittery frames, too. Just the thing you need to go with the feather boa."

[prisonking]

"I'm more of a rhinestone kinda guy, but glitter could do in a pinch."

It's hard to be in a bad mood around this guy. His smile is infectious, and before Michael knows it, he's smiling too. Focusing on his voice makes it easier to drown out the noise and movement of the crowd around them.

Maybe it was a little early to head home.

"Think you could win me a pair?"

[wingedman]

"Aw, come on, rhinestones are way too tacky. You gotta keep it subtle, man." Which isn't really something that should be said to a guy who's already got a pink feather boa around his neck. That's the sort of situation where you probably should break out the rhinestones and maybe bedazzle your pants for some extra sparkle.

"I'll give it a shot," he finds himself agreeing, and he saunters his way down a couple booths, collecting some ping-pong balls after he taps his card on the reader. Sam's better at the shooting games, but he's decent at all of them.

Or so he thinks right up till he misses the first shot. Oops?

[prisonking]

"Tacky, right." Michael folds his arms over his chest, watching the ball bounce off the rim of a cup with referee-like neutrality.

"It's okay if you can't make the shot." He's not saying Sam said the sunglasses were tacky to save face, but the implication is there. Playfully. Because he can.

For once, it doesn't matter what the end result is. No one's life, or freedom, is at stake. It's been years since he's done something for the hell of it.

[wingedman]

Sam just snorts at that, focuses on his shot. Of course it's rigged and the fishbowls are harder to get a ping-pong ball into than it appears, but he's damn well going to do it anyway. The next one rolls around the rim for a moment before falling in obligingly; the two after that are clean shots into the bowl. He turns his head and grins at Michael.

"What's that you were saying?"

And of course the sunglasses he picks are the same shade of pink as the boa. Gotta color-coordinate, man.

[prisonking]

Michael claps. He'll give credit where credit is due.

"Thank you, sir." He puts the sunglasses on without hesitation. No one can say he doesn't match.

"What do you think? Is it me?" He tips his chin to look at Sam from behind the frames, mock-serious.