TDM #22

[duplicitymods]

« « « 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 paper gown 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 highrise. 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. Winter is here and snow flurries are common in the Up while the slush collects in the Down.

» » » ALL ABOARD

---

After stepping through the door and participating in orientation, LIERS are assembled together in the Up for a tour of Duplicity in its entirety. 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.

« « « WINTER WONDERLAND

---

As a particularly heavy snowstorm blows across the city, Duplicity finds itself blanketed in white. The morning after the storm, many citizens seem to be in a particularly mischievous mood and snowballs are a common sight flying through the air. A projectile meant for someone else may hit you square in the face if you're not careful — and then it's on. Joining these impromptu snow battles is encouraged, no matter a person's designation, and even Submissives teaming up to pelt unsuspecting Dominants with snowballs is generally taken in the spirit of good fun. Not everyone is throwing snow, of course — some are rolling much larger balls and shaping them into lewd snow figures. Those feeling chilled after playing in the snow may experience the urge to warm up with someone else, skin to skin. Whether they're a stranger or a familiar face, holding hands, kissing, or getting down and dirty with the nearest willing partner is invigorating. It might even be the only way to really feel warm again.

« « « DUBIOUS DELIVERIES

---

(cw: aphro, humiliation kink) Want to make some quick cash? After exiting the train in the Down, there seems to be a questionable character hanging about the station. Dressed in a trenchcoat and looking more like a flasher than the businessman he claims to be, this shady recruiter offers easy money in exchange for a simple delivery. Just take a package and drop it off at the address on the label. Really, that's it! Stop asking questions. Should characters decide to open the package themselves instead, they'll discover one of the following: glitter — so much glitter, lube (appears normal, but actually contains hot pepper and will cause more than a mild tingling sensation if used anywhere sensitive), a package of flavored condoms mysteriously labeled "every flavor" (none of them taste good), candy or perfume containing an aphrodisiac that, in addition to the usual libido-boosting effect, will also cause an intense craving for humiliation. It seems to be one of those services that allows one to send anonymous prank gifts, and they're hiding behind LIERs as couriers. There's no return address or company information on or inside the package, except for a card marked Encoded Sin Corp — which does not seem to be a real company if the name is searched. Whether characters end up delivering the package — maybe even to a fellow LIER — or get into some trouble along the way, someone is getting a nasty surprise.

« « « SURPRISES FOR SALE

---

(cw: aphro, dubcon, excessive fluids, exhibitionism, public use) A small winter market has been set up along one of the major streets in the Up with stalls selling a variety of goods ranging from knitted hats and scarves, soaps, scented lotions, candles, jewelry, artwork and assorted crafts to hand-dyed bondage rope and kinky leather accessories. Food and drink stands are plentiful as well. Strings of lights crisscross the street between the roofs of the shops, providing a cheerful glow, and there are tables set up in the street itself for people to sit and chat while having a snack — if they can stand the cold. Some of the most popular treats being sold are hot chocolate, eggnog, marshmallow snowmen, and sugar cookies decorated like snowflakes. Of course, their popularity may have something to do with the effects they produce when consumed. • The hot chocolate simply gets one all hot and bothered. • The eggnog may cause heavy production of sexual fluids, a desire to be filled or covered with someone else's cream, or all of the above. • The marshmallow snowmen will make those who eat them want to invite others to use them as they please, desiring nothing more than to be molded into the perfect fucktoy. • The sugar cookies seem to induce all sorts of different cravings — after all, no two snowflakes are alike! These effects tend to last at least an hour and may, in some cases, last up to a full day. One of the jewelry shops sells an unusual selection of compass pendants and bracelets. The compass arrows spin round and round lazily while the pieces are on display. Once worn, however, that changes. The arrow will settle on a direction, but instead of pointing north it will lead directly to another person. Perhaps you should speak to them? You may even begin to feel magnetically drawn to them yourself… In the event that two people have compasses that point them at each other, the attraction will be even stronger — nearly impossible to deny. There is another shop which sells intricately designed pocket watches and small clocks. When these timepieces are stared at for an extended length of time or picked up and handled, characters will feel a brief but strong connection to their past and experience a vivid flashback to some moment that was, in whatever way, meaningful for them. After reliving the memory, they will feel compelled to speak about it to whoever is nearby.

« « « 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: If your character likes it hot, they are a Dominant. If your character prefers the cold, they are a Submissive. 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! Test Drive threads can be used as activity proofs for characters currently in-game. Please remember to mark any necessary content, and have fun!!

---

» » » MAIN NAVIGATION « « «

Comments

[opiate_visions]

"Definitely," Isaac agrees, perfectly amicable. "Why, shouldn't I be?"

[bedlams_bard]

"I dunno, it's a little cold. Might be nice to hold onto something warmer than this..."

There's a hint of tease in his voice there.

