Le Carré quotes and trans fats are the way to Byrd's heart.

I'm a man of simple tastes.

Starting things off with a Le Carré quote? Fuck yes.

Le Carré quotes and trans fats are the way to Byrd's heart.

Yeah well I figured if there was anyone that was going to have a good quote discussing the morality of Spies it would be his. _{And no I'm not trying to recreate Smiley's People in comic book land, of course not that would silly.}

@Blue Demon, I always wondered how you were able to get the url to a different color than the yellow. And @Lord Wraith, how were you able to use a different front?

I am trying to update my signature and make it cool. Is there a guide on how you do it?

@The Grey Warden[url][color=???]URL HERE[/color][/url]

w3schools.com/colors/colors_names.asp

I mean this is obvious, but it's 12:25 AM and I'm a bit out of it.

And @Lord Wraith, how were you able to use a different front?

I'm pretty sure after looking over his signature he didn't use any special fonts. His Vigilance is just capitalized augmented with one of the headers [h3][/h3] or [h2][/h2]. (I'm not sure which one without more research) And his RPs are smaller, capitalized and raised with the [sup][/sup] code. You can also lower them with [sub][/sub]

I am trying to update my signature and make it cool. Is there a guide on how you do it?

There is no guide sadly. Since there's a lot of coding not available, you just have to be a little creative.

w3schools.com/colors/colors_names.asp

I mean this is obvious, but it's 12:25 AM and I'm a bit out of it.

Good site though.

What's that? Gowi edited his sheet with a tentative sample post? Naaaah.

<Snipped quote by Eddie Brock>

SCREECHES AND THROWS SPIDER-MAN

Now, now. I have no intention of dissuading anyone from pursuing anyone. I'd be lying if I said Spidey isn't on my short list, but I've also had my fair share of opportunities with the wallcrawler. I won't be heartbroken if he ends up in another's hands.

(There isn't much to read, because of school tomorrow. I have a government test to study before I go off to bed. Of course, I can change characters if you want me to. I will have to do that tomorrow.)

Name

Oliver J. Queen aka Green Arrow

Alignment

Neutral Good

Affiliation

Independent

History

1980 | Born into the wealthy life, Oliver Queen was the young heir to a billion dollar corporate dynasty at Queen Industries. His father, Robert Queen, was the CEO to the corporation and one of the most influential and wealthiest people in Seattle. His mother helped with the city's crime rates and donated some of the money has gone to charitable donations.

1985 | At a young age, Oliver had a love from Robin Hood and was said to be just like him, frequently practicing with his bow and arrows. Despite his age, Robert allowed his son to play with them and even helped out with his 'training'. He also find out that they loved the wildness, from pictures of their adventures in South America's Amazon rainforest to animals from Africa's savannas.

1988 | During his ninth birthday, he killed his first animal and was mildly traumatized by the event. His mother comforted her son as Robert went out to their jeep to put the dead animal away. The smell of the animal got the lions' attention and they attacked Robert, tearing him apart. Oliver hesitated to fire his bow towards the lions, costing his life.

His mother tried to stop the lions, but she retreated to the jeep and called for help as they surrounded the jeep. They were trapped in the jeep for a thirty minutes until help arrived and the lions retreated as they took parts of Robert with them. He had been mauled by them, leaving behind his son and wife. It was a tragic safari accident.

Moira Queen took over Queen Industries and care of her son until he was own enough to run it.

1993-1996 | Oliver soon was enrolled in the prestigious Excelsior Academy by his mother, wanting her son to have the best education that money can offer. His classmates at Academy were some of the best young minds in North America and the class was filled with individuals who would go on to change the world. These individuals included the likes of Alexander Luthor, Anthony Stark and Bruce Wayne.

At his teenage years, he had become a rich, thrill-seeking, and drunken playboy with no real sense of responsibility in his life. His behavior shamed his mother so much that he was relegated to clerical work on an oil rig in the Pacific. However, he had turned the rig into a hub for his parties within two weeks since his arrival at the rig. He had used most of the party drugs and drank almost all of the common drinks, putting shame in the family's name.

