Billyboy

Anyone who knew anything knew that there were a horde of reporters in Paragon City. It was a constant scoop. If you were anywhere at just about any time of the day, you were sure to see something amazing, be it a spandex clad super battle, a steam powered behemoth, or a squad of extra dimensional warriors. A good writer could make a fortune, but a good photographer could make an absolute killing.

Which was, of course, precisely why the Journey Man had just arrived in Steel Canyon via monorail from halfway across the country. He had a natural nose for great scoops, that photojournalists’ sense that put him in the exact right place at the exact right time to get the greatest and latest about the most amazing events. He ran his own magazine back in Indiana, filled with stories about attacks and captures, plagues and curses, mythical monsters and legends come to life, and it was his sole purpose to fill the pages of said magazine with interesting writing, but more importantly, photos of the story as the story was occurring!

Like so many times before, he’d felt a calling as he had sat in his home just two nights before, a desperate urging from somewhere within him to travel. He’d learned to trust his instinct, it had never lead him wrong, not once. He would always follow his gut, and his gut would lead him to a story. Of course, his gut also got him into a lot of trouble, but that’s where the heroes came in. By some twist of luck or fate, he always found himself with a hero or several during his many encounters, and his articles highlighted their escapades in detail, with action packed photographs and biographies. But of course, the Journey Man was never mentioned in such things. Only heroes really knew the Journey Man existed, in all truth.

And so it was that this most interesting man had arrived in Paragon City just as his photojournalists’ instinct came to the climax of excitement. He walked with purpose in his black and red patterns pants and tuxedo shirt as he strode through the crowds, smiling and waving at strangers who didn’t even take the time to notice him as his camera bounced happily on the strap around his neck. He was aimed northward, and he knew he was close.

He slipped into a burger joint, ordered a meal, paid and promptly hand it to the man behind him before running to the restroom. He wasn’t one to use a restroom in a restaurant without buying something first.

The man hardly had time to realize that he no longer need to buy his own meal before the bathroom door flew open again and one of the most nonconventional heroes the man had ever seen burst out.

He wore a red bandana on his head, pulled down to the bottom of his nose with large black goggles placed over his eyes, holding the cloth in place. One could only guess there were holes cut in the bandana for his eyes, because it seemed to be right over his face. His long blonde hair, which fell down his back in graceful waves, flowed from under the bandana, making a stark contrast with his shirt, which was simply a black tight t shirt. His pants were something to see, however, as he seemed to be wearing three pairs at once, each shorter than the layer previous to create a triple plaid combination that any stylist would absolutely detest. The longest layer, which looked like green and white striped pajama pants, were tucked into thick tan workboots. The second layer went just below his knees and displayed brown, blue, and dark green, while the top layer, looking like little more than boxers, was grey, black, and white. He wore a bracer on each arm of a metallic blue color, which clashed purposefully with his fringed red cape, the mantle of which wasn’t cut circular like most heroes, but kept the whole cape in a rectangle shape, resting on his shoulders. A camera held by a black leather strap slapped against his chest as he ran, grabbing a few fries with an apologetic grin.

The Journey Man sprinted hard up the ramp the street followed, drawing odd looks and confused stares as he charged into Boomtown, taking a quick shot of the security guards before flipping over them and continuing on.

He scrambled over debris and fallen buildings, his heart thumping as he closed in on his goal. He could see smoke coming from not far away, just on the other side of the broken highway. He looked for a way there, but his only ways seemed either going around the highway, which would take longer than he guessed he had, or he could take the troll infested tunnel underneath. He opted for running forward and leaping, finding minuscule finger holds and scrambling up faster than any sane man would scramble up anything.

He managed to get a shot of several training Council soldiers before having to run from heavy gunfire, but they were quickly put behind him as his goal came into sight. He didn’t know why, but his gut told him that it was important.

A burning building. In a destroyed part of the city.

He looked down and poked himself in the stomach, wondering if his guts were playing tricks on him.

