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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. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    Wait, Dragstar, the guy with the wheel, is flying in?

    That's kind of off theme.
     
  2. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    That's better, thank you.
    It's an actual thing in the 2002 series.
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  3. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Pretty much.

    So a holodeck situation, but with magic.
     
  4. theaceoffire

    theaceoffire Versed in the lewd.

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    No he's royalty, this is basically traditional.
     
  5. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    It seems that Zoat finds the Westermarck Effect plausible.

    It posits that the "Ew, they are like a sibling to me!" is based on being raised together from a young age, and not the existence or lack thereof of a biological kinship.
     
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  6. mastermenthe

    mastermenthe Mint Thistle

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    Are they seeing things happen while in a trance?
    Or are they running about like loons sharing a mutual hallucination???
     
  7. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

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    Mr Zoat, someone posted in the story only thread.
     
  8. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    I don't think royalty and nobility from the He-Man universe practice incest.
     
  9. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    I know. And Doccer does too.
     
  10. Bramble Thorn

    Bramble Thorn Verified Silhouette

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    Ok, could you clarify what exactly a fetish means in the context of Eternian magic?
    Because with everyone magic carrying around silly looking staffs/wands (and Orko sucking because his original one broke, and then getting better when local OL got him a replacement) it seems to be the silly staffs. Possibly where the sillier the staff the greater the boost.

    But that seems to conflict with here:

    Because it seems there are at least three non-OL staffs on hand. Evelyn's (previously Lo-Jacked), the Sorcerer's Staff (of !!!GREYSKULL!!!), and this 'blue crystal magic' staff, which may have been a common mass produced staff before the apocolypse.

    Why can't Teela Na use that staff as a loner to cast magic? Since it was one of the staffs she lent OL, she should be familiar with it.
    And also, if she had to have been a magic user before becoming sorceress (to have the qualifications to become so), shouldn't she have at least two? Her personal fetish, and then the one that is her Sorceress badge of office?

    Also, if lack of a fetish is a point of failure, why not make more as backups, to have in case your usual one gets confiscated/destroyed? It would be like a D&D wizard deciding to only have one Spellbook.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2022
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  11. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Maybe her original was lost or destroyed in the past, or maybe she somehow outgrew it and can no longer use it.

    As for shy she doesn't use the other staff's.

    Maybe she's not do good with them and her being at low power would be a bad idea right now.

    Heck, maybe this Paul just forgot about that due to the situation being very stressful.
     
  12. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Yes, and both of the staffs are back in Grayskull.
    Because they no longer have the technological capability to make more and they're really rare.
     
  13. Pinklestia

    Pinklestia Well worn.

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    Most likely is the spell. As even for Hordak that was way too fast.
     
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  14. Bramble Thorn

    Bramble Thorn Verified Silhouette

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    I assume someone figured out how the make them to begin with, and if you can't use magic without them they would have had to have been pretty basic 'technology' being the tier 0 of the magic tech tree.

    Or are you positing a thing where you didn't use to need fetishes, and anyone could use magic, and then some magically powerful group got together and decided 'no, magic shouldn't be for everyone, just the people we allow' and did some mystical gatekeeping to lock everyone else out. And then they lost the war and their infrastructure got all blown to shit, and now no one can undo the hack job they did to the Rules of Magic?

    But aren't there people around from before the fall?
    Including magically savvy people like Evelyns dad?
    Shouldn't they have passed down how to make more, or at least made more themselves?
     
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  15. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    Just because it's Tier 0 of the magic tree doesn't mean it didn't require Tech level 16 to unlock in the first place.

    So it's lost technology.

    Or at least I'm assuming that this iteration of He-Man also has the "We apparently used to have much much more advanced technology but now it's lost but for the occasional artifact" esthetic going on.
     
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  16. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    As this version of the SI stated, it's quite possible that what they're doing isn't 'magic' as the other versions of the SI understand the term but rather some sort of broadcast energy manipulation. There isn't anyone alive on Eternia who could explain it in other terms.
    Canonically? Two. Hordak and Zodak. Hordak doesn't come from Eternia originally and Zodak was a young infantryman with no higher education.
    No, he was born well after that invasion.
    The knowledge might survive somewhere, but none of the characters the SI knows have any further knowledge.

    I mean, yes, anything that has been discovered once can be discovered again, but it isn't going to be a fast process.
     
  17. BrotherofaStudio

    BrotherofaStudio Know what you're doing yet?

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    PLEASE let it just be Orko's spell. I really hope Evelyn hasn't done anything yet.
     
  18. Rebu

    Rebu hey, little Anna, you're the one

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    In case anyone was interested, Season 2 of the Netflix 3D CGI He-Man series is out, and it's just as good as the first.

    And not to be confused with the controversial Kevin Smith sequel to the original series.

    I'm too young to remember Skelly classic, but Ben Diskin is clearly enjoying himself.
     
