saltburnmods: (Default)
๐–˜๐–†๐–‘๐–™๐–‡๐–š๐–—๐–“๐–™ ๐–’๐–”๐–‰๐–˜. ([personal profile] saltburnmods) wrote in [community profile] draino2024-09-07 10:00 am
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๐ˆ ๐ƒ๐Ž๐'๐“ ๐๐Ž๐‘๐Œ๐€๐‹๐‹๐˜ ๐‹๐ˆ๐Š๐„ ๐‚๐‡๐Ž๐‚๐Ž๐‹๐€๐“๐„ ๐‚๐€๐Š๐„ โ–ฃ SEPT TDM





SEPTEMBER 2024 TDM: LUGHNASADH


Welcome to SALTBURNT, a panfandom smut/thriller game based off the film Saltburn, where characters are encouraged to indulge their deepest desires. The money never runs out and the liquor never stops pouring, so you may as well indulge from the bounty. Of course, things are rarely what they seem, and the manor itself seems to have a consciousness of its own. Throw parties, trash the house, engage in youthful merriment, but remember โ€” dangers come out at night, and no one, no matter how rich you are, is safe from demons lurking in the shadows.

Threads can be considered game canon, provided the players agree. Players can also start fresh upon acceptance into the game. In game characters can post to the TDM directly, using ยซ NEW CHARACTER/IN GAMEยป in the header. There will be a spot below for new characters to link their toplevels for easy access. Alternatively, prompts on the Test Drive can be used for in game logs.







WELCOME TO SALTBURNT


It's the hangover more than the light streaming in through half drawn curtains that wakes you up, your brain rattling in your skull, your mouth dry and cottony, your stomach churning with whatever it is you drank last night. If self preservation is your strong suit, you might turn over in bed and see a few painkillers laid out for you on a silver dish, accompanied by a glass of water. If it isnโ€™t, stay in bed and wallow โ€” eventually a maid will be in to tear your curtains open, saying, "Breakfast is served," and scurrying out quietly, invisibly. Breakfast? Maybe itโ€™s normal for you. Maybe it isnโ€™t.

You're drawn from the room, either by the mystery, or an undefinable urge that could be supernatural in origin, or could be your hunger catching up to you. It's almost nostalgic, the walk to the dining room โ€” have you been here before? Were you drawn up to this estate in a car? Havenโ€™t you done all this already? Maybe you mosey around a library, maybe you run into your suite mate in your adjoining bathroom. Regardless, seemingly all hallways, covered in priceless artworks and ancient relics from times long past, lead to the dining room, where a comically long table houses the Balfours and their many guests, some who seem just as disgruntled and confused as you. No matter. "Breakfast will be out in a minute," they say. What's that?

EDIT SEPTEMBER 2024: For those who have attended breakfast with the Balfours before, a change in routine might come as a shock, given how rarely they stray from form. However, as of September, CARMY BERZATTO has taken over Head Chef position, alongside his cousin RICHIE JERIMOVICH and always the bridesmaid never the bride, SANJI. In place of the self-serve style breakfast, there is an elevated menu, including: a self-serve juice bar, with pitchers of various juiced fruit and vegetables, shaved ice, coconut water, green and black tea syrups, potted microherbs, sliced whole berries, and finger limes. There is also, naturally, liquor and champagne available. Guests can make their own drinks, or ask the allocated staff member to serve them one of the "specials" if they're feeling adventurous.

That said, these are world class chefs, so the gold is really in the menu:
THE EGGS

๐“๐‡๐„ ๐‰๐Ž๐๐“๐˜: one runny boiled egg shelled and recoated in edible gold leaf, seated on a throne of fried bread soldiers, plated with whipped butter and italian parsley.
๐„๐†๐†๐’ ๐๐„๐๐„๐ƒ๐ˆ๐‚๐“: vinegar poached eggs with hollandaise foam on a bed of toasted freekah and baby spinach.
๐„๐†๐†๐’ ๐’๐‡๐€๐Š๐€๐’๐‡๐Ž๐”๐Š๐€: two eggs poached in a ramekin of pureed tomato, served with a crispy grilled cheese cut to dip.
๐“๐‡๐„ ๐’๐˜๐ƒ๐๐„๐˜: french omelette with a light cheese filling, topped with crushed potato chips and chives.
๐Ž๐„๐”๐…๐’ ๐๐‘๐Ž๐”๐ˆ๐‹๐‹๐„๐’: fluffy scrambled eggs in brown butter, served on sourdough.
๐’๐๐€๐๐ˆ๐’๐‡ ๐“๐€๐‘๐“: mini-quiche made with caramelized red onions and jamon pata negra ham.
๐„๐†๐† ๐Œ๐‚๐’๐€๐๐ƒ๐–๐ˆ๐‚๐‡: bacon, egg, cheese and sausage breakfast muffin that tastes weirdly like it was made at a popular chain with golden arches.

