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

[Mr Zoat]

not that I know of, and what will happen to his son from Zod and Ursa, he was supposed to travel in time and stuff and Zod's army that were Kryptonian cafa that was in the phantom zone?

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...

 

[Frozen20XX]

I think Fluttershy runs a pet shop/grooming parlor, though I have read fanfics where she's a famous 'romance' writer under a pen name.

I'm pretty sure that Pinkie works in the Cake's bakery and was homeschooled.

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The pet shop was the job Human Fluttershy had. Though, in season seven, Pony Fluttershy opened up an open-space animal sanctuary, so she's presumably running that unless Renegade somehow butterfly effected that from happening.

Can confirm Pinkie has been shown working at the bakery.

 

[Ct613hulu]

I haven't watched series 4, and I probably won't. Is a reason given for the nice blond blue-eyed Lor-Zod being evil and black?

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The original timeline is that General Zod and his Krpytonian followers were only freed from the Phantom Zone in the 31st century. They were paroled and placed on Daxam (a planet with a red sun) but eventually escaped as part of a revolt against the United Planets. This revolt was foiled by the Legion of Superheroes and all the Kryptonians except for Lor-Zod (who was a child at the time) were sent to the Phantom Zone as punishment. Lor-Zod sought to use time travel to stop the Legion from ever forming by eliminating their inspiration (Superboy) and free his parents from the Phantom Zone in the past.

I though the different ethnicity for Lor-Zod was a subtle reference to the AU movie "Justice league: Gods and Monsters" which uses Dru-Zod having hispanic features as a major plot point.

 

[Mr Zoat]

The original timeline is that General Zod and his Krpytonian followers were only freed from the Phantom Zone in the 31st century. They were paroled and placed on Daxam (a planet with a red sun) but eventually escaped as part of a revolt against the United Planets. This revolt was foiled by the Legion of Superheroes and all the Kryptonians except for Lor-Zod (who was a child at the time) were sent to the Phantom Zone as punishment. Lor-Zod sought to use time travel to stop the Legion from ever forming by eliminating their inspiration (Superboy) and free his parents from the Phantom Zone in the past.

I though the different ethnicity for Lor-Zod was a subtle reference to the AU movie "Justice league: Gods and Monsters" which uses Dru-Zod having hispanic features as a major plot point.

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...

I'm not using any of that.

They should just have made a new character if they wanted to go that far off-base.

And it wasn't a plot point in Gods and Monsters. The fact that his adoptive parents were from Mexico was basically irrelevant. They could have come from any war zone and the story would be the same. No one had a problem with him because he looked like he might be Mexican.

The pet shop was the job Human Fluttershy had. Though, in season seven, Pony Fluttershy opened up an open-space animal sanctuary, so she's presumably running that unless Renegade somehow butterfly effected that from happening.

Can confirm Pinkie has been shown working at the bakery.

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Rainbow Dash got Tank from Fluttershy, and the other animals that took part in that contest also came from her home. She also groomed Rarity's cat.

 

[Ct613hulu]

And it wasn't a plot point in Gods and Monsters. The fact that his adoptive parents were from Mexico was basically irrelevant. They could have come from any war zone and the story would be the same. No one had a problem with him because he looked like he might be Mexican.

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I thought that it was pretty blatant that the differing relationship with the United States government and conventional sources of authority (pure patriotism and idealism vs challenging authority and cynical ruthlessness) was directly inspired by the differing experiences they had growing up (white cis male citizen in an idealized American heartland vs Hispanic illegal immigrant on the outskirts of society).

I am also basing much of my interpretation of the character on his mini-comic. It has trauma from racism towards Hispanics and the abuse from of life as an exploited illegal immigrant in the U.S shown as one of the reasons for this version of superman's anti-hero / villainous personality and ruthlessness.

We can't seem to share downloaded images so I am posting a direct link to the comic. Not sure if this is allowed by forum rules so I will remove the link if this is a problem.

https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Justice-League-Gods-Monsters-Superman-I/Issue-2?id=138525#8

 

[Frozen20XX]

Rainbow Dash got Tank from Fluttershy, and the other animals that took part in that contest also came from her home. She also groomed Rarity's cat.

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Fair enough. For the former, I only recalled it being a one-of event. For the latter, I didn't remember ever seeing that episode, though I can buy her being a freelance pet groomer though. Has to earn money somehow.

