A city that never sleeps
The world isn't as it seems, and New Yorkers certainly know that well. While the element Asterium is not widely understood, those in the city's underground know better. For millenia, humans have known of this energy. They called those born with it in their bones changelings and mutants. Legends have told of werewolves and vampires for centuries. Those who can harness it became witches and warlocks. All they know now is that some things are better kept secret, and where else can you hide a secret better than New York City?
NEW YORK TIMES
07/07/2020 It's been (technically) our first month! Thanks to everyone who's joined us, and for more announcements, please check HERE for in-game and new developments!
17/06/2020There are staff & RP position tryouts here!
23/05/2020 Trying to gauge interest right now! If you want to help out and potentially take one of the leadership positions, please message me! (either on achromatic#7519 on discord or if you have my skype!)
A SUPERNATURAL ROLEPLAY SITE
Modus Operandi achromatic
Blueprint is a premade Proboards v5 theme designed and built by punki of Adoxography and Pixel Perfect. MODUS OPERANDI is the work of the mind of achromatic. All characters and content are copyright their creators, and may not be replicated without their creators' permission. All images belong to their original owners.
coincidentia oppositorum
CURRENT PLOT
We are currently starting up, and trialing some of the groups right now! There will be an upcoming plot in regards to some city shenanigans soon, but for now, we're simply fixing up the kinks and establishing roles/groups/characters. Feel free to join us! The community and the lore is still being built, and we're always open to new suggestions.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The strange Fourth of July groundhog day event is coming up! Please sign up HERE!
achromatic
Member
She / Her
GMT / GMT+8
achromatic#7519
my life is just constantly existing at ungodly hours
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Aug 17, 2020 11:27:31 GMT
Post by achromatic on Aug 17, 2020 11:27:31 GMT
Emeline kept her eyes aimed away from the action; but she felt a small twinge of annoyance as the boys came over. She eyed them briefly, before turning to her own business. She wasn't going to get involved lest anything happened; that was just the way of the city.
She gave Lycari another glance, when suddenly, one of the boys tripped and crashed into the man, who suddenly seemed a lot more intimidating than he originally gave him credit for. She hid a snort of amusement; these boys were way out of their depth if they were messing with some stranger like that.
The girl didn't seem to notice it had been Lycari's doing until he returned the phone to the lady. Well that was nice of him, she figured, as she glanced towards the signs on the stairs.
"Right, we should head this way," she hummed, already walking up the stairs, "should be a five minute walk."
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Aug 17, 2020 15:03:37 GMT
Post by stormaf on Aug 17, 2020 15:03:37 GMT
Lycari
The shifter timed his pace to that of Emeline and generally enjoyed the walk. While he was happy to be out of the train, it was another experience under his belt and wasn't half as bad as the elevator. He took the stairs two at a time and waited for Emeline at the top. This street wasn't nearly as busy as some of the others he'd been on.
After a short block's walk, Lycari simply had to comment, "There're a heck of a lot of crooks in this city.
"Why is that? I mean, can't they find work? Or is it the thrill of the crime?"
He really didn't understand the criminal mentality. His people seldom had any crime. Basically there wasn't much to steal anyway, but the occasional difficulty did crop up. Lycari had heard that once there had been a murder -- a crime of passion -- when two men wanted the same woman. That had happened decades before he was born. The perpetrator had been exiled from the tribe, which could be a death sentence if fate played its games. An exile was always branded on the forehead, so no other tribe would take him in.
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achromatic
Member
She / Her
GMT / GMT+8
achromatic#7519
my life is just constantly existing at ungodly hours
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Aug 18, 2020 10:04:27 GMT
Post by achromatic on Aug 18, 2020 10:04:27 GMT
Emeline didn't exactly know how to answer that. To be frank, she rarely experienced any dangerous crime in the city, even though she knew about it. There were plenty of gangs and fights that happened, especially at night when everyone was drunk, but her own experience had been pretty mild.
"To be honest, I think you're just unlucky to have experienced it all in one go," she chuckled, "to be honest, I've never even seen a robbery before...the other day? I'unno, I think he was probably on something..."
She shrugged. "It's pretty hard to find anything if you don't already have something under your feet, ya know?" she replied, "I mean...look at how much we have to go through just to get you a job. You don't have an address so like, you pretty much can't get a bank account until you do. You don't have an ID which means you need a fake one...and one that's good too so like, that's going to cost you loads. So I guess...other people without homes don't really have a way out, and that's just for the basics, you know?"
She sighed. "There's still healthcare, and finding a job which is nearly impossible if you don't already know someone, and they all pay by card these days so if you don't have a good resume and credit and everything, they might look down on you. I guess like...poorer communities in the city don't have much invested in them, so they're left with no choice, you know?"
The city was cruel when it wanted to be, that was for certain.
