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.

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levelshift: <user name=patch-robots site=livejournal.com> (shrug)

[personal profile] levelshift 2025-04-05 11:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[It makes perfect sense why the hedgehog hasn't been speaking this whole time. Not that Accelerator had minded, but it means the guy doesn't have any kind of speech or selective mute issues going on.

At any rate, he puts his phone away again.]


You're right, but this gives us a bit more data to work with. [And in his opinion, any amount of data is good to have.] That's better than nothing.
agoddessonce: (Default)

[personal profile] agoddessonce 2025-04-05 11:37 pm (UTC)(link)
I know a little of how to operate the system, but not how to repair it. But I'll have a look once we are returned.

[ that's technically a job for her genius-level friends and ex-boyfriends though, none of whom had been here last she remembered. ]

A running list would be a good idea. We will find a place for it Jay, don't worry.
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15681322)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-05 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
( Well, if he's inviting him to...

Nate goes and does just that — searches Jay's mind for any trace of Apocalypse or anything related to the tyrant.

He keeps it as simple as he can. Doesn't inflict any sort of pain on him while he quickly scans for what he's looking for. True to the other mutant's word, he doesn't find anything related to Apocalypse and he likes to think he'd be able to pick up on Jay trying to hide that if there were.

Most of what he sees doesn't really catch his interest, but. Then he sees a familiar face there — two actually including Domino — in a particular memory and, after looking at it for a moment longer, he slips out of the other's mind, staring to him there still on the ground. )


How do you know Cable?
agoddessonce: (retail therapy)

[personal profile] agoddessonce 2025-04-05 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[ So convenient! Jean will feel a thread of gratitude and relief at Ororo now having a more concrete point of direction as she starts to make her way over. She's a little hesitant to keep talking over the network, so she keeps texts brief and her mind sharp for that tell-tale pulse of Jean's telepathy if she reaches out. ]

I still hope to keep a low profile for now. No sense in advertising what I am and what I can do when my current priority is simply to find a safe place to regroup with a friend.
agoddessonce: (action)

hi you 💕

[personal profile] agoddessonce 2025-04-05 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Oh... It's Wade, again! She approached him despite best judgment, thinking that at the very least, she could draw his chaos to her side before anyone else could tempt him away in this strange and unsettling tournament, arena, thing.

They get into a basic waltz position before she can say much else - this music is decidedly not a waltz? - and they're off. Oh, well. ]


I hope "less-quick to get up" is not a euphemism for anything strange, Wade.

Is something the matter?
waxen_wings: (012)

[personal profile] waxen_wings 2025-04-06 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ Hardly an invitation when Nate had already sashayed on into his brain, but Jay's not catatonic and the guy doesn't seem any more mad. Jay must have passed whatever test that was, because he's never met Apocalypse like he said, only to walk into a loaded question about Cable. Great.

Jay squares his shoulders and stares right back at him.
]

I know Cable because my brother knows Cable. Sam was on his old X-Force team, and I met them all when they came to the farm. If Cable did something terrible in your world, I'm sorry. I can't force my world to match yours, and it sounds like I don't want to.
agoddessonce: (warm)

no worries it's good timing and I'm also slow!!

[personal profile] agoddessonce 2025-04-06 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ The recognition isn't immediate, but dawns on her slowly - like a tide creeping gently up a beach until the edges of memory form more fully in her mind.

For some reason, the starkest memory she has of him is driving him home from school, in a snappy white mini-van that she would never ever purchase herself. Catching up on his day, and asking him not to get into too much trouble after dark... ]


Riz. [ ... ] It is you, isn't it, Riz?

[ Her hand darts out to rest on his shoulder before she can think otherwise, looking him up and down as if to check for injury. Not her son, but the mission made them pretend to be, even if they were not related at all. And he's still here. ]

It's only been a day or so. Forgive me, I am still catching up on things but - it is... nice to see you again, even if it must be here.

