The Good, The Bad and The Spandex: Discussion Thread

Caelus Carcinus

So, two things to take into account. Space is big, really, really big. Second, while the various methods of FTL travel generally fall into a few broad categories, the exact details can differ enough to almost be a different thing entirely. This will evade the sensors of more long-standing space faring civilizations that are on the look out for new fellow travelers.

This brings us to Earth's first contact with another extraterrestrial species. The first ever very public contact, that is, before the Invasion. A space craft comes touching down right smack in the middle of Manila City in the Philippines and out of it crawls a massive crab-like creature, taller than a man and wider than a dozen, with eight legs and four downward facing claws filled with a mass of prehensile tentacles. Despite its fearsome appearance, it came bearing a message of peace and brotherhood.

Apparently, we are the first sapient species its people had ever come into contact with. Up until then, they had considered the possibility that they were alone in the universe. It's joy and excitement were palpable, even through the vastly different body. It was a scientist and an explorer, and with this had made the greatest discovery since they discovered FTL almost half a millennium ago.

Then TALOS got there and discreetly informed it of their contacts with the larger galactic community, as well as sending a message up to them as well. By then, the cat was out of the bag, but officials from the galactic government still attempted to squirrel the poor crab creature away for proper first contact procedures.

According to the liaison on Earth, this sort of thing was more common than they cared to admit; a species wandering the vastness of space, just barely missing others, cosmically speaking, as they unknowingly fly under the radar. Normally, the older species set up "traps", places in space with artificially created anomalies to hopefully attract some curious newbies they missed and ping them for proper first contact. Unfortunately, in this case, all the sensors around Earth combined to form that exact sort of anomaly.

Although I have no complaints about the idea itself, I am concerned that it will lead to humanity just being all "yup more aliens", which I feel takes away somewhat from alien invasion plots, as well as moving closer to alienating (hue) those that would like to incite shock factor in a jaded populace. Am I missing anything here?

edited 12th Sep '16 8:05:50 PM by Mistfader

If that becomes the case, I'd iterate that the primary points this is supposed demonstrate are the whole vastness of space and undetected FTL things.

Well by now the existence of aliens is publicly known (due to The Invasion, which presumably happened only a few years ago) so I guess its a moot point except for stories set before that time period.

By the way is caelus the name of the creature, its species or ts home planet?

The scientific name of the species given by humanity. It means space crab.

I think I'll approve it. Oh when was this btw?

And for the record, Robert Sanders isn't the CEO of Superior Industries, he's just a lawyer.

Before the Invasion?

Shoot, I never gave any kind of exact timeline.

That's just it, TALOS has existed since the 50s. That's quite a stretch of time to cover until the present. Unless of course the Caelus event was covered up (maybe as the shooting of a movie?) so the general public didn't know about aliens until The Invasion (if we go with that.)

edited 13th Sep '16 6:55:02 AM by Sijo

Just a little note, a significant part of the Mechaniac's backstory is that he was abducted by aliens.

edited 13th Sep '16 8:52:47 AM by MajorProblem

THE FITNESSGRAM PACER TEST IS A MULTISTAGE AEROBIC CAPACITY TEST THAT PROGRESSIVELY GETS MORE DIFFICULT AS IT CONTINUES

Virgil's sitting in his office, building robots, looking at the twitter feed of the Minuteman and the Bear and just thinking "jeez these two actually do this?"

That's fine. You may decide if it was before or after The Invasion, it doesn't really matter anyway.

A note on Variable Powers:

You know how some characters have New Powersasthe Plot Demands? Things like sorcery, gadgets etc? I'm OK with this, as long as you discuss in this thread what you are trying to do each time first. Then depending on the situation I'll decide if it is allowable.

edited 13th Sep '16 7:55:53 AM by Sijo

Venenatus Magus

A sapient, alien species with a natural inclination towards magic. They're one of the few species that managed to achieve FTL without Stage 2 Unification. When the spell to reach the stars was discovered, it's metaphysically loud nature spelled the ritual across the firmament and was disseminated across the world in short time.

The venenatus magus are a humanoid race with the aquatic features of a cephalopod, though their race is amphibious. They've eyes larger than the norm and no outwardly protruding ears. They have "hair" in the form of a mass of tentacles, which can vary in thickness and form across ethnicities. They have extremely vivid and bright skin colors, the three main pigment matching the primary colors of light; red, green and blue. Few are purely of one color but tend toward one, with some hybrids taking towards a secondary color. A full hybrid will be a pale, near-white color and common lore among their various cultures state they descended from a common pitch black ancestor race.

