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. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2019
    Messages:
    22,136
    Likes Received:
    320,304
    Paula Nguyen.

    Artemis was upset about it.

    Here's the chapter:

     
  2. CTrees

    CTrees Chasing the ring

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2018
    Messages:
    244
    Likes Received:
    1,186
    This is what happens when you forget that your dialog choices affect your party members' loyalty, not just the reactions of the NPC you're taking to. She's probably not even a romance option, man.
     
  3. WereDragon

    WereDragon Bookwyrm

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2020
    Messages:
    309
    Likes Received:
    1,504
    I note he doesn’t say he ‘will’, just that he ‘can’.

    And if mild irritation was the only consequence you regret that might actually be true.
     
  4. Grimnar

    Grimnar Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2014
    Messages:
    2,114
    Likes Received:
    19,183
    Most of this story has turned into utter shite of late. You have to wade through so much junk to get to the good stuff.

    But moments like this make it all worth it.
     
    Xmaster3000 and Prince Charon like this.
  5. Coda

    Coda Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2019
    Messages:
    1,079
    Likes Received:
    4,181
    scowls

    ... is anyone else having trouble with quote-posting? My usual way of highlighting text is suddenly not working correctly and it's only quoting the first word unless I carefully drag across the whole span I want to quote.
     
  6. CTrees

    CTrees Chasing the ring

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2018
    Messages:
    244
    Likes Received:
    1,186
    I generally only post from my phone, and it's pretty inconsistent about whether the "quote/reply" button appears. Fairly irritating, but it's a phone.
     
    Xmaster3000 likes this.
  7. Assblaster5000

    Assblaster5000 I trust you know where the happy button is?

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2020
    Messages:
    738
    Likes Received:
    4,308
    "Scowls", or maybe "scowled", for that me thinks.

    Edit:Someone else pointed that out before me, please ignore.
     
    Darko likes this.
  8. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,700
    Likes Received:
    729,249
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  9. transhumansage

    transhumansage Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2016
    Messages:
    1,098
    Likes Received:
    2,942
    is court of owls a thing in this story?
     
    Xmaster3000 likes this.
  10. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,700
    Likes Received:
    729,249
    No. I can barely believe that they made it into canon. They're a stupid idea; a secret society that runs a city no one else wants.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2020
  11. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2015
    Messages:
    5,522
    Likes Received:
    20,872
    Except in DC people do want the city because it sits on a mystical nexus point.
     
    Xmaster3000 likes this.
  12. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2019
    Messages:
    22,136
    Likes Received:
    320,304
    Comic supervillains rarely have a motivation and end goal that seems to make sense.

    The Court of Owls certainly isn't the worst offender when it comes to stupid end goals.

    The Dark Knights Metal storyline at least gave the explanation that they worship an evil god connected to bats, so that would explain why they want Gotham so much given its connection to bats and misery, plus all the weird magical things going on in it.
     
    Xmaster3000 and Cuchulin like this.
  13. SotF

    SotF And Away We Go!

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2015
    Messages:
    2,981
    Likes Received:
    21,010
    There's also so many nods towards Gotham being in the middle of Lovecraft country...Arkham Asylum for instance
     
    Lord Ernest, Darko and Cuchulin like this.
  14. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2019
    Messages:
    1,977
    Likes Received:
    7,722
    I've always thought they made sense as a small sad remnant of a competent evil secret society.
     
    Darko likes this.
  15. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2019
    Messages:
    22,136
    Likes Received:
    320,304
    Well there was that whole international Parliament of Owls, so it could be possible.

    Another explanation could be that they are just bored rich people and they decided to become an evil secret society to get rid of the boredom.
     
    Cuchulin likes this.
  16. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2019
    Messages:
    1,977
    Likes Received:
    7,722
    Eh, my thinking is that at this point they are basically a Elks Lodge that used to more like conspiracy theory Free Masons. A couple generations ago they basically had total control of Gotham as well as other cities but became victims of their own success.
     
    Darko likes this.
  17. Lord Ernest

    Lord Ernest At the End...

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2019
    Messages:
    854
    Likes Received:
    5,937
    I like the idea of the Court of Owls if they had been part of the Batman mythos from the beginning, or as part of an Elseword series where they're the mastermind behind the corruption in Gotham and what Batman has to take down to save the city; like a young Batman believing that he has to take down the Mobs to clean Gotham but it turns out that the Mobs are beholden to these ancient families that rule Gotham from the shadows. Like in a Long Halloween-type storyline.