 

[Zarthrax]

Is there any way to find just the Earth 12 snippets? I want to reread all of them, but my Google fu is failing me.

 

[Prince Charon]

I haven't watched series 4, and I probably won't. Is a reason given for the nice blond blue-eyed Lor-Zod being evil and black?

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Because the people in charge were idiots?

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July 2013
09:25 GMT

"I appreciate that it's only a palliative, but it should hold off the symptoms of the disease until you can come up with something better."

Aarden nods as he takes hold of it. "Thank you, Lantern, Arsenal. Without you, my people would be dead or dying."

Arsenal nods, looking away from the earnest New God slightly bashfully. "No problem. We don't exactly follow the Prime Directive."

Aarden looks at him blankly, then shakes his head. "I have no idea what that is. Did you really violate your people's most fundamental laws to aid us? Are you an outcast now?"

"Ah, no, sorry. It's a-. Sorry."

Aarden moves his gaze from Roy to me in the hopes of an explanation.

"Few members of my species leave our homeworld. 'Prime Directive' is a reference to popular fiction, in which the United Federation of Planets has a very strict policy of not intervening in the cultures of non-members. We -on the other hand- are free to intervene as we like."

He nods. "For which we are all grateful. Are you the Lantern assigned to this Sector?"

"No, the Orange Lantern Corps does not currently have a Lantern assigned to this Sector."

"Then..?"

"Darkseid Anti-Lifed our homeworld. We-."

His face falls. "Then you have my deepest condolences."

"No, it's fine, we got rid of it, but it looks like someone is messing around with the abandoned New God technology-" He looks a little blank. "-and we wanted to check that you haven't had any disappearances."

He shakes his head. "I don't think so. I have been more worried about the dying than whether someone had vanished."

I nod. "Please check. And we should probably look around the area anyway, in case someone fell ill while they were out hunting."

He nods. "We sent people out, but by the time we realised how serious it was, we were all feeling the effects."

"And please remember that we've treated the symptoms. We haven't cured the underlying-" Roy realises something and reaches for his utility pouches. "-condition."

Roy pulls out a healing potion and holds it up. "Would this work?"

Huh. The alchemy involved doesn't just heal injuries, but encourages the proper function of the body through magic. New God are highly resistant to disease by default, so…

I shrug, looking at Aarden. "It's a healing potion. It was designed for my species, but the magic involved should work on yours perfectly well. It doesn't cure disease but it might boost your immune system to the point that you can overcome it yourself."

He nods. "What is the chance that you are mistaken?"

"I-." I frown. "Arsenal, as far as you know, has Canis ever used one of those?"

Roy shrugs. "I don't really spend much time with him. Hey, can this disease affect us?"

"Your armour's C.B.R.N. resistant and I've got an environmental shield. And since we're not New Gods, I should just be able to remove the disease from our bodies if we do get infected."

Aarden looks confused. "Why not use your ring on us?"

"Your metaphysical presence interferes with construct formation. There's probably some… Horrible torture device from your ancient history that would weaken your resilience to the point where I could, but I've got no idea what it would be called or where to find it."

Aarden shakes his head. "We don't torture people here. If you want that sort of machinery, you'd need to visit Supertown."

"Or Apokolips, presumably."

"The last time Apokolips attacked us, it was with an army of soldiers riding on dogs." I wince inwardly on Canis's behalf. "Before that, giant insectoid monsters. Their descendants still live here, though they've calmed down a lot. Neither are diseases. You are right when you say that we are resistant to them; Apokolips undoubtably has disease weapons, but I have never heard of them being used against New Gods."

I nod. "I have no records of other New Gods using our healing potions. It shouldn't cause an adverse reaction, but I can't promise that."

He nods, taking the vial from Roy. "Do you have more?"

"I have enough for twenty doses stored in subspace. Arsenal?"

"Five more."

Aarden nods, and downs the potion. He then blinks in surprise. "I was expecting it to taste worse."

Roy nods. "The guy who made it had a bad experience with bad-tasting medicine. He didn't want anyone associating him with that sort of flavor."

"I can understand his… Huh."

"Problem?"

"I can feel it innervating me. Our medicine works in the same way."

