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[soupshq]

STATS

NAME: Skylar “Sky” Summers

CODENAME: Zahra Lux

AGE: 26

GENDER: Cis woman

PRONOUNS: She/her

FACECLAIM: Damaris Lewis

SPECIES: Supe

POWERS: Diamond manipulation & constructs

OCCUPATION: Professional superhero and popstar (secretly a college student)

ALLEGIANCE: Government

PLAYED BY: Bree

BACKSTORY

Born and raised in the city, Skylar grew up in a lower-middle class family of civil servants. Her father was a teacher, while her mother had worked for various public services around the city and even sat on the City Council for a few terms. Her older brother had aspirations of joining the DA’s office to help put villains behind bars within the system, and for much of her childhood, Skylar felt a great deal of pressure to find a calling for herself that fit that civically-minded mold.

But the truth was that Skylar wasn’t built for public service. At least, not the way her family envisioned. For one thing, she had an amazing singing voice and wanted to use it every chance she got. For another, simply sitting behind a desk all day slogging through red tape to get anything done? That sounded mind-numbingly awful. No, she wanted to be a singer, a popstar, someone who used her musical talents to bring light to people around the world. While her parents put on a good show of being supportive, it was clear they thought this was an irresponsible outlook that she would hopefully grow out of.

She did not grow out of it. Instead, she focused all her extra time and energy on vocal lessons, various choral groups, talent shows, and basically any other outlet that would let her sing for people. The only drawback to all of this was the powers that manifested in her when she hit puberty: the ability to grow diamonds out of her body and manipulate them however she liked, as well as a degree of increased strength to match. Such a flashy and seemingly-useful power could potentially rocket her to fame, but her family was adamantly set against that. Being a superhero was a dangerous job, and her mother went on many rants about how much damage supes caused throughout the city while they were saving people. But if she only used her powers for show—to make herself sparkle onstage—they considered that selfish and antithetical to everything they’d taught her. They also didn’t want any notoriety she might incur to threaten their collective safety; this was the one point she agreed with.

With such a catch-22 and mounting pressure to find a nice, normal, respectable career that wouldn’t break buildings, Skylar began pulling away from her family more as she got older. They didn’t understand that she just wanted to be able to do what she loved, not what they thought was correct. In her senior year of high school, she indulged in a long-overdue act of rebellion—she used her abilities to deck herself out in an attention-grabbing body suit of diamond, with all the jewelry and bling to match, and positively stomped all the competition in a city-wide charity concert. Between her outfit, her wig, and her makeup, only her family recognized her, much to their dismay. But it got Skylar what she wanted: the attention of the feds.

Though she’d used her powers for personal fashion, she was approached backstage by a couple federal agents who wanted to offer her an alternative use for them. Diamond is the hardest natural substance known to mankind, and it has a number of useful properties that she could harness with a little training. Not only that, the fame and popularity of superhero life would open many doors for her, perhaps even giving her the musical career she’d always wanted. She didn’t even give her parents a chance to object.

Within six months, a new superhero was introduced to the world: Zahra Lux, capable of growing diamond armor and weapons right out of her own body. Not only was she out in the streets kicking ass and taking names, she was busy writing and recording music, the combination of which rocketed her into the Top 10 charts across the country. No one had seen a superhero popstar in decades, and certainly not one with as much charisma and raw talent. Skylar loved every minute of it.

It was when she stepped out of costume and back into her real life that the problems started. Her family tried so hard to be supportive, but this was everything they hadn’t wanted for her. Her mother, especially, was disappointed, knowing full well the unintended consequences that could befall the city because of her daughter’s heroics. Her siblings, too, displayed degrees of jealousy, disappointment, and general irritation with Skylar’s new double life. But she didn’t care. She was a legal adult, making more money than both of her parents combined, and she was going to seize life by the throat.

It was several years before Skylar finally started feeling the true weight of being a superhero. Between fighting crime, making music, public appearances, dipping into acting, and all the partying that came with her fame, her personal life suffered greatly. Her family became more distant, simply unable (and sometimes unwilling) to sympathize with the pressure she brought on herself. Friends from school didn’t know why Skylar had stopped being around so much; they just drifted away slowly until she was alone with people who were no more than acquaintances.

Two years ago, she hit a breaking point. Though Zahra Lux had managed to avoid any major scandals, it was a shock to the world when she announced that she was taking a break from music and acting to focus on other pursuits. She was coy and cagey about the reason, drumming up continued interest despite her projected absence, and promised to still protect the city to the best of her ability. But in truth, Skylar had decided to finally go to college. For what, she didn’t yet know, but she needed something in her life and she had no idea what it was or how else to get it.

