Rock N Roll
Carl Embers (a.k.a. Rock N Roll)
Child of a teamster and a nurse, Carl Embers grew up a normal working class kid. He was, in fact, something of a geek and wasn’t terribly popular in school, nor was he all that successful academically. He spent most of his time with his loser friends, planning a band that would never happen and playing at his friend’s parties. His break at fame came when he manifested his powers at the age of 17, at a graduation party. Leading all the geeks, nerds, and outcasts in a rousing and very off key chorus of “I Will Survive,” Carl suddenly felt the music rise up through him, become him. It warped and wrapped to his will, and every subtle sound and dreadful din fell into line for him, making him a master of music at the same time he became a master of sonics.
It wasn’t long before Carl was picked up by a major record label, Ultra, which used his mastery of sound to make him a star. To be fair to Ultra their intentions were not all mercenary, as it was obvious that Carl was a mutant, and they did want to use him as a figure to help fight against mutant prejudice. (Not everyone with super powers is a hero or a villian) Within six months Carl was remade into one of the hugest Rock Gods on earth, given the semi-eponymous handle “Rock N Roll.” Trained in every aspect of being cool, groomed into a living fashion doll and self-propelled merchandise machine, the old Carl was soon gone, replaced by the cool, confident, and utterly ungeeky Rock. Divorcing his old life, he and his publicists came up with a persona for him that was never a nerd, was always in control, and lived only for the purity of music. He lived the high life, dated models, took baths in champagne, and all the other sad stereotypes of sudden fame, power, and wealth.
For two years the train went on, and Rock overcame initial reactions of anti-mutant prejudice and critical statements of his shallow flashiness by giving hard rocking concerts that were as musically innovative as they were utterly, superhumanly cool. It could have gone on forever, but Rock finally had a breakdown. Separated from his past, realizing that he really wasn’t doing anything meaningful, and with a massive crisis of identity, he entered the second stage of rock star cliché and retired from music.
He went to school, he went back home, and he remembered the world he had come from. Seeing all his childhood friends drunk, in jail, or desperately trying to get out of the dead end jobs they were stuck in brought him falling back to reality. It combined with the classes on culture theory and Marxism that he was taking to make him realize that his career had been a joke. He’d been nothing more than the token poor kid, taken out of the ghetto to make it seem like everyone really could become rich and famous. First Rock got depressed, then he got mad, and then he got active.
Two years after his retirement, Rock returned to music.
This time, however, he was back with a vengeance, a message, and a political stance that he backed with his wealth, fame, and influence to an unprecedented degree. Gathering up like minded folks from his blue-collar upbringing and his days of wealth and fame, he put together teams of lawyers, image consultants, union reps, and Marxist professors who were determined to use the system against itself, to get out the message of equality, freedom, of workers' rights, and rebellion by doing the unthinkable -- making it popular without diluting it down to meaninglessness. The troubles started immediately and never have died down. Record labels, including his former label, sued Rock for every possible offense, including some they made up just for him. Many state governments banned his first single, until he fought through the Courts and had the ban lifted. Parents forbade their children to listen to his music, and formed action groups to try and block his concerts and messages. The mob even got into the action as he started using his superpowers and charisma to weed out mob influence in the unions, giving support and protection to those who snitched, and blasting mob enforcers who wouldn’t take the hint and move along. All of this infamy, combined with his personal charisma and the endless work of his facemen, meant that Rock’s pull with teenagers, the disenfranchised, radical union members, and normal folks who wanted a change grew to juggernaut levels. His records constantly hit number 1 until he started giving them away for free. Fans, devotees, followers, and political radicals started to rally round him, and Rock’s face became the image of social rebellion and strident demands for change. Rock’s battle with the recording industry heightened when he started MARX, a peer to peer file sharing network. Because he put his own work on it (including that made under contract with various companies), and the work of artists who were willing while their managers and labels were not, the program turned into a huge legal battle. When Rock used his powers to supplement the program -- delivering the music straight to people in New York without even the need for a computer, the battle hit fever pitch. Several recording industry corporations banded together and actually hired private stormtroopers to try and bust Rock N Roll, resulting in a large number of hospitalizations and battery suits on the part of the rent-a-cops that Rock beat senseless. At the same time his battles with the mob exploded as he broke up the mob’s illegal media ring, and then he and a group of “friends” who happened to be disaffected former government agents personally busted mob boss Antonio Aragazzi and hospitalized most of his men. Now Rock lives at the center of an endless whirlwind of lawsuits, government actions, and attacks from the mob, enraged parents, militia groups, the recording industry (who has now hired assassins) and even conservative union members. His crew of lawyers, facemen, bodyguards, and agents work around the clock to keep him safe and out of jail, and the focus on just maintaining ground means that the progressive work Rock wants to do has taken a backseat to survival. Every day this situation frustrates him more and more, and drives him closer to the edge. He’s always claimed he didn’t want a violent revolution, that he wanted society to change from within, but these days he’s starting to wonder if it is possible, and what to do if it isn’t.
