The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Pharoah Dynasty
An ancient sorceress is on a quest to bring her long-lost warrior-king to the modern era in a bid for global domination. Can the heroes of the modern world stop her before all is lost?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
Posted by Matt Morales on Nov 7, 2019 9:35:12 GMT -6
Adapted
#407184
Heterosexual
Sveta
173
26
Feb 13, 2020 21:10:32 GMT -6
Lix
Matt blinked. He'd never been sworn at or called 'mildly attractive' by a preteen before. She was obviously young, and clearly eccentric from the looks of her dress, but there was something strange about the way that her voice carried. He felt like he shouldn't even be looking at her, though - like he'd stumbled down some dangerous path on the internet that there was no returning from. So much for a slow day. Maybe it was a practical joke or a test from his parole officer? Just to make sure that he wasn't going to serve a very rambunctious minor.
Still stunned by the response, it took Matt a minute to properly formulate an answer. He didn't want to be staring at the little girl, but she was so out of the ordinary that he couldn't exactly help it.
"Look, kid, uh," he started, fumbling for words. He set down the glass he had been holding as he leaned his hands on the counter. Sometimes there were teens that came in with fake IDs who hoped that whoever was serving them would be stupid enough not to notice that they had the wrong nose or eye colour, but never someone who was so obviously a child. Did she just want food? Maybe that was it.
"Do you have parents or someone who I can call? Or... shouldn't you be in school?" Was there a school nearby? Maybe she was there on her lunch break and thought they had good burgers or something. She was soon to think otherwise. "I'm not sure this is your kind of scene, is all. I think there's a McDonalds a block down."
Posted by Matt Morales on Nov 7, 2019 8:59:24 GMT -6
Adapted
#407184
Heterosexual
Sveta
173
26
Feb 13, 2020 21:10:32 GMT -6
Lix
Matt walked them in the direction of his apartment, glad that they were able to walk a block to the left in order to avoid running back into where the police were gathering. From what he could see, an ambulance had arrived, and they were rolling both of them out, handcuffed to stretchers. He couldn't help but wince at the fact that the clerk was likely giving out his description to the police. Fleeing a crime scene wasn't exactly the best look for someone who had been on parole for a whole two weeks.
Still, he had Svetlana to distract him, and distract him she did. They had fallen into step together, walking toward his apartment above a dry cleaner's. She was next to him, close enough that he could link his arm with hers, but he knew that it maybe wasn't the place for that yet. Hell, it had been a year, and he hadn't even asked her if she was seeing anyone else.
"Wait, can you even... you know, do that? The alcohol, I mean... How did you even manage to get actual time for a DUI?"
Matt huffed under his breath as he shrugged and opened an unimposing gray door next to the entrance of the dry cleaner's for her to walk through. She was right, he had to be more careful, but it wasn't like he had a problem, did he...? He supposed he had a bit of a history of drinking a little bit more when things went wrong in his life (or when they went right), but who didn't? Besides, he hadn't had an actual drink in months. Months! Maybe he needed to pay a bit more attention to that, though.
"I mean, it's fine. That night was a... one-off. I was out with a few old buddies that I was deployed with, and I was the soberest. We all agreed that I should be the one to drive, which was a bad idea, I know. Anyway we got pulled over and the cop decided to make example of us," Matt recounted with a sigh, following Sveta up the stairs to his apartment. "The guys in the back were being dicks and the fact that I'm from Guatemala definitely didn't help."
Posted by Matt Morales on Nov 6, 2019 23:12:32 GMT -6
Adapted
#407184
Heterosexual
Sveta
173
26
Feb 13, 2020 21:10:32 GMT -6
Lix
There was nothing like trying to pick up the pieces of a life that didn't feel familiar anymore. Matt had been gone for almost a year, and in a rather compromising position, no less. He was just lucky that there were any pieces to pick up at all, really. He had been lucky to get his job back, and lucky that there will still people willing to give him the time of day.
He wasn't about to waste it.
Before his arrest, he'd had enough seniority at the bar to be able to turn down shifts and let the newer workers pick up the slack. Now, though, he knew that he had to prove that he was still willing to pull his weight and be a valuable member of the team. He was that, after all - he was someone willing to give his all.
Even if his all meant coming in for an afternoon shift on a Tuesday to stare at the wall. Tuesdays were historically slow, but this one seemed to be especially so. He had cleaned the stack of glasses next to him at least twice, but it was nice to have something to do with his hands, so he just kept at it. They were bound to be sparkling by the time he was finished with them.
Still, the shift didn't seem to want to go by any faster than it already was. Each second that ticked by seemed to last a lifetime, if that was at all possible. Matt wasn't sure he'd ever felt time move slower, which was somewhat of an accomplishment, given he'd only been out of prison for two weeks.
