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∎ ETRAYA MODS ∎ ([personal profile] etrayamods) wrote in [community profile] etrayamemes2024-02-23 01:16 pm
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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

equivo: (mama raised me right)

[personal profile] equivo 2024-03-09 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Krouse isn't sure he's reading the shyness right, just like the carefulness before. But when he puts the two things side by side, they're supporting evidence.

Supporting what, he's also not sure. Maybe just that he's glad they deescalated not just because he still likes having teeth. ]


Maybe I'm trying to butter you up so you don't knock me on my ass in a minute.

[ He smiles slightly. ]

Or I just know the kind of attitude it takes to pull off a hat.

[ He picks up a cotton ball and squeezes disinfectant onto it, then offers it to her. ]

This look works, too. A lot of people go too plain when they're trying to be inconspicuous, and just end up looking like they stepped out of a Gap commercial. Standing out by trying too hard not to. [ He nods at the cotton ball. ] Clean off wherever you want it. If you still want to do this.
bright_moon: (qTDGIDs)

Matchmaker

[personal profile] bright_moon 2024-03-09 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Xingchen has a feeling he should be grateful he can't see anymore! Still, he smiles faintly, brow furrowing in concentration over the blindfold just slightly bloodstained. ]

Mm. So it seems. I hope whatever has been said about you in this fashion isn't too upsetting to you.
bright_moon: (XXC-73)

Much belated CW warnings: suicide and eye gore woops!

[personal profile] bright_moon 2024-03-09 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Xue Yang can say it as many times as he wants. It will take a great deal of time to really sink in.

That Xue Yang loves someone, anyone. Much less Xiao Xingchen.

Yet...Xingchen feels how those hands tremble and shake. How all of Xue Yang shakes - or perhaps he's fooling himself and foisting his own tremors off on another. He presses his lips together as he tries to focus on breathing. On pulling himself together.

And strains to listen to what he's told now. Then shies away at the implications laid horribly at his feet. Death hadn't gotten him anywhere before, so he has to figure out a way to go forward.

Somehow.

'I don't want to torture you.'

Words that poke at him, but there's none of the familiar attacking that he associates with Xue Yang. He swallows hard, shaking his head silently.

"None of that...should have been done to you. Or any child." Step by step. Move forward. Find his balance.

Somehow. No matter how it hurts.

"If..." Can he even offer a chance? Another chance? Is he betraying poor Zichen? His master? Zichen's temple? Everyone this man has hurt? Maybe.

Another breath and he forces his fingers to loosen.

"Would you do those things again here, now, if I...stay with you?" If he gives himself, will others be saved? That would just be right, wouldn't it?

No. No he doesn't understand the depths of Xue Yang's emotions. He doesn't dare.
myagic: (115)

aangry...

[personal profile] myagic 2024-03-09 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[Rita is calm. She doesn't care what other people think. She's older and wiser and far more mature than this kid-]

Shut up, rainbow-brain! At least I'll have realistic expectations!
myagic: (002)

[personal profile] myagic 2024-03-09 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
You don't actually sound very grateful.

[He doesn't actually believe her, does he? It's so hard to find people who appreciate genius. Still, he is right about one thing: she does rather enjoy lecturing talking about her passion.]

Genius mage, as in magic. I hear some worlds don't even have it--pretty boring for them, huh?
myagic: (073)

[personal profile] myagic 2024-03-09 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[And just as stubbornly, Rita's eyes narrow into an insistent stare.]

No, here's fine. Or are you just trying to stall?

