The Way of the Blue [Lantern OC]

Spoiler

 

If you want Cotton Candy, you gotta deal with Clowns, just the way of things. Slaves to Armok always have to deal with blood.
I think what's bugging me is that infinity means that unless this realm/planet is curated, then biters, shoggoths, Borg, Flood, Tyranids, Grey Goo, and all the SCP gribblies can be just over that next rise with equal probability to a friendly willing to trade Mountain home. I for one would appreciate some recon, planet scanning, or satellite network to justify puttering about in the town with possible existential risks lurking off stage.

 

Do they squirt goo like her?

 

Do you mean other than being completely inexperienced and not wanting to die horribly?

Bear in mind that while we know what rings are capable of, this guy doesn't. If someone hands you a paint brush, do you go trying to make a mural for your first piece? He's still learning what's around and what he can do. Also he literally just spent a whole arc traveling around instead of being in Durjak.

Storybuilding requires that there be steps between point A and B.

 

Well yeah, that's my point. Not wanting to die horribly necessitates recon. Ignorance, and willful ignorance being the worst variety, can be lethal. MC already scanned for and identified two other habitable planets. Claiming doing more scanning is beyond MC contradicts earlier parts of the story as written.

Additionally, MC already knows there is at least one person with power parity, there is no reason to assume there are no others, let alone more powerful threats extant. Delaying looking for them only leaves MC with less time to address any threats.

To me, this would be the equivalent of looking around for bear scat before setting up a backpacking site. Not checking doesn't make you safe from bears. It leaves you unable to prepare or act intelligently.

If you had been playing this as "naive" hope is a major vulnerability inflicted by the blue light, I would be entirely on board. However, your argument and story as written demonstrates that you view reconnaissance as less important than building castles or mining asteroids. Or more complicated or energy intensive.

Finally, MC being aware of lanterns at all strongly implies awareness that (green) lanterns police entire sectors of space. Space is big. Hugely, massively, incomprehensible to the human mind big. And MC has a tool that lets them surveil and act on an interstellar, let alone interplanetary range. "With this ring" had multiple arcs addressing absurdly potent sensors by hand waving magic anti scry wards, but it was at least exploited and then addressed.

 

That's all very nice, except that I know everything about this universe in particular and you don't. Has it ever occurred to you that I've got reasons for easing him into things slowly, or would you like to write the story instead?

I could sit here and explain exactly why he's acting the way he's acting but then I would have to explicitly, overtly explain things which I plan to explain later through story narrative. I did explain that Ainsley isn't quite whole. I know he's being stupid. There's a reason for it. He isn't working with a full memory and lacks a lot of cultural context which makes threats like that clear and present dangers. You know all about how dangerous these things can be because you live on the internet. HE doesn't even remember what the damned internet is.

He literally doesn't even know things like that exist. The stuff he remembers is stuff vaguely related to what he's dealing with in the moment, he can't consciously pull information he doesn't remember up. I have, in fact, been very clear about there being large gaps in his knowledge and memory.

And frankly I'm kind of pissed off today and not in the mood to deal with somebody telling me I'm not writing the story well enough for them. There's other stories out there on the internet, if you don't like mine, go read someone else's. I can appreciate criticism when it makes sense but you're basically treating this like I'm not writing up to your standards. Well, frankly, tough shit. I'm doing this story for me and it pleases me that other people enjoy it but I don't owe anybody anything.

 

Okay then. Wasnt trying to pick a fight just draw your attention to what seemed like a plot hole that stood out to me. I like the story and thought it was a reasonable oversight. I am not trying to tear you or your story down, just explain what I noticed, and why it stuck out. Cheers for an interesting tale, hoping to enjoy another chapter soon.

 

I'm not saying you're entirely wrong and sorry if I seem like I'm being kind of a dick. This has not been a good day.

I plan to mull over what you pointed out despite the fact I have reasons for everything he's doing right now. I don't have notes, plans, character rosters or anything. This entire story is flowing from the top of my head. I have a rough idea of where I want to go but I'm not in a rush to get there, the whole story so far is only about as long as Zoat's first story episode. I have plenty of time to get into the wider universe and I don't plan to make people wait forever but I want to build a foundation before I start making houses.

 

Dealing with a major depressive episode, will update soon when I'm compos mentis again

 

I am more worried that Ainsley might decide that The Things Below are people too and begin a side quest to introduce civilization and trade to the sunless world.

 

So yeah I haven't forgotten this story or anything, I've actually tried a couple times tonight to write something out. Brain's not co-operating with me today. Might update tonight some time or tomorrow (saturday) but I'm not fucking off the story or anything, just dealing with some shit

 

So you have chosen death.

 

Welp, I advocate for his death. Fucker messed with Ainsley's people, he doesn't deserve a second change. No passing go, no getting 200$. Insta death is thy fate, "Nemesis"

 

I love that he's getting such a hardline response when I haven't even had him do anything properly bad yet. So far he's basically just bullied people really hard and been kind of a thug, lol.

 

torture is much more then being a bully

 

He dared to harm the Ferret Waifu and nearly killed someone because he didn't want to use his ring to find the MC, for this sin he, and all those that are foolish enough to work with him (so long as they are not under duress), must be unmade from this, and all other, realities.

