Meet the Ohio Crew
Mmkay, mostly posting this for the sake of runaway_tales. This is some information about the fantastical Ohio Crew, a group of my characters who, surprise surprise, live in Ohio. They don't really do anything and there's not really a concrete story, though there are a few more solid stories I've attempted to write or come up with that involve some of the characters, but mostly it's just little slice-of-life tidbits.
Be warned: There is some discussion of mature topics.
The Ohio Crew is a group of characters living in the Columbus, OH area who I write assorted stories on (ohnoespreposition). They're generally slice-of-life, romance, or family-centric drama and fluff, sometimes with psychological undertones, mostly character-driven and hardly plotted, and sometimes I hold several contradictory ideas or possibilities of what they might be up to at any given point (for instance, sometimes I hold the idea that Zack and Jackie spend many long years as a couple, and sometimes I think/write that they end up with Jason, or that everything 'splodes). It's rather firmly grounded in the real world; ie, Aubrey is attending Boston University, was born on March 16 1991, listens to Fall Out Boy, etc.
Originally, this group centered on Aubrey and a group of high school friends who call themselves the Androgyny Brigade. But I'm not going to talk about them at the moment as I haven't planned to post any writing about them yet.
Of more current interest is the sub-group of the Ohio Crew centering on Zack Levy. This usually revolves around his relationship with his high school boyfriend Jason, his next boyfriend Jackie, and/or his father Joseph.
Timeline
Aubrey, essentially the original main character of the Ohio Crew, has his life more or less synced with my own. So at the time of writing this, on July 16 2009, he's eighteen years old and preparing to enter his first year of college. I've expanded out from the original group of characters around his high school, though, and now I like to focus on those around Zack--who is three and a half year older than Aubrey. And I like to write about Zack's high school years or first one or two college years (so much so that I can't believe by real-time, Zack's going into his last year of college now! I don't even know what's been happening to get him there!), which means the things I write no longer take place when I write them. Not that it usually matters, but it's a pain when I go to reference, say, Zack playing a video game that hasn't come out yet.
Hawthorne
Also closely related to the Ohio Crew is the somewhat-structured story of Hawthorne High School, which I am actually intending to make as a crazy-ambitious visual novel. It's still not exactly the most plotted thing, but it's sort of about the idea that there's a lot of ugly things lurking under a seemingly idyllic surface, from your standard sex and drugs to manipulative student-teacher relationships and creepy incestuous siblings. The main characters are Cameron, a fairly innocent new student who moves there in his sophomore year, and Malachai, the wicked 'popular boy' who sets himself on corrupting him. It's a bit trite, but I like it anyway. Oh, and then there's the cannibalism.
Much that happens with Zack, Jason, Joseph, and Chrissy in the generic Ohio Crew canon could just as well be true in Hawthorne, where Joseph is an English and Psychology teacher and Zack and Jason are students who graduated the year before structured-Hawthorne takes place (or are seniors that year; I can't make up my mind but I'm leaning toward the former). Jason gets into worse trouble after high school in Hawthorne's canon, though (and by 'trouble' I mean 'lives with a crazy drug dealer who believes himself to be a vampire and collects people and drinks blood, and a creepy nympho 16 year old runaway').
Characters
Zack (Isaac Nickolas Levy; went by Nick as a kid)
DOB 22 October 1987.
Loving, patient, responsible, open-minded, gentle and respectful when it matters but often sarcastic, knows when to be serious, determined but happy to give in (if not outright submissive or subservient) to those he really cares for or when 'excited'. Enjoys cooking and sewing, especially sewing things that most people don't or won't, including crossdressish things. Also quite an avid geek, video games and computers and even D&D. Majoring in computer science at college.
Possibly respects his dad more than anyone else; takes after him in many ways.
Mother died when he was six or so; mostly grew up with his father as a single parent and was greatly influenced by him.
Jason Christ Tacos Christakos
DOB 26 January 1988.
Spastic, silly, intelligent, artistic, curious, enthusiastic, rebellious, charismatic, a bit devious but generally means well, casually social with many people but has a small few he loves intensely and would give anything for, prefers fiction to reality.
Enjoys talking, drawing, painting, writing, reading, taking photos, looking at the world, pondering, running, watching thunderstorms.
High school art kid; college Cognitive Sciences major.
