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π–˜π–†π–‘π–™π–‡π–šπ–—π–“π–™ π–’π–”π–‰π–˜. ([personal profile] saltburnmods) wrote in [community profile] draino2024-09-07 10:00 am
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𝐈 πƒπŽπ'𝐓 ππŽπ‘πŒπ€π‹π‹π˜ π‹πˆπŠπ„ π‚π‡πŽπ‚πŽπ‹π€π“π„ π‚π€πŠπ„ β–£ 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 β€” 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 Β« NEW CHARACTER/IN GAMEΒ» 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 isn’t, stay in bed and wallow β€” eventually a maid will be in to tear your curtains open, saying, "Breakfast is served," and scurrying out quietly, invisibly. Breakfast? Maybe it’s normal for you. Maybe it isn’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 β€” have you been here before? Were you drawn up to this estate in a car? Haven’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

𝐓𝐇𝐄 π‰πŽππ“π˜: 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.
𝐄𝐆𝐆𝐒 ππ„ππ„πƒπˆπ‚π“: vinegar poached eggs with hollandaise foam on a bed of toasted freekah and baby spinach.
𝐄𝐆𝐆𝐒 π’π‡π€πŠπ€π’π‡πŽπ”πŠπ€: two eggs poached in a ramekin of pureed tomato, served with a crispy grilled cheese cut to dip.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 π’π˜πƒππ„π˜: french omelette with a light cheese filling, topped with crushed potato chips and chives.
πŽπ„π”π…π’ ππ‘πŽπ”πˆπ‹π‹π„π’: fluffy scrambled eggs in brown butter, served on sourdough.
π’ππ€ππˆπ’π‡ 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓: mini-quiche made with caramelized red onions and jamon pata negra ham.
𝐄𝐆𝐆 πŒπ‚π’π€ππƒπ–πˆπ‚π‡: bacon, egg, cheese and sausage breakfast muffin that tastes weirdly like it was made at a popular chain with golden arches.

THE SWEETS

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


If you want to leave, you’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 he’s as good at being invisible as the rest of the house staff. Of course, there’s no reason why you can’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 doesn’t want you to leave. Those more sensitive or fragile might find they can’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 doesn’t dissipate, though β€” 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, it’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 β€”Β 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 β€” 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 you’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 β€” but really, you haven’t had any trouble with that, here. Have you?

If you’re thirsty, the house has tasked RICHIE, CARMY, and SANJI (dressed as cabana boys) with an extensive poolside drinks menu, since they’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 you’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 β€” 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 β€” 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 β€”Β 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 β€” 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 β€” 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


preborns: ([down] don't like that)

[personal profile] preborns 2024-09-14 05:12 am (UTC)(link)

[The question has Alia sniffing, reaching up and wiping at her eyes, settling into her mind a bit more, even as the fireworks overhead cause tremors to rack through her body in rippling waves. She looks up at the other woman, tracing her features and reading in them – fear, barely suppressed, though not due to the sparkling, crackling lights above. Something else haunts her, coats her words with knowing.

Shuddering at each explosion, Alia keeps her gaze on the stranger, not on the bright fireworks.
] I care for myself. I am – more than I am, and there is nobody to look after me, save him. He would do more, if I allowed it. If destiny allowed.

[Shaking her head, she thinks to finally relax her clutching grip, let it relax, slip free of the other’s arms.] The one here, the brother I didn’t know – he has no knowledge of what happens in the future. Only I carry it. Me alone.
missed: (inkonic05 (2))

[personal profile] missed 2024-09-14 05:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ lestat drinks, of course - takes the blood from her and louis smells it hot and rich between them. he'd come to this table hungry, sat himself by the very lord of the party and he's a fool to think he'd not have to feed here where all can see. it's easy to peer into the minds of those at the table and see what they see - watch the way the girl between them almost giggles as lestat offers her back to louis.

he hears her say something like oh don't just look at me with those green eyes but it's his eyes that stay focused on lestat, the green of them narrowing, pupils blowing out at the offering. ]


They'll see.

