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etrayamemes2024-04-04 08:46 am
etrayamods) wrote in etrayamemes2024-04-04 08:46 am
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TDM 002
 ⏵ 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. When the first round of citizens arrived, Aurora and the companion bots had been largely unprepared. This time? They made sure to put up welcome banners, even if the sentiment isn't quite right. There are cupcakes and cookies set out in the hospital's lobbies, and a digital map has been placed just in front of the entrance of the hospital, telling others how to reach the various locations throughout Etraya. Companion bots wander throughout the city, some carrying construction equipment to half-built facilities while others act as nurses, servers, or sales associates throughout the constructed buildings.  ⏵ rainy awakenings ⏴ Many concepts are new to Aurora, including rain. She is familiar with how it functions, and its purpose, but rain has never been present on the lands of Etraya. Given how new it is, that may not be all too surprising - but the method of how it’s being introduced is… a little much. Rainfall commences in the early days of April, a persistent downpour that waxes and wanes in intensity but never ceases entirely. Most nights in Etraya are characterized by a soothing patter of rain against rooftops. Yet, some nights leave the grounds flooded come morning. Rivers begin to swell, the current much too strong to justify trying to go for a swim. These showers also bring a new assortment of plants blooming across the green lands: bright blossoms whose petals spread wide when the yellow sun shines down on them, while numerous cherry blossom trees have grown out of nowhere, flourishing despite the rainfall. Clover carpets the grassy expanses of the islands, weaving a beautiful tapestry of color across the grounds. ⏵ Getting drenched by the rain can trigger a surge, followed by a slump. Initially, individuals will feel giddy, excited, full of energy, and ready to take on the world. However, in the subsequent days, they’ll find themselves feeling depressed, lacking the energy and motivation to move forward. Aurora advises that these effects are only temporary and should fade within the week, but they can be resolved more quickly by embracing a stranger. Attempting to hug anyone they already know well will not produce the same effect. ⏵ With the rain comes a significant increase in the greenery around Etraya that isn’t fake. Most of these plants will resemble ones originally found in the characters' universes. ⏵ A couple of these plants contain magical properties: The Emberloom is a bright red, fiery flower that only inhabits smaller land masses. Those exposed to its pollen will experience heightened aggression and impulsivity. These flowers will continue to bloom through April, after which the companion bots will search for and remove them from the atmosphere bubble. ⏵ If there is a specific, unique plant that those in game (or those accepted during the next round!) would like to add, please comment to the LOCATIONS page! We’ll add mentions of these to the Outskirts section. Along with the botanical resurgence, numerous new animals appear: glowing fish swim freely through the waters. In the canopy above, new species of birds and critters flit among the branches. Some diligently construct new nests in anticipation of the coming spring, while others seek refuge in the shelter of trees, retreating from the weather. Not all the creatures are so small, or so peaceful. ⏵ Small critters make themselves comfortable in the forested area around Etraya, staying mostly out of the way. There are the occasional visitors that will let themselves in through windows for a quick visit, or maybe a snack, but they’re mostly harmless. ⏵ Several larger beasts make their way into the city to try and find land that’s more habitable for them. Giraffes navigate gracefully through the areas designated for new arrivals, using their elongated necks to reach for the foliage near the hospital when they aren’t finding new places to make themselves comfortable. An eclectic array of cats, ranging in all sizes and breeds, brazenly saunter into buildings they don’t belong. Hopefully, the lioness lounging in the apartment complex's common area does not prevent residents from reaching their rooms, because she has no intention of yielding. ⏵ The leopard adorned with a rattlesnake tail in the hospital's cafeteria may be difficult to ignore, given his determination to devour everything in sight and attack anyone in his way. ⏵ Cat scratches and bites pose a significant risk of infection. In the event a character is injured, individuals can expect the companion bots to quickly seek them out and approach them with a special antibiotic cream developed specifically for these cats. Refusal of treatment may result in severe symptoms, including high fevers and itching. In extreme cases, individuals may begin to exhibit cat-like characteristics, ranging from physical alterations to changes in mental traits. ⏵ Numerous other creatures of all shapes and sizes will be coming and going through the city. You may play with this as you wish! While the uproar caused by these guests doesn’t particularly bother Aurora, she does send out a message to everyone wearing an earpiece to request their assistance in capturing the larger animals that her companion bots may not be able to handle themselves. She has converted an island to the East into a temporary holding area until the companion bots can set them up with something a little more permanent.  ⏵ network ⏴ Welcome to Etraya! Upon your arrival, Aurora provided an earpiece, a device to make communication with others stuck in the same situation more simple. The device connects to an internal network, which is accessible by everyone else currently residing on planet. Whether you’re looking for guidance, camaraderie, or want to see if there are any familiar faces around, this is the perfect place to do it! Please feel free to post any questions, offer your name, ask for assistance, or maybe complain to the powers that be about how you’ve got better things to be doing than sitting around here completing their missions. Maybe they’re listening. Maybe they’re not. ⏵ During April, Etraya’s getting a little wet! Those who spend too long in the rain may experience a few unfortunate effects. ⏵ The rain brings in new flora, including a couple that may cause characters to experience aggression and impulsivity, or take a stroll through others’ dreams. ⏵ New animals also appear! While many of them are friendly, others… are less so. The cats specifically seem to be a little grumpy. Characters scratched or bitten by these cats may find themselves becoming just as catty. For any questions relating to the contents of this log, please reply below. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ. The TDM is game canon, meaning everything happening above is occurring within the game properly. Those who apply to join in the April application round may keep their TDM threads as game canon. |
Amy Dallon | Worm
[A girl stands outside her hospital room, looking at all the robots drifting around - the people stumbling around in their own states of delirious confusion. She wears a tank top, what looks like a prison jumpsuit that's been rolled down and tied around her waste. Her arms are covered with blood red tattoos that rope all the way around her hands and fingers - including the two missing ones.
And she's covered in blood. Her hands are soaked with it - her clothes are stained with it - flecks of it stain her freckled features. No matter how hard she scrubs, it's never clean.
She should be panicking, but she's not. The conclusion is foregone. She'll try. Whatever that means. She's too emotionally and physically exhausted to really give it much thought beyond that.]
God I hate hospitals.
[Cupcakes, cookies, weird welcome signs, robots buzzing around... it doesn't matter how artificial this all is. A hospital is a hospital. The time when flesh and blood and bone stops being a person and starts being a husk of components - all covered with that distinct smell.]
II. MUTATION (RAIN)
[It's a few days after she arrived that the rain comes with her. It's so odd. Like an imitation of real weather, pieced together by something that had never seen it before.
Amy never lets it touch her skin. It doesn't take long for her to realize this was the smart choice. The effects it seems to have on the brain make her nauseous. Euphoria at first, a rapid energy crash immediately afterwards. A familiar fear of her own power nags at her mind.
There's no growing past it. There wouldn't be for someone a lot stronger than Amy. If she were dosed... if she lost control...
"What makes you think I'd let you anywhere near me?"
But the animals... the flowers... there's a lot going on immediately, and Amy can feel a headache coming on. She's at the bottom floor of the apartments, staring out into the rain.]
Like gods. Like viruses. Like children... [Her nose scrunches up. Ugh.] ...Uh, did you get stuck out in the rain?
[Her voice is... an attempt at casual. But she's never really been great at it. And there's both a fascination and a quiet anxiety to her as she turns her mop of curly hair to look at the subject of her attention.]
III. CONTAGIOUS (DREAMS)
(CW for deeply toxic family dynamics, potential grotesque body horror, incarceration, past child abuse)
[It's a large and horribly empty house, barely a home. The floorboards creak. The fire crackles in the hearth. There are portraits on the wall of a beautiful family. Photos of different events. Competitions, Christmases, birthdays. At the centre of all of them is a blonde girl, no older than eighteen, and she seems to absolutely radiate awe and adoration. There's another one, of course. A fourth member of the immediate family. But in every portrait, in every photograph, her face has been completely scrubbed out.
