sphererpmod: (Default)
Sphere Mods ([personal profile] sphererpmod) wrote in [community profile] thespherelogs2019-09-02 08:19 pm

Fourth Wall Month!

Who: Everyone and visiting Characters!
What: The Fourth Wall log!
When: The month of September!.
Where: All over.
Notes: If you have any questions about how this all works, please head over here to the Fourth Wall info post!.

Fourth Wall Log!
Company's coming!
So the Sphere is malfunctioning and there’s new arrivals here. In order to give them somewhere to sleep and rest, the Sphere has given them all temporary housing in dorm dome number two! That means sunken beds, three squares a day that are already prepared for you and clothing in the closets that just happen to be to your character’s taste. (And you know if they happen to die then you’ve got a nice space to Rez.) All and all it’s a nice little home base for people to have. There’s several common areas for mingling, and all though there aren’t individual rooms for the characters who are staying there, the domes also provide screens for privacy. Don’t worry, no one’s spying on you or something. Probably.

John (one of our resident NPCs here, who is a doctor and also a ghost but shush) knows the importance of family, and she knows how tough it can be when people arrive in a place they don’t know. The visitors haven’t really had the same experience as people brought in the traditional way, so John has stationed herself in the dorms with a sort of ipad thing, and she’s offering to take people’s information and to show them how things like the network work. She’s also there to hold hands and deal with any medical issues that these new arrivals may just happen to have. If people don’t want to talk to her, that’s totally fine! She won’t push. But she’ll also provide directions to places if people need them. Or at least point them in the general places that they need to go.

Speaking things out into the void.
This is a prompt for visiting characters to be able to put out a network post without actually joining the network community! Upon waking in The Sphere, each character (even temporary ones!) are fitted with a small golden circle behind their right ear. This is how they are connected to the network through a neural link. Touch and hold the button to create a broadcast of one of three types:
  1. Audio. Your character thinks audible words onto the network.
  2. Writing: Your character thinks text into the network.
  3. Video. Your character projects a broadcast of a video of themselves onto the network.
Replies are determined by the player. The network needs to be accessed by choice, so character broadcasts are not automatically beamed directly into people’s heads. The Sphere isn’t that rude.

Private messages are allowed by pressing and holding and pressing and holding again as you picture the person in your mind. This can be an image or a name, err more on the side of things being more accessible than less.

God let people have their pumpkin spice lattes, Karen!
It’s September, and that means that fall has hit the Sphere hard. Well, as hard as any place can be without having actual seasons or sunlight. So, in the artificial sun of the Sphere, what there is instead of colder weather and leaves changing is a new festival. The festival, which if you ask someone who’s been there for a while is in celebration of the most fall thing in the entire world: pumpkin spice. That’s right, there’s an entire festival just centered around pumpkin spice flavored things! Of course, the people of the Sphere do try and make an effort to invoke the spirit of the season, with large garlands of fake brightly colored leaves lining the street. The scents of pumpkin spice fill the air and there are small fire pits near Adirondack chairs that are clustered together with all the things to make s’mores.

For those not pumpkin minded, there are also a fair amount of apples picked from the Sphere orchards, and a few small knives. Some older women promise that if people can peel the apples in a long spiral and throw them behind them, then the peel will form the initial of the person that the thrower is destined to marry. Of course there is also bobbing for apples and pumpkin carving.

In both the merchant dome and the agricultural dome there’s massive tables brimming with enough pumpkin foods to make Harry Potter jealous. There’s all sorts of pumpkin baked goods, pumpkin ravioli, roasted pumpkin and vegetables and there’s even roasted meats with pumpkin sauce! There's also drinks of both the alcoholic and non alcoholic sort: pumpkin beer, pumpkin spice wine, pumpkin spice vodka, apple spiced whiskey and so on! At each place is a coffee cart with a poor overworked barista who is doling out every sort of pumpkin coffee, hot chocolate and tea imaginable including yes pumpkin spice lattes.

We're waiting for the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
There’s even a pumpkin carving contest in the agricultural dome! Pumpkins of different sizes ranging from small sugar ones to ones that could comfortably form a children’s fort are stacked around, and there are picnic tables set in newspaper and with things like knives and scoopers and nails and even drills for those people who want to remove the pumpkin guts or use them to do some carving. Everyone who participates receives a ribbon as well as a bag of toasted pumpkin seeds to take home.

They hope you really like pumpkin seeds. There’s a ton of them.

When the dark comes, people hunker down between the false stars above, with blankets all around them, the scent of pumpkin in the air. Flashlights and small lanterns are distributed by people, and when asked what’s going on, they’ll say that they’re waiting for The Great Pumpkin. Children whisper the name excitedly, and even some of the more inebriated adults do the same. Either way, at midnight the largest pumpkin rises above the crowd to gasps of shock and awe before it just magically changes into the types of candy and small toys that one would expect to come from an excellently stocked pinata.

The color of magical bounty.
In the rec dome, some magically gifted people have conjured up massive piles of dried leaves for people to frolic in. And when I say massive, I mean massive. It’s almost like an entire forest of leaves that’s thankfully free of all of the problems that come with jumping in leaves. With no animals in the Sphere, there’s not any of their presents hiding in the leaves and anything sharp hasn’t been created! Which means that it’s great for things like jumping in, burying things in and of course leaf fights.

If your character is missing nature, the area smells exactly how one would expect a late September walk in the woods to smell: it’s almost as if you’re there! The sunlight in the dome has also been altered a bit where the leaves are located, so it’s cooler, and a slight wind seems to be in the air, stirring the leaves every so often. It’s enough to encourage sweaters and scarves, that have been provided by people if they’d like them. The scarves and sweaters all seem to be of the handmade variety, and just the tiniest bit irregular, with one sleeve longer than the other, or the fringe on a scarf being slightly askew, that sort of thing. But they’re still lovely and soft and warm and smell of dryer sheets and leaves.

And we're flying, flying far beyond...
So the Sphere saw that everyone just loved the fireflies last month so this month it decided that what the city needs is to fly for real! So in the Rec dome, there’s a marked pad that people can step on that lets people fly around this particular dome for 30 minutes at a go using the same sort of controls that the communications behind your ear has! Press quickly once to go up and twice to go down. The clearance in the dome clocks in somewhere around 400 feet so there’s plenty of room for flying and even going up and touching the top of the dome and staring out into the abyss of water.

Be careful though because sometimes if you stare too long into the abyss, things just happen to stare back at you and then there are things in the deep water that you may not expect. Or that you might. Giant fish and squid may just find all this unusual activity quite interesting. But don’t worry the dome won’t crack. Guess what! You are now the fish in the aquarium for them! Or you know the bird flying past the cat in the window.

Wanna go to a real party? (CW: Mentions of drugs and alcohol.)
If people are looking for more illicit entertainment, and discreet inquiries are made, a passcode to the Black Market hidden behind some of the stalls is offered. The entrance is hidden enough that someone needs to be looking for it, and there is a rather large bouncer guarding the door and asking for the proper passcode. The passcode of the day happens to be I hate pumpkin.

Inside the black market is large, but much more dimly lit than the regular market dome. There are various pockets of people clustered under bright neon lights. The lights, someone confides to you, are code for what they’re offering. And nearly everything is on offer if a person has the ability to make a trade. Things from home, character skills and even favors tend to be the currency here, but watch out: the hawkers within are shrewd and sharp. If they make a deal with someone, it’s nearly always going to favor them. Eventually.

There’s also a large and loud party happening inside. Think of a rave with a large amount of people who happened to be a bit out of their minds. Drugs aren’t given freely here, they’re too valuable, but should someone want to figure out what they’re rolling on, eventually someone will ask or offer. The drug that they are currently using is called ‘self’ and it’s something that affects your character in an intensely personal way. For some, it’s an experience like your favorite cocktail mixed with vicodin, and for others it’s just like being drunk. For still more people, it’s like ecstasy without the side effects.