[ and it sounds so foolsih when it leaves his mouth - of course they will. that's the point. those sitting around the table with flowers in their hair are all marked. he wonders, though, if it's the blood in their veins that will protect them from those who fear them most.

the fruit he'd eaten early, rich with blood, makes it impossible to ignore the wrist, the way the blood slithers down her arm and drips into the space between them. he reaches for it, delicate, and bows his head to her wrist, fangs descending and sinking into the flesh until the soft, wet sounds of a vampire feasting can be heard under the din.

it's only a few long drinks he takes before he pulls away, wiping at his mouth and pushing the wrist back at the other vampire. it brings warmth into his cheeks. ]


Why are they all seeing something different? [ it's said a little hazily, the blood rushing hot and sweet through him. ]
rationalism: (99)

[personal profile] rationalism 2024-09-14 05:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ she understands the instinct β€” to be a burden is to be unloved, that is what she's spent her whole life trying to unpack. why she still has a smile that is all teeth when she is nervous because she used to think smiling bright enough, being happy enough, being clever and funny and neat enough, would mean someone would pick her like a puppy at the pound and take her home.

because if she cares enough about other people then they will care about her in return.

she hasn't grown out of that last one, fingers tugging at her ear in a fidgety, nervous gesture she hasn't grown out of either. ]


You should let him carry it.

[ daniel knew what he was sacrificing when he helped grace, but she hadn't known what she was sacrificing when she married alex.

her smile goes wide and toothy, brittle like splintering glass. ]


I'm sorry, I have to go.
bubblegumheart: (pic#16923806)

[personal profile] bubblegumheart 2024-09-14 05:53 am (UTC)(link)
"I like rizz." She's probably never going to use it. Probably going to forget about it entirely, but it's fun to say.

"I've had a lot of weird. I suppose I've been handling it." That's putting it mildly, and probably sounds a lot saner than the full truth.

"Why isn't she talking to you?" It's none of her business, it's kind of dumb to feel envious of someone whose mother isn't speaking to him, but that's where she's at right now. "I haven't seen mine in over a year. I don't even think about her every day anymore," she admits, eyeing the offered cigarette like she's worried it might grow teeth and snap at her. Maybe it's been closer to a year and a half. She's still not entirely sure how time worked on the ship.

"She's not very nice." She worries, though, because of what Steve and Eddie have told her. About how her mother's doing. About Hawkins in general, even if she never wants to see it again.

"Do you want to try to find the pumpkins, or just get to the center?"
kobes: ([:|] right in front of my salad?)

[personal profile] kobes 2024-09-14 06:06 am (UTC)(link)
It’s where the best treasure is. [Flatly, accompanied with an eyeroll, a grab for the nearby pink cup, which Koby sips from with a wrinkled nose.] Pirates love treasure.

There’s been fun parts, too. There are a lot of other guests and they’re very…very nice. [It’s half mumbled into the cup, his ears turning the same follow as the bright pink plastic.]

– am I? [He looks bewildered, having genuinely not tried to be funny. But Iggy still seems upbeat, bemused, getting a slight frown.] You’re not…concerned? At all?
kobes: ([:)] hi i'm ur friendly neighborhood mar)

[personal profile] kobes 2024-09-14 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
[The whisper gets another of those quick, boyish grins, the thrill of approval from someone who, for whatever reason, has registered as an authority, the way Koby immediately wants to keep doing well, so earnestly it radiates from him, practically glowing in the dark. He nods, digging in his pocket for the pen knife he’s taken to carrying – always be prepared, as much as possible, so his pockets are regularly overflowing with useful things.]

If we’re out all night, you’ll need to keep warm – it’s not summer anymore, there’s a chill in the air most nights. [Koby crouches down, sitting on his heels and marking a place a hand’s width up from the hem of Alicent’s dress, high enough that it won’t drag on the ground, but not nearly close to a level of impropriety. He cuts away from her, down, then along the horizontal weave of the fabric, through each layer of skirt.] But it’ll be easier to run like this, and we can mark our way. If we run out, I can unravel my sweater easily enough.

[He’s wearing something knitted, warm, a touch too long in the sleeves, so Koby’s had to roll them up a couple times. Clothes never fit him quite right, especially the men’s clothes the house gives him, slipping off his shoulders or needing to be cuffed. Still, it means he has layers to choose from, ones he can sacrifice to the cause of getting out. There’s an odd tension in the air, and Koby finds himself hypervigilant as he carefully tears along the line he’d started, winding the fabric around his hand as he goes.]

If you see anything coming, don’t waste time, just run. [Suddenly, sternly, looking upwards with a set jaw.] I’ll handle it.
kobes: ([:)] laughs nervously)

[personal profile] kobes 2024-09-14 06:08 am (UTC)(link)
[The dedicated hunch is hard to keep at the sudden cool tickle of paint on his cheek, so quick that Koby doesn’t actually see Louis move, just feels the shift in air and then there’s green smudging his fingers when he reaches up to touch his face. There’s a laugh, instead, air rushing out of his lungs, giving Louis an incredulous look.]

