Visual guide to Gathertown

If you're a fan, or a Gathertown noob, here is where you can delve into the sights of Gathertown, that infamous locale where the Troubleshooter crosses paths with dangerous dames, gangsters, gutter girls, cowboys, and other dangerous sorts.  In order to enjoy the story a bit more, (as well as help me envision the locale a bit better) here is a little tour of the various locations of Gathertown...

Please note that the quotations are links that will take to the various episodes of Gathertown, which is a mature-rated tale.  If that's not your style, please refrain from clicking the links in quotes.  The links on names are cool to click, because they lead you to the various Gather members who have allowed me to charicature them in this story.

We'll start off in The Flats:

"I may stay in the Flats, where a wrong look can get you decorated with lead medals, but the only good thing about it was that it wasn't the Boondocks."

The Flats started off as the location for the well-to-do, until the migration to Uptown, which caused businesses to leave where the business was booming.  The result was a severe slump in property values, allowing undesireable residents to swamp the location, raising crime rates, and putting a notorious reputation on the area.

This is where we find the Troubleshooter at the beginning of the area; washed up, in serious debt, and drinking steadily in his seedy office...

"The air in the office tasted like menthol.  The wisps drifted from the ashtray lazily, stretching toward the ceiling fan where they dissipated, like ghosts.  Like friends I used to know.  I was kicked back, enjoying the moment with a couple of friends.  The Mean Ol' B***h, and Jack.

Daniels."

After being prodded onto a new case, we follow him to his confrontation with Tommy Tsunami in the Downtown area:

"As the wheels gripped the wet pavement, I watched the cityscape blur by.  People running in and out the rain, going to ritzy nightclubs or other rendezvous."

This is where you will find the banks and offices, the corporation headquarters, the part of town that never sleeps.  When work is done, play can begin at the many nightclubs that call to those who want to play, or relax, such as the Gaiden...

"The joint was lonely, with only a few people drinking their lives away.  A depressed looking man played a tune on the grand piano.  He wasn’t half bad."

...which unknown to most, is owned by Gathertown's most notorious gangster, Tommy Tsunami.  One hopes his insurance was current, because by the end of episode three, the Troubleshooter and Poddar the Prince leave the place in flames...

...which leads them to Uptown, where the Troubleshooter hopes to find his Angel, who can patch up his wounded arm, though not his heart...

"My Angel worked swing shifts as a waitress at a nice little joint downtown, where I met her.  Since I'm a regular, we got to know each other pretty well.  I've taken her out a few times, but she doesn't let me get too close, on account of the kind of fellow I am."

Uptown is for the swanksters, the hipsters who proudly display their pride of success by paying outrages housing rates.  Not uncommon sights are bicyclists and joggers, cozy cafes and nightclubs, and plastic surgery single visit clinics.

Here we learn that not even a classy joint is safe for the Troubleshooter, who runs into the Gutter Girls, and their mysterious leader Selene, as well as a humilating experience with the Cheetah Print *CENSORED* in the parking deck...

...which leads the group to the Boondocks, in search of the missing Ms. Kilby and Selene's leg...

"The part of Gathertown where only the half-crazed and fully crazed individuals staked out their claims.  The only law was the the quick and the dead, because police…?  Fugedaboutit."

The Boondocks is the last place any sane person would want to be.  Even the police don't venture past the border without a full patrol.  Set against the backdrop of the reeking Westlake, the Docks are full of hardened killers, fugitives, refugees, and homeless squatters, along with a wide assortment of weirdos, like Frankie Newman and Bard Constantine.

Here is where the Troubleshooter and company run into potent absinthe, a cowboy named Robert, a dog named Streaker, a band of killer brainwashed monks, and the New Man, a shadowy being of evil intent...

...whose identity can only be revealed by the Wizard, who happens to be a prisoner in the highest security prison in the world, the Fortress:

"

“The Fortress?” Poddar asked incredulously.  “The highest maximum security prison in the world?”

         “I hear only top agency officials can even walk through the doors,” Robert said.  How’re we supposed to just scoot on in?”

 ... which is located in the middle of Westlake, a short boat distance from the Boondocks.  The Fortress holds the most dangerous sorts, the criminals no other prison can even contain.  Here the Troubleshooter will learn the identity of the New Man, along with the importance of the missing leg, which will lead him and his comrades back downtown to Tommy Tsunami's secret Hideout...

...where the cast and pieces of the puzzle all come together.  In a confrontation that results in more property damage for Tommy Tsunami's insurance company, the secret of the leg is revealed, as well as the threat that may be unable to be stopped. 

This leads the motley crew of characters to the Heights:

This is the part of town where only the super-wealthy reside.  The kind of people who take the helicopter to check the mailbox.  And at a hilltop mansion is where the final battle takes place, a desperate, suicidal attack upon an unstoppable foe, where the fate of all may depend on one individual:  a washed up, half drunk amnesiac who isn't half the man he used to be.  A man whose only talent resides in one thing....

He shoots trouble.

 Thanks for taking the tour of Gathertown, and checking out the summary of where we've been, and where we're going. (not finished writing the last part yet -that's why links are missing!)  It's a blast to write, especially since it's been mostly freestyle with absolutely no idea what's about to happen next.  I plan on writing new episodes once a week until the story's finished.  I think Tuesdays should be a great time to drop new episodes, so be on the watch.  (of course, I'll advertise like crazy, anyway).  Special thanks to all my Gather friends who've allowed me to turn them into nutty characters for this story. If I can't squeeze some of you in this story, there's always the next one.  See you in Gathertown....

Gathertown is an ongoing series.  Catch all info and available chapters at the group page.