The New Ultimate DC RPG - Season II: Sign-Up/OOC Thread

[Batman]

...

You just put way too much effort into boosting Byrd's ego.

 

[Spike_x1]

It's what four years of studying English literature and a ten second Google search have all been leading up.

Plus I've always liked that Churchill quote.

 

[Saved]

The article says "consider your audience" and we strive for the best in UDC.

No, but that was enlightening. Too bad my English proffessors will never buy it as legitimate. Like wikipedia.

 

[Spike_x1]

They'll never buy it if you keep putting two f's in "professors," that's for sure.

It is a very debatable subject, but when you stop and think of it in the simple terms of how you or I naturally use modern English in dialogue and writing, it's hard to argue that ending a sentence with a preposition makes any sort of difference (especially since English has enough rules already and is still one of the most complicated languages around). People will understand it either way if the given sentence is otherwise well constructed, and it can often be more trouble than it's worth to try and rework your phrasing to fit that rule.

 

[Saved]

They'll never buy it if you keep putting two f's in "professors," that's for sure.

It is a very debatable subject, but when you stop and think of it in the simple terms of how you or I naturally use modern English in dialogue and writing, it's hard to argue that ending a sentence with a preposition makes any sort of difference (especially since English has enough rules already and is still one of the most complicated languages around). If the given sentence is otherwise well constructed, people will understand it either way, and it can often be more trouble than it's worth to try and rework your phrasing to fit that rule.

That's what I notice most readily. When you have to insert "of which" or "in which", it often seems off in terms of the overall tone of the point being displayed. I'd like to see a leniency in the "can't end with prepositions" rule, myself. I mean, I had a professor tell us if we ended a sentence with a preposition, our papers would be marked down a letter grade for every one the professor found.

So, yeah, I'd love for that rule to fade away...

 

[Spike_x1]

A professor in my first year rolled his eyes when someone brought it up, asking about how he expected us to format an essay (no saying "I think this," or "my belief is that," and other stuff like that). Even with those rules in mind, he couldn't have cared less about ending a sentence with a preposition and explained the ideas I've been talking about and how old fashioned the rule is.

Conversely, I had another prof who was insanely strict about it (she sounds a lot like the one you mentioned), while all of her colleagues in the English Department openly mocked her. One of the guys even said she should go back to teaching Latin and thought that it was the funniest joke of all time.

 

[Saved]

A professor in my first year rolled his eyes when someone brought it up, asking about how he expected us to format an essay (no saying "I think this," or "my belief is that," and other stuff like that). Even with those rules in mind, he couldn't have cared less about ending a sentence with a preposition and explained the ideas I've been talking about and how old fashioned the rule is.

Conversely, I had another prof who was insanely strict about it (she sounds a lot like the one you mentioned), while all of her colleagues in the English Department openly mocked her. One of the guys even said she should go back to teaching Latin and thought that it was the funniest joke of all time.

OF ALL TIME! /Kanye

Well, that's encouraging. Why do I have a feeling that I'll have my PhD before the rule is forgotten, though? Oh well, can't win them all.

 

[Byrd Man]

For once, you're not a hillbilly after all!

"While many aspects of Latin have made their way into the English language, this particular grammar rule is not suited for modern English usage."

Like it or not, standards and rules for grammar change with the times (meaning we'll probably be speaking L337 in the near future), and this rule has been antiquated for a long time now. And if Winston Churchill can mock it, so can you, my good man.

Mize gramm0r is teh roxz!111111111!!!!

I'm not an ignorant jackass, I'm just ahead of the curve.

 

[trustyside-kick]

You guys suck.

 

[Eddie Brock]

Sentences where you deliberately avoid ending in a preposition often sound more cluttered than ones where you don't. You could say:

"Oh, great. MB dropped Magneto. Now, I have no one to post with."

Or:

"Oh, great. MB dropped Magneto. Now, I have no one with whom to post."

