Ngamer11
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- self insert young justice
Workhorse (part 19)
Mr Zoat
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10th October 2012
14:02 GMT
A native… Under butler? Shows us into Bleez's… Suite? Wing? Her part of the castle. The change in decoration from classical fastness to… Well, she's not a teenager so it's not a matter of all the walls being pink and covered in boy band posters, but there's a clear distinction between this part of the castle and the rest. High resolution photographs replace oil paintings, heavy antique frames replaced by minimalist glass sheets. The fittings also appear more like those I remember from Thanagar rather than the mock-period versions the rest of the castle uses. Music plays very quietly in the background as the under butler hands us off to Toroz, Bleez's personal attendant, who leads us through a lounge area and out onto a… Battlement? Landing pad?
"Hey guys!"
Bleez smiles and raises her right hand in greeting as we approach. She's sitting on a lounger, eating some sort of… I'm not sure if I should call it stew or muesli? There's a definite meat component, but it doesn't look like it's a large part of the mix.
"Good morning, Princess."
"Can't quit, can't get fired."
She waves her left wing at the other seats and we head over to them, Toroz returning to his mistress's side.
"Ah… You.. understand-."
She rolls her eyes as we sit down opposite her.
"I'm not going to need to go into hiding. If this goes wrong the people who suffer most will be everyone else. I'll just…" She shakes her head, looking away. "They'd probably send me off to one of the new colonies or something. Internal exile. I'll survive manual labour. The people living Downside won't survive the next epidemic."
"Disease?" Jade picks up a pastry that we have together identified as safe for the human palate, but does so without really looking at it and so makes it look like she's just picking up the thing closest to hand. "Wouldn't a major disease outbreak be dangerous to Upside?"
"Diseases don't usually jump species like that. I mean, most of the people Downside are lizarkons, and we're pretty different. But Upsiders get immunisation injections and bioboosters and… You know, good diets and sunlight, so it's not much of a problem for them if there's a Grey Moult outbreak or something. Upsiders don't-."
Her eyes dip for a moment.
"No, that's-. It's not that they don't care, but-."
"Out of sight, out of mind."
"More that they only care a tiny little bit. Some companies do have health programs for their Downsider employees, and they don't need to. And military service is open to anyone."
"Really?"
"Life isn't great in the alien auxiliary, but it's a living. And the thanagarians just have to meet the minimum physical performance thresholds."
"Disease-ridden, malnourished thanagarians."
"Not usually. Not malnourished. There's a reason why I'm talking about getting aliens out when getting thanagarians out would be a whole lot easier."
"Some are more equal than others."
Jade glances at me while Bleez looks confused.
"It's from a book, called Animal Farm. After a group of animals depose their farmer and take over, they enact a series of rules. One of them is, 'all animals are equal'. At the end, when the whole thing collapses into despotism, it gets amended to, 'all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others'." I shrug. "Everyone in Downside has it bad, but the thanagarians have opportunities that the others don't."
"And the Wingmen actually answer calls for help from thanagarians. Since a lot of the thanagarians on patrol come from there." Bleez takes another spoonful of stewsli and sniffs it appreciatively before putting it into her mouth. "Wuxwileries do't get postred-" She swallows. "-there. They get sent out to do frontal assaults, and garrison stuff anywhere the locals will see them as Empire soldiers and not possible allies."
"And on other planets?"
"We've got, like, three lizarkons on Havania. Two of them are servants of some merchant from Thanagar and the other one's their son. There are laws about where they can move, but… The government's opening up the new colonies to honourably discharged auxiliaries."
"Is that a new thing?"
"New since they actually sorted out a policy. I think the announcement was three years ago..? With planets without Nth metal, it's easier to settle them with lizarkons than thanagarians."
"Won't that cause problems later on?"
"They get to lord it over the locals we took the world from and the military governors get to play both groups against each other."
"Like Mars all over again. Some Greens were arseholes to the White and some weren't, but no one questioned the Reds."
Bleez nods. "Least it's not just Thanagar."
"Good for you, less good for me."
"Why?"
"He wants to fix the galaxy, then the rest of the universe. Then…" Jade shrugs. "Move onto other universes, again?"
"No, of course not. By the time I'd reach the end of this universe the bit I'd started with would have started going wrong again. It's an endless struggle if you choose to see it that way. No matter how long I live I'll always have something to do."
Bleez frowns. "How long do humans live?"
"Eighty or ninety years. The oldest normal woman died at a hundred and twenty two."
"But-."
"But outliers like Vandal Savage-"
"Vandar Adg."
"-and-." She frowns curiously. "Really?"
I place my right hand over my heart.
