all my friends are heathens
Oct. 25th, 2016 12:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iwaskirsdarkeI finally finished my first batch of character profiles! Here are my six main-main characters, River City's rookie heroes.
(Note: the Aliases and Affiliations happen in-story, while the histories stop before the start of the story.)
ETA: Okay, apparently LJ can't handle all this awesomeness in one post, so here are the first five, and the last will follow shortly.
Drake Douglas
Full Name- Drake Anthony Douglas
Alias- Black Magic
Affiliation- Independent
Nicknames- D
Age- 29
Birthdate- April 7th, 1988
Gender- Male
Sexuality- Heterosexual
Appareance
Height- 6'0"
Hair Color- Black
Eye Color- Dark brown
Played by- Michael B. Jordan
General Appearance- Drake Darling is a handsome young man, and it doesn't go unnoticed. He's tall and muscular, the result of a strict workout routine and diet. He keeps his hair cut short, as well as his beard, when he has one. He prefers a casual style. He'll wear button-ups and occasionally an actual suit at work (something his female students always notice), but in his down-time he favors t-shirts and jeans. He has a slightly crooked, but very charming and easy smile. If you hang around him for any amount of time, you're likely to witness it yourself.
Personality
Interests & Hobbies- Heroes, Comics, Reading, History, Music, Movies, Basketball
3 Positive Personality Traits- Smart, Loyal, Clever
2 Negative Personality Traits- Flippant, Insecure
General Personality- The typical first impression of Drake Douglas is of an incredibly smart and charming young man. This is true, but it's not the whole story of who he is. Once you know him for a while, you might begin to realize that most of his bravado and his flippant nature are masking some heavy insecurity. He has a need to be liked, but doesn't want to show it, so he covers it up by pretending not to care. This works on a lot of people, especically women, and over time it's become less of a show than it used to be. He has become more confident, from the knowledge that those who get past the front usually like the real person they find inside.
Part of Darke's insecurity comes from the fact that he's never really been the best at anything. He was never the most natural athlete, the most popular kid, the smartest student. He's naturally smart, but had to work hard all through his school years to get near the front of the pack. When he wanted to try out for a team, he had to practice twice as much as his more naturally-talented teammates. As he grew up, his work ethic increased, but he's still not always willing to show it. He wants people to know that he's as good as anybody else, no matter how he gets there.
Bad Habits- Joking at awkward moments; Drinking straight out of the carton
Quote- "The big secret of life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work." -Oprah Winfrey
Family & History
Parents- Father: Anthony Douglas, Real estate agent
Mother: Theresa Garrison, Veterinarian
Siblings- Older sister: Kate Douglas-Mayer, 33
Hometown- River City, Tennessee
Ancestry- African-American
Occupation- Teacher
History- Drake Douglas grew up in a pretty normal household. His parents were happily married and both had stable, well-paying jobs that let the family live in a respectable middle-class neighborhood. Drake was actually a shy child when he was young, not wanting to socialize for fear of being rejected. His parents did everything they could, encouraging him to join clubs and Cub Scouts and arranging playdates, but while Drake was never outright left out, he always ended up staying at the edge of the group. He just preferred to be in his room with his comics and books instead of outside with people.
Anthony was constantly frustrated, sure that his son had some sort of developmental disorder. Theresa was more understanding, reassuring him that Drake was just an introvert, but she still worried about him. Things took a turn when Drake was about 10, when Anthony convinced his son to try out for the basketball team. Drake was reluctant. He liked sports, but had never been naturally athletic, and would only barely make the team, when he did at all. But he decided to give it a try to keep his dad happy. The two of them worked hard for a few weeks before the tryouts, shooting hoops in the driveway every evening, and when the big day came, it went a lot better than Drake had expected. He was at the end of the bench most of the time, but at least he was there.
Drake quickly found a place among the boys on the team. He still wasn't very outgoing, and he was usually the quietest one in the group, but the others never seemed to mind. In particular, Steph Morrow seemed to take a liking to Drake, which surprised Drake since Steph was not only one of the most popular kids in school, but the clear star of the team. Steph took Drake under his wing and the two became the most dedicated to practice, almost always arriving earlier and leaving later than anyone else. Drake became gradually better and while he would never be a star, he did get more playing time. He became more confident, and Steph's swagger wore off on him. He wasn't as confident as his friend, but he became better at faking it.
Steph Morrow moved away the summer between eighth and ninth grade, leaving Drake to face high school alone. He was terrified, but did his best not to show it. The first thing he did was sign-up for basketball try-outs, and then look for other clubs to join. He wasn't sure how he was going to fit into this new world, but he knew that he didn't want to go back to being the little loner kid. He made the team, and joined the Comic Book Club, and quickly learned that they didn't exactly go perfectly together. Both groups liked him well enough, but the basketball players teased him about hanging with nerds, and the comic-lovers weren't above trash-talking the jocks. Drake would occasionally join in with some good-natured ribbing, but more often than not found himself trying to defend one group of friends to the other.
Even though both activities kept Drake very busy, he couldn't give up either one. Though he knew he would never be a great player, he really liked the comraderie of being on the team, and the Comic Book Club had brought him back to a hobby that he hadn't really enjoyed since childhood. He was once again sucked in to the semi-fictional adventures of the heroes that he saw on the news and in the paper. He began collecting the best issues and the action figures, and even started following the news, wanting to know the true stories behind the fantastic tales. He usually found that the real versions were bloodier and darker, and yet more interesting. That's when he began imagining a future where he would be one of them, prowling the streets at night, fighting crime and defending the innocent.
His parents insisted that he go to college first. Drake was a little reluctant about this, since he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He wasn't a good enough athlete to try to go pro or even get a scholarship, and he wasn't a good enough artist to get into the comics industry. So he just started going for a general degree. Other than the panic-inducing lack of direction, Drake really liked college. It was fun to be away from home for the first time, meeting people from completely new backgrounds, and he actually really enjoyed learning, even if he had to study twice as hard as everybody else to retain it all. He relied a lot on tutors, advisors and professors during this time, and came to appreciate them a lot, as well as growing a new appreciation for his previous teachers. After his first year, Drake was pretty sure that he wanted to be a teacher. He spent the summer considering it, and discussed it with his mother, who didn't seem as surprised by the epiphany as Drake was. With his parents' encouragement, Drake decided to go for it, and when he returned for his Sophomore year, he declared his major in Education.
After graduation, Drake did what every one of his classmates did: returned home and began looking for teaching jobs. There was a part of him that felt wholly unprepared for the realities of the job, but he kept telling himself that he had to trust the education that he'd gotten. He'd been trained, he told himself, so he was ready. In most situations, that probably would have been true, but he soon learned that nothing could quite prepare him for Sheffield High.
Sheffield, while not one of the worst schools in the city, still suffered the same problems that so many city public schools do: overcrowding, the violence of the community leaking in and the security that tries to keep it out, and worst of all, a number of teachers who had given up. They were the minority, yes, but they were there, and they were what bothered Drake most of all. It was hard for Drake, who'd had to work for everything in life, to not see the potential in every kid that came through his door. He pours his heart and soul into every one. He knows their names and how many siblings they have and how far from the school they live. He keeps his door open, his phone on, and always makes time for whatever tutoring they might need. But there are, despite anyone's best efforts, the ones who fall through the cracks- the ones who have to drop out to help their family, or who make a dumb mistake and get themselves expelled or sent to jail. Those are the ones that break his heart, that make him understand why it might be easier to give up.
They're the ones who made him begin to rethink that old idea of becoming a hero.
Basic Likes/Dislikes- Likes: Basketball, Comics, Heroes, History, Music, Movies
Dislikes: Cynics, Being discounted, Being condescended to, Being the center of attention, Baseball
Jessa Johnson
Full Name- Jessica Marie Darling
Alias- Firebird
Affiliation- Subversive Technology
Nickname- Jessa, Jess
Age- 33
Birthdate- February 10th, 1984
Gender- Female
Sexuality- Hetero
Appearance
Height- 5'4"
Hair Color- Dark brown
Eye Color- Dark brown
Played by- Tessa Thompson
General Appearance- Jessa Johnson may be petite, but she walks tall. She has excellent posture, to use every inch of her frame, and often wears heels to give herself a couple more. When she walks, she walks with a purpose. She's very careful about her appearance, not because she's vain, but because she knows that people judge her on it. She wears her hair in short, soft curls, and never overdoes her makeup. She dresses the part of the perpetual professional at work, but favors a more casual and comfortable style in her off-hours. Her default expression is serious and thoughtful, but she softens quite a bit when around people she cares about, such as her clients, friends and family. It's not that she never smiles, as some think. But her smiles have to be earned.
Personality
Interests & Hobbies- Law, Comics, Heroes, Music, Movies, Feminism, Politics, History
3 Positive Personality Traits- Hard-working, Proud, Intelligent
2 Negative Personality Traits- Tempermental, Stoic
General Personality- Jessa is a passionate person, not just about her work, but about people in general. As cynical and angry as she sometimes appears, she does like people, and care about them. She just doesn't often show it in a soft and cuddly way. (In fact, the only people who will see that side of her are her clients.) Instead, she shows her respect and affection for people by holding them to high standards. When she knows that somebody is capable of something and doesn't think they're living up to their potential, she gets angry and that can take the form of arguing. This can put off people who don't know her well, but those who do see that she just wants the best for and from the people that she cares about. Of course, this does sometimes come from a place of anger or worry, especially at work, where the stakes can be high.
Jessa only really relaxes around people that she knows well, who she knows she can trust. She fights the good fights twenty-three hours a day and it's important for her to have someone she can spend the other hour with. After all, everybody needs a safe space and time to relax, but especially those who sometimes feel like they carry the world on their shoulders. As exhausting as it can be, just being her, she also tires of people telling her that the battles she fights are not her fights. She rejects the idea of "A problem that doesn't effect me isn't a problem." She also realizes that as a black woman, she has a small part of the world where she can make a difference, so she has to work as hard as she can at it.
Bad Habits- Pushing an issue when somebody else would rather change the subject; Working late; Reading in too-dim light; Mocking somebody or flipping them off behind their back when she can't say something to their face; Rolling her eyes
Quote- "We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another." -Veronica Roth
Family & History
Parents- Father: Eric Johnson, construction worker
Mother: Marie Johnson, waitress
Siblings-Hometown- River City, Tennessee
Ancestry- African, Panamanian, Mexican, French
Occupation- Lawyer
History- Things were never comfortable or easy for the Johnson family during Jessa's childhood. She remembers long stretches where they didn't have a car or one of her parents didn't have a job. Sometimes the power would go off for a day or two, and if something broke it usually stayed broken for a while. Jessa and her sister never went hungry, but looking back, she wonders how often her parents did. Eric and Marie always tried to shield their daughters from the harsh realities of their financial situation, but it wasn't always possible. Jessa and Harmony always knew that it was a longshot that they would be able to get the cool things that their friends had or join the club or team that their classmates were excited about. Eventually, they just stopped asking. Jessa never blamed her parents for any of it. The family was always close-knit, and there was always the sense that whatever trouble they were facing, they would get through it together. As she grew up, Jessa realized her anger was better directed at society in general.