    But they were introduced after a reboot that shouldn't be acknowledged and one which the guys at DC couldn't even fully commit themselves. I didn't read it but after so much time (and an animated movie), the concept of the Court of Owls sounds interesting to me.
     
  18. Threadmarks: Otherworld (part 18)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,700
    Likes Received:
    729,249
    2nd May
    03:09 GMT -5


    The trees are dead as we approach the pro-warlock settlement. Still tall, still solid to the touch, but there's not a leaf on their branches and their bark has.. taken on an almost… Varnished appearance. I'd ask what the heck happened, but we're moving into contact and I don't want to make unnecessary noise.

    My preparations for our second encounter are taking most of my attention. My armour's kinetic barrier has been redesigned to reduce the noise it generates when it touches things to near nothing. That cost me its ability to absorb kinetic attacks, but the Sheeda didn't really use those last time so I think it's reasonable. I ran out of internal space for the phasing and invisibility systems I usually use and the next-best replacements wouldn't work well together, so I decided to switch invisibility for active camouflage that's merely good. Entropic weaponry doesn't exactly have a counter… Well, it does, but you have to know exactly how the person shooting you is accessing the Bleed and I don't.

    The next best thing is messing up their target acquisition system. Which is what phasing, camouflage and… Dodging are for. In addition to that, a layered plasma shield where the charged gas films are interspersed with layers of vacuum tends to slow down the rate at which it chews through the target. Doesn't really work well with the phasing or the camouflage, but if they've got exotic target acquisition or anti-phasing technology or magic I expect to find out quickly and switch over.

    I've also done something that I wanted to avoid doing and implanted my rings inside my body, with one in my chest and the other in my skull. My fingers have glowing pieces of plastic on them instead. A head shot… I'm not completely confident in my ability to survive one. Then again, I'm not confident of their ability to survive me, either.

    Leonid said that he was just going to use his own speed for defence. It's not.. a terrible approach, assuming that he can hurt them. Mr. Yao also declined my help, while the magic users have done something.. unsettling-looking with the blood sample I offered them. They're flickering in and out of visibility now, just… Visually merging with their surroundings.

    On the far side of the tree line the bare earth starts. The wraith that I think is Abednego takes the lead, and… A shimmering path over the hard-packed soil appears. I drift along it, noting the difference in philosophy as I go.

    Mistress Butler's people hide under the canopy, minimising their footprint and using concealment magics. These people clearly don't care about hiding. This is landscaping for fortification: to better enable them to fight potential attackers. They're not hiding at all. Not from a visual inspection at least; I can't speak for their magic efforts. And the wall at the top of the earth slope is made with… Flesh. Beetle shell and beetle meat, human bones and ligaments, wood… All magically preserved and fortified. They drew the runes with artfully arranged veins, and in my rear view camera I can see Leonid glower.

    Pretty big wall, and our girl from the inside -who's bound, gagged and blindfolded and geased against using magic for about four hours according to Abednego and is very definitely being kept on the outside- said that her people aren't doing their usual patrols. Their Sheeda overlords didn't order it today, and they've been doing the stupid-evil thing of killing people who try to be helpful when they weren't ordered to be. Still, I'm a little nervous to be floating my head above the parapet, but I'm following the shimmering 'safe' path…

    Head-mounted camera shows no activity, and between optic camouflage and my wards I should be pretty hard to see. And.. over I go, up and… Down. Not touching the ground but floating just over it using my kinetic belt.

    The buildings are made of… Not sure. It looks like macro insect shell, but crafted with far more skill than the roofs of Mistress Butler's village. Purpose-grown house insects, or perhaps force-grown after their death? Another subject that will be interesting to study at leisure.

    Their windows even look like insect eyes. I mean, they're not; I checked. But in the white dwarf's half-light it would be easy to imagine. The individual houses are fairly large and solidly constructed and I can see a few that have been destroyed with vehemence. The carapace is melted and the building sagged before rehardening, the eye-window holes empty and… Yes, the bodies left where they fell.

    No Sheeda in sight as yet. No Sheeda insect mounts. Just a shimmering path from the blood-seeking spell Abednego and Mistress Butler cast, leading further into town. Nowhere else to go.

    I'm… Getting vision on the town folks. Some of them, anyway. A few who feel brave enough to move through the streets, more sheltering in their homes. Their mutations are more uniform; human or waif proportions, thin limbs and short tentacles projecting from areas of dull green skin. That can't be chance. I think they've learned to at least somewhat control their changes. That could be invaluable for the others.

