spherememing | May/June Test Drive Meme

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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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all you need is love

It's unlike any feast Armeria has ever seen, without a doubt far more colourful and if she was being honest, a little too bright to stare at for any length of time. The odd shapes on the small baked goods were also rather perplexing to her; a young woman from Öland, in a time far earlier than the one the small cakes and candies originate from.

As she walks slowly along, looking at the seemingly endless spread, Armeria comes to a stop and peers at the person not far from where she comes to stand. Offering a smile, she shakes her head in slight embarrassment.

"I have never seen anything like this where I am from," Brows pinch in confusion as she looks from a brown, pink and white cupcake to the other person. "Are they meant to be an offering for the gods?"

Market Dome

In some odd way, the shops in the market dome remind her of the trading settlements that she's been to with her mother and father and brother. They are not the same and a great deal cleaner. Still, the idea is the same and that day, she spends it learning what sort of vendors are there.

She has no destination in mind, though for anyone noticing her they will likely recognize her as someone fairly new, stopping and going inside the shops and restaurants to see what they are.

He had been seeing to a number of errands, including restocking his dome. His coin was little, so he had to be frugal in what he bought. Though, never having to have lived this way before, it was hard to decide what he should purchase and what he should pass on. Never passing on meat, he could only afford bread or vegetables, tempted by both.

There was a new face next to him, one he didn't recognize but could admit was very fair. Smiling sheepishly, he glanced at her again. Well, anyone with an opinion would be helpful for a man now learning how to live like one of the smallfolk.]

Which would you choose if you could only have one? Bread or vegetable?

[ The man's question comes as a surprise or rather simply talking to her does, for as long as she's been walking about the sphere, people have kept largely to themselves. Armeria takes no offence to it, though.

Her eyes lift to his, a smile curving into her own lips in response to seeing his. He's handsome and his voice catches her off guard for a moment while she looks back and forth at the two items in question.

Armeria hums softly in answer. ]

I'd say you can get your fill from bread easy enough, though it might be a little dry on its own. What do you have to wash it down with?

Ale or wine.

[He had access to more, but that changed with time and arguments, but he wasn't going to think about that with a new companion. It was strange, even against the fresh bread and the smell of the goods about the market, he could make out the familiar perfume of the sea. He wondered if salt were embedded on her hair and skin before shaking his head to dismiss the thought.]

Normally I might have cheese with it, but that might be too much for now. My purse is light. [The King Who Lost the North now living on a small sum. He could ask his father for help, but he wanted no charity.]

You are new?

Ale would be my choice.

[ Wine in Hedeby was normally reserved for Jarl Gorm and the large feasts he held, but the mead and ale seemed to run endlessly between the houses in the settlement. Finding wine wasn't hard, given the trading that went on there, but it was expensive.

Armeria nods to confirm his observation. ]

I arrived not long ago. This place is unlike anywhere I have ever been.

[ She would leave out the fact that she feels entirely comfortable there, even being so deep beneath the water's surface.

Armeria's eyes lock on his. ]

You're not so new, are you?

Most ladies would prefer something sweeter.

[She seemed to be a lady, the sort that was deserving of respect. There were elements about her that also called to mind Theon. Perhaps it was the smell of the sea or perhaps it was because she almost seemed to be a mermaid come to shore. It was intriguing, enough that he couldn't look away from her.]

It is a bit of a shock. [He still couldn't wrap his mind around a number of things.] It lingers for a time as well and continues to feel like some sort of fever dream. If I can help you at all, I would be glad to.

[That was probably obvious.]

No. I forget how long I have been here. It has started to run together.

[ Armeria laughs softly. They had considered ale and mead to be the drink of the gods. It was part of every feast and celebration and the shieldmaidens alone would drink their weight in it.

But her smile falls at his words, and her brow pinches quickly in concern. Armeria had not been there long enough to experience anything that the others had. And now she was almost anxious about it.

Quickly dismissing it, she scans the table of foods and reaches up to her hair, plucking a wooden hairpin and holding it out to the vendor. She points to some cheese and looks back at the man who still has not spoken his name. ]

I will share my cheese if you will share your bread and the stories you have of this place so far.

