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duplicitymemes2022-05-10 09:49 pm
duplicitymods) wrote in duplicitymemes2022-05-10 09:49 pm
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TDM #24
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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 LIEs 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 LIEs 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 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 for all new and past arrivals. Skies are clear and the weather is warm. |
 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. |
 (cw: sensory deprivation, coercion, dub-con/non-con) One of the workshops at this month's Orientation pairs Dominants with Submissives for an exercise in blind chemistry. Literally — they'll all be blindfolded before meeting their partner and the blindfolds must stay on! They will be encouraged to explore with their other senses, such as touch and taste. Kissing is the bare minimum of what's expected, though no one will stop them should they want to take things further… Each pair will get around 10-15 minutes together (unless they really hit things off) before switching to a new partner. Some participants may also be tapped for a secondary exercise in which Submissives remain blindfolded, while Dominants are not. Dominants may do as they wish with them and may choose whether to keep their partner or swap blindfolded Subs back and forth with other Dominants. |
 (cw: aphrodisiacs, drugs, altered mental states, public nudity) With the arrival of good weather and sunny skies ahead in the forecast, LIEs has decided to sponsor a post-Orientation BBQ in North Park. Picnic blankets and picnic tables are set up for use around the park and there is a main food station handing out catered food, as well as a few small charcoal grills available for those who wish to grill themselves. Sausages, burgers, and kebabs (vegetarian options available) are either ready to go or laid out to be cooked, along with stuff to make sandwiches (did someone say PB&J?). All the usual sides and condiments are available as well. In addition to flavor, many of those condiments contribute a little something extra to one's meal. Does the jelly in that PB&J make you feel a little more jealous than usual? Does that mustard get you all hot and bothered? It just might. Perhaps most nefarious of all is that a few batches of the condiments have truth serum mixed in with them, making people open up about their true wants and desires. See someone you wouldn't mind kissing? Feel like baring it all? Maybe you should tell them — or simply go for it. Inhibitions are lowered and tongues loosened so stuff that hotdog down your throat and get ready for some fun. There are a few different games being played in the park that LIERs can join in on, such as three-legged and wheelbarrow races with Dominant and Submissive pairs, capture the flag, and something that resembles a raunchier version of Twister. If games aren't your thing there is also a hot yoga class that is taking place, open to anyone who wishes to join. Some people are fully nude as they pose and stretch while others wear workout gear that seem more scandalous than those who are naked. Of course aside from your traditional yoga poses the instructor encourages Dominants and Submissives to practice what are clearly Kama Sutra positions with one another. Hope you're flexible! |
 (cw: transformation, body modification, drugs) There's a lot of buzz surrounding a store from one of Duplicity's sister cities, Insincerity, setting up a temporary pop-up location in Fiddler's Square. The store in question is the Supermarket and they deal in temporary upgrades, enhancements, and all things extraordinary. You can sample what it's like to be super at the Supermarket! Staffed by enigmatic Insincerity natives, the mini market is open to Dominants and Submissives alike. In order to entice buyers to visit their home location, the wares on offer make up a limited selection of their full stock — a carefully curated selection of the Supermarket's best-selling products and seasonal specials. The staff won't elaborate too much, but there are rumors that something big is happening soon in Insincerity. This month they've come to you; next month you may be coming to them. Products fall into three broad categories: power-ups, transformation/body modification, and sexual enhancers. The most common form they come in is a colorful glowing syringe, but potions, pills, and topical creams are available on request. The menu is as follows: Something Super: Transform: Enhance: Effects can be mixed and matched with the application of multiple products — though the Supermarket employees caution that buyers do so at their own risk — and may last up to one full day. |
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 the assignments are OOCly 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 prefers jelly, they are a Dominant. If your character prefers peanut butter, 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!! |
no subject
He sits back in his seat again, away from Stede's face. Those bright, sad but warm eyes are doing horrible things to his head. He can't laugh but one does get caught behind his teeth. He needs a smoke and a drink to get through this train ride with his integrity in tact.]
Fuck, man. And where'd the corpse come from? You take up murder while you were 'cleaning up your mess'? Or did you get someone else to do the job there? And why the fuck was there a big ass cat to begin with ?
no subject
It's difficult not to feel warm, because of it. He tells himself not to.
