Call it a grocery store, convenience store, liquor store, or deli -- whatever the title, it's a fixture of a neighborhood. The American bodega is an institution. Be it NOLA or New York, Seattle or San Francisco, you will find these corner stores scattered through the urban sprawl as gracious watering holes in the vast concrete food deserts. Whether it's a family-owned store, or a 7-Eleven, your average American has grown up with at least one. Torn is no different.
[address removed] is the unassuming name and location of one homely little bodega.
The sun-bleached green awning has the words "grocery", "liquor", "cigars", "deli" across its tattered front flap; half the letters are missing and are only legible by way of being discolored differently. The large front window is covered in faded signs showing the prices of cigarette, cigar, and liquor alongside milk, baby formula, and cough medicine; the interior of the shop is visible from about eye-height up between the taped over bullet holes and wrought iron bars. The lock on the glass and steel front door has been bent and busted from a break-in long ago, not that the owner minds much, considering the shop never closes.
Inside, there are five cramped aisles leading to the refrigerated shelves imbedded in the back wall. The fridge's compressor hums lowly behind glass doors with deteriorating rubber seals, its artificially warm lighting bringing a noisy brightness to the back corners of the store; shelved with drinks, non-alcoholic and low ABV alike. The far left of the store carrying the inedible odds and ends most people wouldn't think they'd need but find themselves searching for anywhere from three in the morning to three in the afternoon. Along the front window, hidden behind those old signs, are an overpriced ATM, freezers, newspaper racks, and more useful things. The five aisles are filled with food, mostly of the non-perishable variety.
To the right of the front door, the register sits in a cubby hole surrounded by impulse purchases, those last-minute things you reach for right as you get rung up. Behind it are the many cigars and cigarettes and liquor and lotto tickets, all under the owner's keen and watchful eye. Further in along the right-hand side is the little deli counter, with laminated pictures and prices of various simple sandwiches and foods that make for a decently filling breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the go. The flat top grill always keeps this corner of the shop hot on cold days, and unbearable during the hotter summer months; it's a wonder the cold line of veggies and toppings stays cool.
Most of all, Liam Davis sits behind that register on the same old wooden stool day in, day out. It is by his will that this little slice of peace maintains itself amid the violent chaos of Torn City. It is by his will that the shelves seem to always have exactly what someone needs (within reason), and the cheap food always feels more satisfying than the bougiest restaurants. During summer heatwaves, he'd sell ice cream for half off to the kids, and let them sit by the store fan and watch cartoons on his small CRT TV, keeping them cool and off the streets. This unassuming, balding old man cares for one of the few steadfast fixtures of normalcy in this crazy, crazy city. Robbers are dealt with swiftly by the people that care for this little place, and factions know not to mess with it.
[address removed] is home.
And it is open to you. Whoever you are, wherever you come from. Its doors are open.
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Welcome! This is meant to be a fantastically mundane slice of life centered around a volatile community's rock of Gibraltar. I will DM various goings on at the bodega, and keep a loose plot moving forward. This is all meant to be very casual, so please don't expect any big sweeping plot or world ending stakes. This is meant to be an intimate dissection of what the quieter moments mean to your characters and the world around them. And what they'd do to keep it. I said there wouldn't be world ending stakes, but that doesn't necessarily mean that things will be without conflict.
Please fill out the following before making your first IC post:
Name (and any nicknames)
Pronouns (gender notwithstanding)
Occupation(s) (legal or illegal)
Birthday (the setting is today)
Favorite Food(s) and Drink(s) (can be more than one!)
Smoker or Non-Smoker (if so, what do they smoke)
Description of Character (feel free to include art and links to further information)
Misc Notes (the little things and quirks and idiosyncrasies that make them who they are)
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me via chat, message, or the OOC thread. Please don't clog this thread with questions. I'd like to keep this clear for IC writing only.
-Doodle