TDM 014: A DAY AT THE FAIR

[erkumods]

TDM 014: A DAY AT THE FAIR

00. Arrival You come out of the water, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy drawing people in. It's like being suspended between realities and abruptly pushed from behind through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you to the surface and carrying you to shore. Waterlogged and covered in sand, new arrivals will be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card is already loaded up. If you don’t manage to get away from them quickly enough, they may even usher you toward the Laid Bare Spa, where new arrivals will be offered free massages, a sauna, hairstyling, and their clothing may come up permanently missing. But you will be given a complimentary towel to leave with if needed! Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see beyond what arrivals before you have helped to rebuild. Most of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair, and beyond the city lingers a thick fog that obscures much of the wilderness from view. Wander too far into this fog, and you will find yourself mysteriously looping back to where you began, your memories of what you were doing and how you got there erased. With that in mind, it may be wise to stake your claim on a place to live in the now, whether a rundown apartment in the City, a tent on the beach, a bed in the barracks, or your own space at the House of Worship. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. HAY FEVER A new mode of transportation has made an appearance! From one end of the fairgrounds to the other, and even sometimes off the beaten path and into the wilds, robot-horse-drawn hay wagons shake, rattle, and roll. And, of course, what are hay wagons great for? Anyone fancy a roll in the hay? Anyone who is taking a hay ride will see their A5 card flash - and they will be given the option to trade one square for the vehicles square. (New players engaging in this prompt can call it a freebie.) But beware! The wagons roll at all hours of the day and night. At night, the spooks come out to play! Rides will be "haunted" by frightful spooks played by machines and your local Islanders. The 'bots will hire anyone interested to don their favorite slasher costume or ghostly garb. After all, everyone knows that fear and adrenaline are related to attraction, right? Just another thoughtful service provided by your generous benefactors. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. Acute Beef Poisoning How about an eating contest? Multiple competitions are held throughout the fair: hot dogs, hot dogs, pies -- just use your imagination! Of course, there's always the chance that you've been recruited to be "eaten"... So sit back and enjoy the ride. For those of you with an exhibitionist streak, all contests are held in front of an audience. Be careful, ye who eat here, because the pies in particular have been known to have the following effects (with a two-hour duration): Meat - A simple aphro pie; a character finds themselves craving a very different kind of meat. Apple - Temporary amnesia befalls those who've tried the apple pie. The effects can be as great as forgetting your entire identity or as minor as forgetting what you've had for breakfast. Cherry - Look upon the very face of innocence! All guile falls away from this character, making it impossible for them to lie. Strawberry - The compulsion to follow orders may be strong sometimes, but the strawberry pie comes with the compulsion to give orders instead. Blueberry - Oh no! You're looking a bit... off-color? The blueberry pie turns a character's skin blue for the next two hours. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. BRODEO Last but not least, try the mechanical contraptions of various sizes - equipped with equipment of various sizes as well! The objective of this game is to last as long as you can. Thirteen Hand Sam is the smallest of the mechanical horses. It has no attachments, but instead vibrates until the rider orgasms. Mechanic Mike is the second mechanical horse. With a modest six-inch dildo, it bucks its rider around until orgasm. For those who like a real challenge, the mechanical bull -- the Bonine -- is a two-person contraption that straps each rider in with their own dildo. They sit face-to-face on the thrashing machine, within touching range, able to encourage each other to come (and to lose) more quickly. Ride like you've never ridden before, or comfort someone in the aftermath of a job well done. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

Noiz | DRAMAtical Murder

[zunge]

Arrival

[One heavily pierced blond in the waters can be seen having a not so hot time, thrashing and stumbling awkwardly around in two layers of clothing until the waves send him rolling into shallow enough water that he can dig his feet into the sand and push himself into a kneel.

Kindly give him a moment to lose his lunch atop warm, wet sand. He spits out the last of it, dips his face into the water to wash it out, then spits that out. Waking up suspended in water was super irritating. One, he doesn't know how to swim. Two, thanks to the degree of water pressure present, his dull sense of touch, his CIPA-like condition affecting his ability to perceive temperature, it felt like a whole lot of nothing, which messed with his head. Three, he has no fucking idea where he was or how he got there. Four, his stomach still felt weird in a way he didn't have the words for.