A girl in a white cloak glides towards the intruder. Beneath the cloak is a metal mask with a large bird-like beak paired with beady clockwork eyes. A doctor, or a vulture here to feast upon any idiot unlucky enough to be here?]
Did they put you in here because you're bad too? Are you a monster like the rest?
[Except the voice that comes from the mask is young. A child. No older than eleven. The house doesn't feel as empty anymore. There's something sliding along the walls in the hallway. Crawling with a thud and a thud and a thud and a thud like there's dozens of feet running...]
You shouldn't look at other people's things without asking.
[Her mask points toward the pictures. Behind those dark glass lenses, there's a longing. A starved hunger. It's hard to say how she radiates this feeling, but she does. And then she turns toward the stranger once more.]
IV. VACCINATION (NETWORK, un: Panacea)
Hi. My name is Panacea, aka Amy Dallon. I'm a healer. I won't be taking requests full time since there's not that many people here but if you get seriously hurt and need someone to patch you up, my ability allows me to mend basically any injury providing there's still enough biological matter to restore. So if you need to get in contact with me, just.
Message me. I guess.
Also at a rough estimate, how many people here are capes of some kind?
V. STERILE (SLICE OF LIFE/WILDCARD)
[Amy can also be found exploring. She never goes near the spooky mansion, but beyond that, she tries to get a sense of everwhere in town. You can find her at the diner, being perplexed at the system in place and looking at the food with the utmost suspicion.] This place is so fucking weird...
[She's too hungry to care.
OR alternatively, you might find her at Roxx, rifling through various different combinations. Her clothes are clean, free of blood, but she'd still like clothes that aren't... you know, a prison jumpsuit.
This is her first time doing this by herself, she realizes. It used to be that Victoria would take her. Sometimes with her other friends. And Amy would hate it. Now...
Anyway. You'll find her disassociating staring at a flanel shirt and uh, a red cloak apparently.]
v. sterile (diner)
It's not a surprise because of any personal associations, or even any doubts he has about her willingness or effectiveness when it comes to recruitment for the ostensible mission at hand. It's more that the chances their lives would ever intersect, even in the most tangential way, had been minute to start with. That it's happened three times pushes those odds to absurdity, and yet he can't begin to see how it would fit into the clockwork chain of disaster that usually comes with these flukes.
That doesn't mean it's nothing. It could only mean his imagination is falling short. Not on the array of possible ways that things could get fucked up by their conjunction, but on any reason that they would.
It's with that absence of comprehension looming over him that he approaches her table at the diner, his posture deferential and his eyes politely downcast. It's something that she'll find familiar in form, if not in him. Teacher always ensured his students showed the appropriate amount of respect to others higher in the hierarchy. He also kept his potential problem children well-isolated from any potential sources of conflict - not for their sake, but for the sake of keeping the peace. ]
Hello.
[ He waited until there was no one else in the diner to cross it. He hadn't tried to conceal himself. The attempt could be taken the wrong way. ]
I was hoping I could ask for a minute of your time?
no subject
This guy. There's a flicker of a grimace as he approaches her with his Teacher typical deference. None of the cell block leaders are particularly pleasant to be around but there was always something particularly twisted with Teacher. Peace was maintained, but it was never an easy peace, and while all of them were different degrees of dangerous and violent, Teacher was... a special kind of unsettling.
Amy has a basket of fries and a milkshake - she figured she'd treat herself. She's too hungry to hold off.
She glances up at Trickster, weighing his request with wary calculation. She holds the power here, she realizes. She could do what Tattletale loves to do, could make this wildly more difficult for everyone.
But there's no point. Any rage she once felt at any and all criminals started to fade after she joined the worst of them.]
Alright, Trickster. [She slides into one of the booths.] Let's talk.
no subject
(He'd considered whether she could be a solution, once, in their early research. When he saw what she could really do, the idea had come back, one more impossible, damning hope. And then she'd disappeared, and then it hadn't mattered.)
