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(no subject)

Who: Everyone
What: The open July log.
When: The month of July.
Where: All over.
Notes: N/A

July Open Log

Time to shine, sparkle and become renewed.

So the fighting has finished, the filtering system is turned back on and the water has retreated. Of course, all that water rushing in and having been there for so long means that there is a giant mess in most parts of the Sphere, where water alternated between coming up to one’s ankles, all the way to one’s knees. Even the smaller private domes were affected with lesser amounts of water, leaving dirt and sediment and kelp behind along with an assortment of other sea life.

Now we all remember what happened last time something grew inside the Sphere right? Thankfully, there’s been a fair amount of supplies that have been accrued, and it involves gloves, face masks and a good damn amount of bleach to go with those large scrub brushes. There’s also huge pails of soapy water that are used to clean up things from the bleach. Everything is wet and it smells a bit like an indoor swimming pool, but it’s definitely safer to be safe than sorry.

So pick up a brush and pitch in. Those who do may find a little extra something from the Council delivered to their homes in a basket. Those who don’t may find themselves a little bit on the Council’s unofficial shitlist. And given that Max runs the Black Market, it’s not a great place to find yourself. Maybe you were sort of shoved towards this and were doing it haphazardly. Maybe you give a damn. Either way, food and water will come to you, and everyone will be better once this place is cleaned up.

Or so people keep telling ya anyway.

about that bucket of water that you’re wearing.

Of course, if there’s one thing that history and eighties movies have taught us, it’s that where there’s giant buckets of soapy water around, and hoses, and big sponges, then there’s bound to be one thing that happens: a water fight. And a big one at that. Kids (or kids at heart) have been not so subtlety wandering around with buckets filled with cold water, or sponges dipped in them and a few of them have hoses. There’s no bleach in them thankfully (because it’s all fun and games until someone gets a chemical burn) but the water fight is a good way to let off some of the tension that the folks in the Sphere have been getting up too.

So are you a victim, or are you a perpetrator. Do you care either way? But it doesn’t matter because this fight is huge and when there’s this much water flying around, there really isn’t any space for anyone to be a bystander here. Sorry.

with a suitcase full of summertime

Do y’all know what we happened to miss while we were underwater?! The summer solstice. And once things are all cleaned and cleared up, your resident summertime goddess ain’t gonna let it pass without knowing it, and it’s something the inhabitants of the Sphere take to like ducks to water. Wine and dancing is flowing all around and there’s a few fiddlers and jazz musicians dancing around. Because when the queen of the underworld prods ya gently, you get up and do it.

As the night and people’s alcohol levels rise, people start to become more daring with the fire. After all, everything is all cleaned but probably still slightly damp from what had happened, so there’s no problem with people swinging poi around, or using hula hoops set alight. There are even some among us who happen to be going out and jumping over bonfires in order to create good luck for the new year to great cheers of the people around them.

and baby you should see me in a (flower) crown

Do you know what else is a thing during this? Flower crowns. There are tons of flower crowns and various people are sitting around and teaching people how to make their own. The materials, including fresh flowers of all varieties are scattered around the field in the agricultural dome, and people are sitting criss-cross applesauce in order to add ribbons to the stems. For those people who are loathe to wear them, it almost becomes a game for other people to plant them on those resilient folks heads. People use magic or guile or just plain old tossing them in order to make it so that they land on people’s heads. More than that, a group of people will audibly cheer each time one lands. (And of course jeer when they lose one.)

exploration: teeth and bones.

After what had happened, there really is no putting back the seals on the doors to the places that were opened up, even though the council has tried with some of them. There are some doors that are deemed too dangerous to let anyone go inside of (lava and ghosts are not good things to let loose inside the Sphere, no matter how fun it would be at the time) but the door in the infirmary (in the morgue) needs to be open for practical purposes. Which may not be great for people who work in the infirmary, but there it is.

Once people drop through a hatched hole in the floor of the morgue, there’s tunnels extended out for several hundred yards, into the dark. If you have a flashlight, it’s clear to see that here and there the walls are etched with Latin, carved into the stone of the tunnels themselves in what looks more than a little bit like scratches rather than anything that resembles tool marks. The words are repeated at first, over and over: ”cave veniunt!" And "ossa et dentibus illius ruminandum!" Along with the repeated: “cave.”

