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etrayamemes2025-03-28 09:16 am
etrayamods) wrote in 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:
 ⏵ 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. |
Nami | OPLA
As terrible as it is to think that this world is on its last legs, the simple truth of the matter is that it just doesn't matter all that much to Nami. Coming here. Being assigned a score and a title (55. contender.) These things just don't rank as high as finding Luffy and the other straw hats. It's incredibly selfish of her, but it is what it is.
Being shuffled off and told to change into a dress that isn't hers also doesn't matter, and she cooperates only because she's decided that playing along with this nonsense might be the best way to figure out what's going on. And sure, she's not terribly jazzed about the thought of being assigned a partner for this, but she's making an effort.
She even manages a smile at the poor soul they've partnered her with. "Let's get this over with."
casino royale
It's a bit concerning that the only entrance fee for the casino proper is to spin their wheel. She spins, of course, because she wants to get a look inside that building. The score still isn't high on her list of priorities right now, but having more information is never a bad thing.
That silliness behind her, Nami slinks inside and makes a beeline for the bar. She's not looking to have more than a couple, because she's already so far out of her element and adding alcohol to the mix just sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Either way, she's quick to smile and make nice with anyone that should approach.
choose your own
Nami'll be snooping around pretty much everywhere she's allowed in an attempt to work out the layout of the place, so feel free to catch her doing that. I have no hard preferences for the casino effects, so follow your hearts on that. As for me, I'll probably just roll a d20 for any threads that pop up.
casino royale — 19 (for inara)
she needed money or secrets to find some kind of leverage in this world. Of course by now she had given the wheel a spin, being afflicted with a need to protect someone, anyone and Nami ended up being that person. With her large doe eyes fixated on the woman, she sauntered her way towards her and came up next to her at the bar.
“Careful with the food and beverages here, you don’t know what they could be putting in them.”, she said, her voice soft and protective.
rolled an 8 for Nami, so this is gonna be great lmao
Why is that the first place her mind goes? Regardless, she's turning to get a look at the person being kind enough to warn her against this place... only to discover that she's unable to look at her properly.
This has never been an issue for her up to this point in her life, so Nami can be forgiven for feeling a little confused by this newest development.
"Have you had any of the drinks?" Again, she makes an attempt to look Inara in the eye, and again she finds herself unable to do so. It's the craziest thing, and she hates it quite a bit.
oh gosh the potential here is amazing
"You never know, I come from a world where danger could be lurking in any corner. Given that we've been brought here to prove our world is worth saving and maybe the others have decided to do Aurora's dirty work for her.", she said. These words, this level of concern and advice was usually reserved for her crewmates—
but despite being influenced here, she was partially right. She didn't know what Aurora was capable of, or Echo, but she knew people. People could easily turn competitive and violent in a blink of an eye after all, pulling dirty tricks left and right.
this was actually the second roll- the first one was a 19 but I veto'd it haha
"Oh, is that why we're here?" She asks as if she's not completely aware of the song and dance she was given upon arrival. And if she were someone else, she might be more willing to buy into all of this. As it is, she's just biding her time until things start to make sense.
Or until whatever this is wears off.
"Okay... why can't I look at you?"
no subject
"Are you feeling any kind of discomfort?", she asked, unaware of the full extent of afflictions caused by the roulette. She was slightly aware there was something influencing her own behavior but when she tried to think on it or remember, she began to struggle.
"Try and turn your head in my direction, let's see what happens."
st★rlight soirée
What he had not anticipated was that he might end up with someone who wasn't a stranger. Not entirely, anyway.
The woman certainly looked like Nami, albeit a younger version of her. The short hair she'd sported prior to their separation, her facial features - There were differences too, which he was sure the cook could have listed in painful detail, but Zoro wasn't that scrutinous. The uncanniness of it left him temporarily stunned, searching her expression for even some flicker of recognition.
"Nami-?"
me furiously googling like "oh noooo" lol
But none of them had cropped up, and Nami had all but made peace with the fact that she'd be doing this on her own. Which was why it was so surprising to hear her name in a voice she didn't quite recognize.
"Yes?"
Perhaps it wasn't the most intelligible answer, but that was all she could manage for the moment. Turning abruptly, she was fully prepared to question how this person even knew her- but the question died in her throat at the sight of him.
"Do I know you?"
sdlkg sorry!!
So, this was Nami. Or at least, a Nami. He wouldn't pretend he had the first clue how any of this worked, but he'd put together that much on his own. And based on the slip in her expression, he wasn't the man she'd been expecting either.
"Good question."
Just how much did she know? It was impossible to tell from a glance (Although, once again, he was sure that blond moron probably could. The one time his freakish tendencies might actually be helpful.) In the end, he could only think of one way to really confirm, to ask the same question that had been on his own mind since he'd arrived:
"Is Luffy with you?"
never apologize!! ♡
Still, his was the only remotely familiar face she'd run into as of yet, and that had to mean something. Right?
It would almost be comforting if the implications weren't so horrible. The question was a reasonable one, and it only served to irritate her because as of yet there'd been no sign of the wayward captain.
"I haven't seen him yet. Or Sanji. Or the others."
Aside from Zoro.
"What happened to you?"
♡!
He understood the confusion well enough, given that he was currently wrestling with the same. It was disconcerting, how she could be so similar to the woman he knew, yet still a stranger. It was because she wasn't a perfect replica that Zoro was convinced this wasn't the work of a devil fruit - While they'd encountered people capable of imitating or skewing perception in the past, what power would this even be? And on top of that, what were the odds he'd run into it here, on top of everything else going on?
At the mention of Sanji's name, Zoro's jaw tightened, annoyance cracking the mask of impassivity. That bastard had better not be here, but Luffy? Much as Zoro wanted to see him, it was for the good of the crew that he wasn't here, especially with how they'd left things.
"Same as you. Brought here by some weird woman called Angora, told that we're supposed to save the world or some crap like that."
Aurora, but you know - Close enough. He'd only been half-listening. It also wasn't likely the answer that Nami was looking for, but he didn't appear to be offering anything further.
st★rlight soirée, i'm sorry you get the worst version of him
She certainly doesn't look quite the same as she had when he'd last seen her, and he's mapped out every detail about Nami across every instance that she's been in his sights, an expert in facial details and size measurements (because he certainly is who he is). The cut of her hair takes him back to a time of two years past, closer to when they'd first met, when a simple glance in her direction had him ready to declare to the depths of his love, but even then, her face could almost suggest her to be someone else entirely.
But it's Nami. In his heart of hearts, he knows it is, and if anyone were to be able to instinctively be drawn to Nami in a crowded room, it's Sanji.
"Nami-san!!!" He shouts all too loudly, arms outstretched widely as if to welcome him over into his arms, as if even the usual Nami would do such a thing (he never stops being hopeful all the same). There's nearly tears forming in his eyes from his happiness. "I found you!"