welcome to your new hell, Welcome to the Menagerie. Or as we like to call it, Dome Sweet Dome! We are an eight-year strong futuristic shapeshifter and sci-fi creature roleplay, dedicated to bringing you a world unlike any other; a world in which your character has become an experiment and must fight for survival in a domed city, cut off from the rest of the world. Choose to be any animal in your fight for survival in an artificial world built by the Keepers as they subject you to experiments beyond your control. Choose to wander the world inside the walls alone, as a Rogue, or find safety in numbers in one of the groups known as Rings. How will you survive?
60 - 65 ºF
blustery with scattered showers spotty sunshine
YEAR 2309
shift bans.
» Cougars (aka Puma, Mountain Lion, Panther)
» All Tiger Species
» All Lion Species
» All Wolf Species
» African Leopards
group bans.
none.
encouraged !
FEMALE CHARACTERS! create a RETRO or ANTHRO and get 250 CP + a free skill! read me for more info!
last updated: april 19th, 2016
Click on each Ring or Retro group image to view their ranks!
GROUP UPDATES
CARNARING
Jocelyn Edelwolfe is the new Alpha! Seija Mulviene is the new Beta, and Grey is the new Delta. Lead Hunter is now Boone Haywood, Head of Border Patrol is now Noelle Ndango!
FALLENRING
-
FULSIRING
Fulsi has a standing treaty with the Nakoma, granting limited access to their fresh water.
NAKOMA TRIBE
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ANALOYA PRIDE
a while back, the Analoya suffered a suspicious poisoning of their river, luckily with few casualties; the Bellator are suspected of having taken part in it, and there are whispers that Pride leader Wanderer is talking alliance with the Nilda for access to their clean water.
BELLATOR HERD
As new leader of the Bellator, Loril has instituted some rank changes. See this thread for more information!
LAWAII FLOCK
no updates!
NILDA PACK
no updates!
CARNARING QUICK STATS
ALPHA -- Jocelyn Edelwolfe, Clouded Leopard, played by IronChild
BETA -- Seija Mulviene, Spotted Hyena, played by Seija-chan
DELTA --Grey, Mackenzie Valley Wolf, played by Kriss
_______________________________________________
His amusement threw her off, and she almost looked behind her to make sure it was actually herself he was speaking to. When he drew closer extending his arm and producing her jacket, her suspicion went from the coffee not really being decaff, to the Chinese food having cat in it.
“Thanks,” she said monotone, and took the jacket from him. His next words were disconnected, so quiet she might not have caught them if he weren’t so near. They were more raw than his previous manner, but just that quickly he turned from her and hopped up onto the car with the carelessness of a boy in summer, and the invitation was something between a command, and a man trying to give a little girl candy.
She had not moved, and was completely incredulous to the completely different person than she had encountered yesterday, or even this morning. Maybe the aliens had sucked his brain out, she thought half joking, half serious. Akane thought of the Keepers as aliens, as it was her personal opinion that no living human could treat another with such ….
The thought was pushed away as her legs moved forward mechanically, and, jacket in hand, stepped upon he stool and leapt to the car floor next to Slansky. She set the jacket down, and her grey eyes narrowed. Fine. If Slansky was going to play games, she was more than ready for it.
“So, things are … interesting here,” she said, purposely being vague and allowing him to steer the conversation. After all, every molecule was vibrating that there was someone watching them, and that Slansky knew it too. The difference being, she didn’t care – but it seemed, he did.
Let the games begin, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and offered a sweet, genuine smile.
There was something wrong with her. His expression didn't change (it took an amazing amount of self-control to keep it the way it was) but his eyes flicked from her head to her feet, looking for some sign of... well, something being wrong. Did he even know her well enough to tell? Obviously. He had spotted a difference between her first breath and her next, since her unceremonious Japanese comment to her... whatever she was doing now.
By the time she sat next to him, Slansky was genuinely worried. Nothing looked wrong, but her monotone voice deeply unsettled him. He had scraped her out of the middle of nowhere, shortly after she had been dropped off into the Menagerie. And even then she had not been monotone. In fact, the closest he had seen her come to unemotional was when she had just been woken up, and that was just exhaustion taking its toll.
