fandomhigh | Heroes v Villains | Period 1 | Wednesday

The class was meeting in the Danger Shop today for a class Loki had been looking forward to for a few reasons. He enjoyed both annoying his students and making them think and he hoped this class would do both while also being more than just discussion.

"Today, we're talking about crime," he started, crossing his arms. "Most of you know what crime is or, at least, have a definition of crime. In the simplest of terms, crime is an action that breaks a law. Simple. It's not always that cut and dry though. Crimes can be committed for a variety of reasons and it's not always right to label someone criminal or villain or anything like that just because they broke a law. You sure as fuck don't know why they broke a law, do you?"

He stopped and glanced at each student. "If you went and stole a loaf of bread from the store because your family is starving, you've committed a crime but the reason behind it should be considered, shouldn't it? What if your husband or wife is beating the shit out of you and, while defending yourself, you kill him or her? You've taken a life but if you didn't, you would have probably been killed yourself. The reasons behind the crimes, they're not always considered. There are always exceptions to the rules but, generally, a criminal is a criminal. People think in black and white and shunt criminals into one large group. They have difficulty getting jobs, getting credit, getting fucking respect all because they wanted to feed their family or protect their children or something else. Where the fuck is the logic in that?"

He paused again just to get his breath, gather his thoughts. "Now, I'm not always saying that people have good reasons for committing crimes. Some people are just fucking jackholes. Some people want to steal for material gain and some people want to kill because it gives them a thrill. Crimes do birth villains. Crimes are sometimes committed because people just want to be bad. They're just fuckers. They're just evil. And sometimes they're not. Sometimes that criminal is a fucking hero to the family they fed or to the kids they saved from violence. Stop fucking generalizing. Look beyond the crime. Find the reason."

And when he realized he was starting to sound philosophical, he pursed his lips and laughed. "For today's activity, you're all going to fucking jail."

The sim started to reveal the dank and dark interior of a large jail cell. "There are prison jumpsuits that you need to put on and then into the cell, all of you. Once you're in there, I want you to pull out the piece of paper that's in the pocket of your jumpsuit. On it, there's a crime that you've committed with reasoning. I want you to tell me if you deserve to be let out of that jail cell because you committed a crime for heroic reasons. Convince me. Sound good? Go."

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"I haven't even finished high school yet," Emma pointed out. "Making seven dollars an hour working in a department store isn't going to even get me enough to pay the application processing fee, if I'm serious about getting into a good school."

"Loan from mommy and daddy?" he asked easily.

"Emancipated. Minor." Emma repeated sweetly. "That generally means mommy and daddy aren't in the picture anymore. And do you know how much of a backlog there is for legal aid? Especially since I'm not dying of cholera or whatever is fashionable these days?"

"So instead of working at seven dollars an hour for forty hours for three weeks, I worked on this painting. And instead of making less than nine hundred dollars towards my education, I made thousands. Maybe you think I need 'help,'" and Emma internally rolled her eyes at that, "but you can't deny that my goals are in the right place."

"I didn't say your goals weren't in the right places but you went about getting money in an illegal way, good intentions or not," he pointed out, shrugging.

"You think the owner of that artwork is going to be taken in by your story?" he wondered.

"Maybe, if they're rich enough to own something like that in the first place, they're big into philanthropy," Emma suggested.

"Or you can make me give back the money, do some community service like painting playgrounds, and help me get the assistance I need. But leaving me in jail doesn't actually solve anything."

"It doesn't but do cops really ever consider that when they arrest you?" Loki asked, shaking his head. "Probably not. They gotta fill a quota and you're just a check mark on their list."

"Cops are predictable," Emma countered. "They're going to shake their heads and bitch and moan about what a waste of time this is. It's a crime and shame, because I'm a 'smart, pretty girl,' and they're going to wonder aloud how crappy my parents were. And then they're going to say that all I did was trick some fools with more money than sense, and it's going to get stricken from my record anyway since I'm a minor."

"They need this space and this time to be dealing with actual problems instead of locking up some kid who just got a little creative in trying to pay for school, and they wish their kids had that much ambition. So get her a social worker and some community service, and let them do their jobs with real criminals. They don't want me here, they want me in school, which is where I want to be too."

"I've got no problem giving back the money, apologizing, and never doing it again if there's some other viable alternative out there for me? You think I like ruining my eyesight and giving myself hand-cramps working on these things? I hate copying art. There's no soul to it."

Loki eyed her and didn't immediately say anything after that long, long rationalization. "Have you done this before?"

"Me? No. But I'm a telepath. You should hear some of the ways people rationalize things to themselves, even when there's no one around," Emma replied, smirking slightly. "I hear it all, and I like saving the more colorful excuses, just for the amusement value."

"And the only experience I have with police is asking if I can feed the horses when the mounted patrol is in Central Park. They're usually pretty good-natured about it and say yes."

"Interesting," he said and rubbed his chin. "I guess that would come in handy when dealing with a situation like this. You start talking like that after committing a crime like this, you might actually get off."

"Please. If I got caught in the first place, I can just brain-zap them and walk out, and no one will even remember I was there." Emma wasn't shy about admitting how awesome her powers were, no.

"But knowing what the other person wants or needs to hear so that they justify doing what you want them to do? Can be very useful."

"Would you try that on me if I said I'd leave you in there?" Loki wondered. "Forget it's a sim for the moment."

"An actual judge or cop trying to send me away for twenty years? I'm out of there, and out of town," Emma admitted. "Although then I wouldn't have gotten put in jail in the first place, because I would have used my powers to walk away long before that."

"You people and your powers," he chided lightly, shaking his head. "But, your reasoning's good enough for me. We'll get the paperwork processed and you're free to go."

"You angels and your judgment. It's no different than 'us' people and our powers."

"At least I put the work into making the painting?" Emma tried, looking cute. "I could have just stuck out my hand and said 'give me money.'"

"Hey, I grew up judging humanity, it's ingrained," he said and laughed. "And true. You worked for the money, I'll give you that. Might even have a future in art."

Heroes v Villains | Period 1 | Wednesday | July 28

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]

Re: Class Activity II | Get Out of Jail [HvV 07/28]