With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

[PepeTheFrog]

What the fuck crawled up Clark's ass? He's not listening or thinking, just reacting.

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Imagine if you found out that Robin was actually kidnapped by Batman instead of adopted. Nothing else. Just that information. How would that change your perspective on Batman and Robin's relationship?
Clark has no idea about anything else to do with Sodam Yay other than the fact that he's an alien of a similar species to himself that's been seperated from his family. He's *now* finding out the other mitigating details.

 

[Ngamer11]

Imagine if you found out that Robin was actually kidnapped by Batman instead of adopted. Nothing else. Just that information. How would that change your perspective on Batman and Robin's relationship?
Clark has no idea about anything else to do with Sodam Yay other than the fact that he's an alien of a similar species to himself that's been seperated from his family. He's *now* finding out the other mitigating details.

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This self-righteousness is something I hope this incident will alleviate in the Justice League. It'll be necessary now more than ever since they're "not" taking over the world.

 

[Vaermina]

"Maybe she should ask her husband." This isn't-. This isn't helping. "Alright, look. I'll go and speak to Lantern Yat and Lantern Coutara and see if they're willing to speak to her. But if you're serious about this, you need to go to Daxam, and get an accurate idea what it's like. I recommend taking Martian Manhunter."

"To read their minds.

"Yes. Because if they're willing to talk to you, I don't believe for a moment that they're going to tell the truth." I stand, then head for the zeta tube. "Excuse me."

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I really want these people to just be completely reasonable.

Because it would be hilarious to see Orange Lantern enter one of "I can't be wrong" paranoia spirals because of this.

 

[boo600]

Paul just informed them that Sodom Yat has the ability to go home at any time, and that he hasn't. He just informed them that he wanted to escape, that his parents murdered a shipwrecked, friendly alien in front of him - that he doesn't want to be near them, and that unlike Robin, Yat isn't even doing combat. He's going to school, even.

And they don't care. He has clearly made his choice, and Paul has given them a light overview on why… but a few words from his mother, and they don't care.

Speaking as someone who still hasn't entirely escaped his abusive mother - despite being well into my twenties- I can honestly say I have never wanted to hurt these characters more. I would strongly appreciate it if they at least ended up punched in the face, ideally hard enough to break their upturned noses.

I apologize if that seems a bit bloodthirsty, but for context: my mother has done things like attack me in my sleep because her roomba woke her up (yes, really) when I was 14, or throw me out of the house at 16 (telling me I wasn't aloud to come back) only to immediately call the cops on me for 'running away,' leading to me getting a lecture from the police officers who dragged me to the place I wasn't even trying to leave on 'listening to my mother.' (I was in fact trying to figure out how to get anywhere I could get help getting my parents to give my driver's license/birth certificate/SS card/etcetera back. Or, you know, just shelter. It was cold.) I wasn't even being disobedient at the time; she was just throwing one of her literal tantrums.

As such, I hope you can understand my sheer loathing for madame Yat and anyone who looks at the title 'mother' as one which is innately more important than the way said mother treats her child, or the child's own wishes. People don't typically try to stay as far away as possible from their parents for a year because their parents made them eat vegetables - they do it because their parents hurt them, or enjoy making them feel powerless in order to revel in their own power and importance - and it's entirely possible for parents to do this while genuinely fighting schools and other bureaucracies to get them to treat their child well, because of their own perspective in regards to their reputation or duty or genuine belief that they're a good parent somehow, or because 'only they get to hurt their toys,' or any other various logics.

Guy's father was horrifyingly possible - but it's not the only type of abuse. Sometimes it's the mother, sometimes it's intermixed with genuine-seeming care, or perhaps even actual care - but it doesn't mean the 'child' shouldn't be listened to.

 

[Ngamer11]

I really want these people to just be completely reasonable.

Because it would be hilarious to see Orange Lantern enter one of "I can't be wrong" paranoia spirals because of this.

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The only way that'll happen is if Mr Zoat completely changes what Daxamites are like from both canon and how they were already portrayed in the story.

