Charlotte Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 What is 'State of the Union?'State of the Union is a metastory set in 200X. At least, it will be if the mods approve it.When does it begin?On October 9th, 2008 (board time and our time.)What's the premise?The premise is, "Randall Portman is shot."Shot? But that's not in the canon books.It's not, no. Relax, he doesn't die and still goes on to serve two terms.Did you just give away the ending? Yes, I did. This story will be similar to 'The Big One' in 2010, an event for us to hang our own stories on but that has had its details worked out in advance - but hopefully, with room for player involvement.Can you go into more detail?Yes. Here's a timeline.October 9th, 11:11 AM: Randall Portman is giving a stump speech in an important swing state (Cleveland, Ohio.) Someone in the crowd shoots him with an improvised firearm hidden inside of a camera. He is hit once in the chest. The gunman is immediately subdued and arrested by Secret Service and Randall Portman is rushed to the hospital.October 9th, Rest of the Day: Randall is listed in serious condition. The Secret Service has asked the Directive to provide security. Either the Directive hires an Elite, or sends one of its few nova agents. No details are released yet about the gunman, other than his name: Kenneth James O'Neal. The other candidates in the race offer their condolences and ask the nation to pray for Portman's swift recovery. They effectively suspend their campaigns.October 10th, 6:00 EST: After a day where the nation is tensely waiting for news on Portman's condition, a nova civic defender (Atlanta's Mistabig, AKA Sean Buchman, who can grow to several hundred feet) calls a press conference. Mistabig announces that he has come into evidence that Portman's assassin was hired by Portman's own campaign, to head off an expected slump in the polls. Portman's nova physiology was expected to survive the small arms fire and his run for President would be considered successful.The nation, to put it mildly, explodes. Riots break out all across America. Utopian novas and civic defenders are pressed to keep the peace. The Directive strives to determine if O'Neal acted alone and to defend Portman. Some Teragen take the time to strike out at the social system itself, though others remain coldly detached. Elites are hired by many rich people for many purposes. Those few who suspect the existence of Project Proteus, such as the Aberrants, are unaware as to what the shadowy cabal is up to - but are determined to find out what, if anything, they have to do with Portman's shooting.October 11th, 12th: Riots and civic unrest continue despite the President urging calm and the deployment of the National Guard. Rumors are flying around wily-nily: - O'Neal acted alone. (False.) - O'Neal was a member of the Church of the Michael Archangel. (False.) - O'Neal was hired by one of the campaigns to save Portman's ticket or bury it. (False.) - The truth: O'Neal's conspiracy consists of him and a half-dozen acquaintances who are convinced that novas are inherently unstable due to the pressures exerted by the M-R node, and that Portman could not be allowed to become President. One of O'Neal's friends rigged the camera with a 9mm single-shot gun, which could have killed Portman had O'Neal hit him in the head instead of the chest. O'Neal suffers from a persecution complex and volunteered to be "the famous one." - The President has also been assassinated, but a shapeshifter is impersonating her for the time being. (False.) - Portman is already dead and they won't let anyone see him because they want to cover it up. (False.) - Mistabig has mind control powers and that's how he sparked the riots. (False.) - Mistabig has a node the size of a grapefruit and it has driven him insane. (False.) - Mistabig is a celebrity who is using his fame to stir up unrest, but who honestly believes what he's saying. (True.) - The weapon that shot Portman was a prototype anti-nova weapon stolen from either a blackteck firm or the Directive. (False.) - The killer was Andre Corbin in disguise. (False.) - And so on. Add your own rumors below, but be sure to specify the truthfulness of them so we don't get confusion over the objective reality of the story.October 13th: Portman issues a statement. (He has been healed by nova "medical savants" or a nova with healing gifts.) Upon learning that Portman survives, unrest dies down. Portman vehemently denies allegations that he paid to have himself shot.October 14th: Mistabig's case collapses after the Directive finds his evidence so full of holes it looks like swiss cheese. Mistabig loses his temper and grows, rampaging through Atlanta until he is arrested and brought low by novas on the side of the law.October 15th Onwards: Details emerge about Kenneth O'Neal and his circle of friends.October 16th, 11:55 PM: While in prison, Kenneth O'Neal suddenly screams, and vanishes. An investigation reveals traces of quantum energy, but no other leads. No one hears from Kenneth O'Neal again. The conspiracy theories start.October 17th: Randall Portman is back on the stump. His poll numbers have swelled and the election is pretty much in the bag.So what do we all get to do?Take your pick. You can be the nova that guards Portman, that helps to investigate the shooting, or that heals Portman up. You can try to contain or exacerbate the civic unrest unleashed by Mistabig's pronouncement, or be one of the novas that fights Mistabig. You can be the nova that takes care of Kenneth O'Neal. Or anything else you want that fits into the facts. This is an ideal time to introduce a new eruptee, as the stress of a major celebrity and political figure getting shot could stress anyone to the eruption point - and if that doesn't do it, being stuck in a riot might.I'd ask that you post your idea for your story below, so that we don't wind up with our wires crossed.Are you gonna write anything?My characters will be limited to OpNet interaction only as none of them currently live in the United States. One of them MIGHT make a trip to the U.S. for this story.So what if no one writes anything?This metastory's structured so that it doesn't depend on any set number of people participating in it. Any role not covered by Pcs can be filled in other ways. This seemed to work out quite well for “The Big One” in 2010, and hopefully lightning will strike twice here.I remember The Big One. Will we have to tag our stories the same way?Yes, tag them with (SOTU) to differentiate them.I still have questions.Ask below, then! 