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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. MajorPane

    MajorPane Getting sticky.

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    Paul, you don't see any problem with being a little more Orderly? You don't already have a Chaotic Lady and Savior who you have accepted into your heart? You don't think Eris might decide you need to be... instructed on how to be a more faithful follower?
     
  2. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    "combined"

    "drops"

    "quiet"

    "gives"

    Along with killing some guy and stealing their face.
     
  3. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    You can't make an omlet without killing someone and stealing their face.
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2022
  4. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Paul has a habit of forgetting things like that.

    Just look at most of his interactions with Luthor.

    It is if the other person is a necrophilliac and finds rotting skin appealing.

    And knowing John, he probably does know some necrophilliacs.
     
  5. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    The Yellow Aliens from Animal Man explain it best. 'He wasn't a major character, he didn't even have the bare bones of characterisation. 'Killing' him to heighten tension is entirely reasonable.'
     
  6. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

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    Mr Zoat, since this episode seems to be winding down, can we the Constantine family reunion where Paul brings John's long lost nephew?
     
  7. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    That will probably happen at some point, but it won't be tomorrow. Everyone involved is going to want to make sure that John's heada is on straight before doing anything like that.
     
  8. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

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    Good to know. Also, just for fun, I tried to think of possible candidates for vulnerable young women who could end up falling for Paul the way Zatanna and Kara did. Secret might be a possibility, assuming we see her as an agent of Mammon in the future. Looking for candidates from the comics got me Allure of the Relative Heroes. She has ties to a Greek god, so Paul might be sent by Hephaestaean to look for Eryx only to find Allure and her siblings fighting/fleeing the god. Any chance these obscure characters can end up in the story?
     
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  9. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Not unless I've already read stuff with them in it. And in their case, I haven't.
     
  10. Tyrantviewer

    Tyrantviewer lord of all I survey

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    If thats a requirement for what you will include, I applaud the breadth of your exploration of DC comic's works, the only comparable author would be Ryuugi on spacebattles, I don't know how thoroughly he reads his source material but considering his information tabs occationally extend into mini essays on the various settings I assume he puts in the work.

    By the by loved this arc, looking forward to more, thanks for all the work you put into this story.
     
  11. inglorius

    inglorius Getting sticky.

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    Damn, I was doing it all wrong then.
     
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  12. Bud-E

    Bud-E Stand up so I can push you down!

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    Mr Zoat how long was Demon-Constantine pretending to be someone else and dating I forget her name?
     
  13. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    I don't have a specific duration in mind.
     
  14. Coda

    Coda Versed in the lewd.

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    Is it really a good idea to ask someone to explain the Anti-Life?!



    Anti-Life is the purest spiritual representation of entropy. Its purity makes it orderly, but its end state is undifferentiated chaos.

    Famous last words...




    Corrections follow:

    border

    Either a semicolon, or "say anything, but just" (or maybe "say anything, but he just" but that doesn't scan as nicely to me)

    Replace comma with full stop

    Usually "snapped-off"

    Since you don't finish the sentence, the intended meaning might be clearer if you were to say "followed by a bruised and battered" or "carrying a bruised and battered" or something.
     
  15. Bud-E

    Bud-E Stand up so I can push you down!

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    Mr Zoat what is the scepter Quinn was holding?
     
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  16. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    It would have been something like 'a bruised and battered John Constantine in his arms'.
     
  17. Coda

    Coda Versed in the lewd.

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    That was my point. It isn't clear from what was written that Sandman was carrying him; Constantine could have been following him instead. My suggestion was to move the action to the front of the phrase to communicate that more clearly.
     
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  18. rkyeun

    rkyeun Cabbitus Maximus

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    Now now, Eris is the goddess of strife and discord, not of chaos. Strife and discord are perfectly easy to make orderly. Just invent social media. Now everyone is having their strife and discord in a perfectly ordered way.
     
  19. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    It will be really interesting to see the merged John. And hopefully it won't be something that makes Earth shake in fear...
     
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  20. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    Paul was already very orderly for a chaos agent; he'll just make chaos out of order while making disorder in an orderly way.

    Very true.
     
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  21. Threadmarks: Tower Offence (part 23)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    9th November 2012
    10:11 GMT +3


    "Fuuuuuuuuhhhhh…"

    From my chair next to John's bed, I beam.

    "Good morning, John."

    His eyes open a little more, but he doesn't appear to be able to focus properly. He opens his mouth.

    "E-uh?"