THE SWEETS

โ– momofuku's "cereal milk" โ–
โ– fette biscottate with a sour cherry jam and peanut floss โ–
โ– a warm cinnamon bun served with a shot of espresso coffee for dipping โ–
โ– a macadamia-marzipan croissant with a wattleseed and burnt-honey filling โ–
โ– poffertjes with a liquid nutella injection โ–


If you want to leave, youโ€™ll have to tell Giles, the housekeeper, who will arrange a car for you that mysteriously, or perhaps suspiciously, never arrives. Unfortunately, confronting Giles about it is near impossible, as heโ€™s as good at being invisible as the rest of the house staff. Of course, thereโ€™s no reason why you canโ€™t just walk out. The front gates are easy enough to jump over, even if the walk towards them gives you a strange sense of foreboding, or just outright discomfort, as if the ground itself doesnโ€™t want you to leave. Those more sensitive or fragile might find they canโ€™t make the jump, no matter how physically able, or desperately wanting. Still, a strong person could continue on, over the fence and into the lush English countryside. The feeling doesnโ€™t dissipate, though โ€” this sense of wrongness, almost sickness, like a weight on your back. Walk into the evergreen, carry on, but the strongest will make it perhaps a mile or so before the weight of dread and paranoia brings you to your knees, and then to your face, flat in the middle of a dirt road. What were you thinking? Is this really better?

Wake up with a hangover, in a bed, the curtains drawn, the maid saying, "Breakfast is served," before scurrying out. The painkillers are there, just like you remember. In fact, itโ€™s all exactly how you remember, as if you never left an imprint the first time, or any mess you made was cleared away while your back was turned. Walk to the dining room, find everyone there eating away at their breakfast.

"We dress for dinner," says Portia, with a kind, if discerning smile. "Black tie."




ITSY BITSY TEENIE WEENIE

CONTENT WARNINGS: drugs, alcohol, nudity, potential for nsfw.
POOLSIDE PLAYLIST courtesy of Robin

It's an innocent enough, offhand suggestion from the mouth of one (1) DIARMUID about wanting to learn how to paint, and honestly, the house couldn't agree more: a party is necessary. As August winds down, it's important to go out with a bang, and what better way than through an explosive end of summer pool party? To say goodbye to the waning summer nights, the manor is throwing a pool party with an artistic neon twist. Per the growing complications of everyone's relationship status in this new age of bisexuality, polygamy, and pegging, glow-in-the-dark bracelets with matching solo cups have been set out with the appropriate labels โ€”ย TAKEN, SINGLE, OPEN, and IT'S COMPLICATED, depending on your interest. Lounge by the water in your cutest bikini or trunks or nothing at all and engage in some very relaxing full-body painting using the supplies provided โ€” that is, the paint is supplied, though brushes and sponges are few and far between. Better just to use your own body to paint your masterpiece. Put yourself on display as a model by the pool, or engage in a brutally competitive game of chicken fights, wherein the loser loses their clothes and the winner gets to keep them.

Not your style? Sneak off somewhere more private like the twinkling gardens illuminated with multicolored tiki lamps, lakeside decorated with bio-luminescent rocks, or the (perfectly safe, wolfless, we promise) maze to indulge in your inner desires. You might find that certain colors glow beneath the moonlight and unlock desires youโ€™ve kept tightly under lock and key. It's hard not to feel impulsive or unrestrained under the full moon's light, with your body paint as armor. People might appear more attractive to you under this witching light like a magic spell cast โ€” but really, you havenโ€™t had any trouble with that, here. Have you?

If youโ€™re thirsty, the house has tasked RICHIE, CARMY, and SANJI (dressed as cabana boys) with an extensive poolside drinks menu, since theyโ€™ve been so helpful with breakfast. Thanks, boys. Ask them for anything. In fact, ask them for everything. They're here to serve.

