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

[AverusBlack]

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If I had any advise for someone considering that -other than don't- it would be 'plan out an arc with a clear end and then for the love of the gods stop'. You can come back to it afterwards, once you have anothe arc planned out.

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This was my error with WOTB. I wasn't really keeping notes, not really planning, I would just sit down and begin writing. In order to pick it up again I will have to re-read my own story and find out what the hell was going on because I don't know!

One of the drawbacks of the whole 'channeling a story'... thing. I tried the planning it out method with a different writing project and it went much better. Making notes for WOTB and everything is going to be so painful, big part of why I haven't even tried to work on it. I can't, the characters have gotten away from me. I will need to edit the end of the story and lop off where I just trailed away, then pick up from that point and try again. I kind of know where I wanted to go with it, at least.

A character list - a dramatis personae - is also highly recommended. Especially if you're like me and throw chekov's guns in every direction until the story looks like the loading program from The Matrix.

 

[WereDragon]

"-so I'll organise an appointment where we can get together and put our case to Superman. Now." I smile broadly, bringing my hands together at my chest with a clap.

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Odd for Superman to be an absolute dictator with full legal authority over all things even vaguely related to kryptonians.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Odd for Superman to be an absolute dictator with full legal authority over all things even vaguely related to kryptonians.

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Actually... Not by kryptonian standards. As head of House El, he'd be expected to have authority over other memebers of his family. And given House El's involvement with the Science Council (Krypton's ruling body) he probably have been involved in government decisions as well. As far as Earth's concerned, he's the only one who's a member of the Justice League, and he literally owns the projector.

 

[Signaller]

Why is it that OL, or other Lanterns, couldn't create a construct phantom zone projector?

 

[Ngamer11]

Why is it that OL, or other Lanterns, couldn't create a construct phantom zone projector?

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Probably the same reason only Dox has been able to open boom tubes with a power ring, it's too complicated.

 

[CrazyNoVa]

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If I had any advise for someone considering that -other than don't- it would be 'plan out an arc with a clear end and then for the love of the gods stop'. You can come back to it afterwards, once you have anothe arc planned out.

Click to shrink...

Agreed. Don't worry, I have a beginning and ending planned out for my story.

Well, at least for the first overarching story arc. I'm still working on future ones, and I'll need some more prep time before I'm ready to start posting.

This was my error with WOTB. I wasn't really keeping notes, not really planning, I would just sit down and begin writing. In order to pick it up again I will have to re-read my own story and find out what the hell was going on because I don't know!

One of the drawbacks of the whole 'channeling a story'... thing. I tried the planning it out method with a different writing project and it went much better. Making notes for WOTB and everything is going to be so painful, big part of why I haven't even tried to work on it. I can't, the characters have gotten away from me. I will need to edit the end of the story and lop off where I just trailed away, then pick up from that point and try again. I kind of know where I wanted to go with it, at least.

A character list - a dramatis personae - is also highly recommended. Especially if you're like me and throw chekov's guns in every direction until the story looks like the loading program from The Matrix.

Click to shrink...

No kidding. Writing on impulse without any kind of plan can be fun when you're writing a short story or a crack fic, but in the long term, it can get exhausting because you're just wandering aimlessly.

Like Zoat said, always have a beginning and an ending planned, or at least some vague idea of it.

 

[AverusBlack]

Agreed. Don't worry, I have a beginning and ending planned out for my story.

Well, at least for the first overarching story arc. I'm still working on future ones, and I'll need some more prep time before I'm ready to start posting.



No kidding. Writing on impulse without any kind of plan can be fun when you're writing a short story or a crack fic, but in the long term, it can get exhausting because you're just wandering aimlessly.

Like Zoat said, always have a beginning and an ending planned, or at least some vague idea of it.

Click to shrink...

