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

I think he was talking about the damned souls, not the demons.

 

The demons aren't the ones imprisoned in Hell - that's the souls of mortals who were sent there. The Dreams of the damned souls make the torments the demons make effective, is what Morpheus was saying there.

The demons, themselves, have no Dreams.

 

Ah. I forgot about that, and I've got no idea what I planned. Let's say that he entered an alien thought process as a sort of memetic attack, but the Ophidian ate it.

The line was really more of a metaphor.

 

Darko BR549
Demons are still prisoners of hell though? I feel like I remember that being something mentioned previously and in DC.

Remember, unless Demons are summoned, for the most part they are trapped in hell. And Demons are nothing more than Human Souls who have been corrupted. Their origin is human. Unless, you know, the demon in question was a former Angel or a syncretized deity or something.

And even Demons suffer in hell, unless they exist at the top of the hierarchy. Even then, most of them, as seen with the Satanus stuff, have and would work to escape or have ways out and such and such when they can.

They still dream of something better. They still have hopes and desires, and all in all don't seem to have drifted really all that far from the baseline human experience.

Other than, you know, being able to feed off of darker acts and emotions, which DC Magicians have been able to empower themselves with previously too, so even humans seem to have that potential on some level.

Was it ever mentioned in DC that Demons were disconnected from the Dreaming all together? I mean, the metaphysics could always be different here, granted. But I don't ever remember the story going into why they wouldn't be able to connect to the Dreaming after transitioning into Demons.

The Endless and their Domains tend to be something greater, who touch basically everyone and everything in existence. And the number of beings not connected to them tend to be Lucifer level and up

 

Into the Dream!

I have a feeling Morpheus will show up at some point anyway. But it sure looks like it will be a fun ride.

 

I'm not sure about the metaphysics or the hierarchy regarding the Endless, but The Demon Constantine implied the the Demons' current situation of "not dreaming" is in part because of the debacle with Morpheus and because they, generally, don't sleep. I would assume that they have imagination, expectations, assumptions, aspirations and such, all thoughts connected in some way with the Dream. And the Dream itself might as well be the basis/origin of magic or magical entities in a more broad sense so, yes, the demons are in some way connected to the Dream. But they don't Dream the way mortal minds do, they are not generators of The Dreaming nor inhabitants nor dependants of it, I would assume.

And regarding demons being prisoners of Hell. Are we prisoners of Earth? To demons being in Hell is natural, that's their habitat, doesn't matter how shitty it might be to most. It's not like life is not shitty to a lot of people on Earth as well. The difference being that the Demons' main job/vocation is messing, preying on and taking advantage of us and we are on the mortal plane, so they obviously have to come here. And the same way we have to prepare to exit our planet, they have to prepare to exit their hellish plane of existance. At least, that's how I understand it.

 

I'm pretty sure Morpheus was specifically referring to the people getting punished in hell, not the demons doing the punishing.

 

Speaking of hell, how are things going in heaven? I dont exactly remember any details about it after the whole incident with Smiley. Any interesting developments lately? More angelic superheroes?

Sorry for the trouble.

 

It's just a Zoat re-write.

 

"animating"

Cute.

Cutting back?

 

Look at Paul making Eris proud. BTW anyone else get the feeling Demon-Constantine is gonna try to absorb/consume Quinn?

 

Paul pulled a 'Warm Bodies' on the zombies. Nice.

 

I think that was an homage to the Hellblazer story in which a ghost was asking people for hugs, and when refused froze them to death.

John gave the ghost a hug and the ghost moved on, leaving John fine physically.

Or as fit as he was before the hug, anyway.

 

Yeah, not the best choice against zombies, really. After all, Piercing weapons traditionally don't bother things that don't use their organs for living. Slashing damage, on the other hand, is much more useful, if at least by dismembering them...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Classic 'necromancy' zombies or 'evil science' zombies, then? The latter at least operate a bit like living people, besides a tendency to mutate.

Thinking too mundane, OL. This is a realm of metaphor and perception.

And if this were a regular RPG session, the DM would be groaning right now, along with the other players, at the 'quirky guy's antics. There's always one...

Hard to speak without lungs, after all. Or at least a working diaphragm.

Well, not classic D&D zombies, then. Healing effects deal damage to them due to being infused with Negative Energy (Healing being Positive Energy-based...)

Well, hard to go past your first inclination. I'm sure the ones you slashed up appreciate being taken seriously.

Now, You (and OL) might assume she's talking about being dead, but I choose to assume she's insulted by OL's reaction. You're not supposed to care about the zombie horde, dammit!

...Or she is really dedicated to playing her role.

Barring the bits of face missing. All those soft tissues that are first to go, after all, like the nose, ears and eyelids...

Oh, brother. Only OL could consider hugging therapy as a counter to zombies.

Background Zombie #1: "Oh, come on, mate, quit playing the arse. We're here to get chopped up! I quite enjoy getting an arm lopped off now and then!"

And the DM is just face-down behind his screen, rolling his head back and forth and making pained sounds...

Background Zombie #2: "Well, there's no need to point out my deficiencies, pal. Geez, rude much?"

Background Zombie #3: "Well, it's no fun if you're not going to play along, you know..."

Background Zombie #1: "Oi! Watch the animatism! We have feelings too!"

And no doubt many others like it. Not every culture or faith has the same vision of a place of stagnant death, after all. Just watch out for the ones based on DOOM. Messy places, those.

If it was, I suspect whether you passed or not is still up in the air...

Background Zombie #2: "Eh, there'll be another bunch along any minute now. Maybe they'll be into it. Or maybe we can get to dance this time! I like dancing!"
Background Zombie #3: "But you've got two left feet."
Background Zombie #2: "Hey, I can't help how I was sewn together!"

