duplicitymemes | TDM #17

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TDM #17

« « « TEST DRIVE MEME » » »

« « « ALL ON DISPLAY

It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit. Yet, solace is found in the lies we tell each other, comforted by the peace of knowing that we're not alone in our depravity, and once on this path, sin itself becomes the lesser of two evils masked in a cloud of normalcy.

This is how Duplicity has functioned since the beginning. The divide of power and social standing is overt in that Dominants influence the decisions made both publicly and privately while Submissives cater to the rules presented to them. It is the way of Duplicity to assign random designations at birth with no leeway in altering what has been given. Climate in the Up is far stricter than that of the Down; violating outlined personas for a Dominant or Submissive while in full view of others is punished by degree of infraction. In the Down, many tend to turn a blind eye to these sorts of offenses.

To counteract the discovery of the Deceit Gene – a natural "negative" response to all stimuli – the L.I.E.S. program was founded. The program had been designed to introduce new subjects to the current environment and test for the Deceit Gene through immersion in Duplicity's standing society. Sexual impulses and encounters increase the chances of detecting the gene within these individuals. Participants are typically released from L.I.E.S. after a year; however, results have remained unsatisfactory and testing still continues.

... and you're here! Finally! Welcome to Duplicity.

After choosing a door and stepping through to the other side, the first thing that greets you are the enthusiastic faces of people in medical scrubs and pristine lab coats. Their enthusiasm translates to eagerness as they strip you of your clothes to perform a thorough examination—you will be healed, bathed, and given a clear plastic top and pants along with clear plastic boots to wear until your items can be processed and delivered to your residence later in the evening. You are also given a device that accesses the network as well as the time and location of orientation.

If you enter Duplicity into the Up, congratulations! You're a Dominant, which means you are immediately picked up by a limo after processing and taken to your high rise. Here, it is two Dominants per floor with separate apartments. If you enter Duplicity into the Down, congratulations! You're a Submissive, which means you are directed towards public transportation with the address of the motel you'll be living in. Here, it is two Submissives per room with a shared common space for all rooms.

Enjoy your free time until orientation! Participation is mandatory by all new and old arrivals.

The weather is rather wet and rainy. Very, very rainy.

» » » ALL ABOARD

It's time for the monthly Duplicity train tour. Seats are in pairs and randomly assigned to Dominants and Submissives alike. Traveling from Fiddler's Square, the train journeys through various parts of the Up, showcasing society and examples of lifestyle. Along the way, frequent stops are made; a variety of passengers can be seen exiting and entering the doors. A Dominant with a kneeling Submissive takes a seat near the front of the train at one stop. A small group of Submissives board and sit closer to the LIERS at another, all seemingly content in their roles. As the tour continues through the Up, the train passes close to the Market and White Wall Bridge and zips by North Park before heading into the Down and bypassing Red Wall Bridge and South Park.

The train makes a "final" stop at Riddler's Square, where inhabitants of the Down are instructed to return to their temporary housing. Those who live in the Up are permitted to stay on the train and revisit the same locations while returning.

« « « RAIN RAIN GO AWAY

(cw: aphro, dub-con, violence, marking)

Ice and chilly weather have begun to give way to rain instead, with overcast skies and dark clouds a seemingly constant sight. While the overabundance of rain is an annoyance and comes with the usual series of problems, such as leaky ceilings, mold growth, and gutters or storm drains overflowing, this time the rain carries with it another problem altogether. A weather advisory warning is broadcast to every device, as well as on news networks and radio. The rain, at least for a few days, is not ordinary rain. Whether you're in the Up or the Down, when the water hits clothing it eats away at it. The more water it absorbs, the more the material disintegrates until the wearer is left naked.

When the rain comes in contact with skin (or is ingested) the effects seem to differ depending on where you are in Duplicity. In the Up, it's relatively harmless and merely has an aphrodisiac effect, leaving individuals feeling hot and bothered, more sociable and touchy feely.

