duplicitymemes | TDM #10

« « « TEST DRIVE MEME » » »

« « « LIFE WILL GO ON

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.

» » » BLINDLY WE'LL FOLLOW

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.

« « « ASK ME ABOUT X

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.

« « « ON A FLIP CHART

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.

« « « THE LONG WAY AROUND

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.

« « « 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: 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!!

» » » MAIN NAVIGATION « « «

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Beau likes shopping well enough. But what she really likes is looking around, investigating, finding out what there is to know, and markets are excellent places for that. She's not looking for small talk or to buy more than what tickles her fancy; she's a woman on a mission.

That is, until a pretty lady approaches her. And then things are more up in the air as to what will happen next. The faint smell of patchouli wafts off of her, but only just barely, enough for Beau to notice and that's it.

She smiles back, a sideways grin like she's not entirely sure why's she's been approached.

"Uh, yeah, sure. It's. Nice. I'm just looking around though, not buying anything right now."

Genevieve isn't likely to buy anything either; not least because apparently as a Submissive, she has no money and difficulty finding work. She has lived a fairly privileged life, a tradesman but one with access to fine education and rubbing elbows with the upper class, but recent developments had put much of her own work outside of her control, a trend she is displeased to see continued here. But she is now in the mood to ignore those problems and focus on the pretty woman next to her.

"It's the same for me. Trying to learn the streets some." And she thought London's streets could be convoluted. "Are you looking for something in particular? Perhaps I could help. Ah, but I should introduce myself first. Genevieve Lefoux."

As much as she already knows what she wants, Genevieve is still a gentleman. (She doubts anyone would use the word 'lady' for her.) She isn't going to try and tangle with someone whose name she doesn't even know. Luckily, it's often an easy fix.

Beau has similar problems what with being a Submissive, but she isn't above stealing a little something here and there as needs must and with her criminal background she's more likely to find a job wandering around these stalls than purchase anything.

"Beauregard. Lionett." With a name as pretty as the woman's, it seems only fitting to give her whole name as well. Not that it means anything or can be traced to anywhere, not around here. "But you can call me Beau. Pleasure to meet you."

As an afterthought, she offers her hand. Beau isn't necessarily the best with social graces, but she means well enough.

"I'm not looking for anything in particular. Just... comparing? What's here to what's at home? It's easy to get caught up in all the changes so I figured I'd start from the ground up."

Genevieve dips her head in a polite but warm greeting, that smile lighting up her face still. "The pleasure is all mine, Beau." She takes the hand offered, but doesn't shake it, instead lifting it to her mouth for a brief kiss on the back of it.

She lets their hand drops, but if Beau doesn't withdraw hers it might still linger in Genevieve's hold for a touch longer than strictly necessary. "I see. It sounds like a fantastic idea. What have you noticed so far? It is a world away from my home, to be sure."

Oh, that's... Okay. Unexpected. There's a distinct shift in how Beau looks at Genevieve after that light kiss, like something clicks in her head. Sure, from a man it might be a standard gesture. But from a woman?

Well, Beau hopes that means it's something more.

She definitely lets their hands linger, just to see how long she can before they pull away. It's a satisfactory amount of time. Real good.

The monk blinks and seems to recall herself, like she faded away for a second.

"Oh, uh. A lot more spices? A lot more mechanical things. I'm not from a city like this. Farm town, nearly. Wine country."

Genevieve's smile grows a bit wider when Beau lets the touch linger. Real good indeed.

"Really? I have learned we are all from very different places here, so I doubt I would know the specifics if you told me exactly where you're from. But I imagine the comparisons would still be fascinating. Shall we walk and look together?"

She holds out her arm, still a very gentleman-y gesture, that smile aimed with full force at Beau.

Beau is very, very much not used to being treated like a lady. Where Genevieve is a gentleman, Beau is a tombody. Her clothes are loose pants and wrap top with a long cloak in cobalt colors and leather. Her hair is pulled back away from her face with an undercut. Her piercings are designed to look badass, not pretty. And yet here's a woman offering Beau her arm, like Beau is in need of support.

It almost turns her off, but then again the novelty is so great -- and the brilliance of that smile is so great -- that Beau's not going to turn it down. She might be a disaster, but she's not completely hopeless.

So she considers the arm, then shrugs and loops her arm through.

"You probably won't have heard of it, no, but I'm from a place called Wildemount. I guess we're... way behind technologically speaking. There's more magic and less... metal."

Genevieve is certainly not intending to imply that Beau can't take care of herself- she knows full well that even though the period she lives in might be restrictive, there are plenty of women who are just as or more powerful than the men attached to them. She isn't away that her actions would be seen as old-fashioned or insulting, except perhaps to those who were scandalized by how moddish she is compared to her contemporaries. Which is certainly not a problem she's foreseeing with Beau.

She smiles as their arms are looped together and they start through the marketplace, Genevieve keeping a cursory eye out for anything interesting that she might return to later but most of her attention on the woman on her arm. "Magic?" she hits on immediately, brow crinkling in confusion and curiosity, "What do you mean?"

"Magic," Beau repeats, like that's going to explain it. "The arcane. The religious. The mystical."

She's never encountered someone to ask that question and so she's not sure how to respond. She gives Genevieve a little look over, simple confusion and curiosity, like something in her manner is going to reveal something about her way of thinking.

"You know, like here. What brought us here."

It clarifies nothing, as looking at Genevieve's face should indicate. "I would assume we were brought here by some kind of machine. Something highly advanced, certainly, but at least where I am from 'magic' is simply what people used to call things we did not know how to explain."

Vampires and werewolves used to be considered 'magical,' after all. No longer.

"A machine?" Beau nearly laughs, but holds back at the last second. It's the most restraint she's ever shown, maybe.

"I mean, sure, maybe there's something mechanical to it, but anything like this has to be powered by the arcane. We're talking something extradimensional, something not powered by human hands. Magic can be explained. It can be studied and understood. Not by me, maybe, but by others."

TDM #10

the long way around;

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject