Making me choose between bugs vs frogs is actually messed up. I think Acorn Weevils might clutch it for bugs though.
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likes
2 mos ago
Trying to get my hands on some unregistered spellbooks for those sweet pre-Mageblight spells. If anyone has one with 'Gerber's Ball of 20 Spiders' hmu.
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3 mos ago
deeply upset that I am now imagining Peter Griffin's hypothetical moveset
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5 mos ago
Spiders are cool as hell, it isn't their fault our brains are wired to be alarmed by many-legged things skittering
I really love this. It's very unique. Also, everyone that's posted so far is approved. I'm really looking forward to getting started with these amazing characters.
Awesome! I've had a vague idea of 'semi-aquatic spider-man' for a while, but he changed a lot as I was writing him. So I'm happy to hear the execution was enjoyable!
Ended up changing some stuff around, decided not to go with Kraven and Scorpion, instead my character studied under this world's version of Doctor Conners. Hopefully everything's good!
All right, let’s take it from the top, one more time…
What’s your name? My name is Oliver Raulot. For the last year and a half, I've been living a double life as Argyros. But the public only ever calls me The Sea Spider. Unfortunately.
How old are you? Somehow, I've made it to twenty-three.
What do you look like? A friend of mine used to say I was doomed to eternally look like I just pulled an all-nighter. That was before I got bitten, since then, I've gotten in better shape, and gotten much worse sleeping habits.
My costume is slim, designed for minimal resistance both on land and in water, with webbed gloves to help me swim faster. The material is similar to a diving suit, but the tensile strength is superior. It's kind of a little too slim honestly, but I don't really have the cash to redesign it.
What's your story? What was it like before and after becoming a Spider-Totem? I'll try to skip to the juicy bits. I grew up in Chicago, living as what could dystopianly be referred to as 'upper lower class'. Meaning I was poor, but not at risk of losing my home. Middle child of three, I was the quiet one. My family loved me, but they had no idea what to do with me, other than take me to the lake. I used to swim down as far as I could, trying to hold my breath longer each time. Damn near gave my Mom a heart attack. We'll trim the fat and skip to the good stuff, I went to school, got some friends, met a girl, it didn't last. The friends didn't either. I decided I was done with Chicago, went to college in New York for Marine Biology.
I wouldn't say I was a prodigy, because I don't like the implication that it was natural talent instead of hard work, but I graduated without any issue, apparently I did well enough to net me an internship working for Doctor Curt Connors, a geneticist with a lot of eccentric ideas. But I liked eccentric, it was new, and it was exciting. So I was on board, studying on a boat for months with Doctor Connors, some of his colleagues, and two other interns. To my surprise, I became fast friends with them both. Becca was in the field of chemical oceanography and had a razor sharp wit, I made sure never to make her mad. And Tyler was a motor technician, and was about as easy-going as they came.
Since I was the intern studying biology, I operated directly under Doctor Connors. It made me realize I was working with a legitimate genius. He had all these projects.. studying diving dell spiders to imitate their ability to collect air bubbles, he had this idea to use the cells of alligator gar to replicate their unique swim bladder's oxygen filtration abilities, these ideas that just seemed so beyond possible. But I was right there, seeing him make real progress. We had done good work, and were wrapping up the expedition, headed back to New York. Nearly in the bay, and everything was right as rain. Up until someone screwed everything up. I still have no idea if it was sabotage from a jealous colleague, corporate espionage, or just a stupid mistake. But some chemicals got swapped, and when me and Doctor Connors were in the lab, we were ground zero of a chemical explosion.
It blew out our engine, and left me and the Doctor in bad condition. They phoned for help, but before it got there, the both of us.. changed. I caught a dosage of our diving bell spider experiment, it altered my DNA. I was the lucky one. It changed me, but not nearly as much as it did Connors. the alligator gar DNA wasn't as stabilized as the diving bell, so the result was a lot more extreme. He became a monster, nearly killed us before help arrived. Then he dove into the water. I'd like to think it was his humanity, deciding to flee instead of attack us.. But I don't know.
What was I doing, with my brand new abilities when he attacked, you may ask? Hiding. Like a coward. I left Becca and Tyler to die, it's a miracle they didn't. I'll skip over the crushing guilt and the brutal pity-party I had for a while afterwards. Both out of a lack of necessity and to preserve some shred of dignity.
