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. BlueMangoAdea

    BlueMangoAdea Alive. For now.

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2019
    Messages:
    4,734
    Likes Received:
    17,221
    Maybe Ophidian would also do something to prevent this? Hopefully.
     
  2. Idkusername

    Idkusername Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2019
    Messages:
    1,463
    Likes Received:
    13,992
    Except, in this case, the energy field is his head.
     
  3. Hell's Razer

    Hell's Razer Passive Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2016
    Messages:
    1,341
    Likes Received:
    3,893
    ... Paul broke Best Snek's heart! How dare he! :mad:
     
  4. DrThoth

    DrThoth I trust you know where the happy button is?

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2016
    Messages:
    697
    Likes Received:
    2,975
    I'd have assumed that Hinon would have taken a metaphysical scan of enlightened Paragon at some point, that seems like an oversight considering his unique connection with the Ophidian and all.

    I hope he can learn to quickly transfer his soul into the Honden without losing its integrity at some point, that might be a difficult ability to acquire (or not, considering what he's recently done) but it could be very worthwhile to just teleport the important aspect of you away when facing metaphysical attacks like qwa-matter, Anti-Monitor energies (are they related or just associated with each other?), and probably intense Anti-Life exposure that all threaten the soul itself.

    I like the elementalist character a lot, would be nice to see more of him. It's too bad magic isn't more prevalent in space, I'd have liked to see him summon elementals for stuff like a space Pokemon Trainer.
     
    ChestBurster, Vorian, Ardy and 3 others like this.
  5. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2019
    Messages:
    22,134
    Likes Received:
    320,285
    If they figure our a way to make magic use in space easier then we may see that.
     
    ChestBurster and Cuchulin like this.
  6. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2016
    Messages:
    3,608
    Likes Received:
    29,693
    Oh she did but her ring's OS update needed more memory space so she needed to delete something. Paul's medical files just didn't seem important at the time since she could always scan him next time he dropped by. Hinon doesn't believe in cloud backups. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
     
  7. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2015
    Messages:
    5,514
    Likes Received:
    20,548
    She can't, Paul's Tattoo's would have prevented it.
     
    nick012000 likes this.
  8. Maxx Crowley

    Maxx Crowley I trust you know where the happy button is?

    Joined:
    May 10, 2017
    Messages:
    873
    Likes Received:
    4,337
    "We thought we had won. We thought our trap had worked to perfection. But then....."

    "We have a present for you!"

    "We tried to stop it....we expended every resource we could."

    Plasma

    "Failed."

    Explosive

    "Failed."

    Kinetic

    "Failed."

    Hyper intensive Laser

    "Failed."

    Sonic

    "Failed."

    The last of our bargained Qwa-matter

    "Failed."

    "The greatest of our Scarb warriors threw themselves at it in a last, desperate assault to save our people. Countless were simply crushed by its overwhelming bulk. Others....trapped forever in some sort of twisted mockery of the Source wall."

    "Our race is finished....and our destroyer's name, that terrible...terrible substance, is finally known to us."

    "Fruitcake."
     
  9. quietwhile

    quietwhile Getting out there.

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2019
    Messages:
    24
    Likes Received:
    74
    if a character with a much lower power level said it could be done, why couldn't Hinon had found a way?
     
    ChestBurster and Cuchulin like this.
  10. PDV

    PDV Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2018
    Messages:
    387
    Likes Received:
    1,466
    Well, being exploded to death with prejudice by qwa-matter probably does qualify as 'being baked'. So that checks out.
     
  11. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2015
    Messages:
    5,514
    Likes Received:
    20,548
    Because Hinon can't use magic.
     
  12. Threadmarks: Anti-Thesis (part 6)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,694
    Likes Received:
    728,852
    11th July 2012
    01:48 GMT


    I remember when Lantern Coutara levelled this place.

    She decapitated a couple of senior priests in her opening volley, the ones she wanted dead the most. Then a gaggle of more junior priests who were chanting and holding Taranna in place. Then she started ripping downwards, tossing chunks of building in all directions, hunting down the rest of the clergy while I carried Taranna out of the way. She killed the living priests, destroyed their living quarters, their refectory, their shrines, their shelves of jars of eyes and their catacombs. Then she started smashing the foundations.

    The orange light: it's a hell of a drug.

    But with such strong use of the orange light on a thaumically active world, it should be a reasonable place to do this. Where I'm standing used to be a wine cellar… Not 'grape wine', but functionally equivalent. It's at the bottom of a stone rubble crater, but it's the closest thing to a platform left.

