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[memety]

the power games meme



This meme is about gaining, using and abusing power over others. Now with more options! Warning: contains possible triggers.

How to play

- Post your character with their name and canon in the subject line. You can also give your preferences if you do/don't want to thread anything R-rated or above.
- When replying, go to RNG and roll numbers 1-2 to get a scenario type, then 1-16 to select a scenario.
- Play out that scenario! Please respect others' wishes if they don't want to play out a particular scene.

i. manipulation

01. Mind games. You're messing with this person's head, using whatever you know about them to your advantage. Words are barbs, and everyone has a weakness.
02. Stay close to me. You're not letting this person out of your sight. And you don't care what extreme measures you have to go to in order to do it.
03. Blackmail. You know something and you're not afraid to use it against them. Now they have to do what you want.
04. Love makes you do things. It's because you love them that you're making them do this. If they truly loved you, wouldn't they do as you say?
05. For your own good. It doesn't matter what the other person wants. You know what's best, and you're going to force it on them whether they like it or not.
06. Break you down. You're going to make the other person think they're worthless. Crush their self-esteem, break them until they're entirely helpless.
07. Betrayal. You made a promise, and you broke it. Or perhaps you betrayed this person's trust. It's all part of gaining the upper hand.
08. Lies, lies, lies. Fool the other person with words and you'll have them wrapped around your finger in no time.
09. Sob story. A little bit of emotional manipulation never hurt anyone, right? You're going to use this person's feelings for you against them. Make them feel sorry!
10. In your debt. Look, you saved them. The other person wouldn't be here without you. They should show some gratitude.
11. I need you. You're depending on the other person to do as you say. They're the only one who can help.
12. Turn up the charm. There's nothing like a bit of good old-fashioned flirting to get someone eating out of your hand.
13. Negotiating. There's a bargain to be struck, if only you can find the right words – and the right leverage.
14. For my sake. Why should they do as you say? Because you're the one asking.
15. The truth. It's the thing that hurts most of all.
16. Your choice. Combine any of the above scenarios or choose your own! It's up to you.

ii. mastery

01. Pretty little puppet. You can command this person at will. They're a plaything, to do with as you please.
02. You're mine. You own this person, and you're going to make sure they know it.
03. No escape. Maybe you've locked the other person up somewhere, maybe you've got them in chains. Either way, they're not going anywhere.
04. Put in your place. That's it. The other person made one too many caustic comments, got in your way one last time. Now you're going to show them who's boss.
05. Force of strength. Nothing like a good old fashioned brawl to really prove who's stronger.
06. Cornered. Finally, you've got them alone. This is the moment you've been waiting for – and perhaps the moment they've been dreading.
07. Turning the tables. They thought they'd won, but here's your chance! Maybe it's time to give them a taste of their own medicine, or maybe you have a new trick up your sleeve.
08. Punishment. The other person has done something wrong, or maybe just something you don't like. Now you're going to punish them.
09. Back and forth. I have a laser gun! Well, I have a lightsaber! Whatever it is, you're closely matched and trying to outdo each other.
10. Make them beg. You hold all the power and whatever it is they want or need, you're going to make them beg for it.
11. Call my bluff. You're making claims you can't back up. Can you bluff your way out of this, or will the other person catch on?
12. Time to pay. The other person owes you, and it's time for them to pay up.
13. Show of dominance. You're not actually going to hurt this person. You're just going to show them that you could.
14. The most precious thing. Whatever is most important to the other person, you're going to take it away. Because you can.
15. Consequences. You warned them. They failed, and now they're going to pay the price.
16. Your choice. Combine any of the above scenarios or choose your own! It's up to you.

Comments

[retrieverchef]

Eliot nodded and turned on the coffee maker. He'd set it up before bed last night. "I didn't mean to scare ya."

[hellsbestlawyer]

"I'm sure you didn't plans to get yourself whipped and locked in a beast cage," Lindsey said sarcastically as he stayed where he was watching Eliot work. "Just tell me it won't happen again and don't ruin those coffee beans and we'll adjourn this case."

[retrieverchef]

"Lindsey..." Eliot sighed, brushing his hair out of his face. His brother had always been relentless but now he seemed even more so. "The coffee beans aren't even at risk. I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again."

More than that wasn't a promise he was ready to make. For all that Lindsey was one of the most powerful men in the Cirque, he knew any one of the guards would happily find a way to force him out of his brother's protection. And it rankled that he needed that protection. He'd always been the protector before.

[hellsbestlawyer]

Lindsey knew the same things, of course, even moreso than Eliot. Which was why he was imposing such rules in the first place, to protect his brother and, in a way, himself.

