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peacefulwinter[video]
[This is perhaps an unaccustomed look on Winter's face - stern, bordering on angry, and the tight control she's holding as she speaks suggests it's the latter. She's not at home for this message, either, but wherever she is, it looks like she's about to hit something.]
I'm beginning... to get really tired of everything that's happened in the media. I can't watch the news anymore without someone wondering how dangerous we are, or if the world is safe from us, or who will snap next. I've heard my own name at least once. It's unsettling... and it's dishonest. And all of us know it's n-not the whole story. Everything that's happened has been for a reason, outside of a few things we... couldn't really control. Every disaster, every attack, every incident, they've all had causes. But the world wants to blame us.
[Her eyes flash.] I am tired of it. I refuse to s-stand here and be bullied into silence any longer. Even if there aren't many things I can do alone, I'll do them. I don't want to let something like this get me down. So, to start with... [Winter holds up a sheet of stationary, and a pen.] I'm going to write a letter to the newspaper. At the least, I'm hoping to get published as a letter to the editor, but... with as p-popular as we are, I suspect it'll actually make the news. But we can't stop there. People will tear that letter apart, read what they want to out of it, and then they'll go back to how things are.
What I want to do... is start a public relations team. Something that can keep an eye on what people are saying, what we're doing, and can react to those things. We can tell people what was really happening whenever something comes up, so they understand we're not just going off and destroying things because we feel like it. We can counter sensationalism with how things really are. I don't think that... people understand that we're h-human under everything. We have to make them see it. And if that's something we can do to make our lives easier, to help people understand we don't want to make trouble... aren't we obligated to do it?
So I'm going to start on this in a little bit. I have something else in mind, though, for today... [She holds up something else: a bucket, and a sponge.] I'm sure everyone has noticed the graffiti around the city. It bothers me to see it, and I want to try and clean some of it up. The goodwill that we're out cleaning up things that are only tangentially our fault won't hurt, either. I can only do so much, but... I have extra sponges. If anyone would li-like to help me, I would appreciate it. I'll be heading downtown in about an hour. If you're coming, please wear something that can get wet; I'm planning to be careful, but between accidents and the people I know on the network, the odds... are good that you won't stay dry. If anyone has thoughts on the PR idea, I'd like to hear those, too. Um... that's all. Thank you.
[action]
True to her word, Winter's downtown in a hour's time, with a bucket of water, a little soap, several more empty buckets, and about a dozen large sponges. Right now she's scrubbing from a brick building, a large angry complaint fading with her effort. She's dressed much more casually than usual; a loose blue T-shirt, shorts, and sandals, her hair in a single tail behind her to keep it out of her way. If someone comes by to look on, she acknowledges them but returns to work; if someone comes closer, or if someone she knows comes by, she'll pause and smile. "Good afternoon. Are you here to help? Or... just to talk?"
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