History Literature / ThePosterchildren

* BiTheWay: Maks. "You mean I can't have both?"

''The Posterchildren'' by Kitty Burroughs, is a series of YA Superhero novels, and short stories, with LGBTQ themes and more puns than you can shake a stick at. The first novel follows four characters: Mal Underwood, June Hovick, Ernest Wright, and Zip Chance, alternating between each of their points of view as they go through training at Maillardet's Foundation for the Future of Humanity.

The Posterchildren, by Kitty Burroughs, is a series of YA Superhero novels, and short stories, with LGBTQ themes and more puns than you can shake a stick at. The first novel follows four characters: Mal Underwood, June Hovick, Ernest Wright, and Zip Chance, alternating between each of their points of view as they go through training at Maillardet's Foundation for the Future of Humanity.

* AffectionateNickname: Only Ernest is allowed to call June "Junebug." Roz and her little sister Libby call Jack ''Abuelito'', which is Spanish for grandpa. Jack in turn refers to Roz as [[TheTimeMachine Weena]].

* AffablyEvil: Well, more Affably ChaoticGood than evil... but the fact stands that outside of Mal's perspective, it can be hard to remember that Marshal is the ruthless vigilante who turned his baby half-brother into a punching bag due to his dorky nature and almost puppy like tendencies around those he likes.

* AffablyEvil: Well more Affably ChaoticGood than evil... but the fact stands that outside of Mal's perspective, it can be hard to remember that Marshal is the ruthless vigilante who turned his baby half-brother into a punching bag due to his dorky nature and almost puppy like tendencies around those he likes.

* ShroudedInMyth: InUniverse the truth about what happened to Mal and his Dad during their three year disappearance has an entire forest of EpilepticTrees surrounding it. For perspective, the more ''believable'' rumors revolve around ancient cults and/or brainwashing. [[They're not entirely wrong...]]

* ShroudedInMyth: InUniverse the truth about what happened to Mal and his Dad during their three year disappearance has an entire forest of EpilepticTrees surrounding it. For perspective, the more ''believable'' rumors revolve around ancient cults and/or brainwashing.

** Elouise "Ellie" Lark has birdlike wings, reminiscent of a sun lark's. The name Elouise is sometimes associated with the Greek word "helios", meaning "sun" - particularly appropriate as Ellie's posterpower derives from sunlight.

** Corbin, being a powerful shapeshifter, was able to mimic simple orange-band abilities, but usually avoided this. 'It'd be like someone who has never played basketball suddenly gaining the height and athletic form of an all-star — he might have the goods, but he doesn't know the rules.'

* TriangRelations: Maks/June/Ernest aka Three Ring Circus is a [[OneTrueThreesome type 8]]. [[WordofGod Kitty]] doesn't make any effort to hide the pairing's status as eventual canon.

The Posterchildren, by Kitty Burroughs, is a series of YA Superhero novels with LGBTQ themes and more puns than you can shake a stick at. The story follows the four main characters: Mal Underwood, June Hovick, Ernest Wright, and Zip Chance, alternating between each of their points of view as they go through training at Maillardet's Foundation for the Future of Humanity.

From the Smashwords page description for the first book, Origins: "Nestled in the Cascade mountains in the Pacific Northwest, Maillardet's Foundation for the Future of Humanity is widely accepted as being the premiere training facility for young posthumans. The Academy accepts superpowered posterchildren from ages six through seventeen, guiding them through the training that they'll need if they want to become legally licensed heroes. Maillardet's Academy advertises itself as being for all types, welcoming the offspring of the greatest heroes of today - like Ernest Wright, the son of the Commander - along with new posters just learning to control their powers - like Juniper Hovick, a temperamental New Yorker with a flaming menagerie. Maillardet's is where the heroes of tomorrow are assembled today, so the pressure to perform is high. For disgraced legacy poster Malek Underwood, the third block of his training begins with him being knocked from his pedestal as the top student in the school, then paired with an almost-failing lesbian speedster named Zipporah Chance. Though they come from different backgrounds, Ernest, Juniper, Malek, and Zipporah all have the same goal: surviving the year. If they're ever going to become heroes, they have to make it to finals, first."

The Posterchildren was funded entirely through an Indiegogo Campaign that started in December 2012 and ended January 2013. The first book, The Posterchildren: Origins, was released online April 26, 2013.

Kitty's tumblr: http://quipquipquip.tumblr.com/

The Posterchildren Smashwords:https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/312080#longdescr

* AnimalMotifs: Many of the characters are related to or compared to animals. The Underwoods, including Ellie, have a bird motif. Zip is referred to as a cheetah both in-universe and out, June has the tigress, Maks is compared to a monkey, and Ernest is actually based on a golden retriever. Ofelia also has sea lion physiology.

* DoomMagnet: There’s a reason the Underwoods have a specific tag for them on tumblr titled “A tragic flock of Underwoods”.

* GoodIsNotNice: Corbin Underwood was a good man, but he was also a bastard.

** Malek Underwood's first name means "king" in Arabic, rather appropriately for the son of the Queen. Likewise, Amira means 'princess'.
** Aside from the obvious speedster pun in Zipporah "Zip" Chance's name, "Zipporah" means "bird" - you could say that she and Mal (Kinglet) are birds of a feather.

* NonPoweredCostumedHero: Sheriff Galán-Grant, baseline human, used to be the Champ to John's Commander.