That’s – not funny at all, that’s actually a terrible joke. [But he says it with a sort of wonder, as if completely amazed that Louis would even say something that dumb. There’s a touch of hesitance in his face, so visibly unused to being teased, being treated playfully that he doesn’t quite know what to do.

Still, there’s a raw, aching sort of hunger too, the child he’d been somehow closer to the surface around Louis, starved for affection, for something to soothe the old hurts from nineteen years of loneliness. It’s again, different than the warmth he’s found elsewhere in Saltburnt, but no less longed for. So, with a slow, deliberate inhale, Koby slowly squares his shoulders, sits up taller and uncrosses his arms, eyes flicking briefly, anxiously, to Louis’s face.
] You’re supposed to use the brushes, otherwise you’re going to end up all – multicolored. Like sprinkles. [He reaches for one brush, dipping it in blue, then gesturing for Louis’s arm.] Here, give me your hand.
kobes: ([:(] puppydog eyes)

[personal profile] kobes 2024-09-14 06:12 am (UTC)(link)
It’s easy to not worry, in the artificial warmth of the pool, in the familiar warmth of Quentin’s arms. Koby could find a way, of course, but it’s nicer to pretend they’re back in the bath of one of their rooms, back to that first night, maybe. Before Koby had as much to worry about, anything to worry about besides this man, this stranger in his bed, sending him to dizzying heights he hadn’t know were possible with his laughing mouth and his beautiful body and his sweet words.

It feels like a lifetime ago, before Koby had known what there was to lose, the anchors dropping into the depths of his heart before he’d even realized it. And now – here, somehow given enough time for the silly questions, for the smaller things. It’s strange. It’s nice. He settles in, ignoring the rest of the party, smiling easily, warmly. β€œWell, I know you like to steal my toothpaste, so that answers that one. What is your favorite color, then?”

Quentin catches his hand, then, and the easy smile slips a bit, replaced with that wide-eyed look Koby gets when he’s been caught out in something. A fib, a nosy inquiry, something else like that. It’s not quite fear, more – surprise. Shyness, even, shoulders scrunching a little, towards his ears.

β€œW-Well, I – everything here is. Complicated, sort of. For me, at least. I’ve never –” Falling back on his inexperience makes Koby’s ears turn pink, embarrassed enough to flick his gaze away, look down, back at the piercing, tracing his free fingers around it, slowly. β€œI didn’t want to assume, not without talking to you, and – there are all these books and magazines about how to talk to you and I hadn’t. Decided which one was the right one, yet. I was still, um. Collecting data.” It sounds stupid, even to Koby’s ears, and he looks back up, doe-eyed and unsure. β€œThat’s the complicated part. Not – not how I feel, just. How to talk about it.”
dead_tongue: (smile down)

[personal profile] dead_tongue 2024-09-14 06:14 am (UTC)(link)
Iggy tilts his head to one side a little, cutting his gaze her way. "What kind of weird?" he asks too casually.

Iggy tucks the cigarettes away when it becomes clear that he's not about to tempt Chrissy into vice. He inhales, exhales smoke away from her.

"Mine's nice enough," he says. "But... well. I didn't agree with the life she had planned for me. I left. And she stopped talking to me." Iggy shrugs, like it's no big deal, but he's a bad actor and the hurt he feels is obvious.

"Just the center is enough reward for me," he says. "I'm lazy today."
dead_tongue: (drinks?)

[personal profile] dead_tongue 2024-09-14 06:22 am (UTC)(link)
Do you hang out with a lot of pirates? [He's picturing Keira Knightley. That would be cool.]

Yeah? Good! I love nice people. And hot ones. I've seen several I totally wanna blow.

[Iggy shrugs.] Not really? I mean, if I'm here now, I'm here. Right? I might as well just accept it and adapt accordingly. Why, should I be worried?
peasant: (pic#15410837)

[personal profile] peasant 2024-09-14 06:26 am (UTC)(link)
( dani gapes, and alina stares back, a doe-eyed animal openly wrestling with its fight-or-flight instinct. for a single moment, the light shudders and shakes, flitting about like a nervous firefly. then: a calm settling as it dims into a non-threatening pulse, fingertips twitching at the first brush of his. )

Daniil.

