Planning...

Hey all,

Yeah, I like 10's idea... it's pretty rockin' Sorry my character has been so uninvolved. I'll try to think pf something cool for him to do. I just need to get him back in the groove of things since I've been gone so long.

As for you Ang, I don't know... our characters should meet though. Maybe Tommy and Mos are friendly acquaintances? Perhaps not friends, but allies maybe? I rub your back you rub mine type of situation? Maybe Mos finds out that Kofo is getting involved with the whole DJ search and asks Tommy to keep an eye on her? Just tossing around ideas. Toss back.

-Orbit_

I’m so pleased everybody’s planning.

10- I like your idea about Lilly being an insurgent set on taking out the scum of Rockport’s city. Maybe she thinks that all these people are beneath her or that she is just trying to please her dad—but whatever the case she’s anti-ghettofolk.

Maybe she’ll change her mind when she sees just what sort of people live out there. I mean once she meets Kofo and gets to know her maybe she’ll decided that the people aren’t that bad and they certainly don’t deserve to be systematically killed.

Faces is about to drool all over Lilly. So I hope she’s not offended too much. But if she is, that’s fine too. Something for me to laugh about.

KO- I hope baby gets well soon. I know you’re busy. Hang in there.

Now you know I hang onto every word you write lol. When are we going to have Kofo and Kleo run into each other teeheehee?

Kyle- At first I really didn’t like the idea of the Pharaohs being controlled by another party. The Pharaohs are arrogant because they consider themselves to be very smart. And they pretty much are. There are no stupid knuckle-dragging thugs to be seen in the ranks. So why they would ally themselves with the mayor in an attempt to exterminate the (innocent and guilty) peoples of the Industrials? It just doesn’t add up. They live in the Industrials. Who burns down their own house?

I’m thinking the only way that would work is if they were presented with an opportunity to become the sole beneficiary of their closest competitor being taken out of the game. I don’t know who they Pharaoh’s rival gang is at this point. If anyone wants to volunteer a gang or their services we can create a back-story for it.

Anyway—it sort of makes my skin crawl to think that the Pharaohs would sell out to the Mayor at all. Not much is known about The Answer for a reason. I want to lead the head of this gang up to a bit of mystery down the road. If he or she would ever actually sell out the gang to help the government? Doubtful. The Answer is essentially a terrorist. He really believes that the government is evil and can’t be trusted. Why he would make a covenant with it? I don’t know. Finding “the answer” to that question would be a jourey in itself.

I wrote a snippet for The Answer a long time ago but I suppose I never posted it… I will now. Probably edit it later my sister is graduating today so I’m busy.

Okay… so I found the thing about The Answer. I describe him as a “he” loosely.

The Answer is a spiritual leader. Not in a cult-like sense but in the vein of Bob Marley or Malcolm X. His main objective is to liberate the poor of Rockport and have them overtake and punish the rich. He wants to see Babylon fall, basically. He wants the rich to pay for their extravagances.

He is said to come back to start the riot that will cause this change. Maybe he would instigate strategic battles between the armies just to “wake them up,” his ultimate goal would be using these gangs to attack the government. If the Mayor is the President then The Answer is Castro or Che or Chevez. He is working against the Mayor, against all government in Rockport.

Maybe he is making it seem as if he is on board with the Mayor but has no intentions of really following his plan. He has his own agenda in mind and intends to carry it through to the end. His dream is as brutal and hateful as the Mayors. Instead of seeing all the poor die, he wants all the wealthy people dead, even the innocent.

We could work with that—but keep in mind that that is what the function the Pharaohs is—it’s not Robin Hood robbing from the rich to give to the poor it’s Robin Hood killing the rich. Period. We can go from there.

Hunts- It’s okay if you’re laggin’ now you’ll pick it up later.

Orbit- Maybe Mos knows Dru because he is trying to recruit him as a Pharaoh. Of course The Answer wants Mos to do this because Dru would further his bid on bring down his papa, the mayor.

Either Dru is interested, was once interested and now is snubbing Mos making him very hostile toward him or has no interest at all and is trying to get Mos to back off. Either way they could know each other through that. Give me your ideas.

This planning is great. But not as great as posting.

I got another post for tomorrow.

What if the Pharoahs were the group that the Mayor has hired as his personal consultancy? The Answer could have fooled the Mayor into believing that the Pharoahs are on his side, just to betray them later, when they take over the Ferarri gang as well as the others.

