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

Wow. Paul has gotten stuck on hooking Catwoman up. Did she offend him or something?
 
Gold ~doesn't rust, so I think the "overuse" of gold might be because it's a way to create structures that are easy to make last ~forever with an application of New God power so long as no-one takes active action to unmake them.

The thing is, gold is also incredibly soft. It got its reputation as the material used for fancy ornamentation largely because there wasn't anything else it was really able to be used for.

So I'd suspect that if Supertown's buildings are actually Made Out Of Gold (as opposed to just looking like it - is orichalcum a thing in DC?), there's a New God technomagical reason behind it.
 
"Esmeralda was sixteen. Want to guess how old Phoebus the Guard Captain was?"

That was the original book; her age in the Disney version isn't exactly stated, but most guess she's in her early twenties. At least one book - 'Esmeralda's Lucky Charm' - backs this up by stating she first came to Paris when she was an adult, most likely to address the age-gap between them in the Victor Huge novel (though extended media hasn't exactly been consistent with her origins).

Most theorises assume Phoebus was in his thirties at minimum.
 
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23rd July 2013
08:39 GMT


Roy looks towards where Supertown stands out like a wart against the verdant forest below. "Is that actual gold?"

"I didn't check. Probably not, but once you get matter transmutation technology gold isn't really anything special."
It could be some exotic alloy of gold, such as electrum or some variant of the fictional Orichalcum. The latter also has mystical associations... Who knows when you get started with Kirbytech like that?

"I wasn't thinking about the cost. It's just… Gaudy." He turns to Arisia. "Is this some sort of space thing?"

She looks a little confused for a moment. "No, we..? Don't cover buildings in gold on Graxos Four." Something occurs to her. "Except-. I think some places around the equator use gold film to reflect light away from their windows. But not for decoration."
Huh. If people on Earth did similar stuff (And the gold didn't get immediately pried off the walls) that might work. Same principle as astronaut visors, really. Micromeshes using gold as an outer layer for improved reflectivity.

Roy look towards the local star, probably working out the amount of sunlight Supertown is likely to get. Yes, that's not why. "How about other planets?"

"W-. I haven't been to all that many planets, but I haven't seen anything about other planets having gold buildings in my planetary database."
Probably because unless they're only layered in gold leaf, they would be phenomenally heavy. And structurally unsound.

Donna shakes her head. "Is this really important?"

"Different species perceive colour and shape differently. Understanding why the New Gods of New Genesis coat their buildings in gold might reveal something fundamental about their psychology."
I mean, that's a reasonable excuse to talk about it, but we can all guess why...

She throws me a quizzical look, and I manage to keep a straight face-

"Snrk."

-for a good ten seconds. It gets a chuckle out of Roy and Arisia as well.
Yeah, he's basically bullshitting.

"No, it's probably… Either someone made their buildings gold when they first got the ability to make all the gold they wanted, and now it's tradition… Or the gold thing is incidental and it's just a facet of New God technology that we can't perceive."

Donna nods. Okay, we're well inside the atmosphere here…
Time to split up, then. Who's with which Lantern?

"Roy, flight systems?"

"Finally. All systems green." I release our tether, and he's flying on his own. "Thank you."
Dangit, now I'm picturing an Iron Man suit. But this is DC, where skin-tight clothing can be effective power armour...

"Okay, I'll drop you from orbit next time. Your inertia belt system should let you survive."

He thinks for a moment. "I know you just said that 'cause I'm whining about being a passenger, but-."
And heck, he could break records for space-diving.

I nod. "You actually want to try skydiving in power armour."

He tries to shrug. "Eh."
Hey, it worked for Kirk and Sulu. 😏

"I'll drop you when we go back to Earth." I slow to a halt. "Alright, this is it. Troia, you and Lantern Rrab have Supertown, Arsenal, you're with me." I clench my left fist. "Connect." My rings and Arisia's ring start glowing faintly. "If we get interrupted, that'll stop. Direct communication every half-hour."
Handy. But what if something unexpected interferes with it? Like, say, an anti-technology field or the like?

Three nods, then Roy and I peel off while Arisia and Donna fly onwards.

"Alright, now-."
Always so casual about amazing moments like that...

"If they react badly to us showing up, retreat. If they complain about my armour, check for threats and then get out. I got it."

"Good show. New Gods have a sort of.. magical translation assistance so you shouldn't have any trouble understanding them-."
That's one good explanation for how they can always understand and be understood by anyone.

