Hidden 1 yr ago 1 yr ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Location: San Francisco - California
Titans Together! #1.11: Slip The First Stitch
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interaction(s): All - Everyone
Previously: None

Astral Projection was one of the earliest tricks Stitch had learnt, and it remained even now one of their favourites.

In the early weeks, lacking the need for (or ability to) sleep Stitch had quickly found the night hours to be particularly boring; after initial bodily excursions had been deemed "dangerous" and "hazardous" and "creepy when you stand in the corner and watch me", their creator taught them the art of breaking free the spirit from the shackles of the body. In this way, one could enter a deep and restful meditative stage in their earthly form, while the soul continued to freely experience and absorb the world around them, imperceptible to most and unhampered by tellurian limitations like 'walls'. When they arrived to the Titans, it became a habitual practice; the illusion of sleep that meditation provided helped ease their colleagues' instinctual aversion to the uncanniness of Stitch, while the projection allowed them to explore the tower, linger in its spaces, and generally mill about unseen, unheard, unfelt. Some might call Stitch's nightly custom "spying" or "an invasion of privacy" or "voyeuristic", but if they did, no one voiced it to Stitch, who themselves regarded it as little more than "healthy curiosity". In Stitch's short life thus far, they had learnt that 'living' could mean a lot of different things, and those differences became all the more pronounced between observed and unobserved behaviours. Eating, for example, was often a communal activity, rarely partaken in alone (apart from a few select cases), whereas bathing was a ritual nearly always undergone by oneself. The one time Stitch had seen two parties bathing simultaneously, cleanliness did not seem to be the ultimate goal, which was even curiouser still.

On this night, they drifted through corridors and walls awaiting the sunrise that would oversee their comrades' rousing into the waking hours, poking a head through closed doors to assess whether anyone else forsook their sleep. All things told, the early morning had been relatively bustling as the minutes ticked by; by their reckoning, Stitch would likely be the latest to rise, despite not even actually sleeping at all. Something in this irony burst joyfully within them, and their ghostly form twitched and hacked silently as they let the humour wash over them. They were still getting the hang of 'laughing'. Wally was up and about, pacing furiously through the corridors and Stitch in equal measure, before pausing - as he so often did - in the kitchen; Robin could be found haunting the gymnasium, all pirouettes and somersaults elegantly spun and caught, his body a whirling display that ended in a flourish and a bow, Stitch his unseen audience providing unheard applause; Roy, similarly, was practicing his own skills, counting his perfection seemingly to himself. Stitch lingered in the lounge, hovering an inch or two above the cushions of the sofa, observing how Megan sat and how best to emulate it, how best to reproduce camaraderie with a peer. They turned their spectral eyes to the television, practiced laughter again. They departed.

The noise blossoming through the hallways drew their attention next; Kyle, of course, there had been no doubt that those short, simple chords and rough-edged voice emanated from his dormitory, a habit as frequent as Stitch's phantom excursions. They had to admit the words were catchy - they'd found particular enjoyment in this thing called 'music' since coming to the tower, and often liked to spin rhymes about their own (strictly metaphorical) tongue in imitation of what they had been exposed to, stringing pleasing-sounding nonsense together in a manner not dissimilar to their creator's own ceremonial chanting, a recurring element of their early life. Kyle's music did not seem to cast any spells, however, unless the spoilt moods of those in proximity was an intended effect. Stitch couldn't be sure. The evidence was certainly there, punctuated as if on cue by the thumping of the shared wall between Kyle and Troia's respective rooms.

Their jaunt was cut short by the alarm blaring, and Stitch gasped as their astral form blinked out of existence and their consciousness was wrenched back to their ragdoll body. The echoing rhythms of Kyle's speakers were replaced jarringly with the ambient melodies of Stitch's own music, pulsing from the earbuds stuck to either side of their head; a technique to clear the mind, in aid of projection. Gingerly, they tore the tape affixing their earbuds, and the bellowing klaxon dipped momentarily to be replaced with the voice of their collective benefactor, Loren Jupiter:

"All team members please suit up. We have a situation developing."

With that, Stitch was up, taking a quick moment to smooth out their indentation from lying on top of the otherwise pristinely-made bed (they had never had a need to actually get underneath the covers) and then slipping into the all-blue, one-piece suit Jupiter had provided them on arrival; they paused in the mirror momentarily, admiring the outfit. They were, secretly, quite proud of it. Stitch's creator, a man of pragmatics and more cosmological concerns, hadn't seen the need for clothing at first, given Stitch's anatomy (or lack thereof); but Jupiter's costume both enabled Stitch's modesty (a lack of which, they were told, often made others uncomfortable, even in Stitch's special case), and also welcomed them fully into the fold. The 'T' logo, emblazoned on the suit in the center of the chest, was the strongest symbol they knew. It made them part of the team. It made them a Titan.

And right now, slipping silently into the fray of the gathered team members in the kitchen, tensions and jokes and clashing personalities making the space fraught with apprehensions, Stitch put a hand to that same symbol, feeling - not for the first time - that these were not comrades, or compatriots, or even colleagues. They were strangers.


Hidden 1 yr ago 1 yr ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Location: San Francisco - California
Titans Together! #1.XX: TBC
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interaction(s): TBC - [TBC]
Previously: None
Hidden 1 yr ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Location: San Francisco - California
Titans Together! #1.16: Rehearsal Speech
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interaction(s): Arsenal - Simple Unicycle

"Make it so. Green Lantern, Robin and Martian will investigate the transport and see if they can determine how Cinderblock escaped. Arsenal, Stitch and I will take to the T-Bird for the eagle-eye view; Superboy and Wondergirl will fly ahead, with Kid Flash holding the line until we arrive."