I just prefer the former. *shrug*

 

[Byrd Man]

If only you people worried about posting as much as you worry about grammar we'd be....**** me, we're doing pretty damn good. Carry on with the grammar talk

 

[trustyside-kick]

You guys suck.

 

[Byrd Man]

You guys suck.

And you need to reply to my Batman post in WoH.

 

[trustyside-kick]

On a lunch break, on my phone, and the Internet at my house has yet to return last I was home.

 

[Saved]

Sentences where you deliberately avoid ending in a preposition often sound more cluttered than ones where you don't. You could say:

"Oh, great. MB dropped Magneto. Now, I have no one to post with."

Or:

"Oh, great. MB dropped Magneto. Now, I have no one with whom to post."

I just prefer the former. *shrug*

I see what you did there...

 

[J'adore]

What's the latest on Thomas Elliot?

 

[Saved]

Doctor at Arkham. Not much mentioned beyond that. Search his name either this season or last season because MB did a post where Bruce chatted with Elliot at a banquet.

 

[Batman]

This season, and it was my second or third post of the season.

 

[Batman]

By the way, I've been pretty lax with this so far, but I intend to up my game as the GM. Roster checks now, roster updates later tonight.

AS OF 02/05/2011

More Than 30 Days Without a Post (01/06):
Larfleeze - Syn (Mercenary) (01/03)
El Diablo - Harlekin (12/29)

More Than 14 Days Without a Post (01/22):

Giganta - MST3K_4ever (01/18)
Hawk & Dove - Optikal (01/15)
The Turtle - trustyside-kick (01/10)
Jim Gordon - Catman_prb (01/07)

More Than 7 Days Without a Post (01/29):

Dick Grayson - Andy C. (01/29)
Harvey Dent - Eddie Brock (01/26)
Edward Nygma - Byrd Man (01/26)
Batgirl - Syn (Mercenary) (01/24)
Supergirl - Eddie Brock (01/24)
Bane - Spike_x1 (01/24)

Removed From The Roster:

Booster Gold
Mr. Terrific
Black Adam
Alan Scott
Wonder Woman
Lex Luthor
Mr. Majestic
Rick Tyler
John Stewart
Deadshot

As always, you can re-apply for any character that's been removed. I know that some of you have valid excuses or have let us know in advance why you cannot post, so just know that those concerns have been noted and do play a factor in this list. For the rest of you, however, I have one word...

POOOOOOOOOOOST!

 

[Saved]

We have a 7-days without a post bulletin now? You know what, why make it that much? How bout we warn you for not posting since yesterday!?

 

[MST3K 4ever]

Luthor is up for grabs...I might have to apply for him...and if I do Giganta is out! Need to think about this one.

 

[J'adore]

This season, and it was my second or third post of the season.

I found it

 

[Andy C.]

And now that there's an actual threat of losing them, I have suddenly regained my zeal to play Luthor and Wondy. Expect applications forthcoming.

 

[MST3K 4ever]

And now that there's an actual threat of losing them, I have suddenly regained my zeal to play Luthor and Wondy. Expect applications forthcoming.

I said I was considering Luthor...that being said...if you were to apply within the next 72 hours...I would gladly step aside.

 

[Andy C.]

And the award for "Dick Move of the Year" goes to.....

. THE NEW ULTIMATE DC RPG .


Character Application​

.Screen name: Andy C.

.Character you wish to portray: Lex Luthor

.Hero, villain, or walking the line?: Magnificent Bastard.

.Powers and physical attributes: Luthor has no paranormal abilities or alien heritage, nor does he need them. What he has instead is a mind so advanced, so quick, so horrifyingly vast, that many believe he may very well be the next stage of human evolution. That intelligence, along with his uncanny business sense and unmatched charisma, has given Luthor the largest fortune in the world, allowing him to develop technology and weapons so advanced they might as well be magic, as well as legions of dedicated and loyal followers on virtually every level of society. There is virtually no place in Metropolis where Lex Luthor does not have eyes, ears, and weapons at the ready.

