What does a scanner see? Into the head? Down into the heart?

Started by Datawych, October 11, 2013, 03:34:58 PM

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Datawych




Does a passive infrared scanner like they used to use or a cube-type holo-scanner like they use these days, the latest thing, see into me - into us - clearly or darkly? I hope it does, he thought, see clearly, because I can't any longer these days see into myself. I see only murk. Murk outside; murk inside. I hope, for everyone's sake, the scanners do better. Because, he thought, if the scanner sees only darkly, the way I myself do, then we are cursed, cursed again and like we have been continually, and we'll wind up dead this way, knowing very little and getting that little fragment wrong too.



Hey all, Datawych here again with an attempt to start an RP that I've been wanting to try for a number of years. If you recognize the title, that puts you in a good position already, but for those who don't, it's from Phillip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly, a near-future story about a group of drug addicts and the dark world where they dwell. Where ugly things and surprising things - and sometimes, little wondrous things - spill out at them constantly, and they can count on nothing.

Orange County, 8 years from now. A world rocked by the so-called Substance D epidemic, where a full 25% of the population can be classified as addicts. The prices of conventional narcotics - marijuana, hashish, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin - have all skyrocketed, leaving a void that those addicts who are unable to pay for them are trying to fill.

Substance D. D... Like if you were a diabetic and you didn't have money for insulin, would you steal to get the money, or just die? D is for dumbness and despair. Desertion. Desertion of your friends from you, you from your friends. Everyone from everyone. Desolation, loneliness... Hating, and suspecting each other. D is finally death. A slow death. From the head down.

Substance D is a cheap, potent hallucinogen that causes an intense euphoria. It can also be combined with nearly any other drug, creating a much more intense experience than the other drug could by itself. It is not uncommon for users to use methamphetamine cut with Substance D, or so called 'mex-hits' - heroin combined with D. Unfortunately, D is highly addictive and destructive, and with extended use can cause things like permanent hallucinations, extreme paranoia, schizophrenia, and multiple personality disorder. No one can try Substance D without becoming addicted. There are no 'weekend warriors' on the D. You're either on it, or you haven't tried it.


What I'm looking for is a small group of people (between 1 and 3, though a group will change the dynamic of the story, most likely) interested in conducting an RP in this setting. Non-canon characters are preferred. I'm not looking for people who want to re-create the book (or the movie), but a group of people with ideas for characters that would fit in this setting. Sex and drug abuse will be the main themes, as the characters either struggle to maintain some semblance of normal lives, or spiral out of control until their heads are so scrambled that they're forced to enter treatment at New Path, a monolithic recovery program that exploits those whose minds have been destroyed by Substance D to further perpetuate a society of addiction and consumption.

Don't expect this to be lighthearted. This is a story about those individuals who will act as canaries in the coal mine for the rest of us. Those whose lives will be irreparably damaged by something of which they have very little understanding.

Datawych

Character Portrait


Character NSFW


Name: Erika 'Stardust' Sullivan
Age: 19
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 105
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Pink (naturally brown)
Day job: Go-Go Dancer
Narcotics used: Marijuana (and derivatives), Ecstasy, Ketamine, Substance D, Cocaine
Background:
Erika never got along well with her parents. They always seemed to be pushing her to do things that she had no interest in. Both of her parents were doctors, so they had enough money to get her anything she ever wanted, but had almost no time to actually devote to their daughter. Regardless of what Erika said, her parents seemed determined that she would one day follow in their footsteps, using their considerable wealth and connections to get her a job at a leading hospital, where she could make them proud.

But Erika had never been interested in being a doctor. She was much more interested in partying, and the combination of her family's wealth and her general lack of supervision meant that she got to do plenty of it. At 16, she dropped out of high school, with hopes of becoming either a model or a famous House DJ. Upon making the decision, her parents kicked her out of the house, refusing to support her until she got her act together.

Erika has gotten a job as a go-go dancer in various nightclubs around town, as well as in the booming illegal rave scene. Erika isn't exactly proud of what she does for a living, and has taken to wearing a white rabbit mask while dancing to hide her identity. However, most of her friends are aware of what she does; she has too much lingerie and too many pairs of stripper heels to hide it very well. Her ecstasy habit has grown progressively worse as she takes the drug to keep her energy up while working, and to help her deal with her increasingly depressing life. Despite her increasing need for money, she refuses to work at a strip club, even though what she does isn't much different. She makes enough money to support her lifestyle, though she no longer has the funds to purchase cocaine or ketamine in the amounts she had grown used to while living with her parents. She is currently homeless, but is cute enough and has enough friends that she has never had any trouble finding a place to crash.

Frosty bite

Hey I'm interested in playing with you but since I'm new here, I don't know much about the sites....so play on this thread itself ? sorry I know it makes me sound stupid.



Breathes there a man with soul so dead, who never to his wife hath said, "Breakfast be damned, come back to bed."



O/O's Thread

Datawych

Quote from: lustythoughts on October 13, 2013, 08:03:38 AM
Hey I'm interested in playing with you but since I'm new here, I don't know much about the sites....so play on this thread itself ? sorry I know it makes me sound stupid.
Nah, quite alright. Since this thread is on the RP request board, we don't typically post actual story content. I haven't posted an in-character thread yet. The interest in this one seems to be a little lacking (though with the content, I'm not really that surprised).