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π–˜π–†π–‘π–™π–‡π–šπ–—π–“π–™ π–’π–”π–‰π–˜. ([personal profile] saltburnmods) wrote in [community profile] draino2025-03-01 08:00 am
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πŒπ„π 𝐀𝐑𝐄 π’πŽ π‹πŽπ•π„π‹π˜ 𝐀𝐍𝐃 πƒπ‘π˜ β–£ MARCH TDM





MARCH 2025 TDM: RENEWAL


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 (THE REMIX)


CONTENT WARNINGS: drugs.

For once, it's not the pounding hangover that stirs you awake. Oh, it's still there, like little shards of glass being shoved through your skull — but your dry, cottony mouth should be the least of your concerns. When you turn over, it's clear that the glitz and glamor of your room has been ... well, neglected, as of late. The sheets are musty, the furniture covered in layers of dust that sets your nose off, the nightstand decorated with a glass of stale water growing a new bacteria culture. If you're looking for room service to cure your headache, you'll have look elsewhere for painkillers β€” the maid has very generously left you a more traditional form of medicine. A neat little bag of white powder rests at your bedside, for those that need a little extra pep in their step. Don't say the help never did anything for you.

Unfortunately, that's where the perks of your accommodations begin and end. If you thought you had the room all to yourself, think again. Maybe it's a stranger snuggled up to you in bed that first clues you in. Or maybe it's the mattresses laid out on the floor, sleepover style. Complaining to the maid that enters won't get you very far. "We apologize for the inconvenience," she says, clearly a rehearsed script she's had practice delivering. "We're in the middle of repairs. Guests will have to share four to a room." Ask her again, and mumbles out a mousy apology, before scurrying away. Guess you'll have to rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to claim the bed.

Eventually, your curiosity or hunger (or anger) wins out. Entering the corridor, "repairs" suddenly seems like an understatement. A putrid scent sits in the air, maids scrubbing at bits of guts stuck into the carpet like chewing gum. No one looks up from the frantic cleaning as you stroll down the corridors where you might find yourself ending up in the twists and turns of rooms, lost in what they offer. Regardless, seemingly all hallways, covered in priceless artworks that have been ripped from the wall and ancient artifacts knocked down from their rightful places, lead to the dining room in all of its cobwebbed disrepair.

There, Giles ushers guests onto the lawn. "Breakfast will be served outside today," he says, tight lines around his mouth. Traditional gingham blankets have been sprawled out on the lawn, protecting your legs from the thin layer of snowmelt still on the ground, as you're nudged together and urged to share amongst yourselves. Open up the wicker basket to a strange assortment scrounged together last minute by the kitchens: champagne before noon, lobster salad sandwiches, fruit cakes, artisanal cheeses, apples that look questionably rotten, and old Valentine's Day chocolates in plasticky heart boxes to polish it off. Do those taste spiked to you? It's a good thing it's still a crisp day to cool you off, once you start feeling a little warmer under the collar.

For those of you attempting your daring escapes, 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 cocaine is there, just like you remember. The strangers in your room 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. Walk to the estate lawns, and find everyone there eating away at their breakfast.

Welcome to Saltburnt, esteemed guests. Enjoy your treats while they last.




CUPID'S ARROW STRUCK ME

CONTENT WARNINGS: possible sex, violence, a/b/o themes (pheromones, mating, heat/rut), breeding, body transformation/body horror, aphrodisiacs.

They say all is fair in love and war, but making war instead of love is a tiresome sport. While the help mops blood from the floorboards, the Balfours have kindly arranged for a (very belated!) Lupercalia celebration. What better way to distract yourself from your pesky mortality, if not with the life-giving act of sex? Just ask the Ancient Romans.

For those guests who like to watch (we see you, voyeurs), the lawn's knolls offer a perfect viewing. There, you can participate in a hunt of a more innocent sort. Sprinkled throughout the lawn, hidden in flower pots and tree alcoves, are brightly colored plastic eggs. Pop them open, and you'll find hidden trinkets inside. Those lucky enough might win a new pair of Tiffany's diamonds; some, to your annoyance, explode in your face with glitter and confetti. Others contain chalky conversation hearts, stamped with their own sayings. Some lean more innocent, but there's no mistaking the X-Rated hearts in the bunch.

