WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Sept 5, 2011 19:38:48 GMT -8
First of the bios is Bob's. Jack's will be up hopefully by Wednesday.
Bone Daddy
Real Name: Robert "Bob" Panek Age: 28
Lexicon
Bob doesn't speak much, communicating mostly in gestures, grunts, and noncommittal vocalizations. When he does speak, it tends to be simple and straightforward. He relies on a handful of words and phrases to describe his most common thoughts, feelings, and actions. What profanity he uses tends to be minor, limited to a simple, "Damn."
Background
Bob was a very shy boy growing up. Children would make fun of him for his short height and high, reedy voice, so he spoke little and frequently withdrew from social situations. He was born to white collar parents in Pittsburgh, but there was a period when they moved around frequently. Over the course of six years, the family relocated for various reasons to San Diego, Chicago, Baltimore, Albany, and eventually back to Pittsburgh.
In school he was a competent student, despite never expressing any particular interest in any one subject. He kept very few friends, and held on to even fewer. Because his small stature and quietness made him a frequent target of bullies, he suffered bouts of depression. He eventually received medication for this in high school. He took solace mostly in movies and comics, especially the horror genre. He would later say that he always saw the monsters and the dark side as being more honest than the supposedly good normal people who just victimized him.
At 15, Bob began to change several things about himself. Tired of frequently being bullied, he made friends with the spry and athletic troublemaker, Jack Anderson. Jack introduced Bob to alternative rock and heavy metal and the two formed a mutual bond over music. Bob began to work out with Jack, building up his skinny frame. That summer, he took a job at a record store to pay for getting singing lessons as he found himself particularly fond of the vocal harmonies of Alice in Chains and the charismatic singing of Elvis Presley.
He turned out to be something of a late bloomer as the next year he went through a growth spurt that brought him to normal height around the same time he started seeing results from his work outs. Also, his voice finally changed to a deep bass/baritone. His parents described his voice as having "overnight just dropped into his stomach." Despite these changes however, Bob was still quiet and reserved. He didn't trust easily and never changed his habit of only keeping a few friends at a time.
Late in high school, Bob and Jack teamed up with their sarcastic classmate Tim to form their first garage band called The Lost Souls. The lineup consisted of Bob on vocals and bass (which he could barely play), Jack on guitar, and Tim on drums. After band practice they would get drunk or smoke weed and listen to music or watch movies for hours. It was around this time that Jack and Tim both developed their powers, leaving Bob feeling a bit alienated from them.
After graduation, Bob dropped out of sight. Details on this period of his life are sketchy at best, but eye witness accounts and photos that have since turned up on social media sites have indicated that he took an acoustic guitar and traveled the country as a hitchhiker and busker. He returned home four years later and immediately reunited with Jack and Tim, now with shadow powers. The origin of these powers is still debated today as Bob has never explained how he acquired them.
Upon his return, the trio reformed their band, now calling themselves The Maniacs. They played with a couple of other local musicians for brief periods and frequently changed their name when the clubs and bars would stop booking them. Among some of the names they went through were Full Moon, The Final Church, The Slashers, Purple People Eaters, Ghost Train and Your Nemesis. Their sound also started evolving during this time. Bob was incorporating more classic rock influences into the mix and took over writing lyrics full time, focusing almost exclusively on the horror stories and movies he grew up with though with a very dry sense of humor injected throughout.
It was also around this time that Jack suggested they acquire vigilante crimefighter licenses as a way to bring in some more money. At the time, Bob had just started designing web pages while Jack and Tim were working retail. Juggling day jobs with playing as a band and vigilantism was difficult at first, but they found themselves fitting into it before long. Despite having a small audience and not many fans, they still had a couple of bars that booked them consistently and they finally settled on calling themselves Bone Daddy and the Skeleton Crew. They even went so far as to fill out the paperwork to be legally recognized as a super team simply known as The Skeleton Crew.
Eventually, Bob decided to expand his songwriting and concentrate on his vocals. After talking it over with Jack and Tim, he decided to hire a full-time bassist and keyboardist with one major stipulation: they also had to have superpowers and want to join the Skeleton Crew's vigilante activities. After they auditioned Beth Browning, she recommended her brother Lonny as a bassist. Bob and Jack agreed that the siblings were a good fit and persuaded the two to join.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Sept 8, 2011 18:02:57 GMT -8
Jackie Strange
Real Name: Jack Anderson Age: 30
Lexicon
Jack is very well-spoken considering his alcoholism and mediocre academic history. His speech is peppered with profanity to varying degrees, often pronounced with a slight slur. He tends to be very straightforward, though when particularly inebriated tends to trail off and lose his train of thought. Outside of combat, he's reasonably soft-spoken. In contrast, he tends toward a lot of barking, haughty trash talk during a fight.