This time, however, he was back with a vengeance, a message, and a political stance that he backed with his wealth, fame, and influence to an unprecedented degree. Gathering up like minded folks from his blue-collar upbringing and his days of wealth and fame, he put together teams of lawyers, image consultants, union reps, and Marxist professors who were determined to use the system against itself, to get out the message of equality, freedom, of workers' rights, and rebellion by doing the unthinkable -- making it popular without diluting it down to meaninglessness. The troubles started immediately and never have died down. Record labels, including his former label, sued Rock for every possible offense, including some they made up just for him. Many state governments banned his first single, until he fought through the Courts and had the ban lifted. Parents forbade their children to listen to his music, and formed action groups to try and block his concerts and messages. The mob even got into the action as he started using his superpowers and charisma to weed out mob influence in the unions, giving support and protection to those who snitched, and blasting mob enforcers who wouldn’t take the hint and move along. All of this infamy, combined with his personal charisma and the endless work of his facemen, meant that Rock’s pull with teenagers, the disenfranchised, radical union members, and normal folks who wanted a change grew to juggernaut levels. His records constantly hit number 1 until he started giving them away for free. Fans, devotees, followers, and political radicals started to rally round him, and Rock’s face became the image of social rebellion and strident demands for change. Rock’s battle with the recording industry heightened when he started MARX, a peer to peer file sharing network. Because he put his own work on it (including that made under contract with various companies), and the work of artists who were willing while their managers and labels were not, the program turned into a huge legal battle. When Rock used his powers to supplement the program -- delivering the music straight to people in New York without even the need for a computer, the battle hit fever pitch. Several recording industry corporations banded together and actually hired private stormtroopers to try and bust Rock N Roll, resulting in a large number of hospitalizations and battery suits on the part of the rent-a-cops that Rock beat senseless. At the same time his battles with the mob exploded as he broke up the mob’s illegal media ring, and then he and a group of “friends” who happened to be disaffected former government agents personally busted mob boss Antonio Aragazzi and hospitalized most of his men. Now Rock lives at the center of an endless whirlwind of lawsuits, government actions, and attacks from the mob, enraged parents, militia groups, the recording industry (who has now hired assassins) and even conservative union members. His crew of lawyers, facemen, bodyguards, and agents work around the clock to keep him safe and out of jail, and the focus on just maintaining ground means that the progressive work Rock wants to do has taken a backseat to survival. Every day this situation frustrates him more and more, and drives him closer to the edge. He’s always claimed he didn’t want a violent revolution, that he wanted society to change from within, but these days he’s starting to wonder if it is possible, and what to do if it isn’t.
Personality
A rocker, a rebel, a lover, and a fighter, Rock N Roll is the living avatar of the hyper-sexed, hyper-angry, in your face street attitude of rock n roll. Every emotion he has is larger than life: every love is true, every slight is a vendetta, and every injustice will bring a revolution to rock the heavens. Rock does nothing in half-measures, and has little in the way of subtlety or restraint. The one constant in his chaotic zest is the desire to change the world. He’s committed to making a world in which there are no poor and no rich, in which everyone has a chance to do what they love, and in which there is no need for the state, police, or militaries because there is no need to compete for resources, time, or hope. For years now he’s seen his best chance at this being by backing Marxist movements, but for someone as mercurial as Rock, even that could change.Social
Mannerisms
Wears shades in the dark.
Speech
Rock talks big, he talks loud, he uses a lot of jargon and Marxist trash talk combined with hip-hop slang. He talks with his arms (not just the hand, the whole arm gets moving), and throws down insults at the drop of a hat. Basically he acts like an intelligent pro-wrestler trying to get across an important message.
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