Finally, someone came in. It was a strange sight, though - out of the ordinary for both the time and the day. He checked his watch: 3 PM. "Are you sure you should be in here?" He wasn't one to turn down a customer, but this seemed off.
Posted by Matt Morales on Nov 6, 2019 22:44:08 GMT -6
Adapted
#407184
Heterosexual
Sveta
173
26
Feb 13, 2020 21:10:32 GMT -6
Lix
There was an act of understanding in the way that Matt built up his exit from his prison sentence. He had run over it again and again in his head with all that time he had alone to think, but nothing he could picture had him anywhere near where he was standing then. Sure, he had some idea that things wouldn't be all sunshine and rainbows when he got back out, but he never thought that Sveta would want anything to do with him once he got out. It only made sense that she would want to run since he'd ghosted her so unceremoniously.
Instead, though, she was appalled at the idea that she might be repulsed by him. Matt ran his hands through his hair, letting out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Sveta had been through a lot in his life, so Matt really should have realized that his record wouldn't bother her. Hell, he'd just watched her shoot a guy with his own gun in the middle of NYC. If anything, she probably had a far worse image than he did.
"You're right, I don't know what I was thinking," Matt admitted, his smirk turning into a semi-smile. She never failed to surprise him around every corner.
So there they were, having both just experienced a robbery a year after everything they'd been through together. It seemed like wherever the two of them were, trouble seemed to follow. Still, Matt had seen enough trouble to know how to deal with it as it arose. Trouble didn't scare him so much anymore. So long as no one caught him again, of course.
"I dunno if you want to get out of this cold, but I've got a bottle of scotch that I've been meaning to open back at my apartment. This seems as good a time as any, if you feel like drinking."
Had things gone down differently, Matt couldn’t help but dream about what his life might have looked like at this time. He and Sveta might’ve been able to make things work, and he might’ve found a better job with better pay and better hours. Now, he’d be lucky to keep anything he still had.
"And here I was thinking you'd done the smart thing and walked away."
"I wouldn’t have done that, Sveta," he said. He wanted to believe that he was a good guy deep down. Besides, he wouldn’t have let her go that quickly or easily. "You were... still on my mind, you know. Still are... I just... couldn’t drag you down with me.”
That was it, really. It had been embarrassing and difficult, and it was easier for Matt to go back to having no ties anywhere than to include people in the collateral while his life exploded. It was better for her if she didn’t have to experience that, in the end.
"I’m not going to blame you if you want to walk away now, though. I mean, I’m sure you don’t want to be caught with an ex-con,” Matt offered with a self-depreciating smirk. That night had already ruined his life for a year, so why shouldn’t it keep ruining it in the future?
Posted by Matt Morales on Nov 6, 2019 15:44:39 GMT -6
Adapted
#407184
Heterosexual
Sveta
173
26
Feb 13, 2020 21:10:32 GMT -6
Lix
Yeah, he had been in prison. It felt good to voice it aloud to someone who hadn’t been there with him, but he also braced himself for how she might now look at him differently than she had before. He was a different person now, in some ways. He would have this on his record for the rest of his life, and hell, he couldn’t even vote. It felt like he was walking in someone else’s shoes - someone who he no longer recognized.
She didn’t immediately run, though. Instead, Sveta grabbed his sleeve and pulled him out of the way of the sirens and cops pulling up to the scene. It was a good call.
"Ten months. There was a hearing that took a bit,” a bit of time he could have called her in, which he admitted with a wince, "and I got released two weeks ago.”
His eyes narrowed as she asked whether he’d broken out. "No, I got bail. I want to start my life again, not spend it on the run forever.... Although my parole officer is gonna have a fit after this fiasco. Who robs a bodega?"
Posted by Matt Morales on Nov 6, 2019 15:16:24 GMT -6
Adapted
#407184
Heterosexual
Sveta
173
26
Feb 13, 2020 21:10:32 GMT -6
Lix
What was he supposed to say in response to her? It’s not exactly like anyone had ever written a script for what to say to someone you had feelings for a year ago after getting out of prison. Matt was almost entirely at a loss.
"No, nothing like that, I...." Heavy sigh. Too long of a pause. Sveta deserved the respect of an explanation, in the very least - even if that made her run screaming.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose hard, trying to will himself into responding with the truth.
Fuck it.
"I... got arrested. DUI charge that could have been dropped if the cop hadn’t been an ass, and then a laundry list of things that went wrong so I’d have the maximum sentence for the charge.” Matt took a deep breath to centre himself after saying that. So far the only person he’d talked to had been his old boss, and he had already been aware of the situation when he was arrested. "I could’ve called you, or something, but I... I didn’t want you to feel like you had to stick around or something.”
One date in and he was facing a prison sentence. It wasn’t fair of him to stick that on her.