Background
Jack was born into a rocky household. He was only 6 months old when his parents divorced. Neither one of them were ready to have a child and Jack frequently found himself being shuttled back and forth from one inattentive parent to the other growing up. His home life colored his world view and by his teenage years, he had adopted a somewhat reckless belief that if the world sucked, he may as well take it for what he could. His only real contact and bonding with his father was helping him tend his pot farm, which likely is what influenced Jack to his eventual alcoholism and stoner lifestyle.
In his teenage years, Jack got by mostly on money he got from his father for pot he had helped sell. Since he was still an outsider at school, he started working out heavily and practicing martial arts. In his freshman year alone, Jack got into 9 fights with classmates. He won 7 of them. By sophomore year, only the stubborn and those with a grudge picked a fight with him. Jack's natural talent for fighting and his suspect lifestyle gave him a reputation as a troublemaker and a thug, which he paid little mind to.
When he was 17, Jack was approached by Bob Panek, who said he wanted to learn how to fight. On a whim, Jack decided to help him out. The two soon became friends. They had a mutual love of music and one day decided to pick up instruments to impress girls. Jack took to the guitar easily while Bob studied vocals and bass. When Bob's voice changed, he suggested they start a band. Jack approached an acquaintance of his whom he knew to be a drummer from the marching band and orchestra. Tim Petroski was known as a bit of a class clown, always ready with a smartass remark to anything, but he had talent as a drummer and though he and Jack had never really been friends before, they got along well enough.
This first incarnation of the band was called The Lost Souls and mostly played covers of Black Sabbath, Alice in Chains, The Misfits, and Alice Cooper. They played at a couple of open-mic nights and parties, but their original material was decidedly mediocre. Jack had already graduated by this time and was working at a coffee shop to pay the bills. It was a big hang-out for local artists and potheads, and was really the only job that Jack could hold down. The owner was rarely there and as long as Jack showed up for work and didn't harass the customers, they had no problem with him. All other jobs he had tried ended badly since he had a problem with being bossed around.
Around that same time, Jack discovered his powers to be developing. When drunk, he noticed an increase in his strength and speed. He could run faster, lift more weight, and fought harder than ever. Tim came forward not much later with newfound telekinesis powers.
After Bob graduated, he disappeared. Jack and Tim only knew that he told them he was going on a trip for a while. Over the next four years, Jack and Tim only heard from him in the occasional email sent from an internet cafe or on someone else's email address that Bob had talked them into letting him use. During this time, Jack continued to hold down his job at the coffee shop. He broadened his study of martial arts as well, taking in new styles and becoming an incredible athlete. He at one point tried to qualify for MMA, but his alcohol-based superpower made him ineligible.
Two years later after Bob left, Jack's mother was robbed. She caught the robbers in the act and they knocked her out in a moment of panic. She was hospitalized with a concussion, but managed to pull through. Though the police were able to get sketches of the perpetrators, they were unable to find them. It was eventually a costumed vigilante named Senor Bigaton who apprehended them. Jack started to realize that his problem with authority came from how ineffectual authority figures were most of the time. It was the costumed vigilantes who were out there making the biggest difference. It put the seed in his mind to become one himself.
Another two years later, Bob returned. Now Bob also had superpowers, though he never revealed their origin. He wanted to get the band back together and Jack and Tim were happy to do so. They went through a number of name changes before settling on Bone Daddy and the Skeleton crew, adopting kitschy horror stage names and costumes. Jack became Jackie Strange. At this point the thought occurred to him that with their stage names, costumes, and powers, the only thing separating them from real vigilantes was the license.
Jack pitched the idea to the band and though there was some initial resistance, they agreed. The band was always Bob's baby. He was the chief songwriter, he booked the gigs, he planned the set lists. He was less interested in the heroism however so it fell to Jack to become the de facto leader of the Skeleton Crew's vigilante work. Trying to balance the music and heroism lead to a point of friction between Bob and Jack, one they've never quite been able to work out.
Eventually, Bob's songwriting got more ambitious and he decided he wanted to add a keyboardist and full-time bassist to the group so that he could focus on his singing. They put out ads at all the local music shops and thus came across the Browning siblings who nailed their audition. Lonny in particular struck a chord with Jack. He was like a half-way point between him and Bob. Jack has since acted as sort of a mentor figure to Lonny, trying to help him overcome his inferiority complex.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Sept 9, 2011 15:17:30 GMT -8
I.M. Wolfman
Real Name: Lon "Lonny" Browning Age: 26
Lexicon
Lonny is a fast talker, worried that someone will interrupt him if he lets air into the conversation. He's incredibly foul-mouthed and prone to exasperated remarks, frustrated rants, and ironic/sarcastic jokes that go on just a bit too long. He tries to say pithy things, but overloads them with hyperbole or uses ten words where two will do.
Background
The Browning family has always been steeped in magic. Lonny and his two siblings, Beth and Val were no exception. The trouble was that they were never particularly powerful. Val chose to forego his magic lessons almost entirely and has been working in construction since high school. Beth practices constantly to perfect her fire spells, but the nature of the element makes doing so an uphill battle. Lonny meanwhile was born a werewolf, but has never been able to affect a complete transformation. Among lycanthropes, this is an emasculating thing.
