Latest blog post: How the comic is made (2025-12-26)
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Happy New Year! See you all in January!
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Comments (10)
Their psychology ... may just be about being 15 chess moves ahead of you.
Maybe the guy is just not an a-hole politician like *every single blankety-blanking person at the UN* (among other places).
I can understand how all the a-hole blankety-blanking politicians would have trouble understanding that such a person can even exist in some position of power, unlike all the nobodies they swindle and take advantage of all the time.
Hmm, I wonder, do I hate politicians enough? Eh, probably not.
Well, naturally Zane isn't a politician. He's the Exploration Fleet's Commander. =D
"Having to do some politics as part of your job" isn't the same thing as being "a politician".
All high-ranking military members end up having to manage some level of politics. Heck, all managers of nearly any kind at least have to deal with some level of interpersonal politics (which still can be unfun).
Still not the same thing as "I literally contribute nothing to society and just manipulate people".
Yeah, and this make him the worst nigmare of a politician: Someone who is not a politician with great power and who will not hesitate to use it if someone tries to shit on him because it don't play this game.
Zane has already done this several times during this crisis management, and at least once frontaly at the Protagonistan President. If they do not quickly learn what kind of man he is, Oh sure they will find out soon.
Now comes the tricky part, where Gharr says he'd like to stay in contact with his Earth friends and so they get an offer to come and live in deluxe government housing, but they're not allowed to tell anyone about it.
Or worse : A scenario where 3 major power players (Only on this little blue Pebble we call home) starts leaning pressure on his friends to gain advantages/access or even attempts to "separate" him from them. It can potential turn ugly..
Honestly, this seems like perfectly reasonable steps by humanity.
We, the readers, understand the Raharr are psychologically more similar to humans than possibly any other race in the alliance. The Raharr have explained that the efforts to increase human kind's technology level is a trivial resource investment in exchange for learning in the process and a potential new member when considering the alliance's vast resources. But humans have no way to verify any of this in a somewhat independent manner for themselves.
And in come's Gharr. A Xenopsychologist, versed in the very knowledge the human leaders seek in regards to the many races of the Alliance and likely the Raharr themselves. They might have some mistrust since, though an exile, he's still a Raharr, but he'd still be an invaluable step above nothing.
My major concern would be for Protagistan to mess it up by arresting and forcing Gharr. Hopefully sensible people, particularly like the Major, will be able to convince them of a co-operative approach but if Gharr is able to involve Dan to advise him in return I think Dan's cynicism and mistrust could balance against Gharr's own optimism quite well to navigate dealings... and compensation for Gharr's services ;)
What if on closer inspection the Moon turns out to harbor some structure of the Ancients?
Yes, what about Gharr? Has he gained weight from all the pizza he's been eating? Has he done a talk show tour? Is he getting a big head? Is he worn out from being chased by the paparazzi?
If the whereabouts of Gharr were public knowledge to the point of paparazzi coming after him, I'd expect the city of N to be a disaster zone by now, with the inhabitants drowning in "tourists".
Matter of fact, in the shoes of El Presidente, I'd tell the other nations that "oh, he's in one of our over-the-top secret facilities, just to prevent half the world trying to get to him, of course, you know how it is". "Tourists" from foreign three letter agencies may want to be less obtrusive, but I doubt that that'd work out in this case ...
If he told them Gharr is at the local greasy pizzeria, stuffing his face with one
XL "meat lovers special", the look on their faces would be worth remembering.
Not much atmosphere of "thrill, mysterie and international Intrigue" there
Before we move on too far, I would love to talk about how I'll manage all of this geopolitically: I would have no end. But not in a straightforward way by always taking advantage of the situation, Noooo, I would be a little more... "vicious": Rather than trying to pull the blanket over to his side, I think, personally, it would be much easier and more effective to play with the "impartiality" clause of Alliance.
Seriously, we have a giant who told us "Take this bag of candy, only if you share it". Why try to fight the others who want keep the bag all to themselves when you can just report them to the one that have the reach to put down their selfishness? And so, ensure to be part of anything and benefit from any progress made.
So I understand the mistrust, but we should also consider another possibility: None of what you're asking is a problem for them. It's an interstellar alliance, in terms of resources they have plenty compared to humanity. And when you have that many resources, a number of geopolitical problems that are very common on Earth not longuer exist for them. So there are new ones, but none that humanity cannot create or that the Alliance cannot manage at our level.
On that, I really hope Gharr will looks at them like, "Dude, they don't give a damn about you."
Else, that rat who takes advantage of every bit of power he get, damn it.
To be Fair, the Protagistan leader is playing politics completely correct by being suspicious of this unknown alien alliance and ensuring his country gets stuff out of these deals.
Happy New Year to All of you in here (and outside) also.