In complete fairness WOTB was my first attempt at writing anything longer than 6000 words and it went surprisingly well for something done with all the planning of an Ork given a wagon of TNT. I learned a lot from it and put that knowledge to use in the next thing I did and that went pretty well-ish until I had a huge thing irl happen. I'd like to get back to it at some point, because there is quite a lot more story there to tell that I never got around to, but having to chop off a big chunk of story and re-plan from there irritates me and I will need to make an effort that wasn't there before. It's easier when you do it from the beginning and I was a completely different person when I was writing it a few years ago. Literally, in a lot of ways. So it's like going back to re-read somebody elses work that I'm just oddly familiar with and plan to continue and just happen to have all the login credentials for.

I have weird identity issues. It's complicated.

But I really do want to pick it up again because it's sitting in my head aggravating me due to NOT working on it.

 

[Radiant Knight]

If all the Lantern fic writers are gathering to talk about it, I may as well throw my hat in the ring. Zoat has a fantastic level of steady output that's been a joy to read over these ten years. I got into writing a lantern SI right at the beginning. I finished the first 'book' start to finish, meandered all over the place with not much idea of what I was doing in book 2, and book 3 was basically doa- readers all thought I had a brilliant plan for the next arc, and I had no bloody idea what I was doing, with an arc adaptation of a comic event I had never read, and had no interest in the characters of (ie: the seven soldiers kf victory, and the Sheeda plot). I originally put that story on hold to go write smut, then burned out, then stopped writing after becoming a full time working man who didn't have the time or energy to keep writing.

My advice to all you guys is have a basic concept and character outline, and then also have narrative and character goals. Narrative goals are big overarching goals like 'I want to adapt this plotlime' or I want the SI to master all the ring colors'. Character goals are IC goals like 'I want to build a lasting legacy that changes the world for the better', 'I want to find someone to spend the rest of my life together with' or even the classic 'I want to Kill Darkseid without Flashpointing the universe'

Write stories scene by scene. Channel the story- a scene isn't over until it's over, so write until you're satisfied. But then, to both become a better writer and make the story easier to read, learn to pace yourself. Take your big 8000 word chapter and break it up. Accept that scenes can take place over multiple chapters. Rewrites the first segment with your word limit in mind and you're going to find improvements to make and expand it, so cut down the extras or add them to the future stuff.

Pace yourself. Then post your first bit and come back to the kther stuff you wrote another day. Parcel it put, expand on it, use the big meandering whatever as a guideline for the smaller chapters. Not only will this help you maintain a good writing tempo, but it will also help you improve the quality of your writing.

I learned all of that from comparing how I write (you get a 10k chapter, you get a 10k chapter, blargh I'm dead) versus how Mr Zoat writes. It's a good practice.

Keep your goals in mind too- a scene should contribite to narrative or character goals in some way, or be a required speed bump on the way to those things. If it doesn't do any of that, skip it unless you feel it substantively contributes to the story (like interludes).

 

[CrazyNoVa]

SNIP

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Yeah, it's kind of crazy when you think about it. Zoat's the one who started the Lantern SI craze back in the day, and after all this time, now he's basically the last one left. The first to stand, and the last to fall. What started out as a Young Justice SI fic has now basically become a DC OC-SI fic.

 

[Radiant Knight]

Yeah, it's kind of crazy when you think about it. Zoat's the one who started the Lantern SI craze back in the day, and after all this time, now he's basically the last one left. The first to stand, and the last to fall. What started out as a Young Justice SI fic has now basically become a DC OC-SI fic.

Click to shrink...

Yeah if I didn't constantly change which series I like the most or am interested in, I'd probably have kept writing Lightbringer (Apologies to any fans of that here). But instead I have a huge mash of ideas for stuff all bubbling in a big vat and the strongest crab occasionally claws its way to the top and out of the pot to become a fully realized story. Having a huge, decades long interest in something like comics is a major help when writing in that universe for content. Zoat constantly makes references to stuff I don't have any conception of because my exposure to DC was almost 100% through the DCAU animated stuff. I was never a comics kid growing up, even though occasionally my parents tried to get me into them. I love learning about weird one-off or forgotten legacy story lines through this story, even if they don't always excite me, mostly because it's all new content to me that I'm often reading about for the first time through the lens of this story and Paul's... Paulness.

