Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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Thank you, corrected.Think it could be 'long edged table' rather than just 'long edged'
Though I'm not completely sure.
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Thank you, corrected.Think it could be 'long edged table' rather than just 'long edged'
Though I'm not completely sure.
Unlike the British cabinet where the Prime Minister sits in the middle of one of the long edgeS,
So, he came to a similar conclusion to Adam 'Captain Comet' Blake on the fact that separate nations could easily make their own arrangements with Manga khan? Remarkable.9th April
06:11 GMT -5
"…deadlock in the UN, Senator Knight has called for the US to pursue its own policy separate from other world governments."
And it's caught OL quite off-guard, it seems...Oh, that's a point.
I pause with my spoon part way from my porridge bowl to my mouth.
Ah, breakfast. A great time for casual thought on the oddest of things.I didn't even consider talking to the probable next president of the United States of America. But America has a pretty strong iconoclastic bent at the best of times, and if they stop bothering with the Security Council there's no way that the others will keep at it.
No… No.
I take another spoonful of porridge as I ruminate.
Unfortunately, Human governments are still in the 'these fellows in long underwear and capes seem to be on the ball, let's let them handle it.' phase...I need to let human civilisation make these decisions for themselves. Even if they make a bad one, the consequences are unlikely to be catastrophic and it will be good experience for when they have to deal with more dangerous alien parties.
I…
I doubt Kaldur's comment's last night were said in confidence either, so you're clear on that front to share them.I should talk to Cyprian about what King Orin was actually planning. I doubt that Orin will actually tell him, and him knowing that will hopefully take a good deal of bile out of the relationship. It did sound like something a well intentioned but surprisingly ignorant person might try, and I… Don't think it would make the population more likely to vote 'rejoin'. But it might make coming to sensible terms afterwards easier, and I think that trading with their neighbours would reduce tension-.
And so we're getting the same set-up the Renegade made with his Venturia, about six months to a year later.Except they don't need to trade with their neighbours. Given the distances and their history of self-sufficiency, there isn't really anything Venturia can get from anywhere else in Atlantis. Certainly nothing in terms of raw material or manufactured goods. King Orin would.. probably have been offering them access to the goods Poseidonis gets from the surface which Venturia can't-.
And let's be honest, this will make Aquaman want to yell at you... Does that make it a good plan?Venturia has islands. Venturia's defence is nominally being undertaken by a alien merchant prince. Those islands are easily big enough for one of his prefabricated trading posts to be landed there. Venturia is-. I suppose will be a micronation rather than a world power, and even if they do become a bit more interested in the rest of the universe after this they're not going to be interested in dominating surface nations. But it would remove King Orin's carrot.
I do hope you didn't bust in on a council meeting...Breakfast over, I clean my bowl, glass and spoon and float them back to their homes in the cupboards and drawer. Venturia is four hours ahead, so there shouldn't be any problem with me appearing. Fingers to
forehead
9th April
10:13 GMT -1
Ah, good. You had the sense to go through channels. This guy must be used to OL popping by now...and nod politely to the usher.
"Is the king available?"
"Certainly, sir. If you'll come this way?"
Or a case of practicality? Some things would be easier to do in air rather than water...It's only a short walk to the room that serves at Venturia's cabinet office. Naturally, the room is shielded against as many forms of detection as they can defend against. I can't even see that there are people inside. Slightly unusually, it's underwater, because-.
"I hadn't thought about it before, but… The Venturian buildings with air pockets inside them. Is it just a matter of tradition or pride, or is it an overt reference to pre-sinking Atlantis?"
Oooh, not a good name to drop... Isn't Gamemnae one of Atlantis' great evils in their history?The usher waves his hand through the 'request attention' sensor.
"I hadn't really thought about it, sir."
"Because Teth Adom used to consider Queen Gamemnae a-"
Yeah, context, OL. She is not thought of fondly, methinks.There's a slight twitch, which makes me wish I could remember that comic in more detail. Naturally, I've read up on the woman's history as much as possible, but that doesn't tell me anything about the cultural significance she has in modern Atlantean society.
"-friend, and the other potential reference in having air-filled rooms is her effort to return Atlantis to the surface."
"I.. don't think it's that, sir."
The tempo of politeness. No announcing his name?There's a faint chime, and the usher regains his confidence. He pulls open the door and gestures towards the opening.