Those in the Down, however, are not so lucky. As the rain seeps through the soil from the Up, it ends up laced with toxins, causing a range of less pleasant side effects for anyone unfortunate enough to come into contact with it. Aside from the aphrodisiac, those who get caught in the rain may develop an uncomfortable, itchy rash, leaving them looking rather spotty for a few days. Those who can't resist scratching at themselves will find a newfound pleasure to the relief it brings and start to crave the feeling or sight of similar marks. In worst case scenarios, individuals will become addicted to marking themselves and others, perhaps even to the point of breaking skin.

Effects may last for several hours after exposure and will stack with repeated exposures. In all cases, getting off will bring temporary relief but will not alleviate the symptoms entirely.

Plastic coverings seem to be unaffected by the rain and, as word spreads, the Natives in Duplicity form a mad rush buying up umbrellas. Unless a character is lucky, they may find themselves unable to purchase - or even borrow - one. Theft of umbrellas becomes widespread in the Down, often escalating to violence, and even the Up isn't safe from thugs trying to steal and resell this suddenly hot commodity.

There's another side to all of this, however. Due to the shortage of umbrellas, it isn't uncommon to see Dom/Sub pairs sharing umbrellas together. If anything, it's encouraged as a means to strengthen their bond. Enterprising Subs and Doms alike may even sell their "services" to escort individuals who would otherwise end up soaked.

« « « SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME

(cw: substance abuse, altered states, coercion, fluids, physical body changes)

A new "holistic" pharma company named SQuIRT is opening up in Duplicity and is paying a pretty penny for people to trial run their new line of supplements. These supplements are supposed to increase a person's vitality and energy levels, but the side effects are what the company is really looking out for.

Some of the side effects aren't so bad and could include:

Prolonged erections
Lactation in both men and women
Size enlargement of breasts or genitals
Copious amounts of ejaculate or sexual fluids
Sudden interest in previously unexplored kinks

While others might find their own reaction to be a little more severe:

Shrinkage of breasts, genitals, or entire being
Inability to cum
Uncontrollable hair growth or hair loss
Temporary loss of one or more senses
Spontaneous weeping

Subjects must take the supplements for at least a week, otherwise they'll receive no compensation for their troubles. All new arrivals will find themselves automatically enrolled in these trials, whether they want to be or not, and expected to report to the clinic. Of course they don't have to take the supplements, but the payout is certainly enticing, especially for those unfortunate enough to be branded Submissives.

« « « STICKY FINGERS

(cw: violence)

Crime runs rampant in the Down as always but now, with the nastier side effects of the rain creating an ongoing problem, some unsavory types are sneaking their way into the Up where the effects aren't so hazardous.

The result is an uptick in crime in places that are usually considered safe. Be careful how you carry yourself - and your valuables. Those who look like easy pickings may find their pockets empty. Cameras in public areas are being vandalized as well, while homes and businesses are seeing a rise in graffiti. Most of the graffiti is merely obscene, but some is outright seditious. Good luck explaining the latter to the authorities if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

One of the smaller gangs that has a presence in the Down is taking particular advantage of the rain's disruption to expand their territory into the Up. Known as the Bulldogs, their members are young men and they have a reputation for violent muggings and assaults - mainly targeting Submissives. They loiter in groups near the train and the elevator between the Up and the Down to ambush the alone and unwary. At night, they also prey on those walking home from bars or clubs who may not fully have their wits about them.

In addition to beating up their victims for money, some of the Bulldogs are engaging in an informal competition over who can steal the most umbrellas - with bonus points awarded for whatever else they feel like. LIERs are worth double points by default, so watch out!

« « « MOD & OOC NOTES

Please read carefully.