[ Riz who liked to investigate, and turned that room of his into a collection of notes and clues and hints. Ororo smiles fondly. ]

You are the perfect person to assist me with catching up, yes? Somehow I think you must have collected quite the wealth of information and research by now.
oblige: (say)

[personal profile] oblige 2025-04-06 12:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ Having had no future destination in mind, it seems as good a place as any to Dion. So, he straightens his posture yet further and levels a gauntleted hand over his chest. ]

I thank you for the transport.

[ The words come with all due sincerity before his hand returns to his side. While Dion is a seasoned combatant, he has no interest in harming others without cause, and there is no trail for those attackers to follow this way. ]

What was it that compelled their pursuit?

[ That was a persistent chase, especially considering how easily present company was able to disarm and disable them. ]
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15681338)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-06 12:28 am (UTC)(link)
Cable wasn't a thing in my world.

( He's... pretty sure anyways. )

I met him in the world I fell into before ending up here.

( Arms coming to fold in front of his chest, he regards the other mutant for a moment longer, unsure of how much he wants to say, if anything at all, before he glances away. )

He's annoying but he's not anyone I'd consider a threat personally.
copsormasks: (030)

etraya gotta etraya

[personal profile] copsormasks 2025-04-06 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
[It's weird, dancing like the prom he never attended, but there's a reward involved and he's committing.]

I just met you so no. Obviously.
waxen_wings: (068)

[personal profile] waxen_wings 2025-04-06 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
The world you fell into...?

[ You can't just say things like that with giving more detail. Jay fell into Etraya, and then essentially got shoved through a portal here to Aphaia.

Well, more likely drug through the portal by Julian, but it's essentially the same thing.
]

You had something like this happen before you were here? And it wasn't Etraya?

[ Oh, right. The point. ]

I don't know if he's annoying or not. He's a middle-aged time-traveling X-Man who always seems to be in the middle of a mess. I was a kid who was mad that his brother wasn't coming home to stay.
sortie: (Default)

[personal profile] sortie 2025-04-06 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
The way I understand it, somebody asked for proof that worlds are actually dying... Or something like that.

[ Having been a soldier for so much of his life, Lars didn't question their deployment all that much. If his world's fate may be in the balance once again, all that matters is that his actions help to preserve it.

He may not be the best among them to handle yet another existential threat, but he'll simply have to handle it because he's the one who was summoned here. ]


You can read back on the network to see where Aurora told us about it.

[ As Lars explains, he raises a gloved hand to point at the communications device on his ear. Backreading had been very informative when he first arrived, or rather, after his first task was behind him. ]
hauntedsnowfall: (z acadimi smile 04)

[personal profile] hauntedsnowfall 2025-04-06 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
I assure you the pleasure is all mine, Blaze the Cat.

[ Dimitri gives her a sweeping bow, one he learned as a boy-prince for proper etiquette, then whisks the glass from Blaze to get her water. All proper gentlemen should concern themselves with keeping women, or anyone really, hydrated.

Although a wine glass for water is an odd choice. Perhaps she was indulging before? …Can cats have alcohol? Either way it’s none of his business what she wishes to drink. Well, it is since she asked him for water… but beyond that! None of his business.

He returns shorty, weaving through the crowd, with two full glasses of water. Hydration isn’t a bad idea. ]


I hope I did not keep you waiting too long.

[ A glass and a smile is offered her way. ]
bubblegumheart: (pic#16998109)

I'm sure it'll be fine

[personal profile] bubblegumheart 2025-04-06 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
[The answer is unsurprising enough to make her laugh, but she can't really blame him. This whole situation is pretty odd.]

I never got to go to my own prom but I doubt this is normal.

[She'll spare him the long-winded explanation, though, because she's still having a hard time believing all of it.]

Anyway, you look like you're thinking too hard right now, and I don't think it's going to win you very many points.
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15703281)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-06 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
( It's at this point, what with Jay being in the air and all, Nate gently lifts himself up into it as well, arms still folded there in front of his chest as he does. He eyes him. Not with suspicion or confusion. But almost... curiously.