"'Vandar Adg' and Nommo Balewa live for hundreds of thousands of years. It can happen. How long are you going to live?"
I raise my rings. "As with everything else…"
"Hm." She turns her attention to Bleez. "How did it go last night?"
"People were listening. Convincing people to change isn't easy, but they know that the expanded colonisation effort is going to change things. They're willing to give my ideas a shot. Not because they're believers in the fundamental worth of individuals or anything like that, but they were up for expanding the workforce."
"Is Ambassador Klus being here going to be a problem?"
"It isn't going to be a secret for long. I don't like him being here because he might do something to discourage people, but him knowing about it a little early doesn't matter if he has to keep tabs on you the whole time."
"Then… Perhaps we should do some sightseeing on Thanagar itself?"
14:02 GMT
A native… Under butler? Shows us into Bleez's… Suite? Wing? Her part of the castle. The change in decoration from classical fastness to… Well, she's not a teenager so it's not a matter of all the walls being pink and covered in boy band posters, but there's a clear distinction between this part of the castle and the rest. High resolution photographs replace oil paintings, heavy antique frames replaced by minimalist glass sheets. The fittings also appear more like those I remember from Thanagar rather than the mock-period versions the rest of the castle uses. Music plays very quietly in the background as the under butler hands us off to Toroz, Bleez's personal attendant, who leads us through a lounge area and out onto a… Battlement? Landing pad?
"Hey guys!"
Bleez smiles and raises her right hand in greeting as we approach. She's sitting on a lounger, eating some sort of… I'm not sure if I should call it stew or muesli? There's a definite meat component, but it doesn't look like it's a large part of the mix.
"Good morning, Princess."
"Can't quit, can't get fired."
She waves her left wing at the other seats and we head over to them, Toroz returning to his mistress's side.
"Ah… You.. understand-."
She rolls her eyes as we sit down opposite her.
"I'm not going to need to go into hiding. If this goes wrong the people who suffer most will be everyone else. I'll just…" She shakes her head, looking away. "They'd probably send me off to one of the new colonies or something. Internal exile. I'll survive manual labour. The people living Downside won't survive the next epidemic."
"Disease?" Jade picks up a pastry that we have together identified as safe for the human palate, but does so without really looking at it and so makes it look like she's just picking up the thing closest to hand. "Wouldn't a major disease outbreak be dangerous to Upside?"
"Diseases don't usually jump species like that. I mean, most of the people Downside are lizarkons, and we're pretty different. But Upsiders get immunisation injections and bioboosters and… You know, good diets and sunlight, so it's not much of a problem for them if there's a Grey Moult outbreak or something. Upsiders don't-."
Her eyes dip for a moment.
"No, that's-. It's not that they don't care, but-."
"Out of sight, out of mind."
"More that they only care a tiny little bit. Some companies do have health programs for their Downsider employees, and they don't need to. And military service is open to anyone."
"Really?"
"Life isn't great in the alien auxiliary, but it's a living. And the thanagarians just have to meet the minimum physical performance thresholds."
"Disease-ridden, malnourished thanagarians."
"Not usually. Not malnourished. There's a reason why I'm talking about getting aliens out when getting thanagarians out would be a whole lot easier."
"Some are more equal than others."
Jade glances at me while Bleez looks confused.
"It's from a book, called Animal Farm. After a group of animals depose their farmer and take over, they enact a series of rules. One of them is, 'all animals are equal'. At the end, when the whole thing collapses into despotism, it gets amended to, 'all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others'." I shrug. "Everyone in Downside has it bad, but the thanagarians have opportunities that the others don't."
"And the Wingmen actually answer calls for help from thanagarians. Since a lot of the thanagarians on patrol come from there." Bleez takes another spoonful of stewsli and sniffs it appreciatively before putting it into her mouth. "Wuxwileries do't get postred-" She swallows. "-there. They get sent out to do frontal assaults, and garrison stuff anywhere the locals will see them as Empire soldiers and not possible allies."
"And on other planets?"
"We've got, like, three lizarkons on Havania. Two of them are servants of some merchant from Thanagar and the other one's their son. There are laws about where they can move, but… The government's opening up the new colonies to honourably discharged auxiliaries."
"Is that a new thing?"
"New since they actually sorted out a policy. I think the announcement was three years ago..? With planets without Nth metal, it's easier to settle them with lizarkons than thanagarians."
"Won't that cause problems later on?"
"They get to lord it over the locals we took the world from and the military governors get to play both groups against each other."
"Like Mars all over again. Some Greens were arseholes to the White and some weren't, but no one questioned the Reds."
Bleez nods. "Least it's not just Thanagar."
"Good for you, less good for me."