The Journey Man shrugged. He’d once gone to a Christian camp on his own urgings to discover that the camp legend, Lights-Out Magee, was more than just a myth. Sometimes things just weren’t as they seemed.

Getting off the highway was easier, as a broken pipe led almost the whole way down to the ground. He grabbed hold of it and slid down, spinning in the air before landing in a crouch and rolling to absorb the impact. He was up again in a second, arriving at the scene just in time to snap several shots of Solar Freeze using his negating wave.

Well, he’d arrived in time, he was sure, but he certainly hoped there was more than just a hero putting out a fire here. It was great and all, but nothing his readers would be interested in!

((OOC: Well, the costume is explained in the intro, but as it may be more confusing than anything, I'll show you a shot of my attempt at recreating him in CoH. There are a lot of things I had to leave out, namely his cape and three layers of pants, but I'd rather have you thinking of this as the Journey Man than something totally wrong.))

Wow, Essex, these songs are so super cool. Where do you get your music from?

I really liked Melodie - Salva Nos for a character I haven't written about at any length in an RP, though I dearly, dearly want to. His name's the Champion, and he's an angsty hero of near anti-hero proportions. Forced to never feel any type of pleasure or happiness unless bringing the wicked to justice until he manages to vanquish the terrible demi-god Immortal. Ah, he was fun to write a bio for, I hope he gets a chance in an RP soon!

By the way, I really, really loved the Winning the Rainbow song you had picked out for Billyboy. I'm listening to it now, it's just so like a fight scene for him. Lots of guitar! I could imagine this as his final epic fight against Wormwood... but none of you know who that is... yet!

Ooo! I offer up Billyboy! Lots of pics in his Crey profile, which is in my sig!

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I also try to fashion some of my characters after cliches. Like Archlich, the evil all powerful undead mage who wants to but can't take over the world for spit.

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I love cliches! Dr. Phillis was created as a cliche just for fun, because I love taking cliches and making them as unique as possible while still being a cliche! An evil genius with goggles, crazy hair, and a robot army was the general idea, but I mixed him up a bit by making him a young man, starting his evil career around twenty-three or twenty-four, and making him really actually doing what he's doing because he thinks that in the end it will be the right thing. Plus, the ends don't justify the means for him, so he's not willing to kill just anyone, only those who get in his way, and he doesn't take hostages, though he does take prisoners. Plus, he's a sane man, just zealous. He's kind of frustrated because he believes most people are too stupid to see how much better off things would be if he ruled.

So many characters I've made our just cliches. Podo is a misunderstood goblin in a human's world, altruistic and heroic, yet cast away and feared because of his backround. The Champion is the generic angsty character that can't feel happiness and was created with the piece of a powerful demigod in hopes of becoming a weapon to destroy him. Dark Daveedo is my [censored] crazy necromancer type who wants your soul.

Ah, cliches are so much freaking fun to play around with, especially when you end up making something you really like out of that little idea!

But, back on the thread topic, I'd love to see your ideas, Essex! I can't tell you how many times I've made music videos for my characters.

I always knew I was popular! I'd be happy to come back to Final Fight, I just need a super recap to know what I'm getting myself into. I don't want to enter in on anything big and ruin the moment or anything.

Heh, to tell you the truth, I'd love to come back, but I really don't think my schedule these days would allow me to post very well. Plus, I have no idea what Billyboy I would use concerning timeline. I took it that the thread was staged after SH101 before, because Toy and Billyboy had met in the summer of 2006 (Brass Monday was staged after the school year and oddly enough directly on my birthday, and thus Billyboy's 17th birthday, while he's 16 in SH101). But I'm really not sure how it fits in anymore!

