-
An addendum to Rule 3 regarding fan-translated works of things such as Web Novels has been made. Please see here for details.
-
We've issued a clarification on our policy on AI-generated work.
-
Our mod selection process has completed. Please welcome our new moderators.
-
Due to issues with external spam filters, QQ is currently unable to send any mail to Microsoft E-mail addresses. This includes any account at live.com, hotmail.com or msn.com. Signing up to the forum with one of these addresses will result in your verification E-mail never arriving. For best results, please use a different E-mail provider for your QQ address.
-
The rules regarding NSFW links have been updated. See here for details.
With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
-
- Tags
- self insert young justice
Vaermina
Well worn.
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2015
- Messages
- 6,923
More like Zoat is reading DC stuff's since that it a standard Black Adam story.
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2015
- Messages
- 1,118
Rule 1 and 5. Play nice with others; and Stay on topic.
When I look at these posts I see someone playing the troll.
"Rule 8 - No Politics" is not a shield
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2014
- Messages
- 837
I'm going to step in here for a moment.
If you must address a topic, address it. If addressing a topic properly would unavoidably spill over into prohibited territory, then don't bring it up.
Stating that further discussion of a topic would be in violation of the rules, implicitly using it as a shield for your argument, is not in keeping with rule 8's objective of avoiding thread derails and heated arguments over politics. The rules are no more a weapon to wield in this manner than threats of reporting.
If you must address a topic, address it. If addressing a topic properly would unavoidably spill over into prohibited territory, then don't bring it up.
Baladar
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2019
- Messages
- 167
Haven't looked at DC comics themselves in years. Last I remember Black Adam was a villain through and through and runs his country as a despot.
The movie's trailer looked like he was going to be a hero that is going to over throw a tyrant and Dr. Fate is a pretentious dick.
Stsword
Versed in the lewd.
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2017
- Messages
- 1,945
DC likes to treat Black Adam as an anti-hero, that is when he isn't committing genocide and pedicide.
He was a member of the JSA in New Earth, he was a JL member post flashpoint.
In fact the reason he isn't a leaguer still is that he doesn't think the current league is good enough. "You're right, the world needs a Justice League. Not children playing dress up."
Coda
Versed in the lewd.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2019
- Messages
- 1,084
Fair point. It was only intended to illustrate my motivations instead of to support what I was arguing. I didn't need to bring up the modern-day implications to defend the argument, so it really wasn't an appropriate direction to have gone with it.
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 17,719
Thank you, corrected.
Don't really have any idea of what the story is yet, but my Adom doesn't act like Mr. Johnson.
Fallout: Iowa (part 9)
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 17,719
5th November 2282
10:13 CDT
**Y'know, sergeant.** Corporal Iverson takes careful aim with his gauss rifle **[at a target on the other side of two walls as I share my psychic proprioception with him]** **I could get used to having a psycho-mutie on the squad.**
Chnk!
We **[both feel it]** as the robot collapses.
**DO YOU WANT TO RETHINK THAT STATEMENT, CORPORAL?**
Iverson reloads his rifle. This model of gauss weapon was intended as a marksman's rifle, the extra power coming at the expense of needing to have each round loaded individually. All of the mechanoids we've encountered so far have been in 'rest mode', and he and Private Simmons have been shooting then from long range. Unfortunately, the shockwaves passing through their chassis haven't left much in the way of functioning brains, but… We're all still alive.
**No, sergeant, it's like… When America expanded west, right? The army hired Indian scouts and guides. Mutie guides. Same thing.**
A while ago I read a book. I forget the title, but the main character was a black British man, altered genetically to be the soldier the soft western world could no longer create any other way. At one point he finds himself in the southern part of what was once the United States, and while drunk agrees to fund a prostitute's abortion. Unfortunately for him, it was an entrapment operation and he is promptly sent to prison. While in there people refer to him as being a nigger, and he says that he's not offended by that because it's too strange. It's as if someone came up to him and challenged him to a duel by slapping him with a riding glove.
I should probably be offended, but I actually find it funny. And the sad thing is that I can feel that Iverson means it and I know that it represents real progress.
**You some kinda magical Indian, mutie chief?**
**I'm British.**
**Ah… Are they from Utah? A Utah tribe?**
You know, I'm going to be glad when the Enclave's a little less Enclave and they can accept school teachers from other places.
