selfhelp | [voice/written/action]

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[voice/written/action]

Hey, ah... Vision - I mean, Jonas - of the Young Avengers got sent home. Sorry, if you knew him.

[Why is he always full of bad news? Ugh... let’s try to be less depressing for a while.]

There’s something else I wanted to talk about today: since I got here almost a year ago I’ve noticed how there’s this huge range of cultural norms across the multiverse- which makes sense, different worlds have different standards, I get it. People who are accepted in one world aren’t tolerated in another. Luceti’s kind of an anomaly, where there’s really not much, if any prejudice. I mean, there’s the whole Malnosso versus Us mentality, but that’s because of what they do, not what they are. Basically what I’m saying is that I think that’s great, and I want to do my part to keep encouraging that universal acceptance here for the people who might not be able to get it back where they come from, open up discussions to people who might not be sure about who or what they are, um...

Okay, this is a really roundabout way of saying I want to start an LGBT club. If you don’t know what that means, here’s a breakdown:

[Below is a jotted list-

L = Lesbian = girls attracted to girls
G = Gay = guys attracted to guys
B = Bisexual = guys and girls attracted to BOTH guys and girls
T = Transgender = People who feel like they were born in the body of the wrong gender (or genderfluid)
*Q = Questioning = Anyone not sure about the above or if they apply

And then it returns to voice.]

Those are really oversimplified, and there's still a lot of other words people use to define themselves, but you get the gist of it. I’d really like to meet up with anyone who matches any those descriptions, or feels like they might, or are just curious about it. I’m gonna put up some posters with suggested meeting times and places, but if you have any questions or just want to talk about it, you can use the journal (it’s okay to be anonymous!) or come right to the school. I’ve got a table set up and I’ll be here pretty much all day. I don't know if this is going to go anywhere, but it's worth a shot, right?

One last thing- we’re looking to make this a safe place, so if you plan to come just to make fun of people: we have a Hulk.

[And true to his word, Billy will be at the school, curled up in a chair at a plain table littered with papers. He’s designing posters and doodling various symbols to use for logos. Come bother him if you like?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[That decidedly uncertain feeling about this conversation has returned with a vengeance. God, he doesn't want details.]

Yes and no. It depends on what part of the world you're in. My country has laws against that kind of violence, and that would be labeled as a hate crime if it was done specifically because of someone's sexuality. Some countries don't have that kind of protection.

[He smirks bitterly, wondering what life might have been like had he been able to protect himself and those he had cared for before it had already been too late.]

One must fight to be, relying not on the protection of others whether or not it is there when the time comes.

I don't think there's anything wrong with expecting your own government to protect you. Especially when you're paying them taxes to do just that.

But I've heard that can be unrealistic at times.

[Something about this strikes a nerve and there is more derision than amusement in his tone.] Should one find themselves faced with a violent confrontation, I would hope one is not so foolish as to sit and wait for someone to save them from grievous bodily harm. ...But I would not put it past some people to hope and let it - and themselves - be beaten down to a sad mess.

Not everyone can fight, though. Some don't have the power or physical strength, or anyone to teach them how. It's people like that who the strong ought to protect.

Then the weak must learn, or they shall forever live in fear and helplessness. If they live at all.

I can't agree with something like that. It's too horrible.

What? That the weak are to perish, and the strongest shall live on?

[The words escape him in a snarl.]

The world is a ruthless, hellish place, and never shall this change for as long as humans walk the earth. [Not to say he thinks any better of demons.] There is no true, lasting equality among them and never shall there be so long as men have eyes to judge and the seeds of selfishness and envy planted deep in their hearts.

[....]

Like I said... it's too horrible.

It might seem awful now - and worse, in the world or time that you come from - but I have to believe that it'll get better. The world's already come a long way from how things used to be, and it can only get better from here. Otherwise, what's the point?

[His voice drops to a low, teasingly husky drawl.]

A great many attempts can be made to suppress hatred, but it changes not the truth.

