forum (CLOSED) If You Fight It You're The Enemy | Dystopian | (Small Group 4/4)
Started by @Miz
tune

people_alt 53 followers

@Miz

Based on the music videos Identity, Riptide & Dirty by Grandson (bc I’m obsessed).

It’s the classic tale of Rebels vs. Corrupt Leader. The corrupt leader asserts his leadership through brainwashing the population. There are those who have managed to avoid being brainwashed (something that requires a willing mind), and are identifiable by signs of individuality and straying from the norm. The rebels are a small, unbrainwashed group trying to assassinate the corrupt leader, and in turn are risking being killed for refusal to conform.

Our two characters are rebels that have infiltrated the corrupt leader’s working place in an attempt to get close enough to kill him. They have to pretend to be brainwashed in a place where the actual brainwashed are constantly on the lookout for people like them.

Will they succeed?

Other Details:
-People are taught from a young age that brainwashing is the solution for peace.
-Brainwashing in this universe is conducted during mandatory camp when a person reaches the age of 18. If it is attempted beforehand, the brainwasher risks permanently damaging the subject's brain. Because of this, all minors are closely monitored for signs of rebellion until they turn eighteen.
-Each successfully brainwashed person is tattooed an identification number on the back of their neck in the center of the corrupt leader's symbol. The rebel have figured out a way to replicate this.
-To refuse brainwashing is to ask for death. It is possible to fake it, but it's incredibly difficult to pull off.

Rules:
-Be a decent human being, please.
-Try your best with proper grammar!
-One-liners are fine in moderation but too many and it's hard for me to contribute in return.
-Cursing is totally fine by me. Sexual content is not.
-LGBT+ friendly!
-Please DM me if you have any triggers or if there's anything that makes you uncomfy so I can avoid it! Mine are below!
-I retain the right to add more rules if I feel the need.

What I'm Uncomfy With:
-Allusions to sex is totally fine, but anything explicit is completely off the table.
-Descriptive drunk people/alcoholics (glossing over it is fine, though)

I'd prefer this to be more of a close-knit group of friends than anything romantic, but whatever happens, happens. If certain characters have chemistry, then they have chemistry lol. I'll post a character template if people show interest!

@Miz

CHARACTER TEMPLATE
Name:
Age: (16-20)
Gender:
Appearance:
Outfit:
Personality:
Background: (Optional) (Please summarize)
Theme Song: (Optional)
Other:
*Note: Characters must have relatively natural appearances for the sake of this roleplay! (No dyed hair or piercings, for example.)

CHARACTERS:
@Miz
Name: Wren Thompson
Age: Eighteen
Gender: Female; she/her pronouns.
Appearance: About 5'6", with short, dark brown hair that's curly on the top and buzzed at the sides and back, leaving the tattoo on her neck completely exposed. Her skin is tanned and her eyes are light brown. Overall she has an athletic build.
Outfit:
Personality: Wren is well-mannered but incredibly blunt. She doesn't mince words and she doesn't spare feelings, even when she really ought to. But beneath this is an insecure, terrified teenager who just wants to be her.
Background: Wren was raised by two brainwashed parents and taught, as every other child, that she must become like them. She never questioned this belief, instead bottling up her individuality and pretending to be something she wasn't. It wasn't until one of her teachers risked their lives showing the kids another option that she realized things weren't supposed to be that way. Shortly after turning eighteen, she successfully faked being brainwashed and from there on worked to free others of the same fate.
Theme Song: Sunshine Riptide by Fall Out Boy
Other: N/A

@SoldierB
Name: Eric
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Appearance: 3/4 Mexican, 1/4 Korean, light brown skin, black hair, and brown eyes.
Outfit: wears glasses with black frames and a grey jacket, but his usual attire is shirts with logos on them (or tie-dye shirts), cargo shorts, and sneakers.
Personality: Eric is close to being considered talkative and always tries to listen to what others have to say He is a person who always tries to make sure he doesn't get on anyone's bad side since he has trouble defending himself in a fight. When he is in an argument he would think to himself if the argument is worth his time, then he would either argue or just say "Ok. You're right." He tends to get messy and slow from time to time especially when it comes to cooking.
Background: He was abandoned as a kid by his parents and spent most of his life in an orphanage. He gave himself a nickname for the other kids to call him, which was PD. He later realized it wasn't suitable for him but the other kids still called him PD. He was called Eric Marx by the adults at the orphanage because he shared some ideas Karl Marx had.
Theme Song: Korobeniki (Tetris theme)
Other: He knows a dog named Todd who likes cheese

@Becfromthedead
Name: Tohru Yamakawa (usually goes by his full name, but Ru by some close friends and Yama as a more impersonal nickname- essentially for when people want to call him by his last name but don't feel like saying the whole thing)
Age: 19
Gender: Male, he/him pronouns, sometimes they/them
Personality: A little cold and gruff at first, can come off as sarcastic and rude, but he's really just a bit anxious when meeting new people. Once shown kindness, he is quick to warm up and is typically the more considerate type, even if it's just a product of not wanting to step on anyone's toes. He is a very practical person and likes to think through options before making decisions, but he is not overly analytical and believes gut instincts have a lot of value. He is an introvert and has a good amount of creativity and strategy bouncing around in his head. That said, he occasionally has his head in the clouds and misses things. He prefers to make plans before taking action, but is capable of making on-the-fly decisions if absolutely necessary. He's a lot tougher than he seems at first glance.
Apperance/Outfit: Long, straight black hair, usually tied back into a low bun, Thin and angular face shape, well-defined jaw, narrow upturned dark brown eyes, well-groomed eyebrows, very clean-shaven and clearly taken care of, 5'10, light tan complexion with cooler undertones, lean and fit; he usually wears slimmer-fitting pants and raglan tees, with a preference for a darker color palette
Background: Keeping this brief until we delve more into the story. Tohru was born to two brainwashed parents. His dad is in fact a very important figure who helps preside over the brainwashing. He was supposed to get brainwashed over a year ago, but some people helped him fake it. He never got to know their names or thank them, but all he knows is he wants to be like them and keep other people from having this fate. Due to his pretty mellow and quiet nature, it's been easy to hide the truth, but he's so scared his facade will eventually crack.
Theme Song: Welcome to the Family- Avenged Sevenfold
Other: gay, has mild anxiety but on the surface, it seems like he functions very well