.Origin and backstory (as you see it):
From the original app:

The prodigal son of industrialist Lionel Luthor and his wife Lillian, Alexander was always both gifted and cursed by his astounding intelligence. While it was certainly impressive that he was able to read at a high-school level before entering kindergarten, his social development suffered for it. His twin brother Julian regularly beat him up throughout their childhood, a result of feeling threatened by him. The other schoolchildren did the same. His own mother was honestly afraid of him; while she would comfort him and tell him he was 'special,' every day in the back of her mind, there was a growing dread that her boy was becoming something terrible. Lex's father, on the other hand, was all too eager to feed the boy's ever-accelerating mental development, never bothering to look at his son's present but rather his future. In Lex, Lionel saw greatness.

And so the family would pack up and move across the globe, wowing the heads of prestigious institutes, becoming the toast of the world's leading techno-centric hubs, doing everything they could to keep Lex on the fast track to success. Julian suffered for it, never getting to have any friends before having to move again, never getting out from under his brother's shadow, never having an identity or life of his own. At age sixteen, Julian hanged himself, and his death was the first time since infancy that Lex felt genuine emotion.

Seeing the need to move to a more wholesome atmosphere for a while, the Luthors decided to finish Lex's education in a small, friendly rural community in Kansas called Smallville. Lex even enrolled in a public school for the first time, begging his parents to give him the chance to live like a regular teenager. Still used to flaunting his brain-power and being treated like a celebrity in the science community, he came off to most as arrogant and condescending, which only alienated him even more. The only person he could really relate to on any personal level was a particularly gifted farm boy by the name of Clark Kent, although Lex never really considered himself a friend--frankly, he never learned how to make friends, or saw the need for them at all. Everyone else shunned him quietly, and he in turn despised them openly. While it was meant to brighten up his life after his brother's death, Lex's time in Smallville only made his thoughts and feelings darker.

While in Kansas, he did find one thing that kept him intellectually stimulated: a sample of unbelievably rare extraterrestrial mineral that had landed there as part of a freak meteor shower some years prior. Absolutely fascinated by the incredible amounts of energy given off by the rock--and its remarkably clean radiation--he set to work on testing its potential applications.

Tragically, his experiments the rock would lead to disaster, as an overloaded circuit would eventually cause an explosion that utterly destroyed the Luthors' home. He suffered second- and third-degree burns on over half of his body, disfiguring him completely. His mother and father did not survive the blast at all. With all of his family dead and his research ruined, Lex had no reason to remain in Smallville, and would practically disappear for almost five years.

At the age of twenty-three, Lex Luthor unexpectedly re-appeared on the Metropolis scene. Having undergone several rounds of extensive plastic surgery, his burn scars were completely gone--along with his hair and eyebrows, unfortunately.

Far more remarkable, however, was the transformation of his personality. Gone was the introverted, demeaning, almost misanthropic walking-brain that had driven so many people away. Now, Lex was a smooth talker, a wild playboy, a shrewd businessman, and a natural showman, all without losing a shred of his staggering brilliance. People from all walks of life began to gravitate toward him, practically worship him, and within a year of his taking the helm, he Lex had taken the floundering LuthorCorp (now re-christened as LexCorp) and made it one of the most profitable companies in America. After another year, it was the most profitable company in the world. Tens of thousands of patents flowed from the newly-constructed LexCorp Tower in Metropolis, ranging from city-spanning energy shields and self-sustaining space stations, to a more efficient toaster.

What made many uneasy, however, was the intricate web of connections Lex began weaving with a myriad of organizations. Private military contractors, 'community outreach' programs in cities across America, major media outlets, banks and financial firms, all churning out praise for Luthor and his new movement simply known as "Society." Several Senators and Representatives began passing suspicious bills that seemed only to benefit LexCorp or its many, many subsidiaries. Critics began either drastically changing their tone or suddenly finding themselves out of work. While there were many who had doubts about Luthor's plan for America, there were few who could truly oppose him.

Until Superman arrived.