Once the helper robots come, his first instinct is to bat them away in annoyance. At least he waits till after taking a towel and bracelet to insult them, tell them to go away, or kick at any that linger or persist.]

I can take care of myself just fine.

[Following all that other intro stuff, it soon becomes time for wandering around the island while drenched and covered in sand with a towel wrapped around his neck, and hopefully finding some dry clothes. At some point he does bother checking out the spa. Most of it doesn't interest him. It seems like it'd cater to people who aren't like he is. It's good for cleaning off the sand, and that's about it—

Until he finds out about the birch broom whippings.]

...Hey. Are those any good?

[He asks this of a random person.]




Acute Beef Poisoning

[When it comes to selecting his meals he tends to eat the same thing all the time - pizza and pasta, usually delivery or takeout. Lived off of it for years. But that isn't to say he can't be adventurous. If there's one thing Noiz is known for, it's trying out food without having a fucking clue what it even is. Which is to say that he selects some samples of pies without paying attention to the flavor or even trying to find that out in advance.

He's about halfway through his slice of blueberry pie when he notices his skin slowly turning blue. He holds up a scar-covered hand to inspect—a hand free of his usual bandages, as he ditched those sopping, sandy things earlier and hasn't found anything to re-wrap them with yet.]

What the hell.

[The rest of his skin has turned the same shade, enough to cause concern. Is he hallucinating himself into looking like a goddamn Smurf? Slowly turning, he stares dully at anyone nearby.]

Hey. You.




Wildcard

[For anything else. You can run ideas by me via PM if unsure of anything.]

Acute Beef Poisoning

[curriculumachine]

[Akira sets down his fork, his own slice of pie untouched; unsure if the blue skin is some sort of weird effect or not. It might be best to abstain. Noiz seems surprised by the outcome, but it's hard for Akira to tell with absolute certainty despite the obvious 'what the hell'. He could just be an alien who changes colour. In response, there's only a returned dull stare for half a second before eye contact is lost, and a quiet noise of acknowledgement that anything was heard at all.]

Nh...

[Is he going to he help explain things? No.]

[zunge]

[Any verbal acknowledgement is better than being ignored. The noncommittal response is actually somewhat welcome, compared to some annoying, extroverted chatterbox drivel.

Noiz holds up his scar-riddled hand. There's a couple of surface piercings on the back, though they don't stand out as much against blue skin as they would against the usual human skin tone.]

What color does my skin appear to be, to you?

[By now, all of his exposed skin looks blue. At least, to him. Is that a hallucination, though? Are his eyes playing tricks on him? Did he get drugged? What if it's a weird side effect from all those weeks of being Toue's unwilling lab rat? Eating food shouldn't be able to have this effect.]

[curriculumachine]

[The piercings stand out enough for Akira, but he's only thinking about how much they would hurt to have done; and then shifting a little awkwardly in his seat. He doesn't mention them at all. It's a long moment before he answers, like he's zoned out in the middle of this exchange, and maybe he did.]

... Blue... Is that... not normal?

[He doesn't sound particularly interested.]

[zunge]

[His lips press together in a thin line. He drops his hand and moves the half-finished pie slice away from him.]

No. It's not.

[As long as there's nothing with with the quiet guy's vision, then Noiz's vision should also be working properly.]

It's supposed to be similar to yours.

[Though Noiz pegs primarily as European, he has some Japanese in him.]

[curriculumachine]

[Akira slides his pie slice away, source confirmed. He offers the tiniest bit of vague information.]

The food is weird here.

[He's mostly experienced some kind of aphro effect, though.]

It will... go away.

[zunge]

[With a grumble and a sigh, he glowers the other way.]

How annoying.

[Though tempted to ask how long it'd take for it to go away, Noiz opts not to. Blue skin isn't a big deal aside from looking like a weirdo. He can wait it out.

