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


Because it has three ' at the beginning and only two at the end.

Diggah was apparently reading what was on Paul's card and said 'uwl' but you wrote it as " 'uwl " when it should be "'uwl'".

Isn't heavily implying that Batman is a bachelor rather unprofessional what with secret identities and all?

A lot of people are bachelors, so it isn't giving much away.

Plus Bruce is now married, so he's no longer a bachelor, so Paul's implication doesn't really matter.
 
20th October 2012
09:41 GMT -6


Lenny plonks a plate of fried food down in front of Mr. Harkness and me, while Mr. Harkness continues to stare at me over the rim of his coffee mug. He then heads back to the cooker to plate up what's left for himself. Lenny's kitchen is pretty clean, something that's at odds with the homes of a lot of supervillains and something I put down to the fact that he probably does electronic engineering in here.
True, dust and grime do not play nice with microcircuitry liek you might find in a Cold Gun. And good to see him actually making real food, instead of tossing some ready-to-eat crap in the microwave. Guess he takes his food seriously.

Watching 'Captain Cold' work a frying pan, grill and griddle was an interesting experience. I enjoy cooking, but I've never bothered putting the sort of effort into a fried breakfast that he is without really thinking about it. And then I looked a little close, and I understand. It's not like his father was going to feed them.
And that would give a man some good habits in his home life. If only to avoid being like the old man.

"Ketchup?"

Lenny looks around and then shifts his eyes up-

"Cupboard behind you."
Heh. guessing this is not the first time these two have spent a night drinking. Presumably they'd usually have a few other Rogues around, but with Lenny going straight, as it were...

-before moving back to the fried egg he's transferring.

I pick up my knife and fork, pinning the fried slice and cutting through a segment. Mr. Harkness puts down his coffee mug and sidles out of his chair, reaching back for the cupboard handle-.
...Might help if you looked where you were reaching, mate. :rolleyes:

"Mister Harkness." And cut through the bacon, pleased that Lenny didn't microwave it as Wallace used to. "I.. don't know why you're acting like this. We've never fought each other. I don't have anything against you."

Mr. Harkess flicks his eyes towards Lenny as I put my fork in my mouth, and Lenny shrugs.
:eek: ...Microwaved bacon? Who does that? I don't even eat bacon, and I know that's a sin against cuisine! :mad:

"And if you can pick fights with a man who runs at the speed of light while armed with a bent stick, I'm-"

"It's carbon fibre-reinforced plastic."
Feeling a bit insulted, Digger? You should see how he treated the Arrows back in the day.

"-sure-. Oh. Sorry. Carbon fibre-reinforced plastic. I'm sure you can avert your eyes for five seconds to get some ketchup."

He considers for a moment as Lenny takes his place at the head of the table, then turns around, flicks open the cupboard, plucks out the ketchup and returns to the table in about a second.
All the more amusing when you consider that his son has limited Super-speed powers of his own.

"My compliments to the chef."

Lenny's mouth is already full, but he nods pleasantly. Mr. Harkness-
Still a bit suspicious, eh? And OL is usually so disarmingly charming. :p Or is it a little bit of that old Aussie-v-Pommie rivalry filtering in?

"Diggah."

-squirts a circle of ketchup onto his first fried bread slice, then puts the bottle down and begins piling fried food on top of it.
Heh, the old sausage sizzle sanger. Let me guess, he'll roll it up and eat it? Like a taco or a burrito, if you've never seen the process.

"Digger."

I take a card with my name on it out of subspace and hold it up, facing him. He frowns at it as he finishes assembling his fried sandwich, then picks it up and takes a squelchy bite.
...That's not a no on the rolled front. Let me guess, OL figures he can poach Boomerang from the Rogues too? I mean, given some of his crazier trick boomerang designs (Seriously, the Silver Age was weird. Must have been the drugs of the 60's.) :D

"'uwl."

"We're not getting Kadabra back, are we?"
Not unless you suddenly became a magic teacher in the last year, no.

I smile at Lenny and shake my head. "I found a way to meet his desires lawfully. He can come back to Central City, but unless he's pickup up some of his technology-"

And he shouldn't be, because I did look for anything like that.
I imagine more than a few tech-based villains would find their caches of tech missing if they ever got out of jail, with OL around.

"-he's got no real reason to come back." Lenny affects a look of mild hurt. "Other than the fine company."

Digger frowns. "It's been bugging me. First time we met. What was that crack you made about New Zealand?"
The original meeting, for the curious. How far OL's come...

