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

thelightshines: (Because you lit up my world)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-07-05 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[He nods.] I don't really believe it myself, but that's what everyone is told by someone name Aurora when they're brought here.
tinflower: (pic#17818419)

[personal profile] tinflower 2025-07-05 02:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ...

...can a handheld game be a simulation that gives you magical powers that seep into your dreams? Gorgug doesn't know, but-- ]


Oh. That's cool. [ She sounds like a nerd.... well, everyone needs a hobby. ] I'll play it if I see it. But, I guess, so... you had ice powers in the game too?

[ Is it really that weird if he thinks about it? Well, yeah, still, but... ]
her_own_rules: Babs (Default)

[personal profile] her_own_rules 2025-07-05 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
It's queer, the thought that comes out with the way he phrases that first sentence. A wrinkle in her brow, but something about the darkness or about it simply being him no matter where the odd slights in her expectations crack at the glass, causes her to say it more than to consider turning it over and over as a thought first.

"Not the first time we've been there."

Both of the other times weren't anything like this, and they'd ended up nothing like this during or after each. One was a death that wasn't, and the other was a brain injury. But. In brass facts, and not genesis-proceeding events, they all ended with him not knowing what had gone on in her the family's lives for an extended period each way.

It's not the same thing. Barbara probably should not tell him about his future. It's not just here but there, too. It's like the loss of two different years for. Not that he won't have the one back home at some point, he doesn't have it right now.

Her head tilts as another unexpected thought follows it, making her blink in the dark—
making her wonder why they hadn't considered it the other way months and months ago.
Edited 2025-07-05 16:11 (UTC)
spr_mainchara: (* Cool Down)

[personal profile] spr_mainchara 2025-07-05 04:20 pm (UTC)(link)
...'kay...

[Frisk wilts a little bit, before going to put the ball back into the holding bucket for the still-running game. Once that's done they come back over and dig into their pocket.]

Um. This'll make y' feel better...

[And they pull out...a double popsicle? How did that stay frozen?]
ornithologist: (179)

[personal profile] ornithologist 2025-07-05 04:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Harold had tried hiring just based on skills at first and it had resoundingly not worked out, so he'd put considerable thought into this subject in the interim.

"The mindset that saving one person's life matters. That no one is irrelevant."

If they had sacred words on their team, it would probably be those; Harold says them as if they have weight.
spr_mainchara: (* Jumble)

[personal profile] spr_mainchara 2025-07-05 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Mm. [Frisk nods, then looks up at their new companion properly. They didn't hear footsteps...] 'Re you playin'?
fromfire: (i was lost at sea)

YOU'RE DOING THE BEST AND EVERYTHING RIGHT

[personal profile] fromfire 2025-07-05 06:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Right, exactly.

[ Verso can't help but smile wider at seeing how happy this all makes her. He thinks of how he'll lightly poke her nose and pat her head as soon as he's no longer covered in blood. Little things that he hopes will continue to have her laugh.

He makes a soft noise when she looks back toward the arena then back to him. His head tilts as he waits for her to say whatever she is going to, and nods after. ]


You were. [ It's important, he feels, to reassure her that she helped him. ] Well, as you are my benefactor, consider me both your sword and shield. [ He places one hand on his chest as he properly kneels down and bows his head. ]

I shall ensure your protection whenever and wherever, little miss. Consider this my solemn vow. [ Lifting his head up, he is smiling with a wink. ] So long as you're willing, of course.

[ For someone so young, it's easy to take away her choices and decisions under the guise of wanting to look out for her. So, he wants to offer all the possibilities he can for her, so the world will always seem within her reach. Is that meant for someone else? Maybe, but still -- ]

The choice is always yours, yeah?
fromfire: (you can take me)

[personal profile] fromfire 2025-07-05 07:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Crossing his arms, he leans forward to take a peek at what Gorgug has taken out. He lifts his chin up so that he can stare blankly at the wall ahead of him. ]

I don't know what I'm looking at, Gorgug. [ Verso decides to stage-whisper this to him as to not embarrass him; the way that he stutters and seems to drop in confidence makes him want his confusion come off light and breezy. ]

But I think it has something to do with how it's engraved in the body. So that the magic is part of me, and yeah, it may very well be connected to my head. [ And he lightly taps the side of his head. ]
limiterrings: (pic#17750801)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-07-05 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[ slowly he crosses his arms to look the other up and down, so, he found them?