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Dave ST Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Looks good Mike.Barring the obvious answer, is there any reason Portman needs to live, and can he take the rest of the canon NPCs with him?I say let it roll, sounds like fun. Then again, I'm not important, so take that for what it's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flicker Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Cleveland, Ohio? Isn't that convenient. . . =D"This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 Yeah, I was trying to pinpoint traditionally swing states with board novas in them and as goes Ohio, etc.So I take it this has moderator go-ahead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eingar Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 I think it's a decent idea. As an Elite, Ein could be called in to do 'steel armani' work for someone important or something similar. Otherwise, he'll probably just be a fringe observer.Don't see Tomas getting involved, which is probably a good thing. Then again: widespread chaos, misery, rage and despair might prove an interesting cocktail for the little emotional vampire. He might even egg things on a little. Hmm... ideas, ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nova OOC Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 It has as much moderator go-ahead as can be had, considering that one of the moderators has resigned, and another is MIA and not answering PMs. Thank you so much for planning this writing event and for bringing it here. I think it'll be a lot of fun.I think it would be a good idea to avoid sprawling and unpredictable multi-character "party-style" stories for this event, and concentrate on stories which are smaller in scope. That way we can get this done within a reasonable amount of time and not disrupt any other writing which may be planned, not to mention typing characters up for overly-long spans of real-world time. (Is this a requirement or a suggestion? For now I'd leave it at a very strongly-worded suggestion.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted September 29, 2008 Author Share Posted September 29, 2008 If the MIA mod is Seph I believe his computer is kaput. I do see him once in a while on XBox Live, so I can PM you later with his handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmic Comet Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Sounds like this will be a neat little story line. I think I may may even introduce a new character! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 It begins.Have fun folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flicker Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Yay yay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted October 11, 2008 Author Share Posted October 11, 2008 The next leg is up.I should have stated this before, but the information on Mistabig's OpNet site is very dense and voluminous, with missing citations and sometimes contradictory information. He also talks about Zionists a lot. But the initial presentation is fairly slick and will act as a good enough tipping point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flicker Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 I'm working up a Flicker story, solo. It's indefinite, but I think she was there when it happened, but as a distant spectator, not one of the principals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted October 17, 2008 Author Share Posted October 17, 2008 The last event just came and went. (Portman going on the stump again isn't much of an event.)I have to admit that I was hoping for a little more interest. Can anyone fill me in on why this one fell flat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalmonMax Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Doh. I was working on my character...guess I was too slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Verona Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Besides Reven's lack of interest in politics... I already knew how it was going to end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalmonMax Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Yar...good point. And I didn't know who was writing what, or who might be interested in doing something. I was going to want to be investigating, so it would have made sense to hook up with other people who were doing that...but there was no way to tell who those were.Maybe if there was some kind of declaration of intent or something, like everyone who wants in can give an idea of what their character is doing and a general sense of what they want to accomplish (not set in stone of course), and if they're interested in collaborating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 It wasn't your plot, not for me. I was truly interested, but have two characters tied up, and a third who wouldn't do anything. I could have done smething with Jael, but I've had a hard time writing recently. I have lacked inspiration and energy. It's not a good answer, but I hope it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 For me, it's politics...bleah... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted October 19, 2008 Author Share Posted October 19, 2008 SalmonMax: This thread is where ideas for stories were to be floated and 'dibs' were to be called, and a couple were.Outline-wise, I admit, that knowing the ending in advance may ruin it for some - but if this is a writing-centric forum then one thing that typically helps with writing is having an ending and an outline. At least it`s always helped with mine.Anyways, I`ll chalk this up to the forum being slow and keep goin`. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted October 19, 2008 Share Posted October 19, 2008 Originally Posted By: Michael McGeeOutline-wise, I admit, that knowing the ending in advance may ruin it for some - but if this is a writing-centric forum then one thing that typically helps with writing is having an ending and an outline. At least it`s always helped with mine. And I agree - in this kind of cooperative story knowing what will happen is important. It means that someone can't take it way off base. Unfortunately, it may be constraining to some. Maybe next time, don't script the capture for the 'Mista Bigg' type character. Let the PCs feel like they have to do something to stop him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave ST Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Better yet, leave it open ended where any outcome possible. No one likes to be rail roaded, and let's face it... when the last time any scandal like a president or presidential canidate being assassinated or attempted was ever over and done with in 8 days.By the time the drama got started... it was over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted October 23, 2008 Author Share Posted October 23, 2008 I was going to start it a week earlier, but I got sidetracked. I admit that I may have erred on the side of it being too short.As for knowing what the ending is, major changes to canon have to be approved by a 2/3rds majority of players and the process would be a bit more involved than I would have liked.Anyways it's no big. I'll try to work up something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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