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April Wynn
Tanya McDowell
Rafael Ainsworth
Tipper Bell
Not sure if I should genderswap any of these.
April Wynn or Winston "Winnie" April - Obviously a straight-laced student. I'm not sure what to do for her/his background yet though. Maybe he/she comes from a family famous for being very weird but are actually only superficially such and otherwise relatively normal -- perhaps something akin to the Addams Family.
Tanya/Stan McDowell - Somewhat hypercompetitive, which is a little odd considering how he/she often isn't the highest-performing student in classes. Harbors great professional ambitions of becoming a leader in business or politics. Sensitive to mockery.
Raphael/Rafael/Rafi Ainsworth - A polite, but subtly manipulative person. Somewhat of a bully, by exploiting others flaws for her/his amusement, but the kind of person who excels at being a "teacher's pet" and is hard-to-touch as a result.
Toby/Tobie/Tipper Bell - One year Gabe's/Gabriela's junior, and an alum of the same high school. Enrolled in college expecting to major in theology, only to start hanging out with Gabe/Gabriela and instead picking up an interest in computers...but instead of Gabe's/Gabriela's interest in gaming and entertainment media, her/his interest turned to programming, scripting, and web design. A fast learner.
but yeah. these are characters from Gabriel DropOut.
if i give them magical powers corresponding to their identities in GabDrop, it'll be interesting, since they basically have divinity- (or anti-divinity-) based magic. sorta will say something about how magic works in this setting. cements the idea of magic as a manifestation of something a person feels a personal connection/identity with.
and frankly, GabDrop itself sorta suggests that's how demons and angels are like anyway. observe how Vignette's home life is basically just normal real-life person's home life but with everything being amusingly hell-themed. Even sings "Funiculí Funiculá" with a new set of lyrics.
It is currently able to produce simple building materials that already have chemically complex microstructures, though research is underway to devise methods for producing even more complex macrostructures, as well as to produce smokeless combustible fuel.
It's appropriately funny in that offbeat, "throw it in" way.
I mean, who else would make a color-changing car that purposefully dodges your attempts to describe it? A Belphegor student, of course.
* the Sewer Monster: lives in the sewers. A loner; tries to grab attention -- rather literally -- by reaching his hand out of sewer grates to scare people. Has a crush on Origami Girl.
* the Vulture Gang: a local gang of vultures. Hangs out at the local mortuary. Rival of the Baseball Gang. Allied with the Mini Tornado and the Gargoyles.
* Mini Tornado: another weirdo; resembles a green tornado for no apparent reason. A Belphegor dropout. Plays checkers with the Vulture Gang every Thursday afternoon, after which they hang out at the local diner. (The one that's behind Gussy's Cleaners on 5th Avenue, specifically; it's only two blocks from Middle Road.)
* Gargoyles: a pair of gargoyles that harshly guard the Castle, a local house that looks like a castle. Their tendency to spit fire at everyone tends to get them in trouble a lot.
* Baby Stroller: actually a teenager named Babe Stroller. Rolls down sidewalks in a baby stroller at high speed for joyrides, because she can and because she has movement magic and transmutation magic to turn herself into a baby. A cheerleader at Lemure High. Daughter of Myrna "Momma" Stroller, who owns and operates the local dirt bike track.
* Tire Man and Car Man: two close friends, and the town's best mechanics. Their yard is a mess but they can and will fix any nonmagical device. Car Man is basically always working on someone's car, but Tire Man is often seen enjoying his unique hobby of playing bowling with tires. They also take care of Stray Dog, and let the Baseball Gang use their yard.
* Stray Dog: a stray dog, but de facto pet of Tire Man and Car Man. They picked her up off the streets a couple years ago; she was severely malnourished at the time, but they nursed her back to health. She is their very loyal guard dog now. Hates cyclists and bikers.
* Baseball Gang: local gang of kids who generally like to play sports -- not just baseball, ddspite their name. First got into turf wars with the Vulture Gang when they broke windows of buildings on the Vulture Gang's turf. They meet at the local diner on Wednesday evenings.
* Lovey-Dovey Couple: a young couple who own a house with a front porch swing on Easy Street. Frequently seen making out passionately on said swing. Probabky exhibitionists. Also known for flhing into a rage when local kids throw things at them on the swing.
* I. Spy, P.I.: Suspicious gentleman(?) apparently investigating the Lovey-Dovey Couple, seemingly stalking their house from a distance. Never says why, but just gives you his business card. Always looks suspicious. Has a bad habit of absconding with an inordinate share of dinner mints from the diner.
* The Pig: Lemure's most controversial resident. This stray pig was fed by some locals who are fond of him, and eats the garden veggies of other locals who are not fond of him. Eventually captured by one local family who decided to roast him, only for the local Paperboy to rescue him by freeing him with a well-timed paper toss at the barbecue spit. Guaranteed starter of arguments among locals. Rumored to be living with the Sewer Monster, but the Monster says otherwise.
* The Glass Guys: a pair of construction workers who run their own glass factory. They also have an interest in high-speed photography; capturing footage of people crashing into glass is their specialty. Reportedly make a decent bit of coin selling their stuff on Etsy.
* Robber: A frequent and unwanted visitor of the gas station at the intersection between Middle Road and 4th Avenue. Generally foiled by Paperboy or Papergirl while on their delivery route. Actually named Robert.
