duplicitymemes

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«tdm

TDM #5

« « « 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 insanely windy. Better batten down the hatches.

» » » 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.

« « « HEAVY WITH HEAT

In the peak of the early morning, the last bits of construction are finished; by afternoon, there’s commotion in the Down that seems to brighten the slummish area. Paper lanterns are strung across the beams and awnings of various sectors, and there are stands in the main square with masked vendors that call out in greeting. There are parades of people making a racket, both drunken and sometimes disorderly. It’s colorful, loud, and it’s sexual—seen from the various displays, sounds, and provocative calls all around. Anyone who asks about the reasoning behind the festival will be motioned in close – as if it’s all a big secret – and told this: that it’s an annual free-for-all celebration for the city to let loose without L.I.E.S. breathing down their neck about the laws with the unspoken agreement that what goes on there stays there and that it ends at the appointed time. The government turns a blind eye during this period; some suspect the officials join in, though there’s no proof nor does LIES have anything to do with the activities whatsoever. In return, the people are content to wait another year. They sometimes call it Carnaval.

To celebrate and encourage the fun, the vendors won’t accept normal currency. Only one type is taken, though ALL participants are given a small starting sum along with a mask of their choosing. This currency is in the form of colorful beads gathered in a number of ways including:

» Glory holes with tip buckets on the receiving side. Any kind of sex act will do, though the amount of beads someone gets for their time depends on how good they are, of course.
» Public sex. Like a righteous frat party, enjoy the rain of beads that comes with a good performance... or at least an entertaining one. Strip teases are included in this, catch an eye or three and try your hand at sex appeal.
» Contests of endurance. Try and outdo another, whether it's outlasting an orgasm or making the other come first, one-on-one or with pairs and more competing against others. The prize is always moderate, the largest sum given to winners and trickling down to the losers. Some even have honorable mentions if they’re generous.

The sort of things one can buy with these colorful beads range from food to sex toys, little knickknacks, and special masks available closer to the second half of the week. Anything that could be sold will be as long as it isn't weaponry or drugs.

The food, too, has some special properties to it. Within the mix of normal food and drink are vendors who sell the kind that offer the chance to break one’s inhibitions, giving the courage and desire to seek out partners new and old, to explore some of the baser kinks, and enact public performances of each should they find themselves unable to find an area of privacy. For those unwilling to partake in these foods or public sex in general, there’s still a way to have your fun! Along with alleyways, many of the buildings in the Down are left open, and rooms can be bought cheap with only one bead necklace.

« « « THE LIMBO TWIST

After sunrise on the fourth day, the intensity of the celebrations begins to ramp up. The parades of people in the streets now never seem to end. There's more food than ever before, and bargain deals with the beads means that it's that much easier to get your hands on every type of festival food and toy from earlier in the week. It seems like everyone in the city is here to celebrate, with the Up left rather vacant but not unguarded, and the parties and attractions are spread a few streets further than they had been the days prior.

But among all of the increased energy, what will be noticed first is that everyone is wearing a mask now. Anyone who has yet to pick up one (or who lost their free one from before) will be flagged down on the streets, pulled aside, and cheerfully (not forcefully) encouraged to purchase one and take part. And after some time, it will become clear that not all masks are created equally. Some of the masks are special, causing a variety of effects on those who wear them. These vary in intensity and time required for them to show up. For example, if two people wear the same cat mask, one might sprout cat ears and a tail instantly and/or acquire a strong desire for fish while another might slowly find themselves purring more at intimate gestures or longing to be on all fours. Similarly, some characters might not receive a mask that has any effects at all, or may experience effects one particular hour or day and not the next. Even masks that were obtained earlier in the week and had caused no effects can now begin to cause them. Strange, isn't it?

While there are such a large variety of unique masks that it’s impossible to list them all, there are some categories that seem to be the most common:

» Type A. One and Two. These masks rely on their shape to emphasize anonymity. The first is squared off and pointed further away from the chin, making it possible to eat and drink without removal. The second is tight fitting and almost claustrophobic, forming perfectly to the face and even occasionally going so far back as to cover the ears. Wearers of these masks may find that no amount of revealing behavior will actually reveal their identity. They are a complete mystery, even completely nude.
» Type B. One and Two. These are a broader variety of masks that seem to reflect a life on stage. The first exaggerates emotions – happiness, sadness, anger, fear, etc. – and are masks that cover the whole face; they’re made for those who want to hide yet feel compelled to essentially get more in touch with private feelings and thoughts. ( Someone who hides a soft heart will be kinder while someone who’s secretly violent in thought will be more aggressive. ) The second mask covers only half of the face and is for those who feel they have nothing to hide in contrast; the effect, in comparison, emphasizes the person’s attributes, whatever they may be, and makes them a caricature in a sense.
» Type C. One. These masks are the plainest of them all, perfectly round and covering the mouth, and only leaving holes for the eyes. Wearers may find that their voice leaves them entirely, making it impossible to speak. Others actually find that their voices are completely erotic, making each word that comes out of their mouth a dangerous tool to woo others.
» Type D. One. Wearers of this mask fall under a feeling of euphoria, and what’s more, wish to spread it to other revelers. They’ll find that their touch can cure exhaustion or take away any lingering negative effects of too much booze or food as well as imbibe others with a blissful sense of well-being. Characters touched by these "Plague Doctors" might be much more inclined to stick around and enjoy themselves further than they typically would. For some, the touch might even feel pleasurable.
» Type E. One. There are also masks resembling various animals throughout Carnaval, and the changes that occur from these are about what you would expect. Physical attributes from the animals that the mask represents are transferred to the wearers in various extremes. Aside from that, characters may find that they’re either longing to be someone’s pet, or are just too wild to be tamed.