"Huh. Would you mind if I took some samples back? Kid Flash would love to analyse them."

"Of course! That's the least we can do! But I will warn you now: our plants seldom grow well on other worlds."

I nod. "I'll pass that on." I turn to Roy. "Arsenal, please join the search parties. And keep an eye on the people with you. We don't know how this disease responds to repeated purple healing ray exposure."

"You think we might be healing the disease?"

"It doesn't work like that with Earth diseases, but this infected New Gods. I don't know for certain. Keep an eye out."

He nods. "Right. What are you doing?"

I wave my hands, a construct laboratory bench appearing. "I'm going to be trying to analyse the disease directly. If it's on a database somewhere, then I can fabricate a cure. If not… Then I can send a message to Earth and see if anyone has a better idea."

He nods. "What about Supertown?"

We look at Aarden, who shifts uncomfortably. "I agree that they have no reason to use an artificial disease on us. But they are one of the few who could." He shakes his head. "I do not want to involve them until we have no choice."

"Then that's what we do."

 

[Darko]

healing potion and hold

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"holds"

 

[Vaermina]

So... What are the chances that the origin of this disease is Orange Lantern infecting Orion with the Butchers Blood?

 

[Darko]

So... What are the chances that the origin of this disease is Orange Lantern infecting Orion with the Butchers Blood?

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I'd say it's probably very low.

They're not acting like bloodthirsty berserkers, so the chances of them having the disease are low to non-existent.

 

[Ngamer11]

We look at Aarden, who shifts uncomfortably. "I agree that they have no reason to use a artificial disease on us. But they are one of the few who could." He shakes his head. "I do not want to involve them until we have no choice."

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That should say 'an'.

 

[Mr Zoat]

For the latter, I didn't remember ever seeing that episode, though I can buy her being a freelance pet groomer though. Has to earn money somehow.

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Stare Master.

Because the people in charge were idiots?

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No, them being idiots would imply that it was accidental.

I thought that it was pretty blatant that the differing relationship with the United States government and conventional sources of authority (pure patriotism and idealism vs challenging authority and cynical ruthlessness) was directly inspired by the differing experiences they had growing up (white cis male citizen in an idealized American heartland vs Hispanic illegal immigrant on the outskirts of society).

I am also basing much of my interpretation of the character on his mini-comic. It has trauma from racism towards Hispanics and the abuse from of life as an exploited illegal immigrant in the U.S shown as one of the reasons for this version of superman's anti-hero / villainous personality and ruthlessness.

We can't seem to share downloaded images so I am posting a direct link to the comic. Not sure if this is allowed by forum rules so I will remove the link if this is a problem.

https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Justice-League-Gods-Monsters-Superman-I/Issue-2?id=138525#8

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I don't know if anyone's ever explained this to America, but you know that no one else thinks that 'Hispanics' are a thing, right? In Europe, we have Actual Spain, and we don't think of them as being a separate race.

It's also a little frustrating that SuperZod hasn't realised that if he took the two weeks it would take for him to end Mexican cartels, most Mexicans would happily stay in their now-safe country. Even locating and removing their paid for politicians wouldn't take him much more than a month.

Is there any way to find just the Earth 12 snippets? I want to reread all of them, but my Google fu is failing me.

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Google, settings, advanced search, search the Story Only thread for the phrase 'Earth 12'.

"holds"

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That should say 'an'.

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[BR549]

We look at Aarden, who shifts uncomfortably. "I agree that they have no reason to use an artificial disease on us. But they are one of the few who could." He shakes his head. "I do not want to involve them until we have no choice."

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To be entirely fair to Aarden, that's a completely rational viewpoint: you don't react to people, on a political basis at least, based on intent, you react to them based on capabilities.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

23rd July 2013
09:25 GMT

"I appreciate that it's only a palliative, but it should hold off the symptoms of the disease until you can come up with something better."

Aarden nods as he takes hold of it. "Thank you, Lantern, Arsenal. Without you, my people would be dead or dying."

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Only forty minutes or so to treat everyone? That was quick, even with Purple Healing Rays. I guess they don't have a large population, even with children. And quite a few unusually distinct biomorphs, it seems. Rock shoulder-spikes? Crazy.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Arsenal nods, looking away from the earnest New God slightly bashfully. "No problem. We don't exactly follow the Prime Directive."

