The World We Make

Content Warning: This section references xenophobia and racism. 

Neek is a young queer Black artist who is the primary avatar for New York City. He is a survivor: Despite the rejection of his family and his subsequent time unhoused, he has honed his independence, intuition, and resourcefulness to art forms that keep him alive in a cold and often hostile world. His scrappiness represents the resilience of New York City itself. However, because of the traumas of his past, he struggles to allow others to get close to him out of fear that he will be hurt or abandoned again. This is why a primary point of character development for him is his relationship with Manny, as his attraction to Manny forces him to begin working through these anxieties.

As a visual artist, Neek wields his city-power through art and understands the power of observation. He spends a lot of time exploring the city, experiencing it all in rich, full-sensory detail and giving his attention to even the mundane or seemingly grotesque. He influences the city in subtle ways: encouraging coincidences to aid those short on luck, smoothing out traffic, shifting the tides and wind speed, etc. His deep intuition and powers of observation allow him to understand New York City as a whole, and he is often more in tune with it than the other avatars.