TDM 011

[goldmods]

【 Thank you for choosing the Golden Peacock, 5-star resort and casino. You are currently registered as a WILDCARD in our system.

We are thrilled to announce that the Golden Peacock will be embracing autumn with a special outing. Current and new guests are invited to join us for a refreshing outdoor experience where participants can unplug, unwind, and connect with nature. During this time, all Watches will be disabled to the most basic functions (texting, calls, checking chip account) in order to encourage guests to disconnect.

Please look forward to two weeks of finding yourself amongst the trees. We hope you enjoy your stay, and have a fan-CAMP-stic time. 】

CAMPING

GETTING OFF THE GRID

As the resort moves into what it claims is autumn, the days grow shorter. The projected sun in the Vale sets in the afternoon, after which a faint chill falls. Then there’s the most excessive transformation of all – a portion of the Vale has transformed into a campground complete with a scenic lake, seemingly overnight. Statues nearby have been dressed up with flannel jackets and suspenders. Folksy banjo fills the air without any discernible source.

A section of the campgrounds have been reserved for tents. These tents vary in size, shape, and supplies. All tents, regardless of quality, are supplied with sex toys and lube. Staff and long-standing guests all agree — pretending to live in the wilderness and 'rough it' for a while is thrilling. This is what the peasants feel like all the time!

NOT ALL TENTS ARE EQUAL

► High-rank guests are allocated spacious and luxurious tents. These elaborate mini-homes come with TVs, beds, heaters, and plenty of supplies. Provided camping gear is high quality, ranging from state of the art flashlights to designer backpacks. It can't quite be considered roughing it in these tents, but glamping is camping too!

► Mid-rank guests are allocated moderate tents that comfortably fit up to three guests. These tents come with cots or sleeping bags, as well as standard camping gear to make their time living off the land fairly comfortable. While these tents lack the bells and whistles of the high-rank accommodations, they are more than enough for a comfortable but realistic camping experience.

► Low-rank guests are allocated the shabbiest tents. These sagging accommodations can shield one guest comfortably, but that doesn't stop staff from pairing low-ranking guests together in order to save space. Their 'sleeping bags' are a single blanket and hay bale pillow. There are no other included amenities aside from sex toys and a single lantern.

► Last but certainly not least: our Wildcards! All Wildcards have been randomly assigned. Whether they end up in a glamping tent or sleeping beneath a propped up sheet is left to chance. Wildcards also may find themselves waking up beside a current guest or another new arrival.

► Guests that "go camping" will discover that the door connecting the Vale to the rest of the resort has mysteriously vanished. Uh oh! Looks like there's no going back to the comfortable life anytime soon. Don't worry, the door will return when it's time to pack up and head home.

LET'S GET CRAFTY

► New characters still wake up naked save for a robe, as is standard for the Golden Peacock. This round’s robes are flannel gingham to embrace camping and autumn aesthetic. Some of these robes are much shorter than others; watch out that the lake breeze doesn’t reveal more than you wanted.

► Unlike the standard, there are no racks of clothes waiting for new arrivals outside of their tents. You're roughing it out in the woods, remember? Instead of clothing, Wildcards will find an assortment of raw materials to make clothes.

Fabric rolls, hemp, buckets of leaves, leather, and other assorted goods are waiting to be cobbled into something new. The staff have been kind enough to leave some small hunting knives and wooden needles to make crafting a bit easier. Of course, they won't stop anyone that wants to embrace the wild side and strut around naked.

HOME ON THE RANGE

Welcome to the Peacock Campgrounds! Nicknamed the Stomping Grounds by long-standing guests. Rustic and right off a sparkling lake, guests will find everything they need to live in the wilderness. Staff have expertly set up fire pits, benches, hammocks, and a wooden shed to act as a tool depository. There's even an outhouse, which is a real novelty to many of the long-standing guests. Do they just... squat over that hole and do their business? How wild!

Unlike previous resort-sponsored excursions, guests are expected to manage without the help of staff. That pile of wood won't be replenished once used; guests will have to go chop down trees and split their own. Food won't magically appear in their tents regardless of rank. Camping is all about living off the land. Though staff make themselves scarce to make the experience feel real, they lurk in the shadows, discreetly providing necessary tools and fixing broken equipment so guests won't struggle too much. It isn't fun if it's real hardship, after all!

