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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. The Unaligned Player

    The Unaligned Player Agony that desires to meet Extinction

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    Illusion is a perfectly good school to go to Wizard College to.
     
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  2. Maxx Crowley

    Maxx Crowley I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    I mean, it kind of sucks in Skyrim. As many times as I've tried, being a sneaky Wizard who fucks with minds never works. Fury doesn't get them to fight like I need it to, or they just resist, and so on.

    Just set a couple of rune traps, and then hurl some death at them, along with some summoned minions, does the trick far better, and far faster.
     
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  3. PKRudeBoy

    PKRudeBoy Making the rounds.

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    Honestly, Paul was too focused on replicating the GLC’s structure. I suspect it would be better for both of them if he was officially the distant leader that set long term policy while leaving Dox as his Chancellor for day to day affairs, because that’s how the actual power structure seems.
     
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  4. Threadmarks: Maladaptive (part 3)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    21st July 2012
    16:34 GMT


    We lost a little time getting the car towed, because though I don't set much store by them myself I know that Vulcan likes his secret identity. My hair is currently red and Lantern Rrab is using a holographic disguise to alter her skin tone while her hair is hair sprayed solid to conceal her ears. She could get away with faintly orange skin in the Fake Tan State, but here in Italy it would stick out quite badly.

    "How exactly do you know Seth?"

    The owner of the place, Antonio Zencha, is perfectly happy to accept his most capable mechanic's oddities in return for excellent work and -according to Vulcan- copious amounts of unpaid overtime. But he can't help but be curious about a couple of people turning up with no notice and getting bumped to the head of the queue.

    "I met his brother in Greece. He referred me."

    I've set my ring to translate me into Italian but with a strong English accent. Really, I shouldn't have bothered. English schools teach French, German and Spanish at GCSE level but I heard more about Latin lessons than Italian ones. Me being fluent -even with an accent- doesn't make sense. I mean, Vulcan told me how to get in contact if I needed to, but I treated secret identity lessons in the same way as I treated hand to hand combat lessons; I listened when I had to and paid it no mind afterwards.

    Mr. Zencha nods. It's plausible, but there's obviously a big gap between 'I met his brother' and 'it was worth me coming here to get him to look at my car'.

    "You-?"

    "Hey Mister Lans!"

    Lantern Rrab walks across Mr. Zencha's line of sight as Vulcan emerges from his workshop. Mr. Zencha's eyes follow her bare legs and-. And I roll my eyes, deliberately step sideways to block his view and then walk towards Vulcan myself.

    Vulcan frowns at Lantern Rrab for a moment. He's never met her and she isn't on the invite list. On the other hand, he can almost certainly tell that she isn't human, and the lack of any innate magic is going to suggest 'alien'. I am in the know so she should get a pass

    "Hello. Car playing up?"

    "Yes! It's like it's trying to drive itself!"

    "Oh. That doesn’t sound too complicated." He waves to Mr. Zencha. "I've got this, Antonio. Shouldn't take long."

    Clearly still curious, but with no casus inquisiti he decides that he can't justify hanging around when he's got a business to run. He walks back to the front office and Vulcan watches the driver of the recovery lorry finish unloading the car.

    "Here okay?"

    Vulcan nods, waving him off. "That's great, Giuseppe. You have a nice day."

    "Until we meet again."

    Giuseppe gets back in the driving seat, Vulcan smiling and waving until he pulls out of the garage and back onto the road. Then Vulcan turns to us.

    "What's the problem, then?"

    "The owner got in the car to drive to work this morning, and the car locked him in and drove itself. Not only does it not have a self-drive system, but it doesn't even have integrated computer control. There's no mechanical way it can have happened, and we can't detect a trace of magic."

    "Hm."

    Vulcan walks over to the car and lays his hand on the bonnet.

    "I don't know much about nanotechnology."

    "I-" I shake my head. "-do. Someone could use an assembler swarm to build links, but they'd still be there. Or the nanotech would. Nanobots are fragile; the only working assembler I know of on Earth has to use molecular vibration control technology to keep them intact whenever they do anything energy intensive."

    Vulcan nods. "So you think it's a spontaneous manifestation. That is up my street. You got the key?"

