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

rudelanguage: (pic#17730078)

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2025-04-25 03:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[what the fuck is the Spyre and should Knife bother pretending like they know what that is. how advantageous is lying about that.

...probably not much. maybe leaning way into the foreigner thing will be advantageous, if only to eke out more information that'd be assumed commonplace. like the fucking lingua franca!!!!!!!!!]


Dunno any Spyres. [simple as! the audible equivalent of a shrug, couple with an actual shrug.] Different town?
rudelanguage: (pic#17730078)

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2025-04-25 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[their expression was, by default, a bit on the deadpan side, but now it's really leaning into it: the apprehension and supposed hostility has drained, leaving just the green-tinged look of B| in as dilute a form as the face can provide.]

What's entertaining around here. [better to know that than even pretend lying about tapdancing or pantomime or whatever-the-fuck folks find fun.]
sophielicious: (nyx_036)

[personal profile] sophielicious 2025-04-25 03:40 pm (UTC)(link)
(The drop in the pit of her stomach when that jacket falls to leave his face exposed, she is ready to put it right back until she notices... He's okay. He's fine. She's fine, he's fine. It's fine.

Phew.)


Well, welcome. Is it okay if I do that sometimes?
rudelanguage: (pic#17730078)

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2025-04-25 03:43 pm (UTC)(link)
So...no useful connections.

[what are you. a useless!?! what is Knife expected to do, help him instead of the other way around? no thank you!

wait, pump the brakes:]
Or...different ones. Who's "others"?
shoplifter: (pic#11989734)

[personal profile] shoplifter 2025-04-25 03:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[... Yuck the what?

Luckily, she's distracted by her lack of knowledge for weird sayings by the more obvious poking that happened to her brain. At first, there's a glimmer of disapproval in her eyes — but then, contemplation. It's the best way to explain it, maybe. Better than she can put to words aloud.]


If I think of a memory very hard, do you see it?

Or do you have to go into my head?
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15702948)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-25 03:58 pm (UTC)(link)
( Jacket being left there on his lap, he reaches for his own drink — the cold beer — and gives her question a bit of a thought before he brings the beer up to his lips. )

Sometimes, sure. Least I know what to expect.

( At that, he indulges in a sip of that cold beer and... the face he pulls. Eyes wide first, they crinkle together and his mouth twitches some in a way that triggers a slight shiver in his body. That's... wow. That is... something alright.

Forcing himself to swallow that down, he drops his mouth open and makes a sound of slight disgust before he's tapping the glass down on the table. )


Wow. That's... yeah. That's a thing people drink, huh?
Edited 2025-04-25 16:02 (UTC)
hurtling: (pic#17733290)

[personal profile] hurtling 2025-04-25 04:06 pm (UTC)(link)
( unfortunately for james it seemed everyone here knew his secrets far better than he knew them himself. he had come to terms with what he had done and how he would repent for it, but being here the wound kept being pealed back and exposed all over again.

it was enough to drive a sane man to insanity, and an insane man like himself?

it left him breathing heavy as he took a step back and tried to remember who and what he saw in that town. vincent wasn't certainly among the crowd but how could he have watched james? that's what was being implied here right? )


How....how is that even possible. Does that mean you saw me? You saw and you didn't....but what about the monsters? You saw those too?
hurtling: (pic#17733245)

going to wrap this one up here!

[personal profile] hurtling 2025-04-25 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
( this kind of reaction to something that should be horrifying left james stunned and unsure of what to really think. if he were in henry's shoes would he react like this? would he be able to stand there knowing whatever he did made his skin unravel and left him possibly exposed to further horrors?

it was nerve-wrecking in so many ways and he wasn't quite sure what to do anymore. he wanted to bring himself to comfort the other but instead henry was the one doing it. it wasn't fair at all and yet—

selfishly, he was glad the other wasn't making more of a big deal about this. he certainly wouldn't know how to handle going about dealing with that on his own. after a brief moment of trying to stabilize himself and figure out what to do, he gently patted the other's shoulder before he began to step back. )


Okay, okay....stay right there, I'm going to go find some tape and I'll be right back.

( he waited for henry to say anything else, and then he turned around and began to head out. he promised henry he would return quickly and with whatever kind of help he needed to get out of this issue.

unfortunately he never did return, like a coward and through some strange force relating to this place, he never did come back. henry would be left to be helped by someone else. )
fourthwalled: (just another mask photo)

[personal profile] fourthwalled 2025-04-25 04:36 pm (UTC)(link)
You're just jealous. [And he's not sad about not getting praise. It's fine. No, he's not sniffling under his mask! Shut up!

Wade shrugs off the acid bullets a bit slower than he might have normal ones, but it does little to slow him down all the same. His eyes follow Shadow's to the metal that seems to be merging.]
Holy, T-1000, Batma- ahck!

[Wade is sent flying, losing his weapon as the head flings him backward, nearly falling right into a pit in the process-- only just catching the edge with his fingers to slowly claw his way back up and out.]
sophielicious: (2)

[personal profile] sophielicious 2025-04-25 04:39 pm (UTC)(link)
(That's nice. Of course they can play sharing with just about anyone, but it hits her a little different when it's a telepath's brain that bounces stuff off of her own. She likes it!

Sophie doesn't mean to laugh at him, but also, the expression of regret he is making is irresistibly funny, and she has to hide the smile that comes out of her with the back of her hand. Sorry, sorry, but also?)


