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

gristle: (u6cW1Hd)

[personal profile] gristle 2019-09-04 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
Fuck.

[Bev just says the word softly but with great feeling, but she can't bring herself to ask the question. Not yet.]
fromthelevee: (Default)

[personal profile] fromthelevee 2019-09-04 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
Ah. [Well then. Shitty parents. Good to know. Unless he, too, had been haunted by an eldritch demon. She wasn't going to ask.]

Me, badass? [She remembers smashing Tom with her glass.] Maybe. I'll let you judge that for yourself.

2014? Funny enough, I was in New York in 2014.
fromthelevee: (Default)

[personal profile] fromthelevee 2019-09-04 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
...

I'm so sorry.
doubled_speed: (It's All Fun and Games Until This)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-09-04 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Shitty parents indeed. But the demon was in his past in another way.]

Wait, SERIOUSLY!? Dammit. What year you in?
gristle: (UmykFsS)

[personal profile] gristle 2019-09-04 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Fuck, that somehow makes it even worse, doesn't it.]

Is it over now?
fromthelevee: (Default)

[personal profile] fromthelevee 2019-09-04 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
2019.

[New film drops on Thursday what what]
doubled_speed: (Leave Me Out Of This)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-09-04 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
What!? Damn, I can't have you meet me for pizza. That's five more years!
fromthelevee: (Default)

[personal profile] fromthelevee 2019-09-04 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
It will be.

[There's no other option.]

We're going to win. All of us.
fromthelevee: (Default)

[personal profile] fromthelevee 2019-09-04 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, how about this: you meet me in Chicago in 2020.
doubled_speed: (Giving Me A Headache)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-09-04 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
Oh man, but their pizza isn't as good. Can I bring my own?
shockinglyold: (Jenny Sparks - Best friends 3)

Jenny Sparks || Wildstorm Comics

[personal profile] shockinglyold 2019-09-04 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
1.) Network post

un: Getoffmylawn

[The eye roll is palpable in its annoyance. She'd had things to do. She'd had dying to do. It was her grand swan song with the turn of the century, her time to pass the torch to her people because she knew they could handle the crazy shit that went down on a moment to moment basis.

Instead, she was here.

Then again, she wasn't dead either, which wasn't a bad thing.]


So, the glowing gold sphere says we're stuck. Great, I love waiting around. What do you people do for fun around here; and if you say knitting I'm gonna kill myself.


2.) The colors

So it wasn't the bleed, but it was damn gorgeous out there in the depths of the water. Jenny wished she had better eyesight and could see further than the lights of the outside. Right now, however, she was enjoying herself while sitting back with a cigarette and a beer while she watched people frolic in the leaves. It was a nicer sight than she usually got. War and death weren't exactly something that warmed your heart. The hot apple cider she was milking did though.

Living the life she did allowed little to be new or interesting. Jenny felt as if she'd seen almost everything by this point in her life, but clearly, she was wrong. A fall festival of leaves and scents so deep under the ocean was an innocent surprise. She couldn't help smirking at her perfectly alive it was for something like this to be going on.


3.) Real Party

It wasn't the drugs that brought Jenny to the black market. It was booze and cigarettes. One could be wholesome for only so long before they needed a good smoke and a cheap bottle of scotch. Wine and apple cider didn't have that satisfying burn, and this kind of atmosphere was more what she was used to.
fromthelevee: (Default)

[personal profile] fromthelevee 2019-09-04 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
What's wrong with Deep Dish?
doubled_speed: (Rush of the Race)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-09-04 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
I may be from Jersey, but I spend most of my time in either New York or Naples. Soooo I'm sure you can do the math.
fromthelevee: (Default)

[personal profile] fromthelevee 2019-09-04 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
...Fair enough. Okay, we'll meet in New York.
doubled_speed: (Confidence Is My Middle Name)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-09-04 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
Nah, I can meet in Chicago, no problem. I'll just bring my own pizza and buy you some.
shockinglyold: (Jenny Sparks - Calmer times)

Voice: un.getoffmylawn

[personal profile] shockinglyold 2019-09-04 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
It's doubtful anyone can assure you of anything. The multiverse is a fickle mistress; if she wants you to end up years ahead, you will. Right now it's best to try not to think about it and grab a good drink.
shockinglyold: (Default)

Voice: un.getoffmylawn

[personal profile] shockinglyold 2019-09-04 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
[She can be nice, no, really, there's that nice option in there. She just rarely pushes that button. She's decided to push it for this poor sucker who clearly doesn't get what's going on here.]