Always had some issues with his parents; his sister Mel absolutely hated their mother and when she was 18 took Jason and moved out to live by themselves.
His mother likely had some form of schizophrenia and possibly also bipolar disorder or some other mood disorder. Jason inherited this to some degree, not full-on paranoid schizophrenia but a mild form, little tendencies, signs that indicate a distance from reality. He can imagine something and then come to honestly believe it, or he can be completely oblivious to what's in front of his own eyes. This really starts to develop during his last few years of high school, especially in his relationship with Zack, where at the very same moment he can be cruel and violent but perceive himself to be sweet and loving (see Christmas Eve).
He wants to be a Wraeththu (why do I feel like he'd make a good Uigenna? ._.; ), or a Sacrifice in Loveless-world (with Zack as his Fighter, of course), or an Oceanborne oracle, or an Anantha (the last two being from my friend's currently unpublished books Babylon Rising and The Unreal City).
Joseph Levy (called Josie by Christopher)
DOB ~1965.
Basically an older carbon copy of Zack. *facepalm* Though it sort of makes sense for Zack to take after him a lot, I really need to work on developing him as his own character...
A bit more grounded and confident than Zack. Snarky and sarcastic, but very compassionate and nurturing and readily shows it when appropriate. Practical and logical, but in more of a reassuring way than a cold way, and still rather sentimental. Honestly loves to help others. Looks after his loved ones but doesn't worry neurotically; has faith in others' abilities to take care of themselves with just a little help. Values truth and keeping one's word and dislikes ignorance; doesn't believe in sheltering children by lying to them.
I keep changing my mind about what his profession should be. In Hawthorne, he's an English and Psychology teacher; he might be one of those at other times, or he might be a guidance counselor, or he might be something entirely different; I think at some point I considered him being an engineer.
He refuses to move out of the apartment he used to share with Susanna and Christopher, because he's sworn to Christopher than he could come back any time.
Zack and Jason date for about two years between 10th and 12th grade. They really like each other and think everything is wonderful, but Jason gradually starts getting kind of creepy; what begins as purely-bedroom experimentation with BDSM turns into a complete relationship dynamic that's both psychologically and physically unsafe, and the schizophrenic tendencies that Jason inherited from his mother are beginning to come to fruition; it takes some intervention from Joseph to finally open Zack's eyes to what it's doing to him, and he agrees to part ways with Jason for college. A year or so later, he meets and eventually begins to date Jackie; they stay together for some time and come to live together, sharing The Dream of owning a small two-part shop where Jackie divines and Zack tailors. Meanwhile things aren't so great for Jason; he was completely devoted to Zack and somewhat dependent on him, and it really messes him up to have that suddenly pulled out from under him. He may get involved in drugs or other ungood things that first year, though his sister and Joseph (who still looks after him, especially when Jason seems to be becoming unstable) pull him back out of it and onto stable ground, and possibly after a little detour where he suddenly runs off and wanders to the Jersey shore, he goes off to college too. At some point, a misunderstanding brings the three together, and after quite a bit of bitterness from Jackie, the three may form a relationship together.
Once upon a time, back in the ancient land of Parents, Joseph Levy was going to college and met a wonderful woman named Susanna, who he fell completely in love with. But that woman already had a boyfriend who she was very much in love with. The boyfriend Christopher liked Joseph, though, and encouraged Susanna to at least be friendly to him. Joseph in fact became very good friends with them, though it still hurt him a bit to see them being all boyfriend-girlfriend-y, because he was still quite in love with Susanna. But Christopher was becoming very fond of Joseph in more ways than one; it was he who made the first move that eventually brought Joseph into his and Susanna's relationship. For a few years, the three shared an apartment and everything seemed perfect and happy, until Susanna became pregnant with Joseph's child (Zack), at which point Christopher panicked and left. Yeeaaarrrs later, when Zack is All Grown Up, Chrissy may come back around again to find Joseph and finally meet Zack.
Posted Stories
The tag in my journal for this group is "ohio". I've posted five stories and one drawing related to this group (note that ones in RaTs may be memberlocked):
Manual Fixation: Zack and Jason
Shoulders: Zack and Joseph; bawww-ish
Elbows: Zack, Jason, Sarah; humor; non-RaTs
Knees Zack, implied Jason; art; RaTs-locked. I don't think it's there anymore.