As the night closes out, turn your eyes heavenward for a spectacular fireworks show. Many apologies to those of you who suffer from PTSD; you can head inside for an early night and cover your ears with a pillow, but do be careful not to suffocate yourself, unless you're into that. The fireworks shimmer and shatter, and those watching closely might start to see hidden messages written in the stars for you, though is that your eyes playing tricks? Better ask that friend youโ€™re snuggled up with. As anxiety weighs a little heavier on your heart, you might feel compelled to confess a few secrets on this last night of summer, big or small, something loving or not. Seek out that destructive habit, or take some steps toward healing. Let the fireworks drown out the noise.






FRUITS OF LABOUR


CONTENT WARNINGS: body horror, gore, cannibalism.

Saying goodbye to summer means welcoming in the new season, and as August nights turn into September mornings, the landscape of the grounds changes from verdant greens to egg yolk yellow and sunburnt orange, a gradient of autumnal colors. To that end, a week long festival erects outside to enjoy the last of the year's good weather โ€” a generous harvest bounty fills up tables and tables of ample displays, full of ripened fruits and fresh baked breads, baked potatoes roasted in the coals of a bonfire, sausages, wheels of cheese, marshmallows, cider and apple juice, tomato soup, apple and blackberry compote, rhubarb crumble, all richly decorated in sunset hues. Among the servings, anyone with a birthday in August or September will find themselves a individualized cake, perhaps with some motif to define them, otherwise just with the harvest decorations of gourds, leaves, wheat, and fruit. Alongside that, a new smaller maze has been made from hay bales on the lawn. During the day it's just a silly and fun maze, but at night it takes on a new form and characters can easily become lost and find themselves in a maze that seems to go on forever, with the ominous lowing of a bull somewhere in the distance. Luckily, everyone is released at daybreak, maybe a little traumatized, but all in one piece.

What would a festival be, without some games to indulge in? Around the celebratory grounds, there are four pumpkins painted gold, hidden around the festival. Anyone who finds one is entitled to a boon from your very generous hosts (join the race HERE). Hunting not to your tastes after the last few goose chases? No worries, there's plenty still to do โ€” from apple bobbing, jumping over bonfires, throwing discus/shotput, horseshoes, and more, it's a festival jam packed with games and prizes to be won, from little jars of handmade jam from France, to stuffed chicken plushies, to tin cans with the labels ripped off, full of ... well, it's anyone's guess, really. Crack it open and find out!

In honor of the handfasting ceremony, characters are selected at random and tied together at the wrist, much to everyone's amusement. Once knotted, the ribbon will not give way under any physical or magical duress, meaning you'll be stuck together until the tie undoes on its own. It could be day, a night, two nights, or more, but it seems like the ribbon is waiting for something in particular โ€”ย a genuine heart to heart, maybe? Consummating the marriage? Hopefully you like the person you're tied to, because you're going to be spending a lot of time with your temporary spouse, in immediately close quarters.

At the end of the week, there's a final end of summer ceremony, wherein the vampire ARMAND is given special homage for being an especially adored guest, donned in floral regalia and ordained with crowns of flowers, much to his growing malcontent. In fact, he and all the vampires present in house seem to be given the regal treatment from the staff with less grand flower crowns of their own, honored at the head of the festival's final gluttonous table, lined with naked, giggling bodies covered in autumnal produce, sprouting mushrooms, blooming flowers, and distinctly meaty dishes โ€” steak and kidney pie, blood sausage, pumpkins stuffed with zebra meat. It's only after you drink the wildflower tea and locally (Very, Locally) crafted beer that things start to feel a little off. The happy bodies used as serving platters look sometimes, between one blink and the next, like masticated corpses, the gourds and fruits set more deeply in the cornucopia their opened chest cavities make. Despite that, there's no real sense of death in the air โ€” get a better look, and you might find the veins of the dead work more like the vines for the plants, giving them life.

The question becomes: which is the hallucination? The smiling faces or the blooming corpses?

Though hysteria rankles through the crowd the more people come to terms with the visions they're seeing, given the population at the head of the table, it's a fairly easy riddle to crack. Can vampires eat the cursed food? In short: yes, they can. Sorry we made you eat people again.



