duplicitymemes | TDM #4 ( revised )

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«tdm

TDM #4 ( revised )

« « « TEST DRIVE MEME » » »

« « « HERE WE ARE AGAIN

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.

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.

Oh, and one more thing. It's fucking cold. Better bundle up.

» » » LIES TRAVEL IN COMPANY

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.

« « « END IN THE DISCORD

While the societal climate between Dominants and Submissives remains somewhat neutral throughout Duplicity, there has been the occasional whisper of defiance and call for equality. Yet, demonstrations and visible proof of this unhappiness spreads faster by word of mouth on a day exactly when you need it most.

Welcome to Autonomy, a "traveling" nightclub that is never in the same place twice. People wanting to attend only learn of its lucrative location and password hours before it opens for business. Tonight, I choose the third door will get you inside and into the temporary freedom club Autonomy has to offer. In this circle, there are no assigned designations and no consequences for taking a role that isn't the one given by society. So, a Dominant may become the Submissive they've always wanted to be—or vice versa. Dominants and Submissives alike are able to mingle without repercussion and be themselves. Food, drinks, and private areas for more intimate – or if your preference is sexual – encounters are provided. Donations are accepted at any point during the night to further Autonomy's attempts of spreading the fulfillment that comes from being untitled.

On the night you choose to visit, Autonomy is holding a random lottery for temporary connections. When entering, you have the choice of submitting your name into this drawing to be paired with someone else in the club regardless of designation. A short while later, a message will pop up on your device with the name and information of your partner, and whether or not you choose to meet them is purely at your discretion. Having more than one connection isn't completely unusual either.

» » » TABLE IT FOR LATER

Gratification of being a successful Dominant or Submissive isn't necessarily simple. Learning curves are to be made, and mistakes will happen. Led by a Dominant and Submissive couple – Miriam and Victoria, who have been paired for twenty-two years – a monthly meeting for unattached Dominants and Submissives is held in the conference room of Morning Wood motel in the Down. The meeting starts a few minutes after nine and has no designated end time. The couple introduce themselves and explain the purpose of the meeting: learn the proper method for a new kink and possibly find your perfect partner. The space is intimate and well-stocked with refreshments.

To begin, Victoria, while blindfolded, balances on her hands and knees with her back perfectly level. Her partner, when ready, places various items on the level surface–a full cup, a plate. The Submissive is meant to hold the items until the Dominant believes she's reached her limit. The exercise is one of trust and understanding. The demonstration is a short one, followed by Miriam removing the blindfold and soothing her Submissive. The words are whispered low and with care, clearly a method that is specific to this couple. The process is concluded with the pair handing out workups, videos, and answering questions. Anyone wishing to practice Purposeful Submission can do so in the open room with a random volunteer, aided by the couple, or can find someone to take to one of the rented rooms. Sex may follow any scene but is not necessarily included. Experimenting with unattached Dominants and Submissives allows for new relationships to form.

« « « MOD & OOC NOTES

Please read carefully.

On each Test Drive Meme, there will be a section noting character roles based on birthdays; these will vary each TDM. On an IC level, character 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 chose "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. All characters who have blue eyes or one blue eye and another color are Submissives. All characters who have brown eyes or one brown eye and another color are Dominants. Characters with any other color eyes are Dominants. To use this TDM as a door pass please link this on your app and place whether it is Dominant or Submissive.

Please remember to mark any necessary content, and have fun!!

» » » MAIN NAVIGATION « « «

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ooc; feel free to reply in either prose or action brackets! Look out for spoilers for the end of Blood Bank as Eric is post-canon.]

LIES TRAVEL IN COMPANY

Eric has spent the last three years isolated from the rest of civilization. His parents' bit of land by the sea is peaceful. He's spent his time recovering emotionally and physically while rebuilding what Ellie and White Bones once had. Thankfully he has the company he needs from Shell's constant visits, but it was still a lonely day-to-day.

Now he's on this bus, surrounded by all sorts of people, and he barely knows what to do with himself because of it. His hands are balled up into fists on his knees as he sits. His body language shows a contained excitement or anxiety as he looks around him and out of the windows. He wonders if they expect him to kneel even though he doesn't have an assigned master yet. Probably not.

He reaches up and pushes some of his black hair from his face, exposing more of the scars that jet down from his forehead to below one of his eyes. Three lines that hint to an old injury that will never completely fade.

One day he'll think about the irony of being forced from one underclass of people to another, but for now he's mostly overwhelmed by how many people there are around him. That doesn't make him unfriendly, though. When one of those who boarded at a stop trips as the bus lunges forward he instinctively reaches out to catch them.

"Are you alright?" he asks, voice gentle and concerned.

END IN THE DISCORD

Anyone who saw the tense young man on the bus would be shocked to see the difference in Eric's body language when he discovers Autonomy. Whereas before he had been tight with anxiety and excitement, now he seems almost a little too at ease.

Something about the freedom of not having to be the thing the mark on his neck says he should be sets a part of him loose. There's an aura around him that speaks to confidence and command. He might bear the mark, but there is nothing submissive about him now.

He's at the bar nursing a drink and observing the room. He's curious about other people around but in a quiet observant sort of way. It's interesting to see how they act when they aren't under the strict rules of this world.