As she entered her teenage years, and high school, Jessa became ever more politically-involved. She became involved in student government (eventually becoming the President of her Senior class) and hanging out with like-minded people. It wasn't a perfect education, since they were all teenagers, but it opened her mind to things like feminism, racism and income inequality. Once she turned 16 and began working, she began trying to plan out her future and figure out a path where she could make a difference. Her excellent grades meant that her options were wide open, and it didn't take much convincing from her counselor for her to decide that she was going to be a lawyer. She would use the law to make the world a better place, as much as she could.
She graduated at the top of her class, and spent the summer after working twelve-hour shifts to put the smallest dent in her upcoming tuition bills. Even as she was living at home, and receiving financial aid and a scholarship, college was the biggest expense the Johnson family had ever faced. More than once, Jessa felt guilty for it, but she always tried to fight those feelings. It was an investment in the future, she told herself. She was going to do good with her degree. That was what she told herself whenever things got hard. Whenever she was so tired after a shift at work that she could barely stand, or whenever she had to stay up to the wee hours to finish a paper on deadline, or whenever one of her male classmates would make some ugly remark. She told herself that she was fighting the good fight.
None of those male classmates, who were so assured of their own superiority, were in the top five percent of the graduating class, as Jessa was. The few who graduated ahead of her were those who had studied abroad or taken unpaid internships, the kind of advantage that she had never been able to afford. She tried not to be bitter, even though it struck to the heart of one of her basic beliefs in the unfairness of the world. That was behind them and now they were equal, all of them terrified rookie lawyers being dumped into the deep end.
Jessa spent the summer studying for (and worrying over) the bar exam and passed it neatly on her first try. If there was one advantage she had been born with, it was a sharp mind that made it easy to learn. Once that was out of the way, she reported to work at a legal aid clinic that serviced the city's rougher neighborhoods, including the one where Jessa had grown up. The clinic worked under heavy security and even heavier budget constraints. There was always the risk of being shut down because of a bill they couldn't pay, but most of the time some donor came through or one of the bosses would advance the money from their personal accounts. The lawyers themselves tried not to worry about such things and to focus on their clients. God knows there were plenty of them. There were new faces every day to add to the stack of cases that each person had to work through, and all you could hope for was that somehow you managed to squeeze it all in to whatever time you had available. It was exhausting work, but to Jessa it was worth it. She loved meeting these people, being able to help them and assure them that they weren't alone and they had somebody on their side. She felt like she was actually making a difference, if not in the world than at least in some people's lives. It was what she'd been working for all those years.
She was there for three years before the clinic closed down. The bills could no longer be put off, and there were no more donors to come through for them.
Jessa was unemployed for several months. There were always a lot of lawyers in River City, and the law school had just let loose another class, so nobody was looking to hire. Jessa had some savings to live on for a little while, and she was able to collect Unemployment, but things grew tight very quickly. Her parents invited her, more than once, to come stay at home for a while, but she resisted. She didn't want to give in to the idea that this would be a long-term thing, nor did she want to burden her parents or give up her independence. As the time stretched on, however, it did become tempting. Especially since even the inquiries sent to firms in other cities weren't getting her anywhere.
Finally, one day, she got a call from one of her former co-workers. Said coworker was now working at Portham and Strange, one of the largest firms in the city, and told Jessa that they were looking to expand their pro bono department. Jessa wasted no time in accepting the interview, though she was somewhat skeptical. She had never imagined herself working for a large firm. In fact, they seemed to be the opposite of everything she stood for- heartless sweatshops designed to take money from the rich by screwing over the little guy. But they sold it well, explaining to Jessa that she would have plenty of resources to work on whatever case (and however many) she decided to take, and she would be part of a team instead of trying to do everything on her own. She took the job and got to work. She's been there ever since, and while she quite likes the environment and the people she works with, sometimes she wonders if she could be doing more.
She's recently gotten back into following the news of the various heroes in River City, and it's started to give her some ideas.
Basic Likes/Dislikes- Likes: Comics, Novels, Historical non-fiction, Law, Politics, Jazz, R&B, Classic movies, romantic comedies (shh!)
Dislikes: Condescending people, Cockiness, Thoughtlessness, Elitism, Racism, Misogynists, Stereotypes, Cold weather, Broccoli
Elliot Beck
Full Name- Elliot James Beck
Alias- Red
Affiliation- Independent
Nicknames- El (very original)
Age- 35
Birthdate- January 12th, 1982
Gender- Male
Sexuality- Hetero
u>Appearance
Height- 6'1"
Hair Color- Brown
Eye Color- Hazel
Played by- Channing Tatum
General Appearance- Elliot Beck fits the basic definition of a hunk- tall, broad and muscular. Two of these are natural, while one is the result of a lot of hard work to remake himself after quite a few hard years. He's ruggedly handsome, with strong features. He wears his light brown hair short most of the time, and often has some stubble or a short beard. His hazel eyes are very expressive, usually kind or thoughtful, but occasionally showing a glimmer of mischief. He usually favorsa casual style, especially t-shirts that show off his muscles, now that he has some muscles to show off.
Personality
Interests & Hobbies- Comics, Hero, Reading, Music, Television, Movies, Travelling, Food
3 Positive Personality Traits- Resiliant, Smart, Caring
2 Negative Personality Traits- Haunted, Impulsive
General Personality- Sometimes Elliot thinks of himself as two separate people: Elliot the addict, and Elliot the survivor. Elliot the addict the weak, trouble person who he used to be, the one who would do anything for a fix, no matter the cost to himself or the people he loved. Elliot the survivor tries to be as different from that person as possible. He's determined to be stronger, smarter, and more selfless. He hasn't been able to make things up to people as much as he wants to, but he hopes that the changes he's made in his life are enough proof that he's a different person now.
Well, mostly. Of course at his core, he's the same person that he's always been. In his heart, he's a good person. He cares about people and wants to do the right thing. Seeing that change, more than the risk to his health, is what made him get clean. But as he's gotten clean, he's reconnected with the better parts of himself. He's rediscovered his love of comic books and hero culture. He's made new friends. He still makes stupid mistakes, but they're small-scale and harmless. After a long time, he's found his way back to being somebody he likes.
Bad Habits- Impulsiveness; Speaks without thinking; Laughs at inappropriate times
Quote- "Do not fear going forward slowly, fear only standing still." -Chinese Proverb
Family & History
Parents- Father: James Beck, Printing press owner
Mother: Marilyn Beck, Deputy mayor (deceased)
Hometown- Jackson, Mississippi
Ancestry- English
Occupation- Comic book store clerk
History- Life started out promisingly enough for young Elliot Beck. He was born to a young couple who were very much in love and whose respective careers were quickly taking off. James had just joined with two of his friends to buy the printing press they'd worked at for years, and had just landed a contract with the local newspaper, while Marilyn had a promotion waiting for her when she returned to work at the mayor's office. Elliot was a bit of a complication, yes, but a very welcome one. In fact, the couple wanted to have a second child, but it become clear that it wasn't going to happen, so they put all of their energy and love into raising their son.
Elliot remembers his childhood and adolescence as the good old days. Sometimes he wished he had a brother or sister, especially when his parents had to work long hours, but he had plenty of friends to keep him company, and he never felt neglected. When he had to be alone, he usually spent his time reading comics or cheesy kids books, or watching television. He loved stories of superheroes, ordinary people who did extraordinary things for noble causes. As he grew and began following the real cases of his local heroes, his admiration only grew. He would imagine himself amongst their ranks, working with his heroes to take down all sorts of bad guys and save the day.
Things took a steep downward turn as Elliot entered high school. Marilyn went in for a routine check up, then further tests, then a biopsy. She started chemotherapy while her son was in his freshman year, and at first they were all rather optimistic, the doctors included. But things didn't go as planned, for reasons nobody could quite figure out. Marilyn tried not to lose faith, to at least keep up the illusion of such in front of her family. It was harder for Elliot and his father to keep their hopes up, but they did their best to follow her lead. Life went on as normally as possible for as long as possible. Elliot went to school, James kept his normal work hours, and so did Marilyn, at first. She was at work at often as physically possible, even when her colleagues assured her not to worry about. She always claimed that keeping busy helped her.
Eventually, of course, she couldn't go on like that. The battle between the medicine and the illness quickly wore her down. It became harder and harder to put on a good face, to go on as normal. It became impossible to deny what was inevitable. Elliot found it hard to stay with his mother, to see her in the state she was instead of as the strong and lively woman she's always been. He stayed out of the house more than usual, something he felt guilty about then and even worse about now, because he just couldn't stand it. If Marilyn noticed this, she didn't mention it. She just took in every moment she had left with her son.
Elliot was 16 when his mother died. They'd had two years to prepare, but he didn't feel prepared. He felt abandoned, first by his mother and then by his father. Father and son were in close quarters, going through the same grief, but they couldn't quite bring themselves to reach out to each other. Neither wanted to suffer alone, but they both seemed to resign themselves to it.
Elliot started avoiding the house. He felt some obligatory guilt, but not much, because his father was rarely there either. He filled his time wondering around the city, sometimes alone and sometimes hanging with friends. He'll admit that he choose the best people to hang out with at that time in his life. He kind of just went with whoever would have him but wouldn't ask too many questions. He didn't want to be alone, but he couldn't stand to be too social, either. He just wanted to wander and drink and not have to think. It worked a little too well.
His last two years of school were something of a disaster, and it was only by luck and some serious craming during Finals week that he managed to scrape by and graduate. He enrolled at the local community college, but had the same problem there. He couldn't focus, or even bring himself to care. Whenever he found himself sober for a while, he would try to buckle down and work, but when he saw how far behind he'd fallen and how disappointed his mother would be, he would fall back into the bottle. After a few months, he fell even harder. That was when he had his first shot of heroin.
He didn't make it past his first year before dropping out.
The next several years are mostly a blur, an unfocused stream of places he shouldn't have been, with people he shouldn't have been with, doing things he shouldn't have been doing. Then there were the patches of sobriety, the stretches of days or weeks when he would come out of the haze. He would go home, reconnect with his dad, and promise James and himself that everything would be different. He could stay clean and get a job and maybe even go back to school. He made the same promises every time, and meant them every time, but inevitably failed. Too much time on his hands and too much guilt on his shoulders added up to overwhelm him and he sought out comfort the only way he knew how.
James was always trying to talk his son into going to rehab. Elliot always resisted, at first because he thought he could handle it himself, and then because he just hoped that he could and didn't want to admit otherwise. But at 27, after coming the closest he would ever come to an overdose, he gave in. He went home with his tail between his legs and asked his father for help. James found him a place at a local rehab center, drove him there and wrote them a check. Elliot was both surprised and relieved at how little his father shamed him, and it just made him more determined that it was going to stick this time.
He left the rehab center clean and sober after ten weeks and went home. James arranged for his son to work at the printer, and while Elliot was reluctant to take a job from (and with) his father, he was smart enough to know how limited his options were. So he took the job and started saving his money, and after several months he moved out into his own apartment. Shortly thereafter, he got up the courage to reach out to some of his old friends. To his relief, a few of them had gotten sober in the meantime as well, and were more than happy to hang out without alcoholic beverages and illegal substances.
On one of these visits, one of these friends brought along Joanie Sway. Joanie was newly sober as well, but her sobriety was a lot more fragile than Elliot's. Perhaps it was that vulnerability that drew him to her in the first place. She was a sweet and beautiful woman with a quiet grace, and there was a part of Elliot that wanted to save her. What she saw in him, he's not entirely sure, but within a few months of meeting, she was moving in with him. They had a few peaceful and lovely months together before her first relapse. Elliot tried to be the supportive and steady boyfriend, and tried to talk her into getting help, but it didn't take long for her to pull him down with her.
