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

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

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  1. Ardy

    Ardy I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    I can imagine it now...

    Kalmin: My lord, you have returned! Are you ready to destroy all of reality?

    Anti-Monitor: No my loyal vassal, my aim is actually to destroy half of all reality.

    Kalmin: DIE HERETIC!
     
  2. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Religious fanatics will screw over anyone.

    Even their gods aren't safe.
     
  3. Bud-E

    Bud-E Stand up so I can push you down!

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    Isn't their future version of Paul that helps Kalmin destroy the universe? Am I making that up?
     
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  4. Silveraith

    Silveraith Argent Phantasm

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    He sort of did when he was speaking with Poison Ivy. Gaia and Heph's prodding were his entire reason for going to Brazil.
     
  5. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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  6. Bud-E

    Bud-E Stand up so I can push you down!

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    I could be very wrong, but I remember Paul watching all the emotional entities kill each other while he, Kalmin, and the Endless watch.
     
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  7. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

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    I believe that was an omake someone made. Don't remember where it is though.
     
  8. Mastigos2

    Mastigos2 Versed in the lewd.

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    You'd probably get a more appropriate reaction by explaining that he's the magician that you made into a Lord of Order AND Chaos who's given up the Order portion
     
  9. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Assuming she knows what those things are and how important they are.
     
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  10. Siiracai The Supernal

    Siiracai The Supernal Shadows and Balance

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    I kind of want to bet on Mr. Mxyzptlk making another appearance. Or some sort of King in Yellow expy (maybe the eldritch abomination them(?)self).
     
  11. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    OL is more Ronnie Soak style Chaos rather than actual randomness.
     
  12. Threadmarks: Dear John (part 1)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Dear John

    5th November 2012
    23:12 GMT


    "Do you have a-"

    "FUCK!"

    The surprised… I want to say 'cultist', but this might actually be an unusual but accepted part of Hinduism for all I know, so… 'Ritualist', loses hold of his goat, which writhes in his grasp, smacking him with its horns before freeing itself and making a break for it.

    "-license to butcher that goat?"

    The ritualist takes a moment to take stock of the situation, then straightens himself up and brushes some of the goat hair off his robes.

    "I do, actually. So-."

    "Doesn't look stunned to me." I look around the… Rented business unit? Reminds me a little of the place John set up that withering spell to try and weaken Nabu. "And this doesn't look like a licensed premises."

    "I've got a religious exemption."

    "No you don't. If nothing else, because those stopped existing the moment Doctor Balewa finished explaining to the Select Committee how ritual sacrifice could be used to power certain types of spell." I drop to the floor. "Now, de facto, I'm not sure how well that law has actually been enforced, but in this instance I would respectfully suggest that now is the time to fold."

    "Right, fine." He pushes back his hood, revealing a face covered in ritual face paint. "What do you want?"

    "I'm trying to find John Constantine. Unfortunately, I've been getting nowhere."

    He frowns, paint flaking slightly as his brow furrows. "Thought you and him were pretty close."

    "You know how that goes with John. I take it you haven't seen him?"

    "Not since just after that thing with that Lich."

    "'After'?"

    "Yeah… He.. just sort of turned up in my flat. Like he does, you know?" I nod. "Asked me about a couple of rituals… Don't know why he bothered if he can just talk to the Atlanteans about it."

    "Most likely because the Atlanteans study magic scientifically, building their understanding in a gradual, controlled way. There are any number of rituals and evocations they don’t know about and probably wouldn't try."

    "Uh." He nods, actually looking a little pleased.

    "What?"

    "Well, with those Dolmen Gates and.. things, people like me… People have been trying to set up… Professional standards and that. But no one gets that we can't do that stuff." He shrugs a little self-consciously. "Just nice to hear there's stuff we can do that they can't, too."

    "Not to… Harsh your mellow, but… They're magical scientists. They'll get it eventually, and then they'll be better at it because they'll understand how it all works. Particularly if they can study other people doing it so they've got somewhere to start."

    "And they pay for that?"

    "Um. Probably? I'm not sure if they've got a system for hiring locals, and… Atlantis doesn't exactly have large reserves of foreign currency, but I can introduce you if you want?"

    He nods. "Sounds good."

    "But going back to John..?"

