Star Power 7: Bad Luck for the Starstruck!

[Celestia]

What I like about the Superman as a concept, is not his powers, but how he restrains them.
The number of times he could overuse his powers but chooses not to because of his ideals are his true power.

I'm not saying every hero should be like Superman, but Danica is getting close to methods that the robo-thingy that promised to stop her if she goes too far should intervene...

The best Superman stories are the ones that focus on him as a human rather than him as an alien superhero. *nods*

Which may be the point. After all, that would be an excellent ending arc, danica goes too far, has to learn a valuable lesson, and hopefully not get killed by robo lad. We end the series with her a sadder and wiser astronomer superhero.

Isn't this the last issue, though? That's probably what Mookie was originally planning, but now there's not enough time for it.

[random11]

Isn't this the last issue, though? That's probably what Mookie was originally planning, but now there's not enough time for it.

I'd say that there is no time to do it PROPERLY, but it is theoretically possible: One or two pages per mafia boss, talk to the robot + fight another 2-3 pages and we're done.
Of course it will miss the buildup, like warning signs that she is going to far, but missing stuff like this and jumping to "the point" is kind of Mookie's style...

The reason it will not be done is because it requires someone to disagree with what Danica did, and the universe does not allow this.

[Traab]

I'd say that there is no time to do it PROPERLY, but it is theoretically possible: One or two pages per mafia boss, talk to the robot + fight another 2-3 pages and we're done.
Of course it will miss the buildup, like warning signs that she is going to far, but missing stuff like this and jumping to "the point" is kind of Mookie's style...

The reason it will not be done is because it requires someone to disagree with what Danica did, and the universe does not allow this.

I dunno, he has done a fairly decent job of establishing the galactic defense groups as being, in general, highly competent and moral, this magic gangster planet aside, so I could see them swooping in with some sort of justification of "We got the info, came here as soon as we could, and found you going on a one woman rampage through gangsters? Wtf is WRONG with you? The other times you were directly being attacked and defended yourself and others, this time you went out HUNTING and thats not ok! YOU ARE NOT LAW ENFORCEMENT!" This taking place in the middle of a battlefield full of groaning and injured thugs that danica was tossing around like three year olds with polio could bring the horrified revelation, still rushed, but there.

[random11]

I dunno, he has done a fairly decent job of establishing the galactic defense groups as being, in general, highly competent and moral, this magic gangster planet aside, so I could see them swooping in with some sort of justification of "We got the info, came here as soon as we could, and found you going on a one woman rampage through gangsters? Wtf is WRONG with you? The other times you were directly being attacked and defended yourself and others, this time you went out HUNTING and thats not ok! YOU ARE NOT LAW ENFORCEMENT!" This taking place in the middle of a battlefield full of groaning and injured thugs that danica was tossing around like three year olds with polio could bring the horrified revelation, still rushed, but there.

I wish, but the Chief never bothered to stop her even after knowing the change of plans (Danica talking to the gangster instead of his orders), and either he knew about the attacks or didn't bother to check 10 minutes later what their actual plan is. (BTW, the whole radio silence was also thrown out the window when the chief said directly who has the documents to a phone located in the safe house, so no excuse not to mention the plan at least in some general description)
Grex, who is also part of the GD, never mentioned anything and even saw the last attack as a success.
Smith, who gathered all the evidence for months and specifically had a plan to involve the GD, never questioned if it will hold up in court without them, instead he found an excuse why it was justified (and it wasn't since there was a better plan to stop Abaxi, and it was also ignored during the attack itself).

Also, if you remember the ship arc, where Danica was supposed to learn how to make first contact, how quickly the GD changed from "surveillance only" to "yey, you punched both sides and brought refugees with almost zero real intel!"

No, the universe here does back-flips to adjust their morality to what Danica did, not the other way around.

[Godskook]

The best Superman stories are the ones that focus on him as a human rather than him as an alien superhero. *nods*

The ones that focus on him as a benevolent alien god can be pretty good too, but those're essentially Doctor Who stories. Injustice, for instance, had all the potential it needed to be really amazing, but instead of pondering in a world of a more interventionist Superman, it instead made Batman presume Superman was REALLY evil, try to stop him, only to have Superman decide to actually BE really evil.

[random11]

The ones that focus on him as a benevolent alien god can be pretty good too, but those're essentially Doctor Who stories. Injustice, for instance, had all the potential it needed to be really amazing, but instead of pondering in a world of a more interventionist Superman, it instead made Batman presume Superman was REALLY evil, try to stop him, only to have Superman decide to actually BE really evil.

I consider myself as a cynical person, and yet, there is something about Superman and his ability to restrain himself that I find inspiring, and I prefer him this way over the alternate stories.

