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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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    They knew he was coming and so built dedicated anti-telepath weapons.
    No. His injuries were a good deal worse, and while Cranius did his best he's not a miracle worker. His telekinesis is about the same or a little better, but his telepathy is noticeably worse and he still has headaches.
    No. He's taking them to Earth to get used to aliens in preparation for their work with L.E.G.I.O.N.
    Yes.
    Maybe, but that's not where the L.E.G.I.O.N. fleet is. Also, having everyone like you isn't a particularly good way to prepare for a place where people are generally indifferent to you.
    Indifferent. He's better than a Red, but that sort of link up is a little unnerving if you've never experienced it before.
    Telling me...
    Here it is. She didn't win the war, but she killed their greatest superhumans and turned the Greece campaign into a horrible meat blender. I may have written more about it, but I can't find it.
    He's joined, though I don't think it's been explicitly reference outside of the list because the Renegade doesn't really care.
    By your command.
     
  2. DrThoth

    DrThoth I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Has the League/just Shade caught Lady Eve yet? In the Renegade timeline, I mean.
     
  3. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    I remember Swift saying that he got most of her grunts, but that she was crafty and was managing to hide.
     
  4. DrThoth

    DrThoth I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Here's a later post you wrote on the subject from April 2018.

    I don't remember you ever giving detail on the fight between Wonder Woman and the Krieger brothers in Athens which ended with her killing them with the Spear of Destiny, but I assume Wolf was busy with the territory control ritual and she interrupted it, because otherwise she would have been caught in its effect? Or did Wolf successfully complete the ritual and her divine nature help her resist it enough to get the Spear and kill them? Of course this was years ago so I understand if you forgot the details (if you ever had them fleshed out in the first place).
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2021
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  5. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you for finding that.

    The ritual needs to be performed in the capital. She could resist his lesser magics but would be every bit as vulnerable to the Spear as everyone else.
     
  6. DrThoth

    DrThoth I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    It probably won't happen but I'd have liked to see that fight scene play out.

    Your segment noted that Captain Nazi was stronger than Diana (who at that point was around 16, based on information from the wiki that should still be canon for this alternate timeline Diana, I think) but she was more skilled/experienced in super-strength combat. Have Diana's powers grown in strength as time passes compared to her teenage self or does she just gain more experience and skill?

    Thinking of Captain Nazi's role as an embodiment of Germany also makes me wonder about trying to find the national personifications of other countries. I know Paragon has no interest in Uncle Sam but it could be useful information to know.
     
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  7. Chaoswind

    Chaoswind Lord of nonsense

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    The director is implied to be the current incarnation of Russia... Severe, paranoid, trying to do what is best for his people.

    Then again I thought the incarnation of Russia was supposed to be MOTHER RUSSIA, but that is the implication I got from Paragon using his Empath vision on the director.
     
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  8. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    I think the director is just a Dannered human.
     
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  9. DrThoth

    DrThoth I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    I'll have to reread the chapters where he appears again at some point then.

    I don't remember Paragon ever scanning him with the ring, did he?
     
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  10. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    I think he tried empathy on him, saw some gulags and asked him if he was a Danner.
     
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  11. Chaoswind

    Chaoswind Lord of nonsense

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    Proletariat was confirmed to be a Danner enhanced human, but the director is implied to be something else.

    Also its implied by the director a few more Danner enhanced humans exist in Russia, (Hammer and Sickle Segway), but the implication I got was that the director was something else.
     
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  12. Laundromat2.0

    Laundromat2.0 Getting sticky.

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    Martians will have such a skewed understanding of humanity starting out. I mean, intellectually they must know that the average human is pitifully weak compared to the average Martian. But their actual experience is that humans are: 1. Paul, who's so far outside the average human's power level that he might as well be a god, and 2. Adam Blake, a human telepath and telekine of such phenomenal power that only the greatest of Martian heroes can probably really compare.

    It's so typical of humanity in dc. The average martian could annihilate the average human. But the greatest martian telepaths would probably stand back in awe, or at the very least astonishment, at the greatest human telepaths.

