etrayamemes | TDM 001

Entry tags:

!tdm

TDM 001

⏵ arrival⏴
Arrival goes as anticipated. Characters awaken in the pristine, new hospital, greeted by Aurora and potentially getting a rundown of what's happening depending on their approach to being dropped somewhere new. The door to their room opens, and new arrivals are left free to explore their new environment.

Or what exists of it anyway. Exiting the hospital will show that there isn't much of anything just yet. Generally, Echo can build new facilities before new arrivals awaken, but it appears that this time… well, it didn't happen. The apartment complex exists, standing just beside the hospital, and there are a few facilities that are half constructed, companion bots carrying around rebar and other necessary bits and pieces, but they're not quite ready. Oops. But maybe, just maybe, one of those half-built facilities is familiar - a childhood home, a favorite supermarket, the run-down garage they worked at as a youth, a grounded spaceship in the middle of one of the massive bridges connecting land over rivers.

The companion bots will offer quiet apologies if approached; they were expecting new arrivals to touch down, but not quite this early. They'll be ready soon! A few more days at most, they promise. In the meantime, do not stray too far from the hospital. While most of Etraya looks habitable, they have not finished verifying that it's safe for its new inhabitants.

The apartment building and hospital are safe, and the land directly around them is fine, but beyond that? Stay away. But hey, the hospital's cafeteria is fully stocked with cuisine from across the multiverse! Please feel free to settle in, choose an apartment, and get to know your new friends.

⏵ water you doing?⏴
Decide not to listen? Well, the companion bots had offered their warnings.

Etraya is a new establishment, one that received newcomers before it was ready. And as such, the land has not quite been prepared for their arrival. Wandering off the land the apartment building and hospital are settled on comes with very, very poor results. Take a step down into the river below, and you'll find yourself uncomfortably hot. Or cold. Or hot and cold, because whatever that 'water' is, it wasn't meant to be played in. The only way to resolve the temperature regulation issue, as Aurora informs, is finding a buddy to cuddle up with. Those who are lucky may have a nearby friend they're familiar with and don't mind leaning a shoulder against. Those that don't? Well. . . have fun having a very uncomfortable conversation with a stranger, asking them if it's alright if you lean into them or hold their hand for a bit. Any physical contact will do, as long as it's directly skin-to-skin.

Except that's not where the contact stops. Characters will find that, for the next several hours, they'll feel everything that their companion feels. Frustration, anger, amusement, homesickness that comes from being so far away from their families and friends - all those feelings? They're not your feelings, they're our feelings now.

No explanation is given for how the empathy bond and the temperature regulation are related, but it may have to do with how since they had decided not to listen, it was time to test how well they could cohabitate with their new friends.

⏵ bonding bingo ⏴

Maybe it feels a little too much like Obi-Wan had when receiving Leia's message, but all new arrivals are their universe's only hope. Except they're not the only ones arriving, and not the only ones who are trying to keep their worlds safe. Instead, they've arrived with several others who carry the same weight on their shoulders. And they aren't meant to go through this alone. The people they've arrived with are both their new companions and their competition. Both comrades to fight beside and enemies to battle against, depending on what the specific mission of the month is. But currently?

They're here to bond. It's important to get to know those who they'll be spending the next unspecified but lengthy amount of time with, isn't it? To that extent, Aurora's hologram waits just inside the hospital's front doors, offering bonding bingo cards to those willing to participate. It's not necessary, but she does specify that this is one way to get ahead: cooperation is important, especially given what they're going to face together. Bingo cards are three long and three across, and offer a multitude of activities you can do to check each box off.

Some examples include:

Learn someone's biggest secret

Get into a fight

Tell someone something that you've never admitted out loud to

Throw a drink on someone

Win a game of pool in the apartment building's recreation room

Cheat on a card game without getting caught

Hug a new friend

Get stabbed

Steal something important to someone

Pull off an elaborate prank on a stranger

⏵ matchmaker ⏴

When the earpiece is put on, a nice green HUD(head-up display) lights up in front of new arrivals. It asks them for their name, which is fairly standard for these.

