On the eve of the release of
Overlord, Stellaris' 6th major expansion, I finally decide to take advantage of a feature from the previous expansion,
Nemesis: I get myself elected Galactic Custodian...
...And I am immediately kicking myself for not having done this before. Those are some very nice abilities the Custodian gets. Holy crap.
In fact, they're so nice, I decide that I should become the galaxy's permanent Custodian.
Fortunately, the vast majority of the other galactic powers appear to be in hearty agreement that I should remain Custodian as well.
Now to see about transitioning from Custodian to establishing the Galactic Imperium...