 

[Galler]

It has been a while, but I believe that Clark went to Daxam. IIRC, Paul mentioned the planet to him and said that he should stay away. Clark said that he would use the fortress to find the place. Then after some time Paul meets Clark again and he is injured. When asked what happened Clark says that he didn't realise just how much the Daxams didn't want to see him.

It could have been a renegade update.

 

[boo600]

No, that was Paragon. He also ignored Paul's warning regarding Karsta - whereas Renegade Superman met Karsta when she was finally in command of a Kryptonian resurgence, and got off with a telling-off.

 

[Mr Zoat]

To be fair to the League, this is the first they're hearing about it and they are giving him a chance to explain what happened before taking any action.

 

[BlackCoat13]

To be unfair to the League, they're listening to him so well you wonder why they bothered to talk to him anyways. Should have had Manhunter in the room with him, have Manhunter re-live the Daxom meeting from Paul's own perspective.

 

[boo600]

"Did you speak to his mother at all?"

"No. And neither has he for a year and a half."

I sit back in my seat.

"To be clear, under Maltus law Lantern Coutara's adoption is perfectly legal unless Lantern Yat expresses a preference to the contrary."

Superman clenches his right hand. "Earth-law's not quite that simple."

"I.. also didn't apply for a visa for them when I brought them to Earth. How selective are we-?"

He glares at me. "Child-kidnapping is not the same as ignoring immigration law for relief workers."

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Superman glances at the sheet, then turns his head back to me. "Have you told him that his mother's here?"

"Please tell me that you haven't let them come further into the system?" He looks mulish, and I slap the paper down on the table between us. "Kal-El, they're physically kryptonian-equivalent, without the kryptonite weakness, and they're highly xenophobic. One could level a city and kill most of its population before anyone could respond. How many are on the ship?"

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They are talking to him - and ignoring him. He's already made it perfectly clear that Lantern Yat does not want to see his mother. They don't care.

I'm trying not to project here - I've had bad experiences with going for help, including one extremely stupid one where I went to a woman who's 'basically a part of the family,' someone I loved since I was born... and who was part of the family because she was my mother's best friend since at least college, which I - being a stupid child - failed to put together. So I get that I'm basically a parahuman without the power, here - I'm biased as all hell.

But I really, really, really, really can't stand them and how they're reacting. It's not fucking kidnapping if he's compos mentis, if he has the ability to go home or contact home at any time, and he clearly is choosing not to, for multiple months on end. It's obvious, and they just don't care, because Mothers are inherently pure and wonderful and abuse from them doesn't count somehow, especially if it's their son they're abusing, because men are so tough and strong even when they're preteens so clearly the mother is the one who's been in danger since she gave birth to the child she actively wanted and arenrgdiufl msd ;fdivfzdnjes.

Basically, this particular case pushes all my buttons, but the quotes above hopefully show why I believe that they're being awful and legitimately so, even given my particular baggage.
Speaking more neutrally, Paul has proven willing to override civilizations he sees as 'evil,' such as, I don't know, Coutara's homeworld's misogynistic eye-ripping mainsteam cult (ie, dominant religion). And frankly, I don't believe the League are interested in filing paperwork with the Glorious Dictator Genoscythe-the-Eye-Raper. As such, given what he's just told them about Daxam, especially given Yat's father murdering a friendly shipwrecked survivor in front of him? Sodom Yat is a refugee from a planet-wide cult. There is clearly no kidnapping, and they should shut the fuck up, instead of whining about Earth-law somewhere that it isn't applicable... which includes Earth, given that it's currently a Justice League/OMAC protectorate.

 

[WereDragon]

To be fair to the League, this is the first they're hearing about it and they are giving him a chance to explain what happened before taking any action.

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It feels a lot more like they are making accusations and had already decided he was in the wrong before he even spoke.

 

[Darko]

intended to serious harm him?

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'seriously'

 

[Steelplaza]

Nothing incurs the wrath of readers more than the idea that a protagonist might have to defend his actions.

I don't find some tense words so unreasonable.