 

That's really not how some people who're on the chronic receiving end of bullying campaigns feel sometimes, believe me. I've known and known of more than a few who are happy to physically torture people and don't see it as anything more than making a point, really.

Spoiler: sniff sniff

https://tenor.com/view/we-smell-waifu-gif-19187662

 

Either of those words elevate bullying into torture.

 

My only point is that bullying and sadism have a tendency to trot along together in lockstep, is all. As far as yellow is concerned, he's just emphasizing a point.

 

Don't care. He touch the waifu, he forfeit his laifu.

 

Yup, called it, Ainsley is gonna play diplomat with the Underdark!

 

And now we have some chapters for the new episode, let's see what's cooking...

Spoiler: Comments spoilered for length

Still, you know people are going to be thinking about it. These are people from eras when the strong ruled, where a man could become a king by the strength of his sword arm... And dammit, now I'm humming the Conan theme.

Given the amount of Hope lingering about this place. how long before they start growing in blue...

Especially the canid-based ones? Damn, imagine how those descended from bloodhounds or Wolves might feel...

And thus, following the laws of Narrative Causality, something is going to come along and mess it up. Because protagonists can never have nice things last...

Interesting to see some other races about. Looking like the usual Fantasy Kitchen Sink so far, but who knows what inventive races might show up in future?

To badly misquote the common wisdom: If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and swims like a duck, then people will call it a duck. And no matter how he protests, people will call him a Lord. Even if it's out of genuine respect.

Ah, an interesting spin on the Dwarven folk. Hope they don't do the usual Scottish accent rubbish.

Given how difficult it would be to get any decent purity with typical medieval mining techniques, I'm not surprised he's having what sounds like a near-religous experience...

So, what's the bet they have some kind of mystical bond to the earth?

Better than the typical kind of flying ship. You know, the sailing ship suspended from lift balloons. Or in the case of the Kharadron Overlords of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, magitech orbs powered by enchanted gold...

As long as you don't crash the local economy when you start spending...

Probably more platinum than the average Dwarf would see in ten years?

Yeah, evidently the regular folks don't see much of the stuff they're mining, then. I'm guessing an ingot bigger than your fist would raise some larcenous thoughts...

Good to see he's sensible enough to realise the economic effects. And I see some classic fantasy metals...

Well, if you're going to play the hero, you've got to expect people giving you quests. Now, to see whether it's Kobolds or Goblins... Or maybe Dark Elves...

Oh, hell, here comes that 'something to mess it up' that I mentioned earlier...

And he sounds a right git. Still, I have to wonder how much of that is playing up to create the fear to strengthen his constructs.

And I like that that lack of nudity taboo was established earlier. Bet there were a few instances of full-frontal assaults back in the day...

Yeah, I really get the feeling he's trying to play the villain as part of his combat strategy... Either that or he's just an edgy git.

Ouch. That's going to have consequences... For everyone. I really hope she's not going to get fridged.

Fascinating. Boring a main shaft, then extending galleries out to veins of useful ores and gems? I'm betting there's some earth-based magic involved in searching, then.

Ah, so not every race is non-local, eh? This world gets curiouser and curiouser (and he's even going down the rabbit Dwarven hole!)

Better he learn this in a friendly place, than in the middle of nowhere. Or worse, in a fight.

That's a useful bit of info on their magical system, or at least the crafting side of things. Making the more exotic materials uses the smith's own life-force as fuel for the magic used, huh?

Which is something most people would not expect. The whole 'the earth is cold and dark' thing is actually wrong. Places like Moria would honestly be kind of pleasantly warm, if not balmy.

TTS Rogal Dorn: "This is a thing that is true, yes." Okay, your ring now sounds like Him, and no-one's going to convince me otherwise.

Well, time to see what the neighbours are. Evidently somethign with very good low-light vision...

 

The answer is 'yes'. Remember what happened to Batman when he briefly got a yellow ring in the comics?

Remember why he took it off?

I remember reading once about a deep, deep mining bore where they broke into a cave filled with massive quartz crystals large enough to be boulders unto themselves, but while they could reach the cave, it was so hot there that despite the air they carried they couldn't remain for more than a few minutes at a time.

And this is a volcanic region.

 

I always read that as the ring jumping off him because Sinestro programmed it not to accidentally recruit a scary Green Lantern, not a choice on Batman's part.

 

The bit I'm referring to is where the ring starts saying "You will now be subjected to-"

Because if I recall correctly, what the ring was about to do was forced fear meditation, or something rather like it. Didn't Amon Sur go through something like that as well? It's been a bit since I read these comics and you would know better than I.

 

Sinestro goes through it himself in the first few pages. When I reread it, it looked like he stripped naked in front of his entire Corps with his ring dead in front of him and managed to activate it. I thought that the 'subjected to' line was just a reference to their training, but I could be wrong.

 

Nemesis went through a mental reconditioning like that when he got his ring. It changed his perspective on things and is a large factor in why he behaves the way he does. It overwrote things when he was in a vulnerable state.

 

Who is 'Nemesis'?