@Ziggy-loves-Shiggy
About seventy years ago, the governments and societies of the world collapsed. There was a period of utter anarchy, of chaos. A time with no law, no order, no control. They call it the Savage Age, and rightly so. The strong banned together as gangs who bull-dozed over the weak or innocent. People were stabbed, eaten, raped, drowned, chopped up into tiny pieces, fed to dogs, burned alive, and tortured in so many ungodly ways that it would take too long to tell of it all. It felt like an eternity, but it only lasted about ten years before someone started to change it.
The population had been reduced by about 75%. Those who hadn't died at the hands of the cruel died from starvation, dehydration, illness, or injury. There was no government, no hospitals, no police, no electricity, no anything. So many innocent people, especially children and the elderly, died. And so many good people were corrupted in the process, pressured by fear and desperation to join those aforementioned savage groups in order to just live another day. So by the time anyone stepped in to change things, everyone had suffered irreversible damage.
But he promised to fix it.
He was Maxim Cross, a young man who had been a pacifist before this world went to crap. The Savage Age made him do things that he never would've done before, desperate things to save his family (who were altogether killed eventually, anyway), and his conscience weighed on him. He felt that it was his duty, his destiny, to fix it, to repair society so that no one else would have to suffer or cause suffering to others. He had gathered a large group of followers who rallied behind his cause, a group large enough to make a difference. Despite his pacifism, his men seemed to have no problem gunning down any gangs who tried to take them down; they said it had to be done in order to protect the cause, because if Maxim died, the future of peace died, too.
People liked Maxim. He fed people. He gave eloquent speeches about what society could be. He was an idealist. He promised that people wouldn't be charged for what they had done during this time as long as they changed in the new society to come. He became the symbol for the future. It took time, but his group continued to grow and grow until enough people finally banned together to try to rebuild society.
And it worked.
Seventy years ago, the world fell.
Sixty years ago, Maxim Cross stepped onto the scene.
Fifty three years ago, they began constructing the city of Maxim Cross.
Twenty four years ago, they officially completed it.
Once Maxim managed to form some form of government, once enough engineers and scientists started coming together again, people were able to build something from the ashes of society. Everything got put back together. Everything started to go back to normal.
The only problem was that Maxim's regulations weren't strict enough. He still let too many people get away with too much. Society was still on an uneasy balance; anarchy still boiled beneath the surface. It would all collapse if something wasn't done. It was only a matter of time before one of the gangs he'd tried to purge would get strong enough to burn everything Maxim built to the ground again.
"It's over," he would say. "The violence has finally ended! I'm not going to be the one to stir it back up again."
But crime was still happening. People, still dying. And Maxim did nothing to stop it, so I wondered… if now that his life was cushy and he felt he had fulfilled his "duty," if he was willing to stand by and watch the world slowly crumble again, was he really any better than the people who tear it apart?
Maxim died shortly after. Most people don't know that I— Maxim's adopted child, only child, and protégé— killed him. It was quick, easy. I simply sabotaged his medications; he died peacefully in his sleep. I didn't do it out of bitterness or evil; I loved Maxim, and he loved me. He was my father. But the world was burning, and he was letting it. I couldn't stand by like he was. I might've been young, but I knew what needed to be done. I was his heir, after all. The people gladly let me fill his shoes.
That was little over a decade ago; I was seventeen when I killed Max. I've fixed society. The laws are strict; people who don't obey them are punished. I'm careful not to make martyrs of them, but examples. Society functions efficiently. People are assigned jobs based off of their strongest traits, things that they are most likely to excel at. Our city has grown, and I know that the future of it is going to be bright. Crime has been reduced drastically, and those who break them fear because they know what happens when they do. Some people consider me brutal, others consider me the world's savior.
But I'd describe myself as the guy who will do whatever it takes to keep my city and its people from burning.
So this is kind of a lowkey confusing blurb, but the gist is that this idealist named Maxim Cross saved the world from what was basically the apocalypse and an utter blood-bath of terror; he erected a massive megacity that advanced quickly and is now fully-functioning and self-sustaining, protected from outside threats by thick, tall walls. However, he didn't rule as strictly as some would hope, and crime still bled into the world, like an undercurrent chipping away at Maxim's work. Maxim's family had been killed during the Savage Age, but during the erection of the city, he adopted a young child who had lost his family to a brutal gang and had been through a lot of dark stuff. He took the boy in as his son, and the two had a strong bond. But Maxim's son saw that the man was doing little about the resurrection of the crime gangs and tried to convince him to stop them; Maxim refused to cause any more violence.
But his son did not.
His son killed Maxim and completely changed the laws and rules of the city, showing no mercy to rebels and gangs and criminals. He never harmed anyone who followed his laws or tried not to break them, never hurt anyone he saw as innocent, but those who intentionally disobeyed and stepped out of line? Those who threatened the bring down everything his father had built? Those people were tortured, publicly beaten or whipped until they were nothing but bloody heaps begging for mercy.
Because as far as he was concerned, that was the only way. The world still had a taste for blood; brutality still tainted the air. People had to be kept under control in order to keep the good safe.
The world is still a bit unstable, so at the age of 18, people are assigned jobs based on their natural inclinations and skill-sets in order to make sure society functions in the most efficient way possible; some people intentionally train their kids for specific jobs at a young age so they'll score for good jobs on the Occupation Test. People who disagree with this are banished to the Outside, which is the world beyond the walls. The Outside is a terrible place— essentially, everything the world was before Maxim stepped in. If there are other cities somewhere way out there, we don't know where or anything about them. Since the ruler of the city does take good care of the people who are loyal to him, most people don't complain about the strict laws, the curfew hours, the job-assignments. They're just thankful to be safe again.
Well, most people. There are rebel groups, though. Groups who want a world where people can be safe and free. Some say it's not possible with the bloodlust still fresh in mind of so many, but others say it is, and that things aren't going to get better if people are controlled so strictly.
What I'm thinking is a RP between the current leader of Maxim Cross City and a leader of one of the largest rebel groups trying to take the city over. I don't know what will happen, but I expect a lot of torture on both sides. Maybe it'll be an enemies to lovers or something; maybe it'll be enemies to worse enemies. Maybe they'll be forced to work together when a more powerful and definitely evil gang tries to take down the city so that they can be tyrants. I don't know. I just think it's an interesting concept, and that it'll be fun.
If you like screwed up governments/politics, characters who walk morally grey lines by doing the wrong things for the right reason or vice versa, torture/whump/violence, and dynamic interactions, this is the RP for you.
I would like to be Maxim's son, and you can be the rebel leader, but if you would like to swap the two I might be able to work with it.
Rules are:
NO f-bomb or gd; language stays PG-13
NO superpowers or supernatural things
NO playing my characters
NO unnecessary vulgar or offensive terms
NO explicit sexual content
Warnings are:
Violence
Blood
Gore
Innuendos
References to dark themes such as rape, molestation, cannibalism, etc.
High-stake scenarios
Possible torture scenes
Use of weapons
Please warn me of any triggers.
Sorry my prompt is sloppy. This idea is very clear in my head but I'm bad at explaining. Please ask questions if needed.