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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. Ganurath

    Ganurath Apologizes For Nothing

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    Seems to me that he's immune in the same way that Amy Dallon was immune to Victoria Dallon's aura: It doesn't influence him because his natural state of mind is so close to where the influence would lead him that there's no noticeable effect.
     
  2. Silverias

    Silverias Know what you're doing yet?

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    To where? Assuming you're immune to anti-life is hilariously naïve in the face of what anti-life actually can do.
     
  3. Coltsguy

    Coltsguy Colts fan. Anime fan. Breast and back fan.

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    I'm actually interested in how he's immune to Anti-Life. That's a key to the late game story right there.
     
  4. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    No, the SI doesn't pause at any of those points.
    Thank you, corrected.
     
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  5. 0zymandias

    0zymandias Making the rounds.

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    If he's actually correct or not being tricked by Darkseid or some other higher evil.
     
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  6. dxdragon

    dxdragon Experienced.

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    Did OL just go full Xianxia MC and try to refine a small universe in his dantian?
    I swear it looked like he was about to level up to Golden Core realm or something.
     
  7. boo600

    boo600 Welp

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    Heh, JttW references? Paul’s mixing it up a little.

    As for Quinn... really? If he’s a mix between Order and Chaos, what’s chaotic about AL? He’s clearly not being rational about this.
     
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  8. Old Knife

    Old Knife Not too sore, are you?

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    Demon Constantine has all of John's pain and bad habits he's also everything John hates about himself.
    .
    Golden Boy theoretically has a perfect life but is nice and self sacrificing. Potentially more powerful than even a Lord of chaos/order because he's never really lost. He also tried possessing John to become real... Or you could say that John accidentally manifested him due to his self loathing+depression.

    As one being. That's already a greatest hits recipe for screwing over John Constantine.

    As one being with Order/Chaos? Very very bad for John.

    And unless Johnny Boy has planned this all along,I don't think he'll get away from this scot free.

    Or this new fusion is simply a smug prick.
    .... Basically a Shonen Protag.
     
  9. Tackyseven

    Tackyseven I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    pretty sure I binge read like 30-100 days here too a year ago
     
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  10. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    :cool: More likely, like many a child of the 80's and early 90's, he saw this classic show on BBC:
    Great stuff. The whole Buddha's Palm sequence is from the first couple of episodes, no less.
     
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  11. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    I'm afraid not. It was a video on YouTube.
     
  12. RichardWhereat

    RichardWhereat Aia airëa Fëanáro.

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    Don't. Give. Him. Ideas.
     
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  13. theaceoffire

    theaceoffire Versed in the lewd.

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    I'm not even entirely sure how many people are in this room right now, and I'm pretty sure there's at least two or three people who are standing around not interacted with anyone who aren't even being written into the chapter!
     
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  14. mastermenthe

    mastermenthe Mint Thistle

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    It's worse because the entire chapter is happening at Jojo's Bizarre Speed thanks to Paul's mental acceleration being foibled by Chaos and Order magics.

    Milliseconds of real time pass while taking up a third of the runtime dissecting the attacks and defenses of the enemy stand.
    Brief clips of free-action-dialogue sprinkled with talking-is-not-a-free-action moments that never follow logical time progression but instead depend on the audience tracking peripheral cues as to if this happened just before or after someone did a thing.
    Deep dives into inner sensorium timelessness paired with ORAORAORA blitzes that take interminable time lengths.

    Just reimagine the whole chapter as a sceries of camera jump cuts straight out of an episode of GOLDEN WIND and it becomes a lot more reasonable.
     
  15. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

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    I just realized why Quinn is evil. Guess where John’s capacity to love went? Fake! Demon John
     
  16. Perchance

    Perchance Getting out there.

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    My best guess for Quinn's immunity to Antilife is that, as the receptacle for John's wisdom and other associative positive traits, there isn't much for the Antilife to grab on to. He's not really a whole person, but his vessel is filled so to speak. But the thing is, just because John gave him all of his "positive" traits, that doesn't mean that they're going to make a positive person. What's wisdom without humility? What's power without the memory of weakness? What's order without an understanding of the importance of chaos as a concept and not just a power source? Throw all that together with some good old fashioned Order Above All mentality and tadaaaa.

