etrayamods: (Default)
∎ ETRAYA MODS ∎ ([personal profile] etrayamods) wrote in [community profile] etrayamemes2025-03-28 09:16 am
Entry tags:

TDM 007

content warnings for this TDM include: violence, potential death, body horror, physical transformation, loss of senses, loss of autonomy

⏵ arrival⏴



Arrival does not happen as Aurora usually plans for it. New characters are introduced to the AI, then informed of a mission that they are required to participate in before they can return to their home base of Etraya. A world called Aphaia is falling apart, and while there is nothing they can do to resolve this broken world, they can participate in the Gamerunner's Stratagem.

Their mission is simple: step through the glowing purple portal that Aurora creates once they've had time to listen to her, and survive until a similar portal reopens in front of them, allowing them to return to Etraya. The Gamerunner's Stratagem is something they have been working on building for quite some time. She informs all newcomers that they will not be present on this world that long: their exit will appear to them exactly when it's meant to, allowing them to meet the others who have been recruited to save their worlds. She provides each and every arrival with an earpiece, allowing them to communicate with the other Etrayans. Aurora suggests taking a bag full of supplies along with them, which she will fill with a few generic items as well as any specific items they may need: synthetic blood for vampires, protein bars for those who may burn through calories faster, medication for anyone who requires it.


⏵ aphaia ⏴


Aphaia is a neon-lit, chaotic planet. Cameras are everywhere, every action and inaction is judged by the 'audience'. Towering holograms advertise upcoming events while flashing leader boards track the most "popular" players. Contestants are thrown into challenges, many of which are games of skill, survival, and deception all to keep the viewers entertained. Not participating is an option! However, avoiding playing along and not putting on a show will quickly cause participants' score to go down, and scores that reach zero? Well.

Unfortunately, there are only so many resources left on Aphaia. Their wildlife has died off, their planet is falling apart, and most others in this galaxy were either destroyed from the inside out, or warring planets trying to gain control of remaining resources destroyed them to avoid others getting involved. Their natural resources are depleted, and only those who manage to keep their scores up are given the luxury of having any supplies. As soon as one steps foot on Aphaia, as soon as they breathe, they intake nanotechnology which tracks their oxygen consumption, their food, everything they do or need. As soon as their scores reach zero?

They disappear. There one moment, and completely gone the next. Their communicators go offline, and while everything they were carrying will be left behind, no one will be able to find them. They are simply--gone, erased from existence.

This is a death and counts as a death as outlined in the game FAQ! Please keep this in mind.

"Points" that go towards their total score will be assigned to contestants from the moment they drop down on planet. This will be visible using the HUD on their earpiece, and will be randomized at the beginning. For the sake of the TDM, we ask that no one be assigned Paragon initially, but you're free to use other ranks!

The possible rankings are:

100: PARAGON
99-80: LUMINARY
79-70: CHAMPION
69-50: CONTENDER
49-30: UNDERLING
30-0: SHADE

Ranks may change daily, or even hourly depending on the kind of situation one has found themselves in. Are they having a very public break up in which it comes out that they wronged their ex? They may go from a Champion to a Shade before they can even blink. Did they save a defenseless reporter from the big bad villain of the week? They may find themselves quickly elevated up to Luminary and given all the benefits that comes with being upper class. The world is their oyster, they only need to figure out how they'd like to utilize it!

Aphaia is broken up into four districts.

The Colosseum is a dynamic battle arena where combatants fight for entertainment, with shifting environments controlled by the audience. Victories earn points, while losses depend on performance.

The Symposium is a lavish social hub for top contestants, where alliances and betrayals are made under the audience’s watchful eye.

The Agora is the public center of Aphaia, where contestants engage with the audience through polls, interviews, and challenges to maintain popularity. It also houses the contestants in high-rise apartments.

And Backalleys provide hidden spaces with intentional blind spots for secret dealings, though the Gamerunner is always aware of what happens there.


