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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. |
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as shadow yanks off the needle, it's at the same time that he's pushed into the casino-- sent flying right into a wall. upon impact, it leaves a crater behind him, rock and debris falling on top of him, and some aliens surprised from the sight.
that hedgehog is always breaking something in this damn casino! ]
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though at least he seems to have succeeded in what he was trying. ]
So? Is it as you thought?
[ she'll even move away a piece of the debris to make sure he's fine—though she has few doubts about that. ]
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sniffing, his tip of his nose wiggling as he looks around.
he doesn't remember a curse on the wheel that makes a person small, but he takes a few more steps. skitter, skitter.
...
where are his gloves. those are NOT his paws. ]
throwing up
Shadow...?
[ the small creature that emerges from the rubble is... not the shadow she knows. however, it is the same colour as him, and it sports the same markings as him too. having learned just what the wheel can do, she can only bring herself to... ]
...
[ cover her mouth immediately. it's reflex, really—this small creature is so cute, she can't help but smile. give her a moment though, and she'll gather her composure, crouching down to get closer to his level. then, after a moment's consideration, she'll place her hand in front of him—flat, so that he can choose to hitch a ride with her if he'd like. ]
Shall we leave for tonight? You're in no condition to search.
[ wouldn't want him to get stepped on. ]
i should have the ability to turn into a real hoglet or w/e
at his name called, she'll get confirmation it is him with a wiggle of his nose. it's when she crouches down that gives him some pause, and then he believes that it must have been the curse of the wheel to make him tiny. what's not clicking is why are his ... hands like this, familiar but not. it feels like an out of body experience to see them like this and on the floor.
let's fix that.
in his bold attempt to stand, the hedgehog tries to move to his back paws all before slipping on the smooth surface and onto his side. rolling onto his stomach which comes so naturally, and oddly satisfying (this actually pisses him off) that an angry sniffke comes from him, showing his irritation and stress. ]
Chff. Chfft. Chffnt.
HONESTLY YEAH
a camera looms closer, drawing in others and even some of the aliens are coming rather near, pulling out devices of their own. ]
You can't walk?
[ it's pretty clear, but all he offers her is chuffs and sniffles from that pointy little nose of his. ]
put the paparazzi away
the issue of not being able to walk is one thing, but when he attempts to curl into a ball-- the part where he's supposed to rev himself up never comes. instead, he flips onto his back... the only saving grace is that the curse has struck again, causing him to go invisible.
with feet and belly up... shadow curls more into himself, the sound of angry chuffs coming from the floor as he rocks back and forth. this isn't out of comfort, more so he's growing angrier by the second. ]
*more cameras appear*
well, she isn't entirely sure what he's doing. continuing his search despite his current shape and size? she'd assume he'd be fine, but with both his disappearance and the continued huffing and chuffing that causes her ears to twitch, she can't help but be concerned.
at least now that she can't see him, she doesn't have to hold in her laughter and can return her attention to how very serious this is. ]
You're only drawing this out longer.
[ swallow your pride before it gets worse, hog. ]
he's invisible... waste of time
yet, it is.
rolling back onto his feet has proven a problem until he rolls onto his side, allowing his feet to touch the ground. she can hear the sound of tiny taps on the floor and angry chuffs that if she follows she can walk along with him.
there's something sinister to this hog.
as well as a little sneeze that cracks the floor underneath him, a little super strength before it leaves to another curse. ]
not for long......
blaze withdraws her hand, pulling herself up to her feet as a small sneeze comes from the ground, resulting in a crack.
she tilts her head. could it be...?
ah, well, she'll walk alongside the sound of sniffling and chuffing as well as she can, her eats twitching as she tries to keep track of where shadow is headed—and usher any others away from possibly stepping on him. ]
excuse me
there's even the occasional alien jumping up, holding one of their many feet when they walk by. either shadow stepped on them, or bit them... whatever happened, it seems to have really hurt as he moves along the floor at a decent speed. not as fast as he wants, but he's definitely not happy. ]
Snhcnft!
[ there's a small hiss afterwards, but you know... someone's cranky. ]
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instead, they'll slowly make it up to the door. listening as the sniffles, skitters and hisses continue, blaze will open it and hold it for him to pass through. ]
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Ugh... what the hell was that...
[ never show him his pain or issue, but he's trying to push himself up with what energy he has left. his body sluggish from the sensation of being altered, he shakes his quills, then stops to fix them properly by smoothing the length of them at the side. they bounce at the touch, swooshing as he looks left then right once having his height returned back to him.
shadow checks the limiters around his wrists to make sure they're adjusted like they should be. ]
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I suppose that the needle wasn't the answer then.
[ she doesn't imagine that it would be, with how difficult of a time shadow had of it, and not to mention the efficacy of the wheel even without it. she's sure that's why this had happened to him, after all. ]
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[ that's all he has in response to it. his eyes glance over to the broken needle that he yanked off, and is probably still in the building from when he dropped it upon collision. what he knows is that he wants nothing to do with it. ]
That girl should look for it herself, knowing she sits comfortable at the expense of others.
[ someone sounds a little annoyed at aurora, but he isn't saying he'll kill her.
yet anyway. ]
Any other ideas?
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I've searched thoroughly, and have yet to find anything else that stands out.
[ it really was... just the wheel. ]
But before you leave, I have something else to discuss with you.
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[ for once, shadow will stand in place, turning his head ever so slightly to look at blaze curiously.
she knows better than to waste his time so maybe it's something worthwhile? ]
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It's about the other Shadow.
[ his favourite topic, she's sure. ]
You handled him well in that puzzle room, but you were too quick to attack. I want to know why.
[ give him a chance to explain himself, at least. ]
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[ is that a joke or is he calling foul play here that blaze is a bad influence on maria. of course, he's only angry because of what happened and the topic. ]
...Hmph.
[ he pauses. ] It has nothing to do with you. Do you care for that f—
[ as much as he wants to call him a fake, maria wanted him to be better about this. ]
Friend of yours, now?
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[ blaze doesn't deny his accusation—as much as it may feel... a little bit unnatural to do so, she's not one to stand idly by and watch those she cares about be criticized. she crosses her arms, folding them over her chest as she meets shadow's eyes. ]
Thus far, Shadow has shown that he does not mean to harm us. You must have a reason for your distaste, but unless I hear it, I cannot change my opinion.
[ she at least wants to give him a chance to explain himself before going straight to arguments. ]
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[ why does anyone's matter, what do they need to hear from him about this hedgehog that makes them believe they need to talk. so far, the amount of people who have felt the need to step in and ask about his own feelings regarding the double only annoys him more and more, and it hasn't even been that many. though, there are those who have mistaken him for that weakling. ]
It's only Sonic's foolish beliefs as to why any of you trust me.
[ shadow's quiet again now, walking forward without slowing down because he knows she will remain there.
maybe he just doesn't trust himself, it could stem that deep. ]
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[ he seems so determined not to be trusted—this isn't the first time he's said such a thing, but it isn't any less puzzling the second time around. rather, blaze meets his eyes, hand to her chest to show her sincerity. she's speaking from the heart here. ]
I trust you because I've seen what you can do, and what you have done, independently of Sonic's decisions. Now our goals are in alignment once more. We don't need to be 'friends', but it would do us well to work together.
[ the last bit is said a little louder than the rest—shadow already walking away, but it's a point she feels should be made. even if he's not ready for it yet. ]