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Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] countryclub2022-09-25 09:57 pm
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SEPTEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME!

SEPTEMBER 2022 TDM
Another month, another test drive meme! Our test drive memes are open to anyone interested - regardless of whether or not you join our game!

All Test Drive Memes are game canon. Players can choose to keep their TDM threads canon or not. TDM threads can be used for AC and can be used as your writing sample for your application.

Our TDMs serve as a way to build into the actual lore and worldbuilding of Deer Country and we strongly encourage everyone to enjoy and participate! Current players are always welcome to pull prompts from the TDM to reference on the Network or bring into logs as well as tag out to new characters top-leveling on the TDM itself.

Characters will always be able to actively die during TDMs as this is an extremely dangerous world. You can still have this be game canon! Check out how character death in Deer Country works here.

If you have any questions about the TDM, please ask down below!

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

Prompt One
[Image One: Bread Cornucopia filled with fruits and veggies]
[Image Two: Creepy glass eye embedded in sand]

Prompt Two
[Image One: A Lone Lighthouse by night]
[Image Two: Ghost Ship in dilapidated condition]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Wasps, Wasp Nest made from human Mask screaming terror, swirling eddies in wasp Nest]
[Image Two: Horribly mutilated Cenobite in Latex gear with exposed teeth]

STANDARD ARRIVAL
WHEN: First Week of September
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk, Koz's Orphanage
CONTENT WARNINGS: Creepy Prosthetics buried in the sand


On some level, you are one of the fortunate ones. The storms of August are now a distant memory. It is the waning of the Blood Moon and the tempestuous state of the Beast Moon this year is fading finally while the harvest is being collected. Sleepers arriving find no particular difficulty in actually reaching the shores for the most part, and transformations back into their natural state of being are relatively easy. They are met by happy Trenchies and fellow Sleepers with robes of white and their bags as normal, and motioned towards the waiting tents set up along the

What is strange, however, is that when Sleepers arrive, they may find their eyes drawn to something disturbing amongst the sand. Water washes with the waves and tide, and reveals a body part! They are always prosthetics of some variety, and many are glass eyes that eerily stare at the person. They can be retrieved with some ease, though they're in bad need of cleaning. Perhaps they belong to someone in town? If not, however, asking around will get a suggestion to bring those to Koz's Orphange in Crenshaw. They have a Lost and Found there, and it is the season of finding what and who is lost. If they do, they might catch a glimpse of Koz floating mournfully through the area, and one of the children will gratefully take the item, saying that they will add it to the rest of the Lost and Found, before coming back with a photo in hand. "Here, I found this, and I think it might be yours?" The photo is, indeed, of the giver and someone from their past. Perhaps it is an actual photo taken, or one they cannot remember having been taken. Regardless, it is offered to them in a cheap wooden frame. How it got there, the orphan does not know. It was probably there when they arrived.

SEASONAL DETAILS ON THE BOARDWALK

The Boardwalk is quite the spectacle this time of year, and those who were here the prior year will remember many of the decorations and festivities. Pumpkins have been stacked on spikes lining the Boardwalk with grotesquely realistic carvings of faces decorated on them. Massive white linen has been hung in the air to look like ghosts floating back and forth against the ocean wind.

Delicious smells waft from the Boardwalk as fresh donuts, candied apples, and hot apple cider are sold at every other booth, along with complementary cornucopias given to each new Sleeper made out of bread that has fruits of all varieties but always seems to have a small jar of the favorite fruit, seed, vegetable (or even meat) of the person receiving it. If asked where it is from, the Sleepers shrug and say "The Orphans took up a collection to give a welcoming gift to new arrivals." If what is in the jar is eaten by the person given it, it will help to ease their mind and give them a calm that can last up to a week as they acclimate.

Preparations are in order for this year's Black Parade. An annual celebration, it is promoted among the excited locals as something that people can participate in. Face Painting booths and costumes are available to those who wish them, with the statement by the Trenchies, "We do it to disguise ourselves from roaming spirits and hungry beasts."
A FADED MEMORY
WHEN: Mid October
WHERE: In Swimming distance (Barely) of the Farther Shores
CONTENT WARNINGS: Ghostly Ship & Lighthouse, Threat of Corruption, Remains of Ghastly Murder and Dismembered Corpse


It is by accident that your eyes chance to look towards the Farther Shores. There, you happen to see a lighthouse, but you know for certain that it cannot be the lighthouse that is normally there and manned by the fishermen. You can't usually see that from this angle. The moment that you see it, a feeling of mounting dread falls upon you, and you realize that there is no light in the lighthouse. Though the compulsion to investigate can be resisted, there is an almost overwhelming urge to go, to investigate, to re-ignite the flame before it is too late!

The question is getting out there. The fishermen, when the lighthouse is mentioned, will make warding gestures and look terrified. All will resolutely refuse to sail out, muttering incomprehensible curses and lashing their boats securely to the shore. There will be no fishing tonight. The lighthouse, from the docks and shores, is out in the water on a rocky outcrop that nobody remembers being there, though any Trenchy asked will pale at the mention. The only way to get out there is to swim. It is a hard, dangerous swim, but the tide is coming in, rather than going out, so the riptide is not pulling down. It can be done, or a raft can be hastily made. When clambering up the stone steps to the lone lighthouse, it is apparent its door is ajar. And within? Horror awaits.

The insides of the tower are caked in viscuous, green blood. The Lighthouse itself is barely standing. It looks as if a thunderous, colossal fist has battered it repeatedly, the building nearly collapsing at every step. It does not actually break apart, but those who ascend the steps find themselves fighting not to slip on old, caked and thick blood that smells of roses. The contact with the blood isn't doing anything good to the person's sanity and hallucinations of the screams of the dying can be heard, along with shrieks of "What is it?" at the top of someone's voice. An increase in corruption is possible here, though not required. The more one contacts the blood, the greater the risk is. In the top of the lighthouse, dismembered, skeletal remains lay in gobs of what may once have been flesh. One of them holds desperately a torch in their hand, and there is a lighter present. One look out into the night will see a great vessel approaching, broken, its sails tattered and ruined. there is little time, and hopefully the lighter works!

The moment the torch lights the lamp in the lighthouse, the ship veers away from a collision course that would have destroyed the lighthouse and likely the flimsy rock outcropping on which it stood. Shades of dead sailors stare in horror at those who man the lighthouse today, the ship sailing away into the night. All are pointing beyond, and if you look over your shoulder, you can barely see a collosal figure in shadow walking into the town beyond, seemingly confused and wailing. Nothing further happens, and when the people in the lighthouse reach shore again, they will find upon turning back that it is gone, as is the outcropping, though a close inspection does see the remains of a shallow of stone there where the island once stood.

Note: The Ghost ship cannot be interacted with. If someone has the ability to reach it, they will pass through it only to realize it is nothing more than a memory in the land. Fragments of rotted wood and broken masonry can be found in the water below, covered in countless barnacles. Nothing within them shows any proof of what once transpired. There is a risk of corruption from blood exposure, though this is very much up to the players if they wish to incorporate it.

No Trenchy will willingly speak of what transpired, though a careful investigation at the Pale Sanctuary may find a tome among the sacred texts associated with Cloverfield. Reading from it, one might find a forgotten marking that the first sighting of Cloverfield, long ago, saw the collapse of the original lighthouse. No Disciple recalls the incident, and none will speak of it.

FRIEND OR FOE
WHEN: Anytime in October
WHERE: At the frindges of the main districts
CONTENT WARNINGS: demonic bugs, Bug Horror, Grotesque death, Self mutilation, Bug Infestation


The first thing that alerts you to the danger is the screams. They are agonizing, gut-wrenching and full of naked horror. When traveling near the edge of any of the districts, particularly the Crenshaw district, it is possible at times to witness a truly horrifying sight. The screams, if investigated, come upon the grisly attack of a horde of not exactly wasps but closer to demonic insects swarming over a person. They shriek, their whole form shrouded by the terrible creatures as they're being stun and the things seem to be extruding some sort of substance to cocoon them while still alive to one of the trees. There is no cry for help, as the person is clearly unaware of who is there, but do you reach out to save them?

If you do not, the scene is horrific and grisly beyond reckoning. The wasps trap the hapless victim against a tree, grafting the extruded paper all over their screaming visage to form a new wasp nest before they ultimately begin crawling inside of them, devouring them from the inside out and implanting their eggs in the new 'home' created for them. It is at this time that the palpable danger may dawn upon you. The infernal bugs have not yet seen you, but they seem to be aware that there is other life around. Do you take this moment to try and beat a hasty retreat, or do you fight it out with the bugs? They can be destroyed, but only by means of abilities and powers that destroy multiples at once, such as great gouts of flame. Hopefully you have a coldblood present! Fleeing them is easier, but can you leave this person to their fate? Still, if instead you observe and take no action, eventually the bugs seem to notice you, and though they swarm near, as long as they are not attacked, they seem to do nothing.