 

[Mr Zoat]

'seriously'

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[boo600]

Paul has had to defend his actions before - he's also been bopped with a newspaper/squirted with water by Artemis (No Evil!).

He's also been asked completely reasonable questions, like "Genocide?" or "Why did you overthrow that planet's government/religion?" and come up with perfectly reasonable answers based on 'they were all clones programmed to be atrocity-maximizers' while politely not mentioning the equivalent genocide of the Appelexians that the League performed for much the same reason, or 'because they ripped out all the women's eyes at puberty, once they were used to being able to see, without anesthetic.'

And he's had his desires proved 'wrong.' (See the JSI arc).

Paul is not a Sooper SPeshul Snowflaxe whose the readers will allow to come to no harm. He is also not a Mary Sue who is Always Right; he makes some incredibly stupid mistakes, and is becoming more dependent on the orange light and less on common sense.

And here, he has made a perfectly reasonable decision whereupon he empowered someone to leave somewhere that they were trapped, and the League is responding as if they caught him eating babies. Metaphorically, or they'd have attacked already, but the 'chance to talk' is undermined by their inability to let sound carry information towards the useless lumps of flesh they insist contain neurons.

 

[Old Knife]

Why is everyone acting like the justice league is out to get OL? They're just making sure this isn't one of his completely bug fuck insane mistakes.


Aside from the questions they haven't pressed him, assaulted him, or even yelled at him. They just don't want to give him too much trust too early because it looks really bad.

They have however known him for a few years now, and will go check his claims before committing to a course of action.

 

[CrazyNoVa]

Okay, to everyone who's giving Superman grief, I want you guys to remember an important detail: this Superman has almost no experience with how horrifying Daxam truly is. Sure, Paul told him about it and he's had limited contact with them, but remember: Superman usually judges people by how they act, not by what he's heard about them. Right now, Superman is trying to give the Daxamites the benefit of the doubt, because he's an optimist who usually tries to see the best in people before the worst. But don't worry, I have a feeling he'll learn soon.

 

[Steelplaza]

And here, he has made a perfectly reasonable decision whereupon he empowered someone to leave somewhere that they were trapped, and the League is responding as if they caught him eating babies. Metaphorically, or they'd have attacked already, but the 'chance to talk' is undermined by their inability to let sound carry information towards the useless lumps of flesh they insist contain neurons.

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Okay, look, what is it you wanted them to say? "Okay Paul, you're right, we're going to turn the boy's mother away and tell her to shove off."? A few points:

1. No specific accusation of mistreatment of Sodam has been rendered against Sodam's mother. Even the attempted murder of the alien pilot was Sodam's father. We from a meta level know that she would have approved, but you'd have to actually talk to her and establish that.

2. From her perspective, her son vanished without a word a year and a half ago and all she knows is some secondhand report about orange lanterns. That's kind of heartbreaking! Even evil people can love their kids, so from the perspective of Superman and Wonder Woman this seems pretty callous.

3. Yeah, the fact that Sodam hasn't bothered to check back in with her is pretty suggestive. On the other hand, little kids can be little shits and you can't go making decisions on "suggestive" or the fact that she comes from an evil culture.

4. Paul appears to be suggesting that she be turned away completely. Yes a handful of Kryptonians are dangerous, but it seems very reasonable that she should at least have the chance to talk to Sodam. Paul could have offered some kind of compromise. set up a communication relay, have Sodam go meet her on a neutral red sun world, something like that. He made no such suggestions.

Here's how Paul comes off to me. "She's evil, bro, trust me. Her culture's evil and look, Sodam never bothered to check back in with her so I guess he doesn't give a shit. Give her the bum's rush, I know she's not worthy of your compassion or mercy, she should just go off and never talk to her son again. Was she abusive? Well she was raising him in an evil culture, that's pretty abusive right?"

"Alright, look. I'll go and speak to Lantern Yat and Lantern Coutara and see if they're willing to speak to her.

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See this? He could have started with this. If he'd started with this, not hiding important information from someone he just declared is ready to be 'emancipated', then the conversation would have gone a lot smoother. Why didn't he call Yat and Coutara first thing? Why did Superman and Wonder Woman have to badger him into it? He could have been opening with, "Okay I already talked to Sodam Yat about this, and he does/doesn't want to see her."

