Duplicity Game Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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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!! |
no subject
I'm not used to just spouting it out, you see. Protocol. I'm an angel of the Lord.
[He decides to leave it at that with a first statement. It will be helpful to see what sort of reaction that earns, puzzlement, knowledge, incorrect knowledge. It could go so many ways.]
no subject
I see. And which Lord would that be?
no subject
The Lord. In my world, there's only one. The Creator of all.
[He clears his throat again.]
Since we were speaking of courtesy, [Technically, since Essek was speaking of courtesy...] perhaps you could show me your shirt so I have something for my clipboard. I could continue guessing at words that end in a-t-i-o-n. I rather feel that would grow tedious for both of us given how many languages I know.
no subject
[ And he does mean it, actually. The idea of monotheism is completely foreign to him, but not the concept of a singular creator, an apex God. To hear someone not from his own home so flagrantly suggesting it is worth investigating. Consider yourself officially worth speaking to for a longer period of time, Aziraphale.
Essek was about to ask more questions about his Lord, when the issue of courtesy arose once again. His smile faltered and he sighed through his nose--he had hoped to fully avoid responding, but no such luck. He moves his hand out of the way begrudgingly, revealing the text Ask Me About Why I'm Floating.
Not above keeping his secret to himself for just a little while longer, he speaks in Undercommon--a test to see if it's one of Aziraphale's many languages. ]
I have a disability that makes walking and standing for long periods of time difficult. I avoid the problem entirely with magic.
no subject
It's an elegant solution.
[All he has to say of that. Despite his insistence, he doesn't write anything on the clipboard. Some of their questions are low blows or low hanging fruit. His brow furrows while he considers the sounds and the shapes the Drow's mouth made in comparison to what he heard. It doesn't line up. Something to look out for in future exchanges.]
You're more interested in hearing of the Lord?
[It's simple inquiry, nothing of a zealot's eagerness in his look or tone.]
no subject
I am. Monotheism is fiction where I come from, though my people are some of the few who do believe in the superior power of the One above all others.
no subject
He blinks quite suddenly when he finishes.]
I'm sorry. We will get back to this in a moment, but I just noticed something odd. Perhaps now that I've mentioned it, you'll see it, too. What language do you think I'm speaking?
no subject
I think that you're speaking the Common tongue, while I was speaking in what you might refer to as Undercommon. Am I to assume that is not the case?
no subject
[He thinks about it for a second or two and switches to Aramaic.]
You see? I'm betting you still understand me. Watch my mouth. It doesn't fit the words.
ooc:
OOC
OOC
His shirt reads "Ask Me About My Father's Death" and his answer is "I upset him in a way that made him go off on what could only be described as a suicide mission."
His interest in Monotheism is less enthusiastic, less genuinely interested. We can definitely come back to questions of Monotheism but as of last night he canonically has like no interest in religion. It's just interesting that he comes from a world with one God not many.
OOC
He's more fixated on the language thing, so if they do circle back around to the other topic, it will be his way of being polite. Or he'll let them veer somewhere else since the interest didn't seem really there.
And back IC we go!
That is certainly one way to manifest a universal translation enchantment. I would be interested to test how the translation effect works under the constraints of a separate translation spell, Comprehend languages perhaps, or Tongues, though I imagine that with the power necessary to enchant the entire population consistently, such simple tricks as those would do nothing.
no subject
[How very interesting.]
Magic in my world is rubbish. Most of it. Just illusions, charming illusions, mind you. I studied under John Maskelyne, myself. So you believe this to be an enchantment?
no subject
The practice and study of Magic is my specialty, and this seems to be a particularly strong enchantment if, as you say, it applies to the entirety of this city. It is, perhaps, bolstered by the work of many mages, as well as a handful of magical items. Without knowing the source I cannot be positive as to the details, but I can make an educated case.
no subject
[He has reverted to English simply because he's made his point. Not that it takes more effort for him to speak in Aramaic. He knows all languages equally well.]
I've a sense for power.
[The trouble is this place confuses that sense, rather like broadcasting on all frequencies with only one or two actually meaningful and the rest meant to obfuscate.]
It may be difficult to track down the source. I'd be game to try.
no subject
[ This is...good. Potentially dangerous to discuss in public, but an avenue worth pursuing. If not for a means of escape, then for educational purposes; to know the shape and form of one's prison. ]
I don't believe I caught your name. I am Essek Thelyss.
no subject
[He dips his head pleasantly.]
Ah, I'm Mister Ziraphale. It's a pleasure. How do you prefer to be addressed?
[If he were human, he'd call him Mister Thelyss. It's not a safe assumption for someone from a completely unknown culture.]
no subject
Given the situation though, he imagines his title is rather irrelevant, and that does sting a bit. ]
Essek, I think. Thelyss would do as well.
no subject
Both have a nice ring. Thelyss rolls off the tongue more gracefully. Thelyss it is. I do hope we can be done with this soiree soon. I'd like to get started on our project.