Strange.

If, however, you try to save the victim, a very different scene plays out. The same rules apply to fight the swarm, and if you stop them short of killing their victim, you will see just who it is that you have saved. There, mutilated through self scarification and brutally altered in horrible ways that seem almost fetishistic, is one of the blood crazed zealots. Despite being weakened and badly injured, they lash out at you, their defender. The power that they wield with their blood is incredible, and they demonstrate an ability to wield it that is well documented. The only note is that no Cold-blooded Zealots are present, and so their powers are not represented this time. However, they are drained and though they pose a threat to your life, they can be killed here with a bit of care, can be resisted with great difficulty and certainly be escaped. Either way, there is no true reward for having killed them other than knowing that you have done so. Why are they here? Alone?

It is almost as if they were an advance scout, and the wasps were someone's defense against them, someone's early warning.

CODING
wingstosee: (shouldhaveknown)

[personal profile] wingstosee 2022-10-16 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. [ what else are you supposed to even to say to that? ] That sounds... Um. Sorry if this is rude? But that sounds like it kinda sucked.

[ he gives another glance, eyes lingering for just a moment to long at the segments on anna's body. ]

...is that why you have, uh. Seams?
gotaknife: by <user name=everchased site="tumblr"> (12)

[personal profile] gotaknife 2022-10-17 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
There's no shortage of weirdness in the entire situation, but at least Martin can shove some of it aside for now. Introductions out of the way, he decides to put his focus into the task at hand. The lighthouse. He can feel the pressure too, to go inside, to explore, to investigate.

He's already familiar with the feeling of being compelled, and this feels the same. It is inevitable, though, as much as they try to resist; he knows one or the other will eventually cave, and the one remaining will follow.

Right. Best to go under their own steam.

"Yeah. Yeah," he takes a deep breath, as he pushes the door open. "Just a little look around, right? Satisfy our curiosity?"
hauntedsavior: (⚡ caverns shake like thunderstorms)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2022-10-17 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah.

[normally she'd be irreverent. she still hasn't figured out why A2 came out recently, though. her voice is quiet, like she's explaining someone as close to her as family member, or someone she loves more dearly than she has the right words for.]

This body belongs to someone else, an android named A2 from far off in my future. I started getting it back piece by piece from her over about a year and a half. All I'm really trying to do with it is keep it safe for her, in case I ever run into her again. [or if she moves in entirely.] But no, when I was born I was full on flesh and blood. The adjustment period was... [here's where the reverence fades. she leans her head forward and laughs just a little while her hair falls down to frame her face.] Let's say it was rough.
fogsong: (82)

[personal profile] fogsong 2022-10-17 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's hard to think clearly with all the disappointment and instinctive rage clouding her mind but she knows nothing he says makes any goddamn sense. She breathes out through her nose in an attempt to control herself, glaring, jaw tight. ]

You really want to keep this going? Don't fucking pretend that I'm the problem here. You said your name was Harry and-and that you were looking for your daughter, Heather. Those were the last names my dad and I used before you people took him from me!

So, stop playing stupid. I'm not going to fall for any of your fucking tricks, not again. I will never let your god come into this world. I will die first.
wingstosee: (ohwow)

[personal profile] wingstosee 2022-10-17 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
Oh.

[ and this time, he doesn't know what to say at all, so he just... doesn't. he holds his cigarette, and takes a puff or three, and only winces a little when he tries blowing the smoke through his nose. when he does say something, it might not be what anna's expecting: ]

...it's like that, sometimes. When the devil comes for someone. [ he sounds like he's repeating an urban legend, and he sounds like he's recounting something he's seen himself. right in that boundary of truth and myth. ] There was a girl a few weeks ago. I... I didn't see her or anything? But they were saying it was a slow thing, for her. That she kept fighting the whole time.

[ he sounds distant. he sounds admiring. he sounds disgusted. ]

I don't think I could do that. I don't want to fight.
doghouses: (pic#16012919)

[personal profile] doghouses 2022-10-17 12:50 am (UTC)(link)
[It would be easy to get caught up in a circle like this. To accuse her, to become enraged, because all he can do is put forth his full belief that Cheryl has made it because she is strong, so damned strong. But he does realize that this frustration of this girl's feels... real. Even Dahlia wasn't a particularly good actress, Harry had just been a desperate man then.

