The Walking Dead RP [OOC][OPEN, EP. 4 STARTED]

[Tiltjuice]

Dilange, since the RP is going so slowly anyway, I don't think people will notice your char in this episode. Mind if I move his first appearance as part of the opener for next episode?

[Phonencia]

So, will the RP be up before next week is up?

Oh, and Verk has told me his plans to level out Stryker's morality.

I look forward to hearing his excuses for serial murder...

Bit of an understatement you've got there

And an understatement of his goals. He repeatedly and emphatically stated that his goal was to exterminate Jews. Full stop. He didn't try and make any excuses, or justify it in any reasonable way (he saved that for when he was slaughtering gays, Roma, etc). He just wanted them dead and gone, for no other reason than he didn't like them. All that talk about advancing the sciences, the arts, and making a better and stronger people, is total bullshit. He could've done all that, sans World War II; he didn't because he was a power-hungry megalomaniac with a penchant for genocide. That man's complete and total psychopathy cannot be overstated.

Okay so maybe not the best analogy but you get the point I'm trying to make. Villains should have a decent reason for their villainy or else it detracts from the character and plot.

[Camicon]

And an understatement of his goals. He repeatedly and emphatically stated that his goal was to exterminate Jews. Full stop. He didn't try and make any excuses, or justify it in any reasonable way (he saved that for when he was slaughtering gays, Roma, etc). He just wanted them dead and gone, for no other reason than he didn't like them. All that talk about advancing the sciences, the arts, and making a better and stronger people, is total bullshit. He could've done all that, sans World War II; he didn't because he was a power-hungry megalomaniac with a penchant for genocide. That man's complete and total psychopathy cannot be overstated.

Okay so maybe not the best analogy but you get the point I'm trying to make. Villains should have a decent reason for their villainy or else it detracts from the character and plot.

"Some men just want to watch the world burn." - Alfred Pennyworth

[Prospect Landings]

So, will the RP be up before next week is up?

Oh, and Verk has told me his plans to level out Stryker's morality.

I look forward to hearing his excuses for serial murder...

Shelton's an unrepentant torturer and murderer of a 14 year old boy. So...

[Chernarusk]

This open? If so could I be filled in on any basic details or any special interests you have in new characters?

[Tiltjuice]

This open? If so could I be filled in on any basic details or any special interests you have in new characters?

No military/former military characters; and talk to Verkaria, who has a band of survivors separate from the main group, who are currently NPCs and should be filled out first.

[Phonencia]

I look forward to hearing his excuses for serial murder...

Shelton's an unrepentant torturer and murderer of a 14 year old boy. So...

15 I thought, and Stryker is an unrepentant torturer and murderer of a 17 year old boy and uncounted dozens of others.

[Prospect Landings]

Shelton's an unrepentant torturer and murderer of a 14 year old boy. So...

15 I thought, and Stryker is an unrepentant torturer and murderer of a 17 year old boy and uncounted dozens of others.

Is it more evil to torture a fourteen year old over a fifteen year old child? They'll be a point, very close the way this roleplay is heading, where this sort of macabre calculus will be pushed to its logical extreme, and then break.

I think the central narrative conflict is between villains and the degrees to which separate them. The only real constant for the Walking Dead is that this is a world without laws, governance, or order. This is the new American frontier, the land of take as you want, do as you please, hurt those who must be, and neither side has the will to change this.

Both sides practice a cruel Hammurabi facsimile of justice, further propelling all of our characters into a cycle of inescapable violence. As Esmore illustrates, quoting Shylock: "The scales of justice ain't evenly weighted out, the shit they pulled on the kid. No, Stryker, you know me an' the men be loyal to you no matter what, but we need to extract a pound of their flesh, that'll be the fee." Both groups practice, with varying levels of acceptance, this mantra. You take my eye, I take your leg, you take my leg, and take your life, your friend's life, and anyone else you loved. Textually, Shelton and Stryker are remarkably similar in their execution of their idea of justice. Both leaders make moves to cease fighting out a practicality, not out of a desire to end the conflict, but to maintain their strength to continue fighting again. Remarkably, the increasingly marginalized zombies are one of only stabilizing elements in this roleplay, that, and Virenna's character Nick.