  19. Smartkittykhan

    Smartkittykhan Making the rounds.

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    Is that series worth it in the long run?

    I remember being unimpressed with it but I only ever saw the first 2 episodes or so.
     
  20. Smartkittykhan

    Smartkittykhan Making the rounds.

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    Truly?

    I would have assumed Azula would dislike Kuvira precisely because of the similarities.

    I liked Kuvira and her arguments did hold some weight.
    But once you've built a death laser and attached it to a giant mech you've rather gone full super villain.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2022
  21. LZB1285

    LZB1285 Getting sticky.

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    Have you ever read Anne MacCaffery's "The Ship Who Won"? because the above sound's very familiar.
     
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  22. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Yes. I suppose the difference would be that the crystals were made by humans whose civilisation was destroyed, rather than by aliens who the humans never met.
    No, you're doing a begging the question there. It's not having a mech that makes you a supervillain, it's what you do with it. Otherwise, Power Rangers are supervillains. And Korra was throwing around a giant laser just one series back.

    The only thing Kuvira did that went outside the bounds was trying to exile people with non-Earth Kingdoms ancestry, and that was really... What's the word I'm looking for? Wedged in? Like the writers realised that they'd forgotten to make her evil and so stuck in a scene that showing something that was never hinted at before and isn't referred to later. Kuvira was actually a good ruler, and Raiko was trying to set up an incompetent coward as a puppet in her place.
     
  23. BrotherofaStudio

    BrotherofaStudio Know what you're doing yet?

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    I personally think that she shouldn't have tried to take Zaofu nor the Republic, not to mention show more respect for the spirits and have reigned things in with the re-education camps among other things but otherwise yes she was a much better leader than Wu could ever be. I gotta say I'm looking forward to when we see Paul discovering the Avatar world.
     
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  24. Smartkittykhan

    Smartkittykhan Making the rounds.

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    That's fair.

    That's precisely how I felt about the reeducation camps. Why even include it if it just never comes up again?

    I have varying feelings about her taking over Zaofu and the UR.

    Contrary to what Suyin seemed to believe Zaofu didn't exist in a vacuum.
    At the time Kuvira was the legitimate leader of the nation Zaofu was a part of. Being the only holdout in the entire Earth Kingdom that hadn't signed on they were essentially bourgeoisie partisans.
    I'd have more issues with it if Su hadn't tried to murder her in her sleep. An assassination attempt against a head of state does, politically speaking, make military action justifiable.

    The invasion of the Republic is iffier.
    Ultimately though, whether or not it's people choose to acknowledge it the United Republic is a colony built on stolen land.
    Considering that Raiko blatanly tried to install a puppet government I think Kuvira's decision is defensible.

    Definitely not a nice thing to do, but not unreasonable.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2022
  25. Doccer

    Doccer I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Sorry I followed the link to that chapter and didn't check if it was reader mode or story only thread.
     
  26. Rebu

    Rebu hey, little Anna, you're the one

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    I think so. Keep in mind I'm too young to recall the original, and barely remember much of the 2002 remake.
     
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  27. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Why would she show respect to the spirits? The spirits -even non-dark spirits- were openly attacking people wherever they appeared, and the ones in Republic City got more aggressive when Korra tried to stop them.

    The Earth Kingdom was based on 1920s China. What sort of prison system did you expect them to use?
    The point of the camps was twofold.

    Firstly, to show her as an enlightened authoritarian. Sure, those governors didn't want to sign on, but the country is actually functioning now. Sure, the bandits didn't want to go to prison, but crime is down and the bandits are learning the value of hard legitimate work.

    Secondly, to emphasise how different she was from the anarchist Zaheer who caused the chaos she was fighting against and from the Earth Queen who used the same methods but for purely selfish reasons.
     
  28. Threadmarks: Versus the Rake Men (part 9)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    21st year of the reign of King Randor I
    Season of Chill
    307th day, 18th bell


    Oh fuck all kinds of-.

    I throw up a tower shield construct as the first few plasma shots come our way, and I can immediately feel that Hordak's technology is a wee bit better than what modern Eternia can scrounge together.

    Adora just stands there. "Soldiers, explain your-!"

    I step in front of her to block their shots while Teela dodges, throwing herself back into the arena antechamber. While Sir Duncan has been assiduous in implementing my suggestions, Teela hasn't, as she didn't feel the need to augment her staff with any sort of ranged weapon. And her normal clothing isn't up to taking hits from a rapid fire plasma weapon.

    "Orko!"

    Orko looks around nervously. "What?"

    Teela glances out of cover. "Did you just time travel a bunch of Hordak's soldiers here!?"

    "What? No! I can't see what you're reacting to! It's just a memory!"

    "Does that mean it can't hurt us?!"

    "Ah, well? Normally, yes? But the spell's only supposed to be used on one person, so... I'm not sure."

