duplicitymemes | TDM #22

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TDM #22

« « « 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 « « «

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

hi uh, I'm new here myself but I have to ask - which greatest archer? Because I know a few.

welcome to the dystopian sex hellscape, glad you could make it to the party.

Sorry, that was weird. Just trying to find some humor in a very unfunny thing.

And--I don't know. One of the greatest I guess. Hawkeye probably still has me beat, but, I'm getting close.

You were pretty on point, actually. Never apologize for trying to find the humor in things, okay?

Oh, huh. I don't know a Hawkeye, but my mentor was the Green Arrow. Maybe you're from an alternate Earth.

Green Arrow?

Yeah, haven't heard of him. And Hawkeye is pretty much the only name in archery where I'm from.

Well--superhero wise, I guess.

But you're from Earth, right? Where about? Maybe Green Arrow is a West Coast thing?

I feel like they would have at least known of each other, but who knows. Yeah, I'm from Earth, but multiple Earths are kind of a thing. I'm from Central City, have you heard of it?

Central City?
That's kind of--
Sorry, definitely not trying to insult your city here, but that's kind of a nondescript name, right?

But no, I haven't heard of it. I'm from New York City. You've got to have NYC on your earth. It's New York.

Hey, it's not as nondescript as Coast City. Which is on the coast, obviously.

We do actually have NYC, but I've never been. I haven't traveled a whole lot.

...you're kidding.
Well, I guess you have to give them points for helping the locationally challenged know where they are? Where am I? Oh right, Coast City--must be on the Coast. Helpful, when you think about it.

Well at least there's that; a world without New York is just sort of wrong you know?

But I met one person here who'd never even seen a train before so--at least I'm only having to wrap my brain around the whole multiverse thing, not also having to accept that the steam engine exists. And electricity. And cellphones, though this is the weirdest version of a cellphone I've ever seen.

Green Arrow was your mentor? You do archery too?

Tbf Central City is central...ish...

Now I feel like I have to go just to see what all the hype is about.

Yeah, alternate worlds and timelines are wild. I just came from one where my nemesis created a whole AU in which we switched places. Just because he was jealous.

Ah, no, I mean he did teach me, but it's not my weapon of choice. I'm a speedster. He just mentored me in general superhero and team leader stuff.

We ever get out of this hellhole and end up on the same earth out of the apparently millions that exist I will one hundred percent give you a tour. My treat.

I'd offer my apartment too, but a group of mafia men in track suits recently molotov cocktailed it and a russian assassian learned how to break in so I'm not really sure it's AirBNB ready. Unless burnt out furniture and random murderous dinner guests is your thing.

Could be a whole niche experience.

...Okay but obviously you're enough of a superhero to have a nemesis. That's pretty awesome. I fought one big bad guy, but like, I think I was pretty tangential to him. Still seeking my arch enemy, you know?

Speedster--guessing you're really, really fast?

Likewise, if you ever find your way to Central. Or if we even remember all this, which apparently we won't.

To be fair my loft got blown up by an evil version of me once so like...I get it. Believe me. I'd help you clean up?

I have a few...nemeses? Is that the plural? Trust me when I say you don't want one.

Yep, you wanna see? I can turn the camera on.

We won't?
Man, everything I learn about this place kind of makes me hate it a little more.

Same, though. If your apartment was still exploded. I'm pretty decent at clean up.

[she is not, but. She can learn?? She's willing to do the work, at least.]

A few? Okay, yes, definitely. I have to see this power.

[She clicks her video on first, and Barry gets a view of the top of a nondescript hotel room before she gets it tilted right and then there's Kate, chin taped up from a scuffle, but otherwise looking a little overeager and incredibly curious]

So I've heard, anyway. I feel that, though.

Noted. :) Hopefully we don't have our places ruined any time soon here.

[Barry turns his own video on. He's outdoors, which makes for better running. And wearing his suit just to show off. He waves, then takes off across the city and is back in seconds.]

What do you think?

((ooc: the running bit of the clip starts around 1:40, he basically looks like a streak of lightning))

[Okay here's the thing. Kate has literally worked her entire life to be someone worthy of being called a superhero. She's mastered martial arts (blackbelt at fifteen), mastered fencing (two-time state champion, thank you very much), and practiced archery literally until her fingers bled, and still it's immediately dwarfed by a guy who can just--

--he looks like a fucking streak of red lightning okay? It's bad-ass.]

Holy shit. Like, seriously, that is really, really cool.
Could you always do it? Like, is it a born with it kind of thing or is it more like Maybelline situation.

Wait.

Do you have that slogan on your Earth?

[Barry laughs at the questions, and removes his mask. There's no point in secrecy here. He would also be equally impressed with her skills and her story, because it's not having powers that makes people heroes, in his opinion.]

Thanks, it is pretty cool. And no, not always. I was hit by lightning during a particle accelerator explosion, and the mix of lightning and dark matter is how I got my speed. There are other meta-humans on my Earth too, even other speedsters. I've been this way about 7 years though, give or take.

So it's definitely a Maybelline situation.

[yes they sure do]

Edited (i realized she didn't actually see him without it LOL) 2022-01-15 02:47 (UTC)

[he takes off his mask and she gives him a wave of greeting and then immediately feels like an idiot. She's not sure of the rules here, is the thing. How do you not-awkwardly greet new people you meet in a crazy sex city who also happen to be awesome superheroes? The answer, apparently, is that you do not.]

Woah, that's--intense. And sounds like a good way for someone to get dead, so congrats on the superpowers instead.