Lonny grew up with typical middle kid syndrome, always doing crazy things to try and get attention. He relied on his natural athleticism and become a daredevil. This led to multiple visits to the hospital throughout his youth, but he always made a full recovery. He still possessed a werewolf's ability to heal quickly. He didn't mind the brief periods of being out of commission as the stunts still got him the attention he craved.
Things started to change a bit for him late in middle school. A friend of his was being bullied and Lonny stood up for him. The ensuing fight was ugly, but Lonny came out on top. He felt a sense of satisfaction in doing it that he never got from his reckless daredevil stunts. He pursued it a little too far however and began getting into fights regularly. He was trying to defend people who didn't want his help and soon got a reputation for sticking his nose in other people's business just so he could pick a fight.
People started avoiding him, old friends turned their backs on him, and Lonny was left feeling lonely and alienated. He went back to doing the same stunts that got him attention in the first place, but it just wasn't the same. Meanwhile Val had no problem making friends and Beth's piano lessons had resulted in her playing a couple of recitals and garnered her praise and attention. Lonny began to develop an inferiority complex as he watched his siblings succeed at what he couldn't do.
In an effort to try and catch some of Beth's glory, Lonny joined the marching band in high school playing trumpet, but he hated that and quickly switched to cello in the orchestra. The more formal setting felt stuffy to him and though he did enjoy playing music, he wasn't having fun with it there. His father recommended he try playing bass guitar, so Lonny bought a cheap rig and started learning. He took to it very quickly. He especially liked playing Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. With this newfound enthusiasm Lonny decided he wanted to be a rock star and practiced constantly. He got invited to a few parties where he would play some covers and a few jams. It got him attention, but people still knew his reputation and didn't take him very seriously.
After graduation, Lonny aimlessly drifted from one job to another. He went to college as a music major, but dropped out after only a semester. He had talent, but no direction. He played in a couple of garage bands, but was always kicked out of them due to creative differences or for too much grandstanding. He was in a rut for about a year when he got a call from Beth saying that she had just auditioned for a horror rock band and had suggested he try out as their new bassist.
Lonny nailed his audition with Bone Daddy and the Skeleton Crew. Jack took him and Beth aside at that point and asked if they had any superpowers. The band also were registered superpowered vigilantes under the super team name of The Skeleton Crew. Bob and Jack had decided that they really wanted to keep the band and the team in sync, so it would be ideal if everyone had powers and wanted to work as a crimefighter as well as a musician. Lonny remembered the feeling of fighting in other people's defense and finally was able to put two and two together. He leaped at the chance and quickly persuaded Beth to take it as well.
The band all moved into a house that Tim rented from his father. They all got day jobs to pay the bills except for Lonny who dedicated his days to practicing his bass playing and training as a fighter. He saw this as his big chance to break out and be taken seriously, and he was going to be ready when the moment of truth came. Since he's joined however it's been one long string of minor victories, painful defeats, and lackluster performances, one after the other. He refuses to give up, but the feeling of success being just out of reach is beginning to weigh heavily on him.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Sept 10, 2011 16:06:14 GMT -8
Sin
Real Name: Elizabeth "Beth" Browning Age: 30
Lexicon
Beth is the most well-spoken and urbane of the group, due mostly to her academic history and hobby as a reader. She doesn't curse very often except to insult, but is known to go on very histrionic rants when upset and/or frustrated. She has a tendency to come up with nicknames for people, but typically uses them as pejoratives as in the case with Lady Celestial whom she never refers to by name, instead calling her things like "God-twat" and "Mary Magda-loon." She addresses her friends by their real names, or at least the shorthand versions thereof (i.e. Bob, Tim, etc).
Background
Beth is the oldest of the Browning children and felt a desire to be a role model to her siblings. Though that never really came together, it did help her find a sense of ambition and discipline. She showed an early aptitude for music as a little girl, so her parents enrolled her in piano lessons. While she was raised on the likes of Bach and Chopin, she later found a taste for Little Richard, Elton John, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Growing up Beth was very plain. She was lithe and boyish, wore braces, and was very shy. Consequently, she was frequently overlooked and ignored by her peers in favor of the prettier, more outgoing girls. She compensated by being an overachiever with a strong academic record and a strong talent as a pianist. By middle school she was playing school recitals and finally catching some of the attention she always wanted. She was proud to finally be acknowledged for her hard work and recognized as a rising young talent.
Outside of her academia, Beth also studied to utilize her magic. Though not exceptionally powerful, it was still a part of who she was and a skill she wanted to develop. She had talents in fire magic, which presented some problems when practicing that ended in her family going through a lot of fire extinguishers and her little brother Lonny losing his eyebrows more than once. She had a little aptitude with divinations as well, but consciously chose not to work on them nearly as much as she found them to be too unreliable and vague.