    Someone said that Quinn was like an Auditor of Reality from Discworld and that seems pretty spot on to me.
     
  17. Assblaster5000

    Assblaster5000 I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    If you look at the thread marks they should say "new" if you haven't read that chapter. Other than that I'm not too sure where you'd be, some part of me wants to say around the Sheeda Arc but I honestly doubt that.
     
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  18. Bramble Thorn

    Bramble Thorn Verified Silhouette

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    Zoat, actual written language uses commas and shit for more stuff than the...Dramatic...Kirk...Pauses...you've devolved into using it for.

    Remember this is not some playscript, it is text, meant to be read by human eyes, and interpreted by a human brain, who is almost certainly not saying the words out loud. Here is a list of reasons for using a comma.

    1. Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

      Example: I love vanilla ice cream, but my brother prefers chocolate.

    2. Use commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause.

      Example: In the beginning, there was light.

    3. Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause.

      Example: Hilda, a very good cook, went to San Francisco.

    4. Do not use commas to set off essential elements of the sentence, such as clauses beginning with that (relative clauses). That clauses after nouns are always essential. That clauses following a verb expressing mental action are always essential.

      Example: It is critical that you not put a comma in this sentence.

    5. Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series.

      Example: George traveled to Spain, France, and Germany.

    6. Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. Be sure never to add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself or to use commas with noncoordinate adjectives.

      Example: The big, hairy monster glared down at me.

    7. Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in dates (except the month and day), addresses (except the street number and name), and titles in names.

      Example: On October 3, 2015, Jeff Smith, marketing director at Intel, traveled to 14 Appian Way in Rome, Italy.
    Note that none of them seem to care whether the speaker is supposed to take a pause or breath there.
    Even if little Timmy didn't specifically have a noticeable pause (as you would determine it) in "I love vanilla ice cream, but my brother prefers chocolate," the comma should still be there. Commas help readers organize things in their heads.

    ...This is you being a belligerent twat. Please stop that.
     
  19. Lazurman

    Lazurman That Others May Fap

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    Odd, horny, and unrelated tangent, but Sauntering Downwards strikes me as good fodder for In Praise of Eros. Hits my mind control fetish pretty damn good.
     
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  20. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Did you read my title?
     
  21. rdfox

    rdfox Know what you're doing yet?

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    You know, looking at it from a physics standpoint, Paul missed one simple way to fight a Lord of Order. If he can manipulate physics to exploit the underlying Order in an attack, then the simple solution is to hit him with the physical version of Chaos. Specifically, entropy. And, as increasing entropy is accompanied by the release of thermal energy, the perfect weapon to use against Quinn would have been heat. Pure, simple, random molecular movement.

    I say, blast him with as much IR as you can and watch him burn...
     
  22. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    Welp. There goes the hope of Quinn being a decent person. But he isn't really a person, now, is he...

    As a previous commenter stated, positive traits don't necessarily make a good person. What's the phrase, a tragic flaw is just an innocent character trait in the wrong circumstance? Hope is great... unless it leads you to waste away instead of moving on to something better. Compassion is wonderful until someone forgives mass murder because the person committing it had tragedy happen to them. Etc.
     
  23. boo600

    boo600 Welp

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    KILL IT WITH FIRE!

    (It’s the only way to be sure!)
     
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  24. Prince Charon

    Prince Charon Just zis guy, you know?

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    I've forgotten where Sauntering Downwards is/what happened in it, and failed to find it in the ToC.
     
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  25. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Here, and several chapters after in that episode. Essentially, it's 'Tangseid' Paul's start of darkness. You may remember him as the one that took an 'evil' super-serum, lost his moral center and decided he could manage the world via manipulation of people's desires...
     
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  26. Threadmarks: Tower Offence (part 22)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    8th November 2012
    12:43 GMT -5


    Quinn doesn't say anything; he just raises his sceptre and makes the Order-aligned crystals shine in an attempt-.

