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2 yrs ago
Current A Perpetual Motion Engine of Anxiety and Self-Loathing

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So there I am, in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, at about 3 o'clock in the morning, looking for one thousand brown M&Ms to fill a brandy glass, or Ozzy wouldn't go on stage that night. So, Jeff Beck pops his head 'round the door, and mentions there's a little sweets shop on the edge of town. So - we go. And - it's closed. So there's me, and Keith Moon, and David Crosby, breaking into that little sweets shop, eh. Well, instead of a guard dog, they've got this bloody great big Bengal tiger. I managed to take out the tiger with a can of mace, but the shopowner and his son... that's a different story altogether. I had to beat them to death with their own shoes. Nasty business, really. But, sure enough, I got the M&Ms, and Ozzy went on stage and did a great show.

Most Recent Posts

In Ju-V 1 yr ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
@Mintz, there would likely be a significant waiting period, if accepted at all.

There's no real natural, organic entrance point right now in the game.

That said, if you think you've got a Character idea that works within the present situation, I'd be more than willing to read it and consider it. I'm not actively looking to be exclusionary... it's just an awkward point within the game - a block of twenty having just been admitted.

Pooooooossible workarounds - because I'm trying to help you out here... are an early transfer from another Ju-V center elsewhere in the country for... well character-plot based reasons I guess.

But I would like to steer clear of new characters having some kind of "natural advantage" over the existing characters, due to having accrued more experience from being in Ju-V facilities before. So it would have to be an almost instant transfer upon admission, for safety, or to separate them from someone in that other facility.

Like I said... if you have an idea that you think would work, and WOULDN'T give your own character any kind of additional unfair advantage, I'd be more than pleased to read it and consider it.

EDIT: I also get how it looks, announcing people who have recently dropped out, immediately after seeming to say "we're not taking anyone on board at this time". TECHNICALLY the game is still open, both for if a suitable character situation arises, as well as creating broader opportunities for bunches of new characters to be introduced in the future, as the game goes on.


Location: Pacific Royal Collegiate & University - Dundas Islands, Pacific Ocean
First Class: # 2.96 Opening Arguments - Prompted or Otherwise

Interaction(s): N/A
Previously: Oh... Um... Shit... Title. TitleTitleTitle... uh... First Class. Heh-he-heh. Nailed it

The behemoth of a man took roll. "What did he say his name was again?" Banjo tried to remember, but it was already gone.

The large man was his teacher for Law, he should probably learn the guy's name, but it was already in one ear and out the other.

He probably would seem more respectful if he'd brought a pen. Some kind of writing materials. Paper. If he'd known this lesson was his first 'Introduction to Law' class, he probably would have at least made that effort, if only for appearances. Alright, maybe not 'probably' but he might have. Possibly.

He could use more coffee. And that thing he picked up before to eat didn't touch the sides.

He ran his hands through his hair, stretched back in his chair, rocking back with a yawn.

"Olyphant." Was called out. "Olyphant."

Banjo looked around. Another new classmate from team-swap? "Oly--"

"Oh shit, right, yeah. That's me. That's what I'm going by. Yeah, here. It'd probably make it easier if you just called me 'Banjo'."

The large man looked up, unimpressed by the needless delay in what should have been a quick formality. The look on his face making it abundantly clear that he would do no such thing.

“Welcome to Introduction to Law. As future members of H.EL.P., you’ll need to have an extensive comprehension of the current laws, bills, active proceedings and all manner of legal concepts. It may be your job to enforce these laws, while for some of you, you may work on changing them. Neither of these can be done without understanding the system, its history and where it’s going. It’s my job to start you on that journey.”

He reached toward the desk behind him, picking up a still steaming mug before taking a loud sip and placing it down on the student desk directly in front of where he had chosen to stand.

"He is a. Big. Bloody. Unit." Banjo thought to himself, as he watched how the large man carried himself in his classroom. "Commanding presence..? Is this all part of the 'show'? Is it making a further point?"

