(no subject)

[sphererpmod]

Who: Everyone!
Where: Anywhere
What: May mod log!
When: The First two weeks of May.
Warnings: Use your best discretion.

May Open log

First of May, First of May

So apparently the open festive mood on the locals hasn’t stopped so May opens with a tradition that happens within it. It’s May Day, or Beltane if you’re feeling formal and it doesn’t just last for the day. Instead it lasts for two weeks, because why do in one day what you can party for multiple days over?

There are the traditional May Day things of course. There’s the May pole stretching upwards with its brightly colored ribbons welcoming people to do it either together or separately. The colors are explained of course, purple for a good year, pink for fertility, green for fiscal gain, blue for calmness. Each ribbon wrapped around the ancient poll is a wish, an old woman tells you. So you should take it seriously. But if you do is up to you.

Ringing outside of the giant circle in the recreation dome are large bonfires. People are writing down their wishes for the year and burning them into the universe. Some more… adventurous people are hopping over the fire in order to increase the effectiveness of the wishes. In case you were wondering, John is standing ready with a med kit and a judgmental look on her face.

There are small picnics set up around rather than tables, and spring foods are placed on it. Strawberries, oat cakes, chocolate, and things like real food are scattered on them, letting people pick and share the platters around them equally. Wine flows freely, of course. Wine made here in the Sphere that comes in a variety of fruited flavors.

Traditional things such as three legged races and general races are occurring, people grouping those with powers together in order to make it fair. Other games are happening. Including Max in the dunk tank for a few minutes, so you may wanna get that in.

There are of course things that are non-traditional as well. After all, this is the Sphere. A series of bouncy castles is set up, as is an inflatable obstacle course. One of the larger castles is even set aside for the adults because well, why not.

Several large ball pits are set up and people are bringing drinks to them. There’s no way that can go wrong. It’s adults only because sometimes everyone just needs a ball pit.

Fireworks happen every night. Or at least something that looks like fireworks, minus the fire and the noise. But they fill the sky above the Sphere, making it seem as if they are under a real sky.

painting the roses red.

After celebrating the spring in April, May brings with it the work of what spring actually entails. What it entails especially after the loss of the person in charge (rip Annie) is doing the sort of normal planting in the fields. There are people around to supervise and to hand out seeds and the other things that one needs to successfully plant fields and all of that.

There are other fields and vegetable patches to be weeded and harvested, because the agriculture dome tends to always be in a state of flux depending on how many people are currently living in the sphere at the time.

But it wouldn’t be a community event if food wasn’t provided, so there’s a sort of barbecue going on. It definitely smells like barbecue that’s for sure, and there are people tending long pits of things that look like meat but that definitely aren’t. Still it tastes like good old bbq and that’s really what matters isn’t it?

Of course it wouldn’t be bbq without beer, so there’s a lot of it. It’s free-flowing (a little too free-flowing actually) and some of the teenagers have gotten their hands on it. On way too much of it as a matter of fact. Which is why it seemed like a good idea to them to show up at the work picnic with squirt guns full of washable paint.

If it’s washable and non-toxic, one argues, then it’s not as if anyone can be really angry.

But honestly it’s a paint fight. Join in or be an innocent victim there are definitely squirt guns a plenty around.

Everyone loves bathtime, right?

Well, people requested baths, so the staff at the pools in the Rec dome have tried to accommodate them! While normally, the events at the pools go something like this: The largest of the three pools, and the light is constant and sunny here. The large pool is Olympic sized, and is a sparkling blue. It’s fresh water, and probably clean enough to drink. I still wouldn’t drink it. The second pool is slightly smaller and more kidney shaped with a gradual sand mound at one end of it. This pool is salt water and looks a bit more like a beach than a pool. The third pool is a kiddie pool, complete with a splash pad, that’s running. Buckets drop, it’s got one of those mushroom things, and sprinkler jets. There aren’t any kids though, so people are welcome to go nuts.

Bathing suits and towels are provided in the divided changing rooms. There’s frozen and fruity drinks flowing freely, along with finger food and snacks.

