etrayamods: (Default)
∎ ETRAYA MODS ∎ ([personal profile] etrayamods) wrote in [community profile] etrayamemes2025-05-30 09:20 am
Entry tags:

TDM 008


content warnings for this TDM include: gambling references, mild horror themes and suggestive content


⏵ arrival⏴

Arrival does not happen as Aurora usually plans for it. Newcomers generally find themselves waking up within the hospital, are given a brief overview of their situation, and sent on their way. Now? They wake up immersed in a game within The Gold Saucer. But it doesn't quite feel like a game: whether it's snowy mountains, riding a chocobo as you listened to the wind quickly pass by your ears, or in the middle of a battle with a beast, it feels utterly real.

It's only after the game concludes - either by winning or losing - that you find yourself back in the main game area. A bot, dressed as personnel in this lavish playground, approaches each arrival with an earpiece allowing them to communicate with those in their same situation. It also serves to inform them of their goal: collect enough gold saucer points (or GP) by playing the games to acquire a card fashioned to their own likeness from the game counter. Then, they must trade it for someone else's. Seems simple enough, right? Hopefully the cards aren't too expensive...


⏵ the gold saucer ⏴

The Gold Saucer is an ode to the very idea of fun. It’s huge, labyrinthine, colorful, and lively. Everywhere you look, there’s something to do. At the same time, it’s also impossible to tell what time it is. There are no windows to the outside, there are no clocks. This place is beyond such a thing.

There are games everywhere you look, ranging from the pseudo-gambling to sports to pixelated video games in cabinets. Yet no matter which boxing game, pinball machine, or skeeball machine you look at, the same creatures and themes arrive. Cactuars, chocobos, the fiercest Behemoth, the cuddliest Moogle… For those from the realms of Final Fantasy, this will feel natural- homey even. Everyone else will simply understand that there is a fairly strong central theme here about magic, machines, and monsters.

It’s hard to tell how long you spend here, and it seems to sit outside of the very concept of time. Still, there are many restaurants, lounges, and vending machines. There are shops and costume rentals. There are even little pharmacies with headache remedies if the partying gets out of hand. And when you grow tired, there is a hotel- though it is made up like a haunted house, you can count on getting some semi-restful sleep.


⏵ playtime ⏴
Interdimensional Games


At first, stepping through to play any of these games may make participants wonder if they have been teleported somewhere else entirely. But on closer inspection, all the skies above are merely well-constructed interiors with painted ceilings. After all, it always seems to be daytime during these games.

Snowboarding - Race to the bottom of the mountain, but avoid obstacles and complete as many tricks as possible!

Chocobo Racing- Race on Chocobo-back around a treacherous outdoors race track which can either be taking place in a desert, a swampy forest, or upon an island beach. Work in tandem with your rented bird and against your competition by throwing hazards in their way or utilizing buffs garnered on the track. Different colored birds will yield different advantages.

Yellow - Good All Rounder
Red - Fast, but hard to steer
Blue - Slower, but very easy to steer. Much easier to pick up items from them.
Green- Resilient against traps and sabotage

Colosseum Battle- Face off against the fiercest beasts around. Pair up with friends or rivals to Collaborate or Compete to do the most damage and deliver the final blow. These battles are synced to the comparative power of the one entering the competition.

We wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt unnecessarily, after all. And indeed, no one will get seriously, gruesomely, or permanently injured in these battles. Those without fighting capabilities can rent weapons outfitted Materia to assist them in their trial. These will allow anyone to cast spells, though not guarantee any better wielding of weapons. There are a hundred rounds, starting with fairly simple Spriggans, ranging all the way up to blood-thirsty Behemoths to challenge even the most battle-hardened hero.

Gold Saucer Games


Leap of Faith- Players are presented with an obstacle course that stretches a hundred feet into the air upon floating platforms and islands. Both are held aloft by magical crystals. Powers are entirely nerfed, though falling and hitting the ground is strangely painless. Those who collect the most silver and gold statuettes of cactuars placed at random throughout the course will be awarded proportionate GP; though there is a bonus for those that reach the very top first.

