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

[CrazyNoVa]

The worst thing about RWBY is that Sienna Kahn isn't in it more. Completely wasted character. I'm sure I could talk her around.

Ephebophilia. And only if they had sex. Otherwise, it would just be really inappropriate.

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Yes, RWBY has an unfortunate talent for introducing interesting concepts, and then poorly executing them.

If you had a version of Paul land in Remnant, I presume that warning Sienna and trying to help her avoid her fate would be one of your top priorities?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Yes, RWBY has an unfortunate talent for introducing interesting concepts, and then poorly executing them.

If you had a version of Paul land in Remnant, I presume that warning Sienna and trying to help her avoid her fate would be one of your top priorities?

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Random Remnant citizen: "All my Semblance does it let me glow orange. I can't even make the glow do anything cool."
Incoming SI: "How would you like to be my best friend?"

*Checks calender*
No, still three years until I can talk about the Good Friday Agreement on this website. Which is a shame because it's a good metaphor for the faunus.

One of the other problems with RWBY is the lack of faunus oppression. We see one guy being mean to a faunus huntress, but he spends the episode being a dick to Jaune so he's probably just a dick rather than a racist. The Schnee Dust Company is established as being dicks to everyone in Ruby's intro. There are faunus in Beacon Academy and a faunus headmaster. And yet plenty of faunus are willing to join the White Fang in a place they're visibly not being oppressed. After a certain point it looks more like a persecution complex than actual persecution.

So if I was writing it, I'd have to decide if I was writing a story where the oppression was current and real, or one where it was historical but had a disproportionate hold on the modern faunus psyche. And if it's real, Velvet and Lionheart are gone and Weiss would probably have to be a villain. And if it's not real, several canon characters would have to be shown as stupid and/or deranged.

 

[CrazyNoVa]

Random Remnant citizen: "All my Semblance does it let me glow orange. I can't even make the glow do anything cool."
Incoming SI: "How would you like to be my best friend?"

*Checks calender*
No, still three years until I can talk about the Good Friday Agreement on this website. Which is a shame because it's a good metaphor for the faunus.

One of the other problems with RWBY is the lack of faunus oppression. We see one guy being mean to a faunus huntress, but he spends the episode being a dick to Jaune so he's probably just a dick rather than a racist. The Schnee Dust Company is established as being dicks to everyone in Ruby's intro. There are faunus in Beacon Academy and a faunus headmaster. And yet plenty of faunus are willing to join the White Fang in a place they're visibly not being oppressed. After a certain point it looks more like a persecution complex than actual persecution.

So if I was writing it, I'd have to decide if I was writing a story where the oppression was current and real, or one where it was historical but had a disproportionate hold on the modern faunus psyche. And if it's real, Velvet and Lionheart are gone and Weiss would probably have to be a villain. And if it's not real, several canon characters would have to be shown as stupid and/or deranged.

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To be fair, it's not like Rooster Teeth didn't go out of their way to show that anti-Faunus discrimination is ever present in the setting. Sure, we didn't see much actual oppression or slavery on-screen, but the fact that one of the four main characters was initially super racist against Faunus before she had a change of heart does say a lot about how a lot of people see Faunus in Remnant, especially when it's coming from a character raised in high society. Sure, Rooster Teeth didn't do that good of a job at showing actual oppression beyond insults and bullying, but it's still a pretty ballsy move to have one of your main characters be racist, especially in this day and age.

And of course, there's also what we see when Adam finally loses his mask too. Can't get more on-the-nose than literally having them branded like cattle. And I don't think Paul would fix Adam by fixing his face.

 

[Agumentic]

, Rooster Teeth didn't do that good of a job at showing actual oppression beyond insults and bullying, but it's still a pretty ballsy move to have one of your main characters be racist, especially in this day and age.

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"This day and age" was more than a decade ago, and Weiss was so mildly racist and quickly not that it really can't be used as a good showcase of how important an issue it is.

Adam was mostly just wasted to the point I've seen people joke that he fell out of a parallel world where his plot made more sense.