Things took an unexpected change in high school. Beth turned out to be a late bloomer and late in sophomore year, she experienced a large growth spurt along with her body developing into a curvy, hourglass figure with a flattering bustline. Combined with the dark, Goth wardrobe she had been wearing for years already, she looked like a femme fatale. While she initially liked the changes and was immensely pleased to see what a beauty she'd grown into, it didn't take long before she noticed a change in others. People paid attention to her more. Guys were approaching her multiple times a day. And girls who before had ignored her now either wanted to be her friend or hated her.
Beth enjoyed the attention at first, but within a couple of months she grew sick of it. She knew that boys were more interested in her breasts than anything she had to say. She was being leered at and catcalled constantly. The girls who hated her saw her as a rival for the attention of men that she didn't even enjoy anymore. She could tell the worst joke, and people would still laugh at it. She could deliberately miss notes on a piano piece and still get praised. After a while, every compliment she received felt suspect. In senior year, she lost her virginity, but broke up with the man she had lost it to after she heard him bragging to his friends about it. Because of his boasting, rumors got going around the school of what a freak she was in bed and how easy she was. The catcalls and awful pickup lines only got worse. She retreated back into her shell, absorbing herself in her work.
She went to Pitt where she got a degree in Music Studies but never did anything with it as she no longer had any idea what to do with her life. After graduation she drifted through her life, working for a theater at a time before taking a slightly better paying job doing pendulum and tea leaf readings at a psychic shop which she didn't care for, but still found it more dignified than her mother's job as a phone psychic.
One day Beth went to a music shop to look at getting a new electric piano and saw an ad for a local band looking to recruit a keyboardist: Bone Daddy and the Skeleton Crew. The idea of playing in a horror rock band intrigued her so she gave them a call and set up an audition. Bob, the lead vocalist turned out to be a very taciturn man, but expressed a genuine respect for her talents. She liked the camaraderie the three musicians showed and thought that being with the band would be fun. On a whim she also recommended Lonny as a potential bassist. She just had a feeling he'd fit in better with them than he had with his previous bands.
After Lonny succeeded in his audition, Bob and Jack took the siblings aside and explained their moonlighting as vigilantes. To join the band, they also had to be willing to become crimefighters as well. Lonny leaped at the opportunity while Beth was more skeptical. The idea of fighting the good fight was appealing, but she didn't know if she was cut out to be a vigilante. At her brother's pleading, she finally relented and has been a member of the Skeleton Crew ever since.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Sept 10, 2011 16:17:26 GMT -8
Spooky
Real Name: Timothy "Tim" Petrosky Age: 29
Lexicon
Tim is a smooth talker with an acidic wit. His speech is littered with double entendres, ironic/sarcastic quips, and good-natured ribbing. When he gets into talking about gadgets and technology however he slips into jargon and can become borderline incomprehensible. He has an affinity for slogans, pithy aphorisms, and alliteratives and rhymes. Curiously, he contributes the occasional rhyme but has never written a song himself.
Background
Tim was always a wiseass. Always. In his childhood, he was a small but agile boy. He used his quick wit and fast feet to his advantage, taunting bullies into towering rages and able to outrun all of them or squirm his way out of a fight. Some thought he was White Knighting, but in truth he only ever tormented the bullies for his own amusement.
More aggravating to his teachers and parents, though, was his desire to tinker. If it had moving parts, Tim would try to take it apart and put it back together, often with mixed results. This landed him in hot water one day when he rigged up a sort of "ghetto tazer" to shock a bully who was picking on him. Though no permanent harm was done, it caused quite a stir among the faculty and ended with Tim nearly being expelled until his parents threatened a lawsuit against the school for failing to protect their son on their own grounds.
After that incident, Tim felt positively indestructible. More than ever, he was the class clown. He mouthed off to whoever he wanted whenever he wanted. Of course, the threat of litigation only kept the faculty away from him for so long. And this is how he developed his second talent: bullshitting. Tim learned in short order how to schmooze, charm and flatter when not outright lie his way out of trouble. He ended up taking this to its logical extreme in high school and within a semester had developed a reputation as a lothario. It got to a point where he became so arrogant about it that girls started refusing to go out with him. He went dateless for most of junior year as a result, much to his irritation.
Seeing his arrogance alienating lifelong friends, he was forced to dial back his impulsiveness and caustic wit in order to avoid becoming completely alone. This was well-timed as that same year he was approached by Bob Panek and Jack Anderson who asked him to drum for their band, The Lost Souls. Tim considered himself a horror hound and was especially fond of 50's sci-fi horror and mad scientists, so he leaped at the chance.
Tim's telekinesis manifested during a long night working on one of his tinkering projects. He dropped a tiny screw into the robot he was building and try as he might he couldn't get it back out. He was startled when at a high point of frustration, the screw popped out of the robot on its own and settled on the desk with a little clatter. Curious, he began testing and trying to recreate the effect until he could summon his ability at will. He learned quickly that he wasn't able to get a lot of raw strength behind the ability, but his ability to manipulate fine objects with it was amazing. He mostly used it to work faster on his tinkering projects, but initially also used it to less admirable ends, typically involving pretty girls.