Aarden look at him blankly, then shakes his head. "I have no idea what that is. Did you really violate your people's most fundamental laws to aid us? Are you an outcast now?"

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Roy really needs to learn, not everyone shares the same pool of pop cultural references.

"Ah, no, sorry. It's a-. Sorry."

Aarden moves his gaze from Roy to me in the hopes of an explanation.

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'So is he just an idiot, or is he making some sort of joke?' is a very reasonable thing to check.

"Few members of my species leave our homeworld. 'Prime Directive' is a reference to popular fiction, in which the United Federation of Planets has a very strict policy of not intervening in the cultures of non-members. We -on the other hand- are free to intervene as we like."

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And while it's mostly a good policy, there really needed to be exceptions for extenuating circumstances, or you get starship captains going maverick to protect pre-spaceflight populations from, say, killer diseases or natural disasters...

He nods. "For which we are all grateful. Are you the Lantern assigned to this Sector?"

"No, the Orange Lantern Corps does not currently have a Lantern assigned to this Sector."

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They're not exactly a policing agency, after all. No need to place roaming sheriffs when the Greenies manage that just fine.

"Then..?"

"Darkseid Anti-Lifed our homeworld. We-."

His face falls. "Then you have my deepest condolences."

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Earth isn't the first to cop a hit, of course...

"No, it's fine, we got rid of it, but it looks like someone is messing around with the abandoned New God technology-" He looks a little blank. "-and we wanted to check that you haven't had any disappearances."

He shakes his head. "I don't think so. I have been more worried about the dying than whether someone had vanished."

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...But we might have been the first to get rid of it that easily or quickly. As for the tech, I somehow doubt the Primitives would care for it much anyway.

I nod. "Please check. And we should probably look around the area anyway, in case someone fell ill while they were out hunting."

He nods. "We sent people out, but by the time we realised how serious it was, we were all feeling the effects."

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Which means you may be needing to send out rescue parties now for the rescue parties...

"And please remember that we've treated the symptoms. We haven't cured the underlying-" Roy realises something and reaches for his utility pouches. "-condition."

Roy pulls out a healing potion and holds it up. "Would this work?"

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...Huh, that might actually work. I doubt Wally's managed to make Panacea potions, but he might also be able to prepare something that reinforces the immune system beyond the basic healing.

Huh. The alchemy involved doesn't just heal injuries, but encourages the proper function of the body through magic. New God are highly resistant to disease by default, so…

I shrug, looking at Aarden. "It's a healing potion. It was designed for my species, but the magic involved should work on yours perfectly well. It doesn't cure disease but it might boost your immune system to the point that you can overcome it yourself."

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If anything, their mana-rich biology should make it even more effective. The question is how well this will work compared to their own.

He nods. "What is the chance that you are mistaken?"

"I-." I frown. "Arsenal, as far as you know, has Canis ever used one of those?"

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Eh, he probably toughs it out whenever he can in the name of Nietzschean self-improvement...

Roy shrugs. "I don't really spend much time with him. Hey, can this disease affect us?"

"Your armour's C.B.R.N. resistant and I've got an environmental shield. And since we're not New Gods, I should just be able to remove the disease from our bodies if we do get infected."

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Doesn't rule the possibility of it being spiritually-transmitted, though. I hope they're wearing spell-eaters under there.

Aarden looks confused. "Why not use your ring on us?"

"Your metaphysical presence interferes with construct formation. There's probably some… Horrible torture device from your ancient history that would weaken your resilience to the point where I could, but I've got no idea what it would be called or where to find it."

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And well, torture device. It would not be pleasant to use it or have it used on you, just to cure an illness.

Aarden shakes his head. "We don't torture people here. If you want that sort of machinery, you'd need to visit Supertown."

"Or Apokolips, presumably."

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I'd honestly be surprised if any device on Apokalips didn't include some kind of pain-inflicting aspect.

"The last time Apokolips attacked us, it was with an army of soldiers riding on dogs." I wince inwardly on Canis's behalf. "Before that, giant insectoid monsters. Their descendants still live here, though they've calmed down a lot. Neither are diseases. You are right when you say that we are resistant to them; Apokolips undoubtably has disease weapons, but I have never heard of them being used against New Gods."

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No doubt because they have immunisations against the sort of things that would get thrown at them.

