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

Aww I wanted more sexy Slaaneshii shenanigans

 

I did not need one chapter like that in my life and the longer we go without another one the less Zatanna gets traumatized.

 

Sounds like Lady Isis has been keeping herself busy?

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Something from the recommendations of her empowering deities, I suppose?

From what I hear, they're ornery bastards when they want to be... Sounds fair.

I bet the Green was happy about something old being restored.

Because Manga Khan is an idiot, but he's a politically savvy idiot.

It's not like nature cares about arbitrary lines drawn in the sand. And her reputation as Teth Adom's partner probably protects her from being bothered by locals for whatever unsavoury reasons.

Grateful because that would have set some nasty precedents about superpowered leadership of a country...

Always a smart idea to check your facts before starting something that might piss off some obnoxious folks. Or the people you work with, if they're not part of the former.

So, there it is. The whole crux of his argument. That and "I don't want to." And that counts a lot for an Orange Lantern, even an Enlightened one.

'Hmm... I wonder if anyone would object to me overgrowing it with the plants...'

Well, technically. based on access alone, anyway. I doubt the greenies would bother unless something criminal occurs.

Boy, he really is serious about not wanting to do anything about Manga Khan... It's almost amusing, except to just about everyone involved...

Ooh, that puts a damper in that plan.

Really?

I wonder if she's busy? She sounds a little annoyed...

Oh, yeah, she was doing that, wasn't she? Something else for people to bother OL about.

Well, that's about as good as he could put it, I suppose. I can just see him slump his shoulders...

And I'm sure Rocket could quote some better examples at her anyway.

Geez, OL. Passing the buck onto your teammates? Just bite the bullet and tell Manga Khan to go easy...

A what? Was he about to say something that'd get him slapped?

...Maybe because you're being an ass about things here?

Seriously, man, take the hints...

I wonder if Ploutus will be as unavailable...

I can just feel his annoyance rising...

Really? Lex is here to do some shopping?

Oh, stow it. You know you'd have ended up getting dragged in sooner or later anyway. Better now, before the explosions start.

Honestly, OL's resistance to getting caught up in this is getting silly. I know, I know, he doesn't think it's his job... But when everyone else is saying 'do it'... Sooner or later, you give in just to shut them up. Wonder how many of the League members think he's being a typical teenager?

 

And this is why you don't go around burning bridges.

You aren't fooling anyone... You're only doing this now to spite Lex Luthor...

 

... and thus, he is doing a good deed.

Really curious what's going on with Arnus, though.

 

Which magical contacts did he screw up?

 

I'm pretty sure it wasn't his contract at all. It was the eye-gouging priests' (or rather their probably long-dead predecessors') contract, that he stopped because it was evil.

EDIT: For those who want to be pedantic, yes, he did arrange to have it stopped, rather than stopping it directly, but he basically knew what the women he gave power rings to were going to do, and approved of it, with good reason.

 

Yeah, honestly I'm with OL here, it's neither his job, nor is it remotely ethical for him to play arbiter over the earth's economy.

I mean this is a man who can't even understand that all currency is essentially fiat, and that gold is actually less useful to a human than canvas paper without the arbitrary value assigned to it because it's shiny.

I do not want this yahoo making economic decisions for me.

 

At least there talking and doing things together again.

 

We both said contacts, not contracts.

 

So you did. I need more sleep.

I do agree with your question, though, I'm not sure which magical contacts he actually screwed up with before going to Ventruria.

 

Sephtian who works for Poseidonis and may be banned from speaking with the SI.

Him and possibly every single other Atlantean city, who are probably more advanced than Venturia due to the fact that they haven't went into isolation.

 

I mean, considering Paul's primary shtick is being an asshole about how the League members have a responsibility to do everything they can, just because they can, it's bizarre as fuck to have him trying to sell "This person who was given power by the organization I created and is on Earth because I asked my organization for backup (as far as I know, because I literally can't even be arsed to double-check his credentials and orders) has nothing to do with me."

If the guy was putatively representing the Thanagarian government, and Hawkman had this kind of "No one's paying me to give a fuck" attitude, we'd get three chapters of Paul giving "You suck!" speeches.

