What mrtt said. She’s got a point … except it’s the same mentality of the dunderheads — they think they know what’s best for everyone. We’re supposed to be electing public servants and not rulers. Who are the dunderheads now?
I’d agree with her, except given the way she acts towards people, I think she treats her people like dirt. The only good dictator is a benevolent one; one who cares more for their people than their own aggrandisement.
I think the problem is, any would be “good dictator” recognizes pretty early on in their career the sort of fallout their rise to power would have, and so change careers. I’d like to vote for one, but it seems unlikely that our current form of government would actually elect one.
Interesting… Alexandra gives a long justifying speech where her brother would almost certainly just say “no, but I want to.” I can see her evolving into a very abrasive dark hero someday. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see ps238 turn out the villain and Praetorean Academy the hero.
Victor is already a villain. The only reason he hasn’t killed anyone is because he is too obsessed with defeating and humiliating Zodon. (Zodon, on the other hand, is moving away from Villain to Anti-Villain. If Aaron ever continues the series, I hope to see Zodon progress to Anti-Hero and then transition into full fledged Hero.)
@mrtt
I respectfully disagree. The phrasing didn’t seem mean spirited, and I have read dozens of books on communication, including nonviolent variants by Adele Faber and Marshall Rosenberg. I don’t consider Suzette Haden’s verbal jujitsu non violent, but rather the art of deception. You’d be surprised how closely related the psychology of sales is to educational psychology.
Not to mention it was an opinion, and everyone has one.
@Quin
I don’t think you can kick a dictator out of office, but this is precisely the reason I wouldn’t want a “trained” intellectual to be a socialist.
He was picking on her. “You don’t have to be evil like your father” is a horrible thing to say to a child. And if he was serious about converting her it is a horribly weak argument… it starts off by arbitrarily assigning a vague term like “evil” to the child’s primary role model combined with a values judgement and “don’t be like him” offhand toss. It isn’t even a serious attempt at conversion but an offhand toss as if he isn’t expecting it to take. And it is guaranteed to put her on the defensive.
All she was doing to justify his outburst is taking a curt tone of voice while volunteering knowledge and answering the questions his son asked.
And he is tossing out a golden chance to actually connect with and positively influence her.
So your concern is that a “role” was assigned a child who uses logic and is a trained elitist? A child whose parents openly ascribe unto themselves the title of villain. Yes, I can see how cruel that is.
I don’t see that as picking on her. People assign roles to one another all the time these days. While I don’t consider doing such a thing entirely out of bounds because one doesn’t just __accept__ the roles they have been freely given, it is food for thought.
Influence, Deception, and Logic are tricky subjects after all.
However, If you can provide me with a list of strategies to counteract such bullying/labeling it would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise you are simply contributing to the problem rather than leading others to eliminate it.
That is your objective, yes? You want to eliminate the psychological bullying of children and I am more than willing to help.
Also, someone saying “you don’t have to be evil like your father” comes off a lot better from someone who isn’t the sort of “hero” who has no recognition for the fallout of their “heroism”.
I’ve lost track of which member of the nuclear family showed which particular lack of recognition of consequences, but it feels like they all have. Suzi’s excused by age, but I don’t think any of the rest are. Also, Suzi has a particular bit of bad luck there, in that her powers intrinsically yield bad consequences. I don’t believe we’ve heard that of the rest of the family.
EG can only nudge her at most between her villain traditions and precocious knowledge and skills. Hugs and long talks are not going to happen. He was moderately successful as he broke her train of thought/script. The best thing a hero can do for these kid geniuses who aren’t appreciated by regular people is to make them think off script. Not to convince her to be a hero, but that she can do better than following her parents’ scripts just to be a villain.
The way he phrased that was kinda mean… picking on a child rather then being constructive…
Also, she makes a better argument for her form of government.
What mrtt said. She’s got a point … except it’s the same mentality of the dunderheads — they think they know what’s best for everyone. We’re supposed to be electing public servants and not rulers. Who are the dunderheads now?
Focus, “Lady Alexandra”. Focus.
I’d agree with her, except given the way she acts towards people, I think she treats her people like dirt. The only good dictator is a benevolent one; one who cares more for their people than their own aggrandisement.
I’m not sure if “good” and “dictator” really belong in the same sentence…
I think the problem is, any would be “good dictator” recognizes pretty early on in their career the sort of fallout their rise to power would have, and so change careers. I’d like to vote for one, but it seems unlikely that our current form of government would actually elect one.