 

[Neruz]

Given that Paul has previously been known to go off the reservation, it's really not surprising that Superman is concerned that it might have happened again, especially considering that it is not in Superman's nature to believe that the Daxamites are really that bad until he sees it for himself.

A woman turns up claiming that her son was kidnapped, Paul admits that he did in fact kind of do that but says that there were extenuating circumstances that make perfect sense to him. But you can't help but remember that "create a giant cake" was also something that made sense to Paul at one point, and you know that Paul doesn't really perceive the world in quite the same way that 'normal' people do.

So it makes sense to try and figure out if this is one of those "Paul has done a thing" situations that have happened in the past, or not. And the first step to figuring that out is to get Paul's side of the story, which is what they're doing.

 

[The Chosen One]

What gets me is, Diana was there for the incident with Jarhanpur's heir. If the Justice League is kind of the government right now, "child-kidnapping for devotional reasons" is something that's actually supported by their case law.

 

[Wegr1234]

Mr. Zoat, could you create a picture of what Canis Minor looks like? I tried to find what he looks like in the comics, but I barely found anything. Please create a picture of what Canis Minor looks like in Young Justice.

 

[Clell65619]

Paul just informed them that Sodom Yat has the ability to go home at any time, and that he hasn't. He just informed them that he wanted to escape, that his parents murdered a shipwrecked, friendly alien in front of him - that he doesn't want to be near them, and that unlike Robin, Yat isn't even doing combat. He's going to school, even.

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I don't remember this happening. Does anyone remember the chapter it happened in?

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th July 2013
09:50 GMT -7

Twilight stares at Henry in rapt fascination. "I've never seen another draconequus before."

Henry tries to shrug, but it comes out more like an undulation. "Ah, I'm not really a dragon-horse thing. I only look like this 'cause of all the chaos magic I was carrying when I came through the mirror."

"Huh. I suppose that makes sense. Are you a chaos wizard?" She frowns. "How does that even work?"

"Ah… No. I mean, I work for a really powerful chaos wizard, but I can't do magic myself. I-."

Twilight flaps up and vectors around him, looking him over closely. "Obviously you use different components to Discord… I wonder if there's some significance to the animals involved, or if it's just pure chance." She rests her right forehoof against her chin. "Perhaps we could test it by having you travel through the Mirror and seeing if it's different each time."

Henry leans closer, ommatophores flexing as uses them to… 'Examine' her body. "Y'know, you're pretty cute for a pony."

Twilight smiles. "Thank you! You're pretty-." And suddenly honesty gets the better of her. "Ah." She does a quick review of his physiology and her internal thesaurus. "Pretty multifaceted for a draconequus!"

Henry leans towards his brother, reversing his eyestalks. "Hear that? She thinks I'm multifaceted!"

Donald looks mildly concerned. "You..? Do actually know what that word means, right?"

"Sure." He shrugs. "I'm used to girls getting nervous and talking nonsense around me." Twilight looks slightly puzzled. "I think I'd have noticed if I was part crystal. Anyway." He flicks his eyestalks back. "Wanna make a date of it?"

Twilight nods absent-mindedly. "Sure, I'll check my diary once we've finished checking up on Discord. Um. Why are we checking up on Discord?"

I shrug. "I felt a bit bad about leaving him in a mess like that." Twilight narrows her eyes at me slightly, absentmindedly rubbing the location on her back where the dart gun shot her. "But really, if Discord wants to make decisions by battle royale instead of rational thought, that's up to him."

"Um." Fluttershy trots down from the upper level of her home, Angel on her back. For some reason he's wearing an eye patch over his left eye. "We could just let him work through it himself, but, um… That might not be a good idea."

Twilight flies closer and lands just in front of her. "Why's that, Fluttershy?"

"Well… Um. Each Discord has a different idea about what to do. And…"

"Oh, I'll tell her."