1997 | During his eighteenth birthday, a helicopter that was supposed to carried a famous rock star was commandeered by oil-thieving terrorists and soon overtook the rig. Oliver among with his guests and close friend, Tommy Merlyn, were held hostage at the control room. Despite his friend's warning, he went head on against the terrorists and grabbed his father's bows, arrows, and knife. He had killed the guys in the control room and went from the office, where the other terrorists were at.

They were armed with a detonator to a battery of explosives; however, Oliver didn't know that and went into the room with a careless attitude. He managed to kill most of them and got the detonator out of one of the terrorist's hands, but it bounced and activated, blowing up half the rig, killing the remaining guests on the other side of the rig. Fortunately for Oliver, his life was saved by Tommy - but his friend had taken the brunt of the blast, and was very badly burnt. They both fell off of the rig and Oliver was washed up ashore on the remote isolated Starfish Island, with his father's gear.

1998 | He had been spending a year on the island as he developed his skills as a hunter to survive and gained mastery over his bow. During his time at the island, he had taught his self self-reliance and realized that his past self was selfish and horrible. He had become a man.

His second test of his new self was the discovery of drug smugglers, ran by the famous drug cartel, China White. She supplied heroin imports for the West Coast and the entire Pacific rim. Oliver found one of her operations in the island, though he was unaware that it was apart of a drug cartel's business. Using his new skills, he attacked and destroyed the operation.

After using one of the boats from the site, he delivered them to the authorities before returning home. He saw his mother for the first time in a year and half, now that she turned fifty. Oliver had to prove that he was a changed man before she could give the control of Queen Industries to her son. That was when he took up a job as the company's spokesman.

1999 | During his time as a spokesman, he took acrobatics hand-to-hand, and martial arts training to improve his fighting skills. Then, he took politics seriously and decided to study the US government. That was when he saw how high crime was from Seattle, despite having strict laws on guns and other things. And then, he decided to do charity work and used his job as a way to help out the underprivileged.

1999-2002 | After years of being the Queen Industries' spokesman, his mother soon retired and let her son become the CEO of his family's hard work. With the company's money near him, his first order was to invest in Seattle developing jobs for the unemployed and improving lives from the low-class.

Despite his efforts, the crime rate didn't change that much to make an impact in the city. Which made Oliver devastated and went to his dying mother for help and advice. She told him that he must be brave and do things that bring fear to the bad and hope to the good. Later on, she died peacefully in her sleep and left behind a despressed son. She was buried next to her husband and Oliver had to move on, despite losing his mother and letting his father die.

2002-2012 | Ten years had passed since his mother had died, the city of Seattle and their crime rate has increased because of the economic crisis. Oliver's hard work was from nothing as crime rose again, taking away more lives. His views on politics had changed as terrorism increased and immigrants were coming to America from around the world. Since Washington was a liberal state, Oliver had some liberal ideas; but, he also had conservative ideas as well.

Despite his obsession with politics, he haven't thought of becoming mayor of Settle and rejected the idea because the people won't like his conservative views on some points. While he was looking around his attic, he found some Robin Hood comics inside a box of childhood collections. He decided to take a look at them and similares with him, wanting to protect and avoiding orders for the poor.

With his training in archery and acrobatics, he decided to use the company's money to developed his gear and update his father's bows. He was going to become a crime-fighter, like Robin Hood.

2013 | A year since he had the idea of becoming like Robin Hood, he has learned several skills: disguise, stealth, and throwing. He was able to finish updating his father's bow and made some trick arrows to used in battle. Then, his design on his outfit was finally done and he decided to try it out. He knew from the moment that he had become The Green Arrow.

His motivation was to save the citizens caught in the middle of the criminals' terror.

2014 | There were more mutants and other superheroes than there was two years ago. This, of course, worried Oliver Queen as he views mutants with caution. He was a supporter of the The Mutant Registration Act and voted for Robert Kelly to become president. Oliver just wanted to protect the powerless from the powerful.