As such, this entire thing could turn into Woodland vs. Pharoahs, with the Mayor of little consequence.

The more that I think about it, that actually makes a lot more sense. While the Mayor might consider himself a big part of it all, in reality, he's just being played by the Pharoahs, who are really in their vie for control of the city. With Woodland out of the way, and firmly under Pharoah's ultimate control, there's really nothing to stop them from them being in complete control over all of Rockport City, able to set their own standards of what is "right" and "wrong."

Nothing, of course, except for the crew that Shu Li is putting together. What the Pharoahs don't count on is that Shu Li, Parker, as well as the other freelancers of Woodland Valley actually end up working together, which is not what is supposed to happen. The DJ incident is supposed to cause division, which is why he was chosen specifically.

I don't know if you're willing to do this with the gang that you're putting together, though, Ang. Making them the "bad guys", in a sense. But it seems to fit with the reading and backstory that I've read, especially considering that The Answer wants to set "himself" up as a replacement to traditional government structure. Because the cops aren't doing anything, and are esentially powerless, the lot falls on the Woodland gangs to take them out.

The only thing that doesn't seem to make sense of it all is that the Pharoahs are currently in control of a lot of the wealth-driven areas of Rockport, including the industrials, which is a big part of the Rockport shipping area. Are they trying to mount a force against the Gold Coast?

Then again, I might be reading this whole thing wrong, and going int completely the wrong direction. In general, though, fanaticism generally begets evil, even with something as integral as forcing the wealthy to face up to what they've done.

Please let me know what you think.

As far as Griffs is concerned, he and Bobby are now putting their own crew together, in an attempt at striking back against Parker and his idiocy. But Griffs has a personal vendetta out for Dru, so we'll see how this all works out.

Hmm… I’ve thought about this.

I don’t want to be difficult but I don’t want The Answer or his agenda to turn into something it isn’t, you know?

Could The Answer be the big bad guy? Yes. Should he? I don’t know.

I think that The Answer does not want the poor people in Rockport to die. I think he considers anyone that is in the gang to be put under the “poor” category. They may not have real jobs, real hope, or real control over what they’ll do with their lives.

Those who are higher-up in the gangs, though, do have wealth. I think that The Answer will give them an ultimatum. “Fight with me against the oppressive government of Rockport or be crushed under the Pharaoh juggernaut.” The Answer wants to punish the greedy, the underhanded, the privileged.

But primarily he’s starting this war for the innocent people that live in the slums of Rockport and for those gang members who are not thugs by choice. They’ve been pushed into a corner because they had no other options, no other place to go.

If all these other gangs want to fight against the Pharaohs, it’s because whatever higher up that was in power would fight against Rockport’s government, or had something against The Answer or wanted nothing to do with the Pharaohs. Whatever the case… they turned The Answer down.

If all the gangs turn The Answer down, then what you [Kyle] wrote may happen. But if a gang would work with The Answer, then all their members would be spared.

If The Answer talked to Shu Li and told her of his plan and she turned him down, then sure she should make a crew to go against him. She must know that The Answer doesn’t make idle threats and he’s not much for the dramatic or the second chance.

If you’ve noticed there isn’t a single Pharaoh looking for DJ. I doubt that’s a coincidence. If Parker turned The Answer down as well, then let’s assume that The Answer may already know exactly where the kid is.

He probably wouldn’t pity any of the gang people that wanted to fight against him. He feels that they are just as guilty of greed by not trying to help him liberate those that suffer because of it.

I don’t know if The Answer wants to be in charge, exactly, he wants to give the poor a chance to have a voice and some choices because they don’t.

I can’t argue with him being a fanatic but he’s a fanatic in the vein of Tyler Durden or something not in the vein of Hitler. The difference is that there’s nothing for The Answer to gain by doing any of this. He has his own money, he’s already powerful, he isn’t trying to convert everyone to his ideals. He isn’t giving them a chance, he’s making the decision for them, the poor will be rewarded for their longsuffering.

He just wants people to be decent and ultimately, and wrongly, finding that they “can’t” be, he will put down the law himself. It’s egotistical, I suppose, but he can’t suffer the injustice if he feels there’s a chance to change things, change his world, change Rockport at least.

But I’ve talked enough. If this is okay let me know. You need to tell me what gangs will side with The Answer and what gangs will not. If you think it’s juicer that everyone turns him down and the Pharaohs go it alone in their bid to free the poor, then that’s fine too.

