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duplicitymemes2023-03-10 09:15 pm
duplicitymods) wrote in duplicitymemes2023-03-10 09:15 pm
Entry tags:
TDM #29
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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. Cloudy skies and chilly weather mark the start of spring. |
 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: d/s themes, public demonstrations, bondage, spanking, humiliation) It's that time again, when more experienced LIERs are roped into playing a part in Orientation and helping their fellow newbies out. Unfortunately, sometimes it's a newbie who gets called on by mistake. Bureaucracy is the worst! All that red tape. (And rope.) LIERs are broken into small groups for intimate Introduction to Dom/Sub workshops in order to help newcomers more quickly adapt to the cornerstone of the Duplicity lifestyle. Those with lines down their throats are only chosen to demonstrate Submissive roles, while those without are chosen for the Dominant roles. Participants are encouraged to practice on each other while being taught. Subjects include but aren't limited to: In addition to the workshops is a fun matchmaking game. At the door, everyone is given an exaggerated and embarrassing caricature of someone else, whether through distorted features, awkward poses, or being drawn naked, and told to find that person. Added incentive is that the pictures are given out in pairs. Find the person in the drawing, and you find the person with an equally awful drawing of you! If they won't hand it over right away, you may need to get creative with incentive. |
 (cw: forced sex work, voyeurism and exhibitionism, lingerie/costumes, drugs, aphro, humiliation, leaked nudes) Both in Fiddler's Square and Riddler's Square a set of small, mysterious, curtained boxy structures have been erected. Soon enough the purpose becomes clear as masked miscreants snatch people off the street and force them first into a makeshift dressing room in a nearby nondescript building, where they're instructed to choose a cheap and revealing costume from a rack and put it on. They're then dragged and stuffed into one of the boxes. In other cases, characters may be drugged unconscious and awaken in one of the boxes already wearing their new sexy getup. Either way, once it's occupied, the curtains part to reveal a shuttered Pop-up Peep Show. Anyone on the outside can insert a coin to raise the shutter and activate the two-way mic. Tinny music begins to play. Better put on a good show, because the box won't open and release its prisoner until a certain amount of money has been earned. Toys and lube are provided for use. Also set up around the area for the low, low price of free are photo booths that anyone is welcome to use. At first they seem like the usual kind often seen in shopping areas. It's only when one enters with a partner (or on their own!) that they'll realize, much like everything in Duplicity, these too have their own sexy spin. There are various filters one can pick from to place over their booth image, along with silly stickers they can add on screen before going to print out their photos. Harmless enough so far, right? Unfortunately anyone who uses the photo booths will discover the air inside is laced with an aphrodisiac to encourage them to take more risque poses than they normally would. On top of that, what they don't know is that the booths can wirelessly sync with characters' devices to download and install a hidden app that will store the photos and activate at a later date. Even worse is any image taken within the booth, thanks to shoddy cloud storage, may end up posted to the network feed or sent as attachments to individual contacts, even to complete strangers. Sorry about that. |
 (cw: body fluids) It seems like everywhere you go these days you're bombarded with marketing for a new miracle product. It'll revolutionize your life! Best sex you've ever had! You've never experienced anything like this before! What is it, you ask? Or maybe you didn't ask, but they're going to tell you all about it anyway. It's Back Door Delight — the drink that goes down smooth and generates lube! That's right, no more wasting time fumbling around with bottles of artificial lubrication that gets everywhere and makes a mess. Now your butt will do the work for you. A slippery ride, every time*, guaranteed (*each dose lasts 6 hours). Comes in regular or warming tingle varieties. Try it for yourself or, better yet, get in on the ground floor of this amazing life-changing innovation and become a Back Door Delight salesperson today! In addition to pushing sales, the shady distributors of this product will promise easy riches to anyone who wants to become a seller themselves and will quickly offload bulk quantities onto those who show even the slightest interest at no upfront cost. The catch, of course, is that they're on the hook financially for any leftover product they don't manage to sell and it turns out this is a gang enterprise. Pay up or get your kneecaps rearranged. Characters who don't make enough sales or find another way to come up with the money might find themselves making desperate deals with gang members to work off the debt. The worst part is, it doesn't even work as advertised! Every bottle of Back Door Delight is a total dud. Some of them cause excessive anal lubrication for a period of 24 hours, leaving the drinker inconveniently dripping wet. Some don't work at all and just make characters feel bloated and terrible for a while. The warming version? More like burning. You could douche with hot sauce for the same effect and it would be cheaper, too. Hopefully you didn't invest too much. |
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 would prefer a slap, they are a Dominant. If your character would prefer a tickle, 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!! |
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[ Eddie's expression soften, turns gentler, when she responds with what he interprets as hesitance. ] I'd like. But only if you want to. No artist should be forced to share until they're ready. [ that her singing has been largely reserved for herself is of no issue to him: she's a singer, given that she loves it and embraces using her voice.
and he's delighted again when she accepts his offer of teaching her guitar sometime, grinning wide. but it's his turn to hesitate, breathing hitching almost unnoticeable. the smile leaves his lips out of surprise, returning to his eyes when he replies after a few seconds. ] I might have two left feet when another person enters the equation. But...yeah, I'd like that. I think it would be...delightful to learn more about your kingdom, first hand.