Nepenthe Jason, drugs, and no Zack
Exterminate! Zack and Jason proving their geekdom
Be warned: There is some discussion of mature topics.
The Ohio Crew is a group of characters living in the Columbus, OH area who I write assorted stories on (ohnoespreposition). They're generally slice-of-life, romance, or family-centric drama and fluff, sometimes with psychological undertones, mostly character-driven and hardly plotted, and sometimes I hold several contradictory ideas or possibilities of what they might be up to at any given point (for instance, sometimes I hold the idea that Zack and Jackie spend many long years as a couple, and sometimes I think/write that they end up with Jason, or that everything 'splodes). It's rather firmly grounded in the real world; ie, Aubrey is attending Boston University, was born on March 16 1991, listens to Fall Out Boy, etc.
Originally, this group centered on Aubrey and a group of high school friends who call themselves the Androgyny Brigade. But I'm not going to talk about them at the moment as I haven't planned to post any writing about them yet.
Of more current interest is the sub-group of the Ohio Crew centering on Zack Levy. This usually revolves around his relationship with his high school boyfriend Jason, his next boyfriend Jackie, and/or his father Joseph.
Timeline
Aubrey, essentially the original main character of the Ohio Crew, has his life more or less synced with my own. So at the time of writing this, on July 16 2009, he's eighteen years old and preparing to enter his first year of college. I've expanded out from the original group of characters around his high school, though, and now I like to focus on those around Zack--who is three and a half year older than Aubrey. And I like to write about Zack's high school years or first one or two college years (so much so that I can't believe by real-time, Zack's going into his last year of college now! I don't even know what's been happening to get him there!), which means the things I write no longer take place when I write them. Not that it usually matters, but it's a pain when I go to reference, say, Zack playing a video game that hasn't come out yet.
Hawthorne
Also closely related to the Ohio Crew is the somewhat-structured story of Hawthorne High School, which I am actually intending to make as a crazy-ambitious visual novel. It's still not exactly the most plotted thing, but it's sort of about the idea that there's a lot of ugly things lurking under a seemingly idyllic surface, from your standard sex and drugs to manipulative student-teacher relationships and creepy incestuous siblings. The main characters are Cameron, a fairly innocent new student who moves there in his sophomore year, and Malachai, the wicked 'popular boy' who sets himself on corrupting him. It's a bit trite, but I like it anyway. Oh, and then there's the cannibalism.
Much that happens with Zack, Jason, Joseph, and Chrissy in the generic Ohio Crew canon could just as well be true in Hawthorne, where Joseph is an English and Psychology teacher and Zack and Jason are students who graduated the year before structured-Hawthorne takes place (or are seniors that year; I can't make up my mind but I'm leaning toward the former). Jason gets into worse trouble after high school in Hawthorne's canon, though (and by 'trouble' I mean 'lives with a crazy drug dealer who believes himself to be a vampire and collects people and drinks blood, and a creepy nympho 16 year old runaway').
Characters
Zack (Isaac Nickolas Levy; went by Nick as a kid)
DOB 22 October 1987.
Loving, patient, responsible, open-minded, gentle and respectful when it matters but often sarcastic, knows when to be serious, determined but happy to give in (if not outright submissive or subservient) to those he really cares for or when 'excited'. Enjoys cooking and sewing, especially sewing things that most people don't or won't, including crossdressish things. Also quite an avid geek, video games and computers and even D&D. Majoring in computer science at college.
Possibly respects his dad more than anyone else; takes after him in many ways.
Mother died when he was six or so; mostly grew up with his father as a single parent and was greatly influenced by him.
Jason Christ Tacos Christakos
DOB 26 January 1988.
Spastic, silly, intelligent, artistic, curious, enthusiastic, rebellious, charismatic, a bit devious but generally means well, casually social with many people but has a small few he loves intensely and would give anything for, prefers fiction to reality.
Enjoys talking, drawing, painting, writing, reading, taking photos, looking at the world, pondering, running, watching thunderstorms.
High school art kid; college Cognitive Sciences major.
Always had some issues with his parents; his sister Mel absolutely hated their mother and when she was 18 took Jason and moved out to live by themselves.