**Put it this way, Corporal. You know the Declaration of Independence?**
**Yeah?**
**Who do you think the Founding Fathers were declaring independence from?**
**Er… China?**
**KRONO, ARE THERE ANY MORE OF THOSE DAMN ROBOTS AROUND?**
I close my eyes for a moment, reaching out through the dust.
**No, sergeant. None within my range.**
**That last one in any state for you to read its mind?**
**I'll check.**
I activate my armour's stealthy system and become translucent, which isn't the same as invisible and I suspect that senior Enclave soldiers are probably capable of spotting me. Probably don't need to use it, but since the Chinese version doesn't have the same dementia-inducing problem as the American rip-off I think I'll play it safe. The walls of Cedar Rapids reduce the effect of the dust storms… Somewhat. The place is still radioactive and the dust is still blowing everywhere, but the circling gyre causes the dust to build up against the windward walls and only pass through the more central parts of the town as a fine particulate mist. Maintaining my situational awareness as best I can, I pick my way through the rubble that was once a shopping precinct towards the fallen mechanoid.
It's half-buried in its charging foxhole, like most of the rest we've encountered. Energy shield… Intact, helpfully, and though it's not practical for us to incorporate them into our equipment I'm sure that Doctor Rubens and her team will be working on that once salvage teams recover the wrecks. The gauss round has punched through the… Lower chassis this time, suggesting that it was starting to rise when Corporal Iverson pulled the trigger.
If there's been an alert…
I grab the robot by the shoulders and pull, turning it over. The exit wound is smaller than the entry would, so I shove the fingers of my right hand into the gap and **[feel for any still-functioning systems]** Nothing from the living brain, though whether that's because the shockwave killed it or the loss of power will have to be determined by autopsy.
But… This one has a data store that's a little more intact than the others. Accessing machine intelligences isn't fun, but I should be able to connect well enough to get navigational data at least.
**Area clear. Attempting to read database.**
**Squad moving up.**
I give them a moment to get into overwatch position. Power armour doesn't move like you might expect. It's not clumsy or ponderous; the servos mean that the people inside are faster and more agile than they are out of it. Once they get used to dealing with the momentum, anyway.
They're all in position, so…
Ugh.
I… Twitch, alien thoughts intruding on my consciousness. Human thoughts are… Messy, thousands of connections between everything and anything making the whole canvas merge together into a unified whole. Robots -even the ones I regard as people- don't have that. Each piece of data exists in isolation, connected… Perhaps by two or three strands. Or none at all, until their central control program searches for a file name and creates the connection. It makes reading a single file relatively easy but getting anything out of the system…
Vector, completely shorn of context. And another. And another. Vector… Is that an actual patrol route, or is it just..? No, that's how long it can walk before settling down to recharge. Which is a duration I know. Follow back the timestamps…
**I have an origin.**
Dornan doesn't look around. **Then that's where we're going. Look alive, people.**
A series of beeps over the radio as the other soldiers signal readiness.
**But I'm not sure exactly how fast this mechanoid was moving, so until I can work that out I'm going to have to follow its route exactly.**
One of the soldiers with a plasma gun glances my way. **That sounds like a good way to end up in a horde of those things.**
**If we're lucky. Automated minefields are more likely. If anyone can think of a good way to get an intact brain, that would help. Otherwise, it's canary time.**
**The fuck's a canary?**
**Oh, I know this one.** Iverson nods. **It's where they can food. You know, stick it in a tin so it doesn't get moldy.**
Resist the urge to roll your eyes.
**No, that's a cannery. A canary is a type of small bird that used to be used in mines to check for poisonous gas.**
**How?**
**Well, the bird is much smaller than a human, so if there was poisonous gas, it would die first and the humans would know to evacuate.**
**Huh.**
The squad engages in a moment of silent contemplation.
**Hoines, your Hellfire armour's the toughest here, right?**
**Fuck you, Iverson.**
**Hey, I'm going to have to snipe their legs off once they come after you. How do you think I'll feel if I miss? Sergeant?**
**Spread out. Krono, you and Hoines are gonna be our lures. You got EMP grenades?**
**Yes.**
**Good. Because you are going to need them.**
10:13 CDT
**Y'know, sergeant.** Corporal Iverson takes careful aim with his gauss rifle **[at a target on the other side of two walls as I share my psychic proprioception with him]** **I could get used to having a psycho-mutie on the squad.**
Chnk!
