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[ Steph has set up this PSA perfectly framed so that everyone can see the exasperated expression on her face. Not angry, thankfully that whole ordeal is over, but deeply unimpressed by her fellow interdimensional travellers. ]

I'd like to take a moment to remind everyone of Murphy's Law.

You may not call it that. You may not know it exists. But I promise you, it holds true for every culture, in every time period, in every universe:

Anything that can go wrong, will.

Does it seem like a bad idea? It is. Is there a chance it'll blow up in your face? It will, and probably everyone else's face too. Is it going to make strangers mad at you? Don't do it.

[ She looks the camera dead in the eye, glaring as though she can stop people from being stupid by sheer force of will. She will damn well try regardless.

There's a pause while she hopes that sinks in. ]

Also, this may be an unpopular opinion, but I'm sharing it anyway:

Necromancy is never the answer.

That's all. I'm out.

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Why though?

[ Minako asks that, pauses, and then seems to realise that she might need to elaborate a little bit here. If Steph is having such a hard time, then the least she can do is make things a tad easier for the other, by not having to figure out what exactly Minako means. ]

Why do you think that you keep making some of those same mistakes?

[ It has nothing to do with arguing. Minako isn't even making a point of her own anymore by now, nor is she trying to.

She just wants to give the other the floor to speak on this. Maybe it might make Steph feel a little bit better, or it might help her try to work through what's bothering her.

And Minako? Well, she never minds listening. She's been stuck in bed quite a bit lately anyway, so it gives her something to do on top of it. ]

Because I'm human?

[ Steph shrugs. As far as she's concerned, all of that is in the past. This is the behavior of an emotionally healthy young woman who has adjusted well to her own trauma and has no personal issues to address. She just has trouble stringing thoughts together sometimes, that's all. ]

Because I'm me. I don't know when to quit, or when to ask for help. I just... do the best I can. And sometimes that goes sideways.

And...

[ She looks down, trying to pin down a thought. She thinks back not to the day she 'died' or the long months of recovery, but to her decision to come back to Gotham. To the way she thought, and the way people treated her. ]

It's not something you can really discuss with people, or... think about well. Something like that, you can't think clearly. When you hate yourself so much, you don't want to give people the chance to join in.

[ She meets Minako's eyes again. ]

People don't give you the benefit of the doubt.

.. but isn't that exactly the time to speak up?

[ She really knows that it's not that easy. But even though it's not easy, it's still important. It's still worth doing, even though it's hard. That's what Minako fiercely believes in. ]

So people won't misunderstand you. So you can tell people that you need help, before you instead just keep on pushing through, and making things accidentally end up with the worst case result. [ It's more of a general 'you'. Heck, this could apply to the people who caused all of this in the first place. Minako definitely believes that at least one of them must have done this on purpose, with this end result in mind, but the others.. ]

I've seen trouble come up again and again because of that. For thousands of years already.

[ And it's so tiring after that long. ]

[ Steph frowns, looking away again. How can Mina have thousands of years of experience and not understand the kind of guilt that paralyzes you? The hurt of looking to someone for understanding and seeing disgust on their face instead? How does she even explain something like that? ]

If you knew you needed help before it was too late, maybe. I didn't even know what was happening until well after the city had turned into a war zone.

After, what's the point? Speaking up won't change anything. There's nothing anyone can tell you that you don't already know. You don't think they misunderstand, you think... you think there's something wrong with you. You think you're a monster. And monsters can't be helped. The only way you can make sure it never happens again is to remove yourself from the equation.

Of course speaking up changes things.

[ Not that she doesn't get that human minds often don't work in the most rational of ways. And that it makes it hard to speak up sometimes.

But she doesn't think speaking is useless. ]

Even when your mind tells you it doesn't, then you just have to find a way to push through that. [ Granted, this is all coming from the perspective of someone who is 100% used to shoving your humanity aside to get things done - so. You know. It might not be the best perspective either. Or the most healthy one.

But it's always worked for Minako. ]

You think my mind doesn't make things difficult for me sometimes? But I've never let that stop me from doing what's right. Even if it's hard. That's what it means to be someone who fights for what's right.

[ That last hurts like a punch to the gut, and Steph struggles to keep her emotions off of her face. She feels inadequate, worthless, a weak little girl told all her life she wasn't good enough no matter what she did. For a moment she's furious, with her father, with herself, with all the people who have ever made her feel this way and told her it was for her own good, that they cared about her and only wanted to protect her.

When her head starts to spin she realizes she stopped breathing and takes a slow, deep breath. Mina doesn't mean it like it sounds. She wasn't there, she doesn't know. She's Steph's friend, she doesn't mean to hurt her.

She manages to keep a somewhat neutral expression, but she can't keep the anger from her low, steady voice. ]

Not everyone is a hero. Some of us are just doing what we can.

[ Minako isn't stupid.

She can tell that there's more going on here. Even though Steph is trying to control her tone, there's that momentary instinctive reaction that tells Minako absolutely everything. Maybe not the details of why exactly this is painful for the other, but it at least tells her that this topic isn't a good one for Steph. ]

.. I'm sorry. I'll stop talking about it.

[ Minako takes a deep breath, trying to relax herself as well. She doesn't want to push, especially since it feels like it's hitting a sore spot on the other's part - and that's something Minako doesn't want to do. Why would she cause a friend unnecessary pain? ]

If that's better for you.

[ She tries to let go of that overwhelming wave of emotion, form some kind of coherent, reasonable explanation, but Minako is right. This is just too much for her right now. ]

...That's probably a good idea. I... should get ready for work anyway.

[ Why does she bother making such transparent excuses ]

Don't worry about it.

[ Transparent as the excuse might be, Minako lets the other get away with it. If it's better for Steph to not talk about this stuff, especially right now, then she will grant the other that space without question. ]

Okay. [ So Minako easily agrees. ]

I'll talk to you again sometime later.

[ Not necessarily about this. Just in general.

But if the other ever does want to talk more about it - well, Minako can listen. But for now she just turns off the feed. ]

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