etrayamods: (Default)
∎ ETRAYA MODS ∎ ([personal profile] etrayamods) wrote in [community profile] etrayalogs2026-04-24 08:32 am

APRIL MINGLE.

❬ ARRIVAL ❭
Welcome to Etraya!

Arrival goes as expected- characters awaken on hospital beds and are offered an explanation of their situation: that they have arrived in the city of Etraya, and they are their world's only hope. They are welcome to wander the hospital if they would like to - the upper floors are mostly empty, full of pristine hallways and numerous rooms filled with supplies, cots, and things one would expect from a relatively average 21st-century hospital.

In the hospital's lobby are several tables with baked goods and treats: strawberry rhubarb muffins, lemon-blueberry muffins, strawberry shortbread cookies, and so on. To drink there is Earl Grey tea, milk, or coffee.

Outside of the hospital the previous decorations from festivities are gone, and all seems relatively normal for those familiar. For those new, this area acts a little as a central hub, with the apartments not far away and the trolley with its two lines similarly nearby. With spring in the air, the temperatures are mild, but warm, and flowers are blooming all around.

The bots will suggest that the newcomers should take the trolley to Bramble Valley, where there are even more awe-inspiring flowers in bloom along the grassy lowlands, but flowers won't be the only thing blooming.

Once they have arrived, further instructions will be given.

❬ FLOWERS WITH A FEELING ❭

While the newcomers are directed in person by the bots to come to Bramble Valley, current residents of Etraya will receive a message urging them to come to a specific location not far from the trolley stop in the area.

The lowlands are covered in various blooms of all types, a veritable kaleidoscope of petals surrounding picnic baskets resting upon blankets in the heart of it all. A single bot awaits within this clearing to give instructions for those arriving for this mini-mission.

While the flowers are plentiful and of vibrant colors, there is a particular type of blossom that everyone is tasked with finding: a type of solitary poppy with petals as clear as glass, which stains with color once touched by a person, forever changed by this connection. This color means something about them, it symbolizes a truth—a deep feeling within them. One might stain red for the love that drives them, but just as likely this could be one's hatred, or anger. How this color represents or defines them is unique to them, but whether or not they understand what it means is another matter.

This flower will serve as the centerpiece of the flower bracelets everyone is expected to make, but the task is only complete when one has likewise spoken to another over what they think their respective colors might mean. This is, fortunately, made all the simpler with the flowers having a somewhat calming effect, making conversation a bit easier for those who might find it difficult otherwise.

Once the task is completed participants will earn 5 points.

❬ PICNIC PALS ❭

Of course all that foraging for elusive flowers will work up an appetite, and what better way to talk about one's feelings and satiate that hunger in one fell swoop than to have a picnic? There are plenty of picnic spots set up to accommodate all the Etrayans, and while one might have their idea of what a picnic basket should have inside of it, not every picnic basket is exactly... predictable.

Some will have sandwiches like ham and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, roast beef—very standard affair. There are others a little unorthodox, pizza in particular filling one basket to the brim, another with steaming bowls of ukha. However, there are those which stray further yet: vials of blood, raw organ meat, solar light, brains, even small crystallized yet alive (and violent) creatures.

While this non-exhaustive list might seem random to some, it isn't quite to others. Maybe someone will want to trade baskets?
❬ MINGLE NOTES ❭
📌 — Welcome to Etraya and happy spring!

📌 — The 5 points are towards the monthly maximum of 25, characters only need to do this once to earn them.

📌 — The flowers themselves do not radiate any detectable magical properties, even the calming effects are something more natural to the flower, even to those of supernatural ability can still be affected by it once they touch the flower.

📌 — A slightly unrelated note, but as it has roughly been a year since their introduction, those who have taken towards training or raising chocobo will find their efforts rewarded! All chocobo colors will be available from any domesticated chocobo hatchlings, except for gold. Rarer ones like black, white, and silver should be rnged for (5% chance) and only come from cross color pairings. The red chocobos won't be able to cause the same destruction as Red Comet (the red chocobo that is currently running free around Etraya), but they have a high chance to have a similarly fiery temperament!

