[Voice/Action]

[selfhelp]

[Today is a good day for serious business, apparently. There's a certain something he's been putting off for a while, and after one-too-many dreams interrupting his sleep, he's had enough: this morning when Billy wakes up, the first thing he does is jot out a note in the journal-]

[Private to Ben Grimm]

Hey, would it be okay if I swung by to ask you a few things?

[He'll work through his morning routine until he gets a response, after which he'll go for a visit and get a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.

After that, his mood for the day is drastically altered; he'll skip out on school, trying to sort out his feelings on the matter. Tommy's still AWOL, and he's trying not to worry Teddy, but what he's just been told has really got him thinking- about people, and heroes, and the unfairness of mankind in general. And eventually he'll just go ahead and return to his journal for it. He's kind of in over his head here.]

[Open to All]

I know Luceti's full of heroes- seems kind of a standard trait for most of us, for whatever reason. Back on my world, super-humans aren't that uncommon, and in general they're revered for everything they do for the world. Some of them were born that way, and some of them are from other planets, and some were altered to get their powers, and some have a lot of talent or skill instead of powers. But they're all considered to be super heroes. There's bad guys, too- just as diverse and unique as the heroes they fight. People fear them and celebrate their defeat.

There's another group, though... humans who got their powers because of evolution. It's much more natural, in a lot of ways. Some are heroes, some are villains. Some are just trying to get by without becoming one or the other. But regular humans fear them, and hate them for it, even if they save the world just as much as the heroes they love. They're called criminals or monsters, no matter how innocent they might be.

[He hesitates- it's probably obvious to some, what he's talking about, and he's not sure if he should lock it from the mutant population, or apologize, or something, but it relates to them even if it's not by name. Hiding it wouldn't be right.

In the end he just leaves it be.]

...Sorry for the ramble. But it's not fair, and... I just can't understand why. Why hate one and love the other, when they're basically the same?

Comments

[written - private]

[selfhelp]

What's the alternative? Giving up? Segregation, isolation? Just letting them kill each other? That'll just end badly no matter who wins. But I think equality is always worth fighting for.

[written - private]

[imatreenow]

Equality is an illusion. Discrimination and prejudice can only end if everyone is the same being. [And nobody's crazy enough to try that-- Oh, wait.]

[written - private]

[selfhelp]

[Well, that's only slightly alarming. And delving into the realm of uncomfortable.]

That kind of thinking is what got the national socialism ideology started back home.

[And he just loves that particular mentality, being Jewish.]

[written - private]

[imatreenow]

[Don't worry about his blonde haired, blue eyed, ultra Aryan looks either.]

What's wrong with thinking like that? It's true, is it not? Discrimination thrives when one group thinks they are better than other groups. Therefore, if everyone belonged to the same group, the problem would disappear.

[written - private]

[selfhelp]

[Oh god he is so very unsure right now.]

Discrimination might disappear, but so would diversity. Where you come from is part of what makes a person unique.

More importantly, how would you decide which group is 'the one'? What would happen to all the others?

[written - private]

[imatreenow]

There is a way to make many groups into one single race that doesn't involve slaughtering all other groups. [Just a few hundred million individuals here or there throughout the centuries, no big deal.]

First answer me this: what is the purpose of uniqueness if it only limits you, if it defines what your life can be? Why be proud of being something despised?

[written - private]

[selfhelp]

[The smart thing to do here would be to walk the hell away from this conversation right now.

Unfortunately Billy doesn't always do the smart thing.]

It only limits you if you let it- if you actually care about what others might think of you. I'm not ashamed of who I am because I might be hated - I'm proud of who I am despite the ones who hate me for it.

The only one who gets to decide who you are is you. The rest is just noise.

[written - private]

[imatreenow]

I don't believe that. There are choices that will never be available to some, and it is society that dictates this.

But if everyone is the same, none of that matters. Everyone would be free from judgment, and free to live the life they please. [As long as all their hopes and dreams include, you know, not having a soul. Whatever.]

[written - private]

[selfhelp]

If everyone was the same, they wouldn't be themselves any more. Where I come from, identity is huge- not something you can just change, make everyone whatever you want them to be. There'd be protest, rebellion, maybe even war. It's happened before.

People don't change just because you think they have to. Enforcing it just makes them fight it even harder.

[written - private]

[imatreenow]

Then people are foolish for fighting against what would be best for everyone.

[written - private]

[selfhelp]

[Ugh, "best for everyone"? He hates that phrase more than almost anything, really. There's no such thing.]

Sorry. I just can't agree with that.

[written - private]

[imatreenow]

I suppose I don't expect you to.

[written - private]

[selfhelp]

[Well, that's an 'agree to disagree' if he's ever heard one. At least he's nice about it, even if what he said was kind of... well. More like really scary.

He should really get out of this conversation, oi.]

Thanks for answering anyway.