1. Due to issues with external spam filters, QQ is currently unable to send any mail to Microsoft E-mail addresses. This includes any account at live.com, hotmail.com or msn.com. Signing up to the forum with one of these addresses will result in your verification E-mail never arriving. For best results, please use a different E-mail provider for your QQ address.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. For prospective new members, a word of warning: don't use common names like Dennis, Simon, or Kenny if you decide to create an account. Spammers have used them all before you and gotten those names flagged in the anti-spam databases. Your account registration will be rejected because of it.
    Dismiss Notice
  3. Since it has happened MULTIPLE times now, I want to be very clear about this. You do not get to abandon an account and create a new one. You do not get to pass an account to someone else and create a new one. If you do so anyway, you will be banned for creating sockpuppets.
    Dismiss Notice
  4. If you wish to change your username, please ask via conversation to tehelgee instead of asking via my profile. I'd like to not clutter it up with such requests.
    Dismiss Notice
  5. Due to the actions of particularly persistent spammers and trolls, we will be banning disposable email addresses from today onward.
    Dismiss Notice
  6. A note about the current Ukraine situation: Discussion of it is still prohibited as per Rule 8
    Dismiss Notice
  7. The rules regarding NSFW links have been updated. See here for details.
    Dismiss Notice
  8. The testbed for the QQ XF2 transition is now publicly available. Please see more information here.
    Dismiss Notice

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

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by Mr Zoat, Jan 27, 2019.

Loading...
  1. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2018
    Messages:
    2,117
    Likes Received:
    8,237
    No military training, and I’m assuming no self defense experience of almost any kind. She might know how to use a gun, but no amount of intelligence is going too keep her from being vulnerable to someone walking up to her and punching her in the face out of nowhere. Or allow her to dodge projectiles / teach her to shoot from cover without being shot. She doesn’t have reaction speed or anything like that. Those things are really only gotten from experience and practice, which as a super genius she never needed and doesn’t have. Therefore, she is still a civilian when it comes to combat. Just one with a better gun. At best, she has the equivalent mental experience of a normal soldier when it comes to 1 on 1 combat. However, she’s not physically fit, and won’t last long against any type of concentrated force. She can lay traps, and can take on anyone when prepared, but she’s still vulnerable in day-to-day life.
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2019
    OrigamiPhoenix, Cuchulin and Ardy like this.
  2. Buggy123

    Buggy123 I trust you know where the happy button is?

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2019
    Messages:
    504
    Likes Received:
    3,746
    Depends... on how realistic of a super genius she is, I guess. I'd argue that someone that smart would definitely realize that those are handy and important things to have, and either find a way to acquire them, or find a way to make them unnecessary. But that might not be the case here, because for DC, "genius" generally means "someone who can build ridiculously advanced technology but is otherwise as stupid as your typical righteous face-puncher.".
     
    OrigamiPhoenix and Vorian like this.
  3. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2018
    Messages:
    2,117
    Likes Received:
    8,237
    I’d see it if she was a personally involved villain, or was expecting combat often for some reason, but that’s not the case, so at best she’s gonna have a portable Iron Man/ Dr. Doom suit, and even that is very unlikely. I assume normally she just sends robots or mutant animals to do villainous things for her or something, and hang back in a lab. That won’t cut it when working with people in normal situations.
     
  4. Umbrella_merc

    Umbrella_merc Know what you're doing yet?

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2014
    Messages:
    106
    Likes Received:
    1,035
  5. Tzeentch

    Tzeentch I trust you know where the happy button is?

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2019
    Messages:
    765
    Likes Received:
    6,482
    If what Boss Smiley said was true, that particular embodiment of political corruption has been playing the subtle shoulder devil, convincing heroes and villains alike to adhere to bad habits, fear over releasing advanced technologies, and avoiding any upsets to the Status-quo.

    Needless to say, Boss Smiley would definitely count as the Sivana Family's TRUE archenemy, seeing as he's likely the reason their patriarch was never taken seriously by the scientific community.
    Ah, we'll FINALLY get to see what Mr. Snart's been up to!

    I wonder how his sister feels about the legit, paying work that Paul got him into...
     
    Drode, Prince Charon and Vorian like this.
  6. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,693
    Likes Received:
    728,810
    Lenoard Snart is still very much in prison, and -barring exceptional circumstances- will probably remain there on his current convictions alone until past the end of this story.
     
  7. Ardy

    Ardy I trust you know where the happy button is?