    Humanity in a nutshell. The average is pretty mediocre compared to galactic standards, but at the tail end of the bell curve, the greatest humans are as powerful as some of the top tier of the top tier in the entire universe. The scaling, the sheer variance in human abilities, just makes no sense compared to any other planet.
     
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  13. WhiteNoise

    WhiteNoise Making the rounds.

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    It's fine; keep the semicolon.
     
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  14. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    To anyone that's interested, Yu Gi Oh Abridged is back with a new episode.

    Pegasus is pink and Duke has changed in a fundamental way.
     
  15. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    *Banishes Darko to the Shadow realm.*
     
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  16. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Damn you Bakura.
     
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  17. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Diana now is stronger than she was as a teenager. Queen Diana would be a lot stronger, thanks to the Spear. Albrecht was weaker at the time of his death than he had been at Nazi Germany's height.
     
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  18. Threadmarks: Sauntering Downwards (part 5)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    14th September 2010
    21:23 GMT -5


    "How come you're not more pissed off about this?"

    Artemis has been fuming since Max's brilliant virtual reality training simulator nearly killed us all. Which is a pretty reasonable thing to be angry about. But really.

    "Because I saw it coming."

    "What?! You knew-?!"

    I shrug. "I've watched Star Trek. And X-Men. I knew perfectly well that a machine like that was going to try and kill anyone who used it."

    We're perched on a loading crane on the Gotham docks, patiently waiting for a shipment of cocaine coming in from Columbia. Normally Batman would just pass this sort of information on to the police, but a new syndicate has been getting its hands on high-end plasma weapons and he told us that he's concerned that they wouldn't be able to handle it without massive collateral damage.

    "That…" Her head tilts to the right, her eyes narrowing. "What?"

    "Star Trek? You know, the science fiction series? With the holograms that keep going wrong and trying to kill the crew?"

    She huffs, a little of the tension leaving her frame.

    "Seriously? You saw it in some TV show and that's how you knew?"

    "It's a reasonable frame of reference."

    "And you didn't say anything? To the rest of us, to Batman, to that Lord guy?"

    "What do you think I should have said, 'this machine will try and kill us, I saw it on TV'?" She appears to grudgingly accept that. "Besides, that was a good lesson, too."

    Her mouth twitches, trying hard not to form a sneer. "How exactly was the Justice League nearly getting us all killed a good lesson?"

    "It teaches us to rely on our own skills. That even the best intentioned have bad days and make idiotic decisions sometimes."

    "I… Guess…"

    "And -objectively speaking- losing us hurts the Earth less than losing League members."

    "E-h."

    "What? Do you think I'm wrong?"

    "I just-. I knew League training would be hard. I just thought they'd be different to-. Ah, better planned." She glances at me to see if I caught that slip. As if anyone wouldn't have. "You know? Not try and kill us."

    "If people trying to kill you bothers you, you're in the wrong line of work." No, this isn't a helpful line of discussion. Having her moderate her enthusiasm for the League is only useful up to a point, and I think I've got as far as I can without bringing down her mood too much and creating a negative association. "And speaking of work, I'm thinking of changing my costume. I'd like to know what you think."

    She looks mildly unimpressed. "Is that supposed to be an excuse to take your clothes off?"

    "No." I frown. "You've seen me switch into costume by ring before."

    "Okay." She shrugs, leaning back against the control cabin. "Sure."

    I smile. "Thank you."

    I raise my left hand, orange light flares and-.

    "What's-?" She spots it, and huffs. "Really?"

    I grin. "What?"

    She thrusts her right hand at my newly exposed midriff. "I thought you said it wasn't an excuse to get naked!?"

    "Are you naked?"

    She jerks her head away, folding her arms across her breasts. I take a moment to flex and undulate my abdominal muscles.

    "And I'm mostly protected by the ring anyway. I've never liked the idea that female superheroes have to go around in skimpy costumes while the men are fully covered, so B'wana Beast and I are going to work towards true sexual equality, where men are not afraid of their own-."

    "Okay! Great costume!" She throws up both hands in an exasperated gesture. "Now shut up and change back!"

    Her eyes keep dipping uncontrollably to where my pale skin is outlined by the grey stab resistant material of my trousers and Flash Gordon-inspired halter top, pupils and facial capillaries... Yes, good.