“The past sixty years have seen an unprecedented amount of laws being passed, repealed and passed again. Many of which have had to do with social issues and equality; in no small part due to the emergence of Hyperhumans.”

Onassis gestured towards the notes written on the chalkboard behind him.

Banjo tilted his head to run over his notes on the board. Rocking further back in his chair as he soaked them in. He was already familiar with the few examples because of his ample reading time in the infirmary. In fact, he could think of a half dozen others which weren't listed from the top of his head. And give a vague description of another half dozen, which he didn't have the citation numbers down for reference yet.

“To summarize, Hyperhumans have had their natural - some might even argue God-given - abilities suppressed, controlled, and even registered. Hyperhumans have been banned from work and performance in several sectors, and even their marriage has been outlawed at times, especially between a Hyperhuman and a ‘normal’ human. All of this has been in the name of security and safety for the greater public.” Elias paused to look each of the students in the eye, studying for that gut-driven reaction of disgust.

“And that’s not even touching on the pandemic in recent years that targeted Hyperhumans.”

Banjo had heard about the pandemic. News passed over Australia with barely a ripple though - it was mostly viewed as Foreign Affairs News. Far less Hyperhumans amongst the Australian population, saw it as a less relevant issue for the news to cover. It was a problem "over there" that "other nations" had to deal with. Not for one girt by sea with a fraction of the Hyperhuman population. Millions had died. But not at 'home'.

“Most of us would call it a prime example of inequality, fear-driven bias. But then we have Hyperion-”

That familiar smirk crossed Banjo's lips. OK. Now this is getting interesting. The guy's actually addressing the elephant in the room. A unique stance for the faculty to make, from his perspective. Most seemed to want to pretend nothing had happened, when his presence had carved a path of destruction through most everyone's lives.

“A Hyperhuman who explicitly operates outside of the law. Many of you are probably asking what good the law does if a terrorist manages to constantly evade it? Why should you worry about living under its constraint if you too could be powerful enough to live above it. But it is only because we have these laws that we can deem a person like Hyperion to be lawless. Our laws allow us to distinguish between a good method of integrating into society and those who refuse to integrate themselves and thus alienate themselves, falling outside of the social contract. That is to refer to the contract in which we surrender certain freedoms in exchange for security.”

The Big Man pointed to a quote from Hobbes on the chalkboard before returning to his train of thought.

“An extremist like Hyperion creates a rallying cry for both those who support and oppose him. Especially if they are left unchallenged. If all of us were to act in this manner we would descend into a state of self-involved anarchy. The law creates accountability in the interest of security. I do not believe that any form of civilization exists without a form of law. The governing interests of self can not be allowed to flourish if a society is to persist.”

Gesturing over the class, Elias turned the floor to Team Blackjack.

“So I ask of you, separating into two groups, is taking the law into one's own hands ever truly justifiable? Cooper, you will lead de León, Miller, Olyphant and Schade in arguing for taking the law into one’s own hands. Crawford, you’ll be leading Kruger, Musgrave, Richards and Tyler in arguing against your teammates about why the law should be upheld in every circumstance. Shall we hear your opposing arguments in twenty minutes?”

Banjo laughed obnoxiously, whilst he was still rocking back in his chair. "Well, of course it is. This is just ridiculously unfair."

"How so?" The Big Man lowered himself to ask the irritant.

"Well, first of all, you basically posed a tautology AND THEN you put me on the side that's clearly right. How are these jokers supposed to compete?"

"A tautology? Perhaps you would like to take your twenty minutes to consider your approach?"

"Nah mate. I'm not gonna be any more or less right in twenty minutes than I am right now. I'll just end it right here, I reckon, and save some time for Schade and Richards to introduce themselves to the class. G'Day, by the way." He offered the two newcomers a small, informal wave of a hand.

"So you want us to stand, or sit, or... ah screw it, I'm fine right here." He kept rocking back in his chair, occasionally turning to face different class members."


"The semantics of how he posed the question - 'taking the law into one's own hands EVER truly JUSTIFIABLE?' - THAT'S what makes this a stacked deck, and it's for a very basic systemic reason..."

