Lex Sedet In Vertice: A Supervillain in the DCU CK2 quest

[Fight Club 20]

When is Rose coming back, I forgot.
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[King crimson]

Well the votes seem pretty unanimous so I'll say that the vote is now closed

 

[jonasquinn]

The closest I've been able to find is Richard Faulkner, the man who discovered Quixium, who can turn his body into minerals but not actually manipulate them (and that's after he effectively became an earth elemental). For reference, Atlee (Terra) can manipulate lava and rocks but not metal.

It would still be helpful for construction, but even then Carl wouldn't be the one doing the construction work himself.

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Eh obviously I can't know for sure but I feel like if stone, crystal and lava all fall under things quixium can effect there's no reason metal wouldn't.

It would allow him to be on the battlefield and make decisions more effectively in real time. The only other option I can think of is cybernetics which is arguably an inferior option.

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According to what KC has said in the past Carl would be most effective taking the Toyman approach and planning his traps well in advance rather than in the heat if the moment, if he's every on the battlefield things have gone very wrong.

I would also argue that cybernetics would be better for the purposes of allowing him to plot and control his traps since they would actually be a part of him.

I wasn't talking about her trait, but about potentially evolving it into including other things. Leslie also doesn't have an understanding of weapons which is why putting her on that action might give her one.

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Eh it's unlikely IMO but fair enough, I could easily be wrong.

Due to recent developments, I imagine that those particular plans have been delayed as well.

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For me it depends on DC, the sooner we get S.T.A.R Labs out the way the better.

Well the votes seem pretty unanimous so I'll say that the vote is now closed

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I know this isn't the most helpful thing to say but if it turns out that Ra's is unwilling/unable to help us, dDiana gets pissed about us withholding such important information and/or ignoring the Kobra situation bites us in the ass I reserve the right to say "I told you so."

 

[King crimson]

Dumb question time, would people be fine if I left the details around amusement park to be filled in via omake?

I've been skeletoning the next update (Bibbo POV on how Metropolis is being rebuilt, a not fully settled POV of either Jade, an OC non-hero unit perspective or a very minor player in Alexandria, Jinx on the renovations to LexCorp tower, and then a POV from Enoch Brown, Arthur Villain and Catherine Devereux is what I've currently got lined up though this is subject to change), and I'm struggling to figure out ways to organically bring up the amusement park. I want to let you guys design the park but at the same time, I don't want the next update to get super-piecemeal. Would people be fine with me leaving the exact design for omakes to fill in?

Also for people curious what the skeleton means, I'm planning on wrapping things up in two updates (I want to cover Meld, Decker, Charisma, Dean and Bruce Wayne in the interlude after this one). I can't make any promises (class registration kind of ate away a lot of the time I'd planned to work on this today), but I do hope to get these next two updates out relatively quickly. Turn 32 is looking like it's going to be big and I'm excited both to see how you guys will react to the new hero units getting explored in a little more depth and to the upcoming turn.

Thank you all for your patience.

 

[jonasquinn]

Dumb question time, would people be fine if I left the details around amusement park to be filled in via omake?

I've been skeletoning the next update (Bibbo POV on how Metropolis is being rebuilt, a not fully settled POV of either Jade, an OC non-hero unit perspective or a very minor player in Alexandria, Jinx on the renovations to LexCorp tower, and then a POV from Enoch Brown, Arthur Villain and Catherine Devereux is what I've currently got lined up though this is subject to change), and I'm struggling to figure out ways to organically bring up the amusement park. I want to let you guys design the park but at the same time, I don't want the next update to get super-piecemeal. Would people be fine with me leaving the exact design for omakes to fill in?

Also for people curious what the skeleton means, I'm planning on wrapping things up in two updates (I want to cover Meld, Decker, Charisma, Dean and Bruce Wayne in the interlude after this one). I can't make any promises (class registration kind of ate away a lot of the time I'd planned to work on this today), but I do hope to get these next two updates out relatively quickly. Turn 32 is looking like it's going to be big and I'm excited both to see how you guys will react to the new hero units getting explored in a little more depth and to the upcoming turn.

Thank you all for your patience.

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I'd mostly be okay with it, my only concern would be that if someone writes an omake about a version of it that others don't like/agree with how would they express that?

What I would say is that if your main issue is not knowing how to fit it in narratively I don't think you need to outside of maybe someone vaguely mentioning it. On the other hand if your concern is the vote taking up a lot of time you could theoretically have it exist as it's own separate vote going on in the background though I'm not sure if that would work.

Either way I'm fine with whatever you choose.

 

[Randino Treviani]

Would people be fine with me leaving the exact design for omakes to fill in?

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I'm fine with it, but I also have a suggestion for you. Your having us vote on the name, so just do a kid or parent honing in on the gate with the name above it in the as they pull into the theme park parking lot, and cut out at them being faced with the classic theme park evil, admittance lines.

I'll also say that theme park omakes should focus on one ride or attraction at a time.

 

[wabbitking]

Dumb question time, would people be fine if I left the details around amusement park to be filled in via omake?

I've been skeletoning the next update (Bibbo POV on how Metropolis is being rebuilt, a not fully settled POV of either Jade, an OC non-hero unit perspective or a very minor player in Alexandria, Jinx on the renovations to LexCorp tower, and then a POV from Enoch Brown, Arthur Villain and Catherine Devereux is what I've currently got lined up though this is subject to change), and I'm struggling to figure out ways to organically bring up the amusement park. I want to let you guys design the park but at the same time, I don't want the next update to get super-piecemeal. Would people be fine with me leaving the exact design for omakes to fill in?