The movement from the team was instantaneous; had Stitch a nose to wrinkle they would have wrinkled it at Troia's ongoing cavalier attitude toward murder, but while Nassour's short departure speech to Stitch upon their arrival to the tower could only be described as laconic, their creator had still taken the time to impart upon Stitch the sheer breadth of culture - and subsequently cultural differences - that existed across the muddled planes of Earth, and which they were surely to clash against. Tact was a tricky skill to master, but one Stitch was getting a lot of practice at. At this moment, with Troia leaving swiftly, Superboy trotting to heel after a beckoning finger, they exercised that muscle by maintaining a firm silence; still, the reactions of select other Titans to such a definitive statement did not escape them, and for a moment they allowed themselves a moment of kinship in shared distaste.

They sidled carefully to Arsenal's side, silent as the grave and half as unnerving; absent of the usual biological functions, Stitch's form was incredibly still when not in motion, no chilly shudders through limbs or the soft rise-fall of lungs or the half-minded fidgeting when distracted. When they moved, it was with careful planning and measured forethought, an act not yet instinctual. Stitch was still getting used to locomotion in its entirety; the simple willing of direction in their astral manifestation was insufficient to propel their physical body. It was with some trepidation that they tried an imitation gesture, pushing their elbow into Arsenal's ribcage in what they hoped would be interpreted as a playful manner. The fabric rags of their constructed epidermis gave slightly beneath the pressure, but there was still enough firmness beneath to nudge.

"I should believe the 'T-Bird' to provide adequate vantage point for your sixteenth bullseye, Titan Arsenal." They said, attempting an air of jocularity to their tone in an effort to manifest this 'camaraderie' that they had been encouraged to find within the team. Their voice hummed and reverberated with a strange intensity, words not spoken with breath over vocal cords so much as simply the appropriate sound waves crystallised and broadcast as thoughts manifest through will and magic. It came from Stitch's direction, but expulsed from a bodily aura rather than thrown from tongue and throat. The sound arrived immediately, punctual and clear, and disappated just as quickly. "It should prove plenty recompense for the previous interruption of your practice. I, for one, am keen to number your efficacies. Perhaps there is opportunity yet for competition?"
Hidden 12 mos ago 12 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

D R . S O L O M O N ' S A L L Y ' W I N T E R S
D R . S O L O M O N ' S A L L Y ' W I N T E R S
▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅
"This is the shape and the point of the tooth: nothing has ever lived that will not die."
▅▅▅▅▅
P R O F I L E I N F O R M A T I O N
P R O F I L E I N F O R M A T I O N
________________________________________________________________________________________
NAME: | Dr. Solomon Isaac Winters
_______________________________________________________________________
STATUS: | Active
_______________________________________________________________________
INDEX DATE: | TBD
_______________________________________________________________________
DATE OF BIRTH: | 1952/10/18
_______________________________________________________________________
ALIAS(ES): | The Occultist
_______________________________________________________________________
RESIDENCE: | Damascus, Virginia
_______________________________________________________________________
CITIZENSHIP: | American, Canadian
_______________________________________________________________________
CLEARANCE LEVEL: | Special Agent

B A C K G R O U N D
B A C K G R O U N D
________________________________________________________________________________________
Born in a Virgina mining and logging town on the edge of Appalachia in the 1950's, Solomon Winters grew very accustomed to injury, death, and the campfire tales told about the forested mountains their town was nestled against. He was a morbid child, accustomed with the macabre through familiarity, but otherwise developed well as a young boy, growing tall and thin and with a sharp mind, used to his own company as an only child. He spent 15 years living a steady, normal childhood and early adolescence; stability that would be sorely missed for the rest of his life.

In 1967, on Solomon's 15th birthday, the Dark Eclipse hit the planet, and Damascus suffered poorly. The outages from the CME that hit Earth caused severe malfunctions and shockwaves, causing a cave-in deep in the mines and trapping two shifts of miners deep underground, Solomon's father, Thomas, among them. Though a rescue effort was mounted, emergency services were stretched thin, and the resource simply wasn't available. Many men of the town lost their lives in the Dark Eclipse; Thomas Winter was one of them, counted among the miners who never saw the surface again.

A few months after the tragedy, Solomon began hearing voices, claiming to speak to the ghosts of the trapped miners, and in particular his father. While initially mistaken by his mother, Louise, for difficulties processing grief and trauma in the wake of the Dark Eclipse, soon Solomon's tales and assertions were not limited to the calamity that had claimed his father's life, and he began repeating town secrets too old and too buried to have any earthly way of knowing. His mother took him to multiple doctors, and all came back with a singular diagnosis: schizophrenia.

Prescribed a cocktail of anti-psychotics and mood stabilizers, Louise had saved her son from incarceration in an attempt to keep her remaining family close, but instead only introduced Solomon to a different kind of prison. The medication dulled his interface with the world; he became socially withdrawn, emotionally numb, mind clouded and engaging in long periods of mutism. All the while, the voices continued; Solomon simply didn't talk about them anymore.

