duplicitymemes

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«tdm

TDM #9

« « « TEST DRIVE MEME » » »

« « « I HAVE DONE IT 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.

... 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 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.

The cool weather has begun to fade into a wintry mix of soft snow and chilly wind.

LAST TIME ON...

Duplicity's annual Tumenalia preparations are under way and all citizens will know about the charms.

These little baubles are about the size of a coin and come in the form of keychains, bracelets, or necklaces. There are three different colors, red, blue, and green, each with a different symbolic meaning. Characters will find these all over the city suddenly, being handed out for free by vendors, or even mailed anonymously to their homes. They will feel an odd compulsion to carry a charm with them or wear it in some fashion. Each charm has varying side effects, and characters may feel varying intensities of these effects.

There’s only one rule: each character may only possess one charm at a time. Characters may freely trade these charms around and try out all of the effects, but if they try to keep more than one, they will find that the others seem to have vanished completely. If characters discard, sell, or throw away their charms, another one will find its way to them in short order, by any available means.

Red Charm:

The red charms represent the body, the physical vessel that binds us all to existence.Those who possess the red charm will find themselves feel physically refreshed, with plenty of energy. Lingering injuries and health problems diminish, and users will feel at their physical peak, whatever that is for their age or species. They will be much stronger than usual, heal quicker, and have a far greater tolerance for pain. Along with this surge of energy comes a highly increased libido. Freedom of the body comes along with a near-constant state of arousal, and highly increased endurance, enabling characters to have incredible amounts of sex without tiring. Some will also feel animalistic urges from the charm’s effects, making them sexually aggressive, craving to seek out and possess those carrying the other two charm types. Embrace those urges enough, and you might just find yourself becoming a real beast.

Green charms in particular make attractive prey for these wild hunters.

TL;DR: Red Charm: Body. Increased physical health, strength, and endurance; superhuman healing; insatiable sexual libido; animalistic hunting/mating urges; possible monster transformation.

Blue Charm:

The blue charms represent the mind, our capability to think, reason, and retain knowledge. Those who possess the blue charm will find themselves with unusual mental clarity. They become quick thinkers, easily solving problems that would have vexed them before, and may come up with new answers that they never could have considered otherwise. Freedom of the mind comes with a craving to try new things. Kinks that they would normally sneer at are now on the table, and they are able to detach their feelings about others in the name of discovering what it’s like to have sex with them. Some will even find they have an unusual sway on the minds of others, and a new ability to make them obey their suggestions. With a developed mind comes a powerful imagination, and users may find themselves emulating whoever and whatever they imagine themselves to be. A doctor with the desire to experiment on patients? Yes. A firefighter who wants to climb trees and save cats? Definitely.

Blue charm-holders will feel particularly game to tame the wild red charm-holders, finding ways to toy with them for their own curious amusement.

TL;DR: Blue Charm: Mind. Increased mental clarity and problem solving ability; craving to indulge in unusual kinks/put aside feelings to experience new people; persuasiveness/mind control; “extreme roleplaying” (imagination/costume transformation.)

Green Charm:

The green charms represent the spirit, our source of emotions, dreams, and our sense of self. Those who possess the green charm will find their moods uplifted (in whatever way makes sense for that character’s personality.) They will be sociable and friendly and feel at peace, having an easier time dealing with their stress and uncertainties. Freedom of the spirit comes with a lack of shame, and those holding the green charm find themselves eager to show off: exhibitionism, carefree exchange of partners, extremely casual or public sex acts. Some may find a strange sexual empathy developing, where they can feel the pleasure given to a partner without ever being touched themselves. Extensive use may even allow characters to completely separate from their bodies, either separating as a ghost-like being, or becoming incorporeal. Possessing others? Of course. Green charm-holders will be particularly drawn to blue charm-holders, enthusiastic about helping them explore their new sexual urges.

TL;DR: Green Charm: Spirit. Uplifted moods and peaceful feelings; highly increased sexual confidence; exhibitionism, casual sex, multiple partners; sexual empathy; possible “out of body” or incorporeal transformation, allowing for physical possession of other characters.

Body, Mind, and Spirit:

If three people, each in possession of a different charm come together, the effects all combine and resonate. All three people will be overcome with overwhelming positive feelings and unquenchable arousal, and the effect will only stop if they manage to separate-- or after they succumb to their urges as a trio.

Some characters can feel the effects more powerfully than others, and players are free to come up with their own ideas that follow these themes.