I nod. "I have no records of other New Gods using our healing potions. It shouldn't cause an adverse reaction, but I can't promise that."

He nods, taking the vial from Roy. "Do you have more?"

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I doubt they have enough for everyone. There must be what, hundreds of Primitives in this tribe?

"I have enough for twenty doses stored in subspace. Arsenal?"

"Five more."

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I assume one vial is one dose. Easier to regulate usage.

Aarden nods, and downs the potion. He then blinks in surprise. "I was expecting it to taste worse."

Roy nods. "The guy who made it had a bad experience with bad-tasting medicine. He didn't want anyone associating him with that sort of flavor."

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The trick is making it nice enough to get down without gagging or gurning at the taste, but not so tasty you want to use it when it's not needed...

"I can understand his… Huh."

"Problem?"

"I can feel it innervating me. Our medicine works in the same way."

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The opposite of 'enervation', I take it. That is, he's getting filled with mystic energy instead of being deeply tired. So this is more like a divine energy drink with an immune-boosting effect?

"Huh. Would you mind if I took some samples back? Kid Flash would love to analyse them."

"Of course! That's the least we can do! But I will warn you now: our plants seldom grow well on other worlds."

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Thinner thaumospheres, no doubt. I wonder if Earth would be an exception due to the Life Entity?

I nod. "I'll pass that on." I turn to Roy. "Arsenal, please join the search parties. And keep an eye on the people with you. We don't know how this disease responds to repeated purple healing ray exposure."

"You think we might be healing the disease?"

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If it even is a disease and not something bacterial or microbial parasites or something exotic.

"It doesn't work like that with Earth diseases, but this infected New Gods. I don't know for certain. Keep an eye out."

He nods. "Right. What are you doing?"

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Science! Well, as best he can do it without a degree in medicine or microbiology. That's what the Ring AI is for.

I wave my hands, a construct laboratory bench appearing. "I'm going to be trying to analyse the disease directly. If it's on a database somewhere, then I can fabricate a cure. If not… Then I can send a message to Earth and see if anyone has a better idea."

He nods. "What about Supertown?"

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They're about due for a vocal check-in with Team S, aren't they?

We look at Aarden, who shifts uncomfortably. "I agree that they have no reason to use an artificial disease on us. But they are one of the few who could." He shakes his head. "I do not want to involve them until we have no choice."

"Then that's what we do."

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Understandable caution, but what if they're in danger of being affected next? Wouldn't it be neighbourly to let them know?

I find it amusing he bothered with the construct, but it's a good way to indicate 'Science in progress' to avoid interruptions. I wonder if contacting NEMO could also help identify or treat this thing. Not on-site, obviously, but conferring with the Controllers might shake some obscure detail loose from someone's eons-long memory.

 

[crazygrox]

But I will warn you now: our plants seldom grow well on other worlds

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Talk to euanthe the super dryad and Pamela isley?

I think they still have the ability to grow wood that burns demons. Idunno whether they ever went through with the plan to make all plants on earth burn demons though.

 

[Duke Long]

"I can feel it innervating me. Our medicine works in the same way."

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He's being filled with nerves?

I nod. "I'll pass that on." I turn to Roy. "Arsenal, please join the search parties. And keep an eye on the people with you. We don't know how this disease responds to repeated purple healing ray exposure."

"You think we might be healing the disease?"

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Or it could have adaptive properties.

I don't know if anyone's ever explained this to America, but you know that no one else thinks that 'Hispanics' are a thing, right? In Europe, we have Actual Spain, and we don't think of them as being a separate race.

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I do agree that a lot of 'Hispanic' people would really be considered white in Europe (of course, it would depend somewhat on which side of the Mediterranean they were born on), but don't at least some of them have indigenous American ancestry?

 

[CrazyNoVa]

Or it could have adaptive properties.

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Wait a minute. A self-evolving disease with adaptive properties?

Could it be the Hypertaxis virus?

 

[Silveraith]

Aarden look at him blankly

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Looks.

 

[Wivk]

Wait a minute. A self-evolving disease with adaptive properties?

Could it be the Hypertaxis virus?

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I thought it was maybe something contaminating their thaumosphere, but thats a good guess too.

 

[Stsword]

Wait a minute. A self-evolving disease with adaptive properties?