It's important to remember that Shelton has been set up as the moral superior, not within the story, but through this meta thread. if we were to look at the character of Shelton solely through the prism of the In Character thread, the subject because infinitely more dreary. He's consistently been portrayed as a distinctly "ultra-violent" individual. He quite literally fights fire with more fire, during the first battle with Stryker:

Shelton snarled and lashed out toward Kenny, throwing him to the floor in a burst of violence that was completely unlike him.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
he roared, his face strained into a fierce scowl.
"THAT MOTHERFUCKER KILLED KYLE! I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM AND ANYONE ELSE THAT GETS IN MY WAY IF IT'S THE LAST THING I EVER DO!"
he looked around at everyone, his expression resembling that of a cornered animal. He sucked in a sharp breath and adjusted his grip on the carbine in his hands.
"Let's go. I have a plan."
He said to Nick, Monroe and Scott, watching out the window as the taillights faded away down the strip of hangars. He'd been coming to this airport for years and he knew where to find everything, giving them a slight advantage. He led the little impromptu Fireteam outside,
"Scott, Monroe, you keep watch with your rifles. If they step out of the hangar, shoot them on sight. You have my radio's channel so contact me if they do anything. Nick, follow me. We're going to make some Avgas Molotov Cocktails."

Shelton's burst of impotent rage can be compared and contrasted to Stryker. He too, like the Captain, commits brutality out of revenge for one of his comrades. Yet look at the the textual justification for Stryker:

Stryker

"Grimm, mark where he walked out from. If he tries anything, fire into that area," Stryker said before getting out of the car.

When Stryker opened the door he sat his shotgun on the roof of the vehicle. After he displayed that he was unarmed he made his way over to Billy's body. As he was walking toward the area he kept his eyes trained on Shelton's, something about them reminded Stryker of himself.

Stryker arrived at the body at looked at the damage on it. Hogtied like an animal. Cuts on the right arm. A bullet hole in the forehead. Billy looked like the victim of a sadist.

"Oh... God..." Stryker said as he fell on his knees over the body. He realized now what a horrible mistake he'd made by sending a kid out into the woods to do reconnaissance.

"It was my job... I realize that now... I was suppose to protect him," he whispered to himself but loud enough for Shelton to hear.

There is now a clearer distinction between motivations. Shelton attacks Stryker out of hate for the violence perpetrated against him. Despite the quasi-military rhetoric of Shelton, his professionalism vanishes when an attack against his legitimacy as a leader is made. Remember, he says, "I'll kill [Styker] and anyone that gets in my way". This conflict has become deeply personal to Shelton, not for the threat is poses to his group (that would be a post-hoc justification) but for the brazen assault on his masculinity. Shelton is a very macho character. He has been described as handsome, sexually desirable and attached to this setting's" Pygmalion's statue"-like Taylor Swift, generally competent, and intensely militaristic. Shelton is painted with a very broad brush as a warrior, but even more than that, an American warrior. Bluntly, Shelton's numerous angry outbursts can be traced to the character's inability to stomach that he is not a hero. He is unable to understand that he can do wrong, because there is something intrinsically wrong with him. Even if Shelton's transgresses all laws and ethnics to snuff out the bad guy, he still appeals to the Christian tradition of forgiveness:

"We CAN make it. We just have to have faith we can. God's helped me with that. Always has. He makes everything easier for me really. My family, I miss them every day. But I know they're in a better place now. They're kickin' back in paradise and waiting for me. I can't be with them yet though, because I have a job to do here. That's why I'm alive and I think that's the final proof God exists. Think about it for a second."
he took a long drink then managed a tiny smile.

For Shelton, salvation has already been achieved without the need for absolution and the sacrament of Penance. Shelton "goodness" is ensured, not because of anything he has done, but because his intrinsic goodness is divinely mandated. Here, Shelton makes a direct reference to the workings of this meta-thread. Shleton is good and Stryker bad because this has been dictated by a higher narrative authority than the characters. God exists, therefore everything is permitted.

Next up, The Compound, and the Aesthetics of Futurism.

[Camicon]

*snip*

Shit, son. Gonna write an essay next?

Insightful thought. Spot on, really.

[Tiltjuice]

*snip*

Shit, son. Gonna write an essay next?

Insightful thought. Spot on, really.

I'm just floored by that.

Applause, seriously. That's the kind of interpretation and analysis I only wished I could do back in literature class.

[Verkaria]

Okay so maybe not the best analogy but you get the point I'm trying to make. Villains should have a decent reason for their villainy or else it detracts from the character and plot.

The reason for Stryker's transition between demented states (killing one of Shelton's men), manic states (pretending to be a mock-priest and going quickly into a happy-go-lucky attitude after the death of one of his friends), and lucid states (realizing the responsibility of his position at the sight of Kyle's^? body) is that Stryker is insane. For psychology's sake, I'd define it as Bipolar Schizophrenia.