Which reminds him...]

Why would anyone think blue is a normal skin tone?

[curriculumachine]

There's aliens.

[It's a simplistic answer, which he then tries to elaborate on, in a stilted manner.]

Some... look human, but orange... and there's... tieflings? Blue, purple...

[He's never heard of a tiefling before he came here, but maybe Noiz has. They may not technically be aliens, but it's a good enough descriptor for Akira.]

One guy's green...

[zunge]

[This earns Akira a suspicious squint and some noncommittal comments almost completely devoid of tone.]

...This sounds like one of those things you need to see to believe.

arrival

[pawper]

[Hailing from a pseudo-Scandinavian country the way she does, Lys is a little more familiar with that particular therapeutic activity than most. Imagine her surprise at finding something on the nameless island that reminded her of home, even vaguely...

Fresh from her own whipping session, a towel draped comfortably around her waist and the rest of her still laid bare, his comment draws her attention away from sorting out her clothes (a hideously flashy aloha shirt/shorts combo that begs mockery), her gaze flickering over him as she plucks up a smile.]

Oh, definitely! I didn't realize they offered that kind of service here, but...man, talk about refreshing.

[She does look relaxed, sitting easily on one of the spa's long benches without an ounce of tension in her tall, lanky body. Though she's a quick healer, the fair skin of her back, shoulders, legs and arms still bear marks from being...thoroughly serviced.]

[zunge]

[His gaze quickly drifts from the apparent fact that she's still topless, only covering up her lower region with that towel, over to the marks that dot her skin elsewhere. That's a lot.]

What makes it refreshing?

[Some sort of sensory thing, he assumes. But is it more about the pain she and others undoubtedly feel, or the texture and pressure, or something else?]

[pawper]

[A year ago, she would've been blushing and fidgeting and hurrying to at least put on her shirt, if not also an undershirt and some kind of jacket. But this isn't a year ago, this is right now, and she's never had anything impressive to look at "up top" anyway. Instead, she hums thoughtfully and picks up another towel, ruffling it through her messy wet hair.]

Mm, how to put it? Just by sitting in the sauna, all hot and sweaty, you're really aware of your body. Getting whacked with the birch branches, even gently...you're already sensitive, keyed up. Anything extra is overload. And the harder they hit you, the more overwhelming it is. Your adrenaline starts going, and your blood is rushing, and it's just a lot. Like some kind of high, I guess.

[The towel on her head sweeps back a final time, dark hair springing back to scruffy, fluffy fullness.]

And then you take a cold shower, but you can still feel your skin throbbing. You're still aware of your body. So you feel clean and cooled off but still...I don't know. You feel so much more alive, or at least I do.

[zunge]

[The sauna part sounds unpleasant, if only because he doesn't handle heat well and all. Goddamn condition. He'd be more likely to get dizzy faint from heat stroke than get all "hot and sweaty." The whacking part, on the other hand...]

So you're saying it's mostly about the effects of temperature and the pressure of the repetitive impacts.

[It's doubtful it'd make him feel all that much more alive than usual, he thinks. Only one part of him ever feels alive much at all. It was part of why he often sought out stronger sensations and stimulations. So that he could feel something at all.]

[pawper]

[Leaning back on her heels, she lets the second towel drape from her shoulders, taking a full breath just to savor the sensation of air moving through her, how it makes the welts on her skin flare to life all over again so that she can feel the fullness of every line. She's always been kinesthetic, all body and instinct; pleasure and even pain, when applied properly, helped her reach emotional highs that seemed out of reach otherwise.]

Something like that, yeah. All those sensations were just...really intense.

[A slow, leisurely stretch, the muscles in her arms and legs flexing, then relaxing again as she considers him, bright-eyed and curious.]

Do you wanna try it? The robots are happy to do pretty much whatever, if you wanted something specific.

[zunge]

Hmm... If they skipped the sauna part. Not a fan of high heat.

[He definitely needs a quick shower or bath to wash off the sand and seawater.]

Though... are they programmed to mind another person doing it instead?

