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

guerin: (Default)

[personal profile] guerin 2019-10-03 10:09 am (UTC)(link)
Dragons, huh.

[ Michael raises a brow, so it's that kind of old-fashioned place. ]

No, but we have bombs.
cruelmoirai: (pic#13412428)

[personal profile] cruelmoirai 2019-10-03 12:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maria either hadn't heard Alex's words or chose to ignore them.

She walks along the hall with a thoughtful expression touching Angel's features.]
Such power. I bet she never uses it. A shame really. [Maria waves a hand and the air thins as if the oxygen had been taken out of it.] You know she doesn't even need to breathe? Humans are such fragile things.

[Another wave of her hand and the hall returns to normal with only a flicker of lighting to indicate the workings of her magic.]

She is so much more and yet so much less.

One day, her power will be mine.

[Maria will be all that she has left.]

Now what to do with you? I have been told that death doesn't stick here. A shame really, there are so many in her memories whom I wish to kill. Perhaps just some pain? Will you fear her? Knowing what she can do and seeing her face do it?
blindpuppet: (Amused)

[personal profile] blindpuppet 2019-10-03 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Enis met the furry and eager heat of his kiss with her own, pausing only long enough to lift her arms over head and remove her shirt. Her bra was black and simple, her skin pale and perfect despite her history with tests and experimentation. She was comprised of lean muscles and slender strength that quickly sought to remove Tommy's shirt in reply, her tongue dragging against his before having to break the kiss again and remove another layer of fabric.
doubled_speed: (I'm Quicksilver Fast)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-10-03 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
"Nah. I'm also not down for people who flip-flop them a lot. Speed is what I am, it's what I'll be, and that's what matters."

At last he picks up a scrap of fabric he tore off of, well, something. It's got some stripes and some dots, and he's put it on a skewer and he puts the whole thing into the tallest tower.

"Done. Time for me to go find some beach volleyball action."
doubled_speed: (Default)

good ftb i think

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-10-03 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Well then, come on Alterna-Dude, let's go see what there is to see!
doubled_speed: (Default)

CW: NSFW beyond here

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-10-03 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Very good removal. Best removal, because it means skin to skin contact, which is a lot easier now that she's tossed aside his shirt. And while it's his legs that are the most impressive part, there is no denying that his mutant biology and super strength left him with his own stretch of muscle. Just with a bit less slenderness to it. With his shirt gone he's pressing her back against the door again, lips finding hers to rejoin the kiss as his hands reach her sides and start the slow slide up that is clearly just an excuse to feel the strength of her body.

Damn, been a while since he's been with someone that he's got even money on their ability to beat him up. Definitely adds to the hot factor.

In the mean time his hands continue their slow drag, because even he respects the value of taking some things slow, until one shifts forward enough to cup a breast through her bray, and the other to her back to try and find the clasp. That needed off now.
ubbe: (zHYpGf9)

[personal profile] ubbe 2019-10-04 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
This place is full of interesting experiences.
foundries: (pic#13136995)

[personal profile] foundries 2019-10-04 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
The Sphere has dragged in its fare share of recalcitrant, unhappy denizens— and Hades, lord of the underworld, is no different.

After having the situation explained to him by one harried but helpful woman named John, and rifling through his wardrobe, his first faltering steps out of his shared quarters (shared! the king has to share! incon-fuckin-ceivable) are unsteady. He got to keep a pinstriped vest; there's that small mercy, at least.

But apart from that small touch of home, everything in his entire body is bristling and screaming about how godsdamned wrong this is. He's under the sea. He's surrounded by water, trapped at the bottom of his brother's domain, and not his own. He smells faint metal and plastic and salt, not the rich earths and healthy soil and cold ore and rock of back home. It's like he's set adrift, cut off from his source of power, the realm that's more an extension of himself than anything else.

And so he wanders, back straight and his demeanour cold, aloof, for anyone who tries who strike up a friendly conversation with him. He's in no mood. He walks and walks, until he catches the scent of— fall, somehow. A chill breeze. Decaying matter. That's more like it.

He follows it, until he catches sight of piles of dying leaves and amongst them—

His breath catches in his chest; it's like the whole world bends towards the sight of his wife, everything narrowing in on Persephone, a piece of startling comfort amongst this alien place. She was supposed to come home. He wasn't supposed to come here.
foundries: (pic#13136997)

magical bounty

[personal profile] foundries 2019-10-04 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
And even with crossing universes and realms and being inexplicably dropped beneath his brother Poseidon's world, somehow, there's the sound of a maddeningly familiar guitar.

Hades was prowling the edges of the dome with all the fallen leaves (it's a comfort, it's a glimpse of the world back home, a reminder that autumn yet happens), when he hears the song whispering across the impossible wind and it drags him closer. Spellbound, just like he was before, because only the Hermes-trained son of a muse could command such beautiful music.

(And it is heartstoppingly beautiful, much as he hates to admit it.)

