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

Which is the same for every military. If you want to demonstrate that someone is bad, you have to point to something uniquely bad they do that isn't common in those circumstances.

 

I've got agree with Zoat on this one, Manta and his mercs actually seem to be better than the average PMC as far as rules of engagement goes from what I remember.

They have their issues, every military force does, but so long as the stayed professional then there isn't really anything to point at and say "Got 'cha!" on that you wouldn't be able to do the same to with even the most professional and well trained state militaries on Earth, and that's damn impressive for a mercenary company.

 

Maybe, but that still doesn't mean Kaldur would be all that interested in starting a relationship with him.

 

'his mega'

'commander of the'

'are you'

I know that in the 2016 Lucifer comic one of the angels dated a guy, and in the previous Lucifer comic, Solomon, who takes the whole Bible thing very, very seriously, considered that gay guy to be innocent and was pissed at the guy who loved him not because he was gay, but rather because he mutilated and crippled the former.

 

Thank you, corrected.

That's a legitimate phrasing.

Raquel's grammar isn't the best.

 

The quote marks should be in white, as it's Dr Mist.

Just read something interesting about this whole Calvin taking Mantas kid thing.

He didn't even know if Kaldur was Mantas.

Hell Manta may not have known that Kaldur was his biological kid until recently.

Unless they wanted to just be evil dicks and cause a whole lot of drama.

 

For a horrifying moment I thought those were all on different posts.

Wouldn't have been hard for Ocean Master to check.

 

Assuming he even thought the two could be related.

He could have just as easily thought that Calvin was Kaldurs biological kid.

Calvin may have defected around the time Manta sired Kaldur so it's not that big of a stretch to think that Calvin could be his biological dad.

Though that could be how Manta found out about Kaldur in the show and comic canon.

Unless it happened in a different way in the source material.

 

I rather imagine that they'd have checked Calvin Durham with biomancy when he got his gills.

 

I agree, especially considering Black Manta's group is a traditional mercenary company rather then a publicly traded or privately held PMC. The legal differences between PMC and Mercenaries are actually quite strong.

 

True, but that still leaves him not knowing Manta is the biological dad.

 

Not in this context it isn't. The title "field commander of military forces" is not a unique position; any officer who is in command of any operation qualifies. So "the field commander of" isn't appropriate, it would be like saying "the council is comprised of the heads of [whatever], the current member of Parliament, and the dean of Oxford." (Note: "the current member of Parliament for Flydale North" or whatever would be different... assuming there's only one per constituency, which I think is true.) "Overall field commander of..." or "field commander of the [...] forces" both add needed specificity. The former by specifying that you mean the most senior person who that title describes, and the latter because "commander of the military forces" means that you command all the forces, not just some. Technically that's still slightly ambiguous, e.g. the US President and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are both "commanders of the armed forces" (neither of them 'field'), but it's limited enough ambiguity that you can ignore it.

 

How many people do you think Kaldur's mother was fucking?

 

Well aside from Manta there was Calvin.

And as was previously mentioned, Calvin didn't request a paternity test, so he wouldn't have exactly known that Kaldur wasn't his biological son.

Though if you're talking about Orm, then yeah, by process of elimination he could have figured out that Manta was the dad if he found out Calvin wasn't.

 

Well he is an Orange Lantern and a conquest god and he also has the personality of an autocrat on his finger, so chances are high he does think that.

'has increasingly been raplaced'

It's like first thinking the internet is a great place to connect with people and see a lot of human history.

Only to then discover internet trolls, Craigslist and who knows what other kinds of filth.

Well you could one day retire and have him run the place.

'the embargo'

Renegade is an extremely irritating being, so if that's the case then it makes a lot of sense.

Give him enough time and he'll probably be able to make Buddhist monks so angry that they can wield a red ring.

Who's sleeping with who.

'like that'

You have no idea.

The author of Life Ore Death made what is perhaps one of the most disturbing depictions I've seen in fiction.