[She waves the hand again, but isn't likely to wait a third time--if Clarke doesn't hand anything over, Rita will make a grab for that bag.]
myagic: (076)

[personal profile] myagic 2024-03-09 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[How personable. Her thin patience might not last long, but for the time being, she snappily prompts him with a single word right back:]

So...?
captainplanet: (80)

dfgdfg

[personal profile] captainplanet 2024-03-10 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
Realistic or bitter? Because it just sounds bitter.
dawnfacing: (3 |)

[personal profile] dawnfacing 2024-03-10 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
( a moment passes between them, in which it's a little bit awkward and quite a lot thrilling and sylvie likes that, likes to feel herself like that, present in the moment, feeling something, anything. she embraces it readily. straightening up a little, reluctantly putting distance back between rita's body and hers, she's about to say something - it's okay, we'll make it okay - when the other girl flounders and her foot slips, and she's in the water, yelping about it being cold. sylvie laughs. it's a liberating sound.

unceremoniously, she drops both her feet directly into the water as well, gasping at the chill, at the feeling, at the feeling of being suddenly alive, though there's a tint of shock to it as well, surprise, mixing with her initial delight. it feels strange, yet she doesn't pull back.

she stays. she always stays. )


So cold! Isn't that the berries?! Oh!
equivo: (i've been doing bad things lately)

[personal profile] equivo 2024-03-10 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
Sorry.

[ He doesn't sound particularly sorry, like he didn't sound particularly grateful. It's easier to disconnect, sliding back into the calm it's so hard to push himself out of. ]

And mine's one of those worlds. [ But he also doesn't sound offended that she diagnoses his world as boring, either. Maybe it's not such a bad exchange, on her end. ] There are some people who pretend. Nothing real.

So what does being a genius mage involve? Researching fireballs?
cultivatingsin: (Music played and people sang)

Also CW: Unhealthy relationships + insanity~

[personal profile] cultivatingsin 2024-03-10 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
His trembling worsens and he barely dares to touch Xiao Xingchen, lightly brushing his fingers over his hair. Has anyone ever been this beautiful? No. His Daozhang is the loveliest, the only one worthy of his loyalty. He just needs a chance. Hunger flares inside of his heart, his soul, making him feverish, his eyes oddly bright.

"No, it shouldn't. You're right. But it happens every day." he trails off and blinks, tilting his head, unsure.

If? His heart throbs in his ears and his throat is dry. He waits, counting the seconds. Xingchen's fingers relax and he pets over them, trying to soothe away any ache.

"I have no reason to." is the blunt answer and he seems to realize it's blunt belatedly - thus he adds, "I know I can make you happy. I know I'll be happy with you. Are..." he hardly dares to ask, "Are you giving me another chance?"
bright_moon: (Bbjkpfx)

wheeeeee!

[personal profile] bright_moon 2024-03-10 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Xingchen tries not to flinch. Doesn't quite dare to believe the gentleness, the sweetness that the light touch implies.

But it's hard not to, even knowing who it is that's touching him. Talking to him. Saying such sweet things that make his heart ache and hope swell.

And those hands are oddly warm.

'I know I can make you happy.' Xingchen doesn't feel he deserves to be happy. So this is his punishment. He takes another breath, and wills himself to accept it.

After all. If he can help keep Xue Yang from running wild and hurting more people, isn't that a good thing? So what if something happens to him?

Slowly. Hesitantly. Even a little shyly, his hands turn over. Offering to catch at Xue Yang's as he makes his choice. "No more lies, Xue Yang. No more tricks. No more hurting people. Only defend yourself, if you need to. Or call on me, I will stand with you."
cultivatingsin: (if you're talking bout hurt in this love)

[personal profile] cultivatingsin 2024-03-10 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
I can't lock them up and torturing them gets old.
cultivatingsin: (I'm turning sweet love into poison)

[personal profile] cultivatingsin 2024-03-10 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
Xiao Xingchen is soft and sweet. Better than candy or any dessert. Xue Yang gazes at him hesitantly and yet there is an undeniable tenderness to his focus too. The silky hair under his fingers, the soft skin are all he wants. If he could undo his mistakes, he would! In a heartbeat. But he can't and even if he did, Xingchen knows each of his sins far too well.

He holds his breath when the hands are offered to him. He shakes as he sets his hands - including his busted one - on Xingchen's. Then he arches forward and presses their foreheads together, tears running down his cheeks.

