[OOC] Probity

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The Five Commandments

<sub>1. Thou shalt not be impolite to each other. Not even jokingly. People don't know how to take jokes anymore, so just be nice.
2. Thou shalt not powerplay or (gasp) God-mod. Interaction is encouraged, but don't break up scenes to walk into them.
3. Thou shalt take up issues with the GMs in private messages instead of flaming each other.
4. Thou shalt let the GMs know if you're gonna be missing for more than three days.
5. Thou shalt strive to write a well-developed character and a well-developed story we can all collectively feel proud of.</sub>

Employment

_{Here in Probity, we have a wide variety of character roles jobs that residents undertake. Why don't you take a gander and see which one will be right for you? Of course, these are just some of the many careers that the good folk of Probity pursue.}

JOB ALERT: Reverend needed!

Reverend
Restaurant Owner
Baker Taken
Butcher Taken
Barber Taken
Barkeep Taken
Lawyer Taken
Banker
Judge
Doctor
Teacher Taken
Nurse Taken
Sheriff Taken
Deputy Taken
Used Car Salesman
Nice Car Salesman

Community Contributions

_{Truly the gift that keeps on giving; the kind folk of Probity love to give back to the cutesy town that raised them.
Be it a poetic wave of words and emotions, thought provoking art from the hand of a gifted artist, or just good old tunes drifting over the radio, most everything has a community-made flourish to it.}

Poetry -- from the mind of Ede Blanche

On Jenna Fairfield

Blackness incarnate, carnal physicality,
My own garmonbozia, pulse through my being
Like Lynchian electricity.

What would I do without you, my drug?
Consumable shadow, consumate me,
Virgin to the day fall. Scared to face others.

Cloak my insides, like I cloak my outsides.
Hot Springs sing as they're renewed. I am
I am the earth, brown and fertile, but dying.

The days we must face,
Not chaste and with such haste,
They are our deadly race, but,
If I can have just another taste.

On Charlotte Yates

To shake myself to the core,
Is this the nature of the beach I adore.

Party of my senses,
Reverberate and end this.

Fuscus mid-, that starts your sun burn,
But for me, it's already past the midway turn.

Beach party, to start my vanta sojourn, then
Thelma spell of mind-body being, dark as mother hen.

I miss her, and your bitter taste, my hipster Santeria.
Love of a beach party, shakes me like mother Maria.

Tia is gone, but here I am. Black inside and out, the old coat and the new.
Goodbye to this day, I will...rest my head not, for this is not her church pew.

On Daryl Goodwin

IN THE COURT OF A MODERN MAN

Crimson blood beneath flesh, flushes with a sidelong glance, into the silver pool his opposite, hanging:

Does anyone hear this evergreen, as it falls to its eternal bed of moss, do the trees around, sing?

On Filthy Frank

Kegare,

Dukkha,

What is it, are we?

Simple trash of society.

Does the bell toll for me--

Witching hour for me, the Witch.

Cross the street as you see this black cat, riding in the dark. What is it, are we.

Pale black horse. Alcohol.

Purple minds, descended from the incestuous gods of old.

It's your mistakes that creates we.

And me.

I breathe your trash.

And you know what they say.

You are what you eat.

Kegare, and dukkha.

Lower than low, I've gone below sin.

Dukkha, Kegare-- fin.

Music of the Townsfolk

An Americana Ode to The American Hobo

Lonesome Highway - Hank Williams
San Francisco - Scott McKenzie
Waiting Around to Die - Towns Van Zandt
Kneeling Drunkard's Plea - The Louvin Brothers
Flowers Mean Forgiveness - Frank Sinatra

Slow Songs for Quick Visits

Just the Two of Us - Bill Withers
I'd Love to Lay You Down - Conway Twitty
(You're) Having my Baby - Paul Anka
Between the Sheets - The Isley Brothers
The Wanderer - Dion

Crooners, Cowards, Coppers

Straight Down the Middle - Bing Crosby
Endless Sleep - Jody Reynolds
Mr. Lonely - Bobby Vinton
One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer - Amos Milburn
Haunted House - Gene Simmons

Lady Singers for Skin Stitchers

Failsafe - The Choir Practice
Mr. Sandman - Emmylou Harris, Linda Rondstadt, Dolly Parton
Dream Lover - Sandra Dee & Bobby Darin
I Say A Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin
He's a High Class Physician - Marion Williams

Chopping Block Beats

Closer to The Bone - Louis Prima
Oh! Ma-Ma (The Butcher Boy)
It Ain't the Meat - The Swallows
For Your Love - The Yardbirds
The Honeymooners - Bruce Springsteen

Art

Daryl Urie (bootyshorts edition)

Frank vs Joanne

Michael hard at work

[WTPR]

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_{Welcome to Probity! As of the current year, this sleepy West Virginia town has a tight-knit community of nearly three thousand happy, healthy, God-fearing neighbors. It is a town where every elder is respected, every wife is starry-eyed and obedient, and every husband can take a load off at the bar after a hard day's work. A town where picket fences are all painted white, where pies are all apple, and all atop a backdrop of a purple mountain's majesty and amber waves of grain. A town where traditional American values are not forgotten. All that's missing from it is you!}

