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“…It’s like a spiral: They keep making everything more basic so it will appeal to everyone. And gradually, everyone gets used to everything being basic, so we get less and less varied as people, more simple. So the corps make everything even simpler. And it goes on and on.”
― M.T. Anderson, Feed

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!!note of importance!!
this roleplay is supposed to be fun, interesting, and enjoyable. i actively encourage an open world dynamic. i'm not the kind of GM to tell people what to do. i don't believe in specific roles, but i will bring the hammer down if i need.

primary theme
-the potential for human apathy and hedonism as key to the success of evil
secondary themes
-individualism vs. collectivism
-authoritarianism vs. liberalism

here's a quick run down of the setting, with inspirations from selected novels:

“I don't know when they first had feeds. Like maybe, fifty or a hundred years ago. Before that, they had to use their hands and their eyes. Computers were all outside the body. They carried them around outside of them, in their hands, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it to breathe.”
― M.T. Anderson, Feed

people
in this roleplay, anyone between the ages of 18 and 30 have had a computer 'chip' hardwired into their brain at birth. it's more like a pill that is injected via needle into the brainstem, and as the child's brain tissue grows around it, the more wired the computer becomes into the brain itself. it's a direct line to the internet. this allows marketing and advertisements from companies into the mind directly.
the hardware of the first trials (in the older characters) of the chip have become obsolete, and as such those that have an older chip have learned how to shut the ads off.
-does this mean virtual reality exists?
yes. have a ball with that fact.
socioeconomic structure
since this IS a cyberpunk roleplay, the large income gap is a thing. there's a very small middle class and as such parts of the city reflect that. the above ground in generally 'rich' and the dark quarter is subsequently 'poor'. any middle class residents are mostly clustered together with the poorer groups.
jobs
there are a number of jobs your character or your character's family can do. most of these are either typical food service jobs, retail, or anything comparatively simple like that. you can play them. however, your characters CAN have family members who work corporation jobs, such as mine is.

city
the place where you reside is known as Bluelight City, named because of the stark blue florescent ads everywhere.



inflation: $1 = $43 roughly

there are many places to shop, peruse, and hang out. most of your time is taken up by shopping, however. it's a religion to stay hip and up to date on the current trends. the atmosphere is always dark to make sure the advertisements are brighter and stand out more than anything else in your peripheral.

important landmarks and points of interest above ground:
-Marko's Bargain Bin: 'quantity over quality!'
-the most inexpensive store in the city; a pair of jeans is just $445.99!
-Cafe 45:
-a usual and very normal eatery. serves mainly diner food.
-Skyline Mall: 'the next generation of shopping'
-biggest shopping haven in the city. millions of visitors a day, upscale pricing but many more


transportation
around the city there are public tram stops, but most middle to upper class citizens have their own hover cars. the invisible roads that these sleek machines glide on are called skyways, and the paths are distinguished by two perpendicular glowing boundaries.
hover cars can come in any shape, size, and color but most are rather large and use heavy amounts of electricity. you will most likely be walking to your destination.

prominent places underground
the underbelly of Bluelight City has it's own brand of characters and therefore it's unique set of shops. this district is called the Dark Quarter, as many of the above ground citizens stay away from it.

-Gordo's Gunnery: 'the best price to slice and dice!'

-The Stuttgart Industrial Area:

-Elden's Place:

-Hookah Heaven:


these shops will encouraged to be used for your own pleasures. as of now, Gordo's Gunnery and Hookah Heaven are unavailable for job opportunities.

info on ghost
"a drug which gradually destroys a person's ability to think or perceive reality...deteriorates a person's mind, until they are obsessed only with the drug, and endanger themselves and others going after it. It seems to be made in only one place, but the narcs just can't seem to find that place or stop the flow."
-TVTropes, regarding A Scanner Darkly's Substance D.

the virus is called ghost and those who indulge in it are called ghosters. the act of using is called 'ghosting' or 'tripping'.

what exactly is ghost?
ghost is a virus that anyone with a computer chip can access. it's main purpose is to create more apathy within the mind of the ghoster. in the older days, it was only available through the site. innovative ghosters have now found a way to extract copies of the virus and download it into huge databases, fit for multiple trips at a time.

how do i get to it?
similar to a canadian pharmaceutical website, lots of searching and crossed fingers. experienced ghosters have a preferred site they like to use.

okay, so what the fuck does it DO?
hard to explain precisely since the effects are different depending on your operating system. in all trips, there are hallucinations and enhancing of senses. some ghosters even report out-of-body experiences.

