Special Proprietorship

((Inspired by claims branch in Sexual Privilege))

Special Proprietorship

How it works: Your property is as ultimate and inviolable a physical law as the speed of light. Others are innately aware of this fact, as much as they are that up is up and down is down. Thus, you have final say over your possessions, in both a social and/or cosmic sense. Any special rules you make regarding your belongings cannot be violated without your express permission. Additionally, whatever you choose to do with your property, nothing and no one is able to stop you from doing it. Anything that comes into your possession falls under the same umbrella.

Limitations: Special Proprietorship only works explicitly. That is, until you specifically give special rules for your property that supersede normal rules, others will treat your property the same as any other object.

For example, a pick pocket could still steal your wallet. Yes, your wallet is yours, but since normal property can still be stolen, so can your wallet. However, if you specifically made the rule for your wallet that "No one is allowed to steal my wallet," then neither the pick pocket nor anyone else could ever steal your wallet. The new explicit rule supersedes the normal rules. Be warned that under the right circumstances, your wallet could still be taken from you - it cannot be stolen, but it still could be confiscated, borrowed, or moved.

However, while the rules and choices of what to do with your property are inviolable, that doesn't mean you won't face consequences or derision for your choices. No one can stop you from parking your car in the middle of the road if you say you can, but it won't win you any friends. Nor will it stop the traffic cops you antagonized from ticketing you anytime you go over 5 minutes on a parking meter.

Variants

Right to Claim: The borders of your Special Proprietorship are especially blurry. As far as the cosmos is concerned, if you tell at least one person that you claim ownership of something, and that person comprehends your meaning, it becomes yours. If the item had a previous owner, they may need to be informed before the transfer of ownership truly sinks in.

Name Tag: The cosmos has a very literal understanding of what constitutes property. Your Special Proprietorship extends only to those objects which have your name written visibly on them. If your name is erased or otherwise removed, so too is your proprietorship. Conversely, anything you write your name on becomes your property, regardless of its former status - though the former owner may be skeptical until they see your name written on the object with their own eyes. Claiming parts or abstract components of an object requires the claim to be made in writing (for example, John Doe's arm, or bedroom - John Doe).

Up for Debate: Whether or not something truly belongs to you is up for debate. Literally. If you can talk someone into conceding that an object belongs to you, it does. If the person you're speaking with acknowledges that something is "yours" in any sense of the term, however tenuous the concession, your Special Proprietorship comes into full effect (for example, a shopper acknowledging that they're "your" customer, a woman agreeing that it's "your" birthday, or an employee conceding that their schedule is "your" responsibility). If an object already has an owner, you'll need to the owner (or someone who could be construed as being an owner) into conceding that the object in some sense belongs to you.

Land Lord: Your Special Proprietorship extends only to the limits of any lands or buildings that you own, operate, or rent. However, anything on said property is considered to be fully at your disposal and at the mercy of your special rules and dictates. Individuals affected by special rules while on your property will still follow said rules while away if the rule demands it (for example, anyone who steps foot in my house will be my friend), but the effect will fade over time (over a few days or a week) unless the individual again steps foot on your property and is again put under the effect of the same rule.

Contact Claim: While you're touching something, you own it. When you're not, you don't. You may do what you like with your property and even set rules for it, but only while you're touching the item in question. Rules you set for objects will be obeyed even after said objects are returned to their original owners, but these rules may only be altered or removed while you're touching them.

The Way It Is: Few question why the sun shines or how walking works. In the same way, most people simply shrug their shoulders and accept your Special Proprietorship as yet another immutable fact of life. You doing whatever you want with your property doesn't really elicit the fear, excitement, or curiosity in others that it probably should. People don't try to shoot down clouds when it rains - they fetch umbrellas and go about business as usual. The world tolerates your Special Proprietorship in much the same way. Though each individual may have a slightly different response to your powers, in the end they will be to accept them.

Cosmic Claimant: Your Special Proprietorship is all-encompassing. Intentional statements of fact about your property invokes the ultimate power of the universe to make your words true, even if what you said wasn't. You may alter objects that belong to you in any way conceivable (or perhaps even in ways inconceivable). Objects will change, transform, and rearrange themselves to fit your rules, whether you want them to or not.

Bureaucratic Nightmare: The only way to invoke your Special Proprietorship to make rules for your property is by writing the rules down. Rules spoken aloud are not considered binding. If the rule isn't written down someplace, often in painful detail, they're as likely as not to go unheeded and ignored. In some cases, this may even extend to what others consider to be your property in the first place, or go as far as to require people to read what you've written before your Special Proprietorship kicks into effect.