TDM 008

[etrayamods]

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⏴

Comments

Bruce Wayne | DC | Current player

[theknightshift]

The Beehive

[ Despite the unfamiliarity of his surroundings, there's one thing Bruce Wayne knows how to do: Mingle. He's light on his feet as he weaves through the crowd, laughing easy in the casual conversations happening around him. It's almost like he's made for this kind of thing for how easy it all seems for him to adjust. But if you knew Bruce — or at least spent any time with him outside of one of these high society soirees, you'd know he's really taking inventory. Gathering intel, gaining his bearings. Learning the lay of the land.

And the second he's got a moment to catch his breath, to stop the performance, he can be found at a table, back to the wall, quiet and observant. He hasn't adhered to the dress code, but he's still dressed smartly, dark colors that make disappearing without being noticed a little easier on him. If you're looking for that friendly guy you were chatting with just moments ago? You've found him. He smiles and gestures to the empty seat across from him. ]

You're welcome to join me.

wildcard

[ It'sa me, kia. If you've got a prompt you wanna try out with him go for it. Or you can hit me up on plurk @ tapsters ]

[will_chase_balls]

[Once he's invited to join the man, Dwayne lights up, sitting down and immediately launching into his questions.]

That's great, and I'm so glad to have someone to talk to, because I have a lot of questions. Like...why am I here? How am I here? What is here? How did they have a bunch of fights in an arena where you just appear here after the fight? Also, that was fun, I want to do that again...but I also want to know where I am and what's going on first. And how do I go back home?

[He may have absolutely no clue who this guy is, but that doesn't seem to deter him in the least.]

[theknightshift]

[ All very excellent questions. Some of which Bruce has himself. ]

I'm not going to be much help there. Maybe one of the bots can help you.

[will_chase_balls]

Oh. So...what's a bot? Is that what these metal people that look kind of like warforged if warforged weren't supposed to be good at war are called?

[theknightshift]

I don't know what that is.

[will_chase_balls]

Warforged? Where I was taken from, they're these metal men made from mechanical parts and magic that were used as soldiers during the Last War. Well, not exactly where I'm from, because Karrnath never used warforged. We just use reanimated corpses for that kind of thing. But other countries in Khorvaire used them.

ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇᴇʜɪᴠᴇ

[her_own_rules]

[ Barbara is definitely one of the unfornates shanghaid at the door and ushered into a side room. Sue her. If she packed a second pair of clothes, the only other outfit she packed on top of that was her costume. With just enough space to throw her laptop on top. It is, she decides—after being redressed, hair done up, make-up applied, and ushered back out the door—not as bad as the last time someone else chose her dress.

It'll do. Her feet are sore, and so is her back, and she wants something to eat.



But the sound of a laugh, too familiar (and so fake even though it sounds so effortlessly genuine) stops her, and she looks around, scanning the crowd suddenly. ]

[theknightshift]

[ He sees her, a familiar face in a sea of strangers and Bruce excuses himself with the ease and grace of a man who's been at this for maybe far longer than any normal person. Bruce weaves in and out of the crowd and slides into Barbara's presence. He makes himself impossible to miss. ]

Let me get you a drink.

[ A quiet invitation to walk with him. ]

[her_own_rules]

[ Barbara does locate him in the crowd even before he makes it to her through the throng: it's hard not to, when he happens to often be a few inches above the height of most people around him. But it's the sheer directness, more than that, that almost momentarily stops her. As familiar as it is entirely out of tune. ]

Convenient, that I don't have one of those yet, then.

[ Turning is effortlessly smooth, as is falling into step next to the man who looks like she's expected for a year—but a year is enough to have tarnished most expectation here, and hope (and the stalwart logic, that she isn't looking for any further kidnappings). She taps her smaller earbud once, allowing the retinal tracking program in her second HUD to scroll through several screens until she locates where Dick's tracker indicates he is currently. ]

When did you get here?

[theknightshift]

Convenient for you and for me.