We all stare at Angel, who rolls his visible eye and then flips up his patch. His eye-. There's a Discord in there… Somehow. A small one. Angel brings up his back left leg and smacks the back of his own head a couple of times, causing Discord to fall out. He picks himself off the floor and dusts himself off, glaring up at Angel.

"That was unnecessary."

Twilight leans down to peer at mini-Discord, and Henry leans down along with her... Putting his non-claw hand on her back. She doesn't appear to notice.

"Does the size correlate to anything?"

"It's sort of to do with how much we liked the idea each of us represents. I'm 'forget about the whole thing and move in with Fluttershy'."

Fluttershy looks away awkwardly. I had wondered.

"The problem is that one of us is a bit of a backslider."

"As in..?"

"Ah… Unreformed. And I can't tell for certain, but I think he's pulling ahead."

I grin. "Neat! Once he wins I can finally stab him to death!"

Twilight jerks her head around to glare at me. "Grayven!"

I shrug defensively. "You don't have to watch!"

She continues glaring at me for a moment, realises that I don't care in the slightest, and turns back to Discord. "I thought you were happy being reformed."

"It wasn't a big part of me. But it's a vicious part, and vicious is the order of the day."

I nod. "No problem. Well, I'll wait here for when he comes for you."

Fluttershy regards me with… Distaste and mild astonishment. "Grayven, how can you say that?"

"Really easily? I mean, it's kind of a disappointment, but a failure is still an outcome."

"Actually, it's worse." Donald frowns thoughtfully. "It's one Chaos Lord at a time, right?"

I nod. "Yes?"

"So if you kill Discord, then another one turns up in your girlfriend's country. And don't just say 'I'll kill them too'-"

"Which I will."

"-because they'll probably be a lot meaner than Discord was and you can't guarantee that you'll be here. Heck, you can't even guarantee that you'll be strong enough. You nearly died fighting Mordru."

"I was the designated distraction in that fight." He regards me sceptically. "I went in knowing that he was immortal."

"Do you know that the next Lord of Chaos won't be?"

"… No…" I exhale heavily. "Fine, fine, we keep Discord. Where's the Discord who decided that I obviously know what I'm talking about and should be obeyed uncritically?"

"Um." Discord looks a little awkward. "There was one, but he started digging towards the centre of the planet right away, and… His tail was just sort of hanging out there…"

I wrinkle my snout. "Philosophical Discord?"

"He didn't think for a moment and stopped existing."

"Thaumaturgical chaos scientist Discord?"

"Pulled off his own tail to see what would happen."

I turn to Fluttershy. "Sounds like this is who we've got. How do you feel about being responsible for the harmonic-chaotic balance of the entire planet."

Fluttershy ducks her head under her mane. "Well… I.. think I… I am… Anyway?"

Twilight nods. "I didn't think Discord would ever reform, and while it… Hasn't been entirely plain sailing, he's made more progress than I'd thought possible."

Tiny Discord perks up. "You really mean it? I just thought you were being polite because you didn't want to hurt Fluttershy's feelings."

"Well-. Ah…" Twilight looks awkward, then smiles unconvincingly. "It was… Partly that. But I have noticed that you've changed. I barely even considered telling Grayven to go ahead with his plan."

Fluttershy tilts her head so that her mane flops partially off her face. "You really mean it?"

Twilight nods. "I really mean it."

"Okay. Um. Mister Grayven? Do you have a plan?"

"That depends. Hawk Horse-Face, do you think you can stop fondling Twilight's pectoralis for long enough to learn shapeshifting?"

 

[hkim]

"That depends. Hawk Horse-Face, do you think you can stop fondling Twilight's pectoralis for long enough to learn shapeshifting?"

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"Ah nope."

 

[m_d]

Twilight stares at Henry in wrapped fascination.

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I'm fairly sure this was meant to be 'rapt', otherwise that's an incongruous image.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

26th July 2013
09:50 GMT -7

Twilight stares at Henry in rapt fascination. "I've never seen another draconequus before."

Henry tries to shrug, but it comes out more like an undulation. "Ah, I'm not really a dragon-horse thing. I only look like this 'cause of all the chaos magic I was carrying when I came through the mirror."