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2017
    Messages:
    640
    Likes Received:
    3,461
    Theres an end to this story???
     
  8. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,693
    Likes Received:
    728,810
    Not... Yet.
     
  9. PDV

    PDV Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2018
    Messages:
    387
    Likes Received:
    1,466
    Every story ends eventually. Just ask Robert Jordan.
     
    Bramble Thorn likes this.
  10. jmartinez8089

    jmartinez8089 Getting out there.

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2019
    Messages:
    20
    Likes Received:
    62
    This is the story that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends. Some people started reading it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue reading it forever just because...
     
  11. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2018
    Messages:
    2,117
    Likes Received:
    8,237
    Zoat could pass it on to the next Zoat and we might never know. Jordan couldn’t.
     
    Cuchulin likes this.
  12. Coda

    Coda Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2019
    Messages:
    1,079
    Likes Received:
    4,181
    Case in point, it's already happened a couple of times, and you weren't aware of it. :V
     
    infinityDivided and Cuchulin like this.
  13. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2018
    Messages:
    2,117
    Likes Received:
    8,237
    I remember those comments though.
     
    Cuchulin likes this.
  14. Caerwen

    Caerwen Know what you're doing yet?

    Joined:
    May 16, 2016
    Messages:
    168
    Likes Received:
    317
    Yeah some stories get to end. other series get run into the ground as the author milks it for all its worth. Looking at you laurell k hamilton who should have stopped around book 3.
     
    Cuchulin likes this.
  15. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2018
    Messages:
    2,117
    Likes Received:
    8,237
    Ever wonder what would have happened in Harry Potter if Rowling kept the tone of the first few books and didn’t get edgy? I mean, obviously it let her keep her core original demographic so it was great for marketing, but I was more of a fan of the first books than the later ones as a kid.
     
  16. Threadmarks: Doppelgängered (part 2)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,693
    Likes Received:
    728,810
    1st February
    07:24 GMT -5


    "Ah, sorry, Orange Lantern." The correctional officer who is escorting me through Belle Reve's entrance looks a little awkward. "With all the work we're having done on the prison, the usual interview rooms are out of action right now."

    "I hope that I'm not putting prison security at risk. I'm happy to reschedule."

    "Prisoners get mighty upset when their schedules aren't kept to. And no, Warden says the people you talk to are all low risk, so there ain't no risk to the prison."

    "I'm pleased that she thinks so highly of my efforts."

    The officer radios his control room and the heavily armoured door in front of us clanks open. This part of the prison is still fairly similar to how it looked when I first started visiting. The arcane containment wing is elsewhere, though there are a few glyphs attached to the walls to extend the simpler security spells to cover the mundane inmates as well.

    Leonard is already waiting with his own slightly burlier escort of two correctional officers on the far side. He doesn't smile when he sees me, but I do get a respectful nod. My escort gets a similar nod from Leonard's escort, then turns to our right and leads the way along one of the interior corridors. I fall in next to Leonard, with his escort bringing up the rear.

    "You doing alright?"

    "Can't complain."

    And that's probably all I'm going to get while there are witnesses around. A quick scan reveals no new injuries, and his body chemistry suggests that he's less stressed than he used to be.

    The correctional officer in front raises his right hand and comes to a stop just before an intersection. "Ah, just a minute. Laundry detail coming through."

    I nod, and there's a chime of warning as the security doors opposite us open and a pair of armed officers walk through, leading…

    The manacled Mr Crock and I make momentary eye contact. I smile, shrug, then turn to my left and raise my right hand to blinker my right eye so that I can't see him. The guards lead his group around the corner away from us and head towards the laundry room. Leonard gives me a small frown, then appears to brush it off.

    "Not far now."

    I lower my hand once more as we proceed to… I think it's a temporarily converted medical cell. Leonard's detail escort him to the actual chair on the right, while mine just smiles politely at me.

    "If you need anything else, just shout out and we'll be right in."

    "Thank you."

    Leonard slouches in his chair as his guards file out, though I notice that he's watching my escort very intently as the man leaves the room and closes the door behind him. I run a visible strobe of orange light around the room to make sure that Waller isn't playing silly buggers -she's usually pretty good about that, but it makes Leonard happy that I'm checking- and find nothing. Then I sit down opposite him, mirroring his relaxed posture.

    "So. Anything you want to talk about, Doctor Snart?"