Edited 2021-01-08 21:08 (UTC)

[He's about to stop her until she makes her suggestion. It's a fair offer and one that doesn't seem like charity, but rather a trade. He could stomach that better, especially if company came with it. He had been keeping to himself for the last few weeks. It would be nice to have someone to talk to that wasn't family. They knew him too well, he'd rather not be asked how he was feeling.]

If you feel like braving my cooking, I would be glad to share my supper with you. Cheese and bread and meat with plenty of ale.

[He was grateful at least his dome was clean and he was by himself. His father wasn't likely home now a few doors down, otherwise there might be questions about his new companion.]

So long as you don't mind visiting my dome?

[ The smile returns and as she tucks the now loose lock of blonde hair behind her ear, Armeria nods. When the vendor returns with her wrapped cheese, she turns fully to face him and nods. ]

I would grateful beyond words since I.. don't really remember the last time I've eaten.

[ She waits for him to lead the way and when he does, she falls in stride. ]

I feel it might also be wise to share names. I am Armeria.

I can't say that it will be well cooked, but I hope it fills you enough.

[He keeps a leisurely pace, more content to converse with her than hurry along. Once they passed the market, fewer and fewer people passed them, leaving them alone. It was easy to ignore how heavy his bag was, she was pleasant enough to focus on and that smell of the sea was distracting.]

I'm Robb of House Stark.

[Once king, but that didn't matter now and there was no point in bringing it up. He was simply Robb here and felt more content with that life than anything else.]

Where do you hail from?

You speak as though you don't cook much. [ Laughs ] I can help you.

[ Armeria can't explain it, but Robb is the welcome she needed to feel less like the odd one out. He made her feel not alone and at that precise moment, was what she requires.

She looks up at him again. ]

I was born to my mother and father in a place called Öland. From there, we went to Hedeby. Do you know of it?

[ The idea of different worlds has not been fathomed as of their conversation, so she almost expects him to know of it. ]

I never did until I came here. [A sheepish smile crossed his face.] I have a lot of inexperience to make up for.

[There is something about her that is similar to home. She's no Northern lady as far as he can see, but she's no polished Southerner either. She could be Ironborn perhaps, but still different as well. It was that mystery that appealed to him and left him looking over at her more often than not.

He felt as if he knew her from somewhere before, but couldn't exactly place it.]

No, I'm afraid I don't. There are a number of people here from different lands and realms, many you have never heard from. Some come from different worlds. The magic in this place is strange.

I come from a place called Westeros, the lands of the North.

[ She glances down, watching her steps as he talks. The mention of magic pulls her attention back to him. Magic was something she believes in, but again, it's something mostly associated with the gods. For what purpose would they want to bring her there? She wasn't anyone special.

All she could hope for is that answer would reveal itself in time. ]

A Northman then. No wonder you ease my spirit. Perhaps we were destined to meet this day.

[ Looking down timidly, she feels so much younger than she is for saying such silliness to him. Then again, he might be the first man to ever offer to keep her company. Could she fault herself for not knowing how to act? ]

[The words make him blush slightly, wondering if something like that was possible. He used to believe in destiny, but he wasn't so sure anymore. He wouldn't have imagined something like this for his afterlife, but someone like Armeria in it? Possibly.

He felt sympathetic at least for what she was facing and all the information that would take time to absorb. He still struggled, especially when his father appeared.]

I suspect our Northern lands are a little different from yours. We are not seafaring people.

[He's guessing about her, but given the smell, he suspects that this is the case.]

If it makes your time here easier, then perhaps destiny is kind for once.

We are Viking, though the sea plays a part in our lives, it's exploring and settling in new lands where we can prosper and grow that is our way. The men raid and create legacies for themselves and the women take care of the farms and the children.

[ For now, the foolishness Armeria had been feeling fades and she finds herself enjoying the conversation. ]

Yes, perhaps we are from different worlds. Maybe there is something we all need to learn from each other down here. The Allfather never has to explain himself. And I will not question him.

[ She smiles beautifully. ]

Will you tell me about Westeros?

Armeria Blacktyde (Original Character)

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All You Need is Love

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