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!
that's the life of a virgo – storm !
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 Jun 17, 2020 2:43:16 GMT
She nodded. "Yeah, basically I have a friend who works in some cocktail bar down in Brooklyn; they usually have one bouncer but he's apparently moving back to California because his mom got sick or something, so I mean, you can go down and ask them about it, I guess? I'll call ahead and tell him if you want to give that a try."
Emeline wasn't exactly hungry, but the small fries were fine. She finished them pretty quickly, wiping her hands on the napkins before tossing it into the trash and waving a goodbye to the owner.
She checked the map on her phone; the hostel wasn't far from Hell's Kitchen, just a block or two down the street. It was only a ten, maybe fifteen-minute walk if they were feeling particularly slow.
A zoo? "There's a few I think, but the famous one's in Central Park I guess? There's also one in the Bronx and Queens...and Staten Island but I've never been so..." she shrugged, already looking at her phone again. A zoo worker...she wasn't so sure about that. "I think you need a lot more qualifications to work at a zoo...you might need a conservation degree to be a zookeeper but they take volunteers? Then again, if you're getting a job for money...that might not be a good idea."
She frowned when he spoke. She had yet to meet anyone like him exactly, with his regeneration thing going on. "You'll have to be more specific," she muttered, "mutants? Yeah, there's plenty of us out there but I can't tell if they're your estranged family or not. New York's kind of huge; might be better to do a search online or something if you're looking for your family."
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Jun 17, 2020 19:24:40 GMT
Post by stormaf on Jun 17, 2020 19:24:40 GMT
Lycari
So a zoo was out. Well, damn. No chance to learn other creatures then. Volunteering wasn't conducive to earning enough money to stay on and search.
"I'd be grateful if you could give me directions to your friend's bar," he said. "I really need money more than a work out."
Lycari chuckled when she mentioned mutants, but he immediately sobered when she volunteered the fact that she was one herself. He didn't know how touchy she would be about it. Maybe she welcomed her supernatural side? Some people definitely didn't. He kicked a soft drink can into the gutter thoughtfully.
"I'm not a mutant," he began, "I'm a shifter. And a healer. I can become any creature I touch souls with, except I'm white. Just like normal."
He indicated his pale form.
"All of my tribe can do this. I just happen to have the healing gift as well.
"I can be a wolf, a bear, a lion and a horse so far. I'd like to gather a creature that can fly eventually."
He watched her reactions carefully.
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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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Jun 18, 2020 14:40:06 GMT
Post by achromatic on Jun 18, 2020 14:40:06 GMT
She had yet to realize she had outed herself, her hands shoved into the pockets of her jeans as she glanced at her phone again. It wasn't far, just near the Upper West Side. Of course, she didn't mention that the 'friend' wasn't really a friend, more like her brother's ex, but hey, they still talked sometimes. They had gotten closer over the fact that they both thought her brother was a snobby little prick sometimes.
Emeline listened thoughtfully. "So...like a werewolf or something?" She had heard of werewolves, but she had no idea they existed. She had only really known about mutants like her own, vampires and witches, but anything else? That was completely new. "Or are you like...a skinwalker? I mean I've heard of them but I thought they were all like...Navajo legends and stuff."
Wow, she thought. That was impressive to say the least. Her own powers were rather lame, now that she thought about it. She had yet to really learn about it; it wasn't something necessary for daily life other than occasionally fixing a tattoo after all.
"So...why did you come to New York?" she asked, "If you can turn into animals, this is literally the worst place in the world to stay hidden, you know? We don't have any of those walking wild here. You had to have come for a reason, right?"
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Jun 18, 2020 19:33:10 GMT
Post by stormaf on Jun 18, 2020 19:33:10 GMT
Lycari
"I'm not a werewolf, I'm a shifter. I can change anytime I like. I've never heard of skinwalkers either."
He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
"There is a legend that sometime a-way back in our history, we were cousins of the fae folk and that we interbred. That's probably how some of this happened. I am lucky in that I'm pretty good with wounds."
He smiled down at Emeline.
"The story of my tribe is too long to go into, but my own story is this: Our shaman sent me abroad after most of us were wiped out by a war of sorts. There were rumors that some of my people had come down south some hundred years ago. That's who I'm looking for.
"There really aren't enough of us left up north to continue as a viable people. Since I have four animals and can heal, I was selected for the search. I am very much at sea here in this huge city."
He gestured to the buildings around them and the cars driving by on the street.
"It's like a stone jungle. I have no idea even where to start."
