I like the balance of "people know that mutants exist but rarely meet them and you don't want to". Like a car crash - odds are good that you will witness or be involved in one someday, but you know that this is a bad thing and could involve death or serious injury!

In the poll I chose "Nay" for retconned-in relationships, but due to the story I was thinking romantic relationships. I actually like extended world-building in general because it expands the universe in small but real ways, but so much of it is romance-focused and that's off-putting, like the only connections that are valid are romantic ones.