I think stories that become too big, too successful, can also be a sort of Albatross around the author's neck- even outside the usual fan pleading. Taking lantern stories for an example, something I kept fiddling with gosh, half a decade ago now, was doing a new spinoff SI story with a different ring color. Zoat again seems to have perfected that with the alterludes, but I could never really pull off using that stuff to recrystalize my interest in the setting- both because I've written a lot of that stuff before in the previous story which has become this great narrative weight of authorial responsibility, but also I think to some extent it's sort of... idk, hubris maybe, but I feel like I don't want to write or design in that space so to purposely leave that design space open for other authors to make it their passion project. There's been a lot of ring stories and it's always interesting to see how writers do their own take on them- both for how their SI's behave as people but also stuff like what areas of the DC (or other) universe the authors choose to focus on, which characters, etc.

One of the best things an author writing in any kind of narrowed design space like similar-concept fanfics can do, I feel, is contribute to it but also leave it open for the future with goodwill. If they stop writing for whatever reason, let other writers stand on their shoulders, build from what they've built on, be inspired by their stories- or even directly reference them. We had that a while ago here, and unfortunately the author of that story (from over a decade ago) threw a huge hissy fit at their SI being referenced in a crossover segment. I know many of us have standing free permission for any writers doing lantern stuff to take our characters or innovations and use them. I think at one point we were all planning a crisis of infinite lantern SI's, but the various stories hadn't progressed far enough- at the time WTR was too 'young' in its timeline and many other stories weren't quite there. I kinda wish I'd gotten to see it happen, but Zoat's done a couple in-story Crises and they've been fantastic.

Maybe a project for a future special feature or something to write during the rainy season

 

[AverusBlack]

Well!

There you have it, folks. Zoat has not only not wasted his life, but has actually inspired a bunch of other people to write, who stuck around and kept reading, no less.

And really the hardest part about writing is just starting it. Sticking to it too, of course, but once you get the hang of it, it has a sort of momentum unto itself as well. A need to get the story out. Sometimes writers lose that, but when you're just starting out? It's definitely a factor.

I can't speak for anyone else but story writing matters a lot to me for all kinds of various reasons and I wouldn't stick around reading a story for THIS long unless you were doing a fair job of it and keeping me entertained. So thank you for that, and hopefully you don't stop any time soon.

 

[BR549]

Odd for Superman to be an absolute dictator with full legal authority over all things even vaguely related to kryptonians.

Click to shrink...

He isn't, and doesn't.

As Zoat points out, Superman is, however, the owner of the only known surviving Phantom Zone projector. Thus getting Superman's agreement is kind of a very important criterion for, you know, getting people out of the Phantom Zone.

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st August 2013
14:39 GMT -3

The three of us stop at the sound of-.

Someone-. A man, flies feet first out of the… Ah, restaurant, window, and keeps spinning until the back of his head hits the concrete. That arrests some of his motion but seems to cause him to pivot, going feet up for a moment before crashing down face first.

I scan for injuries, but he seems to be-.

"That the best you can do?" Deva follows her target, stepping through the frame. "Come on, I'll give you a free swing!"

The-. Ah. The Child of Dawn she just bounced scrambles back to his feet, staring in surprise.

Deva smiles, stretching her neck and cracking her knuckles. "Surprised?

He turns and leaps, clearing the row of shops opposite and heading for the former slum housing on the outskirts. I wait for Deva to pursue, but she just sags with a quiet grunt. "Great. Another coward!"

Donna takes a step forwards. "Hey… Deva. How's work?"

Deva turns her head towards us, narrowing her eyes slightly. Then she appears to decide that we aren't worth her time. "It was looking up, until that punk ran off. Did you know there's no actual war in South America any more?"

I.. frown. "Surely there's enough violence in the drugs trade that you can find employment?"

"Those guys used to be my best employers." She looks almost wistfully in the direction the Son of Dawn leapt in. "But it turns out that Hugo Danner is a straight edge. His people's 'take back the jungles' thing includes all the drug plantations, and all the people who used to run them are hiding or dead." She turns back to glowering at me. "And they won't even give me a good fight. But my 'sister' here tells me that you can."