"I said that if you meet someone with an antipodean accent, you should ask if they're from New Zealand. If they are, then they'll be happy-."

He nods. "Like it, because you didn't say 'Australia', and if they're from Aus they'll just laugh. I've been bleedin' tryin' to remember that for a year."
And while Australia and New Zealand have a long-standing rivalry, mostly on sporting fields, there is still a sort of antagonistic friendship between the countries.

I scoop up some more bacon. "Glad I could help."

"Yeah, and I was wondering when you was gonna reappear. Just walk up to me in a bar, then next time I hear about you it's because you've grabbed Kedebra."
Enough to get you looking over your shoulder, huh?

"There was never any plan for me to come after you."

"What, I'm not worth your time?"
...You throw boomerangs and rob banks. :rolleyes: You're hardly a global threat.

I wave my fork as a chew, then swallow. "I can take you in if you want?"

He freezes for a moment. "Hey. Come on now."
Yeah, don't let your ego write checks your ass can't cash, Digger.

I shake my head as a I take another bite.

"Did something happen to the Flash?" I turn back to Lenny as he gazes at me. "When I was inside. He paid me a visit after I got back. Didn't sound like himself."
Yes, well... I can figure the Rogues having a vested interest in the Flash's temperament. If all it took is one bad day for him to go all Punisher...

"He boarded one of the Sheeda harvest ships. I don't think he'd seen anything quite that horrific before."

"More than that."

"He also killed their queen, while we were talking to the person she fled to for protection-" Digger leans back slightly. "-under flag of truce."
And that news is probably going to be in the Rogues' ears as soon as Digger can get to a phone, I bet.

Lenny nods. "Yeah. That'd do it. She had it coming, but that would mess him up."

"Not your problem any more, mate."
Hey, the Rogues have always tried to keep their hands reasonably clean. Unless someone really pisses them off... Helps keep the prison sentences short, after all. :p

"Yeah." Lenny smiles at his former colleague. "Sucks for you, though."

Digger just takes another bite, while Lenny point at my plate with his knife.
And I can't help but imagine him having a moment of cold sweat, and reconsidering his life choices.

"Any good? I spent a lot of time working in prison kitchens."

"Yes, thank-."

Digger looks dubious. "Prison kitchens? When did they let you anywhere near-?"
Hey, it looks good on the rap sheet for parole hearings.

"Every bachelor should master at least one meal, even if he doesn't usually cook for himself. One of the proudest moment in my early career was Green Arrow calling my chilli 'okay', and I know that Batman does a mean steak."

"Anyone can fry." Lenny uses knife and fork to crack a slice of fried toast. "Takes practice to do it well."
And when a man whose chilli can make the Manhunter cry and Aquaman beg for water says it's 'okay', you know you did well.

Digger nods. "I can-."

"Not including barbecues. Inside, with an oven."
And yes, Aussie men of Digger's time usually know their way around a barbecue.

"Oh." He appears to sour on the concept. "Just queers then."

"Um." I make a show of tilting my head back as I mentally match the male members of the Justice League to their female paramours. "No, as far as I know all of the men of the Justice League are straight."
...Also a relic of Digger's time: Casual bigotry. :oops:

"You mean the women aren't? 'cause I've always wondered about Wonder Woman."

"Um. Honestly? Diana's an Amazon, so I just sort of assumed?" They both nod. "But, having worked with her, and talked to other Themyscirans about it, I'm starting to wonder if she's a closeted straight woman."
To be fair, the world probably thinks she 'eats more pussy than Alf', to paraphrase one internet wag. Because, you know, an entire island of women? ;)

Digger frowns. "How's that work?"

"In our culture, homosexuality was traditionally taboo and is definitely a minority interest anyway. You don't come out as straight. On Themyscira-."
...Well, consider how the world sees it. x3

"There aren't any men on Themyscira. It's not the same thing."

"I got hit on once, and she waited until there wasn't anyone else around. Though speaking of queers, what is Pied Piper doing with himself these days?"
Hartley Rathaway, aka the Pied Piper. Openly homosexual since the late 90's, and a close ally of Wally West for a lot of his tenure. And an expert in sonic technologies.

Well, that's a pleasant little scene. Three guys sharing a late breakfast and shooting the shit. It's moments like these that make the story work, sometimes. Perhaps OL can lure Boomerang, and maybe some of the other Rogues, away from the criminal life. Though some of them might enjoy being bad, so it could be a tough sell...
 
How is Barry doing since he killed the Sheeda Queen? btw I remember Paul told Malvolio that the reason for Flash doing that is cause he spent most of the war in Flash-time is this true or did the Sheeda kill someone Barry loved?
 