"You... You won't leave?"
bright_moon: (dfzKASP)

[personal profile] bright_moon 2024-03-10 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
Xingchen knows he's naïve and oblivious too. Too trusting. Perhaps he's letting himself be tricked again in agreeing to this.

...So be it. If he can help even one person not be harmed by Xue Yang, he'll decide it's worth it.

And those hands are still trembling as they take his. As if Xue Yang can't believe it either. His breath hitches as he feels the other man press their foreheads together and he shakes his head just a little.

"No. I'm here. You know I don't know how to lie." And he'd tried to leave before.

Only to wind up here. With Xue Yang anyway. Not even death could part them.
cultivatingsin: (But I need a place to sleep)

[personal profile] cultivatingsin 2024-03-10 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Daozhang..." Xue Yang's fingers curl, gripping onto Xingchen's hands and he bows his head, kissing the inner skin of the other man's wrists. His tears fall then, hot against his Daozhang's perfect skin.

He's alive! He is agreeing to be with him!

"Y-You..." he licks his lips and tries again, "You need to eat. Come on, I'll help you to the Cafeteria." he frowns, stubbornly, "I'll carry you if you need it. I...bet you feel weak, huh?"
bright_moon: (Bbjkpfx)

[personal profile] bright_moon 2024-03-10 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
Hot drips fall to chilled skin and he gasps in surprise. Does he dare believe they're tears? Actual tears?

And maybe he doesn't understand all that he's agreed to. He will, eventually.

Xingchen can't help but reach up to wipe at those wet cheeks. Eat...? How can he possibly eat anything? His stomach rolls angrily at him.

But he does feel painfully weak. Still. This isn't about him. He doesn't matter. He remembers then that Xue Yang had collapsed and that has his brow furrow as he slowly shakes his head.

"You fell rather hard. I can carry you, if you direct me where to go." He forces himself up, then gently encourages Xue Yang to stand before turning his back in obvious indication for the other to hop on.
cultivatingsin: (Dead and dry)

[personal profile] cultivatingsin 2024-03-10 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
He leans into the hands that attempt to wipe his tears away. How can Xingchen be sweet...even now? He really is one of a kind - an absolute gem of a man - and Xue Yang can't let him go.

"I'm fine." he argues immediately, flushing the moment Xingchen turns his back to him. Setting his jaw, he stands and bends down, gathering his Daozhang into his arms, encouraging him to stand.

"I'm alright, really. Its...been a long time." he keeps an arm around the other man, "Let me take care of you for once."

Xue Yang has spent his life being selfish. If he is going to keep his Daozhang, he has to do better.
Edited 2024-03-10 03:17 (UTC)
bright_moon: (cPcqMCY)

[personal profile] bright_moon 2024-03-10 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
Oh. No one has ever leaned into his touch before. Not like this. It brings a faint flush to his cheeks, which only darkens as Xue Yang argues...

Then insists on helping him instead! He doesn't have any defense against that, finding himself straightening and pulled close again. And a supporting arm stays curled around him.

As if he were someone precious.

And the words Xue Yang choses! It makes his sense of the world spin rather dizzyingly. He could easily believe this was back before he'd learned just who he'd saved. Who he'd been living so peacefully beside for so long.

This is something to be encouraged. Even if he doesn't feel he deserves it.

"Will you let me take a look at your hip later? I might be able to do a little more for it now." Now he knows sharing qi will help rather than do nothing.
altro: commissioned. dnt. (c.)

C — MATCHMAKER.

[personal profile] altro 2024-03-10 10:06 am (UTC)(link)
Ugh. Who let this loser in... ( voice-to-text... well, shit. guess who didn't mean to send that out? but eh... whatever. it's not like the asshole is gonna respond. his own damn profile isn't complete anyway. just a picture of his back and his sword with his name typo'd as CROWD. )
cultivatingsin: (Cultivating innocence)

[personal profile] cultivatingsin 2024-03-10 10:26 am (UTC)(link)
Xiao Xingchen deserves the world! Any world! The universe and all the stars in the sky! Xue Yang knows he isn't worthy to have him, but like hell is he going to let go without a fight. In this case, showing Xingchen his best self is his defense. But it also comes naturally. His poor Daozhang deserves to be loved.

