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

All hail God-King Hephestus ruler of the forge and technology! I am curious how Hera would react to this she seemed to be on ok terms with Heph but according to mythology she treated like dirt for being ugly.

 

They actually seem to be on good term given the fact that after her divorce from Zeus she visited him, reorganized his workshop much to his annoyance, and recommended that he should divorce Aphrodite and hook up with one of his Amazonian followers. I figure she would give Paul her blessings to see Zeus get knocked off his throne, both metaphorically and literally, and nag Hephaestus to finding a proper queen.

 

In some myths it was said that Zeus threw him off of Olympus for being ugly or trying to protect Hera, so maybe this is one of those versions.

 

Does anyone know how Godhood within the universe of With This Ring is supposed to track with a God having multiple domains? I mean, at least as far as the "Old Gods" a la Zeus or Athena go, they tend to have multiple domains within which they hold some kind of divine portfolio or power. However New Gods seem to have one main theme, maybe two at best, which doesn't seem equal.

Like could a New God acquire multiple domains? Whether natural or awakened? If they could, would it require defeating another New God and essentially taking their mantle? Or would it involve developing enough skill and power in the area of power in question, a la a God of War learning and growing their Magical skill for that kind of development to take place?

 

It seems to be an issue of where they get their divinity from as far as I'm aware. New Gods have a direct tap into The Source whereas the more typical ones arise from The Dreaming and get their power from there.

What, exactly, the particulars of all that are hasn't ever been mentioned (again, as far as I know), but a half decent guess is that the gestalt belief of any given species gives rise to multifaceted gods akin to Zeus and so on from The Dreaming based off of what people think their gods ought to be. The Source meanwhile seems to hand some defining concept out and all but says "This is what you are."

No clue if it's intentional or not but it honestly feels a bit like a parallel to the living mythologies of groups like the ancient Greeks vs the more "static" ones like most of the modern Abrahamic religions. One group is a living story, the other gets defined and has to operate within that ruleset.

 

The odd thing though is the most recent chapter essentially calls Gods the terminals of the Titans. Meant to be a layer of abstraction built upon the underlying primal force to better allow them to interact with humanity and/or other forms of complex life.

So Zeus is originally linked with Aether, so you would think theoretically should be limited to the boundaries of Aether's domain. But Zeus has elements completely outside of Aether like Justice.

Meanwhile you would think that even if the Source worked the way you are describing, a person could embody more than one domain given how complex beings are usually complex. Sure, it might be difficult for two seemingly mutually exclusive domains, like Tyranny or Freedom (Which arguably have their own links so they're not necessary two complete opposites either), but I see no reason why a Domain like Nature or Conquest couldn't also be embodied by a God of Magic.

We even see mortals getting the New God upgrade here in the fic in areas which arguably will inevitably end up touching upon one another. What happens when there are two ascended New Gods of Magic? And we know there can be multiple Gods of Conquest running around a la Grayvern and Paul. So that adds another layer of confusion onto it all imo.

 

He's literally putting together a plan that involves sacrificing an unborn child to power up a god...

There is no world that isn't evil...

 

what was that called if you don't mind me asking?

 

Vaermina response.

This unborn child is less a person and more a fundamental force of nature, like sunlight or ocean currents. While it may one day develop a consciousness, it is currently no more than a representation of technology. What is technology? Items designed and built to serve a purpose. Taking this nascent being and crafting it into a tool would not be some gross injustice. The act isn't even that far from this being's domain. I doubt that there would be much suffering on the technology titan's part. And leaving the creature to its own natural birth holds the risk of uncontrollable devastation. Much better to take part in the act and ensure that all goes well. As far as anyone can tell, no one suffers, a good god gets a well deserved gift, and danger is prevented.

 

Assimilation, most likely. It's a slow starter, but stick with it, it gets good.

 

I think Zoat once mentioned that New Gods can only have one domain.

One of the best YJ fics out there.

The MC is a great character and the romance between him and Kori was just incredibly sweet.

 

It's still sacrificing an unborn child...

Now, maybe maybe you could excuse that if the power boost was needed to stop say, Darkseid. But Lawful Evil Paul wants it to punish a guy for giving a friend of his a shit job after she refused to sleep with him.

That's like... Not even Constantine would do something like that...

 

John Constantine killed the newly born Anti-Christ with an axe. He'd be all for doing something like this if he thought it was worth it.

 

So is contraception. I am not going to touch an abortion debate here. But it basically is.

Paragon is by no measure a good person, but at worst he operates on a very blue-orange morality. Quite literally. And it at least open about how his morality is focused on "his" as opposed to a form od common good. He has no issue with stuff that Zeus or Nabu does whrn other people do it as long as they don't do it to his friends. He has excused far worse than what Zeus has done here. Not just excused, but he even has activrly enabled some behavior worse.

