Ooh! I'll join, but it's quite possible that I'll end up dropping out. We'll see.

Name: Finn Elmstone

Age: Uh. I'm not sure. Somewhere between 16 and 20, I think.

Gender/Pronouns: Non-binary, they/them

Species: Vampire, but they look like a human unless you look really really closely

Personality: A major introvert. They don't have a lot of close friends, or any friends at all, really. Honestly, their closest friends are in books. They read. A lot. Mostly old literature, because that's what's available to them, but they're not opposed to newer books if they can find them. They're a huge Jane Austen fan. They identify with Mr. Darcy a ton, because they too are socially awkward and anxious (not in the diagnosible-mental-health-condition sense, I think, but it's always possible). They never know quite what to say and are nervous around large groups of people. But they're really intelligent and observant and have lots of philisophical thoughts about the world, which they don't share with many people.

Appearance: Ah, see, this is the part I haven't developed yet. They look pretty masculine. They're  pale. IDK what their hair looks like. They wear round wire-rimmed glasses, even though they don't need them, simply for the aesthetic. They like school uniforms and suits, as old-fashioned as possible.

Abilities/Strengths: As a vampire, they're stronger than most humans and are practically immune to diseases. They're also really intelligent and a fast reader.

Weaknesses: They're unusally sensitive to the sun (well, unusal for humans), but this mostly means that they have to be really cognizant about wearing sunscreen. Also, as aforementioned, they're really socially awkward and don't really know how to interact with people. Or perhaps they do know how to, but they're too afraid to.

Background: Finn was adopted from a bad home at a young age by an old vampire named William (he was born around 1800) and moved into William's wonderful giant old manor. When they were ten or eleven, they asked William to bite them so they could be a vampire too. They have an older sister (also adopted) named Juniper, who's a witch, and they're acquainted with a few people from their boarding school, but otherwise they don't know that many people. At some point in the book (the plot isn't really figured out yet), they'll meet a human girl named Pippa who's their complete opposite in a lot of ways.

Other: Potentially open to shipping with guys and enbies, but maybe not? I haven't fully decided yet.

Thank you and sorry for such a long post, Admins!

Favian~~

Favian had been on this street several times before, but he'd never seen this shop before. It was right in-between two dizzingly tall apartment buildings, looking rather small and fragile in comparison. It was called the "Creativity Cafe", and a sign hanging on its window advertised lattes and cappuccinos. Favian understood them to be human beverages--one of Favian's college roommates had been human, and had introduced him to to the taste of coffee. He'd always been  confused as to why humans loved it so much. The taste was alright but there was nothing special about it. Favian's roommate explained that it was the caffeine in the coffee humans loved so much, and evidently, vjare weren't affected by caffeine in the same way humans were.

Favian shook his head, clearing away the thoughts, and stepped into the building. An odd sensation passed over him, not unlike the sensation one feels when they've just woken up from a hyper-realistic dream. The noise from the space city suddenly vanished. Favian turned to look out the window and saw that the city itself had vanished, replaced by a peaceful countryside town and gentle, rolling hills. Favian wondered if it was maybe a holograph of some kind.

"Don't be alarmed by the change in scenery, friend," A voice said from within the Cafe. Favian looked to see the speaker. They were human, with olive skin and short dark hair. 

"My name is Mx. Scribe. Can I get you anything? Any kind of payment is welcome, including but not limited to souls, firstborn children, gold coins, cursed necklaces, and American dollars." Favian had to pause to take in what the owner had said. 