Could it be the Hypertaxis virus?

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Doubtful, Zoat doesn't care for post flashpoint comics.

For those unfamiliar- DC made the humans of Earth in the 31st century take a turn to being massively xenophobic shits.

Like there was a baby who was an obvious Superman expy shown landing on Earth only for the human couple to shoot it to death. "Die alien invader scum!"

Humans lynched an alien woman for the crime of being an alien.

Her brother was a geneticist, he decided he'd destroy humanity.

Not by killing all humans but by making a virus that implanted alien DNA taking away the humanity the bigots valued so highly.

He then travelled to the 21st century to release his virus.

So the survivors might just get alien superpowers for their trouble.

Although I think it's an interesting concept, I'd be surprised if Zoat used it.

 

[DeathReaperZ]

He's not. As per the comic, his 'head' is stuck on his shoulders on a frame.

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I like to imagine he has wooden stilts to control the arms and legs lol.

While under the influence of the Ophidian, the SI made a very big cake. That and the giant naked statue are his most embarrassing moments.

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Oh that cake. Was it tasty enough to the point where he asked for the recipe?

The comic doesn't explain it, but I imagine that it either literally vanishes, becomes impossible to find or people find that they've mistakenly shredded it.

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Vanishes is probably the best answer in this case.

He has both Demon Nabu and Satannus as constructs. But given how old and powerful they both are, he doesn't want to take risks. In the comics the Construct Lanterns were able to regain flesh.

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Yeah I remember those, but he could just nab an evil mid-tier sorcerer or something.

That's for freezing biological samples.

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Medical work then? Or perhaps you visited your dad's lab once?

His tattoos are fascinating.

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So he wants his skin. Like that one guy who bought the skin of some dude after he died because it was covered in beautiful tattoos.

View: https://youtu.be/jA5p3RAxGPU?si=B6zU5Ltqx-dlWhIn

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Nice sentiment and all that, but this is Zeus. I doubt he'd change much within his lifetime as a mortal to the point where he won't immediately go back to abusing his powers in a more stealthy way. Perhaps drip feeding him his power every decade could help without resulting in a revenge arc.

When you're a superhero, you just have to know these things.

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Especially when the villain of the week happens to be the grinch.

His boss wouldn't give him a raise.

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Honestly not the worst reason, unless he was raking in the cash

It was a gag.

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Wonder if they thought he had a frog in his throat or something

It's a bad plan, but if I had to guess they want the Light to know about it but want plausible deniability for the general public.

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I mean they could get a better alibi if they made up a new villain. What was their plan for when M'gann decided to cosplay as a villain that was in custody? Hopefully they checked beforehand at least.

 

[PDV]

I don't know if anyone's ever explained this to America, but you know that no one else thinks that 'Hispanics' are a thing, right? In Europe, we have Actual Spain, and we don't think of them as being a separate race.

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Castillians and Catalonians etc. aren't Hispanic, in the sense of the word people actually use rather than the one it originally technically meant. That's like saying no one else but New Zealand thinks Maori are a thing.

 

[Zig]

It's also a little frustrating that SuperZod hasn't realised that if he took the two weeks it would take for him to end Mexican cartels, most Mexicans would happily stay in their now-safe country. Even locating and removing their paid for politicians wouldn't take him much more than a month.

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While that Superman is slightly more willing to kill and throw his weight around for global issues than mainline Superman, he's still Superman at his core.

 

[Prince Charon]

No, them being idiots would imply that it was accidental.

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I mean that I think they did that combination of changes for a stupid reason, not that I thought it was in any way accidental.

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July 2013
10:24 GMT -7

"Ah, Grayven?" Starlight looks up at me in surprise as I trot into her office. "I didn't know you were visiting today?" She smiles awkwardly, but less awkwardly than she used to so I'm calling that progress. "Is this a surprise inspection?"

"Oh, no, I just…" Uh. "Are you aware that Sunset Shimmer has been taking Twilight Sparkle to cult survivor-" Starlight flinches. "-meetings? Was that a 'yes'?"

"No… But… How does that work, exactly? The.. cult thing, I mean."

"Well, humans aren't herd animals in quite the same way that ponies are, but they can be… Ah, 'brainwashed' into herd-like obedience by people who know how to manipulate certain instinctive behavioural patterns. But it's not unbreakable, and if people who are heading in that direction can talk it through with other people who've been in the same position, it… Helps."