( his name leaves her in a winded breath, the air sucker-punched out of her gut. daniil, who would believe her if she spat a lie through her teeth, claimed it to be another trick of this awful place. daniil, who is so in love with the sun that his fondness borders on devout. daniil, who might be the least likely to expose her secret.

she hates it — the thousands of calculations her mind races through, the quick-snap decision she has to make between friend or foe, advantage or disadvantage, dangerous honesty or self-preserving lie. she hates it, but she makes it as she's made every other impossible choice: hoping against hope it won't be the wrong one. alina's fingers cling around dani's in return, bleeding out warmth. the heat of a cozy bath, of the first brush of morning light through curtains.

on a wince, she pushes herself a step forward, bare skin bitten by prickly brambles.
)

You wouldn't believe me if I told you. ( through a labored exhale, she manages: ) Pull me through.
Edited 2024-09-14 06:27 (UTC)
missed: (209)

[personal profile] missed 2024-09-14 06:32 am (UTC)(link)
Louis remembers the first few months of his turning, prowling through New Orleans and feeling as though the city halted in his path. Remembers the haze of days after Paris where he leaned into his nature, where he hunted and hunted and hunted - reveling in the power of his making.

The eyes turned on them in horror are both terrifying and exhilarating. Emboldened by Armand so near to him, he leans hungry into his kiss, daring to nip his own tongue so that even more sweet blood spills between them, hot and messy on their lips.

"Consort to the vampire lord. Don't mind the sound of that," he murmurs back, and there's a purr of approval, Louis sliding closer to Armand, both hands sliding to his waist, holding him.

A part of him, the very human part of him, wants to rebuke the idea of devouring everyone at the table. At succumbing to the very thing he was made to be more than century ago. And maybe he will in the morning when he's not drunk on wine-laden blood and the fiery power of his husband's offering.

"I don't think they'd have time to thank us for it, mon seigneur. Would you make them beg for it? Get them all crawling across the table to us?"
missed: (inkonic24)

[personal profile] missed 2024-09-14 07:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ timothy laughlin.

it's tim who stares at him across the way and the thoughts echoing in his mind sober him despite the churning of blood in his veins. he has no way to run or hide from it all, to hide what he is and play it off like some lapse in memory. oh, no. they've been brought to the table and made kings of it all and stomaching the horrified look on the faces of those he cares about?

well.

tim's voice in his mind, the way he stays still in his seat, the bodies writhing on the table before them. ]


I won't hurt you. I couldn't tell you, I couldn't tell anyone.

[ he should get up and go to him but he stays seated. well, until one of the writhing bodies on the table reaches for him, the man's hands bloody from the food and the carnage beginning. louis is there in a flash, inhuman speed and strength, grabbing the hand and wrenching it away from tim, sending the mindless bait on his way. ]

You shouldn't stay here. I don't... I don't know the nature of some of the others at the table. Not all from the same place.
missed: (155)

[personal profile] missed 2024-09-14 08:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ the temptation of the blood can be overwhelming, but he's had plenty of practice resisting the pull of it. resisting the very nature of what he is even though he's been trying to embrace it, accept it. he feels the itch of eyes on him, searching the crowd - but the voice that answers is familiar.

he finds alicent in the crowd and chaos, green eyes searching her expression, watching the way she reaches for something that isn't there. he can see a glimpse of something with many teeth and wild eyes in her mind, the way she stands like a stalwart ballast in a vicious storm. her people, her family, are lucky to have her. ]


I got less teeth than the beasts I know, too.

[ the battlefield of writhing bodies in blood and food turning to dust - they don't need to be among this. louis can feel the temptation of it all, armand's blood coursing through his veins, burning hot from feeding on blood-laced fruits and snacks. he rises from his seat slowly. surveying the chaos around him. ]

Let me make sure you get away from this safely. If you trust me.
nishtha: (pic#17340509)

cw suicide talk

[personal profile] nishtha 2024-09-14 09:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ Cruel, Armand offers no sympathy, no human attempt to soften the blow. He just watches John from behind the round orange tinted lenses of his sunglasses, his expression unchanging in the face of a god's incalculable grief. ]

They hate us for it, in the end. The ones we create. [ He's glad, for the first time, that Daniel cannot sense his thoughts. His mind is locked off and closed nevertheless. Louis doesn't need to hear this refrain again. ]

He is my first and last, but I have witnessed it in others. Their fear and resentment. Their madness. I watched the children of my coven walk into the fires and into the sunlight to end themselves. I didn't stop them. Yet we do it anyway.

