Maulers (Mallers) Copyright?, Guerilla and Faction Warfare, Help Please

Hello my fellow forum members, some of you may or may not know (probably not) that I'm currently writing a screenplay set in a post-apocalyptic zombie/monster setting similar to WA. The story's centered around the conflicts between groups of survivors...for the most part for right now at least, it's also pretty much borderless (that involves far to much detail to begin to get into.) But anyway I'v just reached a point in the story that calls for giving as much information on 1 of the many factions/groups as possible without spoiling any events that aren't known to the viewer yet, the problem (if you can really call it that) is...well...this particular group is essentially an Anarchistic, semi-marxist, slightly more militaristic, possibly more multi-cultured and multi-racial, version of the Mallers in WA. Perhaps a little more info would help, for 1 they are allied with 3 (more like 2 and a half actually) other groups who are the main factions throughout California. 1 of the more WA Maller type aspects of this group is that they originated from outlaws, rogue soldiers, various types of criminals, and of course when "everything went down"...escaped prisoners. But back to my worry, should I be worried about copyright? I know I should just ask KC but for some reason I decided to come to the forums 1st.

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Originally Posted by HorrorHiro

Hello my fellow forum members, some of you may or may not know (probably not) that I'm currently writing a screenplay set in a post-apocalyptic zombie/monster setting similar to WA. The story's centered around the conflicts between groups of survivors...for the most part for right now at least, it's also pretty much borderless (that involves far to much detail to begin to get into.) But anyway I'v just reached a point in the story that calls for giving as much information on 1 of the many factions/groups as possible without spoiling any events that aren't known to the viewer yet, the problem (if you can really call it that) is...well...this particular group is essentially an Anarchistic, semi-marxist, slightly more militaristic, possibly more multi-cultured and multi-racial, version of the Mallers in WA. Perhaps a little more info would help, for 1 they are allied with 3 (more like 2 and a half actually) other groups who are the main factions throughout California. 1 of the more WA Maller type aspects of this group is that they originated from outlaws, rogue soldiers, various types of criminals, and of course when "everything went down"...escaped prisoners. But back to my worry, should I be worried about copyright? I know I should just ask KC but for some reason I decided to come to the forums 1st.

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Naw, I wouldn't worry about copyrights for something like that. If you were to call them the mallers, then there'd be an issue, but really, I don't think it's that close. Many post-apoc stories deal with nasty people rising to power. A concept that's not too far from the truth.

you talk about them being anarchists and semi marxist and militaristic. the problem is those are completely opposite 'philosophies'. anarchy is a lack of organized rule, while marxism and militarism (also known as fascism) revolve around tight control by a small ruling elite and absolute rule. now you can have a marxist society that looks anarchistc on the fringes; at the very bottom rung there are people the 'law' doesn't reach and as the most plentiful class of people, to outsiders it looks like anarchy, but anarchy and marxism/fascism are two opposite ends of the spectrum. if you'd like some help developing a social structure for this group i'd be happy to help you pound out the details. i know a bit about political philosophies and what i don't know i can find out very easily. no worries about credit or anything like that, i'm willing to 'donate' my help, if you want it.

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Originally Posted by reaper239

you talk about them being anarchists and semi marxist and militaristic. the problem is those are completely opposite 'philosophies'. anarchy is a lack of organized rule, while marxism and militarism (also known as fascism) revolve around tight control by a small ruling elite and absolute rule. now you can have a marxist society that looks anarchistc on the fringes; at the very bottom rung there are people the 'law' doesn't reach and as the most plentiful class of people, to outsiders it looks like anarchy, but anarchy and marxism/fascism are two opposite ends of the spectrum. if you'd like some help developing a social structure for this group i'd be happy to help you pound out the details. i know a bit about political philosophies and what i don't know i can find out very easily. no worries about credit or anything like that, i'm willing to 'donate' my help, if you want it.

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Any help that anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated. But what I mean when I say "Anarchistic and Marxist" is that their rather marxist when it comes to their enemies, they either want to control what the enemy controls (and will try to take whatever it may be they want with force) or to entirely eliminate the opposition...or both. They aren't very fascist though, mainly because of the multi-cultural and multi-racial aspects of their group. Because of these 2 aspects that play a large role in keeping this group united and trusting one another. Gender equality is also a major part of this group simply because (and I guess this could be considered as an homage to Scratch) if it wasn't for the females doing everything they could from the outside to do things like free prisoners and defending places like gun shops (that they planned on using as armories if they were to escape) from the looters for instance, this group most likely wouldn't be the power that it is. Their Anarchistic in the sense that yes they do have a slightly militaristic ranking system/order but it is by no means involuntary. All Anarchist are against involuntary hierarchy, systems etc. But most if not all Anarchists agree with voluntary order such as this. Much like a group their allied with they don't technically have "leaders" it's a very to each his own mentality most of the time, they do however instead of leaders they have people who pretty much act as place holders. Yes they do give instructions and orders but these people are only in the position that they are because they needed a people who could act as strategists and tactician of sorts. This is sort of the democratic aspect of this group because they all essentially "voted" (for lack of a better word) for these people in higher positions that can pretty can look at a map of an area and distribute man power as need. But these people aren't soldiers and the people they "voted" for aren't generals of any kind.