Bursting onto the scene with all the pomp and pageantry of a mythological god, Superman began breaking people's devotion away from Luthor, and little by little, began exposing Luthor's true motives. While there were still many in the country who would believe anything Lex said, Superman's mere presence and defiance began sprouting a grassroots campaign against the Society, spurred on by the infuriatingly popular Daily Planet. What began as simply a freakish do-gooder became a massive stumbling-block for Lex's designs.

Three years later, Lex Luthor is growing more powerful than ever, but has to fight tooth-and-nail for every bit he gets. He has devoted almost all of his attention to discrediting and destroying the alien, and while he maintains his cool and suave demeanor on the outside, his repeated failures to oust Superman are turning him into a fanatical maniac on the inside. He is raising an army to do his bidding, and has unthinkable weapons at his disposal. Lex Luthor believes the only solution is all-out war on Superman. And in his mind, the spoils are the very future of the human race itself.

Since then, Luthor was behind the creation of the Society, a cabal consisting of the most powerful and influential people on the planet, in response to the arrival of Superman and the other superhumans. His belief that the world should be molded by his design. led him to the devising and enacting of the Manhattan Project, using the captive and mind-erased Doctor Manhattan to cause a global blackout, then unleashing a world-wide nuclear strike that would cause global devastation, allowing the Society to rebuild the world as they see fit.

As our story resumes, Luthor has been denied his chance of world domination, and is currently traveling the world looking for the traitor who robbed him of his vision.

.The burning question - Why this character?:

Because Lex Luthor is quite honestly one of the greatest villains of all time, but one that is very seldom written properly.

.How will this version of your character differ from others? How will it be Ultimate?: Well, Lex isn't exactly what you'd call "on top of the world" right now--the last time we saw him, he was flying across the world to find the traitor who screwed him out of world domination. So hopefully globe-trotting Lex will be more fun than the type who just sits in his office talking about how untouchable he is.

.What do you believe you can bring to the RPG?: A villain that can be a large-scale threat over and over and over again, as well as a complex and hopefully engaging look at how far a 'messiah' figure can fall. Also, I can make a bowl of chili that will knock you on your ass.

.Provide a short sample post as your desired character, in three paragraphs or more:

"Amazing, isn't it?" Lex Luthor said as he stared admiringly at the glowing green jewel on his ring. "It's a radioactive isotope of extraordinary energy, with a signature that is completely harmless to anyone without the same base chemical structure--as in, anyone not from the same planet as the rock itself. Which means, this is a little souvenir from your homeworld, Superman. What was it called, I wonder?"

"...K-.....Krypton...." Superman said, his breath coming in ragged gasps, powerful waves of nausea rising up through him as he withered in the presence of the poisonous rock.

"Krypton....very dramatic sounding name. I suppose it's only fitting that this little gem here bears the same name. Kryptonium? Kryptonogen? Kryptonite? Yes, that sounds perfectly good. This little pebble of Kryptonite reacts with your cellular structure in such a way that it releases all of that stored energy you've got in there and causes the cells to break down. It's going to be a very, very painful death, I'm afraid, but fortunately for you, a relatively short one. I'd say you have maybe ninety seconds left."

Luthor adjusted the timer on his watch, simultaneously linking it with the combined nuclear arsenals of the world's major countries.

"In ninety seconds' time, Superman dies, and the world itself comes crashing down, to be molded back in my image."

He looked over to the horrified Lois Lane, who seemed torn between looking for a way out of the lunar base and finding a sharp object to jam into Lex's throat.

"I do hope you're getting all this, Miss Lane. After all, your words will be the ones that tell the world my story, of what I had to do to create the paradise that's coming. I find that reporters have a better sense of capturing the moment than historians, don't you?"

With that, Luthor walked over to the conference table and sat down at its head, turning his chair towards the window and the Earth below. With the captive Lois Lane at one side and the sickened and dying Superman at the other, Luthor allowed himself a genuine smile.

"Sixty more seconds.....then, the world is mine."

.Preferred roster pic? (No preference, and one will be chosen for you):