We **[both feel it]** as the robot collapses.
**DO YOU WANT TO RETHINK THAT STATEMENT, CORPORAL?**
Iverson reloads his rifle. This model of gauss weapon was intended as a marksman's rifle, the extra power coming at the expense of needing to have each round loaded individually. All of the mechanoids we've encountered so far have been in 'rest mode', and he and Private Simmons have been shooting then from long range. Unfortunately, the shockwaves passing through their chassis haven't left much in the way of functioning brains, but… We're all still alive.
**No, sergeant, it's like… When America expanded west, right? The army hired Indian scouts and guides. Mutie guides. Same thing.**
A while ago I read a book. I forget the title, but the main character was a black British man, altered genetically to be the soldier the soft western world could no longer create any other way. At one point he finds himself in the southern part of what was once the United States, and while drunk agrees to fund a prostitute's abortion. Unfortunately for him, it was an entrapment operation and he is promptly sent to prison. While in there people refer to him as being a nigger, and he says that he's not offended by that because it's too strange. It's as if someone came up to him and challenged him to a duel by slapping him with a riding glove.
I should probably be offended, but I actually find it funny. And the sad thing is that I can feel that Iverson means it and I know that it represents real progress.
**You some kinda magical Indian, mutie chief?**
**I'm British.**
**Ah… Are they from Utah? A Utah tribe?**
You know, I'm going to be glad when the Enclave's a little less Enclave and they can accept school teachers from other places.
**Put it this way, Corporal. You know the Declaration of Independence?**
**Yeah?**
**Who do you think the Founding Fathers were declaring independence from?**
**Er… China?**
**KRONO, ARE THERE ANY MORE OF THOSE DAMN ROBOTS AROUND?**
I close my eyes for a moment, reaching out through the dust.
**No, sergeant. None within my range.**
**That last one in any state for you to read its mind?**
**I'll check.**
I activate my armour's stealthy system and become translucent, which isn't the same as invisible and I suspect that senior Enclave soldiers are probably capable of spotting me. Probably don't need to use it, but since the Chinese version doesn't have the same dementia-inducing problem as the American rip-off I think I'll play it safe. The walls of Cedar Rapids reduce the effect of the dust storms… Somewhat. The place is still radioactive and the dust is still blowing everywhere, but the circling gyre causes the dust to build up against the windward walls and only pass through the more central parts of the town as a fine particulate mist. Maintaining my situational awareness as best I can, I pick my way through the rubble that was once a shopping precinct towards the fallen mechanoid.
It's half-buried in its charging foxhole, like most of the rest we've encountered. Energy shield… Intact, helpfully, and though it's not practical for us to incorporate them into our equipment I'm sure that Doctor Rubens and her team will be working on that once salvage teams recover the wrecks. The gauss round has punched through the… Lower chassis this time, suggesting that it was starting to rise when Corporal Iverson pulled the trigger.
If there's been an alert…
I grab the robot by the shoulders and pull, turning it over. The exit wound is smaller than the entry would, so I shove the fingers of my right hand into the gap and **[feel for any still-functioning systems]** Nothing from the living brain, though whether that's because the shockwave killed it or the loss of power will have to be determined by autopsy.
But… This one has a data store that's a little more intact than the others. Accessing machine intelligences isn't fun, but I should be able to connect well enough to get navigational data at least.
**Area clear. Attempting to read database.**
**Squad moving up.**
I give them a moment to get into overwatch position. Power armour doesn't move like you might expect. It's not clumsy or ponderous; the servos mean that the people inside are faster and more agile than they are out of it. Once they get used to dealing with the momentum, anyway.
They're all in position, so…
Ugh.
I… Twitch, alien thoughts intruding on my consciousness. Human thoughts are… Messy, thousands of connections between everything and anything making the whole canvas merge together into a unified whole. Robots -even the ones I regard as people- don't have that. Each piece of data exists in isolation, connected… Perhaps by two or three strands. Or none at all, until their central control program searches for a file name and creates the connection. It makes reading a single file relatively easy but getting anything out of the system…
Vector, completely shorn of context. And another. And another. Vector… Is that an actual patrol route, or is it just..? No, that's how long it can walk before settling down to recharge. Which is a duration I know. Follow back the timestamps…
**I have an origin.**
Dornan doesn't look around. **Then that's where we're going. Look alive, people.**
A series of beeps over the radio as the other soldiers signal readiness.
