THE CRISIS LOGBOOK

A shy but troublesome teenage boy Jacob Kostrov, endlessly annoyed by his incredibly odd and slightly unhinged adoptive family, decides to document his daily life in Grimport, New Rosea, ever since the early 1980s. Perplexed by the bizarre characters he's surrounded with, together with the colorful ways they made their lives endlessly more difficult, what was meant to be nothing more than a rant diary turned into a deep dive through his family's complicated secrets.

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The youngest member of the group is the man of the hour himself, Jake. A kid adopted by the Kostrovs several years prior, he is a computer nerd and an aspiring artist with a fairly significant height complex. He was, more importantly, the only creature to ever reach the same ability to create chaos out of nothing as his adoptive father. A tragic fixer and an incredibly anxious introvert, Jake often found himself conflicted between being absolutely miserable because of his school troubles and somewhat thankful his life took the route it did. Coming from an incredibly difficult background, his past in his biological mother's home significantly impacted his mental health. His teenage years were, therefore, spent trying to understand the ins and outs of life as more fortunate kids live it, enjoying a childhood any kid deserved far too late in life. Consequently, it led to Jake's wild, adventurous behavior becoming that much more prominent. More often than not, however, he spent his days frustrated, yet fascinated by his family of misfits, trying to understand their confusing issues and slowly discovering just how deep the rabbit hole of their secrecy goes.

 

The head of the house was his adoptive dad Rick. He's a misanthropic but oddly caring writer, very fond of sarcasm, alcohol, book hoarding and petty vengeance against innocent bystanders that happen to annoy him. He was once a prolific deputy chief, a function he left hastily after a murder of a family member made him turn against his own department. What happened to him after was anyone's best guess, yet it seemed that Rick had far too many secrets for any sane person to keep up with. Eccentric and far too outlandishly dramatic for his own good, he was the sassy ringleader of their loving chaos, the one often aggressively trying to live a regular life when he truthfully had no idea what “normalcy” even meant. In an attempt to hide his past after a number of tragic events related to it left him disabled, he found himself in an awkward position of trying to figure out how to live a seemingly normal suburb dad life of a secretive book author with his weirdly gathered family. Unfortunately, this was an effort a suspected ex-mobster who had more in common with comic book villains than regular people seemed entirely unequipped for.

 

The next in line among the parental figures was a second dad to the family, FJ. A snappy cooking aficionado and an amnesiac Rick nursed back to health, he now spends his days managing the family writing business and, as of recently, trying to find his place on a dating scene he was not in the slightest way ready to face.  Trying to pretend he was less chaotic than he truly was, it was FJ that often had to be dragged out of trouble his hotheaded self had gotten himself into. His unmatched caring nature and ruthless talent for business typically made him very likable, but he was far more temperamental than he wanted to admit. It was something rare people were able to put up with long term, and none ever matched his estranged partner Rick. FJ desperately fought to cover up for the unspoken heartbreak he experienced once Rick's secrecy and addiction-related emotional unavailability drew a wedge in their oddly complex partnership. The tension between the two, however, would make finding a balance within the household incredibly difficult, something that always bothered Jake who did his best to help bring his dads back together, frequently causing even more needless drama.

 

The last one, but usually the voice of reason to the family, was Rick's biological daughter Maggie. She was a stubborn singer with an ambitious and sometimes harsh, combative attitude currently working on starting a life with her partner Michael, who was arguably the only regular person among the Kostrovs and seemed endlessly confused by their family situation, yet desperately craved to fit in. Maggie was Jake's older sister, one that defended him from his bullies even when her and Jake didn't share one family. Having witnessed the murder that nearly wrecked her family years ago, she grew up in therapy under a caring guidance of her father. As a result, she became a confident, bold adult that wasn't afraid to step onto anyone causing harm to the innocent. She loved to express her endless love for strange oddities and all things dark and gothic and, having grow up alongside her two dads, there was no part of her that ever lacked confidence to stand up to anyone. Despite her dominant demeanor and sharp, pointy teeth, she had an incredibly soft spot for those she loved, especially for Rick, whom she usually tried snapping out of his bad habits by force. That doesn't mean she had never turned a blind eye to his issues, and she often wasn't willing to accept he was anything but perfect to preserve the loving image she had of him.

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Throughout lots of chaotic adventures, Jake would explore the confusingly terrifying experience of growing up, the dark and bright sides of his bizarre family, as well as their convoluted interpersonal dynamics intertwined with hidden addictions, secret lives, unresolved pasts and mental health troubles, spiced up with love and acceptance where one would least expect it.