That was when he met his first villain, Onomatopoeia. A serial killer who targeted non-powered, vigilante superheroes. His ability was that he could imitate noises around him, such as dripping taps, gunshots etc. Green Arrow soon defeated him, but he was able to escape. The citizens of Settle had finally met Green Arrow from the first time.

A symbol of hope had come to the city for the first time.

2014-2016 | Now that Green Arrow has become well-known in the city, the city's underworld are starting to worry about him. That was when Brick, a brilliant criminal mind and metahuman, showed up and soon became the leader of half of the crime empires. Saying that he would take care of the Green Arrow before he collapses the empires and end his terror for good.

This was the start of Green Arrow's first test in protecting his city.

Supporting Cast

Andrew Lopez - A detective in the Settle police force, who has helped Green Arrow in the past. Has connections to the police force and often provides information to the Green Arrow.

Evan Gibso - A reporter for the Washington Post. Wrote a post about the Green Arrow, that got him interested enough to contact him. He offered Gibso to gather information from the press and give them to him; and in return, he would allow him to publish somethings about the Green Arrow to the public.

Felicity Smoak - A hacker that changed her life after being arrested from hacking into a government database. She got a job in the the I.T. department at Queen Industries and met Oliver Queen. Felicity became suspicious of Queen's true intentions after strange requests from him increased; yet, she trusts in Oliver despite all of his sketchy requests.

China White - A leader of a drug cartel that dominated the South Pacific. Oliver Queen stopped one of her operations at Starfish Island. He hasn't met her yet, but it's rumored that she has operations at Settle.

Brick - A metahuman super-villain and crimelord in Settle. His skin is thick and brick-like, making him almost impervious to damage. Beginning his career as a low-level enforcer, his ruthlessness allowed him to rise through the ranks.

Onomatopoeia - A super-villain who only speaks in sound effect words and his own name. His origins are mysterious, but he uses expertise in martial arts to kill super-heroes. The costumes of his victims are taken as trophies.

Billy Tockman - A ruthless crimelord in Seattle He controls the city's waterfront and operates out of the Midnight Lounge.

How (if at all) does the New Frontier version of your character differ from the original?

The New Frontier version of Green Arrow is based on Prime Earth, Arrow, New Earth, and Justice League Unlimited. I want him to be skeptical of organizations like The Justice League or mutations like Superman and Magneto. And I want him to be interested in politics, not to the point where he's running for President (#Queen2020). Also, I want for him to kill with reason if he has no other choice or the villain becomes too powerful to stop him and then put him in jail.

If I would to become a hero, I would based my hero on the Green Arrow. I like the idea that he thinks that heroes shouldn't become too powerful and that the government should have programs that would stop Superman from going crazy or stop the formation of the Justice Lords. If this roleplay would have a secret division of the United States government (similar to Project Cadmus), then Green Arrow would support it. I also like how the fact that he thinks that he wouldn't fit in with an organization like the Justice League, because he just wants to help the 'little guy' and an organization would just 'forget about him'.

And, he has some interesting things that he says.

Post References

DC Universe: Gods Among Us - Catwoman [1]

Teen Titans: Divided We Fall - Static Shock [1]

<Snipped quote by Architect>

Now, now. I have no intention of dissuading anyone from pursuing anyone. I'd be lying if I said Spidey isn't on my short list, but I've also had my fair share of opportunities with the wallcrawler. I won't be heartbroken if he ends up in another's hands.

Please, take him. He forces me to up my Xanax dosage. Throw up a sheet, dude, it's for everyone to do.

We need some villains in here. Lex, The Joker, and Dr. Doom are all sat on a shelf accumulating dust.

Come on, one of you bastards must have some sadistic impulses you need a healthy outlet for.

Guys, I appreciate the effort some of you are going to in order to integrate your character into the wider universe but let's try not to create too much continuity before the game has even begun, shall we? This isn't directed at anyone in particular but when I said that this game is set in the present, I meant it.

