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

It's weird to say, but I think Vaermina might be onto something there. Paul's soul is literally made from the Orange Light, after all, and this is as Blue as it gets without there being more Blue Lanterns or being next to the Hope Embodiment.

 

Oh, hell yes. Though he seems a little out of date. That's to be expected, given that the last thing he probably remembers is a nice publicity tour in Dallas, and sitting alongside his wife on a driving parade...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

A great debt... Yes, you could call it that.

And that 'Greatest Hero' title is no mistake. Green Lantern was probably the third most powerful being in the country in the middle of the century (The Spectre and Johnny Thunder by way of his 'genie' Yz being the top two.)

Yeah, he's still deep in the Hopeful Place, isn't he? Better cool him down before he breaks something vital.

And yes, it may hurt to remember them, but that's part of being human.

He just mainlined Hope without the safety net of hosting the Embodiment, I'd say he's not all right... But he will be.

OL's perceptions are more tinted orange thanks to his Enlightenment. Alan had simply rejected all else for a short time...

Yeah, Alan's gonna need a moment to find his centre again.

Well, aren't you just a pessimistic grumpy guts?

Well, he is technically the second-highest power in the land. You can guess the first.

As long as you don't go declaring you're a jelly-filled doughnut again.

...So, how happy is he going to be when he sees they made it to the Moon? And then angry that they didn't stick around?

Quickly, please, before you get to experience what that pigeon did a couple of chapters back. And the big man here's already had one run-in with getting holes shot in him...

...And now to see if that works.

And for some reason, I'm hearing that in Gomer Pyle's voice.

Nice speech, Mr President.

...And now I wonder if that's having some effect on the world at large. So much for not messing with America's collective psyche.

Because he's saying the things that make you nod your head. It's not as different to your own agenda as his initial contact.

...Don't think we didn't hear those Capital Letters. Looks like this isn't over yet.

Take your shoes off, put your feet up.

She's patient. And probably figures you're good for days of nibbling.

And now we're in the 'Get Smart' opening titles... Sheesh. Shows of the President's approximate era, getting a real workout.

They'd see through you in a second. Not cut-throat enough.

Sadly true of so many nations... And let's not argue over it, folks? We've been doing so well so far.

Ah, that would be The Brass. Loud fella, ain't he?

Whatever happened to 'speak softly, but carry a big stick'?

...And now I'm picturing Liberty Prime, in a brass colour scheme, wearing an officer's hat and bedecked with medals. Great. Well, at least this should be a clearer target to deal with than giant walls laden with guns. Let's just hope Kennedy-Prime can flex his Commander-in-Chief muscles in a way that they listen. Or things might get real noisy.

 

Not really. Orange lanterns as a whole aren't really especially vulnerable or resistant to blue light compared to other lanterns. Larfleeze on the other hand IS because he's an emotional wreck who mainlined orange light and part of him hopes one day to be free of it.

As a rule Blues are better at messing with Reds and Yellows, however there's always a level of variation due to individual, culture, and species differences, like how Tamaranians deal with orange light so well on average.

 

Thank you, corrected.

It will help his understanding, but having met the SI and Lord Malvolio, do you think Alan's likely to want it?

 

I think Nabu would also qualify there.

 

Or, perhaps more broadly, Selfishness and Selflessness. Avarice (at least the way Paul does it) allows for outcomes beneficial to third parties, but only third parties that mean something to you, selfishly. Compassion, meanwhile, will help perfect strangers just as much as their closest friends, ideally.

 

Did Alan meet Lord Malvolio or did he simply read reports on the green fella’s actions?

Hey gang, I’m not sure if Uncle Sam will be in any sort of shape to help against the yellow grinner. And the “good” heartland does not seem like it has the defenses to keep out Smiley while Uncle Sam recovers there. If Uncle Sam does not get a quick fix and he does not die, passing his mantle on to another, how could he affect the rest of the arc? Could he get killed for good, just so Smiley can spite Paul?

 

If this is somehow leading to the Titan Presidents of Bismoll....

 

Does choice enter the equation? I mean so far all of the non-green lantern people who attain enlightenment don't do it on purpose, or at least not with the goal to achieve that state specifically.