[It all depends on how they were programmed. Noiz knows this given his familiarity with Allmates, AI-assisted network devices that usually wind up housed in the frames of robotic animals. Some have more personality embedded in their programming than others, and some have multiple different personality settings one could switch to.]

[pawper]

Honestly? They'd love that. Especially if you kissed the person who helped you out.

[It should be a joke, an ironic little quip, but Lys sounds entirely serious. Entirely earnest, no guile or flippant humor at play.]

They're, you know....like that. Dunno how much you've been told already.

[zunge]

[The earnestness in her tone here confuses him. Is she serious? He heard a few things already, but not much to be honest. He shoots her a scrutinizing look, glances around slowly to take in the positions of any robots nearby, then steps forward to close the distance and press his mouth to hers, one hand casually gripping her shoulder.

It'll be easy enough for her to pull away or bat him away—or punch him, if so inclined. It's not like it'll hurt.

Time to see whether the robots are paying attention, how they react—and how she reacts. Is she just really blase about everything, or will this fluster her? If nothing else, it'll tell him whether the robots are fucking voyeurs or whatever.

He'll wait till after seeing her reaction to say a single word.]

Arrival

[fuckinghysterical]

[At that particular moment, LB was actually working at the spa, and in spite of the rather exposing outfit LB had worked there long enough to not be as bothered by it (and hey, it beat wearing the longer version of the outfit, which was just a trip hazard). At the very least, the material went up far enough to barely cover the one boob and she had gotten pretty good at avoiding nip slips now. Standing outside on her duty to offer towels those to leaving the birch whipping area, she cranes her head at the question directed toward her.]

Hmm? I don't actually know, I haven't tried it myself just yet, heheheh...

[Because look, just the word "whipping" was enough to make her wary, even if she knew by now that the robots didn't actually hit all that hard with the branches. She glances over the stranger's face - LB was very good at remembering the faces of even those she didn't know the name of, and she was certain that this was a newcomer. So, she effortlessly puts on a smile and shrugs her shoulders in an almost sheepish manner as she continues.]

But, ah, I think I've seen it enough to maybe offer an outsider's view?

[zunge]

[With all of those facial piercings it would be difficult to forget a face like this. He's definitely new. Noiz casts his gaze over her outfit in a couple casual onceovers before meeting her eyes.]

Then give your outsider's view.

[fuckinghysterical]

[LB is pretty used to people looking at her body, so she doesn't pay it any mind as he takes his time to actually glance up at her face.]

Well - eheheh - honestly, it seems a little strange? They make you sit around in the sauna for a while and then they just kind of lightly hit and massage you with the leaves? So, if you're worried about them hitting too hard, there's no worries there!

[Look, she has no way of knowing that he'd want them to hit hard, okay.]

[zunge]

Really? That's it? It sounds annoying more than anything else.

[He wrinkles his nose in distaste. Not only is it just lit hitting, but it involves the sauna.

He's... not good with heat. With his condition it's somewhat difficult to regulate his body temperature the way normal people do, so he tends to avoid heat when he can help it.]

[fuckinghysterical]

[Her shoulders raise in a shrug, because as she hadn't done it herself, she couldn't fairly say if it was or not.]

Maybe, but people do at least seem pretty relaxed afterward, heheh! And they smell pretty nice when the come out. But, I suppose I'm not certain of what your tastes would entail.

[zunge]

[He presses his lips into a thin line.]

...Let's leave it at, I wouldn't get much out of being pampered like that. A shower's all I need.

[At least with a shower there's some water pressure against his scalp and body.]

It's not important.

[fuckinghysterical]

I suppose it is a little overwhelming to be pampered, isn't it?

[Which was why she hadn't really actually used much of the services here, aside from the showers.]

But ah, that's a good idea, since you likely won't find any living spaces around here without a shower. I can show you to them, if you'd like?

[zunge]

[His reasons are a little different, but he opts to leave them unspoken. There's no reason to speak of them aloud. She's provided him with a worthwhile tangent to go down.]

Sure. Lead the way.