"Certainly." I look through the window hole at the diners within. They had moved away from the combat zone, but now that the fight is over they're cautiously returning to their seats. "Is this place still open?"

"Yeah?" She frowns. "Why wouldn't-? Oh, no, stuff like this happens every week. That's why they hired me."

Kon smiles. "Is the food any good?"

She shrugs. "Eh."

Inside the restaurant, the man behind the counter looks up in offence. "Hey!"

Deva looks at the window hole as another member of staff comes over with a dustpan and broom and starts sweeping up the glass. "Maybe this time they'll just replace it with shutters. Be cheaper." She then ignores the mess, walking over to the restaurant's door heading inside. "Come on."

I let Donna lead the way as I lean towards Kon. "Did I miss a report?"

"I dunno." He shrugs. "Did you? You knew they took over Brazil."

"Yeah, but I thought they stopped when they hit the remaining coastal cities."

"They mostly did, but you know they think Brazil-. Portuguese society should just get out?" I nod, understanding dawning. "Some of them think it means all of Portuguese society."

"And they're hassling restaurants?"

"Some are. I don't think Danner knows about it, but he's just one guy and they tore down the telephone lines."

Marvellous.

As I walk in Deva sits down, grunting at her… Flattened lunch, some sort of white sauce splattered across the counter. "Hey, Cláudio, more thighs over here."

The chef nods. "And your friends?"

Deva glances at us. "They wouldn't fit in your fryer."

Donna nods. "Thighs are good."

Kon and I nod, taking seats with Donna between us and Deva. Given that no one's disturbed about her being here I doubt that she's going to act up, but it looks like Donna's the one who's had most contact with her. Deva leans forward slightly, looking at me.

"Donna says you've got a war for me."

"I have a war, certainly."

"Well, don't keep me waiting. How big is it?"

Hm. Well, comparatively…

I look out across the universe, seeking desires relating to mass violence and conquest. There and there and there… It's not surprising how common violent conflict is, not really. But between the ground-in feel of long-running low-intensity conflicts and the brief flares of short-lived wars-

"Hey! What are you looking at?!"

-I think I can say with confidence

that I'm staring at Deva's chest.

I redirect my eyes upwards. "Sorry, there was a war behind you."

"What?" She frowns, then turns her head around to look at the other side of the restaurant. The people there hunker down slightly. "What are you-" She turns back to me. "-talking about?"

"I can perceive the desires of any being that has them and doesn't have some very specific protections. I was gazing out across the universe to make sure that I could be honest when I claimed that I have the biggest war currently happening in this galaxy, and I can. Thousands of industrialised worlds on each side, millions of ships and billions of soldiers, sailors and others in various combat roles. We estimate that the opening stages, where we press our enemy back from the parts they've recently annexed and start directly threatening places they've fully absorbed and we cement our alliances and go into full war production, will take about four years from start to finish, and we're about a year into it. I have no idea what the total casualty count is but my own minor role has taken me to second place behind Vandal Savage as the biggest killer in human history."

She looks mildly impressed by the claim. "Really?"

"He's had a lot longer to work on his total. I might overtake him by the end of it, which could be anything from thirty years to a century from now. Interested?"

She grins. "Yes."

"Alright. I have a few concerns."

"What, my record? Why would-?"

"No." I shake my head. "Georgia Sivana is a mad scientist and Jade Nguyen was a member of the League of Shadows, and they fit in fine. My concern is your ability to work within a rigid structure for a sustained period of time."

"I can't exactly get you a reference. They're all dead. Besides, I thought Lanterns worked on their own."

"There, your record is a problem." She sets her jaw. "Orange power rings warp the minds of the people who use them. Plenty of good people with combat experience have episodes and have to be removed from the Corps, and some completely average people manage to cope just fine. Your life to date suggests that subjecting you to overwhelming avarice would be unwise."

"I don't hear Cronus's voice in my head any more. Not since Hephaestaean fixed the gates to Tartarus."

"Was he.. controlling you?"

