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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. NightmareWarden

    NightmareWarden Versed in the lewd.

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    Hmm. In DC Satan does not exist and Lucifer seems to have departed the universe. I wonder if Smiley got some of his conceptual weight (mojo) from either of those facts. We’ve heard before any demon can call themselves Satan, so what if Smiley (regardless of whether he is still a demon) earned the greatest returns on said scheme?
     
  2. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    I think the First of the Fallen was considered to be Satan.
     
  3. Bud-E

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

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    The First of the Fallen and Lucifer Morningstar are two different beings both can be considered the devil in DC comics
     
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  4. WereDragon

    WereDragon Bookwyrm

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    I’m… not seeing the threat. If this joker could win a direct confrontation he would not have put so much effort into trying to avoid such a confrontation.
     
  5. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Oh, he can't just snap his fingers and kill them, no. But he can make their life jolly unpleasant.
     
  6. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    Oh dang. I was beginning to wonder if Boss Smiley really was a hallucination in the Silver City or not.
     
  7. jasonh23761

    jasonh23761 Not too sore, are you?

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    The implications of this are staggering, especially when mapped out onto American politics and cold war history. It's also very hard to talk about without trapezing all over Rule 8. Bravo, MrZoat

    Well now, that's pants shittingly terrifying. Still, I prefer it to the image of him the wiki has from the Stargirl show. He looks like a possessed muppet.
     
  8. redleo37

    redleo37 Getting some practice in, huh?

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    I am a Scion Player who loves the idea of the Yankee Pantheon (even if I think it was miss managed in 1e I think it gets a bad rap by fans and could be extremely different to other Pantheons)

    More then anything else I want to see the full Colonial American Pantheon have a meeting with Paul about how to best to match the growing Shinto and Olympians if not exceed them.

    Also does anyone think some cultural icons like Mickey Mouse is apart of the pantheon or someone is using that image to gain magical power.
     
  9. Bud-E

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

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    Disney is a global power so I think Mickey would probably be in charge of his own pantheon
     
  10. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    Well, at least we know that in this universe Bay directed the prequels so Star Wars might not be as profitable for Disney.

    Huh, now this has me thinking tangentially about if superhero movies would be popular at all or mostly just fall into the realm of biopics
     
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  11. WereDragon

    WereDragon Bookwyrm

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    He will have to be quick about it. He just announced that he is declaring war on a guy who dethroned Zeus while under the restriction of not fighting or killing Zeus.
     
  12. Silveraith

    Silveraith Argent Phantasm

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    That.

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    I saw that image, but I couldn't find a larger one and I think it makes him look like an alien rather than something supernatural.
    You've taken the quote out of context. The speaker was describing a world other than the one they were in.

    Edit: Smiley's claim about his title.
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2022
  14. Enochi

    Enochi Having way to much fun with AI.

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    So.... is the statue back to being Shiny copper brown again or is it still Green?
     
  15. Istaran

    Istaran Know what you're doing yet?

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    Me too. In part because there was no preamble so we know Alan had to be keeping tabs on Paul closely enough to hear the statue just as a standard precaution. Maybe a passive ring command to make him aware of weirdness happening around Paul? He spends much of his day filtering out the results? Eagle flying in and out of a painting... eh, I'm sure he's got it handled. Statue of Liberty talking... I better check it out.
     
  16. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Brown.
    It's more that Dr. Balewa was following the 'Paul Protocol', and called Alan after the Statue of Liberty changed colour.
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2022
  17. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Holy crap, that's creepy as fuck.

    He might be in Valhalla.

    Hmm, good point.

    I think a lot of Worm fics tend to say that after parahumans showed up, things like superhero and action media just stopped being popular.

    True, but Paul may not have anything to counter Smiley and unlike Zeus, Smiley might actually be prepared for Paul.

    I love that they have a protocol for that.

    I'm guessing it involves calling someone Paul might listen to so that they can convince him to stop or figure out what he's doing?
     
  18. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Yes.
     
  19. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    Actually DC has the actual Demiurge- Synnar.

    Yes, God's architect is a supervillain.

    But I doubt we'll see him considering how much Vertigo stuff gets thrown into this story, as Lucy and Mike creating the universe would be somewhat awkward.

    As for Boss Smiley, of course. Pres is a Messianic archetype in that Sandman story, Boss is there to play the Satan role in the Temptation of Christ.

    “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Matthew 4.9
     
  20. Coda

    Coda Versed in the lewd.

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    Comma instead of semicolon, and probably "something few others have done."

    best thing

    He doesn't even have the lyrics right. Though I can't tell if it's mixing up the lines in-character, mixing up the lines out-of-character, or censorship because the correct line in that context is "pilgrim's pride."

    I'm well aware. 日本語を話せるよ。I was simplifying the description for the relevant audience and using the presentation that had been used in the comics and earlier in the fic.
     
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  21. WaleXdraK

    WaleXdraK Not too sore, are you?

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    look like Smiley actually found a way to counter Paul Tattoo, now we just have to see if it’s just a part of it or if he can completely negates their effect.
     