⏵ st★rlight soirée ⏴


Something special is happening in the Colosseum. Lights flicker as the arena shifts, rearranging itself into a grand, glittering ballroom - if a ballroom had stadium seating, paparazzi drones, and an ever-changing floor plan designed to disorient those within it. Silver chandeliers pulse with artificial starlight, their glow refracted through the crystalline floors. Music swells, but it sounds - unnatural. It thrums through your veins, setting your blood alight with the urge to dance.

Why is the ballroom designed as if intentionally put together to throw off one's balance? Well, it's time for the Panopticon Prom, of course!

The Panopticon Prom isn't just an adventure in dancing and impressing your most recent crush. It's a test of endurance, cunning, grace, and charm. The floor beneath your feet moves as if it has a mind of it's own, shifting to the beat like a living creature all of it's own. It tilts, undulates, even vanishing in sections to keep dancers on edge. After all, it's difficult to keep up one's pace if they're falling through a hole in the floor to the foam pit below.

Drones zip through the air, catching every stumble, every misstep, and every attempt to throw off others on the dance floor. This is a competition, after all; and what fun is a dance battle without having the freedom to thwart someone else on their road to victory?

The rules are simple:
  • You must dance with a partner. This can be an ally, an enemy, or someone you intend on using as a stepping stone to victory. It matters not, as long as you have one hand (or limb) on them at all times.
  • The longer you last, the better your chances. Endurance is the name of the game, meaning one must pace themselves on the dance floor. While epic twirls and impressive moves will garner more attention, it may also hurt your chances in the long run.
  • You may sabotage others by throwing them off balance, but keep in mind: everything is televised, and it won't stay secret for long.
  • The arena adapts to the chaos. Expect sudden obstacles, environmental shifts, and sudden changes in the music's tempo. Gravity may shift, walls may close in, but participants can't let that stop them - they must continue to dance, if they wish to win.
The audience is watching. Who will make the final cut and become Prom King and Queen? Everyone is vying for the titles: it doesn't matter what rank you started at when you joined the Panopticon Prom. Whoever wins becomes a Paragon until their points drop. There aren't many opportunities to sail through the rankings, but this is a sure way to do it. As long as they can keep up.


⏵ casino royale ⏴


Out in the Agora, another popular quarterly event is being set up! The Casino Royale has been destroyed countless times, but it seems as if the Gamerunner just can't let it go - every time it gets knocked down, it gets rebuilt.

There is one rule. One must take a turn at the revolving wheel just inside the door as their entry fee, and whatever the wheel lands on, they must maintain until they exit the building for the night. Sometimes, this is easier: an effect they have no control over and cannot undo even if they wanted to. Sometimes, this is more difficult: an assigned task they must complete. Failure to abide by the wheel once means receiving a penalty. Twice? Certain death if caught by any employee.

The wheel's effects are as follows:

1 You must speak entirely in rhyme. 2 Your body has become unnaturally delicate. The smallest injury hurts like a fatal wound.
3 You must avoid stepping into any sources of light. Doing so causes massive burns to appear on any area of your skin where light has touched. 4 You have been transformed into an animal! You can still think as you had before, but you cannot speak or communicate easily.
5 You have been cursed with supernatural strength, but cannot control it. 6 Time doesn't flow normally for you anymore. Each mistake you make makes you visibly younger, slowly erasing your experiences, skills, or even memories.
7 You can no longer form your own words, but only repeat what others have said to you. 8 You cannot meet another person's gaze.
9 You can no longer turn around, physically or metaphorically. If you try to return where you came from, you'll find that the pathway no longer exists. 10 You are given a specific letter that you must avoid using out loud entirely. "A"? Better hope you know enough words without one.
11 Every time you speak, your words come true - but never in the way you intended. Trying to control this is futile; the monkey's paw curls with every new sentence. 12 Within the casino, you lose the ability to feel anything. No pain, no pleasure, no warmth, and no cold. At first it may feel like a blessing - until you realize you cannot feel hunger, or tell if you're injured.
13 Regardless of if you've drunken anything, you still act inebriated. The effect only gets worse the longer you stay. 14 No one can see you. You are invisible, even if you are still able to reach out and touch or converse with those around you.
15 Any special ability you have is gone. You are reduced down to what an average human being is capable of - regardless of if you are human. 16 Violent impulses become impossible to ignore. You are rage incarnate, and you will be heard.
17 Every time you make a decision - to walk into an area, to start a conversation, anything, a small thread pulls loose from your clothing or your skin. Keep making choices, and you may become entirely undone. 18 You may speak freely, but for every syllable you say, your ability to hear slowly fades. You may want to watch your word count - too many, and you may not be able to hear at all.
19 Perhaps you arrived with a friend, or beside a stranger. It matters not: whoever came in either just before or just after you, you feel a powerful urge to protect them to the point of aggression. 20 Love is in the air - at least it is for you. Every time you meet someone's gaze, you feel the need to try and make them fall in love with you, through whatever means necessary.