 

[ForeverShogo]

Weiss wasn't ever really racist. Some people tried to claim she was, but the scenario around it was incredibly stupid.

===

Weiss: I hate the White Fang.

Blake: I can't believe you'd be racist against the Faunus like that.

Weiss: I'm only talking about the White Fang. I hate them because they kidnapped and murdered friends and family while I was growing up.

Blake: Even though I left the White Fang because I couldn't tolerate how murderously violent they've become any longer, I'm going to insist they'd never do things like that and run off to find the local cell and prove you wrong.

A little bit later . . .

Weiss: Even though you were completely wrong, I'm going to apologize to you for hating people who actively want me dead.

Blake: And I won't apologize for trying to defend the people who want you dead.

Weiss and Blake: Yay! We're friends now!

===

Seriously. The Faunus racism storyline was a shitshow that was botched at every turn.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Common Sense (part 15)

1st October 2010
21:02 GMT -5

I sit on the Crock settee, trying to get comfortable. Local news is playing footage of the celebrations, and from the looks of things the presenter has been imbibing himself. They've been interviewing anyone who walks up, with priority being given to the victims of the Jokers previous attacks. I… Suppose that the survivors from today's attack will still be in hospital.

I look towards the kitchen. "I'm happy to help, you know!"

"I can handle a few dishes. And this is good physical therapy. I need to get used to moving around."

I nod. A reasonable point, and it's also reasonable for the person who.. didn't do the cooking to handle the cleanup. Dad used to handle loading the dishwasher at.. home.

Huh. We had a dishwasher for so long that while I just about remember the first one being installed I don't remember who did the washing up before that.

And I only offered anyway because this is the first time… That I've had to sit down without worrying about what the League's response would be.

"…not showing any sign of stopping…"

I mean, I'm clearly not going to have any problem with the general public. I suspect that would be the case… Because it makes sense. Not because it was in Kingdom Come…

Thinking about it, it's not all that clear what 'side' Kingdom Come was on. Sure, Captain Atom exploded as a result of Magog's crusade, but Parasite was the one who made him explode. And no one who knew what Parasite could do would think that could happen. Parasite drains power, he doesn't amplify it. But even leaving aside… That much like Marvel's Civil War, it started with people making pretty reasonable decisions and having them blow up in their faces, Superman's prison didn't work any better. The criminals contained there broke out, killing their guards and the warden before being killed by the nuclear explosion. So despite everything that Superman said about Magog, the situation ended up being dealt with in the same way.

So the general public is fine. Government? Anyone complaining about the person who stopped an attack like that is committing political suicide. Avenues of attack… National sovereignty and arbitrariness. The correct way to deal with the second is to agree and ask how the complainant would like to handle it in future. The first…

The Justice League of America is respected worldwide, but they aren't exactly popular with some governments. Regarded as necessary, perhaps, but no one really likes their territorial integrity getting violated for something that should be the job of local police or the military. In America with the 2nd Amendment, history of costumed vigilantes and lionisation of iconoclasm, their actions are well received. It's effectively the same in Europe. Africa and South America accept that beggars can't be choosers…

So the significant question is: would I enter Russia or China uninvited. And I think the answer is 'yes, but I really don't want to'. I think if I had just cause and handed whoever I apprehended over to the local authorities then there wouldn't be a problem, but…

Chechnya's not going to rebel again, is it. And I doubt that Russia will invade any former-Soviet territory. But there's Hong Kong. And I can see why the Chinese government might be concerned because I actually might decide to get involved if they ramped the oppression index up high enough. Which means…

Which means that there's a good chance that I'm going to thoroughly piss off my former team mates by being elevated to the Justice League to reassure nervous nations that I'm agreeing not to concern myself with their internal affairs.

"Heh."

But… How do I feel about it? I did just… Shoot several people dead. And Diana was right, that sort of thing does usually take a while to adapt to, even for people who volunteer as professional soldiers. But I can't… Honestly say that I've been haunted by Vertigo's half-burnt face or anything. Might be something to do with having to want them dead to make it happen. So the act is associated with that clear desire, rather than shooting in the general direction of the enemy and killing a particular someone more or less incidentally. And I… Have been sorting through my own thoughts more than most soldiers would be trained to, simply to try and minimise the contamination from the ring. So I've got that going for me.