    Lantern Rrab makes a key construct and offers it to him. He takes it, pulls open the door and puts it into the ignition.

    "Hm. I can't feel anything obvious, but you already checked for that."

    He gets in, turning the key and switching on the radio. It's not digital and isn't tuned to any Italian stations, so all that it emits is quiet static. He waits a moment, then lays both hands on the wheel and frowns thoughtfully.

    "Yes. Yes, I do recognise this. Heph once showed me a weapon that Queen Hippolyta remote controlled-." He looks at me. "You know who her father is?"

    "Yes."

    "She doesn't use it much, but she's got some of his power over tools of war. This car feels like her old sword did."

    "So there is a God of Cars?"

    "No. Not yet."

    Lantern Rrab gives her head a small shake.

    "What do you mean by that?"

    Vulcan gets out of the car, walks around to the front and opens the bonnet.

    "They're ubiquitous. Useful. Status symbols. But most people don't understand them. There are rules and rituals; it's a shame that Atlanteans haven't studied how mechanical objects gain arcane momentum." He looks at the engine as it idles, holding his right hand out to feel either the temperature or the magic. Or both, presumably. "They're too specific for a titan, but I wouldn't be surprised if a God of Cars emerged from the Dream eventually. Or an existing god rebranded."

    "Re..? Branded? Gods can just choose to be a god of something else?"

    "No, no." He shakes his head, frowning as he focuses his attention on the battery. "But a God of Journeys could try to associate themselves with cars rather than… Horses, or ships. It doesn't always take, and if their cult is already extinct then it's probably too late, but gods have managed to switch before. It got pretty common when Christianity was spreading across Europe and all the little tribal gods wanted a safe harbour."

    I blink. "Wait, you're saying that the whole 'turning gods into saints' thing was their idea?"

    "Of course." He looks my way, apparently surprised that I'm surprised. "It wasn't even the first time for a lot of them. One tribe conquers another… The losing war god needs to find himself a niche or he'll probably get killed. It's just the single biggest campaign of role-switching, and why Ēostre wears a bunnygirl outfit these days." He grins. "Which isn't something you forget, let me tell you."

    "Have you done that?"

    "Sure. Metallurgy was a change for me. I used to be a god of fire and volcanoes. But you see the link." She nods. "One of you, put this on the car lift."

    Hm? Oh. I check our environment, then pick up the car and put it on the already-raised car lift. Vulcan walks underneath it and takes a look at the underside.

    "Yeah, I think I see what happened. Did whoever owned this car live next to an old road?"

    "It was in America, so no, but I know what you mean. Spontaneous manifestation?"

    "It feels like that. But it doesn't sound like that. How was it driving?"

    "Fast, and it ignored traffic laws. It didn't hit anything, but there were a lot of near misses."

    "Yeah. That doesn't track. A manifestation should still be steerable, just stiff. Cars have always been designed to be steered. And all the Neo-Vodun stuff I've read insists that cross roads are ritual focuses. It shouldn't cross one when it's not supposed to. My best guess right now is that someone induced a manifestation and directed it. This guy have any enemies?"

    "Not that we know of."

    "Does he know any pranksters? It doesn't sound like they were trying to kill him, just shake him up."

    "We'll check, but America doesn't have a lot of magicians and those it does have are usually traditionalists."

    "I'll take a deeper look, but that'll take a while." He waves us off. "Come back tomorrow, see what I have then."
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2021
  5. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    Maybe it's a baby god of cars, trying to be born?

    America would certainly be the right place, not the birthplace of cars, but certainly where they became culturally significant.

    Anyway, it's a nice, gentle way to get Raab used to the insanity that is Earth :D
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2021
  6. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    'place, Antonio Zenchs, is' add a ,

    The guy likes what he does.

    I don't think a lot of the people there will care, since they may not know what English schools teach.

    I have a feeling this is going to bite him in the ass one day.

    'she should'

    So she does have some powers.

    The whole saint thing.

    And if I remember correctly Boss Smiley said something about him possibly being a Slavic moon god that jumped ships.

    Yeah, even before Christianity when one people conquered another the mythologies tended to get mixed.

