duplicitymemes | 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

[The "doctor" has already accustomed himself to the fact that the worlds of people he meets here can be vastly different from his own, so while he's interested in what sort of place Wangji is from it's more out of sheer curiosity. Ultimately the information is likely inconsequential because as far as he's been able to discern there are virtually no connecting ties amongst the non-natives. Of course more information could always change that, but for now it seems factual enough.]

I see, I'm the same.

[A nod, although he doesn't ask more questions this time. It doesn't bother him that his "chaperone" of sorts isn't talkative, Mori is more than content to silently take note of things about him as they make their way towards the Dominant housing.]

[Wangji has already concluded that the man must be new, from both his confusion and how he seemed to have lost his way, but he's polite enough not to point that out.]

As Dominants, we are fortunate.

[Sure, finding themselves in this place is still a shock, but they could have been made submissives on top of that. That would have been a lot worse.

He may be stating the obvious, but he's trying to give the man some confidence, perhaps.]

[Red eyes raise to the other man before shifting away once more as Mori nods.]

Yes, you're right... I guess I'm just not really sure if I'm going to do well like this. I'm just a doctor.

[A lie. He already has plans for how best to utilize this advantageous position, and he certainly plans on taking advantage of every possible intricacy of this place's rules for his own benefit.]

[A healer? Wangji glances over. Of course, nobody here dresses like what he's used to, but even so, the white coat is -...

Well. The man's style is still more like what's common around here. Wangji wonders if he should change his outfit for something local, but that requires accepting he's stuck here. He's not quite ready to do that, yet.

Also: he is never taking off his forehead ribbon, even if he does go for a more modern look in clothing. ~~It's going to be such a hippie look...~~]

A doctor guides and helps his patients. That is not unlike a good Dominant.

[For just a moment Mori flashes the other man a look of bemused interest that doesn't quite match the rest of his awkward smiles and exhausted sighs. But it's gone again just as swiftly and whether or not Wangji notes the moment of shrewdness is anyone's guess.'

Yes, you're right. You already seem to be good at getting into the right mindset, I bet you won't have any problems...

[The doctor just chuckles then, scratching at his neck before letting his fingers stray over the collar of his coat as if affirming that it's still there.]

What do you do, where you're from?

[If Wangji notices the brief change in expression, he doesn't react to it. He doesn't think much of it, really: he'll judge a person based on their actions, not on an attempt to read their mind that would never be reliable anyway.]

Cultivation. [And he doesn't mean farming.] Night-hunting: subduing things like evil spirits.

Training disciples to do the same.

[The latter is, perhaps, where his own overlap with this new Dominant status lies. ~~That, and the desire to get kinky with his not!boyfriend.~~ His clan is pretty strict, and Wangji has always been a fearsome (if brutally fair) dealer of punishment.]

Evil spirits? [there isn't disbelief in the question like some might have though; Mori sounds more curious than anything. After all, in his own world it's very common for people to have some sort of supernatural ability so hearing about someone "subduing spirits" is hardly a stretch.]

Is that... Dangerous? How do you do it?

It can be dangerous.

[Very dangerous. Extremely dangerous. But it's not always that bad, and the better you are, the less the risk, of course.]

Different spirits and creatures require different methods. Always liberate if possible, suppress if necessary, exterminate as a last resort.

[It's only then that he catches himself assuming a little too much. He's seen no cultivators in this world, nor has he heard of any. The factor he takes for granted, having been around it all his life, may not be common here.]

Using spiritual energy, one can accomplish a lot.

I see.

[It certainly sounds like the sort of job that comes with considerable risk, but the fact that extermination is considered a "last resort" is... Curious. And while he certainly hasn't heard anyone here talking about any menacing spirits so far, that certainly doesn't mean that such a thing couldn't crop up in this place.]

"Liberate"? Can I ask from what...? And is spiritual energy something everyone has?

[Because it never hurts to learn about potential new skills to utilize.]

[Wangji looks over at the first question, actually a little surprised. There are differences in both morality and knowledge that he is expecting, but what to liberating spirits from, he expected to be obvious.]

... Existence. [Well, that's not dark at all. But allow him to elaborate:] Once liberated, the spirits can reincarnate, the way they should have done, had they died in peace.

[To think that even reincarnation and the like aren't common knowledge... Wangji knows them to be fact, from being taught such as well as from practical experience. To have something so certain knocked out from under him is the first thing since coming here that really shakes him - not that it's particularly visible, beyond that initial trace of surprise.

What if reincarnation doesn't happen in other worlds? What if there are no spirits, here? He'll have to investigate.]

Through cultivation, one can form a golden core in which to store spiritual energy, which one can then use.

Not everyone succeeds.

TDM #4 ( revised )

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