Jul 3, 2017 10:57:35 GMT -6
Post by Ren on Jul 3, 2017 10:57:35 GMT -6
Ren listened attentively, but after Mitsuko was done speaking she shook her head.
"You know," she said slowly, "I don't think guilt really helps anyone here."
She looked off to the side, a dull flush creeping up her neck and colouring her cheeks. She didn't want to lecture someone she just met, but Mitsuko seemed fairly open to learning about nonbenders. Ren was far, far from a political person, but the self flagellation most benders went through when confronting the realities of nonbender life was something she had plenty of experience in.
"The Air Nomads have a lot of teachings about inner peace, and guilt is something they cover. It's easy to succumb to guilt, at the hypothetical should-haves and would-haves, but does it really help anything? Did you cause this, singlehandedly? Did you willingly choose not to help before you knew?"
The questions were rhetorical, so Ren pressed on. "Benders are always like this," she said softly. "They're horrified, then they beat themselves up for not knowing. That doesn't help any of us, that doesn't change things. Put the guilt aside and continue helping, and not just in private places like the Temple, but when you see some sort of injustice in your day to day life."
Unbidden, the outraged face of Hangetsu as he rescued her from street harassers came to mind. Ren allowed herself a split second of sorrow before pushing it away.
"And the fear you felt with Amon is nothing like we feel." She looked up now, her normally kind face stern. "If the Equalists and Amon were your lion-moose, just remember: everyone believed you. The police took you seriously, held press conferences, made a task force, all to ensure your protection from the lion-moose."
Ren gestured outside, to the Temple proper, where almost a hundred people lay injured, some at death's door.
"Where is our protection?"
She stood then, brushing her robes off. "But I agree with you," she said, her expression softening. "I think there will be another war too. Maybe not so big as the last one, but until something changes, this will continue."
Anonymous
Jul 6, 2017 20:14:18 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2017 20:14:18 GMT -6
Mitsuko listened carefully, hanging on to every single word and analyzing each one. There was truth to her words yet again and Mitsuko couldn't help but think that she had been correct in her assumption that Ren was a wise woman. With each sentence she spoke, to Mitsuko, she was proving the assumption to be more and more correct.
However while Ren was completely correct about the guilt there was one thing Mitsuko disagreed with. "As easy as I wish it was to just push my guilt aside, it's not. It might not be logical and I could tell myself a million times that I shouldn't be guilty, I should act instead but no matter how much I will it to, that guilt won't just disappear. I'll help as much as I can, privately or publicly but even that won't make the guilt go away. Although, I'm not sure that guilt is entirely bad in that respect."
"It's a horrible feeling but it works as a motivator in a way and even after a person has overcome that guilt I think the experience of it can teach you something. While a large part of the reason I am here is because I want to help, I think there is a very tiny tiny piece of me that wants to help because I do feel somewhat guilty. I think many benders feel that way and it's part of why you do see the occasional bender stand up and make a difference. Guilt is a feeling and like any emotion, it can have a positive impact despite the fact that it may not seem like it."
Mitsuko grew quiet once more as she considered Ren's words on the difference between how the two situations were handled. One got attention, was handled with care, and was taken seriously. The other was brushed aside, as if the hundred people who had just been injured didn't matter, as if nothing had ever happened and as if the Temple was not currently overflowing with injured innocents.
Putting a piece of hair behind her ear, she nodded. "Again, you're right. To be honest, it's the one thing I can't figure out about this whole situation. I get wanting to prevent chaos, riots, or even just bad press but this is different. There has to be something more going on. I'm sure there are people who work for the newspaper who want to speak out, police who want to help but are not allowed. There are bad benders, bad people in those organizations but not all of them are."
"Would it be crazy to think that maybe there was something more, someone more behind the attack? Someone with more influence, someone who wanted to deepen the growing rift. Someone who perhaps wanted a war and is trying to bring attention to the attack by not giving attention to it? I know how it sounds, absolutely insane. But to me, this whole thing is strange. I can't possibly find a reason why no one would help unless the people in charge truly hated nonbenders which I don't believe to be the case. Who knows, maybe it was just the Triads. But no one is even investigating them because they claim there is no evidence despite there being witnesses! Or maybe the Triads or someone else are trying to start a war."
Mitsuko sighed, realizing how insane she must have sounded to Ren. "Again, I know it sounds crazy but with other things that have happened I'm not sure how crazy it is. I mean Amon ended up being a bender who was exploiting nonbenders, benders are going missing in the middle of the night, and the police chief was murdered. Something about the whole thing just rubs me the wrong way."