For Shelton, salvation has already been achieved without the need for absolution and the sacrament of Penance. Shelton "goodness" is ensured, not because of anything he has done, but because his intrinsic goodness is divinely mandated. Here, Shelton makes a direct reference to the workings of this meta-thread. Shleton is good and Stryker bad because this has been dictated by a higher narrative authority than the characters. God exists, therefore everything is permitted.

Next up, The Compound, and the Aesthetics of Futurism.

In response to Shelton's religious views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us2ylGAwBnk&t=1m25s

Also, bravo on that analysis my friend, bravo. Glad to see that you're still around this RP.

[Nexeria]

Wow, Prospect, you have just gained some respect from me.

That was very well typed out and you even did some nice research. As I was reading it, I imagined Esmore slipping into a sophisticated British accent.

[Verkaria]

This open? If so could I be filled in on any basic details or any special interests you have in new characters?

I'd love to have you if you want to be in my group.

[Camicon]

Shit, son. Gonna write an essay next?

Insightful thought. Spot on, really.

I'm just floored by that.

Applause, seriously. That's the kind of interpretation and analysis I only wished I could do back in literature class.

Aren't you a psychology major? Isn't analyzing behaviour sort of the entire point of psychology?

[Tiltjuice]

I'm just floored by that.

Applause, seriously. That's the kind of interpretation and analysis I only wished I could do back in literature class.

Aren't you a psychology major? Isn't analyzing behaviour sort of the entire point of psychology?

...Yes.

True. *laughs* I didn't think of it as such. That's a good point; I'm likely out of practice.

[Verkaria]

I am now proposing two things:

1) The creation and subsequent management of the RP's own wiki.

2) The creation and subsequent management of a new OOC thread, considering that our Great Lord and Master Sentinel has left us.

[Monfrox]

I am now proposing two things:

1) The creation and subsequent management of the RP's own wiki.

2) The creation and subsequent management of a new OOC thread, considering that our Great Lord and Master Sentinel has left us.

1. You mean TV Tropes page.

2. No, he hasn't.

[Verkaria]

I am now proposing two things:

1) The creation and subsequent management of the RP's own wiki.

2) The creation and subsequent management of a new OOC thread, considering that our Great Lord and Master Sentinel has left us.

1. You mean TV Tropes page.

2. No, he hasn't.

1) Why not both? One for humor and the other for information.

2) I feel pretty confident in saying that he has. We all hope he comes back, but until that, we need a new OOC thread.

[Jessjohnesik]

Okay so maybe not the best analogy but you get the point I'm trying to make. Villains should have a decent reason for their villainy or else it detracts from the character and plot.

"Some men just want to watch the world burn." - Alfred Pennyworth

That's me.

More or less.

[Monfrox]

1. You mean TV Tropes page.

2. No, he hasn't.

1) Why not both? One for humor and the other for information.

2) I feel pretty confident in saying that he has. We all hope he comes back, but until that, we need a new OOC thread.

1. It'd be kinda hard to have people maintain both.

2. HERESY!

[Virenna]

-snip-

God, I wish I had your skills for my AP Literature class

[Camicon]

I am now proposing two things:

1) The creation and subsequent management of the RP's own wiki.

2) The creation and subsequent management of a new OOC thread, considering that our Great Lord and Master Sentinel has left us.

A new OOC thread is a good idea, and since Tilt seems to be involved in crafting the next episode, I'll start work on it (I've hit a small lull between assignments).
With regards to the wiki though, what did you have in mind?

[Chernarusk]

This open? If so could I be filled in on any basic details or any special interests you have in new characters?

I'd love to have you if you want to be in my group.

What exactly is your group? I.e., antagonists, protagonists, evil cultists, etc. Not that I don't mind playing as about anything, but I just need some info for the app and ya know, just to generally fill me in.

[Camicon]

I'd love to have you if you want to be in my group.

What exactly is your group? I.e., antagonists, protagonists, evil cultists, etc. Not that I don't mind playing as about anything, but I just need some info for the app and ya know, just to generally fill me in.

They're just a group of people, led by the slightly unstable Stryker, to whom they all have a certain degree of loyalty. Don't think of it in terms of "good guys and bad guys". Life is never so black and white

[Verkaria]

I am now proposing two things:

1) The creation and subsequent management of the RP's own wiki.

2) The creation and subsequent management of a new OOC thread, considering that our Great Lord and Master Sentinel has left us.

A new OOC thread is a good idea, and since Tilt seems to be involved in crafting the next episode, I'll start work on it (I've hit a small lull between assignments).
With regards to the wiki though, what did you have in mind?

Here is an example of a wiki that another large RP has made: http://of-men-and-titans.wikia.com/wiki ... -welcome=1