    "Oh yeah, he wanted to know this spell… Okay, you know how the soul goes through multiple cycles of life, death and rebirth?"

    "I'm Lord Hades's marriage counsellor."

    He frowns. "Who?"

    "Ancient Greek God of the Dead."

    "Oh. Do Greeks have samsara?"

    "No, reincarnation is voluntary and random, and it's more… Because you're bored of the underworld than any sort of journey of spiritual discovery. But I'm familiar with the idea."

    "Right, well, the soul retains… Development between incarnations, but it doesn't keep most of the memories. There's some leakage, but mostly… The new incarnation is a new person. That's the whole point; you can't learn if you're constantly doing the same things."

    "Alright."

    "But it's hackable."

    "Reincarnation is hackable?"

    "You can't change-. You can't reliably change where you reincarnate." He shifts awkwardly. "I mean, I've read scrolls which say you can, but the system picks up on it and makes your next life miserable, and there's no point because you don't remember it anyway."

    "Karma's a bitch."

    "No, it sounds fair to me." He shrugs. "But it's not just that. Because the soul does retain development, the memories of all your past lives have to be encoded in it, right?"

    "Not all of them, but… Yes? That's where past life memories come from."

    "But it encodes more than people remember. There's rituals you can use to get more access. Even talk to your own past incarnations, if you want."

    "And that's what John asked about?"

    "Yeah." He shrugs. "That was the main thing. We were talking for a while, and I don't remember… It was mostly about that."

    John's past incarnations? I don't remember anything about that in the comics. Sure, there were other Constantines, and other synchronicity wave travellers… This is more than I've gotten from anyone else.

    "Do you remember anything else about his visit?"

    "He had a Tesco bag that glowed the whole time."

    "What colour?"

    "White, with blue and red-."

    "The glow, not the bag."

    "Gold."

    I nod. "Did he say where he was going?"

    "No. Didn’t even say goodbye, I just turned around and he wasn't there anymore."

    "Mind if some colleagues of mine take a look at your apartment? We're really quite eager to make sure that John's alright."

    "Sure." He shrugs. "Sure, no problem. Ah, about those Atlanteans?"

    "Do you have time now?"

    He glances in the direction the goat fled in. It's gone.

    "Might as well."
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2022
  13. Grimnar

    Grimnar Versed in the lewd.

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    I'll admit, I chuckled at the arc title.
     
  14. Massgamer

    Massgamer Not too sore, are you?

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    What a understanding and helpful cultist, not even mad about the unexpected visit and losing his sacrifice.
     
  15. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Ohh, Paul, you and he were so cute.

    Do you really have to break up?

    But I'm glad we're finally getting a Constantine episode.

    "Thought"

    Yeah, a lot of surface magic may be too crazy.

    Though a lot of people may try.

    Probably want to become someone important or rich.

    Now this incarnation thing makes me think that John somehow used the ritual to talk to Golden Boy and that it's Quinn.
     
  16. AmericanNumbers

    AmericanNumbers Not too sore, are you?

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    Hah. Going to Atlantis is gonna lead to another Crisis tangent.
     
  17. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
  18. Pinklestia

    Pinklestia Well worn.

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    Buddhism whole point is getting out the cycle of reincarnation. That's the way to control it but becoming a Buddha is freaking hard. Heck is DC you are more likely to achieve some sort of immortality that to become a Buddha.
     
  19. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Yeah, that's most people's reaction to OL turning up unexpectedly. :D Just not as vocal or visceral. And at last, we're starting on the - no doubt perilous and winding - journey to track down John Constantine! About bloody time!

    I picture it butting him in the crotch, for added hilarity. :p Unlikely, but amusing.

    He's remarkably calm about getting caught in what no doubt looks like a satanic ritual.

    I rather think splashing about a few pints of goat's blood would waive your security and cleaning deposit, if nothing else.

    Or, to use a classic British line: 'You're nicked, mate.' I'm sure OL will be willing to overlook this if you're helpful.

    Not that close. You clearly know what happens to John's friends.

    ...In other words, after he'd been slapped with the mantles of both Klarion and Nabu. Bet he was a little bit twitchy.

    There are some places the Atlanteans won't go, and things they won't or can't do...

    Like, say, whatever you were planning with that goat. Pretty sure they have opinions about blood sacrifice.