The casino is alive with the hum of conversation, the clink of glasses, and the steady whirl of the roulette wheels. Golden chandeliers cast a warm glow over velvet-lined tables, where fortunes are made and lost with the flick of a wrist. But something feels. . . off.

The dealers never blink. The cards never seem random. And the house always wins - always. Maybe it's just paranoia, or maybe this casino is something more than just a den of chance. Tonight, you're not here just to play; you're here on a mission.

You've arrived dressed to kill, blending into the sea of bodies filling the casino's floors. But you're not here to win points or boost your social standing - you're here to win intel. Somewhere in this casino is a single flash drive containing information on just how Aphaia maintains their system. The only problem? The House knows someone is coming for it. After all, they're well-aware of the game: whoever retrieves the flash drive will obtain information on how to flip the script, to change the rules of the game to fit their wants and needs, rather than following the current Gamerunner. After all, this is the Gamerunner's Stratagem that Aurora has sent them out on! Many apply for 'employment' within the Casino Royale in hopes of getting insider information on where the flash drive is hidden and what it looks like. However, it seems that even the employees have no clue where it has been hidden.

⏵ NOTES ⏴


This is an extension of our Aphaia Mission! We have included enough information in this post that catching up to current in game logs isn't necessary to play with it, but you are welcome to use any part of the Aphaia setting in your prompts as you'd like. Current players are also welcome to bring the events from this TDM into their in-game threads.

This mission can happen outside of time as needed! Incoming characters will find themselves introduced to Aphaia as they arrive. Current characters may find Aurora calling on them to visit Aphaia after the current mission for the Gamerunner's Stratagem.

Characters already in game are welcome to post to the TDM, too! Please mark them as current characters in your header. Threads can be kept as game canon as long as both characters get into the game!

Please direct all questions relating to this log to our mod queries comment! All other questions can be directed to our FAQ.

FULL NAVIGATION

sophielicious: (nyx_015)

[personal profile] sophielicious 2025-04-17 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
We're pretty hard to forget.

(A hoard of blondes that talk as one, move as one, act as one tends to do that.)

Nope, just got here. You?
fireboost: (pic#17773387)

[personal profile] fireboost 2025-04-17 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ blaze offers fio a slight smile as her hand is squeezed, meaning to be reassuring, but... well, the truth is, she doesn't believe herself to be great with kids. she just doesn't particularly want a child to be on her own in a place like this, so...

for now, the librarian is rubbing one of their eyes with a hand(?), tapping away at their computer.

"A far off land? Far off land... Right, we've got just the thing. Just plug this in and you'll find your story young misses. You can choose any computer around to browse with. Here you go!"

the librarian has a jolly feeling to them, only slightly offset as their eyes all blink across its face at different intervals. with her free hand, blaze accepts the floppy disk-like thing, then gesturing with it to allow fio to lead their way to their seat. ]
fireboost: (pic#17773396)

[personal profile] fireboost 2025-04-17 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ blaze shakes her head. frankly, she doesn't think aurora could care less for the flash drive, having abandoned this world and its denizens to their fate as she has. ]

I've searched thoroughly, and have yet to find anything else that stands out.