Thank you all for your patience.

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Yeah that's fine with me. I have couple of ideas, not enough to fill the whole park mind you but I've had a vague idea for daycare/kid zone filled with Zoom Pets called Zoom Pet Junction(mainly because I can't think of a better name).

If you really want to mention the theme park in the update I suggest just having Oswald making a speech at the grand opening and avoid to many details.

 

[Fight Club 20]

Would people be fine with me leaving the exact design for omakes to fill in?

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I prefer you give us at least a rough outline of it.

 

[PickleJar]

Dumb question time, would people be fine if I left the details around amusement park to be filled in via omake?

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I'd really just rather get the next update tbh. If someone wants to make rides or attractions then that's their business. You could make a writing contest on this if it really bothers anyone.

 

[King crimson]

So I figured you guys would appreciate a brief status report. I'm about 33% of the way through this next update. That being said, my health has deteriorated a bit and between Thanksgiving prep and classwork ramping up again, I'm not confident I can deliver the update till Saturday. Thank you all for your patience. I would like to encourage people to try their hands at omakes.

 

[Fight Club 20]

Do we have any plans for Nemesis actions next turn?
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[PickleJar]

This isn't really related but I made an image of Leonard Snart in a custom winter security captain outfit and I think that it looks cool. I couldn't quite make the logo how I'd have liked it but I still think that turned out well.

Spoiler: Security Captain - Leonard Snart

Here's one with a hood on (notably he has two, one from his internal clothing and one that's a part of his larger outfit for when he needs extra protection from his own freeze ray and such.

Spoiler: Leonard Snart with his hood on

I tried to think up what a custom fire-based exosuit for Mick could look like and this is the best I could come up with but I don't really like it but I might as well share it.

Spoiler: Mick Rory's custom exosuit - Sergeant Scorcher

 

[King crimson]

​

This isn't really related but I made an image of Leonard Snart in a custom winter security captain outfit and I think that it looks cool. I couldn't quite make the logo how I'd have liked it but I still think that turned out well.

Spoiler: Security Captain - Leonard Snart

Here's one with a hood on (notably he has two, one from his internal clothing and one that's a part of his larger outfit for when he needs extra protection from his own freeze ray and such.

Spoiler: Leonard Snart with his hood on

I tried to think up what a custom fire-based exosuit for Mick could look like and this is the best I could come up with but I don't really like it but I might as well share it.

Spoiler: Mick Rory's custom exosuit

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This is neat and I'm glad to see that you made this. It does seem to still have some AI wonkiness (I could be wrong but these images look as though they are AI generated to me) but it's still really cool to see this stuff. I actually think the use of sunglasses/visors and bulky tech suits does a fair bit to obscure the traditionally weaker aspects of the AI art.

I think the first picture is fairly nicely composed. I rather like how things are positioned and I actually think that the fur lining on the coat/exosuit looking like hoarfrost is a really neat touch. I will say that the different shaped badges (there's not a lot of consistency between the one on his shoulder and his chest) and the multiple light source reflections (the main light source seems to be behind Leonard but there's also light reflection on his sunglasses coming from two different angles and the powerful light behind him seems to be in the opposite direction of where the light is hitting him) made me think that this is probably AI generated. Still I do really like the fur stylization.

The second image is one I have a little less to talk about. The weirdness on the building in the background, the figure in the upper right corner that loosely resembles the obscure DC character "Flower of Heaven" and some warping on the edges of the sunglasses are good tip offs that this was AI made. The fur colors also switch between this and the first image. That being said I think this is for the most part a technically competent execution on an outfit for Leonard Snart as a member of LexCorp. It's got a nice mix of being both high tech and grounded and I rather liked it.

The third and final image of Mick Rory's exosuit is one where I can see why you disliked it. Between the staircase shaped gun, the odd panels sticking off the helmet, the third arm/waist cannon, and the lighting inconsistencies, there's a lot to pick apart. That being said I figured I'd talk about the stuff I do like.

The red color is actually what I think would be an interesting departure from traditional depictions of Heatwave, where he's generally dressed in white and orange. Here the orange is somewhat kept but you swapped the white for red and it gives it an interesting vibe. It kind of reminds me of both the Halo armor and (and this might be showing my age a bit) Inferno from Beast Wars (especially cause it's got its own sort of antennae). I think it's neat. I also actually kind of like that it's got a laser and a more traditional flamethrower. The execution's a bit messy, but I think it's still neat to show that it has multiple ways to start fires.

This fanart 500 exp. Let me know if you'd like the threadmark title changed. I always like seeing this kind of stuff and I'm excited to see where this stuff goes.

Edit: I check and these could both kind of qualify for the general alternate outfit fan art contest attempt. I know that they haven't been entered as such but they probably could qualify under entries for Mick Rory and Leonard Snart. I'll leave it to @Nobody134 if they want to enter these pieces into that and get the subsequent omakes.

