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      Halfway in the city section, is a full page, full color ad. Topped with large, bold print is the word 'MISSING!'. Beneath it are two pictures; one of a bright, smiling college-aged blonde girl in a soft pink sweater and a pink bow in her hair. Next to it is a picture of a dour-faced, sulking blonde girl (the same one, or her evil twin) in entirely too much dark makeup and a skimpy black top, flanked by cheery, smiling blond middle-aged people. Below, in the bottom third of the page, is the following:
      Elisabeth "Betty" Van DerWycke, age 23
      5'4", 115 lbs, blonde hair, green eyes
      Betty is a student at Metropolis University, though she hails from Fawcett City. We haven't heard from our daughter in over a week, and the Metropolis Police have few leads. We are offering a substantial monetary reward to ANYONE who can provide information that leads to her whereabouts. Please, contact the Metropolis Police if you have any information at all. Her family misses her.
      (OOC: Questions to Cerulean)
      
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      This is one of Metro's IC media boards...this is where "newspaper articles" get printed. The Daily Planet is the "respectable" paper; it's like the Chicago Tribune or the New York Times...respect ed, well-known. They don't print rumor, they print fact, and they don't go in for sensationalism. Please post anything that you did that was newsworthy, but keep it in the style of a professional paper.
      
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      This is one of Metro's IC media boards...this is where "tabloid" articles get printed. The Whisper is the Weekly World News of Metropolis...th e weirder and more outrageous, the bigger they'll print it on the headlines. Two-headed Mutant Cop Slain in Sewer Explosion. Crap like that. :) Feel free to post your exploits in "tabloid" form here. "An Alien Had My Baby!!!" and so on. In fact, feel free to make stuff up. These papers sure do. :)
      