And it's not like I want post-traumatic stress disorder, so it's… Also possible that the ring would just… Prevent it, as part of-.

I look up Paula enters the room, a smile growing on my face-. And then I remember what we're going to talk about-.

"It looks like you've become quite popular."

She's looking at the screen as she walks around and sits… At the other end of the settee. Probably… Because if we're going to have a serious talk we probably need to actually look at each other, but I can't deny that I feel a little… Put out.

"I… Assumed that people would be supportive. I didn't think they'd be this enthusiastic."

She moves so that she's two-thirds facing me and one-third facing the television-.

I reach for the control box. "Should I turn it off?"

She shakes her head, then pauses to think about where to start. I notice her eyes drift to-.

I nod, pull the ring off my finger and put it into my pocket. As always there a very slight change in the feel of the air, as the environmental shield shuts down and I'm forced to experience normal temperature, pressure and smell.

I only really notice it for the first few seconds, but it is… Odd, for those few seconds. But that's the only oddity that I notice. I don't feel any differently about what I did.

"Better?"

I shake my head. "The same."

"Have you killed anyone before today?"

"No. I'm… Sure it would have come up."

"I suspect that Artemis is not being entirely honest when she tells me what your team has been doing."

"Ah… Well, I'm off the team now. That was the… Agreement Wonder Woman and Batman came to. He doesn't want a killer vigilante near the children, and I think she's wanted to move me since she found out she was wrong about my age."

"That is not why I asked. I want to know if you are alright. If you are covering for Artemis, stop."

"No. To the best of my knowledge I have never directly killed anyone before today. A few people I've arrested may have been executed, but I wasn't around to see it. I've… Been studying my own reactions, and I don't appear to be suffering any adverse psychological consequences." … "And nor to I feel the desire to make lists of everyone else who deserves to die and start railgunning them."

"Do you think about killing villains a lot?"

"I… Have to be aware of how much force I'm applying, and against who. I… Yes, I have thought about… Situations in which I'd use that sort of force against people. When it would be… Justified. This… Wasn't a corner case."

She breathes out… Relieved, I think?

"Good. Those people do not deserve anyone feeling bad for them."

I nod. "I know. Napier didn't used to be a particularly bad man, but that was before the Smilex. And the rest chose that life."

"Napier-? The Joker?" I nod. "What will you do next?"

"I'm still learning how to be a superhero, and… There isn't an adult training team. Green Lantern Two-" Deal with it, Jordan. "-and Diana have been giving me lessons aimed at adults since they found out, and honestly the normal curriculum wasn't dumbed down as far as I could see."

"Did they throw you out of the Mountain?"

"Not exactly, but it was implied."

She frowns. "Where are you living?"

"Green Lantern One's guest room. I should.. probably look at buying somewhere." Ugh. "And finding an American company to invest the minimum required into so I can sort out my immigration status, because I'm presently a stateless person. Might pick LexCorp as a joke…"

"I have a better idea."

Oh? Oh. It's a bit.. early, I'd have thought? But I'm not against-.

"I will help you find somewhere. We will go looking tomorrow."

Ah.

She sees my face fall slightly. "Gotham house prices are very reasonable. Realtors have not adjusted to the Joker being dead and the city being safer."

"I'm sure that you're right." I can't help but smile, a… Little ruefully. "Thank you in advance for your assistance."

 

[Signaller]

No. He's not even sure that it happened, and with everything else going on it's not a priority.

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Agree it's not a priority, but still worth knowing how the artifact appeared/manifested in what was supposed to be a secure facility (since it appeared while he was being warped, without alerting Kaldur who was standing within a few feet of him?), and whether or not it's just paper and ink or if it has some sort of extra properties.

 

[Darko]

He though she was going to ask to marry him so that he can get a green card.