SUMMARY:

Deleted user

(Hey, is this still open? If so, may I join? Also, how does the brainwashing work? Is it more like, convincing the people nothing is wrong but otherwise letting them go about their lives, or is it full on mind control?)

@Miz

(Yes, please do! And as for your questions: In this universe, children are taught their whole lives that brainwashing is the solution, although it's not usually called that. Most people refer to it as 'Ascending'. So it starts out as suggestions and pressure to conform, but when people turn eighteen, they're sent to a camp where they're systematically injected with a serum. This serum doesn't completely control the person's mind, but takes over the moment they begin to question things. It's kinda like a parasite that only gets involved when the person starts to think or do something that it doesn't like! It also mutes the person's emotions and memories of before brainwashing. In general, brainwashed people go about their lives as they normally would, but without the emotions or mental capacity as they would have in our world. Like zombies!)

Deleted user

(Sweet Jesus. I know it's supposed to be terrible, but that sounds amazing)

@Miz

(Thanks lol. I got most of my inspiration from the videos I linked in the original post, then just filled in the gaps with my own ideas! I would recommend checking at least Dirty for a pretty quick summary ^^)

Deleted user

(I can imagine the look on the villain's face when they see four lunatics setting his plans on fire)

Deleted user

(I nearly forgot to put this up)

Name: Eric
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Appearance: 3/4 Mexican, 1/4 Korean, light brown skin, black hair, and brown eyes.
Outfit: wears glasses with black frames and a grey jacket, but his usual attire is shirts with logos on them (or tie-dye shirts), cargo shorts, and sneakers.
Personality: Eric is close to being considered talkative and always tries to listen to what others have to say He is a person who always tries to make sure he doesn't get on anyone's bad side since he has trouble defending himself in a fight. When he is in an argument he would think to himself if the argument is worth his time, then he would either argue or just say "Ok. You're right." He tends to get messy and slow from time to time especially when it comes to cooking.
Background: He was abandoned as a kid by his parents and spent most of his life in an orphanage. He gave himself a nickname for the other kids to call him, which was PD. He later realized it wasn't suitable for him but the other kids still called him PD. He was called Eric Marx by the adults at the orphanage because he shared some ideas Karl Marx had.
Theme Song: Korobeniki (Tetris theme)
Other: He knows a dog named Todd who likes cheese

@Miz

(I can relate to the whole 'has trouble defending himself in a fight', ngl. But yeah, I really like him!! I would suggest one thing, but you don't necessarily have to change it—in this universe, since the very large majority of people are brainwashed, there wouldn't be any motive for parents to actually abandon their kids (since that goes against the general idea of peace). Unless their parents weren't brainwashed at all lol.)

Deleted user

(When his parents abandoned him, they weren't brainwashed. Thank you for the compliment tho.)

Deleted user

(Some people think I chose Korobeniki because I'm supposedly being my, and I quote, "my persona or my username" but in actuality, Tetris was the first video game I played as a kid. Brings back memories.)

Deleted user

(I put a meme reference in my character template. And now I'm waiting for someone to point it out)

@Becfromthedead group

Name: Tohru Yamakawa (usually goes by his full name, but Ru by some close friends and Yama as a more impersonal nickname- essentially for when people want to call him by his last name but don't feel like saying the whole thing)
Age: 19
Gender: Male, he/him pronouns, sometimes they/them
Personality: A little cold and gruff at first, can come off as sarcastic and rude, but he's really just a bit anxious when meeting new people. Once shown kindness, he is quick to warm up and is typically the more considerate type, even if it's just a product of not wanting to step on anyone's toes. He is a very practical person and likes to think through options before making decisions, but he is not overly analytical and believes gut instincts have a lot of value. He is an introvert and has a good amount of creativity and strategy bouncing around in his head. That said, he occasionally has his head in the clouds and misses things. He prefers to make plans before taking action, but is capable of making on-the-fly decisions if absolutely necessary. He's a lot tougher than he seems at first glance.
Apperance/Outfit: Long, straight black hair, usually tied back into a low bun, Thin and angular face shape, well-defined jaw, narrow upturned dark brown eyes, well-groomed eyebrows, very clean-shaven and clearly taken care of, 5'10, light tan complexion with cooler undertones, lean and fit; he usually wears slimmer-fitting pants and raglan tees, with a preference for a darker color palette
Background: Keeping this brief until we delve more into the story. Tohru was born to two brainwashed parents. His dad is in fact a very important figure who helps preside over the brainwashing. He was supposed to get brainwashed over a year ago, but some people helped him fake it. He never got to know their names or thank them, but all he knows is he wants to be like them and keep other people from having this fate. Due to his pretty mellow and quiet nature, it's been easy to hide the truth, but he's so scared his facade will eventually crack.
Theme Song: Welcome to the Family- Avenged Sevenfold
Other: gay, has mild anxiety but on the surface, it seems like he functions very well

@Miz

(I added him to the list ^^ Now we're just waiting on @chimken-numgget to get theirs up, and then I'll post a starter!)