* Paperboy and Papergirl: a couple teenagers who deliver the daily newspaper to residents, on their bikes. Tend to get into crossfire between the Vulture and Baseball gang. Frequently fired due to nondelivery and improper delivery complaints on their paper route, but then rehired since no one else will bother with such a hazardous paper route. Hang out at Momma Stroller's Dirt Track on weekends.
* Sheriff Joe Schmoe: the city's top cop. Also owns the local paper, causing residents to criticize him for conflict of interest. Somewhat corrupt. Hates being compared to severed-head ghosts. Actually doesn't like donuts, but has an inordinate fondness for sushi burritos.
* Dalmatian: a dog owned by the local fire/rescue department, but actually the biggest embarrassment of the force because he keeps on running around on the streets without watching traffic.
* Lawnmower Man: a very dedicated lawnscaper and gardener. Frequently seen maintaining his lawn meticulously.
* Scarecrow: actually just a scarecrow, guarding Lovey-Dovey Couple's veggie garden. Actually completely ineffective, but half the local crows just act like they're scared whenever Lovey-Dovey Couple shows up, while the other half of the crows laugh. Sheriff Schmoe was once implicated in a scheme to get the Scarecrow registered to vote for him.
One of Belphegor University's many student groups, the Caving Club is a small club with a passion for exploring -- not just caves, as its name implies, but also urban spaces.
Due to its record of running afoul of Sheriff Schmoe, which is thanks to its predilection for being in unauthorized spaces -- a particularly dramatic example being that one time they accidentally, but literally, crashed his daughter Samsara's 18th birthday party -- the club's official status has been in question for some time, though its members continue with their activities anyway.
Current membership:
* Shawn Short, a freshman, and the newest member. Actually rather short, so club members started calling him Short Shawn instead. Kinda dorky-looking, and the designated pack mule on expeditions thanks to being the lowest in the pecking order, but he's quickly becoming the club VP's right-hand man.
* Danny Kraid, a senior, and the current vice-president. Looks obese and lazy, but is a surprisingly capable fellow, and particularly adept at logistics and management. Obsessed with beer; operates his own micro-brewery (without a proper license, of course) and sells his products to students and local townsfolk.
* "Phantom", a weirdo who just started showing up at club once. Rather quiet, and unwilling to share his background, but presumably a student, he (he? she? it?) participates constructively in club activities, and seems rather knowledgeable about spelunking and urbex.
* Rachel Botwoon, who isn't a student at the university, but rather, a senior to Lemure High. Hangs out with the club and is treated by Draygon as her "little sister" as they are longtime friends who even went to the same high school.
* Karen Draygon, a junior, and the current club treasurer. Known for being loud and blunt. Has a part-time job at the local daycare, where she is one of their most valued employees thanks to her knack with children.
* Crocomire Bentley, a sophomore with a wealthy family background. Always looks a bit like he doesn't fit in.
* Oliver Ridley, a senior, and the current club president. Very charismatic, and somewhat intimidating. The kind of person who will play hardball to get what he wants, and his cleverness makes him rather effective at it.
* Chorizo, the junior club pet. A black doberman.
* Gold Chorizo, the senior club pet, and Ridley's personal pet. A fawn doberman.
* Gertrude "Mama" Brain, the club's sponsor. The club sponsor used to be a geology professor, who dropped it over the number of potential legal issues it ran into, but Mama Brain, a well-connected longtime local resident, stepped in and offered to sponsor the club instead. (She herself has a few bones to pick with Sheriff Schmoe.)
I also need a name for the unnamed weirdo.
This will be funny, even though it doesn't have much to do with their source material.
----
Come to think of it, if people can fly, then... flying circus could exist as a sport!
But I mean in the context of the Belphegor setting, is that the sort of comparison you'd be going for.
Plus, those costumes.
I dunno yet. Most of the setting isn't yet made.
Also (as of now) the school itself is in (a fantasy version of) Kansas, while the Lindwurms are from (a fantasy version of) Florida. (I don't know if I will scrap these real-world links at some point.
winged yam
air potato
torpedo grass
firebush
duck potato
bald cypress
Totally sounds like an attack in an SRPG.
Hudson University - Located in a shady neighborhood in a big city.
Crazy Go Nuts University - A recently-established school. Doesn't have a great reputation at the moment.
>doesn't have a great reputation
I wonder if this was to be expected.
Crazy Go Nuts University is a fictional diploma mill in the Homestar Runner universe. http://www.hrwiki.org/wiki/Crazy_Go_Nuts_University
Hudson University is the fictional university where basically any university-related plot points happen in the Law & Order franchise. Someone once commented that it has a murder rate like ten times of that of real-life New York City.
The
University of Northern South DakotaUniversity of Southern North Dakota is the fictional university from which music professor Peter Schickele hails. In reality, he's a composer and parodist most famous for inventing the persona of "P.D.Q. Bach" whose variety of comedic compositions he "researched". He's not a professor, though his father did chair the Agricultural Sciences Department at North Dakota Agricultural University, which is now North Dakota State University, according to Wikipedia. The fictional university has a campus located in the real-life city of Hoople, which is actually in northeastern North Dakota.Also, it turns out that I misremembered the name. Prof. Schickele teaches at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople, whereas I just made up a new school name, heh.
But apparently someone else did too, and put up a facebook page for it, and locating it at Forbes -- a city on the southern border of North Dakota, amusingly.
This will have to be settled at a later time.
...or it can remain unsettled for lulz
Oh yeah I remember that. It's named after the Hudson River, so I always assumed it was also an IRL school.