**But I'm not sure exactly how fast this mechanoid was moving, so until I can work that out I'm going to have to follow its route exactly.**
One of the soldiers with a plasma gun glances my way. **That sounds like a good way to end up in a horde of those things.**
**If we're lucky. Automated minefields are more likely. If anyone can think of a good way to get an intact brain, that would help. Otherwise, it's canary time.**
**The fuck's a canary?**
**Oh, I know this one.** Iverson nods. **It's where they can food. You know, stick it in a tin so it doesn't get moldy.**
Resist the urge to roll your eyes.
**No, that's a cannery. A canary is a type of small bird that used to be used in mines to check for poisonous gas.**
**How?**
**Well, the bird is much smaller than a human, so if there was poisonous gas, it would die first and the humans would know to evacuate.**
**Huh.**
The squad engages in a moment of silent contemplation.
**Hoines, your Hellfire armour's the toughest here, right?**
**Fuck you, Iverson.**
**Hey, I'm going to have to snipe their legs off once they come after you. How do you think I'll feel if I miss? Sergeant?**
**Spread out. Krono, you and Hoines are gonna be our lures. You got EMP grenades?**
**Yes.**
**Good. Because you are going to need them.**
Last edited:
RichardWhereat
Aia airëa Fëanáro.
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2016
- Messages
- 2,962
Sheeit, you shudda seen em before.
Handlewithcare
Versed in the lewd.
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2019
- Messages
- 1,289
Dear god. What exactly is the Enclave teaching it's kids???
I mean, there is propaganda and then there is this.
I mean, there is propaganda and then there is this.
CTrees
Chasing the ring
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2018
- Messages
- 308
Entry wound, exit wound.
Lord Ernest
At the End...
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2019
- Messages
- 1,663
Ok, I understand the propaganda. But if you're living under the delusion that your faction is the continuation of the previous official government/country, how the hell do you not know some basic facts about said country/government?
I'm not asking for them to unravel the gordian knot that is how the US government used to work, but really? They don't know how their country started? At this point they probably don't even know what 4th of July is!
I'm not asking for them to unravel the gordian knot that is how the US government used to work, but really? They don't know how their country started? At this point they probably don't even know what 4th of July is!
Darko
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2019
- Messages
- 23,197
This isn't exactly the first time a group that's been heavily influenced by propaganda wouldn't recognize any facts about the thing they supposedly represent.
If anything, lacking factual knowledge on what they represent is a fundamental part of such groups.
Chojin Patriarch
Veteran Lurker
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2019
- Messages
- 2,711
Ah, psychic targetting. The next best thing to a Wall-hack cheat code. Or being the omniscient overwatch commander for a team of soldiers in a tactical RPG. You tell them where to shoot, they don't argue even if they need to shoot a rocket into the side of a building.
Ow. I wonder how he can get that sort of volume into telepathic communications. There's not even a volume knob!Better dead Battle-bots than dead friendlies. And I like this Iverson kid. He's not a completely indoctrinated patsy of the Enclave.
I always liked the 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' version of that sort of exchange. The bad guy slaps Robin with a riding glove. He replies by picking up a metal gauntlet and doing the same.
Naturally, the fellow is gobsmacked.And Krono would probably confuse him by expounding on the difference between American Indians and the Continental variety.
Remember, he's been taught via a very focused curriculum.
And I'm sure his teachers put great focus on that bit of history...
Yes, that feeling of wanting to facepalm is completely understandable, Krono.
At least they have enough human brains left for his power to sense them.
Eh, getting short by a gun capable of punching through two walls and its armour isn't going to be kind to any squishy bits inside.
Ah, environmental particulates. The bane of many a stealth ability, whether fast-adapting optical camouflage or magical perception-editing...
Worst case, they could mount the shields on battery modules and use them as portable cover.
At least you can connect to it. That's probably better than a lot of psychics in the wastelands.
Wouldn't to do go into a trance only to get ganked by a Battle-bot buddy you missed...
Of course, said power armour's operating software has to be really well coded to prevent mishaps from people overcompensating for the difference in feedback. Wouldn't want to break your own arm by flexing...