Don't get caught up on the history portion. Explain where and how it diverts from the mainstream origin - if it does at all - and try (and this is the most important part) not to create continuity that will hamper anybody else.

Now i feel slightly worried about my sheet as I've done just that! :/ I'll post it anyway when i get home in a few hours. See what people say and adapt accordingly!

I can't see it being a deal-breaker.

With that being said, it is to be avoided where possible. Trim as much fat as you can. Unless it's going to become relevant IC at some point there's nothing wrong with leaving parts of your character's history left unsaid. I think roleplaying should be a showing medium and not a telling one. We should learn as much as we can IC, not from the OOC thread or a character sheet, so try to keep that in mind.

I understand it's a fine balance to strike.

Name: Peter Benjamin Parker, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!

Alignment: Neutral Good

Affiliation: None

History: Peter Benjamin Parker was born to Richard and Mary Parker, a middle class family living in Queens, New York. Richard worked as an administrator at a local hospital; Mary was an elementary school teacher. Peter, unfortunately, never really got to know his parents. When he was still very little, Peter's parents were killed in a car accident as they drove home from a night in the city. The orphaned Peter fell under the care of Richard's older brother, Ben, and his wife, May.

Ben and May raised their nephew as though he was their own child. Although they didn't have much in the way of money, they made every sacrifice possible to give Peter the bright future he clearly deserved. They encouraged Peter's love affair with science at every turn, even going so far as to let the boy turn the backyard shed into his own personal laboratory slash workshop. In turn, Peter loved his aunt and uncle as though they were his own parents.

At school, Peter struggled to fit in. His inability to relate to his peers and his general clumsiness made him an easy target for bullies like Eugene "Flash" Thompson. The more Peter became a social outcast, the more he escaped into his studies, beginning a vicious cycle of bullying and abuse. While his classmates chose to go to the mall or attend sporting events, Peter chose to spend his time at science exhibits -- which is how he found himself at STAR Labs on that one fateful day.

An escaped, genetically altered spider dropped down on Peter's hand and bit him. Peter spent the next three days of his life bedridden, nursing a fever and suffering through the worst flu-like symptoms of his life. But when the sickness passed, Peter emerged as a changed person. Somehow, the bite had transformed Peter on a genetic level, granting him the incredible abilities of a spider. He was strong, lean, and fast. He could perform incredible feats like crawling on walls. The discoveries brought Peter equal parts joy and terror. He feared the repercussions of revealing his condition and so kept his transformation secret from everyone, even Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

In no time, Peter found himself twisting his new abilities to his own benefit. He stood up to Flash Thompson, humiliating the bully in a lopsided fistfight in the cafeteria one day at school. Not long after, Peter answered the call for new fighters in an underground wrestling league. It gave him an outlet for all his pent-up aggression and let him earn a little money on the side to boot. Peter adopted the identity of the masked fighter "Spider-Man" and quickly rose to the top of the ranks. However, when someone robbed the wrestling promoter, Peter found himself under suspicion, as he was the only wrestler to keep his identity anonymous. Under accusations of theft and the demand to unmask, Peter angrily quit and stormed out.

Heading home in a sour mood, Peter paid no mind to the cries for help coming from down the street. A robber raced past, briefly making eye contact with Peter before continuing to run from the store owner giving chase. The man berated Peter and asked why he made no attempt to stop the robber, but Peter brushed him off and continued home. Later that night, May received a phone call telling her that Ben had been shot and killed in a carjacking attempt. Heartbroken and furious, Peter donned his wrestling suit and took off in pursuit of his uncle's killer.

The Spider-Man tracked the carjacker to an abandoned warehouse by the docks. There, the police were in the midst of a standoff. Spider-Man slipped past the barricade undetected and entered the building in search of Ben's killer. When at last Peter confronted the man, he recognized him as the same robber from earlier that night. Stunned, Peter lost his grip on the robber, who promptly fell to his death while making a desperate attempt at escape.