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I'm beginning to feel quite a bit of semi-acquatic tendencies in Hawk's transformed form. Tentacles, crab claws... Positively piscine in places. At least Twilight isn't geeking out too hard yet.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Huh. I suppose that makes sense. Are you a chaos wizard?" She frowns. "How does that even work?"

"Ah… No. I mean, I work for a really powerful chaos wizard, but I can't do magic myself. I-."

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Not yet, anyway. I wonder if he could learn magic if he put his mind to it. Henry isn't exactly the most studious or academic sibling of the pair.

Twilight flaps up and vectors around him, looking him over closely. "Obviously you use different components to Discord… I wonder if there's some significance to the animals involved, or if it's just pure chance." She rests her right forehoof against her chin. "Perhaps we could test it by having you travel through the Mirror and seeing if it's different each time."

Click to shrink...

Crisis now, Twilight. Science later.

Henry leans closer, ommatophores flexing as uses them to… 'Examine' her body. "Y'know, you're pretty cute for a pony."

Twilight smiles. "Thank you! You're pretty-." And suddenly honesty gets the better of her. "Ah." She does a quick review of his physiology and her internal thesaurus. "Pretty multifaceted for a draconequus!"

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Oh, no, he's a brony. Or a xenophile.

Henry leans towards his brother, reversing his eyestalks. "Hear that? She thinks I'm multifaceted!"

Donald looks mildly concerned. "You..? Do actually know what that word means, right?"

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Would Hank even care? This compliment sounds pretty impressive already.

"Sure." He shrugs. "I'm used to girls getting nervous and talking nonsense around me." Twilight looks slightly puzzled. "I think I'd have noticed if I was part crystal. Anyway." He flicks his eyestalks back. "Wanna make a date of it?"

Twilight nods absent-mindedly. "Sure, I'll check my diary once we've finished checking up on Discord. Um. Why are we checking up on Discord?"

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When in doubt, blame the Renegade.

I shrug. "I felt a bit bad about leaving him in a mess like that." Twilight narrows her eyes at me slightly, absentmindedly rubbing the location on her back where the dart gun shot her. "But really, if Discord wants to make decisions by battle royale instead of rational thought, that's up to him."

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Unless said battle royale is likely to cause a mess throughout Equestria...

"Um." Fluttershy trots down from the upper level of her home, Angel on her back. For some reason he's wearing an eye patch over his left eye. "We could just let him work through it himself, but, um… That might not be a good idea."

Twilight flies closer and lands just in front of her. "Why's that, Fluttershy?"

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...It could be a bit but I don't think he's cosplaying Solid Snake.

"Well… Um. Each Discord has a different idea about what to do. And…"

"Oh, I'll tell her."

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Ah. An amusingly tiny Discord, then.

We all stare at Angel, who rolls his visible eye and then flips up his patch. His eye-. There's a Discord in there… Somehow. A small one. Angel brings up his back left leg and smacks the back of his own head a couple of times, causing Discord to fall out. He picks himself off the floor and dusts himself off, glaring up at Angel.

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Hopefully leaving the eye he displaced now back in its proper location? Fluttershy might have words about that if it isn't.

"That was unnecessary."

Twilight leans down to peer at mini-Discord, and Henry leans down along with her... Putting his non-claw hand on her back. She doesn't appear to notice.

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Man, he is in for such a drubbing if she catches on to what he's doing...

"Does the size correlate to anything?"

"It's sort of to do with how much we liked the idea each of us represents. I'm 'forget about the whole thing and move in with Fluttershy'."

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Admittedly, that's a nice, WAFFy result. Though it might raise the question of family.

Fluttershy looks away awkwardly. I had wondered.

"The problem is that one of us is a bit of a backslider."

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I'd ask if she was blushing, but Fluttershy... She's the sort to always be a bit blushy around new people.

"As in..?"

"Ah… Unreformed. And I can't tell for certain, but I think he's pulling ahead."

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So, not the kind of preference anyone wants Discord settling on. Not unless they want a repeat of the bad old days and a stoned Draconequus.

