cablebelly
well poised
VIOLENT UPBRINGING
LORE
THE POWERS.Superpowers can show up either right at birth, puberty, or after a late in life traumatic event. If I had to describe the realm that superpowers in this universe live under, it'd be more "scientific." (which is obviously an oxymoron but hear me out.) This means 'magic' users, a character with a powerset like Zatanna perhaps, is not kosher. If you could explain it away with a hybrid mixture of telekinesis, telepathy, and the ability to summon rabbits and doves, I'd be a little more inclined to let it slide, though the last bit would definitely snag! smaller powers like that do exist, and sometimes a metahuman from a long line can get a more watered down power rather than a more volatile one. You might come from a family of animal summoners and find it's just easier for you to converse with one type of specific animal.
> Superpowers are brought to light one of three ways.
Genetically -- More often than not, metahuman parents make metahuman kids. Two metahumans often make interesting hybrid powers. People with a long lineage of mutants can have their powers come from any family member, even as far back as a great great aunt or uncle.
"Randomly" -- Quotation marks because nothing's random muahah! There are certain circumstances in the world that cause people's mutant gene to awaken, or one to appear entirely new. namely, this is in the form of meteor showers. In the 2010s and 20's there was an increased amount of meteor showers that spiked the number of metahumans from hundreds to hundreds of thousands. Meteor showers however are no longer commonplace and you'll find most get their powers from the other two.
Forcefully -- Probably not going to be available for your characters as the scientists that crafted such a technique are not in play right now. Some people are lucky (or perhaps unlucky) enough to live their life with the mutant gene and never have it activated. The RPME have developed a method of spotting this dormant gene in certain people, and torturing it out of them. This results in a permanent eye glow. which brings me to my next topic,
Eye Glow -- Every metahuman has a signature color that their eyes glow when they use their powers. This is a glow that encapsulates the entirety of the eye and gives a soft outer hue. it's an important part of identifying your character, and imo, super fun to think about. There are a few certain eye colors that have spooky lore purposes, which are off limits, namely, pure white and pure black. A black glow usually means someone of evil nature (supposedly, at least) and a white glow means one of total chaos and unpredictable nature. Bright red is also uncommon but not quite off limits, it usually means chaos and danger in a bit of a more hot-tempered way. Otherwise, what your character's glow color means is up to you. The color of their drive, the color of their power, the color of their true personality, etc.
Another metahuman trait that can happen is the changing of hair colors. When a metahuman "gives in" to their powers, fully believing themselves not worth anything except what they are as a mutant, their hair can begin to change color to match their glow, meaning their hair could naturally turn even the brightest of pinks. Some metahumans come out of the womb like this, while others have their hair color change as late in life as their sixties. So yes, live that manic pixie dream life with your naturally colored teal hair. Just give me a reason as to why your character's got that going on.
Some powers I would like to avoid are: Manipulation at a molecular/atomic level, time travel, powers that influence rp heavily like telepathy or mind control.
THE WORLD.The year is 2079, meaning metahumans have been public knowledge for just over sixty years.
Most if not all of what I'm talking about pertains to the United States. I have not developed as much of the metahuman relations around other parts of the world, but if you are interested in having a character come from outside the U.S, feel free to get brainstorming with me or send me some ideas about what you're envisioning.
In 2018, a video of superpowered kids fighting against the grips of the RPME, which at the time just looks like a scary group of lab coat wearing combatants, was released to the public. This was the beginning. Of course, it was first called a hoax, a doctored video, but when metahuman vigilantes began cropping up in the open, it could no longer be denied. The next few years were a whirlwind of political upheaval as people tried to figure out what to do with these metahumans who had been living under their noses for so long.
First came the Metahuman Registry. Metahumans were urged to come forward and register themselves on this national catalog, but those who did found themselves harshly discriminated against. Workplaces didn't want to hire people they couldn't control, neighbors rioted to get metahumans out of their homes. At this point, it was foolish to live with your real name tied to your metahuman identity. This is why vigilantism became so popular.
