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Thread for Mutant Registration

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 Mutant Registration
Cookie Monster
5:55pm, August 18, 2010
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[Delete]		So for what I've got intended for future RP I was wanting some input from other players.

In the old chat there had been over a dozen nuclear strikes worldwide by Magneto which caused a major backlash against mutants which in turn caused mutant registration to be found in every country but the US. That in mind, I have gone on expanding such effects that human-mutant relations have not particularly gotten better and assumed that already corrupt or brutal regimes have taken to using their local registration as a Carte Blanche excuse to round up and exterminate mutants. Keeping in mind that this sort of stuff happens RIGHT HERE AND NOW in the real world such as in Sudan, the Republic of Congo, and Myanmar, it seems a logical extrapolation.

So my first question would be this: Which nations in 20 some years do we want to portray as having come down as despotic against mutants? Russia for its happily corrupt government and its flagrant abuses of personal freedoms? China and its already instated intolerance of homosexuality along with the official Marvel depiction of hunting down and killing mutants at birth? Iran with radical Islam calling mutants a blaspheme?

Further, while more democratically oriented nations might on paper denounce such atrocities, the deep resentment by its populace against mutants certainly means not a finger would be lifted to help them. From this I would also assume that the US is seen in a very bad light by the national community for continuing to allow mutants to walk freely and have personal rights. As the US has mutant organizations and even mutant political figures the US would be seen much like modern Iran is for its harboring of Fedayeen.

So my second question is this: Will America remain a member of the UN's successor the AN and be on the security council, or will it find itself in the severe minority, regularly chastised for lack of control of its mutant population and its destabilization of efforts to keep other nation's mutants in check?

Will the AN make use of Avengers teams for "peacekeeping missions" that involve putting down mutant insurgents?

Keep discussion open minded.
 
Remy
8:11pm, August 18, 2010
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[Delete]		Good idea Cookie. I know we've kind of glossed over the topic in the past in various other threads but nothing's been centralized so this is a good a place as any. I know in chat we've set a bit of a standard through RP for Japan.

Japan: Mandatory test at birth or localization of all citizens. At puberty (generally when powers begin to manifest), mandatory registration and enrollment in the Big Hero Program. The BHP is like a combo of Xavier's School, and the Military. It's an educational program designed to educate as well as train in use of powers. Upon completion graduates are basically assigned as part of the regional or National Big Hero teams, or are assigned as a sort of Reserves branch. I compare it to the Military because of the reserves portion and because if you are "Drafted" and dodge, you are considered a felon (or more accurately in terms, a traitor). Because its attitudes towards mutants are not hostile, and because the standards at the BHP schools are usually better than public schools (being corporately funded as well as military funded), Japan would be likely seen in mixed light. By Pro-Reg countries as "coddling" mutants, and by Anti-Regs as still forcing registration, despite the Nation as a whole looking to Mutants now as the new Idols within the culture.
 
NikkuSan
5:05am, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		I've been playing it out in this chat as that mutants are more acccepted then they once were. To be honest I pretty much ignored the nuclear strikes Magneto did in /x since it was a one shot RP and nothing came of it afterward. I don't know who played Magneto and did that, but they disappeared shortly there after, that plot went no place. Forgive me if it slipped my mind with everything else we did in there.

Last I recall in /x, I got the impression that mutant/baseline relations were getting better, what with a mutant President and such, nothing from the AMTF, or anyone else.

What happens IRL doesn't really factor in much to me for RP since it's... real life, not Marvel/chat life.

From what I recall about Marvel comics, 1997 and before (which is where /x and /xf spawn from), the world at large is extremely tolerable of mutants, and it's the USofA that has an issue with them. Yeah, there is a country here and there that has a sour taste to mutants, but by and large they aren't as evil as everyone in here makes them. I dunno.

Last I knew, China wasn't on a "Kill the babies" spree in the comics; hell, I never even heard of that. FFS they have their own mutant team that the Chinese government created that the X-men have dealt with several times; same goes for Russia.

All I can say is that I'm thoroughly confused at this point. The rooms (/x & /xf) diverged from the '97 comics. At that time Marvel didn't do a lot with the international scene when it came to mutants; they only really did so when it came to specific plots and characters, ex: Magneto. When they did go international... Canada- Alpha Flight, Great Britain- Excalibur, I know France has a team, again China and Russia, etc., these teams were all created by their nations governments and the people of said nations were grateful for these teams. I can recall several Excalibur issues where people went up to the team and asked for autographs. So based on that the world was going Pro-mutant. But we apparently have it being the total opposite.

So yeah, like I said at the beginning, I see the world being a better place for mutants, not a KILL AND BURN THE BABIES! type of world.

