Mutants Unite ....?

[Anna Fernandez]

Is anyone interested in this scenario besides Droo and I and Andrew and possibly Dee and Raz? We'd planned some slight retcons to Cullen's, including a new headmaster character and erasing the x-men connection with the school so that forming a group like the xmen could be a new development and possibly in conjunction with Treadstone on the east coast.

There's other stuff too, but Andrew and/or Droo are probably better able to explain the ideas for Plot.

[Jacob Foley]

It would be helpful to know not only how much interest there is, but also where that interest lies with regards to faction or even geography. Our stories have typically unfolded on either the east or west coast of the United States. I know a lot of the old guard have a certain fondness for Cullen's and the X-Men and east coast shenanigans. Personally, I don't ever want to revisit any of my old Cullen's characters ever again, but I have at present a few characters I'm developing in New York and I'm definitely interested in playing in those old sandboxes in a new way.

There are also things, like the presence of Treadstone and SHIELD, that have fallen by the wayside. I'm curious what people's feelings are on these things and if or how we should at all implement them in our mutants universe as we move forward.

There are plans to increase the presence of the Jericho Foundation across the United States and also to develop the Brotherhood into a larger, more menacing, sort of beast. Going forward, I think the word that encapsulates what I have in mind for our roleplaying sandbox is escalation.

[Captain Untouchable]

I am not planning on continuing with my Treadstone or SHIELD plans... or with any of my mutants characters at all, to be honest. I really enjoy the characters I've created for the setting, but I think we had too many big plans and not enough coordination. There were too many isolated pockets of activity and not enough interaction/coordination, and it all turned into a bit too much of a waiting game.

It sounds like you're thinking about trying to consolidate things a bit more (geography, faction wise, etc) to get as many of the active people clustered together as you can... and I think that's a very wise idea.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

^ What he said.

Nah, in actuality I adore the mutants characters I've made (and dear god the amount I've made) but yeah, finding it really hard to get up the inspiration to start any of them up again. I'm a giant fan of huge obscene plots (as if the setup that was happening last round wasn't obvious of that) but I gotta admit it did feel kinda isolated and no one's big plans really overlapped and you'd have people saying "yes! Totally! Let's do it!" and then drop out entirely a few weeks later just as you were about to get the ball rolling full steam ahead and suddenly *poof* there went a good chunk of planning.

And maybe that's kinda the problem of trying to spread out too much with SHIELD and such, but I have to admit the reason I kinda latched onto that was (and I really, really don't want to admit this but I think it needs to be said a bit) was that even when I first started with a single character in this universe (Alice) that I just kinda couldn't join in with the Cullen's/X-Menish group(s) (Which is why I started her over in Los Angeles) but I felt the same way about Redencion House and Brotherhood side of things as well. It just seemed like I couldn't be all "Oh hey guys!" Overall it's a bit hard to feel welcome to join into anything currently going on so that's probably why there wasn't any real discussion of how all the different groups could/should interact.

I guess with the Star Wars stuff we have (somewhat) clear guides/expectations on who to talk to and how to join the different factions but I'm not sure if that's as well known with Mutants. It might be worth making a sticky *somewhere* to know who to contact...give a small breakdown of the factions that are actually involved... etc.

Sorry if this sounds overly negative, it really isn't supposed to. You can blame my finding out I only had enough coffee to make one cup this morning, ok?


ANNNDDD the TLDR version: I'm not planning on writing any of my mutants universe characters again at the current junction. Which I suppose between me and Jace kinda knocks out what was mostly all of SHIELD/The Avengers. Which I don't think really affects anyone. :lol

[Anna Fernandez]

Good to know. :)

[Droo]

I'm glad you've both been so forthright regarding future involvement. It frees up our options regarding SHIELD, which could be potentially reworked for future stories.

[Captain Untouchable]

I think that's part of the problem of the small, close-knit group formula, unfortunately. On the one hand, it's fantastic to have big threads that include everyone within a particular small group... but if those threads take a long time to write, and you're not already part of that small group, it makes getting involved a little tricky. I tried to get involved with Redencion at one point, but because there was a big arc going on at the time, I was basically told to wait: and a couple of years passed without any of those events even happening. That approach is great for the people lucky enough to be involved already... but it's not so great for new people wanting to get involved, like Sarah just pointed out.