Think of them as actors playing out scenes. That's probably closer to their actual condition than anything.

Well, if he managed to do what Doctor Mist asked, you should hear the sound of water against a shoreline any time.

Unless you're an extremely powerful mage, with power to burn.

Eh, two of you are American, and Doc is quite aware of the power of a Gun, and especially it's imagery...

As long as you don't go for a flamethrower or something. Then not only are they chasing you, they're chasing you on fire.

So, you probably could have gone all 'Resident Evil' on them, then.

Unless something else has other ideas...

Isn't that less than what John usually worked through? At least one of you cares about your health.

Huh. That is not how I expected them to handle Zombies. And yet it made perfect sense, knowing OL. If any of the local personalities are watching them, I bet they're shaking their heads at his sort of lateral thinking. At any rate, best to be moving along before something nastier takes note of you. And there are some right scary blokes floating around the Dreaming, after all.

 

This sentence needs work, try:

"Alan stops suddenly, spotting what I'm doing and looks awkwardly at his sword."

 

Well unless you aim for the head.

Background Zombie #2: I can just as easily say that you're more likely to be impotent. How do you like that, you warm-bodied freak?

 

‘thet’

‘thet’
also, maybe ‘this place’

‘hev’

’thought’

Interesting chapter. A neat way of dealing with zombies. I wonder if this place will stop existing at some point as people get more educated on the true nature of afterlives, or if Erebos will allow it to stick around.

 

Thank you, corrected.

 

Awww, zombie hugs. That lateral thinking is always appreciated.

 

A whole chapter of LePaul just being wrong about everything.

This amuses me.

 

Mr Zoat, have you ever read Soon I Will Be Invincible? I ask because I heard of it and what I have learned makes it seem like an interesting place for a version of Paul to end up in. Would it be possible for us to see this in the story?

 

What about the setting makes you think it would be interesting to see a version of Paul go there?

 

The fact that the SI has read it, since he recalled Doctor Impossible in both timelines when the local versions introduced themselves. I'm interested in seeing how he'll interact with people knowing what they have/will do, at least in regards to the events in the novel, and if he can do anything about the literal mental disorder that turns people into evil geniuses.

 

I'm so used to Paul being distracted from Constantine, I had to take a second to remember The Demon was part of him and not another distraction.

 

I'm not sure how many care, but in the comics Sandy is actually a silicon instead of carbon based life form in "human form."

Maybe it was watching Star Trek as a kid, but I've always liked seeing that kind of thing in fiction.

 

Not a bad workout. Pity you don't get to see where you're going, only where you've been. I'm surprised they're having to row, though, given that a river flows. Though that would be metaphorically giving themselves up to the whims of the current... Whereas rowing implies purpose, and progress towards a destination.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Doesn't mean it's not good exercise. Even if he only acts as an extra during training sessions or the like...

Right, still reluctant to acknowledge his empowered aspects.

I expect the number one no-no would be super-strength and/or super-speed. Just on pure mechanical advantage.

I'd make a crack about the ladies liking that, but that would imply sand in places sand should never be. Ow.

His humanity is largely in his head. Don't ruin it for him, OL.

And I'm suddenly reminded of Asterix comics where Obelix the mighty is rowing. Picture a rowboat hopping along like a rabbit, if you can't picture it.

Good, it's a terrible habit addiction.

No headier high than the adrenaline of fighting for the right thing.

Yes, you've had to beat the spit out of a few, OL.

If the river is a metaphor for travel, I'd be surprised if there were anything beyond a treeline.

...Define safe. I wouldn't go poking around, though.

I imagine it would be very painful...

Well, that's not terrifying at all, nosirree...

So... Pretty much any Lantern, then. Especially a Greenie, who could just determination their way through.

Something good, or something bad? Or is he too inexperienced to tell the difference?

...Because there's always rapids or a waterfall. Representing unexpected obstacles.

Just remember: don't pay the ferryman, not until you reach the other side.

Nice work, Alan. He's probably the most powerful member of the party here, what with the ties between hopes and dreams...

You know, just in case.

I appreciate the levity, doc, but now's not the best time.

Well, he's probably right. Ever had a dream where you're cruising around underwater?

...And then they find themselves sailing straight down with no problem, because gravity is subjective here.

Right then, a narrative shortcut. Yay for metaphors.

Something a bit like this, then? But with a bit of kaleidoscopic tessellation?

Congratulations on your restraint, OL. It seems he's a bit of a troll in his old age.

'Not good', you say. Any other boats at the docks might have harsher words.

As told here, in the story 'Ramadan'. They've, quite literally, entered a city in a bottle.

But in this place, that goes doubly so, since it's a distillation of the sort of things you'd see in '1001 Arabian Nights'.

And so the scene shifts, into the sort of magical Arabian city you'd have seen in Disney's 'Aladdin'. Let's hope they can dodge the swindling merchants and lurking thieves long enough to find their way on to their next stop. Wonder if they'll pass through another little private patch of the Dreaming as they go? Fiddler's Green, perhaps, as one of the more benevolent loci...

---

As the wiki writes it, that's 'Haroun', unless OL is misremembering...

 

Thank you, corrected.

You have no idea how long it took me to realise that they had one small set and just had her walk on from different directions.

 

‘thet’

‘thet’

‘thet’

‘thet’

’hev’

It’s interesting that Sanderson is apparently immune to cancer. Does that mean that he undergoes some sort of healing when he transforms, or that his seemingly-normal body is actually still unusual in some way?