[A vicious smile tugs at the corners of his lips.]

Protect the frail and punish 'the haters', if you will. But should this be done, there will surely be men who speak of tolerance and smile pleasantly to one's face, but seethe in silent resentment until the day their fury is unleashed. The threat of punishment will not temper rebellious spirits.

[A beat.]...Tell me - do you think this to be far better than those who denounce sodomites and arrange for their executions?

I think... well, there's another saying back home, on the internet- haters gonna hate. And that's the truth of it. It's not easy to change hearts, and sometimes it's plain impossible. That's what separates villains from heroes.

But I think that if someone really hates something, they won't talk about tolerance at all. Hatred isn't particularly silent- it's loud and angry and violent. As long as there's people who hate something, sooner or later that hate will show itself to the world no matter how they hide it, just like you said.

And that's why the strong keep fighting for justice. Because there's always going to be someone who hates what they're fighting for.

So yeah, I think it's better for people to have whatever peace they can get between the days the world decides to stomp on them. It means that we won, even if it's only until the next hater comes along.

[The Forgemaster mulls this over, and while a few minor details - such as the Internet - are lost on him, the general meaning is well understood.

We.

He wonders briefly, and not without a half-sneer, if Billy is including him in that word. Rarely is it when 'we' factors into Isaac's life in a meaningful way, in a way that suggests solidarity and support.]

And 'haters' fancy themselves to be heroes as they fight for what it is they believe.

[He muses aloud, too amused. Again his mind drifts back to Valachia and its people.]

So many fear they shall be torn apart by the monsters that own the night when it is their own kind who are a greater menace and a blight upon the earth. ...Humans shall be their own undoing, the damned fools.

[He's not sure if this is a discussion where he can necessarily come out on top- it seems very much an agree-to-disagree situation. This guy's got way more bitterness than he does, and from the sound of his world or time, it's for good reason. Billy just hopes he never becomes that disillusioned with... well, everything, it seems.]

It's been this long, and we're still standing. Whatever you say, I think that still counts for a lot.

[Giggling teasingly, he answers:]

When you say it like that, you make it seem as if you expect to wake each morning to the utter obliteration of your species, only to be pleasantly surprised that your inevitable fate has not befallen you quite yet. [There is the sound of gentle applause.] Bravo for having lingered another day.

[No, he's not quite finished.]

So... when and where, exactly, would you be from? If I am not so bold as to inquire, that is.

[Are you mocking him bro because it sounds like you're mocking him bro

You have nooooo idea how accurate half of that was.]

Well... I'm from one of the many, many Earths that apparently exist. For me it's the year 2011, and shockingly we live through enough alien invasions and world domination plots that it really is impressive that we're still around. So yeah. That's a thing.

[Over five centuries after his time, he muses. It's hard to fully appreciate such a long span of time.]

I did not think it possible... but 'twould seem you have made foes in greater numbers and have brought far more agony and destruction upon yourselves, the wretches that you are. [He snorts softly.]

...Why are you so critical of people? You're all smiles but there's nothing good about what you have to say.

[It's downright depressing.]

The truth is rarely kind, my dear boy.

The truth according to you, maybe.

...Are you sure?

Sure as hell it isn't the truth according to me, yeah.

Well -- [He heaves a sigh.] -- we cannot all delude ourselves into thinking the world to be a charming place where we link hands and blithely prance about in the sunlight, and where all is well so long as one hopes hard enough.

Edited (slight tweak of wording) 2013-05-17 03:25 (UTC)

It's not like I think we're all good and perfect. But we're not all bad, either. It's cliche, but the world isn't just black and white like that.

[If there were only evil men and women in the world, he knows would have been left to die as a newborn child. He would have never had a kindly sister, nor found a friend in Hector whom he had lost.]

What good and what beauty there is is few and far between. It does not last.

Like I said- that's where we disagree. The state of the world might change how much of it is there, but I think there's always good in the world somewhere.

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