The Void Consortium

A space-faring nation of pirates and raiders from the venenatus magus. They are practitioners of the darkest arts, pillaging the galaxy for sacrifices to feed their rituals. They are opposed by The Sufficient Trust, an alliance backed by the larger galactic community made up of more venenatus magus nations and other groups of practitioners. Over the centuries, the noose has been tightening around the Consortium's neck and they have resorted to far more desperate measures to feed their evil appetites.

The Macrame Junta

A militant nation of the alvarium animus that has been lead to one disaster after another in this past century. The previous Supreme Commander has been lauded as one of the worst they ever had in their history. She dialed up the normally aggressive tendencies of the Junta to foolhardy degrees, instigating conflict after conflict, some of them with far more power nations and groups one simply doesn't make enemies of. And then, where she made wars where diplomacy might have been preferred, she made deals with those the rest of the Junta would have preferred to see exterminated.

She allied the Junta with the Void Consortium.

Using the psionic sciences of the Junta, the magitek of the Consortium and the effort of one other mysterious backer, they managed to by-pass the defenses set-up by the galactic community around the protected planet of Earth. Rife with metabeings, the Supreme Commander promised that she would use the genetic potential of this species to augment the people of the Junta, making them strong enough to take their rightful place on the galactic stage.

To the Consortium, she promised fodder for their blood soaked altars.

The Invasion... during the Invasion, every one of the Supreme Commander's bodies was killed. That the very last body of the commander was actually mostly in-tact save for a laser bolt to the back of the head, far away from the front lines, is a fact ignored. The remaining commander structure, ruled by cooler heads, elected to retreat. That the Consortium was pulling out before they were was a surprise to no one.

Since then, the Junta has been under extreme scrutiny and censure by the rest of the galactic community. The newly promoted Supreme Commander herself elected to submit her government to the judgement and authority of whatever united body governs the alliances of the galaxy. The Consortium, however, disappeared into little hidey holes outside of reality. They took with them captive citizen-soldiers of the Junta and purloined pieces of psionic science, ready to take another, more subtle, crack at Earth.

edited 13th Sep '16 4:10:47 PM by God_of_Awesome

Psionic Hampering Gel: If applied to the head, it can protect user from most types of mind reading and psionic manipulation, and reduces psychic damage. If applied to the head of a psion, it significantly impairs their powers. Comes in grenade form.

Anyway, here's The Minuteman's exact weapons.

• Akimbo AA-12s, "Stars and Stripes"

Practically recoilless automatic shotguns. Accepts most types of shells, but The Minuteman usually uses Buckshot and FRAG-12s. One has a red and white stripe color scheme, the other has white stars on a blue background. Both have 20-round drum mags.

• Ingram MAC-11, "Liberty"

9mm, has the iconic suppressor. Has a decorative decal, a Bald Eagle holding an olive branch.

• M-16 Assault Rifle "Death"

Armor piercing 5.56 rounds, Quadstacked magazine. Decal is a Bald Eagle holding a bundle of arrows.

• Colt Python, "Gadsden"

The Minuteman's sidearm, has a scope mounted on the barrel rib. Decal is a quote, "DON'T TREAD ON ME", along with the iconic snake.

• Lucille

The Minuteman's favorite aluminum baseball bat.

• "The Lab 12 Special"

Can get all sorts of cool gadgets from his boys in the lab, including but not limited to cryogenic grenades, psionic hampering gel, and EMP buffers.

• "The Pursuit of Happiness"

His tiny pistol that can silently attach a tracking device.

edited 13th Sep '16 9:03:10 AM by MajorProblem

THE FITNESSGRAM PACER TEST IS A MULTISTAGE AEROBIC CAPACITY TEST THAT PROGRESSIVELY GETS MORE DIFFICULT AS IT CONTINUES

Champion University Staff
Please don't make me do write-ups like Emily did

Silverbeard
Oh my god, you Dumbledore? The Champion Headmaster, he is a metahuman with the Magus trait, giving him an innate grasp of magic. He is, in fact, one of the more powerful ones and had once been in the running for this world's version of Sorcerer Supreme. If or not he held the title once, he doesn't anymore. He seems relatively benevolent if terribly irresponsible, quite willing to trust children with tasks you normally reserve for adults. He always seems to have some other plan in the work. (Expy of Xavier)

Mab & Titania
The head of the University's psionic and magic department respectively, with self-taught abilities to match. They are constantly at each other's throats, a drama that carries over from their pre-teaching days when they were arch-enemies. Mab is a reformed supervillain and Titania occasionally gets possessed by a nature goddess claiming to be Gaia's Vengeance, dead set on wiping out humanity. (Expy of Emma Frost and Jean Grey)