Whether yours are PG or NC-17, they share one thing in common: you're compelled by the spirit of whatever heart you munch on, whether it be embodying its mood or acting out its instructions with a partner.

For those guests who are a little more daring (helped along by the chocolates that might have you feeling bolder than normal), Jonty has agreed to lend his expertise to leading a hunt — of sorts. With his expert knowledge on nature, HALSIN has been appointed to lead the charge alongside him, calmly watching over those who take an interest in signing up. By the edge of the forest, volunteers are divided into various groups and given all they need to transform. Masked hunters browse through an assortment of flogs, bindings, collars, leashes, and riding crops for the pleasure (or pain) of their captured prey. As for guests who draw the short end of the stick? You're the prized catch of the day. You best run, rabbit, and hope the wolves don't catch your scent.

PREY is, at least, given the mercy of a head start — we're not complete animals, here. Stripped naked and vulnerable, with only a mask to protect you, the only goal on your mind is to outlast the hunters. It's all in good fun, at first. Women and men alike are dragged laughing and kicking by their ankles, a reward for their captor to do with as they please. Eventually, the thrill in your stomach turns to dread, and the dread turns into a cramping ache that leaves you gasping on the forest floor, unbearable pain wrenching through your insides. For a horrifying moment, you're certain your bones are going to split apart from your flesh. You burn and burn and burn with no relief, caught between your desire to run and your need to fill the emptiness within you.

HUNTERS aren't immune, either. There's something animal within you, clawing for escape. Instincts overtake all sense and logic, leaving behind the natural, predatory drive to claim. Participants gradually lose themselves in their roles, reduced to nothing more than a mess of base instincts. Your fellow hunters, perhaps once friends, are nothing more than competition to you now; you snap, violent and territorial, at any who cross your path. Your senses grow stronger, scenting the sweetness of your prey on the wind, single-mindedly chasing their trail.

Think that's the worst of it? Think again. You might become so absorbed in your role that your body follows suit, transforming before your very eyes. Furry ears sprout, tails emerge, fangs descend, claws sharpen, mating glands throb in your throat beg for attention, your anatomy grows new changes to accommodate your fun, compatible mates smell especially enticing — all determined by the mask you don, now trapped in your new form.

Happy hunting, dearests. Don't let your prey be the one who got away. You never know who might get to them first.






A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME


CONTENT WARNINGS: nsfw (exhibitionism, ritual sex, orgy), dubious consent via magical compulsion.

After a debauched weekend, the Balfours eventually get sick of cleaning cum and blood off of their expensive Tuscan curtains courtesy of their guests' constant animal urges, and search for a solution. It starts with a magic pull in the pit of your stomach one night, guiding you further into the woods, back to where it all began. The further you step into the darkened forest, the more that feeling unspools, until you find yourself at the base of an altar. Branches and flowers decorate its sides, but it's the whorling sigils that draw your eye. To even the most educated eye, they're indiscernible, like nothing you've ever seen — yet they seem to soothe you, as if you know this is where you were meant to be.

Gentle hands from servants shed your clothing. The night air is a balm on your overheated skin as countless hands paint the same symbols ritualistically over your stomach, your chest, your neck, imbuing you with a sudden overwhelming burst of ... something. Something ancient and powerful, a vessel for magic growing root in your belly. Regardless of gender, they name you LORD or MAIDEN as they step aside to form a holy circle, watching you with reverent stares.

As a Lord, you don't know how you know, but you're aware you must choose your Maiden from the crowd. Maybe it's your mate, if you've taken one; maybe it's a stranger, inexplicably calling to you. But the magic leads you to them, unable to deny the call, as you bed them on the altar for all to see. Others around you do the same, pairing off or joining couples with wandering hands, smudging lines of paint in their ecstasy. Upon completing the rite with your chosen (or several chosens), magic releases itself into the land like a ripple, urging on the fertile beginnings of springtime. Trees sprout full leaves. Rose bushes come into full bloom. Those who suffered transformations come back to themselves, losing all of their animal features, and regaining their minds.

To fully embrace the season's change, you're invited to the lakeside festivities that follow. Several fires flicker warmly, dancers in various states of undress beckoning you to join them as they twirl themselves around. Some call for you to leap over the flames, showing you how it's done with a bit of drunken grace. All guests are urged to "purify" themselves in the spirit of rebirth, starting with your fears and hang-ups and rancid vibes. Choose a sentimental item to sacrifice, and release yourself from the bad memories attached, by feeding it to the flames. Or pen those letters you can't bring yourself to send, pouring out those emotions you've kept inside, and watch the pages burn away the baggage they contain.