He leaned forward and looked his teacher right in the eye. "Juries and jury nullification."

He went right on back to rocking in his chair. "See, whilst judges are the arbiters of law and representative of the finest legal minds appointed to their position based, well, presumably on competence, but let's face it... increasingly on partisan political basis... apologies, getting sidetracked, issue for another day. Juries, meanwhile, are the arbiters of fact and are representative of society as a whole. If society, through that lens of six or twelve people, decide they can't in good conscience convict, find proved, or rule against someone despite the law... well, they're not gonna. You want some examples? R v Morgentaler, which for those Americans present and people less familiar with Canadian caselaw, is basically the equivalent of the US's Roe v Wade..."

The Big Man opened his mouth to interject, before Banjo raised his hand in anticipation, cutting him off and continuing. "...obviously it's more closer to Doe v Bolton, sir, but in the absence of a more direct Roe v Wade parallel, I think you can grant me that it's still as close as Canada has to it. For those unfamiliar, basically this guy Morgentaler had been operating a private abortion clinic in violation of the criminal code - due to repeated jury nullifiation it kept getting appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court."

Still rocking in his chair he turned and addressed people behind him "Now as the question was phrased we're not looking for 'ALWAYS truly be RIGHT', we're looking for 'EVER truly be JUSTIFIABLE' and since we continue to use juries and allow jury nullification to be a thing, it's an acknowledgement to this as a truism. There are times when the law doesn't keep pace with what is just, and it's the responsibility of these juries, these finders of fact, these social peers, to ensure that justice takes place."

"Well, that was very..."

"Oh, and just because I don't really intend for settling and leaving this one up to a space for reasonable doubt... R v Krieger the Supreme Court's decision 'juries are not entitled as a matter of right to refuse to apply the law—but they do have the power to do so when their consciences permit of no other course' - which confirms EXPLICITLY everything that I just said. This isn't an opinion." He turned, whilst leaning waaaay back in his chair, to the assembled other side of the argument.

"He's expecting you people to basically argue against the very justice system itself as it presently exists. Now, does anybody else REALLY want to speak, or did I just win this thing. Because I've gotta be honest, it feels like I just won this thing..."

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Britsnpieces dropping tea and whimsy...
In Ju-V 1 yr ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Here's Page Two of the post summaries, @psych0pomp, I believe you said this would be of interest..?

I'll also add them to the OOC Zero post.


In Ju-V 1 yr ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
She followed along with the group inside. She took special care in noting weaknesses in the facility; guards not being alert, walls that looked like they could be plowed through, makeshift weapons if it came to that. Soon they were in the rec room and were introduced to the others within the facility. Their makeshift tour guide droned on, but Brooklyn couldn't be bothered to care all that much. Instead, she glanced at the others, sizing them up. As her head turned, she felt a shadow over her. She turned back to see a mountain of a man standing there, staring at her. He was cute in a "golden retriever" type of way, though she got the sense there was nothing behind those eyes. And her thoughts were confirmed when he just. continued. to. stare!

"Keep starin' at me and I'll rip your arms off and play jump rope with 'em." The nerve of this dude! "Anyone going to claim their lost lamb here?" Perhaps he was lost from a tour group and got separated from his mommy. Either way, she had little time to be hand-holding anyone here. "What happened to hello? How are you? My name is? What just cuz you're locked up you get to be rude? I'm not the broad to try that with."



Libby, her name was Libby and she'd escaped several times from other facilities until she landed on Alcatraz. To be frank it would be near impossible for any to escape this place without an ability that allowed flight or water breathing. An isolated island definitely allowed for more complex plans of escape, but no matter how you went about it, the results would be the same. One could attempt to swim, but it wouldn't take long for them to be captured and brought back. Escaping from an island would require something more exciting. While he glanced over at Libby, he listened to the girl talk about Billy and it all began to make sense as to why he'd been staring at a few of them the moment they'd stepped foot into the room. What he wouldn't give to pluck the inner chambers of his mind to see what made him tick. When the small one finished talking, Seo levitated over to Libby and gazed out of the window next to her.