    I've already cleared it of dust and graffiti, and inscribed the runic devices which should ease my passage into the Honden. Or rather, should ease my gaining awareness of the Honden. At the moment I'm a squishy mortal Lantern of no great importance; I lost the ability to easily bestride two realms with my enlightenment. This is just going to be me approaching as a mortal supplicant in a way… I've never really done.

    I look upwards to where the Atlanteans, Lantern Ragnar and Lantern Gozzi are observing.

    "Everyone ready?"

    "I'd…" Dr. Damon looks a little bewildered. "That's a very unusual configuration. Most… People either go for something simple to protect bystanders while enduring the communion with their patron… Or go the other way and use something complex to improve their control."

    "The Ophidian isn't a lightning elemental. All of you already touch her and her realm by feeling avarice. If she could distinguish you from the general orange background of the universe there isn't a ward in existence that could protect you. Fortunately, she… Doesn't do things like that unless prompted."

    Ragnar seems excited by that.

    "Will she come here? Will she want to fight us to prove our worth?"

    "I… I honestly hope not. Since Hinon hasn't said anything yet I don't think she's even noticed that anything's gone wrong, and I'd like it to stay that way. And if she did want you to prove your worth, it wouldn't-."

    "It would be a test of the spirit and not a test of the body, I know. The muscles of my body are not the only ones I have trained in preparation for our next duel! My brother was astonished at my newfound enthusiasm for scholarship."

    "Any profound conclusions?"

    "My goals are simple. My reasons aren't much more sophisticated. I wanted to distinguish myself from my brother, I had some early success in our sparring and I felt a kinship with figures from our heroic sagas. Everything else followed logically."

    Lantern Gozzi's eyes narrow. "You have a curious definition of 'logically'."

    "I sought to exemplify the martial virtues of my own heroes, without reflecting on their actual motives. I saw only the surface, leaving my own deeds… Hollow, by comparison. Therefore I lived a pantomime of the life of a great warrior. My thoughts were logical, but I lacked the wisdom to understand what I was trying to replicate. Now, I have a true reason to act, to impress my own nature onto reality. Illustres, you will not find stealing my ring from my finger as easy next time as it was during our first duel."

    I nod approvingly. "I'm glad to hear it. And I'm glad that you've grasped what I've been trying to teach so readily. I'm almost looking forward to our rematch now."

    He looks put out.

    "Only 'almost'?"

    I sit cross-legged in the centre of the circle, running my hierarchy of needs through my head. I haven't had to do this for a while and it's… A little jerky compared to when I did it while enlightened. I have to pause and think. The ideas come, and I have a definite sense of when I've covered everything, but… Yeah. Lantern Gozzi couldn't find my personal lantern, but we also confirmed that it didn't explode. Which means that I've got no real idea what happened to it. Losing Hinon and Larfleeze's rings is one thing but if I've lost Alan's lantern I'm going to be decidedly put out.

    And… Ready. I extend orange light through the ritual inscriptions on the stone, trying to lose focus with my eyes and gain focus with my soul.

    I want this.

    "This is my cause, this is my fight,
    Shine through the void with orange light,
    I've claimed all within my sight,
    To keep what is mine, that is my right
    ."

    "To keep what is mine, that is my right."

    The universe flickers, fragments of orange flames leaping up from the inscriptions, momentarily forming lines, corridors, shapes and ideas I momentarily recognise from my time in the Honden before they collapse once more into mere sparks.

    But who spoke?

    I feel/see the human desires I know well: family and community, food and comfort. Not that those are uniquely human, but the particular manifestation that surrounds-.

    Back in the room. I just can't maintain the connection, though a glance upward shows that my audience is still a little impressed.

    Human desires, and I'm… Human. But I couldn't feel me there.

    Wait. I wasn't using human desires to shield myself. I was using Leentniar desires, that was what I felt-. Their sense of how things should be rather than my own. I… Think, anyway.

    My sense of how things should be is expansive and universalist. I can rest when everyone exists in a system whereby they can pursue their own ends in equilibrium with everyone else, and I fully expect that if I ever die permanently, it will be in the saddle.

    The Leentniar don't think like that, and if I'm going to get my self back, I'm going to need to get closer to their mindset.

    Hiding, that was a strong inclination. Where I would act, they would evade and avoid. I've used stealth to disguise my intent and location; for them it’s a way of life. It's based on the cultural assumption that there's nothing worth engaging with outside of their own civilisation, that the value of what they have is actually diminished through contact with the outside. That in turn relates to their shunning the few members of their civilisation who have to leave.

    I've rather underestimated what I'm up against there, haven't I?

    "These drives are based on something, but what?"