Except it seems it wants them to put together a profile to help pair them off with other new arrivals. For some, this information may autofill with what Aurora was able to discern about them from watching them in their home worlds. But some lucky individuals may catch their profiles before they're posted live, and have the opportunity to edit out information included in fields, even if they're not able to clear it out entirely.

Welcome to Aurora's idea of matchmaking. Have fun getting paired off with a buddy or four, with your profiles exchanged between one another. Maybe they're the perfect match. Maybe this is a nightmare in the making.

⏵ OOC ⏴
Welcome to our first TDM! We're excited to have you here. For more information on character arrivals, click here. For any questions relating to the TDM please reply below. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

That's a bit of an understatement. [She says with a little amused huff.] But yes, I'm fine.
Are you?
I'm sorry for crashing into you.

[Kate either ends up friends with people or they try to kill her. Her own father's tried to kill her as well, so she much prefers making friends.]

So, where are you from? How much of this feels normal and how much is late night sci-fi movie?

Why do you think?

[ It seems obvious enough to him, but then, he knows he's not the best litmus test for what could be considered normal assumptions or reactions. Maybe there are people out there who would be motivated to pursue these tasks out of a genuine desire to bond with their fellow conscripts. Maybe there are even people who would find it fun. For Fett, it's all just a means to an end—and a rather unpleasant means, at that. ]

Because as much as it would deserve it, I don't want my galaxy to go up in smoke. And from what I can tell, that's contingent on impressing the one who brought us here.

[ Which means playing her games, as much as he hates it. Deciding that that's quite enough of baring his soul for now, Fett turns his attention back to card's other challenges. He notices a location mentioned on one of them... ]

There's supposedly a rec room somewhere in the apartments. [ He cocks a thumb back towards the building. ] Might be able to find what we need to complete a few of these in there.

[ A deck of cards, "a game of pool," new and more convenient objects to stab one another with—the possibilities are endless. ]

Earth.

[ They're talking worlds, he assumes. It's an assumption that lets him avoid getting more specific. The second question takes slightly more weighing before he answers. ]

And this is different, but not outside of the range of possibility. I've heard of alternate worlds before, and the technology is a lot, but there are people who can do things like this where I come from.

[ No reason to keep that to himself. It just happens to leave out how any of that relates to him. ]

What about you?

[ Now, that name takes Fett back and not in a good way. ]

Heard he was dead, [ he says bluntly, his flat tone leaving no impression of either vindication nor sorrow. They say Vader himself had killed the Jedi decades ago. Fett almost wishes he'd been there to see it. ]

( she lights up in a completely spontaneous smile. leaning against the bar as well, she rests both hands, folded lightly, against the edge of the counter and looks over the selection - like with the food in the restaurant, like the buildings outside, some things are familiar, some are not. is this really the universe without champagne? is she supposed to be sad about it now. )

Do you think they can make me a mimosa?

( then, she realises - she's asking for a drink from a woman she doesn't even know the name of! that's terribly rude of her. especially when she's evidently met the bee's knees! pursing her lips, she turns her face towards the woman. )

I feel like I shouldn't ask you that without knowing your name.

Same thing you are, looks like.

( so, yanno. tripping over one's own thoughts, simultaneously terrified over the fact they've somehow managed to get interdimensionally kidnapped again yet delighted to be off the ship. a little salty about it, perpetually distrustful of the whole concept laid out before them. clarke doesn't want to stay here and fully intends on testing the limits and barriers around, but she's got to admit the pitch of cuddling to protect the universe ranks a lot higher than suffering to power a ship.

and, like. duh it's going to be a hug. how long have you known her?

rita stands up, clarke puts her pack down, and promptly invades the other girl's personal space with a full body embrace reminiscent of their last reunion. a lot relieved, a little desperate. a bonus cheek-to-head press, which allows clarke to quietly mutter while still being heard. )

I'm so glad you're safe.

( his question gives her somewhat of a low-brow, frowning in thought as she keeps munching on his fries. she hasn't seen any paints here either, but to be fair, she hasn't looked too closely either. give her a break, she just recently woke up! a girl can't do it all at once.

she eats more fried potatoes. the sound of their chewing the only sound to disturb the comfortable silence between them for a moment. )

If they have pigments and oil, I can make my own. It's not exactly a black and white world, this, so they must be hiding the colours somewhere!