Just before Tumenalia begins each character must choose one charm to keep. This will play into how roles are assigned for Tumenalia.

» » » BE MY FRIEND

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.

« « « WARM ME UP

The annual Tumenalia festival is coming at the end of the month, and the citizens of Duplicity are well into their preparations. The decorations on the light posts and building exteriors are becoming more commonplace, streamers and lights and silken banners hanging from light posts and doorways and some have taken to wearing strange masks. These festive touches almost distract from the boarded up windows.

A variety of seasonal booths are also popping up throughout the city streets in both the Up and Down. Many of these are giving away the same red, blue, and green charms that have already been in circulation for the past two weeks. But there’s also a new product being handed out: small sealed glass vials full of colored powder in intricate striped patterns. The powder vials seem purely decorative at first, with no special properties. But once the vial has found an owner, without warning, the glass begins to glow and the powder within begins to disappear, as though falling slowly through an hourglass.

Characters holding the vials will experience the effects of the charms at a greatly increased pace and intensity. Red, blue, and green powder will have the same effects as the charms do-- but unlike the charms, the powder vials allow for colors to mix and combinations of effects to be experienced at the same time. A character could feel the strength and aggression of red mixed with the exhibitionism of the green, or even aspects of all three effects at once.

The powder will continue to affect the character until the last of it vanishes from the vial, a process that takes about three hours. It seems to be the fashion among locals to wear the empty vial on a necklace as a badge of honor, and empty vials are apparently valuable in some way, though nobody seems willing to answer how just yet.

« « « AND BREATHE ME

As excited as the locals seem for the upcoming Tumenalia festivities, there is also a sense of unease and foreboding in the air. Tumenalia is known as a time when anything can happen, and though there have been multiple promises from the mayor that this year won’t come with the usual violence and property damage, most of the locals don’t seem reassured by this. Many are in the process of physically securing their homes and businesses, and many others seek some sort of premonition in the form of fortunes.

While not as prominent as the booths handing out charms, there are plenty of pop-up fortunetelling booths starting to appear on the streets. These impromptu oracles provide a variety of divinations, including but not limited to tarot readings, tea leaves, and even reading roses. Ask about love, life, death, health, wealth, or whether or not to upgrade your insurance policies before Tumenalia. Whatever you ask, though, you’ll find something curious - it may not be literal, and it may not be in the manner expected, but all fortunes somehow come true within the day.

« « « 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, characters 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: Sweet or Savory. If your character favors Sweet Foods then they are a Dominant. If they favor Savory Foods then they are a Submissive.

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

» » » MAIN NAVIGATION « « «

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hm?

[She's doing a bit of a flamingo impression as she rests one foot after the other, trying to control her breathing.]

But we haven't found any ice cream, yet. Oh, no, you seem more put out than ever. I think you're going to need three whole scoops!

[He drops his hand away to stare at her in incredulity.]

I'm thirty, not seven. What do you think ice cream is going to do?

[This time she looks a little taken aback. That said, her reaction is hardly more than mild at worst.]

Shame on you, Jon. Ice cream tastes just as good at any age, and it always makes everything feel a little bit better! When was the last time you had any?

[The admonishment takes Jon aback. As does the question. He stares at her silently for a long moment, unblinking, trying to figure out the appropriate response. When was the last time he had ice cream out? Probably when he and Martin started dating.]

The... beginning of September. [It's said cautiously.] I might have just got you in trouble. Why do you want to go for ice cream with me? What do you want?

[There's power put behind the questions. Ginger likely won't notice anything, just a desire to be open and as completely honest as she's capable of.]

[Ginger blinks a couple of times, seeming a little surprised at the questions. But other than that, of course, she doesn't notice anything wrong. Why would she, or should she?]

Because I'm new here, and I'd like to make some friends so I don't feel so alone, which I really don't like feeling, and I really am a bit overwhelmed at all of this so I think it might help if I do something simple and familiar, and it's easiest for me to make connections when I just sort of take charge of a conversation with a stranger. And you seem like you're not very confident, and like things have been hard for you, maybe for awhile, and maybe people have been unkind to you. I was bullied a lot when I was younger. It stopped happening so much now that I'm an adult, but of course sometimes people say things that hurt even if they aren't meaning to hurt you. So I thought, maybe it would be nice if someone treated you nicely, and didn't make you feel so different or unapproachable. And hopefully, after that, maybe people won't seem so horrible to you after all, because I really do believe that there isn't really such thing as a truly awful person as much as I believe there are only truly awful actions that people take.