    The blood-path is leading towards… Not the largest building, but one which holds the relics the locals excavated from Melmoth's former home. A sensible enough place for them to make their base of operations. No idea if any survivors from amongst those abducted from Mistress Butler's village are held there, but after killing the Sheeda we can look for them at our leisure.

    The door to the landing area is open-.

    There's a giant fly that's looking very dead. Tougher looking than the other Sheeda-insects that I've seen, yet somewhat… Bleached? Plus the burns from-. From Leonid's energy blasts. If I'm reading its physiology correctly, it would have lived long enough for a short flight… I don't think we're close to where we encountered the Sheeda, but the locals have shown the ability to reanimate Sheeda creatures. Perhaps its rider kept it going?

    The other two giant flies are stabled, troughs of meat paste being rapidly emptied by their proboscises. They've also got the same slightly-bleached look, so I'm going to assume that's what 'Feed Me' does to them. The glyphs inscribed on their carapaces are still there, though, so it didn't drain their magic… Unless they're so innately magical that all I'm seeing is the altered colour. Scanning them is a risk. Shooting them dead… I would expect a magic-focused civilisation to have riders bound to their mounts in some way, so that would tell them that they need to be on the alert.

    There's a door here to the interior, and I can see though the external windows that there's light inside. Phase through or try opening it? There are risks-.

    A shadowy man figure peels away from a patch of darkness and passes his right hand over the door frame. I don't see a glyph, but a moment later the door retracts and Abednego disappears again.

    Good show. Of course, I'm not going to assume that was sufficient to stop whoever is inside from detecting that the door was opened.

    I float inside, putting a little more speed into it. Yes, this looks like some sort of military barracks. Wide corridor, thicker walls, bunks…

    I can hear something.

    The shimmering path leads onwards and left. The sound is coming from the right. No words, just objects moving against each other.

    No. Follow the path.

    The building isn't huge; this isn't a particularly big settlement and wouldn't have much use for an inner keep. If the witch-hunters got this far then they weren't going to be stopping. It's only about twenty metres further where the path takes me into… A room with… Pits, about two metres by seventy centimetres, filled with… Pale green gas. Fog. I can't see into them any significant depth and I'm not sure how far down they go. The shimmering path leads to one.

    I float over to it and look down. I guess that my attacker is in there. Cleaning? Medical? Some sort of healing pit? I dimly remember the Sheeda in the comic using something a bit like this to travel through time, and… Wasn't there a cauldron?

    If this is for healing, now seems like an excellent time to assimilate a Sheeda. But I need to confirm this Sheeda's location as well as the locations of the others before kicking anything off.

    I float away from the pit, getting a mild frown from Leonid as I do so. Yes, I know we're following the path to our destination but the target isn't here. I look at Mr. Tao, and he nods and gestures to the exit. I float-.

    "MRAAAAAAAAAGHHHHuuuugggghh…"

    I don't remember the Sheeda particularly caring about the infliction of pain per se, but they certainly don't care about the wellbeing of their guests.

    I turn to Mr Tao, who nods and motions for me to investigate, along with-. Ugh, those two puritan-shaped blurs. He then points to himself and Leonid and the pit. Right, makes sense. I'm pretty sure that Leonid can kill anything he can get his hands on, and neither of them have invisibility. If fighting starts they can catch us up.

    I trigger my phasing system and fly in the direction of the scream.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2020
  19. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2019
    Messages:
    22,136
    Likes Received:
    320,304
    maybe 'as of yet'

    Is this about how her people live and build homes, because if not it may be wrong?

    remove 'the'

    maybe 'somewhat'

    maybe add 'at any'
     
  20. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,700
    Likes Received:
    729,249
    No, that's right.
    Yes, the philosophy behind the design choices. What they're saying about themselves.
    No, that's correct.
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  21. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2019
    Messages:
    2,150
    Likes Received:
    33,441
    Very good idea, no idea how good their hearing might be. Though I shudder at what might have killed the trees...

    Ah, the greatest power in Superherodom: Prep time. Well, it's a toss-up between that and Money...

    Especially if you remember to accelerate properly this time.

    Good lord, he's finally done it! We've been harping on it for years, and it takes Sheeda to finally make him go that far. No doubt it's temporary, though...

    And now I'm picturing really weirdly done chromakey. Like, someone wearing mostly green clothes and green lighting on a green screen...

    Yeah, these guys don't sound pleasant at all. I guess they figure intimidation is a better defence than avoidance.

    Stealth-mission-agogo. Got to hate levels like this. Any other time, you could shoot or diplomance your way through encounters. But no, the Devs wanted to show off their edgelord cred. So here you go, on a slow walking tour...

