You are all my subjects now!

Thank you, Kelinci, you've pointed out what I couldn't put my finger on about this whole thing.

Okay, Thanos, I don't know if this is supposed to be sucking us in yet or not, but I really do not like The Yank so far. In fact, after this, I highly doubt he's going to curry much favor with people. That's what I was trying to articulate before but failed in doing so -

This is what I'm trying to say:

This thing he is doing is going to make him super unpopular. This is probably one of the biggest fuck-off huge black marks you can get on your record, and now he's got it: causing total anarchy in this country singlehandedly almost. So what you need to understand about this being the beginning of your story is that this is going to make him really really really unpopular, as I said before. You'd better really surprise me with some tricks up his sleeve if I, as an ordinary citizen, am going to ever accept him as my Ultimate Overlord, 'cause at this point, and probably at later points remembering what he has done here, I would be like, "What the fuck? No way, dude. Go home."

This is all barring the idea that he's going to just force this takeover. I'm not trying to be spoiled in the storyline or anything, mind you, I'm just trying to let you know that at this point, I'm really, really skeptical.

What InkWeaver and KelenciHutan said, plus the fact that I really can't see Vietnam taking kindly to this American's shenanigans in their back yard. Not one bit.

I suppose the only reason I could see why other countries are not doing anything yet is because they're arguing on what to do. Now that I think about it, taking over one country at a time might be impossible.

You're not supposed to like him at this point, to be honest.

Raine has hit one of the nails on the head; Cambodia is free of international intervention at this point largely because no one is sure what to do.

Also, he doesn't know it yet, but there's someone working behind the scenes to ensure that no significant amount of wrath falls on him quite yet.

InkWeaver: Trust me on this, once he actually achieves world supremacy, there's a couple of things he'll pull out of his sleeve that I think will massively swing world support to his side. I don't want to give them away too early, because when I do unveil them in proper chronological order I want them to hit you with full impact.

So an American terrorist is staging a socialist coup in Cambodia? That's a very bad thing. North Korean nuclear test level bad, Tamil apartheid level bad. I see the right calling this guy a commie/anarchist and the left calling him an imperialist tool. I view him as a major threat and at this point I will be adding the situation in Cambodia to the list of things that are wrong with the world that I tend to bitch about in cynical late-night political discussions.

All right, but expect me to remain the pissing-in-your-cornflakes cynic about this whole thing, young man, and GET OFF MY LAWN!

And seriously? It's to the point where the other countries will be kicking their asses into gear, otherwise it's just unrealistic.

(god I know I sound like a bitch but I promise I just want to help)

I appreciate it, I really do. I've had the core idea of this thing kicking around in my head for nearly a decade and a half now, I want it as best I can, and all the shots you guys are taking will only make it stronger. *hugs*

There's one question I have to ask, though I generally agree with Ink; are non-supers totally helpless against supers, or do they have vulnerabilities normal militaries can exploit? That'll have an effect on the international response; for example, at this point the Western countries with supers might be considering sending their own in to take this guy down before he does much more damage, if he ignores the UN and that'll be quicker/less costly than a military response?

At this point, he could be taken out by overwhelming military force, yes. But no one is quite sure to the limits of his power, so they're treading cautiously.

One thing you have to remember is that this isn't Marvel; in this universe, no supers work directly for the government. The govt. can ask, but there's no guarantee.

I still needed to know how defined it was so I'd be able to guess whether they'd consider asking supers to go to be the safer option than sending their forces. Any further behaviour like this, and the international community's pretty much guaranteed to consider him too dangerous to the world at large for them to leave him alone.

Will the governments trust any other Super enough to contract them or will they too be considered as potential threats to future stability?

Thanos6 wrote:

One thing you have to remember is that this isn't Marvel; in this universe, no supers work directly for the government. The govt. can ask, but there's no guarantee.

I'm curious about a few things, Thanos. You said:

Thanos6 wrote:

One of the "rules" of this universe is that if you get
powers, you immediately take up a career as a hero or villain. No "empowered bystanders," if that's OK.

How's that work exactly, if it's not governments rounding 'em up and forcing them to work for 'em?

Also:

Thanos6 wrote:

2) Cambodia has no supers, almost all of them (this guy included) are the products of futuretech-experiments gone
wrong; those are concentrated in the West and so too are the supers. All the Asian supers to date are found in China, Taiwan, and Japan.

Why would any government let experiments gone wrong into the general population? I would think they'd deny and try to cover up it up. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Quote :

Will the governments trust any other Super enough to contract them or
will they too be considered as potential threats to future stability?

To be honest, I haven't really thought about that, but there are several teams of heroes that are highly respected and trusted (think the Avengers or the Justice League).

Quote :

How's that work exactly, if it's not governments rounding 'em up and forcing them to work for 'em?