But before Favian could question the owner, or order something, the door swung open.

~~~ 

-- Finn --

Finn stepped out of the bookstore, clutching their new purchase tightly across their chest. They pulled their watch out of their pocket to check the time. Not too late. They could go home, or... there was a cute little coffee shop across the street. Juniper would be proud of them for taking the risk. They took a deep breath and crossed the street, stepping inside before they could think about it too hard.

When the door closed behind them, Finn glanced out the window to see that the street had vanished, replaced with what appeared to be a rolling countryside, like the Netherwood estate grounds in Pride and Prejudice. Odd. This kind of thing was powerful magic, as far as they remembered.

There were only two people in the shop: a normal-looking person who appeared to be the owner, and someone who Finn immediately noticed had six fingers on each hand and eyes that didn't look quite human.

"Pardon me," they said, eyes darting around the room, "but what is this place, and who are you?"

-Skye-

I peek my head into the cafe, my tail up.

”Hello? Anybody there?”

The human, who seems to be the cashier yells over to me.

”Come on in!”

I jump and my wings curl around me. I didn’t know that there would be TOTDC here, Things Other Than DragonChildren, but I decide to go in anyways, safe with my wings around me.

Persnickety L. Snodgrass~

Persnickety slammed the door shut behind her, breathing hard. Someone part-squeaked and part-whimpered. Someone else coughed politely.

Usually she either would have apologized or run by now but currently she didn't have enough breath in her to do anything but scramble away from the door.

Once she'd caught her breath (ish) she turned around to explain and saw three distinctly non-human creatures.

They might not have been from around here but Snicket did know that it was not exactly normal to see a girl with dragon wings, a man with pointed ears, twelve fingers, and eyes that were mostly iris, and a person with inhumanly pale skin in a coffee shop.

She took an involuntary step back towards the door. Someone else came over to her and she prepared herself to bolt, but this person was surprisingly normal.

Well, they were human, at least. Snicket relaxed a little bit. "Hello," they say pleasantly. "I'm Mx. Scribe. Welcome to Creativity Cafe! Can I get you anything? Any kind of payment is welcome, including but certainly not limited to souls, firstborn children, gold coins, cursed necklaces, and American dollars."

Were all people in the city either unhuman or like... this? Persnickety reached into her pocket and found a) her iPod, b) her earbuds, and c) a granola bar.

Not what she was looking for. She swung her backpack off and felt around in it, finding d) the lacquered box containing a journal and pencils, e) the key that went with it, f) a change of clothes, and g) no money.

Trying to hide the panic building inside of her, Snicket shook her head. "No, thank you." Mx. Scribe smiled. Before they turned around to go back behind the counter, "Wait," Persnickety said. "Sorry for slamming your door. I thought someone was chasing me." She paused. "They weren't."

"Don't worry about it," Mx. Scribe said, waving it away as they walked back to behind the counter.

Persnickety felt very alone as she stood there in the doorway of the coffee shop, wishing she'd never left her home.

David~

David gazed curiously at the small shop across the street. He didn't recognize it, but the sign read "Creativity Cafe", which sounded nice. After debating for a moment whether or not to go in, he shrugged and started across the street. While admittedly odd that he'd never seen the place before, it wasn't the first time a strange new shop had showed up on main street. He chuckled at the thought.

As he stepped through the door, a shiver ran down his spine, and everything seemed to grow quieter. As he passed a window, he noticed that the scenery had changed to bright rolling hills. Also strange, but still not the strangest thing he'd ever seen.

Looking over to the counter, he saw several people--one behind, and four milling about cafe. The person behind the counter waved. "Why, hello! I'm Mx. Scribe, welcome to the Creativity Cafe."

David waved back uncertainly, then glanced at the other people in the room. One was a surly looking person, with six fingers and strange eyes. Another was a pale person with wire-rimmed glasses. Another was a girl with dragon wings, and the last was a girl with frizzy brown hair hanging in her face.

David chose what seemed to be the least intimidating option and walked over to the pale person. They looked up as he approached. "Hi! I'm David. Do you have any idea where we are?"

"I'm.. so.. tired..."

"Please shut up."

"B-but I'm tired!"

"I said shut up."

I was quickly getting sick of Elliot, my mage friend. Wait. I didn't just call him a friend, right? 

"We can't rest. The head priestess of the stone church still wants my head, and we are both on the most wanted list in nearly every city."

"Wait. We both are?" *Squeal!* "All this time together, and it's taken this long for the authorities to recognize me as a criminal!"

He immediatly ran over and tryed to hug me. I replied with a swift punch to the stomach.

"Ooooow.. Ow. Why did you do that?" He asked, crouching over.

"I've already told you. No hugs." 

Elliot rolled his eyes. We kept walking through this charming little town. We had never been here before, so we probably weren't getting recognized by anyone. Just in case, I pulled my hood over. 

Soon, Elliot spotted some little coffeeshop. And that entailed ten minutes of us arguing whether or not we should enter, and we finally settled the arguement with a coin toss. He won.

We entered, and I glanced around and saw a couple other people chatting. Whatever, I won't interrupt them. This coffee hop had a very rustic feel to it, and smelled like freshly grounded coffee. Elliot strolled around, saying hi to everyone he saw. 

"Just order what you want, we won't be staying here long." I grumpily said.

"Unless I pick up a date here."

"You are not going to pick up a date here."

Ellliot grinned. "We shall see about that. But even if I don't, I want to stay here. I like this place's vibes."

"No, because they will see us and report us to the government, and we'll get arrested."  

"Stop being such a worrywat." 

-- Finn --

Several more people had walked into the cafe, and still no answer to their question. Finn pushed their glasses up their nose and perched lightly on the edge of a bar seat, ready to hop up if this turned out to be a bad idea.

A few minutes later, the door chimed as a dark-haired human boy stepped in, scanned the room, and walked up to Quinn. "Hi! I'm David," he said. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"Uh, I was wondering the same thing. I don't know, sorry." Their hand drifted to push their glasses up again, and they hastily redirected it to run through their hair. "Oh, um, I'm Finn, by the way."

David stuck out his hand, and Finn shook it, perhaps gripping too tight on accident, if the expression on his face was any indication. They mumbled an apology. There, they'd just gone and scared off the one person who showed any interest in them.

Or not?

~Kassandros

K stared around at the strange place he'd just found himself in. On one side of him was a gurgling river. The other side was a row of buildings. One of these caught his eye - a small shop that looked small but welcoming against the larger buildings to each side. He told Thunderbolt, who was standing at his side as always, to wait outside. The dog obediently trotted over to the riverside, where there was a small grassy area with a couple of benches, and sat down.

Cautiously, K eased open the door and looked inside. There was a handful of very strange people inside, but he'd seen his fair share of strange people working with Stormshadow. "Hello," he said. "What is this place?" Someone beckoned to him from behind the counter, and he walked over slowly.

"This is the Creativity Cafe. Can I get you anything?" the dark-haired person said.

K felt in his pocket and took out a couple of coins. "Do you take leptas? I'd like a... actually, just water."

The person smiled and nodded. "Of course. I'll be right back."  They disappeared behind a wall, and returned a moment later with a plastic cup and a napkin. "Here you are. Enjoy yourself!"

K paid them and took a seat near the door, where he observed the various people in the room 