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Aug 18, 2020 14:48:21 GMT
Post by stormaf on Aug 18, 2020 14:48:21 GMT
Lycari
Lycari looked thoughtful. It made sense in a way. Desperate people made bad decisions. He felt that his own people weren't so badly off.
"It's kinda sad that people who are poorly off wind up with only bad choices left to them," Lycari kicked a small pebble into the gutter as he spoke.
"It makes me believe that your people could learn a lot from my people.
"If anyone in my tribe is ill or injured, or if they have any type of misfortune, the rest of the tribe looks after them. Orphan kids are unknown. We are all family, even if we live in different lodges.
"Once we even adopted a guy from down here somewhere who got lost while he was on some sort of soul searching northern trek."
The shifter cast a wiseacre look Emeline's way with a grin tugging at his lips.
"If you ask me, I'd rather do my soul searching someplace warm, with lots of food and company."
On their left was a door, cracked half open. A face peeped out at them.
"You here for the 'interview?'"
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achromatic
Member
She / Her
GMT / GMT+8
achromatic#7519
my life is just constantly existing at ungodly hours
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Aug 24, 2020 13:22:57 GMT
Post by achromatic on Aug 24, 2020 13:22:57 GMT
Emeline didn't exactly agree with his statement. Their lives were just...so different. The world wasn't a tribe of close knit friends. The world wasn't like her in-laws back in Malaysia, all living together and having dinners at her grandma's place every weekend while they played mahjong.
The world was huge, and things happened, and people were cold and heartless, and she didn't know what kind of tribe he lived in but she didn't believe in that. People out here weren't all good, and life had a habit of screwing people over, and she didn't for one second believe in a place that was a utopia enough that no one went hungry or without.
The world was imperfect and all they could do was live in it.
"That wouldn't work here," she frowned, "maybe your tribe is small or whatever, but there's no way that would work indefinitely. There are going to be winters that are harsher and people will go without, just like how there are people here who don't have a support system. That's just the way it is. There's just too many mouths to feed and not enough resources around here. Maybe it's different for you but I doubt it's perfect either. Being in a small community where everyone expects you to be something isn't all that great either; you'll never get to choose what you want to do and you'll always be controlled by other people's expectations of you."
She didn't realise they were there until she spotted the graffiti that marked the entrance. Right. She knocked on the door, waiting for a brief moment before it cracked open.
Interview. Right. "Yeah, a little bluebird sent us," she replied, blinking at the face of the man as he squinted at her, before sliding the door open.
"You're the 'Davinci' I'm guessing?" she asked slowly.
The man gestured to a couple of chairs around an old fold-out table. "Take a seat," he spoke.
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Aug 24, 2020 19:37:00 GMT
Post by stormaf on Aug 24, 2020 19:37:00 GMT
Lycari
He had to wonder what had happened in Emeline's past that had made her so willing to accept the world's worst as normal. Lycari always expected the best out of people, before finding out their worst. Yes, his tribe was small and they lived a subsistance life. The fact that they were all shifters allowed them more leeway with regards to food than a band of regular joes for sure. Perhaps cities weren't the best place to live when you were not well off?
His tribe had their share of difficulties. Some individuals didn't get along with others. There were disagreements. All of those problems were set aside in times of need. The environment was so harsh that even one person could make the difference between life or death. This tended to be a levelling field for every tribe member.
Lycari was deep in thought when Emeline led them inside, but he became instantly alert when they were asked to sit. The room appeared to be a living room that did regular time as a sort of office. He could just see down a hall that led to the back of the place. It was dark, but he could make things out rather well. Doors led off of the hall.
The small man eyed the two of them as he sat down.
"Okay, who needs the ID?" He asked.
Lycari lifted a hand, "Me."
"You can pay cash? I don't take no cheques and you don't see an ATM here. It's gonna set you back three thou. Cash first or it's no go. I got expenses, ya know."
Lycari pulled his stash of money out and counted out three thousand dollars. He slapped the bills down on the table.
The man picked them up and did his own count, nodded and stuffed the money into his shirt pocket.
"I need a photo and some info from you," the man retrieved a pad of paper from a nearby counter, along with a pen.
"I'm guessing that you want a New York state social security number," he eyed Lycari, "I also make a birth certificate to go with it. I have a hacker who fixes up the database so there's no problems if anyone looks into you."
"I don't have a photo," Lycari explained.
The man squinted at him.
"I can do that."
After a half hour's worth of questions and then a photo taken in one of the back rooms, the forger brought Lycari back to Emeline at the table.
"It'll take me four days," the fellow informed them, "Come back right here and I'll have it ready for you."
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achromatic
Member
She / Her
GMT / GMT+8
achromatic#7519
my life is just constantly existing at ungodly hours
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Aug 25, 2020 14:16:34 GMT
Post by achromatic on Aug 25, 2020 14:16:34 GMT
Emeline had never been in this situation before. Even when she had been underage, Lance had been nearly four years older than her, and he knew people, so he was the one getting all the alcohol and whatever else they wanted to do for the night. He had his plug after all, and she often just followed along.