Metahumans began to stop crime under the secrecy of masks and hoods, showing that they could control their powers for good while also protecting their secret identities. Whenever a senseless mutant tortured innocents, a champion rose up to stop him. The people couldn't deny all the good that these vigilantes were doing, and so the registry system slipped away into nothingness. In its place, a series of metahuman led insurance groups, support groups and advocators. The Agency was born, an insurance organization for metahumans to register themselves as vigilantes and be granted legal permission to stop crime without being arrested in the process. This group was run by metahumans for metahumans, and allowed the vigilante lifestyle to flourish.
Around 2030, Metahumans became more and more accepted in day to day life, at least, more admired on the outside. Greater villains like the RPME were vanquished, metahuman children no longer being stolen away in the dark and their cruel experiments were put to an end. Superhero organizations were born. There are a few government employed superheroes, but the most famous come from the organization known as Starteam. (More in the V. tab.) People follow superheroes, especially Starteam, like they once did the "fictional" characters of Batman and the Flash. (Their inspirations were likely not so fictional.) Comic books, merchandise, all exist around real people who cloak their identities to fight the evil that lurks. At the center of the Metahuman revolution came Millennium City. Once known as New York City, Millennium City was renamed when it became the superhero hub. While neighborhoods in small towns could continue to hold prejudice, Millennium City was a metropolis of mutants, a place where discrimination was almost laughed at because the majority of the city's population was made up of metahumans. If you want to be a prime time superhero, chances are, you're making the move to the east coast.
Now in the 2070s, tech is also very well advanced thanks to the introduction of superhuman abilities into the field. Holo-tech is the latest rage, with smartphones and computers finding purchase on sleek new holographic displays. If you don't have the latest Holo-Phone, your smartphone is still probably as powerful as a miniature computer. Green energy is much more commonplace, especially in urban metropolises like Millennium City. Medical equipment is extremely effective, with prosthetic limbs being near better than the real thing. And Hover Cars are just breaking ground much like Teslas once shocked the market in the 2020s.
THE SCHOOL.Vocherteppβs School for the Enhanced is nestled deep within the woods of Vermont, down a long winding road full of twists and hairpin turns. The tree-line is dense with foliage, and even the best of navigators find themselves perplexed as to the direction the school actually lies in. When they finally come upon it, a beautiful campus of brimstone and brick sits beside a lake with a great deal of open grass before the woods consume all again. Vochertepp's has its main building, standing tall with many stories full of classrooms and facilities for the children to use. Behind it is enough space to play any sport imaginable, as well as ample room for training areas for even those with the most volatile of powers. The second building holds the student dormitories, while the third is faculty residence.
Vochertepp presents itself as a grand old England school. Students wear uniforms during school hours and are expected to follow their class schedule tightly, but otherwise are allowed to roam the grounds freely permitted they don't enter the woods or the faculty building. Rooms house two to three students, with triples being a rarity but offering more room space, and are usually separated by age. Students with troublesome powers can request a single. Those who have ventured into the woods deeper than the school permits find themselves up against an impenetrable barrier that stretches like a dome above the campus. They also find themselves with a quick detention.
Classes include normal school curriculum like english, math, and history, alongside a customized metahuman program. Metahuman classes include power discipline, combat training, concentration enhancement, and there are also special focus classes for certain types of metahumans, like telepaths or telekinetics, etc. There are student led clubs of most mundane varieties as well as a few power-specific ones, and clubs require a teacher sponsor. The school provides all food from the cafeteria and all basic necessities like uniforms, school supplies and toiletries are provided by the school, however, there is a small on campus store on the lower level that has a few goodies like candy and such that can be purchased by school supplied vouchers, which you get for good grades and other good deeds recognized by faculty at the end of every quarter. Personal phones and computers are not allowed; school issued devices are given to each student with a certain amount of blocks on it. Contact outside is not permitted to keep your safety intact, but the school has postage (which is rather archaic at this point) and allows you to write home with supervision.