It's interesting to be around so many once again. He realizes how much he had missed it. Even if his life as One had been a life filled with concern that he would be found out, it had still been one with friends and colleagues. He's starting to realize he could have that again here.

That's what prompts him to enter his name into the lottery. A chance to meet someone new. Finally the message comes and he turns his attention away from the crowd to read the name displayed.

Edited 2019-01-12 02:52 (UTC)

Humpty Dumpty generally considers himself to be more coordinated than to allow himself to be caught being clumsy in public, but for whatever reason his mind and footing both betray him today and nearly send the Art stumbling to the ground. But the impact never comes, and instead he finds himself secured by a strong arm that steadies his balance and allows him to right himself. Out of both training and a genuine desire to be polite he turns to thank the good samaritan, only for the words to die on his tongue.

For just a moment he sees brown eyes instead of blue, the face shifting only slightly in shape within his mind to become that of a man who he both loved and hated. But as quickly as ever the confusion fades and the reality of just who this actually is sinks in.

All at once the albino's demeanor shifts just a degree colder as he dexterously slips out of the man's hold, putting a small amount of distance between them like a serpent poising to strike. Even though he smiles the expression does not reach his mismatched eyes at all.

"... Hello, Eric."

Eric freezes as well when Humpty Dumpty looks up at him He jerks back, unable to fully process what he's seeing.

It's been three years since Humpty Dumpty had jumped in front of Jack's attack to protect him. In that time, Eric had spent countless hours thinking over what that sacrifice had meant to him and if he could forgive everything else Humpty Dumpty had done because of it. He could never really find an answer to that, and now he was right there in front of the man who had caused so much pain in his life once again.

"How...?" he asked, because he couldn't really formulate much more outside of that.

Were they both dead now? Was this Hell? Had Humpty Dumpty finally dragged him into Hell?

It's a shame that this had to happen, he thinks. But perhaps Eric's arrival is punishment upon the Art for growing so complacent in this place, for thinking that perhaps he could have a chance to do what needed to be done without quite as much concern for consequences. For thinking that he could be somewhere with even one less reminder of Ellie haunting him constantly. But it really is his own fault for thinking that anything would ever change, even here.

"This place has a cruel sense of humor, it seems." The words are almost spoken to himself, punctuated with an empty chuckle as Humpty Dumpty steps back up to Eric to examine those unfamiliar scars.

"Where did these come from?"

Eric pulls back as Humpty Dumpty steps near, putting himself up against the window of the bus. With the question his eyes narrow. He isn't sure if this is a game Humpty is playing or if he is genuinely curious.

How could he not remember that night? But then, how could any of this be happening right now?

"Jack and I fought. He slashed my leg, my face, and he was going to kill me. But then you..." Again, he really doesn't know how to feel about any of this. The bus stops again, making him sway so he reaches out and steadies himself using one of the chairs. His hand grips at the headrest hard.

"That was three years ago, Humpty Dumpty."

Humpty Dumpty is not at all bothered by Eric recoiling and does not move to close the distance further, simply continuing to watch the other human with that same calculating wariness. His confidence wavers ever so slightly as Eric speaks though, brows drawing together in confusion and clear skepticism. When had Eric and Jack fought? Had the vampire done something behind his back since he had been taken?

Wait- three years? The albino tenses and just barely manages to clutch a chair as well, although his attention is now fixated on the other man, eyes wide.

"What are you talking about?"

"You died," Eric finally says, plainly. He still isn't entirely sure he isn't dreaming right now.

Could this be another hallucination? It's been so long since he's had one of those. Maybe he really had died too.

For once there's little Humpty Dumpty can do to mask the reaction to hearing that revelation, a range of emotions flitting across his face in succession. There's confusion followed by anger followed by a prickly glare that he quickly tries to reign back in to that previous stare of skepticism.

"You're lying."

But he... Doesn't sound certain. Because he's been here long enough to have learned of other worlds; places where technology is either far ahead or far behind that of his own home, worlds where vampires have never even existed, worlds where people have been brought from other times. It's not impossible and he knows it.

Eric keeps his gaze on Humpty Dumpty's face. It's clear he thinks Humpty Dumpty might actually lash out at him and he doesn't want to look away for fear he'll miss it. He's watching Humpty the way one might look at a snake one isn't certain will bite.

"I'm not," he answers. "I wish I was, but I'm not. Jack was going to kill me, and you jumped in front of his claw. You protected me. I... I still don't understand why you did that, but it happened. You died in Ghost's arms."

There's a part of the Art that does want to lash out, but he isn't foolish enough to even seriously consider such a thing in public. And there's still that other part of him that can't bring himself to fully discount the possibility of his own death. His hands clench into fists but they don't move from his side or the tight grip on a chair, barely reigning in his inhuman strength as his mind races to make sense out of all this.

"... I don't know why I would have done that, either."

A lie. Humpty Dumpty can think of a few reasons rather quickly, but they're certainly not the types of things he wants to emotionally unpack and share with Eric. So he finally tears his gaze away instead, staring almost defiantly at a nearby window like it can defy his own fate.

"And Jack?" He hopes that foul creature was dismembered and burnt and broken, and that the vampire lived through every agonizing second until the very end. Because if he died then he needs to at least ensure that Jack suffered as he joined him.

Eric | Blood Bank | Submissive

Lies

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Wolf | OC Vampire | Dominant

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Lies Travel In Company

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