DIRECTORY


delinquence: (come back in)

welcome

[personal profile] delinquence 2024-09-11 10:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Mickey had stumbled downstairs in a state of wary confusion, wracking his brain to try to figure out just who the fuck he'd gone home with last night and how they'd ended up at what was, near as he could tell, some kind of rich person bed and breakfast shit. He didn't have the patience to deal with any of it before coffee and food, so he'd sat down, kept his head down, and dug into his own piled-high plate without so much as a glance at the others. Anyone here would surely pick him out as not belonging, and then there'd be a fuckton of awkward questions on both sides.

That voice, though -- he's startled mid-bite and almost chokes when he looks over the couple of empty seats in between them and spots the last person he ever thought he'd see again. ]


Gallagher?!

[ He catches himself and immediately lowers his voice and scoots down to fill in the seat next to Ian. ]

What the fuck, man? I'm not complaining, but how did we even get here? This place belong to one of your boyfriends?
seventails: (reassessing)

Fall Festival

[personal profile] seventails 2024-09-11 11:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Pian Ran blinks in surprise as a glass of brown liquid is thrust into her face, but she is always game to try something new, especially drinks, especially if they're described as 'amazing'. Taking the glass, she sniffs at it: apples. Not even fermented apples, but, fine, if it's that special maybe she can steal and bury a jug somewhere for a few weeks. She sips. Oh. That is special. "Very sweet apples. Do they put honey in it?" The apples in the human realms in her part of the world haven't had the benefit of quite as many centuries of selective breeding to make them plump and sweet.

Since he was right about one thing, she's more inclined to believe him talking up some kind of cakes. "Which ones are the ... chocolate? I don't know that kind."

She keeps her hands wrapped around the glass of apple juice. This is her glass of apple juice now, so hopefully you didn't want it back.
seventails: (guarded)

[personal profile] seventails 2024-09-11 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[Go into the maze, they said. It'll be fun, they said. Well. Now Pian Ran has learned what a 'maze' is, but she has not yet learned where the fun is inside it, and she considers herself to be something of an expert on the topic of fun.

From what she can tell, the purpose of a maze is to be lost on purpose. It reminds her of the canyons of the Barren Abyss, which she can't recommend to anyone as a place to call home. After centuries of living there, she still had found herself lost sometimes in those twisting passages. It's not an experience she ever wanted to relive. She'd made it out at great cost, but apparently, here in this region, humans find this sort of thing to be fun.

Pian Ran stops short when someone almost runs into her, eyes widening in surprise and then curiosity. Someone pretty, with hair the color of barley.

When the girl looks back, Pian Ran looks past her in the direction of the unknown threat, but she doesn't see anything.]


Someone you didn't want to meet? [Pian Ran offers, finishing the girl's sentence.]
goodgal: (TV 041)

pool party, 1

[personal profile] goodgal 2024-09-11 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)
The last pool Tiff ever sat in had been a motel sharer, shaped like a heart with all the neon lights pointing down like some kind of 80's fever dream. It had been real romantic; she and Chucky had slit a guys throat and watched him sink down with two bricks tied to his ankles while they toasted two shirley temples. This thing is bigger, of course - could hold a whole football team.

She isn't swimming in it. Not today, not tomorrow - chlorine always messes with the bleach, always gets the tone just shy of green-yellow. Instead she saunters around the back in her one-piece and sheer robe, unlit cigarette in hand, quietly looking for the necessities: rope, chlorine, tarp. All the stuff a girl might need while on a little vacation from the void.

She finds Carmy instead, cigarette lit, and weighs him up. A little shorter; nice face. The kind of pretty boy that always looks sweet when they're begging. She smiles wide, says, near embarrassed: "Can you believe I left my lighter in my room? You wouldn't happen to have one, would you sweetface?"
seventails: (pleasant)

Itsy Bitsy

[personal profile] seventails 2024-09-12 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
[Pian Ran has been glad for a little peace and quiet after a long, fun day, and it's been several long, fun days in a row since she arrived. She'd never thought that she'd ever get tired of fun, but she finds as she sits alone in the dark garden that there's a melancholy side to her nature that sometimes needs to be indulged. Some part of her had always just assumed that she was melancholy when there was no fun available, but now that she's faced with more fun than she knows what to do with, she may need to admit that sometimes she chooses the melancholy.