 

[PickleJar]

The red color is actually what I think would be an interesting departure from traditional depictions of Heatwave, where he's generally dressed in white and orange. Here the orange is somewhat kept but you swapped the white for red and it gives it an interesting vibe. It kind of reminds me of both the Halo armor and (and this might be showing my age a bit) Inferno from Beast Wars (especially cause it's got its own sort of antennae). I think it's neat. I also actually kind of like that it's got a laser and a more traditional flamethrower. The execution's a bit messy, but I think it's still neat to show that it has multiple ways to start fires.

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Thank you for your kind words.

The armor is red on purpose and is meant to evoke a feeling of power and be a contrast to Leonard's blue. The helmet and the weapons are a mess but I do like the core body of the armor itself since that futuristic, slik power armor design is what I was going for and I like those pipes he has on the side - I was actually picturing plasma blades and flamethrowers but I couldn't quite pull it off however.

edit: I'd enter Leonard into the contest since I think that it's overall a good design and I like it. Mick can stay out.

edit 2: @King crimson added a few more images for Mick that I thought were much better (though none of them absolutely nailed what I was going for). I also decided to name the titular exosuit "Sergeant Scorcher" to allude to Leonard being Captain Cold.

 

[King crimson]

edit 2: @King crimson added a few more images for Mick that I thought were much better (though none of them absolutely nailed what I was going for). I also decided to name the titular exosuit "Sergeant Scorcher" to allude to Leonard being Captain Cold.

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So I'll briefly comment on the new images and just on stuff in general. I'll say that if people like the "Sergeant Scorcher/Captain Cold" thing you could probably round out the group to a trio with "Major Mirror" if you really want to keep the theming running for as many rogues as possible.

There's an interesting overlapping design with all of these new images as a lot of them seem to want to stick with an almost Iron Man-esque central reactor. It's not a bad thing, it's just an interesting change that the suits now all seem to have. I also like how a lot of the suits seem to have an almost oven mitt-like shape for the hands. It's probably not super important but I think it's a neat touch of potentially compromising dexterity in exchange for making it easier to grab onto hot stuff.

There's still some AI weirdness with light casting, glowing kneecaps and a weird should/back mounted flamethrower but overall these are pretty neat to look at.

 

[PickleJar]

So I'll briefly comment on the new images and just on stuff in general. I'll say that if people like the "Sergeant Scorcher/Captain Cold" thing you could probably round out the group to a trio with "Major Mirror" if you really want to keep the theming running for as many rogues as possible.

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Sam being Major Mirror will put him above Leonard's Captain Cold and that can't stand. "Rookie Reflector" or "Reflector Recruit" is as much as he's getting

edit: Lieutenant Luminous works too.

There's an interesting overlapping design with all of these new images as a lot of them seem to want to stick with an almost Iron Man-esque central reactor. It's not a bad thing, it's just an interesting change that the suits now all seem to have. I also like how a lot of the suits seem to have an almost oven mitt-like shape for the hands. It's probably not super important but I think it's a neat touch of potentially compromising dexterity in exchange for making it easier to grab onto hot stuff.

There's still some AI weirdness with light casting, glowing kneecaps and a weird should/back mounted flamethrower but overall these are pretty neat to look at.

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I think that the light in the middle actually breaks the same-iness of the design a bit and makes it look better.

The idea was to make his armor bulkier and more suitable for close and mid-range combat, someone who dishes out and takes a lot of damage, making things like maneuverability and raw dexterity less important. Mick is someone who is very direct in his approach to combat and is depicted as not being the most technically sound and mostly relying on strength and explosives/fire. and when supporting Leonard and Sam I can see him being the one who draws the enemies to him and mostly focusing on keeping them on him with stuff like explosives, sticky napalm, and flamethrowers to limit their mobility options.

If I were to design a power armor for Sam then it'd probably be the complete opposite - light armored, as fast as possible, and heavily reliant on lasers, mirror tech, and mirror magic to use hit-and-run tactics and mess with his opponents/tire them out while maximizing his damage from a safe distance. Stuff like absorbing debris into small mirror balls and having it expand/shoot out at enemies, using mirrors to reflect multiple lasers and have them bounce around/combine into a more powerful singular blast, having mirror clones pop out from random locations and act as suicide bombers/take pot shots from completely unpredictable angles etc.

Leonard would probably be somewhere in the middle and would likely be the general coordinator/leader.

 

[john trask]

Could king and others tell me how dangerous lex luthor is compared to other otl luthors in the comics?
How do you think dc fans would react to the scope of this lex.
They think he is more dangerous because of his power of influence compared to other versions from what I see our lex is not a guy who gets high on kryptonite to kill superman.
I literally see him as a more down to earth version of lex a mix of xanatos stan edgar from the boys.
For you guys do you think he is more dangerous or less dangerous and if so what are his advantages and disadvantages compared to his counterparts from different universes.

And how do you think the league and others from different otl universes would react to this lex luthor?

 

[King crimson]

Could king and others tell me how dangerous lex luthor is compared to other otl luthors in the comics?

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Dangerous is an interesting word. This Lex is obviously less dangerous than some of the crazy comics stuff (like that time Lex became a white martian or that time Lex possessed the Zone Child) but there's also questions of how to define danger. This Lex seems to be less likely to kill you than the DCAU version but he's also a lot more invested in subverting the levers of power to act against you. He won't hire a terrorist to kill you or shoot you in the face personally but at the same time, he'll repeatedly constrict the legal avenues available to you to reduce your freedom until you suffer and die for acting against him.