Or maybe it's because I'm cynical, and I see that the world as it is now needs back a role model to show how NOT to overuse power.
We have more than enough examples of people crossing the lines with power in the real world...

[Vinyadan]

Is there supposed to be an update today? I have lost count.

[Traab]

I think its Monday and Wednesday.

[Vinyadan]

Oh, OK, thanks.

[Celestia]

Haven't been Friday updates in, like, half a year or more.

[t209]

Well, just wanted to come for Mafia Planet.
Granted; points were given to assimilation, integrated to local government, and jurisdiction.
But here's a thing
- Mafia tend to grew from lack of central government's ability to assert control (I mean the planet's history is like it was mafia-world than "space!Siciliy was given to space!Genoa but the transition from feudal agriculture to market agriculture caused local armed groups to become mafia with the law enforcement unable to protect new landowners along with wealth inequality").
- Lack of what the previous government was (my preferred headcanon would be that mafia houses were powerful merchants and aristocrats who managed to wrest control from intergalactic trade without a strong monarchical figure).
- Mookies' trying to make Galactic Federation squeaky clean contradict with its inability to quash mafia without mentioning "too busy to deal with local issues" or "bloated bureaucracy".

[random11]

I'm okay with the concept of a mafia planet (or if I understood correctly, several major cities within the planet)

As a fictional example, it's not so different from the DC world where Gotham exists in the same government as Star city or Metropolis.
And real life examples are also not too hard to find. Sometimes within the same city you have areas that are considered "safe" and "unsafe".

I had more problems with the lack of attempts to fight the void angels, since they were more a fleet and less on civilian grounds.
But as a concept, I'm okay with certain planets having vicious warlords or mafia bosses.
Even with good intentions and a well functioning government, there are problems that can't be fixed with just "bring in more manpower".
There is a law and procedures for a reason, and from what I've seen so far no one suspected (or at least have proof) that the local government/police might be corrupted.

This is why one of my major problems with this story (beyond the lack of a plan), is the moral push toward "problems can and should be fixed with force".
Law is ignored, civil rights are ignored, the evidence that was collected and only needs to be turned to the proper authorities is ignored by the main protagonist, and this is seen as a GOOD THING by everyone involved.
I assume it's not the intended message, but that is the result of the text.

[Vinyadan]

Remember "Hulksiah smash"?

HULKSIAH SMASH PUNY SINS! NOW ALL LIVE IN PEACE AND HAPPY AND WORSHIP HULKSIAH AS GOD! PUNY MORTALS OBEY HULKSIAH NOW! DANCE PUNY PUPPETS, DANCE!

[Traab]

I'm okay with the concept of a mafia planet (or if I understood correctly, several major cities within the planet)

As a fictional example, it's not so different from the DC world where Gotham exists in the same government as Star city or Metropolis.
And real life examples are also not too hard to find. Sometimes within the same city you have areas that are considered "safe" and "unsafe".

I had more problems with the lack of attempts to fight the void angels, since they were more a fleet and less on civilian grounds.
But as a concept, I'm okay with certain planets having vicious warlords or mafia bosses.
Even with good intentions and a well functioning government, there are problems that can't be fixed with just "bring in more manpower".
There is a law and procedures for a reason, and from what I've seen so far no one suspected (or at least have proof) that the local government/police might be corrupted.

This is why one of my major problems with this story (beyond the lack of a plan), is the moral push toward "problems can and should be fixed with force".
Law is ignored, civil rights are ignored, the evidence that was collected and only needs to be turned to the proper authorities is ignored by the main protagonist, and this is seen as a GOOD THING by everyone involved.
I assume it's not the intended message, but that is the result of the text.

The problem with the vorp angels was they had stupidly good stealth tech making it virtually impossible to find them. Iirc the only reason danica found them was they were moving in a single large fleet at the time heading for the station and they used astronomy equipment that was basically the best to be found anywhere to search for local gravitational eddies or whatever. So instead of having to search the entire galaxy, they knew where the fleet was heading, which GREATLY shrank the area to search, its larger than normal signature made it easier to find, and they had both different tech than presumably is normally used as sensors and the best in the galaxy to work with. So actually, I kinda liked that turnaround. Up till then the vorp angels were mainly small raiding parties that would strike then vanish before anyone could even try anything. So it made sense they couldnt be found. Even if the galactic federation already knew of this method for finding them, it still wouldnt have helped much unless through sheer luck as the galaxy is huge, the fleet is broken up into tiny raiding parties, and nobody knew where they were going or where they were coming from.