"But the armour's got a translator program for a bunch of alien languages just in case, I got it. Seriously." I nod. "Were you serious about the woad?"

"No."
I figure any 'warpaint' stuff would be thaumo-circuitry designed to channel divine energies or something. A little hypocritical depending on how you look at it but hey, nobody's perfect.

"Uh."

"Woad is a plant native to Earth. It isn't cultivated on New Genesis. You won't recognise many plants here, through the underlying evolutionary logic which gave rise to Earth plants still apply so you might see a lot of things which look a bit like plants you're familiar with. Eating them is probably safe, but you should make sure that I'm around before consuming just in case."
Good, sensible advice. Especially when there's no biochemical barriers in fiction to prevent toxicity or infections from jumping species.

"Right. Uh…"

"I don't have files on Primitive culture, but based on what I know about tribal societies in temperate environments it's entirely possible that they haven't discovered shirt technology yet."
Or pants, either. The loinclothes are definitely a statement, though, with all those wrap strips and flaps.

"Okay."

"If that's what you were working up to asking about."
Don't worry, I'm sure the ladies are used to people wandering around with erections in their presence. 😘



He sighs. "I need a girlfriend, dude."
Ah, a chance to play matchmaker! Pity Jade is already taken.

"Even though I can assume female form, I'm-"

"Huh?"

"-taken."
I know you're teasing, OL, but there's no need to mess with him like that.

"No, that-. Wasn't what I meant. Ah. Arisia. Is she..?"

"Other than the slightly off skin colour, she's basically human. Physically and culturally compatible. She's going to want to move back to Graxos Four when her training is over, but that's only in the Sector next door so the travel time isn't that bad."
She's also technically older than you, but still comparatively a teenager amongst her species... Makes you wonder how they resolve the difference in calendar ages when different planets can have different orbital periods.

"Okay, but you know her better than I do."

"Well, yes, and if you want me to tell you her tells for what construct she's going to make then I can certainly do that, but I've only really interacted with her professionally."
And even his metaknowledge might be fuzzy on details besides 'teenaged on her world' and 'aged herself up to date Hal Jordan'. She's not really that well-known in general media, is she?

"But don't you know what everyone around you wants?"

"I can see what they want, and-" I make a point of looking at him, and when he doesn't complain"-if you're looking for normalcy then you've completely missed the boat. But I generally don't share what I know with other people due to respecting their privacy."
It's definitely a moral quandry in that respect. To look too deep and discover things you'd rather not have known about friends...

"I-. No, that's fair."

"Also, she's got a massive crush on Lantern Jordan."
Yeah, try telling him something everyone doesn't know.

"Huh?"

"That's not a privacy violation; she's not exactly subtle-."
So, good to have that confirmed, at least. And Hal isn't reciprocating, thankfully. Not enough emotional trauma for that yet.

"But he's her teacher." I give him a look. Come on, we were both teenaged boys, don't be a hypocrite. "And like, twenty years older than her!"

"Twenty two, to be precise. Ah. Have you seen the Disney film 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'?"
Frollo's secret romantic passion was a bit messed up, but... Oh, right.

"Yes?"

"Esmeralda was sixteen. Want to guess how old Phoebus the Guard Captain was?"
Like Frozen20xx said, they tweaked things, probably for exactly that reason.

"Twenty two years older than her?"

"About that. So it's not a lost cause, and I think that Jordan would thank you for trying because he finds it creepy too… But it's not that weird that she'd find a mature man attractive."
And, not do defend the situation, that sort of age difference would have been common-ish in the era. Especially in arranged marriages, rather than love matches.

"Okay. You got any better suggestions?"

"Ah. Catwoman's single?"
Bad idea to date a supervillain, though. Because not only do you drag her into your problems, she'll drag you into hers. Unless you move in the same circles like Batman did, and the problems are shared...

I suppose when you're stuck flying rather than 'teleporting' to your destination, there's always time to talk about shit. At least it's something constructive like getting a lonely hero a date (and a social support structure) rather than which superheroine is hottest 🤔(Personal tossup between Barda and Diana.) Hey, who know, maybe he'll meet a nice Primitive girl? 😘
 
"Good show. New Gods have a sort of.. magical translation assistance so you shouldn't have any trouble understanding them-."
I Assumed that New Gods just had their motherboxes Translate for them? So is this like all speak in Marvel?
 

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