I grin. "Neat! Once he wins I can finally stab him to death!"

Twilight jerks her head around to glare at me. "Grayven!"

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Hey, he'll reincarnate. Maybe? Don't know if it'll be as a normal whatever-he-is or in his current form...

I shrug defensively. "You don't have to watch!"

She continues glaring at me for a moment, realises that I don't care in the slightest, and turns back to Discord. "I thought you were happy being reformed."

"It wasn't a big part of me. But it's a vicious part, and vicious is the order of the day."

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Ah... So unless another prospect gets help, Vicious and Unrepentant is likely to be the final result, and no-one wants that.

I nod. "No problem. Well, I'll wait here for when he comes for you."

Fluttershy regards me with… Distaste and mild astonishment. "Grayven, how can you say that?"

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...Quite easily? It's not like he wants a recidivistic Discord lurking about Equestria, upending the laws of reality with abandon when his lady love is in the line of fire...

"Really easily? I mean, it's kind of a disappointment, but a failure is still an outcome."

"Actually, it's worse." Donald frowns thoughtfully. "It's one Chaos Lord at a time, right?"

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...Ahhh. That could be a problem, yes.

I nod. "Yes?"

"So if you kill Discord, then another one turns up in your girlfriend's country. And don't just say 'I'll kill them too'-"

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While they're not likely to see him coming initially, they could put up a bit of a fight.

"Which I will."

"-because they'll probably be a lot meaner than Discord was and you can't guarantee that you'll be here. Heck, you can't even guarantee that you'll be strong enough. You nearly died fighting Mordru."

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And I'm sure there's some real bastards out there just itching to unleash Chaos upon a 'pure and innocent' world like Wilson.

"I was the designated distraction in that fight." He regards me sceptically. "I went in knowing that he was immortal."

"Do you know that the next Lord of Chaos won't be?"

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Or if they'll be much better prepared to fight a New God with a one-shot off-switch weapon. And not all Lords of Chaos are also evil. Mostly unconcerned with the safety of mortals, yes...

"… No…" I exhale heavily. "Fine, fine, we keep Discord. Where's the Discord who decided that I obviously know what I'm talking about and should be obeyed uncritically?"

"Um." Discord looks a little awkward. "There was one, but he started digging towards the centre of the planet right away, and… His tail was just sort of hanging out there…"

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Huh. I feel like there's a joke there, but other than 'digging himself deeper'...

I wrinkle my snout. "Philosophical Discord?"

"He didn't think for a moment and stopped existing."

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How Descartesean.

"Thaumaturgical chaos scientist Discord?"

"Pulled off his own tail to see what would happen."

Click to shrink...

And Twilight just nods in resigned acceptance. Wouldn't be the stupidest bit of Science-ing she's seen.

I turn to Fluttershy. "Sounds like this is who we've got. How do you feel about being responsible for the harmonic-chaotic balance of the entire planet."

Fluttershy ducks her head under her mane. "Well… I.. think I… I am… Anyway?"

Click to shrink...

Given that the local Lord does pay a mildly above-average amount of attention to her preferences and wishes.

Twilight nods. "I didn't think Discord would ever reform, and while it… Hasn't been entirely plain sailing, he's made more progress than I'd thought possible."

Tiny Discord perks up. "You really mean it? I just thought you were being polite because you didn't want to hurt Fluttershy's feelings."

Click to shrink...

Better a Lord of Chaos that likes the local population than one that sees them as playthings. And given the origin of 'My Little Pony', that could be entirely literal.

"Well-. Ah…" Twilight looks awkward, then smiles unconvincingly. "It was… Partly that. But I have noticed that you've changed. I barely even considered telling Grayven to go ahead with his plan."

Fluttershy tilts her head so that her mane flops partially off her face. "You really mean it?"

Click to shrink...

What, the 'stab Discord and deal with the next one' plan? Probably not a good idea anyway.

Twilight nods. "I really mean it."

"Okay. Um. Mister Grayven? Do you have a plan?"