The two stayed together for a few more years, with occasional stretches of sobriety, sometimes together and sometimes just Elliot. He fought with her endlessly to get help, but she always seemed to fall back into her habits, just before he did. Their relationship slowly dissintigrated, even as they they both became isolated from the rest of their families and friends. When he was 33, Elliot finally decided that he needed to go back to rehab. It was his money this time, instead of his fathers, and he knew that he would have a job waiting for him when he came out, but he knew that it was the only way to get back to who he used to be.
He tried to get Joanie to come with him, but she refused. So he went alone.
By the time he had successfully completed treatment for a second time, Elliot was ready for a new start. He returned to his and Joanie's apartment long enough to pack up his things, then returned to his father's house. Things were rough at first, but after a month or two, James seemed to realize that things really were going to be different this time. He offered to look around and help Elliot find a job, but Elliot refused. He didn't want to stay in the same place and the same life. He needed a change of scenery as much as anything.
James gave him a thousand dollars to get an apartment in River City, and drove Elliot there. From there, Elliot was on his own.
Elliot did better than he (and probably his father) expected. It was hard at first, but things took an upward swing when he managed to get a job at a comic book shop. It's amazing how money can make things so much easier. He's settled into life in River City, even making some new (sober) friends. He hasn't been in an actual relationship since leaving Joanie, but he's optimistic that it'll happen eventually. In the meantime, he's preparing to move in to another new stage of his life. He's done a lot of damage in his wasted years, so figures it's about time for him to do a lot of good.
Basic Likes/Dislikes- Likes: Superheroes, Comics, Pulp novels, Action movies, Comedies, Loud rock music, Road trips
Dislikes: Classical music, People who assume that he's stupid, Small spaces, Pity, Wearing ties
Hannah Sayers
Full Name- Hannah Catherine Sayers
Alias- Lady X
Affiliation- Subversive Technology
Age- 33
Birthdate- March 1st, 1984
Gender- Female
Sexuality- Bisexual
Appearance
Height- 5'6"
Hair Color- Black
Eye Color- Brown
Played by- Kristy Wu
General Appearance- Hannah is slightly taller than your average woman, and slim, with a build that's become more muscular over recent months. Her hair is black and sleek, falling down to the middle of her back. She wears it up in a tight ponytail or bun whenever she's working, and that's the only time she wears her glasses, too. She tries to appear as professional as possible when she's working, while also being comfortable. In her off-time, she has quite a fashion sense and loves to get dressed up and go out. She has a big, wide smile that can light up a room when she's really happy, and her brown eyes often have a hint of mischief to them.
Personality
Interests & Hobbies- Science, Biology, History, Heroes, Comics, Politics, Fashion
3 Positive Personality Traits- Fun, Smart, Brave
2 Negative Personality Traits- Reckless, Restless
General Personality- Hannah is a good example of an old cliche: she works hard and plays hard. She's naturally very smart and has a very strong work ethic. She's passionate about her work and will often work long, late hours to finish autopsies and paperwork. She doesn't believe in keeping bodies in the morgue any longer than usual, because she knows that they're not just bodies. They're people, and they have families waiting for them to come home. The way she sees it, it's not just her job to help them get answers, but to get closure.
You can understand why, when she's away from work, she'll do whatever she can to let off steam. Sometimes this means going home and trying to relax with a book or a hot shower, and sometimes it means going out on the town, having fun and maybe getting into some trouble. Usually the second one wins out, as she has a bit of a restless streak. There are a few bars where she's known as a regular and a few friends she can always call for a good time. When she's off-the-clock, she's not nearly as serious and can tend to be a little reckless. Hanging with her is always fun, but not without its risks.
Bad Habits- Working late hours; Drinking; Figting; One-night stands; Buying too many books; Using technical terms around people who won't understand them
Quote- "It's not the load that breaks you down. It's the way you carry it." -Lena Horne
Family & History
Parents- Father: Walter Sayers, Radio producer
Mother: Catherine Sayers, Secretary
Hometown- River City, Tennessee
Ancestry- Chinese-American
Occupation- Medical Examiner
History- Hannah had a pretty normal childhood, growing up in River City. Her father was a producer at the local public radio station, while her mother worked as a receptionist (and later project manager) for a medical non-profit. So they weren't exactly rich, but they managed. Early on, Hannah's parents taught her the importance of hard work and education. They wanted her to do something important with her life, something that would give back to the community and make the world a better place. They were encouraged when she started school and took to it like a duck to water. She obviously loved to learn and worked hard to be the best in her class.
They were less encouraged by her restless nature. Her teachers would often point out that she had trouble sitting still after finishing her work (usually ahead of the other kids). Her parents had trouble keeping up with her, being the types that would rather stay inside and pour through the newspaper while Hannah would rather be outside, doing anything else. Sometimes they could convince her to calm down with a good book or one of her comics, but usually they got pulled along on one of her adventures. As long as she was safe and all of her homework and chores were done, they didn't mind too much.
Hannah calmed down a bit as she grew up, or at least learned how to control her energy. She was more likely to spend her evenings at home, studying, and also more likely to sneak out on Friday nights to go to some wild party. She got caught a few times, but since she was smart enough to avoid hangovers and any other serious consequence, her parents trusted her enough to keep her on a relatively long leash.
As she went through her high school years, Hannah had an eye towards the future. She realized in her freshman year that she was exceptionally good in her science and biology classes, and a career day test pointed her towards medicine. As she thought about it, and especially as she matured, she quite liked the idea. The idea of using science and her own wits to save lives on a daily basis? How could she not find that absolutely thrilling?
Unsurprisingly, Hannah graduated second in her class. (She would have been first, but the Valedictorian had a freakishly good immune system and hadn't missed a day of school in three years. Once or twice, Hannah fantasized about being able to open her up and take a look inside.) Though she might have been able to get into an Ivy or Baby Ivy, she knew the cost, especially combined with medical school, would be more than the family could deal with. So she chose to stay closer to home and just went up to Nashville and the University of Tennessee.
She loved college. The classes were challenging and fascinating, and the social life was vibrant and diverse. Hannah was no longer the smartest person in any room, but usually she could hold her own and she enjoyed the challenge. On the weekends, when she finally had her work and assignments done, she sought out the best parties and the most interesting gatherings. That generally meant wherever the most people were, and she even went to a few football games (though, with her knowledge of biology and what the human body and can't take, it turned out to be pretty stressful). Hannah curated a big group of good friends and within in, a small circle of best friends, some of whom she still has today.
The process of studying for and taking her MCATs was one of the most stressful of Hannah's life. It wasn't that she doubted that she could get in. It was UT's own school, so if they couldn't let her in, they had a problem. But this was the climax of her educational career. It was everything she'd been working and studying for since she was six years old. All the assignments, all the books, all the late nights staying up writing papers, were for these four years. They were the last hurdle she needed to clear to make it where she'd always wanted to go. So while she ultimately knew that it would all work out, she still felt the burden of it.
The next four years were the most stressful of Hannah's life. While as an undergrad, the sleepless nights of studying were by choice, as a medical student they were required. If you weren't running on less than two hours of sleep, then you were probably flunking out. For the first time in her life, Hannah wasn't enjoying school. She loved what she was learning, but she was running at such a breakneck pace that she never had a chance to enjoy it. Weekends were spent sleep, cleaning, shopping and maybe squeezing out a few minutes of social time. Breaks and summers were the only time she actually got to relax. She got through by telling herself that it would all be worth it, that this was just what you had to do to be a doctor.
Her graduation ceremony felt like one long sigh of relief. She thinks she slept for about a week afterwards.
When she woke up, she got to work trying to find work, knowing that she had to get a jump start to get there before her fellow graduates. That was the theory, but she's not sure how well it worked, because it was a bit of an uphill battle. She had her resume out to all of the obvious targets within the first two weeks, and then it was a waiting game. Whenever she would find a new clinic or doctor's office that she didn't know, she would stop in and drop off a resume, then go home and get back to waiting. Every phone call was a jolt of hope, followed by an inevitable let-down. The days felt 50 hours long.
She was trying to sleep off a hangover when she finally got a call from River City General. It was the largest and busiest hospital in town, and they needed somebody new to join their E.R. staff. This sounded perfect to Hannah: a fast-paced, high-stakes environment, a place where she could really feel like she was making a difference. She went in for a first interview that went wonderfully, and then a second interview that proved disappointing. Hannah certainly impressed the administrator, and they seemed happy to have her, but Hannah was disappointed by her own feelings. The E.R. was even more chaotic than she'd imagined, and she found herself unsure how to handle it. She'd expected to be reminded of med school, to an extent, but this was bringing back all the wrong memories and none of the confidence that she expected to feel.
She asked for a few days to consider the offer, hoping that the more she thought about it, the better she would feel. Perhaps she could convince herself that she would be able to handle it. Within a couple of days, however, she got another call. This one was from the city morgue. Hannah took the interview with a bit more reluctance than the one with River City General. She knew that she needed options, but it was a little hard to imagine herself working in the morgue.
That changed with her interview with Dr. Raymond Tate. Beyond the fact that the morgue is obviously a much calmer environment than the E.R., Hannah realized that it too was a place where she could make a difference. Maybe she wouldn't be saving lives, but she would be giving them context, and closure, and helping people's families find some comfort in answers.
She gave her regrets to River City General, and took the job at the morgue.
She's been there several years, and has never regretted her decision. She gets too much satisfaction from her job. As a bonus, she likes the people she works with, both in the morgue and the police force, and has built up a mutual respect with them.So much so that when Raymond Tate retired last year, Hannah was appointed to take his place as Head Medical Examiner. She became the youngest person to have the job in the city's history, and one of the few women, and she takes it very seriously, knowing that she's not just representing herself.
Hannah has matured since her teen years, but she's still, at her core, the same person. She loves her work, but she still has a restless side. There's a part of her that wants to be in the middle of the action. Not so much that she gets in over her head, but well, a girl needs some excitement in her life once in a while.
Basic Likes/Dislikes- Likes: Biology, Fashion, History, Parties, Food, Wine, Comics
Dislikes: Condescending assholes, Being overwhelmed; People assuming that she's shallow; Snobs; Cowards; Disloyalty
Chloe Ruiz
Full Name- Chloe Calinda Sanchez Ruiz
Alias- Purple Heart
Affiliation- Independent
Nicknames- C.C. (family)
Age- 25
Birthdate- October 25th, 1991
Gender- Female
Sexuality- Bisexual
Appearance
Height- 5'5"
Hair Color- Dark Brown
Eye Color- Dark Brown
Played by- Selena Gomez
General Appearance- Chloe is of average height, but not an average build. Her years of amateur superheroism and the intense workout that comes with it has crafted her into a tone and muscular body. This comes purely from practical and physical considerations. She doesn't really care about her appearance beyond looking presentable enough not to be noticed. Nine days out of ten, she wears simple t-shirts, with a hoodie or jacket if needed, jeans and sneakers. If she absolutely needs something with her, she'll have a small messenger bag. She doesn't wear (or even own) makeup and usually wears her hair in a simple ponytail or braid. Everyone who meets her would agree that she's quite pretty, and quite a few of them have directly said so. She just doesn't much care.