📌 — For all questions relating to this mingle, please refer to the mingle queries comment on this post. Other questions can be directed to the FAQ.
thantagonist: (pic#18406093)

[personal profile] thantagonist 2026-04-25 10:47 am (UTC)(link)
Flowers with a Feeling

[He knows completing whatever they ask is of utmost importance. So he feels a little absurd when he comes up and realizes it’s a field of flowers. Doubly so when he’s instructed to make a flower bracelet. He has never actually made one, considering the activity below him even as a child.

When he approaches to investigate, the flowers around him saturate into a deep red. His heart pounds in his chest to regard them at all. His hands are at least used to delicate work… he very seriously constructs a bracelet with suture thread and flowers as he meditates on what the blood red color might mean.]


Why don’t you go first? I’m still constructing mine.

Picnic Pals

[He looks sort of out of place here. In a big, black leather coat with panels of snakeskin leather for the arms. He leans over baskets, peering inside. Bags of Blood. Oh dear. Curiosity has the best of him as he seems determined to check them all.

Fried fish? And this one piled with triangular slabs of flat bread?]


This is surely no way to pack a basket. Are we meant to eat this? There was blood in the one over there.
betenoir: (205)

Renoir | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

[personal profile] betenoir 2026-04-25 06:05 pm (UTC)(link)

OTA | The Artist
cw: painting without a license
[Renoir studies the world as sterile apartments and streetlights are replaced by verdant fields and trees. These surroundings lack the picturesque colour and untouched beauty of the continent, but there are scenes to appreciate. He unwinds once the trolley heads outside the city and opens his sketchbook to remember what he sees. Be that the land flying by or fellow passengers.

Blooms and blossoms. Leaves and stems. Their destination overwhelms the senses with a magical and aromatic scent; a heady combination of citrus and honey or sugar and spice. He establishes himself on the border of a meadow, inhaling the scent of lavender while erecting an easel and canvas, and begins drawing everything and everyone in view.]



OTA | The Flower
cw: criminal foraging
[One flower, solitary and special, with a distinctive appearance. This poppy grows one meter out the ground - thriving and alive - but is plucked at the stem and broken in a second. White and milky sap coats old and wizened fingers, which roll the thin and hairy stem between calluses earned across a lifetime of painting, while five petals stain a deep red.

His throat rumbles in consideration before he speaks.]


What force can lift one from the heights of despair or drive them into madness?

[The answer is love.]



OTA | The Basket
cw: afternoon drinking
[Renoir stretches across a woollen blanket; a crimson throw detailed with patterns of golden flora. He murmurs while kneading his thigh, loosening snarled and tangled muscle, before loosening the knots around his knee. He begins sorting the basket with one hand, packing cheese and tapenade, withdrawing one glass together with a green bottle of chartreuse.

Opposite is an empty plate littered with crumbs, beside which is a bowl of unfinished stew. One handful of peas and beans soaking in a light broth, together with a couple of chunks of lamb.

He looks at his glass for one second before gently tossing it onto the blanket. He then unscrews the bottle and drinks from the neck.]

rudelanguage: (pic#17730078)

basket

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2026-04-25 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh, sure - when other people eat on the ground, it's no big deal, but when I mind my own damn business having a snack, it's "Antigone, noooo, think of the diseases," or "Pending, nooooo, that's expired."

the thought hits some seconds after stopping and noticing that the old man wasn't sitting there because he hurt his leg or something. it was a choice. and now she has a choice as to whether to continue the cycle of nagging about ground-eating or not.

she doesn't so much take the high road as like...a parallel road so it feels somewhat different even if it's in the same direction.]


The giant birds're gonna jump you for leavin' all that on the ground, y'know. [she pads over, the red riding hood skirts she'd been forced into at the park stuffed into a disorderly wad in her arms (shoulda kept the basket).]
unalienated: (011)

Flowers with a Feeling

[personal profile] unalienated 2026-04-26 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ The man Daniil has accidentally addressed is done making a bracelet. In fact, he has made several of them, as well as a necklace and a flower crown.

He's in the process of making a second flower crown currently and he seems to be having the time of his life.
]

Mine turned yellowish? Yellowish green? I think it means friendship.

[ He is mistaken, but there's no rule that says he has to be right. ]

That's a nice shade of red. It reminds me of arterial blood.
thantagonist: (pic#18406108)

[personal profile] thantagonist 2026-04-26 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
[Daniil looks up to regard this… man completely adorned in flowers. He clearly had none of the trouble Daniil did with just weaving them together. He frowns at that yellowy-green color.]