I think that if this revision flies I can justify The Answer wanting to kill Kofo because he thinks she’s becoming greedy by selling Nimbus without him, or behind his back. Like I said, there’s no second chance with The Answer. I can see, down the road, the Pharaohs being judged by him as well.

I hate the idea that “bad guys” are simply bad. There has to be a reason behind why they could appear bad. And any “bad guy” that is really, real must have some truth in his evilness. The Answer’s truth is that at the core he believes he is helping people and paying back the pain to the people who hurt them. It’s black and white to him.

The Answer could have the mayor wrapped around his finger by saying he will crush this and that gang. But these gangs are just the ones that will not side with him in the payback.

I think in that way it could work. Tell me what you think.

Well, Tommy for one would most definitely disagree with The Answer's view on on politics and on economics. He wouldn't go out of his way to offend, or attack The Answer (he's to worried about his public image to offend someone with so much power), but he wouldn't ever join with their crusade. And if it came down to fight or join. He would fight. I think that in general the Devil's Crew are a wealthy bunch. They high-jack high cost equipment all of the time and sell it on the black market. They all have top of the line motorcycles; and while they're not extravagant in how they act, they most definitely are not poor. I think Tommy's perspective is 'I've earned what I have. Those who don't have, haven't earned, and therefor don't deserve.'' Tommy is the kind of guy who doesn't do anything unless he's going to get something out of it. So you can see that, in Tommy's eye, The Answer's answer just isn't the answer.

-Orbit_

That's great, Orbit, then that means that The Answer has at least one enemy in The Devil Crew. And what you're talking about is exactly what he's against. So this is really good. That means we're getting somewhere.

So should we assume the Devil Crew already got their warning or would you like to write a scene where The Answer speaks to the head of the Crew to offer them such... or should we knock out The Answer talking to everyone at one big meeting?

What do you guys think?

Oh and how did you end up being a moderator? lol Not that I'm complaining about being a workerbee I'm just curious.

Ang, all of the Illusionists have moderator status, the same as Orbit. If you look at the Index page, under the Moderator title, it says my name (because I'm an admin), and "Illusionist." This covers everyone. I just made him a moderator because he wasn't an Illusionist transfer like the rest of us. (No offence, Orb, of course.) You're not a workerbee, Ang. You're a moderator, too.



I think I see where the Answer is going, and I'm trying to figure out exactly how we should approach this.

As far as the Answer is concerned, I would hasten to say that many of the gangs are going to be against him. What he seems to be working for is essentially a communistic society, where "wealth" is "evenly distributed" among those "less fortunate". While I haven't delved deeply into each of the characters of the newly forming North Ridge Gym crew, most of them are going to disagree with this kind of thinking. Griffs himself has access to a good amount of funds, and he helped to build his gym from the ground-up. He would be against anyone who told him that he had to give that up just because someone else didn't have a healthy bankroll.

The Answer's plan sounds pretty anti-capitalistic, and vaguely anti-democratic. I'm not sure if that's what you're going for, but that's what I'm getting from it. The only ones who seem to be "glutting" off of the people's interests are the government council and the Mayor himself. The cops aren't getting any special treatment, and in fact I would hasten to say that their only benefit is that they generally fall under the city's protective umbrella. But that's just because it's their job. They protect the peace.

Vaguely, this sounds a lot like the situation where the lady spilled coffee on herself, and then sued McDonalds for 8 Million Dollars because they neglected to write "Coffee is Hot" on the label. The wealthy, no matter their means or business, are constantly involved in legal and financial entanglements, simply because they happen to have money. It doesn't matter who they are, really, but we live in a modern society where people want to live like kings with little or no effort.

This seems, to me, like the promise that the Answer is meting out. He seems to be saying, "Join me, and I'm going to heal this injustice, and give you that which you deserve." When, in all reality, life offers no real favors. A person should be expected to work for that which he receives. Newton's law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Unfortunately, society has yet to follow suit. I can't count the number of times where I've felt cheated, betrayed, or short-changed, just because someone else was looking to get ahead. But that's life, and life's not fair.

Again, I might be reading this wrong. But at the risk of sounding like a Bush-cliche, I would venture that the Answer's answer sounds very un-American.

