Little Bill

Stranger Things Inspired RP (WIP)

OOC is up here, direct any questions and comments there.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛

Davy DePietro

David "Davy" DePietro III

What's your name?

David, but my friends call me Davy. David's my father, you know? And his father's name, except he was actually named Davide. Changed it when he came to Ellis Island on account of all those World War II service records, you know? Besides, I always thought Davy sounded pretty cool, like Davy Jones, or Davy Crockett. Pretty much the only good examples though. Oh, except on the fields of Aznagor, I'm Davidus the Druid. You probably don't know about Aznagor, or what a Druid is, but it's like a game where you talk out what you do, with dice. Some people say only losers like to hang out roleplaying, but I think they just don't exactly know what it is, and that makes them sort of upset, you know?

How old are you?

Thirteen next week. My mom's so Catholic, she clenched together for three hours to make sure I wasn't born on Halloween. November First ain't a bad birthday, though, even if it was at 12:05 in the morning. My mom likes to wake me up at that time on my birthday, every birthday, which was a fun tradition the first five times. Now, knowing the surprise that's coming just keeps me up all night. I still pretend to be sleeping for her, you know? Some parents forget their kids' birthdays, letting my mom blow a kazoo in my ear is the least I could do.

What do you look like?

Are you with the Army? I know I said I'm turning thirteen, but I think I'm too young for you to draft me. For real, though, I look like this. Real ladykiller. My mom says I look like Roy Orbison, and Roy Orbison got chicks, man. Sometimes she says I look like Conway Twitty. Not much of a compliment, but Twitty totally got around too. Some kids at school pick on me and call me fat, which I hate more than the actual fat kids, because I just have strong bone density. I'm not even husky, I'm just stocky. Sicilians are mountain people, we're stocky. Nothing wrong with being stocky, you know? Sometimes I wish I wasn't, though. I'd like to look like Michael Jackson, even though it sounds crazy. A white Michael Jackson, right? That would be bananas, I bet chicks would line up for white MJ.

Do you have any hobbies?

Too many! My biggest is ventriloquism. My mom got me a dummy for my sixth birthday because I was a tubby only child with no friends, and I've gotten super good at it since. I bring him to the talent show every year. We're not as cool as those breakdancing twins from China, but I like to think we've got a cult following amongst the English teachers. His name's Crunch, because the roof of his jaw and his mouth are actually meant to make him a functional nutcracker, so they look a little bit like one of those meat mallets, only wider. Sometimes people complain that it looks like teeth, but I wouldn't trade him in for the world. Plus, I can't do that joke where he eats all my sandwich unless he could mush it up, you know? Also, you ever make braciole without whacking the steak first? It's like a log. I offered to use Crunch to help with making braciole one night, my mom didn't think it was funny. She's the one who got him for me, but Crunch freaks her out the most.

I also have an aquarium. Most people have fish tanks, but theirs are just depressing empty tanks with some gravel, but I have a real aquarium, with a waterfall and pond stuff like you see in the zoo. No biggie. Well, my mom has a real aquarium, but Froggina is mine. She's a Surinam Underwater Toad. She used to have a husband, Froggy, who we got first, but he died last month because he jumped out of the tank and Sprinkles ate him. My grandma found him in the morning, she nearly jumped out of her wheelchair, hah. Don't tell my mom I said that, though. That'd result in what she calls "The Guinea Reset Button". You wanna know where it is? The back of my head.

I like comic books and cartoons and the usual stuff you'd think I like. My favorite comic is Superman. Most people hate Supes because he's overpowered, but that's not the point of Superman. You already know he can kick the villain's nuts into his mouth, but you don't know if he can save the day in the process, you know? The audience might always know what Superman's gonna do, but that's because Superman always does the right thing. Isn't that the point of a superhero anyway? Oh, and I like movies, I've seen every Star Wars three times. Have you ever seen Return of The Jedi? That's the newest one, so don't start with it. I really like the animated Hobbit movie too. You ever see that one? I think it was in the 70's. That's more your time than mine, haha.

What are some things that you especially dislike?

Bullies. I've never been one of the cool kids, and it seems like the cool kids are just the meanest kids who hang out together and shit on everyone else. Then, everyone else calls them the popular kids because they're the ones who won't let people sit with them, as if it makes a difference. I hate my curfew, too. My mom wigs out if I don't get home on time. In fact, the Wiscasset police station had to formally ask her to stop filing early missing child reports without waiting the proper amount of time. I get that we're all we've got, but sometimes she feels a little suffocating, you know? Maybe it has to do with Carlo. I love my mom, but she's a really anxious lady. I hate parrots too. Most birds, now that I think of it. They don't blink enough. Even Crunch blinks. That's actually a little secret to ventriloquism I'll let you in on. If your model can't blink, kids will start crying about five minutes in, when your dummy stares into their souls like the one from Magic.

What are your goals for the future? Both immediate and long-term.

Immediately, I'd like to get into Strong Vincent Academy. Afterwards, I don't really know. I'd like to be the first touring ventriloquist, and tell dirty jokes at nightclubs and the Tonight Show with Crunch, but my mom says comedians all develop cocaine addictions and their parents all die of neglect eating cat food in an apartment, so I guess a puppeteer newscaster would be a compromise. My mom says that's not real, though.