Friendship looks like sickness to you?

[It does indeed look like arterial blood. Which begs the question—]

How come you’re familiar with such a thing?
unalienated: (003)

[personal profile] unalienated 2026-04-26 12:19 am (UTC)(link)
Most people have seen blood, haven't they? When it's arterial it's so much brighter, it's hard to forget.

[ He looks at his own yellowish flower. ]

... you think it looks like sickness? I thought it was friendly. Yellow is a friendly color.
numinousname: (pic#18314467)

you asked for this ✨

[personal profile] numinousname 2026-04-26 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
[by contrast, the flowers where Tristan has knelt keep their varied array, save for the particular breed that they were tasked in finding: that one, carefully being cupped against a burst of wind, seems rather dark. but it can be hard to see with the wind kicking up and scattering petals about.

the man's voice carries on that breeze, too, however, and Tristan lifts their head to scan about for sight of the source. they blink, brushing bangs out of their face as they straighten and, upon realizing they don't recognize the face, smile wanly.

Go first, he said?]


Ah... Do you mean in searching? I've found one of the target plants already, I believe. Come see. It can be yours, if you need one in a hurry.
betenoir: (087)

[personal profile] betenoir 2026-04-26 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
[Renoir tilts his head back and lowers the bottle from his mouth. He was aware of her passing by till she was not - and now like her he has a choice to make. He could respond with a blunt and honest truth. I have faced worse creatures. But the weather is good and liqueur has him in a warm and stubborn mood.]

I will sit where I want and leave when I please.

[This is a public space and the space on the opposite side of the blanket offers enough room for his guest to do the same.]
rudelanguage: (pic#17713223)

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2026-04-26 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
[there's no move to take up that spot - there's been no offer, and Knife's had it about up to here with all the friction they've been getting lately - but Antigone doesn't mosey on, either.

instead, she cocks her head, one eye squinting.]


You gonna throw down with a big bird if they start somethin'? [Might be worth watching.]
thantagonist: (pic#18406093)

[personal profile] thantagonist 2026-04-26 01:16 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, I suppose most people have seen blood. But the specificity of that strikes me. Where have you seen such a thing?

[He gives him a quizzical, incredulous look.]

…War? A hospital? [He’s trying to get a read on this guy.]

Perhaps it is my own experiences coloring my perceptions. I was dealing with a horrible plague just before— Nevermind. Sure, yellow is a friendly color. [He sounds unconvinced, decked out in black and red with a four sort of disposition.]
betenoir: (133)

[personal profile] betenoir 2026-04-26 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
Would that amuse you?

[The scene is absurd and surreal enough to appeal to him. He paints the image in his mind, revealing nothing but a flash of emotion that twitches the corners of his mouth. He bows his head before gesturing the bottle in emphasis.]

No. The weather is too good and I am too lazy.

[This is a world away from the world he knows and he is going to indulge himself.]
thantagonist: (pic#18406104)

[personal profile] thantagonist 2026-04-26 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
[This fellow with unnatural colors. He’s not even sure what all they are, genderly speaking, but he notes the pointed ears and the peculiar hair. A very beautiful and strange person, that’s for certain. Daniil trips over his words as he regards the other.]

Oh, no— I’ve found mine… [He looks down to his hands where he’s pierced its base with needle and suture thread to make a bracelet.]

I’m just not sure what to make of it. The sight of it… makes me uneasy, I suppose. But I’m in no great rush otherwise.
unalienated: (004)

[personal profile] unalienated 2026-04-26 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
Both? Sort of? I have a weird job.

[ Gary doesn't appear to be carrying any of the weight war veterans usually carry though, he seems quite light.

He's also holding out a flower crown to Daniil. (o゜▽゜)o❁❁❁
]

I'm— was, I was a time agent. My current job title is on the air now.
thantagonist: (pic#18406088)

[personal profile] thantagonist 2026-04-26 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
I suppose my own work is in the air. [twice over. He was a thanatologist. He’s now a lot of things. Detective, doctor, epidemiologist, babysitter, junior inquisitor— the list goes on and fucking on.]

What is a time agent?