... ]


Hm.

[ as though he doesn't want to answer, but that's not something that should be a big deal. ]

What were you searching for inside of the closet?

[ an easy question to get an idea of what the other was looking for. ]
repaintress: by betenoir (Default)

[personal profile] repaintress 2025-07-05 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
I will.

[ What a...displeasing and concerning answer. But what in life has not been so, lately? ]

And how would one teach this resilience?
asgardianlegend: (easycompany-thor2-151)

[personal profile] asgardianlegend 2025-07-05 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[That doesn't make it better. That's just like Thor's friend, Wade. We try to avoid those deaths, okay. No. Dying. Allowed.

Thor's gonna get a complex.]


I have been exposed to the fact that my own world that I know is not the only version of it in the multiverse. There is a theory that physicists talk about called the Pants Leg Theory, I believe, but it is human science and I'm not that well-versed in it. [If Jane was here, he'd just ask her. He knows about Asgardian tech, but that's not going to be talked about. Humans have come up with their own theories to explain things, so Thor just defaults to that since he spends more of his time on Earth than anywhere else.]

However, to answer your question, yes, I mean that truthfully. I have somehow found my way here from a world that was made up of a city called Duplicity and its sister cities.

[Her suggestions for his sleep are sort of cute and he just smiles.]

I would probably defer sleeping until I found my way to somewhere safe enough to do so. This casino does not inspire safety, if I am honest.
asgardianlegend: (easycompany-aoup1-238)

[personal profile] asgardianlegend 2025-07-05 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
I am also not from Earth. Where I am from, we call it Midgard, but Midgard and Asgard are part of the Nine Realms, so I have travelled to it many times in my lifetime.

And I had no idea what shawarma was until it was suggested to me. Evidently, it is a kind of spiced pastry with rice, meat and vegetables. I quite enjoyed it, especially after a rather life-endangering battle.

I hope to find an acceptable mead hall while I am here. That is the only thing that was lacking where I was before. Though, it had many drinking establishments.
bluejustice: (80)

[personal profile] bluejustice 2025-07-05 10:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[He can hear it. He feels it-- like a spark catching in his own chest.] Hey. I know you guys will be able to beat him. What's a guy with a terrible moustache gonna do against three super cool hedgehogs fighting evil together, right?
quibblingfunctionary: made by dethruki (lean in)

[personal profile] quibblingfunctionary 2025-07-05 11:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Considering the most efficient method to getting GP quickly is dancing at the Bee Hive in those strange bunny non-outfits? No, surely His Highness would not like it. ]

Simply that you complete this mission with me. Once you acquire your card: exchange it with mine. Ensure our world gains double the points in its favor.

[ See Bahamut? Nothing nefarious at all. Really, a win-win as you ensure an enemy's participation. ]
oblige: (lean)

[personal profile] oblige 2025-07-06 12:33 am (UTC)(link)
So we may have other creatures in common.

[ If they're watching others play, it occurs to Dion that they might make up something of a diversion of their own. ]

Perhaps we can identify others we're both familiar with while they play.
asgardianlegend: (easycompany-aoup1-222)

[personal profile] asgardianlegend 2025-07-06 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
[He's not even going to blame her for that comment. It's always a time issue when all things are considered. Especially when it comes to the shorter lived races he's met.]

If you stand by the chocobos for long, I believe they might come over to you and let you pet them or at least give them food.

[Her question about know how it's him is ignored, as it takes him no time to fly over to the Gold Saucer and walk to the chocobo pen. There's only a girl with long pink hair around the birds and looking super lost. He walks over to her with a smile.]