"Do you feel like a pet trapped in its cage? Or do you feel like there is purpose here after all?" Seo said, wondering just what this girl could do. "Forgive my lack of manners, my name is Seobin. I hear you like to escape and I was curious as to why."






The fast talking New Yorker hit him with a staccato of questions, each more confronting than the previous. But it took him a while before he felt comfortable giving a response that he was pretty sure would make sense.

It was so very easy for him to say things that didn't make any sense. Billy had often pointed this out to him.


"I was just waiting for the opportunity to say 'Hello'." He said, speaking softly. "Sometimes, I've-- I get told sometimes that when I speak from behind people, before they notice me. It makes them uncomfortable. Or scares them. At least you-- don't seem to scare so easily."

He stood there trying to think of something else to say. Oh! A thought came over him. What brought him over in the first place!

"I like your jacket. It's cool." He said, referring to her black leather jacket. "It...--" He struggled looking for the word. It made everything else about her -her ruby red lipstick, the blonde hair - stand out in contrast, even brighter. "It pops."

His brow furrowed, as if trying to think about how well the word fit.

"Uhh... I guess, 'How are you?' My name is Brian, if that interests you at all. Just-- just wanted to say about your jacket. It's cool. I didn't wanna seem rude."




Libby didn't turn, she just kept looking out over the Bay. A wide brimmed hat kept the sun's glare from the window out of her eyes. The black croptop she wore showed off a large tattoo of a compass between her shoulder blades.

"The minutes. The hours. Being free, it's just-- it's a feeling all of its own."

She spoke absently, almost as if she was a hundred miles away and merely reminiscing for her own benefit.

"The last time I was out, I snuck into Oracle Park. Sneaking in is just an escape into a box. Sat on those right field bleachers over the archways in front of McCovey Cove. Watched Joc Pederson splash hit one over my head against the Phillies. They had me on TV. I knew I wouldn't get far after that. When Aegis picked me up, they did it as I sat in the Old-Fashioned Glove over on left field waiting for them..."

She turned and faced Seobin and offered a smile, as if the explanation wouldn't be enough of its own.

"It's not-- It's not anything like that. Or anything bad about here in the first place per se... It's just something in me. It's something I have to do."
In Ju-V 1 yr ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Some recent news...

* After talking with @webboysurf, time has dwindled on their end. The character of Zach - going forward, will be NPC'd.

This leaves a secondary option in the upcoming roommate discussion.

Just a reminder. We're still looking for people to come together and decide on their room assignment pairings.

At this stage:

Noah and Sasha
Wes and Kyle
Brooklyn and Seobin
Haven and Zelda
Kaitlin and Sunita

Are the only two set pairings.

The following people and their characters have shown a preference for PC pairings over NPCs. So perhaps if you're amongst these people, there's a direction if you're looking to approach another who'd also like player interaction in the after-hours times in residentional quarters.

Black Betty/Brooklyn @PatientBean - (Update: Now Paired with Seobin)
Zero/Zelda @Lawful Newtral - (Update: Now paired with Haven)
Spitfire/Sora @earthtogab
Photon/Kaitlin @mickilennial - (Update: Now paired with Sunita)
Sophia/Sunny @Qia (Update: Now paired with Natsumi)
Natsumi/Chameleon @Kuro - (Update: Now paired with Sophia)

Seobin @Wei Wuxian - (Update: Now paired with Brooklyn)

I left myself as a floater in this, so unless we have any other people who would like a PC roommate, I'll happily do it and have David/Ward room with Seo.

That said, if there's anyboy who also wants a PC roommate in game and hasn't voiced that desire yet, now is pretty much the time to mention it. We will be pushing forward soon.
In Ju-V 1 yr ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
And incidentally, if you haven't posted since the Rec Room... expect your character to pop up in the Kid continuing to spew exposition in another NPC post.

Long story short, expect some content.

I just dropped the keys off for the old house, and most of my time is mine now.
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