When Bob disappeared, Jack and Tim kept in touch but no longer practiced as a band. The band was Bob's baby. He went to college and graduated with a bachelor's in computer science, but was fired from every corporate job he took for insubordination and his habit of showing up late and/or hungover. He never quite seemed to grow out of dorm life. Eventually, he ended up just getting a job working stock at Radio Shack, since it gave him easier access to parts for his projects. Beyond that, he demonstrated no real ambition. A job was a job as far as he was concerned.
When Bob came back, he immediately wanted to get the band back together. With nothing better to do, Tim agreed. Jack's suggestion that they become registered vigilantes was unexpected, but Tim didn't put up any resistance. Once Bob agreed to it, Tim saw little point in arguing. For him, it was mostly another stream of revenue and maybe a chance to impress more women. The latter never panned out though.
With his mechanical aptitude, Tim ended being the gearhead for the band. He repaired and maintained the sound equipment, the instruments, and so on. He managed to leverage that into quitting his job at Radio Shack and instead working as a repairman at a music store. He worked on inventions to use in crimefighting, but none of them ever turned out to be anything other than useless at best or a threat to the wielder and everyone around them at worst.
When the Browning siblings joined, he was overjoyed to find two new sources of straight lines for him to turn into jokes. At this point, he stays in the band out of a lack of anything better to do along with his friendship with Bob and Jack more than anything else.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Sept 10, 2011 16:28:48 GMT -8
And there are the character bios. For the most part I'm happy with them. Though I think I might have made Tim too much of an asshole. Yes, no, maybe? The idea of Beth using nicknames as insults just popped into my head while drafting some scenes, but I kind of like that.
Tim's wicked side came to me when I was planning out the aforementioned scene where The Gentleman lectures them again for being wannabes and "moving in on [his] territory." Around the beginning of the lecture, Tim quietly excuses himself, muttering something about needing to take a leak. At the end of the dialog, Tim comes back grinning to himself, which when questioned he waves off as, "Nothing, I just thought of something funny."
After The Gentleman leaves, Tim consoles a fuming Lonny in the following dialog.
TIM: You want to know the funny thing I thought of? LONNY: What? TIM: I didn't actually go for a leak. I went outside, flagged down the drunkest douchebags I could find, and bet one of them 20 bucks that he didn't have the balls to take a dump on the hood of the white Hyundai in the parking lot. BETH: White Hyundai... Isn't that what The Gentleman drives? TIM: Does he? No wonder I didn't feel bad about losing that bet.
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shiko
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Turn me to ash and give me back to nature. After all, to the universe we are specks of dust.
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Post by shiko on Sept 10, 2011 17:11:04 GMT -8
I like it so far, all the characters are very interesting!
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Sept 25, 2011 18:52:01 GMT -8
I've been putting together the first couple of vignettes. I need to get in touch with some artists about illustrations. The way it's shaping up, I'm also giving each character their own sense of humor and relying on their personalities for different jokes and gags.
Bob is a very quiet kind of funny. He's more likely to respond to something funny with a smile and a small chuckle than anything else. Most of the jokes with him revolve around how utterly detached he is most of the time. Like his actual sense of humor, the gags with him won't be laugh-out-loud funny, but something worth a smile.
Jack is a little more jovial. Being perpetually tipsy, he tends to make very off-color observations and occasionally acts on impulse just because the booze makes whatever he's thinking seem like a good idea. He's the friend we all have who will try to improve the mood of a room, even if it means creating a joke at his own expense. So even when Jack is the butt of a joke, you're still laughing with him.
Lonny's ability to survive massive trauma and recover from even grievous injuries in a fraction of the time humans do means he's a daredevil and a risk-taker. Consequently, he provides most of the physical humor. His own sense of humor is very over-the-top, irreverent and sarcastic.
Beth is the more sardonic member of the group. Her sense of humor is very dry and deadpan. Especially when things go wrong, she has this sort of quiet, long-suffering aspect about her. For example, Lonny hurts himself again, and Beth's response is a very put-upon sigh. She plays the straight woman as often as she does the joker.
Tim is the most sarcastic and acidic of the bunch. His sense of humor is schadenfreude-tastic. He at one point says of himself, "Unless someone else is less fortunate than me, I can't get hard." He comes across as kind of a bastard, but a very entertaining one. In a pinch, he'll just say the most outrageous or vulgar things he can think of with a straight face and see if anyone bites. In short, he's an IRL troll and the jokes involving him reflect that.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Oct 9, 2011 20:56:22 GMT -8
Still need to finish the writing and do the proof-reading, but here are the first stories I've worked out:
Band on the Run: Framed mostly in flashback as the Crew sit around for dinner at a noodle shop and recall their first days as a band and superteam. Their initial run-ins with The Tribe get mixed results and mention is made of the super community in Pittsburgh. Members of The Tribe show up and attempt to rob the place, and the Skeleton Crew get up to stop the robbery. "Well... back at it."
