Go Gators Go!
“Each moment in history is a fleeting time, precious and unique. But some stand out as moments of beginning, in which courses are set that shape decades or centuries.”
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
“If I seem free, it’s because I’m always running.”
“This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius.”
Nineteen sixty-nine: Nixon took the White House and man walked the moon. Hippies gathered en masse at Woodstock celebrating sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, but elsewhere protests for peace turned violent. The Beatles play their last public show atop the Apple building and the Manson Family murders five. Yet despite being a truly eventful year, 1969 would best be remembered as the moment everything changed. The dawning of a new age. An age not of peace and love, like the old song promised, but one of fear and hatred.
This is, of course, referring to the emergence of the superhuman: men and women capable of a wide array of extraordinary feats: from super speed to super strength, mastery of the elements to mastery of the mind, flight to teleportation, the list simply goes on and on. The details around the discovery of these superhumans are muddy, with historians unable to agree on a single date or location as their origin, thanks in part to accounts having popped up over the years from a million different people claiming a million different things. It is commonly accepted, however, that the first widely public appearance would be at the infamous March on Madison or the “Madison Massacre” if you prefer.
For those unfamiliar, the Madison Massacre began as an anti-war rally at city hall in the city of Madison in the American Midwest, spurred on by the announcement of Nixon’s intentions of reinstating the draft. Upwards of 120,000 people were in attendance, either protesting the war, protesting the protesters, or unfortunately just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. About two hours into the event, a few fights broke out. Harmless fist fights at first, but they escalated. Hard and fast. Before anyone could calm down the crowd, the protest erupted into an all-out riot. Survivors of the event claim it was a spectacle to witness: people flying through the air, raining fire from above like jets dropping napalm, cars being thrown, the ground trembling and cracking. This would culminate in the haunting scene broadcast live across the country: the bright light, the rising dust, and the lone mushroom cloud hanging over the ruined American city.
Now, this paper could go on to discuss the witch hunt what followed, which harkened back to the Red Scare after WWII or the Second Red Scare of the ‘50s, or Nixon’s “Superman Act” which pardoned a superhuman should they serve the United States in the war effort, but will instead focus on the events leading up to Madison Massacre in a number of places. The following accounts may seem to be too incredible to believe, and at times, impossible. However, this historian would implore you, dear reader, to keep an open mind.
This first account will comes from Greenville, a small town close to Madison that may very well hold the answers to so many of the questions we still have regarding one of the greatest tragedies this country has ever seen. We'll be hearing the story of the so-called Freaks of Greenville High in the autumn before the infamous march.
Go, Gators, Go!
THE RATIONALIZATION
“Not another superhero thread! Ogo, why?”
Okay, okay, so just hear me out - hippies with literal flower power.
WAIT! DON’T LEAVE YET!
So yeah, this thread would shape up to be yet another superpower RP. My thinking behind making this was that I wanted to try out writing a period piece considering I tend to stick with fantasy or modern fiction almost exclusively. As for why I chose what I did...well...
By going with the ‘60s, we get to explore life in a not-so-distant past that will provide challenges that have more or less become trivialized by modern technology. Communication, for example, becomes much more difficult when one isn’t constantly connected with one’s peers. Information is harder to come by when all of humanity’s knowledge isn’t just a click away. And illicit activities are much easier to pull off and get away with when there isn’t a video camera in every pocket.
By choosing 1969 in particular, several historical events occur, providing a rather interesting backdrop for the story, some of which are listed above. It’s interesting, at least to me, to think about how people would have reacted to these things. What would these characters think of the moon landing? Of Woodstock? Of the war? How would those things affect their lives?
By basing this in a Midwestern American small town, well...it’s true what they say about small towns: everyone knows everyone and everyone knows each other’s business. The characters would likely know one another, or at least know of each other. If they didn’t grow up together, they likely went to school together. They’re family, friends, co-workers, employers, employees, lovers, ex-lovers, so on and so forth. And there’s probably not much to do: maybe a drive-in theatre, a bowling alley, and some local restaurants. Or dream about getting out of there. So you either get to know your neighbors or you get to know boredom. Or both…but...shut up.
By choosing superpowers as the gimmick, there’s a bit of easily accessible action whenever the story needs it, as well a convenient way to introduce some drama. How should one go about using one’s new abilities? Will they use them for personal gain? For the good of society? Or for other, darker means? It’s an oldie, but a goldie. Also 1969 is about the time that we shifted from the Silver Age of comics to the Bronze Age...so...there’s that. Little bit o’ trivia for ya there.
The thing is, this wouldn’t be about some strangers somehow uniting to save the world from some evil: it’s your boring hometown with a bunch of the assholes you hate becoming superassholes and so do you, and you’re all just figuring out how to deal with that.
Then someone goes nuclear downtown. What an asshole.
THE SUMMARY
Setting is September 1969 in the fictional American Midwestern small town of Greenville on the <insert river name here> in the state of <doesn’t matter>, focusing on the students/faculty/staff of Greenville High School.
Characters would either be students just now awakening their superpowers (or sometime earlier in 1969/ later in the RP), their classmates who, despite not having powers, somehow get roped into the shenanigans, or the faculty/staff of the school.
Plot would follow the characters in their lives in the two months leading up to the March on Madison | Madison Massacre (November 15). Would utilize a sort of mixed sandbox/railroad style: allowing characters to engage in their own stories/events in between points of the “main” plot (the Madison Massacre plotline) and community events [Fall Hop, Halloween event, sporting events, and so on]
tl;dr
Psychedelics gave you superpowers in the summer of ‘69.
Psychedelics gave you superpowers in the summer of ‘69.
So, of course this would need some (TONS OF) polish before it'd be ready, but would anyone interested in this little trip down alterna-superheroic-history?
If so, super! Feel free to leave any comments, questions, or concerns below.
If not, super! Feel free to rip this idea to shreds below!