    Purple clouds leap from the lower portion of the room, ripping apart Quinn's shields and forcing him to tighten the protective spells around his body. There's a tremendous-

    KLANGKLUNK!

    -noise above us as Dr. Balewa finishes ripping through main support and the whole assemblage slips sideways, slamming the platforms rotating around in into side platforms and armatures! The armatures respond by snapping, portions of the machine-.

    I grab and catch the wheel The Demon Constantine was bound to with a construct claw and throw it aside.

    Dr. Balewa shimmers and vanishes as the magic discharges in earnest, and I-. I dash to the side of the chamber, raising construct shields and trying to track pieces of falling machinery and exploding crystals.

    Alan takes cover next to me a moment later.

    "Did we win?"

    "I hope so, because I can't think of another way to-."

    A giant golden arrow manifests and flies at my shield! My eyes widen as I deploy a flak construct and Alan adds a shield of his own before it hits. The flak shot does nothing and the Order arrow is spinning as it starts fracturing our combined shields!

    Fine. FEED-.

    Warning! Low Power.

    Um. Okay, yes, that does rather thrash the batteries. Ah.

    I use filaments to wire my construct into my tattoos and pull, the arrow weakening as I pull the Order into my soul. I'm a little uncomfortable at the idea, but I don't think that being a little more orderly will do me much harm. The fracturing slows-.

    Alan drops his shield, manifests a 100 ton weight construct just above it and drops it. The arrow is crushed, raw undifferentiated magic exploding outwards in a form my shield can easily cope with.

    Another lump of machinery lands hard next to our corner of the room with a CRASH and a wince from us.

    And then, quiet.

    Not silence. Some of the crystals are still in the middle of discharging. I see one cluster break together and reform a lump of metal into a series of perfect cuboids, causing the loose wreckage above to fall a little further.

    Cautiously, Alan and I float up and towards the centre of the room. One of the major platforms has wedged the central shaft against the side of the chamber, preventing the entrance area from getting buried. Still, that doesn't look stable.

    "Everyone dead!?"

    Alan gives me a mild glare, looking decidedly put out. "Paul."

    "Between the immortal wizard and the man made of Dream sand, it's really more a matter of working out what happened to them and bringing them back. If anyone has died, it'll be the Johns."

    I sigh.

    Yes, Demon John II was an arse who actively tried to betray us, but he didn't commit the crimes that Demon John I did so I shouldn't lump the two of them together. And given that they weren't the same person, we put him in prison and ended his relationship with Ms Ryan and dragged him on a mission which stood a good chance of killing him without just cause.

    That's on us.

    "What do you think Quinn meant?"

    "I'm not sure."

    I look through the wreckage for any sign of life. Nothing right now, though I can see dream mist through the gaps in the wreckage. Okay, calculate the load-bearing qualities-.

    Are the walls getting closer?

    Confirmed.

    "Alan, the room is shrinking. Most likely due to the fact that the crystals are broken and so the room isn't channelling power anymore."

    He nods. "Yeah, I noticed. My ring can calculate how I can shift this stuff around-." His eyes flicker blue. "Thought as much."

    A crane construct hauls a snapped-off part of a platform out of the way, while a construct blowtorch welds a girder to the snapped shaft to create a solid 'ceiling'.

    "You remember what 'we' sounded like when I merged with the Ophidian for the first time? How we thought and acted?"

    "Yeah, I remember."

    "I guess it was the same thing. With parts of his mind dropped off in another body, things that… Wouldn't have made sense to him normally suddenly made perfect sense."

    "John Constantine's the sort of man who might decide that the universe shouldn't exist? I mean, I… I talked with John Quinn several times. He seemed like a good guy. And that… Our demon John didn't."

    "He had the run of the Earth since breaking out of Belle Reve, and the worst thing he did was pretend to be someone else while trying to woo his old girlfriend. If I was more self-absorbed, I can't imagine that I'd have killed a fraction as many people as I have." he looks-. "They were all bad. But the point is that if you don't feel strongly about things, there's no motivation to do anything really bad. Cut away a chunk of someone's mind and they decide some strange things. Decide to do things that they wouldn't do in a normal state of mind."

