[?] A Certain Masked Man OOC

Right. So I was going to write in a bunch of plot hooks for people to jump in on but after a little discussion, we decided that it would be best to use the OOC thread to discuss with people how to best introduce their characters.

We've got a few options already but if you've got an idea for how your character can get involved then feel free to put it up here and we can figure out the best way to get the ball rolling.

Hmm, well for Oda I think it could very easy to get him involved. He's basically like a dog trapped in a human so give him a whiff of trouble or incident. Or just doing a good deed, maybe helping the others would send him right in.

Or just you know place food somewhere.

When speaking of introductions, I think we're rather going for stuff we're going to initiate ourselves and that Guy is going to gear back towards the actual plot. So it won't be up to Guy to handle what hooks your character on this case specifically.

Well there are a couple of obvious plot hooks for people who don't have an overt reason to join in.

They could coincidentally happen by the scene of the crime just as it's occurring. (Don't worry, I won't initiate an instant bad end, though picking a fight with our antagonist might not end well for your character.)

Or they might come across the aftermath (and probably have to deal with Anti Skill when they arrive.)

Failing that my next scene was possibly going to be the arrival of Anti Skill to investigate, which might offer some more incentives and possibilities.

They might already be investigating the rumour of a Masked psycho (I'm thinking someone naturally curious like Kita for instance.)

Someone like Oda might hear about the incident through their friends/coworkers at Judgement.

Mugino could be forced to investigate via orders from her superiors in the Dark Side.

These are all just possible suggestions to give you ideas though. Think about your characters and what might be an interesting way to get them searching for the Masked Man, whether it relates to the opening crime scene or their personal motivations.

In this instance I would be happy to amend the OP to hep people get on their feet, but in future threads that might not be the case.

That's fair enough, I have some general idea how to get involved the general hooks for Oda are rather easy to make up. He usually blunders into situations, but the obvious being he could hear about the incident or situation from other judgement members. And his usual behaviour is to patrol or help out if it rings his curiosity.

Yeah, though this kinda tells me you'll be going after some of the players since I assume people like the dark side agents will get the info first over the authorities (rumour or not). You could look into a daytime skip if everyone's fine with it so that Taichi has a reasonable window of time to get involved, but I think some people are going to be jumping the gun more on chasing him already in the next few hours.

Honestly, Jin probably just got bored and decided to chase down a guy that doesn't exist because he felt like having wild goose for dinner.

He could also, as Guy suggested, stumble upon the official investigation and decide that they need his "help." (Hint. His idea of help, isn't helping.)

But perhaps simplest of all, is him seeing some of the other characters starting to gather, and joining them whether they like it or not- After all, it seems like fun!

Also? Dibs on dead dude's fedora.

Honestly, it seems right that dark side characters act first upon this incident. I don't see suddenly Oda come running in the midst of this incident and get involved straight away. Just as usual it would be the authorities that would be slow to get involved.

However, I'm not the only normal esper on here. If any of you want to do something as I don't think you lot would get any information before dark side let me know.

I was rather saying that it's either a daytime skip, or the dark side members and other shady characters go first. The underdogs aren't going to wait until the sun's out to do their stuff. Trying to pull off both would just be kinda awkward.

Ignore me that's me being tired getting mixed up. I do think the underdogs would be more likely to respond first.

After some thought, I've decided to change Mirai's situation for this plot so that she is post-incident, that is, transferred to Sakugawa and in a wheelchair, embittered. As for getting involved in the plot, now that few care about what she does and where she goes, going out at night is no longer as much of an issue. She will be searching for her ex-lover's whereabouts, as well as idly considering the possibility of finding out if the so-called Masked Man killed him, or if she could somehow find and convince the Masked Man to go after him for her.

In any case, she will be around there at night by chance and be drawn to the commotion caused by the first responders discovering the scene of the crime. If any of this will end up posing a problem, let me know.

