maskormenace | [Video] EVEN MORE AMBASSADOR ELECTION SPEECHES

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[Video] EVEN MORE AMBASSADOR ELECTION SPEECHES

[The video cuts on on a sweeping view of the city of De Chima spread out below the camera. The viewpoint doesn't change, but the scene does slowly pan across the city. At the very edges of the screen it's possible to catch flashes of bright blue and orange as feathers dip in and out of view, and there's the sound of heavy wings beating in the background.

The view shifts suddenly, the city still coasting past below, but now the camera's being held so anyone watching can see Yayoi while she talks.]

Hey. I'm pretty sure all of you are real sick of hearing a bunch of long speeches. Or dumb speeches if any of you listened to that idiot crow the other day. Speeches are boring; I get it. So all I'm going to say is that's De Chima down there, and that's the thing that matters most in this stupid mess. That city—those people. What they think of us. The whole point of an ambassador is to make them like us, right? Something like that anyway.

So don't waste your vote on some useless idiot who just wants to crown himself emperor of a city, or people who only care about being a leader for imPorts. Elect someone who can make those natives down there think we're worth more than being whatever their government wants us to be.

[There's a long pause, and then, almost as an afterthought.]

Uh. I guess I can do that. If you elect me.

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You too, huh?

[Yayoi flips the video feed off so she can rely on her headset instead.]

I guess so? I just got tired of listening to a bunch of people trying way too hard to convince us why they're the best. And I know I'd do better than the crow.

Low bar. Still.. you're probably the best person running so far. Too bad it's for the worst city in this stupid country.

It's not my fault no one's set it higher yet. And Nonah isn't having an election so I couldn't run for it instead.

It should. I hate that old bastard we're stuck with.

What's he done? This is really the first time I paid attention to any of the political junk around here.

Hell if I care. He's just an annoying jerk who can't mind his own business.

Eh...so he's a nosy kind of guy? Guess it's lucky that I haven't run into him yet.

Hmh. If you're running, you'll probably see what I mean eventually.

I'll just ignore him if he's too annoying.

Good. He's not worth the attention, anyway... I dunno if any of 'em are.

[Tetsuo you literally do not know who any of the others are.]

...Besides you, I guess. If you get anywhere.

Can you?

[It was difficult to not feel curious about this girl too. She did get a few points correct -- she was tried of the long speeches and some of the ones who wish to run do not interest her in the least neither.]

I mean, I do see your point over the position not being solely about serving our needs. I definitely want someone who cares about the concern of both sides and find a way to compromise. Um...how do you plan to get it done? You didn't make any mention of your plans.

[ You know, Gansey heard those speeches. He listened to them. He's the son of an politician; a woman who'd been running for Congress for pretty much all of Gansey's life. He doesn't put a lot of store in speeches, and this woman hit the nail on the head.

He doesn't want to vote for someone who wants to be the emperor of a city. Being the best leader doesn't mean they'll fight for the right things.

What she says catches his attention. And so: ]

That's what matters to me. That they see us as more than tools that can help them in a war we never asked for.

You say you can do that? How would you do that? How would you make them listen to you, when they've listened to no one so far?

Oh, umm...

[She trails off for a long moment. It's not something she's actually considered before now. Really, the only thing she'd considered so far was how dull or annoying all the other speeches so far had been.]

Well...I guess I'd try to make them realize they aren't so different from us. My "powers"—other than these wings, I mean. All of them are things I worked and trained hard to earn. Anyone could get as strong as me if they train enough, so I think...I'd want to tell them that. If the imPorts from my world got where they are with regular training and that's enough to stand up next to people who can make magic fireballs, than I think anyone in this world can do it too.

I think it would make them feel better if they thought they could be as strong as us.

Um, well. I don't know what other people have tried to say to them, but I'd want them to feel like they can do as much as us. I mean—I know they can't sprout wings or make magic fireballs, but all the "powers" that imPorts from my world use for fighting are things they earned through the same kind of training anyone can do.