    "Yes, I know that you said that you didn't want to see me for a while, but you did something rather unwise and I had to-."

    "Where-?" He winces, closing his eyes tight shut for a moment and then opening them up again. "Where am I?"

    "Themyscira. Reformation Island, to be precise. It used to be where the Amazons tried to reform female American criminals, so the women who worked here are a little more used to outsiders than most."

    He looks at his bedding, then around at the room.

    "Fag."

    "Conservative."

    He looks mildly surprised for a moment, then slightly amused. "Cigarette."

    "Amazons don't smoke. It's a filthy habit, though I must say that I'm impressed that you kept it up after being right there when a man died of explosive lung cancer right next to you."

    He flops back in his bed. "Hell. I died, an' that's where I went."

    "Given that you're comprised of two people who both identify as 'The Demon Constantine', I imagine that you'd fit right in."

    "Never said I didn't deserve it. I-?" He winces. "What happened?"

    "What do you remember?"

    "Saw you off in the hospital. Went to Nabu's tower to try and… Dump some of it." He narrows his eyes at me. "How come I'm feeling so normal?"

    "The crystals. Doctor Balewa set up an interference matrix around the island using them to absorb your power."

    "Crystals-? Right, the… Brownies. Yeah. I remember getting hold of them. I remember setting them up with a farm. And I-." He winces. "Something about a machine?"

    "Yes. Impressive piece of work, actually. We're sending images of it to Professor Sephtian to see what he makes of it. Do you remember what it was for?"

    "To balance me out." He frowns, eyes unfocusing again. "It didn't work."

    "No, technically it worked. You appear to have decided to split yourself in two, using your demonic doppelgänger and The Golden Boy as counterweights. We had to fight a version of you who called himself John Quinn."

    "Fuck." He sighs. "Sorry, I was-. Trying t'..."

    "Get your head on straight. I get it."

    "It was like… Two.. great… Things, bellowing in my soul, doing it the whole time."

    "I'm sorry. I should have found someone else for the other half, to handle Order."

    He shakes his head. "I coulda done that. Told you to knock it off, wouldn't change anything if we left it a week. Had t'be at the centre of things."

    I nod sympathetically. "You feeling alright now?"

    "Feel like I'm coming off a week-long bender and the headache hasn't caught up with me just yet." He pushes himself up slightly. "Who got hurt?"

    "Some of the Tower's prisoners got Anti-Lifed, along with the brownies. We killed some of the brownies when we attacked. We haven't seen any evidence of your John Quinn aspect killing anyone, and Demon Constantine Two was too busy dating Kathryn Ryan to-."

    "What?" His eyes open wide, his body tensing. "What did-?"

    "She's fine, just angry."

    He sags a little in relief.

    "We'll be checking up on everything, but we're not expecting to find a warehouse full of bodies or anything. Doctor Balewa is going to occupy the Tower while you're… You're here."

    "Right. Here. Where the tribe of man-hating lesbians put their criminals."

    "No no no. It's where the tribe of man-hating lesbians used to put their criminals."

    "If I lift this sheet off, are my balls still gonna be there?"

    "Amazons don’t go in for mutilation. They tend to treat criminality like a mental disorder."

    He smiles wryly, looking away. "Yeah. Guess I'm here for a while. Least it beats Ravenscar."

    "Healthy exercise in a sub-tropical environment, no alcohol or cigarettes, no demons and a spell set up to prevent you getting driven mad by the Order-Chaos discord."

    He turns his face back to me. "But I'm in prison."

    "You're on a health retreat." I shrug. "I mean… We can't-. We literally can't force you to stay here. But you split yourself in half because you couldn't cope, and that wasn't a clever thing to do."

    He looks away again. "Yeah."

    "And you've got four different sets of memories to sort through."

    "Four?"

    "Yes, the… Demon Constantine decided that the best way to keep you miserable was to make sure that you exist. So now you've got all of him back, which is probably why you felt so strongly about Ms. Ryan. So." I get off the chair next to his bed. "Take it easy and try and get yourself straightened out. I'll visit again tomorrow. Oh, and I'll let Mister Chandler know that you're alright."

    He nods distractedly.

    "So, um…"

    I hold out my right hand. He hesitates.

    "A lot of my friends don’t last all that long."

    "Then you need to get friends who are tougher and not keep risking the squishy people. We walked through a Dream Storm to get to you, you know."

    "Oh yeah?" He leans forward and takes my hand. "Tell me about that-." He appears to get dizzy for a moment, then recovers. "Tomorrow."