Spoiler

Darkseid had his own cousin be whipped by people who want to have an audience with him, and when he and Savage were walking down the street a woman threw her baby on the ground for him to step on it. He only crushed its legs.

Well that's not a worrying mindset to have.

No siree.

'my ire'

'suffer'

'Preferably

Looks like I was right about this episode focusing on other POV's.

 

Thank you, corrected.

I raise my eyebrows.

"Slow day?"

 

I'm thinking more average day.

And that's just some of the horrors.

Your depiction of Apokalips was good in showing what a nightmare it was, but Obloquy just made it much, much more visceral. At least to me.

And that was in just one chapter.

 

So I should capitalise it? Okay.

 

Ah, Queen Clea's perspective? Now I begin to see the shape of this episode: the viewpoints of those Grayven interacts with regularly. And she's closer to the truth than she realises, you'll note. Especially now that he's had a few extra centuries to settle into his role as Acquisition 'Conquest'.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

The joy of living a long, long life. The shifts in fashion, architecture, economics, vehicles (for surface dwellers, anyway) and even language must seem incomprehensible at times. The true art of immortality is adapting to change, not staying in stasis and becoming the irascible elder yelling about 'Things was better in mah day!'

Indeed, such an assumption would be foolish at best. In any conglomeration like this, there's always going to be that one ruler... The one everyone else can't stand because of character, behaviour or policies...

That's a little more than I ever wanted to know. Though it's practically the equivalent of a silent text conversation, really.

Heck of a contrast to Paragon's side, where Cyprian has chosen to break away from the rest of the Atlanean city-states. I mean, in that parallel, he honestly believes that's for the best. Still have to wonder how he feels working under a now-immortal queen. Hopefully any hard feelings he has won't turn him into an evil vizier...

A subtle power-play there, and I wonder if she even realises she's really doing it. I mean, she is used to being absolute ruler, so of course they should wait on her convenience...

Ptra's city, eh? Looks like she's still a little unhappy about Mommy still being alive and preventing her from having her throne...

Shutting them out of the sweet surface-worlder trade, eh? I'm reminded of what I said above about 'that one ruler'... I bet Ptra's up there for Clea.

The authentication thing is honestly sensible. Do you particularly want a rival city importing something that could be used against you in anger? And the question then is whether to hold to your guns or give ground...

And annoyingly, trying to discreetly arrange a more refined intelligence agency within your city is that much harder because the rest are all watching closely. And they'd probably take it badly, even though they almost certainly already have such things set up...

For most people. You'd need to be a demi-god with a computer-like brain to manage your time and resources so precisely that you avoid any conflict... Even with the system they have, someone's not going to be happy with this decision or that one...

As bad as Final crisis was, it did give us that damn fine speech from Darkseid (quoted in full):
"I. AM. THE. NEW. GOD.
ALL IS ONE IN DARKSEID. THIS MIGHTY BODY IS MY CHURCH.
WHEN I COMMAND YOUR SURRENDER, I SPEAK WITH THREE BILLION VOICES...
WHEN I MAKE A FIST TO CRUSH YOUR RESISTANCE. IT IS WITH THREE BILLION HANDS!
WHEN I STARE INTO YOUR EYES AND SHATTER YOUR DREAMS. AND BREAK YOUR HEART. IT IS WITH SIX BILLION EYES!
NOTHING LIKE DARKSEID HAS EVER COME AMONG YOU: NOTHING WILL AGAIN.
I WILL TAKE YOU TO A HELL WITHOUT EXIT OR END.
AND THERE I WILL MURDER YOUR SOULS!
AND MAKE YOU CRAWL AND BEG!
AND DIE!
DIE! DIE FOR DARKSEID!"
Which pretty much sums up His approach to rulership. You will serve Him, serve as His tools, His weapons, His slaves. If He gives an order, it will be obeyed... All the power is His, and He does not deign to share it.