Lycari stuck his hand back into his pocket and stared down at the cement sidewalk going by under their feet. He didn't want to fail his people.
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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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Jun 19, 2020 17:53:38 GMT
Post by achromatic on Jun 19, 2020 17:53:38 GMT
She nodded. Huh, the fae? Like fairies? She frowned; did those things even exist? She had never heard of them. At least with mutations, it was sort of explained by science. Faries and magic and all that? It was weird. She had never heard of any of this, and part of her wondered how much she had missed, being so blind to how the world was until she was a teenager.
"That's...insane," she murmured, "I'm sorry about your people; they treat native americans pretty shit these days, I bet it's the same for you guys up north too, huh?" She frowned. How terrible it must be, to have so few of their kind left that they'd be wiped out naturally because there were too few of them out there.
"Yeah, guess it feels the same for us all," she murmured at his words, glancing up to the buildings, "when I was a kid, yeah? My mom used to bring me to the market, and I'd be walking through these streets and just...I felt like an ant crawling around a lego set or something. The buildings were always so big and nothing like when we'd go visit my grandma back in Malaysia. It was always just so...big. I almost felt claustrophobic back then, you know? I guess I learned how to live with it."
She glanced up to the sign in the distance, with a small neon house on it. It was still a while away, but she was sure that was the hostel up ahead.
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Post by stormaf on Jun 20, 2020 0:31:23 GMT
Lycari
"You have family in Malaysia?" Lycari was incredulous, "Whoa, I can't imagine living in a place that hot! 'Course I guess a Malaysian family would have a hard time up where I come from.
"I suppose you do learn to live with it, if you stay long enough." It would be a long time before he would learn to deal with all of the people and the buildings.
"I've found that normals have a hard time with people who are different," he mused, "Along my journey, I've spent most of my time as a wolf, except for when I was near enough to a farm to get a few days' work. Made the trip less taxing. Wolves can hunt and man, can they beat feet!
"I kinda stick out as an animal too," he confided, "Every creature I can become is white like me. Not a problem in the snow, but in a forest? Well....."
His eyes danced with humor as he looked down at Emeline.
"Well, that's my story in a nutshell. Capital 'N' for nut.
"Would you like to tell me a bit about you? You don't have to, if you don't want to."
He loved small talk and a guy could learn a lot if he paid attention.
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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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Jun 20, 2020 12:06:49 GMT
Post by achromatic on Jun 20, 2020 12:06:49 GMT
She chuckled. "Yeah, my parents are Malaysian; my grandma and aunts still live there." Her family was all over Asia really–Singapore, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur–it was only their branch of the family who decided to throw it all away for the American dream.
"Yeah I guess you'd get used to anywhere if you really wanted to, but to be honest, I hate the heat, so sometimes I'm glad we're not back there, you know?" she mused, glancing up towards him, "I get what you mean though. People are pretty rude to immigrants, even here in New York sometimes. It's not always great being different; people just don't understand, and they have some pretty shit stereotypes about anyone who isn't like them, ya know?"
She nodded at his words. That must be pretty rough; it'd be easier when he was up in the north, out in the snow, but New York was colourful. Greys and browns dominated the cities, but upstate, there were forests of red and greens that changed depending on the season, and it was gorgeous...but for a white wolf, he'd stand out like a sore thumb.
A light laugh left her mouth, as she shrugged. Emeline hated talking about herself. "I dunno, what do you want to know? I work as an apprentice at a tattoo shop. My parents moved to New York from Malaysia and moved out to the suburbs a while back, I have an older brother who's kind of a dick, I dunno...what else?"
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Jun 20, 2020 19:15:37 GMT
Post by stormaf on Jun 20, 2020 19:15:37 GMT
Lycari
The shifter agreed, "I might as well paint a target on myself saying 'Shoot me!'"
Lycari shifted his pack to his other shoulder. It seemed like there was a sign with a house on it not too far ahead. What he wouldn't give for a shower! And a book to read. He'd really like to forget about his search for just a short while and enjoy all that this city had to offer, especially since there were so many interesting people here.
"You must meet so many people here," he continued, "and especially at a tattoo parlor. How'd you get into tattooing anyway? At home our shaman does any tattoos and very few of us have them. We don't have electricity, so tattoos are done with sharp, fire hardened sticks and a rock. The ink is charcoal. Needless to say, he doesn't do any colored ones.
"Do you visit your family a lot? It must be great to see all of those places!"
His eyes were filled with images of fantastic places and strange new people.
