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π–˜π–†π–‘π–™π–‡π–šπ–—π–“π–™ π–’π–”π–‰π–˜. ([personal profile] saltburntmods) wrote in [community profile] draino2025-01-04 08:00 am
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π“π‡πˆπ’ πˆπ’ 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 β–£ JAN TDM





JANUARY 2025 TDM: IMMORTALITY


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, the menu has been redone by some guests in the manor. 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."




8-BALL

CONTENT WARNINGS: drugs, nsfw.

In all 700 (and change!) years of Saltburnt's existence, never has the new year been rung in with anything less than a bang. Similarly, the manor is a bustle of activity in the post-Christmas week, setting up predominately in and around the Operating Theatre. Formally, all guests are welcomed to celebrate on the 31st of December leading into the new year by a fancy, handwritten invitation, delivered individually by Giles. BLACK TIE, the invite says. LET'S MAKE IT A GOOD YEAR, DAWG.

Upon arrival, it's plain to see the Operating Theatre has gotten a glow up since last visited. The amphitheater stairs serve as a dramatic entrance to walk through, the main floor usually designed for holding cadavers for dissection instead replaced with a dance floor. Everything is black, white, and as silver as surgery tools, the room seemingly a great deal larger than when it was last observed β€”Β though, maybe that's your eyes playing tricks on you. Don't worry about it!

Celebrate instead, ringing in the new year with loud, Eurodance music and American rock, bodies dancing together for one last hurrah of 2006. In true Saltburnt fashion, there's a snack spread on the organized operating tables β€”Β Vietnamese spring rolls, glass noodles, Prosecco jello shots to go with the tall flutes of champagne passed around on silver plates. Additionally, there are some silver platters circling the venue full of tall mounds of white, powdery cocaine, already spliced into lines for convenience. The name of the game is indulgence, as ever, getting one's worst habits out of the way to make room for better, healthier choices in the new year.

For the last hour of the year, a mock time ball in the shape of an magic 8-ball is set up in the center of the room, slowly inching up as time ticks down. At 11:59, the ball reaches its zenith, much more rapidly moving the other way as the countdown starts. Once the countdown drops to the 10s, everyone in the room is pairing up in couples (or trios?) to kiss at the strike of midnight, loudly chanting the last five numbers in chanting succession, 3, 2, 1, and happy new year!

Several things happen at once, following your kiss, or the strike of midnight if you're more of a lone wolf. Firstly, everyone's clothes disappear, left completely naked in the theatre. Any fabric they might think to dress themselves in will miraculously disappear once they put it on, and any attempts to escape the room are likewise barred, doors unopenable for the time being. At the same time, the 8-ball which reached the bottom of its stand rolls over, presenting its windowed side to all who look upon it β€”Β and all who look upon it will see one of 20 different instructions.

For a fun game, roll a d20 and see what you get!



































Naturally, the doors only permit you to leave after achieving whatever challenge the 8-ball gave you, where you can run nakedly back to your room and find some clothes, saying goodnight to a wonderful year. Any and all party poopers uninterested in taking part will be let go an hour or so post midnight β€”Β approximately when it stops being funny.






NEW YEAR, NEW ME


CONTENT WARNINGS: homophobia, misogyny, implied grooming, cultural insensitivity.

New year is a time for new beginnings, and it's no surprise that many resolutions involve the bettering of one's self. Exercise and eating healthy are all usual suspects, but what if you could take a little something that did it all for you, effort-free? New Years Resolutions the easy way β€”Β try ReSculpt, an organic supplement using exotic kinds of sea kelp, as provided by Portia's personal life coach SHAMAN LEAF, for making a better you. Fat melts away and wrinkles smooth out, complexions clear and muscles strengthen, all with the help of this miraculous product! Simply apply the topical ointment on yourself, and watch a new and improved you emerge β€” even those of you who wouldn't choose it willingly can take part, as it's stocked in every bathroom, in the shape of an ordinary lotion bottle.

