Welcome to The Duality of Man, an original animanga role-play that features numerous supernatural creatures. Unfortunately, these various species have distanced themselves because of the war that occurred thousands of years ago, plaguing some with eyes that only see their dualism. While others meddle themself with their differences, two groups fight, each attempting to eliminate the other in for their definition of worldly peace. These two groups of the Terror Response Syndicate (TRS) and the Assembly of Phantoms (AP). With individuals fighting merely over their differences, it brings uncertainty to the outcome of this war.
We happily accept all role-players as long as they obey the rules and are capable of meeting our word count of 50. This does include those who are unfamiliar with this style of role-playing. The staff of The Duality of Man are willing to happily help those who are new to the role-playing world so they feel comfortable on site. Feel free to message the staff if you need help, they can be found here or in the site Discord and will gladly answer questions alongside calm concerns. If you have any suggestions we would love to hear them; guests may use the support board as a suggestion area as well. Should you decide to join, may I say welcome to the site and we all hope you enjoy your time here.
Yours Truely,
The Staff
season
Summer 2024
Heat has broken through into a glorious summer. The snow has entirely dried through the spring, leaving to the brilliance of the warmer months. Terror activity has risen as people are brought out of their homes, leaving the TRS in a position of consistent work. Each are attempting to maintain victory in the endless struggle for power.
Since the wonderful members of TDOM enjoy the site enough to play around on it, this thread is to assist with the site's tidying! Functionality is important and we want to make the site functional even if its activity will be minimal at best!
sheltered and naive. sometimes living with such a big family is hard.
[attr="class","les"]
“
I’ve never met a fourteen year old who acts as weak and as childish as you,” the raven-haired boy taunted, dark eyes narrow, with his lips drawn in thin line. It was Sunday morning, after mass, and the two of them had gotten into yet another disagreement. Damarian Matthews had decided to speak his mind as soon as he, Brendon, and Skyler had been left to their own devices at the playground. “If you’re even capable of receiving a familiar, I’ll sure feel sorry for them. But then again, I won’t even have to, because they’ll already be feeling sorry enough for themselves.”
Face red with anger, Brendon silently seethed over Damarian's words, his hands balled into two tight fists at his sides. Long ago, when they had been much smaller, he had once considered the boy to be his friend. But over the last few years it had become increasingly more apparent that they weren’t and may have never been.
Overhead the overcast skies rumbled briefly before a bolt of lightning cracked in a downward arch and instantly struck Damarian where he stood. The simultaneous crash of thunder and startled yell from his cousin caused Brendon to physically jerk, his amber gaze widening, as he realized what he had unconsciously done.
“You little sh**!” The boy seethed, storming forward, as he flung both hands out to summon his own power of weather manipulation in one, and heal himself in the other.
Brendon turned and ran; bolted from the playground, jumping out of the way of a lightning strike Damarian summoned down, and dashed straight into the thick coverage of the Calico forest. With his heart pounding in his chest, he darted passed trees, bushes, and high overgrowths. Every time he looked back, Damarian’s form grew more distant until eventually he couldn’t see him at all.
Brendon all but collapsed against a nearby tree as he sucked in one harsh breath after another. He hadn’t meant to strike him with lightning — he had no control over his weather powers! But, either way, he was certainly glad it had happened. Damarian could really piss him off sometimes, always acting as though he were so much better than him. So much stronger, and more mature, and worthy within the Matthews family household. He didn’t care that Damarian was the 2nd family and he was the 3rd. He didn’t care that he had two Nephilim parents who were more closely related to their great grandfather Fergus, or that they lived in a larger and more wealthier portion of the manor.
“Maybe you’ll leave when you get your familiar,” He huffed out hoarsely, his breathing still harsh as he pushed from the tree and began to make his way deeper into the forest. “Then I won’t have to see your really ugly face anymore,” He snickered and picked up a nearby fallen branch, swinging it at the bushes and the trunks of trees as he ventured.