"Careful." he rubs over Xingchen's back as if he senses the dizziness, "With a little food in you, you'll feel better, I promise. Your body doesn't have what it needs, that's all."

And he remembers some of Xingchen's favorite foods. He'll order them for him.

"What do you mean? You helped me plenty before. I..." now it's his turn to flush, "I know I deserve what happened to me, Daozhang. I tried to...argue away my guilt, but..." he grits his teeth, "I'm covered in blood. I'm a bad person. But I think loving you makes me better."
shabuir: (slow turn)

[personal profile] shabuir 2024-03-10 11:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ He doesn't even respond verbally to that. Instead, he simply turns the inscrutable black visor of his helmet towards the girl, completely without comment. She's free to read whatever reaction she wants into the motion: annoyance or contempt, scrutiny or indifference. Fett himself sees little reason to give her anything more to work with. ]
shabuir: (profile)

[personal profile] shabuir 2024-03-10 12:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[ "Those who want to do good." If only she knew who she was talking to. Fett has a tiny handful of people he wants very badly to keep safe, but he's still a far, far cry from a good man. It is strange, though, to be somewhere where his notorious reputation doesn't precede him. It's not the kind of mistake he's accustomed to people making—except perhaps with the exception of Beviin. The man always insists on seeing the good in him. Personally, Fett himself doubts that rosy view will last forever. He'll disappoint Beviin in the end, and probably sooner rather than later.

Just not on this. ]


Good. There will be plenty of work waiting for you.

[ If she survives that long, which Fett privately doubts she will—Emperor Palpatine had seen quickly to any political dissidents and this woman, with her ostensible commitment to democracy, seems on the road to becoming one such target. Perhaps even one of his, one day.

He'll keep that detail to himself, though. Let her hope, if that's what it takes to make her a more useful ally. ]
ebrius: (n5vCwNW)

[personal profile] ebrius 2024-03-10 02:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Yep.

[ While Jessica isn't afraid to go back on her word if she needs to, in this, she's not going to. She's managed to have a conversation with this guy for a lot longer than most people can tolerate her so —

So, she's not in any kind of rush to end it now even if it does mean letting him stab her. She shakes her head because yeah, she's going to let this happen. ]


You let me stab you, I'm going to let you stab me. If I backed out now, you'd be calling me chickenshit.

[ Couldn't let that happen.

With that in mind, she pulls off her jacket and looks at her arms. After a moment, she pulls the sleeve up to gesture at her bicep, skinny as it is. That's where she cleans off before nodding. ]


Go on, let's do it.
thinkerseven: (with all its opinions)

[personal profile] thinkerseven 2024-03-10 02:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Tattletale brings two fingers up to her forehead, tipping them like one would a hat. ]

Much obliged.

[ Then she leans back, settling in, hands behind her head. Showtime. Showtime. ]

I could tell you about your teammates. Ex-teammates. They got brought in from Aleph, you know. Not like you remember. But you and I both know that won't work, because there's only enough room in your big, romantic heart to care about one person, and you haven't stopped since you fucked her over worse than anyone's ever done it.

[ Tattletale leans closer, puts her elbows on the table. There's a pen in her right hand. She twirls it. ]

Telling you about your mom wouldn't work for the same reason either, Francis.

[ There are a couple of squares already filled in on his bingo card. If he doesn't pull it away, Tattletale will connect the remaining with a TT. Bingo. ]

Fact is, you're irrelevant. Done. Lost. Lose-err. But we both know how competitions go, don't we? Gamer? So you're going to let me help you, because you're not going to get in my fucking way.

[ Lisa saved Taylor. Taylor saved the world. If the world is all that Lisa has left of Taylor, so be it. She won't let it go without a fight. ]