Posted by Matt Morales on Nov 6, 2019 14:45:11 GMT -6
Adapted
#407184
Heterosexual
Sveta
173
26
Feb 13, 2020 21:10:32 GMT -6
Lix
"I thought you left town."
Hanging his head just a little, Matt nodded. What else would she think? That he had just decided that after all that - after getting shot - that it wasn't worth it for him? Sure, he had a lot of baggage that made it hard for him to get close to anyone, but those few days with Sveta had stuck with him through everything else. They had stuck with him through the trial, and through his time, and even now.
As much as he didn't want to admit it, Sveta had burrowed her way into Matt's head and he couldn't quite kick her out.
"I-" he stopped. What could he say now that would account for the missing time? For the ways that he had screwed her over without a word? There had been time before his trial that he could have contacted her, but it had been an embarrassing time in his life. He had been pulled over for a stupid mistake and dragged through the mud based on the colour of his skin. How could he bring her into something like that?
He paused taking a step closer so he could see the outline of her face better in the dim light. He forgot how striking her features were. "I did leave town. Sort of. It...." It was a stupid mistake? It was a flaw in the system? It was based on a structure of racism and phobias built deep within the people he came into contact with? "It wasn't my choice, and it was fucked up of me not to tell you."
What else did he have to say? If she wanted to run now and never look back, he wouldn't blame her.
Everything was handled, which meant that Svetlana was going to head home. What else did Matt expect? She was a vigilante - it wasn't exactly like she could stick around after shooting someone in the leg and wait for the police to collect her. He didn't want her to stay, he told himself.
But as she walked away, he knew that that wasn't the case at all. Buried not-so-deeply in his subconscious was the hope that they would be forced to have some sort of conversation once everything had gone down. Maybe that was why he hadn't bolted when everyone else was distracted. Maybe that's why he stood watching her walk away, like a starstruck teen at a Lizzo concert. All the feelings for the last year, the feelings that he had thought wouldn't threaten to come back to haunt him, were bubbling back up.
He blinked and set down the jar of pickles on the nearest shelf to him and uttered a quick apology to the clerk who was left with the incapacitated robbers. Things would be fine, but he might have some explaining to do to his parole officer.
Matt pushed the back door open as he ran after her, feeling the November cold on his skin through the light jacket he'd thrown on hastily when it was meant to be a quick trip to the store. She was standing her, mask pushed up to her forehead as she processed what they'd just witnessed.
He stood there, in the alleyway, unsure of how to even begin to broach a conversation with her. What could he say to account for where he'd been? What could start a conversation between them now? He half contemplated turning back around and running out, but he knew he would regret that as much as he regretted not telling her where he'd gone initially.
He couldn't spend his whole life running.
"Sveta," he uttered daftly, watching the way that his breath was carried by condensation in front of his face. It was natural poetry, the way that it carried his breathless cadence into something tangible; visible to them both.
Posted by Matt Morales on Nov 6, 2019 7:06:36 GMT -6
Adapted
#407184
Heterosexual
Sveta
173
26
Feb 13, 2020 21:10:32 GMT -6
Lix
Nothing seemed to phase Svetlana, no matter how many things came her way. As soon as the first robber was distracted, she was pointing a gun at him, and then he was on the ground. Matt winced as the man grabbed at his wound, trying to stop the bleeding. Matt felt a little bad for him, but he didn't dare step in to offer help - anything that might make him look more connected to the crime was what he wanted to avoid.
He didn't know that he had it in him to be such a coward, but things had changed over the last year, and he'd seen sides of himself that he'd never expected. Who knew that he could turn into someone so jilted and cynical? A year ago he might have doubted it. Even with everything he'd been through before, there was still a hope that he felt at each new intersection of his life. Now? That was almost entirely replaced by this new bubbling fear deep within him that he couldn't help but loathe.
The fear kept him standing there while Sveta finished it, and that kept him standing and staring while she looked back around.
"Everyone alright? Could someone call the cops please?"
"Uh, yeah," he said blankly. The person who called the cops was never guilty, right? He took his phone out and dialled as he glanced back up, keeping his eyes focused on the scene but trying to avoid making any actual eye-contact. A responder picked up so he gave them the address and warned that they should bring an ambulance before hanging up.
Posted by Matt Morales on Nov 5, 2019 18:25:44 GMT -6
Adapted
#407184
Heterosexual
Sveta
173
26
Feb 13, 2020 21:10:32 GMT -6
Lix
Matt had almost completely forgotten how badass Sveta was. Before he knew it, the scene that Matt was looking at was completely under her control, despite the fact that he almost got himself shot (again). How stupid had he been to walk into the line of fire? What if she hadn’t been there to stop the guy?
Well, if she hadn’t been there, then he wouldn’t have made a scene.
Matt felt entirely dumbfounded, watching her take down two robbers with ease as he stood daftly, still holding the jar of pickles. His eyes were wide with confusion and fear - fear that he might get roped into this somehow; fear that he would now clearly have to face Svetlana.