Eventually he came to his destination; a tiny and abandoned shack, with sections of its exterior destroyed and left open to the elements. Brendon stepped in through a large gap in one of the walls, forgetting about the pinecones he had hung from the ceiling, suspended by strings. Knocking into a few caused them to plummet to the splintered floorboards and vegetation overgrowth that was the floor.
“Oops,” He muttered and bent to pick them up, then ventured over to a table that harbored a dozen or so he hadn’t yet hung. He placed them down beside them and a gas lantern he generally used to light the interior. But, this morning the sun shone perfectly through all of the cracks and crevices, leaving it well lit on its own.
Jaclyn found herself wandering all over the place, this estate wasn't exempt. You never knew where AP might be lurking so it would be best to observe and report back, or in her case, observe and get around to reporting back sooner or later. She had found herself in the forest, though within minutes she had caught the scent of somebody else approaching so she had climbed a tree to stay out of view of him. Brendon had run passed and she couldn't help but watch him, surprised and amused that he had failed to notice her as he kept on running. Seeing as he was only a child, she found herself slowly climbing down from the tree, jumping to the ground before running after him. She followed his trail as he ran farther into the forest. She slowed her pace when she had noticed him in view, following after him, preparing to hide if he happened to take notice of her following him, though he seemed to busy with his branch to realize he wasn't alone.
I can't help but feel amused at how many people I can trick, allowing them to believe I'm only a simple cat. She thought to herself as she continued keeping pace behind him. As soon as the shack came into view, she moved to hide, observing him as he went inside. Ohhhhhhhh, i know how to get his attention. She thought to herself, slowly she came out of hiding, heading towards a tree to climb it. She then proceeded to pose herself as if she were stuck in the tree before starting to meow. Now, lets see what he'll do. She thought to herself, thinking it would be easier than sneaking into his shack to watch him closer. Once he returns home, I can continue on with my daily business. She thought to herself, continuing her meowing, determined to get his attention one way or another.
sheltered and naive. sometimes living with such a big family is hard.
[attr="class","les"]
B
rendon took up a pair of binoculars and brought them to the lone window that framed the western wall of the failing structure. A smirk pressed into his features, a light scoff escaping him, as he peered out the mildew covered glass, feeling confident in his escape techniques. Damarian couldn’t have possibly followed him this far out into the forest, and unlike Skylar, the raven-haired male had never been told of their secret hideout’s location.
“Meow,” the loud wail of a cat quickly caught the brunette’s attention, and the swift upward movement of the binoculars swept across a large, blurry and black blob. It wasn’t until he drew away from the lens, amber eyes squinting through the filth of the window, that he realized what he had seen must have been a cat. Placing the binoculars down, Brendon stepped out and rounded the corner, stopping just before the base of an oak tree.
“Shh,” He immediately chastised, although a large grin had spread across his features. “You’re going to give me away. I’ll save you, don’t worry.”
A minute later he returned with a chair and propped it against the tree. Stepping up onto it provided him the leverage he needed to grab a thick branch and hoist himself up. Cats weren’t uncommon on the premises, often wandering the kitchen and stables, and were mostly used for pest control. But, this was definitely the first time he had come across one that had ventured all the way out here, and only to get stuck in a tree!
“How did you know about my secret base?” He interrogated jokingly once he had situated himself, and then tentatively reached out to let the black cat sniff his hand before he moved to pet it on its head and back.
Jaclyn continued meowing, refusing to give it up. Of course when she had seen him come out of the shack and to the base of the tree, she couldn't help but feel slightly amused when he told her to shhhh. Come now boy.... the only ones out here are us, no need to worry. She thought to herself, meowing anyway, despite him telling her not to, besides if she had stopped it would run the risk of him figuring out she wasn't just a simple cat. She watched him go back in the shack before coming back out with a chair in his hands, he then propped it against the tree. She stopped meowing as she watched him climb the tree. So innocent.... he reminds me of somebody. Oh yes.... Malakai. She thought to herself, clearly amused as she remain seated on the branch. She was amused when he had asked her his question.