So, he folds his arms and tries to seriously consider this.]


Heather is the name I gave my daughter to hide from them, their Order. You know that already. But Harry is my name. Harry Mason. We used Morris for awhile.

That isn't what you know, though.

[Frustrated as he is, he's trying to think through this, rationalize. It's all that he can do right now, even if everything in him wants to just be angry.]

I used to dye her hair blonde. Her hair... it's dark, and it's what they would be looking for, so we changed that too. To keep her safe. What about you?
doghouses: (📻 and I want you)

[personal profile] doghouses 2022-10-17 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
[Honestly, he wishes he could offer more comfort in regard to Shiro and his partner. But Harry is just as helpless as anyone else right now, so he doesn't comment any further other than giving Shiro an empathetic look before nodding.]

Sure. Probably good to stretch my legs, get the blood running.

[blood running and preferably INSIDE HIS BODY]
hauntedsavior: (⚡ take the wind and the snow)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2022-10-17 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
[anna finally takes a moment to start smoking again. for someone who said she's keeping this body safe, she doesn't seem to have much care for A2's lungs. if that's what she even has inside her. it doesn't matter, ultimately; it's a devil of her own, this vice, and she's not about to stop anytime soon. instead, it's more listening. listening about the way the devil creeps in. listening to the story about how someone was taken by the devil. listening to how venus might want that to happen to him, if anna squints her eye a little.]

If A2's the devil, then hail Satan. [she doesn't know how else to put it.] She changed my life for the better, no matter how much it hurt. But... I'm starting to get the idea that you're talking about something a little more literal? [she glances over, wary but not afraid, necessarily. borderline curious.] What do you mean, "when the devil comes"?
manyone: (014 »)

[personal profile] manyone 2022-10-17 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ A smile flickers across Beatrice's lips at the question. ]

I'm certain at Sanctuary we can provide for your needs in that regard, if you don't mind a little trip.
fogsong: (173)

[personal profile] fogsong 2022-10-17 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ it feels like she's just been doused in ice-cold water and her breath catches in her throat as she tries to process what he's saying. these are all things that maybe the order could have picked up but... he seems genuine.

she shakes her head slowly, her mouth forming a tiny, silent no. her rage seems to have fallen to the wayside, replaced instead by intense confusion and hurt. she'd had so much hope. she thought it was him. ]


That's why I, uh, that's why I'm blonde. [ she lifts her hand up to her hair, runs her fingers through it, and lifts up, showing the dark roots. she's still uncertain. the implication here makes her feel almost ill but...

she reaches into the pocket of her white vest and pulls out a wallet. she pulls from it a plastic ID and holds it out to harry. it's a high school id. the name Heather Mason in a dark, bold font right beneath a photo of herself. ]
Dad and I, we changed our names a lot. Moved a lot. My dad, he was always so careful, made sure I was careful.

They still found us, though. They found us and took him and made me go back there, back to Silent Hill. Called me shit like their savior. An incubator. [ a pause as she tries to reign her emotions in ] Is that what they wanted with your Heather? To use her, too?
doghouses: (📻 that last forever)

[personal profile] doghouses 2022-10-17 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
[There. He's glad he was right, at least thus far that seems to be the case. That her hurt, her anger, those things are truly real. Maybe it would have been easier to believe that this was some messed up trick, that it was some sort of method to get under his skin or a new way to corner him and find Cheryl. But the truth is in fact much more complicated.

He isn't certain what that truth is, but the idea of his daughter being multiple people isn't precisely new. It's just that he was not part of this one's life, not exactly. Yet, there is someone else out there like Harry, too. Who take care of her, who did their best to keep her safe.

He takes the ID, absently rubbing his thumb along the edge. There it is. Her name, her picture. Differences to be sure, but so many similarities too.]


The story is very similar to hers. Heather-- Cheryl was to give birth to their god. That's what they wanted. Their Mother, their saint, whatever twisted logic they had for it. But Alessa, from what I understand, wanted none of it. For good reason, of course. And I would do anything to keep her safe.

[Like a truce, he reaches into his wallet. For her sake, he takes out his driver's license to show and share.

Harry Morris.]


I had a friend in the police. She helped me go under witness protection for awhile.

