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etrayamemes2024-04-04 08:46 am
etrayamods) wrote in etrayamemes2024-04-04 08:46 am
Entry tags:
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. |
rain
But it's just them. And Trickster apparently, which is a whole other set of issues that Amy has no real interest in. It might as well just be them.
She'd come down after seeing her through the window, and she pulls to a stop as she sees Lisa in the dirt, laughing to herself.
It's a pitiful sight. If Amy were crueller she might relish in that. But she's not, unfortunately. So all she feels is a twist of not quite pity, not quite sympathy.]
She probably wouldn't be in the dirt, no. [No real question of who it is.] Are you trying to catch hypothermia?
no subject
Worms come out in the rain.
[ Idiot, Tattletale doesn't add. She doesn't need to. Panacea knows that all on her own. ]
I know my limits. Besides - [ Tattletale wiggles her fingers at the other girl in a mockery of a greeting ] - if I go over them, I have you to help me, don't I? The best in the business. Fantastic at the nervous system, I hear.
no subject
There's something frayed at her edges though. Something desperate and unravelling. Second chances. Taylor offered her that. She owes her that much. She probably owes Tattletale that much too, but it's balanced out by the other blood debt she owes.]
You're trying too hard. [Amy crosses her arms, her tattoos peaking out of her sleeves.] I also have better things to do than help you whenever you have the sniffles. I'd never stand in the way of something that might make you shut the fuck up, even for a minute.
Just get inside, Lisa. I don't want to fight you.
no subject
There's that Dallon family hypocrisy. Blah, blah, I don't want to fight you, I have better things to do. You are fighting me, and you don't have shit to do. War's over. We won.
[ You have never heard a less collegial we in your life. ]
I know the rain's gonna fuck me up. It's already making me combative. Don't you wanna know how deep the rabbit hole goes?
no subject
A pang of guilt.
Ugh. Why couldn't it have been anyone else. Trickster is irrelevant to this conversation.]
I'm literally not fighting you. Despite your best efforts to be as annoying as possible.
[Is she even a Dallon anymore? She wonders if that was an intentional jab. Imposter. Adopted. You don't belong here.
Amy pinches the bridge of her nose and groans in exasperation before continuing.]
Yeah, and I imagine we'll find out anyway. You don't have to use yourself as a test subject. [Why is she arguing with someone like this. Tattletale will bury her head in the sand at the implication that she's not making the smartest choice.] Look. We need to talk. I'd prefer to talk to you before you've driven yourself Simurgh levels of insane out of pure curiosity.
no subject
Tattletale grins at the mention of her favorite Endbringer. Doesn't Amy know she's already fucked? Doesn't matter. She stands and puts her hands behind her head, like she's got all the time in the world. ]
Okay. Start talking, and if I decide it's worth my time, then I'll go inside.
no subject
Amy is trying her absolute hardest not to snap. Focus. She thinks of Marquis, holding court amongst people looking to undermine him, people who loath him. Lisa's a villain. One of the more successful ones in the world. That would be how to approach this annoying little -
Amy drags her hands down her face. She has a headache already.]
We're from the same world. [Obviously... There's an element of Amy's tone like she's speaking to a child that needs the basic facts spelled out to them. It's not diplomatic. In fact, it's probably just going to set her off again.] So, theoretically, we're on the same side. Everything we do here is for the same endgame.
So, as much as I don't want to be around you literally ever, we should probably work together. Or at least cooperate.
cw: blood in icon
Side; cooperate; team.
That's fine. Lisa can deal. It's team that irks her, like a needle shoved under a fingernail.
Tattletale stands, but she doesn't move to head inside. Instead, she places one hand on her hips, where she should be carrying her gun, and grins. ]
You think you know my endgame, Panacea? And even if you did, you really think I'd let you help me? The only lives you've saved are the ones that Mommy or Daddy or Vicky told you to.
You fucked the offer. If anyone should be cooperating, it's you. If you want to hang around for minion work, fine. If you want to fuck off, go and ruin someone else's world, even better.
no subject
The request was painful for Skitter - Weaver - Khepri. Taylor. Don't tell Tattletale because she'll get in the way.
The bubbling rage inside of Amy swells. Every time this girl has opened her mouth, she's ruined everything. Wouldn't it be easier if she just fucking killed her?
There's a flare of anger on Amy's face, a pained hiss. It shouldn't hurt - she thought it wouldn't, but it does. Any attempt to be the bigger person - any attempt to try to make things easier - it goes right out the window. If Tattletale wants to be a petulant angry child, Amy can play that game too.
It starts with stepping forward, reaching for Lisa's throat and her tattooed hands which paint a very clear, very bloody message wrapping around Lisa's neck. A dangerous fury in the tilt of her eyes.
Amy doesn't care about the world. She never really did. She doesn't really think Lisa ever did either. Which makes her little speeches pretty fucking rich.]
No wonder your friend chose to kill herself over listening to you for one more moment.
I want you to think long and hard about whether you really want me as an enemy, Tattletale. Because on a personal level? I'd love to hurt you. Maybe I'll start by taking away that precious intelligence of yours.