Deathmask
The head of campus security. A fearsomely named individual walking around in what appears to be a Jason F13 cosplay, he's actual a genial and humorous soul. A Canadian super zombie, literally a deathless revenant, a lot of mystique surrounds him since he's so rarely around campus. He's full of wanderlust and tends to dick off on long sabbaticals. How he stays on the payroll is anyone's guess. (Expy of Wolverine crossed with Deadpool)

Cross Eyes
The effective head of campus security, juggling it with being the head of the general education department. He holds a grudge against Deathmask for not doing his job, but the zombie isn't around enough to notice. He's also caught in a love triangle between Mab and Titania, but refuses all of Silverbeard's requests to go by "Oberon". Cross Eyes has the psionic gift of "x-ray" vision, able to see through things at will. He goes around campus with special tinted sunglasses that block his powers to assure everyone else he's respective their privacy. He's also an accomplished martial artist, so that's a thing. (Expy of Cyclops)

Mr. Mad 2.5
A robotic duplicate of the science powered superhero that gained sapience in a freak accident. Although displaying much of the original's personality traits, he claims he is halfway towards Mad 3, and wishes for a calmer life. He since became Champion University's head of the workshop department.

Mad 3: Father, why are there two of you?
Mad 2: One of my robo-clones gained sentience!
Mad 3: Sapience. Also, what?
Mad 2.5: Hi, I guess I'm your second father now.
Mad 3: Try again.
Mad 2.5: Uncle?
Mad 3: ...
Mad 2.5: Brother?
Mad 3: Whatever.

Cross Bones
A metahuman with the unfortunate trait of having translucent flesh, except for his skeleton. Also, he can phase through objects, but oddly that's not the first thing people see. He heads the school's PR Education department, teaching children how to present themselves, no matter what they look like. He also dabbles in some general education, being a well-educated man himself, filling out some of Cross Eye's ranks. (Expy of Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and a little bit of Beast)

Cherub
A man with a extremely slow and unconscious shapeshifting ability that has changed him into his own subconscious ideal. Besides the perks of a peak human body, his power is quite literally being super good looking. He also has the ability to fly, but oddly that's not the first thing people see. He's the head of the University's actual PR, acting as its face to the public. His smiling, chiseled features have been posted everywhere. He's actually a well-groomed and expertly coached man-child, albeit a well-meaning one. He and Cross Bones normally greet new students in PR with a "From Above And Below" routine before a "No matter what you look like" speech. (Expy of Angel)

Hugo
Hugo is a ten meter tall cyborg gorilla, partially covered in power armor permanently welded to her body. Hugo is the school's mascot. Hugo would like to be your friend. Cross Eyes would like to remind you not to ride on Hugo's back, it's rude. Deathmask would like to remind you to do it, it's hella fun.

Fraulein Frogette
The head of the combat department. She has all the powers of a frog, as well as the ability to control them. She sets out to teach kids that they can do anything with their powers, no matter how useless they seem. Has an unusual amount of admirers. (Expy of Squirrel Girl, Toad and a little bit of Jubilee)

Smoke Puff
The head of the rescue department. An alumni from the university's early days, a kid side-kick to the then superteam that set out to be an educational body. She's grown a lot in maturity since then, but seemingly ceases to age somewhere in her mid-teens. She has the ability to teleport in a puff of black smoke. (Expy of Nightcrawler and Shadowcat)

I'd be willing to do a full write-up for you, if that's okay.

Sure! I'll pass you some notes.

So, Aaron is getting love sick. Having a pretty girl in your head would do that to you.

Next question: why are so many people tweeting?

Please allow me to introduce myself, I am a man of wealth and taste. Nice to meet you, hope you can guess my name.

The Bear and Minuteman are on different sides of the political spectrum, so they're arguing on twitter. Virgil is calling them both idiots in response.

We either need more of this or less of it.

It's not just them. Pretty much everyone is, like that Jimjam Deplorable guy.

THE FITNESSGRAM PACER TEST IS A MULTISTAGE AEROBIC CAPACITY TEST THAT PROGRESSIVELY GETS MORE DIFFICULT AS IT CONTINUES

Everyone join in on this twitter nonsense!

Dragon Man has no twitter.

Please allow me to introduce myself, I am a man of wealth and taste. Nice to meet you, hope you can guess my name.

I think I'm done with Hazel and Misty. May I take over as Mindseye from here, or do you want to keep playing as her, Sijo?

Pretty sure Lodestone would screw up his phone/computer is he had Twitter. Or a phone/computer.

"I treasure every day with you, darling." "No need to be so sappy, love." "You know that's how she is, Nia." - AU!Pyra, Nia, Mythra

He has cyborg parts doesn't he? Use those to connect to the internet.