When he reaches Orpheus at the center of the merrily-swirling leaves, the flicker of recognition between them is hardly pleasant. Like a jarring off-key note in the air. Hades notes the cuts and bruises on the boy's face dispassionately; recognises them and where they came from. The edge of his mouth curls.
singmetolife: (conversation)

[personal profile] singmetolife 2019-10-04 02:25 pm (UTC)(link)
“Okay,” he says. He follows, because who is he to deny her? He rails against Hades because he has to, because his heart drives him to. Persephone isn’t Hades. He likes her. He’s sure everyone does.

“What is this place?” he asks her as they go. He’s heard an explanation, sort of, upon arriving. But he wants it from her, from a familiar enough face. The people around them don’t bother him, but he’s fine moving along too.
singmetolife: (shine bright)

[personal profile] singmetolife 2019-10-04 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Orpheus, not a god but not exactly a regular human, stays bound by his own music spell for another moment, smiling up at the leaves in the air. When was the last time he’d seen leaves like this, red and gold, just starting to crisp where they’d fallen? He’s not sure. Time is a strange thing, hard to hold onto. There’s faint memories of before, but by design, he largely lives in the present moment, drawn along by a design none of them could really see.

When he blinks and drops his eyes, he sees a familiar figure, dark and shining all at once, a stark reminder of the industry of the city named for him.

Orpheus’s hands stop moving. The music lingers in the air for a moment, the leaves frozen where they are before they fall again, gently, as if reluctant to let go of the boy and his song.

“Hades,” he says, without reverence. It figures that where Persephone is, Hades must follow her, seek her out. He’s hesitant to move. This isn’t Hadestown, but Orpheus isn’t naive enough to imagine that the gods have no power here.
11calls: (20)

[personal profile] 11calls 2019-10-04 04:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[Gasping softly at the lack of air, Alex's hand just reflexively goes to her throat and to the still healing marks that are there. Her nails grasp at them quickly, trying to clear her throat from something that isn't there. Despite what Maria may think, Alex isn't an idiot, and she definitely knows the cause of what's happening to her but she can't stop the physical response that her body's having.

When she lets go, Alex just gasps quickly, her eyes narrowed and focused on Maria. This is a side of Alex that most people don't see (unless they happen to listen to the show or are Richard Strand) the anger in it. Alex rarely gets this angry, but when she does, it's a long fuse and a huge explosion. But Alex doesn't let the sound come into her raspy voice, instead it's decidedly calm.
]

I know she's not letting you hear me, Angel, but I'm not going to fear your face because I know you would never do this. You wouldn't hurt the people who hurt you, and I know you would never hurt me.
threshes: (look at him)

[personal profile] threshes 2019-10-04 06:55 pm (UTC)(link)
It had only been a few days ago, when the turnin' of the world had come around to fall all official like that Persephone had lamented the lack of train whistle and husband coming to go along with it. There'd been three seasons that Persephone had been here now, at least for her. Winter back home, just after she'd tried to convince her husband to let the boy (who had been here and gone) and his wife go. There'd been the Spring that she'd arrived in the middle of that had come without her, and there'd been the faux warmth of Summer that had done little more than remind her of Hadestown with it's artificialness. Oh, it was better than what he'd done, but it sure weren't real either.

So, drinking in the leaves, because even if they were made with mortal magic, they were close enough for her to at least feel something close to what she wanted. To what she missed. To what she's still been missing and what Persephone still missed even when she was at home and the two of them were just so damned at odds all the time.

But there's somethin' more than a little familiar about the feeling of eyes that are the color of stone and earth and coal, and Persephone knows that they are even without seein' em. She knows just like she knew when he'd watched her in her mama's garden before the world began. Quickly (perhaps too quickly for the amount of booze that she's using to try and soak her feelings and memories within) Persephone sits up, and then she pulls herself onto her feet and up to her full (slight) height. Wobbling steps grow more sure with each bare foot that touches the earth, as if the effervescent feelings inside of her chest and the contract with their combined elements sobers her up.

Or maybe it's just him.

"Hades." There's a yearning in her voice, of course, but somethin' else too that ain't been there in a good long time: a note of joy that he's here. With a speed that Persephone hasn't used to greet him in perhaps centuries, the goddess throws herself into his arms and just presses her lips to his as if to assure herself that this was all real.
threshes: (the world came into tune)

[personal profile] threshes 2019-10-04 08:37 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's a place called 'The Sphere.' Some sort of intelligence keeps kidnapping folks from different universes and trappin' em here under the sea. Whatever it is, it's got enough power that it can hold us. Can hold me even." Even when she really ain't supposed to be here anymore. Or at all. Her world is certainly too complicated for that sort of thing, after all. Especially with everything that the two of them were in the middle of when they were taken. (From what she'd heard, it don't seem like it was much different from when he was taken as well.)

But when Persephone adds the next part, her voice is softer and sadder than anything he'd ever would have heard up top. It's more private, the sort of thing that isn't colored too much by anger. There's only pain in it, sharp and raw and a little shocked. "I've been here for two seasons now. Got here in the Spring, was here all summer, and now we're about to be going on Fall. They say that we're supposed to be returned home to the moment that we left with no memories but..." But if they were wrong, then Persephone's disappearance is going to have farther ranging repercussions that she doesn't want to think about. That is probably the one thing that she fears the most: that without her, ain't nothing would grow.