Well. Maybe just a touch of suspicion, but. He feels that way towards almost everyone as of late. )


The world I'm from, Apocalypse has enslaved mankind and mutants either side with him or are hunted like traitors to their kind. I ended up somewhere else before ending up here. Another world but one where Apocalypse wasn't a tyrant in power.
overconfidently: overconfidently. (pic#15728267)

[personal profile] overconfidently 2025-04-06 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
( It certainly is doing just that. )

You feel it, too, don't you? How broken this planet is and how no one means to fix it.

( Maybe it can't be fixed, but. For a telepath— for a telepath who's recently stumbled out of a traumatic experience with Sinister and into this different world, it's all a little jarring to feel. )

I don't even know how I got here. Sinister— ( He pauses, jaw tight and eyes falling shut again. ) He took me somewhere. I should have stopped him.

( But he'd been unable to in the moment. )
waxen_wings: (004)

[personal profile] waxen_wings 2025-04-06 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ He thought Jay was involved with that? Jay'd be insulted, but it's the kind of story that sounds just real enough. Just on the verge of a plausible nightmare worst case scenario that he could see how certain people would want it to happen. They'd point to people like Stryker and say he was proof that it's all that humans should be. ]

I don't know how I'd ever do that. My mom's human. Half my siblings might be human, we don't know yet. They're too little and it doesn't matter anyway - family's family. My girlfriend - she died because I was a mutant. I wouldn't - I don't know how I could be a part of that and live with myself.

[ He wouldn't be able to, that's how. ]

I don't hate humans. I don't call them any of the derogatory names. I just want everyone to have the same chance to live.
limiterrings: (pic#17753217)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-06 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
Hmph. Annoying.

[ whatever comes true will only be a nuisance to him, but since he finds everything annoying, maybe nothing will come from that comment.

as for the other questions he has... ]


Is this common?

[ he gestures to their surroundings. ] Going to places like this.

[ not his cup of tea, but he doesn't stay in one place as he moves back over to the table to make sure nothing has changed from what he said. ]
copsormasks: (041)

[personal profile] copsormasks 2025-04-06 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Jason slowly tilts his head to the side.]

That some requirement to be a Robin? Having a rough time as a kid?
devota: (⚖ i’m in it for the beat)

[personal profile] devota 2025-04-06 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
I...

[She thinks she's very kind, but the Order taught her agreeing would just sound arrogant.]

It's a tragic situation.
fireboost: (pic#17773387)

[personal profile] fireboost 2025-04-06 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ of course the wine glass keeps the atmoshpere classy, but it's hard to say if something as extravagant as wine would be in a desolate planet such as this—even harder to say whether it would be responsible for a princess to drink it, dance or not. but blaze watches his sweeping bow with a smile, very much used to such grand gestures, but there's a sense of novelty in this place that she can't deny as she waves him farewell to fetch her drink.

and upon his return... ]


Thank you, Dimitri. You haven't kept me waiting at all.

[ blaze accepts the cup gratefully, pleased that he's taken one for himself as well, but before she moves to take a sip: ]

Won't you stay and chat? I've arrived here only recently, and have many things to ask about this place.

[ will that give her away? she's uncertain of how often people come and go from this planet. but anyway, now that she's made clear that she doesn't want him to leave, she'll take a delicate sip of her water. ]
lordfuckleroy: ij @ saveface (pic#17533390)

Prince Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor | Red, White & Royal Blue | NEW!

[personal profile] lordfuckleroy 2025-04-06 02:00 am (UTC)(link)

:A NEW CHALLENGER APPEARS:
[ The moment that Prince Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor stepped down onto this planet, he knew he was not at Windsor Palace anymore; well he hadn't been to begin with. He'd been walking down the hall from pizza night with Bea, the stressors of having hosted Alex in Britain had gotten to him to the point where he needed something comfy cozy. His sister had been happy to oblige and so it had been an evening playing a board game while eating pineapples on pizza.

Where he tried not to think about how attractive Alex had been.