"Not exactly, but he could reduce my power if I didn't obey him." She shrugs. "Anyway, his tasks were always great fun." She thinks for a moment, perhaps realising that that isn't the best approach to take. "But I can't hear him any more, and without him… I just want to fight things. If I'm not getting a power ring, what am I doing?"

"I think LEGION marines to start with. Go through the training-." She starts to frown. "I know you can fight. How often have you fought with space aged weapons or on a starship? Or as part of a military?" She grudgingly accepts that with a nod. "Go through the training and stick with the job for two years without serious incident and with a good reference from your commanding officer, and if you still want a ring, I'll oversee your training myself."

"Alright. I can live with that. Tell me more about the war."

 

[Ngamer11]

I let Donna lead to way as I lead towards Kon. "Did I miss a report?"

"I dunno." He shrugs. "Did you? You knew they took over Brazil."

"Yeah, but I thought they stopped when they hit the remaining coastal cities."

"They mostly did, but you know they think Brazil-. Portuguese society should just get out?" I nod, understanding dawning. "Some of them think it means all of Portuguese society."

"And they're hassling restaurants?"

"Some are. I don't think Danner knows about it, but he's just one guy and they tore down the telephone lines."

Marvellous.

Click to shrink...

Now I want to see the Children of Dawn bite off more than they can chew.

 

[Z000]

Deva is basically another Ares, a goddess of war

Diana is Truth right, what Donna ?

 

[Darko]

Yeah?" She frowns. "Why wouldn't-? Oh, no, stuff like this happens every week. That's why they hired me."

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So they hired a super strong bouncer.

No." I shake my head. "Amon Sur was a pirate and Jade Nguyen was a member of the League of Shadows, and they fit in fine

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I thought that Amon was sent to prison after Paul stopped him from claiming that pirate fleet.

"I don't heard Cronus's

Click to shrink...

"hear"

 

[B00ki5h]

Deva is basically another Ares, a goddess of war

Click to shrink...

I think that might be to refined, her real name is Devastation after all.

 

[BR549]

Diana is Truth right, what Donna ?

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Your guess is as good as hers!

 

[EgyptianDio]

Deva is basically another Ares, a goddess of war

Diana is Truth right, what Donna ?

Click to shrink...

Being tired of the family BS and confusing origins.

 

[PDV]

I think that might be to refined, her real name is Devastation after all.

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No that's Ares for you.

 

[Darko]

Being tired of the family BS

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Well the Olympians have a lot of family bullshit, so it makes sense that they'd need a god to manage it.

 

[Mr Zoat]

"hear"

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[Ngamer11]

I thought that Amon was sent to prison after Paul stopped him from claiming that pirate fleet.

Click to shrink...

I double checked, and Paul offered him a spot on the OLC on the condition that he be mentally altered.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

1st August 2013
14:39 GMT -3

The three of us stop at the sound of-.

Someone-. A man, flies feet first out of the… Ah, restaurant, window, and keeps spinning until the back of his head hits the concrete. That arrests some of his motion but seems to cause him to pivot, going feet up for a moment before crashing down face first.

Click to shrink...

Huh. Well, I hope the person who hit him meant to hit him that hard. Depending on the persons involved, being bounced off the pavement like that is usually fatal. For someone dosed with Danner Formula, it's a love-tap.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

I scan for injuries, but he seems to be-.

"That the best you can do?" Deva follows her target, stepping through the frame. "Come on, I'll give you a free swing!"

Click to shrink...

Well, she clearly expects him to pop back up just fine...

The-. Ah. The Child of Dawn she just bounced scrambles back to his feet, staring in surprise.

Deva smiles, stretching her neck and cracking her knuckles. "Surprised?

Click to shrink...

I mean, he'd have plenty of experience with people as strong as himself, so her strength wouldn't be unexpected. I bet her race combined with it was, though.

He turns and leaps, clearing the row of shops opposite and heading for the former slum housing on the outskirts. I wait for Deva to pursue, but she just sags with a quiet grunt. "Great. Another coward!"

Donna takes a step forwards. "Hey… Deva. How's work?"

