low fidelity
𝗆𝗈𝗏𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘴
> START HEARTLESS.EXE
- define heart·less;
/ˈhärtləs/
displaying a complete lack of feeling.
or
a futuristic cyberpunk roleplay focused on superpowered heroes, vigilantes, and villains. - THE PREMISE.
The year is 2092
In the bright, bustling metropolis of Heartbeat City, some stability has been achieved after an event that shocked the world to its core — people started developing powers.
The exact date of this occurrence isn’t precisely known, but roughly twenty years have passed since this development commonly known as the Change. Some of the affected people were born with their abilities, while others developed them later on in life. But the chaos that ensued from that point forward left the Heartbeat City in shambles, the scars of which can be seen to this day. The dead are mourned and memorials grace the quieter parts, but the city has been rebuilt and is now more prosperous than ever. Skyscrapers gleam in the daylight, but the nighttime landscape is illuminated in neon, shining just as bright.
Despite the Change being such a prominent event in recent history, people with powers still seem to be a minority, making up around 5% of the global population. Many of them continue to live in hiding due to the social stigma born out of the hate people harbor after witnessing the fallout. The bright lights and shiny new neighborhoods act as a facade, a distraction; they don’t do much to obscure the blatant discrimination against powered people, the rampant crime in the midnight streets, and overbearing police presence seemingly everywhere you look. If you know where to go, late in the night, you can find underground fight clubs, speakeasies, and safe havens for the career criminals of the streets. The biggest gang orchestrating this crime network are the Hell Hounds, who have gained a great deal of control and notoriety since the Change.
But Heartbeat City prides itself on the fact that many of the world's most popular superheroes have emerged from its ruins, providing a smiling face and a reassurance that no, not all powered are ne'er-do-wells.
Society currently hangs in a precarious balance, uncertain of what lies ahead for the future of powered people. These superheroes assure the public that everything will eventually be alright, but violence and crime runs deep in the roots of the city, and the police's control continues its stranglehold on the powered populace. And what no media outlet seems to be covering is the fact that people have started to disappear. - CURRENTLY...
idk why this little dude is here but stop it
If there's one thing Heartbeat City and it's populace is familiar with, it's change. And once again, the city is slowly but gradually evolving, venturing into parts unknown.
Politicians wear wide smiles and clean suits, but dirty their hands with each new, awful deed. The government's distaste for heroes was never blatantly obvious, but only for the sake of appeasing their constituency; the job of a superhero brings forth controversy and debate with every passing day. What are they really doing to help? Is the massive collateral damage—hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of repairs and overtime to stop a bank heist or a drug deal—really worth it? What happens when these heroes, each individually stronger than a whole police squadron, team up against the government?
Sure, they're beloved in the public eye, but behind the scenes is a different matter altogether. Some politicians appreciate their help, but others wish they would just disappear.
Likewise, in such a vastly technological age, the average citizen wouldn't notice a new traffic camera on every corner, or personalized ads on their social media. After all, many are familiar with the concept of their data being collected by corporations and digested by algorithms intent on selling them the perfect product. When that type of technology is turned against the population, however, how would anybody take notice?
Slowly but surely, the facial recognition used to unlock your smartphone could place you at the scene of a bank robbery gone wrong. An individual's search history could flag them if what they want to know seems suspicious. Even your personalized beauty advertisements turn into personalized news articles, turning the daily media you consume into censored, perfectly sanitized material that does not make you look past the status quo.
These little changes have gradually made the public more and more blind to the root of problems in Heartbeat City. New types of articles about formerly beloved heroes and their questionable actions arise, and once a name is slandered, the hero is never to be heard from again. Of course, it's easy to think 'Oh well, they were cancelled, of course they're gonna wanna lay low!' For the city's heroes though, just one incident could be the beginning of a domino effect. It's every man for himself.
- RULES & MORE.
Hello and welcome to our interest check. This roleplay, as you can probably already tell, has a variety of influences! Neon noir has been a huge influence for this, as well as Cyberpunk 2077, Bladerunner, and some metahuman movies and comics, such as Marvel, DC, and even My Hero Academia. If you've seen this before, don't fret! This roleplay idea was something I did a while back, but the group kind of dwindled, and I really wanted to start up this idea from new. So here we are. This roleplay will be ran by
timshel
and I! Please feel free to ask either of us any questions, and let us know if you're interested after reading our rules below.
01. Follow all RPN rules, of course. Be aware that this roleplay will include themes of: violence, murder, classism, dystopia. You must be 16+ to join.
02. Literacy is a must. No one-liner replies will be allowed. We're expecting to see 400+ word replies on average, with good quality! We're not super strict on this rule, but please be aware we'd like to see multi-paragraph replies.
03. With that in mind, please be able to post at least once a week. I understand life can be crazy, but try and be active, and have fun!
04. This roleplay will be application based! This is not first come first served, which means we will be reading each character sheet and considering which characters will fit best in the rp. We're looking for around 4-6 people to join.
05. Please be aware there will be a Discord server for this rp for easy OOC chatting and plotting! We both love being able to discuss character relationships and plot arcs with others, and having a server is the easiest way for us.
coded by weldherwings.