[random11]

The problem with the vorp angels was they had stupidly good stealth tech making it virtually impossible to find them. Iirc the only reason danica found them was they were moving in a single large fleet at the time heading for the station and they used astronomy equipment that was basically the best to be found anywhere to search for local gravitational eddies or whatever. So instead of having to search the entire galaxy, they knew where the fleet was heading, which GREATLY shrank the area to search, its larger than normal signature made it easier to find, and they had both different tech than presumably is normally used as sensors and the best in the galaxy to work with. So actually, I kinda liked that turnaround. Up till then the vorp angels were mainly small raiding parties that would strike then vanish before anyone could even try anything. So it made sense they couldnt be found. Even if the galactic federation already knew of this method for finding them, it still wouldnt have helped much unless through sheer luck as the galaxy is huge, the fleet is broken up into tiny raiding parties, and nobody knew where they were going or where they were coming from.

What does it say that you made me miss the void angels arc?
I guess everything is relative.

Speaking of which, update.

If I didn't know the reason, I'd be surprised at the speed that moved from zero to a hundred in 3 updates.
But the real funny thing is? It actually works better than what was originally "planned".
It's fast acting with no delays, so less chances of the other factions getting the details before it's too late.

Of course there are still the same problems: Abaxi should have been the first (and only) target, what do they actually do with the captured people before moving to the next target, why not use the GD at this point, the moral problems etc, but I still think it's better compared to the long over-complicated plans from before (low standards ahoy!).

[faustin]

How many necrophiliacs can be around in order to justify a criminal business centered in selling corpses to clients with unusual "tastes"?

[Celestia]

How many necrophiliacs can be around in order to justify a criminal business centered in selling corpses to clients with unusual "tastes"?

I don't know. If this were actually a galaxy-spanning enterprise, then you could absolutely form a sex trade based exclusively on one singular fetish. But they have only a single city, so...? *shrug*

[Vinyadan]

So that's what it meant? It completely flew over my head.

[Celestia]

So that's what it meant? It completely flew over my head.

I'm pretty sure that's what they mean.

[Traab]

Im thinking its less they supply a trade of and more, these people are. Also, danica, you are flying around a city punching out a not insignificant portion of its population in a blind rage, you dont have room to talk about bizarre behavior.

[Celestia]

Im thinking its less they supply a trade of and more, these people are. Also, danica, you are flying around a city punching out a not insignificant portion of its population in a blind rage, you dont have room to talk about bizarre behavior.

That could be. Maybe they're just talking about their personal supply rather than a business stock. I didn't think about that.

[Traab]

That could be. Maybe they're just talking about their personal supply rather than a business stock. I didn't think about that.

Yeah each family seems to have its own freaky behavior. Either assassins creed thunderdome, "communing" with dead bodies while necking with your twin (I think they are twins?) whatever the heck that martial art midgety crime lord was on about earlier.

[Kantaki]

Yeah each family seems to have its own freaky behavior. Either assassins creed thunderdome, "communing" with dead bodies while necking with your twin (I think they are twins?) whatever the heck that martial art midgety crime lord was on about earlier.

Letting the children lead?
I almost want to say it would be better if we could learn more about the families before Danica goes all Punisher on them, but considering the comic's track-record...
This might be less painful.

[faustin]

Yeah each family seems to have its own freaky behavior. Either assassins creed thunderdome, "communing" with dead bodies while necking with your twin (I think they are twins?) whatever the heck that martial art midgety crime lord was on about earlier.

Do you people think Mookie ever heard of Vampire the Masquerade? Because these guys seem a lot like the Assamite and Giovanni clans respectively in space.

[Kornaki]

I assume the other family's sin was allowing a human into a place of power. Many say they are actually the most evil of the crime families.

Edit: actually, it's probably that they trained by boxing. Everyone knows that gives you concussions.

[faustin]

I assume the other family's sin was allowing a human into a place of power. Many say they are actually the most evil of the crime families.

Edit: actually, it's probably that they trained by boxing. Everyone knows that gives you concussions.

Nah. It's that they are the ones in charge of distributing spineapples for pizzas.

[Kantaki]

Nah. It's that they are the ones in charge of distributing spineapples for pizzas.

Truly they are the greatest monsters.

[Celestia]

Truly they are the greatest monsters.

I don't even feel bad that they're all dead now. Danica did the right thing here.

[Kantaki]

Sure, Danica's way is the right one.
Because one swoop from Starpower and crime's gone forever.
No one could possibly try and use the resulting power vacuum.

Oh wait. The five families are the only criminals left on the planet.
Once they're "dealt" with all those goons and corrupt officials will immediately return to being honest citizens who don't do no evil things.
Go Danica! Murder the world free of crime!

[faustin]

No, the universe here does back-flips to adjust their morality to what Danica did, not the other way around.

This. This single quote sums the situation.
And that's the main problem with Mary Sue protagonists: they make everything about them, so the setting will bend and contradict itself just to prove them right.