Edited 4:37pm, August 19, 2010 by NikkuSan, author.
 
Cookie Monster
10:30am, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		Nikku brings up a fair point. The reference to the Magneto atomic genocide was not particularly well documented but I've done opposite of Nikku and followed its socio-political conclusions in its implementation, resulting in two very different interpretations of the possible future. I was also under the impression that we split fully from the regular Marvel Universe roughly around the time the "New X-men" books were produced, though I've implemented changes in certain of my own cannon characters, namely Sam Guthrie and Domino, that took place after this dating.

The difference between Magneto destroying several major cities around the world and setting off world wide hatred of mutants that creates multi-national agreement towards mutant registration acts and a world that has been easing into "Everyone wants a super hero group" and using mutants to fill out those ranks is a stark contrast.

I suppose it depends on what we want in terms of game style: cyber-punk or cyber-prep.

I'm interested more than ever on people's opinions on this. If there was no Magneto-Doom most of my character's actions are... moot. But the same would go for players that have followed the alternate interpretation.

Edited 10:38am, August 19, 2010 by Cookie Monster, author.
 
Anderjak
11:17am, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		Honestly, I was never made aware of the Magneto nuke strikes until well after I'd settled into /xf and had an understanding of what was happening there. I'd always assumed human-mutant relations were getting better, that the worst of the civil rights movement would have long passed, since much of the tragedy of the Mutant plight had taken a fair amount of time, longer than most civil rights movements, meaning a wind-down was in order. This was all just assumption on my part, however.

I do like the idea of anti-mutant sentiment, if only because it gives quite a few characters a renewed sense of purpose, but I don't think that's where the chat is at right now. I WOULD like to have an understanding on what exactly is the situation in different nations as per registration and sentiment, if only a broad scope of things rather than a by-country breakdown.

I think this goes into the bigger question of what the main conflict in the chat is. I haven't really understood it at all, if there even is one.
 
Cookie Monster
11:40am, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		Yeah, I'll admit, I came into it thinking along the lines that there was an unresolved issue that had 20 years in character to boil to a head.

Even some issues I failed to resolve in /x, at least explicitly.

I'll note right now that the AMTF in the chat broke down into a number of factional groups, but the one that held the largest mutant conscripts "defected" to the then mutant President. Colonel Swan offered his suicide as part of the deal, but the President declined, saying he'd prefer to have somebody who he could trust.

Here's my interpretation for the US military's stance on mutants which I want to have a "Don't ask, don't Tell" feel.

The AMTF has been integrated into the US Army Special Forces. I had in my head that the Army does not officially accept mutants, but as blood sampling is part of regular procedures for accepting cadets, I would assume they run a scan for mutant gene sequences. Mutant inductees are earmarked for a specialized black ops regiment that focuses on rifleman training supplemented by their mutant powers and backed up by heavily human technical support. The regiment's unofficial name is "Swansong" a reference to Colonel Swan's dedication to combined species tactics, which became much more notarized at the end of his career.

In any case, what sort of story did we intend to go with in /xf? Obviously seeing what happens to the characters we've played 20 years later is a part, as well as seeing what sort of spawn would have come about our favorite pairings.
 
Anderjak
12:08pm, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		From what I could tell, /x's primary conflict was actually a number of smaller, yet still major conflicts that all played in concert. When I entered /xf, I didn't expect the same issues to crop up. Twenty years can lead to drastic changes in politics, and the focus of hate and mistrust can be placed in entirely different locations, often unpredictable ones. /x's numerous smaller conflicts are a far more "realistic" approach to a narrative, even if the events themselves are quite extravagant by comparison to real-world issues.

/xf, I believe, should have a few of those ideas in place: wars, be they physical or metaphorical, on multiple fronts, perhaps not just multiple conflicts for mutants or even the US, but multiple conflicts which all have some tie to one another, a domino effect which links inexorably to any number of groups, nations, and task forces. They certainly shouldn't be exactly what we've seen in /x, of course.

A few ideas:

Morlocks are certainly getting a lot more attention in the chat, thanks to your own efforts, Cookie, as well as a few others. A small division of the Avengers led by Theodore Altman and Bill Kaplan are establishing connections to intergalactic communities, meaning far more contact with races beyond an earthly realm. I've got a few ideas for plots which I've kept stowed away due to initial lack of interest in population, including a society of folks who've repurposed some long-stolen technology and are trying to create an army of metahumans of their very own under their control. I know others have a few ideas they've yet to enact, and if any of these can assist in larger movements to stir things up politically and socially, there's no reason why we shouldn't look into them.
 