Personality
Interests & Hobbies- History, Engineering, Biology, Languages, Books, Travelling
3 Positive Personality Traits- Smart, Loyal, Determined
2 Negative Personality Traits- Stoic, Stubborn
General Personality- It takes a lot to get Chloe Ruiz to smile. It's not that she's an unhappy or mean person. She's just the serious sort. She has things to do, and doesn't see the point in beating around the bush or being nice for the sake of it. (Predictably, she's terrible at making small talk.) Even if she doesn't seem like a particularly social person, she likes most people just fine, and will happily sit and listen to a friend talk for hours, as long as she's not expected to chime in too much. On the occasion when she does willingly join in on a conversation, expect a lot of snark.
Chloe is the type of person who will not let go of an idea once it's in her head. If she decides that she's going to do something, she's going to do it, and if something tries to stop her, that just makes her more determined. Her mother has always called her stubborn, but Chloe prefers "determined" or "resilient". But her mother also recognizes that this isn't completely a bad thing. A woman needs a little backbone to make it in this world, and she knows that her daughter has more than enough to get her through.
Bad Habits- Stubbornness, sometimes manifesting as passive-aggressiveness; Doodling when she's bored and not paying attention; Ignoring somebody when they're boring her
"Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass." -Maya Angelou
Family & History
Parents- Father: Carlos Ruiz, retired Army/carpenter (deceased)
Mother: Marissa Sanchez Ruiz, nurse
Siblings- Older brother: Carlos "C.J." Ruiz, Jr., 32, newspaper columnist
Older brother: Matthew Ruiz, 30, radio producer
Older sister: Melanie Ruiz, 27, nurse
Hometown- River City, Tennessee
Ancestry- Mexican-American, Italian
Occupation- Computer tech
History- Chloe was the fourth and last child of Carlos and Marissa Ruiz. When she was little, she was always treated as the baby of the family, doted on by her parents and thought of as an annoyance by her siblings. Thankfully, as she grew older they became more accepting of her. Sure, she was usually the butt of jokes or the errand boy, but it was still better than just being left behind all the time while they had all the fun.
When she wasn't tagging along behind her siblings, Chloe was tagging along behind her father, or watching him work. She was quite the daddy's girl, to the point where folks around the neighborhood would ask where she was if Carlos ventured out without her. There was, and still is, a part of her that just adored her father and wants nothing more than to be him when she grows up. This is probably why Chloe was such a tomboy growing up, rejecting all of the girly things that her mother and sister tried to talk her into, except for the occasions when her father asked her to go along to keep the peace. Chloe loves her mother, but didn't appreciate her mother trying to turn her into somebody she didn't want to be.
Chloe was nine years old when her father died. He was supposed to pick the kids up from school, but didn't show up. The four of them stood outside the school for an hour before the vice-principal reached their uncle. By the time he had picked them up and taken them home, Marissa was there making calls. For the next few hours, all the adults were occupied with trying to find Carlos, leaving C.J. to look after his younger siblings. After Chloe's first couple of questions, he stopped trying to answer.
The police arrived shortly before Chloe's bedtime. She was sitting on her bed reading when she heard a knock on the door. She didn't think much of it- people had been coming and going all day- until she heard her mother's tortured wail. The four siblings descended on the front door, where they found their mother in hysterical tears, and were quickly ushered out of the room by their uncle. They huddled in C.J.'s room and waited for almost an hour for somebody to come tell them what the older ones already knew. Chloe, however, had held out hope until the last minute. It wasn't until Marissa told them that it sunk in for her that her father wasn't coming home.
He'd been killed in a bank robbery. That's what her mother said, and for a long time, that was all Chloe knew about how her father died.
Marissa quickly decided that the family needed to leave River City. None of the kids were happy, but Chloe resisted the strongest. C.J. had only a year and a half of school left. Matthew had his clubs and Melanie had her friends. All Chloe cared about was their house. Their home, where her father had lived and where all their memories of him lived. She was too young to realize that what she couldn't stand to leave was exactly what her mother couldn't stand to live with.
They moved across the river to Little Rock, and lived for a short time with Marissa's mother, until they had a new house of their own to settle into. The first weeks in Little Rock were the most important. Being in her grandmother's house, that used to be her mother's, was the safest and most secure Chloe had felt since her father's disappearance. It was clear that it did the same for her mother. Chloe remembers seeing her mother smile and laugh again, and the feeling it gave her that things were getting better.
The night before their first day of school, C.J. gathered his siblings for a talk. He told them that their mother was counting on them to do their best to adjust, that the best thing they could do for her was try to fit in and do their part to get their house in order. Things weren't going to be normal without Dad, he said, but they needed to work together to get as close as they could. This speech didn't stop Matthew from quickly falling in with the wrong crowd, but Chloe took it to heart. She did her chores without complaint, worked hard in her classes and resisted the urge to punch the kids who were jerks to her. Actually making friends was hard at first, so she tried to stay close to her siblings as they finished out their school year.
Summer was when things started to fill out. With the kids out of school, the small family spent almost all their free time together. They finished their unpacking and decorating the house and eased back in to being a family. They talked about their changes, and remembered Carlos, and laughed and cried. They started going to church again. They got as close to normal as they could.
When the next school year started, Chloe started to make friends. Little Rock wasn't home, but it helped.
At 13, when given an assignment to research her family history, she found herself in the attic. In a corner, hidden behind the boxes of Christmas decorations, she found three boxes with her father's name on them. She spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the attic floor, going through her father's things. Much of it was familiar, but she found just as many things that she'd never seen before. There were old family pictures, school yearbooks, and souvenirs from his Army days. She felt like she'd found a whole new window into her father's life. Like a part of him had come back to her for a moment.
The biggest surprise was in the last box. That's where she found the folded-up purple leather jacket with the black Sacred Heart on the back. It was torn, and had old blood stains on it, and even though she'd never once seen him wearing it, Chloe immdiately knew that it was what her father had worn when he died.
After she stopped crying, she looked back in the box. She found a pair of dog tags, which she assumed to be from the Army, until she looked at them and saw the inscriptions. Patriot Squad, said one. Purple Heart, said the other, followed by a six-digit ID number. The suspicions that were forming in her mind were confirmed by the stacks of comics further in the box. Their covers held the titles of Patriot Squad, Alpha and Glory, and inside they told fantastic stories that her father had never told her.
She took the box to her room and hid it in her closet. She spent the next few days reading all the comics, comparing them with the real versions presented in the many newspaper clippings and acquainting herself with the new side of her father she'd just met. Finally, she told Marissa what she'd found. Marissa admitted that she'd known about Carlos's "second job," as she called it, and that they'd agreed not to tell the kids in order to protect them. Chloe was annoyed, but couldn't be too upset with her mother. Who's to say what she would have done in that situation?
With her mother's blessing, Chloe shared her findings with her siblings. C.J., more than anyone, was upset that Carlos had never told them the truth, but they were all amazed and curious. Once she had read and pretty much memorized all of the comics and clippings, Chloe passed them off to her siblings, while she went looking for more.
Chloe began by seeking out newer editions of the Patriot Squad books, and following news of them in the paper and online. Then she branched out, to other heroes in River City, and then into the fictional series. She was hooked. Her brothers teased her about her "descent into geekiness," but she didn't care. She looked into it, and learned that when her father died, the rights to his Purple Heart persona had reverted to Marissa. Chloe had already made up her mind, and her fate was set.
Marissa was quite annoyed that Chloe graduated from high school without applying to college. Her grades were more than good enough, but Chloe didn't really see the point. She knew what she wanted to do, and she didn't need to go to a big college for it. She did need a way to pay the bills, so she enrolled in an I.T. course at the local community college, where she also signed up for some self-defense classes. They were a good start, but she would need more. So she found a local boxing gym. She assured the owner that she didn't a lot of attention, just some guidance. He put together a routine that she could do alone, and she got to work. She started at three times a week, then every other day, then every day. The men that made up the majority of the gym's members would sometimes take bets on whether she would miss a day, or dare each other to spar with her. Almost none of them would admit to being impressed, but she could see it in their expressions and the way that they watched her every time she walked in. After about a year, the owner offered to get her some fights. Chloe was quite encouraged, but turned him down. She wasn't in this to go pro. She had a bigger purpose in mind.
After a year of preparation, Chloe decided that she was ready. She made some slight size adjustments to her father's jacket, so it was still too big for her but didn't swallow her whole. She wore his Patriot Squad dog tags around her neck as she set out onto the streets of Little Rock as the new Purple Heart.
She got her ass kicked on her first night out. She wasn't that surprised, honestly. she was smart enough to realize that a year of training in a controlled environment was a different animal that a street fight against three gang members. She managed to escape without anything more than bad bruises and a few cuts, and inflicted a deep enough cut of her own that one of the perps was picked up at a local hospital. When the cops pulled the security footage of the fight, it didn't take long for them to identify the Purple Heart jacket, and it took even less time for the media to get wind of it.
Chloe's older siblings had suspected what she was planning to do, but seeing the coverage in the paper and the bruises that covered her really brought home the reality of it. None of them were happy, but C.J. was the most vocal. He was angry that she was using Carlos's identity, and that she hadn't told them, and most of all, that she was putting herself in danger. Chloe, who had expected her family to be proud, if anything, was taken aback. She understood that if they realized what she was doing, they would be concerned, but she hadn't expected them to be so angry. She apologized, but refused to give it up. She felt like she could make a difference, and she felt closer to Carlos. She felt like she was trying to finish something that he had started.
They got over their anger, or at least adjusted to the situation. Melanie, in fact, would often clip mentions of her sister's exploits from the newspaper. Then, one day, she brought Chloe a clipping from the River City Daily Appeal. Their hometown had finally taken notice of the new Purple Heart. Not long after, Marissa got a letter from Subversive Technologies, warning her that somebody was using the Purple Heart identity, and offering legal assistance if she wanted to press charges. In a classicly maternal move of passive-aggressiveness, she left the letter out where Chloe could see it, but didn't say a word.
After several years on the streets of Little Rock, honing her skills and her body and learning from a couple of more experienced heroes, Chloe decided that it was time for her to go home to River City. It had been her plan all along. She had come to love Little Rock, but her heart had never fully left River City. It felt like where she belonged, where her father's legacy belonged. If she wanted to finish what he started, and figured out what had really happened, that's where she needed to be.
Her siblings were supportive, the boys more than she expected them to be. Apparently they had come to understand why she was doing what she was doing. Marissa was more hesitant. She was used to having her children close, where she could see them every day if she needed to, where she could be there for them if they needed her. Yes, it was just across the river, and they still had family there, but Chloe was her baby. Her baby was leaving home and going away to do something incredibly dangerous. She prayed about it a lot before giving her blessing. She and Chloe both acknowedged that it would happen anyway, but having her mother's blessing made it a lot easier.
She's been in River City for over a year now. She stayed with her uncle for a while so they could catch up while she found a job and an apartment of her own. Then she had to find a good gym so she could return to her workout routine. Then she began looking into the process of joining the Subversive Technology Hero Training Camp. She's not sure she really wants to join their roster, but she wants them to know that she's there.