[ it really was... just the wheel. ]

But before you leave, I have something else to discuss with you.
fireboost: (pic#17745810)

[personal profile] fireboost 2025-04-17 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
I believe it.

[ silver always seems to believe in the impossible, so she can imagine him working just as hard to throw himself into danger—if for a more noble cause than marine.

meanwhile, the ninja continues his bragging, sonic seems rather impressed, and as for the blaze and marine of this memory?

"Marine, we didn't come here for sightseeing."
"Yeah, orright, Blaze. Sheesh. You could talk the leg off an iron pot, you know!"
"What's that, now?!"
]
fireboost: (pic#17745817)

[personal profile] fireboost 2025-04-17 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ and—there goes accelerator. blaze doesn't seem to mind though, clasping her hands with a pleased look as the employee is finally forced into giving them his attention. ]

Wonderful, thank you.

[ acccelerator? their renowned guest? it seems more directed towards the former as blaze steps a little bit closer. ]

Now that we have your attention, why don't you tell us what your name and position is. The people want to know.

[ that's something reporters say, right? the people want to know, and the people are quite in charge of your points, so you'd better play along. it looks like that sentiment seems to be clicking into place for the security staff member, who immediately sits up a little straighter in their chair as he flashes a glance towards accelerator's camera. ]
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15702943)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-17 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
( Not at all what he expected to hear, but. Hearing that Xavier has a sister— a twin sister, likely capable of the same things he is, well. Good to know really. Especially if either of them ever show up here.

The cueball comment gets a soft sound from it. Could almost be taken as a chuckle. )


I'd say maybe it'll teach him to mind his own business but I somehow doubt it.
vexant: (VT6SUao)

[personal profile] vexant 2025-04-17 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
( quentin's tired, and julian's tired. they're both exhausted and sick of each other's bullshit, and yet here they are. julian gets it: he was working alongside logan, meaning quire was fresh out of mentors to go to about the shit he was dealing with. logan's the guy who kidnapped quentin to begin with, isn't he? which just makes his whole x-force deal even more shady: it was logan who brought the kids off of utopia, who wanted to give them a place where they didn't have to be little soldiers, and dragged quentin along with him. it pisses julian off, that he went through all that effort to shove quentin somewhere else only to drag him into krakoan black ops. and who the fuck would arrest nature girl? what could she have done? )

It's all their fault. ( not humans, just, ) The original X-Men. They do this over and over again. Make promises, say they're looking out for our best interests, only to turn around and fuck us up even more than we already had been.

( it's then that he looks over to quentin, pulling his own leg up so he can rest his forearm against it. )

Was that bullshit necessary to keep Krakoa in one piece? Or was it pushing crap several steps too far?
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15703057)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-17 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Why? What's so damn important about them you risk letting me drop you?

( Please tell him. He doesn't get it. Never mind the fact that he's only just barely seen television as it is since that wasn't really much of a thing in the world he came from, but. Details. )
limiterrings: (pic#17796849)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-17 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
What is it?

[ for once, shadow will stand in place, turning his head ever so slightly to look at blaze curiously.

she knows better than to waste his time so maybe it's something worthwhile? ]
vexant: (pic#14770586)

[personal profile] vexant 2025-04-17 11:04 pm (UTC)(link)
You know how to play to an audience, don't you?

( weird question, which julian is completely aware of. but it's what they're here for, isn't it? )
vexant: (YJ2UZok)

[personal profile] vexant 2025-04-17 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Jean's around, too, but she's been keeping mostly to herself.

( a loose lift of his shoulders, because - she is there somewhere, but she's been keeping to the teacher's side of the institute, leaving jay and julian to their own devices. which, good. as she should be. julian had enough to worry about with bird boy. )

We'll need to figure out where the hell to put you, Quire, Foley, and Grey. ( just off the top of his head. ) Jay's been taking up Brian's half of my old room. I'm betting he'll probably want to move to Foley's room.