So anyway, I'm a vigilante now. See, I might be a coward. But I can take responsibility for my actions, I'm not turning tail and running anymore. I have the ability to help, so I will. It's been a while now and the people I'm fighting are getting meaner, stronger, they aren't just thugs anymore. They're Mafiosos like Hammerhead and his muscle, Man-Mountain Marko, who like to use the Narrows to move their products. Or mad scientists like Jonas Harrow who want to see what makes me tick. Even serial killers like the Human Fly who.. I'd rather not go into detail about. Dangerous people, dangerous even for me. I'm starting to feel like I'm out of my depth, but I'll keep treading water.
Powers and Tech From what I gather, I have what one might consider the standard spider suite. Superhuman physique, can cling to walls, got a sixth sense, and a heck of a lot of agility.
But I'm more.. I don't know a positive word for it. I'm more mutated. My hair changed, it's a little bit coarser now, head and body, It's become that of a diving bell spider, lets me trap oxygen bubbles between the strands so I can stay underwater for a long time. I can swim fast, really fast. I'm not sure if the other spider-people can too, or if that's just me.
Oh, and my webs are organic, come straight from the wrists, as disturbing as that is, it is a huge boon, because I don't have any gadgets. I'm not that kind of scientist, after all.
Do you believe in aliens? Yeah, but I think we ought to be worried about what's already here on earth.
What are your goals for the future? Find Doctor Connors and cure him, which will hopefully lead to me escaping this dead-end job. Beyond that..? I really don't know. I can't do this forever, but it feels irresponsible to quit.
You lived in New York for a while now, right? What do you think of the city? I feel like it's given me Stockholm Syndrome. Staten Island and Brooklyn are my haunts, and I've gotten nearly killed in both places more times than I can count. But I still feel a connection to it.
How much technology do you use on a daily basis? It's the modern day, it's impossible not to use technology daily. I like analog when I have the choice, but it's usually not convenient.
What do you like? Despite several traumatic ocean experiences, I still like freediving a lot. I listen to a lot of instrumental music, it helps me focus. If I didn't like marine biology I wouldn't have bothered studying it, so I like that. And I like street food, the cheaper the better.
What do you dislike? As of recently, alligators and alligator-adjacent things make the top of that list, both dislike and fear. I've never liked coffee, either. Not a fan of my job, I spent too long on this degree to clean tanks!
Do you think true evil exists? Yeah, call me a pessimist, I guess.
What’s your favorite color? Purpley-blue, I dunno the names of colors. Sorry.
Anything else to add? Sea Spiders are not actual spiders. The fact that I keep getting called 'The Spectacular Sea Spider' drives me up the wall. Argyros rolls off the tongue just fine!
What are your thoughts on these people? Other Spider-Folk:Eugh.. I dunno. Maybe I'm just an ass, but I kind of resent them. I mean, in a way they're my inspiration. But also, and I know it's stupid, but it feels like the second they come onto the scene, the world goes crazy. It's not fair to hold it against them or blame them, but.. here we are.
Doctor Curtis Connors:I feel like Ahab chasing my white whale. He was my mentor, and I learned so much from him. I respect him a lot, and I want to help him. But he's also terrifying. He's a semi-aquatic alligator gar monster now, and I've seen his teeth puncture solid steel with barely any strain.
Becca & Tyler:I care about them a lot. They are my best friends, the best friends I've ever had. Our friendship is.. messy right now, that day on the boat complicated things. I want to be a better friend to them, but it's hard when I have to split my focus on vigilantism.
Both of those are good to use. The only one that's really off-limits is the Green Goblin since he doesn't exist yet, but the Hobgoblin does. He was Caty's first villain.
Caty and Danny took on Mysterio so he exists as well and there may have been a symbiote Danny event. Black Cat exists as well, but genderbent so @Polaris North may have had a run-in with him.
Your characters may have vague memories of Doc Ock being a villain, but you wouldn't really remember until you started traveling through the multiverse.
Right on! Looks like I'm good to go then. Ideally I'll be able to bang out the sheet tonight.
Question; I was considering adding a villain or two of this universe into my Spider Totem's backstory, and wanted to see if that'd be alright. If any are off limits that's totally fine, I was considering Mac Gargan and maybe Kraven.
@rocketrobie2 I really dig the powerless vigilante that actually feels fallible and human vibes. Not to diss the batfam, but I've always been a fan of when a non-powered human doesn't rock with peak physicals that put them at the borderline of superhuman.