That without her, there ain't gonna be nothing left of the human world.
singmetolife: (hesitate)

[personal profile] singmetolife 2019-10-05 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
"You've been here for months?" he asks, surprised but not exactly disbelieving. That doesn't add up in his head, of course; he's not sure how long it took him to get to Hadestown. It wasn't an instantaneous journey by any means, but time sort of lost meaning in the underground. Orpheus isn't good with time anyway; the seasons don't change normally and the days can run together. He gets wrapped up in his music, finishing his song. He's an artist, a musician. He doesn't live in the world in the same way some people do.

"But I just saw you," he says, and it's true. He may not have a good grasp on time, but he knows he just saw her. It was still winter at home, as far as he could tell. She had been gone months, but for him it had been moments. So maybe what she'd been told was true, and no matter what happened here, it would be no time at all back home.

She doesn't seem to know exactly who or what pulled them here, or how it did it. The sadness in her voice surprises him; mostly, he saw her in the summertime, laughing and drinking and dancing. The summer could be too hot, and so much was uncertain, but her presence was always a light for everyone around. He doesn't like to see her sad. He moves as if he might reach for her, but then he remembers himself. How could he comfort a goddess with a touch? He surely couldn't. But he offers her a smile anyway.

"Far as I can tell, they haven't missed you at home yet. Maybe there's some truth in that returning to the moment thing."
flammablepitch: (7)

[personal profile] flammablepitch 2019-10-05 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
"Anywhere is a place for glittered pumpkins. They're classic." He grabs another, non-glittered pumpkin and places it and a knife in front of Simon. If he's going to get into the holiday spirit, so is Simon.

"I haven't, but the network has an archive." You've already looked through it all and know what to expect - more or less. Simon is going to hate it; you hate it. It's invasive and embarrassing and more than a little dangerous (the last of which isn't a problem, really).

"Where do they have you sleeping?" A place to sleep wasn't the same as a place to live.
havearaft: (I just want to run to you)

[personal profile] havearaft 2019-10-05 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
But I do. And I'm sorry you have to deal with them.
lovelylaica: (eyes down)

[personal profile] lovelylaica 2019-10-05 07:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ Laica's lips screw to the side and her eyes narrow as he describes this. It sounds like no magic she's ever even read about. ]

That's not... really how it works for most of us. At least not where I'm from. You have to have the ability to wield magic at all, to tear the Veil and touch the Fade to work your will upon the world. But one has to study and practice and work very hard to do much of anything. Usually one specializes in one thing or another. Generalists are exceedingly rare.

My native magic is fire, so I studied healing to try to make up for that.

10milliondollars: (sad2)

[personal profile] 10milliondollars 2019-10-05 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Rhys sighs shakily. On the one hand, he knows it's weird to care so much for Enis, but on the other hand, he's grown so close to her in their time here. Thinking about a world without her...his chest suddenly feels achingly tight. It really shouldn't matter, seeing as he'll be sent back to his own world sooner or later.

But it does.

He doesn't know if he'll forget his time here or not, and either way, everything feels so real.

"What if...What if you come back to Pandora with me?" He asks it quietly, as if he's afraid to speak.
10milliondollars: (Default)

[personal profile] 10milliondollars 2019-10-05 06:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I have a proposition. I do this for you, and you help me get a few answers about the vaults. Is that fair?
sirentologist: (Default)

[personal profile] sirentologist 2019-10-05 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh very well. I shall do my best to answer your questions and not roll my eyes. Too often.
yearrounder: (Chaos)

[personal profile] yearrounder 2019-10-05 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks. I... really appreciate that. [Not that it changes much but at least someone feels bad?]
doubled_speed: (Default)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-10-05 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[Yeah, well, it magic unique to his brother pretty much.]

Billy's unique. So people in our world can't really do that. Just, you know, him. Because, well, he's a god or something. He's also able to control electricity. But his healing sorta sucks.

[Because it's complicated.]
magneticfields: (casual sad)

[personal profile] magneticfields 2019-10-05 08:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Erik has no idea what Hammer Bay is, but does wonder if what this young man is talking about isn't some other island entirely. He can't fathom fitting fifteen million people on his little wooded haven, no matter how efficiently they designed it. ]

I didn't do that.

[ He will continually assert this, until it becomes plain that he is somebody different than who Tommy knows. He has enough trouble dealing with the fallout of his own sins, he's not taking on some counterpart's as well. ]

I was granted the land in a boon after I helped the X-Men defeat Apocalypse. That was just over ten years ago. I have dealt with the UN in order to establish our sovereignty, but don't have the time nor the inclination to spend much time in Washington. We are largely self-sufficient and entirely self-policing.
doubled_speed: (Oh Son of a Witch)

[personal profile] doubled_speed 2019-10-05 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[Dude, he knows they're different people. It's just really weird to change the terms. Whatever.]

I'm sure you are. That's what is great about Genosha, no need to care about other people trying to tell you what to do.

[Except it doesn't exist anymore. So Tommy just, doesn't want to think about it.]

It's a nice pumpkin anyway.