lefthertainted | [locked to Iris Fortner]

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[locked to Iris Fortner]

Following up on the conversation we were having before in Phoebe's journal:

I actually have reason to believe there is a force or forces at work to keep most of the non-supernatural population from noticing the supernatural. There have been a number of large-scale disasters in the past that were clearly of supernatural origin--the destruction of the Conrad Hotel, for one, and the Ten Plagues that occurred in the fall of 2009, for another--but most of the residents of the city just can't seem to even consider the possibility of a supernatural origin for these events. Occurrences such as rivers of blood and frogs falling from the sky violate a number of laws of nature as we know them, but while non-supernaturals will notice and react to the events as they are happening, only few days later they seem to have almost forgotten.

Unfortunately, when the other residents of the city do notice what's going on, there is often a violent backlash, leading to the rise of terrorist groups such as the CLF. It's all to easy for people try to blame supernatural occurrences on the supernatural community. The fact that many people don't recognize us for what we are actually gives us a degree of safety, odd as it may sound.

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I see. Thank you. Again, it's helpful to hear these things from the perspective of someone who's more familiar with the situation.

What I'm concerned about, I guess, is that we may be safe, but only for as long as we live a lie, pretending to be something that we're not. Non-human people can't even walk the streets without putting up an illusion of being human, right? That seems unfair-- it's like if every gay person had to pretend they were straight to be safe. You can create an illusion, but isn't that like admitting that what people like the CLF feel is right: that we're a shameful thing that should be hidden?

And even if that does help us in the short term-- even if it's easier to hide than it is to face the CLF and the root of the problems that create them-- I guess it feels like we're only getting ourselves hurt more in the long term, aren't we? Because if we don't tackle what the average person in this world feels about supernaturals, then every time someone does notice, we get groups like the CLF. I think that in the short term we're safer, but to be really safe in the long run, we need to fight the feelings out amongst people that are making them treat supernaturals like this in the first place.

Because of that, I'd like to do something. In the same way that gay people have a pride movement, I want to create one for supernaturals too. Right now I think that we can't be proud of ourselves or even show ourselves in public, and I don't want to live like that or have my friends live like that. It isn't fair, and I want to change people's minds.

I suppose it depends on what you mean by an illusion of being human. I agree, it's not always wise for angels and demons to go out in public too often with their wings out. But the truth of the matter is, Chicago is a large city. It's not always safe even for native-born residents to go out in certain parts of the city. And I agree, it can be difficult for those Wanderers whose appearances differ greatly from those of a human's. It can even be difficult for a supernatural to understand that someone who has fangs or fur or scales might be intelligent and peaceful, because we have a significant problem with violent, unthinking monsters falling through the Rift attacking people indiscriminately. Sometimes even we can be blinded by our own prejudices. People fear what they don't understand, and that goes for supernaturals as well as 'normal' humans.

I'm not saying that acceptance of supernaturals isn't a cause worth working for. But it's not something you can rush. Acceptance isn't something you can force on everyone immediately. Acceptance of supernaturals begins with the people around us first, and a lot of people have already been quietly working towards those goals already by revealing ourselves to non-supernaturals we know and trust. People who have had more contact with supernaturals--angels, demons, supernatural humans of all types as well as Wanderers--are more likely to be aware of and accepting of the supernatural. There are even those that are willing to employ Wanderers even without any legal identification, in technical violation of the law. Not many, and they often can't afford to pay very much, but they do exist.

What I'm saying is, be careful who you talk to at this. There have been people murdered in the past by groups like the CLF. And because our community is so small, every death can be a major blow. We need allies first, before we can start a public movement.

To be quite honest, the supernatural community wasn't ready for a movement until very recently. For a long time, the community was divided and fractured, and angels and demons had been at war for centuries. It wasn't until a little less than three years ago that a treaty was signed in Chicago, making the city and some of the surrounding suburbs neutral territory. It's one of the few places in the country that is. It took a while before the different factions in the supernatural community came to trust each other enough that we can present a united front to the outside world, and I believe that a united front is absolutely essential to winning public acceptance.

That's not to say that I'm advocating hiding away in the Tower in fear until then. We absolutely need to go out into the outside world and form relationships and trust with other people, but right now, it's better to take it slowly, working with people on an individual basis at first rather than public demonstrations or marches. And be careful who you tell. I'm not saying you should lie to people, but being a Wanderer or any other kind of supernatural is far from being the only facet of our personalities. You don't tell someone everything about yourself on the first meeting, do you? Emphasize other attributes of your personality at first, let people see that you're not all that different from them, and bring up the topic of supernaturals and Wanderers as the bonds of trust grow between you.

Being a supernatural or a Wanderer is not shameful, but as I said before, many people fear what they don't understand. They've always had a conception of the world being a certain way, and the existence of supernatural beings and people from other worlds disrupts that conception. Some people take that a lot better than others, so it's best to know who you're talking to well enough that you can gauge what kind of reaction they'll likely have. Does that make sense?

I suppose it does, yes. And I wasn't thinking that we should make anything really public, just yet. To be honest with you, I was already talking to Jim Kirk about this and he gave me some thoughts that helped me understand why it can't be public to start with. I know a lot of people could get hurt.