Still, she's glad for the reprieve when a pretty girl flops down onto the bench beside her to make friends. Both of them have flawless hair, cute bikinis, and green bracelets, and both are covered in glowing paint of variable artistic merit, which altogether seems like an excellent basis for a friendship.]


Pian Ran. [She gives a smile in greeting, then turns her body toward Caroline to offer her full attention, resting her elbow on the back of the bench. Tilting her head to one side, she watches Caroline with an intensity that isn't quite human, and doesn't offer further niceties just yet. She wants to find out what Caroline will do, and whether Caroline has sought her out for some specific purpose or if this genuinely is just drunk girl friendliness.]
raro: (005)

lydia deetz - beetlejuiceยฒ

[personal profile] raro 2024-09-12 12:43 am (UTC)(link)

๐Ÿ”ฎ WELCOME TO SALTBURN(T)


At breakfast, she downs a pill along with her OJ and eggs. Then she downs another, smiles awkwardly at the person next to her and says: "Sorry, I get really bad indigestion - did you want the butter? No? God, sorry, the water, right -"

All of it is very nice, very filling. She barely eats a thing, and is on her feet with a mostly full plate left behind as soon as it's acceptable to go. "Sorry, sorry, it's just, I have a kid - a teenager, you know how they are. I have to find her, sorry - it was great!"

Astrid, as it happens, is not here. There's no sign of her, or that she's ever existed here. This fills her with a familiar dread; it fills her with a familiar melancholy. In one of the drawing rooms, where some of the family's music albums are, so sits down, draws her hands across her face and says, absently: "This isn't the afterlife, is it?" Not as she knows it, however briefly she saw it.

Later, as the sun sets, she's sitting by the entrance, checking her watch, foot tapping. Strained smile in place, arms folded across her chest, waiting, waiting. "They said they'd bring a car, but it's been - christ, two hours?" The car, of course, isn't coming. That much becomes obvious by hour three.


๐Ÿ”ฎ ITSY BITSY TEENIE WEENIE


Her cup says It's Complicated, because it is. She wishes it were as simple as taken, or single, or just flat out not interested. She dips her toes in the pool, black one-piece and over-sized sun-hat blocking out most of the sun. If you sit next to her, she looks a little frantic, asks: "Do you have a cigarette? Please, god, tell me you do."

Or, later, she wanders through the maze. She's drawn to the rocks like a moth, curious and wildly bored on her own. Never in her life did she think she'd ever miss her step-mother this badly. Never in her life did she think she'd be holding a glowing rock and thinking, god, what if I had married that old pervert? It's been a long week - it's been a long life.


๐Ÿ”ฎ FRUITS OF LABOUR


It happens all too late, all before she really grasps what's happening. The ribbon is around her hands, then yours, and she smiles so painfully awkwardly and says: "Oh geez, no, no thank you, I'm already - oh, it's stuck, oh fuck -" as she gives a particularly hard pull and gets nowhere.

A beat of silence passes from her, and then, frantically: "Scissors - we need scissors, and I need a cigarette, or five, someone's gotta have at least one of 'em."


๐Ÿ”ฎ NETWORK


Has anyone ever made it out the gates ... I have something I'm ****REALLY**** late for ... and a teenager back home ...
queenking: ([up] he said WHAT)

[personal profile] queenking 2024-09-12 01:08 am (UTC)(link)
well that's just plain ignorance. when were you born, dollface?

i dunno i woke up here after a girl's night and bam. weird fuckin cult shit.

haha. "pack". okay yeah i know moon stuff, is that weird? dunno it down to the MINUTE like some people, but i keep an eye on that. keeps me oriented. why's it matter to YOU?
unconscionable: (076)

[personal profile] unconscionable 2024-09-12 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
Depends what horrified and terrified you. For some reason I can't imagine you stymied by the morality.

[ Dry teasing. Not entirely true, Armand binds himself in worship, he knows, external guidelines. Some of which are John's now. ]

You're so in love with him it hurts to look at. That makes everything else matter a bit less.
queenking: ([up] okay but i'm cute)

[personal profile] queenking 2024-09-12 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
yeah u did but it's cool cause i think this is all some weird hallucination shit anyways

we can be best friends, sugarplum <3
kobes: ([:|] wary)

[personal profile] kobes 2024-09-12 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
No? Why not? [Interesting โ€“ the accent isnโ€™t like the ones Kobyโ€™s heard thus far, lilting and nearly musical in a way that reminds him of different seas, different islands. At this point, though, he anticipates that anyone he meets is from a similar world to the one Saltburnt dwells in โ€“ an Earth, with continents and history and governments very unlike the ones he knows. The languidly lounging blond man must be from one of said continents (not America, which seems overwhelmingly popular).