The huge armies was a big part in me leaving Final Fight, to tell the truth. Having my lone hero in there when every side had huge amounts of artillery and troops just seemed so one sided and impossible I didn't feel like I would be able to contribute in the slightest. I kind of tried to set up Dr. Phillis with an army to counter the others, but I guess Burning was trying to rid himself of my army as he had tried with Devious, and things just became silly. Then Toy came around and had some serious firepower against Billyboy, and I made him to honestly not be able to take that much punishment. I mean, for one, I hate undermining people's character, and taking out Archlich, Ghoul, Toy and all his robots seemed like a bit much for me to say Billyboy had a chance of doing. Things just kept getting bigger and bigger, and I ended up feeling really obselete. Oh, and did I mention that I would sit down at the computer to read about forty posts that left me in the dust? :P

Okay, so the activity part of it wasn't so bad, but I really do think several of us could really tone down our characters just a bit if they're going to be used to RP.

Your art is wonderful! I'd love to see my main drawn. He could easily be called a pretty boy. Teenage punk with long hair and a runner's physique.

Billyboy 1

Billyboy 2

Billyboy 3

Just for a bit of backround, Billyboy is a showoff and tries his best to look good. He's got energy powers, so he flaunts them relentlessly to show how special he is. He basically joined the hero business to get famous, and he cares way too much about what people think about him. Basically, any pose with him should be flashy or have him in a position that's generic cool.

Thanks much! Your work is great, I can't wait to see more!

*shiver* I honestly don't think I'd want to be one of my characters, just because I give them so many flaws it's crazy. I RP with them, so they have all kinds of problems and issues, it would be crazy!

Billyboy was purely based off me from his beginning, but as I played him more and began writing for him, he became what I always thought was a cool person when I was in middle school, before I realized how stupid it was. Now Billyboy is the kind of person I really wouldn't want to be, because he puts way too much importance in stupid things, like reputation and how people look. Not the kind of person I'd like to be.

My villain, Dr. Phillis, is based on my super radical views that became so warped during his development that I don't believe in them whatsoever anymore. It would be really cool to be as smart as him and control a robot army, but he really isn't the kind of person I'd have fun as, because I would be like him, and he isn't a fun person!

If I chose one, it would be Podo the Goblin, my broadsword/SR scrapper. He's altruistic and honorable and a true hero. He puts others before himself and would be the perfect hero if he weren't a three foot tall green man with pointy ears, an irregularly flat nose, and a cybernetic arm and eye. Which is really where the conflict comes in, because people don't trust or respect him, even though he just wants what's best. It would be awesome to be a swordsgoblin that can jump to the top of buildings and best a titan without the aid of super powers, but really, even being him would be difficult because I put so many challenges in front of my characters, like the fact that I would be a bloody freak by human standards!

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Hermod, you're biggest problem is you inability to convey a story arc sucessfully. You let minor details play to big a role. Like that time you made the fact that those six circular buildings be used as improvised standing stones. It was a decent idea, but way to small a detail to make so important. You just can't let shocking the RPers involved play such a big role when it can completely ruin the story's outcome.


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Hey, I thought the standing stones thing was awesome. It made the entire arc come together and really made it one of the great stories from these boards that I remember.

I love how you incorperate other people's characters into your arcs, as in they play an important role in them despite not being yours, and I mean aside from just saving the day. You did that with both Cyba and Plasma Spate for me, and it made me super happy.

Though, just to get something bad in, you leave out Scaku's island accent when you write for him and don't have him stuffing enough things into his back as souveniers and regeants.

Leogunner, you write really well and your characters are all well put together and developed. The only thing that irritates me can't possibly be helped by you, because it's what your character revolve around. I'm just not a martial artist fan, to be honest, and that's really more of a flaw on my part that anyone else's. Like, when your character makes hand signals to deplete momentum or absorb shock or something like Ian's whole bokken mastery, it just has me thinking How the hell does that makes sense?! It makes total sense and you employ it excellently, I just prefer more classical comic book explanations, even if they're super far fetched and only make sense in a totally impossible manner. That's just my way of thinking, though, I really do love RPing with you.

Essex, I don't remember if I critiqued you yet or not, but I'm going to again. I absolutely love Essex's backstory, and Zealstorm is one of the greatest villains I've seen on these boards. Your characters are very fun, though Essex can be super predictable, though I haven't really put her in the situations I'm planning to really get her to do something unexpected.

