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duplicitymemes2020-01-12 10:22 pm
duplicitymods) wrote in duplicitymemes2020-01-12 10:22 pm
Entry tags:
TDM #10
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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 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 weather is a brisk negative seven during the warmest parts of the day. |
 It's time for the monthly Duplicity train tour. 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. |
 Along with the usual Dom and Sub seminars and demonstrations, the powers that be have decided to try something a little more friendly. After attending the mandatory classes, all characters are invited to a (mandatory) social mixer! There are beverages and light snacks, and mingling is highly encouraged. Also, all participants have had their clothes removed and replaced with long shirts ( they are allowed to keep their undergarments, but nothing else is allowed ). Said shirts have the phrase “Ask me about _____!” plastered loudly and proudly on the front. It could be a character’s deepest, darkest secret, their most negative trait, or something embarrassing they had happen to them. Each participant is given a clipboard, pen and a piece of paper and are tasked with “asking” three others about what’s written on their chests. Once they’ve completed the task and handed in the assignment they’ll receive their clothes back. Of course, the long shirts can be removed, but that means you’ll be stuck in the nude or in your undergarments until you cooperate. |
 Not into your long shirts? Want to complain or refuse to participate? There’s another option! Unruly Dominants and Submissives will find themselves locked in a private room with a bed, stuffed together into a get-along-shirt. There’s no escaping the garment either, until certain conditions have been met. Written on a flip chart in the corner of the room are the tasks that need to be accomplished to “get along.” Are the two supposed to share a kiss? Sing a romantic duet together? Say the alphabet backwards in sync? The whole point of the exercise is to find that synergy a Dom and Sub pair are supposed to have. Maybe this isn’t the best way to find it, though… When the conditions are met the shirt is removable or rippable. Otherwise no matter how hard the characters struggle they’ll find themselves unable to get the pesky thing off. |
 Many local businesses have adapted to the timing of newcomers, and take advantage of the incoming crowds to do a little marketing. Stationed throughout Duplicity in LIEr-adjacent places such as the train station, the Up Apartments, the Down Motel, and the orientation center are representatives for local businesses and companies handing out free samples and hoping to attract business later. This month, there’s a particular presence by Harbroken Industries, a cosmetic and beauty company. They’re pushing free samples of their new pheromone perfume sprays, delicately scented and guaranteed to work. Sample bottles are freely available, but some overeager volunteers are taking the department store approach and spritzing unwitting passersby. The citrus scent is energizing and bright, inducing a talkative state where users cannot get enough conversation, and lose any internal filter for their words. The strawberry-vanilla scent is sweet and comforting, like a warm hug, which users will get a lot of with their new obsession with physical affection. Cedar-sandalwood makes those who use it tough as nails, angry and ready to pick a fight over the smallest slights. The cinnamon-pear scent makes its users feel adventurous and curious, and maybe a little TOO bold about trying new things. And predictably, the patchouli spray inspires “free love,” with an aphrodisiac effect that gets worse over time, unless taken care of quickly. The scents will wane and the effects will fade after six hours, or after the urges they cause are fulfilled. These volunteers are so eager to make a sale that it’s entirely possible to be hit with more than one spray at a time, so maybe take the long way around these areas if you’re looking to avoid them. |
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: Count the letters in your character's full name ( first, last, middle or whatever combo that they have ). If it totals twelve letters and below they are a Dominant. If it's thirteen and higher they are Submissive. Please remember to mark any necessary content, and have fun!! |
Drizella Tremaine / Ivy Belfrey | OUaT | Submissive
[ No mark on her neck will make her act any different. Drizella hates the tattoo given and the treatment it subjects her to, but that doesn't stop her from keeping her head held high as she boards the train.
So to speak.
She's actually very invested in the phone-like device they'd equipped her with, so even as she walks to a vacant spot, she's only half paying attention. She does look up from the device as someone sits next to her- only to offer them a very strained sort of smile and turn right back to it.
Yes, she's new in town. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have very important things to attend to on the network: like doing diligent research on who's here. ]
Let me know if I miss anything really interesting on this tour of hell?
[ It's not a request, even though she's phrased it as one... and even though the line down her throat means she's in no position to be making demands. ]
ASK ME ABOUT X
[ The least they could do is offer something vaguely fashionable if they were going to air out all the participant's dirty little secrets.