[She wasn't a cellblock leader - but she might as well have been the heir to one. She doesn't want to revel in the fear that comes from it - but a small vindictive part of her really, really does.]
cw: blood in icon
For a half-second, Lisa waits. It'd be near-instantaneous for Amy's power to surge up Lisa's brain stem. Amy could do anything she wanted to Lisa. Kill her. Make Lisa a vegetable, locked in a hospital room forever. Make Lisa forget. For a half-second, Lisa thinks she might let her.
The problem is, in this great, fucked-up world, one of the things Lisa can't stand the most is a hypocrite.
Tattletale reaches her hands up to claw at Amy's face - her eyes, if she can reach them. (Someone used to always go for the eyes.) She brings a knee up towards Amy's chest. (She used to watch two others play-fight.) The only thing she doesn't do is grin, breathing in huge gulps of air to keep herself alive. ]
no subject
Tattletale has never been much of a fighter. In a lot of ways, she filled a similar role to what Amy did for the Wards. Not a front lines fighter, but support. Someone who hung back to offer help, whether that be through sneering insights or limb restoration - it's a similar principle.
So she sees the attacks coming just from the movement of her spine. They don't make sense. A strike with her hand and with her leg at the same time - knee, based on the way she's readying it. She could take the hit - she probably deserves them - but right now Amy can't really bring herself to give Tattletale the satisfaction.
So she disables her spine. It's simple. Easy.
She's fantasized about this for a long time, whenever she wanted to comfort herself with the thought of revenge, whenever she wanted to pretend like she didn't know who was really at fault for how things turned out. She imagines that Tattletale's probably had similar thoughts.
She could erase the memories, tamper with Lisa's brain, make it so she can't mention what happened to Victoria without throwing up her organs.
Instead she just lets go. Lets her drop limply into the mud.]
I warned you.
cw: spinal cord injury, paralysis, choking, worm spoilers
Lisa spits out dirt, and then grins. Mouth still works. Lungs sort of work. That's all she really needs. If she was letting herself get melodramatic, she'd say that's all she really has. ]
People warn me all the time.
[ Tattletale's voice comes out thin, wheezing and reedy. Her smile doesn't fall. Were it not for her cheek pressed against the ground and her body positioned awkwardly below the neck, she'd look like she's having a blast.
(Her eyes are a little wider. Just a fraction. Without her mask, it's a little easier to note Lisa's tell. She forces herself to blink.)
Here, brought low, in the dirt with its awful absence of bugs, Lisa thinks of Taylor. How she'd try to struggle to her feet anyway, even in the face of impossible odds. Taylor, trying to reach for her one last time, arm shaking before falling to her side.
The world belongs to Taylor. Lisa can't give it up. She takes another thin breath, and then another. ]
I know what your lines are. You aren't teaching me a lesson. But you hate yourself, and your whole world got pulled out from under you, and this makes you feel better, doesn't it? Look at you, miss cell block heiress. All you've gotta do is finish the job.
But you won't. [ They never do. Only one person had the guts to follow through. ]
Because this is a test. And you can't pass a test without information.
[ After everything - every gun to her head - at least Lisa knows her worth. ]
cw for thoughts about lobotomies and other fun horrors, internalized homophobia
Well. They both fell to pieces, didn't they. It's the closest she's ever come to realizing that Tattletale is probably a person. The all knowing eye wouldn't have let Taylor sacrifice herself.
She glares down at her. This pathetic wretch on the ground. She could sew her mouth shut, she could add compulsions to her brain, she could make it so that Lisa had to do what she said or else she'd be overwhelmed by her nerves lighting up in agony. Thoughts that she'd never state out loud. Thoughts she'd never even allow herself to think, except for when she's staring right at the monster that hid under her bed for her entire miserable childhood. The nagging reminder.
You don't belong. You never did.
And yet, Tattletale doesn't look like the monster under her bed. She doesn't look like an all-seeing eye. She just looks like Victoria - bleeding and ugly crying on a basketball court. Except she's certain that Tattletale wouldn't cry. Of course she wouldn't.
Amy takes a breath. Resists the urge to kick her while she's down.]
Does it make you feel better if you pretend that isn't literally what I was just saying not two minutes ago?
[Of course she hates herself. Of course she's a fraud. Of course she doesn't belong. Of course she's a freak and a pervert and a selfish inhuman monster for all the lives she hasn't saved and all the other things she calls herself at night.
She found a way to make peace with that, for a time. And then it all went wrong. Her dad isn't here - just her worst fears.]
I never had the chance to tell you how much you sound like Jack. [She bends down - picks Tattletale up with the huff of breath made by someone who isn't really used to lifting things, and she brings her out of the rain and the mud, sitting her down on a chair in the lobby. Already she can find a trace of relief in it. She restores Tattletale's spine - but in the same surge of power, she blocks the connection between her motor control and her legs. Because clearly she can't be trusted not to just walk right out in the rain.]
I could probably pass this without you. I figured Scion out years before you did, remember? [There's almost a smile there. She never got the chance to rub that in her stupid face.] But there's no point in going at it separately, considering we're representing the same fucking planet. So I wanted to talk.