Post incident? Hmm Oda and Kaneko are in the same school then. So maybe we could do something there? Unless you want to do your own thing? Let me know.

Hujisaka Natsumi wrote:I was rather saying that it's either a daytime skip, or the dark side members and other shady characters go first. The underdogs aren't going to wait until the sun's out to do their stuff. Trying to pull off both would just be kinda awkward.

I'm actually going to second this.

Not entirely sure how to start it off, but I think I could do a Mugino arguing over the phone kinda thing.

Mugino Shizuri wrote:

Hujisaka Natsumi wrote:I was rather saying that it's either a daytime skip, or the dark side members and other shady characters go first. The underdogs aren't going to wait until the sun's out to do their stuff. Trying to pull off both would just be kinda awkward.

I'm actually going to second this.

Not entirely sure how to start it off, but I think I could do a Mugino arguing over the phone kinda thing.

That was my first idea. Perhaps sending her after the same item the Masked Man just stole or after MM himself.

Kaneko Mirai wrote:After some thought, I've decided to change Mirai's situation for this plot so that she is post-incident, that is, transferred to Sakugawa and in a wheelchair, embittered. As for getting involved in the plot, now that few care about what she does and where she goes, going out at night is no longer as much of an issue. She will be searching for her ex-lover's whereabouts, as well as idly considering the possibility of finding out if the so-called Masked Man killed him, or if she could somehow find and convince the Masked Man to go after him for her.

In any case, she will be around there at night by chance and be drawn to the commotion caused by the first responders discovering the scene of the crime. If any of this will end up posing a problem, let me know.

That could be interesting. Though if she tries to enlist his help I doubt he'll be particularly cooperative. Exactly how 'uncooperative' he might be is a matter of circumstances though. In either case would she be turning up on the night of the murder or going out looking for him another night?

Oda Taichi wrote:Post incident? Hmm Oda and Kaneko are in the same school then. So maybe we could do something there? Unless you want to do your own thing? Let me know.

This is good. Depending on how you two want to handle their relationship they could be introduced together or separately. (Are they friends? Does Taichi follow Mirai out of concern for her safety even though she doesn't know or want him there? Or does she drag him along? Perhaps they both happen to be out at the same time for different reasons?)

Takamiya Jin wrote:Honestly, Jin probably just got bored and decided to chase down a guy that doesn't exist because he felt like having wild goose for dinner.

He could also, as Guy suggested, stumble upon the official investigation and decide that they need his "help." (Hint. His idea of help, isn't helping.)

But perhaps simplest of all, is him seeing some of the other characters starting to gather, and joining them whether they like it or not- After all, it seems like fun!

Also? Dibs on dead dude's fedora.

Either would work given his personality and tendencies. Though I don't know how long it will be before everyone meets up in one place.

We've discussed things. While they won't be friends, a brief introduction will take place in an upcoming plot which takes place before this one, in which Taichi will become curious enough about her to follow along on her late night wanderings.

She will coincidentally be out looking for Sekigahara on the night of the murder, being unknowingly followed by Taichi, when she discovers the crime scene being attended to by law enforcement. Most likely she won't learn much other than hearing mumblings about the so-called Masked Man, which will ignite her quest for vengeance. While getting the Masked Man's help is a very unlikely task, she wishes to at least try.

Aleister Crowley wrote:

Mugino Shizuri wrote:

Hujisaka Natsumi wrote:I was rather saying that it's either a daytime skip, or the dark side members and other shady characters go first. The underdogs aren't going to wait until the sun's out to do their stuff. Trying to pull off both would just be kinda awkward.

I'm actually going to second this.

Not entirely sure how to start it off, but I think I could do a Mugino arguing over the phone kinda thing.

That was my first idea. Perhaps sending her after the same item the Masked Man just stole or after MM himself.

Yeah, let's go with bringing back the item. That sounds the most promising right now. After all it entails both dealing with the Masked Man and well, getting the time.