So there is no possible way to go neutral? It's as if this Answer guy is some All-Seeing All-knowing person that's telling us join me or die. Well, what if we don't want to join him, does that HAVE to mean we are against him? To me its seems like finding Dj kind of went out the window and we are focusing on something totally different. In the end does it all boil down to a huge battle between the Pharaohs and the Mayor or the Answer's tyranny? If so, where do the rest of us who are writing come in in all of this? Personally, I feel the mayor and the Answer are just wrong, cuz either way the rest of us are just going to be ants under a huge magnifying glass when whoever or whatever gets his or her way. The choice we all have to make is very limiting. It's like: Join me, if you don't then I will throw bolts of thunder your way and no matter who you are somehow you're going to be GOT by the Answer. Basically my characters fate is being decided without me really having a say. You're asking me if I want rice or peas and I'm saying I want some damn meat. You get me?

As for the DJ thing. Does this kid even matter anymore? Does Parker still care? What the hell is going with the kid? Is he alive or dead? WHo has him? Is it the Mayor or the Answer? Why was he kidnapped? Was he kidnapped to start a huge war so the gangs could just kill each other off or was he kidnapped so the Answer could have his way with rich people? Who is the bad guy? Does the Mayor even have anything to do with this because I remember the original plan, and it was that the Mayor was somehow going to be orchestrating it all to make things the way he liked them.

Honestly, and this is just my opinion, it seems as if everyone is making decisions that sort of suit themselves without looking at the big picture. GROUP PROJECT. How can one come to a decision when no one has agreed. Maybe I was lost in the abyss somewhere when this happened but it seems like this just turned into The Answer's story. It's like a big ball of confusion to me. Please can someone clear this up.

Everyone get on AIM!!!

Sorry I can't right now but wish I could. However, Orbit, I was wondering if you wanted to get back into the fray with Kleo and the gang than you could be the one causing the comotion in the other room at the moment. Viktor, aka John Galt, could have already slipped out of his bonds about Dru could be attempting to restrain him again. You could come in as moderator, or to beat the crap out of Vik, either way really. I was just thinking this may be a way to get ya back in with them.

Well if you don't follow KO's suggestion I was going to have Kofo try to sneak everyone out of Chinatown then have her visit Kleo...

But I can see how we could do both.

... I probably should have done that. The only thing is that Tommy is no longer in Chinatown. Since he didn't follow the others initially I figured it would be best to take him another way. As you can read he slipped out another way, called Kleo, and told her to call him when they were ready. He's currently back at the Brimstone Hotel waiting for a call. If you want I could have Tommy get anxious, call Kleo find out where they are at, and then meet the group there. Just let me know.

And I second 1073's confusion/frustration about the whole deal with The Answer, and the mayor. Tommy disagrees whole heartedly with both of them. And I know that the DJ thing really was just meant to be a catalyst to get a war started. But is it a theme that exists throughout the story or does the quest to find him get lost in the battle?

-Orbit_

I see why everyone's like... on edge a little...

10, Kyle and I talked about this whole thing today and tried to sort of straighten it out and leave the kidnapping in as being important.

Kyle's going to draw up a proposed plot from out ramblings and we can discuss and adjust it from there. Big hug people

*doesnt hug back*

Ooooooooooow...




That was cold. hehe

Ouch. Okay, I'm working on that summary. I'll have it up soon.

Okay I posted.

I left my post open ended, sort of. Either Kleo can open the door now after she hears all the scuffle or she can hear a bomb go off and open the door or she could look through the peep hole and spare Kofo before she gets it or she could order Kofo to get it lol.

Whatever the case may be I godded the everloving bejebus out of anyone who was in Kleo's house. I am very sorry. Hopefully you can go with the fight scheme and feel free to god Mono (who is fighting Dru at the end), Mos (who is tied up at the end), and Faces (also tied up).

I realized too late that Dru was Hunter's actual character and not an auxilary character like the Pharaoh trio but I was too lazy to edit my post and just assumed that Dru would honor Kleo's wishes and make sure no one disturbed her.

Any smack talk or whatever you want to do is fine. Whatever you want to add, I'm cool with.

Just post people cuz that was fun to write.