Basic Likes/Dislikes- Likes: Comics, History, Technology, Biology, Fantasy novels, Sci-Fi novels, Historical non-fiction, Food
Dislikes: Snobs, Liars, Disloyalty, People who can't take things seriously
(Note: the Aliases and Affiliations happen in-story, while the histories stop before the start of the story.)
ETA: Okay, apparently LJ can't handle all this awesomeness in one post, so here are the first five, and the last will follow shortly.
Drake Douglas
Full Name- Drake Anthony Douglas
Alias- Black Magic
Affiliation- Independent
Nicknames- D
Age- 29
Birthdate- April 7th, 1988
Gender- Male
Sexuality- Heterosexual
Appareance
Height- 6'0"
Hair Color- Black
Eye Color- Dark brown
Played by- Michael B. Jordan
General Appearance- Drake Darling is a handsome young man, and it doesn't go unnoticed. He's tall and muscular, the result of a strict workout routine and diet. He keeps his hair cut short, as well as his beard, when he has one. He prefers a casual style. He'll wear button-ups and occasionally an actual suit at work (something his female students always notice), but in his down-time he favors t-shirts and jeans. He has a slightly crooked, but very charming and easy smile. If you hang around him for any amount of time, you're likely to witness it yourself.
Personality
Interests & Hobbies- Heroes, Comics, Reading, History, Music, Movies, Basketball
3 Positive Personality Traits- Smart, Loyal, Clever
2 Negative Personality Traits- Flippant, Insecure
General Personality- The typical first impression of Drake Douglas is of an incredibly smart and charming young man. This is true, but it's not the whole story of who he is. Once you know him for a while, you might begin to realize that most of his bravado and his flippant nature are masking some heavy insecurity. He has a need to be liked, but doesn't want to show it, so he covers it up by pretending not to care. This works on a lot of people, especically women, and over time it's become less of a show than it used to be. He has become more confident, from the knowledge that those who get past the front usually like the real person they find inside.
Part of Darke's insecurity comes from the fact that he's never really been the best at anything. He was never the most natural athlete, the most popular kid, the smartest student. He's naturally smart, but had to work hard all through his school years to get near the front of the pack. When he wanted to try out for a team, he had to practice twice as much as his more naturally-talented teammates. As he grew up, his work ethic increased, but he's still not always willing to show it. He wants people to know that he's as good as anybody else, no matter how he gets there.
Bad Habits- Joking at awkward moments; Drinking straight out of the carton
Quote- "The big secret of life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work." -Oprah Winfrey
Family & History
Parents- Father: Anthony Douglas, Real estate agent
Mother: Theresa Garrison, Veterinarian
Siblings- Older sister: Kate Douglas-Mayer, 33
Hometown- River City, Tennessee
Ancestry- African-American
Occupation- Teacher
History- Drake Douglas grew up in a pretty normal household. His parents were happily married and both had stable, well-paying jobs that let the family live in a respectable middle-class neighborhood. Drake was actually a shy child when he was young, not wanting to socialize for fear of being rejected. His parents did everything they could, encouraging him to join clubs and Cub Scouts and arranging playdates, but while Drake was never outright left out, he always ended up staying at the edge of the group. He just preferred to be in his room with his comics and books instead of outside with people.
Anthony was constantly frustrated, sure that his son had some sort of developmental disorder. Theresa was more understanding, reassuring him that Drake was just an introvert, but she still worried about him. Things took a turn when Drake was about 10, when Anthony convinced his son to try out for the basketball team. Drake was reluctant. He liked sports, but had never been naturally athletic, and would only barely make the team, when he did at all. But he decided to give it a try to keep his dad happy. The two of them worked hard for a few weeks before the tryouts, shooting hoops in the driveway every evening, and when the big day came, it went a lot better than Drake had expected. He was at the end of the bench most of the time, but at least he was there.
Drake quickly found a place among the boys on the team. He still wasn't very outgoing, and he was usually the quietest one in the group, but the others never seemed to mind. In particular, Steph Morrow seemed to take a liking to Drake, which surprised Drake since Steph was not only one of the most popular kids in school, but the clear star of the team. Steph took Drake under his wing and the two became the most dedicated to practice, almost always arriving earlier and leaving later than anyone else. Drake became gradually better and while he would never be a star, he did get more playing time. He became more confident, and Steph's swagger wore off on him. He wasn't as confident as his friend, but he became better at faking it.
Steph Morrow moved away the summer between eighth and ninth grade, leaving Drake to face high school alone. He was terrified, but did his best not to show it. The first thing he did was sign-up for basketball try-outs, and then look for other clubs to join. He wasn't sure how he was going to fit into this new world, but he knew that he didn't want to go back to being the little loner kid. He made the team, and joined the Comic Book Club, and quickly learned that they didn't exactly go perfectly together. Both groups liked him well enough, but the basketball players teased him about hanging with nerds, and the comic-lovers weren't above trash-talking the jocks. Drake would occasionally join in with some good-natured ribbing, but more often than not found himself trying to defend one group of friends to the other.
Even though both activities kept Drake very busy, he couldn't give up either one. Though he knew he would never be a great player, he really liked the comraderie of being on the team, and the Comic Book Club had brought him back to a hobby that he hadn't really enjoyed since childhood. He was once again sucked in to the semi-fictional adventures of the heroes that he saw on the news and in the paper. He began collecting the best issues and the action figures, and even started following the news, wanting to know the true stories behind the fantastic tales. He usually found that the real versions were bloodier and darker, and yet more interesting. That's when he began imagining a future where he would be one of them, prowling the streets at night, fighting crime and defending the innocent.
His parents insisted that he go to college first. Drake was a little reluctant about this, since he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He wasn't a good enough athlete to try to go pro or even get a scholarship, and he wasn't a good enough artist to get into the comics industry. So he just started going for a general degree. Other than the panic-inducing lack of direction, Drake really liked college. It was fun to be away from home for the first time, meeting people from completely new backgrounds, and he actually really enjoyed learning, even if he had to study twice as hard as everybody else to retain it all. He relied a lot on tutors, advisors and professors during this time, and came to appreciate them a lot, as well as growing a new appreciation for his previous teachers. After his first year, Drake was pretty sure that he wanted to be a teacher. He spent the summer considering it, and discussed it with his mother, who didn't seem as surprised by the epiphany as Drake was. With his parents' encouragement, Drake decided to go for it, and when he returned for his Sophomore year, he declared his major in Education.
After graduation, Drake did what every one of his classmates did: returned home and began looking for teaching jobs. There was a part of him that felt wholly unprepared for the realities of the job, but he kept telling himself that he had to trust the education that he'd gotten. He'd been trained, he told himself, so he was ready. In most situations, that probably would have been true, but he soon learned that nothing could quite prepare him for Sheffield High.
Sheffield, while not one of the worst schools in the city, still suffered the same problems that so many city public schools do: overcrowding, the violence of the community leaking in and the security that tries to keep it out, and worst of all, a number of teachers who had given up. They were the minority, yes, but they were there, and they were what bothered Drake most of all. It was hard for Drake, who'd had to work for everything in life, to not see the potential in every kid that came through his door. He pours his heart and soul into every one. He knows their names and how many siblings they have and how far from the school they live. He keeps his door open, his phone on, and always makes time for whatever tutoring they might need. But there are, despite anyone's best efforts, the ones who fall through the cracks- the ones who have to drop out to help their family, or who make a dumb mistake and get themselves expelled or sent to jail. Those are the ones that break his heart, that make him understand why it might be easier to give up.
They're the ones who made him begin to rethink that old idea of becoming a hero.
Basic Likes/Dislikes- Likes: Basketball, Comics, Heroes, History, Music, Movies
Dislikes: Cynics, Being discounted, Being condescended to, Being the center of attention, Baseball
Jessa Johnson
Full Name- Jessica Marie Darling
Alias- Firebird
Affiliation- Subversive Technology
Nickname- Jessa, Jess
Age- 33
Birthdate- February 10th, 1984
Gender- Female
Sexuality- Hetero
Appearance
Height- 5'4"
Hair Color- Dark brown
Eye Color- Dark brown
Played by- Tessa Thompson
General Appearance- Jessa Johnson may be petite, but she walks tall. She has excellent posture, to use every inch of her frame, and often wears heels to give herself a couple more. When she walks, she walks with a purpose. She's very careful about her appearance, not because she's vain, but because she knows that people judge her on it. She wears her hair in short, soft curls, and never overdoes her makeup. She dresses the part of the perpetual professional at work, but favors a more casual and comfortable style in her off-hours. Her default expression is serious and thoughtful, but she softens quite a bit when around people she cares about, such as her clients, friends and family. It's not that she never smiles, as some think. But her smiles have to be earned.
Personality
Interests & Hobbies- Law, Comics, Heroes, Music, Movies, Feminism, Politics, History
3 Positive Personality Traits- Hard-working, Proud, Intelligent
2 Negative Personality Traits- Tempermental, Stoic
General Personality- Jessa is a passionate person, not just about her work, but about people in general. As cynical and angry as she sometimes appears, she does like people, and care about them. She just doesn't often show it in a soft and cuddly way. (In fact, the only people who will see that side of her are her clients.) Instead, she shows her respect and affection for people by holding them to high standards. When she knows that somebody is capable of something and doesn't think they're living up to their potential, she gets angry and that can take the form of arguing. This can put off people who don't know her well, but those who do see that she just wants the best for and from the people that she cares about. Of course, this does sometimes come from a place of anger or worry, especially at work, where the stakes can be high.
Jessa only really relaxes around people that she knows well, who she knows she can trust. She fights the good fights twenty-three hours a day and it's important for her to have someone she can spend the other hour with. After all, everybody needs a safe space and time to relax, but especially those who sometimes feel like they carry the world on their shoulders. As exhausting as it can be, just being her, she also tires of people telling her that the battles she fights are not her fights. She rejects the idea of "A problem that doesn't effect me isn't a problem." She also realizes that as a black woman, she has a small part of the world where she can make a difference, so she has to work as hard as she can at it.
Bad Habits- Pushing an issue when somebody else would rather change the subject; Working late; Reading in too-dim light; Mocking somebody or flipping them off behind their back when she can't say something to their face; Rolling her eyes
Quote- "We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another." -Veronica Roth
Family & History
Parents- Father: Eric Johnson, construction worker
Mother: Marie Johnson, waitress
Siblings-Hometown- River City, Tennessee
Ancestry- African, Panamanian, Mexican, French
Occupation- Lawyer
History- Things were never comfortable or easy for the Johnson family during Jessa's childhood. She remembers long stretches where they didn't have a car or one of her parents didn't have a job. Sometimes the power would go off for a day or two, and if something broke it usually stayed broken for a while. Jessa and her sister never went hungry, but looking back, she wonders how often her parents did. Eric and Marie always tried to shield their daughters from the harsh realities of their financial situation, but it wasn't always possible. Jessa and Harmony always knew that it was a longshot that they would be able to get the cool things that their friends had or join the club or team that their classmates were excited about. Eventually, they just stopped asking. Jessa never blamed her parents for any of it. The family was always close-knit, and there was always the sense that whatever trouble they were facing, they would get through it together. As she grew up, Jessa realized her anger was better directed at society in general.