I’m starting to see why they sent lil’ Missy to the praetorians. It takes a big thumb to hold down that ego.
Heckuva speech there, Lady Alexandra. I love it when supervillains make sense.
She’s passed Ranting Exposition 101, I see.
Passing Ranting Exposition 101 is a requirement for all students at Praetorian Academy who don’t want to end up in the Minion Track.
You know, that’s going to be all kinds of awkward when those two start dating in about ten years or so.
Considering her speech compared to her actual results… I vote for kicking her out of office. Literally!
At least her brother can do less monologing and pay attention to what is happening to them.
Interesting… Alexandra gives a long justifying speech where her brother would almost certainly just say “no, but I want to.” I can see her evolving into a very abrasive dark hero someday. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see ps238 turn out the villain and Praetorean Academy the hero.
Victor is already a villain. The only reason he hasn’t killed anyone is because he is too obsessed with defeating and humiliating Zodon. (Zodon, on the other hand, is moving away from Villain to Anti-Villain. If Aaron ever continues the series, I hope to see Zodon progress to Anti-Hero and then transition into full fledged Hero.)
Yes, yes… she says all that. And then she calls him a peasant lowlife — thus proving exactly how enlightened the Von Fogg’s are…
@mrtt
I respectfully disagree. The phrasing didn’t seem mean spirited, and I have read dozens of books on communication, including nonviolent variants by Adele Faber and Marshall Rosenberg. I don’t consider Suzette Haden’s verbal jujitsu non violent, but rather the art of deception. You’d be surprised how closely related the psychology of sales is to educational psychology.
Not to mention it was an opinion, and everyone has one.
@Quin
I don’t think you can kick a dictator out of office, but this is precisely the reason I wouldn’t want a “trained” intellectual to be a socialist.
If you think she makes a decent case for her enlightenment, just wait until she throws that temper tantrum with the fusion reactor overload.
Like most ideologies, hers is about the lies you tell to make yourself the best choice.
I was referring to Mrtt’s comment that the senior green gauntlet was picking on the Fogg.
Actually, it looks like she was about to say ‘A temper tantrum with nuclear warheads’. Ask the Japanese about that one…
He was picking on her. “You don’t have to be evil like your father” is a horrible thing to say to a child. And if he was serious about converting her it is a horribly weak argument… it starts off by arbitrarily assigning a vague term like “evil” to the child’s primary role model combined with a values judgement and “don’t be like him” offhand toss. It isn’t even a serious attempt at conversion but an offhand toss as if he isn’t expecting it to take. And it is guaranteed to put her on the defensive.
All she was doing to justify his outburst is taking a curt tone of voice while volunteering knowledge and answering the questions his son asked.
And he is tossing out a golden chance to actually connect with and positively influence her.
So your concern is that a “role” was assigned a child who uses logic and is a trained elitist? A child whose parents openly ascribe unto themselves the title of villain. Yes, I can see how cruel that is.
I don’t see that as picking on her. People assign roles to one another all the time these days. While I don’t consider doing such a thing entirely out of bounds because one doesn’t just __accept__ the roles they have been freely given, it is food for thought.
Influence, Deception, and Logic are tricky subjects after all.
However, If you can provide me with a list of strategies to counteract such bullying/labeling it would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise you are simply contributing to the problem rather than leading others to eliminate it.
That is your objective, yes? You want to eliminate the psychological bullying of children and I am more than willing to help.
I have no idea what you mean by a “role” being assigned to her.
Also, someone saying “you don’t have to be evil like your father” comes off a lot better from someone who isn’t the sort of “hero” who has no recognition for the fallout of their “heroism”.
I’ve lost track of which member of the nuclear family showed which particular lack of recognition of consequences, but it feels like they all have. Suzi’s excused by age, but I don’t think any of the rest are. Also, Suzi has a particular bit of bad luck there, in that her powers intrinsically yield bad consequences. I don’t believe we’ve heard that of the rest of the family.
Sigh. I need to keep track of who is talking where. Emerald Gauntlet Sr. isn’t a Nuclear family idiot. He just feels like them to me sometimes.
Genetically inherited… accessories? That’s not a common thing.
EG can only nudge her at most between her villain traditions and precocious knowledge and skills. Hugs and long talks are not going to happen. He was moderately successful as he broke her train of thought/script. The best thing a hero can do for these kid geniuses who aren’t appreciated by regular people is to make them think off script. Not to convince her to be a hero, but that she can do better than following her parents’ scripts just to be a villain.
Lady Alexandra is growing on me somewhat.