Video;

[toycommander]

[Vel's video feed comes on to show her in her dorm room, leaning back in her chair and fiddling with a rather abused old-school My Little Pony. She's looking rather intensely thoughtful.]

Okay, so everyone's aware of the shit that's gone down the last few days, right? Lotta bad publicity for the mutant set t'say the least. And it got me thinking. I get the whole idea of the Xmen is to be heroes, and combat villains and all that fun stuff, but that doesn't make people like mutants. Fights are scary when you're not involved, even if one side's technically the 'good guys'. 'Specially if property damage starts happening. Normal folk don't care if the good guys win if it means the store that's their livelyhood gets bashed all to pieces. Y'know?

So like I said, I've been thinking. Normal folks think mutants are scary and stuff 'cause the news is all about stuff like the bombing in London and such. And I know the news only reports on bad stuff, but still. I think there needs to be... like a web series or something highlighting mutants being non-threatening. Mutants with less scary powers showing off what they can do.

[She gives a rueful smile and sets the pony on the desk in front of her, where it starts to gallop and jump around.]

And mutants using their powers for... like unthreatening good stuff that normals can relate to. Y'know, putting out fires, rescuing kittens, stuff like that.

Or maybe I'm just totally off base and should shut up and just finish my homework.

Comments

voice

[fuckuimametalbender]

When I was a kid here, Feliks and Fai tried to get a campaign doing just that. It seemed to do pretty okay then, might as well try it again now.

Video

[niepokonany]

Um, tried to? Mutants Aren't Monsters is totally still a thing! We could definitely always use some new ideas for it, though.

Video

[toycommander]

Well, I guess it's good I'm not the only one thinking along those lines.

voice

[fuckuimametalbender]

I hadn't heard anything in a while about it. I didn't know it was still happening.

[video]

[knighterrantofthedragon]

[Alric smiles amiably in his video response, a friendly manner that might help to offset his habitually rather elevated diction, that doesn't come through so clearly in texting. Also a hint of playfulness, particularly at the beginning.]

I would say that, yes, you probably ought to finish your homework--and that, yes, this sounds like an excellent idea. An outreach, perhaps, as they call it: something to expand people's awareness of mutants as more than strange abilities, and mutant powers as something more than violence and policy debates.

If there's some way in which I can help, please don't hesitate to let me know... although my... abilities may be a touch too... dramatic for your purposes.

[He flashes a bit more of a contrite smile at the last bit.]

[video]

[toycommander]

Well, what do you do? I mean, dramatic's not always bad, 'specially if it can be shown in helpful context.

[video]

[knighterrantofthedragon]

...well. Perhaps it's best shown.

[Ahem. He raises his right hand, palm-up, so it's visible on the screen, with an expression like a magician demonstrating there's nothing in his hand--then a purple aura ripples around his hand, crackles with little arcs like lightning, and in a flash that dims everything around it as the camera briefly loses contrast trying to match the brightness, the aura compresses down into a brightly glowing, shimmering violet ping pong ball.]

Plasma generation, and.... well, some control, at least.

[voice]

[kickstart_my_heart]

... I rather like that idea.

[voice]

[toycommander]

I figure anything that can help against the current popular opinion. But I'm not too good at, like organizing and things.

Video

[scorchedchivalry]

You have my support for this idea.

[a pregnant pause]

Unfortunately, there is little I can do to assist. My armor is fairly... intimidating to look upon. I would gladly do the things you listed as examples, but there is nothing I can do to not come across to humans as 'scary'.

Video

[toycommander]

Yea, I figure there'll be people that have that problem.

[She gives a half smile]

Still, there'd be other stuff to do. Y'know, someone's gotta shoot the video and stuff. And I'm not really good with computers. Or really even coming up with ideas. So I figure more folks on it, the better, even if not everyone's all public, y'know?

[video]

[whosafraidofthe]

Sounds like a good idea, in theory.

[Says the most threatening guy on campus.]

But in my experience most mundies don't wanna hear about that. Anyone who's gonna believe whatever the news is telling them is all there is to mutants, they're not gonna care if we're doing good. They'll call it an act. Like the media isn't always staging their own.

Then again, if you can make it work there's nothing wrong with it.

[video]

[toycommander]

[She crosses her arms over her chest and narrows her eyes. And people call her cynical?]

People're stupid. They believe what media tells'em, for the most part. Trick is to change up what media's saying. Provide alternate voices. I'm not saying it'd help overnight or anything but... [A shrug] It's better than nothing.

written

[friendofdorothy]

So essentially, we need a propaganda division.

written

[toycommander]

PR for the win

[video]

[shiningscales]

No, I don't think you're off-base at all. Part of the problem is the idea that we're inherently... violent, so presenting evidence to the contrary can only help.

[video]

[toycommander]

That's pretty much my thinking. I mean, I'm not exactly Miss Peace-and-love-and-flowers, but being a mutant doesn't make me violent or anything.

Thinking like that just becomes truth. Like how lots of urban kids end up in gangs, 'cause everyone expects'em to and doesn't give other options.

[Video]

[niepokonany]

[Feliks didn't exactly get on great the last time he talked to her. Then again, he has a lot of experience (and connections) in the areas she's talking about.]

[What does he really want to talk about, though?]

...Is that like, Honeysuckle?

[Video]

[toycommander]

[She picks up the pony, and it stops moving in her hands]

I... guess so? I picked it up at a garage sale somewhere.

[tofudog]

Are you, like, starting a club for it?

[toycommander]

I don't know. I'm not really good at organizing or anything. It was just an idea.

[diabhal_beag]

... Other than maybe organization stuff, I'm not going to be much use here I don't think.

Even used positively, it's really hard to not have people wig out when your power is controlling their emotions.

[toycommander]

Yea, I gotta admit, that's kinda on the scary sort of spectrum. But I'm sure if we actually can get something going that there'll be a lot of stuff that needs doing that isn't putting powers on display.

text; slinks in to tag this

[tactlesstactician]

sure sounds great

you rescue someone's kitten from a tree

and then they accuse you of putting it in the tree in the first place or they tell you it was none of your damn business and you should've let someone normal rescue their cat or if you've been keeping your mutation under wraps, whoops too bad it is out for everyone to see because you rescued the damn cat, and even if you've got one grateful person maybe, there's a crowd of other people staring at you suspiciously.

[ He's an extremely optimistic young man, can't you tell ]

[toycommander]

That's why we need to not just do the 'superheroics and rescuing people' thing. I mean did you listen to what I was talking about at all? There's always going to be people that'll hate on mutants because we're mutants. Just like there's racists and other idiot bigots out there. But the vast majority of folks only really see mutants on TV, and that's when they're fighting or destroying stuff.

I wanna find a way to show mutants doing other stuff. Normal people stuff, and non-threatening power stuff. That's it.