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

[RichardWhereat]

I wonder if this powerfully psionic 'adam' is DC GEoM in a kinder universe..

 

[Darko]

I wonder if this powerfully psionic 'adam' is DC GEoM in a kinder universe..

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Welp his psychic powers do manifest themselves in a golden light/fire type of thing.

EDIT: Oh and he was essentially used as a living battery by an evil empire that committed atrocities against innocent people for no reason aside from its own continued existence as a corrupt and evil empire.

 

[Mr Zoat]

you -> your

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[Handlewithcare]

Ah yes. Cakeman's other unrecogised superpower. Delegation.

 

[Darko]

Hey Zoat what woman were they thinking of making a political marriage to Oswin with?

Is the Crown Imperium trying to make Tamaran the dominant power in Vega?

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

8th April
22:36 GMT

"Aaaah…"

Jediah Rikane stops the moment he sees me, his protection detail immediately spreading out to make sure that they have a clear shot.

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And once again, he manages to spook someone by arriving without warning. Good thing he's well-defended. Honestly, there has to be some way to warn people of your arrival when you want to.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Chief Minister. A pleasure to see you again."

"Yes. I.. expect-."

"To save us both some time: I'm annoyed about your government trying to keep me out of the loop and out of the way during the burning of Womb World, but it's not as if I'm actually going to miss the psions. I'm annoyed because I could have saved more of their test subjects than Princess Koriand'r managed and because you giving me the run around was insulting."

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And that gives us the context to remember who this guy is: a senior minister of the Crown Imperium government. And to be fair, I doubt they knew him well enough to predict how he'd respond if he learned of their plans for the Psion race... And in this sector, an unknown quantity is a dangerous quantity until proven otherwise...

"I… Understand." He nods slowly. "And what do you consider to be reasonable recompense for the insult?"

"You have a perfectly legitimate foreign policy aim in straightening out Vega. And I don't have any objection to you helping a friendly government come to power. But that's it. You don't annex territory inside Vega and you ensure that I have access to the data I need to confirm that."

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Simple enough, and likely in line with their plans anyway. Quite the interesting show of Face OL is giving them. Not demanding some unreasonable amount, but not letting them off the hook completely.

"That is.. what we were planning on doing anyway, so it doesn't present any difficulty. Duke Oswin is perfectly happy with the territory the Crown has awarded to him without intruding upon the Vega Moat."

"Good. The last thing this region needs is any further violent conflict." I open my mouth-. And close it again. "Oh, and in case it wasn't obvious: my concern is the probity of local powers and their ability to act in the greater good. This is the worst possible time for obfuscation or using 'clever' language to deceive me. I will find out, and I will be angry."

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"And to quote a fictional character from my world: 'You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.'"

"There... The idea of Duke Oswin having a political marriage with a notable woman from Vega has been mooted, as has the idea of Prince Gavyn accepting a court position of some kind. Nothing is decided yet, and if gaining a claim on Vegan territory is one of your red lines then it probably won't happen."

"No talk of Prince Ryand'r marrying you Queen?"

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Not improbably, and she'd likely enjoy a Tamaranean beau. But I'm sure the young man has other interests.

"No."

"If you've been communicating with King Myand'r, then you should know how I feel about political marriages."

"He.. did.. mention it. I imagine that the.. cultural context is rather different. Had you done for a noble of the Crown Imperium what you did for Koriand'r and Lord Karras… It's just not done."

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I take it many a noble (figuratively) popped their monocles in shock when they heard about it...

"I can't imagine letting something that no one wants to happen happen."

"No, I imagine that you can't. Tell me, are you married yourself?"

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Looking to get an in with him? Despite his clear opinions on the matter? Or just trying to understand him better, I presume...

"No."

"Betrothed? Or.. however your civilisation arranges their affairs prior to marriage?"

