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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by Mr Zoat, Jan 27, 2019.

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  1. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Back here.
     
  2. Istaran

    Istaran Know what you're doing yet?

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    Love finds a way.
     
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  3. PrinceJonathan

    PrinceJonathan Versed in the lewd.

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    I always thought she wasn't as naive as she appeared and knew talking like that drove the boys wild.
     
  4. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

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    I think it might be that despite absorbing the language on skin contact and knowing the grammatical rules, she still does that thing non-native speakers do where they think and phrase sentences in a similar way to their original language. It’s why Russian people sometimes leave out the word “ the” since it doesn’t exist in Russian. Here, “Friend” might be an official title used as a a sign of respect in the Tamaranian culture. It’s like the Japanese using “San” or “Sama”, etc... after names.

    Or, for an idea I like a little more, it could basically be “Comrade” (as used by the Soviet Union), which is really close in meaning to “friend” and she’s essentially trying to spread her world view / party rhetoric to the Teen Titans. “The great love” could mean something different from normal love - I.E. the difference between Phillia and Agape. Both of these make sense in something like Ancient Greek / Roman military culture - especially if there’s an emphasis on the romantic ideal of dying / fighting to the last breath for your friends and planet. These are considered noble ideals even on Earth, but become a whole lot more important when the planet is fighting a long war against the Citadel.

    On a side note: Tamaran was also a fairly post-scarcity civilization before they were invaded, based on what OL has seen post-war. They might have been a true communist meritocracy. Yes, they’re ruled by a king and have princesses, but the whole “to each according to his need/ ability” thing could have been why Blackfire was discriminated against. It was literally an able-ist society. She was on the wrong side of the merit part of the meritocracy. She would have hated the system. Yes, King is mostly an inherited position, but in a super powered society, it could in fact be based on strength of physical might and enforced by being the only ones to learn to manage a country (or just leave most of that to the nobles / advisors and have the king as only the head of the executive) as well as selective breeding used to make the ruling family the physically most powerful. This would also explain why the psions chose them in particular for experiments.

    As for things like “am having”, and putting all verbs in similar tenses, that could be the only way to express verbs in the Tamaranian language - using a linking verb like “am” or “will”, and not using conjunctions, but makes more sense if she’s talking about things like “the great love” as a philosophical ideal rather than as just plain “great love” and the “the” is actually important. Though since she uses phrases like “is being” it’s probably just more likely that she’s using something similar to Tamaranian grammatical structure.
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2020
  5. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Starfire does come from a culture that values friendship, community an other such things, so yeah her calling the other Titans Friend all the time can be seen as a sign of respect in her culture.

    Blackfire may not call Raul things like Lover, Boyfriend or Fiance like Starfire would call the other Titans Friend or Robin 'Boyfriend', 'Lover', because she didn't feel as close a connection to her cultural roots as Starfire did.

    And yeah Tamaran did seem to be a pretty meritocratic place.
    Blackfire said that if she had an impressive enough military record she could become queen and Karras, the Tamaranean guy that kissed OL, said that if his bodyguard became an officer in their new army then he could marry her, despite the fact that he is a noble and likely a highly important one seeing as he was supposed to marry Starfire before she joined OLC.
    The same meritocratic practices could also extend to aliens as My'andr told OL that he could marry his daughters if he wanted them to not have an arranged marriage. Seeing as he rescued them along with several other slaves as well as destroying the clan that subjugated them he could have probably done that.
    Destroying the Citadel later on could have also allowed him to ascend to the highest position in their society, like how it gave Kori and Kom more independence.
    Also Adam Blake may hold a high position in their government as he was apparently put in charge of organizing their resurgence and negotiating with the other powers of Vega.
    Seeing as he is practically a one man space fleet destroyer and probably has enchanced intelligence like in the comics he certainly has the war cred and smarts to pull those things off.

    Also it would make sense if there was something special about the royal family's bloodline.

    In this other YJ SI fic called 'Assimilation' Starfire mentions that she wasn't the first person in her peoples history to get her powers by being bombarded by radiation.
    Tamaran would sometimes undergo periods where it would be bombarded by intense solar radiation that can be lethal even to them, but sometimes said radiation would empower them with the same abilities she now had.
    One of those empowered apparently united their world and created a royal line of rule, Starfires family to be exact.
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2020
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  6. Gladiusone

    Gladiusone Well worn.

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    Also, it could be that Paul’s ring handled the translation enough to smooth over her grammar.
     