Probably a lot easier to work with running software, I guess. That way you just subvert the central processor and make it work for you...
Or at least a possible trail to it. Let's hope the Battle-bot wasn't given to meandering.
Might help to ask where you're running, before you start sprinting. I know, it's almost the opposite of how you normally act...
Not a fun time for anyone.
...Since they'd likely be long extinct by this time. Or mutated into something else entirely.
Or start beating your head against the Battle-bot's casing. It's probably loud.
Seriously, boys, did they put more focus on field-stripping your guns than simple historical... Oh, right. They probably did.
Of course, it often helped to have someone watching the canary, or it might end up being too late.
Yeah, that is an acceptable response. It's not even insubordinate.
Yay... And Hoines can't tell the sarge to go fuck himself. That'd be a quick ticket to the stockade...Well, that's going to be an entertaining way to spend the day.
You know, for inbred, under-educated leather-necks, these Enclave boys are kind of fun. Probably one of the most entertaining groups Krono's interacted with in this setting. We can but hope that they don't get too deep in the tango when the brown stuff hits the fan. At any rate, this makes for a fun palate cleanser after some of the trouble OL got into this last episode. Can't wait to see what he breaks next.
Dakkan Sall
Random Encounter
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2013
- Messages
- 486
Should likely have some punctuation in the middle there. Either a period or a semi-colon.
Is that Krono actually telling himself to resist, or should it be "roll my eyes"?
My guess is that he's a true-born Sergeant. 'Full shout' is his default volume, and any time he speaks in what others would consider 'normal conversational tone' he's actually whispering.
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2014
- Messages
- 10,452
How to just follow orders. Also how to shoot (maybe not hit well, but they can maintain and operate their equipment).
moralrelativity
Recovering pendant.
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2016
- Messages
- 923
Same -> same
given -> give
one -> once
Darko
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2019
- Messages
- 23,197
Well, he kinda is part Indian.
Specifically one of his grandparents is Romani, and the Romani are thought to be descended from India, so while a bit convoluted, Krono is a magic, or at least mutant, Indian.
I always liked the 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' version of that sort of exchange. The bad guy slaps Robin with a riding glove. He replies by picking up a metal gauntlet and doing the same.
That's what you get for slapping someone.
Darko
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2019
- Messages
- 23,197
He doesn't even know what his last name is.
He apparently figured out that it's somehow connected to candles, but that's it.
Awkward
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2018
- Messages
- 248
It's Chandler I'm 99% sure
Sockmonkey
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2016
- Messages
- 650
Good guess but no.
Darko
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2019
- Messages
- 23,197
If I remember correctly it was either Tallow or Tallowin.
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 17,719
Thank you, corrected.
SI.
What's left of the Enclave hasn't had a civilian population since the fall of the rig and the NCR/Brotherhood alliance destroying every base they had on the mainland. They don't have teachers. They barely know how to deal with people who aren't Enclave.
Thank you, corrected.
He's telling himself.
Thank you, corrected.
Because he can't think it coherently enough, and because... Well, how much does it matter at this point?
Great grandparents. And having spoken to my mum about it it's really more 'we think that's where it comes from'.
Windona
Beetle Queen of Crackshipping
- Joined
- May 9, 2022
- Messages
- 330
Aww, the Enclave soldier who wanted to be buffed. But yeah, nobody wants to be the Canary.
RE: not knowing basic facts... well, their education is poor, probably don't have that great of reading material, and it honestly doesn't surprise me given anything else. Though I am surprised they didn't think of New England first.
RE: not knowing basic facts... well, their education is poor, probably don't have that great of reading material, and it honestly doesn't surprise me given anything else. Though I am surprised they didn't think of New England first.
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 17,719
Is there a Britain in New England?
Impartial Panic
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2014
- Messages
- 863
Alas all of the enclaves school materials, teachers and most of their intellectuals blew up with the old rig.
All they have left is some remnants of their military arm that survived in their outlying outposts.
and all they needed to know was how to follow orders, shoot whomever they were told to shoot at and maintain their equipment.
The point in time they are in it's been about 40 years give or take since the rig exploded.
Dornan is in his late 70's to mid 80's by now and arcade was a kid when Navarro fell being in his early 40's by new vegas.
so almost two generations of enclave without their full resources and knowledge base have been running around.
the fact there even is an enclave is a small miracle.