Ask me about my mother's plan to kill me
It's honestly just best if she ignores what the shirt says with an attempt to cover it up with the provided clip board. If it bothers her to have that out in the open, however, she doesn't let it show. Lips pressed together, she walks around the room slowly, apparently not bothered at all that the shirt just barely reaches the top of her thighs. She sips on one of the provided beverages, her eyebrow raised as she reads the shirts and contemplates what she actually cares about hearing. She stops and fixes her target with only a slight smirk as she gestures to their shirt. ]
Tell me more.
THE LONG WAY AROUND
[ No one's warned her. Why should they? It's not as though she's gone around and tried to make friends. She doesn't need that sort of crutch here- or so she tells herself at least. It might be nice to have a familiar face around- Henry's in particular.
But she doesn't let herself think about that too long.
Shopping isn't calming- not as a 'submissive' in their system. She's questioned more than she's helped, and she doesn't have the comforts of her credit cards from home. She hears the call of the salesperson before she realizes that she's walking directly towards them. A lengthy, flowery description of the strawberry vanilla scent that they absolutely adore. Drizella wrinkles her nose at the description, but before she's even able to decline a sample of it, they're already spritzing her with it. ]
Woah. Hey.
[ She stops and holds up her free hand, her brow furrowing as she tries to push away the sudden feeling that she needs to be touching someone. ]
Do. Not. Spray me without my consent. If I have an allergic reaction, I won't hesitate to sue you for every penny you have.
[ Yeah.
This would go over only marginally better if she weren't classified a Submissive. ]
WILDCARD
[ The sky's the limit. Have an idea you want to toss my way, go for it! Drizz isn't spending much time in the Down, but when she is, it's at the park to try and grow plants to make it at least a tenth as nice as North Park. In the Up, she doesn't give a hoot about societal norms or sub expectations.... so chances are she's getting in trouble.
Will match style if you prefer prose. :D
Shippy/Smutty ota~ ]
Long Way Round - Jo nah --Dominant--
The scents here are overpowering and he is really not in a good mood, so it is not hard to glower at them. It might even help when his eyes glow blue. The spritzers, sensing a turn of fortune, flee. Jo waits until they are gone before addressing the woman, his low voice quiet and something like a Chicago accent but not as he speaks right behind her.
"Are you alright?"
He wears a single suit made of a very nice fabric, tailored to him and quite flattering, all one piece, almost like the outfit he had worn back home. Over it, he wears a suit jacket, in jet black, of the same material.
no subject
They used magic on her.
"Fine-" she answers curtly before turning to face him. The smile she offers is tight, almost forced. "I'm fine. Thank you."
She takes a deep breath before she adds, pointedly and loudly. "They just need to learn manners."
no subject
"My name is Jo Nah. I've been here... not long. Long enough to be annoyed by these people."
He waves a hand around them, indicating... everyone.
no subject
"Drizella. And I've only just arrived and already hate it."
That seems to be the general consensus for new arrivals, however, from what she's noticed. She watches his hand wave around and without a second thought, she grabs it when he stops.
"I'm going to be crystal clear with you right now, Jo Nah, whatever they sprayed on me had magic in it."
She might sound crazy, but then again they were all kidnapped and brought here, weren't they? And she can pin point the exact moment she started feeling the urge to hold people's hands, or more.
"So that's another point in their corner for being annoying and pushy. Thing is- I don't know how to counter whatever it was. And I just really need to hold your hand or something right now. Or whatever."
no subject
And he is glad of it. Sad she is here, but glad to meet another kindred spirit.
"What is it people say? Oh yeah. Same." And at her grab of his hand, and her words, he frowns, then nods slowly. The fact that they messed with her mind does not surprise him. But it does anger him. His eyes glow blue again as he glares after the salespeople, but they are, for their luck, gone.
"Alright. You let me know how if it helps. I am willing to help. This place fucks with us all sooner or later." He glanced around, and spotted a bench nearby.
"Do you want to sit?" he felt like maybe that would make it easier, but she was the one feeling the effects, and he did not want to exacerbate them.
no subject
The thought of sitting really didn't make her feel any more or less comfortable- but it was worth a shot. "I guess?"
She looks over at the bench he caught sight of, having followed his gaze, and nods. "It can't hurt. Just..." she takes a deep breath and sighs. "Thank you. For understand and all with this bullshit."
It's definitely not the first impression she wants to make with anyone, but apparently this place has other plans for her.
no subject
"You're welcome. I've only been here a short while, but already I am sparking annoyed at this place. And I went through something like this before. They had a vial that made me feel grifing weird."
He frowns, the whole thing feeling annoyed. But he fixes her with an understanding nod.
"I will do all I can to help you. That I promise."
no subject
Drizella takes a few deep breaths, trying to get a hold of herself and the urges to lean in closer to him. "I'm guessing the other half doesn't get off so easy when it comes to things like this."