Hey, it's an acquired taste. You can share mine, I don't have cooties.
lastofthearmlizards: (11)

[personal profile] lastofthearmlizards 2025-04-25 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Well said. Even if we can’t truly save this world, or any world for that matter, it doesn’t mean that we should give up or indulge ourselves in this sort of nonsense. That simply isn’t the way of life.
Edited 2025-04-25 16:44 (UTC)
lastofthearmlizards: (5)

[personal profile] lastofthearmlizards 2025-04-25 04:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[Baylene nods to the 'peaceful dinosaur' comment as she knocks away another frat boy with her feet.]

Indeed. I've never been fond of the idea of fighting. But at the same time, I'd rather not die from having my point drop down to the bottom of the rankings.
sortie: (Default)

[personal profile] sortie 2025-04-25 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Anything?

[ Lars is quick to follow her inside, unwilling to risk anyone giving Fio trouble for being there. What immediately greets them is the mingled aromas of many foods, some familiar and others extremely foreign.

Just as it was when he first came by, it seems as though the supply is ample, tables lined with plates and platters bearing heaps of various dishes. ]


Maybe a town I visited. They had cannons set up to shoot water over their sunflower fields.

[ He'd already told people he wanted to plant some of those. ]
strumpet: (pic#17736825)

[personal profile] strumpet 2025-04-25 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
( it doesn't take her very long to realize he might be uncomfortable with sharing his thoughts and feelings in regards to someone who he's obviously close to, so instead of prying further she simply nodded at his words.

she understood what kind of pain such a situation like that could bring— the back and the forth. )


Especially given you've been here for so long. Would....would you happen to have any tips for a new arrival like myself?
oblige: (consider)

[personal profile] oblige 2025-04-25 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ This information is news to Dion. He had never encountered a being like Lady Aurora. Perhaps the Fallen had such technology long ago, but it is long lost in the present age, the stuff of fantastical novels that explore impossiblities.

If Aurora truly faces such a limitation, bound by the nature of her duties so deeply that she can't act out of bounds, Dion can understand. His own restrictions were ones he accepted for his people, but he can well imagine not being afforded a choice.

The threat had loomed over him more than once. ]


Then perhaps we need better understand that which we face here.

[ Armed with more information, perhaps they can come up with a solution of some kind. Even if they cannot, action is preferable over inaction. ]
fourthwalled: (unmasked: you suck)

[personal profile] fourthwalled 2025-04-25 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Noted. I appreciate your candor. You know what you want and you're gonna fucking get it! [Swearing around kids. Disney is definitely not going to like that. That's maybe even worse than murdering someone around one!]

Um, normally I'd agree with you. But have you seen you? [She's a little murder machine.] But fine, if you don't want me to murder them, I can just horribly maim them, giving them a lifetime of pain and trauma. Is that better?
fourthwalled: (catching a ride)

[personal profile] fourthwalled 2025-04-25 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[It would be super uncool. But Wade's not a good person. He tries. But he's very bad at it.]

Depends. What kind of snacks? It better not be anything healthy! I swear to god, if you try to feed me kale, I'll kill you myself!
fourthwalled: (hhmmm)

[personal profile] fourthwalled 2025-04-25 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Tell you what, Mindfreak Jr. [He gives Nate a firm pat on the back.] I'll let you pick the order.
fourthwalled: (shoot you)

[personal profile] fourthwalled 2025-04-25 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Survival of the fittest. I feel you. [Wade grabs a dropped weapon from the ground to dual wield, wailing on the frat boys, all while talking to her like they are only going on a leisurely stroll.] Didn't work out so well for the dinosaurs the first time, but now is your moment!

[Wait.] Oh, shit. Sorry. Was that spoilers? [oops.]

What's your name, by the way? I'm Deadpool. Or you can call me Wade.
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15702941)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-25 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
( Just a bit of A Look at the mindfreak jr. comment there. )

Yeah. Can't see why anyone wouldn't like hanging out with you. Not at all.

( That is sarcasm. )
shoplifter: (pic#17709766)

[personal profile] shoplifter 2025-04-25 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[She nods.]

My claws.

[She does not... appear to have claws???

Her nails are short and painted in chipped blue and pink.]


If you win enough fights or make enough points, you can get a weapon.

I've never needed to earn them.
fourthwalled: (side look)

[personal profile] fourthwalled 2025-04-25 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Aww, don't be like that! [You're going to make him cry!] I have plenty of friends! Blind Al, Peter, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Colossus, Logan, Dophinder, Shatterstar, Domino, Cable... of course those last two couldn't be bothered to come to my last birthday party.
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15681346)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-25 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
( He's about to ask if he means Peter Parker but then he goes and says Cable and he turns to look to Wade a little more seriously. )

You know Cable?
fourthwalled: (Later skater)

[personal profile] fourthwalled 2025-04-25 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
I sure do! We're basically best friends. [maybe more than.] It was a real meet cute. He threw me over a railing and broke my back. We had a dance battle, and then I tried to blow him up with one of his own grenades. It was a real back and forth... will they / won't they situation for a bit there.

[How else do you make friends?]

But at the end of it, he compared me to his wife, and then we murdered some mutant hating pedophilic pieces of shit together. The best way to bond, I say.
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15702948)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-25 08:10 pm (UTC)(link)
( Like with... everything he says, really, it's a lot to take in and Nate can't help but stare in confusion for a moment. When he thinks he has the gist of it, he folds his arms in front of his chest. )

No offense, but Cable doesn't really come off as the type to do meet cutes.