    He's working up quite a list of 'things to look into later', eh? And all that depends on the Columbians wanting him to come back...

    Reminders of the price of disobedience, without a doubt. The Sheeda want to be feared.

    Unless it makes it easier for the Sheeda to manipulate them using their magic. That would be bad.

    Indeed. Deal with the mobs, then come back and loot, unless there's a one-way gate somewhere ahead.

    I can picture them pushing it to continue flying even after it conked out. They certainly don't have any respect for their 'pets'.

    Ah, if only you had drones you could leave on station, or something. One edge the Renegade has over you, but excusable, what with having to work with mere Human tech...

    Thank you, NPC lockpicker. It's not quite 'Captain Noisy kicking in doors with his boot', but it works.

    Be on the alert. Who knows whether they can perceive you like this...

    Better to confirm the one possible kill you know about than go haring off after other mobs. That's been the downfall of many a raid.

    Gods only know what would happen if you fell into one. Watch your footing, folks...

    The cauldron would be a dodgy callback to Celtic Myth. It was said to provide brave men with meat, and could revive dead bodies placed into it as zombie warriors... At least, it did that in Sláine...

    Well, that's as good a lead as any. Either someone's having a real good time... Or a real bad one.

    Rescue mission/revenge attack go!

    Well, that was... quiet. A fascinating look at the difference between Warlock-breed communities, at least. Up next, some action, I hope.
     
  22. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2017
    Messages:
    1,714
    Likes Received:
    9,868
    The Sheeda had that cauldron, it's how Melmoth gained immortality- replaced his blood with the Cauldron of Rebirth and Plenty's water of life. He survived until Frankenstein fed him to the martian giant insects that they use for mounts.

    Or perhaps he survived as a pile of Martian insect horse poop.

    The cauldron was found in Slaughter Swamp, where Solomon Grundy originates and is reborn when killed.

    Frankenstein was revealed to be a Grundyman because Dr Frankenstein gave his creation a drop of Melmoth's "blood," aka the Cauldron's water of life.

    Hence my assumption that the Cauldron contaminated the waters of that swamp.

    It was a gift from the New Gods to the first superhero, Aurakles the neanderthal, ancestor of the Bulleteer.

    One of the Newsboy Army takes it and becomes the Undying Don of LA.

    Since Melmoth is being treated as dead, at least so far in this story, it looks like Zoat might be using absolutely none of that. :)
     
    Xmaster3000, Ardy, Cuchulin and 7 others like this.
  23. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,700
    Likes Received:
    729,249
    At this distance in time I imagine that the entire human species is descended from Aurakles.
     
  24. Fellow

    Fellow Know what you're doing yet?

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2019
    Messages:
    133
    Likes Received:
    677
    I'm not entirely sure what this bit means. Change to it maybe? Or just take out the I part
     
  25. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,700
    Likes Received:
    729,249
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  26. Prince Charon

    Prince Charon Just zis guy, you know?

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2014
    Messages:
    9,741
    Likes Received:
    38,263
    Probably. Also Zeus, Odin, Vandal Savage, and anyone else who had children that also had children (et cetra) thousands of years ago. Higher probability with Aurakles and Vandar Adg, of course, but the various gods were around pretty far back, and Zeus in particular really got around.
     
  27. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2017
    Messages:
    1,714
    Likes Received:
    9,868
    Actually the most recent common male ancestor, aka Y Chromosome Adam, is estimated to have been alive 120 to 156 thousand years ago.

    But considering Aurakles, Vandal, Immortal Man, Know Man, and the Insiders, I imagine Neanderthals did pretty well for themselves passing their DNA on.....
     
    Xmaster3000 and Cuchulin like this.
  28. Alexcorvin

    Alexcorvin Goodbye

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2015
    Messages:
    378
    Likes Received:
    865
    Mr Zoat, have you been reading Dogbert's own Ring SI? Cause this is something he brought up in, I think, chapter 2.
     
    dogbertcarroll and Xmaster3000 like this.
  29. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,700
    Likes Received:
    729,249
    I.. don't.. think so. The earliest reference to the implant idea I remember is from Planetary, where several of their Lantern-expies have their lantern implanted.
     
  30. Someguy Somewhere

    Someguy Somewhere The Critical Fumbler

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2019
    Messages:
    590
    Likes Received:
    3,905
    And here I thought it was from those Americanized Harry Potter fic's where they have implanted wands and used guns to deal with the classically stupid villains.

    Very Shadowrun.
     
    Xmaster3000 likes this.
Loading...