Soviet, I'm not sure if I've seen enough of your characters for this, but it seems like you really lacked development. Ramier really never seemed to change whatsoever throughout the whole SV101 thread (let it rest in peace) and not a whole lot was revealed about him. Likewise, Prikker seems fairly trollish and not much else, which I'm really hoping you're planning to change through development as SH101 progresses. But don't think I'm all negative, you have a great writing style and wonderful characters. You explain things very well, though sometimes you seem to assume that everyone else knows as much about weaponry as you, and I'm stuck there wondering what's going on.

Feel free to point out my flaws, I know I have many, and I'm happy to hear what everyone thinks. I'm on year two of writing on these boards, and I'm hoping I can keep improving as much as I have from the beginning. Nitpick, I know I do. I'd also really love to hear what people think of Nurse Bastian, who is my drama character and can almost be embarrassing to write at times!

Oh, I’ve thought about this a helluva lot, as Hermod could easily tell you. It’s really hard for me to pick just one for a couple of my characters, but I have a few well established.

I actually have a whole soundtrack for Billyboy, but I’d say the theme song I’m most happy with for him would have to be Jerk It Out by Caesar’s Palace, though Action Movie Hero Boy by Lemon Demon also fits him really well. He also has a ton of love songs that fit him really well in several circumstances, and some good fight music too.

Dr. Phillis is really hard to place as well because he’s the most complex character I have. I’ve cycled through a lot of theme songs, and a lot of songs fit him in depending on what time in his storyline he’s in. Like, in his soul-possessed robotic shell form, his song was Chop Suey by System of a Down as well as Revenga by System of a Down. His earlier career, before villainy, would have been Overrated (Everything Is) by Less Than Jake. For his religious views I’d give him Holy Smoke by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, his political views give him American Idiot by Green Day, and his pop culture view gives him Turn the Radio Off by Reel Big Fish. He’s just a gold mine of music. He’d have to have Brave New World by Iron Maiden as well. The two favorite songs I have for him, however, are End of the World and Prisoner of Society, both by Living End.

My ultimate fight music for Billyboy and Dr. Phillis is Headstrong by Trapt, because they’re both very alike in the fact that they refuse to go up, are both super full of themselves, and can’t stand letting the other win.

Podo the goblin – Sugar Free (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones)

Cyba – Everybody’s Fool (Evanescence)

Project Phage – I am… All of Me (Crush 40)

The Champion – Lies (Evanescence)

((But surely Essex will have been dismantled by this time, her design copied into hundreds of medic Phillisbots, bolstering the ranks and giving the Grand Phillisbot Army the edge they've always needed to conquer the planet, creating one perfect world known as the Earth Empire?

But honestly, I'd love to join, but I've just got so much planned for Superhero 101 that I'd be giving far too much away to even put Billyboy in this RP, and he's the only character I have that has met Essex and doesn't want to use her for his own misunderstood, yet entirely noble, purposes.))

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Billyboy

Been RPing with you for a long time man, in fact, I think it's been about a year since we started WATBTDO. You've improved alot and you're a lot of fun to read. And uh... wait, where was the critism? Oh right, the whole liking Cyba in peril bit. Move on. Seriously though, that was a bit of a snagging point in the RP. I loved writing Proto Matter's evil, but Cyba really doesn't need to be such a glutton for punishment. Tone that aspect down just a bit and you'll be more than golden.


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Hehe, Cyba will ALWAYS be a glutton for punishment! And I think its actualy been closer to two years, hasn't it? I don't know, I'll have to check the thread! That RP was the super funnest thing in the world, I'm telling you! It's just too bad we only had about five people in it! Grigori forever!

As for you, Hermod, well, I have a few things to say about you! First off, you don't post nearly enough! Second, you're a great writer and come up with the best characters. It's like you're some kind of awesome character making machine that generates killer backstories!