The skeletons inside are supposed to have been all taken care of, but you can’t help the uneasy feeling that moves down your neck in the darkness, or the way that you can swear you can hear more than a little bit of a hiss of bone. There are things discarded here on the floor of the hallway, gathering more value with the deeper that you go, but is it worth being down here in the dark with the dead for that?

let's go to the movies, let's go see the stars

So, Alex made a post, and then she went and badgered Max into giving them the money to do it, so in the middle of the merchant dome, a large screen has been set up, and there’s space for people to have blankets or chairs from home set up in front of the screen. Various vendors have set up carts or stalls here and there, selling the sort of foods that one would expect at the movies (popcorn, homemade candies, soda, juice, wine and beer, nachos and that sort of thing) along with some that one may not expect: (full curry dinners, burgers, basically a bit like a food truck festival. If you can imagine it it’s there.)

Before the movie, there’s cartoons running, some familiar, and some not, and this is an event that people have seemed to have taken to well. Children run around here taken with the idea for the movie, and it’s a fun, summery festive sort of atmosphere with a community vibe, despite the wine and beer for sale.

we're heckling! it's good to be heckling again!

Well, at least until the movie starts anyway. Groundhog Day has a fair bit wrong with it honestly, and people are taking notice of that. After all, it was from the 80s, a period that wasn’t exactly known for its political correctness or sensitivity. And there’s the small fact that Bill Murry is kind of the worst as well. So, there are some people who have taken issue with the movie that has been chosen. Those people are definitely taking the Mystery Science Theatre approach to this movie, while others are taking issue with them doing that.

So which crowd do you join? Are you watching the movie quietly? Are you joining in the hecklers? Either way, it definitely seems like a fun night out.

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Stories need wine, or mead, or ale, well, traditionally, at least.

[He smiles at her curiously, though.]

You're truly interested in my side of things?

[Misty green eyes smile back at Loki.]

Yes. Whatever part of it you're willing to tell. [She finally spots what she's looking for and holds up a polite hand before quickly dashing off to get herself a drink. Wanda smiles at the vendor and returns with two cups, offering one to Loki.] If you don't want it I can drink it. [But more wine is always better.]

Okay. I'm ready.

[Wanda settles into her seat, enjoying the warmth of the fire seeping into her skin as she sips her wine and waits for whatever story Loki chooses to tell her.]

[He watches this most curious human wander off to retrieve them both wine curiously. No..one had asked his side, not Thor, not Father...not even Mother, though he'd still had her sympathy regardless. Was it some sort of trick? She did call herself an Avenger, after all. Thor had insisted they'd understand in time, but would they really?

He looks up when she returns, taking the cup with a smile and a nod of thanks.]

Humans have a saying, I believe, about 'beggers' and 'choosers'. Thank you. [He has, also, quite a long story.]

Alright, then. What about Yours Truly are you must curious to know?

[Wanda takes a small sip of her wine as she watches Loki's suspicion reflect in his dark eyes. She isn't surprised that he doesn't believe her sincerity. She's been intimately in contact with the Mind stone and she knows the affects it can have on a person. It varies between people. Thor had been shown a vision of the future. Stark had seen a nightmare-ish fear of his own making. Natasha had been locked in her past. All with the same touch of magic.]

We do. [She agrees easily enough.]

New York. Before Hydra found your scepter. I was told that you were opening up the gate to an army. It turned out to belong to Thanos. Did you know that? At the time?

[Wanda has only heard accounts of the incident but the images she'd seen had been clear. The same creatures she fought had been the ones coming through the opening that the staff had made. Had the mind stone been calling to its master then? Or had Loki known all along?

These are the kinds of things you can't learn from a report.]

[He smiles, though there's no mirth there. He takes no pleasure in recalling how much he'd been used, lied to. Again. Manipulated. A tool.]

Oh, yes. I knew the Army belonged to Thanos. He gave it to me, you see. "Get me the Tesseract and the Earth is yours." Of course, he'd already handed me the scepter at that point. It had already found-

[He takes a breath.]

I never wanted to rule the Earth, you know. I only- [He shakes his head.] Growing up, as children, how close were you with your brother? Did you fight one another, or did you face the world together?

[She gently nods her head as he begins to explain. Wanda intimately understands the effects of the mind stone and if he had already been handed the scepter when Thanos approached him... it was no wonder the great Asgardian mage had trouble against its influences.]

We faced the world together.

Sometimes- [Wanda gently curls her lips together.] Sometimes I think that's the only reason we survived Hydra's tests with the scepter where everyone else died. Neither of us were alone and we lent each other strength.

You didn't have that, did you?

[He flexes his jaw but swallows, taking another pull from his wine before continuing, shaking his head.]