"They better not be," he retorted, slipping the riding crop away into a drawer of his desk somewhere. "Do you know how much trouble I had to go through to get them imported from another dimension? No one appreciates a good cup of coffee here... I should say, no one in the position of enjoying it does anyway."

[retrieverchef]

"You know my opinion of coffee, Linds," Eliot retorted. "It's safe from everyone except you, you coffee ruiner."

Okay, that had been back when they were both learning to use a coffee maker but like hell he would ever let his older brother forget that he'd wasted nearly a half pound of coffee while Eliot had gotten it right the first time.

[hellsbestlawyer]

Lindsey glared indignantly, but he wasn't truly angry. "I'll have you know I made lots of coffee all through college." And law school, but he got the paralegals to do it for him once he joined the firm.

"Just get me the damn cup."

[retrieverchef]

Eliot tossed an empty cup to his twin before pouring the coffee. "You want cream and sugar with that? Or would you rather I make you some of that girly shit college kids drink these days?"

[hellsbestlawyer]

Lindsey caught the cup, barely, and gave his twin an exasperated look. "Cup of coffee, you fool. No, you can skip both. I take my coffee black." It was a bad habit that he figured will one day give him an ulcer, but he got used to in college staying up nights. It was now a developed a taste that he appreciated the bitter brew.

[retrieverchef]

Eliot raised an eyebrow at that as he brought the actual mug of coffee over to his brother. "I never would have taken you for the type. That mean you go for the whiskey straight up instead of those fruity drinks?"

[hellsbestlawyer]

"Who uses whiskey in cocktail?" Lindsey gave Eliot a strange look as he took his cup and inhaled the scent. Even the aroma alone woke him more.

"What? I don't have much of a sweet tooth anymore, Eli, and it's faster to drink coffee black."

[retrieverchef]

"One of my unitmates in the army," Eliot replied, trying not to laugh at the memory. "He's a little crazy.

"So if I made a souffle you wouldn't eat it? And you need to get an espresso machine."

[hellsbestlawyer]

"Souffle? Where are you even going to get the things for that.... forget that, where am I going to get an espresso machine in another dimension?" He gave Eliot a patient look. "You do realize there are no electric sockets here?"

[retrieverchef]

Eliot raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know what goes in a souffle? I saw everything I'd need in the larder. And you don't need electricity to make espresso, Lindsey. It predates Thomas Edison. I'll figure something out."

[hellsbestlawyer]

"Not really, I'm not the one who took Home Ec in highschool." There was a hint of a smile somewhere in there, followed by a raised eyebrow. "You're my espresso machine now?"

[retrieverchef]

Eliot rolled his eyes. "No, I'm not your espresso machine," he retorted. "But if a refrigerator can run on magic, so can an espresso machine. As I said, I'll figure something out."

[hellsbestlawyer]

"If you can find one," Lindsey shot back before taking a good long drink of his coffee. It was scalding but good. His mood lifting even more, he grinned at his brother and took another sip. "But I wouldn't mind if you were. This is good."

[retrieverchef]

"I can probably make one if I can't."

He swatted half-heartedly at Lindsey's head. "You know I can't possibly be anyone's espresso machine, ya idiot. People ain't machines."

[hellsbestlawyer]

"Not anyone, just mine," Lindsey answered with a smirk and a half duck. He really was savoring the taste of his coffee. Eliot had a way with it.

"And all that is in the definition anyway. You'll make it when and how I want it, that sounds like a machine to me." Surprisingly, he was enjoying the banter with his twin, something he had been deprived of much too long.

[retrieverchef]

"Yeah, well, the just yours isn't an issue," Eliot snarked back. "And the only way I could be your espresso machine is if you kill me. Machines ain't alive."

[hellsbestlawyer]

"Sure they can be, cyborgs. And if everything's run on magic here, it can happen." Lindsey was just teasing though, as said by the quirky smile that peeked beyond the top of his cup.

[retrieverchef]

"I'll cyborg you," Eliot growled playfully. "In fact, I think you were always a cyborg. It would explain why you're such a geek."

[hellsbestlawyer]

"That's bull. Just because I have more brains doesn't mean I'm half machine." Despite what happened earlier, Eliot's playful teasing was drawing out a quirk of a smile from Lindsey.

[retrieverchef]

"More brains?!" Eliot's eyebrows shot up nearly to his hairline. "Do I need to remind you which of us consistently fell for it every time Maxie and Ryan tried to get us in trouble with Da?"

Oops, this one got lost in my inbox.

[hellsbestlawyer]

Lindsey regarded Eliot calmly over his coffee, not rising to the bait. "And do I need to remind you who was it that talked you out of the trouble to caused... to put plainly, everywhere?"

Aaand I totally took forever to tag back anyway...

[retrieverchef]

Eliot rolled his eyes. "We both had fun with that. You used to complain when I didn't get in some kind of trouble."