I hate to be the late-breaking news, but you're not in your little town anymore.

[personal profile] fancybroad 2019-09-04 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
Hello, Loki. It's very good to hear your voice. [It is not surprising, even if she hadn't been told they were here she would certainly know. A mother always knows.]

Difficult, perhaps, and yet I do wonder what truth there really is in what you say. How often have you uttered the occasional 'thank you' since you have come to thinks place?
elevatorisnotworthy: (new haircut)

audio:

[personal profile] elevatorisnotworthy 2019-09-04 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
[He blinks, unable to wrap his mind around what he is being presented. To be brought against ones will is one thing, but to be lied to about family is another. He grows angry at the trickery of the mind. There is no way that his dead mother can be here. It is heartbreaking to consider it.]

Grace and manners are never forgotten, if one was raised wisely. How do you come to be here? For that is not possible.
itsnothingpersonal: (easycompany_003)

[personal profile] itsnothingpersonal 2019-09-04 06:50 am (UTC)(link)
[There were so many things he wanted to say. "It's good to hear your voice, too, Mother. More than you know." "I didn't mean it when I said you weren't my mother." "I'm sorry". Instead, he doesn't say anything for a moment, settling himself.] And you.

[He swallows before continuing.]

...it was figurative, Mother. I haven't, of course, though I have helped.

audio:

[personal profile] fancybroad 2019-09-04 07:10 am (UTC)(link)
[For her part she stays as calm as ever.] Then I should hope you have an abundance of grace and manners. [After all he was raised with the best mother in the Nine Realms.]According to the information a very kind resident provided I came to be here by accident. [Her voice remains gentle but there's a certain firmness to it.] You more than most should know that very little is impossible, Thor.

[personal profile] fancybroad 2019-09-04 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
[She knows there's weight to his response. Loki was a boy of many words, to simply cut it short in such a manner told her there was a lot he was not saying. At the moment she was not going to push him for anything more than he wished to offer.]

And that excuses you from offering gratitude? [Dishonor on your father.] Tell me then, what have you helped with?
wasinnocent: (pic#4150818)

1 un: Nemesis

[personal profile] wasinnocent 2019-09-04 07:28 am (UTC)(link)
Drinking. We do a lot of drinking. [ Maybe not the best way to deal with their situation, but at least it gives something to do. ] Sometimes we share memories and get to experience the shit lives of other people here. [ Against their will usually. It's a ton of fun, really. ] There were demons last month.
elevatorisnotworthy: (Default)

Re: audio:

[personal profile] elevatorisnotworthy 2019-09-04 07:32 am (UTC)(link)
[Thor sighed, glad that she cannot see his face. If it is not his mother, he would be cross. If it is Frigga, then she would be able to see right through his mask he has been presenting to others. Only Loki really knows the pain he's been feeling at his failure at the hands of Thanos.]

While I may not be the most graceful, I do have manners and I can say what needs to be said in the moment it needs to be spoken. I had the best teachers.

[There is a choke to his voice that he tries to disguise as a cough.]

I... Yes, it is very possible. Loki comes from a time, I come from a further time, it's possible that you are from a different spot too... What do you remember last, mother?

itsnothingpersonal: (loki_020)

[personal profile] itsnothingpersonal 2019-09-04 07:40 am (UTC)(link)
[He breathes a sigh, because aside from petulance, he's never really been able to argue with her.]

True, but to whom am I to offer this gratitude?

[Dishonor him all you want, Mother.]

There was a defect in the filtration system that resulted in a loss of pressure and a steady leak in several areas. I aided a group of fellow captives is located, isolating, and repairing one such section. I likely could have handled it on my own, but they were capable enough.