I nod. "Yes. But.. while it's desirable for people to get on well with their partner's families, it's the couple who are going to have to live together, support one another and raise their children together. There are many women who might be 'better' matches in some sense. There are none whom I love as I do her. None whom I desire-"

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And it's looking more and more clear that Jade feels much the same way, as time goes on...

My environmental shield flares, triggering desire-associations in all of those present, and giving me a fairly generic slideshow.

"-as I do her."

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Quite the cavalcade of buxom beauties, I would expect. And for many, probably not their wives...

"I assume that your civilisation isn't governed by a hereditary aristocracy, then."

"You assume correctly."

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Not technically. England being a constitutional monarchy and all... Oh wait, you meant Earth?

"Thus, you don't consider lineage to have.. wider significance. Perfectly reasonable with an alternate social order, but for us it's… I'm afraid that you'd be cast as the villain in our social dramas."

"I think I'll live. The intelligence reports?"

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I suspect he finds that quite the compliment in his uniquely OL way.

"I will have them complied for you."

"Thank you."

"Do you intend to stay in the region for long?"

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"Just in case we have to abort some other hypothetical operations, you know."

"No, this is just a check up. There's a.. situation on my homeworld that I'm.. monitoring, in case I need to take action, but for now I want to stay out of the way of the people who are supposed to be managing it."

"What sort of situation? Is there anything we can do?"

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Let's not get more off-world fingers in this pie, OL... It could get quite messy.

"I appreciate the thought, but probably not. My world is isolated, but has.. weirdly advanced technology in some areas. We're being visited by an interstellar trading corporation which… Could be really useful, if we were actually organised enough to respond with any sort of unity. As it is, people are running around like headless chickens and buck-passing for all they're worth and I suspect that we're going to get the worst possible outcome."

He frowns. "I'm… Not sure that translated properly. 'Headless chickens'?"

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Surprising. I take it that he's never seen an animal running around after supposedly being killed. Unless they prefer to be thorough with their killing...

"A simpleminded food animal. Usually they're killed by decapitation as the first stage in the preparation process, but if you cut too high then enough of their central nervous system survives that they can... Sort of keep going, though without eyes or ears or reasoning. The expression serves as a metaphor for failures of leadership."

He chuckles quietly. "My word. How… Completely appropriate. You wouldn't have a recording of such a beast, would you?"

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He really doesn't have any comparable cultural equivalent? Seriously, this place...

Ring… Do I?

Yes.

When did I..? Why did I-?

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I would assume the ring keeps an up-to-date copy of the entire internet tucked away in its vast memory... It's not like it would take up that much space...

"I'll upload a copy to the palace server. How long will it take your people to collate those intelligence reports?"

"I presume that you're mostly interested in the period since your last visit?"

"Mostly. Though I'm also curious about the decision making process which led up to the alliance I encountered during my last visit. I mean, it's nice to see the forces of civilisation coming out ahead, but I think I'd benefit greatly learning from a worked example."

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And knowing who else to be wary of in future.

"A day or so should do it."

I nod.

"Any problems I should attend to immediately? Amalak behaving himself?"

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He'd better be. I expect things are running quite profitable for him, what with war being bad for business. At least in some lines of work...

"As well as one can expect from a rogue such as him. There was some talk of granting him a title in exchange for bringing his holdings into the Imperium, but… Since he's expanding into Vega I imagine that you would disapprove. And there are clear advantages in maintaining a buffer state."

"I agree." Hm. "I think that's everything. I'll return tomorrow. Thank you for your time."

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No need to kick anyone's arse back into line, I see.

"You're welcome."

I raise my right hand to my forehead

step out and

back, appearing on Tamaran.

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Interesting. Checking in or...

**Adam, you're an omnidisciplinary genius. Earth needs your advice.**

**Then I'll be happy to offer it.**

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Ah... Going for someone with practical experience in the galaxy at large.