( so he's not alone alone but he also doesn't have julian keller in his space constantly. jay's fine with him, usually, but his tolerance for julian is minimal, and josh is significantly less likely to get up in someone's face about anything. )

With all the telekinetics we have, remodeling should be a breeze.
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15702941)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-17 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
( Well cue the eyebrow raising at that question. )

Uh, sure. If I have to. But why?
sophielicious: (14)

[personal profile] sophielicious 2025-04-18 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
(So she doesn't have to ask for it, so that's great. It'll just be a little awkward for the first few days, she can do this, she knows she can— is this list just men? And Jean? Is she stuck with breathing testosterone 24/7? Unexpectedly, her death and the weirdness that it will unquestionably bring become the second top concern she has.

Also, Julian and Quentin? Ah, the upcoming headache she feels for things that haven't even happened yet. However, in more important news that Julian might not be aware, someone is lacking from that list.)


Add one more. There's a teen angst version of Scott Summers from a different universe, who just got his powers like, two days ago, so I think he should be around us.

(Pet project, if you will, but that's her business.)

Good luck to you guys, I don't think you want someone who's glitching half the time and whose TK is underdeveloped to be handling construction.
querulus: (w&txm - you wanna run that by me)

[personal profile] querulus 2025-04-18 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
[He makes an odd expression, something halfway between a wince and a scowl, like he just tasted something particularly offensive, and shrugs noncommittally. Quentin is... undecided himself, honestly, regarding the whole "was it necessary" question. He's certain Krakoa would've fallen much earlier without X-Force's interference, and the laws existed for a reason, but... maybe there was something broken about Krakoa in the first place, if it required all this godawful shit to keep it safe. Or... "safe." Krakoa was good for mutants. It just wasn't good for all mutants.]

Depends who you ask. I searched every mind on the damn island trying to figure that one out.

[Quentin chooses to ignore the bit about the original X-Men. He can't imagine the big reveal of "hey Cyclops is my team leader, and he's actually not that bad" will pair all that well in this particular conversation and to this particular audience. That nugget will have to wait for another day. At least Quentin doesn't feel any crushing guilt around keeping that a secret. Just crushing desire-to-not-have-more-of-a-headache-than-he-already-does.]

All I know is we all had doubts. All of us. [He raises his eyebrows and tilts his head slightly in Julian's direction to indicate "yes, even you."] We just... I don't know, wanted it to work so badly we didn't care.

[Which... brings him to something that's been sticking in the back of his mental craw. For a while, actually. Well, ever since he got to the library and noticed Julian's lack of hands. It was what Julian said that bothered him.

Whatever, might as well go for it. Quentin turns his upper body part-way towards Julian to address him more directly, gesturing at his metal hands.]


Look. You're in line for the Crucible, right? You don't think that's a little fucked up? You toss yourself into about a dozen wood chippers for mutantkind, and they can't do you a solid? I mean, shit, I died a lot, but at least I never had to grovel for some kind of "honorable death" malarkey in front of everyone.
leastdramatic: (Talk all day)

[personal profile] leastdramatic 2025-04-18 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
[Jason huffs out a laugh after he takes off his helmet and reveals his face. This really is uncanny]

New tires were just put in but the old man hadn't put in the new hubcaps yet. Lug nuts were exposed and the car's sensors were down because of an electrical surge the night before.
Edited 2025-04-18 01:41 (UTC)
copsormasks: (023)

[personal profile] copsormasks 2025-04-18 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
[There's something somehow even more uncanny about looking up into the man's face.]

Who the hell are you?
leastdramatic: (It's not me)

[personal profile] leastdramatic 2025-04-18 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
You from another universe apparently. I'm a little older too.