It seems more like a state brought on by continuing to engage with and train your interaction with a specific emotion. Something Alan is certainly doing, and something he's been doing for a long time, albeit I'm not sure if all of those credits transfer.

It seems like physical conditioning, you can want to be a softie all day, but if you're actually putting in the work then you'll get the results even if you'd rather not.

 

Damn that was a good speech. Was that sampled from a real Kennedy one?

In either case, it represents what Paul and this fic are about perfectly.

Nothing is unfixable.

 

Oh, hey, it's a Fake Nemesis...

 

I just had an idea is Demon-Constantine's plan to turn himself into a weird love elemental, but because he's such a screwed up person (Him being a demon and all) he somehow calls/summons the Predator the elemental embodiment of love.

 

I think 'Greatest Hero' =/= 'Most Powerful', yeah sure in a fight Nabu and the Spectre could likely beat Alan but those guys don't inspire people like Alan does even when he was a Green Lantern. We saw a hint of that way back when an old Chinese man was mentioned asking about the Green Lantern. It's a similar vein of how despite Hulk and Thor battling over who's the strongest avenger; it's undisputed that Captain America is the Greatest Avenger.

Also, I might be a bit paranoid but I have s small feeling that Gordan the Vulture Capitalist might be another face for Boss Smiley.

 

Yes.

 

I find this statement hilarious.

"greatest" not necessarily "strongest"

 

I would rather say the poured a hope elemental into Kennedy's corpse.

 

Admittedly this is probably less laughable than when Reagan made that comment. And gotta admire that commitment and lack of fear.

I saw it was sampled from a real Kennedy speech, but that is a banger of a speech. Not surprised it resonated with Paul: he's all about solving big problems, and that people can solve them.

 

'resorting'

 

You're free to take it up with the later Mr. Kennedy.

 

This was always my dad's favorite Kennedy quote. I'm surprised Zoat's not writing the Boston accent.

 

My ability to write American accents is highly variable.

 

It took an embarrassing amount of time for me to realize that JFK was the John in Dear John this episode, you cheeky man.

So my main question is: as president can JFK Veto the upcoming macross missile massacre?

 

I'd just like to point out that, despite the fact that he's obviously blue in colour here, that JFK refers to Alan as Green Lantern.

This stands out to me because it means that he Remembers Alan as the Green Lantern of his era, rather then simply going by what he's currently seeing. Not bad for a dead guy who's cranium was in several pieces.

And something of a statement to how much of the man is in there with the image of the man.

 

vested

That explains why I can hear it in Kennedy's voice in my head.

Kennedy's Boston accent isn't so strong as to stand out compared to a neutral American accent. The slightly nasal tone doesn't impact the phonetics, and Kennedy's voice didn't emphasize the non-rhotic nature of his accent very strongly.

 

I don’t think this is really fair. JFK did think that he had an afterlife arranged, in the Silver City (though he probably would have gone to Hell), but then for whatever reason he got dumped in this place instead (which is probably still better than Hell, come to think of it).

 

I think it's like 'flammable' and 'inflammable'.

 

That may be true (I have no idea), but I am pretty sure John would say ‘vested’.

 

Think Paul's point is that Kennedy didn't ensure where he was going the way Paul did. Paul has had direct chats, and when he ended up in the Silver City instead he had another chat with Hades about that. Paul has it in verbal contract, if not in writing, and also has clones and such ready.

...I guess the closest thing Kennedy could have done was get the Pope to make sure there was a 'this man is 100% going to the Pearly Gates'. Which iirc is theologically iffy on getting done, but I don't know enough about Catholicism to say if the Pope can go 'you are tots going to heaven' in the 60's.

(Though IIRC if JFK had said the Lord's Prayer and asked for forgiveness for his sins recently enough before he died, anything bad he did would have been forgiven and he would have gone to heaven? Sorry, I am but a Quaker whose knowledge of the complexities of other Christian theologies is a bit poor.)

 

It's not that Orange Lanterns are vulnerable to Blue Light.

It's that the Orange Light can't take from the Blue.

 

Mr Zoat Since this JFK is the idealized version of the American psyche does he look just like the late JFK? Is this one taller/more handsome/buffer or since we have a clear image of what JFK looked like that's the only way he's imagined?