Click to shrink...

'Leaping tall buildings in a single bound' away! I'm guessing he's gone in search of backup, or just has the sense not to unleash a brick-fight in a place like this.

Deva turns her head towards us, narrowing her eyes slightly. Then she appears to decide that we aren't worth her time. "It was looking up, until that punk ran off. Did you know there's no actual war in South America any more?"

I.. frown. "Surely there's enough violence in the drugs trade that you can find employment?"

Click to shrink...

Hopefully because she's fought you three before, and is well aware you won't give her the fight she wants.

"Those guys used to be my best employers." She looks almost wistfully in the direction the Son of Dawn leapt in. "But it turns out that Hugo Danner is a straight edge. His people's 'take back the jungles' thing includes all the drug plantations, and all the people who used to run them are hiding or dead." She turns back to glowering at me. "And they won't even give me a good fight. But my 'sister' here tells me that you can."

Click to shrink...

While anything in Euanthe's territory is out of reach. And likely reclaimed long ago.

"Certainly." I look thought the window hole at the diners within. They had moved away from the combat zone, but now that the fight is over they're cautiously returning to their seats. "Is this place still open?"

"Yeah?" She frowns. "Why wouldn't-? Oh, no, stuff like this happens every week. That's why they hired me."

Click to shrink...

Man, no fucks given, eh? Either the food is really good, or it's really cheap.

Kon smiles. "Is the food any good?"

She shrugs. "Eh."

Inside the restaurant, the man behind the counter looks up in offence. "Hey!"

Click to shrink...

Cheap, then. And a clientele who aren't exactly inquisitive.

Deva looks at the window hole as another member of staff comes over with a dustpan and broom and starts sweeping up the glass. "Maybe this time they'll just replace it with shutters. Be cheaper." She then ignores the mess, walking over to the restaurant's door heading inside. "Come on."

Click to shrink...

Eh, shutters can break too. And they probably use the glass window to help with air conditioning.

I let Donna lead the way as I lead towards Kon. "Did I miss a report?"

"I dunno." He shrugs. "Did you? You knew they took over Brazil."

Click to shrink...

Well, either they've been expanding, or they've been poking their neighbours.

"Yeah, but I thought they stopped when they hit the remaining coastal cities."

"They mostly did, but you know they think Brazil-. Portuguese society should just get out?" I nod, understanding dawning. "Some of them think it means all of Portuguese society."

Click to shrink...

Ah. So they're definitely eyeing up the neighbouring countries.

"And they're hassling restaurants?"

"Some are. I don't think Danner knows about it, but he's just one guy and they tore down the telephone lines."

Click to shrink...

Honestly, that's not unexpected. Especially if it's a younger generation pushing the boundaries.

Marvellous.

As I walk in Deva sits down, grunting at her… Flattened lunch, some sort of white sauce splattered across the counter. "Hey, Cláudio, more thighs over here."

Click to shrink...

I'm hoping that's chicken. Anything bigger would have a different name for the dish.

The chef nods. "And your friends?"

Deva glances at us. "They wouldn't fit in your fryer."

Donna nods. "Thighs are good."

Click to shrink...

And speaking of pushing boundaries... I get the feeling Deva does that sort of black humour a lot.

Kon and I nod, taking seats with Donna between us and Deva. Given that no one's disturbed about her being here I doubt that she's going to act up, but it looks like Donna's the one who's had most contact with her. Deva leans forward slightly, looking at me.

Click to shrink...

Probably gauging whether you'd be interesting in bed or in a fight. Regardless of relative ages...

"Donna says you've got a war for me."

"I have a war, certainly."

Click to shrink...

Calling it just a war feels like grossly understating it, really.

"Well, don't keep me waiting. How big is it?"

Hm. Well, comparatively…

Click to shrink...

It'd be hard to find anything bigger. I doubt she cares much about the reasons.

I look out across the universe, seeking desires relating to mass violence and conquest. There and there and there… It's not surprising how common violent conflict is, not really. But between the ground-in feel of long-running low-intensity conflicts and the brief flares of short-lived wars-

Click to shrink...