    I nod. "I'll see you tomorrow, John. Get well soon."
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2022
  22. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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  23. Pinklestia

    Pinklestia Well worn.

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    Also OH El died like... Three times by now? He literally came back from being split to atoms I think?
     
  24. Lord Ernest

    Lord Ernest At the End...

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    And he's back, ladies and gentlemen. Better and worse than ever, the one and now only, John Constantine!!

    For some reason I'm expecting John and Paul to end up as best buddies for eventual centuries. Who else can cope with the type of crazy stuff that the other gets into? Just imagine, Paul and John, buddy "heroes", kind of fixing up the universe! One fuck up at a time!
     
  25. Zig

    Zig Not too sore, are you?

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    From being hit with qwa matter which is even more impressive
     
  26. DarkBlackJack

    DarkBlackJack What is motivation and why is it keep decreasing

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    John: Usually, the people that is my pal or want to be one died.
    OL: Well, I did that thrice, so suck it up.
     
  27. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Though it would be understandable if they did it to you.
     
  28. PepeTheFrog

    PepeTheFrog Not too sore, are you?

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    I now understand The Splitting. It was more like a diamond shape than I thought.
     
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  29. BlueMangoAdea

    BlueMangoAdea Alive. For now.

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    If they manage to find a permanent solution for keeping John stable, we will finally get a fully powered lord of chaos+order.

    Things are going to be interesting after that. A whole lot of demons are going to die, I suspect.
     
  30. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    And well you should. Oh, this is going to be fun. Rubbing John's big, big mistake in his face probably won't help him any, but it may pound home that it was a stupid plan and maybe he should have looked for help elsewhere. Too used to working alone, I guess.

    Time to see who's home, then. Which John is he today?

    Aw, so eloquent. Hope he feels like he's been on a week-long bender, it'll be a good start.

    Which should make you feel honoured, John. It's been years since they had anyone to look after, so you can expect to be mothered a little. :p

    Now, now. :D OL might not mind you, but he's not that into you.

    Really? Off to ruin what, your third set of lungs already?

    If memory serves me correctly, you also had to swindle three separate Lords of hell to get out of it. I don't think they'll take so kindly to seeing you again.

    Memory loss? Understandable, but a little irritating. Then again, he hasn't been him for months...

    As opposed to what? Flying apart at the seams in a burst of Gold and Red? Well, wasn't that the point of your little vacation?

    Oh, yes. I bet they're very interested in finding out how much you remember of it all.

    Well, good to see it's not a complete blank. I shudder to think what Sephtian made of it, apart from being terrified and possibly aroused. :oops:

    I suspect he just got a little flash of it, didn't he? Still, it wasn't the worst result for a Constantine plan. :oops: Weren't all that many deaths, after all.

    Well, at least they're being quiet for now?

    Yes, you never can seem to trust that other people know what they're doing, can you? Might have to work on that, if you're gonna keep playing in superhero circles, John...

    Ah, good, he is feeling hungover. Not surprised, after playing silly buggers with his soul, Order and Chaos...

    Oh, that's the bit that upsets you? Good to see you're not completely heartless. :p

    Might want to go and apologise to her for all that, though. Preferably with some decent defensive spells, because she will probably give you at least one well-earned punch in the jaw.

    No, where they put American criminals. At least the Tower won't be unguarded while the current owner is indisposed.

    I doubt they'd pull an Endymion on you. They're not that man-starved.

    Better looking nurses, if nothing else. Let's not go hearing about any little Amazonian Constantines running around anytime soon, though. ;)

    A very pleasant prison. Your components did do some bad stuff back there.

    Who knows, this might be good for you. Let you sort things out in peace and quiet.

    Be glad it's only four. You could have split more... :confused: Aw, shit, the Universe is hiding under the bed now... Sorry!

    Boy, that's going to be one heck of an explanation for Chas.
    "So, he split himself into four copies of himself, including two demons, to get his head back together? Typical John." :rolleyes:

    Come on, John, has he ever done you wrong?

    Like it or not, you're a Superhero now, John. And they do everything bigger.

    Now why do I get the feeling he's going to end up developing a Justice League for the mystical side of things one day? :p

    And so the grand hunt for John Constantine comes to a close. And I still have no idea if all the distractions he kept running into were something Quinn or Original John did, or if OL's protagonist energy is just that damn strong. And we're also close to the effective end of another season of 26 episodes, aren't we? Things should get very interesting soon, then.
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2022
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