"Why?"
"He wants to fix the galaxy, then the rest of the universe. Then…" Jade shrugs. "Move onto other universes, again?"
"No, of course not. By the time I'd reach the end of this universe the bit I'd started with would have started going wrong again. It's an endless struggle if you choose to see it that way. No matter how long I live I'll always have something to do."
Bleez frowns. "How long do humans live?"
"Eighty or ninety years. The oldest normal woman died at a hundred and twenty two."
"But-."
"But outliers like Vandal Savage-"
"Vandar Adg."
"-and-." She frowns curiously. "Really?"
I place my right hand over my heart.
"'Vandar Adg' and Nommo Balewa live for hundreds of thousands of years. It can happen. How long are you going to live?"
I raise my rings. "As with everything else…"
"Hm." She turns her attention to Bleez. "How did it go last night?"
"People were listening. Convincing people to change isn't easy, but they know that the expanded colonisation effort is going to change things. They're willing to give my ideas a shot. Not because they're believers in the fundamental worth of individuals or anything like that, but they were up for expanding the workforce."
"Is Ambassador Klus being here going to be a problem?"
"It isn't going to be a secret for long. I don't like him being here because he might do something to discourage people, but him knowing about it a little early doesn't matter if he has to keep tabs on you the whole time."
"Then… Perhaps we should do some sightseeing on Thanagar itself?"
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Darko
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'they enact'
Except you kinda will do that.
Unless you actually created a permanently successful system or left competent people in charge to manage things while you hop universes.
Ahh, Paul, always so pedantic.
I foresee the Seven Devils rising.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
inglorius
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Who said that and why?
A suspicious word.
Edit: also "do't", lol.
I wonder if those "alien auxiliaries" even can contact their families at all.
Chojin Patriarch
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Given the aerial capabilities of Thanagarian soldiers, it may well be both. I expect anti-air guns are a standard part of the castle's defences... At any rate, good to see she's modernised her little corner of paradise. Bet it torques her mother right off...
Hmm... Wonder what she'd make of Warhammer 40,000. Think she'd play Eldar or Tau?
Ah, the friendly teasing banter. You just know they bonded nicely on their shopping trip.
Sure it's fine to talk in front if the little guy?
...Wait, did something happen between chapters or are they just talking about the whole 'compassionate relocation' plan?'Grey Moult', huh. I can imagine exactly what that involves for a reptilian race.
They can't be effed to do anything more than donate to charities or the like. Hard to overcome institutionalised discrimination...
Sure. But I bet it's real hard to qualify, unless they need warm bodies to throw at the enemy.
Yes, there's a good recruiting slogan: "At least it's better than living Downside."
Much less need, eh? Interesting that she talks about her race's fellow denizens of their homeworld like that. 'Aliens', huh?
Heh. One of the best exports Humanity can offer: Fiction.
Thus stripping them of any possible support base for rebellion, huh?
I expect that's a biological thing. Lizarkons don't need Nth metal to reproduce, do they?
Ypu, thought so. I assume there's still subtle methods used to ensure loyalty, though.
A tale as old as time. There's that subtle control, too. Maintain divisions so that they don't gang up on the much smaller third party.
Discrimination and inequality are universal, alas. No matter how some would wish otherwise.
Well, we know he does go and do that eventually. Maybe it's a working holiday for him.
Not as long as we'd like. Another thing for OL to look at 'fixing' someday...
Now, when you get into the abnormal folks, things get more impressive. Silly, even, in some cases. Born in the fourteenth century or so, still going strong when last seen in the Sandman series.
Yes, that may be his birth name, but it's damn hard to pronounce.
You're lucky she likes you too much to Gibbs-slap you.
As for Jade, well... Would he stand by if she didn't want immortality?
Ah, the best motivator for people with a deficit of compassion: Profit.
Upside or Downside? Or maybe a little of both?
Yes, that'll set the cat amongst the pigeons... I can imagine
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Vaermina
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Vril Dox is going to kill him for this...
Darko
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That may not be the case here.
During the Manga Khan incident, Paul told the UN that cultural items, like art, books and other such things, aren't really sold on the market due to the fact that different races would have different standards of art and some of the subject matter may be incomprehensible to some species.
Though the 4th season did it.
Cuchulin
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On the other hand, various works of fiction will likely appeal to various species given the very wide variety humans have to offer and the wide variety of often monocultural alien species out there. Many of which are quite humanoid like Ol'Lefty's people.
Vaermina
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The 4th season also made him a much more nuanced and interesting villain then the two dimensional version here.
Handlewithcare
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Eleventy-eleventy-one! A speech! A speech!
moralrelativity
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should that be "eating some sort of"?
then -> the
moralrelativity
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Reference acknowledged. Nice catch.