How is Barry doing since he killed the Sheeda Queen? btw I remember Paul told Malvolio that the reason for Flash doing that is cause he spent most of the war in Flash-time is this true or did the Sheeda kill someone Barry loved?
He told a lie in order to have Malvolio be less likely to dislike Barry for what he did.
 
You throw boomerangs and rob banks. :rolleyes: You're hardly a global threat.

Hey, villains with dumber gimmicks have become big threats before.

Yes, well... I can figure the Rogues having a vested interest in the Flash's temperament. If all it took is one bad day for him to go all Punisher...

Ohoh, yeah.

I'm reminded of a one shot I once read about a group that protects superheroes without their knowledge.

Basically in that story we follow a bunch of secret agents as they're trying to protect the wife of the Superman expy.

A mind controlling villains enthralls a guy to kill her in a way that can casually bypass the hyper advanced security her home has.

The protection detail stops the person by killing him, but in the end it turns out that these guys aren't the local SHIELD expy, they're the local HYDRA expy.

They're protecting the loved ones of the heroes since if the heroes go bad due to grief then there's nothing stopping them from killing everyone, including the bad guys, so the bad guys have a vested interest in the superheroes being happy.

The author even stated that them killing the mind control victim should have been a clue, since the SHIELD expy would have just captured him and only resorted to lethal measures if there's no other option, while the HYDRA expy would immediately resort to murder.

Hartley Rathaway, aka the Pied Piper. Openly homosexual since the late 90's, and a close ally of Wally West for a lot of his tenure. And an expert in sonic technologies

Yeah, he showed up in the Renegade timeline before Sheeda Land.

How is Barry doing since he killed the Sheeda Queen? btw I remember Paul told Malvolio that the reason for Flash doing that is cause he spent most of the war in Flash-time is this true or did the Sheeda kill someone Barry loved?

Paul kinda fibbed there to make Varry look more sympathetic.

He told a lie in order to have Malvolio be less likely to dislike Barry for what he did.

Yep.

What's the truth? Why did Barry kill the Sheeda Queen?

He may not have seen things in a slow time like way, but he still spent weeks seeing gruesome and horrible things done to innocents, and to have the person behind all that just walk away with the equivalent to a slap on the wrist made him snap.
 
Because it has three ' at the beginning and only two at the end.

Diggah was apparently reading what was on Paul's card and said 'uwl' but you wrote it as " 'uwl " when it should be "'uwl'".
Yes, because the SI's name is 'Paul', and he said it with his mouth full of delicious fried food. The missing 'P' becomes ' and the "s are there because he's speaking.
 
It happened in Episode 66: Resurrectionists. Paul went to find Thana and came across an Amazon who wished to bear Paul's child.
I think she primarily wanted to just fuck him, but I could be wrong.
Makes me wonder how much Amazon homonormativity owes to the aversion to reproduction and children (tying them to the dissolution of the community and thus state) for the reasons Hippolyta first outlined with the whittle baby phenomenon- arguably an inversion of heteronormativity in other places where reproduction and children and the whole (nuclear) family ideal are an essential aspect of community and thus state, with alternate sexualities being in 'conflict' with that.
Actually, post-Klarion and post-Sheeda, I imagine that population-boosting is a big state concern in multiple governments, even with their currently reduced capabilities as they rebuild.
 
Vantavendi (part 3)
20th October 2012
16:23 GMT


Huh. That was interesting.

Apparently, Pied Piper got his life together without prompting, got back in contact with his parents and got a legitimate sound engineering job while moonlighting with the Alliance. I remember that he did something like that in the comics, but I thought he was one of the people the Top influenced?

Not sure.

Digger seemed a bit downhearted about the whole thing. People leaving the supervillain life means less chance of the Flash being distracted when he breaks the law, and he's a man reaching the end of his physical prime whose main skill is throwing bent pieces of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic. He's a reasonable engineer, but not one I feel obliged to bring on board.

I smile at my students. No, I stayed for a week and then left for a month. These Lanterns I'm mentoring. I found them in the library; Dul reading general history, Xalitan reading psychology and Onik reading about past Green Lanterns.

"So what have you learned while I've been away?"

"I have learned that these books are too small." A tendril turns the page for Xalitan. "And that I miss Onisia. And that my fixation with order and justice is not just a result of my personal experience but also a product of a common desire amongst humanoids in complex societies to be treated as participating members of that society, with all the rights and obligations that such treatment ensures. My desires are not merely mine, but the particular manifestation of a universal drive."