    "I don't know, I mean I wouldn't want you to feel-."

    "If I agree to switch costume tomorrow, will you switch back right now?"

    I make a show of considering it for a few moments, flexing my abdominals once more now that she's actually looking. "Oh, alright. If you insist."

    Ah, full armour. Too hot for summer without the help of a power ring, but just the thing for the autumn.

    "Great. Thanks."

    She activates her night vision visor and checks the docks once more. I have a scan, but fail to detect anything of note. Of course, dealing with America's drug problem can't be done by just stopping the occasional shipment; where there is demand supply will follow. If Batman actually wanted us to achieve anything significant he'd send us to Columbia with some sort of bio-engineered super crop. Kill all the paramilitaries and give the farmers something profitable and low-risk to grow.

    But I don't actually care about solving the problem, and… I don't have the resources that it would actually take. Turning a few people into constructs isn't going to give me the political control I'd need, I'm not a good enough covert killer to cover my tracks and-.

    "What… Is this?"

    I try following her line of sight.

    "A.. discarded coil of chains..?"

    "No. You." She turns back to me. "What you're doing. The flowers-"

    Which she liked at first, much as she denied it. And then started finding creepy. Still working on reliably identifying the cut off.

    "-and the… Stripping, and-."

    "I thought you agreed it wasn't stripping if you were wearing the same-?"

    "Fine, not… Stripping. Just-."

    "I find you admirable and physically attractive and want to date you. I.. don't.. see what's so hard to understand."

    "'Admirable'."

    "Sure. I didn't do anything of note with my life until someone dropped a power ring in my lap. And even then, I stuck with other superheroes and mostly did what I was told. You decided to go out there with a bow and arrow on your own recognisance. I admire that 'go get'em' attitude."

    She takes a deep breath.

    "If I agree to go on a date with you, will you knock if off for a week?"

    "Will this date happen within that week?"

    "No. The date's what you get if you make it to the end of the week."

    "Agreed." I extend my right hand. "Honoured team mate in whom I have no carnal interest at all."

    She takes it, shakes it and then goes back to watching the coast. Hm. She's agreed in principle and now she's just arguing over the price. But that's perfectly fine. Now that I don't have to worry about… Anything, getting what I want is just a matter of patience and planning.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2021
  19. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Forgot Threadmark..
     
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  20. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    'grudgingly'

    'bringing down'

    Yeah, I don't think that slavery is equality.

    Creep.

    She has good judgement.

    Not sure you'll manage it.

    Ahh, lying already.
     
  21. frommerman

    frommerman Getting out there.

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    You know, he makes good points about sexism in depictions of female characters. If only we didn't already know he becomes a ravening, malevolent, rape monster.
     
  22. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Ah, more Tangseid. Well, let's get it over with...

    'Max' as in Maxwell Lord or 'Max' as in Max Mercury? Those are the only two Maxes I can think of. And at least Tangseid was genre-savvy enough to know things would go wrong... No doubt he allowed them to anyway, because then he could say 'I told you so.' :rolleyes:

    Star Trek Holodecks and the X-men's Danger Room, basically the same thing: Chamber with 'hard holographic projections', despite none of those words meaning what they actually do with it...

    Heh, a nice easy job for a Lantern. I guess Artemis can watch, if the plasmaguns come out...

    I mean, does 'Star Trek' even exist in the DC Universes? Or is there a suspiciously similar counterpart, like 'Galaxy Trip'? :D Whose ship resembles two cigars sticking out of a frisbee, and features an over-dramatic captain, emotionless (except when dramatically appropriate!) alien science officer and a grouchy doctor?

    Hey, if your life had a tendency to feature easily visible tropes, you'd catch on to them quickly too.

    Ah, it was Maxwell Lord. No wonder it went ploin-shaped. And I bet the lesson learned was 'never trust unfamiliar tech'?

    And given that we know where he ends up, it makes this all the more telling that he'd up and say it.

    Well, no mental filter. He has no reason to soothe her feelings, after all. Unless you count wanting to get his leg over...

    I bet he knows exactly who her family members are. After all, it's one quick ring scan and DNA comparison away. The question is how nasty the use he puts it to will be...