Wracked with guilt, Peter slowly faded into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with great power there must also come great responsibility.

Supporting Cast:





How (if at all) does the New Frontier version of your character differ from the original?: Well, for the most part, I'm not going to bend over backwards trying to reinvent the wheel. This Spider-Man is going to be the Spider-Man that we all know and love. What excites me, though, is the prospect of getting to play with a whole new toy-box of supporting characters. As the supporting cast shows, I've already started the process of weaving those threads together, and I have many more plans once the dust settles on who's-playing-who. I'm also interested in the various team-up possibilities. Spidey talking Batman's ear off? Peter ending up in Metropolis on a Bugle assignment and getting a friendly rivalry started with Jimmy Olsen? Sign me up.

Sample Post:

I've never considered myself a terribly lucky person. In fact, you might've heard me throw around the phrase "Parker luck" once or twice. But then, that's the thing about luck: it's frustratingly fickle. One minute, you're king of the world and riding high, and the next -- as is more often the case in my life -- you crash and burn, finding yourself down in the dumps. So on those rare occasions when things are going well, it's important to sit back and enjoy the ride; after all, you never know just how long it's going to last.

Captain George Stacy's interview is playing on the television next to our booth at the Student Union. He sits across from Sally Floyd, one of the chief correspondents for Frontline -- the television branch of the Daily Bugle News network. Sally sits with her legs crossed and a notebook on her lap. Her eyes flick from her notes to Captain Stacy's gaze, and she smiles, saying, "Let's switch gears for a moment and talk about Spider-Man."

Captain Stacy doesn't flinch. He simply returns the smile and replies, "Let's."

"What your stance on New York's resident wall-crawler?" Sally probes, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

Stacy sits a little more upright in his chair. "Well, it's no secret, Sally. In fact, my stance on the issue is much the same as my department's," he begins, "We believe that Spider-Man currently poses no threat to public safety, and -- moreover -- he has demonstrated a consistent pattern of assistance in the prevention of violent crime and the apprehension of the most serious offenders."

The smile creeping across my face would be noticeable to anyone, if they weren't too busy watching the screen. Oh, Gwen. I could kiss your father on the mouth right now, I think silently to myself. Certain others at the table aren't quite so silent.

"You said it, Captain Stacy!" Flash Thompson declares emphatically. I can't help but appreciate the irony; the man who singlehandedly put Peter Parker through hell in high school is also Spider-Man's biggest fan. It's a fact I used to my advantage once, when my secret identity was very nearly blown to all of Midtown High School. Flash -- with his big mouth -- convinced everyone that there was no way "Puny Parker" could be Spider-Man. It's strange to think that I actually owe him one for that.

Next to me, Gwen bites her lip, and it's all I can do not to swoon right then and there. This girl could ask me to jump off a bridge, and I'd happily ask which one. She watches the television with concern in her eyes. "I just hope my dad is right about Spider-Man," she muses. "I don't know. I just... have a hard time trusting someone in a mask. Look at Superman! He doesn't use a mask."

"Yeah, I'm with Gwen on this," Mal Duncan chimes in. Mal's one of Flash's new teammates on the Empire State football team. Unlike the jocks I knew back in Midtown, Mal's actually a pretty cool guy. He's laid-back, non-confrontational, level-headed... basically, every Flash is not. "Dude dresses like a spider! It creeps me out. I hate spiders."

The girl on Mal's arm -- his girlfriend, Karen Beecher -- smirks and says, "Have you seen pictures of Spider-Man? With that body, he can dress however he wants!"

Mal turns his head and gives Karen a look. "Really, Karen? In front of me like that?"

She narrows her eyes. "Oh, like I haven't had to listen to you and your friends drool over Wonder Woman," she counters.

"Well, she is hot," Flash offers with complete sincerity.

As Mal punches Flash in the arm and Karen simply shakes her head, Gwen turns to me and regards me with those baby blues of hers. "What about you, Peter? You haven't said what you think about Spider-Man."

"If it doesn't come in a petri dish, Parker doesn't have an opinion."