[ It is effortless how they seemingly come together in a way that's clearly familiar. Like the steps in a dance they've done 100 times before. Bruce takes the lead, he always does and he expects Barbara to follow. At the bar he taps the counter once and gets their drinks ordered. Bruce doesn't intend to drink his, just something to give the appearance of preoccupation while he works out what Barbara knows of their current situation. ]

I got here about an hour ago. [ he gives her a curious look ] More importantly, when did you get here? [ She seems at ease in a way Bruce hasn't acclimated to yet. ]

[her_own_rules]

[ Barbara follows, her mind doing more mathematic calculations about distance and time than her face ever betrays, and when Bruce is talking to the tender on the other side of the bar, Barbara raises a hand to her second earbud again, and says a single short sentence. There's a moment when she's tempted to re-send it to Jason, too—a brand new and different quid pro quo growing between them here. But he'd be more to explain.

Then, he's done with that short task, and she knows she doesn't know enough to know anything yet. That he looks like himself. Neither so achingly young, it's a constant reminder of who he isn't yet, nor old enough to be someone's grandfather, edged and alone. ] A very long time.

[ There's a vague twinge. A tired habit of leaving it at that. That she's grown used to keeping her words and her thoughts to herself. Across the year, and especially in the two months before this last one. (Except for Jason. And, now, again, Dick.) He deserves a clearer answer. He won't be satisfied with its obliqueness. But she leans against the bar and presses something else instead. ]

Where did Aurora take you from?

The Beehive

[leastdramatic]

[Jason spotted Bruce entering the Beehive but was stopped at the front door. Then he sees the side door and... well, he did try out the Leap of Faith game several times earlier in the day. So he cashes in some of his GP to get a bunny suit. After that and getting dressed, he strolls right in by the side door.

It doesn't take long to spot Bruce again. There's no missing that fake "Brucie" laugh. Jason pretends to work until Bruce has a moment to himself. Then he walks over, bunny suit and all]

Took a wrong turn at Albuquerque?

[theknightshift]

[ Despite the costume, Bruce knows exactly who he is looking at and he appreciates the familiar face. He turns to look at Jason before he graciously bows out of the conversation he's barely paying attention to, to give him his full attention. ]

So did you, apparently.

[ Nice ears, Jason. ]

[leastdramatic]

Thanks. Only thing missing is a holster for the carrots.

[Jason isn’t sure yet if this “his” Bruce or another alternate but he’s playing like he’s back home. Another vapid party for the idle, another opportunity to be a smartass]

Enjoying yourself so far?

[theknightshift]

[ He wouldn't call it enjoyment. But he hasn't lost his patience yet, so! That's something. ]

Not as much as you.

[ A pause and then he shifts farther away from the strangers, nods for Jason to follow. ]

Are you alone?

[leastdramatic]

[Jason seamlessly follows Bruce]

Right now, yeah. But some of the others are around too.

[There's actually a lot that needs to be said but right now they're too exposed in public]

beehiveish.

[brat]

( it's a performance.

one damian has witnessed countless times before. tommy elliot has been wearing bruce's face while throwing all of their money into the crowd, hoping to hinder batman in his quest to rid gotham of crime. he's spoken to the man numerous times, too - mostly with a thick plastic sheet between them to prevent him from going anywhere up until his untimely escape.

it's a performance that robin watches from a distance, trying to get a gauge as to what game "bruce" is playing here. what his intentions are, why he's playing to the crowd. damian can tell he's observing the people around them, gathering intel on where they've found themselves by attending to those who have been here longer. bruce gets intel from them, and damian gets it from watching 'bruce'. no need in overexerting or wandering around himself when he's doing just fine like this.

and when 'bruce' is let alone, damian drops down from the hiding place he's gotten for himself within the curtains, feet hitting the ground silently as his knees bend to absorb the impact. his approach is slow, intending on catching the man off guard so he can quickly get them both out of view of everyone else here. )

[theknightshift]

[ Bruce is being watched.

Of course there are eyes on him while he entertained a circle of people he would forget about the second they were out of his sight. That kind of scrutiny is easier to manage, because he could control what they saw when they looked at him. Nothing too deep, but nothing so shallow it would make them ask questions.

But this wasn't that.