  22. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    He had just lost most of his brain matter.

    Edit:
    Oh, and these are my attempts to make a smiley face on the statue of liberty. It's surprisingly hard to make non-square pictures.
     
  23. Rafin

    Rafin Not too sore, are you?

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    So what's Boss Smiley doing in Rene!Grayven's timeline? Stuff's rapidly changing there too, ain't it? Africa is becoming a group of nations run by the Light and facilitating Earth's space program. Electricity is dirt cheap too.
     
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  24. Perchance

    Perchance Getting out there.

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    And lo, how good it is to be vindicated. While the chance for Boss Smiley to just be a Heaven-Matrix man behind the man behind the man to the power of n was possible, he felt far too much like a Chekhov's gunman for it to finish out nicely.

    At first I thought yeah, John has some kind of distraction spell going on, manipulating the synchronicity wave highway to continually throw obstacles and problems in Paul's way to keep him off his back. But then I thought hey wait. While that is absolutely a Very Constantine Thing To Do (VCTTD) it just didn't quite fit.

    I could of course be entirely wrong, but to me it seemed more likely that someone else was getting in the way. Someone who was known for large scale manipulation to get their way. With the Uncle Sam Doppelganger insidiously manipulating the undercurrents of American society plot thread dangling it all felt a bit too coincidental. So who would be able to do that? Who could manipulate event after event constant(ine)ly to keep Paul from checking on John?

    The only in-universe-as-of-yet-with-any-real-reason-to-do-so answer, was Smiley. Because John's ascendancy to Chaos Lord was a big change. Constatine, who constantly mucked about with the winds of destiny and chance, finally given real power? Well if I were an ancient, mysterious, arcane puppet master, that's the last thing that I would want. And if John can be pushed into wanting to rid himself of that power, all the better. But best to make sure that the wrench in these celestial gears is far and away removed for the process.

    I'm very excited to see where this goes. For starters, how does Lady Liberty even know of him? Is it his connection to elections and the rigging thereof? And what happened to her since she was Telepresencing through the statue he plonked his head on? And what really IS he? My best guess is that he's the satanic archetype of the manipulator. Luckier and the First both (iirc anyways) said they don't care to be blamed for people's actions. But all that belief in a tempter and liar and manipulator has to go somewhere after all.

    Edit: or he could well be, and this one is surprising to think about, some weird, celestial politics version of Equinox, an intended link between Order and Chaos. Change, but at a very slow, measured pace. Not too orderly, not too chaotic.

    And what is his next big move? I assume its not another heaven nuke/invasion, because he's had ample time to watch Paul and devise a counter to him now, and a much more vested interest in doing so.

    Of course watch me say all this and then it turn out that I've gotten every last thing wrong
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2022
  25. JeckJack

    JeckJack Mask Seller

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    I was trying to remember what this arc was reminding me of, and I finally found it:

    The buddy-cop vibes, the talking Eagle, the discussion on the meaning of America and all that jazz. I'm actually surprised nobody else brought it up since the eagle was introduced. I mean, it's a crime-solving eagle named Detective Heart of America.
     
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  26. PDV

    PDV Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer

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    That's... generally not how notarikon works. The only things "Prince of the World" is notarikon for is "potw" or maybe "peoftewd". If you go through Hebrew, "נה" - which could be pronounced 'Nah' or "Nuhuh" or "neeeeeeeee" - notarikon is much more flexible in Biblical Hebrew where you can add in whatever vowels you like. (The only other time I've seen notarikon in English is UNSONG - though it's in the last chapter and spoils the whole premise of the story, so be warned.)
     
  27. DeathlessProficiency

    DeathlessProficiency Know what you're doing yet?

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    Fucking finally, I’ve been waiting to learn more about Boss :) since those fucking chapters dropped
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2022
  28. CTrees

    CTrees Chasing the ring

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    Huh, it's like they brought in a little bit of the gnostic ideas without being willing to commit to Sophia as a separate entity being responsible for creating Yaldabaoth, the demiurge also being the serpent of the garden of Eden, etc. Point is, the demiurge being evil is a core idea of Gnosticism.
     
  29. Threadmarks: Dear John (part 12)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Twilight, Local Time

    Guh!

    A painfully laboured breath, then I take a moment to mutter swears that would sear a saint's ears at everyone involved in this whole fucking fiasco. And because I'm not John Gadzooking Constantine I don't forget to include myself in that.

    But I don't insult whoever it was that designed Belle Reve's magic cells. That was good. Damn good. Heh.

    I reach across to my jacket pocket without really thinking about it, feeling for a packet of Silk Cuts and finding only my own bare chest.

    Shit, yeah. That's the downside. Couldn't find a way past the spells and couldn't just ride out on synchronicity wave because it turns out that demons can't do that. All the memories he left me with, the one he used so much that he couldn't keep it from me, and it's sodding useless. Couldn't make a deal with the guards because they've go around in groups of four and they got remote monitoring. Couldn't summon help, not with all the wards they had up. Couldn't force my way out.