In the summer of 1970, Solomon neared eighteen after a medicated 2 years, and the Winters household was approaching a criticality. The insurance payout from Thomas' death had paid off a sizeable chunk of the mortgage, but what had been left was trickling away on further bills. Solomon was unable to work; a mute shut-in with a propensity for the morbid and macabre, his diagnosis and medication scaring away any employer who may have been willing to look past his developmental difficulties. Despite medication, he had grown - slowly, steadily - worse in his condition, often holding entire conversations with thin air; more worryingly to Louise, he'd also begun to dechiper her own thoughts and memories through physical contact, repeating back - seemingly involuntarily - the feelings and musings she held as her own. Solomon frightened her; fear he felt directly through those same repetitions, and found confusing. He frightened himself. The medication did nothing. Wasn't she his mother?

A week after his eighteenth birthday, doctors and nurses arrived to Damascus to escort Solomon back to Petersburg, where he would be interred and treated at Virginia Central State Hospital. Medicated, sedated, and often confined to his room for days on end, Solomon plummeted to rock bottom and stayed there. In 1971, alongside many other patients at the institution, Solomon was chemically sterilized. Determined to retain some semblance of self, Solomon spent the few conscious hours he had, whenever possible, reading - attempting to educate himself and stay abreast of the world outside the white walls of his confinement, ignoring the continued voices and the waves of information from every touch. Solomon began, ever-so-slowly, to suspect - or finally give credence to long-held suspicions - that he was not schizophrenic. That he was something else entirely.

It would take seven more years of commitment before he would have an opportunity to test these theories.
R E C R U I T M E N T
R E C R U I T M E N T
________________________________________________________________________________________
In 1978, the fledgling Bureau of Hyperhuman Enforcement, Logistics, and Protection received an unusual, incoherent, but urgent plea from Solomon Winters in a letter he'd managed to send out, and by some miracle, they followed it to its source. H.E.L.P. arrived at Virginia Central State Hospital to an incredulous and hostile staff, but whether through providence or persuasion or sheer medical apathy on the part of the state of Virgina, they left with Solomon Winters remanded into their custody.

What followed were hard but monumental years for Solomon. Still suffering psychologically from his abilities and the years of stunted development after the fateful disaster of the Dark Eclipse, he now had H.E.L.P's assistance in weaning himself off the medication he'd spent a decade growing physically dependent on. He sobered up, and with the aid of the Bureau's research, began to educate himself on the nature and function of his abilities. The time he had spent reading while committed now gave way to a voracious appetite for knowledge, and with H.E.L.P's guidance he secured his G.E.D., and then dived headlong into further education, becoming a specialist in the occult and paranormal as he strived to understand the implications and ramifications of his powers. He plunged into Death & Culture academics alongside his extra-curricular studies, and soon possessed a Bachelor's degree - majoring in Death & Culture Studies, minoring in Mythology & Occult Sciences - and after that, went on to secure a Masters, and then a Doctorate.

The freshly-honoured Doctor Solomon Winters was now H.E.L.P's - and most of the continent's - foremost expert on occultism, death practices, and paranormal culture, with an additional insight afforded to no one else. He was inducted into the ranks of the Bureau after a short vetting process, granted Special Agent status immediately in recognition of his expertise, and more subtly, his unique status even among other Hyperhumans, which did not escape the Bureau's attention. His continued research was permitted, even encouraged - as long as Solomon would keep himself available for H.E.L.P's own research.
C A R E E R W I T H T H E B U R E A U
C A R E E R W I T H T H E B U R E A U
________________________________________________________________________________________
Solomon has worked within or alongside H.E.L.P. for over twenty years now, and for such a long career, his rank within the Bureau - Special Agent - doesn't reflect the sheer breadth of his experience, service, and expertise. What is does represent is the reaction his comrades, superiors, and the Bureau at large invariably have to him. Solomon remains an odd, vaguely-absent, stilted man; off-putting and anti-social in personality, and unnerving and disquieting in nature; there is also H.E.L.P's long-standing wariness about Solomon, due to his troubled history and the unique and not-yet-well-understood circumstances of his abilities. Coupled with his obsessive study and research into aspects of the supernatural and un-reality that the organization doesn't necessarily consider work the time-and-resource-investment Solomon continues to commit to it, he ends up passed over for promotions and more senior leadership positions simply for being deemed unsuitable for it.

As a result, while Solomon is a well-respected and widely-known agent among most within the organization, he's also an incredibly 'internally-mobile' one; he's been shipped around and transferred between many units, offices, operations and task-forces across the wider H.E.L.P. structure, more than nearly any other individual within the Bureau. He struggles to make friends, and is absolutely incapable of playing the political-and-social networking game to his advantage, spending more time in the company of the morgue than his fellow agents in the field; it is only the sheer tenure of his service, the span of niches filled by his academic expertise, and the unique utility of his powers (and H.E.L.P's continued research into them) that cause him only to be shuffled, instead of disciplined, demoted, or fired entirely.
P H O T O I D E N T I F I C A T I O N
P H O T O I D E N T I F I C A T I O N
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
P H Y S I C A L D E S C R I P T I O N
P H Y S I C A L D E S C R I P T I O N
_________________________________________________________
RACE: | Caucasian
_________________________________________________________________
SEX: | Male
_________________________________________________________________
HEIGHT: | 6'3"
_________________________________________________________________
WEIGHT: | 161lbs
_________________________________________________________________
HAIR COLOUR: | Brunette (going grey)
_________________________________________________________________
HAIR LENGTH: | Short-cut
_________________________________________________________________
EYE COLOUR: | Grey
_________________________________________________________________
HANDEDNESS: | Left
A B I L I T I E S, L I M I T S, & W E A K N E S S E S
A B I L I T I E S, L I M I T S, & W E A K N E S S E S
_________________________________________________________
H Y P E R H U M A N A B I L I T Y || NECROMANCY
__PRIMARY CLASSIFICATION || Exoteric
__SECONDARY CLASSIFICATION || Fundamental
__POWER SCALE || 1
__THREAT CLASSIFICATION || Σ