"Isn't it?" He sounded falsely chipper, not quick to drop his new resolution. He looked at her sidelong, his dark eyes showing a bit of bewilderment. He wasn't a good actor by any means, and he knew it. He swallowed, his throat feeling trying, and shrugged. "I... just wait for the food. I swear, you eat things here you would never think about eating... outside."
His patience was growing thin. It felt awkward, like wearing someone else's clothes. He tugged at the collar of his shirt. "Everyone is talking about you." This came out without him meaning for it to slip, and perhaps it was where the true problem lay.
Her sweet smile plastered in competition with the overly happy visage that stared her in the face. She almost didn’t hear what he said, food, she could almost feel him clamming up. Akane didn’t do awkward; it was hard to make her uncomfortable. Even now, as the man pulled at his shirt uneasily her feet pulled up, her arms resting on her knees, and her head relaxing against the frame. Her comfort in the moment was almost a mockery of his uneasiness, when suddenly he said something that triggered her interest.
“Oh really?” She bit her bottom lip, the corners of her mouth curling up as she finally gave him her old smile; he was still looking at her shoes. One foot lifted, pressing her toes to his arm and pushing a few times to get a rise out of him. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or are you going to flail with this stroppy façade for much longer?”
He didn’t look at her, and she chuckled and looked into the distance with a shake of her head. This would take some doing it seemed. She put her foot down and scooted closer to him until her hip almost touched his, with her hands braced on either side of her she leaned to the side shoving his shoulder lightly with hers as if they were old buddies.
“Come onnn,” she coaxed. “What is everyone saying about little ol’ me?”
It took him a while to recognize that she had a tactic, the little... the little... fox! Slansky slowly came to the realization that his behavior wasn't exactly subtle, and with each passing second of awkwardness (for him, not for her, considering she just made herself right at home) he felt his resolve weakening. For Christ's sake...
That one little comment had her little act breaking. Slansky looked at her a little resentfully, his smile thin and grudging. He had to give her props. He was ready to tell her even without her probing, but the fact she asked just made it easier after a second or two of thought. "A lot of them think you're just living with me for sex." He elaborated hurriedly, uncertain as to what her response to that would be. "I know you've stayed one night with me, but rumors start in Fallen just like anywhere else, if not worse. We don't have TV to keep us entertained."
The last part was delivered with a note of sarcasm. He shrugged his shoulders and turned to look at her fully, all to aware of the pressure of her hip against him. "Jacobi, my partner, decided to call me a cradle robber over it. How old are you, anyway?"
Now that he'd said it all, it almost seemed comical. But what he didn't say was how much of a weight it all held for him. He always prided himself on being as moralistic as life gave him the opportunity to be... he liked doing the right thing. And wouldn't the right thing have been to tell Akane to go live with one of the nice Fallen girls? Probably. But there was one thing that Slansky hated to admit.
When he finally looked at her, she sobered a bit – giving him her attention. It was something that she had seen many people forget in life. When someone was talking, or having a conversation … they would listen, but people had a way of listening without paying attention … a habit people had that had always bothered her.
At his words, she cracked another smile sighed as she looked again into the distance. People were so ridiculous. They couldn’t keep their minds on their own business even in this hell hole. It occurred to her suddenly, that it probably didn’t help that she went parading around the camp smelling thoroughly of Slan (especially after she’d slept with him) the last bit had her shaking her head with a spiteful grin.
“How scandalous,” she commented – her voice deepening a touch as she wiggled her eyebrows. He spoke of his partner, the cradle robber jab, and she rolled her eyes brushing right past the age question. “Evs, look – he’s just jealous that you have such a cute roommate!” Akane said, pulling a shoulder to her chin in pose and batting her eyelashes. “You and I know what’s going on, and that’s all that matters,” she laughed and stood up.
Without much thought she leaned over, draping her arms around his shoulders in a lazy non hug and rested her chin atop his head for a minute in thought. She chuckled to herself; the hell of people was that you couldn’t do anything to change what they thought.
“Besides,” she yawned as she stood upright and stretched. Her voice echoed in from the darkness of the box car, “What they don’t know you’re gay?” There was no inflection, no jab. She said it as plainly and factually as if she mentioned he turned into a horse. Well, that was a weirder concept to her still.