This is. Something else. A feeling he wouldn't ignore after years of being right about that sort of thing. Someone is studying him, eyes fixed on his every move like he was a creature in a zoo and they were trying to figure out what kind. It doesn't change how he moves through the crowd, but it does make him look in places people don't typically expect to find someone else - overhead in hidden perches where the shadows could hide you, if you knew how to use them.

He never spots his son specifically, but he hears the rustle of the curtain as Damian moves and is not caught unaware as Damian might have intended. He allows the boy to approach without calling him out until he's close enough to reach out for. ]

How long were you watching me?

[brat]

( he's almost there, body tensing up in preparation to reach out and grab hold of the chair, to drag this man back into the shadows and away from the crowds when he - speaks up.

rude.

it does ruin his plan of taking off with the man before anyone notices. damian cannot grab him silently if he's already aware of his presence, "bruce" could easily open his mouth and yell for assistance if he felt the need to. instead, robin shifts to hide himself right in the man's shadow, out of sight to anyone else looking unless they happen to observe them from just the right angle. )

Long enough. ( to see absolutely nothing, but that shouldn't be surprising. he knows what he was doing. although, robin? ) What are you getting up to?

[theknightshift]

[ Bruce doesn't turn to look. Damian didn't join him at the table which tells him he's not dressed for the occasion and he rather not compromise him more than he already has. No one seems to be paying attention to them so he he does speak up, voice low. ]

Waiting for you to do what you were planning. No one is looking so you should hurry.

[brat]

( he could turn and leave. could keep this as whatever it was, and have "bruce" fend for himself until damian can catch him unaware later. but he gives permission, meaning he's waiting for it. alright, then.

robin is near-silent when he pulls the grapple line out from under his cloak, raises and tosses it around bruce's midsection and yanks tightly on one side of it, causing it to tighten around him and hold him to the chair. it's mere moments later when robin lurches forward, wrapping the wire around his wrist, and - presses his hand against 'bruce's' mouth, gloved fingers holding on tight while his foot kicks out the leg of the chair enough that it tips back.

it's with an impressive show of strength that he drags the chair, along with the two hundred pound occupant, the several steps back he needs to get them out of view of everyone else. there's a curtain, a door some feet behind it that leads to a storage closet, and if bruce allows himself to be dragged the entire distance, damian will be pulling them both straight through it. )

— the beehive

[strumpet]

( after nearly avoiding stepping on a small woman running about the grounds of the beehive, inara began to make her way through to finally observe the place properly because much like bruce, there was at least one other person in this strange world who made it her mission to take note of everyone and everything.

for what reason? self-preservation and protection really. her eyes sauntered from side to side, a glass of wine between her lips as she casually walked along. she was probably one of the few people here with a outfit that allowed her to walk right into the beehive without much issue.

what caught her eye was that she wasn't the only one dressed smartly. seated near the wall, equally observing all and giving off a unique energy, he wasn't hard to miss at all. so it didn't take inara long to find a way to make her way over, a rather flirtatious smile on her face as she sat down and placed her glass on the table. )

So did you come with this location, or do you always dress this nice?

[theknightshift]

[ The shift is subtle, like a sleight of the hand, when Bruce looks up at Inara. There's warmth in his return smile and in his eyes so she doesn't think he's faking it and in some small way, he isn't. Inara is pretty and Bruce Wayne is supposed to have a weakness for pretty women.

He takes his time to note things about her before he responds. Shifting back in his seat, he keeps one hand resting on the table, the other arm he drops lazily over the back of his chair. ]

Only when I'm attention seeking.

[strumpet]

( whatever secrets and feelings he had were his own to keep— she would be polite and cordial regardless of the setting and situation. still an amusing man was far more interesting and fun to be around than a stiff man.

no matter how posh and proper he was. with a soft smile, her lip curled up as she laughed just a bit. )

Well seek and you shall receive. My name is Inara, Inara Serra. A pleasure to meet you.

( if and when he did give his name, she shuffled a bit in her own chair and made herself comfortable. )

New arrival or we just haven't run into each other yet?

[theknightshift]

Beautiful name.

[ He watches the way Inara lights up when she smiles. Just something to keep in mind if he needs to charm her for some reason. ]

I'm Bruce. New arrival. Just got here about an hour ago. Have you been here long?