I'm still pretty new to the whole uh, superhero gig. Probably haven't earned the super part. It's been like--thirteen days. But, I did get to partner up with an Avenger, so I mean that part was pretty cool.

[Well he's also a sub, so they have the line down the throat thing in common at least?]

Yeah it actually uh, did kill me once, the second time I got hit with lightning, so. That happened. But I came back, so it's fine. [totally fine]

I haven't heard of the Avengers, but hey, we have newbies on my team too. It doesn't matter how long you've been at it, or even what kind of hero you are, it matters that your heart is in the right place.

[At least there's that. Okay, she is definitely giving him a concerned face here, and please, please don't take this the wrong way, but:]

...are you sure you're okay?
I mean, it seems like you've been through a whole hell of a lot for a guy who looks pretty young.
Like.
Okay wait, sorry, you seem like you're handling it really well, don't get me wrong, you really are, this isn't a character judgement and we've known each other for maybe like half an hour at this point, so I'm probably the last person to give any kind of advice at all about anything, and this isn't even really advice.

I hope you have someone to talk to. And if you don't, I mean, you already know my username.

[overprotective already? Certainly not Kate-who-jumps-into-traffic-to-save-dogs-and-gives-life-advice-to-literally-everyone-even-that-goon-who-tied-her-up-once-Bishop]

And thanks. About the heart thing. I try, you know? My dad died when I was a kid and some superheroes saved the world right outside my window. A guy who wasn't anything but well-trained. This totally human person on a team with like, Norse Gods and radioactive rage monsters, risking everything to save people he didn't know. I figure if I can do even half of that? I'm on the right path.

[a solid beat and then another awkward smile, a bit of a shrug]

And now I made it awkward. Sorry.

[Barry gives her a warm smile for her concern. He likes her a lot already!] I appreciate that, I really do. That whole thing was a few years ago, but I've been through a lot in general. It'll be nice to have friends here, too. And I'm actually turning 33 soon...does time even work the same way here? Are there months?

[Barry is basically a meta-human golden retriever so this tracks still. But he shakes his head at that.]

Oh. No, you didn't. My mom died when I was a kid too, and then I lost my dad later. It's even more amazing that you came out of that wanting to save people. The Green Arrow didn't have any powers either, but I still admired him before I even met him, so I get it.

[Kate's skills are archery, swords, martial arts, and sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. She'll take someone liking her for it any day]

Thirty-three? Wow. You don't look a day over twenty-five. And--I think time works the way it did back home. Days and stuff. I saw a sign for a Monday special so I figure weeks are still a thing.

I mean, it was for Masochism with Men Monday at a coffee shop so take it with a grain of salt.

[There's genuine relief in her face when he says she didn't make it weird]

Guess a tragic backstory is a pretty good start for wanting to be a superhero, huh? Hawkeye lost his family during the Blip. We all thought they were gone forever--

Oh shit, sorry. The Blip was when a crazy alien literally decided to snap half the universe out of existence one random day. Everyone was gone for five years before the Avengers went back in time and stopped him.

But yeah. He's just this human guy, you know? He risked everything--risks everything. And now I try to help.

Guess we've got that in common, even if you've got superspeed and I've got a Paleolithic stick and string.

[Barry laughs at the age bit.] Thanks? I think? Not sure if it's my genes or a speedster trait. That's ah...good to know though. Which coffee shop? Not that. I'm asking for any reasons in particular.

[speaking of making things weird]

Ah, yeah. A lot of us have experienced some kind of loss. And that sounds...insane, but so are most things in my life. Especially since I was one of the last few remaining people in the multiverse when it was wiped out by antimatter once.

I think we probably have a lot of things in common.

Yeah? Sure masochism and men aren't your thing? [she's teasing, and he might be able to tell from the way she has absolutely no poker face and can't hide the grin] It was one in the Down, I can't remember the name. I'm sure it was a pun on something sexual though--like everything else here.

[Speaking of the lack of poker face, her straight up shock at that story is pretty damn obvious when it comes down to it]

I think we just might.

Edited (html? in this economy? ) 2022-01-19 02:02 (UTC)

I mean aside from pining for one person most of my life who I'm married to now I'm not actually sure what my thing is. I guess I have the chance to find out here, as much as I don't want to. [he's trying to hold onto any positives he can here]

[He gives her a small smile.] We'll have to do a full story swap sometime.

Edited (it's ok i forget words) 2022-01-19 02:15 (UTC)

Wait, wait, wait. [Hold up, Barry. You can't just--] You can't just drop that tidbit and then keep talking about everything else like you didn't just set off a bombshell.

Back up, start at the beginning.

Tell me about this girl. I'm great to talk to, people really open up to me. It's because I'm so easy to talk to.

[Barry laughs, shaking his head. It's like talking to himself. Again.] That's the part you want to hear about? I get it though, I have the same skill.

Me and Iris...it's a long story, but basically her dad took me in as a kid, and we grew up together. We were friends first, so we didn't really consider ourselves siblings. Joe, her dad, knew I had a crush on her long before I did. When I finally fessed up it was too late, she was already engaged to someone else. But then he died, and I had a couple of other relationship attempts, but I was still kind of hung up on her, and eventually we wound up together. She runs her own newspaper, and she leads Team Flash. She's amazing.

[and there's a beat after all that rambling] Now our adult speedster children visit us from the future which is a whole other story.

TDM #22

un: fastestalive

text; un: greatestarcher

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