But also there's a difference between being completely public and only talking to your friends, right? The things I was thinking of starting with were things like talking to other people who are already part of the supernatural community, and helping them understand that they deserve to have rights and be protected. Like we were thinking of starting a magazine and also support groups. It'd be for supernaturals and Wanderers only, but it would give people a sense that their identity is something they should be fighting for, while also not putting them at risk.

And as for things with fangs and fur and scales falling through and attacking people... that's true. But also, some of our worst murderers look like any ordinary person on the street. Like the man in the CLF video. Any given human-looking person is as likely to be as dangerous as any monster, because there are people in both classes who are harmless and also people in both who are very harmful, so that's another fear that isn't rational. And we should try making people think about that, maybe?

It's good to know the history of things. And I agree that we definitely need a united front. Also, I do try to be careful about telling people I'm a Wanderer. [...For completely different reasons, the narration would like to add.] Usually, I only tell people who I know are supernaturals or Wanderers already.

So do you think that that's a good idea? Starting by trying to do things within the supernatural community itself to make people more aware that we should be doing something about this?

Building relations within the supernatural community can only be a good thing. And I think support groups would also be a good idea, if we can train people to run them. I try to keep an eye out for people who are having problems, but I'm busy enough with Torchwood work and I can't be everywhere.

I think part of the problem of distrusting those with "monstrous" appearances is a problem of proportions. Murderers make up an extremely small part of the total population of the city, but with "monsters" (not counting Behemoths), the ratio is nearly the opposite. Reported monster attacks vastly outweigh the number of peaceful, sentient non-humanoids that come through the Rift, so people start to generalize. Fear of monsters is actually a very rational fear, especially for those among us who are not well-versed in protecting themselves; however, people need to remember that there are always exceptions to the the rule. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, most of the non-humanoids prefer to live elsewhere, so there aren't often visible reminders of these exceptions. I myself have never met any of them, only heard of mentions of them in the archives.

I think we are ready to start working on outreach to non-supernaturals, if people wanted, but as I said, we need to do it carefully. We need to build friendships slowly with them first, before telling them about the supernatural world. And the thing is, once we get a few 'normal' people on our side, it becomes easier, because they can also convince other people they know that supernaturals are not a threat. Even if they only tell one or two people, thats one or two people that we might not have been able to reach on our own. It's an exponential effect. But as I said, the key words here are slowly and carefully.

[...Mio knows Iris too well. Slow and careful are not really words in her vocabulary. But for others' sakes, she'll try.]

Okay, that all makes sense. I've been thinking of holding some kind of meeting soon, I'm not sure whether in person or over the journals, to discuss these things. Like where we're going to get the money for any of this. I would very much appreciate it if you'd share your thoughts at that meeting too, though I understand you're very busy. It just seems like you know a lot.

But yeah, it seems like we have two ways to look at things so far, right? We can help people within the supernatural community and we can also try very carefully talking to people we know who are "normal" humans. Sort of a two-pronged attack. I imagine if we make people in the supernatural community more confident about themselves, they'll also be more likely to want to explain things to a friend, right?

So yeah, I'll definitely bring all of this up when we have the meeting. You've been really helpful; thanks so much!

I wouldn't say I know all that much; most of what I have is secondhand accounts and reports. Martha Jones knows a lot more history than I do, because she's been here the longest of all of the Wanderers. The angels and demons raised here probably know things as well, but a lot of them are young and may not have been involved in any but the more recent events. Nevertheless, I'll still try to be at the meeting you set up to try to answer questions anyone might have.

'Attack' probably isn't the terminology we want to be using here. We really don't want to encourage that kind of mindset.

We should also try to come up with a different word for "normal" humans. "Non-supernaturals" is a bit of a mouthful, but calling some people "normal" humans and other people something else only serves to reinforce people's perceptions of the supernatural community as "other" and somehow bad.

Hmm, you're right. I didn't think about that, sorry.

A word for them.... Yeah, we should come up with something like that. It's kind of hard, though, isn't it? If you think about it, the difference between the supernatural population and everyone else is that they have something... well, supernatural about them. Because we came through the Rift, or have some magical power, or such. So the word to describe everyone else seems like it should be "natural" or "normal", but that doesn't work.

Maybe we need to make up a completely new word, like "straight"... well, I guess when you think about it, "straight" also implies ordinary, doesn't it? Like, staying on a straight path? Are there any other word pairs out there that we can look at the patterns of to see how they work and get some ideas, maybe? Ones that have been used for different groups like this, that don't sound bad?

It is difficult. There are terms like "population at large," which is at least somewhat more neutral, but that only works to refer to the group as a whole. There are also terms like "common people" (or "common person") but that actually has somewhat of a negative connotation, as if people who aren't supernatural are boring and unexceptional and that's not the case. Same thing with "ordinary."

It seems like repurposing some other word will have to be the way to go. That can be one of the discussions we have at the meeting.

I'll add it to my list of things to bring up. We should certainly raise it to everyone to see who has ideas. I'm glad you thought of it.

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