  7. Threadmarks: Repetition (part 10)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    2nd April 2012
    Or… Not, I suppose


    Time Trapper watches the recording through for the ninth time, pausing it at the pile of power rings.

    "You see here?"

    "Every one of us has been disarmed. So they don't need to be using their rings for whatever Krona's doing."

    "Yes, but I was referring to the colours. Mostly orange. No white and no black."

    Red's eyes narrow slightly. "Is that important?"

    "I gained some slight insight into Krona's mindset while he was pulling me apart to find out how I work. If he could get an even mixture of each then he would."

    "So what does that mean for us?"

    Komand'r floats down a little. "And where is that, anyway?"

    "Vanishing Point. A facility at the end of time, after the physical laws of the universe have broken down but before it collapses into the Bleed. Our.. orange friend was taken there by the Legion of Super-Heroes after he was involved in a temporal event."

    "What's so special about it?"

    "It's after.. conventional time. When you're there, you can alter time as much as you like without risk to yourself. Among other things. If you can get there quickly enough. I tolerated Dox there because he could help me with my work. Krona simply invaded the place."

    "So are we trying to get there or trying to not get there?"

    "First the latter, then the former. An army of Manhunters is a little more than we're prepared for, particularly given that he can reach into just about any parallel universe or timeline without issue."

    "So he has infinite soldiers."

    "Hmm. No, that would risk destabilising Vanishing Point itself. It would be more true to say that he has a large number of soldiers with infinite reinforcements."

    "Uugh." / "Uugh."

    Red and I make momentary eye contact and quietly chuckle. Something we both hate, apparently: infinite respawns.

    Angelika looks at me curiously for a moment, then returns her attention to Time Trapper.

    "Where are we going next?"

    "I need to know why there isn't a larger variation in the rings you received. That might be critical to understanding your origin."

    Red and I look at one another again.

    "Prime." / "Prime."

    Time Trapper inclines his cowl slightly. "Yes. And that should not be possible. It's.. curious, to think that you may have been some sort of planar event before any of this happened."

    I shake my head. "Controller Hinon made my ring. It didn't shatter from a… From an original white ring, or anything like that. And if I hadn't had it when I arrived then I would have died from vacuum exposure."

    "Unprotected humans can't survive the Bleed. But it isn't possible to access Earth Prime. Believe-" He glances at Red Queen, who is staring deeply into the crystal spire. "-me, we've tried. Red Queen, have you located a version of him with a white ring?"

    "No." She turns away from the spire and looks at him. "And only one with a black ring. Do you want to open a portal there?"

    "Or we could go somewhere where Nekron isn't about to emerge into the material universe. How about somewhere where I have a spare orange ring?"

    "We're trying to keep the number of trips down to the smallest number we have to make. If it comes to it, you saw the number of orange rings he's already collected. When we're finally ready to confront him, just summon one of those."

    "I'm not especially eager to fight a Guardian without an orange ring."

    "Hopefully it won't ever become an issue. If I can shut Krona down without needing to brawl with him then I definitely prefer that option." He nods to Red Queen. "Open the portal to the Black Lantern."

    Red half-raises his right hand. "Question. Does he need to be alive, undead, or can he be dead?"

    "Any are fine. Essentially, what matters is not his characteristics in themselves but the degree to which he's similar to the rest of you. Animate is probably slightly better but him being a vector for Nekron is far worse. Just don't disintegrate him. Red Queen, does that alternity have a Jade?"

    "No."

    "Okay." Blackfire cracks her knuckles. "Let's get-."

    Red Queen shakes her head. "No, not you."

    "Excuse me?"

    "We're trying to disguise our location. I can disguise your boyfriend-"

    Red perks up slightly. "Fiancé."

    "-using the fact that there's another version of him already there. You're a red flag."

    Angelika nods-.

    "No, I can send you. Just try to avoid Germany."

    I glance at Jade 32, but she just shrugs and tosses her coin pouch. Fair enough. Willingness is paid for but enthusiasm is expecting too much.

    Red Queen gestures, and a red crystal arch grows out of the ground, the night sky beyond flickering into view the moment it's whole. I rise-.

    Red's gone, flying out at full speed. I follow at a more sedate pace, passing through the portal-.

    Your spell eater is heating up a bit.

    Huh. Yes. Just a little, but I can't see anything that could be targeting me visually, and my wards are still working.

    "Angelika, are you wearing your ward?"

    "Naturally."

    I nod.

    Contact Red.

    Getting in touch with him now.