    I think the Romans tried to make it so that Lugh, a Celtic god, was Mercury.

    Getting more American Gods vibes.
     
  7. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
  8. Pinklestia

    Pinklestia Well worn.

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    Again, if this was the actual TV series it would be a supervillain. Maybe the excuse for the Legion of superheroes crossover.
     
  9. Mihari

    Mihari Know what you're doing yet?

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    This could be some localized concept God that is a small localized concept such as bad but not deadly drivers or something of the sort as a spontaneous manifestation but I find that someone unlikely but I could definitely see something like the concept of bad deadly driving or like New York driving being something that could be manipulated by a wizard
     
  10. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    USA was probably the first place they were mass produced rather than made one at a time for wealthy men that wanted a toy or simply some highly eccentric engineer. We are also known for our car culture in part because it's a BIG country where places tend to be pretty far apart.
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2021
  11. w34v3r

    w34v3r Versed in the lewd.

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    You know, Cars would be a good starter domain for a baby godling.

    It's niche enough that you're not likely to get stomped on by one of the big fish out of hand, it's a major aspect of modern life so your influence is likely to be useful and spread quickly, and it sits at enough conceptual intersections that there's plenty of room for domain growth later, even if you end up part of a large pantheon.
     
  12. Massgamer

    Massgamer Not too sore, are you?

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    Is The Metal making some kinda move? Maybe a mage making use of it?
     
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  13. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Ah, the joy of playing along with secret identities. I suspect she'd still draw some attention as a good-looking teenager anyway. Especially if she's still wearing anything like her 'iconic' solo outfit (rather than the standard Lantern duty uniform.)

    Honestly, I'm amazed Vulcan hasn't let something slip, if only to ease the mortal mind. But then, Antonio might have a habit of letting things slip after a few beers... I'm sure that's happened a time or two in Vulcan's careers...

    Technically a true statement, if you take Vulcan and Hephaestus as brother gods of Forgecraft and mechanisms... Wonder if they have contacts in other pantheons for Gods of Metal, Forging or the like...

    Nice of him to respect Vulcan's desire for the human experience. Though, in typical OL fashion, he's probably overthinking some of this stuff.

    Seriously, the man must have some suspicions... Heck, maybe he thinks 'Seth' has some villainous history he's covering up or something... Would be amusing.

    :p Toldja she'd draw some attention for looks. Then again, he is a Greco-Roman god. Generally seen as the horny Frat-boys of the world's divinities... Bet the Hindu ones party harder though.

    Ah, good. She's cool. Hot too, but we'll set that aside.

    As OL just noted, he is forgiving of peculiarities in his best guy, curious as he might be. And he's smart enough not to poke the golden goose in case it explodes.

    Easy enough to move it if they need to. Discreetly, even.

    An in-joke between them, clearly enough. Always fun to see banter between buddies.

    And with those few words, you've got his attention. Almost as good as waving a locked-room mystery in front of a master detective.

    There would have been some trace of that in OL's scans. It's nothing that simple.

    ...They didn't bother to ask Mister McCrae for the keys, did they? :rolleyes: Not like they can't trip the locks or ignition anyway. Power Rings, after all.

    :cool: If it were anything obvious, they wouldn't be here, would they now? So hardly any need to state the obvious, is there?

    Ares, in case anyone was wondering. And that's not a new 52 invention either. That's her original history.

    Heh, a D&D-style dancing sword, eh? Or a Flying Sword, in the Dynasty Warriors sense (A weapons from later titles, typically taking the form of multiple swords just magically floating behind the wielder, usually Zhong Hui Shiji of Jin (except in DW9.)) ...o_O What? :cool: I like Dynasty Warriors.

    Honestly, just a matter of time, really.

    I'm guessing her world's Gods are distant, if any exist at all. She's getting quite the education on Divinity here, I see.

    'Rules and Rituals', eh? Like kicking the tyre on a used car you're looking at to guage it's quality. Or quietly praying as you try the starter on a cold morning or on a low battery alert... And let's not forget the Shinto idea of things gaining their own spirit over time. Usually takes a century or so before something comes alive, though.

