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etrayamemes2025-03-28 09:16 am
etrayamods) wrote in etrayamemes2025-03-28 09:16 am
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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:
 ⏵ 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:
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. 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. |
catsino royale
Regardless, when Aerith spots the grumpy looking green-tinged cat skulking around one of the casino's outer room, she takes it as face value. Everything else has been completely unfathomable, why shouldn't a stray cat sneak into this place? His grizzled, matted appearance does nothing to dissuade her from approaching, glittering in pink sequins but obviously out of place despite being forced into dressing up.
When she hunkers down about a yard away from the cat, Aerith's mindful not to get too close just yet, offering the sweet little green kitty a hand to sniff and inspect as she would with any cat back home. ]
Poor little thing, you must be lost. [ It's ridiculous that a word as simple as lost gives her pause while her brain scrambles to find a rhyme for it, but she's doing her best to go along with the wheel's result and not get killed. ] This casino has a doorway you should not have crossed! [ Oh, she's very obviously proud of that one, delivering it with a cheerful finger pointing up towards the ceiling and a smile. ]
Well, I guess you're coming with me, and wherever we end up, that's what it will be. [ And, because he's a cat, she moves closer and scoops him up with no problem, mindful to support his hind legs while she hugs him to her chest. ]
You don't know anything about a zip drive, do you? [ She asks, while skirting the edge of the room and trying to figure out what's next for her and her new pet, which she'll definitely carry through the promised exit and keep forever if she can swing it. ] Maybe a green cat isn't the best place to look for a breakthrough.
CATSINO
'no shit.' a little late in coming, thanks. he'd already figured that part out.
as she'd announced that he was coming with her, he couldn't verbally protest - but he had no intention of going quietly. as she caught him by the middle, his back feet pedaled desperately for purchase, only stopping when she felt the support of her hand beneath him. he rumbled out a growl against her shoulder, ears flat and claws flexing against pink sequins.
his counterattack was swiftly halted by her question, however, his ears immediately back at attention, single eye fixed on her face as though he might somehow make himself understood by sheer force of will.
zip drive?
he huffed out a short grunt, claws retracting as he settled into her arms. from the sounds of it, she was here for the same reason he was. if they could work together, somehow, then they'd both be out of there faster for it... however much he could contribute, stuck like this. ]
🐈 the purrfect pun
I thought if I watched the staff, they would make things clear, but I don't even feel like I'm near.
[ One awkward pause later– ]
... The truth.
[ That unrhymed word hangs uncomfortably in the air, and the thought of what awaits her after being caught in a second failure gets Aerith talking again, hastily taking on more of her internal monologue until a tidy rhyming way to wrap can be found. ]
And they haven't given me any leads, so I'm totally lost in the weeds! But you see that guy over there? He's nervous and dubious, very suspicious, even if you're not studious.
no subject
the moment he was human again, he was going to slice that goddamned roulette wheel to pieces.
with a grouchy sigh, zoro finally turned his head so he could follow her gaze; better to keep focus, whether she considered him a partner in this mission or not. with his mind distracted, he could hope he could prevent any further humiliation (like potentially purring), and hopefully, put an end to this whole ordeal that much faster.
one ear still trained on the pink woman, the other swiveled toward the hall at large, attempting to pick up on any trace of useful conversation. much as he was annoyed with his current... 'situation', there were one or two perks to this body - his heightened feline hearing being one of them.
his eye caught on the staff member she'd pointed out, and it was easy to see why. twitchy and stiff with tension, the harsh casino lighting only made the nervous sweat on his brow stand out all the more. whether or not it meant anything, her guess was as good as his, but it wasn't like they were swimming in options.
shuffling his back legs against her hand, zoro did his best to signal to her to let him down. preferably quickly. ]
no subject
Humming curiously at the batting of feet against the hand supporting his back legs, she looks between the cat and the man, debating.
Shifting her hold on the cat, she lifts her arm and guides him up to meet his gaze, her eyes widening earnestly as she speaks in the gentle tone reserved for cute, found animal friends. ]
Whatever you do, make sure you come back alright? Letting you go off alone gives me a real fright. [ Zoro is spared a little forehead kiss, purely because she hasn't brushed him and tidied him up with, but he does get one more little pet on the head before she sets him down gently. ]
no subject
the thought was enough to make him bristle all over again.
zoro's eye lingered longer than any actual animal would have, gaze locked with aerith's like he might share his thoughts through sheer force of will. and, when that proved less than effective, his ears flattened in a makeshift scowl, turning to disappear between the legs of the nearby patrons.
nearly ten minutes had passed when he finally reappeared, nearly colliding with the back of aerith's calf. if one were to think this was entirely the wrong direction for his mission, they would be correct - it would seem that even as a cat, zoro still couldn't navigate to save himself. his paws had managed to lead him in a large, meandering circle, before finally bringing him right back where he'd started.
shit. ]