The other robber was knocked off his game by what was going on, clearly, but he wasn’t ready to give up the fight just yet. Gun pointed at the cashier, he stared Sveta down, his eyes narrowing, “drop the gun or this guy gets an early retirement.”
Matt felt very useful. Oh so useful. Wasn’t it fantastic that he had combat training and a hardening year in prison so that he could stand and watch an armed robbery happen?
Posted by Matt Morales on Nov 5, 2019 13:33:34 GMT -6
Adapted
#407184
Heterosexual
Sveta
173
26
Feb 13, 2020 21:10:32 GMT -6
Lix
Skulking in the shadows apparently wasn’t Matt’s strongest suit. Before he knew it, his position was blown, and someone was trying to get his attention. He wondered for a second if he could just ignore them and try to wait the whole thing out, but he also knew that that wasn’t likely to work out for him. Things rarely tended to work out for him.
Still holding his jar of pickles, Matt walked slowly toward the voice, trying not to bother the people up front. What even was this? Were they looking for a hostage, or was there someone else in the store who wanted moral support through it all? Either way, there was a door at the back, and if he played his cards right, he might be able to make a break for it.
Checking over his shoulder as he did, Matt rounded the corner to greet whoever had just tried to get his attention. As he turned his head back, he was met with a sight that he never expected to see again.
Blinking, a jolt of electricity made its way through Matt’s form. He had to leave. He had to get out of there. Prison wasn’t so bad, was it?
After a second to process, Matt stepped backwards, breaking the incredibly awkward eye contact that he had just made with the woman he’d ghosted after he’d been arrested. What the actual fuck was she even doing there? In the bodega across the street from his new apartment while it was being robbed? What the fuck were the chances of that?
He walked briskly to the front of the store, still holding the pickles, as he tried his best to plot a course around the whole robbery thing that would still get him to the door. The guy had a gun, sure, but Matt had faced guns plenty of times. Vigilante ex-flings? Not so much.
Posted by Matt Morales on Nov 4, 2019 21:34:27 GMT -6
Adapted
#407184
Heterosexual
Sveta
173
26
Feb 13, 2020 21:10:32 GMT -6
Lix
Going to jail had NOT been anywhere in Matt’s plans. Keep trucking forward with his life? Definitely. Continue to date the girl he’d finally asked out? Sure. Prison? Absolutely not.
The knowledge that he could have been spared a year of his life had he been a white man driving that car was not at all lost on him. The DUI charge was exaggerated and exasperated by the fact that he had several unpaid parking tickets, and by the fact that implicit bias ran rampant in the US criminal justice system.
The year was over, though, and the charges had all come and gone, so there was no use standing and whining about the ways that they had ruined his life. All he had left to do was to focus on rebuilding his life now that he was back out. He was lucky enough to get his old job at the bar back, but it was hard to settle back into a routine. Plus, the apartment that he’d had to settle for to satisfy his parole officer wasn’t exactly the nicest, and his dog wasn’t the happiest in the space - especially after having been shuffled around by his sister and parents for the past year.
He stifled a yawn as he browsed pickle jars at the nearest bodega, trying to ignore the nagging negativity in the back of his head. He stood there for a minute before a sound at the front of the store pulled him away - a commotion of some sort. Definitely not something he wanted to get involved in.
The last possible thing he needed was to give his parole officer a reason to give him a violation, so Matt did the first thing he could think of: he shrunk back into the racks of chips and cans of soup and hoped that he wouldn’t be noticed.
Sorry, just a few more thoughts (I swear I'm not trying to dump so feel free to disregard??)
Maybe it's a good time to update some of the rules - I don't think any of MRO's members have been 13 or younger in YEARS, so it might be good to loosen up on some of the rules that make it a site suitable for a PG-13 audience? More leniency on more graphic subject material, swearing, etc.
As well, a it can be weird to have to email the mod account with an application, especially if people don't have a private email and are worried about doxxing themselves to people they don't know. I've never come across another site that does this, so it's very much out of standard practice for most rp sites, and confusing/unnerving for those who join. This can be done with PM or with a system where people post their apps on the site to be reviewed by the staff and are then sent PMs with things to update before they're accepted. It's less private than an email in one sense, but it's also a way to not have to give out your real name to people before you're ready.
Maybe look at other rp sites that are thriving and have the audience that you want MRO to have to see what they're doing to entice people. Sometimes when things have been going as long as MRO has it's easy to get caught up in a way of doing things that doesn't necessarily make sense for where a site is at anymore. Imo rules should get a good clean every year or so at least - does there still need to be a character post requirement? Does current time vs fluid time still make sense given the speed that people post at? It's okay to make changes if you think that will keep the atmosphere of MRO a good one!