The Sphere has increased it towards bathing though, through the use of temporary means. There’s a large bamboo building near it, and inside are various sets of hot and cool pools, sauna and steam pools, a masseuse and other spa treatments and the like. There’s three options for these times. 1.Strictly bathing suits, 2, strictly mixed nudity/ bathing suits and 3. Strictly separated nudity. No one below the age of eighteen is getting naked in the baths, sorry kids.

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Ubbe Ragnarsson | Vikings

[ubbe]

( A. First of May )

Ubbe rather enjoys it when things are happy and the like. Celebrations are interesting and he can easily be cajoled into participating in just about anything especially after he's indulged in the wine.

And he will be gratuitously indulging in the wine, mind you.

His spirits are rather high and if you haven't seen him recently you might notice some subtle differences. His face is still healing from his fight with the Black Dane and he still favors one side over the other when he walks. All in all, he's done much better here and all.

( B. Painting the Roses Red )

Ubbe is more than happy to tend the fields. It's what he'd fought so hard for against Ivar for many years now and he'd nearly given his life to get the lands that Ragnar was promised in England. Now, they had lands for farming, for settling and options beyond raids.

Periodically while working hard he'll stop to get some beer and also some food. He doesn't ask too many questions but the curiosity will always be in his eyes because what even is it that he's eating?

( C. Bathing )

The Vikings were a rather clean people but the idea of a steam baths were something that was still rather new to Ubbe. Not utterly new at all but new enough that there was still a fascination for it that mimicked his father's in Wessex. He had seen those Roman baths as well in his time in King Alfred's court but these were different from those still.

More often than not he'll choose the nude option because it seemed the most natural but he can be found in the mixed areas as well.

( D. Wildcard )

[ I'll match tenses and styles! Feel free to hit me with your best shot or hit me up via PM or on plurk at poetanarchy if you want to plot something or want a specific starter. Will be opting out of the nightmare plot so this is the best place to do things with me this month! ]

B. Painting the Roses Red

[becauseyouhaveto]

Working in the fields reminds Carol not only of her flowerbeds back home Before, but of the gardens they'd started at the Prison. It was nice to just be outside, working in the dirt and feeling the warmth of the sun, even if it was artificial. She sits up to wipe sweat from her brow, sighing happily.

Beside her, she notices a man who seems equally content with his weeding. "It's nice to be able to just zone out and work with your hands, don't you think?" she asks, just making polite conversation.

[ubbe]

Ubbe looks up at Carol's question and there's a friendly enough smile and then he continues working. In truth, he doesn't have very much farming experience. By the time Ubbe was born his father was Earl and had moved away from the humble homestead where the legend had started. Kattegat grew into a large trading center and he spent more time in the great hall than even thinking about the land.

But the land in Wessex had been a dream, the option for people to settle down and not be completely reliant upon raiding. The land was a treasure too and it's much the same he feels about the land here as well.

"It is, I think," Ubbe answers her, though the slang of 'zone out' had caused him a moment of thought to put the context together. "It is something to do as there's not much to fight here," Ubbe chuckles and well there's plenty of things that he misses from home here. Even if he's the least violent prone of his brother he does love a good battle.

[becauseyouhaveto]

Another fighter. Upon closer inspection, he reminds her of the Viking man she met over the network when she'd first arrived. Maybe it's the talk of violence, or maybe it's the very dated attire.

"I'm glad for the break from fighting. There's a lot of it where I'm from. Mostly defending ourselves from Walkers, but sometimes, other survivors. I ran away from everyone I knew to try and escape it, and I ended up here," she explains as she continues pulling weeds. And then she realizes he maybe doesn't know what she's talking about. "Uh...Walkers, that's what we call the dead. There's a sickness where I'm from, and after you die, you come back as a monster."

[ubbe]

It's possible it could be some family resemblance as it would likely be his little brother that she'd talked to. However, despite coming from the same culture, the same parents they were very different. Ivar was reckless and full of bloodlust where Ubbe sought peace when it could be afforded and generally had a much softer heart than most other Vikings. He'd still been willing to duel someone to the death for farmland, though, so there's that.

"We raid as a way of life, though, that's changing," Ubbe said and he smiles as he works along. He considers the explanation of her world. It sounds vaguely like some stories he's heard from Floki. They'd always enraptured and terrified them as little ones. "And there is nothing to stop it?"

