SweetThang

A pink-ponytailed girl opened the door to the restaurant and ducked inside suspiciously. She immediately put a finger to her lips when she made eye contact with Beth and Martin. Beth supressed a laugh and Martin looked down his nose at her. She snuck past the waitstaff and crept along the wall to the bar.

Dark Vegas was standing against the back wall looking at a commercial for the upcoming Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao fight on the wide screen.

Vegas rolled her eyes at the pink haired girl and thumbed towards the kitchen. She peeked into the kitchen area and saw Gal preparing a few delicious looking meals. She waited until the large woman had her back towards the double swing doors, then she slowly made her move. "Don't even think about sneakin' up on me girl. Wouldn't want ya gettin' burn with a hot pan." Gal said as she turned and gave the girl a big smile.

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Characters I'm currently running @ Gal's Place.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
SweetThang - Inv/SS tank
Dark Vegas - DM/SR scrapper
Shock Bubble - FF/Elec defender

Marcus "SweetThang" Sweet was walking out of the Kings Row Community Center when a kid walked past handing out colorful flyers. They were for a new restaurant in town. A smile came to his face as he saw the name. Ladies by the Lake. "Well, well. They're finally open for business." he chuckled to himself. The community has needed more upscale businesses willing to take a risk and fight the bad image and gangs. Marcus grew up here in Kings Row. So he knew it was high time the people tried to change it's grimy image. "I know where I'm eatin' tonight!" he said to himself as he dialed the number on the flyer into his cellphone.

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Dark Vegas paced anxiously around the room. The phone kept beep-beeping the busy signal. She was trying to get a hold of Narshawn or Gal or anyone at the bar for that matter! She had been so busy the last few weeks, she never bothered to ask what she was required to wear on the job. There had been the Council mission then the disappearance of Sibling and Diva. It was chaos! How Gal managed to keep calm and get things done amazed Vegas.

She didn't want to be late for her first day of work so she put on her black slacks and blue silk blouse. She knew the clientele would be mixed, so she wanted to be sure she could handle business if it got rough. Gal had instructed her not to rumble inside the restaurant. They had some tech installed that would teleport anyone who got rowdy to the empty lot across the street. Her job as security would be easier with that little gadget, but she wouldn't let her guard down.

She had a place within walking distance of Gal's Place, so she was there in no time. She opened the doors and stepped inside. Beth was smiling and pointing towards a customer. She was mouthing the words "F i r s t C u s t o m e r.".


Yes. This was going to be a great opening day.

http://www.plaync.com/about/2005/03/...dios_nc_1.html

Coming soon ----> www.cohrpg.com

Akazi had her black backpack slung over one shoulder as she began her teleport hop to Talos Island.

"Great...my chance to fit in with heroes and I lose my temper." She said as she materialized on the ledge of her apartment. She teleported once more and she was in her simply furnished apartment. The answering machine light was blinking, and there was a letter under her door. It had her entire name on the front. Akazi bint Kaliz bint Alima. Inside, it read:

[ QUOTE ]
You have been hand selected to participate in our Hero Recruitment Program. We've had our eye on you for some time now and we are extending you this special invitation. If you're interested bring the attached keycard to 8321 Virtue Court in Atlas Park and present it at the door for access. Hope to hear from you soon.

[/ QUOTE ]

A keycard was inside the envelope. "DNA? Was it my DNA?" she wondered. She showered, changed her clothes and stepped up to her apartment window ledge. From her window she could see the Green Line Tram. A few spatial hops later and she was at her destination. Atlas Park always made her smile. It was the hub of Paragon. She saw more heroes here than anywhere else. Coming and going on their way to exciting missions.

The door scanner automatically scanned the card and she waited for the door to open. Instead, she felt the ground beneath her move. "Ok. This is different." she said outloud as her view of the sky was cut off. Daylight gave way to a lighted elevator shaft. It was very clean and obviously well maintained. Something the exterior of the building did not portray.

At the bottom the doors slid apart revealing an enormous vacant room with a door on the far side. She saw several people she recognized from the Academy.

"Mr. Michov, Mr. Shott, Mr. Gunn, Mr. Beeme, Lord Raymond." she nodded respectfully to each one as she approached the men. To Lord Raymond, she bowed gracefully as she was taught to by her mother. "You must respect a member of royalty when greeting them in any setting." she remembered her mother say. She didn't know the name of the man in blue so she just nodded a greeting to him. "Do you gentlemen know what we were summoned here for?" she asked in puzzlement.

