May/June Test Drive Meme

[sphererpmod]

May/June Test Drive Meme

All you need is love.

So the Sphere heard that some of you guys are lonely. It doesn’t want you to be lonely so it has decided that even though it’s not really February the people within its confines and connected to them deserve to have a sort of Valentine’s Day anyway. Celebrating love (all sorts of love, definitely not merely the romantic sort) is on display. Think pink and red and white and loads of hearts and rainbows.

all you need is some kind of love.

In the middle of the merchant dome, some of the stalls pushed aside a large pink and white stripped tent is set up. Inside is a series of small tables, each set up with numbers and two seats each. When people go in and register to receive the number, they are given three initial options. Option one is romantic dating with further subcategories based on gender preferences (if any) and orientation. The second option is for friendship. The Sphere wants you to make friends! A third option only open to the adults within the Sphere is for hooking up and no strings attached sex. That is also sectioned by orientation and preferences.

Each option you pick allows people to talk for five minutes before people move onto the next person. At each station is the option for ice breaker cards. Think would you rather or describe your perfect date (date date or a friendship date. Whichever you’re working on.) Should players wish it, there are various unnamed NPCs around for people to chat up, hook up with or whatever. Go a little bit nuts with it.

it's all for a good cause

John put a post up that calls for the option to sign up for (or to be signed up by someone else) for a date that’s auctioned off. She somehow managed to convince Max to host said auction (but don’t ask how. You don’t want to know what she had on him) so he is your MC for the night.

The gala takes place in the same tent as the speed dating, but it’s been made over to look rather gala like. There’s fairy lights and silk on the tables and an open bar with circulating free champagne. And everything else of course. As always with the sphere there’s food in abundance, things that typically one might think of in a romantic context: strawberries and oysters and chocolate and finger foods. It’s that sort of party. None of it has any effect though. Too many people imbibing for that.

There’s a small band playing for people who are interested in dancing, and various NPCs are currently using it. It’s a good party, lively and inviting.

i get by with a little help from my friends.

So, you know how the people within the Sphere tend to force festivals on you? Well, a big part of those is always food and gifts. These particular foods and gifts tend to come in the form of small valentine’s cakes or candy, or flowers for those not inclined for food. The flowers are yellow however, because this isn’t about love. This is about friendship. There’s signs for free hugs, and random people have been hired to go about telling folks that so and so is their friend. Even if they’re not. But they’ll still follow you down the street and spout things like poetry and cheers in the honor of epic friendships. Even if they’re not really all that epic--the friendships or the poetry.

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

Some people may remember a few months ago when Alex badgered Max into letting them have an open area movie screening. This time she didn’t need to do it! In the middle of the rec 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!

The movie is a buddy movie double feature, and both of them are rated R, but there’s no one checking IDs so go nuts. The movies that are being shown are Hot Fuzz and The Heat because that’s just what buddy comedies happen to be. But movies aren’t to everyone’s taste and there are some people who have taken this to go full on commentary about them. Do you join in or shush them? It’s entirely up to you!

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[ulfur]

[ Both of them appear as nobles who had stayed sharp and active with hard work. Ned appreciates having found a peer here, perhaps someone who would easily understand him and he her. ] It seems peaceful enough, but I believe there have been times when it was less so. We may have to get creative.

Yes, my Arya is grown now. All of my children are. They have their own lives here, and don't need any looking after. Well, much. [ Ned smiles conspiratorially at Juliel. ] It is hard not to play parent when one has been doing it for so many years.

Whether they should come or not, if the Sphere wants them here, they will be here.

I haven't been able to find of protection even for myself. A simple knife would be a good start.

[bowvahkiin]

Creative? Have you had any ideas yet about what to do? [She was at least skilled in making clothes along with weapons. She wasn't too panicked about having to do menial labor here. It wouldn't be the first time and at least she had a warm bed rather than a bedroll.] I wonder why they brought us here if it is so peaceful?

So it never ends? [She grinned, her hair falling over her face.] If you are a good parent, I imagine a child never wishes to lose that influence and presence in their life. I confess, I would never have guessed they are grown now, you hardly look old enough for grown children.

I hope then that Sphere doesn't have need of them. They are much too young.

None at all? I don't know if I can find steel or iron here as well as a forge, but I can make a bow sturdy enough, if you want?

[ulfur]

Well, we aren't the only ones who wish to protect ourselves. Given the lack of an adequate shop for that, I've a mind to see if they could source weapons for us to sell. Even blunted, practice ones. That we could sharpen ourselves, if need be. A bow would be a very good start. [ He looks impressed that she could make one herself. ]

The work of a parent is lifelong, truly. [ Ned shakes his head in shared sympathy and...a bit in confusion. If he didn't know better... ] Could it be that our children keep us young, to make up for the extra cares they bring?

I know you will miss them if they do not come, but perhaps you can enjoy your time as a free woman here.

[ She had not mentioned any father of said children waiting for her back home. And Ned himself has nothing waiting for him back home but death. Trying a little life is surely no bad thing. ]

[bowvahkiin]

Wood swords are simple to make. I made two for my children when they were smaller, preparing them for when they would have real blades. It would take a few days to make, but they could be sold as well for anyone wishing to learn. During that time, we could try to find steel or iron for real blades. [She's proud of her bows. Hers was left behind in the dome, a lovely dark oak bow with sapphires. She would have to show it to him later, if he ever paid her a visit.]