She enrolled at the local University of California campus, just taking whatever classes seemed interesting and getting core requirements out of the way. She found that she really enjoyed her language and music classes the most, and has consistently taken French since she started. She’s considering a degree in Music, but has admittedly been set back many times by her responsibilities as a superhero. She was out of classes for a whole three months because of injuries, which she had to explain to the school as the result of a car accident rather than being pummeled by bad guys.

She’s still currently enrolled in classes but is only taking a couple at a time, now mostly remote, so that she can continue her education while finding more balance in her life. She’s also made some friends, most of whom she is keeping well away from her heroic alter ego.

CONNECTIONS

Older brother — 29+ years old, works for the District Attorney’s office. They have a strained relationship as he thinks her choices are reckless and irresponsible.

Two younger sisters — 20-25 years old, both of whom she has a strained relationship with. One sister is deeply and vocally jealous of Sky’s powers and life, while the other won’t explain why she’s stopped talking to Sky.

Her parents — Darrell and Aisha Summers. Skylar and her mother barely talk anymore because when they do, it’s mostly arguing. Her father tries to be a mediator, but isn’t always successful.

Friends from college or elsewhere who don’t know about her double life

Friends from her superhero/professional life who don’t know her secret identity

A manager who helps direct her professional career

A federal supe handler who occasionally checks in

Perhaps members of a famous superhero team that she idolizes and would love to join

[soupshq]

STATS

NAME: Reina Alexis “Jet” Kohler

CODENAME: Nexus

AGE: 23

GENDER: Genderfluid

PRONOUNS: They/she/he (preferred in that order, but will specify if one is preferred at any given time)

FACECLAIM: Brianna Hildebrand

SPECIES: Supe

POWERS: Cyberlingualism (can talk to most if not all forms of technology)

OCCUPATION: Member of The Sentinels superhero team as their tech/intelligence specialist

ALLEGIANCE: Government (coerced) / other (their family)

PLAYED BY: Bree

BACKSTORY

Jet (don’t ask about their birth name, they hate it) didn’t grow up here, but this city is the closest thing to a home they can reasonably remember. Whatever their parents were running from when they fled Los Angeles is a mystery, but they’ve also decided that as long as it doesn’t come back to haunt their family, then who the fuck cares?

What they do know, or rather remember, are the early memories of driving around California in the clunker RV that their parents had managed to buy with what little they had left. Something always pushed Teresa and Brendan Kohler to keep going, keep driving, no matter what. They never stopped anywhere for long, certainly no more than a week, and only then if the RV needed repairs or one of them was sick. Jet has distinct images in her mind of watching the deserts pass through the grimy windows of the RV, of eating Kraft mac’n’cheese at the fold-out table, of watching her dad work on the RV’s engine when something broke or wore down.

That RV was his first toy, and the first non-human thing he remembered “talking” to. People with powers often get them at different times in their lives; it’s a lottery which some people win or lose earlier or later than others. Jet won early. He was five when he first spoke to the RV, sitting on the side of the road somewhere near the Mojave Desert, talking about everything and nothing. A lizard he saw yesterday. The tiny cactus his mom had planted and hung over the kitchenette sink. Why they thought ravioli was gross. And suddenly, Jet could feel the RV listening. It didn’t know what ravioli was, or lizards or cacti or anything else the toddler was talking about, but it seemed to like being talked to. And it responded, not with words precisely, but with something Jet could only describe as feelings of some kind. Hot. Dirty. Squish. (Dad had just smushed a bug on the undercarriage while he worked.) Clean? Drive? Sleep? And just like that, Jet made their first friend.

Their ability to talk to machines and technology grew as they got older, and with it grew their skills in working on such objects. By the time the Kohler family finally stopped running and settled in the island city, Jet had already completely taken over maintenance of the RV that they’d dubbed “Buzz”. (It seemed to make a harmless buzzing noise in the engine whenever it was particularly pleased with something.) They’d also tinkered with and collaborated with every other piece of technology in the RV to function better. Their smartphones never got too hot randomly, the microwave never over- or under-cooked anything, and even the shower—by far the hardest appliance to get through to—had been convinced to stop randomly changing the water pressure.

Jet was 16 by this point, and had been home-schooled their whole life. While they were clearly smart and capable, they also lacked the finer social graces than many city kids learned early, and it only took a couple months at a local high school for everyone involved to decide that public school was not a good fit. Instead, Jet finished schooling at home, got their GED, and focused on helping their father open up a mechanic’s shop three blocks away. It was vastly different from being on the road constantly, but they were surrounded by technology every day, and that made Jet more comfortable than all the classmates they’d left behind.