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO COOK?

► On the first camp morning, guests will find barrels of ingredients and cooking utensils left beside the central fire pit. These barrels are stocked with fruits and vegetables that won't spoil quickly, many of which are seasonal to autumn. They have also been left a few protein options like eggs, jerky, and canned ham. These ingredients are communal and limited. Once they run out, guests will have to hunt and gather in the Vale to collect more.

► Guests must prepare their own meals while camping. Not even the high-ranks are given any special treatment on this! While oil and firestarter are included in the initial supply, these too are limited and won't be replenished after use.

► Staff would never let their precious guests go without a sweet treat. A generous supply of hot cocoa and all the fixings for s'mores has been left behind as well. While none of the other food will be replenished, the hot cocoa and s'mores goodies seemingly never run out. A night around a campfire without roasting marshmallows or sipping cocoa would be too cruel to subject guests to.

SUPPLIES RUNNING LOW

► Guests will have to hunt and gather once ingredients dwindle if they want to eat. The wooden shed is home to a selection of tools that can be used to hunt: bows and arrows, hatchets, axes, fishing poles and line, etc. All tools are rudimentary and can break if not taken care of.

► The Vale is lush with wild fruits and vegetables. However, much like in reality, not all vegetation in the Vale is safe to eat. While some berries and mushrooms are consumable, others are toxic or psychedelics. One must also not forget that they're in the Golden Peacock: some unusual plants that grow in the vale may trigger arousal. Watch out that you don't eat something funky by accident!

► Before 'leaving', staff will explain that guests can fish or hunt small game running throughout the Vale. One particularly enthusiastic staff member will suggest guests track down the snoggleboffs, as they're extremely delicious after roasting on an open fire.

ACTIVITIES

TWO WEEKS OF ROUGHING IT

Camping can't be all about survival. Where's the fun in that? Before 'leaving', the staff arrange activities and events for guests to enjoy. A wooden bulletin board outlines times for group hikes, camping experiences, and wilderness delights. Adirondack chairs line the edge of the lake and a few tire swings hang over the water, tied to strong tree branches. For the first week and a half the weather is pleasant and sunny. Perfect for camping.

At night, acoustic guitars and other wooden instruments come out so that guests can make music around the bonfire. Projected stars dapple the night sky, forming various constellations sourced from guest worlds. The moon enters a different phase each night, shining a gentle silver across the campgrounds. Why not pull your sweetheart in and cuddle beneath the night sky? It's so romantic.

IN CAMP

► Guests that don't want a cold shower should make their way over to the shower stalls quickly. These outdoor showers hold very little hot water and run cold after about five minutes. First-come first-serve!

► A wood-chopping competition begins around lunchtime. There are two goals: to split as much wood as possible and looking sexy while doing it. Guests that chop wood unsexily immediately fail! Alternatively, sexiness with a pathetic number of chunks is more acceptable, but still a loss. Those that achieve both goals will instantly win a large payout. Failing to sexily cut wood won’t have any penalties associated with it, and you can always try again tomorrow!

► Bear hunting is a popular activity that even the spoiled long-standing guests are getting in on! No, not hunting real bears. That would be insane. Peacock's version of bear hunting involves hunting down bear-like guests and capturing them! Any guest that fits the criteria of big, thick, and strong may potentially be assigned the role of bear. Hunters who manage to tie up, handcuff, net, or otherwise 'capture' a 'bear' will instantly receive a large payout.

THE LAKE

► This sparkling lake is rich with fish. Enjoy sitting back on the long pier with a fishing rod or take one of the wooden boats out for a row around the lake. It's also safe to swim in, for guests that would like to take a dip and rinse off the sweat of camp living! Don't mind the random swim trunks or drink umbrellas that pop up now and then. This water is definitely fresh and not recycled from the summer beach extravaganza.

► Guests that do decide to take a dip may encounter a familiar friend. Fernando the tentacle monster is camping too! This randy tentacle monster is as horny as ever, eager to embrace guests and stick slippery tentacles into any reachable orifice.

► Once the sun goes down, many of the long-standing guests strip off their shoddily crafted clothes and sprint into the water for skinny dipping by moonlight! What's a camping excursion without a lake-side orgy? The best way to drown out those erotic moans from the lake is to head to the central fire pit and join in on some campfire songs.