Listen, I don't really know what's going on here. But... I do believe you, Heather. That you are who you say you are. I'm sure there's some sort of explanation, but the truth is that all I want is for my daughter to be okay. And I have to trust that she is, even if I can't be there to make sure for myself.
wingstosee: (understanding)

[personal profile] wingstosee 2022-10-17 01:53 am (UTC)(link)
Haha. You, um. You probably shouldn't say that?

[ but he's smiling, and covering his mouth, so maybe she shouldn't not say it either. he holds back his giggles for a few seconds, and when he's finally sure he's got it under control he answers her question.

the smile doesn't last very long, with that one.
]

When the devil comes... I mean, it's exactly what it sounds like? [ he sighs out a bit of smoke, shaking his head. ] I already told you that we were the bad kids, right? And when you leave a bad kid alone for long enough, it only makes sense that the devil would show up eventually within them. And they let the devil in, and they are the devil, and the devil within and without them. After all...

[ he clears his throat, then recites: ]

"The devil is only the shadow of man cast from the light of god." Parables, chapter 1, verse 1. [ he doesn't sound proud. he just sounds... sad. ] When the devil does come, it usually doesn't go well for him. That's why we're in groups of three. One person to be left out, and two to drive the devil away through force.
hauntedsavior: (⚡ jaded bones of blackened marrow)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2022-10-17 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
[anna nods quietly along with the story, but he gets to the part about groups of three, about one person deliberately meant to be the vessel for the devil while the other two beat the devil out of them, and the flat look on her face turns to something halfway between a frown and a scowl.]

"Und um die neunte Stunde schrie Jesus laut und sprach: Eli, Eli, lama asabthani? das heißt: Mein Gott, mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen?". [she's more familiar with the german. she would be.] Matthew, chapter 27, verse 46. Why does someone need to be left out in the first place? Is that the kind of world that God's created? One that exists just to forsake his children like this in their moments of weakness?

[venus may have tapped into something else. something that is not related to the conversation at hand, yet something that has been weighing on anna's mind for weeks now.]
wingstosee: (neutral)

[personal profile] wingstosee 2022-10-17 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ matthew 27:46... he can pinpoint right about where that would be. he might not understand german, but he understands what anna is getting at. and to that, all he has to say is: ]

Of course it is. Someone needs to be left out because that's the kind of world He made. [ he keeps his face carefully neutral, biting his cheek to not frown. ] It's easy to talk about how Jesus fixed everything. "He died for your sins, and now you're forgiven, and all you have to do is believe!" But that changes every time you ask. Believe, or repent, or be punished appropriately, or pay your indulgences. All that matters is what the other two want you to do, right?

[ his grip on the cigarette tightens, for just a moment; he taps it, letting the gray ash off the end. it's surprisingly sexy, for a newbie. ]

You're asking if someone would create a world like this. Like you think it's an accident, or a mistake. [ a longer drag, longer than he's been going. this time, he holds it in, closing his eyes and tilting his head back as he blows it into the air. ] But that's the whole point. God's perfect, remember? This is what he wanted. This is God's perfect world. It's reality on purpose. And if you disagree, that just makes you the third wheel.
hauntedsavior: (⚡ alive and breathing in the desert sand)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2022-10-17 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
[maybe it does make her the third wheel. maybe all of this was by god's design. maybe this is what god wanted and maybe this is why anna has turned away from the face of god. they're coming at this from similar angles, she thinks. she can realize that. they both think it's bullshit, probably, but anna has abandoned it and venus has consigned himself to live in it. and if that's going to be the life that he chooses, anna thinks, then she can make a few choices of her own.]

[see, she watched the way he ashed that cigarette. he's a natural at it. and, not that she wants this to be her first go-to, but he's done a good job at making her feel like she's competent in this conversation. so what she does is she takes a slow drag off her cigarette, she ashes it into the water, and she blows the final plume of smoke out closer to both of them. she leans in, then, with one sleeve rolled up, and she puts the cigarette out on her own arm without even flinching. and in that same low voice she'd used when she lit them, she asks him a question.]


Then how are you going to get the devil out of me?
wingstosee: (anewdream)

[personal profile] wingstosee 2022-10-17 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ for a single moment, venus knows he could stop this. it's within his power. he could push anna away, or rebuke her, or do a dozen different things to cast the devil away.

he chooses not to. and that's why he has no one to blame but himself for what happens.
]

I don't think I could. [ his own voice drops, closer to anna's register. it's not even intentional, most likely - just a mimicry of her own pitch, her own tone. ] It's just the two of us, remember? The devil might not stand a chance against two, but one's a whole different story. You'd overpower me if I even tried, right?