Triple Triad- Everywhere you look, people are playing this game on little 3 by 3 boards, or any surface with enough space. You will be given a loaner deck to play with. Are you clever enough to defeat your fellows.

Fashion Report- Theobold, familiar to some, stands by himself in a little booth with a dressing room and an incredibly expansive walk-in closet. He is a robot of distinguished fashion and strong opinions on those fashions. Do you dare subject yourself to his scrutiny? Come prepare in his wondrous closets to make the best outfit for the chance to win a prize. Please submit your fashion here!

There are Arcade Machines and activities galore. If you can think of it, it’s probably there- Just with that Final Fantasy pastiche on it, of course.


⏵ the beehive lounge ⏴

There are other places to eat at the Gold Saucer, but the vending machines and cafés all pale in comparison to the dinners at the Beehive.

For all the rave reviews, there is a dress code at the Beehive, and this is literal. If you step inside and are not currently wearing a dress, you will be ushered into a sideroom and appropriately made over.

However, this is only for those trying to go in through the normal doors. Around the side there happens to be an employee entrance, manned by a bot. He will only allow those in who seem like they intend to work— and therefore must be wearing at least one piece of the Bunnysuit Collection to trick the guard.

Once you are made over or have snuck in, you are free to relax inside with drinks, dine on a fine meal, watch the dancers, or participate yourself if you feel brave enough. Why would anyone ever dance here? Well, that’s simple. It pays really well. So if you’re sick of games, or terrible at them— you can always come dance for a shift. Though, don't get any unseemly ideas about freeing yourself of your clothing, this isn't that kind of establishment!


⏵ haunted house ⏴

When you grow too weary or drunk from a day of games, you may be directed to somewhere a little quieter to sleep. Up the elevator, and through the doors reveals a modest walk through some woods until a quaint, victorian hotel appears. It is always nighttime here, and the stars and moon twinkle above.

The receptionist, a bot in a rather bedraggled-looking chocobo mascot costume checks you in and shows you to your room. You can sleep here, especially if you can tolerate the hokey haunted decorations strung up around the place. Though sometimes, late at night, there will come a vigorous thumping on the door to startle sleeping patrons awake- Only for the culprit to vanish and be impossible to locate.



⏵ ticket counter ⏴


The prize counter is manned by a bot and has a sign posted overhead. Most prizes will be handed over inside an appropriately sized wrapped box, as the contents are a mystery.


Sparklers & Glowsticks 10 gp
Bunny Suit 300 gp
Bunny Stockings & Heels 150 gp
Animal Ears (Random) 500 gp
Kigurumi (Random) 100 gp
Chocobo Barding (Random) 1000 gp
Classic White Mage Robes 500 gp
Classic Black Mage Robes 500 gp
Plush Toy (Random) 100 gp
Wind-Up Minion (Random) 200 gp
Chocobo Mascot Suit (Random Color) 2000 gp
Triple Triad Booster Pack 50 gp
Triple Triad Card in your Likeness 10,000 gp


⏵ NOTES ⏴


This TDM may be treated as a mini-Mission. Time will not pass inside of it in relation to the world outside - meaning, this can be happening at any time between late May into early July!

This Gold Saucer is a bit of a mix between that of FF7's and FF14's, but it also has some things that neither have as well. Any inaccuracies are entirely intentional, aimed to make this rest within a space of uncanny valley for those who are familiar. While otherwise being a bit of a chaotic fantastical funhouse for everyone else! If there is something unlisted, chances are it will exist if it is in either of the other versions of the Gold Saucer.

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 to our mod queries comment!