I don't think there's a clear cut way to define Luthor's danger levels. This version of Lex isn't much of a direct threat and doesn't really focus on gathering martial power, but he's a lot more focused on collecting soft power and taking control of broader societal systems. It's not something I think has a definitive answer.

How do you think dc fans would react to the scope of this lex.

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I think fans of DC would actually probably would have mixed reactions at best to the scope of this Lex. Beyond the usual inertia of people not liking change to popular series, the scope of this Lex is kind of weird. He's got Cassandra Cain as an adopted daughter, Carol Ferris as an employee, various Flash villains work security for him and he's got ties to Circe and Wonder Woman. I think it's a little too out there to really be accepted by some hardcore fans due to how things depart from stuff.

I also think that this version of Lex might turn off people who are fans of the more mad scientist style Lex. This version is pretty much a businessman focused variation and while he is very intelligent, a lot more focus has been placed on Lex's orginizational style and his focus on legacy over his own scientific prowess and achievement.

I do think that I've preserved the core of the Lex Luthor character and that I've made him and his dynamic with other characters interesting and engaging. I think that if people could get over the hump of "this isn't the Lex Luthor I know" they'd be able to enjoy it, but there is a big hump to pass. Broadly speaking, I imagine at least some fans of the quest are fans of DC comics and that they enjoy my writing, but at the same time I think I as an author take too many risks and swerves for my takes on the character to ever grow really popular if I was writing mainstream comics. I'd still like to try and do a lot of more wild out there stuff but I don't see my conceptions and ideas and takes on characters really spreading all that effectively.

I literally see him as a more down to earth version of lex a mix of xanatos stan edgar from the boys.

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I mean I can kind of see it but I personally don't see it quite the same. While there are elements of both characters, I think Lex doesn't really match up to either of them. I think a core obsession of Lex's is legacy and both Stand Edgar and Xanatos don't really have that. There's also his quiet inferiority complex that pushes him to fight with Superman. There's room for comparison but I don't see Lex lining up particularly well with them once you look past the superficial aspects (his position in the world is broadly the same but his motivations and behavior are wildly different).

Edit: If you're looking for a fictional character to compare him to, I actually think Walter White is not a bad comparison.

For you guys do you think he is more dangerous or less dangerous and if so what are his advantages and disadvantages compared to his counterparts from different universes.

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I talked about this a bit before but "dangerous" is a difficult word to quantify. I think he's a lot more well-connected and patient but at the same time he's also less aggressive. Of course all of this is dependent on which version of Lex you're comparing him to and at what time.

And how do you think the league and others from different otl universes would react to this lex luthor?

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This is a really difficult question to answer. How much do these leagues and others know about this Lex Luthor? Do they have knowledge of everything he's done or just the public image? At what point in his life are they looking in? At what point in their life are they looking in? How much familiarity do they have with alternate universes?

Broadly speaking I can say that a lot of characters would take the position held up by Question in the DCAU (A is A, Lex Luthor is Lex Luthor, regardless of dimension) provided they don't have some familiarity with a version of Lex that doesn't line up with the sort of "archetypical" Lex Luthor.

 

[Randino Treviani]

Could king and others tell me how dangerous lex luthor is compared to other otl luthors in the comics?
How do you think dc fans would react to the scope of this lex.
They think he is more dangerous because of his power of influence compared to other versions from what I see our lex is not a guy who gets high on kryptonite to kill superman.
I literally see him as a more down to earth version of lex a mix of xanatos stan edgar from the boys.
For you guys do you think he is more dangerous or less dangerous and if so what are his advantages and disadvantages compared to his counterparts from different universes.

And how do you think the league and others from different otl universes would react to this lex luthor?

Click to shrink...

I think it's a bit subjective. Ultimately, as the most careful luthor, the one still invested in being the true hero of metropolis rather than just defeating superman, quest Lex Luthor is less dangerous to the common man than others.

Heroes however he is more of a threat to, but only the type who insist on holding a personal agenda and not submitting to oversight.

Police he is an outright ally too, and having the billionaire with his finger on combating superpowered individuals is a must for a police depart which expects to remain competent in this new age of super heroics.

Goverments is less standard, but Lex is less dangerous by sheer virtue of being less interested in usurping control as opposed to finding common ground over which to ally.

For other leagues reactions? Varies. I think it would depend in part on their own differences. A superman from the particular dark ending where the villains won and superman ended up a patsy of a fake robotic president under villain control for instance wouldn't be comfortable with the VAA, but the justice lords are an example of how a lack of hero oversight can go wrong.

I think overall, feelings would be mixed but ultimately acknowledge that a luthor thats still bettering the world more than he is endangering it is a step up from the standard villainous luthor experience. Obviously there are hero Lex Luthor that would be even better, but a villain with some anti-hero tendencies and token good samaritan behavior worth settling for, if your pragmatic enough to settle.

More importantly, hearing what other none hero Lex Luthors get up to would probably have a number of pragmatic heroes thankful they lucked out and convinced that pushing this lex over the edge is a bad move.

He has the advantage of expanding more solidly into pr and propaganda proliferation, leading to a stronger reputation. He has a larger power base of loyal followers than most lex's, and overall better connections. He's less focused on the wacky science, but the science he has is well proliferated and at this point, shutting down lexcorp would damage the worlds functionality to an ever increasing degree. He's focused more on soft power which comes with the disadvantage in hard power situations, but it's more of an issue of investing in his quantity medium hard power to create a few quality hard powers. He also has an agenda which restricts his ability to be openly villainous. He has the strength of not having a single agenda which can fail and cost him much in the big picture, but the weakness of balancing to many plates to focus on something longterm reliably without outside pressure.

