Guide to the SHU

The following is to be considered a mandatory guide. You will be expected to be familiar with the material when roleplaying in the SHU. Anybody who's roleplaying a SHU term that is not their character's first will face the IC consequences should they fuck up protocol. This guide is intended to supplement actual experience, as most people don't spend more than an hour roleplaying in the SHU per term, thus are unable to pick up on these things, and reasonably so.

Treat these points as things your character picks up during a stay in the SHU. Some of the basic ones can be treated as advice given to your character before they might even do their first term.

• Check your cell number. The cell you're in is crucial information for communicating in the SHU, as you will often be addressed by your cell number and will need to give it when speaking in the pod. It also enables others to know where to send mail and goods bound for you. Having to admit to everyone on the tier that you don't know your cell is a rookie move. OOC this information can just be found with /cellinfo but the correct way to roleplay it is to look up and check your cell number when the officer escorts you inside.
  
  
• SHU etiquette:
  
  
  
  • Your character is surrounded by heavy hitters. The most infamous names from every race and every gang are now only a few feet away. It's realistic to roleplay being fearful, even if it's not your first time to the SHU. This would be your character's main motivation for abiding by the SHU's etiquette and rules.
    
  • The SHU is a respectful place. Aforementioned heavy hitters don't need to put up with your character coming into their home acting loud and disrespectfully. Respect is even more important here than on the mainline.
    
  • Profanity is not permitted over the airwaves (out loud).
    
  • Shouting is prohibited unless you need to contact someone for a good reason.
    
  • It's expected that you will be respectful to your neighbors, even if they're of a hostile race. If they're at war, Sureños might be expected to take off on Norteños if they're in an open space with them but behind closed doors language remains respectful.
    
  • Every exchange over the airwaves begins with "excuse me on the tier" or a variant thereof ("dispenca on the tira", "spenca on the tier" etc.).
    
  • Likewise, each exchange ends with a variant of "thank you on the tier" ("gracias", just "thank you" etc.).
    
  
  
  
• SHU workout program:
  
  
  
  • IC the daily SHU workout is held every day following morning roll call. Obviously this isn't the case OOC. Sureños may work out with the Whites but whether this occurs every day has not been established OOC.
    
  • The workout is always led by whoever runs the SHU program, and that person's cellmate. Unlike on the mainline, delegation of this duty is rare.
    
  • The specific workout program will depend on the day. Usually the leader will simply shout out the exercises and number of repetitions. The program may also be provided beforehand to everybody in a kite.
    
  • For the workout, the race is divided into two groups. Each cellmate in each cell will belong to a different group (one or two). The first group exercises, then cellmates switch places and the second group exercises. This is done because there isn't enough room for two people to work out in one cell.
    
  • The leader of the workout will periodically ask the group "Sureños! (or Sureños and White men) Are you ready?" Each cell will respond with "Ready!" and their cell number (e.g. "10, ready!", "06, ready!"). Each cell must respond before the workout will continue.
    
  • The above applies to cell workouts, which occur every second day - the day that the Sureños aren't given yard. Every other day, the race will work out on the yard. Yard workouts are similar to mainline workouts, with the exception that it is permissible for Sureños and Whites to work out together.
    
  
  
  
• Everything is done quickly in the SHU. These guys are locked down 23 hours per day and they live this routine every day of their lives. They dress down for yard quickly, they collect their meal quickly, they return their tray quickly, they go to the shower quickly, they respond to kites quickly. Time wasting will be noticed and is not appreciated. Be mindful of this.
  
  
• Be familiar with how to roleplay around kites: writing, sending, receiving. This is the main method of communication in the SHU. You can deliberately roleplay being inexperienced if your character is new but you should be competent on the subject OOC so you can improve with time, and so your roleplay lines make sense. Know what you're typing about.
  
• List of kite-related slang, courtesy of skates. "Excuse me..." and "thank you..." have already been listed. Consider those doubly important:
  
  
  
  • 'Excuse me on the tier!' - Used to get someone's attention for whatever reason e.g 'Excuse me on the tier! Razor! One on it's way!'
    
  • 'One on it's way!' - There's a kite coming so get ready to receive it. Typically followed by 'Shoot!' from the guy when he's ready to receive it.
    
  • 'One-way coming!' - There's a kite coming and it doesn't require a reply.
    
  • 'Street-sweeper!' - The catcher's line is on the unit/tier's floor.
    
  • 'That's a touchdown!/Touchdown!' - The kite got to it's destination.
    
  • 'Thank you on the tier!' - The sign-off callout for when you're done doing whatever it was you were doing.
    
    There are variants of these phrases which you'll pick up during roleplay, and should consider using to mix things up.
    
  
  
  
• Kite equipment and procedure, also courtesy of skates:
  
  The guys who've been in the SHU for a long time have had time to craft sturdy and incredibly long fishing lines made out of string, elastic and whatever fibres they could use. This is not the same for a guy who just landed. The go-to method for collecting/sending kites is to you use your bed sheets:
  
  
  
  
  • Tear your bed's cover sheet in half with your teeth/hands.
    
  • Tear that half into thin strips and tie the strips together.
    
  • Put a bar of soap in a sock and tie one end off.
    
  • Tie that sock to the makeshift fishing line as a counterweight so you can drag other people's lines.
    
  
  
  This is a bare bones method but it's the go-to for anyone who just landed and needs to send/receive mail.
  
  'Carriers' are usually small makeshift contraptions that allow things to be placed inside of them and that will fit under the gap between the cell's door and the floor. This is usually either a folded up piece of paper that has multiple layers for strength, a flattened milk carton, a modified toothpaste tube and so on. The creativity of the guys locked up in the same cell for 23 hours a day is endless so you can go crazy with it within reason.
  
  
  Typically, the newer inmates will be housed on the bottom tier of the security housing unit so when an older guy needs to send them mail it will work as follows:
  
  
  
  
  • Inmate A with the longer line will shoot his line off the top tier onto the unit's floor.
    
  • Inmate B on the lower tier will snag Inmate A's line with his own and pull it into his cell.
    
  • Inmate B will then load/tie whatever he needs to send onto the line/carrier of Inmate A.
    
  • Inmate B will then let Inmate A know it's ready and Inmate A will pull it back into his cell.
    
  
  
  *If neither inmate has a long enough line it can be passed around by other inmates on the tier who can help out.