 

I did say before going to Ventruria. That's a relationship that he probably screwed up by going to Ventruria.

 

"Traumatized"? From her reaction last time I dare say Zatanna wouldn't be "traumatized" so much as "strangely interested".

(Also for the record I would love more chapters like that in my life)

 

Is Icon on a mission for Dharma or something? Is the Shadow Cabinet even a thing on Earth 16?

 

Probably, but not necessarily in Dakota City.

 

The basic essence of being a Hero is sticking your nose into where it doesn't belong.

It's very much his job, unless his actual job is to be an Orange Lantern.

In which case Batman needs to drop him from the team- if he's not a Hero, he doesn't belong.

 

It's certainly going to be interesting to see the fallout from that.

 

If the world governments and Justice League utterly fail to find a solution, the world stands on the brink of total collapse, and he STILL doesn't want to interfere, then you would have a stronger point. But in this case, Paul is trying to push existing power structures to adapt and overcome a threat that is entirely within their power to deal with and simultaneously drawing a line with what he is and isn't willing to do.

Is the Team assigned to deal with the issue? If not then literally not his job.

In a sense this is an excellent training mission for Earth's entry to the galactic economy - if anything gets too squirrely then OL is there as a backboard.

 

Why are you assuming that's what Paul is doing instead of the much more likely probability that he just doesn't want to deal with it?

 

Unfortunately, he's expecting DC politicians who aren't supers to be competent. I mean, I agree that it's needed, but he's really pushing a boulder up a steep hill, here.

 

Nah, that’s just a platitude from MHA (you've also completely missed All Might’s meaning). If that was true, then there would be no real legal or moral line between superheroes and supervillains.

Unless Paul is mandated to actually act as representative of Earth, he is doing everything as he should as a superhero.

As a member of the Orange Lantern Corps? Well, I don’t have much experience with command structures, but given that OL’s boss was (presumably) the one who sent Manga Khan to earth, the best he can do is lean on him. Should he do that? Maybe. I’m not knowledgeable about international politics to say. But he definitely should not be acting in his capacity as a superhero. That’s why I’m going to assume that Paul’s just going to put some pressure on MK to make him take it easy, and just that.

 

It exists in the Teen Titans universe and Raul seemed to work for them or at least get jobs from them sometimes.

 

Because he as much as says so? Not wanting to deal with it necessarily means that someone else should be capable of doing it. He's given advice and served as a middle man already, so it's not like he's being deliberately obtuse.

 

Also, on the topic of OL and his magical friends, his relationship with then is personal, whereas he approached Venturia on a professional basis. While this will strain or sour some of his relationships, the reason he didn’t seek those for help was because he wasn’t looking for a one-time solution but an institutional one.

 

The League chose to do what it does. All he wants is for them to do it competenly and reasonable.

 

It's not Clark Kents job to deal with flooding in Africa, he's a damn reporter. It's not Bruce Wayne's job to deal with thugs in gotham, It's not Olliver Queens job to deal with crime in Star City.

They Chose to be more, to make the stuff that isn't their problem, thier problem to deal with.

This is 100% OL's problem and he dserves shit for his downright petulant behaviour, but he won't because he's an SI.

 

Not... really? OL judged that letting conventional humanity deal with the problem themselves would be the better option than dealing it by himself.

 

^^This. And the fact that he wants them to actually work towards the super-important mandate given to them that they voluntarily accepted and that no one else can do, just because they’re too scared of the slippery slope. I can agree with Batman not kiling, or other stuff like that because there is moral reason that makes sense, that individuals shouldn’t have that kind of power, and even if Batman was born of necessity, his desperate measures still have reasonable force.

In this case, they have been given the authority, nay, the responsibility of Earth’s planetary defences, and they’re twiddling their thumbs. Even a diplomatic meeting such as this which really is the kiddie pool of interplanetary relations, they;re trying to avoid instead of actually dealing with it, by giving the actual governments a kick up their arses.

What the League, and the audience, is falling prey to, is the action bias, the fact that any action looks better than inaction. If a footballer will kick a ball into the goal with it having an equal probability of going in the middle or either of the sides, the goalie will always be blamed if he didn’t move, even though diving to the sides would still have given the same chance of success.