The drug has no physically addictive properties. It does however cause a hangover. The Sphere doesn't want to take all the fun out of imbibing too much.

photo inspiration

lordmajestros: (pic#6228411)

Mister Majestic | Wildstorm Comics

[personal profile] lordmajestros 2019-09-03 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
Audio Broadcast

[The voice that comes through the comms is commanding but not tyrannical. It's not the voice of a man who will punish you for ignoring him, but it is the voice of one who's used to be followed without question. Also probably one who thinks his way is the right way.]

Attention citizens of the Sphere, though it may be more accurate to call us captives. Someone created this computer with the intent to collect us for some as yet undefined use and I intend to learn just what that is. Until then, whatever these people have done to you, I can assure from here on, you are under my protection. I am Lord Majestros, though humans of Earth know me as Mister Majestic.

If you have questions, I'll answer them.

[You know, if he wants to. Say hello to Wildstorm's douchebag Superman stand-in.]
doubled_speed: (That Was Fucking Close)

Audio Response of Sass

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-09-03 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
I have a question. Why are you such a try hard?
lordmajestros: (pic#6228402)

[personal profile] lordmajestros 2019-09-03 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
I've saved the Earth on countless occasions, likely longer than your civilization has existed. I don't have to justify myself to you, child.
doubled_speed: (Default)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-09-03 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
Uh huh. I've saved Earth too. And while only a teen. And people here are competent. You're just a bit up on yourself, aren't you? Seriously, we don't need to be 'under your protection'.

And don't call me 'child.'
Edited 2019-09-03 03:46 (UTC)
wasinnocent: (charis75)

audio of yiiiikes

[personal profile] wasinnocent 2019-09-03 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
Fuck me. [She mutters it under her breath even though she knows he'll probably catch it. ]

Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?
lordmajestros: (pic#6228403)

[personal profile] lordmajestros 2019-09-03 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
Should I congratulate you? Recent occurrences documented on the network suggest otherwise, or are you choosing to turn a blind eye to the demonic invasion?
lordmajestros: (pic#6228414)

[personal profile] lordmajestros 2019-09-03 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
[Stone cold, but when is that new?]

Nemesis.
doubled_speed: (Won't Like Me Angry)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-09-03 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
[Wrong choice there, asshole, because Tommy absolutely got possessed.]

You can judge when you get fucking possessed by demons you self-righteous Thor wannabe.
lordmajestros: (pic#6228404)

[personal profile] lordmajestros 2019-09-03 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
I can assure you, there's no one I strive to me. It's quite the opposite. Possession isn't a concern.
doubled_speed: (Leave Me Out Of This)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-09-03 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, I SO hope there's a fucking memory glitch thing soon. So we can see what a hypocrite you probably are.
Edited 2019-09-03 04:03 (UTC)
wasinnocent: (charis100)

[personal profile] wasinnocent 2019-09-03 04:04 am (UTC)(link)
Back to that are we?
lordmajestros: (Default)

[personal profile] lordmajestros 2019-09-03 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
I'm sure you're right. You seem convinced of it enough.

[So grossly hypocritical, Tommy. You just don't know.]
lordmajestros: (pic#6228411)

[personal profile] lordmajestros 2019-09-03 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
Back? It's never changed.
wasinnocent: (pic#4332020)

[personal profile] wasinnocent 2019-09-03 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
It did, but I guess you're not there yet. [ Because of course not. ]
doubled_speed: (Default)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-09-03 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
[No, but damn he wishes he could.]