( she smiles, cocking her head at him. )

I guess I can agree from an ecological standpoint. For most of them, anyways, not mosquitos or fleas or any of the others that could spread disease.

( and... cute? that's still a big stretch, but moving on — )

Which is your favorite today?

[The water has always welcomed Mizu, cold and sharp, the promise that she will be washed clean of everything that makes her abhorrent, even if it remains a promise unfulfilled. She has lain in winter water, let the cold overtake her, but it has never been as cold as this. She waded up to her waist before being forced to turn back, and now stands shivering on the riverbank, trousers soaked and clinging heavily to her skin.

Rather than acknowledge the presence of another person nearby, Mizu starts to cast about for logs, twine, things that could be used to build a raft, not that she really knows how to do that.

But the cold is so piercing she finds it difficult to move, feet all but rooted to the spot.

The woman speaks, then, but Mizu still isn't paying close attention, preoccupied as she is, keeping an eye on her in the same way she eyes all potential threats, noting the woman's position, her movements, her gestures, but little of her characteristics.]

A boat.

Are you used to clothes with pockets? That's nifty!

( she's used to her wardrobe of drop-waisted dresses and flapper skirts, no pockets to be found in those. a girl's supposed to swing her arms in the charleston, after all, anything as comfortable and practical as pocketed hands wouldn't look right. but eloisa had worn trousers with pockets that time. to relax in. maybe there's something to it.

she considers for a moment if it's something she should ask monsieur martin to make for her, when she gets home. ... when she has saved her universe, right? applesauce, what a responsibility to carry.

and now she's going to try and find this girl new clothes. that's some responsibility, too. sylvie thinks she might care too much about these things, although armand would undoubtedly say she cares just the right amount. it makes you you, he'd tell her and she'd recognise herself again. in him.

she wishes he was here.

she might not be alone, but she still is in some way. getting to her feet quickly, too, she brings the card with her regardless, just in case. )

My name is Sylvie. Sylvie Gallard.

( blood, sweat, and tears sure do sum her up! give her an hour or so, and guaranteed she'll add the expected layer of dirt and grime to the mix as well!

but admittedly, the plan to run away gets waylaid by this reunion. the world seems to have righted itself then stopped (despite continued construction in the background) and she could contentedly stand in the middle of this patch of sidewalk forever with natsuno if necessary; just to make sure neither turns their back and loses the other again. in the back of her mind, she knows they'll have to move eventually. the forest is still the goal. he'd come with her, right? clarke doesn't need to follow the strap of the stolen, stocked ems bag to know that's true.

but... what if there are others?

they can get to that in due time, right now he's asked a question. )

Oh, it's the dropship. The one we fell to Earth in. It's not done, and no idea why they'd build it but — ( it's mine ) I would recognize it anywhere.

Hmmm they CAN spread disease, but those insects are still important!

Ooh, let's see...Today it's elaphrus viridis, or delta green ground beetle! It's only found in a certain region of California and is known for its bright, metalic green coloring. It's considered a Critically Endangered species and has been on the threatened list since 1980.

They help pollinate a lot of plants, fruits, and vegetables!

[She takes a moment to actually look through Clarke's profile.]

Are you seriously a space princess????

( she braces for watery impact. closes her eye, turns her head away, even holds her breath to prevent snorting any water up her nose, because throwing a drink at someone usually involves the face, right? but the deluge doesn't come.

there's a drop of water or two splattering against her cheek, but for some reason her immediate thought is that it's begun to rain. it takes helena speaking to coax clarke to crack her eyes open. and she absently reaches up to drag her sleeve across her face.

...huh. )

I guess the benefit of the card is we get to decide what counts or doesn't. That's something at least.

[ It's good that she doesn't go down in one hit; it'd be less likely to count as a real fight if she did. He doesn't back down when she comes in for a swing of her own, raising an arm to block the blow with a vambraced forearm. It's beskar versus flesh and bone, and Fett's used to taking hits from bigger opponents than her, so he expects to be able to shrug off her attack like it's nothing. Yet, when the blow lands, it's magnitudes stronger than he'd anticipated—strong enough, even, to knock him off-balance.