    He tries to disguise it, but I can tell he's smiling. "Sam sent me a cake. They nearly stuck me in solitary when they realised that the silver ball things were tiny mirrors. Bastard probably thought it was hilarious." He snorts. "Think I'm the first person in America to become a doctor while in prison?"

    "I can't think of any others."

    "What was that thing with your hand?"

    I smile. "Amusing story. Do you know who Horatio Nelson was?" He shakes his head. "British Admiral in the eighteenth century. He was blind in one eye after a failed attack on a French fort, and his career was at a low ebb until the British navy tried attacking a Danish fleet in Copenhagen harbour. The commanding admiral signalled a withdrawal, Nelson raised his telescope-" I mime the action. "-to his blind eye and said 'I really do not see the signal'. He then ordered his half of the fleet in and shot the Danish fleet to pieces, an action from which we derive the phrase 'turn a blind eye', meaning to notice a thing but to decide to ignore it."

    "And what were you ignoring?"

    "Mister Crock. I'm friends with his ex-wife and younger daughter and I'm dating his elder daughter." My smile dims slightly. "And I told him that if he had any contact with any member of his family ever again I'd kill him. And while you can't make a threat and fail to carry it out without losing credibility, a chance encounter in a corridor doesn't seem worth actioning a threat over. So." I raise my right hand. "Blind eye."

    "'Any member of his family'?"

    "He wasn't quite as bad a father as yours was. He did appear to be trying to teach them lessons on how to be a criminal. Those lessons just happened to involve a similar level of bruising and broken bones."

    Leonard slouches back. "Fuck him, then."

    "Quite. How are things going with your mother?"

    "We've talked.. some." He shrugs, not meeting my eyes. "She says she's sorry for abandoning us. I believe her. For what it's worth."

    "I did notice that you never went after your father."

    "No point. All in the past."

    I nod, and wait for him to pick a new topic.

    "I got a letter. Some company wants to hire me to work on their freeze rays, once I get out. Maybe do some work from inside."

    My eyes widen slightly as I smile. "That's excellent. Are you actually going to go for it?"

    He shrugs. "Maybe. Depends. I want to know more about the man I'd be working for first."

    I nod. "Sensible. Who is it? What's the name of the company?"

    "Alva Technologies."

    "No."

    He frowns, clearly surprised. "What? Why not?"

    "Edwin Alva has an unfortunate habit of fucking over his talent." Can't directly mention Mr Metcalf. "Just a moment."

    Ring, court case summaries.

    Compliance.

    A pile of paper appears on the table between us.

    "Here's a few of the cases that have been brought by his ex-employees. The few whose cases weren't quashed by judges he owns were financially exhausted by his delaying tactics. I would strongly caution you against working for him if there was any alternative."

    "How many offers do you think I'm getting?"

    "I don’t know."

    "One other, and that's LexCorp, and I know you're not-."

    "Actually"

    He frowns. "What? We both know that LexCorp's-."

    "Yes. But. Most of their work is legitimate, Lex tends to treat his talent decently… As long as they keep up their side of the contract, anyway. And he generally doesn't use direct employees for skulduggery, because it's too easy for it to get traced back to him. If you made it clear that you weren't interested in returning to your former occupation in any way from the first… You'd probably be okay."

    "Never thought I'd hear a superhero recommending that I work for Lex Luthor." He regards me curiously. "You sure?"

    "Sure?" I shake my head. "No. But if those are your options, then LexCorp is definitely the better one."
     
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2019
  17. Grimnar

    Grimnar Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2014
    Messages:
    2,113
    Likes Received:
    19,171
    To me, snart will always be a tennage groper. I know he's supposed to be this semi-good rogue, but the CW actor compels it.
     
    Relyt33 and Grounded like this.
  18. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2019
    Messages:
    2,860
    Likes Received:
    17,208
    Will OL be recommending any other former criminals into working for LexCorp? It would be funny to see Diana and Bruce asking Paul to stop doing that.
     
  19. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2018
    Messages:
    2,117
    Likes Received:
    8,237
    Like he pointed out, as long as it’s direct work, nobody is going to mind. In fact, if they commit crimes, that just leaves LexCorp open to suspicion. So at worst they’re going to be doing semi-legal stuff. Also, if anyone can relate to paranoia, it’s Lex Luthor.
     
  20. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2019
    Messages:
    2,149
    Likes Received:
    33,423
    "With all the work we're having done on the prison...

    Good to see 'the Wall' adopting sensible mystical methods.