Fascinating decision. Would Adam even have any pertinent knowledge in interstellar trade, or is he just looking for a fresh pair of eyes in the situation? That might well find a solution that works for everyone...

 

[Darko]

Ah yes. Cakeman's other unrecogised superpower. Delegation.

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Blake does have more experience on the finer points of interstellar contact and negotiations than the SI does.

He did organize all those various powers to kill the Psions.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Hey Zoat what woman were they thinking of making a political marriage to Oswin with?

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Probably Komand'r. Possibly Queen Kalista.

Is the Crown Imperium trying to make Tamaran the dominant power in Vega?

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It's a toss up. They've invested heavily in Karna already, but the war has caused so much damage that it will be a long time before they can be effective 'peace partners'. Tamaran on the other hand probably only need 5-10 years, but they'd have less control.

 

[Prosecutor-0]

"I assume that your civilisation isn't governed by a hereditary aristocracy, then."
"You assume correctly."

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Zoat, how come? Considering the MC is formerly citizen of UK, currently of Themyscira, I'd think the answer would be "You assume incorrectly". Or did OL mean that UN as what could be considered the governing body of "Earth's civilization", is not a hereditary aristocracy?

 

[Darko]

Probably Komand'r. Possibly Queen Kalista.

It's a toss up. They've invested heavily in Karna already, but the war has caused so much damage that it will be a long time before they can be effective 'peace partners'. Tamaran on the other hand probably only need 5-10 years, but they'd have less control.

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Well this version of Komand' is certainly better than her pre flashpoint counterpart.

If she was more like her, well you said it.

Probably not. It's more likely that he'd have killed her when he destroyed the Citadel Complex.

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And I gave an explanation of why they wouldn't need her or want her, not without making some changes to her way of thinking through ring alteration at least.

Zoat did change some of the characters backstories for his story to make it more interesting and flesh them out so to speak. The fact they live in a separate universe and many of them didn't show up in that universe does afford him the ability to write how he likes while still being true to canon of the show.

For example he changed Blackfires and Starfires story on this one on how they got kidnapped by the Citadel.

In the comics Blackfire betrayed her people and sold her sister to the Citadelians. She also tortured her and had her humiliated and raped before she herself was betrayed by the Citadel.

In this story the Citadel took them because their brother joined the Omega Men and they wanted to hurt the royal family for revenge.

If Blackfire 16 was more like her pre flashpoint self and committed the things she did in the comics, well I asked Zoat if that was the case would the SI alter her mind like he did with Mammon and his answer was:



This does make sense since he wouldn't need her for well anything, either as a Lantern or as Queen.

Kori can be Queen as she most likely has had training in how to rule since she was a child before being sent to the Warlords, we just never saw her get the chance to rule in the comics and even if Kom in this story said her skills are inferior to hers, remember that while she didn't do the things her comic counterpart did she is still biased against her sister. Kori can also be ruthless even if we mostly saw that in the renegade version of her when she didn't show those Gordanians any mercy or sympathy and when renegade mentioned she destroyed the Spider Nest, but even her paragon self was willing to kill the Citadelains and Psions, she was just uncomfortable with mind controlling them and assimilation. Her pre flashpoint wasn't so ruthless because she spent time on Earth where she probably lost her edge, but this one never set foot on Earth. Her Outlaws counterpart in the n52 shows just how ruthless she can be. And her ability to grant mercy can also become useful since Vega is becoming a decent place to live, unlike in the comics where it remained a shithole, so a leader capable of being both ruthless and merciful is something that is needed. Her sister is just ruthless and cruel, which was good when Vega was a shithole, but now can become a problem if she isn't able to tone her negative traits down.
It would be a whole lot more easier to make Kori a bit more ruthless then it would be to have Kom develop the capacity for mercy, unless mind alteration is used.
And even the more innocent version of Kom in this fic is more interested in brute force and doesn't like to be questioned, so if she was more like her pre n52 self working with her would have been extremely difficult without some alterations. Assuming the mc needs her, which he wouldn't.