FULL NAVIGATION

her_own_rules: Bruce, Babs (pic#16722793)

[personal profile] her_own_rules 2025-07-01 01:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ Barbara does have a small smile, more martial than at ease, for Dick's sliding into their bubble with all the easy conviviality of a charming conversation crasher. There's always something that relaxes the smallest tick between her shoulder blades when he's near, even if it doesn't make the circumstances less serious. (Even if she can see the places where the understanding of what she hadn't said, touching a little toward tension, has changed the corners of his smile, the hold of his shoulders.) ]

Dick's one of the more pecular circumstances I was talking about. [ She could be more apologetic for the awkward nature of it all, but it's brass facts, and she knows Bruce will want them ] He got here a few months ago. From maybe around a year before I was pulled from.

But there was an earlier version of him that came in at the same time, from the same time and place as me. Who also ended up skipping further into my, our, future than I've seen while here. Before he vanished from this place. And— [ Because it does bear putting out there, given what he'll figure out about both Jason's, and Crane, soon enough. ] —there was a version of him for an entirely other universe, where all of us were different in his history and current world circumstances, too, during my first few months.

[ A beat. ] I have charts and timelines for everyone.
[ Because, of course, she does. Who would she be if she didn't? ]
leastdramatic: (Talk all day)

[personal profile] leastdramatic 2025-07-01 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Jason has a guess to what Bruce means by that question]

Hopefully not a lot. I haven't thrown anything at any B in a good while. Back home I see a therapist who's been thoroughly vetted and has no connections to Arkham.
theknightshift: (141)

[personal profile] theknightshift 2025-07-01 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's Damian - a younger sounding one than the boy he left behind at home - so Bruce expects something dramatic. Perhaps not being tied to the chair and dragged off into the unknown, but it's not something that catches him completely off guard. He adapts and lets himself be dragged until they've reached the relative exclusion of the storage closet.

That's when he finally twists his head around to get a look at the boy. That is definitely Damian, though smaller. Probably 10 or so. Seeing him reminds Bruce of their first meeting. A son he had actually been unprepared for and now could not imagine his life without. If he's this age, though, Bruce tempers his expectations accordingly. ]


Is there a reason you've tied me to this chair, Robin?
oblige: (consider)

[personal profile] oblige 2025-07-01 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
Yes. I feel that they're near.

[ That feeling is enough. Dion trusts that they're capable of navigating these circumstances, just as he has been.

He fully intends to confirm that they make it to Etraya proper, since one previously didn't, but for now... ]


Let's see what the card games are like then.

[ He glances around, then points out the card tables some distance away. ]
theknightshift: (070)

[personal profile] theknightshift 2025-07-01 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ Bruce had been preparing for the worst, despite Jason being civil with him. It didn't mean anything. They were in public, faces visible. But it's a relief to hear that at least for now they wouldn't have any problems. ]

Good. I like it best when we work together.

[ A sentiment he truly means, even if he doesn't always show it. ]

That's good to hear, Jason. I'm proud of you.

[ "Therapy? Who is that?" ]
thelightshines: (I know you crossed a bridge)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-07-01 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
[...After learning the other fought with Sonic, he isn't sure if he should answer with the blue hedgehog at this time.]

A human with wings. He arrived here and was never told anything by Aurora.
repaintress: by betenoir (Shadow1)

[personal profile] repaintress 2025-07-01 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
You're Verso.

[ She is not going to steal the man's name from him. If he'd had one for himself, that would have been different, but it isn't her place to steal anything from him. Of course it's going to hurt - everything about him does. That doesn't mean she isn't going to do it. Watching Alicia struggle with her injuries hurt: The worry made her sick. Watching her parents' unmoving bodies hurts - dusting them like they are furniture in the manor. Seeing Monoco and Noco try to find Verso and only find her hurts.

It all hurts.

It's all necessary.]


Do you know how many Pierres there are in Paris? Two people can have the same name.

If you're so stupid, I suppose I have to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't break yourself. Or someone else doesn't break you.

[ Everything hurts. That smile hurts. She feels as though her Dualliste has stabbed her between the ribs. It's his smile, and the last time she'd seen in, Clea hadn't known to hang on to it, to memorize what it looks like so she can hold it forever and maybe, sometime in the future, Paint that feeling. Not as the man in front of her was Painted, but a Painting so others can see that light. A tribute, not a mockery.

