tushanshu | audio; anonymous location

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Superman here.

[The voice Kal uses is definitely Superman's. Now that he's got (most of, he notices these things) powers back he doesn't really feel like hiding.]

And I'd like to say this kind of situation is why I suggested training for those metahumans who wanted it. Not to train an army, just to help out. It'd both avoid situations like the one in the clinic and to ensure everyone who didn't have any metahuman ability would be less ready to jump on a kid who was pulling a prank.

Just because some of us have abilities that could be dangerous doesn't mean we are going to use them. Please let's not turn this into a witch-hunt, I've seen enough of those and they never end well for either party involved.

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[Vic's still not looking completely recovered, pale and missing spikes and pieces of carapace.]

We don't have to go on a hunt, she was nice enough to come forward and tell us exactly where she is. What she did wasn't just a harmless prank.

[He sighs.]

Training isn't a bad idea but I get a general sense that a lot of us are pretty well trained. It's teaching people things like 'turning others into tiny animals just because they're a jerk is not right' that should come first.

[Kal will focus on the second thing in a minute, but first...]

Did you joke about going to a hunt for a little girl? What for, exactly?

[He responds with a flat look.]

I was being sarcastic.

[A hmmm to himself. Maybe he's too much on edge right now.]

You're right though, teaching common sense should go first. But yelling at the girl won't help with that.

And telling her it's not a big deal, just a prank, and that anyone that has a problem with her changing someone into a tiny and defenseless rodent is overreacting will help even less. It'll just make things worse.

So we look for a middle term. Which is harder than it should be when both sides are... actually partially right.

[At least he thinks he isn't totally wrong, and he can admit the ones that yelled at the girl do have a point.]

[He sighs slightly.]

Seriously? That girl was in no way right. What she did was something that you'd get in trouble for doing to villains back home much less just some guy that was flirting with her. She did nothing but hurt relations between people with powers and people without them. And what if she did it in public and the Kedan saw it? That won't help relations with them either.

Not her, obviously. She wasn't right. I already said she should be told and explained why she couldn't do something like that again.

[He's not touching the villains thing though because they have done way, way worse things to them.]

But do you honestly think yelling at her and freaking out will solve anything?

Yelling might if she doesn't respond to voices that haven't be raised. And really, I can understand people not used to displays of magic and his friends freaking out. It may not have helped but it's a not like everyone can help it.

His friends freaked out? I thought they were alright with the prank... that makes it different I guess.

I still think it's not worth yelling at her, and especially not by people who have nothing to do with him or her.

I don't know if his friends from home freaked out but I certainly don't appreciate people I consider friends to be turned into hamsters. [He considers Leo a friend at least.]

No. [Victor scowls.] We've all got something to do with it. Because all it takes is one stupid abuse of power like that for all the people without powers or all the kedan that think us foreigners are a menace to be pushed from just afraid to deciding something has to be done. And we're only one whackjob or psychopath away from things like people getting beaten by mobs in the streets, people yelling about registering us and fencing us off, and buses full of defenseless kids being blown up. She went too far and the attitude I saw from her was that it wasn't a big deal and that she didn't think it was anything wrong which means it's definitely worth yelling at her.

[Kal pauses. He's about to ask if that was what had happened in Vic's world but that's not the point, the point is that it's... plausible. Kal has high hopes it wouldn't get to that, but he can't deny it's a possibility.]

...If we treat a girl who turned a boy into a hamster for a couple hours what will we do when someone actually actively hurts someone else?

Treat her like what, exactly? She did something wrong and people yelled at her. It's not like anyone was busting down her door and attacking her.

And if it's someone that's out there attacking people or worse, then we'd take more action.

Edited 2013-07-22 20:37 (UTC)

Judging by the reactions I'm getting from this post? I'm not so sure people wouldn't have joined them if someone had actually tried to attack her.

The general impression I'm getting right now is that people are frustrated with you rather than eager to go attack her. I mean you did kind of sound like you didn't think she did anything wrong and that anyone who had a problem with what she did was overreacting.

[He makes a face. Dick talking to him like that? Sure, he's known the guy since he was 9. Kon simply doesn't have a filter on. But he doesn't usually appreciate teenagers talking to him like that, even as Clark Kent. Respect your elders, father always said.]

I sounded like I was telling people to calm down and try to deal with this in a calm, not-visceral way. Because that's what I was doing.

[Sorry, Clark. It's an X-kid thing. On the plus side, he's at least one that'll apologize for the attitude later.]

Maybe so but that doesn't change how other people thought it sounded.

But still, I didn't really get a 'ready to attack' vibe from things.

That's the point. We shouldn't have to wait until they are ready to attack us. We should make our presence and our position know right away, so they aren't afraid of us.

I agree. And a good way to help people not be afraid of us is to not just go "Oh it's nothing but a harmless prank" when someone crosses the line.

Punishing would just show them having powers and using them is something bad, something to be afraid of.

I don't think that's the case. Because the punishment wouldn't be for having or using powers. It would be for using those powers to do something wrong. How they're used, not having them period.

The difference is harder to make than what it seems, specially unconsciously.

No one ever said it'd be easy but it's better in the long run than letting someone getting away with doing wrong and showing we don't care if people abuse their powers.

What will you suggest we do when someone truly, intentionally abuses their powers? When someone uses it for their own benefit and harms others in worse ways than a little body-shift for an hour?

First of all, the body-shift definitely counts as power abuse. And second, what you described sounded pretty much like supervillainy. If they don't respond to reason and trying to get them to stop peacefully, that's usually when the punching starts.

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