He staggers to the side, and when the woman follows up with another blow, he dodges rather than try to block again. His mind races—not angry or frightened, but rather intensely curious. He's got a few theories for how someone of her size might be able to hit like that. But he needs more information first.

One thing's for certain; the metaphorical gloves are off now. He swings a powerful right hook straight for the woman's face. ]

( she'd already been minimally enjoying the bug talk — grow up without so much as an ant or spider around, and insects in general are really hard to get used to unless they're pretty and bioluminescent — but clarke had been set to continue this conversation. she likes listening to people who know what they're talking about, and never made it as far as what'd been formerly known as california. she could have come up with more questions. she likes asking questions, or at least likes it way better than... having to talk about herself. )

Oh no, no, not really. I didn't write that. It's just a stupid nickname.

WATER YOU DOING

( pierce strickland has never meshed well with authorities. if they tell him to go right, he'll inevitably go left. if they warn him not to venture too far out, he'll damn well venture too far out. he didn't exactly get the welcome spiel from aurora herself, but after he'd managed to calm down enough not to attack anything that moved, he gathered the info he needed and now he's, well—... testing the waters — quite literally.

don't misunderstand though, his clothes are like way too expensive to get soaked by dirty river water, so there is no way in hell he's stepping foot in there. fortunately, he might have found prey that can do the work for him. )

Guess we've reached a dead end, unless you can swim. ( they're standing on the bank of where land becomes water and nothing but water. ) Can you? 'cause I'm not about to get myself wet. ( he smiles a razor sharp smile, his hands tucked away comfortably in the pockets of a pair of black jeans. his accent is hard to pinpoint, the elegant lilt of old money laced with a crass edge of rebellion. )

BONDING BINGO
cw: potential voluntary violence

( he never thought that he would be spending his time playing bingo, but either he got real lucky or aurora just knew which prompts would pique his particular interest. it doesn't take long for pierce to check four out of five squares on his card — just one off from bingo.

he threw a drink on some scrub that led to a very ~~violent~~ delightful fight; cheated in a card game that led to another equally delightful fight (because why waste such a golden opportunity?), and easily won a game of pool. all that's left to do now is get somebody to help him with the last "bonding" activity. unsheathing a kitchen knife from its block, pierce flips it over in his hand as he extends the butt of it out to the nearest person in the room. )

Do me a quick one, mate, 'n stab me. Anywhere's fine.

MATCHMAKER

STRICKLAND (22)

Born with a golden spoon in his mouth, he is the current head of a clan of witches, who harbors an increasingly unhealthy obsession for dark magic. He suffers from congenital insensitivity and severe control issues fr fuck off

WILDCARD

( ooc | apologies in advance because pierce is a walking cw with a boatload of intensely fucked up issues. you can find more info on him here. feel free to play around with the prompts and/or surprise me with something else. i'm easy. if you have any questions or concerns, shoot me a pm. )

“Oh, I’m surprised, don’t get me wrong,” Palamedes says with a shrug. “But it’s not the strangest thing that’s happened to me today, so I suppose it’s all a matter of perspective.

He looks at Krouse, his own eyes curious and searching. If he has noticed the predatory look in the boy’s gaze, it doesn’t show in his expression. “You don’t sound surprised, either.”

no??
were friends
f r i e n d s

“Ah. Well. I once made a pocket universe of my own.” He smiles sheepishly, almost like he has admitted to having an embarrassing hobby. “Significantly smaller than this one, almost no extraneous detail. And I didn’t got dragging people there from across the multiverse—for one thing, it would have gotten rather crowded.”

“At least the company here will be better.” He stands up, and it only makes it more obvious that his clothes don’t fit him properly. “So far, at least."

you 🤝 me this entire bio tbh i mean if ur into science we might be the same person

oh ok</tr> This is one of those time multiverse things or something, right? Has to be. want to see you then we can see about that heart

( stabbing pierce isn't something oliver would usually get involved in. he's more of a stand back and watch people make fools of themselves trying to fight him kind of guy. because he's not particularly strong, never had a need to be, and the whole damn point of sticking close to pierce is so he avoids ever needing to. because finding someone who'll do all the fighting for him is way better than bothering to do the fighting himself.

so he looks down at the knife.

looks back up to pierce with a raised brow. then reaches out for it. he's asking for it, oliver may as well. )

I can't patch you back together, my healing charm's tapped out. So you're going to need to pick somewhere you can stitch back up yourself.