She reminded herself to give Ash a bit of a talking-to after this; honestly, the fact that he knew someone to get all of this done was impressive but also...this was a bit scary really. She had never been in a situation where she needed a fake ID, and one that would require everything done like this. The worst she would've had to get was a fake driver's license for a bar or something, and that was it.
She simply sat to the side and observed. Three grand huh? For all of that...well, it didn't seem too crazy; she only hoped it would work out and that the fakes were good enough to really trick people. Getting caught with a fake was just as dangerous as not having any identification to show, right?
The young woman simply listened, following along to the conversation and practically itched to get out of here. Yep, this was enough sneaking around for one lifetime really.
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Aug 26, 2020 13:38:55 GMT
Post by stormaf on Aug 26, 2020 13:38:55 GMT
Lycari
The shifter shook the man's hand and stood up.
"Thanks," he said, "I really appreciate this."
The man gave him a funny look and then smiled back. It was the first time anyone had actually thanked him for doing this.
"You're welcome," he replied, slightly bemused.
Lycari quickly put the date into his memory. He would forget neither the time nor the place, a legacy that stemmed from living in the wild most of his life. The door closed behind them as the pair left the forger. It was early afternoon now and Lycari felt that a nice lunch was in order.
"Well that went fine," he said to Emeline, "I think I can get back here on my own, unless you want to come along just for the outing."
He hoped that she would. He enjoyed her company. As they walked back to the train, the shifter thought about how he could help Emeline, if possible. She had done so much for him that despite what she felt, he felt that she was family now. The wolf in him considered her a pack member and the pack stuck together.
"You know," he began, "The wolf in me thinks of you as a family member now and so do I.
"If you ever need anything, you know, help or someone to talk to, or just company, come to me. I'll be here for you.
"I hope you don't think that I'm being too familiar with you. I sure don't mean it that way."
His stomach rumbled and he excused himself with a chuckle.
"What about I treat you to some lunch? Know any good places around here or should we wait to go to that bakery again?"
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achromatic
Member
She / Her
GMT / GMT+8
achromatic#7519
my life is just constantly existing at ungodly hours
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Sept 27, 2020 14:58:12 GMT
Post by achromatic on Sept 27, 2020 14:58:12 GMT
That had...interestingly turned out okay. It seemed like she didn't have to worry too much about it. She gave him a smile. "Don't worry about it," she shrugged, "supernatural things like us gotta help each other out sometime I guess." She didn't really mind the other man; he was a bit weird and unusual, but then again, so was she. She was just less...fresh off the boat, as they'd say.
They were pretty far from the bakery now. "Sounds good, but I feel like we might as well look for something around here instead," she offered, "it'll take a while to get back...I mean I know there's a food market nearby. Did you want to try that maybe?"
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Sept 27, 2020 16:11:07 GMT
Post by stormaf on Sept 27, 2020 16:11:07 GMT
Lycari
The shifter grinned.
"Sure," he answered, "Let's go!"
As people passed them by, Lycari took note of them. There were kids on skateboards, women with children of various ages, very few men, since he guessed they were mostly at work, the odd rummy sitting with a hand outstretched for change and and others with places to go.
Not a few of these passersby looked Lycari and Emeline over too. The tall shifter walked with an easy stride, shortened to stay with Emeline of course. His blond hair shone in the sun and he exuded his happy and friendly nature. This society was a lot to take in, but he'd learn it. Hopefully he'd find the other wolves soon.
Small talk kept the pair occupied until the market appeared around a corner. It was a big one, with lots of stalls and food vendors with their trucks.
"Oh, my," Lycari commented softly, "I'm in heaven again."
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achromatic
Member
She / Her
GMT / GMT+8
achromatic#7519
my life is just constantly existing at ungodly hours
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Post by achromatic on Oct 2, 2020 9:26:17 GMT
This area was familiar–though not as familiar as midtown–and it didn't take a lot out of Emeline to find the right place. A right turn by the bookstore, two blocks later another turn, and ah! There it was. The food trucks. She smiled, turning to Lycari. "Yeah, most of the food here's great."
She glanced to the few that were already starting to gain lines of customers. A falafel truck, soul food, burgers, surf and turf...there were just so many options.
"Want me to introduce the options for you?" she offered.
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Post by stormaf on Oct 2, 2020 20:09:00 GMT
Lycari
The smell of food was overwhelming. Lycari could feel his nonexistent tail wagging happily. His wolf was happy too.
"Introduce away," he invited Emeline.
There was so much to choose from, and some of the trucks had strange names like Stan's Fell Awful and The Shaw Wormer Shack. Those words meant nothing to the shifter, but the trucks smelled tasty. People strolled through the alley between the food trucks, eating their choices or attempting to make decisions as to what to try.
It was easy for Lycari, he wanted to try everything, at least once. He decided to leave things up to Emeline, who had a lot more experience with this sort of thing.
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