[While Jason's been made aware of the multiverse for a while now, seeing another version of himself is bizarre]
vexant: (T0hGlsT)

[personal profile] vexant 2025-04-18 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
Because here? We do need to.

( he's not looking at nate, but julian doesn't need to in order to know what kind of look is on his face. he can hear it well enough. )
vexant: (XI8Z7sj)

[personal profile] vexant 2025-04-18 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
Seriously?

( it's not a seriously against summers, just one against apparently having to raise him up from the very beginning. don't they have enough summers' problems with the one they have back home? why are they adding another one of them into this?

julian prefers the littler laura over tiny scott summers. probably mostly because she isn't a murder machine for. . . reasons he hasn't figured out yet, that's a later julian problem. but you know. that. )


You're fine. There's no better time to learn than now, is there?
hyphanated: (lifted)

[personal profile] hyphanated 2025-04-18 03:20 am (UTC)(link)
[This man seems so kind and reassuring, truly a relief when An Zhe is so out of his element. (Then again he's usually out of his element these days, it feels like the norm...) He nods seriously at the advice, looks out at all the different dancers, and.

For a short moment, he kind of wishes they were doing something requiring step memorization.]


How would you dance then? Should I follow your lead? Since we're supposed to dance as a team...
querulus: (x-manhunt - smug af)

[personal profile] querulus 2025-04-18 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
Taught him not to fuck with me.

[He points at himself emphatically with his thumb.]

Guy ran scared, and now he's off in space.

[He shrugs like this is no big deal. However, it is in fact a very big deal, and he's very smug about it. Nevermind the fact that Xavier was running to get to space. Details.]

So. What'd he try to do to you? Other than be his usual nosy, pompous self?
sophielicious: (48)

[personal profile] sophielicious 2025-04-18 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
The alternative is to leave him to wander unsupervised, and then it'll just catch up to us later— It'll be fine, that one I can deal with.

(Trust, it's fine. She thinks, or at least, she's highly confident that it can be.

Also, goddamnit, Julian. She just didn't wanna play construction, but she can't undig the hole she dug herself into, so she just nods in concealed resignation.)


Great point. I can mostly lift a few items, stop bullets, the usual, but I haven't tried anything more than that, anyway.
cantilevers: (40)

[personal profile] cantilevers 2025-04-18 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
Oh? Would you feel more comfortable if you were leading in this dance? I’ll be your dame if you know the steps and not just shuffle about. [He wasn’t so certain that what he had seen on the dance floor to be anything worthwhile when it came to James leading. The guy was all tense and squirrely, and Vander was not too interested in letting him get away just yet.

It wasn’t that he took pleasure in James’ discomfort and obvious skittishness, but he was certain that Maria was at least having a good time watching from the distance. And he figured it was his sheer size as he had layered on muscle since he arrived and he had six inches on James and that was even if he was shrimping his shoulders.

He nodded his head at the answer, drinking it in without judgment.]


Heather, huh? Yeah she and Maria are close, so that’s understandable. Of course, to be fair, you did stomp on Maria to kill her so… I suppose that might instill some bad blood across the board.

[He was actually surprised that James reciprocated the question. Most people that he ran into wouldn’t, especially in a situation like this. Well, well, Mr. Sutherland…]

I can’t complain about my day. I’m just here to enjoy myself and now I’ve willingly joined a dance competition, which is unexpected. This place, I swear, it puts us in all manner of situations.
agoddessonce: (hopeful)

[personal profile] agoddessonce 2025-04-18 08:18 am (UTC)(link)
How on earth have you come to collect all these?

I imagine that an octopus would be quite a challenge to care for.
pricklybloom: (pic#15093400)

[personal profile] pricklybloom 2025-04-18 09:06 am (UTC)(link)
It's entirely familiar, as well as him - despite trying to pass of his loner image - still offering some help, even in his own way. And it fills her with relief as she follows his advice, sliding her hand along the wall to steady herself as she moves.

"Shadow, it's me! Amy Rose! Come on, this'll be so much easier if we help one another."