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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 Jun 21, 2020 8:01:22 GMT
"Yeah," she replied dryly, "just...be careful, you know? This city's a mess sometimes, and I've heard rumours, that like, there are people out there that hunt...you know, supernaturals." She had known of this rumour for years, from her ex, actually. It wasn't anything new. Everything had its opposite, right? It was why she had kept her own powers under wraps.
She glanced up, the building ahead looked decent, not like the shady motel imagery that often accompanied what she imagined a hostel to look like. "Hey look," she pointed, "that's the place." She was so absorbed in looking to make sure it was the right building that she almost missed the location.
"Hm.." she spoke looking up, before smiling a little sheepishly, "to be honest, it just kind of happened. I didn't really have much planned for life I guess, my parents wanted me to go into finance and I hated it, so one day I just decided to take control of my life and do it." It wasn't exactly the whole story, but she didn't really want to talk about Lance today. Her ex was a topic she only talked about with people who knew exactly what he was like.
Stick and poke, huh? It was pretty cool. "So what do your traditional tattoos look like?" she was intrigued, "is it like how people imagine tribal tattoos to be like? Are there any symbols that you use a lot?"
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Jun 21, 2020 15:11:55 GMT
Post by stormaf on Jun 21, 2020 15:11:55 GMT
Lycari
"It must be nice to just go out and do something you want to do."
Often Lycari had wished that the shaman had chosen someone else to send on this seemingly fruitless mission. By now he would have been matched with one of the remaining women and he probably would be a dad. He really missed what could have been but then again, his need to travel would have seen him out on hunts and such so often, he probably would have been divorced rather quickly.
He thought for a moment.
"I never really noticed much about the designs. Johar had one, but he was one of two of us who did. His was sort of like a big star on his back.
"After he spent three days recuperating, I decided that it wasn't worth it for me to try and have one done."
He halted at the hostel's door and gave her a conspiratorial look.
"Truthfully, from what Johar had done, I'd have to say that our shaman was a terrible artist. It was that or Johar was too wiggly."
He pushed the door open and gestured Emeline inside. The front desk was part of a clean, but rather stark looking entryway. Behind it to one side stretched a corridor that had a good number of doors ending in a cross corridor that seemed to go to either side of the building. Stairs to the left led upwards to another floor. Lycari could hear that there were plenty of occupants already.
From oust of a side room, a young man slouched to stand behind the desk. He seemed to be studying a thin, little rectangular box intently. The box made noises. Lycari dropped his pack with a loud thump. The young fellow dragged his eyes away from the box and they widened when he spotted Lycari.
"Um, ah, would you like room?" He stammered.
He then noticed Emeline and quickly added, "We have rooms for two."
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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 Jun 22, 2020 3:06:13 GMT
She laughed dryly at his comment. "Oh trust me, my parents made their uh...dislike very clear," she sighed. It was already sacrilegious enough that she had gotten multiple tattoos at her age, but being an artist? That had been the cherry on top. She had always been the rebel kid of the family, but these days, she didn't go home often. The mood was always just a tad stifling in that old apartment.
As she listened to his story, she couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, wiggly clients are not easy to work with. Thank god I haven't done anything too wiggly yet." It also helped that she could fix her mistakes, but she had trained for a year or so before doing her first real tattoo. There were plenty of risks involved with making rookie mistakes, and Mikeal and Jack made sure she understood that before starting.
She stood a few steps behind the other man as he asked for a room, not quite realizing what the other man meant before the realization dawned on her.
"Oh, no, I'm not staying," she replied with a frown, "I live in the city and all, just...was helping him find the place."
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Jun 22, 2020 13:33:27 GMT
Post by stormaf on Jun 22, 2020 13:33:27 GMT
Lycari
"Oh, okay," the young fellow paged through a large guest book. When he hit the last page, he said, "I've only got doubles left." He looked up. "They're only a buck and a half more expensive than singles.
"Do you want one?"
Lycari looked a doubtful for moment and then answered, "Yeah. I'll take one."
As the man searched for a pen, the shifter muttered to Emeline, "I'd better get on that job hunt quickly."
"Name?" The man asked.
"Lycari"
"Is that a first or last name?"
"Both."
At the clerk's quizzical look, Lycari added, "I've only got the one."
The clerk laughed and commented, "Oh, sorta like Prince then?"
It was Lycari's turn to look confused, "Prince who?"
The pen scratched Lycari's name in the register. Then fellow reached under the desk and slapped a key down on the desktop.
"It's twenty bucks a night," he informed them, "Pay me daily. If you don't show up to pay, then I can relet the room and confiscate your stuff."