[So there it is.]

Oh.

[That's... honestly, that's a little overwhelming. Jon takes a step back from her. This woman is innocent. As innocent as people can be. Good. Kind. Sweet. He should be absolutely nowhere near her. He glances to the side, wondering if he ought to just run away. Those heels mean she probably won't be able to follow. Not easily. He's not exactly the most subtle person in existence, so Ginger might be able to see or sense that he's tensing up and deciding whether or not to bolt like a frightened cat.

He swallows, then frowns again. Then, with as much irritation as he can muster:] I can be confident. Fine. You want to go for ice cream, we'll go for ice cream. I'm leaving after that.

[Her brow furrows for an instant, but then she smiles, relieved.]

Oh, good! That makes me so happy! I hope you don't mind leading the way...I have no idea where we are!

[And then, a bit more bashfully:]

I'm sorry. Saying so much, that was really rude of me, wasn't it? I guess I'm just a chatterbox today.

[Jon doesn't really know where they are, either, so he pulls out his phone and checks the map application on it for the nearest ice cream parlor. There's one just down the block.]

It's this way. And you don't- People like to talk around me sometimes? It's... fine. It's good. Knowing you're not... plotting something?

[And Christ does he feel awkward getting that anxious about her. Old habits die hard.]

Really?

[She seems to take that as...a good thing? So as they start walking down the road she nods.]

You must have a really soothing personality, if it isn't just me.

[Then, she can't help laughing.]

Gosh. I think the most plotting I get up to is...how to put together a really nice outfit for someone.

[Jon's lips twitch. He is not going to smile, but she could not be more wrong.]

Soothing. Right. Most people would use other words.

So, you do fashion? As a job?

Charming?

[Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute: total charmer. That's why he has so many kidnappings under his belt. Nobody can keep their hands off of him!]

Maybe someday. I mostly just do alterations, basic things for people, but being a real fashion designer is my passion.

Uh... [Color blooms bright across his cheeks and he stares resolutely ahead, not looking at her again.] No.

I-I should introduce you to my contract partner. One of them. He's a dandy. From the 1800s. He loves fashion. And charming people.

Ooooh, how fun! I'd love to!

[A dandy? From the 1800s? Well, she'll take it.]

How long ago did you meet? Actually, I hate to ask, but do you think you could give me a quick idea of how I should be going about that whole...contract thingy?

We met... five months ago, maybe? Or six. We were contracted my second month here, but it wasn't the standard sort of way.

[Talking about Alessandro is easy, at least. They've arrived at the ice cream parlor and Jon holds open the door for Ginger.]

You can just post on the network that you're looking for a Sub and it should be easy enough to get one. You're objectively attractive.

[What a gentleman! She laughs as she brushes past him inside and waits.]

That's so sweet of you to say! Thank you!

[It really wasn't much of a compliment?]

I guess that's what I'll do and...see what happens!

[It wasn't really a compliment. Anyone with eyes could make the observation. So, Jon just doesn't respond to the gratitude as he follows after her.]

Good luck with it all, then. It's... just easier doing what they want you to for some things.

[He starts eyeing the flavor selections.]

And by "they" you mean...the government?

[She really is trying. Ginger folds her hands behind her back as she glances at the flavors, herself.]

You strike me as...pistachio?

LIEs. I don't think the government has contract requirements or quotas.

[When she says he looks like pistachio, Jon makes a bit of a face. He can't help it.]

No. Not pistachio. If I wanted to do something out side the standard, I'd probably do... coffee or cheesecake. I had tiramisu ice cream once... that was nice. What are you getting, then?

[Even though he makes a face, she laughs at being so off the mark.]

Ohhh, those all sound tasty! But I think I'll just have plain ol' strawberry.

[She'll take the time to order what she's having and let Jon put in his as well before she starts asking more questions. And there are more questions, because she just can't wait to be his friend.]

Is it nice working in a library? Archives are part of libraries, right? You must learn so much. I don't have the attention span to read all that much at a time...I always get distracted.

[Jon gets a scoop of the coffee in a cup. He's not getting three like she'd suggested. He'd be bouncing off the walls for hours.]

Archives are not libraries. You might find them sharing a building, but they're distinct. Archives deal in unique, unpublished materials. Libraries deal with what's published.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TDM #9

or always be friendly and embrace the chaos

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