She isn't sure if he wants her around.

Is he telling her to say goodbye because he wants her to leave?

Selfishly, Clea decides she doesn't care. He's stupid and needs to be watched so Maman's creation isn't taken apart by anyone except them. But he's right. They don't know where they are or how long he can be here. Maybe it's only her brother's soul keeping him alive, and that's the part of him that wants to rest.

Sometimes, she imagines the piece of his soul like Verso when he'd barely learned to walk, toddling around the manor and crying when he would be lost in the dark at night looking for Maman. She'd hear him and go out to guide him back to bed.

She can guide him back to bed.

Clea steps forward and wraps her arms around the man who isn't her brother. If this is the last time she sees him, there are things she can say. Who is he going to tell that she's this weak?]


Thank you. Thank you for helping Maman. Thank you for looking after Alicia, and for trying to help me. I'm sorry you were made. Thank you for being a friend to Monoco, Esquie, and Francois.

[ She stays still for a moment, remembering what it feels like to hug him. She hadn't hugged Verso enough. ]

It isn't going to hurt. I know Maman made you able to feel pain, but the Gommage won't hurt.

[ Finally, she steps away, blinking a couple of times in quick succession to remove the tears that threaten to ruin the moment. ]

You'd better die soon so nobody knows I said those things.

[ The Versos may be the best, but they are not the only ones who wear masks. ]
leastdramatic: (It's not me)

[personal profile] leastdramatic 2025-07-01 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
[It's a short statement but Jason can't help but feel warmth in his chest when Bruce says he's proud of him. It's similar to when his Bruce talked to him after he had a panic attack. No hiding the mistakes from the past but a willingness to move on from that and still show they were still a family]

Heh. Don't worry. Pretty sure trying to save our worlds takes priority over whatever squabbles we make.
stresstokens: (pic#17104568)

[personal profile] stresstokens 2025-07-01 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
It's okay, [ Riz says quickly, just relieved that he wasn't met with immediate aggression. It's always a bit of a crap shoot. It's not that he's not confident in his own abilities - delusional as that may be without knowing exactly what this guy may be capable of - but he prefers not getting yelled at as a matter of course.

He adjusts his glasses, canting his voice louder so he can be heard above the relative din of rolling dice and chiming machines, a shout of jubilance coming from what appears to be a recent big roller.]
I'm pretty sure that not giving us any space to think is the whole point of casinos? Not that money even matters here anyway.

[ Which is nice. But weird. ]

If you wanna get somewhere quiet, try the hotel.
limiterrings: (pic#17689660)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-07-01 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
I've met them.

[ that's as much as he's going to give. ]

He was unable to go through, but you could...

[ the sound of that does not bode well, like they've been branded by aurora. ]
thelightshines: (I need more time)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-07-01 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
Hm. It must somehow recognize who has been to Etraya and who hasn't. [He looks to the other.]

It's just my assumption though. Up until I brought you, I haven't shown anyone who has been to Etraya this exit. [If it feels like he's using the other as a test, that wasn't the intention.]
demainvient: (Y126)

[personal profile] demainvient 2025-07-01 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ Gustave lifts his eyebrows, glances down at himself, grimy and blood-stained and exhausted. He's a mess. ]

Between the two of us, I think you've got all the good looks just now.

[ Amused, just going with what he's certain is just Verso teasing, giving him some light-hearted jokes so he doesn't think too much about his battered body, about what happened right before he came here.

(Maelle, is Maelle all right, what happened, did Lune and Sciel and Esquie get her free, is she safe?)

He takes a shuddering breath, lets it out as slowly as he can. ]


I'm looking forward to it.