 

No, it's not still that, for the reason explained, and repeating yourself doesn't slip a black ring onto your argument's finger.

 

Yeah, at most it's like sacrificing an unborn child that will grow up to be that nearly omnipotent kid from the Twilight Zone ep It's a Good Life" that sent anyone who displeased him "to the cornfield", if they were lucky...

 

He could also grow up to be the next Bill Nye The Science Guy.

 

No, it's like wiping a cumshot off the floor. It has the potential to become a being, if a certain chain of events happen and it lands in a fertile place. But that isn't currently the case. Right now, it's a half-full turkey baster of god goo.

 

Before or after it causes untold amounts of death and destruction by accident? Because Titans are to us much like we are to ants, as in it hard to notice when you step on them.

 

Hah!

So true!

Except he may also end up stuck in Erebos and then in Tartarus.

Or Zagreus' arrows could actually permanently kill him.

Though you have an odd way of showing it.

'consciousness to'

'to ash'

Getting some ideas on how to get rid of Zeus.

'Hecate'

 

No they arent, we saw what Titans were really like first hand in story.

 

Yeah, Constantine's moral limit may be baby rape.

That's probably one of the few lines he won't cross, but he'll still do a lot of things that aren't so evil.

The problem with that is that a lot of things can still be extremely evil but not in the same level as baby rape.

Yeah, Luthor comes to mind.

The guy has done a lot of evil shit but Paul hasn't been all that interested in opposing him just because it hasn't hurt people he cares about.

Though he seems to have forgotten all the times the Light tried to kill him and his friends.

Heck, he even helped Luthor.

 

ash

the

 

That should say 'Lethe'. The water of Leith is a real world river.

That should say 'his'.

Nice to see that she's onboard with this. It's always nice to have gods with whom you are friendly with.

 

Man, this section of chapters has been a fun read.

 

I know OL's a bit crazy, but 'demon'? Still, it's nice to see Zagreus takes guard duty seriously. Though I suspect OL's lucky he didn't shoot first, investigate the remains later. With an eleven-foot pole.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Surprised you don't simply have him trussed up like a hand-bag. A handle would probably make it easier to keep him where you can see him...

And since Hecate is unlikely to be inclined to leave Erebos, well...

Easier to ask forgiveness than permission, what with bring a live demon in here.

Are you sure you really want to know? Really, really sure?

...No, no he is not.

...I swear, I am not reading ahead.

Can't admit to doing something of dubious legality and safety, after all.

He isn't paid enough to deal with this shit. ...Not that he's paid at all.

Such is the drawback of OL's spur-of-the-moment impulses. They're often hard on other people's blood pressure.

...I mean, anatomically correct body. But setting that aside...

Unless that's a joke about OL's Earth, I don't follow...

Chances they aren't wrestling, but are actually 'wrestling'?

Surprised they haven't got a sound system set up, laying down the DOOFs... Ain't a proper party without music.

...Let's just hope he doesn't come busting in at the wrong moment.

OL might have played a part, yes. Do you like it?

It's gonna be a hum-dinger. Zeus won't be so amused, but fuck him.

It's probably the most harmful of the rivers of the Underworld. And yes, I am including Phlegethon, river of fire, in that metric.

No doubt Hecate's been working on ways to weaponise it for Hades? Or at least dispose of it safely.

Oh, don't brag because your favourite worshipper is so exciting...

Putting OL's offerings to good use, I see.

'And that was the first time I died...' I'm sure Hecate heard the name Constantine and went 'Yup, that'll happen.'

Sadly, that's about normal for a Constantine plot-line...

Well, just a matter of rewriting the hardware drivers.

...Boy, she is really stuck on the 'golem' thing, isn't she?

...Yup. A new Titan, after thousands of years. Not yet aware beyond the most instinctive level, just waiting for someone to snap up its power...

I'm sure it'll be an interesting exercise for her. And such fascinating company.

Well, she's in. Anyone else needing to be lined up for this not-a-heist OL's setting up? Man, this is going to come completely out of left field for the Olympians. Only a few of them seem to really comprehend that humanity has been changing, and they need to change with them. Zeus and so many others have just been chilling in Olympus. Maybe the shake-up will do them some good...

 

Well... Lawful Evil Paul should need the Moirai, since without them there should be a 100% chance this fails.

 

I mean, I wouldn't suggest that course of action, but if that's what it takes to resolve Zeus' focus on Diana....

Oh, wait.

 

Fortunately Zagreus is a god so he may be immune to that.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if Paul somehow has him develop one.

More like wrestling.

A crazy ride that ultimately ends in tragedy.

Holy crap, now I can't stop thinking of Rick and Morty.

He even has Hephaestus!