~~~

I probably should've put this in the form, but K works for a secret organisation called Stormshadow.

~Emma

I'm probably not in New York anymore, Emma thought, and frowned as she thought about what might have gotten her here. It was only a moment, however, before she shrugged and glanced at the sky to make sure Ranger was still following her. She spotted a dark V-shape in the sky and nodded.

Then she looked around, and noticed a small building nestled between the skyscrapers around it. Almost involuntarily, her feet carried her inside. She scanned the menu, but then remembered she wasn't carrying any money, shrugged again, and noticed a small girl with frizzy brown hair looking a little lost. She walked over. "Hi! I'm Emma. What's your name?"

Favian~~

The once-empty cafe had now begun to fill. Favian recognized some of the customers as human, but there were others that perplexed him-- for example, the girl with wings, and the person with the strange, pale skin.  

Two people had caught Favian's eye, though. One of them had bandages covering their face and seemed far more reserved and, to be frank, grumpier. The other was extroverted and laughing.

Favian had heard something about being hunted by the government, which had interested him. Perhaps they would know something about the girl who had gone missing*--whoever had taken her had gone to great lengths to hide from the Intergalactic Government, and these two seemed to be discussing how to hide from the government.

~~~

*Plot point in the story. The main character of said story is this girl. Favian was part of a team hired to find her. 

-- Cleo -- 

Cleo stood in front of a cozy-looking building, squinting at the sign hanging above it. The painted letters marching across it spelled "Creativity Cafe". Cleo smiled. This looked like the perfect place to spend her morning! She pulled the wooden door open, stepped inside the cafe, and froze. It was a lot busier than Cleo had expected, and half the people in there didn't even look human. She twisted a curl around her finger anxiously. She'd seen non-humans before, but never above the surface like this. Besides, they looked completely different from any non-humans she had ever seen! Maybe this had been a mistake. Cleo definitely didn't need to get into a another adventure right now. Just as she turned to leave, a voice came behind her.  

"Hello! I'm Mx. Scribe. Can I get you anything?" Cleo spun around. The speaker was human, as far as Cleo could tell, and they had dark hair along with a friendly look on their face. 

"Sure? Do you have tea?" Cleo responded uncertainly. 

"Of course! What type would you like?" 

"Um, whichever you think is best?" Cleo said. 

"Alright!" They disappeared into the back. Cleo looked around the cafe, searching for a place to sit. She eventually walked over to a table squeezed into the corner of the cafe, right next to the window, wishing she was brave enough to attempt a conversation with one of the other visitors.