thespherelogs | 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:

Audio. Your character thinks audible words onto the network.
Writing: Your character thinks text into the network.
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.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Alex is staring, she can't help it. Oh, she's aware that Richard has a look-alike from things with Loki and Thor, but she's still surprised to see this very familiar face staring back at her. Oh, he doesn't have a familiar voice (for which Alex is extremely grateful) but it's enough. But, however, Alex can't mistake him for Richard either way, not with the way that the cloak hovers about around as if it has a mind of it's own.

It's not even the weirdest thing that's happened this week honestly.

But there's the mention of New York, and that definitely perks Alex's interest.]

I'm pretty sure there's no escaping the Pumpkin Spice thing, no matter where you are. It's still a thing in Seattle, and if it sticks there that long, it's here for a while.

[A beat.]

What part of New York are you from?

[ He's aware of her staring, though he pays it no mind. Stephen knows by now that Richard looks enough like him they've been mistaken for one another. It happens, and it's not all that mind-blowing. For someone who can peer into different dimensions and timelines? It's about as thrilling as reading the classifieds section of the Daily Bugle. ]

Manhattan.

Were you born there?

Born and raised, studied medicine and practiced, as well.

You're a medical doctor?

[The question comes quickly, and then Alex offers him her hand with her smile.]

So, I'm asking a lot of questions without introducing myself. Hi, I'm Alex. Alex Reagan.

I was a neurosurgeon. One of the best in my profession if you'll pardon the stroking of my own ego.

[ And yet, he takes her hand, giving it a shake. ]

It's a pleasure, Alex. Doctor Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts.

[ Yeah, definitely not stroking his own ego still. ]

[If there's one thing that Alex Reagan is definitely used to, it's someone wearing that face (though with far better facial hair than Strand did when he was wearing his grief beard) it's dealing with the ego involved in it. Idly, Alex can't help but to wonder if it's somehow connected to the face or if it's just a happy coincidence. So, there may be a little bit of a fond smile that she can't help on her face. But, down to business.]

So that's why when Loki and Thor arrived they called Richard 'Wizard.' It must be a story of going from one of the best neurosurgeons to a 'Master of the Mythic Arts.'

[ Stephen takes a good bit of pride in his look. It's certainly something he's committed to by now. ]

'Wizard' is a boring comparison- I'm not Harry Potter.

It was certainly a challenge, but one I did not see much choice in. Heal my hands and continue my life, as short as it may be with the incoming inter-dimensional threats, or pick up the mantle I was apparently destined to serve.

Well, Master of the Mystic Arts definitely does sound better than wizard, you've got me there!

[Because really, Harry Potter or Dumbledore themselves couldn't really deny it.]

But it's a mouthful.

[And then more compassionately:]

What happened to your hands?

I was in a car accident and both of my hands were shattered. I spent every penny on surgeries, procedures, physical therapy..

Turns out, my cure was more magically-oriented than I'd ever have considered.

[ Still, he wiggles his fingers to show all is well. ]

[There's a small smile that Alex can't help on her lips when she asks:]

:Let me guess, you were a skeptic and a man of science before?

I am still a man of science. However, I cannot deny the existence of multiple universes or dimensions beyond our understanding, having experienced them firsthand.

Not everything in this world or any other can be explained away by science.

How many multiple different universes have you experienced? Other than this one, I mean.

[Because, yeah, this definitely counts as a multiversal hub. His being here (among other things) is definitely proof of that.

And then she laughs.]

That is refreshing to hear, honestly.

[Especially coming from this face.]

Fourteen million, six hundred and five.

[ Like it's no big deal. He sees timelines, it's what he does, though he's a far cr from The Ancient One. He'd needed to in order to figure out the best course of action with Thanos. ]

Wow

[Alex doesn't even attempt to hide her astonishment at that. She can't.]

Even if you've spent less than a minute in each, you've got to be over a hundred and fifty by now. Does magic give you some sort of time defying properties as well?

Time isn't quite as linear as you make it seem. Part of my abilities allow me to ascertain what I need from separate realities with a glimpse. When time is of the essence, sometimes that is all you have, so you make the most of it.

[ He pauses. ]

It also helps that I wield the Eye of Agamotto, which contains the power of the time stone.

Edited 2019-09-26 23:44 (UTC)

So the whole of the reality? Does that mean forwards and backwards too?

What's the Eye of Agamotto?

Forward, backward, sideways if you prefer.

[ He taps the artifact around his neck. ]

It is a relic created by Agamotto, the first Sorcerer Supreme, to harness and control the power of the time stone. It allows the wearer to harness its power without touching the stone itself. It has been passed down from Sorcerers Supreme since his time.

Huh.

[The look on Alex's face would probably cause anyone who knows her to be very wary, because it's definitely undisguised interest and undisguised interest when it comes to Alex always tends to involve her doing exceptionally stupid things in the name of sating her curiosity.]

How does one become a Sorcerer Supreme? Does it have like a genetic component to it?

Fourth Wall Month!

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