When students first arrive at the school, it seems like a dream. The teachers are kind, the campus inviting, and to finally be surrounded by people like you is something many metahuman children are eager to find. But this dream seems to fade away after a couple months. Things become stricter. Those kind teachers that were first there disappear and are replaced with crueler ones, mutants that either have had the life beaten out of them or metahuman 'experts' who hold no powers but claim to know all they need to. Punishments become commonplace, and these punishments seem out of the realm of any normal administration. Punishments that goad you into losing control over your powers, expectations that become unachievable. They do this all while gaslighting you, reminding you that you have nowhere else to go, and that if you try, they have ways to stop you.
It takes time to unravel the true cruelties of Vochertepp. They don't come out at first light, but once they do, you will find yourself more trapped in their grip than ever.
ORGANIZATIONS
Starteam
The most prevalent superhero organization to exist, Starteam started as a duo. In the 2020s Pathfinder and Majestas emerged as the most popular vigilante couple to ever grace Millennium City. They were awesomely powerful together, and the public went crazy for their in sync buttkicking. Majestas, a powerful energy manipulator and telekinetic blasted foes away with her dark amethyst energy, while Pathfinder, easily recognizable by his shock of white hair and cerulean blue glow seemed to always guide others just away from harm. With the addition of four more members, Shockwave, Agony, Delphinium and Dusk, Starteam was born. For a great deal of time it was the six against the world, their combination of powers smiting most enemies, but as they got older, they purchased Startower in the heart of the city and began to train other metahumans to expand their reach. Now, Starteam employs many vigilantes who bare their symbol as they fight dark forces, and the dream for many young metahumans is to become a hero that can carry their flag. Now, there is only one active member of the remaining six, Agony.
RPME
A dastardly scientific organization, the Research Lab for the Physically and Mentally Enhanced played a great part in keeping metahumans quiet and unknown to the world so that they could continue their cruel research into what makes metahumans tick. It took decades, but they are mostly null, though the effects of their experimentation still ring out across the nation. Those caught in the RPME's grips bare a crescent moon symbol on their shoulder, or perhaps their eyes glow permanently, a result of their uncanny technique to force out a person's powers, but the trauma of being poked and prodded like a lab rat is still a ghost story that many warn their children of.
The Agency
Created before the dawn of exposure, the Agency was created by an E. Crane, a metahuman who believed only fellow metahumans could understand the plight of living a double life. She decided to make it her life's work to ensure the safety of all that she could. Made by metahumans, for metahumans, the Agency began as a network to connect and share information between the physically and mentally enhanced. After the exposure, however, E.Crane worked tirelessly to turn the business legitimate and created a sort of insurance company, one that alleviated any charges that might occur during the process of stopping crime. As long as your name is on the Agency roster, you wouldn't be at fault for destroying the highway or taking a chunk out of city hall while defending the peace. As the superhero era continued on, the Agency became governmentally subsidized, and vigilantes vie desperately to get sponsored-- one of the few legitimate ways to become a superhero.
The Underground
The metahuman underground is something of a myth to most. A mere whisper among humans, but among mutants, it sounds more like a promised land. It's said that somewhere underneath Millennium City is an entrance to a true underground city where there are resources aplenty for all mutants looking for community, or better yet, a place to hide and not lose sense of having a life. Many mutants have disappeared from the world view, and it's always joked that they went underground. You might hope it's truth, or you might think it's a fable. Whatever it is, it's nice to dream that there's a world where metahumans are the majority, and live how they want to.
Famous Heroes & Villains
So I have a decent amount of names and stories to give in terms of famous villains and heroes. The most prominent is Starteam, but there are a few others. I'd happily get into it if you guys want (stopping myself because I could go on forever), but I also want you to feel free to make up your own! Make your parents once-famed heroes, toss around some of your character's favorite villains, etc.
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