Fight Night: Lonny goes undercover in an illegal gambling ring as a streetfighter. He blows his cover when he flips out upon learning that the organizers are planning on diversifying into dog fighting. The group's first encounter with DOA. They track the money trail back to The Mountebank, but fail to bring him in.
Femme Fatale: Following a lead on the assassin, Miss K, the group cross paths with Lady Celestial and form a very tense, reluctant team up to track the villainess down. They're captured, and are a little disturbed to find that Miss K finds something intensely fascinating about Lonny and his inability to fully transform. They escape, but so does Miss K. Lonny and Beth send word out among their family to do some research and find out what about Lonny's handicap had Miss K so interested.
Double Cross: Word goes out among the city's hero community that the mob have called out a hit on a police informant, but the informant went missing before the hit was called. They need to find the informant before the hit men do. The Skeleton Crew learn that Wild Side has taken the contract for the hit and get out on the streets trying to find the informant before the sociopathic former vigilante does.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Oct 13, 2011 20:21:18 GMT -8
Feh, nothing is turning out how I like right now. Fight Night and Femme Fatale I'm probably just going to start over and write from the ground up. Until then, enjoy this collection of threats from Lonny, all of which will appear in the comics at some point and showcase his unique approach to conflict resolution:
"I'll beat you so bad you'll wish you'd been an abortion." "I'll pound your head so hard you'll have to unzip your jeans to brush your teeth." "I'll kick your ass so hard you'll be wearing your junk as a necktie." "You mouth off to Beth one more time and I'll hit you so hard it'll make dinosaurs extinct all over again." "Owing money to the mob is safer than pissing me off." "I'll eat your fucking heart out of your chest!!" "You know how many bones you can break and still live? Want to find out?" "By the time I'm through with you, a prison gang rape will seem like a walk in the park."
And finally:
"Give me an excuse and I'll stab you in the face with this." (holding a beer stein) (bad guy) "You can't stab someone with a blunt instrument." "Obviously you've never tried hard enough."
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2011 0:42:09 GMT -8
Haha, my personal favorites are the last one, and the one about the mob. Its nice getting all of these peeks. Too bad the writing part isn't cooperating. Sometimes the best thing to do is start over, even though it kinda sucks to do it after you've been working hard. Good luck!
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Oct 18, 2011 19:37:45 GMT -8
Okay, so here's new plot that I've worked out for Fight Night.
The Board of Vigilante Affairs, which licenses and oversees all costumed crimefighters, regularly posts bulletins for vigilantes. Basically, it's detectives looking for a little superpowered muscle to assist in a case. The Skeleton Crew turn in a couple members of the Tribe and are informed of a new bulletin regarding an illegal gambling ring. Detectives believe it's a new enterprise for established organized crime syndicates already in the city rather than a new gang altogether. The Skeleton Crew take up the job trying to gather more information for the police.
When the crew learn that the centerpiece of the gambling ring is streetfighting, Lonny volunteers to go undercover as a rookie fighter. After some arguing, he makes the case that his healing abilities, high threshold for pain, and ability to survive massive trauma make him the most qualified person for the job. They put out word among the police informants that a new guy wants to get in on the action and Lonny enters the fight circuit under the alias Danny the Dire Wolf.
Lonny wins his first two fights, but when it becomes obvious that he has superpowers, they put him up against more dangerous opponents. He takes some nasty beatings, but always manages to walk away. Through eavesdropping, he gathers that the gambling ring is being financed by The Mountebank. He's expanding his operations, but doesn't want the presence of his gang The Hooligans to be obvious just yet. He informs the police of his findings, but continues his operations saying that there's a rumor The Mountebank himself will be showing up on Saturday night.
Lonny goes back to the fighting ring while the Skeleton Crew stake out the place to watch for the Mountebank in hopes of tailing him. Things go balls up however when the police arrive to raid the place with The Gentleman in the lead. The Gentleman recognizes Lonny and berates him for interfering just as The Mountebank shows up. Lonny's cover blown, the whole place erupts in a riot and in the chaos Lonny is overpowered and dragged off by The Hooligans.