Post still pending..... Uh and umm, I want to rattle some chains with you Orbit if you get where I'm coming from. If you don't, then I want Lily to start trouble with your guys. Starting trouble with you should be fun because by starting trouble with you I'm going to be starting trouble with Ke'ak. How? Well, Ke'ak's characters seem to be starting a new gang of their own. The mayor can't have that, so he asks Lily to try to take them down as soon as possible. Less headache you get me? Since your characters go to the North Ridge gym Ke'ak, I'm assuming they have T-shirts in their possession with NRG or North ridge gym on the breast pockets. If they don't, it still doesnt matter. Lily, the Steel Wolves, and the Outsiders are going to be hitting Tommy's place hard with North Ridge Gym T-shirts on and ski masks to hide their identities. Tah-Dah!!! So Tommy with these NRG T-shirts as a big hint to who the hell is storming your place, you recall the incident in the Gentlemen's club with Griffs and his posse, which I'm assuming one of them had something on them that said "Hey I go to North Ridge Gym. Look at me." I was hoping it would be your character Ke'ak. But you could do as you like. Anywho if that doesn't work then the ID of your dead friend will. You did leave the corpse of your friend lying in the middle of the club, so Lily happen to scoop his possessions up, knowing that they would come to good use soon. Now what I'm having trouble with is that will Tommy know that the ID that I "mistakenly" leave after we finish ransacking the joint is the pic of the dead man. You can't cuz that's the only way this will work. Maybe later you could and go "Ohhhh, I'm such a dumbass." But not now. Or maybe I could get a pic of Griffs and replace the pic in the ID. After all Lily is rich you know. i just wanna cause friction, which is my job being the daughter of the Mayor and all. And this would be fun for you Ke'ak and Tommy cause it'll give this story some more action and not just dialogue. And ya'll could try and gut each other after, while Griff's tries to get revenge on Dru. Ya'll could work with that somehow right?

Anywho, this is just a plan that I want to set into motion. I believe it will tie our characters closer together so we won't always be typing post within our own realm, but as I said before, this is a group project, so I need ya'll approval. So, would you marry my plan?

I think that's a great idea, but my vote doesn't count cuz the Pharaohs aren't in it.

I put up a profile for The Answer. I'll write a post with her in it when the Pharaohs report back to her on what happened that night.

I do.

I love it. I've really been straining for an idea of how to bring Tommy back into the mix. With my little vacation there he has kind of been on his own. This pan is perfect. So let me make sure I understand the deal. There's a rumble at the Brimstone. The Steel Wolves come in disguised as Griffs new crew to shake things up. Will they be killing people? It could add a new level of rage for Tommy if a close friend or family member dies. Do any of the Steel Wolves die? Also another level of conflict... the Devil's Crew does not, as a practice, kill people. They're power comes from their money, not they're "I'm going to kill you factor." It could also resolve the conflict between Tommy and Griffs when they realize thay said dead person isn't one of Griffs. We could even use this as one of the things that brings all of the groups together, when we eventually realized that said dead person doesn't belong to any gang. Everyone could be like, "Well if he's not mine, and he's not yours, who's is he?" Like on Pirates of the Caribean. I might be getting ahead of myself. Anywho, I like it.

As for you Ang, I like what you put up about The Answer. I also like how Tommy hates him/her (I'm assuming he doesn't knopw which gender she is.) They're basically political rivals. The Answer ahtes Tommy because he rode his fathers tails to fame/influence, and is acting like he deserves it. And Tommy hates the Answer because she's killing innocent people, selling illegal drugs, rewarding the lazy, (That's how Tommy views most (not all) poor people.) all the while claiming to be the Mother Teresa of Rockport. Good stuff.

-Orbit_

I think it's a good idea, 10. I wouldn't have any shirts with breast pockets - (gym shirts don't, usually), but NRG or even "North Ridge Gym" spelled out is fine. Most gyms sell shirts, anyway. Hats and even shorts, too.

Other than that, use your imagination. This is some good friction. Kudos to you.

Sweet post Gelly One, I can't wait to write the rebuttal! But before I can I think I need to clear up if Kelo and Kofo are no longer Klefo, have they broken up or was she just thinking of doing that? Though now that I think about it, did I already elude to them being broken up? I'll have to check out my notes, but am still curious as to your take. Maybe it's one of those things where one side thinks one thing happened and the other thinks quite the opposite. At any rate it's going to be fun to write what happens next.

Oh and don't worry about the godding, I doubt Huntskins cares at all. Well, I will get to starting on a post, but it probably won't be up until Mon, my first Father's Day and all, think my wife has something planned. But it will be up as soon as I can muster it.

So now my plan and us are husband and wife. Now we shall post the bride. I guess I'm going to post the groom *SNatches Kudos.*