Cookie Monster
12:31pm, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		I'm rather down for the idea of alternate meta-human directions. I'm a proponent of the hypothesis put forward in Earth X that all powers are X-gene powers set off by means outside of "normal" mutant powers, with the outside influences causing a shift or drastic alteration of the powers that the individual was harboring. However, that need not be the case, and has always been a pet biologist theory. Even humans going cybernetic in an attempt to outdo their mutant cousins would put an interesting spin on things.

The intergalactic communities question is also one I've been curious about. Certainly I'd think it would be fun to see what legal status Earth has to the Shi'ar Empire, the Kree, and the Skrull. Is it considered legal for the Shi'ar to Shanghai meta-humans much like the British did to Americans that in part provoked the war of 1812?
 
Anderjak
1:19pm, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		I wouldn't have much opinion on the latter subject, but the former could have a number of possibilities. A contract with an organization tied to the military could create these sorts of metahumans under strict governmental regulation and supervision, and could even see use in mind control [or "thought persuasion," as some might put it] and new types of weaponry. Even if the civil side of things have cooled, there's no reason various militant forces couldn't come up with some kind of counter-measure just in case. After all, traditional methods mean little to an all-powerful mutant, so a metahuman which can be created and manipulated at a General's will would be a great possible deterrent for any mutant uprising, if one were developed, sort of to mirror nuclear deterrence during the Cold War [or, to keep it tied to comics in general, a Dr. Manhattan of /xf's universe].

Of course, we can't discount that there are some major nations which will not accept mutants, seeing them as a blight on mankind and god-fearing people. There certainly could be countries trying to develop a God's Army of sorts, equipped with the powers of technology. They'd be small in number, but certainly dangerous.

This also has other bends and twists: with the way technology is advancing in terms of the chats, there's plenty we can do with a new civil movement, something we've seen in a number of other media, like Transmetropolitan or Batman Beyond: the idea of a trans-human movement, those who've found ways to become more than just human [by becoming part animal, alien, or, in this case, whatever the hell else they want] and are demanding the same treatment as everyone else, alongside mutants. Of course, these folk wouldn't be universally accepted, even by some mutants, as they're essentially bringing it all on themselves. They could be called "fakes," "walking lies," so forth, because they garnered their abilities thanks to modification, money-exchanging, so forth, not by any struggle which the mutants still must endure each and every day.
 
NikkuSan
5:15pm, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		One of the inherent dangers to rooms like /xf, a chat who's history is based off of another chat, /x, is that those who get into RP in /xf will be very vague if not totally unaware of the chat's back story... in which case is an entire chatroom with years worth of RP XD. As you said Ander, you weren't aware of the nuclear strikes. Be it lack of posting on a board, the "veteran players" (Only using this term for those who were in the room longer) who were around long enough to know more of the history not informing you, etc., it can make it dicey, and at some point people start forming their own ideas as of to what the back story is, based on what they see on the /xf boards and what occurs IC. Even now, myself and Cookie, who were both around in /x for a fair amount of time, are looking at /xf from two opposite points of view based on what we know in /x, what we remember, and what thoughts we have in our head.

Anyhoo, ... who the hell is Colonel Swan? lol, again, events/characters I have never heard of. The only thing I ever did/RPed in regards to the AMTF was a single RP that Remy ran where they attacked the mansion. Beyond that they did nothing. That was the protestor RP btw.

I disagree with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. In the comics, both pre and post 1997, the government employed mutants. One incarnation of X-Factor, lead by Havok, with Guido, Maddox, Wolfsbane, Forge (to name a few members) was a government team. Later on, post Civil War, you have the 50 states initiative. Bear in mind though, the 50 States Initiative was a direct result of House of M and Civil War. You take away those events and you'd have a better Marvel. But my POINT is that the government has continually seen a value for mutants in the comics, NOT as a force to be cataloged, locked up, or kept a secret. I would think given 20 years of time that the government would find a way to integrate mutants into the military openly given their uses. I don't see it as a "Black Ops" only deal. Call me crazy, but the AMTF, a known anti-mutant organization with terrorist intent and actions, being absorbed into the US forces? I don't see that happening. That's like absorbing the KKK into the Army and expecting them to work with black people. Yeah... not going to work.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a few "WE HATE MUTANTS!" people/groups out there, it generates some good RP, but I'm tired of that same song and dance as being the basis for all RP/the chat. Being on PJJ for so long now, and having seen multiple Marvel rooms come and go, it's the same song and dance. It's old to be honest. You come in a room and the RP is always in the mansion, no one goes away from it. Why? On the basic level, the world hates mutants, so they all hide in the safety of the school. Granted, we do that now, I do that now, that's just where the RP tends to be. But it's always from the perspective of to much risk to the person outside the mansion gates. I dunno, I find it a bit... stiffling.