Sure, his physique doesn’t let him lift cars (closer to a love seat) or outrun a speeding ticket
Aerokinesis - The defining feature of Red Tornado is his ability to generate and, to a limited degree, manipulate wind. This primarily takes the form of, as his name would imply, tornadoes. Able to generate strong whirling winds from his arms and legs in a variety of ways in both offensive and defensive use. He can also utilize this ability to fly at high speeds.
Enhanced Physicals - Now, compared to any heavy hitter, Red Tornado's physical prowess is nothing much. But as an android made of tough metal, he is both more durable and physically stronger than any unpowered human. However aside from when using his Aerokinesis, his speed is unchanged. And, as a man of metal instead of flesh and blood, he can be rebuilt if destroyed but not outright killed.
Weaknesses:
I, Robot - As an android, Red Tornado trades the standard human weakness suite (disease, bloodloss, et cetera), for a whole new group of weaknesses. While protected to a degree against things like EMPs, they still present a danger to him. As are things like computer viruses, and if his outer layer is damaged and his circuitry exposed, liquids are very dangerous.
Villainous Roots - Red Tornado was programmed to, among other things, kill the Justice League. Though the technicians at STAR Labs are confident they've remedied this, the idea of villainous programming laying dormant frequently makes Red Tornado hesitate and second guess his own actions. Plus, it can be very hard to work alongside someone who was originally built to be your enemy.
Background Hero: Doctor Mid-Nite
Appearance: Red Tornado is a red android with a yellow arrow on his head, and three partial circles on his chest, with the empty space between the three resembling a capital T. His body is sleek and humanoid, metallic but otherwise not appearing particularly robotic. But his face is relatively featureless. With three sunken rectangles to represent eyes and a mouth, and little else. He wears a blue cape when performing super heroics. At the current time, Red Tornado does not have any sort of human disguise.
Potential Storylines:
Measure of a Man - Red Tornado's creator, Doctor T.O. Morrow, has escaped prison and started a new evil scheme, with his scientific mind, he has plenty of tools at his disposal to enact any plans he wishes to. This puts Red Tornado in direct opposition with his 'father' for the first time. With Red Tornado terrified to meet his creator, fearing he may fall back on his villainous programming and try to harm his comrades.
The Clash of Storms - The dastardly Weather Wizard has modified his Weather Wand, hooking it up to a beacon to massively increase his range. He's been using his control over weather to hold Central City and its sister City, Keystone, hostage. And he plans to expand his reach even further. The League is on the case, pitting Red Tornado's twisters up against Weather Wizard's storms.
Attack of the Killer Robots - Some villain has unleashed an army of murderous androids. Already very bad! Looks like a job for the Justice League! But Red Tornado has a problem; these androids are relentless, they refuse to stop in their tasks no matter what. And they are also very much on the android side of robots. Humanoid. The idea of destroying them is deeply uncomfortable to the Android hero. But the refusal to do so may endanger human lives.
In general, stories touching on Red Tornado's humanity, and him growing to understand and participate in human relationships, would all be rad in my book.
BRIEF Bio: Doctor T.O. Morrow was one of several evil geniuses to oppose the Justice League. And like the others, he didn't have a great win/loss ratio. Sure, he had a few near-wins, a few death rays that nearly did their job, some killer robots or suped up super tanks that put the League on the ropes. But there was simply no way to defeat a united front that strong. So he sought a different method, creating an android, and programming it to be a hero, temporarily. But with a push of a button, T.O. Morrow could kill that false programming to reveal the robot's true intentions; to destroy the Justice League. He had to dub the Android with a suitably heroic name, and decided upon; Red Tornado.
It was a slow plan, but the Doctor was confident his patience would be rewarded, Red Tornado appeared on the scene of a natural disaster, and using his Aerokinesis, helped the League save many lives. Introductions were had, and Red Tornado expressed interest in working with them further. A few calls in to assist here and there, a few temporary team-ups, and the League seemed to trust him as a fellow hero. Which was when he struck. T.O. Morrow planned a heist, and when the league arrived to fend off his mechanical minions, he hit the killswitch. Red Tornado turned on his allies, nearly succeeding in destroying the league because of the unexpected double-cross, before a timely intervention from the previously busy Superman.
Red Tornado fought alongside the Doctor's other creations, but during the battle, threw himself in front a stray laser that risked hitting a civilian. The League won the battle, and had to decide what to do with Red Tornado. They put it to a vote, with Red Tornado himself suggesting they vote against him, as he believed the only reason he saved the civilian's life was because of the hit he took from Hawkgirl's mace damaged his systems, causing him to temporarily revert to his false heroics programming. Being so against taking the risk on him was actually a point in his favor, and the League decided to give him a chance. They sent him to STAR Labs for repairs, and to ensure the dormant programming to destroy the League was removed. And now, with the League in dire need of new members, and Red Tornado finally being cleared, he intends to repay the kindness shown to him.