    His face appears just in front of me.

    "There is at least one wide-area spell at work. Are you warded?"

    "A.. bit. Are you?"

    "Yes, very well."

    "Do you have a spare?"

    "Left it in my other ring."

    "Okay, I'll just do reconnaissance." He smiles. "What do you think the chance is that this isn't a piece of fiction we're familiar with?"
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2020
  8. thebishop8

    thebishop8 Umm, ackchyually...

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    Change "slight" to "insight".
     
  9. Someguy Somewhere

    Someguy Somewhere The Critical Fumbler

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    Missing word here? 'Insight' or 'understanding' perhaps ?
     
  10. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    'insight' or 'sight' not slight'

    'Jade 32' not 'Jade 38'

    And now we're in Buffy territory.

    Zoat does renegade Diana know about Cassie being the daughter of Zeus?

    Can Captain Comet fly faster than light using his own powers without any assistance from his ship in your story?
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2020
  11. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

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    Wooop! We finally get to see him in all of his totally-not-vampire glory :)

    Small. They should recognise the place as soon as "someone armed with a barbecue fork" tries to mug them. Now that I think about it Angelika would be a fantastic bait (small blondes are like catnip to the local... muggers). But what are the chances that them flying around all glowy and wiping out constructs left and right will break their cover (Lanterns and stealth don't really mix) ... Actually, does the setting they are infiltrating have GL comics? I can't remember any DC references?
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2020
  12. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Buffy does have DC comics.

    When two characters were in jail they mentioned Lex Luthor.
     
  13. Galler

    Galler Not too sore, are you?

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    So the issue of Time Trapper arriving at the wrong moment is because Jade gave him bad temporal directions? Sure blame it on the asian woman.
     
  14. Someguy Somewhere

    Someguy Somewhere The Critical Fumbler

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    Buffy comics for after the series ends also references marvel, as Xander has taken up a leadership role in the Slayer Army that has him compared to Nick Fury...mostly because by then he's also rocking the eyepatch look.
     
  15. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

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    I'm not sure how canon the comics are but good reference catch. Personally I wouldn't even touch the comics if not for that Spelljamer-esque spaceship
     
  16. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Oh Marvel yes, now all they need is the Avenger one.

    The MCU one could also be necessary seeing as he may have a space fleet.
     
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  17. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    That's nice. Paul finally has someone to talk with about his true origins and meta-knowledge.
     
  18. Xmaster3000

    Xmaster3000 Know what you're doing yet?

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    It's more reflex than anything.
     
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  19. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    Also they need to make sure it's him and it's not like it makes him angry.
     
  20. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Quite a stockpile. I bet there's enough for all three Pauls present to recreate that Green Lantern cover each... Not that they'd be able to use all those rings...:p

    Which suggest it's something innate to Paul themself. His connection to Earth Prime?

    For a start, it means most of them are variants of OL proper. So those would likely be replications of Hinon's test-type ring...

    For a start, he doesn't care about the rings. Or at the least they're irrelevant to his current experiment...

    No restaurant? I hear Milliways' has the best view of it.

    ...Which doesn't mean good things for Brainiac Five. Hopefully he was simply shunted back into his defunct timeline.

    Ugh, another forced stealth section. You can tell this questline was rushed through development.

    Oh, come the fuck on. Infinitely respawning mobs? That's prime developer shorthand for fake difficulty.

    I know, right? It's worst when they drop a puzzle section on you, but keep throwing mobs in to distract you. Perfect example, Lego Star Wars Complete Saga, the Death Star Escape level. One room, one object to build, twenty-plus stormtroopers with constant respawns...

    Because there's no way the quest plot will go straight to the boss fight. Padding for the vexation!

    Great minds think alike. Even when mainlining different emotional lights.

    Hopefully, no Paul arrived without one. That'd be a morbid thought.:oops:

    Oh-ho, a visit to Buffy-verse? Onwards!

    One? Why not twenty-one? Thirty-one or forty-one? No comment on where that odd one out would go.:rolleyes:

    I wonder if they'll recognise the setting? Especially if Zaul (Zombie Paul, duh) is working with the Scoobies.

    Must resist... Making Star Wars quote...x3

    Because bright orange skin is going to be kind of masquerade-breaking. Unless people assumed she was a demon.

    I bet Blackfire liked hearing that insistent correction. Princess has a possessive streak...

    Well, that's not concerning. Not concerning at all. At a guess, she has an analogue on-world...