This is how you will know it is me. That is the benefit of having the option of voice. We have heard how we each sound.
levelshift: <user name=sakurouji site=tumblr.com> (what)

[personal profile] levelshift 2025-07-06 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
[Yo, what the hell. Accelerator stares blankly, because who on earth carries around a popsicle? And it isn't melted??

This kid is weird, but after his brain processes yes, that is indeed a popsicle, he slowly reaches out to take it. The kid's trying to help and he isn't sure what else to do.]


Uh... thanks.

[Popsicle acquired! He's going to have to juggle that in order to get back on his feet with his crutch, but he'll manage to do that.]
thelightshines: (I've been 'fraid of changin')

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-07-06 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
[...] A place to rest. [Even when there's a servicable bed right there.]

...You shouldn't have brought them back. [He can't imagine the other even knew to dive into that lake just to find them. Or bother to. They must have washed ashore.]
limiterrings: (pic#17684734)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-07-06 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
You shouldn't leave things like that unprotected in a place like this. It can be used against you.

[ watching the other, he raises a brow before looking off to the side. it's not like he got them to help the other mentally, but it's not something he could ignore either. ]

Your scent was strong on them.
nottheboss: (1104_002029)

[personal profile] nottheboss 2025-07-06 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
That sets off a wave of guilt he's not expecting.

No one is irrelevant.

Pope would argue they all are. They're all enemy; they're there to be torn down in God's name, Amen.

"How...much do you know about Carver? About us?"
ornithologist: (211)

[personal profile] ornithologist 2025-07-06 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
Harold hadn't come by this perspective on his own. He used to draw a line, used to perceive an us and a them, categories of people he would and wouldn't risk himself for.

Then he watched Nathan die and he hobbled away from Grace with a permanent spinal injury, and he'd thought the only thing left worth doing with his life was to respect Nathan's wishes. Over time that had become something he truly believed, instinctual, the way repeating something enough can make it learned by heart. Sometimes he wonders if the rest of his little team realize he hadn't started out with this belief himself, just like they hadn't.

But of course he's never told them that. Ironically, the only person he's hinted at it to is Carver.

"Enough, I think," he says carefully. He does have a copy of Carver's personnel file and it's extremely damning. "But if you've done something like that here, I don't know of it."

It doesn't wipe away the past, but for things to change there has to be a point at which change is made possible, and allowed.
thelightshines: (reconsidering)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-07-06 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
[His eyes narrow. That is, unfortunately a valid point. Only one other knows of those skates besides the two of them. But...]

I didn't ask for them. They may not even be hers to begin with. [Even when the other claims his scent is on them.]

Aurora, or some power on Etraya made them to their likeness. [His brows furrow, feeling anger that someone would intrude into something that was personal to him. Know of it at all. What information does Aurora and Echo have on him? Eitherway, if he were so against them, why not destroy them in the first place then?]
bonding: (Often I ask myself)

[personal profile] bonding 2025-07-06 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
[She thinks about it for a moment but then slowly shakes her head] Actually, you mostly had fire powers? My dream didn't really have much in common with it at all.

[She sighs a little, looking off thoughtfully before she moves to try some other doors, though her thoughts are elsewhere] I guess it's not worth thinking about much right now. It's not like it really matters here, right? Haha... [Her laughter trails off and she clears her throat]

A-anyway! It just seems like... this has to be another really weird dream. I guess I keep having really realistic dreams lately! Haha...
bluejustice: (08)

[personal profile] bluejustice 2025-07-06 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
That's the spirit! Let's get going.

[And off they go! Vivi can absolutely stick close behind Sonic if he’s still feeling unsure. It's no problem, and Sonic won't mind or judge. For now, the only challenges they face are a few squeaky stair steps and the wind whistling eerily through suspiciously open windows. As well as some shadowy corners thick with old spiderwebs.]
bubblegumheart: (pic#15858209)

Aww lol some people just aren't cut out for camp

[personal profile] bubblegumheart 2025-07-06 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
I don't see why not! Where are you? I can probably bring them to you.