He moves his hands so that they're palms up with his wrists touching his stomach, ring floating motionless above them.

"I am more than me."

I nod, smiling. "Good. Lantern Dul?"

"I've learned that the things that are the bedrock of my life are transitory, not the same even a generation ago. That the things I want are things I've been raised to want by Thanagar's leaders rather than things that emerged freely from my mind, and that I want them anyway."

"No dissonance there?"

"Still… Some. I'm working on it."

"Good. Lantern Onik?"

"I have studied the records of former Green Lanterns. I have been studying their failures and the underlying reasons for those failures. I have-. There are cases where you were definitely right about their single-mindedness, and… Ah, your own example-."

"Oh, it doesn't apply to me. I'm perfect."

I smile and wait.

"Um." He glances at the other two, and Lantern Dul nods pointedly. "I.. do not… Believe that is correct, Illustres."

"Well done. Have you learned to differentiate between things that are definitely errors and things that are simply differences in approach or objective?"

"I don't think that's possible, Illustres. It is just something a Lantern must be mindful of."

"Ooor..?"

"Um. You… Associate with people who-. With other colours of Lantern?"

"Yes. Or?"

"Study many colours?"

I nod, smiling. "Or use many colours. My homeworld's Violet Lantern let me use her ring for a few minutes, and I've given her apprentice an orange ring."

Onik nods. "That is what you meant. No one part of the whole is complete by itself. By cooperating with other colours we gain perspective, and by studying the emotions which do not relate to our ring we avoid losing ourselves to it."

"Part of it. There's also-."

Lantern Dul's eyes narrow. "Can someone use more than one ring?"

"Yes."

"All seven colours? At once?"

"In theory, though I don't think it's ever been done. Is everyone wearing their wards?" Three nods, and I use my ring to check the area for listening devices before ensuring that no sound will leave the immediate area. "There's no fundamental reason why a ring couldn't be made to channel all seven."

Onik's face falls slightly.

"All seven? So you could switch between them?"

"No."

Dul frowns. "All at once? How could someone combine-?"

"No."

Xalitan nods. "Self. You would not use each of the colours. You would use what they share. Manifesting the self in the universe. The self of you. The self of all."

"That's what I think would happen."

He looks curious. "No one has tried? The Guardians?"

"Regard emotions as things for primitives like us. The issue the Controllers have is that even starting a Central Power Battery requires an intense focus of emotion and most maltusians are fairly jaded. The emotion would have to come from-."

"Primitives like us." Lantern Dul nods. "Apart from you and Larfleeze, and Malvolio, who could do it?"

"I think that my friend Alan could help create a Blue Central Power Battery, if it came to it. The Zamarons don't like me enough to explain how they did it."

Onik nods. "What about Kalmin?"

"He didn't create one. Sinestro's personal lantern is designed to maintain its own link, though it's weaker than it would be with a Central Power Battery. Neither Sinestro nor Kalmin had the sort of intensity of fear in them that would allow them to make a Central Power Battery, even if they knew how to."

"What colour would it be?" Xalitan frowns thoughtfully as he returns his ring to his left ring finger. "A ring where all colours were one."

"White." I hold up my right hand and generate a sigil, a triangle with seven lines radiating outward. There's no difficulty in creating it as there would be with one of the other colours. "Naturally. A combination of all of the light wavelengths."

Lantern Dul stares at it. "Is that what we're trying to create?"

"No. Ah, not specifically. It would be too provocative to the Guardians and Zamarons, as well as a lot of unaligned maltusians, to even try something like that. To say nothing of how hard it would be to actually use for anything. So!"

I clap my hands together.

"If you get an opportunity to borrow a ring of a different colour, take it. If a Green Lantern wants to try your ring, let them if it's safe to do so. And don't limit your studies to avarice if you don't want to. I persuaded Alan to give Orange Lantern Koriand'r a go with his blue ring and she was a natural. Now, who wants to spar with me to find out what your newfound understanding means in terms of effectiveness?"
 
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Apparently, Pied Piper got his life together without prompting, got back in contact with his parents and got a legitimate sound engineering job while moonlighting with the Alliance

Nice to hear that he's doing so well.

"I have learned that these books are too small." A tendril turns the page for Xalitan

More like you're too big.

And that I miss Onisia

Sweet.

"I've learned that the things that are the bedrock of my life are transitory, not the same even a generation ago

Yeah, the values of a nation and society can shift pretty rapidly in a fairly short amount of time.