"Damn near each one of them is like a balance between a disciplined well trained soldier and a fucking roguish Guerilla revolutionary or something..." an exert/quote from an American soldier describing how he views this groups members.

the only problem i have with that is the criminal element. i'm part of a motorcycle club. we aren't outlaw, but we hang around clubs that are. criminals. from my experience with them, their old ladies are expected to do those types of things, and they're still treated like property. also, especially with the criminal element, cultural and racial differences drive apart, as opposed to pulling together. spend any amount of time in prisons and one of the first things you'll notice is that unless they're dealing, blacks don't mix with whites don't mix with latinos don't mix with asians. even in the racial groups, different gangs, different cultures, those things divide. koreans and chinese are both asian and they'll stand together in a race riot, but they tend to be separate otherwise. even outside, race and culture play big roles in associations. bloods and crips will shoot each other on sight, blacks and latinos are not allowed in the Hell's Angels, and the triads have trouble trusting anyone not asian. i love the structure that you have devised, i think it would work well, but i don't think that some of the elements you have mixed in there would permit such a social order to stand unmolested. criminals are criminals because they show a disregard for the personal liberties of others, and of common law. as such, without strict rules and enforcement, i believe that a society constructed of a large criminal element would devolve into chaos and eventually implode. it's very libertarian in nature, and criminals are all about control. likewise, soldiers operate on a very structured system, everything is ordered, and orders are passed down from on high. these are just suggestions and thoughts. if you can come up with a way in which these people all agreed to this form of order and self rule, then by all means do your thing. i think that you have developed a great system that, assuming everyone abides by the rules, would be a great regime to live under. however it is my opinion that there are too many differences, rivalries, and conflicts to make this sort of thing plausible with the elements you have present.

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Originally Posted by reaper239

the only problem i have with that is the criminal element. i'm part of a motorcycle club. we aren't outlaw, but we hang around clubs that are. criminals. from my experience with them, their old ladies are expected to do those types of things, and they're still treated like property. also, especially with the criminal element, cultural and racial differences drive apart, as opposed to pulling together. spend any amount of time in prisons and one of the first things you'll notice is that unless they're dealing, blacks don't mix with whites don't mix with latinos don't mix with asians. even in the racial groups, different gangs, different cultures, those things divide. koreans and chinese are both asian and they'll stand together in a race riot, but they tend to be separate otherwise. even outside, race and culture play big roles in associations. bloods and crips will shoot each other on sight, blacks and latinos are not allowed in the Hell's Angels, and the triads have trouble trusting anyone not asian. i love the structure that you have devised, i think it would work well, but i don't think that some of the elements you have mixed in there would permit such a social order to stand unmolested. criminals are criminals because they show a disregard for the personal liberties of others, and of common law. as such, without strict rules and enforcement, i believe that a society constructed of a large criminal element would devolve into chaos and eventually implode. it's very libertarian in nature, and criminals are all about control. likewise, soldiers operate on a very structured system, everything is ordered, and orders are passed down from on high. these are just suggestions and thoughts. if you can come up with a way in which these people all agreed to this form of order and self rule, then by all means do your thing. i think that you have developed a great system that, assuming everyone abides by the rules, would be a great regime to live under. however it is my opinion that there are too many differences, rivalries, and conflicts to make this sort of thing plausible with the elements you have present.

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I'm glad you made this point. I myself am around certain people of criminal and outlaw nature. These reasons you gave are exactly what I had to think about ways of overcoming for this particular group, since this is making out to be a show like series there'll probably be a rather long "special" if you will for this groups backstory. But I'll go ahead and give you the quick rundown on what had to happene for this faction to become who and what they are currently in the story's present. The Anarchist Black Cross Network played a large role in uniting of outlaws and criminals alike in this story, mainly by educating a lot of them and in a way recruiting them almost. Now obviously not all of the inmates wanted this (particularly the fascist ones.) along with inmates other Anarchist organizations reached out to younger people (particularly between the ages of 14 and 25.) Now when "the event" happened obviously not all of the inmates and outlaws got along, lets just say almost as soon as the prisoners were freed those who were intent on violently opposing or trying to control this group were...'disposed of' to say the least. Not all of the other inmates who opposed were 'disposed of' though, they didn't try and force anyone to join them and most of those who didn't join them united with others who opposed and went on to most likely try to survive on their own. the younger members on the outside knew the locations to head to once the shit hit the fan and a rather surprising number of them made it (not nessecarily the younger ones who were influenced, most likely they just got their friends to come with them.) Oh and just so you know every time I see a post from you I'm instantly going to think of Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy...yes for some reason both odd and unknown it is now impossible for me to picture you looking like anyone but him. Also this system is molested from the outside in at a later point in time. And as for things like differences, rivalries, conflicts etc. They have pretty much become quite liberal in nature They see each other as equals regardless of background, race, skin color etc. Now I'm not gonna lie and say they just all of sudden decided to put their differences aide, there was some internal conflict about this but most of them were able to grow beyond these petty differences for the better good. 1 particular inamte that goes by "Prettyboy" (yes akin to Mallers in WA they go by nicknames as a way of abolishing their government names) this inmate is affiliated with the Long Beach CA Crip gang as well as the "OBG Crip set" or Original Baby Gangsters. He still holds on to this affiliation because for a large part of his child hood it's all hes known (in the present he's 16 years old.) He has a friend that he's also known for most of his childhood who is Hispanic and is apart of a family who is largely affiliated with "South Sider" gangs such as MS13, their affiliations have caused friction between them since they'v known each other but they are very close and always overcome this. That's just one example among many that the story focuses on.

well it sounds like you've got things squared away. btw just so you know, i look nothing like jax. i look more like opie than jax, but even then one wouldn't say i really look like him either. anyhow, i'm glad you've put some serious thought into this. that's one of the problems i have with some of those types of shows and movies, the ones that are well written are great, but the ones that seem kind of half-assed, you see these groups working together and you're thinking "there's no way, that kind of nonsense would never fly." the devil's in the details, and nothing drives me more insane than someone screwing up the details.