And if a long time veteran of the site like Sarah doesn't feel welcome, that doesn't bode well for new people. Creating new groups like SHIELD or Treadstone every time someone feels like they can't get in on what is already there... that's not a particularly sustainable approach, IMO.

Not trying to shoot holes: but if you guys are trying to work out how to keep Mutants afloat, making it more accessible is probably one of the things you should be considering.

[Droo]

Also, for those who are interested, it is important to note that, while there are old plots some of us would like to eventually wrap up, we mean to resume things further along the line so that we aren't tied up by any chronological constraints.

[Anna Fernandez]

Also, for those who are interested, it is important to note that, while there are old plots some of us would like to eventually wrap up, we mean to resume things further along the line so that we aren't tied up by any chronological constraints.
Yes, The Times They Are A-Changing takes place at the end of October, so a few months post the La riots.

[Droo]

It's probably best if we put together a short re-introduction to the setting, to familiarise people with what has happened, where people are at with their characters, and a rough idea of the direction in which things may be going.

[Razielle Alastor]

I loved my mutants characters. Seriously.

Made some solid plans with them, some involving other people here who then turned on me and went 'No, I don't want to do that now.', after I had already put several posts / threads into certain stories on topics I never would have done had they not been part of a greater picture that I thought was a done deal.. That or people just up and jumped from what we were doing in NY to the LA stuff which to be honest - I never really felt welcome to join either. It's put a real bitterness in me for the LA side of things, but I would still like to continue what I've done with the NY / Cullen's team at some point when I can get people who actually want to write with me to reply. So just disregarding all of those threads (NY / Cullen's) which my primary mutant character was greatly involved in would not make me happy. Just saying. :)

[Anna Fernandez]

The headmaster retcon idea was just so that RPing at Cullen's could take place in the absence of the prior headmaster. Previous RPs have still occurred.

As I remember it the "jump to LA" took place after the NY stuff had been dormant for a while, as a means to open up the storyline/universe to new stories and ideas. Obviously the people who were most active made plot plans that involved their characters which unfortunately ended up hamstringing the chronology when people would drop in and out, but I hope everyone knows that "exclusion" was never intended. Hell, Redenćion House was a place where any young mutant was welcome to drop in at any time. Any adult mutant could get involved at any time. If people didn't feel welcome because people had already made character arc plans for their characters.... I mean, isn't that what we do? Create characters and plan out plots? I had certain plot points I was not willing to give up, and I wouldn't ask someone else to give up their plot ideas either.

[Razielle Alastor]

I thought Ethan Daniels was the headmaster? O_o

It's just.. most of my threads as Jacinda were done at Cullen's beginning as a new student, progressing to training in the Danger Room, and then ultimately becoming part of the X-Men team herself, so just saying all of that never happened kind of negates my character's entire history. Might as well not bother returning to playing her at all if the plan is to erase the X-Men connection to the school etc.. :(

[Anna Fernandez]

I suppose if Dani wants to play Ethan then a new headmaster isn't needed.

edit: the thought with the xmen change was that it's pretty problematic from a rational point of view to have an illegal jet and vigilante group operating out of a school. But we could say that in light of current events the xmen at Cullen's have decided to take things off campus.

Also Andrew was considering making the Brotherhood a newer development and a smaller organization. I don't know if any of those ideas will stick, but they are ideas that we were considering.

Edit2: ITS A SOFT RESET *shoots self in head*

[Droo]

I agree with Holly insofar as it is irrational to consider a school with an illegal jet and a vigilante group, but that is what the X-Men is in a nutshell and, in and of itself, is no reason to rationalise it out of existence. Personally, I have no problem with the Cullen's history remaining intact, as long as the Cullen's with which we move forward is a fun and accessible venue for characters old and new.

Perhaps then, we could say that in light of the introduction of the Registration Act in LA, the consequent riots, and the escalation of hostilities against mutantkind, some of the old members of the X-Men have become disenchanted with their mission and have left the team. Perhaps some have even sided with more radical groups like the Brotherhood, or perhaps some have just retired due to injury, old age, or even death (which, in fairness, isn't much like retirement at all). What I'm getting at is, for those who are still around - Jacinda, for example - they have a task not unlike that of Charles and Erik in X-Men: First Class, whereby they must recruit and rebuild a new team. This preserves history, and keeps things fresh for the old guard, while making things accessible to any newbies.