On each Test Drive Meme, there will be a section noting character roles; these will vary each TDM. On an IC level, characters will still have gone through the doors but assignments OOCly are still randomized. When applying, there is a section of the application that denotes whether the character chooses "left" or "right". When participating on the TDM, there will be a third option. Players may link either a top level or a thread (five or more comments from their character) from the TDM and title the link as "Door Pass". This means that the player is choosing to take the designation that they were randomly assigned on the TDM, rather than taking the designation of a door. If the player decides to select a door rather than use the pass, then they are trying their luck; they may get the same designation they had on the TDM or the opposite. Once the application is submitted, players can't change their choice.

To assign roles to characters for this TDM, use the following guide:

Players can choose whether to assign their character as a Dominant or Submissive on this TDM for the Door Pass for March Applications only. For May's Application round, threads started here may be used as samples however they will not be eligible for a Door Pass in May. Characters will need to use a thread from May's TDM, using those Door Pass rules, for an application after the March round.

To Note: Characters can only swap their designation for one of the following reasons: an event occurs that allows it or there are OOC reasons that make it a necessity. Any swap always requires mod approval and each character can only ever switch once. Characters that are being reapped will keep their previous designation but players can choose to use new TDMs with different designations for fun!

THERE WILL BE NO APPLICATION ROUND IN APRIL

Please remember to mark any necessary content, and have a good time!!

» » » MAIN NAVIGATION « « «

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I do hope that you mean in the fullness of time, or were you brought here in the midst of a gunfight, or a stampede of bison?" Albert says with a light laugh, because Arthur looks right as rain at this moment, even if thin.

Perhaps a little too thin. Thinner than the last time they met, of that he is quite sure. He would not have been strong enough to have rowed the boat all over the bayou with so little meat on his bones.

"May I ask a question, Mr Morgan? It might seem a little foolish, but you already know me to be a fool. The last time I saw you, as I recall it, was several weeks ago, in Lemoyne. In Bayou Nwa, to be exact, and you assisted me in locating some fine examples of Alligator Mississippiensis. Is that the case in your recollection?"

He'd like to think that by now he's regained enough strength to row a boat all over the bayou again. Maybe not as efficiently, but still.

While he'd been introduced to the concept of people being brought here from different times he, for whatever reason, hadn't considered that possibility for people he knew. When he thinks about it for a few moments, it makes sense that it wouldn't be any different, but that doesn't stop him from staring at Albert like he's grown a second head for those few moments.

"No," he says, his voice still a little dumbfounded, even if he's decided it's actually not that strange. "Last I saw you, you almost fell of a cliff trying to photograph an eagle."

Perhaps he could have rowed, but not necessarily gotten away from some of the faster alligators they had come across. Thankfully there does not seem to be a swamp in the vicinity of Duplicity for them to find out. No matter how interesting it would be to see what the creatures could be like here, he will not suggest it. Not yet.

Albert has not as yet spoken to anyone who has actually confirmed they are from a different time or world, and therefore the idea is new to him. But he seems to take it in his stride, nodding slowly as they walk.

"I had been toying with the idea of finding a vista from which to photograph eagles." He admits. "But the season is not quite right for it, or wasn't, when last I was home. How very interesting. How long has passed since you helped me in the Bayou, would you say?"

"Uhhh."

That's a good question, and it seems absurd to think back on it and realise that it wasn't even half a year that passed. The unnatural snowstorm in spring, to the end of summer. It had started cooling down, but the leaves hadn't yet changed colour. Not that he'd really felt much warmth the last month, both literally and figurately.

While Albert and some other people he'd met along the way had crossed his mind, he didn't exactly have the time to think about paying them a visit. All his energy had gone towards John and ... making something of himself.

"Couple of months, I guess. Not much shorter than that for the eagle." He pauses for a moment, and gives Albert a curious glance. "You're sure taking this in stride."

Albert takes this in quietly. The passage of time is outside of his control as is the fact that they find themselves in a strange city outside of the world they know. The laws and ordinances of the city are beyond his influence too, but he is keeping them out of kind as best he can.