Solomon's hyperhuman Einseele, or 'OneSoul', has a unique resonance (even among fellow Hypes) with HZE ions, granting him a peculiar dominion over the lingering Überseeles ('Oversouls') and Unterseeles ('Undersouls') of the deceased, and even partial communication with those of the still-living. This dominion allows Solomon to interact with the dead (and sometimes the living) in a handful of ways:

• Through focus, Solomon can conjure up the Überseele of the dead and communicate with the lingering consciousness contained within, able to ask questions, share memories, and with the more recently-deceased, engage in full two-sided conversation;
• By making physical contact with deceased bodies, Solomon can funnel his dominion into simple commands to the Unterseele of a being, animating the dead flesh into carrying out his command;
• Through a combination of resonance with the Über- and Unterseele in tandem, Solomon can dip into a being's memories and emotions, feeling them for himself. Using the same method, he can also experience the final living moments of a recently-expired corpse.

L I M I T A T I O N S & W E A K N E S S E S

• While Solomon can connect with the Überseele of a living being to experience their memories and thoughts, he cannot influence them, nor can he command the Unterseele.
• Solomon's Unterseele commands require a corpse, and physical contact with said corpse; he cannot animate dead-flesh from distance.
• Commanded dead-flesh is still subject to real-world physics, and isn't imparted with any additional durability or strength, so can be fended off accordingly by those capable.
• The Überseeles of the more recently-deceased, or those of individuals who were particularly strong-willed in life, can manifest to Solomon independently of his summons, which can distract, frighten, or overwhelm him with voices and thoughts he didn't willingly conjure.
• Due to the Einseele inherent to Hyperhumans that unifies and balances the Über- and Unterseele, Solomon's abilities do not work whatsoever on other Hypes.
Hidden 12 mos ago 12 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Hidden 12 mos ago 12 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

The Answer
Blindside
Extremist
Screwball
MYSTERIOOOOOO

Could borrow Daredevil villains:
Jester
Typhoid Mary

DC Villains too:
Ragdoll
Man-Bat
Hidden 11 mos ago 11 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

J O N A H H E X
J O N A H H E X

"By the tanning of our hides, something wicked this way rides."
C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T
C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y
C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y
_________________________________________________________
Given Middle Surname
_________________________________________________________
Age | Relationship Status
_________________________________________________________
Affiliation(s) [If Applicable] | Nationality

N O T A B L E A B I L I T I E S & T O O L S
N O T A B L E A B I L I T I E S & T O O L S
_________________________________________________________
N O T A B L E S K I L L S & T A L E N T S
N O T A B L E S K I L L S & T A L E N T S
_________________________________________________________
T H E S T O R Y S O F A R...
T H E S T O R Y S O F A R...
________________________________________________________________________________________
A brief synopsis of your character's life, experiences and training before the RP begins. This is where you outline your vision for the character including any notable changes or differences from the regularly accepted canon. This should be a short summary that provides insight into where the character is in terms of their overall progress and development. You could also include any notable differences from the standard canon you've added to your character.

P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S )
P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S )
________________________________________________________________________________________
Why do you want to play this character, what is the driving motivation behind both this desire and the character themselves. What do you hope to accomplish and where do you want the character's story/stories to go? For a driving character, there should be enough of an outline present to interest other players along with specifications towards how many players you're looking to involve or available roles. For supporting characters, this should indicate either a plot you've arranged to be part of or the type of plot you're looking to be involved in. Roaming characters have the privilege of doing either or simply stating a roadmap for the character to exemplify how you'd ideally like them to move between plots.


1x Like Like
Hidden 9 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Frank Castle year zero, non-lethal origin story

Working-class Batman year zero

Fae - Seelie/Unseelie courts, various english/irish/scottish mythology and folklore; interesting premise/setting, no story :/

Jonah Hex returned from the dead - maybe a ghost rider/spectre angle - again, no story!!

Old Man Ghost Rider; brought back but there's no 'heir' so he has to find one? STORY???

Kid Deadman solving his own murder - how to write a supernatural crime mystery/thriller? How to go about piecing the case together?

Constantine year zero

Sonic time travel/Metal plot

yeah kid you got ideas but you're burnt out your mojo is missing and you got. no. S T O R I E S.
all the time in the world doesn't matter if there's no drive

Hidden 9 mos ago 7 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T
C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y
C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y
_________________________________________________________
John Thomas Constantine
_________________________________________________________
19 | Single
_________________________________________________________
Independent | English

A L L I E S & A N T A G O N I S T S
A L L I E S & A N T A G O N I S T S
_________________________________________________________
-
P O S T C A T A L O G U E
P O S T C A T A L O G U E
_________________________________________________________
1.01 - TBC #1
1.02 - TBC #2
1.03 - TBC #3
1.04 - TBC #4
1.05 - TBC #5
1.06 - TBC #6
T H E S T O R Y S O F A R...
T H E S T O R Y S O F A R...
__________________________________________________________________________________
John was born May 10th 2006 to Mary-Anne Constantine and Thomas Constantine, alongside his stillborn twin brother, Jacob. Mary-Anne died during the birth, and Thomas, now a widower with a dead son, never forgave John. John wouldn't understand his father's hatred - but Cheryl, his older sister, would, and did her utmost to shield him from what she could all her life.