Any people who wish to have their characters still around and involved would be welcome to, of course. This is not about trying to rewrite history, but to try and consolidate disparate storylines.

[Razielle Alastor]

^ this.

Thank you, Droo.

[Dragon]

Droo and I did some extensive brainstorming tonight. I'll try to outline what we came up with. All these pieces are in motion, and we can continue to develop them as more people chip in with their input.

The Villains: The Brotherhood, Jericho, and Vanguard are all going to be active antagonists for whatever heroes rise to the occasion. They're all large enough organizations that their schemes could manifest anywhere, but we're assuming the bulk of the action will be centered around Cullen's and New York, so that's where the villains will be focused as well.

The Headmaster: Holly will need to weigh in on her headmaster character, but rather than do any kind of reset/retcon, I think it's a more natural option for us to just have a new headmaster, and say Ethan's disappeared for reasons - perhaps to support Francoise, to find himself in a Buddhist temple in Nepal, to start a new dotcom business, whatever. The new headmaster does have a history with Dr. Cullen. The duo of Ethan and Hektor was once a triumvirate, but this fellow's been away and has come back to take the reins in Ethan's absence. Not only does he have to deal with keeping the school running in these tumultuous times, he also has to earn the trust of the current faculty and students, who likely view him as an outsider.

The X-Men: One of the new headmaster's decisions, in order to deflect suspicion from the school and the students, has been to move the X-Men training program and base of operations off campus. Treadstone could definitely help with that, merging the school's resources with the resources they've earmarked for X-Force. As a result, we have a much more mobile and flexible superhero group without the unpleasant implications of using a school as cover. The squad's members include some of the teachers at Cullen's, but not all of them have to be affiliated with the school. Meanwhile, the training and operations facilities in the subbasement are still under the school, but mothballed and covered in plastic, ready to be unearthed again at some plot-convenient point in the future...

The Brotherhood: Following the riots and the revelation of the Sentinels, the Brotherhood is amping up its campaign across the US. There will be more frequent attacks against Vanguard/Jericho targets and anything else that can be viewed as an instrument of mutant oppression. If there's any interest, I rather like the idea of following a small Brotherhood cell for one of our storylines. It could be led by Jane and could include some young recruits like Alex and Lana, and it could potentially absorb disenchanted students from Cullen's as well.

Vanguard: The Sentinel business is booming, and Vanguard is extending its tentacles further into the realms of mutant law enforcement and homeland security. Given its concerns about the local radicalization of mutants, especially mutant youths, they have a strong interest in Cullen's. On penalty of closure, the school has been forced to accept one Major Mackenzie Keller into its faculty as an undercover observer. The other teachers know her identity but aren't supposed to discuss it with the students.

Jericho: Droo has a Jericho-centric villain planned, and I'll let him reveal those details as he sees fit. But suffice it to say they'll be stepping up their programs all across the country, including in New York City. This will have some interesting implications for...

John Rhee: A one-time refugee from the hellish North Korean Mutant Development Program, John sees his worst fears being realized in the US in the form of Jericho and Vanguard. He believes the new headmaster means well, but isn't doing enough to counter these threats. Over time, I'd like a rift to develop between him and the headmaster, to the point that John begins running covert missions without the headmaster's knowledge, even handpicking students to assist him. This, of course, will remind the headmaster of how Hektor Vespasian got started, and will lead to divisions in the student body as well.

Jacinda, if she's still around, will likely be one of the marquee members of the X-Men, and could easily be one of the teachers to boot. John's exploits will likely have her caught in the middle given her loyalty to him. Meanwhile, Major Keller is lurking around the school actively spying for Vanguard. Outside the school, we have Jericho clinics and relief centers popping up all over the place, and the Brotherhood recruiting push growing more and more strident. I think there's some good potential there for a lot of complex conflicts.

[Michael Cline]

I have some characters I'd love to involve in this, if possible.