Kori can also get the help of Blake and Dox, who are both super intelligent and ruthless, to help her manage Tamaran, which they are doing in the paragon and renegade timelines, if she needs to acquire more skills and further become ruthless

The fact that Kom betrayed her people and participated in the torture of her sister, something which is the Citadels favorite hobby, would mean her people would be unwilling to accept her as queen, considering how much they hate the Citadel and their practices. And I doubt that her betrayal would remain secret as the Citadel would reveal it to demoralize the people and even she may reveal it to hurt those that shunned her and make them think it was their fault while feeling safe in the protection the Citadel provides.Without the backing of the Citadel or any of the things that allowed her to remain queen in the comics, avoiding civil war, the crises that befall tamaraneans and nearly destroyed their society while allowing her to make them accept her as their queen, nobody would have a reason to let her be queen. She couldn't also trick OL since they are both very intelligent men, who have the ability to see emotions, paragon all of them, renegade fear and desire, so they can see her desires and that one of them is her enjoyment of her sisters pain and they may be reluctant to work with her knowing she is a sadistic, traitorous monster, without first doing some changes to her personality. Renegade was disgusted with what Mordru was doing so he would be disgusted with what she was doing and paragon was disgusted with what was happening with Caliope and what the Citadelians had done to Kori in Kom so he would try to free her sister which would not sit well with Kom who may try something against him in the future as revenge if he leaves her alive and unaltered. Remember one of her defining traits is the hatred she has for her sister and in her crazy mind anyone who helps her is her enemy. And even if she isn't able to hurt him she can hurt someone close to him and may even just kill a bunch of innocent people while blaming him that if he didn't stand in her way then she wouldn't have done that, and yes she is petty enough to do something like that.

As for her being a Lantern well there is Kori again, who can use a ring, the renegade also gave rings to other Tamaraneans so paragon can also do that if he needs them to take down the Citadel and maintain order in Vega.

While they have both worked with some questionable people without killing them or altering them, this is because they needed those people alive, couldn't alter them without risks or didn't need to because they were reasonable and would abandon their more questionable activities. They don't need Kom alive, they can alter her with little risk and she is anything but reasonable, as she has committed some stupid and pointless actions in the comics which served absolutely no one and are self defeating, and if her narration of her backstory in the REBELS comic was any indication she may be just a tad bit deluded and may not see how any of her actions were in any way wrong.

Yeah I don't think Kom's more canonical self would have gotten off as easily as she did in the comics in this story without at least getting some alterations done.

Her n52 counterpart on the other hand is sane, hasn't committed the things her pre n52 self did and while she gave her sister to slavery, it was to protect her people while pre n52 Kom just wanted to see her sister suffer. Kom n52 wants to see her people safe and actually loves her sister and regrets her actions. These qualities can make her be able to wield a orange ring while also not needing the SI to alter how she thinks or be near her to make sure she doesn't engage in stupid evil shit like her pre n52 self did in the comics.

Teen Titans one at least didn't torture her sister and may be at least somewhat reasonable. Her betrayal could be viewed as necessary as they were losing the war, but she didn't torture Kori like the New Earth one. There is a difference between what can be viewed as her necessary evil and New Earths just evil for fun and stupidity and spite. Tricking people into thinking what you did was necessary is a whole lot more difficult when you needlessly torture innocent people and the one you try to trick can see emotions.

Anyway I went a bit overboard so sorry.

It is always interesting to see how Zoat can work these characters into his story and what changes he makes to them.

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It will be interesting to see how far a non evil Kom can lead her people.

And now I'm excited to see what solution OL and Blake can come up with to solve this ClusterCorp issue.

Zoat, how come? Considering the MC is formerly citizen of UK, currently of Themyscira, I'd think the answer would be "You assume incorrectly". Or did OL mean that UN as what could be considered the governing body of "Earth's civilization", is not a hereditary aristocracy?