For seventeen years, the bond between Cheryl and John would form an impenetrable barrier against Thomas' hate, a bubble of compassion and love to retreat into no matter what baseless punishment their father meted out; a bubble made only stronger by the addition of Gary Lester and Francis Kramer to their alternative family. The four formed a powerful union of friendship, each individual guided and guarded by the other three, pursuing interests both independently and collectively, treading the new and old that surrounded them. The darker aspects of art, Punk and Emo, Horror and the Occult, let them explore the darkness of their own lives in measured, controlled environments, binding them with a common pursuit. In each other they found safe harbour.

Until Cheryl disappeared.

The absence of one splintered those remaning. Gary turned to vice, pushing his mind to oblivion rather than suffer the hole; Francis fled to London, abandoning memories now turning sour; John found his psyche fracturing completely, growing obssessive and fevered, now subject to Thomas without shelter. When the investigation stalled, and then closed, John threw himself from the Ethelfleda Bridge, and after being fished from the Mersey River, was sectioned to Ravenscar Psychiatric Hospital.

Two years later and nineteen years old, John has been remanded from Ravenscar to temporary residency. Cheryl is still gone, and John is still haunted by her absence. Thomas is to the wind, absconded from the family he had grown to hate so much. His old and only friends are scattered, burying their pain in the intervening years. But fresh spectres are beginning to re-open old wounds; will John lose what little fragile mind he has left entirely? Or will he strive to finally put old ghosts to rest?

P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S )
P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S )
___________________________________________________________________________________
My drive behind bringing John back into the mix is to rekindle my drive for writing in general. After a long period of struggle and burnout at work I now find myself facing into a lot of free time, and to that end I want to re-discover my passions and hobbies, and begin a slow-but-steady road back to some manner of happiness. Please understand my character submission is predicated on a real possibility that I will not be able to immediately overcome these barriers.

This story for Constantine is, I think, one of my best; mapped out from start to finish with (I feel) a strong narrative and a core thread of emotion, it brings a humanist side to John that I think in recent years has been lost behind the Liverpool con-man bravado and the occultist flash-magic. John Constantine is a man with sadness and heartbreak at his core, and I think the idea of him as a wretched, pitiable figure who'd rather just have a normal life but is inexorably forced - one way or another - to face into tragedy after tragedy is one left by the wayside in many incarnations and appearances.

The use of the Absolute ident is no accident or embellishment, either; the central principle of DC's new run is to retain the core traits and pillars of the characters while stripping away something previously thought vital: Bruce's wealth, Kal-El's upbringing with the Kents, Flash's connection to the Speedforce. My Constantine - my Absolute Hellblazer - is a John without Astra, without magic; and yet, calamity somehow even more profound has struck him down, and John will have to rely on deals struck with others and the strength of his own wits to claw himself back from the Hell he will find himself mired in.

Hidden 9 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Hidden 8 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Third Fae court splintered off from Seelie/Unseelie and formed of Fae from both original courts who have either been exiled or are simply bored of the endless war between the two courts and have joined ranks with the third to stage a coup and uproot the original courts to instate their own council.
Hidden 7 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Some beaten villains from the IC could be used in Task Force X.

Frank Castle non-lethal origin story getting mixed up with both Matt Murdock and Daredevil and eventually taking matters into his own hands.

Johnny Sorrow(? Is that the guy with the red mask for a face?) as the driving antagonist for a follow-up Constantine arc?
Hidden 7 mos ago 7 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Man-Spider Spider-Man. Peter Parker as an Oscorp intern who gets secretly selected (because he's poor and no parents and it's Parker Luck) to be their guinea pig for a new super-soldier serum, partially derived from a species of newly-discovered spider. Pete becomes a Green Goblin-like figure, where Peter is constantly battling the violent instinct of the Spider, his body veering between enhanced-human and monstrous-spider-mutant forms as the battle rages between the two psyches vying for dominance.

Harry Osborne - not Pete's best friend in this incarnation, simply a classmate - discovers Oscorp's doing through documents addressed to his father that he certainly wasn't supposed to read, and realizes that Peter is becoming a burgeoning threat to his peers (as his behaviour and attitude shift in school) and the city at large (as the Spider vies for control). Heisting prototype Oscorp tech, Harry becomes a purely heroic Goblin (might have to think of a better name), and starts getting close to Pete at school, with the aim of becoming his moral anchor to assist in the internal battle with the Spider, and a role model of behaviour for the Spider itself - or a force able to defeat it as and when the need arises.

As Pete goes rogue (his changes far outside the expectations of the experiment), Oscorp realize that their stamp is on him at a genetic level, and if he gets captured or killed, medical examination could lead back to the company. Considering Peter a failed experiment, they move on, and commission Mac Gargan, outfitting him as The Scorpion with more tech to put him on an even playing field with the Spider, to put Pete down for good, and bring his body back when he's done.

When The Scorpion fails (and we'll enjoy a bit of tearing-his-jaw-off reference goodness here), and the tech he was using has to be destroyed to avoid identification (costing Oscorp millions in lost prototypes), they outside contract Kraven The Hunter to do the job Gargan couldn't, while also avoiding any association whatsoever - Kraven being a strict professional. Kraven also does not succeed in killing the Spider, but he does get tissue and blood samples, a sub-objective of his contract.