With the way the conversation was going, Slansky felt almost childish for being bothered by it. Wasn't this a lesson he was supposed to have learned during his adolescents? It doesn't matter what people think about you, and all that? Slansky cracked a smile. "That is definitely it. Actually, he always complains that his roommate has feet that smell... well, terrible. To put it politely. Jacobi used more colorful words."
He was rambling, but at least he was rambling with the right tone of voice and expression. No more of that chipper bullshit. Her half-hug was rewarded by Slansky reached up a hand and thoroughly disheveling her hair, his smile downright wicked. Besides... Feeling alright, even amused, he wasn't expecting her next comment.
"What, they don't know you're gay?"
Slansky's immediate thought was something along the lines of, wait... I didn't know I was gay. He was slack-jawed, and then he was incredulous. Sure, he had fooled around with guys, but nine times out of ten he ended up with a woman in his bed, when he had one in his bed... Slansky stood up abruptly to turn and face her, still wearing that incredulous expression. "I'm not gay! What makes you think I'm gay?" And then, with a cocked brow, he crossed his arms over his chest.
For a moment, he was taken aback by his own response. He didn't want to sound overly defensive, or like it was a bad thing, either. "I mean... I'm bi. I prefer girls? I don't have anything against gay people or... Christ, I think I'm making this worse."
Last Edit: Jun 2, 2013 4:50:00 GMT -5 by Slansky Kirov
Akane, in mid strip froze and blinked at his outburst. The corner of her mouth lifted and her brows quirked as if to say, ‘oh please.’ She rolled her eyes as she took of her jewelry piece by piece, placing it on the shelf. Her pants were on the floor as she hunted for the pair that she had worn the day before - her bikini underwear a banner to the carelessness of his presence.
“What?” She asked when she finally found them, shook them out once and stepped into them. “On our way here, you made a comment about not finding any decent looking men to keep you warm, and just now was worried about what your male partner thought about a female as a roommate." She wiggled into the jeans and zipped them up, giving him a quelling expression.
It seemed perfectly reasonable, and didn’t bother her in the least. She leaned down to the half broken mirror that rested on the wall from a few boxes and tousled her hair from the funny mess he had made it into a cute mess. Then, she hunted for her shirt, aware that his eyes were on her.
Grey eyes lifted to meet his as her arms crossed her to take off her shirt, and she could see he was dismayed, or embarrassed, or upset, or mad or she stopped and sighed with her whole body. Taking a few steps toward him, she put a hand to his chest.
“Look, you can be whatever you want. Bi, gay, straight - doesn’t matter. Same thing – we,” Akane gestured to herself and him with her other hand, “know what goes on, and the rest is no one else’s business.” She patted his shoulder and walked away. “Besides, if you’re not ready to make the step I am not about to try and push you into it.”
Finding her coral shirt she made a face, then discarded it again. The shirt she had on now wasn’t as dirty and was more comfy, and now that she had her own jeans on instead of those tiny things she was much happier.
Okay, so. The girl was changing in front of him. She either really didn't care that Slansky was a man, or she really though he was gay, an impression he didn't think he was helping with the way his dark eyes roamed her naked legs. Her jerked his eyes away and cleared his throat. "You are really sure about this gay thing." Slan's voice was remarkably dry. The image of her stepping into her jeans was still present, the way the slim muscles of her legs had moved and shit, he would be a liar to say that it hadn't bee sexy. I do need to get laid. This thought was brief, before he pushed it away, and then he ran a hand down his face.
By the time he looked back up she had her arms crossed, preparing to take her shirt off. He averted his eyes with a flick of his head, the gesture surprisingly horse-like for a man. Did he have to find himself a genuine Lolita, or what? Of all the girls he could have found... And what made it increasingly worse was the fact they were still talking about his sexuality. He shifted his weight and glanced up once she touched him, relieved to discover that she had not, in fact, removed her shirt.
She had literally rendered him speechless on more than one account. Slansky didn't know what he said to her, and he forced his gaze away as she went to retrieve her shirt, looking down at his boots. By the time he glanced up again, his brows were narrowed and his dark eyes were smoldering. "You know, I'm pretty sure I could prove to you I'm not gay. But you're right. It isn't anyone's business what goes on here but ours." The first part of his sentence? It sounded more like a threat. By the second part, his simmering tone had settled some, and he sounded indifferent/ Slansky shrugged and turned away, stepping down and out of the train-car. "Either way, it's about time to go get the evening rations. You can come if you want."