It had been a flash of dizziness, a hint of black voidness and then he stepped forward into a street that was filled with people and it appeared that there was a city with tall spires and at the center a coliseum. However, unlike those which he was familiar with-- this one appeared to be completely intact and well maintained, but with a bent that was decidedly technological in nature; like some elaborate design out of a sci-fi film. There was voices coming from a soundspeaker and what appeared to be a commentary.. of some fight?

After a few inquiries, he was pointed toward an information desk at the center, where he could find some idea of where the bloody hell he was. A brief explanation and he was handed a computerized scorecard and with the facing on it reading. "Welcome Underling!". Underling? What was this and this was his fighter class? He turned on his heels and walked without truly looking, thereby catapulting himself against someone who was standing in his way. ]
Ooof, my apologies-- I actually do not know what I am doing here or where I am? And I know that the information desk meant well but, this is overwhelming.

:st★rlight soirée:
This was not a dance, it was a bloodbath.

Not involving real blood, mind you, but there was a certain feral tragedy to the entire thing which was unlike any dance or ball that he had ever been to. The dancers seemed to be showing each other up; assessing each other's movements like they were sizing up a battle stat block (he recently learned that was a thing, but he had not played a whole lot of video games.. maybe Mario Kart (once) at a party.) So Prince Henry made his way to the refreshment table to drink one of the many energy drinks that were liberally scattered against it.

He had a timer going, he had to choose a partner and gods choose he would. Thankfully he was a Prince and not given the luxury of standing by and waiting for a dance partner so he turned to the person next to him and then cleared his throat artfully. ]
Pardon me, but would you care to dance? Even though we do not have much of a choice in the matter, it appears that the timer is going down over our heads and I would hate to be disqualified over a dance.

:(12) FEEL NOTHING:
Now this, Henry could relate to. He was used to charity gambling evenings attending so he did not ask too many questions as he spun the wheel. Black and Red blending into one as the marble moved in rapid succession; the wheel slowly coming to a stop after circulation upon circulations before it managed to hiccup into the (12) position. He did not know what that meant but no matter, he was given his entry keycard and then he was ushered inside.

Dressed to kill in a black tuxedo and a very proper cravat a'la Pride and Prejudice though far more modern. With each step that he took into the sparkling lights of the gambling hall, he did not notice it but the sands in the hourglass was siphoning down until there would be nothing left in the top half, just a sense of emptiness like a void that covered his soul in dark velvet, preventing light nor sound from entering it's hallowed halls. He held a drink in his hand but he barely knew what to do with it.

Someone told a joke in a a group he was standing amid, and he remained silent with the face of a carving. Failing to find it funny in the slightest, there was nothing and perhaps even a bit of light had left his eyes, the blue as calm and as placid as a hot day with no circulation of wind nor waves or ripples. Someone bumped into him and he barely felt it, he was automatically walking though he had no purpose.

Someone turned to him to ask him a question and he spoke in a voice that was nigh toneless. "I have no great feelings about it either way.. no opinions either." None, nada, zip, zilch.

WILD CARD
Hello everyone, I am Nia ([plurk.com profile] zauberdecke) and I come bearing a very dumb Prince from Red White & Royal Blue, just trying out this setting for the first time. Feel free to hit me up in DM or on Plurk for any ideas, I'm mutable! (Either Brackets or Prose is fine, feel free to respond in the form that you prefer and I will match)


thelightshines: (Because you lit up my world)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-04-06 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
[They weren't here, when Maria told him about their purpose, all their failures to find a cure for her, the happinesss and love she expressed despite it all. It was more than enough to give him the full picture of how much the other meant to Maria. More than anything he could ever do for her. But he remains silent about knowing that knowledge, despite their continous ridiculing.

He continues to say nothing as Maria and the other converse. Not because of what the jerk had said. He had no reason to interject between a sensitive discussion between them. With a look of disinteresnt, he glances away while they talk, staying beside Maria as long she felt like she needed him. A dream to go to Earth together...the place called the Ark, is not a place located on Earth? He is still listening. How can he not?