"Huh." Starlight looks thoughtful. "I didn't know Princess Twilight was interested in human psychology. Do you.. think they'd mind if I tagged along?"

"Ah-. Probably not? But Sunset was taking Twilight because she feels that Twilight has a cultist-like reverence for Celestia that's not healthy for her, so she's encouraging her to meet people who've been in a similar position. I don't think Twilight's.. really picking up on that, but it.. gets Sunset out of the house and socialising and that's the main thing."

"I've never been a cult member before-. But I suppose the entire pony species' obsession with special talents is pretty similar."

"Not exactly, because there's no charismatic leader-. But we're getting away from the point. I went to Twilight to talk to her about it, and we got onto the topic of her opening a school-."

"Like Sunset's magic school in the human world?"

"No, it was some sort of friendship theology school. Point is, it came up that she never formally graduated from Celestia's school, so-."

Poof!

I turn my head, immediately spotting the somewhat-frazzled Twilight, the flash of her teleportation fading as she jerks her head maniacally around. I raise my right forehoof in her direction.

"Twilight-!"

Poof!

And she's gone again.

Hurr.

"So she's gotten a bit scatty, and I thought I'd be here so that Celestia can shout at me without having to travel to Ponyville. But in the meantime, I thought that I'd check up on you."

She nods. "So you do want a status update on my projects."

"No, I mean… Heh, if anyone should be aware of the folly of treating someone as being purely a repository for their special talent, it's you. I respect the work you've been doing, but I don't want to chain you to your laboratory."

She frowns. "But I like my laboratory. I'm making progress fixing things here."

"You mean…. You're exercising your special talent and doing nothing else."

She draws herself up, takes a deep breath, and then sags slightly. "I… Guess..? But until I can fix… Whatever it is that stops ponies learning things after their special talent gets removed, I can't just get rid of it."

Oh dear. "Troubleshoes still struggling to pick up new skills?"

She sighs. "Yes! I should have known it wouldn't be so easy, but the moment I saw his cutie marks removed and he started being able to walk across a room without destroying it, I thought I'd… Arrived, you know? And then I started doing the cognition testing-. Just as you suggested, and it's virtually impossible for him to learn new skills. And I'm comparing to how he learned things while he still had his mark. We even gave it back to him to make sure it hadn't damaged his brain, and he immediately went back to being able to learn normally. And yet, unmarked foals can learn new skills without cutie marks just fine."

I nod sympathetically. "I didn't think you'd be able to solve the problem in a few months. I assume that it's not just him?"

"No, I was able to replicate my findings with my other volunteers. I'd.. like to find out what it feels like for myself, but I can't take the risk of losing my special talent in magic. It's just so-. Frustrating."

"Oh? Do you want to get rid of your special talent? I didn't think it came with a downside."

She sighs. "I know it will make using magic harder, but I'd feel like I'd earned it, not just been given it by… Chance, or-" She waves her right forehoof. "-however it works. And I don't know what having this special talent is preventing me from doing. Just because it's not as overt as Troubleshoe's sabotage, that doesn't mean it's not happening. And I wouldn't even know about it."

I nod. "I suppose that if the reversals so far haven't had any adverse effects, you could just increase your staff."

She slumps against her desk. "I wish. Do you know how rare pure magic special talents are?"

"Given that there's a whole school for gifted unicorns, reasonably common?"

She shakes her head. "Most students have a magic-related talent. Having somepony have a talent in all forms of magic is really rare. Unheard of, actually." I frown. "Twilight only actually knows less than a dozen spells. Most of her most impressive feats are using really strong thaumokinesis, magic blasts or the Elements of Harmony. I'm a technically better spell caster, but I struggle a lot with research and theory. My special talent wants me to learn by doing, which is fine for me but doesn't let me explain what I'm doing to other people, and… Can result in me just repeating other ponies' work without realising it."

"What about Sunset?"

Starlight nods. "She's the closest I can think of to a theoretical 'pure' magic talent. I haven't noticed any weaknesses, and she sure hasn't mentioned having any. But does that mean that she actually doesn't, or just that she isn't noticing it?"

"Alright. So how about getting someone who can cover your weakness." She winces, averting her gaze. "Problem?"