    That wasn't the Ophidian. Who the heck is talking? Has someone.. else achieved orange enlightenment? I mean, given the size of the universe that's certainly possible. And I wasn't spending large amounts of time in the Honden, so it isn't all that strange that I haven't encountered them before now.

    A concern for later.

    I really have more in common with their devotion to their own, anyway. That lack of selfishness is quite un-orange, but it's far closer to classical enlightenment. And here it manifests in a genuine desire to be a better Leentniar, to be more like the Leentniar ideal. How many humans even really have an accurate idea about what 'humans' are like beyond what they see in their own culture? Leentniar know their own foibles in a way humans don't and would probably refuse to accept. Again, far closer to classical forms of enlightenment; acceptance without judgement.

    I try to picture living like that myself.

    I match the Leentniar desire to avoid the alien with the human desire to lash out at it to prove that they're not.

    I match the Leentniar desire to become good with the human desire to interpret the self as good.

    And in the Leentniar I see myself. / "And in the human I see myself."
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2021
  13. DarkBlackJack

    DarkBlackJack What is motivation and why is it keep decreasing

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2017
    Messages:
    256
    Likes Received:
    2,983
    What, does his desire get melded? Swapped? Combined? With some Leentniar?
     
    anirocks, Cuchulin, Relyt33 and 4 others like this.
  14. theaceoffire

    theaceoffire Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2017
    Messages:
    1,107
    Likes Received:
    12,591
    I'm not entirely sure, but I think that Paul's about to reach double enlightenment!

    Double enlightenment all the way across the sky! Ah! Ahhhh! So intense!
     
  15. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2019
    Messages:
    22,134
    Likes Received:
    320,285
    Missing an . at the end.

    'shrines'

    She did not like them.

    Maybe Gozzi won't be the only one that will achieve enlightenment.

    Give the guy a break, Paul.

    Careful, you may become like Tangseid, given their mindset.

    For some reason I'm imagining that it's the enlightened part of Paul and it gained sapience.

    Really hope this doesn't lead to him becoming Tangseid 2.0.
     
  16. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2019
    Messages:
    1,289
    Likes Received:
    12,971
    I think Paul is on a spiritual journey to meet his true self.

    And it classical, literal comic tradition he is about to do exactly that.

    Meet his self stuck in the Honden.
     
  17. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,694
    Likes Received:
    728,852
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  18. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2019
    Messages:
    22,134
    Likes Received:
    320,285
    'match the'
     
  19. nick012000

    nick012000 Gone for Good

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2013
    Messages:
    4,553
    Likes Received:
    12,680
    This temple is going to become a holy site for the Lanternists, isn't it?
     
    Chefscobar, anirocks, Vorian and 13 others like this.
  20. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2019
    Messages:
    2,149
    Likes Received:
    33,423
    So, a thorough casting down of the old faith, eh? And entirely warranted in her perception. I do hope she's not having similar reactions to Earth religions while serving as sector Lantern... That could be embarrassing. ...She was on duty on Earth, wasn't she, or did I imagine that?

    We understand: A local berry-equivalent fermented for use as a sacrament. Or just for the priests personal enjoyment. They struck me as that sort.

    I presume the Atlanteans have plenty of diagnostic spells both cast and readied. Hope the Lanterns are taking notes too. They may well be attempting this themselves someday.

    If the Ophidian is in a mood that you're in danger, protective magic won't help you. She'll just eat that, and then you.

    o_O If you want her too, I suppose? Though she'd probably express confusion at first, until OL explains it to her.

    Ah, the man can learn! Showing he's more than dumb muscle, I see.

    That's an... Interesting way to look at things.

    ... :confused: Huh. That's an impressive amount of self-reflection for someone most would assume has all his brains in his sword-arm. Or his loins. Heck, He may well find his way into enlightenment by himself at this rate...

    Well, think about it. You'll likely be dragging him away from something important. Like fixing some minor race that seemed like a joke in the original comics but turns out to be amazingly good at something no-one else would expect them to be...

    Honestly, I'm sure Alan wouldn't care that much about it getting trashed. He'd probably just be happy that you;'re alive, if not quite hale and hearty yet. But.. if it wasn't in subspace... Is there a chance it got smushed into the Honden somehow?

    And so do we, if only to avoid a long plotline of gradual recovery. In- and Out-of-universe motivations for the win.

    :confused: ...Okay, that's not how Best Snek talks. Something is hinky in the realm of Avarice, methinks...

    Yes, that's the billion spacebuck question, isn't it?

    Bet the thaumaturgists are getting soooo much data...

    Well, it's that or look for Reach desires. But that would probably leave you feeling in need of a shower in some cases, I think.

    Which will be much harder for an unenlightened Lantern to manage. Hmm... Maybe the loss of enlightenment isn't a setback, so much as a test...