Oscorp run tests on these samples, studying the way Pete's biology reacted to the serum; his mutation was entirely unique, unprecedented even in previous animal and (limited) human trials. With these samples, Oscorp come up with a new iteration of the serum, and test it on two more unwitting subjects; one, a reporter for the Daily Bugle who'd been following the Spider & Goblin story, who'd signed himself up for an experimental medical trial that Oscorp wormed in on, and the other, a death-row inmate who made a deal to commute his sentence in exchange for being a live and willing test subject. Brock takes to the serum pretty well; there's still a split in his psyche, but 'Venom' is far more subdued than Peter's Spider, more willing to work with Eddie rather than subsume him - he's almost considered a success by Oscorp, if not for his independence and 'Venom's' extreme unwillingness to take orders. Cletus Kasady....goes about as well as you could expect. There's no split in the mind at all, because an entirely new mind is created: Carnage.

In the meantime, other sub-plots include:
  • Miles Warren is an Oscorp scientist monitoring the Peter experiment, and on the forefront of trying to re-capture/kill Peter when the 'trial' goes awry. Attached to the research, he's deeply invested, and this twists a little too hard when, in a rampage, the Spider kills Gwen Stacy, whom Miles was secretly in love with. Off the deep end out of grief, Miles makes killing Peter a personal mission, disappearing from Oscorp along with some of his research, and resurfacing as a self-made monster - The Jackal - with only one obssession: taking revenge on Peter for his lost love.
  • Quentin Beck is a narcissist and on-again off-again supporting/background actor-slash-set technician. With delusions of ambition beyond his ability, and failing to get more prominent roles because he's a shit actor, his attention instead turns to the media circus around this new Spider figure, part vigilante part monster, and the Goblin, veering between working with and against him, or just cleaning up behind him. Deciding he wants a piece of the pie, he re-invents himself as a new hero in New York, Mysterio, using his tech and SFX know-how to make some small headway; however, coming up against Peter he is repeatedly embarrassed, and when Goblin has to bail him out the humiliation stings further. Eventually, it's too much, and Beck becomes hell-bent on wreaking revenge on both Spider and Goblin, both for showing him up (unable to recognize this is because he himself is an incompetent jackass, not because they're purposefully sabotaging him) and for hogging the spotlight he believes should rightly belong only to him (because he's a raging fucking narcissist).
  • Phineas Mason, AKA The Tinkerer, is the ringleader of a small gang who take on corporate espionage and technology heist contracts, part of their payment always being some of the technology and blueprints for themselves to satisfy Phineas' thirst for designs, and also to outfit the gang itself. When Goblin manages to intercept a heist, Toomes and Schultz get away, but Hardy falters and is abandoned by the gang. As a result, she goes rogue, now hunted by the Tinkerer for her combined failure and betrayal, but also intrigued by Harry as they fall into a will-they-won't-they, Batman-Catwoman, He's-a-hero-but-she's-a-thief-who-also-sometimes-needs-saving-from-other-thieves dynamic.
  • The eternal simmering-yet-balanced uneasy truce between Wilson 'Kingpin' Fisk and Joseph 'Hammerhead' Martello tips into all-out war when a strange third party - seemingly a small biker gang but ruthless, co-ordinated, and efficient - starts hitting both sides and effectively blaming the other each time. Lonnie 'Tombstone' Lincoln is revealed to be the leader, making a play to shake-up the criminal underworld of New York City while everyone's distracted with the Spider, bringing two secret weapons with him: Aleksei 'Rhino' Sytsevich, a one-man army for Tombstone's gang, and Dmitri 'The Chameleon' Smerdyakov, the perfect tool for pitting each side of the mob war against the other.
  • Oscorp recognise the Goblin suit/tech on the news and start investigating the heist, interrogating everyone involved with Project Goblin as well as security. One lead engineer gets fired for speaking out and also for letting it go on his watch, especially when he'd been taking home research to work on in off-hours, and basically is set up to be the fall-guy for Oscorp as they shed themselves of anything that could associate them to the vigilante. Furious, the engineer - Roderick Kingsley - turns to his own suit, developed from the research he 'borrowed', to take revenge on Oscorp and Harry alike; but not as 'Hobgoblin', instead adopting the moniker 'Redcap' - a far more violent and bloodthirsty goblin-like creature from folklore.
1x Thank Thank
Hidden 7 mos ago 7 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago



Hidden 7 mos ago 7 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago








Hidden 7 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T
C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y
C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y
_________________________________________________________
Danielle Roxanne Ketch
_________________________________________________________
19 | Single
_________________________________________________________
Independent | American

A L L I E S & A N T A G O N I S T S
A L L I E S & A N T A G O N I S T S
_________________________________________________________
-
T H E S T O R Y S O F A R...
T H E S T O R Y S O F A R...
________________________________________________________________________________________
Danielle Ketch was born Halloween night, 2006, to single mother Roxanne. Her father was out of the picture far before her birth, unable to handle the idea of becoming a father and providing for a family, and his departure had left Roxanne destitute. The poverty and hardship she felt in the months leading up to and shortly after Dani's arrival created an unfair resentment of the daughter who she felt had robbed her of her one proper chance; Roxanne was a cold and distant mother, barely achieving bare minimum for Dani's wellbeing most days, and this subsequently taught Dani how to look after herself, and more importantly, how not to be like her mom.