[ his own eyes meet anna, and for a moment - for a single moment - it seems like he might move in for a kiss. but he doesn't, against all odds. instead, he leans in, resting the side of his head on anna's shoulder.

just normal things. just normal things for a boy to do with a girl he likes, in this exact position.
]

So what are you going to do if I don't do anything? If I just... leave the devil there to play?

[ there are lights dancing in his eyes. there are lights dancing within and without. for a single moment, maybe anna can see them - the lights, floating just at the edge of vision. so beautiful, so enticing. the knowledge that something different is just around the corner, if you can only turn and look. ]
Edited 2022-10-17 02:50 (UTC)
fogsong: (63)

[personal profile] fogsong 2022-10-17 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ Those are the words of a father. She can hear it in his tone and the way he speaks about his own daughter, Cheryl. It's the little differences between their stories that help her see that he's speaking the truth and she nods as she looks over his ID. His Heather was Cheryl, not Sharon, and he took the last name of Morris.]

It's this place. [ she tells him ] Things get... They get weird here. I mean, I don't think I've ever heard of something like this happening but... My mom was here for a while. Rose, not Dahlia. [ that feels important to say. she's not sure what Harry knows but... if he knows about Alessa, then he might know about Alessa's mother. ] She was from my past, though. It's as strange as it sounds.

[ a heavy pause. she wants to alleviate any of his worries. he's not her dad but he's still a dad. he's still a version of her dad, maybe. ] Look, if your... if your Cheryl is anything like me, she'll be okay. Whatever they throw her way, she can handle it and more. Not even that hell could stop her. [ she shrugs her shoulders here ] I mean, it couldn't stop me.

I'm... I'm Sharon, by the way. I don't really need to go by Heather here.
hauntedsavior: (⚡ living in the dawning of a sacred sky)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2022-10-17 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
[oh, he's escalating. that's almost cute. she's not interested, but it's cute to see him try. it's cute that he's not even making a good faith attempt to hide how into her he is. and maybe it's because of that that she's not shoving him away entirely. but this isn't going to be the same sort of reaction she's had before, no. she thinks back to when she had first kissed astin, when she had first flexed her definition of "lesbian" to fit what she was feeling. but for now, she doesn't feel comfortable flexing that. not for him. sorry.]

[she brings one hand up into his hair, and she strokes it, and she gets her fingers up against the scalp and scratches it just a little bit. intimate, but not escalatory. a reflection of what that other girl had done, she thinks idly.]


Maybe I would overpower you. But maybe I'm not interested in overpowering you. Maybe I'm just the serpent here. [she smiles.] Whispering honeyed words into your ear to lead you from the path of righteousness. Maybe I'm going to give you exactly as much of a nudge as you need to get you to accept the devil into your heart.

[she thinks she can see the lights, but it could just be a trick of her eye. there's something about venus that has a certain energy to him, and she isn't sure how to put it into words. but she sees something in him. still, her words change. she keeps the tone of her voice the same, but she says something a little more direct.]

But if you want to accept the devil anywhere else, my girlfriend's gonna be pissed.
wingstosee: (covering)

[personal profile] wingstosee 2022-10-17 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
Sanctuary...

[ that sounds familiar. why does that sound so familiar? sanctuary was... ]

-ah, that's one of the places you can stay, right? [ he's so relieved to have remembered that for a moment he's not embarrassed and nervous and bleeding in front of one of the scariest-prettiest women he's ever seen. ] Where there's less, uh... Pollution?

[ blood corruption. it's blood corruption he's thinking of. ]
wingstosee: (shouldntsay)

[personal profile] wingstosee 2022-10-17 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ he wouldn't want her to flex it anyway. it's not that he wants her definition to change. he just wants to be a part of it to begin with. maybe he doesn't have words for that yet. maybe she doesn't. but they'll figure it out someday.

for now, venus only flinches a little at the feeling of fingers in his hair, and only giggles a little bit at anna calling herself the serpent.
]

Some people think Satan was an angel, once. I'm not sure that could have been you. [ he grins, only lazily bothering to cover his mouth. ] But it was a nice effort? Very serpentlike. You'd definitely corrupt the youth.