    Of course it is? Seriously, if you had the physique the ring gave him, wouldn't you want to show it off as often as possible?

    I see she has no objection to eating the eye candy, even if she's not comfortable with his.. aggressiveness.

    So, how skimpy is it? Cosmic Boy as drawn by Neal Adams tier? For reference, that was basically a skin-tight space suit that resembled trunks, corset, opera gloves and high boots.... On a muscular male body. Behold!
    [​IMG]

    Oh, god, how bad is it?

    Fair for the Goose, fair for the Gander, Artemis.

    Well, he does have an excuse, basically being able to become incredibly tough. And more than a little crazy.

    UGh, so 90's... I much prefer the Filmation 80's version, which rotoscoped model ships for their flight scenes. Good stuff. What isn't good is that skeevy level of analysis of her arousal...

    Hey, I'm sure he'd modify your costume right now, if you didn't mind asking... Oh, wait.

    One thing Paragon OL never seems to think about. Usually because he's casually running his environmental field anyway.

    And there's the OL logic we all know. Fix the cause, not the symptom. Violently if need be...

    At least he's smart enough to realise he can't go in heavy, nor would it actually fix things.

    Still a bit of that OL obliviousness...

    She does realise he likes her, yes? Or is it her upbringing making her unable to see it that way?

    Cheeky. And this just keeps getting creepier...

    Still feeling that 'what's your angle' instinct she's had drummed into her, huh?

    Hoo boy... There's coming on strong, and then there's this...

    I'd be concerned, but... She is a teenager. She doesn't have the life experience, especially with skeevy guys like Tangseid is being, to realise what he's pulling.

    :sneaky: Liiieeeees!

    And the slippery slope beckons him onwards...

    Well... Not quite as bad as I expected... The costume bit was funny. Bit we're still watching a morality-free thirty-something trying to woo a sixteen-year-old. :mad: And succeeding, slowly. Knowing where it all ends up makes it so much worse...
     
  23. DrThoth

    DrThoth I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Some things are consistent across all iterations of the SI, which is nice. Reminds me of Paragon saying 'comics rot your brain, kids' when talking about Hawkwoman's outfit being inspired by too much Earth media.

    Actually, has Paragon been on a talk show since the Silver City invasion? I don't remember any, and there wasn't any word on a public statement made about what exactly happened, or at least no one commented on it in the story. I imagine he must be getting a lot of requests, unless every US network show is afraid to court disaster or more religious fundamentalist outcry. I'd like to see him discuss things with Father Mattias again, especially because the latter sadly didn't show up during the whole thing (as far as I recall).
     
  24. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    No, I remembered it. The site ate it.
    Thank you, corrected.
    He ends up mind altering appreciably more men than women, due to their greater share of political and economic power.
    Yes, but in that instance he was acting in accordance with her stated wishes.
    There are two ways to change how people think about you: change yourself, or change them.
     
  25. Silverias

    Silverias Know what you're doing yet?

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    I wonder if this sidestory is heading towards a conclusion to the Sally Sonic (I think that's her?) story for Paragon.
     
  26. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

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    I don't know why but every time Paul intentionally tries to seduce someone I only see Austin Powers.
     
  27. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Hopefully tomorrow we get something not him.

    Lord.

    Aside from that show Beast Boy did I'm not sure.

    I remember that Obloquy actually added Star Trek, or something with a similar name in it, in his story and that Manhunter actually appeared in it a few times, as well as a few episodes of My Favorite Martian.

    It was a nice bit of worldbuilding.

    Self awareness isn't exactly a villains strong point.

    Not to a teenage girl.

    Though not in a way a lot of people would like to be liked.

    And it's going to keep getting creepier.

    It will be as bad as you expected in the future.

    To paraphrase a shrieking skeleton on a golden toilet "Just because something sounds logical doesn't mean that it isn't unfathomably wrong and creepy."
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2021
  28. RichardWhereat

    RichardWhereat Aia airëa Fëanáro.

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    Very true, if it weren't for that, he'd be my favourite of the Pauls.
     
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  29. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Says a skeleton who gets fed thousands of screaming psychic children daily.
     
  30. Silverias

    Silverias Know what you're doing yet?

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    Hypocrisy does not, innately, detract from a point.
     
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