I'm making sense?

Absolutely. So if you want to jump in with that as your intro we can have that occur on the same night as the murder while Mirai and Oda do their thing. Jin could tag along too if you feel like it, Slrarthryng?

Natsumi, any thoughts on your character?

Then we just need to figure out Murakami and Koyoko's appearances.

Sure, I could roll with that.

Also, as for the idea I mentioned on the box earlier, I lost a lot of enthusiasm for it when I realized it was basically a straight ripoff of This Deadpool trailer

Having a hard time thinking of a way to get involved with Koyoko as he isn't that nosey type, too much anyway. Especially when it comes to a serial murderer. After debating a bit, he wouldn't try to investigate the matter unless the matter somehow got personal, or he himself gets mixed up somehow.

1. An acquaintance of his giving him odd jobs for money, usually asking him to deliver things by with specific instructions how to deliver them. Given specific rules never to open the packages and to deliver them on time, preferably on foot. Is it suspicious and shady as hell? Of course, but it was good money, and worst case, he's gets in trouble for being a carrier having no knowledge of what was inside. Either the one handing out these strange jobs is killed, or someone he was supposed to deliver it to is killed. (Implying both the sender and receiver are both criminals of some kind.) Or perhaps Koyoko is targeted himself and escapes death but loses the package. Who knows.

2. One of the characters already investigating and already involved somehow connects him to the crimes. Koyoko is notorious for attacking espers and skill out delinquents regularly, albeit in self defense. What connects him to this strange masked individual is that the innocent Yoko decided to buy a similar looking mask and black wig to play a prank on Tsuru for no good reason . Perhaps while someone stalks and investigates him, he tries the mask briefly in a bathroom or a private area in general and puts on the wig just to see if it's comfortable, and it wouldn't help at the fact that Koyoko has a multi-tool (with a knife included in it) with him most times. Once accused of the crime, the misunderstanding would need to be cleared up, and it's a good segway to tell him about what's going on and asking if they can assist, given he is a delinquent himself and could off street knowledge.

These are kind of convoluted, i know, I'll try to think of something more simple if need be.

Well if there's no clear way for you to get involved under normal circumstances then as you suggest we can always have Koyoko courier another of the items required by the Masked Man.

RIP Koyoko.

Maybe even have Mugino going after it as well.

Double RIP.

The question is, do you want to put yourself in that situation?

If that's what we go with then it would make sense for Koyoko to appear the following night after a time skip.

So Mugino, Mirai, Oda and Jin can appear tonight, Koyoko the following night after a timeskip.

Assuming there are no objections all that's left is to figure out Natsumi and Kita/Murakami's entrances.

I feel this thread is gonna be so fun to read with that avatar. 

As far as I'm concerned, a bit of a writer's block but my primary idea was going alongside Iva's idea: having a job be the reason Natsumi gets involved to investigate, since it's about time I return Miyako to her status of "courier" for Natsumi's jobs.

Railgun manga did introduce the concept of faction ranking, IIRC, so while neither are them are in a faction, it wouldn't be surprising that there would be somewhat of a race going on between factions/agents to get the glory and rewards that come with it.

Or, on the other hand, I could actually play off the events of Arc 3 by having Miyako be the one attempting to investigate the matter and keeping Natsumi out of it, knowing the interest she'd growingly have if she were to investigate herself (and the outcome of the last time she got herself involved in a convoluted mess). Though she'd only manage to fail at it and shoot Natsumi's curiosity up the roof for later instances of the rumour as well.

If you've got any other idea, feel free to bring them up. That's all I have currently.

Aleister Crowley wrote:

The question is, do you want to put yourself in that situation?

If that's what we go with then it would make sense for Koyoko to appear the following night after a time skip.

So Mugino, Mirai, Oda and Jin can appear tonight, Koyoko the following night after a timeskip.