His mother likely had some form of schizophrenia and possibly also bipolar disorder or some other mood disorder. Jason inherited this to some degree, not full-on paranoid schizophrenia but a mild form, little tendencies, signs that indicate a distance from reality. He can imagine something and then come to honestly believe it, or he can be completely oblivious to what's in front of his own eyes. This really starts to develop during his last few years of high school, especially in his relationship with Zack, where at the very same moment he can be cruel and violent but perceive himself to be sweet and loving (see Christmas Eve).
He wants to be a Wraeththu (why do I feel like he'd make a good Uigenna? ._.; ), or a Sacrifice in Loveless-world (with Zack as his Fighter, of course), or an Oceanborne oracle, or an Anantha (the last two being from my friend's currently unpublished books Babylon Rising and The Unreal City).
Joseph Levy (called Josie by Christopher)
DOB ~1965.
Basically an older carbon copy of Zack. *facepalm* Though it sort of makes sense for Zack to take after him a lot, I really need to work on developing him as his own character...
A bit more grounded and confident than Zack. Snarky and sarcastic, but very compassionate and nurturing and readily shows it when appropriate. Practical and logical, but in more of a reassuring way than a cold way, and still rather sentimental. Honestly loves to help others. Looks after his loved ones but doesn't worry neurotically; has faith in others' abilities to take care of themselves with just a little help. Values truth and keeping one's word and dislikes ignorance; doesn't believe in sheltering children by lying to them.
I keep changing my mind about what his profession should be. In Hawthorne, he's an English and Psychology teacher; he might be one of those at other times, or he might be a guidance counselor, or he might be something entirely different; I think at some point I considered him being an engineer.
He refuses to move out of the apartment he used to share with Susanna and Christopher, because he's sworn to Christopher than he could come back any time.
Zack and Jason date for about two years between 10th and 12th grade. They really like each other and think everything is wonderful, but Jason gradually starts getting kind of creepy; what begins as purely-bedroom experimentation with BDSM turns into a complete relationship dynamic that's both psychologically and physically unsafe, and the schizophrenic tendencies that Jason inherited from his mother are beginning to come to fruition; it takes some intervention from Joseph to finally open Zack's eyes to what it's doing to him, and he agrees to part ways with Jason for college. A year or so later, he meets and eventually begins to date Jackie; they stay together for some time and come to live together, sharing The Dream of owning a small two-part shop where Jackie divines and Zack tailors. Meanwhile things aren't so great for Jason; he was completely devoted to Zack and somewhat dependent on him, and it really messes him up to have that suddenly pulled out from under him. He may get involved in drugs or other ungood things that first year, though his sister and Joseph (who still looks after him, especially when Jason seems to be becoming unstable) pull him back out of it and onto stable ground, and possibly after a little detour where he suddenly runs off and wanders to the Jersey shore, he goes off to college too. At some point, a misunderstanding brings the three together, and after quite a bit of bitterness from Jackie, the three may form a relationship together.
Once upon a time, back in the ancient land of Parents, Joseph Levy was going to college and met a wonderful woman named Susanna, who he fell completely in love with. But that woman already had a boyfriend who she was very much in love with. The boyfriend Christopher liked Joseph, though, and encouraged Susanna to at least be friendly to him. Joseph in fact became very good friends with them, though it still hurt him a bit to see them being all boyfriend-girlfriend-y, because he was still quite in love with Susanna. But Christopher was becoming very fond of Joseph in more ways than one; it was he who made the first move that eventually brought Joseph into his and Susanna's relationship. For a few years, the three shared an apartment and everything seemed perfect and happy, until Susanna became pregnant with Joseph's child (Zack), at which point Christopher panicked and left. Yeeaaarrrs later, when Zack is All Grown Up, Chrissy may come back around again to find Joseph and finally meet Zack.
Posted Stories
The tag in my journal for this group is "ohio". I've posted five stories and one drawing related to this group (note that ones in RaTs may be memberlocked):
Manual Fixation: Zack and Jason
Shoulders: Zack and Joseph; bawww-ish
Elbows: Zack, Jason, Sarah; humor; non-RaTs
Knees Zack, implied Jason; art; RaTs-locked. I don't think it's there anymore.
Nepenthe Jason, drugs, and no Zack
Exterminate! Zack and Jason proving their geekdom