Dude, no one is that high and mighty without being full of themselves.
cantnotreport: (We did some great things)

Cecil Palmer | Welcome to Night Vale

[personal profile] cantnotreport 2019-09-03 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
[the color of magical bounty]

Deserts are not known for their fall color. That being said, Cecil is not entirely familiar with the concept of leaves, let alone massive piles of them, and quite frankly, he thinks they're pushing the limits of acceptability. They may not be mountains, in the strictest sense of the word. And perhaps -- JUST MAYBE -- Cecil is willing to admit that he may have (under extreme duress) hallucinated a mountain one time, but proper decorum does not allow for the construction of little mini-mountains all across an otherwise family-friendly event.

It's just not a done thing.

So here he is, arms crossed and eyes narrowed behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, standing before the largest pile of leaves anyone has ever seen, and looking positively disgruntled about it. He'd argue their purpose, but no one seems interested in listening to sense and reason when there are leaf piles to jump in. He observes silently -- seethingly -- watching as revelers leap over and again into the tiny crunchy mountains. Having fun. And that not-so-insignificant rebellious part of him starts twitching-- nagging. Because clearly, they exist, and clearly...

Arms still crossed, frown still firm, Cecil turns his back on the leaf pile, and tips backward to fall into them. Crunch. He's still for a moment, leaves falling over his face and his shoulders, and his voice is muffled beneath the avalanche as he struggles (and fails) to stifle...

A giggle.


[audio; un: thevoice]

Listeners...

I confess-- Confusion. We all know, our little town has a penchant for surprises, but it's never been like this before. And so many new faces! The Welcome Wagon will be working overtime to accommodate everyone I'm sure, and far be it from me to discourage their sacred duty, but--

Look, to be honest? [Cecil's voice drops to a conspiratorial whisper.] I'm not really sure what's going on. [Cecil clears his throat, and his volume returns to normal.] But not to worry. I'm certain that City Council is already hard at work, hammering out the details from the safety of their cozy vacation home in an unknown tropical paradise, and we're all perfectly safe.

We're always safe, after all. Eventually. One way or another.

More on this as it develops...
lyriumspecter: (✘ Are you seriously saying this?)

Fenris | Dragon Age

[personal profile] lyriumspecter 2019-09-03 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
I. Flying...?

[Fenris, small and lithe, with glowing tattoos and a brooding frown, is watching the people in the dome from the sidelines. This is far from natural, and surely magic is involved.

It's not a toy. It shouldn't be used as a toy. He is not happy.

And he's also judging all of you.
]



II. Audio (at least he's trying)

[Because it's in his head, his dual emotions of annoyance and apprehension come through in the broadcast.]

...who are you all?
lovelylaica: (ok bed)

II. un; Viscountess

[personal profile] lovelylaica 2019-09-03 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ Laica is in her room, alone, not doing anything of much importance other than puttering about and hoping to organize her thoughts somehow. When whatever progress she had been making on the latter is destroyed by the familiar voice rumbling in her ear.

She freezes, not daring to hope it's real. But her heart won't listen to her better judgment and she blurts it out. ]


Fenris?
10milliondollars: (uhuhsure)

Audio | UN: RighteousFather

[personal profile] 10milliondollars 2019-09-03 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
[The voice that replies is dripping with a vaguely sleazy confidence, and underlined with an air of "aw, how cute". Not that he means it to be patronizing, it's just the douchiness Rhys has had to steep himself in for most of his career.]

So...guessing you're some kind of reporter? Whatever city you're used to reporting in, you're not there anymore. You might end up stuck here a while, so it might be best to get comfortable. I've been here for almost a year.
lovelylaica: (formal)

Laica Hawke | Dragon Age | OTA

[personal profile] lovelylaica 2019-09-03 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
PSL

Umm. Could you add more whipped cream? Oh! And some of those little tiny candy things? Yes! That's it. Sprinkles.

[ Now that Laica has been introduced to the wonders of coffee she is exploring every ridiculous application of the stuff imaginable. Right now the long-suffering barista is in the process of creating a truly abominable frappuccino-like concoction, all on Laica's request.