Assuming there are no objections all that's left is to figure out Natsumi and Kita/Murakami's entrances.

Y-yeah...I love the idea. Love it so much that I'm smiling so happily! Look!


But yeah, I'm fine with the idea. He might even lose an arm if he isn't too careful~. Koyoko will have no idea what item he's carrying, and if he's chased and somehow gets away, he might actually look inside to see what it is. If you wish to avoid that, I can have him drop it when he makes a desperate escape from one of the two (or both), or have it destroyed in the chaos. But I'm sure we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

#RIPYoko

Apologies for taking this long to respond, the last two days have been rather busy. That being said, of anything that I've attempted to come up with, I like your idea of her already investigating the Masked Man before this incident. As I've read from the OOC thus far (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), but it seems like being out on the night of the murder would be the best place for Kita. So, perhaps her interests were piqued through various rumors and during one of her nighttime escapades, she enters the scene with Jin. 

I know it's pretty uninspired, but I didn't have many great ideas, or rather many ideas period, of how to get Kita involved in this scenario. I know the whole "stumble upon" thing is not that great of an intro, so I might need a helping hand or a kick in the ass to get the juices flowing for an idea that's not just her being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Kita Tsukiko wrote:Apologies for taking this long to respond, the last two days have been rather busy. That being said, of anything that I've attempted to come up with, I like your idea of her already investigating the Masked Man before this incident. As I've read from the OOC thus far (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), but it seems like being out on the night of the murder would be the best place for Kita. So, perhaps her interests were piqued through various rumors and during one of her nighttime escapades, she enters the scene with Jin. 

I know it's pretty uninspired, but I didn't have many great ideas, or rather many ideas period, of how to get Kita involved in this scenario. I know the whole "stumble upon" thing is not that great of an intro, so I might need a helping hand or a kick in the ass to get the juices flowing for an idea that's not just her being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Well the two aren't mutually exclusive. She could be out looking for evidence of the rumour when she coincidentally stumbles upon the scene of the crime along with Jin, Oda and Mirai. It makes sense, even. Having people be in the right place at the right time isn't a terrible offence, so long as they have a reason for being there.

Hujisaka Natsumi wrote:I feel this thread is gonna be so fun to read with that avatar.  Twisted Evil

As far as I'm concerned, a bit of a writer's block but my primary idea was going alongside Iva's idea: having a job be the reason Natsumi gets involved to investigate, since it's about time I return Miyako to her status of "courier" for Natsumi's jobs.

Railgun manga did introduce the concept of faction ranking, IIRC, so while neither are them are in a faction, it wouldn't be surprising that there would be somewhat of a race going on between factions/agents to get the glory and rewards that come with it.

Or, on the other hand, I could actually play off the events of Arc 3 by having Miyako be the one attempting to investigate the matter and keeping Natsumi out of it, knowing the interest she'd growingly have if she were to investigate herself (and the outcome of the last time she got herself involved in a convoluted mess). Though she'd only manage to fail at it and shoot Natsumi's curiosity up the roof for later instances of the rumour as well.

If you've got any other idea, feel free to bring them up. That's all I have currently.

As we discussed over PM, Miyako would be looking into the rumour as a mission from her handlers in the Dark Side, which gives her a reason to turn up at the scene of the crime.

So. It seems like everyone is set for their introductions. So I give you all permission to post!. First come, first served. We won't worry too much about posting order, for now, just make sure that no one is getting left behind. Koyoko, you'll have to wait for a little I'm afraid. but we'll give you plenty of action once we get started. >

Iva, re: Chatbox discussions, Mugino could find the incident first to arrive on the scene due to scanning Anti Skill communications and being notified of suspicious activity. Or she could be the person he was running from in the first place. (he mentions 'losing them', so he was obviously on the run from someone.)

For that matter, the 'monitoring Anti Skill communications' idea could just as easily work for Kita, if you so choose.