Unfortunately, all things must come to an end, and on sunrise of the 20th, Carnaval is completed. Though characters are free to keep their masks as fond memories, they'll no longer carry any sort of effects, and all changes made to characters vanish completely. Vendors are cleaning up their wares, beads are strewn about like trash on the street, and local shops give characters (both Dominants and Submissives) small amounts of money or goods for the beads they voluntarily clean up and turn in to them. The whole city feels content with things being back in place.

« « « 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, 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 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. Characters with black, brown, blue, green or purple hair are Submissives. Characters with white, silver, blonde, red or orange hair are Dominants. Characters with no hair or with two-tone hair colors are Submissives. If canon shows two hair colors for a character, go with the one they were born with.

To use this TDM as a door pass please link this on your app and place whether it is Dominant or Submissive.

» For those unable to consume the special food and be affected by incense, the knickknacks and toys (both sex and normal, festive souvenirs) offer a sort of “spark” to jump-start the same effects.

» For the masks, those listed above are just bases of ideas for what to work with! As long as it’s not game breaking and you receive permission from all characters involved and mark content warnings, you have the freedom to play with this. The specific masks above may not cause those exact attributes to be shared if you don’t want them, and you can create your own attributes, as well. If you’re not sure on something, feel free to ask us!

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

» » » MAIN NAVIGATION « « «

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

heavy with heat;
[ So... Mardi Gras with a lot more sex. Got it.

It's not too terrible a situation to navigate, even if the rampant displays of debauchery and wild sex is...yeah, it's a thing, she guesses. It's hard to deal with all of the noise she hears everywhere, people groaning, others cheering, yelling. She can sense so much in the crowd, vision in shades of auras that guide her from one group to the next, flitting through the booths. Ava's been given a few beads which hang loosely around her neck, one around her wrist, and more than once she's been prompted by people to come try something at their table - a drink, a snack, anything.

A shame she can't partake. ]

Listen, I've-- I've got a weak stomach, you know? It's cool. Thanks, though.

[ What she wants is a little more rich than all that. And she's going to get it once she can find someone that's drifting just a little too far from the revelry... Or, if she can convince someone to do something in private.

Not too hard. She waits until she's being shoved against someone - male or female, doesn't matter - and she gives them a bit of a dreamy-eyed smile. A bit of a bashful glance, even if she can't blush anymore. Not really. ]

Hey, listen, I... I'm no good in a group. Performance anxiety. Do you think we can, um... Find somewhere else?

[ She makes eye contact. Perhaps you feel a strange compulsion to do as she says. Maybe you feel nothing and feel sorry for her. Or, you know, maybe tell her to suck it up and play along. ]

the limbo twist;
[ It's totally Mardi Gras, okay. She gets it. Ava's a little weird about the mask - a bit too on the nose, as it were - but it's fine, right? Totally fine. A little anonymity never hurt anyone anyway. Especially when she's still trying to read the city and make sure no one else is here from Santa Monica and Hollywood, no one from the Camarilla. No Prince, no sheriff. No more fucking vampire politics.

And while she should be on edge, she strangely isn't, not now. Even if the mask, that of a plague doctor, is...creepy. It's weird, too, because besides feeling fantastic and totally not like she's just gone through some hideous and fucking inevitable betrayal - let's not forget that, right? - it seems like people want to actually stick around and hang out with her. They keep touching her, wanting to linger close, put their heads in her lap. Beg her to touch them. Ava hasn't really touched anyone in a long time for several reasons but this is...nice. And it's enjoyable to see them come back for more.

Eventually, she finds herself on a park bench in the very early morning hours, taking a break from all of the revelers who have sought her out. But it looks like she isn't alone. She tips her mask up just enough to smile, her lips a little flushed and red from recently feeding. Her hands finds their shoulder. ]

You look tired. Too much booze?

the feeding option (you thirsty animals);
[ The Down sucks. Kind of obvious, really, but it does. She's already left the apartments to go start skulking out somewhere that will be safer. LIES has assured her when she's asked that there will be ample accommodations - black out curtains, a safe room - but she can't trust them. She can't trust anyone.