OUTSIDE CAMP

► Those that head out of camp for a hike or hunt can enjoy any of the Vale's usual wonders. With autumn, shiny apples dangle from the trees and pumpkins pepper beneath their protruding roots. Along with autumnal fruits and vegetables, canned beef and ham have been mysteriously left in pockets close to the campgrounds. A little act of kindness from the staff; not everyone is cut out to hunt their own game!

► For those interested in hunting down some fresh game, walking around the forest in the morning may come with a stroke of luck. Strange little creatures the size of an adult's fist are active during this time. These hairy beasts come in brown and white, and screech, "Scrun scrun screeee!" when agitated.

Yes, these are the alleged snoggleboffs! Don't feel bad about hunting them, they're an invasive species that are unfriendly and eager to steal from unsuspecting guests. Their main strength is their speed, but once caught, they don't put up much of a fight.

► Guests that explore deep into the Vale may find a dark cave mouth that leads downward into a damp chamber. The ceiling glitters with stalactites and, along the wall, they'll find a horizontal crease with what seems to be... hair? If touched, this crease will creak open, revealing a large eye that darts back and forth before focusing on whoever woke it. Black pupils and iris bleed into one endless abyss.

Those that gaze directly into the eye will freeze. Their mind will remain active while their body locks in place, not unlike sleep paralysis. This trance will break once the eye blinks, which it will do after some time... but it can also be forced into blinking by force if there's someone who hasn't made eye-contact around to help. Frozen guests will be overwhelmed with the fear of abandonment for the duration of their paralysis. This fear will fade after the connection is broken, as if it wasn't their fear at all.

Like a regular eye, dirt or debris can force a blink. If this route is taken, the eye will go bloodshot and shut, refusing to open again. Any guest that inflicts damage to the eye may find that their suite, upon return, has been trashed. As if someone or something threw a big tantrum in there while they were gone. Wonder why that happened...?

HOWLING

CALL OF THE WILD

Temperatures drop drastically at night as the camping excursion nears its end. Nights become so chilly that morning dew frosts over, crunching beneath guest feet. Every day the light and its warmth set a little bit earlier. Staff remain elusive and do not provide warmer blankets or clothes for guests, leaving them to cuddle for warmth or find other ways to sleep comfortably during nightly cold snaps.

The moon hits its apex on the final night of camping. Unlike the other nights, this full moon shines blood red. The Vale stills under this ominous sign, silent. Snowflakes begins to fall, spreading an endless clean sheet across the campgrounds. That reflected pink hue is inescapable.

THE WEATHER TURNS

► Along with chilly nights, the last few days of camping feature inclement weather conditions. Clouds overtake the sun and rain falls, alternating between light mist and heavy downpour.

► Winds pick up, with speeds threatening to whip away the less stable tents. Guests that don't hunker down and add additional support to their tents may end up chasing them into the storm. Other loose items around the campgrounds may end up blown away as well.

BLOOD MOON

► Wild instinct rises with the blood moon. As crimson moonlight beckons, some guests may begin to feel ... strange. As if they need to claw their true selves free. Those that answer the call to bathe in the light of the blood moon will undergo a transformation.

► Basking in the light of the blood moon triggers a were-transformation. While the standard were that the blood moon inspires is the classic werewolf, guests may transform into any kind of were. Along with hybrid transformation, the blood moon stirs mating and sex impulses in these new weres. Remaining humans are at risk of being eaten... in the sexy way.

► Transformation into a were is not mandatory. Other guests may step into the blood moon's light and not experience any kind of transformation or impulse. These guests are now actors in a sexy horror scene, given the task of surviving the night surrounded by monsters! At least they're sexy monsters? Giving in and fucking on the wild side may be more fun.

PACKING UP

► After the crazy weather and horny werewolves, the staff judge that it's high time to wrap this excursion up. Guests will once again openly see these diligent workers the morning after the blood moon. They come flooding into the site with clothing, snacks, and other comforts while praising everyone for surviving for so long without the resort's usual luxuries.

► A first aid tent and cleaning station are swiftly erected. All guests that volunteer to treat injuries sustained over the course of the camping experience or help clean up the site will be compensated with a large payout.