"At this rate maybe that war will be coming sooner than any of us are expecting. Something needs to change and fast, I just don't have a clue of what anyone can do. It's a bit annoying, to want to make a difference but not having the slightest clue of where to start. Then again, I suppose maybe I have started." Mitsuko let out a soft laugh, "Perhaps I should just focus on the people who need help that are in front of me first."
Jul 7, 2017 15:11:25 GMT -6
Post by Ren on Jul 7, 2017 15:11:25 GMT -6
Ren bit her lip. There was no use arguing with a bender who saw benefit in guilt. It was a difficult concept to explain. Benders couldn't comprehend that feeling and acting guilty was, effectively, making it all about them; that acting out of guilt had the end result of appeasing their own conscience. Sure, the genuine desire to help may occur once the guilt set in, but ultimately, unless the bender cast aside that guilt and realised they were moving only to the point where they could stop feeling guilty, then they could affect change more effectively.
There was also the insistence that not all benders were bad, which while true, failed to acknowledge that all benders contributed — willingly or no — to the system. Sure, not all benders were bad, not all of the RCPD were in the pockets of the Triads, but all of them upheld the system.
But Mitsuko seemed to be a kind and intelligent person, so Ren stayed silent in the hopes she would come to this conclusion eventually.
Ren held open the door to the washroom and let Mitsuko go through first, nodding at her musings that there was more than met the eye about the current political climate. Of course, the acolyte shared those sentiments, and had a few theories of her own, but considering their current location... Ren glanced around furtively, as if the Monks could hear her thoughts. There wasn't one around, but Ren couldn't dismiss the prickly feeling on her neck.
She shook her head to try and put it past her, smiling brightly at her companion. "Let's get back to the room, shall we?"
ooc; do you want to discuss over PM where to go next? perhaps we can skip over each individual patient and fast forward to the end of the day?
Anonymous
Jul 8, 2017 23:15:19 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2017 23:15:19 GMT -6
Mitsuko nodded in response to the question, there was no need for a spoken reply. Once out of the washroom, Mitsuko got right back to work, moving from person to person, bed to bed, patient to patient. She hadn't needed to use her waterbending and it was a comforting thought, it meant most were fully recovering and that it was likely that no one else would lose their lives due to the attack. It was tiring work, but rewarding, and Mitsuko found that she quickly got into a rhythm, repeating the same actions with nearly every person they stopped at. Each person was in a different situation of course, but many of them had similar fixes.
It was fulfilling to watch the occasional person crack a smile or even laugh if she made a joke. Her positive attitude wasn't what was going to fix anyone, but she hoped that it was at least a distraction from the grim reality. The experience was eye-opening, a seemingly new world had been shown to Mitsuko, she had never truly comprehended the extent of nonbender's suffering until now. Not to mention, it wouldn't surprise her if she was told she was one of the only benders to actually cross the threshold of the Temple. She couldn't count the number of times she had strolled past it, sometimes pausing to glance at it and sometimes purposely avoiding the sight of it. There were times she would stop and stare, filled with curiosity on what went on behind the gate and there were other times she found herself frozen, transfixed in fear by a flash of a Monk. There were a multitude of different emotions she had felt about the Temple, both before and after her brother's disappearance, but now she saw the good in it.
Whether the Monks were entirely good or bad didn't seem to matter right now, they were helping. Not to mention, Mitsuko began to think that good and bad were relative concepts. With nonbenders thinking they were good and benders thinking they were good, Mitsuko decided being good or bad wasn't something you could determine simply by a group you were born into. It should be based on your actions. Following that mentality the Monks were at the very least decent people. No one else was doing anything to help the victims except for them.
Upon helping her final person of the day, Mitsuko stood and stretched, tired from the days work. She began to make her way towards the exit to the Temple, motioning her head in the hopes that Ren would follow along. Mitsuko stopped short a few feet from the exit and pivoted to face the air acolyte.
"Thank you, for all of your help today and for your wisdom. You've given me a lot to think about and much to consider about Republic City. Perhaps one day there will be no more lion-moose and if there is, I will try to protect people from it. Especially if I am grouped into the same category as the lion-moose."
"I'm glad I decided to come after all and once again thank you. Like I said when I got here, I think I would have been completely lost on what to do if you hadn't been here." Mitsuko let out a soft giggle before a soft smile settled on her face. "It was nice meeting you, Ren."