The Skeleton Crew see Lonny being dragged off amidst the chaos and give chase. The catch up to the Hooligans just in time to stop them from throwing a bound and weighted Lonny into the Monongahela River. The five thugs are beaten and subdued, and Lonny's pride is more hurt than his body. He expresses frustration in particular that The Mountebank got away because The Gentleman interfered. his friends console him that it wasn't a total loss. His infiltration scheme still technically broke up the gambling ring and put a lot of people in jail. Though The Gentleman will no doubt try to hog the glory, they can still chalk it up as a victory in the end and can expect a decent check from the BVA for their work on the case. Lonny resigns himself to taking what good he can get out of the deal and amuses himself by menacing the Hooligans who tried to kill him on the way back to the station.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Oct 25, 2011 0:04:15 GMT -8
The music for the first album is almost finished. I just need lyrics and vocal melodies. Here's the tracklisting:
1. Creature Feature (pick-strum rocker with several solos, both guitar and honky-tonk piano) 2. Thirteen (boogie woogie number about those old trapped-in-a-mansion-on-a-dark-and-stormy-night movies) 3. Holiday in Innsmouth (a Lovecraft Christmas carol) 4. Bodysnatchers (creepy rocker about the Bodysnatcher movies) 5. Leech Woman (hard rock number about the movie Leech Woman) 6. Through Channels (atmospheric, distorted instrumental based on a Richard Matheson short story) 7. Cat People (mid-tempo song about the Val Lewton movie of the same name) 8. Cursed Again (a doo-wop/rock fusion about a man cursed by a witch to love her and he wants out)
Working title for the album is The Graveyard Shift.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2011 10:55:23 GMT -8
I really like that idea for the fighting ring. First of all, how the police react to the vigilanties makes sense, and its nice to see a change from other portrayals wherein they are either ostracized or the government wants them big time. Hmm, maybe one of the arguments against Lonny going should be that Jackie's abilities would be good as well? Lonny does make the most sense overall though. I also like how, despite being a sort of 'loser' band of heroes, they really would've had a crack at the guy if not for the Gentleman, which shows that they're not inept. I've always liked stories about fighting rings too, so that may be part of why I like this idea so much. Also, that track and the descriptions sound great! I especially like the idea of calling it the Graveyard Shift, that's hilarious, and poetic in a sense.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Nov 12, 2011 13:15:21 GMT -8
First of all, how the police react to the vigilanties makes sense, and its nice to see a change from other portrayals wherein they are either ostracized or the government wants them big time. I've been playing City of Heroes lately. It made sense to me that in a world where it's implied that superheroes have been around for a while now, the government would want to make sure their crimefighting activity is something that they can license and regulate. Mercenary work isn't technically illegal, but the licensed vigilantes tend to come down pretty hard on any superpowered mercenaries that cross ethical boundaries like DOA and Miss K. I've worked that into the dialog. Bob argues that he should go because he's the best listener and his teleportation and invisibility make an escape easy. Some of the band are skeptical though because Bob isn't the most communicative guy on the planet, especially with strangers. Jack argues that he can handle himself in a fight, and being constantly drunk makes him seem like less of a threat. Beth shoots that idea down because if Jack gets too drunk, he starts getting chatty. Though his body processes alcohol differently than normal humans, he still is prone to make really stupid decisions when he's completely shitfaced. And unfortunately, that's a typical weekend for Jack. Beth argues that she can use her looks to her advantage. Even though she hates getting hit on by creepy losers, she's willing to take one for the team. Lonny is quick to put the kibosh on that, saying that their mother would kill him if he let his sister go into what he dubs "a perfect storm of drunken sleaze and date rape drugs." Tim argues that he's good with people, but the whole band say no because as smooth a talker as he is, he's also a provocateur and is more likely than anyone else in the band to start a fight outside of the cage. Ultimately, Lonny won't be able to go in under the radar, but being a cage fighter does put him in a position to know more about the gambling ring's dealings than anyone else. And since he can take the punishment better than anyone else, he's the logical choice. Naturally, Lonny's inferiority complex plays into it, and he refuses to back down out of pride. Breaking up the gambling ring and maybe even turning in The Mountebank are prime opportunities to prove his worth. I really wanted to give the band the feeling of sympathetic starving artists. They're not incompetent, they're just having a run of hard luck paying their dues. Between the politics in the vigilante community and their own idiosyncrasies they're having difficulty catching a break. Again, it's that starving artist thing. They're a bunch of working stiffs pulling a graveyard shift to make ends meet.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Nov 12, 2011 18:26:59 GMT -8
Just talked to a guy with some training in Flash animation. Meaning I might be able to do some animated shorts in the new year if I can find some voice actors.
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Mina Murray
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Post by Mina Murray on Nov 12, 2011 19:25:33 GMT -8
You had me at steampuck themed hero.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Nov 25, 2011 21:50:17 GMT -8
Okay, here's what I've worked out for Band on the Run.
It opens with the Skeleton Crew sitting in a noodle shop talking about old times over dinner. Tim is laughing as he tells a story about an early run-in with Professor Boom, you the audience catching the tail-end as he cackles over one of the Professor's gadgets blowing up in his face (literally) allowing Tim to feel better about his own crimefighting contraptions, several of which turned out to be a threat to the user and everyone around him.
Lonny remarks that it still turned out better than their first night on patrol together. Through a flashback, we see the Skeleton Crew fighting a gang of Tribe members who were trying to break into a gas station. Jack is holding his own the best while Bob mostly serves to confuse them by teleporting this way and that. Beth and Tim help each other out as Beth is afraid to use her magic in close proximity to gas pumps. Lonny takes off in pursuit of two gangbangers who flee around the corner.