He doesn't obey. ]
Well, that's all part of the same question. Mary - that's my wife. Well, my former wife, now, technically, she'd gotten friendly with a widow whose husband had been an Undertaker. Naturally, the son had taken up the duty, and so he supplied the corpse, and the widow supplied the cat. Family pet, actually, wouldn't have hurt a fly, but that didn't matter. I only had to make it look good.
Beautiful animal. Mary helped, of course. Suffice it to say it's very unlikely anyone will come looking.
[ He pauses, then, watching Ed. Then he sits back, in that seat. ]
What, ah...what about you? You went back to the Revenge, I'm taking it?
no subject
He'd been crying for this warmth alone for weeks now, but here it is and he knows accepting it is giving in and forgetting the turmoil Stede had put him through for comfort. If he lets go, Stede will hurt him again, won't he? The man is beholden to him less here than ever and he could be gone in a flash. When Blackbeard stops being the only familiar thing to him here, he might get bored or find someone more with his time. He might vanish again in his own insecurities or worse, his whims.
But it is too, too difficult not to get pulled into his voice. He speaks with such passion about everything, even silly shit like this, and even when he should be scared of the very real damage Blackbeard could do to him if he so wished. It could happen at any moment, but even so, Stede keeps on spinning his tale. ]
Sounds like you finally got your 'theatric prowess' out there front and center. That's it then, though? No more Stede Bonnet in Barbados. Quite the fucking send off into death. At least you picked an exciting one.
[ Much more exciting than the one he might have given him had they met on the Revenge instead. If he had followed through better there than he had here, it probably would have been miserable and deserving to be forgot.
He shifts his posture and grunts, unhappy with the question immediately. It gets his hackles up for a moment, but he puts on a cold smile.
Might as well lay heavier on his crimes. Might as well see just how much more of this man, this real, praiseworthy Blackbeard, that Stede could handle. ]
Went back. Waited for your sorry ass to follow, thinking you might have got detained or lost in the fucking forest. Waited, and waited. And fucking waited forever, man.
And then, I got tired of waiting. Izzy was right. Ed was a sinking ship, a 'namby pamby pining for his boyfriend' and a shell of a man. So--
[ He flourishes his hands. ]
I decided to let go. Let go of Edward. Let go of you and become Captain Blackbeard. Worthwhile again. I got rid of your things and your boy. Left the rest to dock on that isle you found. 'Cept for good, ol' Jim and Frenchie. Jim's good in a fight and Frenchie's good with a needle. Made sense at the time.
See? I've got some good fucking stories, too.
no subject
He'd marooned the crew, that's why they were on that island. That's easily remedied. So is getting rid of Stede's things; he deserves that, after all.
But-- ]
My boy. Lucius--
[ He blinks past that, computing it. He got rid of him. He wasn't on the island with them. ]
Got rid of him how, Ed? What did you do?
[ His voice is softer now, worried and wary. Stede had cared about everyone on that crew, but he'd spent the most time with Lucius. He knew him best, recited his journal to him, trusted him. There's an ill feeling in his stomach at the thought of what might have happened to him. ]
no subject
It's that look in his eye when news of Lucius really hits him. That look, kind and concerned, and drop in his tone: he can't face it.
He pauses, face screwing up for a moment before he turns from him and looks towards the window. His posture lacks it's confidence now, shoulders bent in. He, too, softens his voice. ]
Overboard, Stede. With the fishes.
[ There's no pleasure in his tone. His stomach has sunk quicker than Lucius might have. ]
Dodged a bullet, didn't you? With me? This is who Blackbeard is. The Kraken borne into man. It's all I ever am. All I can fucking be.
no subject
He couldn't swim, so he's-
That ill feeling in Stede's stomach spreads. Oh, this is all his fault. All of it, going all the way back to that blasted sword sticking out of Chauncey's eye. Ed had done this, yes, but he wouldn't have. Not if Stede had done what he said, not if Stede had managed not to let him down. Stede lets everybody down, of course. And Stede deserved punishment for that.
Not Lucius. He hadn't deserved it at all.