Tucking the front flap of the dust jacket into the pages to save his spot, Koby sits up a little straighter, shifting so heโ€™s cross-legged, book in his lap.
] He was, overwhelmingly, but โ€“ not by everyone. His security seems alarmingly lax, too, especially so soon after a war. [Koby thinks he probably couldโ€™ve done a better job. He couldโ€™ve saved Lincoln and earned his eternal gratitude and then they wouldโ€™ve become best friends and...]

Ah, no. We have the World Government and the Marines and then various pirate Warlords and Emperors and things. Nothing democratically elected, really. [He drums his fingers on the book for a moment, thoughtfully.] Democracy seems to haveโ€ฆpros and cons to it.
kobes: ([:|] now what)

[personal profile] kobes 2024-09-12 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
[The โ€œsweetieโ€ gets an even more furious blush, but Koby clears his throat, settling his book in his lap and trying his best to be polite and friendly.] Um, Koby. Iโ€™m from the East Blue? Itโ€™s โ€“ not in anyoneโ€™s world, really. I donโ€™t expect anyone to know about it.

[A little sadly; heโ€™s woefully homesick, deep down, and it aches like a bruise whenever he thinks about his world.

Then, eyebrow arching:
] Youโ€™re correct, but you seem very calm about the whole multiverse situation. Why?
kobes: ([:(] there there)

end of summer

[personal profile] kobes 2024-09-12 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
[Kobyโ€™s made a hasty retreat from the table โ€“ right around when he swallowed a mouthful of what had ostensibly been strawberries but went down thick, cloying, iron-rich, making him think of โ€“ no, heโ€™s not thinking of it, heโ€™s lurching to his feel, heโ€™s leaving, heโ€™s wiping his sleeve across his juice (blood) strained mouth and trying not to think of it. The presence of anyone else doesnโ€™t register right away, not when heโ€™s trying so hard not to think, not to breathe in, not to be, and it takes the appearance of the smoke, the aura of something very, very bad to snap him out of it.

When he does, the urge is there to bolt, again, that or freeze, animal instinct locking Kobyโ€™s knees where he stands. Itโ€™d be safer, his senses scream, getting as far away as humanly possible from the source of that smoke. All the newfound abilities, the aura sensing, the awareness of someone elseโ€™s energy โ€“ it all feels rubbed raw, abraded by the presence of whatever is emanating from Set.

But: Set. He looks panicked, fearful, just as much as Koby is, if not more. And the fight/flight/freeze impulse is ignored, just like that, in favor of moving forward, hand outstretched, meaning to rest just above that bracelet, try to catch Setโ€™s attention, try to help. Kobyโ€™s still nauseated, still shivery from his own abrupt realization of what the food was, but he still keeps his voice calm, his gaze earnest.
]

Itโ€™s not real. Itโ€™s all right, itโ€™s not real. [He doesnโ€™t know that, not for sure, but he says it like he does.] Come on, letโ€™s โ€“ get a little farther away, okay? Itโ€™s all right, youโ€™re safe. Just โ€“ keep moving. [Out of sight, out of mind, he hopes.]
kobes: ([:|] don't be suspicious)

[personal profile] kobes 2024-09-12 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
[Maybe it's the lessons from Shanks, but Koby can almost feel that edge of anxiety, sharp and thrumming and fragile, emanating from Usopp's blank, staring smile. Granted, it's not a huge leap to assume such a thing; very natural, actually. Of course he's anxious. Koby's anxious and he's been here for months now.