"In here, sir."
"Thank you."
Yeah, that might disqualify him I think. Personal obsessions tend to get in the way of using Orange rings in any reasonable capacity...Unlike the British cabinet where the Prime Minister sits in the middle of one of the long edged, Cyprian very definitely sits at the head of the table. I.. half-recognise some of the other members, though we haven't been formally introduced. Archmage Thalia was part of the team that came with me to Tillettit, and General Megarios was more than a little interested in the potential military uses of orange power rings. He probably wouldn't make a bad Lantern, but he's more… Dox's sort than mine. There's no philosophical conundrum to resolve, aside from maybe his background desire to conquer Aurania to prove a point.
Though with what OL's about to drop, that may need to change...I stop just before I reach the table and bow.
"Your majesty, honoured councillors."
"Illustres." Cyprian nods in acknowledgement. "I understand that King Orin will be sending a deputation to campaign here."
Oof, that sarcasm. Thick enough to chew on."He has expressed that desire. How familiar are you with how surface world elections are conducted?"
"We are descended from surface-dwelling Greeks. The idea of public consultation isn't wholly lost on us."
Otherwise it might descend into a shouting match, and I doubt Orin wants that... Rather hard to get anything done, certainly."Yes, but the Greeks usually had a fairly limited suffrage. I would encourage you to-." I frown. "Actually, the precise terms of the ballot are something you should probably discuss directly with King Orin."
Cyprian nods. "If you don't mind acting as a go-between, I'm happy to meet him whenever it's convenient to him. And while I'd rather my cousin wasn't in attendance, I won't insist upon it."
And finally someone's actually explaining things..."Right. I should probably warn you that not only am I not his favourite person in the world right now, his… Actual plan for preserving Atlantean unity wasn't as confrontational as you were assuming it was."
"What makes you think that?"
In other words, 'hell no, that would never have worked.' Good to see people's estimations were correct."I live with Kaldur'ahm. We had a… Fairly robust exchange of views at dinner last night, and according to him, King Orin's plan was to apply diplomatic pressure on you until you peacefully accepted Ptra."
Cyprian looks mildly puzzled. "I would never have done that. Quite apart from anything else it would be completely against Queen Clea's wishes."
Sounds like that's a tentative 'Good plan' from the council."I know that and you know that but apparently King Orin didn't know that. And with the military option firmly off the table I think it might be wise for the two of you to have a slightly more expansive discussion, because whatever the outcome of the vote you're going to have to live with one another afterwards."
Cyprian meets the eyes of a few of his ministers before nodding to me.
If nothing else, the taxes gained from fees and levies (despite Manga Khan's complaints about them) will fill Venturia's coffers nicely..."It sounds as if that would be wise."
"In other news, the individual whom my Corps dispatched to guarantee your independence has arrived and is… In a way which is actually completely in keeping with my Corps' operating philosophy, expanding his mercantile interests to include Earth. Would you at all be interested in leasing one of your islands to him?"
Hard to resist the lure of money. Especially for a city-state that's fairly independent of the Atlantean economy...I hold up my hands.
"To be completely clear, it's not at all conditional, you're not obliged to agree, but Poseidonis has become a lot richer as a result of trading with the surface and I thought that you might like the opportunity brought to your attention."
True enough. Let's hope he's had his meds recently, too."It's worth investigating, I suppose. And it would be politic for me to meet with the Lantern in command anyway. How long will it take to arrange to speak with him?"
"Speaking with could be difficult. Being spoken to by him on the other hand is extremely easy."
Thank you, recorrected.
The thing is from a detached perspective Venturia leaving is largely a formality. From King Orin's it's a major failure because to most people's minds losing territory is bad, and he wants to be a good king, good kingston't let bad things happen to their countries.
A bit simplistic, but frankly a lot of politics boils down to either juvenile posturing or simplistic ideas buried under miles of pageantry, obfuscation, and double talk.
"It's worth investigating, I suppose. And it would be politic for me to meet with the Lantern in command anyway. How long will it take to arrange to speak with him?"
No, that's correct."Politic" in the 4th to last sentence should be "polite", I believe
Generations of bad advice and stubbornness.Now this can't be the first problem that Aquaman inherited from previous monarchs, nature of bloodline royalty and all that. So why did this one have such a break down in how it was presented to the crown?