 

[King crimson]

So first things first, status report. I'm a little over 50% finished with the update. It should be landing sometime soon (I hope I can get it out tomorrow or Saturday)

Police he is an outright ally too, and having the billionaire with his finger on combating superpowered individuals is a must for a police depart which expects to remain competent in this new age of super heroics.

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Not really? LexCorp is definitely "an ally" to the Metropolis Police Department, because they more or less work for him, but at the same time all of the police officers that didn't agree with LexCorp's involvement got pushed out (Dan Turpin for example became a private investigator). LexCorp has helped and worked with the Gotham City Police Department but in both cases he was benefitting in some capacity. In Alexandria, Lex more or less has de facto control of the police even if its not as ironclad as it is in Metropolis.

There's an argument to be made that Lex is not at all an ally of the police and that his modus operandi is to take over the police and bend them to his design. Obviously there's some argument but I would not at all call him an outright ally. It's like calling companies that do hostile takeovers "allies" because one manages to control and direct the other.

Goverments is less standard, but Lex is less dangerous by sheer virtue of being less interested in usurping control as opposed to finding common ground over which to ally.

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I'd actually argue something much different. I think the Quest's version of Lex is much, much more dangerous because of how closely entwined he is with the US government. True he's not outright usurping control, but he's slowly but surely tightening his grasp on the US government. Multiple generals ask Lex for favors and barter with him, the DOMA is so closely tied to LexCorp the two move constantly in lockstep, the Secretary of State considers Lex one of his most important allies, LexCorp actively meddles in foreign affairs (you've got a seat on Japan's metahuman oversight board, you assisted Bane's revolution, you've interceded on Count Vertigo's behalf a few times etc.) and more.

Lex is in a lot of ways usurping control, he's just not taking the figurehead position and instead is slowly tightening the noose through the use of his allies. Lex doesn't need to usurp control when in a lot of ways he's already in control (I'll state that you guys have made Lex Luthor powerful enough that if you were willing to burn bridges, you could probably extort the US government by threatening to move and live in a foreign country). That doesn't make him less dangerous to governments in any capacity as his threat is not of a hostile takeover but of him parasitizing and cannibalizing the government to suit his aims.

For other leagues reactions? Varies. I think it would depend in part on their own differences. A superman from the particular dark ending where the villains won and superman ended up a patsy of a fake robotic president under villain control for instance wouldn't be comfortable with the VAA, but the justice lords are an example of how a lack of hero oversight can go wrong.

I think overall, feelings would be mixed but ultimately acknowledge that a luthor thats still bettering the world more than he is endangering it is a step up from the standard villainous luthor experience. Obviously there are hero Lex Luthor that would be even better, but a villain with some anti-hero tendencies and token good samaritan behavior worth settling for, if your pragmatic enough to settle.

More importantly, hearing what other none hero Lex Luthors get up to would probably have a number of pragmatic heroes thankful they lucked out and convinced that pushing this lex over the edge is a bad move.

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I also don't really buy this argument. I agree that it varies but I think your overall assessment misses the mark.

Firstly the Justice Lords are a really, really mixed bag for arguing about lack of hero oversight, especially when it comes to the US government doing the oversight. It's important to remember that the inciting incident to the League becoming authoritarian dictators was Lex Luthor becoming president of the United States and then publicly executing the Flash. That's not exactly a great basis from which to argue that it's an example of lack of hero oversight gone wrong. One could just as easily argue that if there had been more oversight on the government and less power vested in president Luthor that things would have gone much, much better.

I also think that overall this Lex wouldn't be viewed particularly kindly by most heroes, especially if they have experience with say Lex Luthor becoming president of the United States or Secretary General of the UN or any number of the positions of power Lex has gained in different settings. He's got much better publicity than other Luthors but that doesn't necessarily mean that people view him as more virtuous when compared to a Luthor that started out trying to maintain good PR and then gave up and went full supervillain.

I don't think that people who already dislike Lex Luthor and have familiarity with him as an awful person would be entirely comfortable with a less awful version of him with a better reputation. I think this is where the argument gets really, really messy because it depends both on the heroes philosophy regarding letting sleeping dogs lie, and how familiar they are with alternate versions of Lex Luthor (if they're only familiar with evil Lex Luthors they're more likely to be suspicious of this one and prejudiced to pick up on the bad stuff he does. If they've got a more balanced understanding of alternate universes then they're more likely to weigh the pros and cons of this Lex Luthor as not as bad as he could be. It gets really messy, really fast).

 

[drake_azathoth]

Frankly, I think most heroes with any kind of experience with a variety of Luthors , (Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman etc.), would do a cursory investigation of our Luthor, note the various ways he amasses power and ruthlessly controls information coming out of Lexcorp, and accurately peg him as evil and dangerous very quickly.

Yes, there are naive heroes who might dismiss the paranoia and political maneuvering as innocent, but they are pretty few and far between and most limited to those from a very alien culture with different standards for evil. Some few others would refuse to suspect someone just because of circumstantial evidence, but most would assume where there is smoke there's fire.

Now those who don't know any other Luthors... That's a different story.