Inspiration

Moral Orel

Moral Orel is this roleplay's greatest inspiration, about the lives of devoutly Christians citizens in a fictional town called Moralton. Despite the fact that the first season is gross-out humor focusing on the titular Orel Puppington, I encourage you all to check out a few episodes, particularly Season 3, Episode 4. It's approximately ten minutes long, features a Christian radio broadcast, sets a similarly dark, realistic tone, and follows the lives of multiple citizens in the way I hope our roleplay will turn out. It's the episode that got the series cancelled, so if it makes you want to hang yourself, check this one out too. It features elder abuse, senility, jokes about punching animals to death, and a character who is unable to have children. It is also the happiest episode in the series.

Welcome to Night Vale

Welcome to Night Vale is another big inspiration in play, about a public radio broadcast in a supernatural town. Though Probity is not supernatural, the radio broadcast posts made by myself and the Co-Gm will be similarly personal to individual members of the town. This is to reinforce the idea that every player character knows each other in this small town, and that everybody listens to the broadcasts, making the information in them known to any character. If there's a resounding interest in it, I'll fully transcribe the radio posts to audio, but for now I'll just let you guys learn as much about WTNV as you darn well please. Also, like Moral Orel (and WTPR) it's got a killer soundtrack.

Honorable Mentions

There are a ton of minor thematic inspirations, but none as big as the first two. The Stepford Wives, for example, is a good idea of the caricature of WASP culture in Probity. Suburbicon and Edward Scissorhands have both provided suitable unsettling suburban backdrops, and Pleasantville is similarly tongue-in-cheek about the timeframe it draws inspiration from. Last but not least is Betty Bowers, who tells the same "Don't be a bigot" message as Probity in a slightly more hamhanded manner. Give them all a quick look-over if you've got the time, which you probably do if you've read this far.

Themes

Every good story has motifs that tie characters together. Most play-by-post stories don't have motifs that tie characters together, but then, most play-by-post stories aren't objectively good. They're fun to write. My goal is a story that is both fun to write and fun to read, and that requires a little bit of effort from both of us to follow the strict guidelines imposed by the world, and the loose guidelines imposed by the themes.

Faith/Religion
I'd like to get this section out of the way first, so people don't mistake this RP for a scathing criticism of religion; It's not. It's a story that praises religion, at its very essence, and criticizes humanity. Religion is a very prevalent theme within the roleplay, but more specifically, religious ignorance. Every character who identifies as a Christian does so in a way that benefits them, and distorts religion to embellish what they like and omit what they don't. The Sheriff focuses on the punitive aspects of religion, PBNN's radio host conveniently ignores parts of the bible warning against slander, and so on. It should become very apparent very quickly that nearly everyone in Probity is going to hell, and those who aren't are probably the ones who are being told they are.

Love
I know what you're thinking. This roleplay is set in a crapsack world, so we're going to drive home that love is an instinctual drive to breed, right? Wrong, dear reader. I would like to reinforce that love, much like religion, is purely good. Notice that word purely? Hold onto it, it'll become important. The issue apparent in Probity is that love is a little different to everyone. To some residents of the town, it means forgiving your husband after he beats you. For others, it means devotion to peering into the same bathroom window for years at a time. Everyone in Probity eats, prays, and loves, but their personal convictions pervert and tarnish their love in the same way that it taints their faith.

Purity
Remember when I told you to hold onto that purity? Now it's time to cash it in. Purity is a prevalent theme in Probity, from the all-white fences to the all-white church to the all-white neighborhood. People listen to music based on how "pure" the DJ says it is, and every wife in the neighborhood seems to compete with the other over how clean their kitchen is. The purity of Probity's citizens is only skin-deep, like a freshly whitewashed veneer over a visibly dilapidated crackhouse. The example I used is funny because in that situation, there's not an entire town of people claiming that the crackhouse is the best house on the block.

Corruption
Corruption is arguably the biggest theme in Probity, so I'm sticking the secret phrase necessary for the character sheet here; Turkey Sandwich. Glad we got that out of the way. Corruption is the reason nobody in Probity's prayers are answered, and the reason nobody in Probity is in a happy marriage. The thesis statement for this roleplay is essentially "Love and Religion are great, conceptually, but our collective cognitive dissonance makes almost everybody too corrupt to properly embrace either without misunderstanding or misconstruing them." Villains don't think they're heroes because they're willfully blind, they think they're heroes because they have corrupted senses of right and wrong tailored to their needs.

Character Sheet

Mr./Mrs. Firstname Middleinitial Surname, Age.