See the Dictionary.com page."Politic" in the 4th to last sentence should be "polite", I believe
You'd better be careful... Idries Shah wrote about the dangers of 'Oatism'.Coincidentally (probably, because why would it be otherwise), I was eating porridge while reading this.
There is a very viable, and very British, potential middle ground that could be found on this point.Or it could be because Orin has regularly fought world ending threats and wants all if Atlantis resources united in fighting those.
I have no plans for him to do so.Zoat is the paragon going to meet Darkseid anytime in this story?
Thank fuck for that. The way things are currently OL would just watch as he attacked Earth. Protecting from a hostile polity is more the local militaries job than his.
He is letting the various governments solve this because they have neglected to make solutions for decades and he doesn't want to coddle them.
The only two civilisations that would be able to survive Apokalyps are New Genesians and the Maltusians.
The Flash can't fly. At all.See above. If Earth sorted their shit out they could throw back an invasion with minimal fuss. A million Flashes attacking in concert is a hell of a thing.
Earth has had the ability to mass produce Speedsters for decades, has the ability to impliment large scale magical training centres for decades and so much more.
See above. If Earth sorted their shit out they could throw back an invasion with minimal fuss. A million Flashes attacking in concert is a hell of a thing.
They didn't so they can't.
It's the exact same train of thought OL is applying the current situation but for some reason it's only applicable in one area but not another? Fucking bullshit. OL is just being a shit and throwing a hissy fit.
He can, however, throw rocks. And what is a rock thrown at near-light speed but a relativistic weapon?
A good way of making your hand explode?He can, however, throw rocks. And what is a rock thrown at near-light speed but a relativistic weapon?
Not sure. Probably something in between.Actually what would happen if the Flash threw a rock at super-speed within the context of this fic? Would it keep its momentum, abruptly slow down after he released it, or something in between?
also, in a potential conflict with Apokalypse, wouldnt the GLC be highly likely to intervene regardless of former agreements, given that the Life Entity is sleeping somewhere on earth, and given that the terminally insecure Tyrant attempting to anti-life the bloody thing (or the hundreds/thousands abarrent/schitzotech-equipped individuals on the planet) is one of those things unlikely to end well for anyone in...well, the galaxy......
....i get what some of the other's are Saying about OL-
my counterpoint to his excuse is that it WILL be his problem when his outright refusal to act begins complicating his future operations due to degraded trust/credibility-
and this very mindset is likely WHY the situation he's whining about (no formal plans/preparation for this form of contact/non-military sociatial disruption) has occurred-literally everyone else who's had the possibility suggested to has likely shrugged, said "not my problem, sod off!" and gone for a pint-and he already KNOWS there's someone with afterlife-warping clout fucking with perception/society in a way that would encourage said mindset-is HE infected now?
*sighs* regardless,its petty,shortsighted, and likely to blow up in his face mid-long term >.<
I think canonically the universe is much smaller in the DC universe.I notice several people have said that Apokalips is a galactic, not just a solar system, or Earth, problem. OK, yes, but aren't the New Gods tied into the Source Wall, which is something which applies to the whole Universe, not just the local galaxy? And, there's trillions of galaxies in our universe?
So, rather a big problem. Yes, Space is Big.
Change "and" to "I"."-afraid that while I don't have any right to instruct you in how to carry out your commercial business, and am empowered to check up
Change "though" to "thought"."None of our security units are specialised for aquatic combat. I though it most likely that
Change "it" to "if".As things stand, the only NEMO assets in this system are you and me, which means that it open warfare did commence
Hehehe, at least that is more than more customer service representatives would do.He throws his left arm out to the side, and presses his right hand into his face plate.
"You're right! I neglected the most basic principles of customer service! I am shame!"
"I'm glad that you recognise your oversight." I step aside as he collapses to his knees. "This is Archmage Thalia. She's here on behalf of the government of Venturia. She will be able to provide you with more specifics on the situation, and inform you what the Venturian government expects from us."
I crouch down so that I'm on his level.
"I expect you to prioritise this."
"I WILL EXPUNGE MY SHAME WITH ULTRA-PLATINUM LEVELS OF CUSTOMER SERVICE!"
I stand, and… Thalia looks even less certain.
"He's actually very good at his job. He just gets a bit over enthusiastic about some aspects of it sometimes."
"IF I HAD FLESH I WOULD REND IT!"