An interesting way of doing research.

"Hey! What are you looking at?!"

-I think I can say with confidence

that I'm staring at Deva's chest.

Click to shrink...

A fine chest it is, I'm sure, but Deva is still in her teens, right? That could be taken so wrong...

I redirect my eyes upwards. "Sorry, there was a war behind you."

"What?" She frowns, then turns her head around to look at the other side of the restaurant. The people there hunker down slightly. "What are you-" She turns back to me. "-talking about?"

Click to shrink...

I mean, his eyes were probably glowing like orange beacons. You'd think she'd realise he wasn't looking at this world.

"I can perceive the desires of any being that has them and doesn't have some very specific protections. I was gazing out across the universe so make sure that I could be honest when I claimed that I have the biggest war currently happening in this galaxy, and I can. Thousands of industrialised worlds on each side, millions of ships and billions of soldiers, sailors and others in various combat roles.

Click to shrink...

SO I'm sure if she asks really nicely, she can go join in somewhere.

We estimate that the opening stages, where we press our enemy back from the parts they've recently annexed and start directly threatening places they've fully absorbed and we cement our alliances and go into full war production, will take about four years from start to finish, and we're about a year into it. I have no idea what the total casualty count is but my own minor role has taken me to second place behind Vandal Savage as the biggest killer in human history."

Click to shrink...

And I imagine those involves quite impressive numbers for single individuals. Probably not in the millions, especially on Savage's part unless you count political factions he's set to war... A man can only swing a sword so fast and so many times before he needs a break.

She looks mildly impressed by the claim. "Really?"

"He's had a lot longer to work on his total. I might overtake him by the end of it, which could be anything from thirty years to a century from now. Interested?"

Click to shrink...

What Savage has in personal quality, OL can surpass easily in sheer quantity. And in time taken...

She grins. "Yes."

"Alright. I have a few concerns."

Click to shrink...

First among them, the risks of friendly fire?

"What, my record? Why would-?"

"No." I shake my head. "Amon Sur was a pirate and Jade Nguyen was a member of the League of Shadows, and they fit in fine. My concern is your ability to work within a rigid structure for a sustained period of time."

"I can't exactly get you a reference. They're all dead. Besides, I thought Lanterns worked on their own."

Click to shrink...

Feh, I doubt she could handle a Ring. Neither the amount of desire needed to light it, much less coping with the blowback.

"There, your record is a problem." She sets her jaw. "Orange power rings warp the minds of the people who use them. Plenty of good people with combat experience have episodes and have to be removed from the Corps, and some completely average people manage to cope just fine. Your life to date suggests that subjecting you to overwhelming avarice would be unwise."

Click to shrink...

ON a scale of OL to Larfleeze, what are we talking? Daffy Duck going 'Mine, mine, mine!' OR are we looking at a tangpocalypse?

"I don't heard Cronus's voice in my head any more. Not since Hephaestaean fixed the gates to Tartarus."

"Was he.. controlling you?"

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Probably in the way a choke chain controls a dog. Negative feedback loops...

"Not exactly, but he could reduce my power if I didn't obey him." She shrugs. "Anyway, his tasks were always great fun." She thinks for a moment, perhaps realising that that isn't the best approach to take. "But I can't hear him any more, and without him… I just want to fight things. If I'm not getting a power ring, what am I doing?"

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Maybe a role similar to an Eversor Assassin? Drop her somewhere you want flattened or otherwise emptied of anything alive?

"I think LEGION marines to start with. Go through the training-." She starts to frown. "I know you can fight. How often have you fought with space aged weapons or on a starship? Or as part of a military?" She grudgingly accepts that with a nod. "Go through the training and stick with the job for two years without serious incident and with a good reference from your commanding officer, and if you still want a ring, I'll oversee your training myself."

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I wonder if it'll be like forging an iron bar into a sharp sword?

"Alright. I can live with that. Tell me more about the war."

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Well, looks like she's willing to try, at least.