I consider taking a jab at Flash and congratulating him on knowing about petri dishes, but I decide against it. Aside from the occasional snarky comment, Flash's behavior towards me has actually improved since coming to college -- if you can believe it. No need to rock the boat now. At least, not while I'm in this good of a mood.

"I think Spidey's probably just a normal guy, trying to do the best he can with the gifts he's been given," I state. My answer brings a small smile to Gwen's lips, and I feel myself reciprocating naturally. As I glance at the clock, I realize that it's gotten later than I thought it was. "Speaking of doing the best we can, I'm gonna have to rush to make it to lab on time. I'll catch you guys around!" Gwen gives me a pleasant wave, Flash offers his own half-hearted version, and Mal and Karen continue to bicker.

I swear, when things are going well, it's like even the sun is shining a little brighter! Empire State has always boasted a beautiful campus, but today I find myself appreciating it a little more as I power-walk towards the biology building. As I'm crossing the main quad, I feel the telltale sensation of my Spider-Sense on a low tingle. Spider-Sense? At school? My mind begins concocting all kinds of terrible situations that might've provoked it. Before I can figure it out, though, the answer hits me.

Literally.

I tumble to the ground, catching a glimpse of the errant skateboarder who crashed into me. His knee drives into my side and aggravates a bruise I acquired a few nights ago. I let out a stifled groan as I roll through the grass. The embarrassed skateboarder gets to his feet and nervously collects his things, blurting out a quick apology under his breath. "It's fine, dude," I offer as I climb to a knee. "That was probably my fault for, y'know, walking down the pedestrian pathway like that." But as I look up to see his reaction to my comment, he's already taken off down the quad.

Alright, so maybe not everything is going well for me today.

"Well, well. Look who's actually on time." Debra Whitman. My prickly labmate. Deb -- and she hates it when I call her that, by the way -- brought an Ivy League mentality to Empire State. From day one, she's looked at me like I'm her rival; not that I'd make for much of one, anyway, between my tardiness and my sudden disappearances and the like. Still, regardless of how she chooses to treat me, I've resolved to kill her with kindness. "Well, aren't you going to swipe us in?" she asks impatiently with a nod towards the card reader on the door.

Confused, I pat each of my pockets in succession. "I swear I had my keycard this morning..."

Deb rolls her eyes. "Of course," she begins, "Even when it seems like you've got your act together, you still find a way to screw it up." With a huff, she digs through her bag and finds her card.

"That's why I have you, partner," I reply with a kind smile.

I'm not the only person to be having a good week. Earlier this week, my mentor, Doctor Curt Connors, succeeded in his bid to study a new extraterrestrial virus discovered by the CDC. They believe that the virus was brought to Earth by one of the extraterrestrial heroes that have popped up in recent years, like Superman or that one Martian guy. Dr. Connors faced stiff competition in his bid to be the guy for this project; OsCorp, in particular, made a strong play for ownership of the virus. However, in the end, it was awarded to our lab.

After putting in my time at the lab, I emerge to find that the sun is only beginning to set. There's a pleasant breeze in the air, and I feel the rooftops calling to me. I'll tell you this about being Spider-Man: the fighting and the risking-my-life parts aren't so great, but the swinging? Man, I'd swing all day if I could. I wish I could describe to you just how liberating of a feeling it is. If I hurry back to my apartment, I can get out there with just enough time to watch the sun set over the city...

We need some villains in here. Lex, The Joker, and Dr. Doom are all sat on a shelf accumulating dust.

Come on, one of you bastards must have some sadistic impulses you need a healthy outlet for.

All men are but dust beneath the cosmic wings of the great moth.

The sample for my Superman post is up.

The War of the Supermen rages on!

I was going to open the voting but there's every chance someone else might be piecing together a Superman sheet under our noses. So once the twenty-four hours have passed, we'll open the voting. For everybody else - if you're unopposed by the twenty-four hour mark, you'll be approved. Barring some glaring issue with your sheet.