[part of him squeezes together. A man who works in time? He gazes at the flower crown and takes it awkwardly. He just holds it for now.]
numinousname: (pic#18314471)

[personal profile] numinousname 2026-04-26 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
[their withered, scarred hands withdraw from the darkened blossom without fully committing to plucking it, instead letting their hands settle in their lap as they listen. Tristan regards Daniil thoughtfully with a slight cant of their head - the fumbling could be natural, or there could be something amiss they may need to help with, so it's good to be mindful.

their eyes drift to his hands, mouth quirking up softly on one side.]


You're steps ahead of me, I see. If you're the teaching sort, perhaps you'll be able to help me? But... [they look back up at his face, searching.] Later. Uneasy, you said? Could you tell me why?
rudelanguage: (pic#18262124)

[personal profile] rudelanguage 2026-04-26 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
[she shrugs one shoulder. it wouldn't be funny so much as something to do -- something to be annoyed at that feels more weighty than just...being annoyed at everything.

her gaze flicks to the bottle and then away with disinterest. beardy-people all over this city just love their booze and frankly? the appeal's kinda lost on Knife, try though they have. it's only made them miserable and talkative, instead of just the former. whatever floats their beardy boats, they suppose...]


...Right. Well, don't let me ruin the mood.
godsandbats: Icon made by <user name=pyrophoric> (Foretelling vile)

Picnic Pals

[personal profile] godsandbats 2026-04-26 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
[Kirk also oddly sticks out. Except with him, it's because of the red sunglasses, dark brimmed hat, and matching dark clothes. Naturally, the mention of blood gets Kirk's attention. He takes a peek at that basket as well]

Some of these are probably not meant for the general population.

[Him on the other hand...]
unalienated: (010)

[personal profile] unalienated 2026-04-26 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
We kept the timeline safe! There were some issues with a... some historical figures ending up where they shouldn't be.

[ He starts on a new flower crown almost mindlessly. ]

thantagonist: (pic#18406093)

[personal profile] thantagonist 2026-04-26 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
…And what do you do when you find these historical figures in the wrong place?

[He asks, wincing.] And how do they get in the wrong places?

[He watches the other man just automatically make a flower crown and regards the one in his hands. Should he put it on? He looks around. Is everyone else wearing one?]

I really have a lot of questions about this— You travel time?

[He forces himself to hold his horses before he asks more questions than the other man can keep track of.]
unalienated: (004)

[personal profile] unalienated 2026-04-26 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
We return them to their own time after making sure they don't remember their misadventure.

[ He's having no trouble following, this is par for the course for him. ]

Occasionally large events can cause ripples to the timeline, occasionally displacing people. Before the agency existed, there was a different organization, but it turned out they were corrupt— that whole thing happened before I was hired. I do travel in time, and occasionally live outside time altogether.
thantagonist: (pic#18406108)

pathologic 3 spoilers for those who care

[personal profile] thantagonist 2026-04-26 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Daniil comes in conspiratorially close.]

What if a very important immortal man died, but happened to potentially bestow the ability to time travel unto another man. But just for a limited window of time. Say. Twelve days? Does that sound like a significant problem?
thantagonist: (pic#18406105)

[personal profile] thantagonist 2026-04-26 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
[How’d they turn this around onto him? They were just taking advantage of his good nature, clearly. He had lectured before. He’s taught, too. He tries not to make a habit of it with his limited patience, but—]

I can’t possibly teach you to make a flower bracelet. I’m stringing this together on a needle. Even I know that’s not how children do it.

But just look at the color. Blood. Someone like me just turning a perfectly beautiful flower the color of an exsanguination.

[His eyes fall to the withered, scarred hands. Now what happened there?]
unalienated: (003)

[personal profile] unalienated 2026-04-26 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
Aah... potentially, maybe. Uhm.

Was the immortal man... I mean, if you were to describe him, would you say he was somewhere in the realm of evil and sexy?

[ This is so important. There are so many evil and sexy immortals out there, knocking out either qualifier would narrow the suspects so much. ]
thantagonist: (pic#18406110)

[personal profile] thantagonist 2026-04-26 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
Don’t tell me it’s for the “vampires”.

[He had already been through this with Antigone.]

Someone here already tried to see what I wouldn’t swallow. I’m no fool.

[He looks the man over and squints. He’s just fashionable, right?]

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