[ Eddie Munson, taking up a new friend on waltzing lessons. where is Dustin to be wide-eyed and shocked? ]
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but she couldn't care less about his two left feet. dancing isn't about perfection, he'd known that if he caught her stumbling through a twirl the way she does in her family's attic.] I like to believe we're all meant to share something of ourselves here, maybe that's why we come from such different worlds.
[ it is, admittedly, an optimistic take on all of this. sometimes Ella thinks maybe there's more at work here than just the cruel people who brought them into this life. her mother always told her that magic existed in goodness.
and the way she's treated here by so many, with kindness and the support she hasn't known since her parents were alive, feels incredibly good to her.]
I feel very lucky to have met you.
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[ his smile grows again. ] I'm glad to hear your take, to know you don't think it's bad to have an outlook of possibility rather than drowning in impending dread. Which is why that earnest sentiment is one I feel too, Ella.
[ he's all soft smiles, grateful for every moment of speaking with her. life there might not be so terrible. one hand drops to the table, fingertips hovering slightly over it, reaching out deliberate and slowly for her to take if she'd like. he finds himself desiring the contact, brief and sweet, but felt deeply if it transpires. ] Thank you, for reminding me there's good people, like you, who want me as friend. [ And a quickly made friend, no less. ]
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but she is still considering what he said, particularly about this city's expectations. those demands were quite daunting the first time around, but she isn't a newcomer and she'd like to think she understands the system fairly well this time.] If you're open to advice, Eddie, let me share something with you.
[ her fingers slide against his, maintaining a contact she hopes might ease some of his concerns.] The city's demands are always met. Whether it's quota, acceptance of an invitation, signing a contract... those things are going to happen, they always do.
[ which she says because it's true. she's yet to see anyone get around all of this without serious consequences, and those consequences are always far worse than the initial ask.]
It doesn't mean you're without any choice. Find the people you're comfortable being intimate with, the dominant who'll treat you as an equal partner. Find work you enjoy, keep playing music. Meet their expectations in a way that feels right for you, and they'll be less inclined to turn them into demands.
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many have offered loaded advice, generally teachers and other adults in town, but there is no reason to be suspicious of her motives. a glance is stolen at their joined hands, lips parting in realization that her words may be about to get heavy once more.
his head tilts minutely here and there, chin jutting in to his chest when she finishes. it's a sensible outlook, one with a person's true self at the crux. ] No one should have to do some of that, but, but I can tell you wanna help me. [ he brings his other hand over their folded hands, giving hers a gentle squeeze as if he's about to promise her something. ] So. I believe you. And I'll do it.
[ his brows rise ] But we are missing the factor of finding a Dom willing to let me do that. I -- [ his mouth parts, prolonged silence as he almost reconsiders ] I don't do the random [ he waves his free hand in a sort of small circle in emphasis ] bedfellows thing, but if we're all here to do just that...shouldn't be too hard. Just...signing any kinda contract. Feels wrong, Ella. Like it goes against what's actually best for me. For us. [ A pause, knowing he's about to be more intrusive but hoping she's willing to answer. ] You found someone who wasn't about getting what's theirs and leaving you in the dust? Someone who...took care of you?
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[ but they do, because she's seen what happens when they don't. she's been kidnapped herself, trapped in a pit with her friends. she's watched them hurt, broken-hearted, seen some of them lose their lives and come back within a few days time. it is a true and immediate relief when he says he'll do it, and she breathes that out in a heavy sigh.
she doesn't think this world could take the fire out of him, but she also doesn't want them to target him for it, either. so she slides her other hand up and holds both of his, leaning in to speak so that only he can hear her.]
I had several friends willing to sign for me. I waited at first, and it only limited me in what I could do. [ it meant finding someone else to sign her working papers, taking the risk of shopping on her own - seeing her friends ready to act when she received a citation for making purchases without a dominant.]
I had two dominants last time, and they were both wonderful people. [ one who she even knew from her world.] They gave me as much independence as the law would allow, and it was...a partnership. That was what I wanted, not to have someone feel responsible for me or to try to own me.
[ after being locked in the attic, her freedom was her priority.]
And I ...[ she shrugs, biting back a smile at how silly this sounds.] I had only ever talked to one man before I came here, Eddie. [ literally - one man who she spoke to in a private conversation. she's trying not to laugh at it now, it sounds so silly compared to the open intimacy of the city.] I found people who I felt safe being intimate with.
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he draws in a sharper breath, stymying it with his tongue just so between his lips, not expecting her to continue to be so open. the surprise has no place, though, and he smiles soft and sad at the degree to what she's been forced to participate in. ] Well. [ he glances down, taking a breath to center himself ] You continue to amaze me with your generosity, Ella.
[ brown eyes flash back to meet hers ] You didn't have to share that. It's...I don't really know how deep I feel my capacity is to do that, to meet people like you have. [ a long pause, for his nerves, another quick glance down. ] A Dominant or...otherwise.