His only real impression of her was formed during a moment of crisis, when she was arcing to the bottom of some curve he doesn't know enough about to judge her by. It wasn't a great one, but then, he didn't exactly go out of his way to give her a much better one of him. ]
Thank you.
[ But so far, so good, the unfortunate echo of his old name notwithstanding. He hesitates slightly on the decision of whether he should stay standing, or risk joining her in the booth, and decides that looming over her while she eats is the worse option. He slides into the seat opposite, hands on either side of his lap, and sits up straight. ]
Before we start, would it be safe to guess that you're caught up on the local situation?
no subject
I listened to the robot, yeah. [Amy says, her lips pressed into a line.] Multiverse under threat on a scale beyond our comprehension. Ridiculously enough, it seems unrelated to our uh, other apocalyptic threat.
[Should she offer fries? No, she decides, thinking of what Lung would say. Sign of weakness to share what's yours to a rival.
Whatever the fuck that means.]
And that Tattletale's also here. [She lets a measure of venom slip into her tone. Fucking Tattletale.] Which means we're theoretically all on the same team.
no subject
Krouse's careful veneer of calm cracks like thin ice spiderwebbing under pressure. A tightening of muscles in his jaw, a certain quality of hollowness around the eyes. The surface holds, but where it could fall apart is obvious. ]
Yeah. [ Quiet with suppression. ] That about covers it.
[ He doesn't have to be the bearer of bad news. That's good. Everything else is extraneous. ]
I'm here to ask how you'd prefer to handle things, going forward. For my part, I'm not interested in imposing on you, or assuming that a mutual interest means we need to associate with one another.
[ Or, translated: he is aware of the power dynamic here, in every sense of the word. It's not just that she could reach across this table and flip him inside out as easily as she breathes. It's the circumstances they happened to share before now, and how she could use that knowledge, a knife that technically only cuts both ways if he's willing to stab himself with it first. ]
no subject
When she finally figures out what he's asking her, a small smile encroaches on her lips. So that's what this is. A house of cards that could come crashing down if she revealed their former shared circumstances.]
You don't want me revealing you. Is that it?
[Funny. On reflection, there was a time when she would revel in having this power over a villain. A lowly criminal, ontologically evil, who had hurt god knows how many innocent people over the course of his career. The Travellers were hardly a priority until they started snatching up territory.
No real point now. Her father was probably worse. Skitter was definitely worse. Lung. And what she herself did...
Well, glass houses.]
I'll stay out of your business - won't reveal any of your secrets, provided you don't put our world in jeopardy, and provided you stay quiet with what you know about mine. [Which really depends on Tattletale and whether she blabbed about all of her fucked up secrets to any of her crime buddies. Or Regent. She can vividly picture Regent doing that.
She's not sure Trickster will be of any use, all things considered. Teacher took most of his wits when he inducted him, and from the very small window of time that Amy saw him wandering the halls of the Birdcage with his mind intact, his spirit had already been broken. Like hers had been.
But it's better to keep him in reserve. This is another Scion situation after all.] We're from the same world, briefly operated in the same city. There's no reason to hide that. Beyond that? We'll see.
no subject
All things considered, he does have to give her some credit. This is only a fraction of how unpleasant she could be making it. The terms, past the condescension, are more or less exactly what he wants.
He saw her weak, once. If this is as far as she wants to take holding things over him now, he'll count himself lucky. He doesn't bother hiding all of his faint relief behind his guardedness, leaning back slightly into the pleather behind him. ]
I appreciate the understanding.
[ Of what she does understand, so far. There's one amendment he needs to slip in, and it's not one he could have expected her to anticipate. ]
There's just one more thing. I'm not operating as Trickster here. And like you said, I was only in Brockton Bay briefly. I don't see a reason that needs to come up. It seems cleaner if we don't know each other - because we don't, really. Coming from the same world seems like more than enough reason for us to be cooperative, if we end up in the position of working together on a mission, but otherwise? I don't think either of us benefit from making more of it than that.