[Anna Fernandez]

Headmaster ideas sound solid to me. :)

Edit: I'm having Antonio head to the East Coast to live at Cullen's. He'll help teach science/assist the teacher while finishing his degree at another college after nearly being flunked out of UCLA.

[Droo]

In order to ease people back into the setting, I'm going to have a stab at a summary of our Mutants Unite history in its broadest sense. If there are details omitted that you feel ought to be included, please mention them. So, in the beginning, there was:

Dr. Cullen's Institute for the Gifted was founded by Dr. Gregory Cullen. It is a school in Kingston, New York, where mutants can not only acquire an education but learn to manage their mutations away from the scrutiny and prejudices of others. Dr. Cullen had three notable students - Ethan Daniels, David Stevenson, and Hektor Vespasian - each of whom had a different opinion regarding how to best serve the interests of mutantkind. Vespasian favoured a more proactive stance and was instrumental in establishing a team of highly-trained mutant operatives known as the X-Men, who were tasked with safeguarding the welfare of vulnerable mutants, and preserving the peace with the human majority.

In 1997, Dr. Cullen was assassinated. The loss caused a rift between his most prominent disciples, and Daniels, Stevenson and Vespasian each went their separate ways on account of their irreconcilable ideological differences. Ethan Daniels became the school's new headmaster while Vespasian would go on to found the Brotherhood of Mutants based on his own militant views. In the years that followed, the Cullen's Institute prospered, and became known as a center of excellence for education, while its team of X-Men expanded its ranks with not only members of the teaching faculty, but some of the resident students too.

Redención House was a non-profit shelter for estranged mutant youths, run and founded by Anna Fernandez. The house was located in Los Santos, California - a place which, in the summer of 2009, became embroiled in a territorial conflict between local gangs. Some of the residents were even drawn into the hostilities, targeted on numerous occasions by the mutant-hating Tres Onces. And when the government revealed their plans for the implementation of a Mutant Registration Act in California, tensions flared all over the state between the mutant and human populations. Vanguard, a military sub-section of the United States government, was called upon to assist with the so-called mutant threat, armed with anti-mutant countermeasures researched and developed in conjunction with the Jericho Foundation.

In response to the escalating violence, it was announced that mutant registration would become compulsory for all residents of California as of September 1st, 2009. This sparked outrage and protest amongst the local mutant population, which culminated in the Los Santos Riots. Once again, Vanguard were tasked with taking care of the problem, except this time they deployed their secret weapon, Sentinels: autonomous mobile weapons platforms designed to target and eliminate extreme mutant threats. In the chaos, Redención House was damaged beyond repair and the residents suffered a fatality amongst their number. The surviving house mates have since dispersed or been relocated, but the story of Redención House remains as a cautionary tale of the fragile relationship between mutant citizens and the government that is supposed to protect them.

[Dahlia Ericsson]

I will be around (though in a limited capacity) as will some of my alts.

EDIT: Alright...I think for the sake of the KISS principle, I'll keep it to just a couple of people. Dahlia will be around to run Treadstone, and I will also keep Lana, Gaia, and Riley around as well. My other alts will be available for things, I just won't actively try writing them.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Interesting stuff. Not sure how much I will be able to be involved, but I like what I'm reading :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

And new ideas to add to this...?

[Anita Stern]

Well, since the subject has come up in chat... why doesn't someone *coughhollycough* spill all that we've thought of so far? :mischief

[José Luis Flores]

I don't really think I'll be contributing much. As I said in the chat, most if not all of José's stories will be about a boy with life changing powers proceeding to go about using them in the most boring, day to day, humdrum manner possible. Superhero? Nah, too much work, too little reward. He'd rather get high and teleport into the middle of the cheerleading squad's practice with a sheet tied around himself like a toga. Or use his powers to get the best tips for delivering pizza. He's not a teleporter, he's a normal kid who can teleport! Not very good for overarching mutant plots or battling evildoers.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

One of the things talked about was a town in upstate NY where Mutants and Mundanes live together openly and without fear, a sanctuary of sorts. Cullen's would be near (I think Westchester? I can't remember) and also the Big Apple.

Jose and his mom could certainly move there after the craziness in LA and start over?