Be careful with them, however — those letters are delivered to rooms the very next day, airing out your dirty laundry to their intended (or unintended, oops) recipient. You might even find they've been left in very public view, carelessly strewn onto the dining table or hung up in the corridors, for anyone to read. Those text drafts you also never meant to see the light of day? Fired off to the person you thought better of sending them to. Did you mean for those to stay private? Too bad, so sad. Part of purification is making amends with yourself and your loved ones, so get to it if you want to clean your dirty soul.

More of a "wash that guy right out of your hair" kind of person? Come join the communal bathing in the lake, where you're encouraged to give your neighbor a helpful hand. Is it just the moonlight, or do they look much more irresistibly beautiful? Whatever the case, pouring a palmful of water over each other seems to wash away old pains, whether physical or mental. Scars begin to fade as complexions become brighter. Your anxieties melt away until you can't remember ever having them. Festering grudges disappear. You are well and truly free for the night, unburdened by what came before. Nothing can hold you back.

If you're not looking to get your toes wet, you can participate in love fortune-telling at the seed planting and flower-making station. Individuals are paired off and led to a patch of garden where they can plant new life for the upcoming season, encouraged to write down their intentions and hopes for the upcoming spring, and share them by burying them alongside their seed. In another area, supplies have been left out to twine together your own flowering wreaths, which are then sent to float in the lake. Whoever picks up your wreath is rumored to be your soulmate, and if you didn't believe in them before — you do now. As if struck by Cupid's arrow, you fall head over heels for them, no matter how you felt about them before.

As you sip on tea and munch on sweet dumplings, be sure to make your final stop the Wishing Tree. Ribbons hang from its branches in delicate pastel colors, each of them bearing someone's desire. Blank scraps wait nearby, encouraging you to write and share your own. Who knows? It might just come true.



DIRECTORY


longlegs: n (176)

[personal profile] longlegs 2025-03-02 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She narrows her eyes, crosses her arms as he steps closer, looking him over with some skepticism. She still thinks it's weird that 'life' can't just make himself fully alive again, but whatever. ]

Is he in the lake?
morrer: (105)

[personal profile] morrer 2025-03-02 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
The rock should be, right?

[He's so unfamiliar with these human customs.]

Zephir is - somewhere. He clawed his way out of his grave the other night.
longlegs: ? n (190)

[personal profile] longlegs 2025-03-03 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I was wondering if he was in the lake. But, uh. Shouldn't you know where he is? What if he's also trying to kill people?

[ hahahahaha ]
morrer: (132)

[personal profile] morrer 2025-03-03 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
Do you know where your friend is?

[Like he could stop Zephir if he even tried.]
longlegs: n (140)

[personal profile] longlegs 2025-03-05 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ Cellar tilts her head, crossing her arms. ]

Well, he isn't trying to drown people in the pool.
morrer: (105)

[personal profile] morrer 2025-03-05 12:46 am (UTC)(link)
Can you be so sure?

[Says Death, who may be able to sense these things.]
longlegs: n u ? (369)

[personal profile] longlegs 2025-03-05 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
Iβ€”yes! He's some kind of mermaid, he's in the water! Actual water. Why are you asking me so many questions? Let's go.

[ Holding out her hand to grab his. Bossily. ]
morrer: (038)

[personal profile] morrer 2025-03-05 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
[He smirks, just a tiny bit, before letting her take his hand and following after.]

Lead the way.
longlegs: ? n (006)

[personal profile] longlegs 2025-03-13 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ Aaand they make it there eventually, Cellar refusing to look back or slow down for any reason, even if Sully decides to stay behind. For some reason she actually trusts that he'll keep up and be by her side when she sees the landscape reflected on the water for the first time since winter really hit the property, a sense of uneasiness setting in. She's not seeing any of the people who came back from the dead with fish tails and a directive to grab and drown any person who dares to come close enough to say hello, but…

But there's also the fact of what's in it. That this place is somehow the gatekeeper to letting the dead become truly alive again, and that she's supposedly going to explore it with Death Himself. Uncertainty is plain on her frown when she turns to Sully at last, almost second-guessing herself. Almost. Because she's not going to let Iggy remain stuck there, no fucking way. ]


Can you sense anything? Since the stone are supposed to be… you know.