_{Nobody in Probity has a surname that is hyphenated, meaningful, or more ethnically identifiable than Anglo-Saxon. The only women unmarried past their mid 20's are considered either spinsters or whores, and the unmarried men of the same age are unanimously thought to be gay. If you are okay with being dysfunctionally married off to another character, italicize your name and age. Otherwise, make an NPC spouse or expect to be shamed for your abnormality.}

Goodadjective Profession

_{This is where you put your character's surface level traits -- Their profession, affectations, habits, quirks, hobbies, likes, dislikes, and general demeanor. This is only what your character will develop from, but I would still like to see reasonably three dimensional, realistic characters.
This is a Slice-Of-Life, so compelling characters are pretty much the biggest requirement.}

Badadjective Insult

_{This is where you either tell us about your character's secret or their worst traits, which they hide from society. Given that this world is painted in shades of gray instead of black and white, don't be afraid to make characters realistically flawed as they are realistically virtuous.}

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Family Member 1 - Relation

_{Describe your character's relationship with the person they are closest to, which is usually a parent or spouse. Repeat family relationships in descending order of closeness.}

Rules

1. Thou shalt not be impolite to each other. Not even jokingly. People don't know how to take jokes anymore, so just be nice.
2. Thou shalt not powerplay or _gasp_ God-mod. Interaction is encouraged, but don't break up scenes to walk into them.
3. Thou shalt take up issues with the GMs in private messages instead of flaming each other.
4. Thou shalt let the GMs know if you're gonna be missing for more than three days.
5. Thou shalt strive to write a well-developed character and a well-developed story we can all collectively feel proud of.

[PBNN]

[WTPR]

Here are some available roles. We're still looking for a reverend!

Reverend
Restaurant Owner
Baker Taken
Butcher Taken
Barber Taken
Barkeep Taken
Lawyer
Banker
Judge
Doctor
Teacher Taken
Nurse Taken
Sheriff Taken
Deputy Taken
Used Car Salesman
Nice Car Salesman

[skidcrow]

Chief of Police reporting in. Well, not actually, I've got to start work on him. But I'm here.

[ethanjory]

Got to get started on that candlestick maker. Clearly he's the most important character in this roleplay. Or the hobo. Hard to decide with all these incredible roles.

[MissCapnCrunch]

The candleman caaaaaaaaaan. Anybody? Mr. Moon? Hehe.
I'll probably make a teacher or a nurse (:

[WTPR]

@MissCapnCrunch Somebody beat you to the punch for teacher, but we could always use a Nurse! Especially with all these wonderfully destructive characters people are sending me. Lots of bandages for scraped knees and bullet wounds. That's what nurses do, right?

[MissCapnCrunch]

@WTPR A nurse I shall be then! Please do not mind those extra hair clippings in my underwear drawer.

[Briza]

Color me for the Hobo.

[Pep]

Working on a Baker.

[Dion]

@WTPR I claim hereby the role of butcher.

EDIT: On second thought, I might be better off taking reverend or mayor. Since we need those to start.

[iTem]

@WTPR hey there. not sure if i'm going to join since it seems that you already have a full house (and i'm bad with keeping up with roleplays) but i've been looking at Probity since the first one that you posted (the one looking for neighbors). i remember reading that the theme is around 1950's or something. so i couldn't help but wonder if you may still want to use fallout music (without minding the interludes of the fallout radio announcers) this may be handy: 24 hour Fallout Radio, a 1950s playlist that i just found if you want to rot your brains out from the devil's music. and of course, gospel music. can't forget that.

these would be some of the stuff that i can't help but think of. i would like to take the role of the Butcher however, if that's possible.

[PBNN]

@mackielars We're no way near a full house yet! Come on in and join the family! And casually make derogatory remarks about anyone who isn't white!

[skidcrow]

@WTPR hey there. not sure if i'm going to join since it seems that you already have a full house (and i'm bad with keeping up with roleplays) but i've been looking at Probity since the first one that you posted (the one looking for neighbors). i remember reading that the theme is around 1950's or something. so i couldn't help but wonder if you may want to use fallout music n such so if you want a playlist (without minding the interludes of the fallout radio announcers) this may be handy: 24 hour Fallout Radio, a 1950s playlist that i just found if you want to rot your brains out from the devil's music. and of course, gospel music. can't forget that.

these would be some of the stuff that i can't help but think of. heh. i would like to take the role of the Butcher however, if that's possible.

@mackielars

bruh I'm listening to the Fallout radio soundtrack right now as I write my character(s)

Enclave Radio or bust

[Sirkaithethird]

An intrest is there from me... If you're still open, a role of the local cafe owner might be nice.... could also double as barkeep

[WTPR]

@SirkaithethirdEither or is acceptable. If you're the cafe, you could have a quiet rivalry with the bar in town!

[Sirkaithethird]

@WTPR
Then a role as the owner/cook/maybe server of the cafe is there.... want a CS? I am free at the moment

[skidcrow]

I might make the barkeep so we could have a little friendly competition/rivalry, @Sirkaithethird.

[Sirkaithethird]

@Grim I'd be up for that, no promises that I won't serve alcoholic beverages

[skidcrow]

@Grim I'd be up for that, no promises that I won't serve alcoholic beverages

@Sirkaithethird

We will have the most Christian fight the world has ever seen.