101 Posts or No CGI dogs allowed

For the longest time I've had a hard time finding an outlet for my creativity. I tried to learn to draw for so many years but I eventually gave up on that and I have no musical talent in my blood, but that all changed when I started playing "City of Heroes." My friend (who also contributes to this blog) and I have played this game almost daily since the game became available for play. Aside from doing the missions and gaining new powers whenever our characters levels up, I would have to I have the most fun creating a new hero. Mind you, I never really played a role playing game before,but I quickly got hang of it. I discovered I have a knack for creating origin stories for my various heroes and heroines. Sometimes the story would come almost fully formed and other times I would have to struggle for months to come up with a story that I deemed suitable. I would also have brainstorming session with my friend on coming up with a good story. I would like to share some of the more notable stories (briefly, of course) of my heroes.

Blue Wire: Ahh, my first hero and my favorite. Amber Ohms (clever name don't you think) was a personal body trainer at a local gym and engaged to prominent member of the mob. She was also long time friend to an assistant District Attorney. This made her fiance nervous and he thought she was telling him secrets about the family. As it turns out that the District Attorney was bought out by the mob, and they murdered the poor assistant and framed Amber. Yeah I know, nice guys. Well since the local justice system was rigged against her, Amber found herself strapped to the electric chair, but something went wrong. *cue dramatic music* For some unexplained reason she didn't die but her body absorbed all the electricity. Chaos breaks loose, and she escapes the chair and realized that her ex-fiance was in the audience, and she gives him a taste of what the electric chair felt like. It looked as if she was about to kill him, but she stopped herself at last second and she escaped. Considered by many as a vigilante at first, Blue Wire has earned the respect and admiration of the citizens of Paragon City. Partnered with Vulcanian, she continues to fight evil doers in every shape and form.

Sara Bellum: A beautiful but brainy girl that had no time for anything but her college career. Men would constantly ask her out , but she would always turn them down. She was vaguely aware that she was telekenitic, but that all changed one day. One day, after a long study session at the university library, Sara decided to walk across campus at night. She happened across two male classmates that were drunk and obviously angry that she turned them down in the past. They tried to rape her but the attempt was quickly brought to a halt, when her telekentic abilities exploded into an unfocused rage and hurled the two attackers against a wall. Needless to say the attackers survived, but they had months of recovery before they could become mobile. Realizing her powers Sara quit school and worked on controlling her powers. Today, she is teamed with Metal Menace and they continue hunting evil and helping other heroes who are in need.

Hot Strike: Her name was Cara. A spoiled, rich high school girl that loved to get everything that she wanted. Of course, she desired something that she could never get, the love of her dreams. The object of her desire, was a wildly popular boy, but he never paid any attention to Cara. Frustrated at the lack of attention she was getting,Cara resorted to magic. Cara enlisted her best friend that dabbled in magic, to help her create a spell to get the boy to desire her. The spell was designed to make the boy feel a burning desire for Cara if he was away from her, but bliss when he was in her presence. The spell might have worked, if Cara's friend hadn't sabotaged it. It turns out that Cara's friend also desired the same boy. The spell's intended effect was redirected to Cara and not to the boy. The combination of the spell and her existing desire caused Cara to manifest fire whenever her emotions were at a high state. This was not a big problem, until her opportunistic father tried to exploit her daughter's new found powers for profit. Realizing that her dad was trying to exploit her, Cara lost all emotional control and began to manifest fire all around her. She might have been lost to her fire powers, if Dionaea didn't use her mental powers to calm her down. Eventually, Cara changed her selfish ways and learned control of her powers. Now known as Hot Strike, she and Dionaea fight crime around Paragon city.

Toxoplasma: Created in lab that was both run by the United States and the Russian Federation in order to create a type of human that can survive in hostile environments. Toxoplasma was created to absorb radiation with no ill effects. When Toxo (he goes by the nick name) was at the Chernobyl disaster sight Toxo began absorbing so much radiation and at a rapid rate that his body began to change. The radiation interacted with his cells and began to mutate them. Instead of just absorbing radiation Toxo now can release it. Realizing this new talent, Toxo escaped government service and fled to Paragon City. He now fights evil with Undershadow.

Well, that's certainly not the whole roster of my heroes, but it is a good chunk of it. As I mentioned before, I like creating these characters. Sometimes I can plan on making a character, but other times it pops into my brain randomly (this usually happens when I am at work). I just get a sense of satisfaction when I play online with my creations. The idea that this character is mine and I can shape them in fashion the way I want, just makes me happy. This might not be your idea of fun, but I hope everybody finds a way to express their creativity. Seeing something that one has thought up and brought to light just gives one a sense of satisfaction.