A very old-fashioned idea, as is Adom's wont. But given the alternative Clea is envisioning? One all too common throughout history? Can you really say he's wrong? The true art of royalty, in this case, is choosing the people who won't fall into that trap.

Well, that depends on how you go about it...

...And yes, I can see Grayven doing exactly that. Which would put a cat amongst the pigeons (A shark amongst the tuna?) in the Auranians' court.

Yes, it would help to have clear goals for this thing. Do you really hate your daughter that much? Or are you at the point where you just don't care anymore, and it's all become an annoyance?

I mean, it's really been what, decades since she last saw her? Outside of any kind of formal gathering of Rulers? At what point do you not feel love for a child anymore? Feel anything, really?

What's done is done, after all. Any possibility would have had its drawbacks, after all. Consider how Arthur has such American ideas about leadership? Could you imagine the ideas Ptra might have gotten from whatever country she was placed? What if she'd died in hiding? Too many 'what if's'.

Subtly worded, but I have no doubt the people it's targetted at will pick up on her subtext. As for what they do about it? Well...

Heh. No rush, after all. I see she knows the smartest aspect of Autocracy: Delegate the work to those best at it, then look it over when they're done. Preferably with a clear and truthful explanation...

Heh, those would be a big advantage in controlling their boundaries. I can just see them trotting them out at some border dispute down the line...

Hmm, Darko may have called it about the multiple viewpoints, but we'll need to wait on the next couple of days to be sure. Still, it will be refreshing to see other people's perspectives on Grayven and his works. And no doubt refreshing for Mr Zoat to take a break from writing solely from his SI's viewpoints.

---

...to be 'abducted' and hidden on the surface?

 

Thank you, corrected.

If I fix it before you post, it doesn't count.

 

We don't know all that much about her, so this feels a little hostile to her.

It could be this, or it could be that she just doesn't agree with her mother's decisions but still may love her.

So basically Roboute Gulliman.

Which doesn't exactly have all that high rate of a success.

It may also be a bit frustrating, since we don't really see alternate viewpoints that much in this story.

And when we see them they usually tend to be alternate versions of Paul, so they tend to feel the same.

There were a few from time to time, with that League training episode being the biggest example, but that's about it.


In other fics, like Assimilation and Life Ore Death, we see alternate viewpoints pretty frequently, so it's easier there, but it may be a bit more difficult with this story.

 

I remember that when the Renegade recruited Black Manta that he was uncertain. Basically he was only 50% sure that Aqualad is his biological son.

 

Yep, before renegade told him he had no idea.

Before they had their brains fried or were eaten.

Did a great job at raising a good and exemplary young man who has done many great things.

Technically it used to be a global network of supervillains that was meant to beat the League.

And I wouldn't say his belief in that was due to reading too many comics, but rather just what he's seen in his line of work.

 

That was more him calling Sha'lain'a a giant hobag.

 

"The sovereign is above the law. Everyone else must abide by it,"

And that is why we got rid of the aristocracy. Everytime someone new comes into power you flip the coin for thousands or millions of lifes.

Unacceptable.

And immortality means that one ruler's set of values and whims dictates things for eternity

I don't think I like her very much

 

A Clea POV is pretty interesting, and if we are going to get POVs of the Light 2.0 I will be really happy. I do agree that she was in the right about the stuff with Aurania once you get all the facts, but I don't particularly understand why she's in Poseidonis now, though, or what her overall aim is now that Venturia is in this position. I can't even recall when she got together with Black Manta (good on him though, I imagine she's a pretty beautiful GILF, soon to be MILF, and if he's into femdom...).

 

I think she's in Poseidonis to strengthen her position in Atlantis and further the new Lights interest in that part of the world.

 

Ah that. I didn't realize the ALE was Anti-Lofe Equation.
Thanks.
What about actual Grayven breaking free though?

 

We know he's doing his own thing now, conquering people, but I don't think it was mentioned how he got away.

Either Darkseid let him go, or he slipped past him.