That the things I want are things I've been raised to want by Thanagar's leaders rather than things that emerged freely from my mind, and that I want them anyway."

Can't win them all.

Ah, you own example-."

'your own'

Oh, it doesn't apply to me. I'm perfect."

And I'm king of the universe.

"Um." He glances at the other two, and Lantern Dul nods pointedly. "I.. do not… Believe that is correct, Illustres

Good, you have to call out Paul in his bullshit.

It's the only way he can learn.

He's not good at learning things, what with being fairly slow, but he can still do it.

Just be persistent.

I nod, smiling. "Or use many colours. My homeworld's Violet Lantern let me use her ring for a few minutes

Though you used it far longer than a few minutes.

"All seven? So you could switch between them?"

"No."

Dul frowns. "All at once? How could someone combine-?"

"No."

Xalitan nods. "Self. You would not use each of the colours. You would use what they share. Manifesting the self in the universe. The self of you. The self of all."

Basically White.

Power Battery require an intense focus of

'requires'

"I think that my friend Alan could help create a Blue Central Power Battery, if it came to it.

And Dr. Mist may be able to make a White one.

The Zamorans don't like me enough to explain how they did it."

'Zamarons'

he returns his ring to ring left ring

'to his left ring'

"White." I hold up my right hand and generate a sigil, a triangle with seven lines radiating outward. There's no difficulty in creating it as there would be with one of the other colours

So you find it difficult to actually generate the symbols of the other colors?

hard it would be to actually use for anything

'use it for'

If you get an opportunity to borrow a ring of a different colour, take it

Just don't do it if it's black or red.
 
"What colour would it be?" Xalitan frowns thoughtfully as he returns his ring to ring left ring finger. "A ring where all colours were one."

"White." I hold up my right hand and generate a sigil, a triangle with seven lines radiating outward. There's no difficulty in creating it as there would be with one of the other colours. "Naturally. A combination of all of the light wavelengths."

Lantern Dul stares at it. "Is that what we're trying to create?"

"No. Ah, not specifically. It would be too provocative to the Guardians and Zamarons, as well as a lot of unaligned maltusians, to even try something like that. To say nothing of how hard it would be to actually use for anything. So!"
I'm a little surprised that Paul would share info on the White Light with anyone, especially with someone who's more loyal to someone/something else like Paran Dul.

So you find it difficult to actually generate the symbols of the other colors?
Paul already demonstrated it, when he was helping Sephtian in turning the Star Sapphire in to the Staff of Love. He found that making the sigil actually created a link to the plane of love, causing his construct to destabilize.
 
I'm a little surprised that Paul would share info on the White Light with anyone, especially with someone who's more loyal to someone/something else like Paran Dul

He might think it's safe since the Thanagarians don't have a means of accessing any of he Lights, so he loses nothing from telling her.
 
Just don't do it if it's black or red.

Well some people have apparently been themselves with a black ring.

Osiris summoned lightning to destroy his ring rather than serve Nekron, zombie Johnny Quick just had father-daughter bonding time, and Black Lantern Anti-Monitor still thought Nekron was an asshole, if memory serves.

Edit: So Black Lantern Paul's free will actually has more precedent than sane orange lantern. Although the Solomon Grundy storyline implies that the black lantern ring and a vampire's possessing demon would in fact get along like a house on fire. But I can't say I blame Zoat for not writing a self insert that is basically Angelus with a black lantern ring. Because you know, gross.
 
I'm a little surprised that Paul would share info on the White Light with anyone, especially with someone who's more loyal to someone/something else like Paran Dul.
the fuck she gonna do

give this info to her home world and let them know that White Light exist

it not like any one using it to be worry about it

heck, they don't even know the White Entity is a thing
 
Ghia'ta is technically Earth's Violet Lantern seeing as she's living there and using a Violet Ring.
But right afterwards he said he gave the apprentice of Earth's Violet Lantern his ring to use, which is what happened to Ghia'ta.

I nod, smiling. "Or use many colours. My homeworld's Violet Lantern let me use her ring for a few minutes, and I've given her apprentice an orange ring."
As such, that should say: "A Violet Lantern who's staying on my homeworld let me use her ring for a few minutes, and I in turn gave her an orange ring for her own use."
 
"He didn't create one. Sinestro's personal lantern is designed to maintain its own link, though it's weaker than it would be with a Central Power Battery. Neither Sinestro nor Kalmin had the sort of intensity of fear in them that would allow them to make a Central Power Battery, even if they knew how to.
That seems like a rather dangerous assumption given Sinestro spanked Paragon the last time they met.
 

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