What is individualization?

Fae-Fae had thought about that question a lot, before she had arrived on Earth. Before she'd been accepted into the Vanguard, even. It was something she had written about, and talked about with people at home, as she fought to understand what it was and why it was considered such a sin in their culture.

According to what elders and teachers had taught, individualization was the result of becoming too different. If someone stood out amongst their peers too much, that meant there was a dangerous selfishness brewing inside them. A selfishness that could risk them wasting resources if it wasn't corrected quickly. A selfishness that separated them from the community and inhibited everyone's ability to work together. It could upset the delicate balance of Velencya if people were allowed to individualize. Therefore, the conformity they expected was necessary for their long-term survival until the day their senshi returned to them, and they could return home.

This was reasonable in theory, Fae-Fae thought. But in practice, she saw something else.

She saw resources not saved, but wasted -- wasted on cruelty.

Gavaen had struggled to conform when he grew up on Velencya. She had seen how his parents treated him for it. She had seen how much energy had been pointlessly burned away in displays of anger and acts of abuse, and Gavaen's only crime had been to smile and laugh where it wasn't considered appropriate. His case wasn't the only one, but it remained the one that hurt the most. It contradicted her own upbringing so strongly, she often felt guilty for it. Her own parents eagerly accepted every display of emotion she offered. She was encouraged to keep doing everything that made Gavaen's parents see him as a failure.

That taught Fae-Fae individualization wasn't caused by just the one person in question. The real cause was the people around them. It was a collective choice to "individualize" a person and estrange them from the community.

In other words, individualization and isolation were the same thing in her mind, and had been for years.

Earth had raised more questions on the concept. The cello in her hands carried a few of them in its shape and sound. Choosing a creative pursuit like this would certainly be seen as individualizing on Velencya. However, she had recieved this instrument from a senshi who lived on Earth. He had picked it out specifically for her. So, there was more to its presence in her life than the fact she played it. It was also a gift, a connection to another person, and a symbol of diplomacy between worlds.

How could a reasonable person learn that context and still decide she was isolating herself by playing her cello? It was a social act every time she moved her bow! She was carrying out the will of the gifter as well as her own, by doing this.

There was certainly more to learn from this. She would have to keep playing, even though it was hard.