"I think to some degree I am yet to take in what all of this means, in truth. There are events you have witnessed that are yet to pass for me. We have been brought here against our will and have no obvious means to return. But I do not think losing my head will help matters any."

He looks at Arthur again, pondering him. "You seem to have settled. Do you have... a contact yet? That is what they want to encourage us all to achieve, is it not?"

And there went the opportunity to say that, no, he didn't not mean in the fullness of time. He got distracted by the matter of time, and now it just feels ... out of place.

"No. Not sure how I'd go about it. It's--" a shame I can't sign one with you, almost slips out, and he pauses for a moment, shaking his head. "It's weird."

"Indeed yes." Albert nods. "It seems quite out of sorts. Marriage is not a contractual agreement, more an oath. Animals do not need an agreed set of terms before they mate, nor do they impose a set time on themselves to find a partner, or more than one."

It's so much easier to discuss this when he doesn't look at Arthur, doesn't think about Arthur finding someone to contract with.

"Never mind the very idea of somehow owning another soul. After all that we have been through, the idea leaves a very unpleasant taste in the mouth. But I have been thinking, taking on a contractual partner need not be like that. It can be a platonic affair, where both parties mutually benefit. Like the oxpeckers and the rhino."

Edited 2021-03-19 00:07 (UTC)

It's not that he doesn't see what Albert means. In many ways, marriage where they are from and the contracts here are not the same, and marriages are ultimately more of a vow to stay faithful to each other and be with each other until death. But isn't it also kind of a contract? There's a legal document binding you together.

Of course, Albert is also thinking about all this in relation to animals. Listening to him is always so ... interesting. And entertaining. And just. Nice.

"Yeah, apparently it don't gotta be about sex. Which is interesting, considering that LIERs have a quota."

Like this, it's frankly just inconsistent.

"Now, if I was a gambling man, which I am not," No matter how many times he may have risked his life, "I would say that it is ultimately about giving the veneer of choice and freedom. That one does not need to copulate with a partner, but as a dominant simply... provide. If a contracted pair choose to... well, find other partners, the state does not care."

He pauses, delicately, and coughs.

"Unless they are both assigned the status of dominant."

"Guess there always gotta be something."

Something to control, to prohibit. And it always comes down to someone somewhere deciding that one particular thing is right, and anything else must then simply be wrong. Never mind the fact that he's not sure what it is that decides whether someone is Dominant or Submissive. Back home, it was at least something concrete, something physical to point at. Women and men belong together and anything else is perverse.

Here? It's all just completely made up.

"Don't think anyone's falling for the 'veneer'."

The look Albert gives him is soft, and he sighs. "There seems to be something we must always find fault with, as a species. I think it is a problem with us alone. Can you imagine if the birds took against each other for the colours of their plumes, or the tones of their songs? If they attempted to declare others not birds because one laid nests in trees and the other on the ground?"

He shakes his head, sadly. "I am afraid we are much worse than many of God's other creations, and yet... we are capable of so much good. It has always seemed strange to me."

Again with the animals. It's a different way of looking at the world that few seem to have, and no one that Arthur has encountered here. It's enough to make him smile this time, crooked and small but very much there. That does make him wonder. Who's to say animals don't do that, and they just don't know about it?

Or perhaps animals simply don't have the awareness to consider others in relation to themselves like that.

"Think we're also the only ones that worry about good."

Albert gives him a surprised look, and then laughs. "Well yes, I suppose you're quite right about that."

Their walk has taken them back towards the Dominant housing, and Albert pauses there. He assumes Arthur is also domiciled here, unless he has been here long enough to move out and find a place of his own.

"Shall we go up? I have some coffee. We could both do with it."

Normally, he keeps people at arm's length, especially those he just meets on the road who have no idea what his life and himself really is. It's not that he didn't want to spend time with Albert, because his company is so ... simple. Relaxing. It's just that Albert is someone who really doesn't deserve to know anything about a gang of outlaws and the life of an outlaw.