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character sheet thing is below. you can add things to it too, this is just a base: (please do not post in the character tab yet!)

appearance: (picture preferred, not required)
name: (keep it true to genre pls)
age: (18-30)
gender:

likes/dislikes:
personality traits: (at least 3 good, 3 bad. can be paragraph form or list form)
backstory: (for funzies)
other stuff: (if needed)

need help with the genre?
some common themes throughout cyberpunk literature and they all apply to this one (these can all be found on TVTropes too):

what are the settings like?
Cities. Big, dark cities. Loads of neon lights and dull surfaces. Glass, urbanism, downtrodden undergrounds and shady pubs. Small apartments. Everywhere looks like central Tokyo. Maybe a space station or an abandoned genetic factory.

i need some ideas for weapons.
Weapons. BFGs. Katanas. Go for cool as much as practical. A BFG is a piece of personal artillery used by an individual and chiefly defined by its, well, its incredible bigness.

what do the characters wear?
Trenchcoats, sunglasses, leather jackets, and the alike. Everything is in black or other dull colours, with small amounts of bright colours for emphasis, especially neon-green, neon-blue, neon-red, fluorescent orange and neon-purple.

can i have some character ideas?
Think film noir. There are many many film noir influences and similar character archetypes in cyberpunk.

i'll get some history and stuff like that up tomorrow probably.

~Nevermind~~ Bunny out. Good luck with RP, k? ~Later!~~ :]

▷ Name: Niko Wallace

▷ Age: 19

▷ Gender: Female

▷ Likes: Playing Music. Shopping. Quiet Time. Cranberry Juice.

▷ Dislikes: Small Talk. Chapped Lips. Bragging. Hot Weather.

▷ Personality: Simple Minded. Kind. Bored Quickly. Patient. Soft Spoken. Virtuoso. Easily Manipulated.

▷ History:

Oh I can't stop it.
No I can't control it.
Can you feel it overloading?

Gripping the sheets that adorned her bed, a shrill gasp escaped her lips and her eyes opened wide in fear. Looking around her room her grip began to loosen and her breathing became less rapid.

It had only been a nightmare.

Niko belonged to a lower middle class family in the depths of the city. Both of her parents worked for a undisclosed (to her) company as telemarketers. You've probably talked to them before while ordering whatever it was they sold. Niko never bothered to ask what they did, and her parents really never bothered to tell. They just shoved money her way, and in turn she spent it.

That is how life was with Niko. She didn't ask too many questions, and you wouldn't find too many answers, unless you we're of some importance in her life.

Creating music and her love interest- Navarro were of some importance.

In that exact order.

Creating music had been a source of joy for Niko ever since she was a small child. Her parents had downloaded tons of musical history within her chip, things that most people her age had never even heard of, and would honestly find quite odd. As she grew older, she took the knowledge she had acquired and in turn started to create her own music. She didn't share any of these creations with anyone until she had met Navarro.

"Navarro Ethan Santa Mariano Ationius Mercado Hawthorne THE THIRD" he had yelled over when they had first met and exchanged names in the corner of the loud dance club. His name was almost as long as the digits in his family's bank account, but none of that mattered to Niko. He had fallen in love with her the moment she had repeated his name back to him without missing a beat. She really enjoyed his company, and the fact that he really wanted to get into her brain and not just her pants.

Navarro had gotten into Niko's brain in more ways than one, he was the one who got her into ghosting- the drug that was going around with people their age. She hadn't been the type of girl to do it on her own, but Navarro insisted she'd be okay- and that it'd be good for her to try new things sometimes.

So she did.

name: Navarro Ethan Santa Mariano Ationius Mercado Hawthorne THE THIRD



age: 20

gender: Male

Likes:Computers, machines, anything electronic. The dark. Storms. And Ghost, of course!!!
Dislikes: Snobby rich people (like his parents). His sister. People who tell him he spends too much time on computers.

personality traits:

+ Adventurous (has also led to trouble at times)
+ Down to earth (for the most part, DESPITE being from a super rich family)
+ Encouraging

- Cares too much about what others think of him
- Appears overconfident and arrogant at times--masks his feelings of inferiority
- Computers are his life

backstory:

Navarro Ethan Santa Mariano Antonius Mercado Hawthorne the Third comes from a very rich family. His great grandfather built Hawthorne Industries from the ground up. They may not have invented the chips people now carry inside their head as if it’s nothing at all, but they sure helped make them a lot more fun. Hawthorne Industries is responsible for the development of many virtual reality video games and virtual worlds. “Just close your eyes, paradise awaits.”

Growing up in a family that is so rich that Bill Gates looks like a dirty old hobo, one would think that Navarro would be snobby, care little of others, and think that the world revolves around money. But he’s seen what it does to people, especially his family. He’s seen people starving and dying in the streets, while he’s never had to want for *anything* in his life. Because of this, he’s spent most of his life the black sheep of his family. He wants nothing to do with Hawthorne Industries, even though he’s a whiz with anything electronic. He could be a software engineer, but no--he works at a little hamburger joint in the slums instead. Why? For one it really pisses his family off, which he enjoys very much. For two, it keeps him away from the ritzy part of the city, which he feels is hell on earth.

Daily fights with Mom and Dad, as well as flat out brawls with his sister, have made Navarro dread spending time at home. As such, he was more than happy to meet Niko. He remembered putting on the charm, trying to impress her with his family name. In the end, she didn’t give two shits. The way she didn’t give a damn about his name, or his money, drew him in. He began to spend every free moment he had with her. It was a hell of a lot better than being at home, and he really enjoyed her company. And if you asked him today, he’d say he’s in love, something his family could never understand.