[ The practical, impersonal arrangement of a non-interference pact, and he could leave it at that. Invoking anything else is a risk. His lips thin as he glances down at the table. ]
...and for what it's worth, that's as far as things go with her, too.
no subject
But only slightly. Amy doesn't read people, she could say it's because she was afraid of what she'd see, but she thinks the real truth is that she never cared. There was her, there was Victoria, there was her parents. Then, all of a sudden, it was just her.
Your refusal to participate in a world you never tried to understand. Tattletale's words haunt her nightmares.
Trickster is afraid of her. She's surprised it took her this long to notice. Does he know?]
Doesn't seem like there's much point in secret identities here anyway... [It's an idle comment as she ruminates on that consideration. Does he know? Did Tattletale tell him?] Not Trickster then. That works fine for me.
You - [She mulls over how to phrase this. Best to stay on topic.] You and... her [If she invokes Tattletale's name, will Tattletale know??] were allies, weren't you?
[She never asked why Krouse ended up in the Birdcage. She didn't much care. None of the Undersiders ended up there, even the ones closer to getting a kill order, like Hellhound. Bitch. Stupid old habits, really.]
no subject
Panacea has moved down in the world, to a position where an undercurrent of fear is an expectation of anyone who comes to her with a petition. He'd be surprised to find out that she hadn't been aware of it from the start.
But because it's a given, it's not on his mind. There's a much hotter live wire bristling in the air between them. ]
Contingently.
[ His voice is dull, gritty ice. Under the overhang of the table, his fingertips press into the slippery cling of the cushions next to his knees. ]
It didn't end up working out. [ The understatement is a quietly vicious one. ] She's on her own.
[ He doesn't want to talk about it, and he doesn't think Amy will care about following up. What she needs to know is that one, simple fact.
It might be too much to hope that she'll act on it, but a boy can dream. ]
no subject
Victoria didn't press. Until she did.
Amy takes a sip of her milkshake, mulling over this miniscule piece of information. And what - if anything - to do with it.]
She's pretty good at burning bridges. [It's a cruel thing to point out. But it's true.
She's quite talented at using people when they could be used. Something her and Skitter had in common. Snide cruelty in one moment, gentle reassurance in the next. Whether Amy was the punching bag or the solution, the response was the same.]
She's got a grudge of her own against me. [At least their grudge is requited. Amy has a hard time picturing Lisa giving much of a damn about... whatever went wrong with the Travellers.
It's not relevant. She doesn't like Trickster enough to make conversation with him, but. It's true. There's another question she figures she should be asking but... then she figures she might as well ask Tattletale.
Trickster's more likely to lie.]
To be clear then. [Negotiating like this was never something anyone taught her to do. But she's watched her dad enough to pull it off.] No Birdcage. No Brockton Bay. No cape identities. No... affiliations. [Her own with Marquis, his with Teacher.]
Is your power public?
no subject
He's not here to commiserate. Even if he thought that would get him anywhere, it's nowhere he wants to go. He just can't help but think that it's petty, even for Tattletale. The worst thing Amy actually did to the Undersiders, as far as he knows, was be kind of whiny about helping them out.
But he could have thought the same thing about Marissa, and - he should be focusing on the conversation they're actually having. ]
None of it. [ He confirms. ] And semi-public, so far.
[ On the balance of things, it was a secret not worth keeping. Better to own a useful ability upfront than deal with suspicion after having it outed, one way or another. ]
I'm going with being a rogue.
[ More detail than she asked for. He decides against compounding that by giving his reasoning. She'll ask if she cares, and leave it if she doesn't. The calculations she has to make around what to do about her power aren't the same as the ones he made. His power is useful. Hers is something else.
He guesses he can add one data point, for the next to nothing it's worth. ]
No one's seemed too concerned about powers in general, one way or another.
[ It's a very carefully couched sentence. ]
coming back to this over a month later
[She mulls that over, toying with the straw of her milkshake.
Teleportation isn't a power that lends itself to being a "rogue." Parian was a rogue, one of the only prominent ones in Brockton Bay that comes to mind - sewing and fashion lends itself quite easily to it. Tinkers often end up as rogues. Trickster's power was misdirection. Teleportation if she remembers right. It's been a while since she's had to think about any of the Travelers.