Hope is a four letter word. Hope has fucked Krouse over more than anything else ever has, a toxic weed threaded through his chest that choked out every part of him that might have ever turned into anything better. He thought it had finally died when there was nothing left to latch onto.

So whatever the sharp, spiked thing opening up under his numb ribs is must be something else. He looks away from the stranger's clear grey eyes with a slow and steady exhale through his nose.

"I've never heard of a power like that before," he says, looking back, "But it's not the strangest thing I've ever heard, either."

Dead is dead. It's one of the only rules that he's never heard of being broken. Some people can bring back copies, or things like ghosts, but it's not the same person. Krouse doesn't know that this is any different. He doesn't even know if it's true. He'd be out of his fucking mind to even start thinking about this as a possibility. What he should do is forget about it. Slip back into the indifferent haze he's only been temporarily tugged out of.

"Did you ask about it? How they did it?" There's a leashed quality to his voice, now, the studied casualness of his tone a shell over intensity like a coiled spring in some disastrous mechanism.

Arrival
[ Atheya, for her part, took what she could from Aurora in stride. Soft-spoken and as polite as she always was, she found Aurora willing to explain as much as she could think to ask. She found herself a little numb after all of it. Everything around her was so strange and while androids and automatons were not that odd, a hologram sure was a new experience for her. She gathered herself and her things and eventually left the room that she woke up in. It was just a new phase of her adventure, she told herself, and she had set out for that. Her father probably couldn't find her here. Or so she hoped.

Atheya steps outside of the building and into the sun and she can't help but stop for a moment to simply bask in the warmth. She doesn't hesitate long before she regains her composure and starts to wander, looking at what already is, and what's still a work in progress. If someone strays a little too close she would speak up in a soft, gentle voice. ]

In all my studies I have never heard of a plane like this. What do you make of it?

Water You Doing?
[ Later on, Atheya could be found sitting at the edge of the river, watching the running water with a contemplative expression on her face. She was thinking about unlacing her boots and sticking her feet in, and letting her mind linger back to home as she watched the water below. She'd never been allowed this close to a body of running water, and certainly never allowed to play in them as a little girl. She'd never known the simple pleasure of swimming in the river on a hot summer's day. It was the case that she herself wasn't a true vampire so there was no reason for her not to, but her father had always insisted on acting as if her mother didn't exist.

She only moves when she hears someone come up nearby, shifting to glance to the side only to see if she recognized the shoes. When she didn't she settled back into watching the water. She spoke up just loud enough that the stranger could hear. ]

It is a common misconception that running water hurts vampires, you know. [ A pause. ] Running water is one of the few things they fear.

Bingo
[ It was an inevitability that she would take a bingo card from Aurora - she was not about to say no and risk offending their host, after all. She didn't quite understand the context of the card, but Aurora was helpful and explained, and it wasn't long after she started to walk away that she stopped. Her brows were furrowed in concern as she read the entries. ]

Is this some sort of jest?

[ She said it a little louder than she'd meant, certainly enough for someone to overhear her in passing. ]

Matchmaker

Atheya Calhras (153)

A true daddy's girl, Atheya's never left home until she arrived here. As a dhampir - that is half elf, half vampire - she can enjoy the best of both worlds and reap all of the rewards with none of the baggage. Don't anger her or you might learn the meaning of the word flense!

[ She clearly didn't catch this before Aurora posted it. ]

Wildcard
(OOC: Feel free to come up with something else if you want! You can PM this journal or find me at

coopyey for plotting or questions. :>)

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 17 of 89

TDM 001

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

water you doing?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

pierce strickland ( original )

no subject

no subject

no subject

matchmaker!

no subject

bonding bingo.

no subject

Atheya Calhras | Pathfinder OC in modified D&D Ravenloft setting