He looked away, eager to change the subject, because the last one had frankly embarrassed him. Slan's eyes settled on the setting sun in the distance, and even though he knew everything in the dome was fake, it did seem eerily beautiful, turning the desert to gold and silver.
Last Edit: Jun 2, 2013 12:41:02 GMT -5 by Slansky Kirov
His voice roughened in a way that made her look up suddenly and for a split second the mood changed as his dark eyes met her grey and the transference she had first felt when he found her flickered. It was gone as quickly as it had come, and he sounded almost tired as he agreed that she was right about their business being theirs. She was still frozen, but when he turned away she shook her head lightly and grabbed her necklace. The long silver chain and oval pendant was one of many she often wore, but this one was the only one she bothered to snag.
Hm. Food … this could be a good or bad idea for her stomach, but she had to admit she didn’t want to be alone. As he stepped out of the train car, she slipped her feet into her flats and grabbed her coat. Since he wasn’t watching her, rather his eyes were on the sunset she looked down at the five foot drop from the box car then eyed the stool. Each time she had gotten in and out, save her prior entrance she had simply shifted. However, she wanted to use to stool, and though she had not really said anything about it she figured if she used it he’d know how much she appreciated the thought. Maybe. If she could figure out how the hell to get down onto a STOOL.
Grey eyes flashed up again, he was still standing there waiting for her. Despite the half-hearted invitation, he expected her to go. Her brow furrowed, and she reached back to tie her hair into a knot at the back of her head before setting the jacket down and sitting beside it. She grabbed the car-side bar and swung herself to hang, her foot felt for the top of the stool …but she couldn’t find it. Akane allowed her grip to loosen, and with a calculated effort let the controlled slid lower her enough to find the surface. As soon as her toes touched the top, she dropped low to the stool and stepped down gracefully.
Her movements were strange, a combination of comical anticipation and skilled execution and when her feet hit the ground she smiled, tucked a wave of escaped hair behind an ear and looked up. His eyes were on her and she sobered with a little clear of her throat and grabbed her coat before smiling again with a shaky laugh. Despite herself, she hoped he had not seen that …
”So, food! Sounds eatable, lead the way!” A little shaky on the dismount Sparker, her father would have said and the echo of his voice in her head resonated to her chest, and she felt the dark pressure move in again. Pure practice is what kept her face and stride unchanged as she followed Slansky a step behind. It was without her notice that she had unconsciously drawn closer to Slansky and remained close as they walked toward camp.
He could check coordination off of her list of talents. Slansky hadn't doubted she would follow... but he had certainly overestimated her ability to get out of a train-car. Seconds ticked by, and the sunset only managed to captivate him for a few seconds, before he was turning to glance over his shoulder. He cocked a brow at her when she finally looked up, her feet firmly planted on the ground.
Slan didn't say anything. His look had to have been enough for her to understand his incredulity. "Da," he commented, before breaking in the direction of the Fallen camp. He was quiet for the most part, not bothering with chitchat. His mind was still on their earlier conversation.
She thought he was gay. He didn't know whether he should laugh over it or not. He found himself wondering why it mattered that she thought that's what he was, because really, it shouldn't have. He couldn't remember the last time he had been flustered by something so trivial...
The Hunter crested an embankment and idly moved towards the line for nightly rations. His eyes took in the various Fallen, and he felt a bit of bitter resentment for his comrades. It was obvious he and Akane were the topic of conversation from the way they snuck glances, and a few of them approached the two with either polite or sarcastic comments, depending.
By the time it was their turn, Slansky was brooding quietly. He took his food and strayed away from the fires, waiting for Akane. He observed her quietly, expecting it to be a disaster. He was waiting for her to do something strange, or awkward, but she didn't. She was perfectly polite around the other Fallen, taking her food fairly graciously and without unceremoniously dropping something. Thank Christ.
He was cracking a smile at his internal thoughts, not as bothered by the looks they were receiving. "I'm going back to the car, come if you want." He spoke with lightness, because hell, it really didn't matter what the others were thinking.
It had been a long couple of days though, and Slan was ready to eat and go to bed.
Last Edit: Jun 2, 2013 22:36:10 GMT -5 by Slansky Kirov