I don't mean rule as in a law. I mean rule as in "that's how things work." Just like one of the rules of Japanese sci-fi movies is that if you test an atomic bomb, you'll end up with a monster.

Quote :

Why would any government let experiments gone
wrong into the general population? I would think they'd deny and try to
cover up it up.

Because it's not the government doing it. To make a long story short, most heroes and villains are the product of experiments from one giant mega-corporation, whose CEO wants heroes and villains running around as part of his evil plan to rule all existence.

Superpowers are fine and good but you've missed the religious angle. Your hero had better get a handle or it will start working against him. If this guy is as open and enlightened as you say then I have to assume he has an e-mail address available to everyone. I'd shoot him a suggestion that he have an 'epiphany'. It might be advisable for him to have an advisor steeped in various religious doctrines to coach him to do it right. He would declare that he has been informed by angelic messenger that he is the second coming of Christ or some such nonsense. If he does it right and he (or his followers) don't commit too many overt atriocities he could get the majority of Americans on his side, defusing a potential attack or intervention by the worlds last superpower. If he remains vague he might even get the jews and moslems on his side as well. It would be nice for him to try for the hindus and buddists too but that may not be possible. Getting too 'rainbow coalition' new age could cost followers and might get people thinking he is actually the 'beast' of Revelation.

I realize that this sounds terribly cynical to manipulate people this way but religious fanaticism is one of the the most powerful social forces in the world today. Too bad you started in Cambodia and not some nominally christian nation. As long as he doesn't start beliving his own press and as long as he resists the lure of absolute power for it's own sake he might be able to do some good. Sadly we are still highly sexualized hunter gatherer tribal primates in our deepest instincts and that hunger to 'be as a god' to 'his' people will probably corrode his will to be just a 'good man' fairly rapidly. Dynasties get started that way. Watch out when he starts to set up a harem. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Okay so like Metal Gear is like a nuke launching thing and I need to ougahgjlshgaghslghagh;aowhfsjs;

Scenario #4:

"The new Cambodian head-of-state, Andrew Scrawn, today announced a plan to attempt to bring stability and funds to the country, still rocked by the aftereffects of his coup-d'etat.

"'This revolution began in the sweatshops, and now it is returning there,' he said at a press conference earlier today. 'They shall be nationalized, re-opened, and modified to be safe for those who work there. Wages shall be raised to a more equitable standard. These factories shall no longer be the workplace of last resort. Those of you in the world who believe in equality and social justice, turn your backs to the companies who used these shops as tools of oppression and profit, and support us instead.'

"When asked where the money for this plan would come from, he remained coy, indicating only that he had found a large source of funds in the government budget that could be re-allocated. An anonymous source familiar with the plan claims that the source is Cambodia's defense budget, the head-of-state apparently planning to use his own powers to substitute for much of the armed forces."

1. This Scrawn is stretching his powers pretty thin.

2. Nationalizing the sweat shops? Who will they sell their goods to? Where are they going to get their business from now that those 'Evil Corporations' will not deal with them anymore?

3. Why did Scrawn choose Cambodia?

4. Does Scrawn have any business related experience? Does he have any economic experience? Does he realize that if his people manufacture things with no one to sell it to he will eventually devalue his people's currency to nothing? And that is if Cambodia does not go bankrupt first.

2) He plans to market them in the West as an alternative to the companies he kicked out.

3) Essentially, he Googled "sweatshops" and picked a country at random that had them.

4) No.

Is Scrawn prepared to negotiate prices with buying countries? Will he be able to compete with all the tariffs and taxes charged by most countries?

Is he also prepared to update the technology needed to make his country competitive without raising costs into the stratosphere?

1) Not personally. He figures that if worst comes to worst, he'll just mindscan some economists for advisement.

2) That's what he's going to plow some of the profits from the various manufacturing enterprises into.

This guy's gonna come under assassination plots like woah.

Just wait for the next "news report"...

Sounds like another North Korea, except instead of having a huge incompetent military they have a tiny insane military.

saeku wrote:

Sounds like another North Korea, except instead of having a huge incompetent military they have a tiny insane military.

I am SO sigging that.

It's unclear how far his mindscanning powers extend. If they are any further than a few hundred feet other nations will have to see him as a major destabilizing strategic threat. His mind would be a WMD. Launch codes, intelligence assets, backroom deals with dictators to keep the raw materials flowing, political assasinations, sexual perversions, all would have to be assumend to be available for his use or publication. Remote control predator drones directed from spy satellites will be on his ass like flies on a carcass. And if he can get them all before they get him, sub launched MIRVs will be next. Even 'Carrie' level powers can't save him from that level of lethal fallout. I can see an intensive PR campaign to show the public that he is really a monster justifying such violence. Look at what we did to Milosivich, Noreiga, Hussein.