Lets just say, when you find out I can shift into a human, it will become much more clear in the near future. I had followed you of course. She though to herself, amused that she had tricked him into believing she was a simple cat. All was going according to plan. Brendon had reached out his hand, she sniffed it, mostly for the sake of keeping up her act of being a simple cat. When he reached out to pet her, she allowed it, not minding it one bit. She purred as he started petting her head and back. As she enjoyed her petting, she continued being observant of the area, making sure to remain cautions in case they had an expected guest.
sheltered and naive. sometimes living with such a big family is hard.
[attr="class","les"]
A
smile softened Brendon’s features while he pet the black cat and enjoyed the quiet of the forest. Most of the manor cats had more wild tendencies and so it had been a long time since he’d last pet one. On the tree adjacent to their own a bundle of melting snow lost its grip, plunging through the tangled branches to fall to the ground below. It caught Brendon’s attention briefly, but then he spotted a familiar figure in the distance. The leftover patches of snow, which lined the forest floor, crunched beneath Skyler’s booted feet as he approached.
Brendon immediately scowled. “How did you find me!” He exclaimed, clearly annoyed, but in a pouting sort of way. Skyler, a red-head, who normally stood at least a foot taller than him, and held a much broader form, smirked as he stopped just underneath the tree he and the cat were perched within. “When do you ever run anywhere else?” he clearly joked.
“I run to plenty of places,” Brendon declared heatedly, but a smile broke passed his annoyance; at least for a second, until Skyler snickered and grabbed tight onto one of his sneakers.
“For as much as he deserves it, you can’t keep provoking Damarian like that, Brendon.” He said as he studied him with mild concern. “You’re the runt of the pack, even if you don’t want to be. You’re going to make yourself a target if you keep going on the way you do.”
Jaclyn continued to purr as his hand pet her. She had heard a noise and glanced in the direction of Skyler headed in their direction. She had seen him before and hadn't deemed him a threat so far. She listened as Brendon and Skyler exchanged words with one another. It was amusing to hear these two and it seemed since somebody else had Brendon's attention, her job of watching over him was done. Surely he'd remain safe with Skyler around. She thought to herself, preparing to move to jump until Skyler had grabbed tightly onto Brendon's sneakers. Oh myyyyyyyyyy this will be so much fun. She thought to herself, carefully she moved to the edge of the branch until she had become within reach of his leg. Without using her claws, she rushed down his leg, swatting at Skyler's hand, hoping for him to release the shoe as well as counting on him to catch her, seeing as she had taken a dangerous route on her way down.
"Meowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww." She was amused, finding herself rather funny. Though she'd have to be careful to avoid getting too much attention on herself. What to do....... What to do. She thought to herself, honestly debating on staying or leaving at this point. Ohhhhhh how I love having attention and well, teasing others. She thought to herself, debating on her options here.
sheltered and naive. sometimes living with such a big family is hard.
[attr="class","les"]
B
rendon could understand that Skyler meant well, and that his words were born from concern. But, still, hearing the older boy refer to him as the runt of their group was annoying. He didn’t really consider himself to be apart of a group, anyway. And, on top of that, it wasn’t like he went out of his way to provoke Damarian. In fact, it was the complete opposite! He wasn’t sure why Damarian had turned on him within the last few years, but now he had become little more than a thorn in his side.
Without warning, the black cat surprised both of them; leaping to his pant leg it swatted, in what seemed to be a playful manner, at Skyler’s hand. The sound that escaped its mouth caused Brendon to wonder if he had actually been wrong about it being apart of the kitchen staff’s cat hunters. The mannerisms of the feline, the way it meowed, and played with them, was much more reminiscent of a house cat.
“What a pretty girl we have here,” Skyler joked through a laugh as he picked the feline up into his arms, handling it a lot more… er, unapprehensively than Brendon had. The sight was actually kind of surprising. He hadn’t known that Skyler had liked cats so much, but he could clearly see that now. The red-head had begun to cradle the cat in his arms, her belly exposed, as he roughly started to pet her head, and ears, and front of her face, occasionally alternating down to her belly. “Aren’t ya? Aren’t yah?” He grinned, and Brendon felt an apprehensive nervousness beginning to swell within his stomach.
“D-Do you… uhm, know who she belongs to?” He asked, thinking he must have f-for how friendly he was being with her.