    Adora raises one of her swords to the side of my neck. "Lantern, I demand an explanation!"

    "Those soldiers work for some guy called 'Hordak', and Orko cast a spell to make your sparring match more exciting. Unfortunately, it may have gone a little wrong."

    Orko points both hands at Adora. "She hit it with a sword!"

    "Focus!" Teela leans out of cover again as the Horde soldiers begin advancing towards the courtyard wall. "Are they actually here or not?"

    "No! Probably!"

    "Can they hurt us?"

    "Um."

    "Or anyone else?"

    Orko cringes for a moment, then pantomimes rolling up his sleeves. "Orange Lantern? Can you show me where one of them is?"

    "Certainly."

    The closest Horde soldier glows with orange light. He-. It? Pauses for a moment to try and work out where the light is coming from, then lumbers my way, spraying my construct shield with plasma fire. It's getting uncomfortably abraded now, but I've learned that even though Eternian technology has regressed since Hordak's invasion there are a surprising number of highly functional anti-air guns around the place.

    "There? Okay." Orko flies directly in front of the oncoming Horde soldier, arms spread out to the sides. "Stop!"

    The image barrels right through him, Orko just hanging in the air for a moment.

    "Is it through?"

    "Yes." I generate a construct maser and point it at the Horde trooper's helmet. "It is."

    I fire, the beam of invisible light punching through the trooper's visor. The trooper staggers, but recovers after a moment and continues their charge. Meanwhile the jetpack guy plants… Something against the wall.

    "Despara? How is he still up?"

    "Cybereugenics. The best of machinery and-."

    I fire again, the shot blasting through the other eye hole. But while the trooper staggers to a halt, he doesn't fall, and I'm left wondering what sort of head they've got under there.

    Somewhere behind the floating platforms, lightning hits the ground from a cloudless sky. Ah yes, it turns out that Adam doesn't actually shout 'By the Power of Grayskull! I have the power!' when he transforms, and can actually whisper it if necessary. Which means-.

    BOOM!

    The man with the jetpack waves his left arm. "Squad five, rearguard! Everyone else, into the castle!"

    "Not so fast!"

    He-Man charges out, torso twisted so that his armoured shoulder is there to absorb any incoming fire. The jetpack guy turns and fires with predictable results, but the regular troopers don't appear to be that agile and can't reposition. The jetpack guy boosts away from He-Man but the first trooper gets the strongest man on the planet slamming into them and they go flying into the far wall.

    "Enough of this."

    With the troopers' attention off us, Adora dodges around my shield and charges the chap I shot in the eyes, He… Appears to hear her coming and levels his plasma gun in her direction. He fires at her centre of mass but she ducks under his shots and lunges past him, her swords coming around and biting into the cabling at the back of his left knee! There's a sort of gurgle from his helmet as his leg collapses, then Adora back flips over him, jamming the points of her swords through his eye holes and crossing her arms so that the parts penetrating the helmet slice vertically through the interior.

    The trooper slumps, the armour not allowing them to fully collapse but the person inside clearly dead. He-Man now has the rearguard's full attention so Adora sprints forward to assist him.

    Teela uses the break in incoming fire to dart out of cover and approach me, gesturing with her staff towards where the Horde soldiers are piling into the castle.

    "Orko, do you see that hole in the wall?"

    "Yes. How did that get there?"

    "Because the illusions used explosives!"

    "Oh." He scratches his hat with an extended right forefinger. "That's not supposed to happen."

    Oh dear. "Where in the castle is the nursery located?"

    Teela thinks for a moment. "Near the grand balcony."

    "The grand balcony where the king and queen will be giving their speech in a little while? The king and queen who would have been targets in the original raid?"

    Teela stares at me for a second.

    "Orko, stop the spell!"

    "Ah…"

    "Orko!"

    "I could stop it if it was doing what it was supposed to do!"

    He-Man hits the last horde trooper on the outside of the castle over the head with the pommel of his sword, then looks over to me and Teela. "What's going on here?"

    I transition to his side. "We're not sure, but we need to stop those soldiers just in case it's something bad."

    "There's got to be dozens of soldiers between here and anything-."

    I wince. "We seem to be the only ones who can see them."

    "We need to go." Teela sprints past me and into the castle, staff at the ready. "Now!"

    "Right." He-Man takes off after her, running as fast as he can without wrecking the place with his enormous strength.

    Orko sags in the air. "Oh no."

    "No." I shake my head. "This one was me. I-."

    Jetpack man leaps from an upper balcony, spraying us with plasma bolts!
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2022
  29. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Duck?

    Ahh, Orko, even with your magic at full power, you're still bumbling.

    Just a little.

    'Hordak's invasion'

    'invasion, there are'

    'left wondering'

    'lightning hits'
     
  30. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    I don't think that sentence should have a second comma.
     
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