► Every guest that participated in the camping event, regardless of whether they help wrap things up, will be issued a spa voucher. Go relax, you've earned some pampering after all of that hard living!

OOC NOTES

INVITES | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS

▶ BLANKET CW: altered states; eyes (descriptions only, incl. eye injury); exhibitionism; hunting (incl. hunting fantasy creatures); orgies; public sex; survival; temperature play; tentacles; transformation; violence

▶ All characters on the TDM are WILDCARDS, which means they have not yet been assigned a card value. Suits will not manifest until characters are accepted into the game.

▶ All TDMs are game canon. This TDM acts as the game's September event. Camping will ICly begin September 15th and end October 3rd.

▶ Current characters may top level on the TDM. Any current characters posting to the TDM should note they are current in their subject header.

▶ The top level directory is for new characters only. We want to make sure new characters are prioritized and receive attention! If you would be interested in a game invitation, you can note that in your comment header.

▶ Smut threads that take place on this TDM can be used for rewards. If both parties in the smut thread join the game, you may retroactively apply the character's initial card values to your 52 bank. If one character does not join the game the thread will not be applicable toward rewards (as that character would not have a card value). The character that does join would still receive a small payout for the encounter. Hopefully it was a fun thread regardless!

▶ We ask you to kindly add content warnings to your threads as appropriate.

▶ If you do not currently have permissions and kinks listed in your character’s journal we suggest leaving a note in your top level of any limits or boundaries for other players to reference.

NAVIGATION • LOG • NETWORK • OOC • MEME

Comments

[smokedout]

[Dodger startles, and flickers out of sight when the world starts shifting around them. It's instinctive, a reaction just to the sudden changes before he can process what they mean.

But once he gets a second to get his bearings, he does understand. The car fire, the garage, Chobe's horrible plot that left Esikko anxious around the smell of gasoline. There's a small warning of footsteps moving close to Esikko, melting and refreezing as he moves, before Dodger reappears much closer. Gripping Esikko's arm with a soft grip, watching his face carefully.]

I'm here.

[He's here, but he doesn't know if that's a good thing or not. Not when it seems to be... causing this, as far as he can tell.]

cw memories of stitching/some freaky plant shit

[loosestrifes]

How?

( How is he here? How is this happening? In the moment, he can't fully grasp where they just were, can't fully grasp all of his memories, but he knows that he knows Dodger. Even still, the footsteps, invisible as they are, followed by a grab of his arm, startles him. The smell of gasoline burns his eyes, hits him stronger than it should, with the flash of the car surrounding them the moment it does. Vines, wrapped around him, holding him in place, gasoline dripping from him, vines sewn across his lips to keep them shut all at once. And the suddenness of it, the unnatural way that Dodger is here means that the vines are crawling up his arm from where he's holding onto Esikko, too— unfairly strong, aiming to keep him in place.

It's terrifying enough that fear flashes across Esikko's face, and he immediately reaches up to try and claw the vines away from his own mouth, even if he bleeds, even if the rest of the scenery is still snow— they're in the woods, they're in the woods, so why is he dripping with gasoline?

And all at once, it flicks back, releasing the both of them, and leaving Esikko staggering to his knees in the snow if Dodger doesn't stop him, breath heavy and alarmed. )

Is this... a nightmare? ( Realization is settling in slowly, but he's not sure it's helping. )

[smokedout]

[Vines. Chobe's vines - he remembers exactly how they looked, writhing under his fingers and reconstructing skin only to be burned away again. Something strange, potentially addictive, that he knows he won't get with anyone else. It makes it all the easier to recognize them, sewing Esikko's mouth shut and gripping onto his skin, and Dodger pulls his hand back immediately when he sees them curled around in the same spot.

He still can't help catching him, trying to keep him from hitting the snow.]

I don't know. I don't know, we need to- get you inside.

[Out of the snow, above everything else, somewhere that Dodger can dry him off and keep him warm. Past that- who knows, Dodger has no idea how to escape a dream. This feels far too much like mind control, like reality-bending, like the sort of torment that has haunted his nightmares for years now and he never figured out how to actually shake himself free from it.]

[loosestrifes]

I'm out of food.