As she entered her teenage years, and high school, Jessa became ever more politically-involved. She became involved in student government (eventually becoming the President of her Senior class) and hanging out with like-minded people. It wasn't a perfect education, since they were all teenagers, but it opened her mind to things like feminism, racism and income inequality. Once she turned 16 and began working, she began trying to plan out her future and figure out a path where she could make a difference. Her excellent grades meant that her options were wide open, and it didn't take much convincing from her counselor for her to decide that she was going to be a lawyer. She would use the law to make the world a better place, as much as she could.
She graduated at the top of her class, and spent the summer after working twelve-hour shifts to put the smallest dent in her upcoming tuition bills. Even as she was living at home, and receiving financial aid and a scholarship, college was the biggest expense the Johnson family had ever faced. More than once, Jessa felt guilty for it, but she always tried to fight those feelings. It was an investment in the future, she told herself. She was going to do good with her degree. That was what she told herself whenever things got hard. Whenever she was so tired after a shift at work that she could barely stand, or whenever she had to stay up to the wee hours to finish a paper on deadline, or whenever one of her male classmates would make some ugly remark. She told herself that she was fighting the good fight.
None of those male classmates, who were so assured of their own superiority, were in the top five percent of the graduating class, as Jessa was. The few who graduated ahead of her were those who had studied abroad or taken unpaid internships, the kind of advantage that she had never been able to afford. She tried not to be bitter, even though it struck to the heart of one of her basic beliefs in the unfairness of the world. That was behind them and now they were equal, all of them terrified rookie lawyers being dumped into the deep end.
Jessa spent the summer studying for (and worrying over) the bar exam and passed it neatly on her first try. If there was one advantage she had been born with, it was a sharp mind that made it easy to learn. Once that was out of the way, she reported to work at a legal aid clinic that serviced the city's rougher neighborhoods, including the one where Jessa had grown up. The clinic worked under heavy security and even heavier budget constraints. There was always the risk of being shut down because of a bill they couldn't pay, but most of the time some donor came through or one of the bosses would advance the money from their personal accounts. The lawyers themselves tried not to worry about such things and to focus on their clients. God knows there were plenty of them. There were new faces every day to add to the stack of cases that each person had to work through, and all you could hope for was that somehow you managed to squeeze it all in to whatever time you had available. It was exhausting work, but to Jessa it was worth it. She loved meeting these people, being able to help them and assure them that they weren't alone and they had somebody on their side. She felt like she was actually making a difference, if not in the world than at least in some people's lives. It was what she'd been working for all those years.
She was there for three years before the clinic closed down. The bills could no longer be put off, and there were no more donors to come through for them.
Jessa was unemployed for several months. There were always a lot of lawyers in River City, and the law school had just let loose another class, so nobody was looking to hire. Jessa had some savings to live on for a little while, and she was able to collect Unemployment, but things grew tight very quickly. Her parents invited her, more than once, to come stay at home for a while, but she resisted. She didn't want to give in to the idea that this would be a long-term thing, nor did she want to burden her parents or give up her independence. As the time stretched on, however, it did become tempting. Especially since even the inquiries sent to firms in other cities weren't getting her anywhere.
Finally, one day, she got a call from one of her former co-workers. Said coworker was now working at Portham and Strange, one of the largest firms in the city, and told Jessa that they were looking to expand their pro bono department. Jessa wasted no time in accepting the interview, though she was somewhat skeptical. She had never imagined herself working for a large firm. In fact, they seemed to be the opposite of everything she stood for- heartless sweatshops designed to take money from the rich by screwing over the little guy. But they sold it well, explaining to Jessa that she would have plenty of resources to work on whatever case (and however many) she decided to take, and she would be part of a team instead of trying to do everything on her own. She took the job and got to work. She's been there ever since, and while she quite likes the environment and the people she works with, sometimes she wonders if she could be doing more.
She's recently gotten back into following the news of the various heroes in River City, and it's started to give her some ideas.
Basic Likes/Dislikes- Likes: Comics, Novels, Historical non-fiction, Law, Politics, Jazz, R&B, Classic movies, romantic comedies (shh!)
Dislikes: Condescending people, Cockiness, Thoughtlessness, Elitism, Racism, Misogynists, Stereotypes, Cold weather, Broccoli
Elliot Beck
Full Name- Elliot James Beck
Alias- Red
Affiliation- Independent
Nicknames- El (very original)
Age- 35
Birthdate- January 12th, 1982
Gender- Male
Sexuality- Hetero
u>Appearance
Height- 6'1"
Hair Color- Brown
Eye Color- Hazel
Played by- Channing Tatum
General Appearance- Elliot Beck fits the basic definition of a hunk- tall, broad and muscular. Two of these are natural, while one is the result of a lot of hard work to remake himself after quite a few hard years. He's ruggedly handsome, with strong features. He wears his light brown hair short most of the time, and often has some stubble or a short beard. His hazel eyes are very expressive, usually kind or thoughtful, but occasionally showing a glimmer of mischief. He usually favorsa casual style, especially t-shirts that show off his muscles, now that he has some muscles to show off.
Personality
Interests & Hobbies- Comics, Hero, Reading, Music, Television, Movies, Travelling, Food
3 Positive Personality Traits- Resiliant, Smart, Caring
2 Negative Personality Traits- Haunted, Impulsive
General Personality- Sometimes Elliot thinks of himself as two separate people: Elliot the addict, and Elliot the survivor. Elliot the addict the weak, trouble person who he used to be, the one who would do anything for a fix, no matter the cost to himself or the people he loved. Elliot the survivor tries to be as different from that person as possible. He's determined to be stronger, smarter, and more selfless. He hasn't been able to make things up to people as much as he wants to, but he hopes that the changes he's made in his life are enough proof that he's a different person now.
Well, mostly. Of course at his core, he's the same person that he's always been. In his heart, he's a good person. He cares about people and wants to do the right thing. Seeing that change, more than the risk to his health, is what made him get clean. But as he's gotten clean, he's reconnected with the better parts of himself. He's rediscovered his love of comic books and hero culture. He's made new friends. He still makes stupid mistakes, but they're small-scale and harmless. After a long time, he's found his way back to being somebody he likes.
Bad Habits- Impulsiveness; Speaks without thinking; Laughs at inappropriate times
Quote- "Do not fear going forward slowly, fear only standing still." -Chinese Proverb
Family & History
Parents- Father: James Beck, Printing press owner
Mother: Marilyn Beck, Deputy mayor (deceased)
Hometown- Jackson, Mississippi
Ancestry- English
Occupation- Comic book store clerk
History- Life started out promisingly enough for young Elliot Beck. He was born to a young couple who were very much in love and whose respective careers were quickly taking off. James had just joined with two of his friends to buy the printing press they'd worked at for years, and had just landed a contract with the local newspaper, while Marilyn had a promotion waiting for her when she returned to work at the mayor's office. Elliot was a bit of a complication, yes, but a very welcome one. In fact, the couple wanted to have a second child, but it become clear that it wasn't going to happen, so they put all of their energy and love into raising their son.
Elliot remembers his childhood and adolescence as the good old days. Sometimes he wished he had a brother or sister, especially when his parents had to work long hours, but he had plenty of friends to keep him company, and he never felt neglected. When he had to be alone, he usually spent his time reading comics or cheesy kids books, or watching television. He loved stories of superheroes, ordinary people who did extraordinary things for noble causes. As he grew and began following the real cases of his local heroes, his admiration only grew. He would imagine himself amongst their ranks, working with his heroes to take down all sorts of bad guys and save the day.
Things took a steep downward turn as Elliot entered high school. Marilyn went in for a routine check up, then further tests, then a biopsy. She started chemotherapy while her son was in his freshman year, and at first they were all rather optimistic, the doctors included. But things didn't go as planned, for reasons nobody could quite figure out. Marilyn tried not to lose faith, to at least keep up the illusion of such in front of her family. It was harder for Elliot and his father to keep their hopes up, but they did their best to follow her lead. Life went on as normally as possible for as long as possible. Elliot went to school, James kept his normal work hours, and so did Marilyn, at first. She was at work at often as physically possible, even when her colleagues assured her not to worry about. She always claimed that keeping busy helped her.
Eventually, of course, she couldn't go on like that. The battle between the medicine and the illness quickly wore her down. It became harder and harder to put on a good face, to go on as normal. It became impossible to deny what was inevitable. Elliot found it hard to stay with his mother, to see her in the state she was instead of as the strong and lively woman she's always been. He stayed out of the house more than usual, something he felt guilty about then and even worse about now, because he just couldn't stand it. If Marilyn noticed this, she didn't mention it. She just took in every moment she had left with her son.
Elliot was 16 when his mother died. They'd had two years to prepare, but he didn't feel prepared. He felt abandoned, first by his mother and then by his father. Father and son were in close quarters, going through the same grief, but they couldn't quite bring themselves to reach out to each other. Neither wanted to suffer alone, but they both seemed to resign themselves to it.
Elliot started avoiding the house. He felt some obligatory guilt, but not much, because his father was rarely there either. He filled his time wondering around the city, sometimes alone and sometimes hanging with friends. He'll admit that he choose the best people to hang out with at that time in his life. He kind of just went with whoever would have him but wouldn't ask too many questions. He didn't want to be alone, but he couldn't stand to be too social, either. He just wanted to wander and drink and not have to think. It worked a little too well.
His last two years of school were something of a disaster, and it was only by luck and some serious craming during Finals week that he managed to scrape by and graduate. He enrolled at the local community college, but had the same problem there. He couldn't focus, or even bring himself to care. Whenever he found himself sober for a while, he would try to buckle down and work, but when he saw how far behind he'd fallen and how disappointed his mother would be, he would fall back into the bottle. After a few months, he fell even harder. That was when he had his first shot of heroin.
He didn't make it past his first year before dropping out.
The next several years are mostly a blur, an unfocused stream of places he shouldn't have been, with people he shouldn't have been with, doing things he shouldn't have been doing. Then there were the patches of sobriety, the stretches of days or weeks when he would come out of the haze. He would go home, reconnect with his dad, and promise James and himself that everything would be different. He could stay clean and get a job and maybe even go back to school. He made the same promises every time, and meant them every time, but inevitably failed. Too much time on his hands and too much guilt on his shoulders added up to overwhelm him and he sought out comfort the only way he knew how.
James was always trying to talk his son into going to rehab. Elliot always resisted, at first because he thought he could handle it himself, and then because he just hoped that he could and didn't want to admit otherwise. But at 27, after coming the closest he would ever come to an overdose, he gave in. He went home with his tail between his legs and asked his father for help. James found him a place at a local rehab center, drove him there and wrote them a check. Elliot was both surprised and relieved at how little his father shamed him, and it just made him more determined that it was going to stick this time.
He left the rehab center clean and sober after ten weeks and went home. James arranged for his son to work at the printer, and while Elliot was reluctant to take a job from (and with) his father, he was smart enough to know how limited his options were. So he took the job and started saving his money, and after several months he moved out into his own apartment. Shortly thereafter, he got up the courage to reach out to some of his old friends. To his relief, a few of them had gotten sober in the meantime as well, and were more than happy to hang out without alcoholic beverages and illegal substances.
On one of these visits, one of these friends brought along Joanie Sway. Joanie was newly sober as well, but her sobriety was a lot more fragile than Elliot's. Perhaps it was that vulnerability that drew him to her in the first place. She was a sweet and beautiful woman with a quiet grace, and there was a part of Elliot that wanted to save her. What she saw in him, he's not entirely sure, but within a few months of meeting, she was moving in with him. They had a few peaceful and lovely months together before her first relapse. Elliot tried to be the supportive and steady boyfriend, and tried to talk her into getting help, but it didn't take long for her to pull him down with her.