[opiate_visions]

"You got something warmer you want me to hold onto, Eric?" His gaze is dark and full of promise.

[bedlams_bard]

"I mean, I'm sure I can think of something." Eric gently shifts his grip on Isaac's hands, pulling him in closer.

[opiate_visions]

Isaac glances at his basically finished masterpiece and back to Eric. A couple of locals are giving them glances; a bit of flirting between Dominants is tolerated but they're definitely suggesting something more.

"Well, even if you can't, you can probably whistle up something to keep me entertained."

[bedlams_bard]

"Mm, I don't really conjure things out of thin air--erm, not anything worth 'whistling up', anyway. But perhaps when we're done with this snowman, we could maybe go somewhere I could give you a more thorough...demonstration?"

He's starting to catch those glances. Right, the trick is not to get caught breaking the rules.

[opiate_visions]

Don't get caught... or don't care about the consequences, because that's for tomorrow Isaac to deal with. "Yeah... you should definitely give me a more thorough demonstration of your magic."

[bedlams_bard]

"Well. Are we done with Mr. Blue Balls here?" He gives the snowman one last thoughtful look. It's a monstrosity, and he kind of loves it.

[opiate_visions]

"Definitely." Isaac steps back, pulls out the device and takes a photo of it. "For posterity's sake. And so I can set it as my background on this thing."

[bedlams_bard]

Eric laughs, and steps back so he can take a picture of Isaac taking a picture of the snowman. "And now I've got something for my background, too."

Photo saved, he offers a hand to hold. "Wanna head back to the housing building or something?"

[opiate_visions]

"I mean, if you have a place..." Isaac's place is probably exactly the same, but he likes having the option of leaving if he needs to.

[bedlams_bard]

"It's pretty basic right now. We'll see how it is once I settle." His fingers twine with Isaac's. He's not quite tugging him along, but there's definitely some spring in his step as he heads toward Dom housing.

[opiate_visions]

Isaac follows without any hesitation. "I don't know if I want to stay there. It's... weird. Like a hotel, except for pets. I don't know if I'm making sense. It weirds me out."

[bedlams_bard]

"I'd almost compare it to dorm rooms, like before you start getting your personal stuff moved in and living in them. Which was not a good experience for me, living in dorms, I'm just saying. I used to get picked on--someone once glued my door shut so I had to climb out the window to get to class."

They picked on him because he'd been a prodigy, attending Juilliard from the age of sixteen. And perhaps because of the quirks of his not-yet-trained talent getting loose on him.

[opiate_visions]

"... yeah, it really is, isn't it? Like a dorm, ready for you to move in and move out." For an endless stream of people to stay and leave and never be remembered. Impersonal. "Where did you study?"

[bedlams_bard]

"Juilliard. Before you get impressed, I dropped out before graduating. In fact, before I got pulled here, I was about to go back and finish out my education. To prove to myself that I could."

And on some level, that might make sense, a bard studying at one of the top music schools in the United States.

[opiate_visions]

"I studied in New York. Lived there since I was a teenager and left home, moved in with my uncle to study art." Died there too. "Guess it makes sense. Bard studying music. Was music something you were always gifted with?"

[bedlams_bard]

"Yeah, my parents were real excited how they had their own little prodigy, like a baby Beethoven." There's a bit of an eyeroll, there. "The magic came on me as a teenager, and threw a wrench into things. I thought I was going crazy, at first."

[opiate_visions]

Isaac hasn't spoken to his family in years. He wonders if they were notified of his death. "I wasn't a prodigy. I wasn't anything special. Just an artist. Worked hard at it, started winning competitions, got into art school, got picked up by a indy label until I went independent."

[bedlams_bard]

"You don't need to be gifted to be special, Isaac." He stops for long enough to look Isaac in the eyes, his voice lowered to a gentle murmur. "Being able to put in the work to develop a skill? I'd actually say it's more important."

[opiate_visions]

"Of course you don't." Isaac holds the gaze easily, he's an accomplished liar and manipulator when he wants to be. "Being gifted and being special are two completely different things. I'm not particularly either. It doesn't bother me like it used to. Better to be not special. I've seen what happens to 'special'."

[bedlams_bard]

"Yeah. I have, too."

Well, this just got a little more awkward. Eric hesitates for a moment, then tries to lighten the mood with a lame joke.

"You're especially handsome, at least."

[opiate_visions]

It works. Isaac laughs, quite happy to be distracted with flattery. "I have been told I have very soulful eyes."

[bedlams_bard]

"And soft fluffy hair that snowflakes stick to." And lips Eric's going to hold back comment on in public. He'll save that for once they're inside, alone.

"C'mon, let's keep going."

[opiate_visions]

It draws another chuckle. "I also really dislike the cold, actually. Even after years of living in New York. Only thing I like is the excuse to warm up. And making obscene snowmen, I suppose." He keeps pace easily, heading to the public housing for Dominants.