    "Ah…"

    Dr. Balewa shimmers into being, his skin knitted back together but his clothing still burned. He takes a moment to catch his breath, then looks at us.

    "Are you well?"

    Alan nods, digging deeper towards the last known location of John Quinn.

    "Think so. What happened to the Johns?"

    "Arcane diffusion. He should be-."

    "A little help down here?"

    I send out claw and excavator constructs, pulling apart rubble and detritus until there's a clear path to the lower portion of the room.

    Sanderson clambers out, carrying a bruised and battered…

    Well, he's in the blue and gold getup that Quinn was wearing, Helmet strapped to Sanderson's equipment harness. But the face isn't Quinn; it's too careworn and the hairline has receded. I mean, I can see parts of Quinn, but parts of The Golden Man and the Demons as well.

    In short, it looks like John.

    But to check, I look at Dr. Balewa. He holds out his hands for a moment, then nods.

    "I believe thet it is him. But I think that we should evacuate before making a definite evaluation."
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2022
  27. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Hoist by his own petard, eh? :p Couldn't happen to a nicer fellow. And while he's pressed like that, he won't be as able to strike out at them. At least the other John knows his stuff, and isn't afraid to use it.

    Oof, that's gonna make one hellacious mess. Wouldn't wanna be cleaning up after this party.

    Oh, I hope that was just a 'teleport to safety' move and not something more destructive...

    You're still alive, aren't you? Any fight you can walk away from is a win.

    Ah, one last 'fuck you' from Fate. And it's built to rip right through constructs? Bet it's homing, too.

    Not what you want to hear right now, is it, OL?

    Maybe if you work at it, you can make magic-draining more energy efficient. Perhaps one day, it'll actually earn it's energy back...

    At least it didn't have a trap spell on it in case you managed to absorb the energy. That would have been entirely in character for Quinn.

    It ain't over until the last tinkle of broken glass finishes. At least the random changes didn't make it into anything volatile.

    To be fair, if they answer you, then they aren't dead. So that's honestly effective.

    I mean, Sandy could easily be filtering his way through the wreckage. And Doctor Balewa teleported away back there...

    Dude, he still killed at least one person for that disguise of his. He was still a Demon.

    Eh, Guy's brain was a bag full of cats, with holes in. Amazed he lasted as long as he did, really.

    Might want to save your charge, OL. Let Alan do the heavy lifting, because you're getting close to the danger zone...

    And it looks like a quick exit might be needed, so you wanna be able to fly fast.

    ;) ...That's one way to bring the house down.

    I don't think anyone who encountered you is going to forget that anytime soon, 'Cake Man.'

    And with the resulting Swiss cheese being stewed in Order... Yeah, I can see how he slipped into his little 'Anti-Life is so orderly!' shtick.

    Like unironically enjoying all those silly foods the English made up... (Props for the True Lies reference, though. Great movie.)

    Glad to have you back with us, Doctor. At least they don't have to go looking for you in whatever afterlife you'll be headed off to.

    Hopefully the recombination protected him, or you'll be needing a mop to clean John up...

    ...In one piece, hopefully? Though probably not happy about it.

    Ah, that'll be him or Sandy.

    ...Hopefully not the latters' skin conditions, at least. Rotting skin isn't exactly the best look.

    Yeah, best to evacuate first, before counting your loot.

    So, we have one John Constantine. But who's in the driver's seat? Let's hope it's not Quinn, or things may get noisy once he wakes up. Might be a good idea to throw some suppression chains on him as a matter of course, until you're certain he's not going to try kicking your arse for messing up his foolproof plan to master Order and Chaos...
     
  28. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    Seeing the new-old John's personality will be interesting, to say the least
     
  29. Old Knife

    Old Knife Not too sore, are you?

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    Let's pray that this John had a properly adjusted sense of self worth and. A healthy sense of self loathing as well as some empathy.

    I still fully expect him to be a dick.
     
  30. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    "shine"
     
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