I have some other thoughts, idea's that don't sound so much like rants, but I need to run. I'll post up some ideas when I get home tonight lol
 
Remy
6:13pm, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		I like what I'm seein, first off. Good amounts of discussion and the thread seems to be moving towards an end. A few things I can offer for Clarity,

-) Colonel Swan is "The Colonel" leader of the AMTF as it was in its original incarnation. Of note, several splinter cells developed after President Craven went out of power. The Protester RP if I remember right, was not a direct AMTF RP, but rather a part of the splinter faction that had fallen under the wing of Reverend Price.

-) Magneto launched a nuke strike on Japan and a few other places and then ripped District X up out from the ground and carted it off to Genosha. We tried as a chat to "react" and push the plot along after it went cold, but it was hard to just sweep it under the rug realistically, the preferred result seemed to be to use it as a way of escalating anti-Mutant sentiments on the international level. More or less "one more straw on the camel's back."

-) Shi'ar. Ander I'd be down for getting with you on this and coming up with some stuff an hear what you might have in mind. As most anyone can tell you, I'm always down for Shi'ar stuff :)

-) I take what's been said about the plots and events in /x as a compliment :) It was something I'd always really tried to do in making everything build and boil, even seemingly unrelated plots, to try and link them together. With regards to some of them, I hate they never got officially finished. Though, in all, a lot was building towards a massive bit of a conflict, one which was directly tied towards the international anti-mutant sentiments that could in all possibility perhaps still be burning in a few countries. I won't go into details for two main reasons, one) I'd still like to get that RP done in /x and don't want to drop any spoilers, and two) no one would remember the "boiling point event" happening. Just know, it's there though ;)

-) I really would like to work some stuff out, try and capture that cohesion we apparently managed to get in /x. I've been sitting on a few plot ideas of my own, largely for the same reason Ander has (lack of interest). Maybe if we all throw our heads together we might be able to combine a few and get something going.
Incidentally the whole cohesion thing is part of why places like /xs haven't quite made the jump to fleshed out yet. I regret that one falling to the wayside for my part, I liked the enthusiasm it was getting and where everything was going with it.
Anyway! enough ranting from me :P
 
Ill Nino
7:50pm, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		First things first- a disclaimer: You all know how blunt I can be..so I'm gonna tell it like it I see it. Not meant to be personal or anything.



First off: The majority of X-Men rooms on PJJ have all centered around a "KILL THE MUTANTS" main arching storyline, and all it seems to do is keep people inside the school since not many people like to RP fights/conflict that much. If we run with this, I would really like to make sure that it doesn't become a primary room focus. It's been done many times before.



Personally, I agree with Ander: Mutant Civil Rights shouldn't even be an issue in the USA. It's been 20 years, so it's had to've boiled over by now. In the US, mutantkind is viewed as being like black or white. "Oh, you're white? Nyeh. Big deal." As we saw in the earlier posts, Japan's like "mutants? AWESOME AUTOGRAPH ZOMGONEONE111!!" I'm all for like...splinter cells or something like that. Kinda like the KKK- you can be one...but talking about it in public is liable to get your ass beaten. Hell, I'm totally expecting for splinter cells and small batteries of these anti-mutant factions. But overall, I severely doubt that the anti-mutant sentiments have gotten worse at all in the USA. In other countries on the other hand...totally in the air. I know that there is a tension between Russia and the USA of some sort, but I can't remember it at this moment. I have a russian character, so...



On the cyberpunk kick- I'm not too keen on the cyborg style of threads. That borders very close to the Rifts tabletop RPG and kinda deviates away from the idea of X-Men. I could see the Batman Beyond style thing though!


- Shi'ar: Like Josh, I am VERY interested in seeing what the Shi'ar are up to, considering that Gabriel wiped the Shi'ar out to a degree. I'd love to see how/what they do/react to Gabriel.




Overall, I think if we get some solid cohesion, we can definitely move forward and there won't be anymore segregation when it comes down to it. Like one person will start RPing something that has been proven to be not true, others call them out and then WOOSHIT. I'd like to see us ALL on the same page so we can really kick out the solid room plots. That'll be killer. \m/ I'll post more ideas later, as I'm watching my nephew at the moment.
 
Anderjak
10:19pm, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		I wasn't really talking cyborg stuff. I was more going after genetic enhancements, as well as some of the same nanotechnology which grants a character like Emille her powers: completely manufactured, completely fake, with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. An alternative to the elusive "super-soldier serum."
 
Ill Nino
10:44pm, August 19, 2010
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[Delete]		I definitely dig that, Ander. I was just stating what I wasnt down for, that's all. :)
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