What's your home life like? Specifically, what is your relationship like with your parents?

Oh, you're not in the Army, you're child services. That makes sense. My mom's fine. She hovers over my shoulder, but someone who's had her life has every right to, I guess. She's always got food on the table, even if she has an obsession with spaghetti and lasagna. My nona cooks too, but she fears seasoning like dracula fears garlic. Other than that, my nona mostly just watches TV, hangs out with Sprinkles, and sleeps on the couch. Other than that, it's just Sprinkles and Froggina, who are a cat and a frog.

My dad? He lives in Boulder, I think he's an accountant for a nightclub or something. I forget. I don't see him, but he sends my mom a monthly check and she doesn't take him to court for child support, so we're all even steven. I don't dislike him or anything, I don't think he wanted to be a dad in the first place, but my parents got divorced when I was one, so I guess he could've taken longer to figure it out, y'know?

What's your favorite animal, and why?

Frogs, because of Froggy. He taught me a lot about love, laughter, and life, until Sprinkles turned him into cat food. I brought Froggy to school once, everybody loved him. Since then, Andrew Pooley says I look like a frog, and you know what I say? Andrew Pooley kissed his sister on the lips in the third grade, so screw that sister-fucker and his opinions. Roy Orbison didn't look like a frog. Aside from Froggy, I think frogs are cool because of their ribbits. It's a cool noise for a thing to make. Plus, they literally evolve in their lifespan. When people are born -- when most things are born, really -- they just look like a smaller, pinker, less hairy version of the thing they are. Frogs have a whole tadpole stage where they look like boogers, and then they grow little nubs, and then those nubs get fingers and get a little longer, and then they lose their tails.
Boom. You've got a frog, my friend.

How about your favorite color?

Red. Who doesn't like red? The best things are all red. Kool-Aid, cars, popsicles, you name it. I mean, imagine getting up early, running down the stairs, ripping off the wrapping paper and unboxing a little green wagon on Christmas. Plus, I always pick red for my school picture background. My mom says it accentuates my eyes.

What are your grades like?

Nothing too bad, nothing too great. I'm good at English because I like to read and reading gets us extra credit, but I suck at math. Doesn't everybody kind of suck at math, though? I wish instead of math, I could just take extra science. All we really do in science is basic math anyway. I hate gym, too. You'd think it's the fun class, but all we do is run laps and take free throws, and I suck at both of those. Coach Laheigh is getting up there, so nowadays he usually doesn't notice when I take a breather under the bleachers.

Do you believe in magic?

Uh, no?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛

@Pseudo Stygian@Pep@Peridot@HushedWhispers@Cryfest@Cherry Blossom@Homosaxophone@GreenGrenade@banjoanjo@Sloth@Ejected@SilverPaw

So, twelve applicants for four spots. If I haven't reiterated it enough, it is now a statistical impossibility that everyone here will end up on the main cast of kids, so I hope ya'll make peace with that. If this was a class, I'd tell you to look at the person on your right and on your left -- Either they're both not gonna make the cut, or you and one of them will not make the cut. I'm only emphasizing this to make sure it's something you know -- I'll show you hate mail from past rejected applicants who didn't know later if you want. That being said, if your kid doesn't make the cut, there will definitely be vacancies for townies. Thematically, I'd like to emphasize that only some adults are useful, but I'll get to that later. There will be a need for parents, teachers, older siblings, cops, and so on. In fact, I've contacted @Byrd Man to play Ronald Reagan, who will play a minor (But important) role in the story.

I've seen a lot of similar RP's try to accommodate a large main cast, but this doesn't work. You know why Stranger Things, IT, Stand By Me, and The Goonies all have memorable groups of kids, but the cast of The Sandlot, Little Rascals, and Degrassi are largely forgettable except for one or two characters from each franchise? The number of characters they ask you to care about, and how different each character is. The same principle works for RPs. Even though it's what the Elder Ones refer to in their dark texts as a "Dͦi̠̠̺̺͖̬͔̍͒ͥ̑ͧͬc̬̲̜̪̺̹̜͋́̓́͌̅k̵͐ ͦ̋̍̊̒̀̍M̯͎͔̥̬̬ͮ͌͒ͣ̓ͩ͠o̵̱ͧv̛̭̩̻̥͗ͬ́̈́ͤ̏e͍̥͉ͮ" to make you go on that puzzle quest, write an application, and then reject you, it's inevitable that eight of you will not be chosen for the main cast due to similarities to other beefier sheets you didn't know about, stylistic choices you made nobody else did, and what you assumed the acceptable sheet length would be.

As a result, I've decided to put my CS up for a day before deciding on the cast -- this misses the point of making you guys go on a quest to find the CS, and I apologize for that, as I'm still getting the hang of managing these puzzles. Half of you were finding the sheets the wrong way without deciphering the bio cypher anyway, so I haven't completely foiled the point of the sheet quest, and this way there'll be a set example for the realism, length, style, and tone used in your sheet. Also, it'll provide those who went on the quest with an extra day to work on their sheets, compared to those who have not.