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I think he meant the UN as a whole being the only group that can be considered to run the planet Earth.

 

[Tavarokk]

MC feels kind of waspish and undiplomatic ever since he returned from that Krona mess. I wonder if he's suffering from 'I'm done with Gotham's shit' syndrome again, except writ large.

 

[Darko]

MC feels kind of waspish and undiplomatic ever since he returned from that Krona mess. I wonder if he's suffering from 'I'm done with Gotham's shit' syndrome again, except writ large.

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If you just got done saving the multiverse and now you have to deal with some political shit someone else should have had a solution for decades ago you would feel a bit tired yourself I imagine.

 

[moralrelativity]

Yes, but OL isn't an evil overlord, he is the schizo-tech and magic revolution guy.

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That's exactly what OL wants you to think.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Zoat, how come? Considering the MC is formerly citizen of UK, currently of Themyscira, I'd think the answer would be "You assume incorrectly". Or did OL mean that UN as what could be considered the governing body of "Earth's civilization", is not a hereditary aristocracy?

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Both have a hereditary head of state. Neither have a hereditary oligarchy. Themyscira has a small elected senate and Britain has an elected parliament.

 

[AidanMorgan]

Both have a hereditary head of state. Neither have a hereditary oligarchy. Themyscira has a small elected senate and Britain has an elected parliament.

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I know next to nothing about British government but I thought part of your Government was hereditary aristocracy. Or does the House of Lords not work like that?

 

[inglorius]

Ring… Do I?

Yes.

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I am extremely dissapointed that this is not a link.
Is Paul just inventing important business off planet so less people pester him about cosmic weeb guy?

 

[Darko]

I know next to nothing about British government but I thought part of your Government was hereditary aristocracy. Or does the House of Lords not work like that?

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Britain also has the House of Commons which has members whose positions are not hereditary.

The Crown Imperium probably has only a House of Lords equivalent while ordinary citizens can only gain political power by rising in the military, but even that may not get them that much as the highest positions may be reserved for those that have the right ancestry and not their overall merit.

 

[Idkusername]

I know next to nothing about British government but I thought part of your Government was hereditary aristocracy. Or does the House of Lords not work like that?

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It's kinda complicated. People can be voted in to the House of Lords as well, and there have been some changes in how seats are inherited.

 

[Mr Zoat]

I know next to nothing about British government but I thought part of your Government was hereditary aristocracy. Or does the House of Lords not work like that?

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Not for about twenty years. And you have to go back to the Napoleonic era to find a Prime Minister who came from the Lords.

These days the people who sit in the Lords are life time appointees, usually retiring politicians or civil servants or political donors. Some might also have inherited a title, but that's not why they're there.

The Crown Imperium probably has only a House of Lords equivalent while ordinary citizens can only gain political power by rising in the military, but even that may not get them that much as the highest positions may be reserved for those that have the right ancestry and not their overall merit.

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No, they need both high birth and merit. The Crown Imperium has not survived as Vega's neighbour by having incompetent fleet officers.

People can be voted in to the House of Lords as well

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They can? How?

 

[Idkusername]

They can? How?

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Look, it's been a year since we covered that for a short lecture or so in the beginning of the first term. You seem to be an informed citizen, you're probably right. I just can't be bothered to check since I'm eating right now.

 

[Darko]

No, they need both high birth and merit. The Crown Imperium has not survived as Vega's neighbour by having incompetent fleet officers.

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Still if they require both of these things then it is possible for those that have high merit but low birth to be passed over for others who have the right ancestry but aren't as competent, even if they are competent, just not as much as those with low birth.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Still if they require both of these things then it is possible for those that have high merit but low birth to be passed over for others who have the right ancestry but aren't as competent, even if they are competent, just not as much as those with low birth.