Somebody distract her before she tries to get more caramel sauce. ]


Flying

[ Laica's always wanted to fly. Or, more accurately, she wanted to be a dragon. But dragons can fly, so flying is part of the whole dragon thing.

Anyway. It isn't long before she's in the dome, tapping her button to go up as high as she possibly can and stay there, twirling and flipping and doing whatever other kinds of aerials she can think of until she hovers to a stop, mesmerized by some glowing fish just on the other side of the glass. ]


Oh, hello. What are you lovelies?
10milliondollars: (uhoh)

Video | UN: RighteousFather

[personal profile] 10milliondollars 2019-09-03 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
[The face that appears in response is definitely feigning awe, but Rhys is hoping the sarcasm is lost on this quack. There's no way this guy is serious, right? He can't be serious.

But if he is, he knows exactly who to direct the man to.]


A hero! That's exactly what we need! Surely, a man like you can fight off this nightmare of a place!

Frigga || MCU || OTA

[personal profile] fancybroad 2019-09-03 08:48 am (UTC)(link)
Audio Network
[The voice that comes on is refined, regal, and yet also fairly gentle. It's clearly an older woman who is not bothered in the slightest by this strange transportation to the Sphere.]

I was told I could communicate with other residents by using this... well, I believe it is some form of Midgardian communication. I do hope I am going about this in the correct manner. [She lets out a tiny wistful sigh.] I fear I have never been well versed in Midgard's ever growing range of curious technological advancements. [An ever so slight hint of amusement can be heard in her tone. Whether it truly is amusement or just her being slightly patronizing is left up to the interpretation of the listener.]

I am Frigga, Queen of Asgard. Though such titles matter very little in a place such as this. [And that is perfectly acceptable. She would hardly expect a completely different universe to care about the royal lineage of Asgard. ] It is my understanding that this unfortunate situation is the product of a malfunction of some sort. In other words, it is a mistake for us to be arriving here like this. More often than not men hide from their mistakes, too frightened of admitting failure to face what they have done. It is far easier to dwell on wrongs than it is to attempt to make them right. [Oh how familiar she is with such things. How terribly familiar.]

Therefore I must offer my sincere gratitude and admiration for what we are being offered. This place had no obligation to offer us shelter or information, yet it has. It is my sincerest hope that all new arrivals will offer appreciation for these gestures, no matter how small they may be. Now more than ever we must all remember that there is no reason to forego kindness even in the most unpleasant of situations. [Don't even think about lashing out about this situation. She will find you and give you the most intense disappointed mother look you have ever gotten in your entire life. You don't want that look. Don't risk getting that look.]
fromthelevee: (pic#)

Beverly Marsh | IT | OTA

[personal profile] fromthelevee 2019-09-03 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Video, un: bmarsh

Hello- I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Beverly Marsh, I'm one of the visitors. [This is not the Beverly Marsh that has been around the Sphere. Oh no. Well- it is. Just a version of her that's 27 years older. A version of her that's been to hell and back and is knowingly going right back in again the second she returns back to where she was. This Beverly is taller, her hair longer and a few wrinkles around her eyes.

And this Beverly is a little bit on edge.]


Can anyone guarantee that we're put back right where we left when we return to our homes? [The boys needed her. If they split up again, more than they already had, they were going to lose.] John explained it, but I'd like a second opinion.

Thank you.
doubled_speed: (Confidence Is My Middle Name)

Video | UN: Speed

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-09-03 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh come on, older Bev, don't be all upset. At the very least you can hang out and reassure younger Bev that she'll be alright.]

Listen, I can't talk about whether you go back or not, or anything like that, but I promise that while you're here, you've got a speedster to do any errands you might need. Mostly because I cannot doubt at all that you're absolutely just as cool as Bev and that gets you instant positive Karma in my books, what with her saving me from a demon.

[His best friend here but older? Yeah, he's cool with that.]