It was about three years later that the government came calling. It was the first time Jet’s parents had ever seemed… scared, something which disturbed Jet themself far more than the weirdos in suits and sunglasses. There was a hushed conversation behind closed doors, and then one of the suits came to talk to Jet. Apparently, their ability to talk to technology of almost any kind was a rarity, and something that the government would very much like to put to good use. They could help protect people who needed help, keep the worst of the worst off the street and behind bars where they belonged.

Jet wasn’t interested in being a superhero, and they were quite blunt about that fact, as they were blunt in all things. Going out and fighting supervillains just sounded like a bad time, and all the press and public attention supes got sounded oppressive. But the feds were already prepared with a solution. Jet’s powers were perfect for back-end heroics. After all, superhero teams needed intel, coordination, someone to look after their gadgets and vehicles. Who better to do that than someone who could speak directly to all those things? Who had experience working on all kinds of machines from cars to computers?

It made Jet uneasy, just how quickly they seemed to come up with all of this. But they weren’t stupid. They’d heard stories about what happened to superpowered people who turned down the government, and they weren’t interested in spending the rest of their life at a black ops site. Nor did they want their parents being used as leverage against them. Though fiercely independent, it was far easier to say 'yes' and just roll with the punches. Figuratively speaking, obviously.

Jet was assigned to work on one of the city’s top teams, The Sentinels. Under the codename Nexus, they’ve been using their ability and skills to keep their team well-supplied with information and gadgetry that rivals anything the government can offer them. And all without having to set foot in the streets with a goofy costume on, too. Naturally, their secret identity is well-hidden, mostly behind firewalls but also behind a sleek black helmet and body suit they designed for the rare instances when they’re forced to make a public appearance. (Usually through Zoom, but that doesn’t make it less uncomfortable.)

Outside of their superhero life, Jet continues to work at the shop with their dad. It’s a change of pace they greatly appreciate, not in the least because purely mechanical machines have simpler “thoughts” and “emotions” than more high-tech ones. It’s sort of like someone spending a day around cows or horses as an escape from people; very soothing, and they don’t talk back nearly as much. Buzz, the old RV that carried the Kohlers faithfully for sixteen years, still sits at the very back of the garage as a little sanctuary for Jet. And when all else fails, they take their trusty Yamaha motorcycle “BB” out and just drive.

CONNECTIONS

Their parents — Brendan and Teresa Kohler. Brendan is a mechanic who owns his own shop in the city, Kohler Repair and Restoration. Teresa has mostly been a stay-at-home mom, but since Jet moved out (as required by their contract), she’s started a book club and teaches piano.

The Sentinels — one of the top superhero teams in the city, and even on the whole west coast. They’re known for having more reliable intelligence than most other teams in operation, and for focusing their efforts on the business and residential district on the east side known as Mayfair. The team is currently comprised of six members, including Nexus (Jet). Nexus is the only member who never leaves base or (more rarely) an undercover mobile unit. The rest are on-the-ground heroes with a variety of abilities.       + Absolutely would love for the five other members to be picked          up! I don’t have any ideas or requirements for them, so go nuts.

Friends that Jet met online, where they meet most of their friends lmao

Customers at the shop that Jet has helped

[soupshq]

STATS

NAME: eitan halevi

AGE: 35

GENDER: cis man

PRONOUNS: he/him

FACECLAIM: tomer capone

SPECIES: supe

POWERS: light and portal manipulation (now dormant)

OCCUPATION: pizza delivery guy

ALLEGIANCE: none, but leaning towards knightmare

RELIGION: atheist

PLAYED BY: sig

BACKSTORY

they were born a pair. eitan and gavriel were the only children to parents who always wanted more from them. when their powers began to manifest, their mother knew the best place for them to go: the stage.

coming up as a duo in the israeli pop music scene, the twins used their powers as well as a talented pr crew and decent vocals to capture the hearts and souls of early 2000s teens. they were a boyband sensation, especially on the supe market, and quickly became household names.

but boyband fame doesn’t last forever. in an attempt to shift gears due to waning popularity on the international stage, the twins decided to get into classic crime fighting as a way to sustain their career. their supe debut went well at first, but ended in gavriel being killed during a patrolling mission. and when one twin used their powers, the other would gain his. the pair, now broken, left eitan without his light.

he took gavriel’s death harder than anyone else. a supe couldn’t work if they didn’t have access to their powers anymore and he fell out of favour, bouncing around to a variety of odd jobs. he and his wife broke up, he lost his apartment, and was plunged into a deep depression that has been hard for him to surface from ever since. every so often, people recognize him, but even more so do they mistake him for his twin.

sorry, he’s dead. this is the only one that’s left.