I think it's important for people to know they can get as strong as that too. Maybe then they won't feel so different from us.

[ Gansey nods. That's all true enough, but...

You just answered that question with um, lady. Cutting the speeches down to the real issues is one thing, but you'll still have to perform in the political arena. ]

That's true, although to play Devil's advocate, some of the powers we have are exceptionally powerful. There's a reason both the US and Russia want to control us. You can't replicate that kind of raw power with training alone.

[To be fair she's 16. The real issue here is why anyone is letting a 16 year old high school student run for public office.]

Yes, you can. My friends are completely ordinary humans. They gained all their power and skill through training, and one of them can move so fast he practically vanishes, and the other broke gravity once.

[...She. She may also be from a really, really unusual world. Just maybe.]

And anyway, if those assholes can control us this much then the people of this world are already astounding. It's awful, but that's technology that they made. If they realize they could work on technology to lift themselves up instead of bringing us down, then that's... It's just something we have to convince them of. Convince them that we can be equals without hurting one side or the other to do it.

[A thoughtful hum will escape her lips as she listen to the other girl's explanation about her wings and believes in hard work. They were words that she can definitely understand. After all, it rang true for her too. She had to work extremely hard to be able to reach her dreams of becoming a rain summoner like the rest of her family could; however there was an issue with her argument.]

While I do understand your intentions, isn't it a little irresponsible to say too? It's true that most of us gained our powers due to the Porter indiscriminately giving it to us; a handful may be trying to figure out a good way to use it or haven't yet. There are definitely those who have trained and worked very hard to acquire their abilities, but there are also those who were born with them or gained them another way, and are skilled in using them to their advantage. To say that anyone can become stronger than those who are experts and have ample experience with their powers is...a little false in a way. Not everyone is as talented nor skilled as you are, no matter how much they do train.

What would happen if they asked you this? What would you say, especially if they take your word for it? Or as a guarantee, even, that they could attack and defeat an imPort if they simply train hard enough? I think....your words can be easily twisted in a way by those who don't like our kind very much.

[Then again.]

Or I may be reading too much into it. I mean, I'm not very good with this kind of thing. Um, what are your skills? Other than your wings, I mean.

[Maybe she should have asked that first. Damn.]

[Yayoi only looks more and more annoyed the longer she talks. Sure, she can admit there are a few good points in there, but most of it hits a little close to home.]

I think...you're thinking way too badly of people. Most people aren't that kind of lunatic, and the people that are will try to hurt us anyway. We saw that when the Russians kidnapped people.

I'm still learning my skills. I have to, because that's how they work in my world. It takes months and months of training to master them, and until I came here I didn't even think it was possible. It felt awful. It felt like I was just...stuck. Like there was nothing I could do to affect anything that was happening. Like all I could ever do was watch and hope that my friends won so we could be safe. Like I was helpless.

I...maybe I explained it badly, but that's why I want to approach them this way. I don't want to think of them feeling like the only option they have is to put all their hope in us. It's...a sad way to live.

[She definitely knew that she was thinking about the worse case scenarios. The other girl wasn't wrong to believe as much. It was difficult to not feel some type of doubt against the people in this world. Not when their hearts are as closed and dry as they are, and are unwilling to trust now. That very nature of the population was more or less affecting this world's feelings as well.]

I'm sorry about that, by the way. I wasn't around when it happened. The Russian kidnappings, I mean. [She almost wanted to ask her if she was one of the fifty taken, but decided not to unless she wished to tell her about it on her own accord.] But, you're right. I am judging the people of this world too harshly. Only because I keep generalizing them and comparing them to those back home. It isn't fair to do that.

[She'll continue to listen to the girl speak more about her experience concerning her powers back home along with the reason she wish to speak to the natives about the importance of hard work. She wants them to look after themselves and rely on their own strength instead of relying solely on the imPorts for protection. A warm smile will form as she shakes her head a bit.]