She was being taken care of in space? Was the ARK something like the Eclipse Cannon, a station but not meant to be a weapon? ...How long had it been since she seen Earth, to be wishing she and the other could go to Earth together someday? Both of them?

His ears merely twitch when she tells him she wanted to know more about him as well. A small part of him wanted her to know, understand, but a larger part of him didn't want any of it to come out. Relive it all again, the life after Maria's passing was nothing but more misery and mistakes. The amount of kindness she has given to him, once again feels undeserved. It's probably a good thing he isn't looking at them while they talk. The hollow emptiness he's been feeling would start to overwhelm him, knowing he can't share another intimate moment with his Maria. Would he even be able to face her? After what he had done, the pain he unleashed onto others? What his own existence inevitably led to for her...? He shakes his head. If they weren't such a jerk, he might have considered confiding with him about...all these feelings. What they're going through with their Maria right now.

But no, they continue to be a stuck-up. He rolls his eyes when he was being addressed by them. This is the worse encounter with another like him, is him. Almost missed the constantly yapping blue hedgehog. Almost. Whatever. At this point, their insults are just noises to him. If they're saying something like that, then he got his point across. Probably. They're not going to leave her, that's all that matters.]


We'll find shelter once you're feeling better. [The area has remain relatively calm, but it's still by the colosseum, too out in the open.] Unless you want to do it. [A sideglance to the other. Since he's apparently the "inferior" one.]
knightowl: (064)

[personal profile] knightowl 2025-04-06 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ There never would be. Even in the 20 years since he last put on the cowl himself, Gotham had only sank further into the mire, even in spite of the pretty facade. It was just painting over the problems, hiding them so you'd never see unless you knew where to look. It makes him wonder if this man's version of Batman is in a similar position as himself - unable to do anything about it. It must drive him ahem batty. ]

It can. But it isn't. There are still good people there.
kidnappered: (other | cat)

Ouyang Duyu | Have You Seen My Brother | Current Character

[personal profile] kidnappered 2025-04-06 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
1. Aphaia

[Oh, he's not exactly standing high in the jianghu rankings back home. It didn't mean he couldn't fight but it did mean he was at a disadvantage in a contest of only strength.

But this wasn't what it was, was it? He could do entertainment. He could do a contest of pretending to be something he wasn't, to be charming and elegant. If he had known ahead of time he could have prepared better but he could make do with what he had.

...though he could do more if he could fake a medical emergency by dosing someone with some easy to cure poisons. But he suspected that would be too easily caught. Ah, well.

He's not doing too badly, all things considered. So here he was, looking for some new clothes for an upcoming interview. He was trying one something a little more...local. A white suit that he's not entirely comfortable in. He tugs at the hem of the blazer.]


...it's odd.

2. Casino Royale: Over-protective? Him? Haha, nice joke. (with [personal profile] nobraincell)

[Ouyang Duyu liked to pretend he wasn't protective of Chu Wenshan. If he got angry about people potentially causing Chu Wenshan harm, it was only because he was the only one entitled to take vengeance on Chu Wenshan and after he realized there was no vengeance needed it still felt like no one had the right to do such a thing.

It wasn't protectiveness. That was stupid. Chu Wenshan didn't need protection.

But after he turned the stupid wheel he felt...it was like the time in that cave, when Chu Wenshan was being threatened, when they'd fallen into a trap. That feeling of how dare they when the cave was caving in and Chu Wenshan was kneeling on the ground...except there was no danger right now and there's no source for this anger.

So he glares at anyone who comes within arms reach of the two of them.]


Stay away from him. [He hisses from behind his fan.]

3. Casino Royale: Have You Seen My Brother?

[But, of course, in a crowd it's not impossible to lose sight of each other. The moment Ouyang Duyu turned around to find Chu Wenshan missing, his heart dropped.

He grabs the nearest person by the arm.]


Have you seen a man about this tall... [He gestures to a height about a head taller than himself] ...and looks like there's not a lot of thoughts going on in his head?
Edited 2025-04-06 02:43 (UTC)