* PhotographicMemory: Mal Underwood has an eidetic memory. His mother, Amira, has perfect recall as a side-effect of her powers; she is unable to forget anything.
* PoisonousPerson: Bice started displaying this ''while still in the womb''. Her mother died as a result, and Bice, abandoned by her father, was raised by the Foundation. All her caretakers had to wear hazmat suits, and she didn't manage to rein in her abilities until she was nearly seven.

* PowerLevels: After power types, posthuman abilities are ranked by strength and usefulness. Labels go from Alpha (rarely exhaustible/highly reliable) to Delta (mostly useless/extremely limited). However, these labels are stated to be flawed as they tend to be biased towards male posters (Alphas are by far usually male) and are often assessed by a poster's leadership potential (which is more difficult to pronounce at a young age, especially as assertiveness, aggressiveness and physicality at play are more socialised in boys). Additionally, physically different posters tend to be ranked lower. Ofelia, who has sea lion physiology, is ranked a Beta when her hydrokinesis alone would be considered an Alpha power.

* ThinkingUpPortals: Jenny Chambers is able to create portals between any surface she can visualise, and her abdomen.

* WindsOfDestinyChange: Nurse Bliss has the power to affect quantum probability, which means good things tend to happen when she's around.
* WordOfGod: Kitty is pretty interactive and answers asks and has posted a short story on her tumblr. There's also the character dossiers posted at http://maillardets.tumblr.com/ which provide background information.
* WriteWhatYouKnow: Maks' circus background is based on Kitty's own family history with the circus.

** [spoiler:Estefania, inspired by Roxy's example, actually ''leads'' a BPHA Cape Collector squad.]]

* ActionDuo: Zip and Mal, June and Ernest

* BigEater: Zip needs to eat a lot as a result of her enhanced metabolism.

* CodeName At the beginning of their third block of training, all students at Maillardet's are asked to choose a moniker, a code name to be used in the field.

* DominoMask: Ernest wears one for the Night Games. He used to wear it as Champ, too. June notes that it isn't meant to keep his identity secret (since no BPHA-certified hero as a secret identity), but rather to look professional and also provide night-vision, thermal-vision, and be used as corrective lenses since Ernest wears glasses.
* DoomMagnet: There’s a reason the Underwoods have a specific tag for them on tumblr titled “A tragic flock of Underwoods”

** MakingASplash: Ofelia D has the power of hydrokinesis

* GoodIsNotNice: Corbin Underwood was a good man, but he was also a bastard

* {{Invisibility}}: Clay Dilinger has the power to manipulate light in order to make himself or other objects appear invisible.
* ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: It was raining during the Rook's funeral. Mal even lampshades this, commenting that it was wither the best or worst day to have a funeral because of the rain.

** Malek Underwood's first name means "king" in Arabic, rather appropriately for the son of the Queen.

* PowerCopying: Catherine "Copy Cat" Newmeyer can mimic and master any physical action she sees provided it's within her own physical bounds. This applies to everything from hand-to-hand combat to ''ribbon dancing''.
* PowerLevels: After power types, posthuman abilities are ranked by strength and usefulness. Labels go from Alpha (rarely exhaustible/highly reliable) to Delta (mostly useless/extremely limited).

* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Amira bint Balqis.
* SuperHeroSchool: Maillardet's Foundation for the Future of Humanity. Also, there are apparently other similar institutions, but Maillardet's is considered the best.

* ChessMotifs: The Set, consisting of the Queen (Amira), the Rook (Corbin), and the Knight (John). Also, little pictures of chess pieces break the gap between POV switches.

* KidSidekick: Roxy Galán-Grant was a teenager when she became the Commander's sidekick, Li'l Champ. Ernest inherited the name from her at the age of nine. Both Marshall and Mal Underwood have served as their father's sidekick.

* LegacyCharacter: Mal, Ernest and Rosario are all legacy posters with heroic parents. Mal was the Little Bird to his father's Rook, taking over the sidekick role that was originally his brother Marshall's. Ernest serves as his dad's sidekick, Champ (formerly Li'l Champ), a name he inherited from the Commander's original sidekick, Roxanne Galán-Grant. [[spoiler: It is suggested that Ernest will ultimately take over from his father as the Commander, and that June will work alongside him in a similar capacity to the Queen.]]

* {{OT3}}: Maks/June/Ernest aka Three Ring Circus. [[WordofGod Kitty]] doesn't make any effort to hide the pairing's status as eventual canon.

* MeaningfulName: Pretty much everyone!

* {{OT3}}: Maks/June/Ernest aka Three Ring Circus.

* Expy: Mal is very similar to Damian Wayne, including a black sheep [[RedHeadedStepchild red-headed stepchild]] older brother a la Jason Todd.

* WordOfGod: Kitty is pretty interactive and answers asks and has posted a short story on her tumblr. There's also the character dossiers posted at http://maillardets.tumblr.com/ which provide background information.

* Expy: Mal is very similar to Damian Wayne, including a black sheep [[RedHeadedStepchild]] older brother a la Jason Todd.

* BadPowersGoodPeople: Ernest’s mother Gloria had passive pheromone powers she could not control. [[FromBadToWorse It only spiraled from there.]]

* GoodIsNotNice: Corbin Underwood was a good man, but he was also a fuckstick.

* ShroudedInMyth: The truth about what happened to Mal and his Dad during their three year disappearance has an entire forest of EpilepticTrees surrounding it. For perspective, the more ''believable'' rumors revolve around ancient cults and/or brainwashing.