 

[Sirrocco]

Yeah... there are a lot of worlds where Lex has pretty good PR right up until the moment when he goes Full Evil. The fact that this Lex has stayed in the "good PR" stage for longer than normal, accumulating more and more leverage every step of the way? That's not going to be a comfort for people who have that as their experience of Lex Luthor.

Ironically, if the hero in question mostly has experience with Lex Luthors who've gone full-crazy right off the bat, this one looks pretty good. If they have experience with Lex Luthors who were legit heroic, then there's hope. The ones who'll get the real heebie-jeebies are the ones who dealt with a Lex who was only somewhat crazier than Quest-Lex... who held it in until they couldn't anymore.

 

[King crimson]

Very random little status update. I have currently been touching up a section of the update that I've currently come to affectionately call in my own head "the remora monologue". I think said remora monologue might be my favorite section in this upcoming update. It's not the best piece of writing necessarily, but I had a lot of fun with marine biology metaphors while writing it.

For those who are curious where this places me progress-wise, I am about 75% through the update. Thank you all for your patience.

 

[HavocOrder0999]

I Did What You Told Me To Sir, What Did You Expect?​

Dr. Moon felt quite pleased with himself, the past few months had been quite enjoyable and he believed he had accomplished much for his employer and in the pursuit of his scientific interests. It seemed though, that his cheerful demeanor was quite visible to his employer, though he had no clue why it seemed to only anger him further.

He was sitting in one of the nicer chairs in Lex's office, facing the window with a decent view of Metropolis, while Lex was pacing back and forth in front of said window. Lex's henchwoman, Mercy Graves, was standing off to the side looking a mess with sweat pouring down her face, quite sloppy of her to rush in here without removing her exosuit, why Moon could even see her energy cannon was still charging and the arm blades were currently out. So very sloppy, choose one or the other woman!

Lex rounded on Dr. Moon, his face quite red, "Do you have any idea how much liability you have exposed this company to? How much ammunition you've given Lois and the United States Government to use against me! What in the hell were you thinking!?"

With a furrowed brow on his face, Dr. Moon answered his ungrateful employer, "I was thinking that I was simply carrying out your instructions Mr. Luthor. You gave me two tasks and I accomplished them with extraordinary results, with exactly the resources you provided me.

"What?!"

"You told me to use all available resources to construct the 'greatest food production facility on Earth' and to create a vegan," A shutter of revulsion passed through Dr. Moon's being "meat substitute to prevent the unnecessary mass slaughter of livestock." It was truly a waste of good animals. What use would there be for any of them if they could not be cultivated and devoured? "I simply did just that and used all the resources of LexCorp to accomplish those goals."

Six Months Prior

Of all the tasks he could have been assigned, how was THIS the best use of his great scientific mind? Overseeing dirty laborers construct a factory in the middle of the city. Worse of all, he needed to wear a construction helmet at all times, as if he were one of the dregs working on the site.

As he looked down at the blueprints, he realized that the current building would be no larger than one of the other factories in this district. It would be nothing special to brag about for this company. This task was starting to look as though it would be as tedious as the time he had to create shell companies or analyze that woman's brainwaves. There was nothing here for him to enjoy at all.

That all begged the question, why build so small? LexCorp was one of the most affluent companies in the country. How in the world were they only able to afford this average plot of land? He turned to one of the foremen and asked how this could be the case, "Why are we confined to this little plot? Surely there was a bigger partition of land to build on."

The foreman turned to Moon and replied with a tired sigh, "Well sir, all the other businesses nearby were already repaired from the recent invasion and refused to sell to us. The properties on the other side of this plot are residential homes with families who have lived here for decades. It was hard enough to get this spot when everything else was well-established.

"So why not buy them out? LexCorp has more than enough to spend on these frivolities."

"We tried, but everyone around here is stubborn as hell. They'd need to be seeing that they live in a city that is always getting wrecked by costumed nutjobs and alien invaders." The foremen replied as if it was a sensible answer.

Dr. Moon was about to surrender at this point and leave the man to his work. Then he had a sudden thought, a notion he realized due to his previous experience in repairing LexCorps devices. Lex Luthor had told him to use all resources available for this project. For him to exceed and go beyond the minimum.

Dr. Moon turned to the foreman and gave him a proposal, "If the people could all be... 'convinced' to vacate, would we then be able to procure the land and utilize it for this facility?"

The foreman gave him a look of irritation. But he then replied, "Well if you can convince them all to leave, and I mean everyone in that neighborhood and the businesses next door, then sure I guess. But with all due respect, I don't think you're the convincing type, sir."

Dr. Moon hid the malign smile on his face, and told him, "You can leave the persuasion to me. I have far more resources at my disposal than simply money."

Present Time

"I still had access to the various drones and vehicles and simply decided to use them in my effort to convince those families to leave," Dr. Moon commented with a shrug.

"You terrorized those people using LexCorp resources!" Lex yelled out at him.

"Resources you had me rebuild for you after the recent invasion, sir." It was quite fortunate that he still had the access codes for the drones and stealth vehicles, all to better test them for errors of course.

Six Months Prior, Thompson Family Home

Mrs. Thompson ran to her crying children, while Mr. Thompson was frantically looking out the window. They heard a series of loud honks, and judging by the lights turning on across the street they weren't alone. It sounded as though a dozen large trucks started honking their horns all at once. But there was nothing there!