No. You didn't. I understood you loud and clear now. It wasn't you who was misunderstanding, it was me. If that is the way you wish to approach them, I think it's a very optimistic message! A message that shows you have genuine interest in them. You want to protect them, in the likelihood we're unable to do anything to save them.

I think...you can reach them like that. Much better than what others are saying and promising. None of them has been talking about their own strength at all. Only what they want to do to protect us.

If you don't mind my next question, how long have you been living in this world for?

[ Gansey, personally, is skeptical. ]

That’s not something people can do where I’m from. I don’t think native people here can, either. The problem is that they see us as commodities, and we need to prove that we’re more.

[ His tone, somehow, grows even more polite. ]

I don’t personally believe that calling them assholes is the way to achieve that, but I respect your opinion.

[Yayoi lets out a slow breath, all the bluster she'd been building up in preparation for an argument flowing out of her. It really did sound like this girl got it now.

She responds with an appreciative smile of her own, glad someone seems to really understand what she's trying to do here.]

It's been about six months now. We—some of my friends and I got here around the beginning of January.

[Yayoi rolls her eyes.]

I was talking about the Russians. You know, the assholes that actually did brainwash us and turned off our powers for days?

I think the natives have more to offer than you. Maybe they can't shoot fire or repel bullets, but it doesn't mean they're powerless. They shouldn't feel powerless to do anything but hope we keep winning. Or that none of us turn on them.

Making ourselves look great will only go so far if we don't convince them they can actually help themselves too.

[ Gansey imagines her rolling her eyes at a room full of native diplomats, and gives her a tight smile. ]

It's not me that you have to sell this to, it's them. I'm asking how you'll convince them, not whether you think that we should.

Personally speaking, I think they need to take charge of their own world, and not rely on us to win their wars for them. I don't think it's right for us to be involved at all, but they've made their war about us. The Russians aren't the only ones to blame for that.

That's good. Then you and your friends have more than enough time to adapt and learn more about the citizens of this world. I think half a year is more than a good amount of time to figure things out. Did you and your friends come from a world similar to this one?

Pretty similar, but this world is actually a little more advanced than ours. We don't have any kind of hover tech at home.

Ah... [She glances away, a little humbled.]

Well, I do agree with that. They do need to take control of things for themselves, but I don't think they will until they think they can do just as much as we can. So I think...where I'd start trying to convince them would be with sharing my own experiences. I spent a long time at home feeling useless and powerless. I still feel that way a lot even here, but I'm training and learning more every day. I think letting them know that I'm as scared as they are will help get things started, and then... I can just see where we can go from there.

You mean, those floating car things don't exist in your time neither? [One more person that doesn't have that.] Hey. Someone once told me they once had wheels. Is it true?

Educating them could help. They need a reason to see that we're human, instead of just seeing our powers.

[ Which means he thinks she's right, in principle. ]

I'd like to know the person I vote for is in this because they want to make things better for us here, and not just because they see it as the closest thing there is to a throne.

If you became Ambassador, would you campaign to keep imports out of the war? And when it comes to Registration, what is your policy?

Of course I will. No one should be fighting unless it's their own choice. We're not anyone's tools or weapons or whatever they try to say we should be. And as for registration... [She frowns to herself.]

I think...that's a complicated issue. I'm registered right now even though I don't like the idea of it. I want to use the advantages it gives us, but I'd like it better if we all had those advantages in the first place. We shouldn't have to sign on with some foreign power just to get fair treatment.

[ Gansey nods. She's not the only one he knows of who's Registered for that reason. ]

Well, I'm not Registered. I used to be, but when war came, I was worried that promising to serve the Government meant we'd be forced to fight for them.

That's not been the case so far, but it's still a concern. Especially considering that both sides want our powers.

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[Video] EVEN MORE AMBASSADOR ELECTION SPEECHES

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i'm so very sorry for late reply.

No worries!

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Thanks! <3

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