Their differences only widened the rift between them, and as Dani grew, what little relationship they had deteriorated further. Dani would spend days at a time away from home, returning only when no other options for shelter were available - and even then, she'd still occasionally opt for a bus stop bench instead. When Dani turned 18, her mother stopped getting benefits, and also stopped being legally responsible for her wellbeing - so Dani got a day to fill one box with whatever few possessions she could claim as hers, and then her mom told her to hit the road.

A lifetime of being unwanted had not instilled Dani with a naturally happy or friendly disposition, and once ejected from her home, she began to wear out her welcome with the few people left in her small nowhere town who were willing to lend futons and couches and floors. When she eventually hit the streets, she ended up getting ticketed for vagrancy, and then arrested for assaulting a deputy, and then spent a night stewing in a cell with nothing to do but sit with her rage and misery and misanthropy; nothing to do but wish for revenge. This was when Mephisto appeared to her, and offered just that.

Dani left her little parish of Hicksville in the Devil's asshole of nowhere that night forever, under cover of darkness and on the wings of power far from her own. By the time she woke up from her unconscious escape, the redneck hive she'd left behind was a smoldering inferno on the far horizon. Whatever power Mephisto had lent her had razed the town to the ground as its first act, indulging Dani's thirst for vengeance against a cruel and cold world in a most terrible wreaking of revenge. It left ash in its wake, and worse still it remained within her, residing in her heart, hungry and thrashing for more.

Now on the run from forces both mundane and Hellish, Dani spends every sleeping moment reckoning and grappling with this new presence and power that seeks to dominate her completely - and every waking hour fleeing from its consequences.

P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S )
P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S )
________________________________________________________________________________________
Dani Ketch was a character I tried a long time ago, before my knees creaked, and I have been wanting an opportunity to revisit her. While Constantine has me more isolated, the way I like it, Ketch would be placed in the US, and grant me the ability to interact with Taka's Robbie (naturally) or other characters and even broader events, while still scratching that supernatural itch I love so much and having a plot to pursue in the meantime. I recently discovered some art that reinvigorated my ideas for the character, and I think I have some pretty good plans up my sleeves.

P O S T C A T A L O G U E
P O S T C A T A L O G U E
________________________________________________________________________________________
1.01 - TBC

2x Thank Thank
Hidden 7 mos ago 6 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Gotham Knights: Legacy Batfam who were inspired by Batman but aren’t actually directly connected or mentored by him. A Dick who skipped straight to Nightwing. A Jason who was never Robin before Red Hood. A Stephanie who struck out as Spoiler before ever meeting Bats let alone being fired. Etc.

Dick Grayson/Nightwing: Aged up. Family killed at Haly's Circus Massacre. Swore to strike back against the murderers. Became Nightwing.

Jason Todd/Red Hood: Drug runner/enforcer for Red Hood Gang. Had 'A Loved One' (idk who). Jason and A Loved One were caught in a drive-by/rival shootout. A Loved One didn't make it, Jason fell into a coma. When he woke up and found out A Loved One died he started a rampage against both his old gang and the rival one for taking A Loved One from him. Wipes out Red Hood Gang and adopts the moniker as the last member there will ever be.

Barbara Gordon/Oracle: Basically the events of Killing Joke, but no pre-existing ties to Batman or career at Batgirl. On recovering, vows to do all she can against the criminal elements and rising supervillains of Gotham to stop anything like this happening ever again. Becomes Oracle.

Stephanie Brown/Spoiler: Father's an asshole who was also Cluemaster. When Stephanie discovered this she was incensed and determined to put a stop to his crimes. She suited up and became Spoiler to defeat him.

Tim Drake/Red Robin: Began researching the Gotham Knights as they became known, eventually figuring out their identities. He approached Dick Grayson (or whoever the 'leader' is) soon after, wanting to help, but was rebuffed. Instead he tracked the Knights for a while, and was able to save them at a critical moment. After this, he joined them, having proved his capability and standing up for himself and his responsibilities. He becomes Red Robin.

Cassandra Cain/Orphan: Raised as a living weapon by her father, David Cain. Was sent to Gotham to kill Miranda and Marcus Row, petty criminals working for the Falcones, as a test. She succeeded in killing Marcus but reading his body language as he died horrified her and marked a distinct psychological shift, breaking out of her father's programming and realizing the evil she had been created for. She rejected her father and cut all contact, vowing to eternally atone for the murder she had committed, adopting the pseudonym Orphan.

Harper Row/Bluebird: Mother and Father (Miranda and Marcus) were petty criminals working for the Falcones. Marcus was an abusive POS to Harper and her brother Cullen; Miranda was slightly better but still sometimes neglectful and cold when her 'work' demanded it. After the attack by Cassandra Cain on her parents, Harper wanted revenge, but after tracking Cassandra and seeing how she'd changed her ways, Harper realized she could also break out of the cycle set by her parents and be a better role model for Cullen. She re-invented herself as a protector and provider, trying to encourage her mom to be better now that Marcus was dead, becoming Bluebird, a symbol of hope, good fortune, and fresh starts.

Duke Thomas/The Signal: Born to single mother Elaine, Duke never knew his father; his mother kept his identity a secret, but when Duke grew up and began exhibiting metahuman abilities, she had to come clean and explain his father was Gnomon, the immortal, who she'd fled from after being taken as a concubine to sire his child. When Gnomon returned for Duke (having known about him the whole time and just waiting for him to come of age), he rejected his father, and in return Gnomon slew Elaine, reasoning that with no mother to return to, Duke would have no choice but to come with him. Well, this didn't change Duke's mind, and instead the two fought across Gotham until Gnomon was finally defeated and repelled. Duke swore to honor his mother and disavow his father by using his powers to protect the people of Gotham, becoming The Signal.