[ Souls or something. ]
morrer: (012)

[personal profile] morrer 2025-03-13 04:46 am (UTC)(link)
It's...

[Not a feeling for words, he wants to say. He stands next to her, surveying the waters - no longer bothered by the chill that still sticks to the wind and waits in the water, immune to it again this month while his other half still withers. He breathes in deep, walking as close to the edge of the water as he can, staring into it like he expects something to be watching.]

Death can feel like a song, sometimes. There is a hum beneath the water. Zephir's presence calls to me, asking for me to find it. I can hear Iggy too. All I can say is they're in there, with the others.

[And oh, how there are others. He likes this song is the thing he doesn't say, as he looks to her.]

Are you a strong swimmer?
longlegs: n (329)

[personal profile] longlegs 2025-03-19 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ Listening, frowning, Cellar finally stops to think about what it means to be like… him. She doesn't think she'd place him on the same level as RaΓ­z, but there are definitely some themes in common between them β€” how they're above humanity yet walk among her and others, closely interacting with people, experiencing the world in ways she'll never understand. Just like they'll probably never understand what it's like to be like her, regardless of what the house took away last month. ]

Yeah, I am. And I got my shadows back, so.
morrer: (003)

[personal profile] morrer 2025-03-19 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
If you run out of breath, don't panic. I'll have you covered.

[He can't make it easier, should she lose her breath under there unplanned - she'll still suffer the burning lungs, the panic and pain, but he can prolong that by adding time to her life, at least. Keeping her stuck in stasis, at least for a little while. Speaking of watery fun, he gestures toward it:]

Shall we?
longlegs: n (252)

[personal profile] longlegs 2025-03-19 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nodding, Cellar starts to take her shoes off, then the rest of her clothes, goosebumps softly spreading as more skin gets exposed to the air. She's down to her underwear when she walks around for a few seconds, figuring out the angle under the sun that will earn her the largest shadow. That's what she's going to use to cover her body in a dark, (almost) impenetrable shield, leaving just her hands, feet, and everything above the neckline free. Finally approaching the water again, dipping her first foot and leg in, ]

What're you doing, exactly? To have me covered. Just so I know what's coming.
morrer: (013)

[personal profile] morrer 2025-03-19 05:48 am (UTC)(link)
I'll lend you time.

[Which he says like it explains itself, though after a silent beat he realizes he ought to explain. His brow creases, because it's again one of those things that they simplify for others but means so much more to them. He strips his shirt, showing off a chest of tattoos - before loosening his belt.]

I can't heal you, or restore you to life. I can't turn back the clock. But I can stall it. I can add time to your life, as you are now, so it keeps ticking in place. If you need it.
longlegs: ? ! n u (035)

[personal profile] longlegs 2025-03-22 07:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She looks… concerned, by that. If she died in this lake, who would RaΓ­z blame? The whole Balfour family and their staff? Whatever entities are responsible for all the weird shit? Death himself? ]

O… kay. You don't actually think I'll need it though, do you? [ Pause. She needs to keep getting in the water if she's going to get used to the temperature. ] Like, you'd tell me if you knew I was gonna die, right?
morrer: (010)

[personal profile] morrer 2025-03-23 05:38 am (UTC)(link)
I try not to do that, intervening in the natural order of things isn't always great.

[Please call him out on Delphine and how she makes him a hypocrite, any time.]

I'll let you know if I think you should take a break?
longlegs: n (054)

[personal profile] longlegs 2025-04-02 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
Have you seen where we are? What we're doing? What natural order.

[ She's more annoyed at what she's referencing than Sully's rule. If it wasn't for this place messing everything up, Iggy would still be fine β€” and she wouldn't be about to dive into dodgy waters to dig up some magical stone that's supposedly going to bring him fully back from the dead. ]
morrer: (081)

[personal profile] morrer 2025-04-02 05:13 am (UTC)(link)
I'll tell you when I think you should take a break.

[He repeats. Before nodding toward the water - get on with it, he says. He needs to secure Zephir's song, too, and he'd be lying if he said that didn't take precedence over everything else. But he's going to at least try to keep his promise.]