[becauseyouhaveto]

"Raiding...Sounds like what the Saviors are doing. They find other surviving groups and 'offer protection' if the group pays them some kind of tribute. Weapons, food, whatever we have that's valuable." She sighs, shaking her head to clear away the thoughts. She doesn't need to burden him with that.

And then she looks up, giving him a sad smile. "Not that we've found. There was a big medical facility that was trying to work on a cure, but...The last of their doctors failed and ended up incinerating himself, along with the lab. The only thing we learned was that the virus is in all of us. Even if we aren't killed by a Walker, we'll turn into one when we die, unless someone destroys our brains."

[ubbe]

"We never really offer anyone protection," Ubbe says a bit ruefully. Perhaps he thinks there are better ways but it's not currently the way of his people and he is not in a position to change it yet, exactly. Not that he would completely abandon the warring ways of the Vikings. He can still feel Odin's presence in his life and feels Thor's hammer beat in time with his heart. "I am not sure whether it is better or worse."

Ubbe shrugs. After all, he knows that Viking morality is at odds with the common morality of most that find themselves here.

"That must be troubling to live with."

[becauseyouhaveto]

"The way the Saviors introduce themselves is to immediately kill one person from the group they find, then offer their deal. They killed two of ours because we destroyed one of their outposts." She sits back and wipes sweat from her brow. "It's probably better that you don't. If you're going to attack another group, don't leave them room to attack back. And if you want to work with them, don't attack at all. Working together takes trust, and if you attack them, they'll never trust you."

She isn't quite sure why she feels compelled to offer this advice to someone clearly more experienced in warfare than she is. At least the idea for peaceful alliances has been planted.

"It's honestly not something I like to think about. If someone gets sick, we get them the help they need. If someone is beyond saving, we try to make their passing as comfortable as possible, then we prevent them from turning, bury them, and move on."

[ubbe]

"That seems like a wasteful way to approach things," Ubbe says. It seems to be the worst of both worlds and the best of none to him. He couldn't say that he understood the logic of it at all. "With the Saxons, there is a lot of distrust but both sides have betrayed each other but we've now proven to one another at least certain factions can be trusted."

King Alfred can trust Ubbe and the Danes but if Ivar's heathen army came King Alfred could not trust them as Ubbe couldn't trust the other kingdoms of England.

"I see," Ubbe says and he supposes that people must have to keep going at all.

[becauseyouhaveto]

"I guess that's the best you could hope for. I remember learning about your culture a little when I was a girl. It's very interesting to meet you here, like this." She smiles and extends a hand for a handshake.

"I'm Carol. And you are?"

[ubbe]

“It was my father’s dream,” Ubbe says and there’s argue hint of pride in his voice and perhaps a sadness that he rarely addresses. He takes her hand and gives it a firm shake. It’s not quite the greeting he’s used to but he’s become accustomed to it. “It is strange to hear that but we must have left a legacy then.”

“I am Ubbe, son of Ragnar Lothbrok.”

In his time, it meant he was quite well known and much is expected of him.

[becauseyouhaveto]

She gives his hand a firm shake. The name doesn't mean much to her, of course, but she nods all the same. "Ubbe. That's a unique name. Your people did make quite a name for themselves, but it was pretty violent."

[ubbe]

"Not so unique," Ubbe says with a wry smile but then nods. "Our ways were different."

Violent on one hand but he wonders if that's all they're remembered for.

[becauseyouhaveto]

"They were different, but they were interesting to learn about. And if I'm remembering right, you were responsible for some of our modern sailing knowledge." History wasn't her favorite subject, so Carol isn't the most confident in her memory.

[ubbe]

Ubbe smiles at that. "I grew up with the best ship builder there ever was. He couldn't swim, though," a fact that had never ceased to amuse Ubbe. For someone to be so good at building boats and yet not so fond of water.

[becauseyouhaveto]

She laughs at that, soft and light. "What an ironic man! What did he plan to do if he fell overboard?"

[ubbe]

Ubbe laughs and he is remembering Floki fondly. He's rather sure the man has gone to Valhalla by now.

"I think he expected someone would be around to save him."

[becauseyouhaveto]

"I guess if he's sailing, it would make sense that others would be with him." It's sound logic, though she's not sure how much she'd trust others to save her from drowning.