( The whole reason for his leaving resurfaces as he falls into Dodger's hold, hands gripping back at him. Though the vines are gone, and though the gasoline gradually drips off of him into a fine, snowy powder, there are spots of blood in the snow beneath them, signs of him ripping them from his lips.

Oddly, his lips are clean, as he finds with a testing swipe of a hand over his own mouth. Dodger may begin to feel the hunger that Esikko is, right here and now, thanks to sharing this dreamscape— about two days without anything, so far, which wouldn't be much for someone a little more substantial than Esikko. )

He was supposed to be back by now.

( He? Back? Though he's a little more lucid in this dream, right now, it doesn't stop him from muttering thoughts that suit more to the memory itself. He was going to find Kirma, to bring him back, to demand some food because there's no way he can manage getting any for himself with his health as it is. He can't shake the desire to repeat it as it was, to start heading out into the woods after Kirma. His footsteps are long buried by now with snow, but... )

But if it's a dream... It doesn't matter. ( Right? He leans heavier into Dodger, head still aching from the twist of his mind right now. Trying to figure out where they just were, or what he was just doing is actually making things less stable, making his headache worse. )

[smokedout]

[That hunger bothers him - two days is nothing for someone with Dodger's body, he's gone for much longer before, but any amount of hunger is enough to crawl under his skin. It's a lot of why he's managed to stay overweight, despite having a mutant metabolism and a body that seems constantly determined to build muscle.]

No, I guess it doesn't.

[But it still bothers him. Dodger tries to lead Esikko back to the cabin, back to the... well, not warmth, but insulation at least. They're probably just going to have to ride this out, but he's struggling to decide between pragmatic decisions that will help and pragmatic decisions that would only help if this was real. Most of them are the latter, right? But he can't just ignore Esikko's hunger when he can feel it digging its claws into his own stomach.]

...Would food help?

[He has an intensely stupid idea. But it's a dream, right? So any damage to himself will stay here.]

[loosestrifes]

I don't know.

( The words come out frustrated, or annoyed, because he's struggling to focus, because Dodger's words feel like an extra distraction from trying to figure out where his mind is. This is a dream, right? They weren't in the middle of the woods before. No, but they were...

But not these woods. This is a different time. His health was worse, back then. Was it even this same timeline? Was it a prior one?

He takes uneven steps with Dodger to head back into the cabin, snow stomping off on the wood before the step down into the lower flooring of the cabin itself. The floor is one that's meant to be heated from beneath, using the stove— there's no such heat source right now. Esikko looks paler than usual. )

Maybe? Ugh, I feel like I'm going to pass out. Where... ( Where did that stupid dog go, he wants to say. But he stops himself. Because the last person he wants to see right now is that dog, right? Even if this was a time when he was looking for him. It could be something else...

Pieces of the cabin flicker uncertainly, different times, different places, different styles. ) Why am I dreaming of you here, too...?

[smokedout]

[The flickering is unsettling - like memory-bleeds, like the flashing visions he gets whenever he reality-shifts enough for his body to change. Which... pulls something to mind.]

It's that death revival thing, right? The House is doing this to you.

[That's not what he's thinking of. He's thinking of the moment, in that mating season pod full of occult nonsense, where he reality-shifted to Esikko's world. Where he confirmed that some version of him, at some point, knew this man. He knows that the explanation he mentioned out loud is probably the correct one, but he can't help thinking that maybe, there's a reason that he specifically is here.

His hand wanders under Esikko's coat, trying to feed him some warmth at least while the prince figures himself out. Which... at some point in there, Dodger's fingers brush against the pocket holding Esikko's journal, and he flinches as if he's been burnt. A flicker passes through him - not as strong as it was at the gala, it wouldn't be in a dream while he's medicated, but for a moment his clothing looks much more appropriate for this world, with the sort of thick overcoat that Dodger would normally never bother with. His face clean-shaven, his hair longer and pulled back in a neat ponytail. And then it's gone, not even staying long enough to give him any false memories.]

Fuck... stay awake, alright? [He pulls his hand back, instead just wrapping his arms around Esikko's form.] Focus on me. I'm here, I won't leave you twisting in the wind.