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((OOC: I'm glad to see you here manofmanychars. I hope there are no hard feelings regarding the Academy thread. This promises to be a great opportunity to RP with some really creative people!! Thank you Jamh83 for the gracious invitation. I'm hoping to see everyones heroes from the Academy. Celes. Sartain. Embher. Tigonus. Patchworks. Stu. ))

Akazi walks away from the Academy...and this thread in disgust. Too much uber-ness for her...and me.

You (manofmanychars) had something good going, but you stepped all over it like crushing flowers in the dirt.

For everyone else who made this thread fun, Thank you.

One more thing. DO NOT use anyone's character (like you did with Sartain) after they have announced they are leaving the thread. That's just rude and unacceptable. It's one thing to not know how to run your RP, but to trash another's character with your subpar "writing" is utterly asinine.

Not using her psi sense, she tried to anticipate what Tigonus would do first. He circled a few times and she kept an eye on his movements. Nothing had prepared her for the speed he demonstrated. He was standing and sniffing the air one second, and then he was on her. A quick punch to the face made her see a bright flash. Then the training room went hazy. She tried to keep her focus through the double vision. "Great. Now what do I do?" she thought. She needed a plan before he tore into her even more. She tried to bring her palm up fast under his chin. She grabbed a handful of his fur before attempting the shot, hoping to distract him a bit...or make him even more ferocious.

((OOC: manofmanychars posted earlier "only hand-to-hand or self-affecting powers are allowed" so I was assuming Akazi couldn't psychic blast Tigonus. If this is not the case...kitty will be purring at her feet in seconds. ))

The instructor came out as Akazi got to her feet. She was hoping none of the faculty saw her "fainting" spell, but it was obvious that the General caught it. He called her "Miss Migraine". "Great. Nice first impression to make." she thought to herself. He started pairing up the other cadets. The tiger-man, Tigonus was selected as her partner. "I can only hope he's declawed." Akazi whispered.

The man who introduced himself as Psyosis offered to taker her from the group and help her. He seemed genuinely eager to heal whatever it was that hit her. "Thank you for the offer Mr. Psyosis, but really...I do feel much better." She wanted to stay with the group and start her training right away. Besides, the General didn't sound like he was going to let Psyosis interrupt his class.

On the way over to her sparring partner, she passed Lord Raymond. "I'll share my story with you at lunchtime." she said.

She thanked the empath once again, and stepped up to Tigonus. He was covered in fur, but she took notice of the muscular frame that lay beneath the surface. She wondered if they would be using padding or gloves. The prospect of fighting this person was a bit intimidating. Staying true to the rules General Outrage set, she would not use her psi to sense his plan of attack beforehand. She would rely solely on her somewhat limited knowledge of self defense.

((OOC: Oops. Sorry Hermod, I went back and read what I wrote. Made her sound like P®ofessor X. lol I edited it back down to normal limits.))

Akazi eased up a bit and let her barrier down. The others would come to her defense if something went wrong...after all...she was here to build trust in others. The pain subsided soon after she accepted the psychic's help. She felt much better and hoped the attention would shift off her soon. She took to heart what the Brit had to say. Her goal would be to trust others...but not blindly.

((In response to Lord Raymond. I am able to post a lot due to my work schedule.))

Like a wave, the psi energy receded and Akazi regained some of her composure. She felt another mind trying to pull her emotions and quickly threw up a psi-barrier. It would attempt to keep out any psychic energy...harmful or otherwise.

She didn't often do this among heroes, but something had just mentally sniped her and she needed to find out where it came from.

The man standing above her asking what had happened looked concerned, but something about him made her very nervous. "Nothing. I sometimes get bad migraines out of nowhere." she said quietly. "I'll be ok in a few minutes."

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Pad'ul crouched down behind an air conditioning unit on the 30th floor of the insurance building. From his vantage point he could see for several miles in almost every direction. The antique Zeiss binoculars were good for quite a distance. He really didn't need them for his target, but seeing the look on her face was worth more than his payment. He was instructed to give her a taste of what was in store. His bandaged wrapped hands picked up the Zeiss and adjusted the optics. The girl was being assisted by others, but she got the full effect. He sat back and smiled a toothless grin and pulled down the ratty cowl shading his red pupiless eyes. He made his way down the fire escape and back to the sewers, away from the heat of the rising sun. "We'll be seeing more of each other soon half-breed...very soon."

The morning air was crisp and cool. A great day to start anything. Akazi stood among the other cadets, some of whom she had met and others she looked forward to meeting.

A rather stocky man with a British accent was putting on an impromptu demonstration. She decided she would not be the one to take him up his human punching bag offer.

She tried not to stare at the woman with horns, but she was very interesting. She felt an aura* of fatigue from her. She thought of going to her but wouldn't know what to say or do for her, so kept her distance. The man talking to her seemed very concerned for her well being. You didn't have to be a psychic to read that. Although his aura suddenly changed to panic that he tried to hide.