[ then his voice lowers to a whisper, gaze locked with hers ] But you give me hope that I can. And few and far between have such bearers of optimism been. Your spirit...this place hasn't made it falter, has it? [ it could be one of the reasons why she make deep connections, but Eddie only considers the impact of speaking to someone with her attitude is affecting him. he kinda needs that. ]
Did you...did you meet the people you asked to be your Dominant [ an assumption, that she instigated after a waiting period, once she found someone she could trust ] through...on run of the mill days? Like this? So you could start to get to know them. Because, and I believe they were wonderful, I do, but...I'm gettin' hung up on thinking about how manipulative things can get around here, too. [ It scares him, his expression darkening. ]
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but Eddie is also right to understand the complexities of the world. manipulation is one of the reasons why she'd advised him to meet their requirements. and sadly, it works both ways. as a submissive, she has to worry about what would happen to her dominant if she became too...disobedient.] I met my first dominant here, on a day just like this. We were friends and we remained that way until he was sent home. [ he was so worried she'd end up in the People Zoo, she hadn't fully understood what it meant at the time.] He had another submissive who became a dear friend.
[ an overprotective one at that. she'd like to find him again, if he's still in the city.] My second dominant, after Jamie left, was someone I knew from home. [she can't mention Kit without smiling, though the importance of the conversation makes it a brief one.] I knew from the moment I met him that he was someone I could trust.
[ which either sounds romantic, or foolish, or both. ultimately, Ella does trust her instincts, which is why she speaks so freely with Eddie about her experiences. because she's already determined that he's also someone she trusts and will treasure the chance to know.]
Please don't underestimate yourself. This city is endlessly challenging, but you will find a way to make a life here. You may find a dominant you befriend, or someone you love deeply. Or three or four people you fall in love with because this is the place where you can be together. [ and as unconventional as it is in her time, why put a limit on your capacity to love?]
You're right to be cautious, but there are also so many good people here.
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face creasing in realization that he's learned a new aspect, a Dominant having more than one Submissive, he decides to ask about that later. likely it'd been covered in Orientation, but he learns better as he goes along.
heartstrings tug with another wave of assurance from her that she believes in his abilities to survive there, to make the best of what they've been given. he almost snorts at the idea of falling in love with multiple people: how funny would that be, falling in love multiple times in his afterlife, when he'd never done so at home? Hawkins, you're one limiting bitch. he can't fault Ella for being so hopeful, believing she means every word she says. not only believes it, but has experienced what she describes.
he smiles slowly, appreciative, squeezing his fingers against hers. ] Well there's at least two of those at this table, right? And like attracts like. [ opposites also attract, but just roll with it. ]
Still can't believe I've been good enough to get to meet you, Ella. [ she's a joy, sincere and kind, no artifice or saccharine quality. ] Your first Dom, you mentioned he had another Submissive...so he treated you both well? [ his head tilts a little to the side. ] If you stayed, were treated good, it does sound like you had a partnership, if they maintained keeping people under their...care. [ a touch sarcastic. ] No one would wanna live this this, but given that we have to to...thrive...you wanted to stay with them? [ at least in contract. ]
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I turned a few friends down, initially. I was - trapped, back home. I struggled with the thought of signing myself over to someone. [ and she's constantly worked to separate love from the obligations of a contract, which has always been important to her.] I never lived with Jamie and Midnighter, but I would have done anything I could to keep them safe. I would have continued to renew that contract if Jamie hadn't been sent home.
[ and Mid has more than proven himself to be someone who looks out for her - sometimes more than he needs to.]
I've also never signed a contract that required intimacy. [ quota is a requirement, sleeping with your dominant is not. she imagines he'll go over everything thoroughly when he signs a contract himself, but she'd like to highlight the importance of having the choice of who he's expected to be with.]
The city may expect certain things, but as long as you're meeting quota with a dominant, they aren't specific about who that might be. [ she gently runs her fingers alongside his.] And they tend not to come down harshly on submissives who are intimate with each other. But it's often different for dominants.
[ unfortunately the rules aren't terribly consistent among designations.] There are lawyers within the program who will help you, you're not expected to remember all of this on your own.
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he gives the start of a crooked grin that turns into a warmer smile. ] Yeah. It's a lot to take in, and... [ his shoulders shrug a little ] I'm not against reaching out to you if I can't remember a lot of this later. [ because it's without question that it wouldn't be a hindrance.
Eddie feels grounded and alive hearing all of the more intimate details his newest friend chooses to share. he's sincere in thinking that things might not be so bad there if she's reflective of who he might meet. maybe the camaraderie in town will be genuine?
his face tilts to the side, smiling still, squeezing both of her hands. ] I can't thank you enough. It might sound, lame [ a partial loll of his eyes up to the side ] but meeting you in my death? Not such a bad rap. [ and he's said so already, probably multiple times, that he hopes he can repay the favor of assistance one day but he really means it ] And, you've gotta show me that studio soon.
[ and he'll be happy to sit there and chat, drinking warm beverages with her, eventually perhaps a touch awkwardly pointing out that he doesn't want to take too much of her day and offering to walk her home. in Eddie's eyes, he's found a confidante and quickly. could he really ask for more? ]