    But I'm a demon. All I had to do to get free was die. Create a feedback loop in the spells the Atlanteans put on the chains wasn't easy, but… I'm a demon. Drain too much magic away and I just fall apart, which would normally send me right down to the bottom of the heap down under. Not a good place to be.

    But a few drops of blood hidden away somewhere and that's an anchor. A demon glyph to draw power from some kind of old ritual murder no one remembers, and I'm back.

    Naked, broke, hungry, thirsty, achy, and… Hell, I don't even know what the date is. Probably cold, but that sort of thing doesn't bother me anymore.

    I take a moment to let a good long frustrated breath out from between my teeth.

    That's it for Satanus, then. No more Colin Thornton means no more DMN junkies, no more free cash and no more cover from other big dogs looking to put the bite on someone with John's face. Satanus might get out and he might claw his way back up the hierarchy in Hell, but that's not going to happen soon.

    I turn in the direction I vaguely remember the closest village being and start walking. There's brambles and a bunch of other angry plants I've never learned the names of, but I've walked from one end of Hell to the other. My feet do what I tell them.

    What am I even going to do now?

    I was just doing favours for Satanus so he'd owe me. His chance of getting power in Hell is… Probably better than the other high up demons doing it. But one sniff of John

    And then there's the other bloke.

    I made a deal. I wanted to be me, he wanted to be him. He's keeping away from me and we've both got a reason to keep that up. Which is the best way to do it. But with John not around I'm comparing what I'm doing to what he's doing-.

    Is this how John felt about it? I was getting a grip on… I thought I was getting a grip on him, with him not around and me…

    If John's not around, why not just take his life? Not like it's hard, and I'm already John-shaped. One part of his soul running down the John-shaped furrow in the world rather than the other.

    So what the fuck am I doing here? If I'm going to be John, I need to go be miserable in London, feeling all of the pain and misery that makes up that place. Where I can get a crap beer with crap service and be pissed enough not to care.

    Fuck me, I think I can hear a road. Don't know who's driving around at this time of night, but I can get people to do what I want as easy as he can.

    No, hang on. Favours.

    I stop, looking around for-. That'll do. A tree with bark flat enough to write on. No pen, nothing in me stomach, ground is… Cold and dry. Runes drawn in mud are shit, anyway.

    My own blood it is, then.

    I walk up to the tree, putting my right forefinger in my mouth and biting the soft skin. My teeth are sharper and my blood more magical than John's, so this shouldn't be quite as difficult as it was for him. There's a few demons who should answer me without too much grief, but right now I'm vulnerable, and the list of demons I can trust not to take the piss…

    Is about one.

    At least her being on Earth means I don't need to summon up the energy to let her out.

    It takes effort to stop my blood from clotting, and add a little something to stop anyone I don't want hearing this… Probably. The way people are learning magic right now I can't rely on that. Only good thing is Atlanteans don't have much to do with demons -or British street magicians- if they can help it.

    Fuck me I'm tired.

    I slump down, the blood from my finger wound trickling onto the ground. I take a moment to focus and the cut closes. Alright, the walk and the spell wiped me out, but it's not like I can die.

    Rest my eyes for a minu-

    FLASH!

    -tefuck! I shield my eyes with both arms as the whole area goes violet and-.

    And it's like a scab getting knocked off my soul, and all the things about Kit that John gave me as a sop before he packed me off to Hell come flooding to the surface and all the weakness I tried to bury comes rushing back and I'm crying and I don't even have proper tear ducts anymore.


    "John, whatever happened to you? Are you alright?"

    "Knock it off, Elle."

    She had been reaching out, but now she hesitates.

    "Oh. It's you."

    "What's that supposed to mean?"

    "John isn't exactly an easy man to get along with, and you're made of the worst parts of him."

    She folds her arms across her chest, and my memories of his meetings with her mean I spot straight away that for once she's not doing it to emphasise her breasts. And her clothes… Elle wasn't an all-tart all the time sort of hellwhore, but her conservative clothing seems to fit in a way it usually didn't. Something John did, but what? There's a few magicians who've sent sex demons to nunneries before, but they weren't trying to convert the demons. And Elle…

    Oh that's her game. I make myself stop blocking the memories, remembering that brief period of his life when it was all coming together. Simple domestic stuff that he'd never had before and that meant so much. And now she's looking at him curiously.


    "Not just the worst parts, then. Why are you here?"

    "Long story. You got a spare jacket or something?"

    "Why would you-? You're naked?"

    "Long story."

    "Here."

    She takes it off and tosses it to me. I-. Steady, stand up and put it on. It's too tight, but at least I could sneak into town without getting arrested right away.

    "Cheers. Any idea what day it is?"

    "Sixth of January."

    Over a month. Heat should have died down a bit, and it's not like I left the stove on.

    "Alright. Thanks. I owe you. Point me at the nearest town and I'll get out of you-."

    "I'm not letting you out of my sight."
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2022
  30. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Well, I didn't expect to see his POV.

    "they go around"

    Yeah, they'd torture you.

    I'm guessing he's talking about John Quinn?
     
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