A lot of interesting people...and lots of emotion. She was at ease scanning surface feelings of a crowd, but out of no where she got a stabbing pain. It was a psi signature from someone in the crowd. She let out a cry and fell to her knees.

((OOC: Aura* - the surface thoughts and emotions in someones mind comes to her as auras. Didn't want her to be a mind-probing intruder.))

The hero known as Patchworks sounded hungry, so Akazi reached in her fannypack for a meal bar. "Here you go Patchy. These Trainer Bars® taste pretty good. This one has BackAlley Brawler on it. Hope you like peanut butter, it's the only flavor I have. It should get you through until breakfast."

As she talked with Patchy, she noticed more heroes fill up the PT area. The tall woman whose name she didn't catch, came in with the flag she had been carrying earlier. She hoped to speak more with her later on when time permitted.

((OOC: I took the liberty of making a class Guidon for the thread. Hope no one minds.))

After getting her room assignment, Akazi spent a few minutes setting up her room. She didn't want to miss PT, so she changed into her black sweats. She wanted to keep most of her skin covered. She didn't follow all of the customs of her mother but she tried to cover her skin out of respect. It made her mother happy that she tried to keep the custom. In the company of her relatives, she wore a scarf and black abaya, a pullover worn over clothes. Her mother worked as a translator for the FBSPA (Federal Bureau of Super Powered Affairs). Her job sometimes required her to meet with other Middle Eastern dignitaries, and they followed the customs very seriously.

When she arrived at the PT area, she noticed a colorful hero apparently talking to a chair. As she approached, she sensed the presence of others within his mind. She would not use her gift to pry into others thoughts without their prior consent. She sensed the entities within his mind were protecting him at all times. She walked up and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Akazi. What's your name? Did I hear you correctly? Are they serving Spaghetti-O's for lunch? They are my favorite!"

Akazi hurriedly put her photo away and sat upright when she heard the large yellow woman ask "Have we met?" Akazi replied "Uh..no..I don't believe we have." She had hoped she would not have to explain the photo to anyone just yet. She was not ashamed of her heritage, but some would see it as a misfortune. She was here to recieve training to work more efficiently with other heroes, and didn't want to get off to a bad start.
She quickly remembered her manners and stood up with an outstretched hand. "As-salam alaikum. I am Akazi bint Kaliz bint Alima. You can call me Akazi. Do you happen to know when the registrar comes in? I'm afraid I'm a bit late." As she spoke to the large woman, a man almost as tall as the lady stepped up to introduce himself to Akazi. She thought to herself "Wow...are all the students going to be this tall?"

((OOC:She has a slight accent that some people would recognize as Middle Eastern. Saudi Arabian to be precise. The "bint" in her name means "daughter of" for those wondering. As-salam alaikum is "peace be upon you".))

((OOC: Not sure who is doing the knocking and who is outside the hallway...so I'll keep it vague.))

The registration desk was still vacant when Akazi got to the Hero 1 Memorial Hero Training Facility. She was always late. She was supposed to be here yesterday but was having second thoughts about even signing up. She heard a member of the faculty shouting down the hallway as she took a seat in the lobby. Her reservations about other heroes would have to change for her to get anywhere in this city. She sat cross-legged in a uncomfortable plastic lounge chair and waited for the registrar. Her psychic senses told her someone was also uncomfortable with the yelling. "Good...maybe I won't be the only one to sign up late." She opened up her small dufflebag and got out a picture of father and herself taken years ago. "Well dad...I'm finally getting the education you wanted. Wish you were here to help me." she said quietly to herself.

((OOC: If anyone happens to walk by and notice the picture, it's her at around age 10 and an Aberrant Rector from The Lost. Just to give everyone a heads up. If not...she will probably work it into her story later on. ))

Why don't you try www.match.com if that's what you are looking for. City of Heroes is a game...not a dating service.

A group of mid-level heroes that stand under Atlas on the Guardian server do this a lot. They do it in combination with the dance emotes and hop up and down. It looks like they are breakdancing. Very funny. Everyone that asks them how they do it gets shot down. It's a status thing I guess. If everyone starts doing it...they won't be special. No disrespect to them. They know who they are...and I won't name any names.

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Hello all! Thought I should join in on the fun. My website has my bio story, screenshots and art. Hope you enjoy.

Bettie Rage Page

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Rock on!! That site kicks $%# !! I love the character concept and backstory. My tank, SweetThang grew up in KR as well. His father was a BoneDaddy. Inv/SS is what he got out of the deal. The comic book cover template looks familiar. Nice work all the way around. /em applause

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...I do have to point out that SweetThing was pretty much the first person to post and [censored] and his WAS posted there.