Jaclyn felt Skyler pick her up, surprised slightly when he had cradled her, leaving her stomach exposed. He then proceeded to roughly petting her head, ears, her face, as well as her stomach. Now, though it was harmless that he wanted to pet her, she liked having control on where one were to touch her. Despite being held by Skyler, she adjusted herself so that she could squirm away from his grip, hoping the action would catch him by surprise that he'd end up dropping her. It was a risky move, attempting to free yourself without attacking but she wasn't about to use defense on Brendon and Skyler, let alone ones that needed to learn how to properly hold onto a cat.
Despite the question being asked on where she belongs, she couldn't help but find herself amused once more. She moved to sit on the ground, before proceeding to meow to tempt one of them to try and grab her again, though this time, if they advanced towards her, she'd move out of the way, making it impossible to catch her, using her meowing plea as a taunt, before running into the shack that Brendon has so kindly left home before finding a place to hide. Now.... I declare myself the winner and once they get tired and head home, I can head home too. She thought to herself, still full of energy.
sheltered and naive. sometimes living with such a big family is hard.
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T
he black feline had likely had enough. Brendon watched as the cat began to desperately try and escape Skyler and thankfully the redhead allowed her to gracefully jump down to the ground. “Nope, can’t say I do.” Skyler looked to him and motioned with a wave of his arm for Brendon to start getting down from the tree. “Though, I’d love to have one, but y’know the rules.” He gave a shrug of his shoulder, disappointed but accepting of the law. Brendon let out a sigh, and gave a grumpy face, as he began to descend down from the tree, stepping onto the chair he had used.
“I’d want a wolf,” He decided, procrastinating from the actual descent as he began to swing from the branch like a monkey, a grin spreading across his face. “Or a pet deer.” He added thoughtfully, but bit his bottom lip in uncertainty.
The black cat had stuck with them, like their little buddy, and both Brendon and Skyler grinned down at her when she suddenly began yowling. It reminded Brendon of what he had heard when she had first been stuck up in the tree. She really was acting like a housepet, and he wondered, deviously, if anyone was breaking the house rules.
“I’d love to have a pet cat,” Skyler decided, sobering somewhat at the reality that he never would. But, when he reached down to try and give her another pet, she surprisingly evaded him. “She’s playing a game with us,” Skyler pointed out when she dashed into the house, peeking back at them to see if they would follow, before she disappeared inside.
“Hide and seek?” Brendon guessed as he continued swinging.
“Tag!” Skyler tagged him and suddenly darted off, causing Brendon to nearly fall from the tree in shock. “What! No fair!” He hollered after him, dropping down to give chase.
It was roughly fifteen or so minutes later when two heavily breathing, and laughing, boys entered the decrepit shack. Skyler was too tall and was forced to awkwardly lean in order to avoid the hanging pinecones. “Here kitty kitty kitty,” He sang and plopped down into the single chair beside the table.
Brendon stepped inside as well, his gaze having to adjust to the dimmer lighting of the interior. “It’d be great if we had our own castle cat.” He laughed. “Maybe I’ll start bringing meat and milk!”
Jaclyn watched as Brendon and Skyler talked about wanting her as a pet, too bad she wasn't just some stray feline waiting for adoption. Though it would help with her being under cover. She couldn't help but feel amused when Brendon mentioned how he wanted a pet wolf or deer. She started meowing, for the sake of attention and Brendon and Skyler attention was drawn to her. Skylar had mentioned how he'd love to have a pet cat, too bad for him, she wasn't up for grabs. Though if he was willing to break house rules, she'd gladly help him get one. She had moved out of the way when he had tried petting her, mostly for the sake of playing but also to avoid being pet as she had been only moments prior. She then dashed into the shack, hearing Skylar's comment she remained amused as she found a good hiding place to hide.
She could hear their words and it was clear to her that Skylar must have tagged Brendon before the two started chasing each other around for around fifteen minutes or so. She could hear Skylar calling for her when they entered the shack but she remained hidden. The point was to find, yes? The two continued talking, oh how she found them funny. Though she wasn't completely sure how long she could hide the fact that she was a human and not just some feline. Oh well, she'd figure it out later, for now, she chose to remain hidden as she waited for their next move.
sheltered and naive. sometimes living with such a big family is hard.