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I'm trying to say that they're completely meritocratic or anything, but... Not really. Fleet officers require large amounts of education and training to be capable of exercising their authority properly, and commoners don't generally get access to that. There are probably a few Warrant Officers who could command ships perfectly well as a result of long experience but that's about it.

If you meant to say that there are commoners who -if they had the training and education- could become fleet officers, then sure.

 

[WereDragon]

"I assume that your civilisation isn't governed by a hereditary aristocracy, then."

"You assume correctly."

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Well both the Queen and the various matron advisors of Themyscira are the original ones so it isn't hereditary rulership of any sort.

The US is actually a very debatable case. The presidency and similar high offices tend to get passed around within a relatively small group of interconnected families most of the time. More critically the CEOs and sundry other business bigwigs who buy and sell congress are absolutely a hereditary aristocracy, they just don't have the honesty to admit it.

Britain… doesn't really have any claim to being Paul's civilisation any more. His culture to some extent but not his civilisation.

 

[Sceptic]

You can only steal a planet's entire internet so many times before you get a headless chicken video.

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And there's... a lot less running around than I'd been led to believe.

 

[Darko]

Paul needs to be careful of how much internet content from Earth he gives to other planets or else all those aliens are going to be shocked and horrified by some of the things they find.

Kinda like this guy.



Renegade should also be careful about what that AI they're developing on his side sees when he wakes up or else they'll get a SKYNET on their hands.

 

[Maxx Crowley]

What part of this story about continually forcing superhero settings through at least two different transformative lenses at all times made you think the main character wouldn't deliberately upset the status quo at every opportunity?

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And thus far he has done so as carefully, and well guided as he could.

Approaching a literal god of wealth for advice on how not to crash the global economy.

Being very clear with Kord that there is to be NO mad science.

Pushing magical research through legitimate experts.

Yet now here is a buffoon from space with no agenda other than to exploit what he can and make money, booming about a Lord title, while being openly attached to OL's organization.

You can't tell me that this doesn't have multiple was to go right to shit. Which will land right in OL's lap.

 

[Idkusername]

And thus far he has done so as carefully, and well guided as he could.

Approaching a literal god of wealth for advice on how not to crash the global economy.

Being very clear with Kord that there is to be NO mad science.

Pushing magical research through legitimate experts.

Yet now here is a buffoon from space with no agenda other than to exploit what he can and make money, booming about a Lord title, while being openly attached to OL's organization.

You can't tell me that this doesn't have multiple was to go right to shit. Which will land right in OL's lap.

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I don't see how he could have prevented Manga Khan's deployment to Earth without knowing he'd be the one to act as LEGION reinforcements beforehand.

Besides, why do you think that Paul forcing the world to get off their collective asses is a bad thing? This is very much the kiddie pool of international relations. The worst case scenario is that Manga Khan puts some people out of business, besides going against everything OL stands for. (Don't think I don't know how drastically unemployment would affect the economy, but it is something that should have been warded off years ago)

 

[Galacticplumber]

It's the same principle as vaccination. You put a de-fanged version of the threatening disease into the patient such that their immune system is more ready when the real version comes around. And YES this is the de-fanged version. Manga's only goal is to make money. Not seed spies to sabotage world governments, or pretend to build something to defend the earth that will actually destroy it, or mind control the human race.

If you can't deal with intergalactic Walmart you've no place calling yourself ready for space. Not optional either, because with time space decides it's ready for earth.

 

[PDV]

I know next to nothing about British government but I thought part of your Government was hereditary aristocracy. Or does the House of Lords not work like that?

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The House of Lords technically isn't totally powerless.

Well both the Queen and the various matron advisors of Themyscira are the original ones so it isn't hereditary rulership of any sort.
<discussion of US politics from the last 20 years>

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Ware rule 8.

 

[Mr Zoat]

The House of Lords technically isn't totally powerless.

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No, the House of Lords needs to sign off on legislation in order for it to become law.