Hi, I'm pug. I've been GMing freeform RP for eight years, and motorcycling for three. (Current ride is a 2020 Royal Enfield INT650.) I've been tossing around the ideas for this RP for probably about two years now, but it just so happens the riding season is just coming to a close as the cold weather moves in. So my fellow bikers and I can motorcycle vicariously for a while.

Along the way we can also do slice-of-life stuff including turf wars, police chases, school hijinx, romance/relationships, and whatever you guys want.

Being a motorcyclist, or being interested in motorcycling and the [i]bōsōzoku[/i] culture isn't necessary, but it'll help. I hope it might even inspire someone to take an MSF course and start riding for the first time.

This RP might also be for you if you like James Dean movies, [i]Akira[/i], [i]Cool Hand Luke[/i], [i]Great Teacher Onizuka[/i], or any other fiction which deals in disobedience and social estrangement as core motifs.

[hider=Content Warnings][list][*]There will be scenes of graphic and explicit violence.
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[*]There will be graphic depictions of drug abuse.
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[*]There will be implied, off-screen sex between consenting minors. (I don't RP that stuff and I definitely don't want it in my game. You and your writing partner can take it to PM's if you really must.)
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[*]Most characters are from broken homes and "the wrong side of the tracks." Consequently there will be themes of abuse, neglect, abandonment, and trauma.
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[*]Some gangs wear fascist imagery and symbols to protest modern Japanese values, or simply to shock and offend others. (These symbols, slogans, salutes, etc. belong in-character (IC) only. We will not condone these symbols, or the ideologies they represent, out-of-character (OOC); and any player who espouses them OOC will be immediately booted. No warning, no second chances.)[/list][/hider]

Now, technically this is an historical game, as the goal of [i]VERGE[/i] will be to tell a small, character-driven story about delinquency and belonging within the [i]zeitgeist[/i] of boom-era Japan. However there will be some historical discrepancies, mostly to improve play by placing greater emphasis on things like character design and player agency. These are:

[quote][list][*]IRL most [i]bōsōzoku[/i] motorcycles were between 250cc and 400cc. In my version of the setting you can ride any make/model of bike you want, from the years (say) 1960 to 1982. Although anything foreign is rare, you can own a CBX1000, a Z1, or whatever domestic super-sport you fancy with relative ease.
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[*]Well over 90% of real [i]bōsōzoku[/i] (and criminals in general) are male, but our cast will have roughly an even split between guys and girls.
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[*]Most gangs are gender-segregated, so to explain why we have girls and guys all riding together, our gang is actually an alliance ([i]rengō[/i]) between an all-male gang, called [i]Gekokujō[/i] ("Overthrow from Below"), and an all-female gang, called [i]Akushitsuna Kīsu[/i] ("Vicious Kiss").
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[*]We're using a fictional version of the Tokyo metropolitan area, so we are not beholden to IRL geography; in fact you're encouraged to invent your own landmarks for the city, like an [i]Ame-mura[/i], favorite hangout spots for the gangs, reform schools and youth prisons, etc. However the geographic features of Hizuwa City's Yamashin Ward do [i]broadly[/i] follow IRL: suburbs sandwiched between metropolis and snaking mountain roads. (If you need IRL reference, see the town of Niiza in Saitama.)
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[*]This setting's gangs have invented their own system for distinguishing friend from foe in the throes of battle: most of them (at least those from the same prefecture) should know which gang you're from simply by noting the secondary color of the lettering and symbolism, stitched onto the primary color of your [i]tokkōfuku[/i]. This almost works like pre-Norman heraldry, in that your uniform's basic color scheme is exclusive to your "clan" and immediately belies your allegiances. ([i]Gekokujō's[/i] colors are red on cream; [i]Akushitsuna Kīsu's[/i] are pink on navy-black.)[/list][/quote]
[right][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/617914243760783381/772710562265825310/polaroid.png[/img][/right]
That's mostly it, then. Here's to the scream of the engines, the taste of the exhaust, and the sting of the wind in our eyes. Hope to see you on the road.