[ the lights dance and flicker. for a moment, it seems like they might draw closer, might illuminate some secret between the two...

and then anna says that, and the light evaporates as simply as that. venus breathes in and sighs, less sad or surprised and more resigned.
]

I wouldn't have wanted it in the first place. I already told you, right? I don't... I don't want to try and do that kind of thing in the first place. It's gross. Expecting that from someone is gross.

[ and the weirdest part is, he doesn't even sound like he's lying - to himself or to anna. ]

And you're not even into guys, right? Only someone who actually wanted to kick the devil out would try to change that. [ his tone of voice should make his disgust clear with that idea. ] I don't want any of that. I just... Kind of want to sit here. That's all.
hauntedsavior: (shores of tranquility)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2022-10-17 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
[she thinks, quietly, to herself, that there's another way that the situation could change. there's a way that she could still be into girls and venus could still get what he clearly wants. but she doesn't think it very hard, or very loudly, and the words never part her lips.]

Then sit here. [she's back to speaking normally again. she'd broken whatever spell there had been between them, however unintentionally, but she can still give venus what he wants. what he's looking for, in the immediate moment. and she speaks sweetly, like a big sister instead of anything else. she's getting more comfortable with that role.]

Take all the time you need, okay? You're in a new place, meeting new people, and there's a lot of stuff going on. [she keeps her hand in his hair. she thinks he'll like that. kaworu seems to.] I could spend my time corrupting you, or I could spend it making sure you don't feel left out. I'm not gonna take you anywhere until you're ready to start exploring this place.
wingstosee: (smilingsoft)

[personal profile] wingstosee 2022-10-17 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
I can do that.

[ he does like that. so he just... sits there, with her hand in his hair and his head on her shoulder and nothing more than that implied. nothing more whatsoever. no matter how much it should say something, it doesn't, and they can both pretend it isn't there. ]

...you're really not gonna be able to corrupt me as much as you think. [ he sounds polite about it, at least. ] I mean, there's a lot of stuff I haven't done. But I already told you. I was probably going to be the devil. I mean... I was the only one it could be. You know? But... Thanks, anyway.
ofthetower: (pic#16017271)

alicent hightower ;;; | house of the dragon/f&b | coldblood?

[personal profile] ofthetower 2022-10-17 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
[this girl must be very brave to be so still among the screams, and alicent herself had almost fled, but the color of the girl's hair and something about her dress - truly, she cannot say, but gods be good she'd not been able to just leave her be, and so she approaches, a dance of hesitance in her steps. the screams are...

...she almost flees again, but she holds fast and thinks of the mother, of the warrior, too, and takes the steps to close a good bit of distance. her voice is very soft, lest she attract more wasps.]


How would you know? Can you tell by looking?

[the wasp frightens her a little, but it's such a small thing on its own. she doesn't know if the other girl's aware of her presence at all, but she speaks anyway. perhaps its out of turn. the dragonfly has her gaze now as much as the girl does. anything else she might have said falls away when it speaks. it seems a warning. maybe she should not have approached, but she's here now.]
doghouses: (📻 here with me)

[personal profile] doghouses 2022-10-17 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
Your mother...

[The first person he thinks of isn't Dahlia, even if that should be who it is. In his mind, it's Jodie; it's been years since she died, but her face comes up perfectly in his mind.

Rose is not a name he knows, but nonetheless he's glad that she's had some family here for her. At least, for awhile.]


I think you two are pretty similar. So... yes, I do genuinely think she's okay. Cheryl's always been clever. [Wryly, he adds:] And never afraid to speak her mind. Anyway, for what it's worth, I'm glad you got out safe.

It's good to meet you, Sharon. I might not be your father, but I'm sure all yours would want to know is that you're okay. And, for what it's worth, my door is open to you if you need someone to talk to.
hauntedsavior: (⚡ take the wind and the snow)

[personal profile] hauntedsavior 2022-10-17 04:39 am (UTC)(link)
[she breathes out with a smile on her lips and the taste of smoke still behind her teeth.]

I'm not trying to corrupt you. Really. This place has a habit of making beasts out of people all on its own. [maybe she should have been more up front about that to begin with.] It doesn't need any help from the devil. I transformed into a giant raven a few months ago and the devil didn't have anything to do with it.

[she's certain of that. hopefully he won't have any follow-up questions, but she wouldn't be that lucky. as long as it's about beasthood in general, she'll be fine with it.]

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