If/When your sheet has been completed, post it here in the OOC, as a final chance for any editing. All sheets should be completed by Tuesday, with preference given to those posted here that I can immediately accept without further critique. See you Tuesday, and whether or not you choose to stick around to play beat cops looking for Cthulu or teachers fighting zombies, thank you sincerely for your interest in The Book Club. It is always humbling to see responses to something you thought might be too obtuse and weird to be picked up, especially when you put a puzzle-shaped barrier between you and people who might pick it up.

To those about to rock, I salute you. See ya'll Tuesday.

C R A W L

>Move to C5

C R A W L

>Reroll movement

bookclub

X

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛

Placeholder.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛

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The Club

Davy Pietro
Elaine Cardozo
Maria Valentia
Aaron Schofield

The Town

Mr. George

^{George Delacroix▮ 55 ▮ Teacher ▮ The Club's English Teacher▮ Insightful, Polite, Stern}

George Delacroix has been benevolently teaching the unwashed offspring of rednecks who would rather see him leave town for thirty five years. Having moved from Louisiana to Colorado at 20, he has all but lost his accent, though he retains the old-fashioned, Southern beliefs he was brought up with. For instance, the children do not have to refer to him by his surname "Like the President", but he is not simply George. He will not admit it, but Elaine is easily his favorite student.

The Dead

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛

"𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝
𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝
𝐓𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐲’𝐚𝐥𝐥’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝"

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_{Can you see me? Can you read these words? Don't react. They might see you. Just keep reading.}

The year is 1983. Ronald Reagan is President of the United States of America, The Return of The Jedi has dominated movie screens for over half a year, and the Orioles have recently defeated the Phillies to win the World Series. In the face of a recession and a war on drugs, America has marched onward through the Cold War. It is a time of scientific innovation and academic progress. It is a time of technological wonder and social justice, bravely taking bold steps towards the future while abandoning a discolored, dysfunctional past. With the rise of toys like Atari, SNES, and The Cabbage Patch Kids, it is a good time to be an American, but an even better time to be an American child. Fortunately for you, you happen to be both.

_{It is the year 11,985. Mankind has proved itself too easily placated to resist subjugation. They are distracted with patterned music, electronic lights, and pre-prepared food.}

You live in the sleepy mountain suburb of Wiscasset, Colorado. It isn't as fancy as the city folk have in Denver -- Old Man McRobert resets the pins instead of a high-tech robot at the bowling alley, there are two radio stations able to penetrate the Rocky Mountains, and the nearest shopping mall is a town over -- but it is far safer than the streets of Denver. In fact, Wiscasset is statistically the safest town in Colorado, a feature pointed out on its highway entrance sign. It's the kind of town you would move to after a difficult city upbringing to raise children to settle down in, and equally the type of quiet, sheltered town those children would grow up despising. It generally sees tourists twice a year, when its forested summerhouses are reopened, and once more when there are pumpkins to be picked and cider to be sold. As it just so happens, it is the middle of October, the prime time for both.

_{Don't read from it out loud. Don't let anyone know you have it. They'll kill you. They'll kill your family. They don't care that you're children. Keep it secret, whatever you do.}

Our story begins with the Emerson Middle School's Book Club. They are a small group of Coloradans between the ages of eleven and thirteen, who belong to the club either out of a fondness for literature, a desire to be in extra yearbook pictures, or a need for English credit offered by spending every Wednesday afternoon with a roomful of bookworms. Your character's motivations will be left up to you, but where they are is on a field trip to the Colorado State Library. It is here they find, like groups of plucky protagonists often do, an unspeakable power not meant for them. Not meant for anyone. Whether they attempt to harness this power for their own gain or try to return their world to normalcy is in your hands.

_{I have to go. They found me. Don't let anyone know about the book, not even your family. Visit his bio. Stay sharp. I'll see you soon.}

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Welcome to The Book Club. I hope you've read this far because you're interested, so let me drop the GM mask and explain what I've got in mind with less cagey wording. The Book Club is strongly inspired by Stranger Things, and is meant to fill the coming-of-age-horror shaped void left in my heart by completing the second season. Thematic sources also include Gravity Falls, Welcome to Night Vale, and Hocus Pocus. I've always been fascinated with the occult, conspiracy theories, and modern fantasy settings, so naturally, this RP will heavily feature all three. Following that theme, I should point out that this RP will encourage investigation, reading between the lines, and real-world puzzle-solving.

If you can find the page where I've hidden a secret message, you may apply, but please know that this is the most ambitious RP project I've undertaken, and thereby the most competitive in terms of how harshly I'm judging your sheet. The main group of kids will be no more than five, and ideally, I'm aiming for four. I'm playing one, so there are three to four slots, and as of writing this, six people have managed to find the sheet. There will still be less-harshly-judged available openings for side characters after the main cast is filled -- bumbling cops, investigative teachers, parents, siblings, and local teenagers -- but they will not take the center stage, or only briefly become aware that there is a stage before a horrorterror eats their face. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or threats, now would be the time to voice them.