xp_journal | (no subject)

I know you're all gonna read this and just be like "Jesus, fuck that Madin guy, they're still clearly a card carrying Brotherhood member" and 1) I'm not and 2) this is important.

I don't comment on social media much or anything but there's this one lady that's being going viral on tiktok lately. Her name is Ayame and she is fuuuuuucked. So the conservatives love her.

[embedded video of a woman speaking, saying "I realize that I ask much of my fellow mutants, but we must establish limits on those perceived to be limitless. Society can only function with boundaries and rules, and we must continue to work to find a way to be a part of it; to not press so hard against those markers as to disturb the peace."]

You don't have to agree with me but it's important that you know about this. People like her? They want us back in the box. Limited. Tame. They want us to be fully managed by humans so that we're never a threat.

We don't get mutant liberation by listening to what they have to say.

(OOC: Posted here to enable use of a plot tag)

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Not all of them. Not even most of them.

Sure, social media is always going to show you the extremes. I eventually learnt that.

But for every anti-mutant bigot and self-hating mutant on there, you see the human parents of a kid who burnt their house down but they only want to make sure he can live a life without having to fear prosecution.

Big picture isn’t where I work. That’s for the people who can stand talking to arrogant idiots with their heads so far up their asses they’re never going to see daylight.

The only way we stop any of this is by working with humans because you and I both know it’s not going to be just mutants who make people change.

And that doesn’t mean hiding. Fuck hiding. But there’s a difference between making them feel safer and hiding what and who we are.

Guess I misjudged you. I thought you cared about the systemic issues mutants face.

Not sure how you got ‘I don’t care about systemic issues mutants face’ from ‘the system won’t change unless we get a majority on board’.

Because that's literally what you said.

Not from where I’m standing.

Cool. Glad you like being a conservative and excusing the people who want to destroy us because some humans aren't bad etc etc.

You’ve been here before.

I’ve not excused anything. I just see the reality of what needs doing.

We will get nowhere if we refuse to use every tool we have, that includes sympathetic humans.

You may not like that reality but that doesn’t make it any less real.

Whatever, Maya. I can't just both sides this.

You know, I was a lot like you when I first came here.

And what? Now you better?

Here's what you don't get, okay?

I never get to go out in the world safely. There's always someone staring, or a tiktoker wanting to fight, or someone calling security or something.

I can't just be a person or queer or non binary because I'm purple first. You get to put the mutant thing away when you're done. I don't.

When I'm talking about mutant liberation, I'm talking about a scenario where I get to feel safe walking down the street. Get it?

No. I’d be lying if I ever said that.

What exactly does mutant liberation mean to you?

What changes need to happen so you feel safe?

Edited 2024-09-10 14:02 (UTC)