[attr="class","les"]
D
espite their commotion and laughter, there hadn’t been a peep from the black cat, and after a bit Brendon’s smile lessened as he glanced around. “Are you sure she’s still here?” He asked Skyler, and lowered down to look underneath the table.
“I’m thinking she is.” Skyler stood from the chair and ducked to avoid the hanging pinecones as he began to search as well, although half-heartedly. “But, she could have left or fell asleep, hiding somewhere.”
“I really do want a castle cat now,” Brendon pouted as he picked up a cardboard box he had brought a time prior, and peered into one of the corners. “It’s annoying that Fergus doesn’t allow it. He doesn’t allow anything.”
Skyler visibly grimaced at the turn of conversation, and Brendon’s gaze narrowed on him for a short minute. He knew that everyone was always so squeamish when it came to talking directly about the head of the household. They expected him to come booming down with a clap of thunder, like Zeus himself. He probably was in a previous life!
“Speaking of Grandfather Fergus,” Skyler brought up instead, running a hand through his wild and unruly red hair. “We better start heading back.” He checked his wristwatch. “It’s about fifteen minutes before lunch.”
The grand lunch happened every Sunday, after everyone returned from church. Skyler and Damarian would begin attending with the adults as soon as they formed a pack with a familiar.
“All right,” He agreed with a sigh, although he did glance around the room one last time. “Goodbye cat.” He clearly pouted with disappointment, but jumped back and scowled, when Skyler laughed and ruffled his hair in an annoyingly condescending but affectionate way. “I’ll bring some milk and meat next time,” He muttered through a narrowed gaze, and Skyler just grinned as he said in return; “Our little secret.”
Jaclyn remained in her hiding spot as they attempted searching for her. Within a few minutes they seemed to stop searching, talking about how they had to attend lunch. It sounds like this is my cue to head out. She thought to herself as she watched and waited. Brendon had said goodbye to her. Seeing as it seemed like they would be heading back and she was technically on the clock, she used it as an excuse to come out of her hiding spot before bolting out of the shack. It wasn't anything personally, it was just she had things to do and they proved to have things to do and she had originally come out here so that Brendon wouldn't be alone and since Skylar had showed up, her work here was done.
She glanced back at them, making her way around as if she owned the place, mostly because she had been sneaking around here often enough to know the ins and outs without being noticed by unwanted eyes. I'm sure I'll see you again, soon. Don't wait up though. I do after all eat human food. She thought to herself before exiting the property. So far so good, there wasn't any AP here, or at least none that she noticed. It would be a good report, for the higher ups at HQ.
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credits
The skin is created by Wolf of Adoxography and Gangnam Style. The thread and conversation remodels are by Kagney. The Strange Reality board list, Heal My Soul info center, I Remember Now mini profile and Electric Requiem profile remodel is made by Pharoah Leap. The Who's That Member member list remodel was made by Tictactoe. The Cbox.ws Shoutbox remodel was made by Trinity Blair. All templates used for claims, information sheets, applications, etc are credited to their owners; credits for these can be found in the threads the templates are use on. Images that are used on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners, however, they have been edited by Zac with a few being edited by Chibi Magician. The plot, rules and various other information pieces for The Duality of Man are written by Chibi Magician with the assistence of her co-admins, Finnegan and Dremulf, alongside other unlisted people who were kind enough to give their input. The TRS, AP and face claim were all created by Fleur for specifically the use of TDOM. All plugins used on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners. The templates my members use are credited to their maker, if you find a template that belongs to you, but is uncredited, please speak to Chibi Magician or the member themself. Characters created on The Duality of Man are credited to their owners and should not be used elsewhere without the creator's permission.
Special thanks for the members of TDOM who make suggestions to help make this site better. Even though we can not accept all suggestions, we immensely appreciate it. Thus, we give credit to any additions that you thought of and were later implimented by the staff, because we are glad you give us these excellent ideas.