CONNECTIONS

marwa hafez: ex wife. they were married young after being set up as a pr stunt. they divorced after eitan’s twin brother died and have been at each others’ throats ever since. sometimes they hatefuck, sometimes they just fight. he still holds a special place for her in his heart.

[soupshq]

STATS

NAME: oh hae-won (birth name)

CALLED: shannon (adopted by children of the unnamed)

AGE: 24

GENDER: demi-girl

PRONOUNS: she/they

FACECLAIM: jung hoyeon

SPECIES: supe

POWERS: plant manipulation/plant physiology/growth pattern detection

OCCUPATION: former cult member

ALLEGIANCE: somewhat the government, but mostly to herself (formerly allied with the unnamed)

RELIGION: christian doomsday cultist (former prophecy bringer in the children of the unnamed)

PLAYED BY: sig

BACKSTORY

hae-won never knew her parents. orphaned when she was one year old due to a house fire, she was put in the foster care system with no living family able to care for her. it was there that the father found her and knew she was important. there’s a prophecy in the unnamed, that the end of the world will be brought about by fire, darkness, and delusion, then rebuilt by life itself. hae-won was only beginning to show her powers at three years old, but the father and the son detected her talent for plant manipulation and deemed her the life-bringer of the prophecy. she was adopted by the cult and brought to their compound.

there, she was raised alongside other supe children and supe adults alike to serve the father and the son in their holy mission. they renamed her, as they do all of their children, and from then on she was called shannon.

shannon was a peculiar child, never quite doing the thing others asked of her, but she was devout, and that was all they asked of her. when the father died, she mourned with the others, but as the son rose to power, despite his fawning over her, she knew something was wrong.

the prophecy still rang true to her, but there was a hollowness in his words that echoed back. small bits and pieces didn’t add up as they rocketed towards their holy mission. the son wanted to force the end, and he would do it by any means necessary.

she told him she wanted to gather information for their cause by visiting the city, but what she was actually doing was defecting to the other side. shannon didn’t want the world to end, and she did not want any hand in its resurrection should that come to pass.

no child of the unnamed had left before, and not one so close to the son himself. shannon doesn’t have a filter and spills secrets indiscriminately to those she comes across, hoping that some part of it may help the police in dismantling the place she used to call home.

she is quite smart, often knowing high-level topics that someone with her lack of schooling would not, but she does not possess the knowledge of common objects and everyday occurrences that others might. advanced organic chemistry? sure. how to heat something up in a microwave? she’s never seen one before in her life. shannon also loves large, oversized clothing of soft materials. she never wears something tight unless it’s ill-fitting and makes a sort of nest when she sleeps. when she first met eva dior, she had not brushed her hair in three weeks.

CONNECTIONS

eva dior and leslie patrick: the detective who needs her for a case and her fbi handler. she is staying at eva’s house as hotels were deemed unsafe for her. shannon wants to play matchmaker and get them together.

the son: (leader of the cult) a father figure to her. he and his fatehr adopted her as a child when he sensed she had powers that would fulfill the prophecy. she still believes in some of his teachings and is afraid to go against him.

WANTED CONNECTION: the brother, nephew, or biological son of the cult leader shannon was raised by. he left the cult and shannon knew of him, but did not know him very well. he’s concerned she’ll drag him back, while she’s concerned he’ll do the same.

[soupshq]

ISSUE #1: bread and circuses

“The City Council proudly presents: SUPER TOGETHER! Celebrating the brave heroes who make our city a safer place. Come down to La Barbara Pier for an all day festival, featuring the superheroes you love! Enjoy food, games, a scavenger hunt, a talent show for young superheroes in the making, and much, much more! Be sure to sign up for exclusive photo and autograph opportunities with your favorite supes!

A portion of the proceeds will go to funding Superways, a fund for those affected by power-related violence.”

the city is getting desperate. with knightmare going public, the tension between supes and the public has only increased, adding in a dissatisfaction from the supes towards the government trying to control them. what is one to give the grumbling masses? well, bread and circuses, of course.

a festival to mask the bad behaviour of those in power, but there’s a few people who can see past the bullshit that comes out of mayor jorts’s office. and if the suits aren’t careful, their slumbering sheep might just wake up.

wake up, you’re dreaming arc: part 1 of 4

issue #1 of SOUPS is only 25c at your local newsstand this friday.

[soupshq]

ISSUE #0: character pages

let’s get ourselves up to speed with our heroes in issue #0 of soups. go on over to our character page template and fill out your character’s information in anticipation of us opening on friday. when finished, submit them to the main.

any changes/additional characters from current members after our opening are the responsibility of the member to add to the main. first edition trading cards of our heroes will release with issue #1.

SOUPS issue #0 is only 25c! releasing this friday.