[José Luis Flores]

One of the things talked about was a town in upstate NY where Mutants and Mundanes live together openly and without fear, a sanctuary of sorts. Cullen's would be near (I think Westchester? I can't remember) and also the Big Apple.

Jose and his mom could certainly move there after the craziness in LA and start over?

Dude. So Cal, or New England? Duh. So Cal. Bikinis, no snow, and honeys errywhere, of all kinds!

[Kahlia Winchester]

Sure, 'cause your ma so thinks like that, José. Dork.

I miss New York. <3

[Captain Untouchable]

Not sure who I will be contributing (my characters are mostly quantum-entangled with other people :uhoh), but I really like some the ideas that were getting tossed around in chat.

A mutant/mundane community seems like a really cool way of covering all the bases - teachers, students, normal people, regular lives, mutant-hating picketers, political attention, ominous plot arcs going on in the background - and I liked the idea of being set in "the present" rather than in a specific calendar year so we don't feel pressured by the passage of real world time.

Only thing with positioning stuff near Westchester is that Cullens School sorta... pulls a little of the focus away from the town. Rather than be in proximity to a special boarding school that trains superheroes and caters only to mutants (which doesn't sound like it would suit characters like José very well), it might make more sense to be elsewhere and have a co-ed high school where you've got mutant vs mundane tensions mixed in with your regular teenage cliques and bullying and what-not, and where everyone gets pissed off because the mutants keep cheating in gym class.

[Ilias Nytrau]

Say like a culturally specific neighbourhood of any given city, like... Davie Village in Vancouver, Le Village in Montréal (to use 'gay villages' as an example), where there's a large percentage of the designated minority, but not exclusive to anyone else. From my experience, the school you go to by default is dictated by 'catchment', which is, well, you live in this area, so you go to this high school.

I hope I'm making sense? :)

[Madeleine Flores]

One of the things talked about was a town in upstate NY where Mutants and Mundanes live together openly and without fear, a sanctuary of sorts. Cullen's would be near (I think Westchester? I can't remember) and also the Big Apple.

Jose and his mom could certainly move there after the craziness in LA and start over?

Dude. So Cal, or New England? Duh. So Cal. Bikinis, no snow, and honeys errywhere, of all kinds!

José, it's not like you couldn't... you know, pop over there or something? Does that sound right? Does that work? Pop? Or is it more of a whoosh?

You know, WHOOSH WHOOSH *makes like she's flying*

Why José, am I embarrassing you?


Sure, 'cause your ma so thinks like that, José. Dork.

I miss New York. <3

At least he showed good judgement in picking you as a friend dear. It gives me hope he might start showing more of that someday. Good judgement, that is. And I miss it too dear. Such a lively city! And you wouldn't think that the bigger cities would be all that different, but they are! New York is nothing like London, or Los Angeles, and certainly nothing like Mexico City.


Say like a culturally specific neighbourhood of any given city, like... Davie Village in Vancouver, Le Village in Montréal (to use 'gay villages' as an example), where there's a large percentage of the designated minority, but not exclusive to anyone else. From my experience, the school you go to by default is dictated by 'catchment', which is, well, you live in this area, so you go to this high school.

I hope I'm making sense? :)

You are! :)

[Inyos Aamoran]

I understand how catchment areas work, yes. :p

Cullen's is different, though, being a private boarding school with a specific/select student base. If we have our little town/place in "Upstate New York" (ie. near Cullens), is it not gonna be a little weird that the mutant kids are going to the local high school, when there's a super fantastic awesome selective school right over there that is just... blatantly better?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

They could just...go to Cullen's and live at home? I dunno, just a thought. Or just say that Cullen's is nearish but they're obviously not next door. Cullen's is by Weschester or whatever the town is, I have this written down somewhere, and the community is a town or two away.

[Droo]

I seem to recall Cullen's being on the edge of a lake. I may have chat logs somewhere.