Nervaqus987
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Vandal Savage: "I want to sink the capital of my magitech empire in order to activate the metagenes of the residents and enable them to survive under water so that they will conquer the oceans in my name!"
Klarion: "Neat idea, but we can dream bigger."
Klarion: *sinks the entire continent instead*
Vandal Savage: "More than I intended, but I see fish people which means it worked~"
*years later*
Vandal Savage: "Man, it sure does suck that my generals don't obey me as a living god."
Klarion: "'Sup best buddy, how's it hanging?"
Vandal Savage: "Perfect timing! I need you to get me a threat big enough to force them to obey me again!"
Nabu: "Dad, that's a really horrible idea."
Vandal Savage: "Not now boy, I have plans!"
Klarion: "And I have a star fish!"
Klarion: *summons Starro*
Starro: *overruns and nearly destroys Savage's empire*
Nabu: *fucking dies*
All Season 4 has done is proven that Vandal Savage has always been a supervillain and has been sharing a braincell with Klarion for 50,000 years.
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Mr Zoat
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Bleez, who as Crown Princess can't quit or get fired.
Her mouth was full.
It's not Detroit! It's not Detroit!Yes, there's a good recruiting slogan: "At least it's better than living Downside."
Not really. He lives in a setting where everyone has bargain basement immortality in the form of souls, and anyone who wants to put the effort in can already live indefinitely. It doesn't really need a top down solution.
Bleez doesn't really have bosses in the usual sense.Yes, that'll set the cat amongst the pigeons... I can imagine Bleez's bosses sweating in their seats already, wondering what'll explode this time. And if word should happen to spread amongst the disenfranchised who will benefit most from this, well... Thanagar was starting to get a little stagnant anyway.
Thank you, corrected.
Sojiko
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Please never change, Paul.
(I'm talking to both the SI and Zoat, here)
"than"
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Brainwasher-Boy
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Ambassador Klus, nervously joking: So, who's funeral is it?
Paul, looking him dead in the eyes: I haven't decided yet.
Paul, looking him dead in the eyes: I haven't decided yet.
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
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I suspect that ParaPaul wouldn't say that unless he was very angry, because even as alien as his mind has gotten, he'd know that they'd take him seriously. Grayven, on the other hand, would say that just to be a troll.
Darko
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No matter how intelligent he may seem and how sophisticated he becomes, Vandal will always be just an up jumped caveman that never learns from his mistakes.
And that kinda makes sense given his immortality.
Think about it, with his immortality he faces virtually no consequences to his actions since he can always survive anything that befalls him, thus he does not need things like wisdom or good sense the way mortals would need it since if they make a mistake, they may never be able to fix it.
If they do something wrong then they can die, be injured beyond healing, or whatever they've built will be destroyed and they will not have enough life or time left to rebuild, so they need to approach situations with things like wisdom or intelligent thought because if they don't then they're finished.
Savage doesn't need any of this.
He can't die, he heals from virtually everything, and he doesn't age, so he can be as stupid as he likes because at the end, it won't affect him in a way that's impossible for him to recover from.
Meeting Klarion and Darkseid probably reinforced this since he managed to survive and even in a way gain control over these two godlike beings through making deals with them, so his ego, which would have already been enormous, has now skyrocketed.
Savage is a poster boy for why being ancient and immortal does not guarantee being wise.
ChestBurster
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Comparing the story's version of Vandal Savage and this guy brings me immense joy.
I haven't seen season 4 but I do know that this omake was funny and features one of my favorite line, *fucking dies* will always be hilarious to me. Thanks for the laugh.
Steelplaza
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I've been halfway wondering if this arc will end with the Sinestro Corps attack on Havania. You know, the one that actually introduced Bleez in comics? We've had build-up that Sinestro has been up to something, looking for recruits, for a long time now.
Doccer
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Darko
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The Seven Devils were ancient Thanagarian gods that were eventually banished.
Given Paul's usual luck, I can't help but think that they'll single come back.
That was his original name.
He's had a lot of names over the millenia.
Mr Zoat
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Sinestro is nowhere near ready for something like that.
Ngamer11
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Mr Zoat, I can't remember if you already answered this, but where does Match live in the Paragon timeline? He stays at Mount Justice in the Renegade timeline because he's a member of the Team. Was he also adopted by Diana in the Paragon timeline? If yes, does he stay at the Themysciran embassy, or is he living with the Kents instead as a second son due to Superman being more present in his life from early on?
Mr Zoat
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I haven't thought about this in much depth. Probably.
Yes.
Coda
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Shows us
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.