Dominant, Submissive... It would seem this place would bend everyone to their will somehow. She despises not being the one pulling the strings and having to guess what was next. Without thinking about it, she gives into the urge to sort of lean closer to him, her shoulder against his arm.
no subject
He is speaking as she just... leans against him, and he blinks, licks his lips, then shifts and carefully slides an arm around her. This feels very weird, and he is blinking a lot.
"Is that better?"
What did that spray do to her? Looking down at her a touch he wonders how to help. "Are you alright?"
no subject
This place, that perfume, she huffs out a dry laugh and shakes her head. "I honestly don't know anymore. I feel like I just need contact... But I don't know exactly what. A hug? More hand holding?"
She shifts to lean against him more, now that his arm is around her.
no subject
He nods.
"We'll get you through this, and out the other side. Whatever you need." he nods. "About the only damn thing we own here that is our own is our choices to help people."
No bitterness there. Nope. But he takes being a Dominant seriously in this way. he will defend those who need defending, help those who need help, and be there for those who are alone."
no subject
It seems like the appropriate question. For as reassuring as he's trying to be, the constant assurance that she'll be fine is really starting to grate on her nerves. Drizella is certain she'll be fine as soon as whatever magic this is wears off. But until then, she's destined to be irritable and clingy.
She doesn't need a prince charming, but if she did- there's only one she'd prefer. And he's not here.
"That's an interesting way of seeing things. But no, hey, it makes sense. I get it."
no subject
THE LONG WAY AROUND
Miss, I believe there's a restroom nearby. You'll be wanting to wash that off. Tell them. I told you you were allowed in and if you have to buy something, do so. I'll cover it.
[Because Alfred is probably the least dominant Dom there is and he hates seeing how this place treats the other half.]
no subject
It only takes her a half second to soften her glare to something more kind as she looks up at him and accepts the handkerchief. ]
Thank you.
[ For what it's worth, it sounds sincere enough. Washing whatever potion she was spritzed with would hopefully help lessen the effects, and especially since she doesn't yet know how they manage what they do, that's all she can really hope for. She tucks her phone into her purse and makes an almost awkward sort of gesture to suggest she's going to do just that.
It's amazing what the word of a Dominant will do for someone here. She's more than a little bitter that it's come to that, after all she's achieved in her life. And so it's maybe 10 minutes later that she returns to him- still feeling the effects of the perfume, but not (perhaps) as heavily. ]
Are they always so persistent here?
no subject
He's rather surprised when the young lady shows back up. He's rather sternly glaring at the nearest perfume lady. The glare softens on her arrival. Alfred shifts to put himself between the atomizer and the woman.]
I'm afraid so, miss. This is just the tip of it, I'm afraid. Schoolyard shenanigans. I don't mean to frighten you, but it's only fair you know things go pear shaped here right quick with little warning.
no subject
God it sucks not being in control. At least back in Hyperion Heights, she was pulling the strings. This has to be some kind of cosmic karma, if only she believed in it. She smiles a little more sincerely at his answer and takes a deep breath as she fights back that urge from the perfume.
It doesn't frighten her- the thought that things can and do go so much worse than this. But that isn't something he needs to know, nor something she needs to voice. Instead, she nods her head a little and shifts her expression to appropriately concerned. ]
That's.... well, that's just great. [ She laughs a little in disbelief and shakes her head as she furrows her brow. ] No, no thank you. It's good to know- to be as prepared as I can be.
[ She reaches out and presses her hand to his arm. No, that's definitely not something she'd do normally, but it feels nice and it quiets the voice in the back of her head that keeps suggesting it. After a moment, she pulls back her hand and pulls a face. ]
Sorry.
blindly we follow
An assessment can be made about the quality of a person's intellect when they ignore the opportunity given to inspect the bars of the gilded cage but it's one he keeps fully to himself.
When the woman beside him speaks, he only barely glances at her. ]
Or you could listen, and learn something useful.
no subject
Something useful from the people who kidnapped us?
[ She scoffs a little at the thought- she hardly trusts a word they say. ]
Cute. [ She offers up a strained smile before turning back to the device. ] No thank you. I'd rather learn what I can from what the other people stuck here have to say.
no subject
Kidnappers have a tendency to let their true intentions slip when they are confident in the strength of their locks.
no subject
[ She doesn't believe that, actually. ]
But I'm going to hedge my bets with the kidnapped masses, not the well oiled machine that did the kidnapping. I doubt they'll slip up on something as mundane as a routine tour.