But that life isn't hanging over his head here, and he has more freedom than he's had for a long time, despite everything. Nothing stops him here, not even his own worries.

So he takes a breath, and nods.

"Coffee sounds good."

Albert's expression brightens up again, and he smiles widely at Arthur, pushing open the door and inviting Arthur to step in.

"Wonderful! You can tell me about your time here, and how you are getting along. This place seems to have so many strange rules and laws, ordinances so unlike anything we are used to. I do not think I will ever be used to such... public displays."

He follows Arthur in, shaking out his umbrella before doing so, and then moves towards the bank of elevators.

"But I think heat, light and hot water, all at the touch of a button or a flick of a switch? Miracles! Absolute miracles. Wouldn't you say?"

That's pretty interesting, considering that Arthur's always thought there are more similarities than differences when you look beyond the surface. Of course he knew from the start that the two of them have lived very different lives, and this may well be another piece of proof of that.

"It sure is something."

He reaches forward to press the button to call the elevator, then settles his hands on his belt.

Perhaps once Albert has been here for a little longer, found his feet, he will think the same way. But perhaps not, as he does tend to be more observant of the natural world than he does about people.

As they wait for the elevator, he looks over his friend again, ever so thin but still handsome, still with kind eyes and that ready smile, retaining his quick wit. Any change seems to be superficial, and for that Albert is most glad.

"Are you housed here too? Or are your lodgings elsewhere?"

"I'm here too. 11B."

So he doesn't often take the elevator, because there's little point to it.

When the elevator doors open, he gestures for Albert to enter first, then follows along.

Albert steps in, waits for Arthur to follow and then presses the corresponding button for his floor.

"I thought you might already have found somewhere more suitable and moved on. It will be... very nice to have you as a neighbour."

He shakes his head.

"Ain't been here long enough for that. Ain't found anywhere I might wanna live too."

He's not spending money on a home unless he's forced to or he actually likes the location. Still holding out some hope that there's more nature than a park somewhere.

"As memory serves, there wasn't anywhere you had found at home either." Albert points out fondly, "But there is no hurry. One must find the lay of the land, have the funds. It can be quite the process."

He pauses, glancing away from Arthur briefly, colour on his cheeks. That was only because of the chill rain outside and the warmth of the building in comparison, of course. "Perhaps we could be neighbours then too. If we could find somewhere outside of this urban sprawl."

Well ... Albert has a point, and Arthur makes a slight grimace in agreement. The thing is, he was always very happy living underneath the open sky. It was Dutch who started talking about buying land and settling down. He hadn't necessarily been opposed to the idea, but also not as enthused.

He's not about to live under the open sky here, though. There's not much of one in the first place.

"We could."

There's nothing to stop them, except money. They at least have that freedom, as Dominants.

"Well, yes. If you were inclined." Albert says, but leaves it as that. He hardly knows what's available or what the law would allow, but hopefully, there is something, or something could be built. But at the moment, it is little but a vague suggestion.

They make it to Albert's floor, and he steps out first, going to open the door of his apartment and let Arthur in.

"Make yourself at home, please. I'll make some coffee. Smoke if you like."

"Thank you."

He takes off his hat and jacket, then makes his way towards the living room, lighting a cigarette on the way. Once it's lit, he pauses for a moment to study his lighter. Wonder if Albert has discovered these yet? He'll have to ask him.

There's a few minutes of soft noise from the kitchen, Albert talking to himself as he does when taking photographs, the sound of the kettle whistling on the stove, the clink of cups together. Then he returns, with two cups in hand, steaming rich black coffee.

"I have milk and sugar too, should you have developed the taste for it." Albert says as he offers an elegant black ceramic mug out to his friend. "But for some reason, adding those seems to dilute it unacceptable to my palate."

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