We can but hope the military discipline is good fer her. And makes her a lot less.. excitable? ...In temperament concerning fighting. Who knows, she may become more refined, able to fulfil her needs with a minimum of bloodshed and violence... Or it'll turn her into a more efficient slaughterer.

 

[edmantgoog]

Deva is basically another Ares, a goddess of war

Diana is Truth right, what Donna ?

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The below was written eith the aud of chatgpt as I did not know how to word my thoughts

Excellent question — thematically, Wonder Woman, Devastation, and Donna Troy form a trinity of mythic archetypes within DC lore, each representing a different facet of divine or philosophical truth.

Let's unpack that:

Wonder Woman — The Ideal of Truth

Parentage: Daughter of Hippolyta and (in most versions) Zeus.

Embodiment: The Logos principle — divine truth, justice, and moral clarity.

Symbolism: She is the bridge between gods and mortals, embodying compassion, balance, and truth through reason and empathy.

Devastation — The Wrath of Titans

Parentage: Daughter of Kronos.

Embodiment: The Thanatos or destruction principle — divine rage, ruin, and violent correction.

Symbolism: She is what happens when divine power rejects compassion; she represents the necessity (and danger) of pure force.

Donna Troy — The Reflection of Identity

Parentage/Origin: Varies — sometimes a magical mirror-clone, sometimes a Titan Seed, sometimes a reincarnation of Diana's essence.

Embodiment: The Eikon (image) principle — the struggle for self-definition, memory, and meaning.

Concept: Donna Troy represents the Human Condition made divine — the idea of identity as myth.

Symbolism:

If Diana is truth and Devastation is war, Donna is myth made flesh — the question "Who am I?" elevated to cosmic scale.

She embodies the search for purpose, rebirth, and the resilience of self despite chaos and rewriting — fitting, given her constantly rewritten origins.

Philosophically, she's metanoia — transformation through reflection.

 

[Darko]

I double checked, and Paul offered him a spot on the OLC on the condition that he be mentally altered.

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Can you leave a link to where it happened,

 

[Ngamer11]

"I can perceive the desires of any being that has them and doesn't have some very specific protections. I was gazing out across the universe so make sure that I could be honest when I claimed that I have the biggest war currently happening in this galaxy, and I can. Thousands of industrialised worlds on each side, millions of ships and billions of soldiers, sailors and others in various combat roles. We estimate that the opening stages, where we press our enemy back from the parts they've recently annexed and start directly threatening places they've fully absorbed and we cement our alliances and go into full war production, will take about four years from start to finish, and we're about a year into it. I have no idea what the total casualty count is but my own minor role has taken me to second place behind Vandal Savage as the biggest killer in human history."

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I was rereading and found an error. That should say 'to'.

Can you leave a link to where it happened,

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It was in Episode 83: Ways and Means.

I step around him. "Hey, Amon!" He looks up, his face calm but his thoughts murderous. "Given the choice, would you choose serving your prison sentence, or having me rewrite your value systems and letting you go?"

"I'd choose for you to die screaming."

"That wasn't one of the options."

He makes an obscene gesture with his right hand and then turns away.

I shrug. Okay then.

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[Mr Zoat]

I was rereading and found an error. That should say 'to'.

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Thank you, corrected.

I double checked, and Paul offered him a spot on the OLC on the condition that he be mentally altered.

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I'd forgotten. Let me change that.

 

[Duke Long]

"Certainly." I look thought the window hole at the diners within. They had moved away from the combat zone, but now that the fight is over they're cautiously returning to their seats. "Is this place still open?"

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'through'

I let Donna lead to way as I lead towards Kon. "Did I miss a report?"

"I dunno." He shrugs. "Did you? You knew they took over Brazil."

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'the'
'head'

-I think I can say with confidence

that I'm staring at Deva's chest.

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Ha! I wonder if he was craning his neck all over the place there? Must've looked weird.

 

[Clell65619]

Deva is basically another Ares, a goddess of war

Diana is Truth right, what Donna ?

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Oh, easy, Donna is the Goddess of the REALLY Confusing, and Exceptionally Inconsistent Backstory.