So he does his best to stay calm, carefully setting a hand on Usopp's shoulder. He's gonna hold your hand as he says this, buddy.
]

We...might be a little less than all good. I think you should sit down, though, before I tell you. [Because if you faint and drown in the pool, the Straw Hats are going to be really put out.]
dead_tongue: (voila)

[personal profile] dead_tongue 2024-09-12 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
why do you think that?

yay! I've never had a best friend, really. I'm Iggy.
preborns: ([up] genuine smile)

itsy bitsy teenie weenie

[personal profile] preborns 2024-09-12 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
Youโ€™re doing well. [Aliaโ€™s voice is gentle as she sits down close to Lauralae, her own bathing suit leaving a lot less to the imagination, curls tumbling from her high ponytail, over her shoulders. She smiles, sipping at her cup โ€“ purple, though thereโ€™s a green bracelet on her wrist, which seems confusing โ€“ then setting it aside so she can pick up the nearest pot of paint.] Youโ€™ve a good eye for designs.

[The color, red, is blood-like, vivid, but it looks pretty against Lauralaeโ€™s pale skin, twining up the length of her smooth thigh. Alia forgoes a brush entirely, dipping her fingers in the paint instead, letting it drip crimson down to her palm, before settling the shape of her hand on her own thigh, huffing in amusement.] Tickles a little, hm?

[Those wide, intent eyes flick up, catching Lauralaeโ€™s, immovable, intent.] Want me to paint your back?
dead_tongue: (impish)

[personal profile] dead_tongue 2024-09-12 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
Koby! That's pretty, I like that. I'm Iggy.

[He thinks hard, because geography was never his strong suit.] I don't think so. [Apologetic.] It sounds cool, though. Is it by the ocean or something? I love the ocean.

Oh, well! A guy once told me that in the moment of death, your brain can like, make you hallucinate hardcore in a last ditch effort to deny the inevitable. So I figure I probably snorted something bad for me and this is all my final moments. My brain being two nice and serving up hot guys in swimsuits, you know?

On the other hand, why on earth I of all people would be scared of dying...
dead_tongue: (profile curious)

welcome | drawing room

[personal profile] dead_tongue 2024-09-12 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
"Nope."

This answer is given with such certainty and authority that it's a little absurd. Draped decoratively over one of the overstuffed chairs, Iggy looks up from the record sleeve he was examining.

"Can you imagine if it were? Look at this, it's classical music with disco backings! That's insane. Nobody dead would keep this."

He frowns and sits up a little. "Hey, are you okay?"
homosexuals: (pic#16916587)

[personal profile] homosexuals 2024-09-12 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
[these days, hawk feels a hell of a lot like a sinking ship. it should be comedic the amount of trust he's garnered that's somehow only added to his own problems when he'd thought rosie and the balfours and fucking werewolves would be the gist of it. maxine, koby, tim, embry - all of them somehow more dire than the last. murder, blackmail, outing, danger, all of it closing in like a fist around his windpipe and ready to choke the last bit of life out of him until he pops and spills across the floor like the wolfman had intended months ago. talk about cruel and unusual punishment. that, and he's slowly been digesting the revelations that feel all too recent: senator smith, dead. his - future son, dead too. both of them failed by hawk in the end. and embry in the same boat: giving up everything for a man he loves, sacrificing it at the cost of his own happiness and meant to be content knowing it was for the greater good.

still, there's a certain measure of clarity he feels now when he spends time with the other man. they've wordlessly blown past the barrier of hawk never having company, and even doubly so past never fucking someone more than once. somehow all his unspoken policies have eroded when it comes to embry, and it doesn't feel like an itch under his skin that's going to strike inward and betray him. it feels pretty fucking comfortable, especially without the crushing weight of failure and disappointment at not being the kind of man tim laughlin deserves. together they can just - be.

if they weren't both tortured by their own demons, it might even be goddamn romantic.

doesn't mean he can't be endeared, lounging lazily in a pair of navy striped trunks and matching button down, splayed open and unbuttoned across abs that are a bit more carved than when he first started out here - spending more mornings in the gym as of late not least of all to ogle tim, but also to make sure he's in top shape in case...well. something happens. like jacked flesh and bone can't be torn through by canines. uh huh. but that doesn't matter right now, not when he's got a cigarette dangling loose in his fingers and he's been watching embry watching him for nearing on half an hour.]


Get over here. I'm feeling frisky enough not to give a shit.