[ His brow rucks up, he shakes his head, snorting a soft breath out of his nose, more to himself than to Verso as they shuffle onward. ]

Expedition Zero. Really?
Edited 2025-07-01 02:16 (UTC)
reincarnesiac: (no wait what i did NOT sign that consent)

[personal profile] reincarnesiac 2025-07-01 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
( When he nods his head to the space down the bench a little, Alex mentally shrugs, taking a seat. People've been injured here for a variety of reasons, but the best she can see to it is making sure they have access to the means of helping themselves out. )

Hmm? ( She blinks, attention pulled back from her rumination while staring at his foot, and lifts to look at him properly again. ) Oh, with all this?

( She vaguely gestures to one of her arms. )

I'm happy to listen if you want to say, but it's not anything I need to know.

( Respecting people's privacy and experiences is the least she can do, no matter how visible they seem to be. )
demainvient: (gustave-00011)

[personal profile] demainvient 2025-07-01 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
— Lumière.

[ His voice is still taut, but he forces it into evenness. He needs to stay calm, and not only for him; the last thing he wants to do is startle the person with fingers digging into his chest. He winces, slight, but otherwise doesn't move. ]

An island, broken off from the main continent years ago, but most of the city stayed intact. As you can probably imagine, it requires a lot of upkeep, considering the infrastructure fractured along with the land beneath it.

[ His breath is trying to speed up again; he slows it, consciously, fingers fisting at his side. ]

What's your city like? What's it called?
brat: (17446040)

[personal profile] brat 2025-07-01 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
( the door closes silently behind them, leaving them enclosed in the storage closet without worry of anyone else stopping by and seeing the - predicament going on. it's one that damian isn't quite certain what to do with, either. there is a chance this is thomas elliot, hush, and that for reasons known to damian, he's decided to go back to square one. but it's unlikely, given: damian does know the difference. maybe his senses are failing him. maybe this is all a trick. maybe it's clayface. or maybe, maybe it's exactly what it looks like.

it wasn't all that long ago damian had hesitantly asked grayson what was going to happen, if his father did come back. they wouldn't be able to continue being batman and robin together, he knows that. grayson filled in his father's shoes because someone had to, and there was no one else better suited. he became a batman who could even out the new robin, despite how different damian was from what had been considered the ideal. it could be a test.

damian hates it.

his nose scrunches up, and damian raises a boot, resting the balls of his feet against it on the outside of bruce's thigh as he leans in closer. inspects the man. )


You're dead. ( as in, he's supposed to be. not here, not looking clearly like he's - aged, some. not much, but the crows feet by his eyes is telling. maybe bruce never truly died, maybe he's stuck in the past like they've been led to believe, but - )
Edited 2025-07-01 03:14 (UTC)
fromfire: (well; i woke up alone)

[personal profile] fromfire 2025-07-01 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ Should he warn her not to get lost?

He understands his existence is a drug to the Dessendres. It is why he can't stand to be in front of the real Renoir. He doesn't know how much he can see through the projection of the Curator. The fact the man lost his voice and could only speak in single, fragmented words. It hurt to see him in that state, but how much did it hurt Renoir to see him?

However, Clea has not been allowed to grief like the others. She has had to shove her pain away to move forward, but Verso would want her to take time for herself. He hears what she says and smiles in a soft, sad way.

He'll know before she does when she's gone too far. They can have that talk, then, if it ever were to happen. A painful, sad talk if she ever stops seeing him and sees a dead man in his place.

When she steps forward, he tilts his head in mild confusion. He waits to hear what she might stay but surprised when she embraces him. His shoulders drop as he lightly wraps one arm around her frame, lightly rests his hand on the back of her head.

He hears how she thanks him but doesn't quite believe it is for him. All but the part of how she's sorry how he was made. Yes, he's sorry about how he was made, too. A ball-jointed doll that is too fragile to be able to move without shattering all his pieces.

He loosens and lets his arms fall away when she steps back. He pretends not to see her tears and keeps his same, sad smile. ]


I know.

[ The Gommage has already happened. He's already dead. He's an echo of an echo. Even though he is himself; even though he was taken just before he vanished from the Canvas; he is still an afterimage of someone already gone. ]

No one will know what you've said to me, Clea.