The two stayed together for a few more years, with occasional stretches of sobriety, sometimes together and sometimes just Elliot. He fought with her endlessly to get help, but she always seemed to fall back into her habits, just before he did. Their relationship slowly dissintigrated, even as they they both became isolated from the rest of their families and friends. When he was 33, Elliot finally decided that he needed to go back to rehab. It was his money this time, instead of his fathers, and he knew that he would have a job waiting for him when he came out, but he knew that it was the only way to get back to who he used to be.
He tried to get Joanie to come with him, but she refused. So he went alone.
By the time he had successfully completed treatment for a second time, Elliot was ready for a new start. He returned to his and Joanie's apartment long enough to pack up his things, then returned to his father's house. Things were rough at first, but after a month or two, James seemed to realize that things really were going to be different this time. He offered to look around and help Elliot find a job, but Elliot refused. He didn't want to stay in the same place and the same life. He needed a change of scenery as much as anything.
James gave him a thousand dollars to get an apartment in River City, and drove Elliot there. From there, Elliot was on his own.
Elliot did better than he (and probably his father) expected. It was hard at first, but things took an upward swing when he managed to get a job at a comic book shop. It's amazing how money can make things so much easier. He's settled into life in River City, even making some new (sober) friends. He hasn't been in an actual relationship since leaving Joanie, but he's optimistic that it'll happen eventually. In the meantime, he's preparing to move in to another new stage of his life. He's done a lot of damage in his wasted years, so figures it's about time for him to do a lot of good.
Basic Likes/Dislikes- Likes: Superheroes, Comics, Pulp novels, Action movies, Comedies, Loud rock music, Road trips
Dislikes: Classical music, People who assume that he's stupid, Small spaces, Pity, Wearing ties
Hannah Sayers
Full Name- Hannah Catherine Sayers
Alias- Lady X
Affiliation- Subversive Technology
Age- 33
Birthdate- March 1st, 1984
Gender- Female
Sexuality- Bisexual
Appearance
Height- 5'6"
Hair Color- Black
Eye Color- Brown
Played by- Kristy Wu
General Appearance- Hannah is slightly taller than your average woman, and slim, with a build that's become more muscular over recent months. Her hair is black and sleek, falling down to the middle of her back. She wears it up in a tight ponytail or bun whenever she's working, and that's the only time she wears her glasses, too. She tries to appear as professional as possible when she's working, while also being comfortable. In her off-time, she has quite a fashion sense and loves to get dressed up and go out. She has a big, wide smile that can light up a room when she's really happy, and her brown eyes often have a hint of mischief to them.
Personality
Interests & Hobbies- Science, Biology, History, Heroes, Comics, Politics, Fashion
3 Positive Personality Traits- Fun, Smart, Brave
2 Negative Personality Traits- Reckless, Restless
General Personality- Hannah is a good example of an old cliche: she works hard and plays hard. She's naturally very smart and has a very strong work ethic. She's passionate about her work and will often work long, late hours to finish autopsies and paperwork. She doesn't believe in keeping bodies in the morgue any longer than usual, because she knows that they're not just bodies. They're people, and they have families waiting for them to come home. The way she sees it, it's not just her job to help them get answers, but to get closure.
You can understand why, when she's away from work, she'll do whatever she can to let off steam. Sometimes this means going home and trying to relax with a book or a hot shower, and sometimes it means going out on the town, having fun and maybe getting into some trouble. Usually the second one wins out, as she has a bit of a restless streak. There are a few bars where she's known as a regular and a few friends she can always call for a good time. When she's off-the-clock, she's not nearly as serious and can tend to be a little reckless. Hanging with her is always fun, but not without its risks.
Bad Habits- Working late hours; Drinking; Figting; One-night stands; Buying too many books; Using technical terms around people who won't understand them
Quote- "It's not the load that breaks you down. It's the way you carry it." -Lena Horne
Family & History
Parents- Father: Walter Sayers, Radio producer
Mother: Catherine Sayers, Secretary
Hometown- River City, Tennessee
Ancestry- Chinese-American
Occupation- Medical Examiner
History- Hannah had a pretty normal childhood, growing up in River City. Her father was a producer at the local public radio station, while her mother worked as a receptionist (and later project manager) for a medical non-profit. So they weren't exactly rich, but they managed. Early on, Hannah's parents taught her the importance of hard work and education. They wanted her to do something important with her life, something that would give back to the community and make the world a better place. They were encouraged when she started school and took to it like a duck to water. She obviously loved to learn and worked hard to be the best in her class.
They were less encouraged by her restless nature. Her teachers would often point out that she had trouble sitting still after finishing her work (usually ahead of the other kids). Her parents had trouble keeping up with her, being the types that would rather stay inside and pour through the newspaper while Hannah would rather be outside, doing anything else. Sometimes they could convince her to calm down with a good book or one of her comics, but usually they got pulled along on one of her adventures. As long as she was safe and all of her homework and chores were done, they didn't mind too much.
Hannah calmed down a bit as she grew up, or at least learned how to control her energy. She was more likely to spend her evenings at home, studying, and also more likely to sneak out on Friday nights to go to some wild party. She got caught a few times, but since she was smart enough to avoid hangovers and any other serious consequence, her parents trusted her enough to keep her on a relatively long leash.
As she went through her high school years, Hannah had an eye towards the future. She realized in her freshman year that she was exceptionally good in her science and biology classes, and a career day test pointed her towards medicine. As she thought about it, and especially as she matured, she quite liked the idea. The idea of using science and her own wits to save lives on a daily basis? How could she not find that absolutely thrilling?
Unsurprisingly, Hannah graduated second in her class. (She would have been first, but the Valedictorian had a freakishly good immune system and hadn't missed a day of school in three years. Once or twice, Hannah fantasized about being able to open her up and take a look inside.) Though she might have been able to get into an Ivy or Baby Ivy, she knew the cost, especially combined with medical school, would be more than the family could deal with. So she chose to stay closer to home and just went up to Nashville and the University of Tennessee.
She loved college. The classes were challenging and fascinating, and the social life was vibrant and diverse. Hannah was no longer the smartest person in any room, but usually she could hold her own and she enjoyed the challenge. On the weekends, when she finally had her work and assignments done, she sought out the best parties and the most interesting gatherings. That generally meant wherever the most people were, and she even went to a few football games (though, with her knowledge of biology and what the human body and can't take, it turned out to be pretty stressful). Hannah curated a big group of good friends and within in, a small circle of best friends, some of whom she still has today.
The process of studying for and taking her MCATs was one of the most stressful of Hannah's life. It wasn't that she doubted that she could get in. It was UT's own school, so if they couldn't let her in, they had a problem. But this was the climax of her educational career. It was everything she'd been working and studying for since she was six years old. All the assignments, all the books, all the late nights staying up writing papers, were for these four years. They were the last hurdle she needed to clear to make it where she'd always wanted to go. So while she ultimately knew that it would all work out, she still felt the burden of it.
The next four years were the most stressful of Hannah's life. While as an undergrad, the sleepless nights of studying were by choice, as a medical student they were required. If you weren't running on less than two hours of sleep, then you were probably flunking out. For the first time in her life, Hannah wasn't enjoying school. She loved what she was learning, but she was running at such a breakneck pace that she never had a chance to enjoy it. Weekends were spent sleep, cleaning, shopping and maybe squeezing out a few minutes of social time. Breaks and summers were the only time she actually got to relax. She got through by telling herself that it would all be worth it, that this was just what you had to do to be a doctor.
Her graduation ceremony felt like one long sigh of relief. She thinks she slept for about a week afterwards.
When she woke up, she got to work trying to find work, knowing that she had to get a jump start to get there before her fellow graduates. That was the theory, but she's not sure how well it worked, because it was a bit of an uphill battle. She had her resume out to all of the obvious targets within the first two weeks, and then it was a waiting game. Whenever she would find a new clinic or doctor's office that she didn't know, she would stop in and drop off a resume, then go home and get back to waiting. Every phone call was a jolt of hope, followed by an inevitable let-down. The days felt 50 hours long.
She was trying to sleep off a hangover when she finally got a call from River City General. It was the largest and busiest hospital in town, and they needed somebody new to join their E.R. staff. This sounded perfect to Hannah: a fast-paced, high-stakes environment, a place where she could really feel like she was making a difference. She went in for a first interview that went wonderfully, and then a second interview that proved disappointing. Hannah certainly impressed the administrator, and they seemed happy to have her, but Hannah was disappointed by her own feelings. The E.R. was even more chaotic than she'd imagined, and she found herself unsure how to handle it. She'd expected to be reminded of med school, to an extent, but this was bringing back all the wrong memories and none of the confidence that she expected to feel.
She asked for a few days to consider the offer, hoping that the more she thought about it, the better she would feel. Perhaps she could convince herself that she would be able to handle it. Within a couple of days, however, she got another call. This one was from the city morgue. Hannah took the interview with a bit more reluctance than the one with River City General. She knew that she needed options, but it was a little hard to imagine herself working in the morgue.
That changed with her interview with Dr. Raymond Tate. Beyond the fact that the morgue is obviously a much calmer environment than the E.R., Hannah realized that it too was a place where she could make a difference. Maybe she wouldn't be saving lives, but she would be giving them context, and closure, and helping people's families find some comfort in answers.
She gave her regrets to River City General, and took the job at the morgue.
She's been there several years, and has never regretted her decision. She gets too much satisfaction from her job. As a bonus, she likes the people she works with, both in the morgue and the police force, and has built up a mutual respect with them.So much so that when Raymond Tate retired last year, Hannah was appointed to take his place as Head Medical Examiner. She became the youngest person to have the job in the city's history, and one of the few women, and she takes it very seriously, knowing that she's not just representing herself.
Hannah has matured since her teen years, but she's still, at her core, the same person. She loves her work, but she still has a restless side. There's a part of her that wants to be in the middle of the action. Not so much that she gets in over her head, but well, a girl needs some excitement in her life once in a while.
Basic Likes/Dislikes- Likes: Biology, Fashion, History, Parties, Food, Wine, Comics
Dislikes: Condescending assholes, Being overwhelmed; People assuming that she's shallow; Snobs; Cowards; Disloyalty
Chloe Ruiz
Full Name- Chloe Calinda Sanchez Ruiz
Alias- Purple Heart
Affiliation- Independent
Nicknames- C.C. (family)
Age- 25
Birthdate- October 25th, 1991
Gender- Female
Sexuality- Bisexual
Appearance
Height- 5'5"
Hair Color- Dark Brown
Eye Color- Dark Brown
Played by- Selena Gomez
General Appearance- Chloe is of average height, but not an average build. Her years of amateur superheroism and the intense workout that comes with it has crafted her into a tone and muscular body. This comes purely from practical and physical considerations. She doesn't really care about her appearance beyond looking presentable enough not to be noticed. Nine days out of ten, she wears simple t-shirts, with a hoodie or jacket if needed, jeans and sneakers. If she absolutely needs something with her, she'll have a small messenger bag. She doesn't wear (or even own) makeup and usually wears her hair in a simple ponytail or braid. Everyone who meets her would agree that she's quite pretty, and quite a few of them have directly said so. She just doesn't much care.