[strange for that to come rumbling out with such ease, normally that's the sort of thing he'd shove down and pretend didn't exist. his thighs splay to let embry take his seat, tossing his cigarette aside to let one hand slide against his waist and the other to slip up into the thick waves of his hair and tug lightly. yeah, he tastes sweet - good enough to lick hot into his mouth and grind up against his hips without much thought even as the loud explosion of fireworks sends a wash of artificial color along embry's skin. red, first, then blinding white enough to make his eyes look as icy cool as the pool had glimmering under the dwindling summer sun this afternoon when they'd been pretending not to know each other.

he doesn't want to pretend now, thumb sliding soft along the back of his neck and kiss softening into something less ferocious than their usual games. tender, maybe. full of the kind of want that makes his chest tighten with a fondness that doesn't belong here.

(does it?)]
homosexuals: (pic#17307901)

[personal profile] homosexuals 2024-09-12 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
...February 1st. [can't be ignorant okay!!]

The good news is: this place throws parties that are gonna make your girl's night out look like a convent. The bad news: you're not leaving anytime soon.

Not weird. There's plenty of reasons to keep an eye on it. Especially around here.

Things here...they're not always normal. The cult shit - what are your thoughts on the occult?
queenking: ([neutral] ew no why)

[personal profile] queenking 2024-09-12 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
i dunno. i don't remember taking a bus to downton abbey or whatever the fuck.

really? aw you sweet lil tater. saxsice. it's not a real name don't freak out abt it.
stopwatcher: (pic#17366058)

itsy bitsy teenie weenie

[personal profile] stopwatcher 2024-09-12 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Helena is a realist โ€” as in, she knows this place has something inherently wrong with it, in ways she can't quite see yet. Helena is also an opportunist โ€” as in, it doesn't matter if this place is fucked up, because home can be pretty fucked up. So she takes this whole party thing in stride, enjoys the food and drinks and lack of monetary necessity. The common immodesty of those wandering around the pool makes her feel like she's back at work, so she has no qualms at all about wandering around without a bikini top.

Enjoying the freedom of the moment, right? The lack of judgement, for someone willing to show some tit. She likes the aura of that, even if plenty else might be questionable. She's in the middle of painting blue smiley faces on her breasts when Louis pops in to offer reaching harder places for her, and she grins, her one visible eye twinkling with amusement. Making friends in this place seems like the smart choice, and she's pretty fond of having them.]


As long as you're not drawing anything I'd smack you for later.

[... That's admittedly a pretty short list.]
queenking: ([neutral] u for real?)

[personal profile] queenking 2024-09-12 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
aquarius, damn. you know where and what time? i'll sort out your whole life you analytical confident humanitarian bitch.

mmmm that's not gonna work for me. babysitter charges extra after midnight and i got work in the morning. i gotta wake up or transcend or just fuckin leave before that.

it's bullshit, generally. not "bullshit-fake", "bullshit-dumb". better to not get all mixed up in it, if you can avoid it.
sometimes you can't, though. you're born with it.
dead_tongue: (voila)

[personal profile] dead_tongue 2024-09-12 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
omg it is totally a coked up downton abbey! dibs on the hot rich guy, the nice one!

it's a real name if you use it. my full name is Ignatius so I can't judge anyway. but yeah, I'm totally socially awkward soooo no friends, not real ones. but I promise I'm cool.
bubblegumheart: (pic#15858209)

[personal profile] bubblegumheart 2024-09-12 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh. That makes sense." It's pretty obvious, actually, and that makes her smile. "I probably should've guessed that one."

"Have you ever been there?" That seems pretty unlikely, but anything's possible. What are the odds? "It wasn't really a normal cruise ship. There were definitely parts about it that were scary, though." People had died, herself included, and that hadn't been covered up.

Chrissy chuckles. "You're right. Maze it is!" As if there was never any other option.

He's already walking, so she's content to follow his lead for now. "Thanks! I grew it myself. Yours is great, too."
dead_tongue: (impish)

[personal profile] dead_tongue 2024-09-12 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Nah, no reason to. Slang is wild."

Iggy shakes his head. "Nope! I'll be honest, I'm not even sure where it is. I mean, America obviously, but I don't know what side or anything." He wonders if maybe it's in the middle.

"Good thing you're safe on land now," he says solemnly. "Nothing to be scared of here."

If only he knew.

Iggy saunters, in no apparent rush. "Thank you! I can't take all the credit, I am my mother's son - she's ginger, too."

He takes the next turn with a smile. "I have no idea where I'm going," he confesses. "Here, and in life in general. Do you smoke?"