Helena Bertinelli/Huntress: Born to the Bertinelli Mafia crime family, Helena was subject to beatings from her father, aloofness from her mother, and constant threat from rival crime families who saw her as a weapon to be used against her family. As she grew, her hatred of everything the Bertinellis were and stood for grew with her, erupting to a bloody climax when an assassin broke into the Bertinelli house one night to kill Franco, and was discovered by Helena, who took the opportunity to kill her entire family and then the assassin, positioning herself as the only survivor of a horrific attack. Sent back to Sicily to live with the 'Old Family' where she'd be 'safe', she instead spent years training and preparing, and as soon as she could, travelled back to America to finish what she'd started: wiping the Bertinelli Mafia, and any other mob besides, off the face of the Earth, as Huntress.

Bette Kane/Flamebird: An LA darling and tennis prodigy, Bette was visiting Gotham as part of a tournament when she witnessed Nightwing (or whichever other Gotham Knight) engaging in crime-fighting, and became infatuated. She trained in gymnastics, athleticism, and martial arts, and then took a hiatus to travel back to Gotham and debut as Flamebird, vying for Nightwing's (or whoever's) attention. While flattered, the young vigilante was also uncomfortable with her obssession and rejected her reasons for becoming a vigilante, ultimately denying Bette's advances. Dismayed, Bette returned to LA, but found tennis, debutante balls, and schoolwork now very hollow compared to the thrills and triumph of vigilantism, and ultimately decided to abandon her shallow life altogether and go back to Gotham as Flamebird to continue the fight and find true fulfilment.

Charlotte Gage/Misfit: A natural-born Metahuman to a single mother in Metropolis, Charlotte was caught in a fire at a young age. Her powers manifested - the ability to teleport, but only able to bring inorganic matter with her - and while she was able to save herself, she was forced to leave her mother behind. She managed to get help, but too late; her mother perished in the fire. Orphaned, Charlotte spent her formative years 'jumping' across the US, able to keep herself fed, sheltered, clothed, even enjoy luxuries, but ultimately still just a homeless drifter. Eventually she caught wind of the Gotham Knights, particularly [female members] and found herself spying on them, a secret admirer. After 'jumping' into Oracle's hideout and taking Barbara by surprise, subsequently learning the Knights' identities in the process, the Knights agreed to take Charlotte in as her surrogate family. She took the name Misfit and began to use her powers for altruism.

Katherine Kane/Batwoman: Born to Gabrielle and NATO Colonel Jacob Kane, Kate and her twin sister Elizabeth lived a good life until their twelfth birthday, shortly after which they and their mother were kidnapped by international terrorists as a strike against her father. Though Jacob managed to mount a rescue mission, Gabrielle was executed and Beth was killed in crossfire. After this, Jacob retired and moved himself and Kate to Washington, doing his best to be a good father while intensely grieving, and also starting Kate on a gruelling regimen of self-defence, military conditioning, and tactical training, in an effort to prevent her from ever being vulnerable again. After being forced out of military service due to a lesbian scandal, Kate moves to Gotham and falls into a party life, during which she meets and begins a relationship with GCPD officer Renee Montoya, who's also assigned to the for-show Batman Taskforce, the work of which begins to fascinate Kate. When Kate is mugged during a phonecall argument with Renee over her hard-partying lifestyle, she uses her military training to defend herself, and abandons the thug on the steps of the GCPD; the next day Renee mentions how 'the bat' must have delivered him and how he turned out to be a prolific rapist and ganger, and Kate feels pride and purpose swell within her as well as a sense of vengeance for her mother and sister, and ultimately decides to follow Batman's example and become Batwoman, abandoning her lifestyle and sobering up to carry on bringing criminals to justice.

Abyss?
Circus of Strange?
Clayface I?
Cluemaster (if running Spoiler)?
David Cain (if running Orphan)?
The Flamingo?
Lock-Up?
Magpie?
Miracle Molly (if running Oracle)?
Punchline (if running Bluebird)?
Ratcatcher?
Ten-Eyed Man?
Hidden 7 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Hidden 7 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Absolute Wonder Woman take where Diana was kidnapped from Themyscira at a young age and taken to the underworld to be brainwashed and raised by [a character from Greek mythology who was slighted/cursed by the Gods and has a grudge against them, holy shit you have so much choice] for the express purpose of being used as a weapon to slay the pantheon and topple mount olympus. The Amazons in this canon are a race of Greek Demi-gods created jointly by the pantheon and meant to embody all the best qualities of each deity with none of their flaws or squabbles, set to one day take over Olympus and guide humanity as a far more stable and benevolent force than the gods themselves ever managed to be.
2x Like Like 2x Thank Thank
Hidden 6 mos ago Post by Roman
Raw
OP
Avatar of Roman

Roman King of Dirt

Member Seen 1 hr ago

Canon for reference
Nuala was sent as a gift by Auberon and Titania to Dream of the Endless on a diplomatic mission to entreat Dream’s help in closing Hell. Nuala believed once her mission was over she’d return home, but truthfully no one believed the mission would succeed and when her brother Cluracan visited her he informed her that Titania would not accept rejection of the gift, whether or not Dream lent his assistance, and so Nuala would never be able to return home.
↑ Top
© 2007-2026
BBCode Cheatsheet