    ...Heh. It's probably a bit to early in the decade for a god of Uber to come into being... But a god of cars seems likely to some degree. They've been around a century or so, long enough to become a mainstay of advanced cultures... There's even cults ready-made in the form of racing fans...

    If you're curious: Ēostre. A Germanic goddess of Spring and presumably fertility that has a loose association with Easter. Hence the 'Bunny Girl' reference. And yes, gods did get adopted by tribes as they spread. Look up the history of Aphrodite sometime, and how she's technically also Ishtar.

    Volcanoes indeed, hence his name.To be fair, become a god of the Forge was probably a step up. Volcanoes largely destroy Man's works. Forges create.

    ...OL needs only say...

    Like a cutthroat taxi driver with little understanding of road rules, and littler respect for them?

    ...Huh. How'd they miss that idea? What even was his job?

    A rival maybe, trying to mess him up on his medical check-up day? This would be one weird-as-hell way to go about it. Most people would just slip them a Mickey Finn.

    Sounds like time for a break, then. Better look into the victim, then.

    Well. let's hope Vulcan can find something. Meanwhile, I'd be looking into his suggestions about the victim. Enemies? Rivals? Some buddy with a little magical knowledge? Who knows, in this universe. Or, for something way out of left-field: A 5th-dimensional prankster having a little fun. ;) You never know!
     
  14. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Probably not, since it's n52 and Zoat, aside from a few mentione n52 characters, doesn't really use it.
     
  15. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    I think they once told Ted they were going to talk to some other forge gods.

    And a steady supply of human sacrifices in the form of car crashes.

    Hell, in the comics a Babylonian travel god actually used car crashes as sacrifices.
     
  16. Sockmonkey

    Sockmonkey I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    I remember someone mentioning shaping the highways into a gigantic magic rune powered by blood
     
  17. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    I know that in the Good Omens TV show Crowley designed a highway to be in the shape of some evil symbol that was later on fire.
     
  18. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

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    That should be 'Lans' eyes'.
     
  19. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
  20. Dur'id the Druid

    Dur'id the Druid Know what you're doing yet?

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    Hmmmm. Mxyzptlk is looking..... here. Yes yes, here, he is investigating someone ELSE doing bad jokes.

    [​IMG]
     
  21. Dakkan Sall

    Dakkan Sall Random Encounter

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    Huh... that is a thought... Not necessarily anything related to the current arc, but considering the number of DC entities that have appeared in the story that were never even hinted at in Young Justice I'm actually surprised the 5d Imp hasn't popped his head in.
     
  22. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    Doubt it, Zoat doesn't really do the cosmic level characters since they could effortlessly kick Paul's ass.
     
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  23. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

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    Technically those levels of characters do appear, just not as antagonists. Maybe we could see Mr. Mxyzptlk as a one off encounter or something.
     
  24. CTrees

    CTrees Chasing the ring

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    Line of sight
     
  25. Old Knife

    Old Knife Not too sore, are you?

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    American Gods TV show. I honestly haven't watched.
    But I have read the book long long ago.
     
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  26. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

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    Mr Zoat, random thought. Is there any chance we could see Destruction of the Endless, or someone/something related to him? I ask because, for some reason, I want to see a shout out to Dragon Ball Super, and more recently One Piece, with someone shouting "HAKAI!" and destroying their target with the power of pure Destruction.
     
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  27. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    Technically, yes, but it's a very small one. I don't know the character that well, and from what I remember that would be out of character.
     
  28. Dakkan Sall

    Dakkan Sall Random Encounter

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    While amusing in thought, Destruction doesn't care for destruction anymore, and 'quit'. He figures that it gets along without him needing to oversee things (though it never comes up in Sandman what the functional difference would be, unlike when Dream was trapped), so he just goes about wandering and being a poor... in skill, that is... artist.
     
  29. Sockmonkey

    Sockmonkey I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Maybe he should meet Kalmin.
     
  30. nick012000

    nick012000 Gone for Good

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    I'm gonna guess that it's Hermes. This sort of prank seems to be within his trickster bailiwick, he's a god of travel and roads fitting the idea of associating himself with cars, and the Flashes model their superhero identities after his image giving him a reason to car about America. If this happened in Central City (home of the Flashes), then I'd say it almost certain is him.
     
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