    Eager, isn't he? Who knows what things are like out there?

    Passive wide-area effect, then. Not powerful, either. That would be the Hellmouth's SEP aura.

    Not that the heat would bother her beyond "Oh, that's noteworthy."

    Good to see Ring Communication protocols are compatible across the multiverse. They probably exchanged codecs off-screen. Or Maltusian tech is that predictable.

    Hopefully the local energies don't stick to OL too strongly. Last thing he needs is another Hell-spawn incident.

    I'm guessing Raul's wards are part of the Ring's standard environmental field... Because Atrocitus.

    "Given form so far? So low as to be negligible. Wonder what it'll be?"

    And the long-awaited Buffyverse alternate comes into play. Seriously, this should be entertaining. Admittedly, I know little of Buffy and nought of Angel... This will be interesting, hopefully in the Chinese sense.:V

    As is throwing the gun at him after emptying it. Amusing when the actor ducks the gun too, suggesting Superman cares naught for bullets, but is afraid of a pound or two of steel flying at his head.:rolleyes:
     
  21. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    No, but she has heard that the daughter of a friend of a friend has super powers.
    No.
     
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  22. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    So the renegade hasn't told her or doesn't know about Cassie himself.

    So Blake needs his ship to fly at FTL speeds,like how Maximas people do and unlike Effigy and the Star Conquerors who use their own power without technological assistance , but can still survive the vacuum of space and probably fly extremely fast even without it.
     
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  23. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    He hasn't looked into it.
    Is that a statement or a question?
     
  24. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    A statement, based on everything I've seen of Blake in your story.

    He was able to exit his ship and talk to Paul and Xor in space using his powers to survive and I think you said that Maximas people use their psychic abilities to travel through space amplifying them using their technology.
     
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  25. Gilhelmi

    Gilhelmi Know what you're doing yet?

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    Can someone link where Mr. Zoat talked about the "Buffyverse" originally? I know it was in the comment section of one of the (many) threads.
     
  26. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    Wow, the Cosmology here is as deep as it is confusing.

    Does one Vanishing Point exist for each universe?

    It appears our Universe, Prime, is the starting point where the others are...branched of from? Copied from? And it would appear that fiction is the catalyst for that. So every fictional work spawns it's own universe, with fics in those verses recursively spawning other 'verses...

    Each occurence of Paul also broke this fundamental law that Prime isn't accessible...or did it? if each one is a copy...

    Then the Rings...they exist in universes without Oans so each one must e a copy of one original Ring event...mirroring how this fic spawned one Omake after the other with different Ring coloured Pauls in different Verses. Hm...I think Timetrapper's head will explode once they learn that the Ring distribution is merely based on what one fanfic author considered interesting at the time...:D
     
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  27. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

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    Okay people, how about a pertinent question? What do you think this version of Paul is like? We don't know if black rings can do the standard 'turn me into a buff teenager' shtick (red and blue ones certainly didn't) so what does this one look like? A goth version of Giles? Heavy on the eyeliner. Or did he read evil overlord list 'If I Am Ever a Vampire' list and went with bright colourful clothes and a really gaudy and obvious "amulet of protection against sunlight" to confuse his would be attrackers?

    edit: also would he and Mayor Wilkins try to outpolite each other every time they meet?
     
  28. DAT_NOOB

    DAT_NOOB Accused of writing in a far away land

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    I would have thought it's a matter of perspective if Zoat hated his body it could certainly buff teenager him and if he hoped to better himself (in a physical sense) it would probably do the same.
     
  29. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    He probably looks like he did before he went to that universe, maybe a bit paler.

    So essentially an average looking guy.

    He could wear what William hand did in the comics, or something else.
    I think he would just wear some ordinary clothes though seeing as while some vampires went for the black clothing thing, others just wore civilian clothing.
    He could try getting himself some magic equipment, but seeing as this one may have an extremely limited charge I don't think he can mine asteroids for gold or metals to buy said equipment.
     
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  30. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

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    I'm not sure what kind of mental gymnastics would be required to make a black ring make him buffer and younger but hope probably wouldn't work.

    Yeah. Low lack of blood pressure would make anyone a bit pasty.

    The gimp suit? I hope not.

    Yeah, magic items are a must. Like the abovementioned decoy.

    I think he'd have enough charge for at least one asteroid mining expedition. As we saw with 'Peter' a single trip is enough to set him for a lifetime. Also, taking care of resources issue is like 2nd on his to do list across universes. I think he did it in every single one?
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2020
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