    Give them time, they'll work something out.

    ...That would be an interesting thing to list on a resumé.

    I'm sure he wouldn't mind being paid in gold. Let's hope he has a decent water-breathing spell in his books somewhere.

    Well, in some faiths, anyway.

    ...Uneducated lout... :rolleyes: Honestly, no appreciation for the Classics.

    Not quite... Though I wonder if more of his subjects would elect to give it a try these days.

    A pity most people can't manage it.

    Oh, is that what he is? The mystical equivalent of a script kiddie?

    Sounds like a good reason not to try and mess with it.

    I would presume so. Significant bits, at least. And probably not the things we'd consider significant, like marriage, children and the like.

    Sort of like cracking into a secure file in your operating system.

    Why do I not doubt that he left a little treat for the guy to 'encourage' him to forget or at least misremember things?

    How peculiar. I wonder where he was going with it?

    A shopping bag? No class at all. Use a briefcase, at least.

    Though I find it amusing that he felt the need to lug the Helmet of Nabu in a plastic bag, like the day's shopping.

    Evidently Order wasn't to his taste, then. As we know, since he fobbed it off on John Quinn.

    ...I suppose with all that power, it makes it a lot easier for him to pull a Bat-disappearing-act on someone.

    Not a wise idea to refuse someone with as much power as OL has, I suppose.

    Yeah, I'd say any plans you had for the evening have fallen through by now.

    And so the hunt begins. This unnamed fellow will be just one step of many on the trail, no doubt. We can but hope that nothing important comes up to bump OL and his associates off the path again. Though by this point, I suspect nothing short of the end of the world will dissuade OL from this mission. And even then, he'll probably take one look at it, go, "Nope, someone else can handle this." And keep on the hop.



    :confused: Bit awkward. Either delete 'the' or pop an ellipsis after it, maybe?

    We're really quite eager to make sure that John's alright."
     
  20. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    That "ritualist" was a rather mellow fellow.

    Hope we see more of him, he was fun.
     
  21. NightmareWarden

    NightmareWarden Versed in the lewd.

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    I’d like to see this ritualist again. Especially if he gets diplomatic immunity as a “magical matters expert” so he winds up frustrating traditionalists with his… everything. Or he could wind up in jail for non-villainous deeds, leading to another quirky meetup just like this the next time Paul searches for him.
     
  22. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    He can probably smell the bad luck coming from John.

    Well even if only 1% of his subjects chose it, that'd still be a lot since he has billions of them.

    Because that sounds like John.

    Where else was he supposed to carry it?
     
  23. Citizen

    Citizen Well worn.

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    John
     
  24. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    "No, you don't"
     
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  25. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    Wonder where this is taking place...

    Can't be America cause constitution... So maybe England or Canada?
     
  26. Radiant Knight

    Radiant Knight Phoenix Fire

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    It can work as either. The comma changes the focus of the sentence, but it can work just fine without it. I actually like the idea of Paul just replying very flippantly- 'No you don't', versus the more measured 'no. You don't' suggested as a replacement. It's much more of an automatic denial and it certainly got a laugh from me.
     
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  27. m_d

    m_d Fascinated by storytelling

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    While I can see Zagreus' point of view, there may be sound theological and societal reasons for them to be connected conceptually, even if not married. There are many societies which have conceptions of new beginnings and new life being connected to death as a force that opens a door or clears a way for them that would not otherwise be possible. That can be associated with a tension between life and death, with death being a constant companion from life's beginning that can drive sometimes terrible struggles and despair, but not always. It can also be seen as healthy in a way that unending life may not be. I'm still hoping for something healthy to come out of this, even if I can see lots of ways it can go wrong.
     
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  28. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    Thing is, he's from the Hellblazer comic and I think he has a name, but I'm darned if I can remember what story he's in. John phones him for advice and the goat runs away. Anyone know it?
    He didn't pause.
     
  29. BR549

    BR549 This is filth! FILTH!!

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    ...this is John Constantine involved here.

    'The end of the world' is probably scheduled as Thursday's distraction.
     
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  30. Joelseph14

    Joelseph14 Know what you're doing yet?

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    Damn I really love the frank and casual discussions on Afterlife Mechanics
     
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