Of course, it doesn't only effect your looks. The road to a better you requires a full makeover, changing you from the inside out. Be the son your father always wanted, or the wife your husband deserves β€” become a better partner, a better housewife, a better soldier, a better friend. Whatever any of that means to you, whether changing your style or the people you're attracted to, this magical lotion seems to clear it up and straighten you out, turn you into a true, decent member of polite upperclass society. Even Portia in the days following New Years appears younger, nearly like a girl in her teens thanks to the power of ReSculpt. On your journey to self-improvement, you might feel inclined to sign up for Shaman Leaf's 12-step guide to proper English behaviors, including lessons in etiquette, fine dining, lovemaking with respectful hands-on accompaniment, and a suggested sizable donation on towards Shaman Leaf's travel fund. All of it concludes in a graduation for the enlistees in the form of a debutante ball.

Not to worry if you didn't take the course β€” all are welcome to witness the caterpillar become the butterfly in this re-introduction to society in one of Saltburnt's many exemplary ballrooms. As opposed to the more carefree party that welcomed in the year, the debutante ball is steeped in the premeditated societal structures of an aristocratic family, everything proper and regal by design, complete with huge, expensive dresses and expertly tailored, starch-collared suits. Luckily, ReSculpt will see to everyone conforming to the expectations of society, without complaint. Unluckily, the side effects seem to kick in at the debutante ball.

Step one: paranoia. Is this who you really are? What happened to the person you were a few days ago? Where did everything that made you who you are go? Dread creeps in, a discordant note, a cold breeze. Step two: touch repulsion. The dances at the ball are all respectful, leaving plenty of room for Jesus, flirty little wrist touches and soft, careful hands β€” and you're disgusted by wanting more, confused by it. Consumed by it? Scared of it. The sick touch of skin on skin is as offensive as it is arousing, like gripping ice cubes in your hand and flinching at the numbing, burning pain. Step three: hallucinations. You turn in a dance and the hand that slips into yours is more bone than flesh. The ballroom itself seems to grow more decayed than decadent, ghosts and horrifying faces spliced between the crowd, all looking at you, angry and disturbed. Is that face looking back at you your own? Can your friends tell you from a doppelgΓ€nger? Who even are you anymore?

And finally, step four: rehab. As it turns out, Shaman Leaf is not actually a good guy. That is, he's not a guy at all but a pΓΊca, here to unleash a humble amount of chaos and then quickly skedaddle while the iron's still hot, escaping with mischievous shapeshifting behaviors through the closest door, galloping to the forest. Though his exit from the premises doesn't clear up the effects of ReSculpt, it's nothing a little week spent very fashionably in rehab can't clear up. Going cold turkey is the only way to remove it from your system β€” and you do want to remove it from your system. A depleting supply will force you into withdrawals regardless, in the form of continued paranoia and hallucinations, acting hot and cold with touch, alternating between your true self and ReSculpt self, fevers, nosebleeds, puking, and blacking out. A good detox for the new year.



DIRECTORY


viver: (157)

[personal profile] viver 2025-01-07 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ His back is against a wall, one hand in his pocket, eyes closed until Theo comes into view. Like he senses the jewel's smile before his footsteps, Zephir turns his head with that low light of joy, beetle gone as soon as they're reunited. Away from the wall, reaching to wrap a hand around Theo's nape, Zephir leans down to kiss him for a moment or three, then rests their foreheads together. It's as if they've had this ritual for longer than any of Theo's lifetimes. ]

Teddie, is it?

[ See? He can respect a request. ]

Hope I didn't interrupt anything important.
chokedout: (173)

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-01-07 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
Nothing here's so important a break can't be taken from it.

[Said after their lips separate, and he can still feel Zephir on them. He looks up at him, reliving a few of those lifetimes - but perching graciously on the limb of this encounter, ready to indulge. His hand finds Zephir's hip, an affectionate laying over it, and he huffs a little sigh of contentment.]

Going to tell me you missed me, now?
viver: (092)

[personal profile] viver 2025-01-08 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course I missed you.

[ Enough to come out here and essentially stalk him, then lure him outside with a pet. One might argue that Zephir has marked Theo as one of them. ]

I assume you were at the party.
chokedout: (075)

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-01-13 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
I'm always at the party.

[Genuinely - always where the people are, the activity is - the bodes are, waiting for a needy person like him. It's still surreal to keep looking up and not by an inch or two, it makes him reminiscent of other lives, where his height was short enough that this was a common occurrence, rather than a rare one.]

