small question

[obliviscere]

Type: Text
Sender ID: obliviscere (Namine)
To: everyone!
Subject: Question
Warnings: None

This might be a very personal question to ask like this, so nobody needs to feel like they have to answer but...

I was wondering if anyone's ever had a power that they've been uncomfortable with? How did you get over it? Do you think powers that do 'bad' things can be good?

Just curious! And also not related to that but I'd like to make some care packages for those islands in need. Any suggests for good food for them?

Comments

text; un: madeofmirrors

[madeofmirrors]

Define "bad" powers, darling.

[obliviscere]

Things that do bad things to people? That hurt them.

[madeofmirrors]

And powers that can hurt people can be used to protect others, can't they?

text; un: chaosvessel

[chaosvessel]

I've never tried.

How you use them matters, I think. Powers that let you change your shape could turn you into a monster, but if you use that monster to fight villains, is it 'bad' that it murders people?

[obliviscere]

Never? Why?

I guess that depends a lot on what the villains have done.

[chaosvessel]

I don't know.

I don't think people who steal milk money would be called "villains".

text;

[activatingcombatmode]

I think "bad powers" is kind of a broad way to see it. There's no such thing as a bad power. Just bad people. Because it's more about how you use a power than what it is, don't you think?

[obliviscere]

I think that's a really nice way to look at it and I'd like to think it's true. But a part of me wonders if maybe there's some powers that just do a lot more harm than good?

[activatingcombatmode]

That's probably true too. But, I'd like to think that if you use it right, anything can be decent.

Or maybe even with the right training, or something.

» text | un: tilfrosset

[tilfrosset]

Yes.

[Is that an answer to the first or third question. Or both?]

As for getting over it... it took time, but I met a man who shared his vision of a better world, where people looked down upon could have a say in how they lived. That thinking changed how I saw myself and others like me.

[Thanks Cid! And by extension, Clive.]

[obliviscere]

I see.

I'm glad you were able to meet someone that helped you like that.

[tilfrosset]

Me too.

But I have to ask, and forgive me for prying: what is your answer to the questions that you posed?

text; un: sunbursted

[sunbursted]

[ it's a funny question given the user name her shellphone has on it. sunbursted, like a reminder of her sunburst spell. the one that could have... but it reminds her of percy. and a bit of herself. ]

I think it depends on the ability and how it's used. A friend of mine back home had some abilities that he got from a demon and they made him kind of scary. But he used them to help save the world. Mostly. My powers are all nature-based but I've used them... I've done some things I'm not proud of. Thought they were good, thought I was being cool. But I hurt people in the way that I used them.

I don't know if that helps.

[obliviscere]

I don't really know much about demons, but I can't imagine they'd want someone to use their powers to help save the world. I'd have thought they'd have wanted him to use them for their own goals or something.

[ so she can't help but wonder if that meant he went against what this demon wanted and if that was hard to do. ]

Did you only hurt people? Or did whatever you did do some good?

[sunbursted]

oh, no, his was totally for a vengeance streak. But then we severed his connection to the demon and he still had those powers. He just put them to better use. With less weird yelling or gruesome shots.

[ it's complicated and keyleth isn't doing the best job of telling that story. her mind briefly remembers tiberius and his fireball habit, but she pushes that to the side for now. that's even more complicated than percy. ]

No, I use my powers all the time to help. Heal. Pull people out of harm's way. Just... sometimes if I don't think about what I'm doing... a helpful vine trying to pull someone to safety might hurt them instead. Or a bright ball of radiant light might... damage people who are too close.

My point is... even good spells or abilities can be used for bad things. Maybe the same is true in reverse.

text; perfpilot

[sos_pilot]

think of powers like weaponry - it all depends on who is wielding it.

take your basic sword. in the wrong hands, it can be used to hurt innocent people, threaten them. but in the right hands, it can protect people, and defeat those who mean others harm.

[obliviscere]

That seems to be what a lot of people are saying. So you don't think any weapon or power is inherently bad?

text; un: deepstar

[deepstar]

I'm going to reinforce what a lot of people are saying: it's how you use it that matters.
People can come up with a lot of reasons for why a power is "bad" or "good" or even "there is no good use for this."
The reality is that life isn't so black and white. There's a lot of room for grey.

[obliviscere]

What if it's a power that controls and changes other people?

text; un: sparkstrikes; private

[sparkstrikes]

Yeah. Got some foisted on me when I didn't want em, too.

Got over it by going after and killing the thing that gave them to me.

[Right to the point, this one.]

[obliviscere]

[ oh. Well then. ]

Did that take the powers away?

text; un: ashadowofhope

[ashadowofhope]

yes.

if i did not learn to use them, i would not be writing at this moment.

for your last question, certain powers can only harm. how one justifies 'good' or 'bad' depends on one's reason they harm another.

[obliviscere]

Did you learn to use them alone or have help?

So if someone used a power that can really only harm to protect others, would that be bad?

text; un: spitefulcrow

[spitefulcrow]

As many others have said, abilities are not good or bad. What you do with them is what matters.

Care packages: salted meat, dried fruits and pickled vegetables. Nonperishable items are best. Plenty of fresh water.

[obliviscere]

I guess then maybe it's a matter of deciding if what you're doing is good or not.

Oh thank you! Those sound like great things. I hope that doesn't mean you have a lot of experience with care packages.