No. I did. [He breathes a sigh, looking down at his glass. He isn't normally one for melodrama, or unpacking feeling at all, but Wanda, an Avenger? Winning her over to his side? Gaining her sympathy? It was too good an opportunity to pass up.] I did, but I was so... [A beat passed before he finished.] Jealous. I was jealous of Thor, of his accomplishments, the effortless way he earned the love of our people, how flippantly it was assumed he would ascend the throne upon our Father's death. I hated him for it, and then I hated my father for his lies, and my...my mother for her acceptance of them. The scepter preyed on that.

[Wanda doesn't know anything about being royal but she knows what it's like to be in a position of power. She tries to image choosing one of two too give her powers too and what they might do. The rift it can create.

It isn't the same but she has an idea of how Loki must have felt.]

I'm sorry. For asking, for what the scepter did and for everyone else. [Her expression saddens into a wistful stare.] I know what it's like to been seen as a monster. [People are cruel.] I believe that everyone deserves a second chance.

[He's safe talking to her. Even Loki has one more chance to turn things around.]

[He chuckles, and it's a bitter sound. Regardless of what Tommy may think, Loki is a damned good actor when he needs to be. Even better when he can pull his emotions from that well of pain inside of him.]

I was a monster. There right to see me as one. I knew what Thanos asked of me, but in my arrogance and need to be seen as Thor's equal, I thought I could best it.

I see.

[She takes a sip of her wine and studies Loki's features. He seems earnest but her abilities give her another sense of people. She can pick up on his feelings and while she tries not too, she wonders if Loki is exaggerating for her benefit.

Only time will tell.]

Do you really want to rule over others? It sounds exhausting.

It isn't so bad. I did rule Asgard for a time.

[He pauses.]

And yes. It is my birthright, after all. I may not be the blood of Asgard, but I was born a prince.

[Maybe she can't understand since she'd never had a birth right but Wanda believes that everyone can pave their own path. It didn't matter what their parents did.

Then she wondered something else...]

You people, after they landed on Earth set up a fishing town. I had not seen it myself but I heard a little about it. [She pauses, choosing her words carefully.] After the war was truly over, Thor talked about leaving and a Valkyrie took over in his place. My understanding is that she'd been in charge during the time after the snap. [When Thor had completely lose sight of himself.]

You may have been born a prince but that doesn't mean that's what you have to do. [Thor hadn't.]

I rather enjoy leading.

[It was a fitting enough response until he could sort through everything she'd told him. Thor, after everything they'd fought for, all the lives they'd saved, had left. Their people needed him, more than ever, and he left? All he'd ever done was for him, for their parents, for their people. Thor himself even noted Loki had given his life for them, and for what? So he could hand them over to the Valkyrie when they had to build everything from the ground up?

He did his best to keep his odd mixture of emotions from his face, but it was a nearly fruitless attempt. After a moment, though, confusion won out and he frowned, looking over to her.]

What is this "snap" you speak of?

[Wanda watches Loki's expression and while she doesn't understand, she realizes that he might need time to process what she's told him. If he truly wished to rule and Thor didn't... he might take it as a personal slight but she knows that isn't the case. Perhaps Thor just finally realized that he isn't a ruler at heart and his people deserves someone better.

All she can do is guess and Wanda isn't comfortable guessing.]

The snap is when Thanos made half of the universes population disappear. It was reversed and Thanos was killed but not until years later.

[Several things about the information provided bothered him, not least of which being the Valkyrie in question, as the only remaining one, had abandoned them all rather than returning home, allowing them all to believe things that were completely false...she'd wiled away her time on Sakaar, enslaved people to the Grandmaster...she certainly wouldn't have been Loki's first choice as the ruler of their kingdom.]

That must have been quite the story.

It is but I do not know all of it.

[She glances over at Loki with a subdued smile.]

I disappeared with the others. I came back and we fought Thanos. [Wanda had nearly defeated the man by herself.] Then it was finally over. I know the story but I don't think it gives it justice.

Well, I suppose all that matters in the end is we won.

[Though he's painfully curious how that all came about. He could ask Thor...]

I thank you for your information, Wanda. It's been...something.

[Wanda isn't sure that she agrees with that statement but that is her own loss. Loki had never known Vision.]

I hope it's not something bad.

I've enjoyed talking to you. [Even about unpleasant topics. She's enjoyed getting to know him.]

I haven't decided yet.

[He blinks at her for just a moment. It was nice? Speaking with him? He supposed that had been his intent, but he'd lost track of it all in her revelations.]

Yes...it wasn't terrible. [He smirks at the jest, if for no other reason than telling her he was kidding.]