Most of them get away, but Jack manages to subdue a couple while Beth and Tim bring one down by themselves after Bob distracts him. They look around for Lonny, who calls from around the corner in a shaky voice that the two he was following got away and ran him over with their getaway car. He asks them not to panic. When he comes around, he has a compound fracture in his left arm with the bone rather obviously sticking out of the skin. The guys are shocked, but Beth just shakes her head in exasperation. When asked if it hurts, Lonny replies, "Not a whole lot but... I think that's because I'm going into shock. The good news is... the bleeding stopped... I'm going to the van to lie down. Drop me off at Mercy Hospital, they know me." He then staggers off, leaving the rest of the Crew to cuff the perps.
End flashback. The group has a good laugh. Beth remarks that at least Lonny can recover from all his injuries. She's had less luck with repairing her reputation among the city's volunteer firefighters. Cue a flashback montage of Beth having awkward run-ins with firefighters due to her powers getting out of control.
Jack remarks, "If you want to talk about embarrassing, you should have seen our first gigs as a trio." Flashback to Bob, Jack and Tim several years ago playing a couple of bars and getting booed of stage in successively more spectacular ways, concluding with getting bottles and cans thrown at them. Jack catches one bottle thrown at him and drinks the contents before chucking it back at the guy who threw it. A fight breaks out in the bar as a result. Jack is fighting and stealing people's drinks as he does so. Bob simply teleports out of the way and watches from behind the bar with an impatient look. Tim gets out of the crowd fighting and starts hitting on the single girls unsuccessfully. End flashback. Bob looks at Tim who is narrating ever more spectacular details. Tim challenges, "Oh you want to tell them what actually happened?"
Everyone looks at Bob. Bob looks up reminiscing. Flashback to the bar fight. Bob, Jack and Tim sneak out while the crowd still brawls. Bob dusts off his jacket and sighs. "So... Doobage?" Bob teleports their gear out to the van while Jack and Tim wait for him and light up a joint. End flashback.
Lonny remarks, "So basically same as what we do now."
A scream breaks out and members of the Tribe burst in robbing the patrons. The Skeleton Crew look at each other and nod. "Back at it," Jack says as they stand up to fight the robbers.
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shiko
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Post by shiko on Nov 26, 2011 6:28:54 GMT -8
If you don't publish this I will find you and force you too. I love the story, I love the characters , I love everthing about it even the villians. You must get this in the public eye.
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Nov 27, 2011 0:25:11 GMT -8
For you nerds out there, I thought I would list the band members' musical influences so you know what I'm drawing on.
Bob: Alice in Chains, Type O Negative, Elvis Presley, Ronnie James Dio, The Misfits Jack: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Smiths, Alice in Chains, Type O Negative, Van Halen Lonny: Black Sabbath, Husker Du, The Beatles, Manowar, Iron Maiden Beth: Elton John, Pink Floyd, Type O Negative, Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra Tim: Led Zeppelin, The Misfits, Peter Gabriel, The Ventures
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WolfGod
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Post by WolfGod on Dec 6, 2011 19:24:08 GMT -8
Since I'm hoping to get this animated and make a few music videos for the songs, I've worked out their individual stage presences. Bob sings through a Shure birdcage mic. His movements are slow and sweeping, very melodramatic. He plays for a crowd of 10 like it's 10,000. He tends to stay very stationary, occasionally putting his foot up on the monitor and reaching out into the audience. Jack plays a Steiberger ZT3 (blue) and on some of the heavier songs, a Steinberger Synapse Demon. He keeps the guitar slung at about waist-length. He grooves and sways to the music, but given his constant state of inebriation, tries to keep himself stable to avoid falling off the stage. Lonny switches frequently between a Fender Precision bass and a custom devilwing bass. He only ever plays fingerstyle. He wears his bass slung low, almost down to his knees. He's the most active of the band, headbanging while holding wide power stances, moving back and forth across the stage, and giving the occasional jump or flourish like he's fighting with his instrument for control. Beth has a set of two keyboards at the ready for the few songs where she needs to quickly switch settings, both on a standing rack. Like Bob, she tends toward minimalist stage movements to concentrate on her playing, but when the part is easy enough, she can headbang as well as Lonny. Tim plays a kit of monochromatic black and white drums with a crudely drawn ghostly face on the bass drum. Tim painted it on without actually looking at it, making it look as if the face is trying to manifest itself through supernatural means and isn't quite getting there. Since Tim spends the entire time behind the kit, he compensates for his lack of mobility by having on hell of a drum face. He spends the whole show grinning like a hobgoblin and grooving around as much as his stool will allow.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2011 1:05:46 GMT -8
May I just say those are some pretty guitars? @.@ And I would also like to comment that its really quite cool how the instruments work with the individual personalities. I can look at the guitars and easily see why they fit a certain character, and that's really nice. Also, the story with the many flashbacks is good too. The only potential problem I can think of is that it might be a little too flashback-heavy, but that's just a personal preference. I liked the bit about Beth and the firefighters, and also that Tim's story was highly exaggerated.
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