[ Now his gaze does tick back over to House and Daniel. He adds, softly, almost to himself: ]

And I do not regret it.
nishtha: (pic#17203698)

[personal profile] nishtha 2024-09-14 09:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ Another soft smile, politely bashful about it. He's well aware of the impact he has on mortals. Like the bright colors of the pitcher plant, it serves a purpose. ]

Armand.

[ Iggy's name echoes in his own mind, like the strange memories of the statue gallery. As if he knew it before being told. After a moment, he gestures at the hay maze and the paths ahead of them. ]

Take a walk with me, Iggy?
nishtha: (pic#17182124)

[personal profile] nishtha 2024-09-14 11:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ As the feast goes on, reality becomes more and more uneasy around the table. Guests who were happily enjoying the spectacle of the human serving platters suddenly grimace or look at their neighbors, worried, trying to figure out what's going on. Armand isn't used to presiding over such a gathering; his first instinct is to use his powers and call the needless dramatics to a halt. But he's all too aware that it would risk the ire of their hosts -- Giles' mouth thins to a displeased line every time someone stumbles back from the table -- and the quality of their power is an unknown quantity he dares not test. After all, the Balfours have humbled gods and devils for their purpose; what difficulty would it be to erase a few vampires? The crown on his head is as much a threat as a reminder of his role.

So he sits and broods and nurses his own concerns. Keeps an eye on those he cares about and those he believes to be a threat to their collective safety. He's not afraid to use the Dark Gift to make sure the latter don't upset things -- a task he's reasonably sure the Balfours intended for him. A coven leader once more.

As he sifts through the confusion of thoughts from the mortals around the table, he catches the images of iron-rich blood on snow, of salt water and long stretches of blue horizon. The source of those thoughts surprises him. As does the way Koby fights when he exerts his power, struggling like a creature caught in a net. He's stronger than Armand had assumed he would be. Very interesting.
]

Talk to me. [ Armand's eyes hold his from where he sits at the head of the table. ] You have done this before.

[ This: blood-eating, flesh-eating. Inhuman hungers. ]
dead_tongue: (smiley)

[personal profile] dead_tongue 2024-09-14 12:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[Iggy nods, smiling. No predator he, and he lacks even the clever fear of a rabbit. Iggy is a lamb, through and through.

He falls into step easily - they are the same height - and begins to chatter almost at once.]


I wonder where they got all of this hay. Usually you see these sorts of mazes on farms, you know? Places where they've got like, crops and animals. I guess they might have horses in some stable I haven't seen - old money people love horses. Or maybe there's a farm outside the grounds? Like in olden times, with the poor farmers having to fork over their money to the lords. So Bunny or whoever can just be like, "Nigel, give us a bunch of hay, we're doing a theme!"

[He reaches out to touch the hay briefly. It's dry and pointy and not particularly pleasant.]

Is cool, though. So long as they don't Wicker Man us at the end.

[He's kidding... mostly. There is a faint unease buried in his playful burblings.]

Do you like it here? You called it a paradise.
unapparent: (007)

[personal profile] unapparent 2024-09-14 12:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It’s something of an achievement to fluster Daniel Molloy, worldly as he is. Alicent savours the light in his eyes β€” already brighter than they were before β€” and watches his recovery with obvious interest. ]

Right, of course. [ almost funny, how broken her marriage managed to be without either of those trappings. ] Any husband of mine would be gelded for the latter, to be sure.

[ Joking, but also not. She doubts her father would have tolerated such wantonness, even from the king, and she would have been incandescent in her righteous rage, if Viserys had strayed from their marital bed. Honouring one’s wife is the bare minimum. What Daniel speaks of goes beyond it. ]

It does help. [ An aching fondness for him β€” and for the times when Viserys had observed that advice, taking her counsel on his rule and Rhaenyra both. ]

There, you’ve convinced me, clever man that you are. A needless effort. [ She tugs their hooked pinkies, though it’s the ribbon binding them that she means to emphasise. Softer, ] But appreciated.
Edited 2024-09-14 12:23 (UTC)
break: (156 ^)

[personal profile] break 2024-09-14 12:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The dark doesn't bother Daniel anymore. When he'd started out in the corn maze it had just been for fun, wandering slowly through it in the last rays of the sleepy late afternoon sun, remembering being a teenager in fall. And then the sun set completely, and the shadows loomed huge, and the maze became inscrutable to him, strange and endless. Daniel, who has the mind of a puzzler, is kind of enjoying it. ]

Can't be anything except lost; it's like the house in here.