    Don't worry, OL. I'm sure you can climb the Difficulty Cliff (That's what happens when the Difficulty Curve grows too fast too quickly. For instance, in games like Dwarf Fortress.)

    Or maybe, your Soul, the chunk of it that's Orange Light... Came home.

    Because in fiction, Humans get to be super-diverse, but any non-human sophonts? Their entire race get labelled with a single theme. The Warrior race. The Smart race. The Evil race. I would not doubt that Mr Zoat would make it look that way only to flip that trope on its head here...

    The instinct of Xenophobia. The Other, the Outside. One thing of many, so much to blame for the way humans are today....

    And things just went full-on creepshow. See, when I said this was a test, up there... We know OL gained Avarice Enlightenment as a Human. But that very Human outlook on his avarice has shaped his character. He still thinks in a very human way, even at his most inhuman moments... And yet those inhuman moments show a potential for something beyond.

    To truly master the Orange Light, what if he has to learn how to match other forms of desire, of wants and needs. Not just the Human kind but also the Leentniar kind, the Reach kind, the Tamaranean kind, the Maltusian kind... All the various perspectives of Avarice, the way the Ophidian sees the universe. In effect, he had Level 1 Enlightenment. Now he gets to try to reach for Level 2. And what happens when he does? :sneaky:

    Oh, this is going to get really esoteric, isn't it? A conversation with (possibly) himself in the heart of Avarice. Hopefully he can reintegrate himself safely. The last thing we need is something like the end of 'Tron: Legacy'...
     
  21. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2019
    Messages:
    22,134
    Likes Received:
    320,285
    She's taken Paul's place as sector lantern and she may decide not to interfere with Earths religious practices, unless they were actually committing crimes, either because she respects Paul or because the practices of Earth are nowhere near as barbaric as those of her home.

    But is still very correct.

    Just because he's focused on physical things that doesn't mean he's an idiot.

    The ancient Greeks considered the mind to be as important as the body and in Irish myths Cu Chulainn, who was practically a frat boy and enjoyed fighting, drinking and fucking, was still a very smart man who married his wife for her brains.

    I'm betting it's the part of him that was taken away.
     
  22. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2015
    Messages:
    5,514
    Likes Received:
    20,548
    Sounds like Paragon is about to mindfuck himself even worse then he originally mindfucked himself...
     
  23. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2016
    Messages:
    3,608
    Likes Received:
    29,693
    So Paul is talking with his own desires? Is he a Persona protagonist right now? Would ripping off his tiny domino mask speed things along?
     
  24. King of Frost

    King of Frost Wishing I was somewhere colder no doubt.

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2016
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    1,297
    It would be kind of interesting if he's interacting with the original OL who continued to exist after his death, and he's genuinely just a clone Lantern Gozzi made. Unlikely based on everything explained about what happened to him, but interesting.
     
  25. inck

    inck Getting out there.

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2019
    Messages:
    23
    Likes Received:
    117
    when are we going to see Lord of Chaos Constantine?

    that's one of the things i look forward to the most in this story at the moment
     
  26. cereal_lurker

    cereal_lurker Getting sticky.

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2017
    Messages:
    59
    Likes Received:
    181
    I had the same thought. When reading how Zoat is writing this process/ritual, it seemed like something LC Constantine and LO Constantine would do in order to become one when their arcs advance. The exploration of the past, formation of desires, etc. seem to match the flow and pattern from Hellblazer's "The Hanged Man." Though still distinction reflecting the SI's personality.
     
    ChestBurster, quietwhile and Ardy like this.
  27. Rockinalice

    Rockinalice Versed in the lewd.

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2019
    Messages:
    1,092
    Likes Received:
    8,959
    I have a question why hasn't Paul ever grabed the dormant scarb on earth that ted kord has I just re read the whole thing and this has really been bugging me
     
    inck likes this.
  28. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2019
    Messages:
    2,860
    Likes Received:
    17,208
    Mr Zoat answered before that Paul is not aware that it even exists. And Ted never told Paul about it either.
     
  29. jonasquinn

    jonasquinn I trust you know where the happy button is?

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2016
    Messages:
    983
    Likes Received:
    2,826
    That seems monumentally stupid on so many levels and ridiculously convenient for the sake of plot

    Like, wow that is genuinely SoD breaking
     
    Rockinalice and RamiroGalletti like this.
  30. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2016
    Messages:
    14,694
    Likes Received:
    728,852
    It's not so much a 'temple' as a 'hill-shaped pile of rubble' at the moment.
    Thank you, corrected.
    Eventually. I haven't forgotten about that thread.
     
Loading...