She loosens her muscles, breathing in slowly, holding, and then breathing out again. "You.. said that ponies are herd animals. Do you know what pony herd structures are actually like?"

"I know what primitive pony herd structures are like on Earth."

"It's.. probably the same thing. And you're… Research shows that ponies instinctively see the Princesses as a cross between 'mom' and 'lead mare', and I'm pretty sure that I'm instinctively seeing you as 'herd stallion'."

"Ah, no offence intended, but I consider my relationship with Luna-."

She blushes, recoiling. "I don't mean like that. I mean, I instinctively feel safe around you-"

I shrug. "I'm glad-."

"-which is irrational, but-." She huffs. "When I was a filly, I used to do research with a guy called Sunburst. He was way better at theory than me. And then… Some things happened, and I haven't seen him for a while."

"I learned from Sunset that I should enquire what 'some things' are in advance."

"What? Oh, I got angry about him getting accepted into…" She looks around. "This school, when I didn't. That was when I started realising that there was something wrong with cutie marks."

"But… You're a magic talent. Why didn't you get accepted?"

"You can't apply before you get your cutie mark. He got his before me. And I… Probably could have applied a few months later when I got mine, but at that point I was too focused on overcoming the system to want to."

"Alright. Write a letter to him and offer him a job. The worst that can happen is that he could say 'no'."

"It's just… I haven't spoken to him since… Which, okay, wasn't the most sensible thing to do. It wasn't his fault that he got his mark when he did. And his parents probably didn't even ask him before they sent the application in. It's just… It's a bit awkward."

"Do you want me to come with you and hold your hoof?"

She opens her mouth to reply, then closes it again, looking thoughtful.

"Maybe a little?"

 

[WereDragon]

snip

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One of Grayven's 'not redeemed but re-aimed' villain projects. Not something he puts anything like as much effort into as Illustrious but his successes do tend to be more cute.

She draws herself up, takes a deep breath, and then sags slightly. "I… Guess..? But until I can fix… Whatever it is that stops ponies learning things after their special talent gets removed, I can't just get rid of it."

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And to the surprise of no one (sane) ripping out a chunk of someone's fundamental nature has some knock-on effects.

"It's.. probably the same thing. And you're… Research shows that ponies instinctively see the Princesses as a cross between 'mom' and 'lead mare', and I'm pretty sure that I'm instinctively seeing you as 'herd stallion'."

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Oh that is nothing to do with you or your primitive pony brain. That is the result of his divinity pressuring you to adopt a shape more in line with his subconscious will. You get used to it.

I forget, does she have a set of wings yet?

 

[Duke Long]

"Ah, Grayven?" Starlight looks up at me in surprised as I trot into her office. "I didn't know you were visiting today?" She smiles awkwardly, but less awkwardly than she used to so I'm calling that progress. "Is this a surprise inspection?"

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'surprise'

Fairly interesting chapter. I like this sort of magical research or whatever you'd call it, though I continue to not have huge interest in Grayven's interactions with ponies more generally.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Looks.

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Thank you, corrected.

Although I think it's an interesting concept, I'd be surprised if Zoat used it.

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No, in my timeline it was the Reach's attempts to generate populations that reliably generated individuals with specific superpowers than caused that.

Medical work then? Or perhaps you visited your dad's lab once?

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My dad -prior to his retirement- was a college biology teacher. UK college, so mostly 17-18 year olds. He didn't do a lot with nitrogen. The blood bank where I work on the other hand has about fifty large tanks filled with nitrogen and blood, and two giant ones filled with nitrogen.

Honestly not the worst reason, unless he was raking in the cash

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He was a working class guy who got college, up to and including multiple doctorates, funded by his employer.

Castillians and Catalonians etc. aren't Hispanic, in the sense of the word people actually use rather than the one it originally technically meant. That's like saying no one else but New Zealand thinks Maori are a thing.

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The Maori look different from English-descended New Zealanders. And I hate to break it to the Castillians and Catalonians, but no one else thinks of them as being separate, and even if they did, they'd be a separate cultural group, not a racial one.

I forget, does she have a set of wings yet?

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No. Starlight Glimmer was never really interested in magic power for its own sake, and doesn't want to have to spend time relearning magic when she has research to do.

'surprise'

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Thank you, corrected.