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      Bizarro is now open for applications.
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      This is just a place for quick blurbs on Metropolis' Mini-Cities, for quick reference for casual observers/peopl e who wonder.
      Smallville, Kansas: Home of the Kents, this rural city is -NOT- the Suburb that the TV show of the same name makes it out to be. Simple place, simple people, small-town life.
      San Francisco, CA: Metropolis' 'Mystic' city, this is the place where Zatanna makes her home. Stories of a distinctly mythical/mystic al bent, and of those elements butting up against normal humanity, are more likely to come from here.
      Washington, D.C.: The home of the President, DC is the place for political intrigue, Secret/CIA Agents, MiB-types, and Military-relate d characters and stories.
      Atlantis: Aquaman and his 'Family's home, all the underwater stuff goes on here. Naturally. Also includes the Island of Cerdia - where genetic experiments have inflicted those living there with sometimes grotesque animalistic mutations. NOTE: There's a broad range of animal-human hybrids, but -NO CAT-PEOPLE-. Not a one. Concepts coming from Cerdia are likely to be given a bit more of an eyeing, but there won't be a single Cat Person approved.
      Pokolistan: Home of General Zod and home-base of the Legion of Doom.
      Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia has it's own huge section of newsfiles, under 'News Setting Philly'. Home of the Scions and Young Injustice, plagued by gang warfare.
      Ivy Town, Connecticut: Lush college town, home of both Ivy University, the Atom, and Firestorm! Preppy college types who disdain the Metropolis 'Party Schools' go here, and the people are scary smart.
      The Moon: This is only confusing because it's too much of a pain to remove the 'MOO' passport from the list. The JLA no longer lives on the Moon: The Legion of Doom made their public debut by completely razing the nation of Superia, mangling the Ultramarines and destroying the city surrounding their base. The JLA's Watchtower was also destroyed - they made their new home on the floating island of Superia; the entire island is taken up by their enormous, completely state-of-the-ar t new Headquarters: The Aegis. As before, you have to be on the JLA or closely related to one of the characters on it to get anywhere near it in most cases.
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      So, I hope this has explained things - has resolved any lingering doubts or questions you may have had about how things go in Metropolis. I'm almost always happy to lend a hand and answer any questions I can, so if you have any burning questions, PLEASE don't hesitate to bring them to me.
      It's my hope that these posts have lifted any fog there's been, that it now is no longer 'My' Metropolis, but OUR Metropolis.
      Thanks, and Happy Playing!
      Cerulean
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      Character concepts in Metropolis and it's mini-cities (including Chicago, San Francisco, Smallville, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia) tend to be, I'll admit it, on the more surrealist side. 1940's-style aviator heroes run side-by-side with anime-style robot heroes from hundreds of years in the future. Hawaiian Volcano Gods in Hawaiian Shirts have been known to show up to cause trouble. New Gods, Air Pirates, Robot Ninja, Intergang... More than anything, Metropolis is a place of -possibility-.
      Almost anything can find a home here, provided it's got the right kind of tone. Anyone looking for a new life, or finding a new life suddenly thrust upon them, or even people from outlandish places who can do amazing things who just want a place to settle down will be right at home in the Big Apricot. Metropolis is a place where the experimentation in storytelling the likes of which was seen in the 1960's can be told. Which isn't to say that more serious and modern things don't or can't happen here - they do, all the time. But these are the kinds of things that you're most likely to find on a day-to-day basis asking around on the channel, and are easiest to jump into.
      Plot structure here is remarkably open - if you want to tell a story, just run it by us quickly so we don't go 'Uhm, WTF?'. More often than not, if it doesn't change anyone drastically or affect the way things work in the city, we're going to let you just go for it. The Villains in the city also run their own plots - keep your eyes open for news posts and look for the hooks. There are -always- hooks, the onus is on you to find them.
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      Most famously, Metropolis is home to Superman and his family. The billboards even say 'Metropolis: Home of Superman' on them. With this example to live by, the other heroes are, for the most part, also larger than life in some ways. Robots from the future (or anywhere else, really), men in Jet-Packs and on Rocket Skates.
      Even the villains, while no less dangerous or opportunistic, are bigger than life. Metropolis is where Intergang has its strongest hold. It's also home to Air Pirates and Robot Ninja. Metropolis has perhaps the highest rate of Alien tourists, heroes, and villains on the planet - Alien Dignitaries can be seen in the more upscale places in town on stopovers, and more than once attacking Alien Armadas have been turned back by efforts spearheaded by Superman, the most famous alien of all.
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      People in Metropolis are like people anywhere else - but there's no denying that the surroundings have a profound effect on the mindset of the general population. Living in the City of Tomorrow tends to give people, if not a -brighter- outlook, the hope that things can -be- better tomorrow. Not only are the heroes in Metropolis characteristica lly reliable, the City itself seems to have the residents' best interests at heart. While most people were initially wary of the Tech, it's constant presence over the last few years without giving birth to directly related villains or problems has done much to assuage initial 1984-style fears.
      Think of Metropolis as a gateway to tomorrow - like in the 1960's, when the space program was just getting started and Americans weren't afraid to dream big about their own futures because it was just... right there. In Metropolis, the Promises of Tomorrow can practically be tasted, making it seem as though the future is Yours for the molding. For most, the sight of Metropolis is an inspiration and an aspiration... much like the heroes that make it their home.
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      The Big Apricot - Years ago now, Metropolis was infected by the Brainiac 13 Virus. Metropolis became, -literally-, the City of Tomorrow. We have the tallest skyscrapers in the world - mainly because we have the only ones that float. We have flying cars, automatic defense mechanisms... the City physically protects itself and it's residents, by redirecting traffic around metahuman battles, rebuilding itself when damaged, even dispatching Fire and Police officers to scenes of crimes.
      The deal with the Tech, however, is that it's not flawless - though Metropolis' darkest place, Suicide Slum near Hob's Bay, was updated with the rest of the City... it's also markedly less clean and functional than other places. The Tech also is, for some reason, completely missing from 'Old City', the only section of Metropolis the Tech didn't and continues not touch. The City's true nature is still undiscovered - is it truly the work of solely the B13 Virus, or is there something else at hand?
      While home to some of the worlds most brilliant technicians, engineers, and mechanics, the tech is still a huge mystery to the academic community. Experiments conducted on the tech are inconclusive, and things created -with- the tech cease to function at all outside of Metropolis. Even so, advancements by scientists in a variety of fields from genetics to robotics are made every day by people at STAR Labs, GoTronics, Kord Industries, Tyler Chemicals, Dayton Industries, and both WayneTech and LexCorp. Advancements made possible by things learned from the Tech rather than exploiting it that help shed light on how to make things better, which takes me to the next post...
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      by Cerulean, Metropolis Artist
      It's come to my attention that Metropolis as a City is hard to figure out - in both realms of the City itself, and what sort of things can be expected to happen there. For a long time, I haven't really had an answer to either of these questions, because I honestly haven't dedicated a lot of -conscious- thought to the subject. But having been in the 'Artist' position for almost two years now, I've realized that I -have- put my own spin on the City since I took over from Cobalt. So what the following posts are for is to sort of explain what I've realized about 'My' Metropolis. How it differs from the comics, what sort of things can be expected to go on there, and what seems to be a recurring theme with the kinds of characters that have made our fair city their home.
      So, sit back, relax. Get a cool drink, and hopefully these next couple of posts will clear things up. If they don't, -please- don't hesitate to @mail me with any questions you have.
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      This board is where you should announce "the word on the street." Things that characters with a decent Streetwise ought to know. There's some overlap here with the other boards certainly...a mob war would be both here and on the Crime board, but this one is specifically what the normal street people would know, whereas the Crime board is something that the criminals themselves ought to know. :)
      
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      There's approximately a metric buttload of the flying cannon fodder from Apokalips zooming around the world right now, wreaking havoc.
      What does this mean to you?
      Flying weird-looking alien guys with big guns and Kirby dots are IN UR CITY, BREAKIN' UR STUFF. Take 'em down! Have at!
      
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      He's been in a coma on-game for years now. I have... an Idea. But it requires someone who wants to play him regularly, and that that someone be okay with Natasha remaining Steel.
      If you're that person, get in contact with me. We'll discuss.
      Ceru
      
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      This board is another one for Metro players to keep on top of; this is where we announce Metro plots, and the -effects- of those plots. Hence, if you're not reading, you might end up looking silly, trying to start a happy day in the park if we're doing Mxy causing havoc in the city. :) Feel free to post here on your own, if you do something everyone should know about, but please, keep it common sense, and remember, this is more for announcements than discussions.
      
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