But now it's time for us, yeah? Just us.
viver: k (191)

[personal profile] viver 2025-01-15 12:33 am (UTC)(link)
Sorry I missed you.

[ They were both busy, he's sure, with a lot less blood on Theo's hands. Zephir caresses his face, lightly rakes his fingers through his hair on the side, curling them behind his ear. A gorgeous little face. He uses his talents well. ]

Just us.

[ Theo's chin tipped up so he can have one more kiss, Zephir stands next to him with an arm around his shoulders. ]

Show me your art.
chokedout: (( pick me ))

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-01-15 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
Most of it's in the art room still, or stacked on my desk. I'm working on a piece taking up the whole wall, actually. Mostly just to see how annoyed the staff get, or how tolerant of it they'll be. I can show you.

[It feels - a little nerve-y, for some reason. The way he's lifting a hand to touch Zephir's fingers, the way he feels small in his presence both literally and metaphorically. Part of Theo likes it, likes the doting and the lovebombing, allowing it to make up for the risk and the potential folding to Zephir's wishes- whatever they may be. He leans into his side, other arm around his back.]

viver: (231)

[personal profile] viver 2025-01-18 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
Please do.

[ Amusement from Theo's confession, wondering what result it'll get. They will hopefully let the artist keep his work, but if not β€” it just means Theo gets to have another blank canvas to paint on a different day. He keeps Theo close, keeps them both warm; his touches are light and flush with fondness, occasionally running his fingers in Theo's hair. ]
chokedout: (154)

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-01-18 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
[Theo shamefully relishes in the touch of a fond partner - one he knows he can't quite trust, but fools himself into laying his guard down around anyway. It's a different feeling than the touch of a true lover, and maybe it's that threat of humiliation and defeat that makes it horny in its own way? Boy has baggage. But boy is taking it with him and Zephir, leading him to his room - opening the door, small do not disturb sign on the knob clacking around as he invites Zephir in.

The walls are dry but the smell of paint lingers, sunny window bathing a few plants (small cuttings,) in light while the bed is heaped with clean sheets and scattered sketch books. A whirlwind blew through but didn't truly destroy the place - it only made it seem more Theo than the days before.]


Voila.
viver: (121)

[personal profile] viver 2025-01-18 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ The plants get a little smile and a mental note. His actual attention is focused on Theo and his art, though the latter is an excuse to channel all of it into the former. Zephir is behind him soon enough, arms wrapped around him, chin on his shoulder. A little too similar to when he joined him in the shower without permission. ]

You're amazing.

[ There's some laughter in that. Kind, fond. Thrilled that this one belongs to him. ]

Were you the same in every life?
chokedout: (268)

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-01-18 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
[Theo shelves any feelings of discontent, fully embracing the attention - truthful or not. He leans back against Zephir, falling into an easy rhythm: he reaches back to play with his hair with one hand, body melding back against him. Like he does belong to him and him alone.]

Some, maybe most - it rotated. Dance, writing, art - archery - sometimes the skill was a bit of a surprise but. Usually something predictable.
viver: (226)

[personal profile] viver 2025-01-18 06:01 am (UTC)(link)
So you'd always see the world differently.

[ Well β€” he'd do that even without the skills, jumping back and forth in time, in lives. Even he and Sullivan never walk back. They leave the past behind, feet planted on the present, walking the endless path into the future. What a mess magic has made of this wonderful little anomaly. ]

This is where you belong, I think.

[ With his paintings, his sketches. Zephir leans his head into the touch, then takes Theo's drawing hand to caress the knuckles with his thumb. ]

How do you see me?
chokedout: (127)

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-01-18 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
[Theo doesn't answer, he basks in the attention for a long beat - letting Zephir's words sit in the air before he slowly wriggles free. Just enough space to clasp Zephir's caressing hand in his, leading him over to the closet. He opens up the two doors one by one with his free hand; inside are no clothes hanging, but several faces painted across the surface. Cellar, Iggy, August, Dom, Zephir. All in monochromatic colors, Zephir being in shades of blue.]