[loosestrifes]

( Death revival. The words strike a memory in him that floats to the surface of the water of his mind, obscured around the edges, but otherwise clear. Recognition earns pause, and with that pause comes the warmth of Dodger's hand, warmer than any person could possibly be on their own in this weather. And as Esikko squints in focus at Dodger's face, as he catches just a short glimpse of that clean face, that neat ponytail, those clothes, he finds himself almost catching the edge of familiarity.

Focus on me, says Dodger, but Esi already is. Though he looks spaced out, he lifts a hand to touch to the other man's cheek, feeling hair even when he recalls that bare face from just a moment ago. He'd felt he was familiar during the carnival, oddly so, but this is something even more, isn't it? )

You're right. ( Belatedly, quietly, he mumbles that, fingers swiping over Dodger's face. He can feel him, it feels warm and real, but it's not entirely there. Arms wrap around him, instead of the direct touch of that warm hand, and he feels blocked by something, stopped short of the click he needs to fully recognize. ) He said something about things leaking out, or sneaking in, with my mind, right? What an asshole.

( The doctor, he means, though he sounds dazed speaking on anything right now. His weight slumps a little against Dodger; the greatest thing he remembers from this memory is his hunger, his exhaustion, his irritation, and it's all weighing on him right now. )

Are you really here?

[smokedout]

[Something in Esikko's expression, the way he touches Dodger's face, makes a shiver run through him. He feels like it would probably be too lucky, to assume that Esikko didn't make the connection. Maybe they didn't know each other - he doesn't think they did - but the clothing was probably too distinct to ignore.]

I'm really here.

[He confirms it again, and slips a hand up to Esikko's cheek. To guide him into a kiss, that feels a little more dramatic and affectionate than the circumstances really call for. But Dodger is worried, and it shows through in his actions more than anything else. He has to protect him, and in absence of anything he can truly protect him against, he has to comfort.]

cw some fun dream gore

[loosestrifes]

( The comfort, too, feels out of place. In this cabin, in these woods, in this timeline, in these circumstances, in any of it— when has he ever deserved comfort? Their lips meet, warm and full of emotion, but all he can focus on is the faint taste of gasoline. And then it's stinging at his eyes, again, and it feels like flames are licking around them when there aren't any, and a vine seems to launch out of nowhere to pierce straight through the both of them, spearing diagonal through Dodger's torso and then through Esikko's upper arm, lashing out in a large gash.

He chokes out for it, fingers clutching weakly at Dodger as his legs stagger. There are more vines at their ankles, grabbing on, wrapping up, and Esikko squeezes his eyes shut, trying to will it away, but this dream isn't cooperating. )

I want to wake up! ( Desperate, too emotional, but he doesn't know how not to be in a trapping of his own mind. His hand is clutching for something at his side, something tucked into a pocket that hasn't been noticeable until now: a knife.

Probably only good, sane ideas come from wanting to wake up and grabbing that, right? )

[smokedout]

[Dodger doesn't quite notice the knife immediately - his mind is stuck on the vine piercing through his stomach, driving into Esikko's arm. He's medicated, this isn't real, and yet his mind fights to push information that shouldn't be there. His stomach is pierced, it's always his fucking stomach-

He blinks back into focus. Esikko has a knife. That makes sense - pinch yourself to wake up, it must be something more drastic to get out of a magical dream. Right?

It makes sense. It's a better plan than the nothing Dodger has.]

Do it. Get us out.

continued cw of gore/self-harm/etc

[loosestrifes]

( Esikko's eyes open again, and he's shaking from the adrenaline of it. Even in a dream, even already stabbed through, it feels like too much. But he pulls it up, pointing it at his own chest as his breathing gets harder, faster—

And he drives it into his own chest, crying out as he does. With the stab comes a buckling of his knees, and the vines and cabin around them all disappear. As his knees hit the floor, it's the palace, it's where he was nearly killed, and Esikko looks like he's in even worse pain than before, doubled over himself. He yanks the knife out with another yell, tossing it off to the side in a scattering slide of metal.

It didn't work. )

[smokedout]

[Dodger startles, struggling a bit against the vine through his torso until it disappears. Fuck- the knife didn't work, they're still fucking stuck here.

He crouches down - although it's probably more accurate to say he stumbles to his knees - and he wraps his arms around Esikko. As though that will do anything. But he has to comfort, has to keep him close.]

Maybe- if we bleed out, if you bleed out, it'll stop. Right?

[Please, let something work.]