I have never heard of children keeping someone young. [She laughed, touching her cheeks, wondering about the lines she would eventually get.] Unless yours are saintly? I suppose you don't walk in on them calling each other names like horker face?

I confess, there are times that I travel for long periods away from my children. Their absence is painful, especially of late, but it isn't uncommon.

[A free woman? She has been that for some time and there was no longer any ties to her heart.]

Are you wed?

[ulfur]

A fine idea. At the very least, we may keep up our own skills with them. I have two young sons still at home, so I'm well-acquainted with their use.

[ Ned chuckles too, watching her pat her face down as if for worry lines. ] They make me feel young, at least. Having a five-year-old around. Although I think I aged ten years back home having to single-handedly keep my two daughters from killing each other. 'Horker face' would have been preferable to hair-pulling.

[ Thoughtfully, he nods at her explanation of her travels, then glances away when her question turns personal. Ned looks supremely uncomfortable. ]

Yes. What makes it strange is that - I have perhaps less than a week to live back home. My wife has been slain there, too, along with my oldest son. Yet he is here, as am I. I do not know what that makes me. A widowed man, a dead man, or married and waiting for a wife who may never come here.

[bowvahkiin]

Is that an invitation to be a sparring partner? I'd hate to send you home with bruises. I can't say I'm very delicate with blades, wooden or otherwise.

Oh I well remember how sisters can be. I had three growing up and we had our share of hair pulling and pushing into the mud. I'm rather grateful to have a boy for Sofie. It doesn't stop them from pushing each other around the room though. I had to remind them blades are for protection, not chasing your sister.

[She frowns, feeling as if she stumbled onto a painful subject. She couldn't take the words back, but she could at least offer him a look of sympathy before he even spoke.]

How- How is that possible? [She frowns. Did that mean the dead could appear here? Resurrected like thralls? No, the way he spoke of his son, he seemed to be normal.] It is different magic than I have heard of. Usually those revived are only walking puppets. Nothing like this.

I am sorry for your loss, but as you say, she could arrive?

[ulfur]

If you dare spar with me, I'll make sure not to go easy on you, then.

[ Her family's antics are so familiar, it almost hurts. They share quite the background.

And she is kind. He sees that quickly. He appreciates the softness from such a steely woman. ]

I wish I knew how it was possible. My son Jon [ it is simpler to call him what he is in everything except birth ] has told me of a demon who can awaken the dead in our world, but even then they are like corpses walking, not as you see me now.

[ Very much alive, very much whole. Ned turns his hands up, large strong hands that could do nearly whatever he set them to, and stares at them. ]

She could. And I could have only a few more days to live. Should I spend them alone, waiting? I think about if our positions were reversed, if I knew she was all alone here and knew that I was dead, what would I wish for her.

[ He glances at Juliel. ] Do you think it wrong, that I would want her to be happy, even if it was without me?

[bowvahkiin]

[The softness was recently learned, recently embraced after her own share of hardships. From the sound of things, he was facing something quite dark. The world he came from apparently was a lot closer to her own than they discussed. There was likely a blade or arrow waiting for her somewhere, eventually sealing her fate. She didn't doubt it was the same for him.]

That sounds like the spell I have heard of, though no demon wields it. It's dark magic. But this is nothing like that. If I saw your son, the one who died, he would look the same as you now?

[She was hardly in a position to judge. She reached for his hand, turning it over to look at the callouses that were so close to her own.]

I think that it's better to live the life you have rather than wait for something that may or may not happen. If you spend your life waiting, it never gets enjoyed.

[She thinks for a moment before adding:]

Happiness and love have a tendency to not obey rules or limitations. At least in my experience, it often comes in unwise places.

[ulfur]

Yes. The magic that lets us live here is not like that dark magic, I do not think. We are exactly as we were in life.

[ She can feel the life in his hands, the signs of work and of fighting, the strength that flows in his blood.

Ned curls his fingers in her grasp. ]

I do not mind waiting. But I mind wasting. This is precious time I cannot bear to waste.

[ He glances at the woman thoughtfully. ]

I have always put honor and duty over either happiness and love or rules and limitations. But it is a cold life to live that way to the end.

I have heard your wisdom and yet not your name, my lady. I would like both.

[bowvahkiin]

I imagine your outlook on life has changed, as you come to this world having experienced death.

[Maybe not the moment of it, but knowing it was coming. That had to be a distinct feeling.]

Honor is a strange thing. Those who follow a moral code are more strict and stringent than others, it's commendable, if not a bit pitiable. It seems like another limitation.

[Which wasn't to say she didn't have her own sense of honor or loyalty.]

I'm Juliel Selrane.

[ulfur]

It colors everything. I am grateful for every day I wake up here.

[ Shortly, Ned chuckles. ]

Someone back home said I wore my honor like a suit of armor. In the end, it was my undoing. I suppose you could call it the ultimate limitation.

My name is Eddard Stark. I am called Ned.

[ Taking up another heart-cake, he breaks it in half and offers her one side. ] We have a tradition in the North called guest-right, a sacred sharing of bread and peace between host and guest . Though we are not under my roof, perhaps it will still count.