"That depends. Hawk Horse-Face, do you think you can stop fondling Twilight's pectoralis for long enough to learn shapeshifting?"

Click to shrink...

By which he means the.. lower part of her neck and 'shoulder', I take it? Possibly the kind of 'fondling' that might get him slapped, I wonder?

Wonder if Hawk will claim his 'tentacles have a mind of their own, I swear!'. At any rate, they seem to have a workable plan: Help the Discord they like to 'pull the tail' of the various other ones until he's strong enough to pull himself together with that aspect in charge. Which could be a little tricky, if not for the Renegade's Hush Tubes...

 

[Mr Zoat]

I'm fairly sure this was meant to be 'rapt', otherwise that's an incongruous image.

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[boo600]

Okay, look, what is it you wanted them to say? "Okay Paul, you're right, we're going to turn the boy's mother away and tell her to shove off."?

Click to shrink...

No. But they could have dropped the'kidnapping' narrative and the barely concealed rage, because it's clearly not a kidnapping. He showed up, gave the 'kid' a device that lets him travel the universe and contact people across the galaxy, and offered him a job. The 'kid' in question is old enough to make decisions - and he's gone no contact. That's something I desperately wish I could do, so I'm sympathetic to him by default, but it's also very telling. You don't avoid speaking to the people who raised you for a year when you can contact them any time if talking to them is in any way healthy.

And again:

"Did you speak to his mother at all?"

"No. And neither has he for a year and a half."

I sit back in my seat.

"To be clear, under Maltus law Lantern Coutara's adoption is perfectly legal unless Lantern Yat expresses a preference to the contrary."

Superman clenches his right hand. "Earth-law's not quite that simple."

"I.. also didn't apply for a visa for them when I brought them to Earth. How selective are we-?"

He glares at me. "Child-kidnapping is not the same as ignoring immigration law for relief workers."

Click to shrink...

They aren't listening. They're hearing what he has to say, ignoring it because it doesn't fit their narrative, and continuing to act out their rage as if he's personally been taking babies from cribs instead of giving someone the ability to escape a situation he just made it clear Sodom wanted out of. It's not that his father killed some random alien in front of him - he killed the one Sodom befriended. Sodom knows his home is fucked up, he knows he was brought up in a primitivism death cult, and he wanted out enough that his desire to escape called to Paul.

But you can't help but remember that "create a giant cake" was also something that made sense to Paul at one point, and you know that Paul doesn't really perceive the world in quite the same way that 'normal' people do.

Click to shrink...

Ah, yes. Making a giant cake. Which he did when merged with the Ophidian. Truly, acting crazy when crazy due to merging with all the Avarice in the universe renders one's judgement suspect for the rest of time.

Or the naked statue, which he made while telepathically roofied. Mm-hm.

If you ignore context, I'm pretty sure you can make a good argument for Batman as a serial killer, or Superman as an evil, perfect god from beyond the stars who keeps humanity suppressed so they worship him. Oh wait!

If I was in Paul's position right now, I would let them talk to him. That way, they can check and see what Sodom Yat has to say - and they reserve the right to see his arguments as irrelevant, of course, but they can judge and see if he's a stupid little kid who made his mother worry and nothing else by his reaction to his mother showing up. I would not force him to talk to his mother - when people go no contact, it tends to mean that even being forced to talk on the phone is painful, that hearing the phone ring sends that awful jolt of fear and stress through them, and that they've done a lot of work to both survive on their own (in this economy, especially) and prevent their family from reaching out to them through the support network they know of - it's something that (without a power ring) takes a tremendous amount of work. And while SY has that part a little easier, I'm betting his response isn't going to be, "oh no, I've been having so much fun and now I'm grounded? Aw." He left his home and sent no messages on where he is, even knowing that his people have advanced tech in secret.

 

[Neruz]

They aren't listening. They're hearing what he has to say, ignoring it because it doesn't fit their narrative

Click to shrink...

So in other words they're acting like how most people normally act.

 

[Old Knife]

Paul has done few things that can be counted as fucked up.

This give mom yat some personal capital.
Watch her burn it all with racism and attacking the Kryptonians