Ava finds an old, abandoned building. Specifically, the basement of the building, which she tears up and makes somewhat suitable for her needs. Puts locks on the doors, does what she can to make it the most unappealing place as possible. She can't quite pull off the freshly haunted look but it's a work in progress. Cut her some slack, she's poor.

It'd be easier to find some creepy fetish Dominant who might want a vampire. Or be super into bloodplay. But, again, trust issues. So, instead of looking for a real place to be or some luxury in finding a partner, she's scraping around the Down or some places in the Up at night, picking out prey. ]

option 1 - Autonomy
[ Plenty of people come to this place. Ava scopes it out at least twice a week, reveling in the few places she can have some freedom to herself. Most times, she finds some easy person to feed from, sometimes using her powers to seduce them, take them into a back room, and eat in peace. She leaves them cozy on one of the beds but never lingers for long.

Tonight, she tries the pairing option. And you're her new date. Ava's wearing a smile when you wander up, leaning against the bar. ]

Um, hey. You get the ping on your device?

option 2 - the park/the street
[ Not the cleanest place but, listen, beggars can't be choosers. She helps herself to the first person she finds, coaxing them to a bench with her. It's dark and no one else is around. Won't be too hard, right?

Except, well... Maybe you noticed her. From a distance, it doesn't look too noticeable. Just some woman straddling someone on a park bench and possibly making out? But a bit too close, you might notice there's biting and blood involved. Far be it from you to interfere but. Well. Maybe you should?

Or, you can watch. You gross voyeur. ]

wildcard;
[ Hit me! ]

[ ooc: either feeding prompts can be your character or someone else. super flexible. ]

No.

[She says it coolly. She's not really all that happy to be here right now, this is very much not her scene, she'd rather be at home doing her experiments but here we are, Ava, and your actions do not exist within a vacuum. She gives the girl an unimpressed look with her red, red eyes, then draws her lips back for a moment, baring her fangs.]

I can smell you. You reek of blood.

[Reek is a strong word. She certainly doesn't smell different to the humans, but vampiric senses, baby.]

And I imagine, if you're the one going around biting people lately, you're going to get caught sooner or later.

Edited 2019-04-19 20:45 (UTC)

[ Welp. She's fucked.

There's a beat where it almost seems like the words haven't sunken in. In reality, she's debating the merits of having an actual freak out, whether it's worth even trying to hit this woman, or if running like the devil is on her heels wouldn't be best. Instincts bad. Bad.

She settles for some kind of detached sort of calm. ]

Cool, more sanctimonious people who think they know what they're talking about.

[ But Rosalind does know what she's talking about. And Ava's steely gaze, too-bright eyes says just that: she knows Rosalind is right. But she has a Masquerade to uphold and she's not going to blow everything with someone baring their fangs. Shit, doesn't the bartender even care? ]

Listen, if you have a problem with me, we can talk about this in private. Preferably outside.

[ It sounds like she's making a threat but...honestly, if she can get outside, she can run, and that's all that matters. ]

I don't have a problem with you. I have a problem with your methods. And you haven't seen sanctimonious if you imagine I'm it.

[But she beckons, heading for a table in back. They'll be able to talk privately there.]

[ Ava stands straighter and follows Rosalind back towards the table, casting a wary eye as she goes. She glances over her, up and down, discreetly. Doesn't see weapons - nor would she need any - but she's concerned just the same. At the table, she slides into a seat. ]

No one's landed in the hospital. I've been careful. People don't remember.

Not yet they don't. But this city is on high alert for vampires.

[She gestures, ordering two glasses of water, heated. The waiter doesn't give her a second glance, thank god.]

And I promise you: people are too eager with stakes and torches here. I don't want to be blamed for this.

[Two waters, and they're just a little too cool for her tastes, but whatever. It's simple enough to pop a capsule in each, where they dissolve with a sharp hiss. In an instant blood fills the glasses, and she pushes a glass forward.]

Drink. There's easier ways to eat nowadays.

[ ...Honestly, Ava looks at what she's just done like Rosalind's shoved a dead crow on the table and told her to eat its innards. The disgust fades enough to be replaced by something like fascination, and she takes the drink carefully, sniffing.

It doesn't quite smell real. ]

If this isn't actual blood, I'm going to puke in a second. No offense.

[ It's just a White Wolf Vampire(TM) thing.

But she drinks a decent amount to at least give it a try, give her the benefit of the doubt. And it...stays down. Even if it doesn't taste very good. It's warm but not warm enough, not like blood actually is.

Ava pulls the glass away, blinking. ]

...Holy shit. What-- What is this?

the fledgling | vampire: the masquerade - bloodlines | sub

feeding, 1;

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Option 2 (Jon is a sub, as well)

how many people named Jon do you have on your roster, seriously

LOOK... I don't make the decisions for these things it's just a common name

doubt.jpg

I have John, Jon, and Jonathan, Kal. What sane person would do that to themselves???

just for that, I'm going to have Neria call Jonathan 'Jon' now. just to mess with you.

Heavy with heat

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the limbo twist

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