A few hours later, after they had blamed it on a low-flying plane and had gone back to sleep, it happened again. The same loud honks woke up everyone on the block, and once again there were no vehicles out on the street. This event would repeat for the next two weeks.

The families living in this neighborhood started to move out one by one, and each time Mr. Thompson asked why, they would all say the same thing. "I decided it was time to leave this dreadful neighborhood and sell my house off to a responsible business like LexCorp," almost word-for-word each family would all say the same thing.

Two weeks after the nightly noise 'assaults' as he called them had started, sleep-deprived and angry over another argument with his wife, he heard a knock on the door. When he opened it, he saw a short Asian man, wearing an ill-fitting suit, who said he represented a large company interested in buying his property. At first, Mr. Thompson was going to ask him to leave and come back at a better time, but then he started feeling light-headed. The man insisted after ordering saying, "You should invite me into your house and hear out my generous offer."

The salesman had offered a not-insignificant sum of cash for Mr. Thompson to immediately leave with his family and sell the land to the corporation he represented. He finished his pitch with, "You should agree that it is time to leave this dreadful neighborhood and sell your house to a responsible business like LexCorp."

By the end of the week, the Thompsons were heading to Coast City to try and find a new home, and Future Construction was tearing down houses and laying down cement.

Present Time

"They all acquiesced to leaving in the end. I even did most of the, how do you say 'leg work' for it." Dr. Moon said with a smirk on his face as if he didn't just admit to bewitching and defrauding thirty families out of their homes, and using LexCorp funds and technology to do so.

At this point, Lex was sitting down with his head in his hands. When he looked up, he warily asked, "And the blatantly illegal invasion of privacy you committed on the business owners? As well as the plague you unleashed on several stores."

Six Months Prior, Jack's Apartment, Owner of 'Jack's Tools and Equipment'

Jack was terrified as he held a few photos in his hands, from a box that was full of them. They showed him and his wife asleep in their bed, taken from inside the bedroom. Another photo was of his daughter tying her shoes on the bottom stairs, taken from the top of the stairs.

It had started a week ago when he found a few photos in his mailbox. The first few were of his house and car, which he didn't think much of at the time. Probably some kids testing out their cameras and leaving him some of their pictures.

Then he received the pictures showing the inside of his garage and living room. It was as if someone pressed themselves against the glass to take the pictures. This was blatant trespassing on his property.

Jack was getting ready to go to the police when he received a picture of his wife and daughter in the kitchen at night, taken from what appeared to be a spot above the fridge. Then, there was another of his morning shaving, taken from a spot above the shower. There was no way a person could have taken those pictures, not without his family seeing an intruder taking those pictures.

One day, a single note was in his mailbox. It simply read, "You sir, have a nice family. Maybe I should share my scrapbook with your neighbors." That did it. Jack had to get his family out of this nightmare. His one stroke of good luck in all this was that he had found a person willing to pay a premium for his business, almost triple what it was worth. Some odd Asian man in a poorly fitting suit showed up and offered him a vast sum of wealth. Jack had doubts, but it was safer for him and his family to leave Metropolis, leave his past problems behind, and accept a generous sum for his business property.

This event happened throughout the district until an entire block of businesses were sold to a single entity. Some blamed the recent invasion, bad debts coming due, or just technology making those mom-and-pop shops obsolete. Everyone was happy when LexCorp bought up the land and added it to their plans for a food production facility. Dr. Moon quite liked the idea of a stadium-sized production facility. Maybe with some work, it would also double as the greatest operating theater in the country.

He had received news that he may soon be in charge of creating a food product for LexCorp. Something involving meat- he didn't read the full memo. In his mind he already had an idea for the ultimate farm animal, he just needed to get his hands on some colleagues' research... but that could wait for later. For now, he had a facility to build, after clearing a few more pesky businesses.

Six Months Prior, Blake's Clothing Store

Samantha had had it with this store! When she started working here, she had assumed that since it was in a good part of town and sold the top brands like 'McCabe Fashions', it should be an upscale and clean establishment. Not this rat-infested dump!

There were large-white rats with horrible-looking teeth that would chew through the walls, clothing, and wires! They left the store looking like Swiss cheese. Yesterday, the section with coats on the second floor collapsed through the floor onto the cash register next to where Samantha was working!

The owner was begging her not to leave. She was trying everything she could to get rid of the rats, but they were very hard to kill, but the professionals should be able to do it.

It probably was not a good idea of her to shout that last part out for all the world to hear.

Samantha pulled her leg out from the store owner's arms and said this was her 'two-minute notice'. She was getting her stuff from the breakroom and leaving. By now, all the customers were out, and she was the last to leave, with only the owner inside sobbing her eyes out.

She brushed past a short man in a suit entering the store. The man will probably take one look at the place and decide to take his business elsewhere. This was unfortunate for her ex-boss, but at least Samantha could escape those rats.

The two businesses Samantha applied to next would close within a day of each other. She screamed in frustration and wondered what was happening to this city, unaware that numerous businesses in that section of town were all closing down due to "rat" infestations. When Samantha finally did get a job at a new factory LexCorp was building, it was working at a computer overseeing a vegan meat production line. She was standing in the same spot she had six months prior when the coats had fallen next to her. She was there when the containment failure minor incident occurred.

Present Time:

"We had to get rid of the old batch of bone mice to make room for the next group. I'm hoping we can incorporate 'bone quill' launchers for the next set" The thought of such an enhanced rodent being used against an army of unknowing civilians was quite appealing to Dr. Moon. The smile on his face must have given away his dark thoughts.