My only other complaint is that you know too much about my evil plans! Ninjas, seize him!

Halo, your posts may be long, but that doesn't mean they're hard to read. I really enjoy reading long posts because they give a lot of detail and insight into a character, which you are profoundly awesome at. It was a blast helping you write Shane's nighttime adventure, and I'm really glad we've been able to get him and the nurse together for serious development on both of their parts.

Now then, anyone who plays around in Superhero 101, I'd love to get some comments about my "clockwork" mini arc. Constructive insults are fine! I really want to know what you thought. Was it fun, boring, too silly, too long?

Wow, Aaron! You're getting really good! I really like the last few, everything is looking great!

Count Billyboy in on the par-tay, though I can't promise I won't be fashionably late!

Aaron, that is so freaking awesome! I love it! Johnny Bravo would be proud, hah! That looks totally great, thanks so much!

I can't wait to see it, Aaron!

Lol, looks very cool! And by Shmoe! I've teamed with you once, we kept spouting Viewtiful catch phrases as we beat down Countess Crey!

Ooo, do a duo pic of Viewtiful Shmoe and Billyboy! A lot about Billyboy was inspired by VJ, so he should come pretty natural! His cape clasps even have V's as a tribute to the greatness that is Joe!

Close up

Side close

Body shot

Da back

Henshin a-go-go!

Podo knew he was skilled at dodging, and that he could glance off vicious hits better than most non-powered warriors, but he wasn’t ignorant, and he knew he couldn’t dodge that barrage from the Arachnos troops. As the triggers were pulled, the goblin jumped straight up into the air, gritting his teeth as he positioned his sword under him and moved himself through the air ever so subtly toward the Tarantulas. Holding the sword underneath him, he fell down straight atop one, hopefully impaling it with his blade. He planned to next take a vicious swipe at the mystics behind him, hopefully moving too quickly for them to react.

((OOC: C'mon, Khell, I know you're out there! ))

Well, I’ll take it that backround on any weapon is fine here, including technological ones! Cause I’ve got a few!

Arm of Podo – Podo the goblin was at one time the guardian of his people’s tribe deep in a cavern system known as Abaddon. Unbeknownst to him, however, his own village’s shaman was working against his people, and was creating an alliance of beasts and evil humanoids to strike against the surface cities. In a surprise attack, the shaman corrupted the entire goblin community, turning them against Podo, who had just returned with word of a forming league, the same one that was attacking his town! The goodly swordsgoblin refused to succumb to the shaman’s corruption, and so he was considered a traitor and attacked. The shaman plucked Podo’s right eye out, and one of the many evil warriors cleaved off his right arm. They left him for dead, only to be found hours later.

The villain Dr. Phillis, looking for a power source told to him through several ancient tablets, found the hurt Podo and brought him to the surface. Using all of his formidable cybernetics skills, the evil genius replaced Podo’s destroyed arm and eye with robotic prosthetics.

Podo’s robot arm, which at one point had control of his body, is entirely adaptable and programmed purely for self-defense. The cybernetic eye sees trouble and relays it to the arm, commanding it to transform into a variety of weapons and helpful devices. Podo’s arm has morphed into a number of things that vary from a rocket launcher and a cellular phone. Now that Podo has gained more control of his cybernetics, he is able to command them himself, but he can’t stop them from stealing particularly helpful looking parts or machines. This has gotten him into more than a little bit of trouble, and he’s scolded the arm more than once.


Gear Tech Power Suit – Dr. Phillis, realizing that his robot armies may not always be able to protect him, decided he needed to create a way for him to fight back against any heroic threats. Being a mechanical genius, he spent several months crafting a compact suit of armor that gave him enhanced strength, super speed, and a variety of destructive weaponry. Unfortunately, this was very hard to power, and he could find nothing that could keep it going for as long as he would need it to be.

