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

[auderes]

She doesn't have to say anything, he already knows she has completely understandable reasons to shift away from him to reinstate a clearer boundary, at least while they adjust to this, and she's equally justified in tucking herself close and letting him hold her, if just for tonight. She already knows how he feels, what he wants, what he's always wanted, none of that has changed. But it's unresolved for her to a point where she can't settle in one way or the other, and as difficult as it is for him to keep his eyes open now that he's in bed and feeling the weight of everything that's catching up with him, he wouldn't sleep either until she's put at ease.

The question isn't exactly a difficult one. He knows why he said it, and it seems plenty obvious, but he's admittedly reluctant to actually talk about it. He's already all too aware of what feels like a wedge between them that just wasn't there before, and he's already got so many pressing emotions that thinking about it makes his chest feel tight, as if he's having to literally hold too much in, putting a spotlight on it can't make it any better.

But she wants to know, and he has no unselfish reason to deny her.

"Because I lost over a year of time and you're the only one who remembers it." He sighs, gentle, his fingers brushing through her hair at the side of her face, sweeping it behind her before his hand settles back against his own side. "It's not easy for me, knowing that, but it has to be harder for you."

[her_own_rules]

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.

[auderes]

Does it help that they've been through a couple of incidents that were at least similar in some ways? Dick isn't sure. He's been thinking about it though, ever since he learned about that much time that was lost, because of course it would remind him of the whiplash of regaining memories and trying to grasp at the nebulous time that happened while they were gone. This is much more stark than that, a sudden shift between Bludhaven and then this place, with no real sense for how far he's been or how it happened or anything that apparently happened previously. At the very least he can admit easily enough that this is better than losing an entire lifetime. Again.

"No, but..."

He exhales a slow, heavier breath, his chest rising and falling with it, and he does close his eyes for a few seconds. A part of him doesn't want to sleep, no matter how thoroughly exhausted he is, as if that would make any difference as far as whether he would wake up here or somewhere else, or gain or lose any more memories. From what he understands people can appear and disappear at any moment, without any warning, but it seems unlikely that he would be subjected to that so soon.

"It's never been easy," he finally sighs, tipping his head down just a fraction to brush a light, brief kiss to Barbara's forehead. Gentle, affectionate, more emotional than he really intended it to be, but nothing with any awkward intent. Honestly he's too tired to teasingly flirt anyway, this is all raw and honest.

[her_own_rules]

The more he talks, the more he sounds like the exact opposite of his words, and where, second ago, that might have felt better, not feeling adrift, the less Barbara is sure she should have asked the question, bcause she doesn't want to make it worse, or force him to say it is, if he either isn't there or doesn't want to, and it's a queer feeling. When was the last time it felt weird to encourage him to unburden himself? Maybe if the thing burdening him wasn't her. Or, it's not all her—it's Etraya and everything that comes with Etraya—she just happens to be the part of it, currently, half-lying on him.

She knows it's more than that (she's more than that), she knows she's being short with herself, but then Dick's moving before she can try to untangle that one, too, and suddenly his lips are brushing her skin, and it takes everything in her to swallow the urge that pushes directly up. The one that almost has, instinct and bone-deep repetition at its best, screaming to tilt her head up and catch his lips. But she doesn't. Which feels more like catching glass in her teeth when her mouth presses a line.

"I was just thinking—" You know. Before he put his mouth against her skin and made her skin feel equally warm and cold in a strange succession that rooted itself on a slide between her chest and her stomach. "—We didn't do this. Last time. When he—or, you?—" A hand raises and she brushes her forehead, as much annoyed at uncertain proper noun-antecedents as her skin still feels half electric. "Pronouns are going to get real weird."

How is she even supposed to know which one sounds right?
Or feels right? Or isn't it offensive to him, too?
Twelve hours in is barely the time.