Notes: This is a Red Tornado very early in his career, with several alterations. One being the change in time period, as originally in the comics he was created for the JSA, not the JLA. Two being that I dropped the fact that he is possessed by a psychic space cyclone, because I think that muddies the concept a little.
Sample Post:
A faint whrrring noise comes to a halt in the middle in the Keystone City Branch STAR Labs. Coming from one of the physical testing chambers. Within the chamber was the aftermath of a relatively destructive test, with damaged training equipment, busted test dummies, and other pieces of wreckage strewn about. In the center, seated in two folding chairs that survived the tests, are a man, and a machine. "You have a clean bill of health, Mister Tornado. Sound of robot body, sound of robot mind." Doctor Simonson, Red Tornado's primary technician in the lab, says with a practiced smile while writing something down in his notepad.
It had been half a year since Red Tornado had checked himself in to STAR Labs at the Justice League's insistence, and now he was finally checking out. The word finally was not intended to be used as a way to scorn the Lab. It had been nothing but helpful, and the staff treated Red with a kindness he was still uncertain was deserved, and was certain it was not necessary given he was a machine. But they offered it freely regardless.
No, the word 'finally' was merely because he had begun to grow restless. It was a relatively new feeling, and the excitement of experiencing it temporarily eased the agitation, but only temporarily. He wished to pay back the kindness given him to, and could not do that when subjected to (an entirely agreed upon) house arrest. Mercifully, they granted him a great deal of literature to read during his time there. He particularly liked the books on Philosophy, especially Confucianism. A dated philosophy, certainly, but Red Tornado's circumstances made it all the more impactful to read about a way of thought centered around the value of personal ethics and morality. During one particularly rough day, he had compared himself to Confucius, and Doctor Morrow to the Qin Dynasty, eager to suppress his freedom. It was an egotistical thought, and he was very glad he had not shared it.
Realizing he had let himself be drawn into thought, and had yet to properly respond to his doctor, Red Tornado hastily organizes his thoughts and responds. "I am pleased to hear that, Doctor.." The word gave him pause. It felt wrong to refer to a professional and not use their title, but Doctors always made him think of his father creator. "You and your staff have done an excellent job repairing me." He felt he ought to say something more personal, but nothing came to mind.
"It was honestly a pleasure. We've never worked with an Android quite like you before, and you were a model patient." Simonson rose from his seat, and Red Tornado mirrored him. The two shook hands, with Doctor Simonson clapping the android on the shoulder. "I know you're eager to get out there now that you're able to. But if you need to, don't hesitate to come back, alright Red?" Red Tornado did not truly have any intention of returning. He had relied on their kindness long enough, and did not desire to be any more burdensome. But the offer was very much appreciated.
"I will keep that in mind, Doctor. Please relay my gratitude to the rest of your staff." Stiffly, Red Tornado turns to the wreckage, and with a spin of his arms (in the sense that the limbs rotated at the elbows in place, not that they were actually spun), generates a spiraling stream of air that pulls in all of the wrecked training equipment, and deposits it in a far more easy to manage pile. Then, with a nod, Red Tornado moves to depart. With no belongings of his own, there was no need to pack. And with no family.. no real family, there was no one to call. He had nothing he was required to do any longer. He could go wherever he wanted now, do whatever he wanted. And what he wanted to do, whether it was an earnest desire or merely an error in his code..
I usually tend to avoid system heavy roleplays, not because of any legitimate issue, just because of personal preference. But the amount of detail you're putting into the region totally shows, and it seems cool! So I'm on the fence, put me down as tentatively interested?
I think I'm eyeballing Red Tornado, possibly fresh off of an (altered for continuity) unfortunate tenure trying to lead Heroz4U. Working concept is that he recently was helped to overcome his villainous programming, but remained on the low level side of heroing until there was absolute certainty that programming had been entirely removed. Just in time for the league to need his help, so he can repay his debt.
Will try to either lock in with that or lock in with something else soon.
I'd be interested in this! Looks like a fun take on the Superhero formula, and I dig the team comp so far. Gives me the feelings of a Bwahaha-era or James Robinson's (criminally overlooked) run.
Usually I shoot for original characters 'cause it is much easier not to butcher a character I made up, but I might aim for a pre-existing one just to fit the current roster better.
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