Guilt is a gaping maw that Stede could fall down into, and part of him wants to. That's the easy thing. The instinctive thing.
Except that Ed is sounding like that, and it distracts him, pulls him away from himself.
This isn't okay. None of this is okay, but it doesn't mean he wants to hear Ed slipping back into the very darkness he'd been easing away from. ]
That's nonsense, you know. You were more than that when you were with me. You aren't-- doomed to walk that way. It doesn't matter what Izzy wants. It doesn't matter what I want, either, it only matters what you want.
You're the one who doesn't seem to be getting much of a say, from what I'm hearing.
[ He'd painted a picture of happiness to Stede. He hadn't gone after it, though, not alone. He'd gone backwards, not forwards. Stede doesn't see any happiness in him now; he just sees misery, and it's the last thing he wants for Ed.
Even now, faced with what he'd done. ]
no subject
Stede is Stede, though, and there comes no hard response of disgust or damnation. This is why he loved the fool and why that love had come on like a tidal wave.
Was he more than that with Stede? Was he just a defanged version of the same beast or was he truly better? A part of him wants to believe the latter, just as Stede said, but he knows he ripped right into cruelty the moment he finally hit a breaking point. Was he truly changing or had he just been feeding on the light Stede was shining all those weeks? ]
I know what I want. I told you what I wanted... and then you took off. Don't even know if I really would have seen you again if we weren't -
[ He waves his hand around briefly, still unable to look Stede's way. ]
here. In this place. Wherever the fuck this really is. No ship, no sea, no crew: no fucking anything. Not a damn thing. So now what?
no subject
[ He'd have gotten there and found Lucius dead. Jim captive. How much would that have changed? How much does it change now?
Stede had done nothing but work through his issues for the last few weeks. He'd been selfish about it, he knows that. Still, that doesn't mean it wasn't necessary. He'd been confused, and that confusion would've stayed with him and poisoned him, no matter what he did or where he went. It had to be excised. he had to cure that old wound, the one he created when he left Mary in the first place.
Now there's other wounds. In the end, though, it doesn't mean that he doesn't love Ed. He does. He still does. ]
I was all ready to leave, you know. I was coming with you. Then Chauncey reminded me of all I'd done wrong. It didn't seem as though...happiness. Was something I deserved. I suppose I needed to correct that, first. You knew, didn't you? You always knew what you felt, you were ready to reach out and take it.
I don't think I knew what I felt. Not until someone much wiser explained it to me. Now...
I love you, Ed. That's now. I think that's always. Would it make you happier not to see me? If it would, then that's what I'll do.
[ He owes him that, at the very least. Stede had decided for both of them back home. He's not going to do that again. Whether they go anywhere at all from here is Ed's choice. It's the least of what he deserves. ]
no subject
He acted in the effort to burn bridges, almost expecting to never see the man sat beside him for the rest of his life. He didn't want reminders. He didn't want the lingers of hope to stick around. That might have been why Lucius had to be the one to go... but it could just have well have been 'wrong place, wrong time' for the lad.
He gives him his time and listens to him. By now, it's borrowed minutes on top of borrowed minutes, but he can't stop him. He doesn't want to, in spite of all the awful thoughts he'd had since he took over the Revenge as his own.
But those words... That word in particular flushes all the cool rage out of his face and his expression drops. He finally turns towards Stede again, eyes wide for a moment with his eyebrows raised and his lips parted.
Just days ago, he was sure he could commit to telling him to fuck off should he ever see him again. Just as it had been when he thought he could kill him, though, he can't do it. His tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth as he stares at him for a long moment before he feels his lips tighten. He's holding his composure by the threads.
Goddamn it. Goddamn it, goddamn it. Stede Bonnet is so selfish. So unfair. He's so fucking kind and sweet to him, even after he's done things that he can never take back nor be forgiven for. He's given him an ample plate of reasons to never want to be in his presence again, and yet he said that. Love of all things: that had bashed the brains out of him.
He can hear his breath betray him, shuddering out like a bird is flapping in his chest. His voice has gone soft when he finally replies, sounding more like a scared child than the frigid man playing monster from a few minutes ago. ]
I don't know. Stede, I don't know.