[ He's been testing it, measuring his steps, recording his turns, listening to the sound of the animal in the distance and the occasional register of a heartbeat, trying to find landmarks. But like the navigators found in the manor's shifting corridors, it's moving around him, impossible to 'solve'. So he's back to just wandering, hands tucked deep in the pockets of his leather jacket.

He rocks back and forward on his feet, looking at Matt and his magic light. Hard to know what to do here: there's a reason why he texted most of the other people in his life about the brand new development rather than approaching them directly. If he's honest with himself, and it's much harder to be anything else these days, there's a reason why he didn't text Matt.
]

Hey, so, uh... recovered from. That stuff?

[ Getting stabbed, going to hospital, he mostly has these details third hand, a combination of Koby's sparse updates and what was on the network, though the latter he'd decided not to engage with to remove the possibility of Matt embarrassing himself. ]
venatoris: tweak (pic#15076417)

[personal profile] venatoris 2024-09-14 12:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Whiskey and leather, bergamot and rosemary; there'd be motor oil if he had his car.

Physical affection is a rare thing these days - it's not like he was doing a lot of real snuggling up in Purgatory, even if he was pressed up against a watchful vampire while he slept. That doesn't exactly count and Benny wasn't precisely what you'd call a cuddler, and he wasn't warm, either. She's warm, a solid presence and in the moment with her there against his chest, she reminds him a little of Charlie. He slips an arm around her, other hand cupping the back of her head, pulls her close. ]


I get it. [ More than people realize; he and Sam were never meant to lead happy lives. Misery and death surround them, like walls that no matter they pound on, don't break. ] It isn't fair. It's not.

[ He blinks down at her, flinching at another crack of fireworks. ]

Don't know why it's gotta be people like us.
venatoris: supersuits @ IJ (pic#16366686)

[personal profile] venatoris 2024-09-14 12:54 pm (UTC)(link)
That's...fucked up.

[ That's all he's gotta say about that, because goddamn even he isn't that bad. He might've checked out of age cheerleaders when he was fresh outta hell, but never did anything about it.

Francesca here might as well be a barely of age cheerleader and now here they are tied together and he's being an asshole and making her feel some kind of crappy way. ]


No, no. That's not what I mean, you haven't done anything wrong. [ It he really married now? Jesus Christ. ] I just, uh. Never expected to marry? Wasn't ever the marrying type.

[ probably sounds like a certain brother of hers (maybe several), but Dean's clearly not from their time and literally had no intentions, because anyone involved with a hunter (not even just him), was in an incredible amount of danger. ]

Let's just...get that drink and talk. Figure out where we go from here.
venatoris: ? (pic#15102981)

cw; ...supernatural, drugs, idk

[personal profile] venatoris 2024-09-14 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
It's...okay. I'm sorry, too.

[ And while what she actually says is short, only a few sentences, there's a lot in there for him to parse. He looks mildly horrified at the word 'traded', and he's debating on asking about that or letting it go because it damn sure seems like something that's fairly traumatic and possibly something that shouldn't be talked about. ]

My brother got roofied and tricked into getting married once, [ he offers, like that's even remotely close. ] This, uh - obsessed chick made a deal with a demon for some kinda weird love potion and thinking on it, that was super questionable and she should probably be in jail.
Edited 2024-09-14 13:00 (UTC)
veinilla: (126)

[personal profile] veinilla 2024-09-14 01:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He can't lie, her presence is kind of comforting because the maze is freaking him out a little bit, too. Being what he is, he doesn't get creeped or scared all that often anymore, but there's a heaviness here he doesn't like, that he can't shake. ]

Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's keep moving.

[ He eases back, hand on her shoulder before dropping to take her hand. ]

Come on.
break: (058^)

[personal profile] break 2024-09-14 01:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Daniel's speaking at the same time: ]

Yeah, it's all screwy, I tried counting steps and —

[ Koby's pulse ticks up and up and Daniel's words trail off slower the faster it goes. ]

Couldn't, uh. Couldn't figure out... A while, though, felt like I was, walking in...

[ He tracks Koby's panic through his body, and he's trying to be polite about thoughts but that's all there too, the soft babble of his nerves, Daniel making sure he never picks up more than a clear word or two. Still, his beautiful new eyes are fixed on Koby like a cat watching a fluttering moth.

He's not hungry, he tells himself. It's not hunger. He wouldn't eat Koby, that's his - lil protege, or whatever. His friend. Koby.
]

Circles.