The clerk pointed to a rather large pile of sundry items to his right, apparently the leftovers from skipped guests.
"We collect up the stuff and give it to the needy."
Lycari crouched and rummaged in his pack. Finding his forty dollars, he stood up and handed it to the clerk.
"There you go," he said, "Tonight's rent and tomorrow's too."
The clerk handed him the key.
"Number thirty one upstairs."
"Thanks," replied Lycari as he heaved his back pack over his shoulder.
Before he started up the stairs, he asked Emeline, "Would you like to help me find it?"
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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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Jun 23, 2020 11:23:59 GMT
Post by achromatic on Jun 23, 2020 11:23:59 GMT
Emeline had stayed behind when Lycari started chatting to the man at the front desk. It was easy enough to figure out the place, and well, hostels were hostels. Front desk was polite but blunt, and people came and went. There wasn't much to it. She listened half-heartedly to the conversation, not quite into it a hundred percent, but she almost let out a laugh at the other man's references. Right, of course Lycari didn't know about Prince; there was plenty for the man to catch up on, if this was his first time around.
Hostels weren't expensive necessarily but without a regular income, this guy had no way forward, really. It was near impossible to rent anywhere cheap in the city too, and well, finding a good job that paid enough was difficult enough. Emeline was fortunate that her parents could afford to let her live in their second apartment, but she knew how difficult it was to find a place in the city.
Of course, part of her was curious to see this place. "Sure," she nodded at his question. There was still the matter of helping him find a job, right? That'd have to be for later, "thirty one, right? I guess we can take the elevator." She gestured towards the metal doors on the right.
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Jun 23, 2020 13:52:23 GMT
Post by stormaf on Jun 23, 2020 13:52:23 GMT
Lycari
Although he hated to admit it, he really wanted Emeline to stick around a bit longer. He could very well find the room on his own, but he liked her and he was starved for company. When the metal doors opened to show a little room, Lycari stepped in behind her warily. Not wanting to seem like a total idiot, he didn't ask what it was and was a tad surprised when the doors slid closed, trapping the two of them in the boxy little room.
Being a creature of the open air and wild living of his people, he was very nervous. This room was small. When it started to move up, he frantically grabbed for the railing with both hands. Quickly he steadied himself and tried to rescue even a teensy bit of his composure. When he'd regained his equilibrium, he brushed the long white hair out of his face with a wry grin.
"Elevator, eh?"
He settled his back pack more firmly on his shoulder.
"Maybe I'm a stairs kinda guy?"
When the elevator jolted to a stop, Lycari tightened his grip on the rail and hung onto his pack. The doors whooshed open on the second floor and he followed Emeline out, casting a quick glance backwards at the elevator. In a couple of strides, he caught up to Emeline, who was reading the numbers on the doors.
At number thirty one the pair stopped and Lycari inserted the key the clerk had given him. The door swung open on a clean but rather stark room. There were two twin beds -- thank the powers that be -- the shifter thought. He'd spent enough nights trying to sleep in beds that were more suited to shorter individuals.
He dropped his backpack onto a chair by the door. The room had a window that looked out onto a brick wall. So much for the view. There was a small sink set into a linoleum counter, a microwave and a bar fridge. A little table stood under the window with the room's second chair shoved under it.
"Well," Lycari commented, "I'm home."
Then he remembered something rather important and raised a long finger.
"Bathroom? I guess that's somewhere else?"
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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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Jun 24, 2020 16:31:44 GMT
Post by achromatic on Jun 24, 2020 16:31:44 GMT
She had assumed that it was the first time he'd been on an elevator, but she didn't exactly expect his reaction. In hindsight, she should've known, a guy who spent his life completely in the open air and wilderness being stuck in a metal box? Even dogs who grew up in the city would freak out in an elevator sometimes. It wasn't surprising that the other man had a bit of claustrophobia. She gave him a sympathetic look.
Maybe she should've explained it before hand.
"Yeah, it's one of those city things," she shrugged, "easier to get around than walking up stairs I guess, but...I get it. Probably kind of weird if it's your first time."
She waited for him to unlock the door before glancing inside. Huh, not bad. She had almost expected it to be a little more run-down, but the room was clean, presentable, and the beds were bigger than she had expected. "Hey, it's not bad," she offered, glancing around, before turning on the lights closer to the bed. It even had a little dining table. Not bad at all.
Emeline glanced up as he spoke. "Bathroom's probably shared," she shrugged, "might be down the hall or something?"
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