Lex was waving down Mercy, who currently had a laser cannon pressed against Dr. Moon's head. Lex gave him a look of disgust before saying, "You have screwed up on so many levels. I should terminate your employment, though whether it be through HR or by Mercy here is debatable. But what you have told me is nothing compared to what happened this morning. Do you understand how many of my people are in the hospital because of your work? Can you comprehend how many NDAs and payouts have had to be used to keep this quiet? In the past few hours alone!"

At last, Lex got up and walked across the room to stand directly in front of Dr. Moon, "Give me one good reason not to kill you right now and prevent any future screw-ups."

Although Dr. Moon felt nervous, he had an 'ace up his sleeve'. He replied, "Because you have already booked me an interview on Lightyear Entertainment's nightly news program for my work on a revolutionary meat substitute that will boost LexCorp's profits. News crews saw me come into the office today, so many people trying to get an interview with me, so either I die in an unfortunate accident today on your property, or I shall be giving my interview tonight as planned."

Dr. Moon was feeling quite delighted about that point. While there were some 'growing pains' in his latest batch, he had created something that could nearly trick even his taste buds. The texture, coloration, and calories per ounce of his creation would keep the people of this world fed and stay in line with his standards of how meat should produced: From something that was once alive, cultivated, and slaughtered.

A quick slap to the face sent him flying out of his chair. Lex had finally lost control of his rage, but that was acceptable. He had lost control of himself, and to regain said control, Lex would most likely leave that slap as the only physical punishment in this meeting. As long as Dr. Moon could survive this meeting, it would be worth it.

With a growl, Lex ordered him to get out and get ready for his damn interview. Dr. Moon ran from the office. Dr. Moon would have to quickly put on a suit, get something to cover up his bruise, arrange his notes, leave instructions on the care of his creation, and run over to the Lightyear Entertainment studio. He did mean 'run', as no employee at LexCorp would want to be alone with him right now, or could be trusted to be alone with him.

Back in the office, Mercy had several questions for Lex, "Why didn't you just let me kill the doctor, and then replace him with a robot for the interview? Or get someone else with a digital facemask to replace him? We could have even drugged him and just postponed the interview."

Lex was looking out towards Metropolis when he gave his answer, "I've already spoken with him regarding this interview before he dropped this latest mess in our lap. He knows what to say and what to keep his mouth shut about when he's on camera. I lack the time to make a decoy robot of him that would be ready to take his place tonight. Finally, there is no one else as familiar with the production process for his creation as he is, which I'll need later on to undo the 'alterations' he added to the design."

Lex turned around to face Mercy, a slight smirk on his lips, "Rest assured that there are currently several high-ranking and quite high-powered members of this company that have all informed me they want to personally share their displeasure with the doctor once his interview is over. After all, I'm putting you in charge of his security, Mercy. You will be the one who controls access to his room in the studio. Just wait until after he finishes gloating for failing into success."


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This took a while for me to write, but I think it was worth it. The title is meant to be a play on "I was just following orders" that the Nazis used in WW2. This omake was about Dr. Moon having a ridiculously high success in building the food production facility, and adding his personal touch to the process.

Dr. Moon used pheromone spray on people once they were distressed, spy drones (set to take random pics when a subject walked in view), stealth vehicles for late-night noise, and bone rats to destroy businesses. The worst part is he could have just used the spray from the beginning, but he decided to go all out and give people a reason for wanting to leave, and somewhat trying to cover his tracks. He wasn't very experienced with the spray.

The next part would be about the vegan meat substitute, which would be vaguely described throughout the interview, but detailed in flashbacks in Dr. Moon's mind. He got bored, and decided to make something using a bit of work from each of LexCorp's top scientists.

But don't expect that part to come out soon, I really don't feel too confident writing it. I'm trying to get over the anxiety I feel when writing anything story related. I get moments of pressure where I really want to stop and delete it all and start over, this is me trying to just power through and get something out. I have no problem with debating a point in the quest or suggesting something and trying to explain my point, but omakes from the POV of a character in-story is a lot harder. Hopefully with this done, I can stop second-guessing myself and contribute a bit more to the thread.

 

[King crimson]

Hello, sorry for being a little slow to respond to stuff.

I Did What You Told Me To Sir, What Did You Expect?

Click to shrink...

So I'm not going to dive too much into this omake here. It's not really trying to be canon, and while I can pick at little things and find problems, most of the issues I recognize would be very minor in the grand scheme of things. I don't think pointing out every little minor mistake would be all that productive here.

I do want to say that I did very much enjoy reading this omake. I like the way you've playd around with an in media res opening and how you jump around in time frames constantly. You haven't gone full Memento but it's still really cool to see people playing around with structure like that. I'll also say that this omake managed to balance tone really well. It never really became too dark and disturbing but it also never really tipped over and became overly light. There's a solid balance here and I think it did manage to maintain that balancing act.

I'd like to encourage everyone to keep taking shots at writing stuff. I at least enjoy it a lot. I won't deny that character POV's can be hard but I do want to say to HavocOrder that I think by and large you did good. I look forward to seeing what else you come up with and seeing you continue to develop and contribute stuff. Sorry for being a bit slow to reply. You have easily earned the 400 exp for this non-canon omake.