[ A small sigh. ] You can share whatever you like... you deserve that much for yourself. [ Consider him just an imaginary friend. ]
limiterrings: (pic#17689660)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-07-01 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ he doesn't think that, at the forefront of his mind, he doesn't like the implication of what gives them valid entry. ]

...

[ why can't anyone go through, is it because something about them has to change... maybe it's making a copy of them, or their bodies have yet to acclimate to what allows them to go there. ]

Where do you come out at on the other end?
thelightshines: (Because you lit up my world)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-07-01 05:13 am (UTC)(link)
Somewhere between the hospital and the apartments. I walked around, went back to the apartment and things were where they should be. [Even a certain item he found at some point in the closet was there...]

...You were the one who left those roller skates in the bedroom closet. Right?
Edited (why tf was I not using the skates as proof he actually went back?) 2025-07-01 05:20 (UTC)
theknightshift: (148)

[personal profile] theknightshift 2025-07-01 06:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's something to be proud of. And if it meant existing around each other will be easier? Bruce will absolutely take it. ]

Then you believe what the AI says?
ornitiers: (Given to me)

[personal profile] ornitiers 2025-07-01 09:31 am (UTC)(link)
Wax? Like candles?

[Vivi asks, confused. He supposes people might be able to make different shapes out of wax. It's just not necessarily something he had seen before, perhaps. Or he was too distracted at the time to really pay attention otherwise. Still, the other seems rather confident that he could handle getting them out if something were to happen.]
ornitiers: (From this)

[personal profile] ornitiers 2025-07-01 10:23 am (UTC)(link)
I guess that would make sense when you're so small yourself. But um. If you do need help to get somewhere, just let me know and I can help. It must take longer and be more tiring for you to get around. I mean, in comparison to someone even my size.

[Not that Vivi was that tall. But compared to Arietty, he can tell that even his strides were likely covering far more distance than hers. So it made sense that she would take longer to get around, that it might be more tiring for her to cover the same amount of distance.]
heavensnight: (I'll just deem you gay)

[personal profile] heavensnight 2025-07-01 12:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maria knows, by now in a place like this, sometimes you just need to stop thinking. just have fun and maybe it was something she still needed herself.

there's a laugh at his words. he was very charming and she didn't think it was just the drinks loosening the tongue. Verso had been charming before now and she was happy to take in the attention. he was fun and easy to talk to. while he had made it clear there was more going on under the surface, wasn't it the case for lots of the people brought here? hardly anything to be surprised by.

she takes her seat and makes sure that his chair will be close enough to hers as she orders a whiskey for both of them.]
'Lady Luck', huh? I like it. Well, handsome, if we're such good luck for each other then we'll have to keep seeing each other.
leastdramatic: (Kind of)

[personal profile] leastdramatic 2025-07-01 12:15 pm (UTC)(link)
I think there’s at least some truth to what she’s saying. How much of it is true is another question. There’s a brother AI around too who came from a different world.

[And there was a surprising amount of personality on display when the two talked to each other publicly on the network…]
restingstitchface: Handmade - DNT (Erudite)

[personal profile] restingstitchface 2025-07-01 01:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Dr. Crane. Jonathan.

[The first name is offered as an afterthought. There is more interest in assessing the state of the man's health. Bloodshot eyes. Hollow and rapid breathing. Deep, grievous wounds centered around an area deemed fatal, should punctures and shots hit the mark.

His calm demeanour comes after years of experience.]


Might I have your name?

[It helps when it comes to categorising individuals.]
restingstitchface: (Thrilled)

[personal profile] restingstitchface 2025-07-01 01:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[Curious, isn't it? That she leaps to making a comparison involving a mother and her children. One would not offer something so personal off the bat to a stranger.]

I have as much interest in your boundaries as you do mine. Which is to say none at all.

[His tone is more cold and dismissive than hot and sarcastic like hers. Equally sardonic but unresponsive to provocation.]

But continue believing otherwise if words are what helps you sleep at night.