Personality
Interests & Hobbies- History, Engineering, Biology, Languages, Books, Travelling
3 Positive Personality Traits- Smart, Loyal, Determined
2 Negative Personality Traits- Stoic, Stubborn
General Personality- It takes a lot to get Chloe Ruiz to smile. It's not that she's an unhappy or mean person. She's just the serious sort. She has things to do, and doesn't see the point in beating around the bush or being nice for the sake of it. (Predictably, she's terrible at making small talk.) Even if she doesn't seem like a particularly social person, she likes most people just fine, and will happily sit and listen to a friend talk for hours, as long as she's not expected to chime in too much. On the occasion when she does willingly join in on a conversation, expect a lot of snark.
Chloe is the type of person who will not let go of an idea once it's in her head. If she decides that she's going to do something, she's going to do it, and if something tries to stop her, that just makes her more determined. Her mother has always called her stubborn, but Chloe prefers "determined" or "resilient". But her mother also recognizes that this isn't completely a bad thing. A woman needs a little backbone to make it in this world, and she knows that her daughter has more than enough to get her through.
Bad Habits- Stubbornness, sometimes manifesting as passive-aggressiveness; Doodling when she's bored and not paying attention; Ignoring somebody when they're boring her
"Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass." -Maya Angelou
Family & History
Parents- Father: Carlos Ruiz, retired Army/carpenter (deceased)
Mother: Marissa Sanchez Ruiz, nurse
Siblings- Older brother: Carlos "C.J." Ruiz, Jr., 32, newspaper columnist
Older brother: Matthew Ruiz, 30, radio producer
Older sister: Melanie Ruiz, 27, nurse
Hometown- River City, Tennessee
Ancestry- Mexican-American, Italian
Occupation- Computer tech
History- Chloe was the fourth and last child of Carlos and Marissa Ruiz. When she was little, she was always treated as the baby of the family, doted on by her parents and thought of as an annoyance by her siblings. Thankfully, as she grew older they became more accepting of her. Sure, she was usually the butt of jokes or the errand boy, but it was still better than just being left behind all the time while they had all the fun.
When she wasn't tagging along behind her siblings, Chloe was tagging along behind her father, or watching him work. She was quite the daddy's girl, to the point where folks around the neighborhood would ask where she was if Carlos ventured out without her. There was, and still is, a part of her that just adored her father and wants nothing more than to be him when she grows up. This is probably why Chloe was such a tomboy growing up, rejecting all of the girly things that her mother and sister tried to talk her into, except for the occasions when her father asked her to go along to keep the peace. Chloe loves her mother, but didn't appreciate her mother trying to turn her into somebody she didn't want to be.
Chloe was nine years old when her father died. He was supposed to pick the kids up from school, but didn't show up. The four of them stood outside the school for an hour before the vice-principal reached their uncle. By the time he had picked them up and taken them home, Marissa was there making calls. For the next few hours, all the adults were occupied with trying to find Carlos, leaving C.J. to look after his younger siblings. After Chloe's first couple of questions, he stopped trying to answer.
The police arrived shortly before Chloe's bedtime. She was sitting on her bed reading when she heard a knock on the door. She didn't think much of it- people had been coming and going all day- until she heard her mother's tortured wail. The four siblings descended on the front door, where they found their mother in hysterical tears, and were quickly ushered out of the room by their uncle. They huddled in C.J.'s room and waited for almost an hour for somebody to come tell them what the older ones already knew. Chloe, however, had held out hope until the last minute. It wasn't until Marissa told them that it sunk in for her that her father wasn't coming home.
He'd been killed in a bank robbery. That's what her mother said, and for a long time, that was all Chloe knew about how her father died.
Marissa quickly decided that the family needed to leave River City. None of the kids were happy, but Chloe resisted the strongest. C.J. had only a year and a half of school left. Matthew had his clubs and Melanie had her friends. All Chloe cared about was their house. Their home, where her father had lived and where all their memories of him lived. She was too young to realize that what she couldn't stand to leave was exactly what her mother couldn't stand to live with.
They moved across the river to Little Rock, and lived for a short time with Marissa's mother, until they had a new house of their own to settle into. The first weeks in Little Rock were the most important. Being in her grandmother's house, that used to be her mother's, was the safest and most secure Chloe had felt since her father's disappearance. It was clear that it did the same for her mother. Chloe remembers seeing her mother smile and laugh again, and the feeling it gave her that things were getting better.
The night before their first day of school, C.J. gathered his siblings for a talk. He told them that their mother was counting on them to do their best to adjust, that the best thing they could do for her was try to fit in and do their part to get their house in order. Things weren't going to be normal without Dad, he said, but they needed to work together to get as close as they could. This speech didn't stop Matthew from quickly falling in with the wrong crowd, but Chloe took it to heart. She did her chores without complaint, worked hard in her classes and resisted the urge to punch the kids who were jerks to her. Actually making friends was hard at first, so she tried to stay close to her siblings as they finished out their school year.
Summer was when things started to fill out. With the kids out of school, the small family spent almost all their free time together. They finished their unpacking and decorating the house and eased back in to being a family. They talked about their changes, and remembered Carlos, and laughed and cried. They started going to church again. They got as close to normal as they could.
When the next school year started, Chloe started to make friends. Little Rock wasn't home, but it helped.
At 13, when given an assignment to research her family history, she found herself in the attic. In a corner, hidden behind the boxes of Christmas decorations, she found three boxes with her father's name on them. She spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the attic floor, going through her father's things. Much of it was familiar, but she found just as many things that she'd never seen before. There were old family pictures, school yearbooks, and souvenirs from his Army days. She felt like she'd found a whole new window into her father's life. Like a part of him had come back to her for a moment.
The biggest surprise was in the last box. That's where she found the folded-up purple leather jacket with the black Sacred Heart on the back. It was torn, and had old blood stains on it, and even though she'd never once seen him wearing it, Chloe immdiately knew that it was what her father had worn when he died.
After she stopped crying, she looked back in the box. She found a pair of dog tags, which she assumed to be from the Army, until she looked at them and saw the inscriptions. Patriot Squad, said one. Purple Heart, said the other, followed by a six-digit ID number. The suspicions that were forming in her mind were confirmed by the stacks of comics further in the box. Their covers held the titles of Patriot Squad, Alpha and Glory, and inside they told fantastic stories that her father had never told her.
She took the box to her room and hid it in her closet. She spent the next few days reading all the comics, comparing them with the real versions presented in the many newspaper clippings and acquainting herself with the new side of her father she'd just met. Finally, she told Marissa what she'd found. Marissa admitted that she'd known about Carlos's "second job," as she called it, and that they'd agreed not to tell the kids in order to protect them. Chloe was annoyed, but couldn't be too upset with her mother. Who's to say what she would have done in that situation?
With her mother's blessing, Chloe shared her findings with her siblings. C.J., more than anyone, was upset that Carlos had never told them the truth, but they were all amazed and curious. Once she had read and pretty much memorized all of the comics and clippings, Chloe passed them off to her siblings, while she went looking for more.
Chloe began by seeking out newer editions of the Patriot Squad books, and following news of them in the paper and online. Then she branched out, to other heroes in River City, and then into the fictional series. She was hooked. Her brothers teased her about her "descent into geekiness," but she didn't care. She looked into it, and learned that when her father died, the rights to his Purple Heart persona had reverted to Marissa. Chloe had already made up her mind, and her fate was set.
Marissa was quite annoyed that Chloe graduated from high school without applying to college. Her grades were more than good enough, but Chloe didn't really see the point. She knew what she wanted to do, and she didn't need to go to a big college for it. She did need a way to pay the bills, so she enrolled in an I.T. course at the local community college, where she also signed up for some self-defense classes. They were a good start, but she would need more. So she found a local boxing gym. She assured the owner that she didn't a lot of attention, just some guidance. He put together a routine that she could do alone, and she got to work. She started at three times a week, then every other day, then every day. The men that made up the majority of the gym's members would sometimes take bets on whether she would miss a day, or dare each other to spar with her. Almost none of them would admit to being impressed, but she could see it in their expressions and the way that they watched her every time she walked in. After about a year, the owner offered to get her some fights. Chloe was quite encouraged, but turned him down. She wasn't in this to go pro. She had a bigger purpose in mind.
After a year of preparation, Chloe decided that she was ready. She made some slight size adjustments to her father's jacket, so it was still too big for her but didn't swallow her whole. She wore his Patriot Squad dog tags around her neck as she set out onto the streets of Little Rock as the new Purple Heart.
She got her ass kicked on her first night out. She wasn't that surprised, honestly. she was smart enough to realize that a year of training in a controlled environment was a different animal that a street fight against three gang members. She managed to escape without anything more than bad bruises and a few cuts, and inflicted a deep enough cut of her own that one of the perps was picked up at a local hospital. When the cops pulled the security footage of the fight, it didn't take long for them to identify the Purple Heart jacket, and it took even less time for the media to get wind of it.
Chloe's older siblings had suspected what she was planning to do, but seeing the coverage in the paper and the bruises that covered her really brought home the reality of it. None of them were happy, but C.J. was the most vocal. He was angry that she was using Carlos's identity, and that she hadn't told them, and most of all, that she was putting herself in danger. Chloe, who had expected her family to be proud, if anything, was taken aback. She understood that if they realized what she was doing, they would be concerned, but she hadn't expected them to be so angry. She apologized, but refused to give it up. She felt like she could make a difference, and she felt closer to Carlos. She felt like she was trying to finish something that he had started.
They got over their anger, or at least adjusted to the situation. Melanie, in fact, would often clip mentions of her sister's exploits from the newspaper. Then, one day, she brought Chloe a clipping from the River City Daily Appeal. Their hometown had finally taken notice of the new Purple Heart. Not long after, Marissa got a letter from Subversive Technologies, warning her that somebody was using the Purple Heart identity, and offering legal assistance if she wanted to press charges. In a classicly maternal move of passive-aggressiveness, she left the letter out where Chloe could see it, but didn't say a word.
After several years on the streets of Little Rock, honing her skills and her body and learning from a couple of more experienced heroes, Chloe decided that it was time for her to go home to River City. It had been her plan all along. She had come to love Little Rock, but her heart had never fully left River City. It felt like where she belonged, where her father's legacy belonged. If she wanted to finish what he started, and figured out what had really happened, that's where she needed to be.
Her siblings were supportive, the boys more than she expected them to be. Apparently they had come to understand why she was doing what she was doing. Marissa was more hesitant. She was used to having her children close, where she could see them every day if she needed to, where she could be there for them if they needed her. Yes, it was just across the river, and they still had family there, but Chloe was her baby. Her baby was leaving home and going away to do something incredibly dangerous. She prayed about it a lot before giving her blessing. She and Chloe both acknowedged that it would happen anyway, but having her mother's blessing made it a lot easier.
She's been in River City for over a year now. She stayed with her uncle for a while so they could catch up while she found a job and an apartment of her own. Then she had to find a good gym so she could return to her workout routine. Then she began looking into the process of joining the Subversive Technology Hero Training Camp. She's not sure she really wants to join their roster, but she wants them to know that she's there.
Basic Likes/Dislikes- Likes: Comics, History, Technology, Biology, Fantasy novels, Sci-Fi novels, Historical non-fiction, Food
Dislikes: Snobs, Liars, Disloyalty, People who can't take things seriously