    Huh, surprising. Guess he's let go of some grudges.

    Well, well, 'Casey'. Enjoying the accommodations?

    Ah, he did get the degree. Good on him.

    Nononononono!

    Maximum asshole. Like Luthor without any redeeming qualities.

    You don't want to finish that statement, man. Also, should this be 'that' or was 'the' intentional?

    "No. But if those are your options, then LexCorp is definitely the better one."

    Good to see at least one Rogue settling into a less criminal path. Can you imagine if he ends up being a hero down the line someday?
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2019
  21. FreeGod

    FreeGod If you see a God on the road fuck it!

    Joined:
    May 26, 2016
    Messages:
    8,525
    Likes Received:
    15,105
    If they say that Paul is going to ask Bruce why he hasn't offered Doctor Snart a job.
     
  22. DrThoth

    DrThoth I trust you know where the happy button is?

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2016
    Messages:
    697
    Likes Received:
    2,975
    So Paragon can’t just talk to Kordtech and Wayne Enterprises? Lex Luthor might be reliable to a certain degree but helping his company and by extension him when he’s refused any changes from his supervillainous course of action (for reasons that make sense, but Paragon doesn’t know all of them) seems inane. If they figure out how to replicate cold guns, then the Light’s assets have access to a great new weapon that Lex can probably distribute with plausible deniability.

    As part of my larger frustration with Paragon’s recent passivity in the story, the lack of trying to deal with Luthor is the most glaring aspect. As TV Tropes said about him, he made it possible for Klarion (a reality-warping godlike being) to be tried and executed by a mortal government’s judicial apparatus, but he can’t do the same thing (probably sans killing) for Lex? I don’t think the benefits of continuing to allow LexCorp to work as it currently is outweigh the cons to both Paragon’s peers and the world in general, and the heroes have enough business resources and money (especially Paragon) that I don’t think layoffs or similar setbacks for lower-level employees would be an issue.
     
  23. Belenus

    Belenus Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2015
    Messages:
    1,100
    Likes Received:
    28,912
    These chapters where he works at rehabilitating supervillains are always a good read. While he wouldn't be able to do this without the righteous face-punching ahead of time, working to solve the root of their problems is doing more for Earth than almost anything else he's done. (The Orange Lantern Corps doesn't count, cause it's focused on the Reach, not Earth.)

    It's also surprisingly interesting, if not quite as viscerally engaging as pewpew laser beams and boxing glove constructs.
     
  24. Korfayron

    Korfayron Making the rounds.

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2017
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    264
    What's this? Could you elaborate on this point here?
     
    LostPath likes this.
  25. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,693
    Likes Received:
    728,810
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  26. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2018
    Messages:
    2,117
    Likes Received:
    8,237
    LexCorp hasn’t done anything overtly illegal recently, and it’s hard to prove he’s guilty. More than that, unlike Klarion, mortal judicial courts could deal with him, since once he’s in prison, escaping won’t do him any good, since he’ll lose his business, and he’ll actually have to sit his sentence, when it might be easier for OL to talk with him. This Luthor is more of an antivillain/ antihero, and definitely better than some of his competition (Alva). If he was the Joker, OL could probably convince people of the need for a death penalty, or a dismemberment, but Luthor isn’t all that bad for anyone except Superman.
     
  27. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2018
    Messages:
    2,117
    Likes Received:
    8,237
    More than that, what is a tennage groper?
     
  28. Yog

    Yog Know what you're doing yet?

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2013
    Messages:
    143
    Likes Received:
    778
    Why not KordTech? No, seriously, why not? And even assuming Ted isn't offering for some reason (I can't imagine why), where are the offers from all the different militaries? Or government-associated research centers? I mean, I am one hundred and ten percent sure that Russian military would not care at all about his criminal past if they get a chance to poach him.

    Barring all that, however, why not give him some startup money? Paul could easily drop a couple of billion in his lap.

    Oh, and where's Waynetech in all that?
     
  29. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,693
    Likes Received:
    728,810
    Someone who grops tennagers, obviously.
     
  30. Ganurath

    Ganurath Apologizes For Nothing

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2014
    Messages:
    2,532
    Likes Received:
    20,670
    KordTech: They didn't make an offer.
    WayneTech: They didn't make an offer.
    American Military: They didn't make an offer.
    Foreign Militaries: Good luck sending them a job application from inside an American prison.
    PaulTech: That would involve spending his functionally infinite gold.
     
Loading...