Luckily, as he was running an archeological dig near Abaddon, the doctor was the first to hear about the uncovering of several ancient tablets, which told of a fantastic device known as a Philosopher’s Stone, which was filled with an unlimited amount of energy. Certain that he could use this whimsical artifact to power his suit, the doctor traveled into the depths of Abaddon with a team of robotic minions and managed to find the Stone, not to mention a certain one-eyed, one-armed goblin!

Dr. Phillis set the Philosopher’s Stone on his belt and integrated it into his systems. It worked exactly as he had hoped, giving his power suit all the energy it need, even allowing him to tax the suit beyond what he thought possible. The power suit was able to channel lightning from the stone into attacks, which were usually shot through scepters or staffs.

The Philosopher’s Stone also allowed for one more wonderful maneuver for the Gear Tech Power Suit. Using the great energies inside, the suit’s gloves can morph together into a cannon, and is capable of firing out a huge beam of white hot energy, which is capable of obliterating a normal human in a split second, not to mention buildings and heroes! Due to the great praise he gave himself for his creation, the doctor named this ultimate weapon the megalomaniac cannon, or the double-M cannon.

Aw, Terminus, you made me blush! Thanks so much for the kind comments! And in regards to the Crey profile, I wasn't entirely trying to make it from the Crey point of view, but was more trying to explain his backstory in a place that several people could see. I doubt that one of those agents would have explained it as efficiently if they were trying to make him look like a hooligan, so I just put the backstory I wrote and added a few Creyish assesments at the end.

As for you, Terminus, you're just great! You have a great way of explaining details that I could never wrap myself around! I loved your explanation of Croatoa, it really put me in the mood, and it was like I was there! I don't really know of any characters you've made but Xiu, but her backstory is awesome! She's full of personality and was a fun match for Billyboy to talk to! I'd love to ruin my good comments with a bad one, but I really don't see anything wrong at all with your posts, you're totally awesome! The only thing I can say is this: Post more and in more RPs!

Like the idea of this thread! Please critique me, I'm looking forward to seeing how I can improve!

Khel, it's always a huge pleasure RPing with you. When you're in a thread with me, I know it's going to be a good one. Your characters are fun and easy to interact with, and they all have a developed personality that makes it even better!

Devious, you're great at writing, but you do it too fast! Nothing wrong with that, I can just never keep up with how fast you write your posts! Plus, they're always so lengthy that I freak out that I need to read so much to catch up. But, aside from that, your RPing is great. Your characters are well developed and fun to play with! My only other gripe might be that you always have something to counter anything. When you were attacking Blight Lord, I couldn't help but feel kind of bad for the guy, you just seemed impossible to defeat. You write well and your inventions make sense, but your stuff always ends up so powerful it becomes a bit daunting, and none of my character can ussually come close to being able to counter with the limits I've set before them.

Soviet, I really like how you deal with the Maltans, but I think you may want to try straying from them once in a while! Your characters are great, but they don't interact well with other at all, and sometimes you'll step on others peoples' toes so your character can do something that is awesome and cool, but is ultimately hogging the spotlight a bit. If I could give you a tip, it would be to have your characters be without an answer to something for once, instead of having a huge weapon ready for anything.

And to all three of you, you're all always clear on what you're trying to saw. I've never failed to understand you. Good spelling and grammar make the RPing much funner, so I compliment you on that too!

Podo ducked and threw his metal arm forward as the Arachnos troops sent a hailstorm of bullets his way. Most went right over his head, something that was very useful about his small stature, and the rest plinked into his metal arm and fell to the ground, denting the metal, but not penetrating or hitting the goblin.

“Charge, allies, the enemy flees like dogs!” Podo yelled as his powerful leg muscles coiled and unleashed, sending him forward in a blur with a massive jump. Pulling his sword from his back, he held it to his right side, planning for a horizontal strike upon reaching close enough to the troops.

He hit the ground not terribly far behind, and began his run at them. Each step brought him closer and closer, his legs covering an amazing amount of ground each time they left the ground, farther than most men could jump, much less cover with one step.

“Kiss my blade!” Podo challenged as he gained ground.