[/ QUOTE ]

I never put anyone's work down. They all were great in my opinion. What I did have a problem with was the apparent bending (not breaking) of the rules for a few of the winners. Allowing a second submission for an error correction (1st place winner) and allowing the use of other sources of artwork not listed in the official rules (2nd place winner).

I am an artist. I know how it is to have your work judged by everyone. The fact that I didn't mention mine being one that was posted should attest to the fact. I never said mine should have won. Let me repeat that....I NEVER said mine should have won. So. If you consider my post to be [censored], then maybe you should go back and read it again.

Congrats to all the winners, runners-up, and all those who submitted. You all deserve a big round of applause. Thank you Cryptic/NCSoft for allowing this contest and I hope that all of the controversy that's been brought up won't hamper any future contests.

You can use the following to create your wallpaper entries – logos/graphics from the Official City of Heroes web site, in-game images that you capture yourself, and of course, your own original work.

PLEASE NOTE : You may NOT use any materials that you do not own the rights to and utilize them for the purposes of this contest. Likewise, taking an image and altering it slightly (via Photo Shop, for example), then presenting it as your own work is strictly prohibited. You must have ownership rights to every element included in the wallpaper image you submit. Also, any copyrighted heroes and/or trademarked names that appear in your wallpaper will automatically disqualify it! We’re talking comic book heroes, T.V. characters, movie characters, etc. If it’s a recognizable, copyrighted character from a property that isn’t owned by Cryptic/NC Interactive, Inc., it can’t be submitted for this contest. You must make sure your entry doesn’t infringe on any patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right, or any privacy, publicity or publishing rights of any third party, or is libelous, obscene or otherwise contrary to law.

Seems to me the second place winner broke a few of the rules. Anyone disagree?

The first place winner was allowed to submit an altered entry (Yes..a minor change, but still a second entry).

Why were the rest of us not allowed a second submission?

How about changing the name of the power. One prominent story arc features a Tsoo manufactured drug called Rage. I even have a souvenir Rage Ampoule.

Each time my tank uses the power, it produces an effect similar to a drug induced state, which quickly ends leaving him needing more. See the similarities? I'm not saying it was intentional, but the names are the same.

Some better names for the power would be Berserker, Fury, or Surge.

As for the power leaving you disoriented, it should be changed to major end loss.

I didn't beat Mr Shin, Mr Po, and Mr Mann just to get hooked on their junk.

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RP is much cooler than that.

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Please tell me you forgot the smiley after that phrase. Because, I am forced to admit, there is no way that RP is considered a "cool" thing to do.

Geeky - Yes.
Nerdy - Yes.
A bully Magnet - Yes.
A "chick" Magnet - No.
Cool - No.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you calling yourself uncool??? Seriously. If you like to RP and think it's cool, then don't knock it...especially if you participate in it yourself. Sheesh. Talk about lack of self confidence. Don't be embarrassed about your own creativity.

It's cool. What others think is their own opinion. The roleplaying game industry makes multi-millions of dollars annually. Someone must obviously think it's cool. Have a great day.

Question....?

Why not have us post our letters here? Or would that be anticlimactic? I'd love to see everyone's letters, even if you don't use them. There is a lot of great talent here on the boards. It would be a shame to have it lost on the editorial room floor.

OMG Double post Tuesday!!!!!!!

I for one, welcome our new Kheldian overlords!!!

(bonus points for correctly identifying the quote)

SweetThang (Inv/SS Tanker) is a community fund-raiser for Kings Row. He also does charity wrestling events.

Shock Bubble a.k.a. Bubbles (FF/Elec Defender) - Like her friend Sibling, she danced before her accident with the Clockwork. Now, she is independently wealthy from a settlement with Crey. Long story. Now, she lives in a penthouse right behind Icon in Steel Canyon.

Dark Vegas (DM/SR Scrapper) - Was a security specialist at a casino in Las Vegas, before she took a leave of absence quite suddenly. She is trying to find consultant work in Paragon. Ramen noodle budget.

Psi Punk (MC/Kin Controller) - Teenage exchange student from England. Spends more time running in the streets than in the books....but we don't need no education...we don't need no thought control.

My latest alt, Outcast Hunter (Fire/Ice Blaster) is a vigilante/bounty hunter who gets leads from flyers on the Atlas City Post Office wall. He's an ex-Outcast who's looking for some payback. Frostfire set him up and he did 6 years in prison. Fight fire & ice with fire & ice.

So, to sum it up. Most of my heroes are unemployed. What kind of employer would let them go on timed missions during coffee breaks?