He’s really on the verge of being disowned by the Hawthorne family. In his mind, if that happened, it’d be the best compliment the world could give him. Because of the fact he has little to enjoy in life, save for Niko, he was very much allured by the new drug, Ghost. He tried it once, and he knew that he just found his next greatest love. And he knew he had to share this with Niko--he wouldn’t be happy getting into this wonderful drug without her to experience it with, of course!

@LoneSilverWolf

pfft i love his name. so far so good.

@MissCapnCrunch

nice character. i love her hair omg.

also, just as a general announcement, i'm starting my new job tomorrow. so after 3pm EST expect a character from me.

@BrokenVeil you still in this?

@MissCapnCrunch

thank you!! i am very excited!

p.s. does anyone have any questions for me at this time? i'll make sure to answer any tomorrow.

o.o

This screams of Shadowrun/Ghost in the Shell

o.o

This screams of Shadowrun/Ghost in the Shell

same genres. :P

@Anodyne Yeah, I'm here. I just have work and home life to deal with, so trying to rp is hard sometimes.

@Anodyne Yeah, I'm here. I just have work and home life to deal with, so trying to rp is hard sometimes.

okay, that's alright. i just wanted to know if you were still interested in the idea.

+ strong-willed
+ reflective
+ intelligent

-/+ obsessive
-/+ naive

- explosive
- spacey
- cold

|

+ time spent alone
+ partying
+ getting ghost to the mainstream

- guns
- stale conversation
- religion

Anthony prefers to go by his middle name, Haven, because he thinks his first name sounds too corporate.

It was given to him by his father, Jericho Anthony, who is so corporate that you could smell it on him. Work gives life a purpose, he'd always say. He'd labor behind a dull grey computer screen counting stock and managing emails at BB Electronics, Inc and he thinks work gives life a purpose. A stroke of the peppery mustache that became moist with sweat after hours sometimes eased his nerves. That was his job. That is his job. And motherboard be damned if he didn't put his soul into it. His upper management watches him closely with a glass eye and a pristine lens. Through the camera stream they can appreciate his dedication. At the touch of a button, a bot might come in and bring him refreshments or maybe a cocktail at his request. Dab his forehead with a cloth maybe. Ice his weak foot, which was his left. And to think that he was just promoted from being a stock manager two months ago. So much purpose, he said, that it would keep him up at night.

Jericho's wife, or assignment, is a woman called Arelen Devis, known to the CEO as Devis. They were matched via a personality exam several years ago after his first wife was transferred out. March of 2102 was a terrible time for Arelen, whom Jericho was already friends with inside the offices of BB Inc. Her tight, wound bun pulled the corners of her friendly auburn eyes up ever so slightly making the pair smile when she didn't mean them to.

It was only long enough for Haven to become a teenager when Jericho and his first wife were reassigned. The green age of 15 was when Arelen was brought into the housing unit. A few words were exchanged between Arelen and Jericho's first wife as they were exchanged for each other. Haven watched as his first mother ducked into the murky shadow of the corporate car that was sent for her and sped off down the skyway.

It's been several years since then. From his housing unit window, Haven gazes out at the Skyline in the distance; it's electric outline carved into a blue night. A silver glint snaps from the end of his vapor cigarette and he inhales the cool mint flavored air into his lungs. His eyes never leaving the far away.

Appearance:
5'11, tall and wiry, with short, messy black and red hair that she is constantly pushing back from her face,

Name: Laree Belmont

Age: 25

Gender: female

Likes: VR, ghosting, hanging out with friends
Dislikes: Shopping and malls, reality (most of the time), brussel sprouts, most of her jobs (former and current)

Personality traits: Laree tends to be withdrawn and quiet, until she really gets to know someone. She can also be very stubborn when she wants. She spent most of her time over the past several years in the virtual reality worlds and games of the net, so she is not as comfortable dealing with real life people and situations. She tends to be suspicious of people, but once someone takes the time to get to know her she is a good friend, though she can be rather abrupt and sarcastic at times.

Backstory: Laree grew up lower class in the grimy streets of the Dark Quarter. From early on she knew she'd have to fight for anything she wanted and to prove herself. Her parents were okay, nice enough people she supposed, but she decided to get the heck outta dodge as soon as she could. At 17, she moved out and got her own place, working one meaningless and mind-numbing job after another to pay the bills, each just a filler until the end of her day when she could get back to the VR.

Parties, ghosting and VR games became her escape and she supposed she wasn't particularly different from her peers in that respect. She had played in the VR since she was old enough to figure out how to access it, but now she began spending every waking she wasn't at work moment in the virtual reality games and worlds she could play and create. Meeting her current group of friends kept her from going off the deep end and staying plugged 24/7, but she still devotes a good bit of time to her games and worlds and is more at home there than in real life.

Other stuff: Laree tends to carry several knives secreted all over her body all of the time (a girl can never be too careful), along with her Springfield XD 9 mm handgun in a thigh holster.

nice nice. good looking handful of characters here.

Can't wait, it looks like we'll have a lot of fun. :)

Yeah I agree, this could bean awesome RP once it kicks off! :D

yeah haha. my new job has kind of gotten in the way of me starting this. at least for the time being.

btw do any of you have skype?