Like that.
viver: (277)

[personal profile] viver 2025-01-19 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ Of the other faces, he knows Iggy and August. Zephir turns to smile at Theo with a charmed little tilt of his head, stepping closer to brush two fingers on blue tones. ]

Who are the others?
chokedout: (( gather ))

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-01-19 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
[Theo likes art. It's - a passion, yes, but something more. It was the way he interacted with the world before he was able to be part of it, lifetime upon lifetime ago. It's something that still burns in him brightly even now, something he can get lost in and create from, putting life to a thought in his head. When people observe it, their reactions mean a lot to him. He's watching Zephir, and then when he replies, he's gesturing to the portraits in question, one by one:]

Iggy's a wonder, the kind of face any artist wants for a muse. August's got a little bit of that, too, but he's one of the people here I've gotten close to. Dom's new, it's a weird multiverse thing I'm figuring out. And she, ah. That's Cellar. Wife, girlfriend... roommate, too.
viver: (316)

[personal profile] viver 2025-01-20 12:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ He releases the painting, caresses Theo's hair and nears in to brush their lips together, like he's tasting the feelings behind his words. ]

There's power in this. You should use it.
chokedout: (261)

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-01-21 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
Power in... ?

[Theo's stiff but not unbending, slowly relaxing as they stand in a way that could in another situation, carry through to a dance. His hand is on Zephir's hip, other to his chest, latter smoothing upward to hold his jaw. He's tall, always a little too tall - and Theo looks up at him in a way that feels both natural (to him) and unnatural (to nature).]

How exactly would I make use of it?
viver: n (331)

[personal profile] viver 2025-02-03 07:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Why do we use magic on those we love?

[ Caressing Theo's face as he leans into his touch, searching his features. ]
chokedout: (049)

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-02-03 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't want to control them.

[Said a little too quick, drawn a little too fast from his own fears and experiences with magic - he doesn't know if that's where Zephir was leading but it's where Theo's mind went first. His eyes flicker, keeping gaze but looking uncertain. How else do we use it?]
viver: (066)

[personal profile] viver 2025-02-03 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
And here I thought you'd say your magic would be used for protection. [ Touching his hair, smiling without judgment. ] Or is that also control?
chokedout: (066)

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-02-03 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
I want to protect them. But not at risk of controlling them.

[It's somehow a little too easy to talk to Zephir. The touching, the softness - it's deceptive and yet somehow genuine? Theo presses one of his hands to his hip, over the mark there:]

I've only ever known controlling magic. It's on me, all the time. I'd want better - to do better than that.
viver: (113)

[personal profile] viver 2025-02-04 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
And if that's what you were protecting them from? [ His hand follows, fingers brushing over Theo's knuckles. ] From being controlled?
chokedout: (183)

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-02-04 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
I'd hope I could protect them without compromising their free will.

[He'd rather die than make Cellar feel boxed in or like how he did, with Willem.]

Is that foolish, you think?
viver: (323)

[personal profile] viver 2025-02-04 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
I'll never think anything you do is foolish, Theo.

[ It sounds genuine, just like every other sweet thing Theo is told. He's caressing the Jewel's face again, voice soft. ]

You've been through too much for me to assume you don't know what you're doing. But it is there, the potential. And I think it's in the right place, with you.
chokedout: (269)

[personal profile] chokedout 2025-02-04 06:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Words he likes to hear. Doesn't know how to accept. Praise, but beyond that - seeing something in him he feels he's always been told isn't there. Discouraged from looking for. Zephir sees it. Cellar sees it. Even Iggy does, too. Theo still feels blind but he's starting to feel it there, bit by bit. He leans toward Zephir, tilting his chin up, yearning to reach him. He wishes he'd be easier to pull down to earth. It'd make it easier to kiss him.]
viver: (092)

[personal profile] viver 2025-02-07 11:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Theo doesn't have to wait for long. Zephir leans down to meet him for a kiss, taking his time with it. Soft, warm, parting Theo's lips with his tongue, the kiss is deepened until they're completely absorbed by it, the chaos of art and creativity a blur around them. The discussion of magic and what Theo would do for the ones he loves the suggestion of a memory. Quietly, ]

Do you want me to fuck you, Teddie?

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