[Vittore Montegue]

I'm not thinking about whether or not the mutant kids can go there... it's more that mundane kids can't. Westchester is a very safe environment for mutant kids, sure. But it doesn't give them (or the teachers) much opportunity in their day-to-day lives to interact with other kids their own age. If we're gonna go with a community where mutants and mundanes are going to live side by side, it seems a bit of a shame to have the mutant kids all be bused off to a swanky rich-kid school each day - not really much point having mundanes around to interact with, if for most of the day five days a week you aren't actually where the mundanes are. :uhoh

There's a lot of scope for scandalous mutant-mundane romances, petty kids-being-kids stuff, mundane students who aren't respecting their mutant teachers properly, interactions between mutant and mundane members of staff, and a whole lot of potential meaty/juicy stuff that just... doesn't work if we bundle up the mutants and ship them off to the X-Men school.

[Evelyn Cato]

If anyone needs/wants an immortal history buff, let me know :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Cullen's campus would be safe for the mutant kids, in town maybe not as much.

edit: I remember where we were talking about Droo, Kingston NY (the smaller one)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_%28town%29,_New_York

for being the nearby town, while the school is near the shore of the Ashokan Resevoir, as there's a boathouse and such on the property. These were just our thoughts from a year or so ago, so certainly up for debate.

I dunno where I got Westchester from, that's probably the comic place for the X mansion isn't it lol

[Vittore Montegue]

If we're wanting to create a town where mutants and mundanes can live in harmony... what's the point, if it's not safe for kids?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I thought we were taking about the town that's near Cullen's being different from the town you guys are wanting to RP in. So it would make sense that people aren't attending Cullen's.

[Vittore Montegue]

I'm really confused then, because this -


One of the things talked about was a town in upstate NY where Mutants and Mundanes live together openly and without fear, a sanctuary of sorts. Cullen's would be near (I think Westchester? I can't remember) and also the Big Apple.

- makes it sound like the town we'd be roleplaying in would be near Cullens.

If the whole haven/sanctuary/Eureka town is different from that then fair enough, but that doesn't seem to be what you've said so far. ;)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

NEAR enough to visit, but not the town next door. Sorry, I wasn't clear enough I guess. :p

edit: I also said that New York City would be near. Near in USA terms means like a train or car ride away, not walking distance. ;)

[Inyos Aamoran]

That's what "near" means when you grew up in the middle of rural England too. ;)

I guess what bothers me is that if Cullen's is close enough to this new township that you can drive there in a few hours... then you'd have to be a pretty shitty parent to not enroll your mutant child there. It is clearly better. It's a safe environment that caters explicitly to mutants, and that focuses on helping them to understand their powers/abilities as well as on their education. It is close enough to the new township that you can visit on the weekends if need be - not perfect, but it's clearly the option that is in the best interests of your kid.

If you choose to not go for that option, and enroll your kid in the co-ed high school instead... either you're choosing that for your own benefit because you want to keep your kid around (instead of inconveniencing yourself for the benefit of your kid's education/development), or you are making some kind of "political statement" with your child. You're showing your support for the township, or you are taking a stand against "mutant elitism" or segregation or... whatever.

For the idea of the township being some safe haven to work... having an even safer haven within driving distance seems a little counter-productive. If having Cullen's nearby is so important, then it probably makes sense for the township to actually be Westchester, and have Cullen's expand to be more inclusive by adding non-mutants to the faculty and student body. Make it a... the mutants are inviting the mundanes to come and live with them sort of dynamic.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

So the options are:

--Separate from Cullens, but we'd have to shutter Cullens for that to make sense, unless the haven town isn't in NY at all.

--The town nearest to Cullens, and mundane kids are invited to go to school there as well. Some kids live at home, others at the boarding school. This town is either Westchester or Kingston (my preference as this isn't the X-mansion and it's a real place with a real lake and stuff, within train ride distance to NYC). edit: if all the previous RPing (years ago) was saying that Cullen's is near Westchester then I guess that's that :p

[Captain Untouchable]

If Kingston is a real place, I'm all for sorta... hand-waving and saying Cullen's has been there the whole time. I think we probably just fell into a trap of assuming it was in Westchester because comics, rather than because that's what the actual lore was. :lol Real places are a bit more fun (to my mind at least) because there's maps and photographs and all that. Plus, a lake sounds fun! :ohno (is there a squid monster in it?)

And yeah, that sums up the options pretty nicely. :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The Resevoir is really pretty, too. :3:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashokan_Reservoir

[Captain Untouchable]

It's also amusingly close to Woodstock.

Dang mutant hippies! :lol