But nobody's paying attention to that. She can believe that. People pay attention to what matters to them. A relative stranger with a stupid fucking tophat (it's not even there, she notices) is easy to take at face value.]
There's a lot of capes, I've noticed. [Odd that they wouldn't care as much about powers. She can't imagine what else they would bring to the table.] From other worlds. It kind of surprised me.
[Is this making conversation? Is she asking him to fill her in on that? On the others? Who can say. Even she's not entirely sure.]
no subject
The shift in scrutiny is harder to adjust to than he thought. He's been used to carrying around all these secrets, and now he's really down to just one, however many facets it has. Sometimes he's almost wondered if he's taking it all a little too far.
But that's not an idea he entertains long, because it's exactly when he thinks he can ease up on anything that it all goes to hell. Like Amy's noticed: there's a lot of capes. That means there's any number of people who might take exception to either the lie or the truth, depending on their inclinations. ]
I'd guess it's either more common than we thought, or we're being over-represented. [ He wishes he had something to fidget with besides his own hands. Maybe he should have gotten a milkshake to match, for the sake of a cover. ] Which would make sense. You don't see them calling in Greg the dentist when an Endbringer rolls into town.
Some of them have different rules, though. [ He flattens his mouth, briefly preoccupied by memory. ] I met a girl who's a superhero without powers, if you can believe that. She uses a bow. And the strangest part is she's not some weird outlier running around the alleys of some Midwestern nowhere city. She's on their version of the Wards in New York.
contagious
The eerie photos get her attention and she's captivated by them until the small figure glides toward her. She stiffens and backs away a few steps.
Is she bad? Maybe, if breaking the law is 'bad.' But a monster? No.
It takes her a second to find her voice, though. ]
No. I'm not a monster.
no subject
[The little girl in the bird mask cocks her head.]
They never see themselves as monsters. But in the end, they all end up the same. Only monsters in this house now.
[She is, of course, including herself.]
Don't worry. I'll try to hide you from them as long as possible.
[Thud. Thud. Thud. There's a roar in the distance. A scream, animalistic, like it's a siren call. The house just gets more and more full. Were there always bars on the windows?]
no subject
[ Even though she puts more conviction into her tone this time, it still sounds weak. Like the words fade into the house itself, consumed by the creaky floorboards and unsettling photos.
The thuds and roars shake her to her core-- Kyra goes pale and her breathing becomes uneven.
Softly, shakily, barely a whisper: ] What are they? Why would they want me?
no subject
[Us. The girl cocks her head. There's a thud against the door. Were there always bars on the door.]
We're safest in here. We're not supposed to enter other cell blocks. But they'll get in. And they'll make you one of them.
[The thudding increases. It's... slimy. Wet. But there's a palpable amount of force behind it. And a moan. A low and needy cry, halfway to a gargle, like whatever's speaking has forgotten how. Like the monster can only cry it out, wanting nothing else. '"...Amy..."The girl looks at the door. Then at the intruder.
What would her papa say? She's been utterly rude.]
Would you like a cup of tea?
no subject
She turns and looks at the little girl (Amy, the voice said) with an incredulous look on her face. ]
No. We need to get out of here.
no subject
...I don't think you understand.
You live here now. There's no getting out.
[There's a roar on the other end, of pure violent rage. That's far off. Lung is fighting someone again, probably...
The voice continues calling out the name. Like a mantra.]
If you're in here, it's because you belong.
no subject
How am I a monster? How are you a monster?
no subject
That was what I told myself. Before I did something unforgivable.
[A chunk of the door breaks, and a single fleshy arm stretches through the hole, as the monster on the other side cries.]
Ammmyyyy!!!
[Amy looks at the arm, tempted to take it. But she turns to Kyra instead.]
I don't know how you're a monster, miss. But Tattletale probably saw your sins too and threw you in here.
no subject
But the fear she feels? That's real.
She goes silent and tries to hide instead of asking more questions. ]