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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- Tags
- self insert young justice
Windona
Beetle Queen of Crackshipping
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The fact that Eagles were a Native American symbol of freedom, thus the whole 'waiting at the shore' thing
[dice]35998[/dice]
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Mr Zoat
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No, that's wasn't intentional by me. It might have been intentional by the people who picked the bald eagle as the national bird.
Bud-E
Stand up so I can push you down!
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Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
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I still think it says something sad and/or disturbing about the people who thought up and approved that idea (IIRC, Geoff Johns and Dan DiDio were involved, but I'm not sure that it was all them), that the embodiment of love is a horrible monster who became Carol's supervillain projection for a while, called 'the Predator.'
Someguy Somewhere
The Critical Fumbler
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Depends on how you view love.
If love is focused on a primitive evolutionary basis, with a focus on the pursuit of a reproductive mate and the protective rearing of young, yes love can be rather terrifying.
If the powers of Greed grew out of wanting more then you need, then the powers of love may have grown out of desire more then required.
The embodiment take their concepts to extremes, and no one ever said love was good or nice. It's on the far side of the scales like hate for a reason, as history shows us people will do crazy things for love. The embodiments might also shaped out of what the universes races feel. Stop and think how many trillions of clickers and other insectoid races, not having the usual (by us simple primate bipeds) ideas on love, and instead see it as 'love the queen mother and obey. Protect the children of the hive' ideals instead, and see what kind of vicious embodiment pops up.
If love is focused on a primitive evolutionary basis, with a focus on the pursuit of a reproductive mate and the protective rearing of young, yes love can be rather terrifying.
If the powers of Greed grew out of wanting more then you need, then the powers of love may have grown out of desire more then required.
The embodiment take their concepts to extremes, and no one ever said love was good or nice. It's on the far side of the scales like hate for a reason, as history shows us people will do crazy things for love. The embodiments might also shaped out of what the universes races feel. Stop and think how many trillions of clickers and other insectoid races, not having the usual (by us simple primate bipeds) ideas on love, and instead see it as 'love the queen mother and obey. Protect the children of the hive' ideals instead, and see what kind of vicious embodiment pops up.
Dear John (part 9)
Mr Zoat
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7th November 2012
09:52 GMT -5
I wave at the Japanese soldiers converging-but-not-too-quickly on me and the eagle.
"Nothing to worry about. We just need to borrow your shrine to talk to one of your gods really quickly."
The sergeant is demonstrating why he's the sergeant, already on the radio and getting instructions while the rest just take in… Yeah, I know how that sounded. People need to get used to statements like that. He nods, smiles at me and waves me through.
"Thank you."
"Private Tanaka! Escort Orange Lantern!"
"Sir!"
The indicated private marches into the building, two of his colleagues opening the door for us.
"This is nice." The eagle looks around as we walk through the building, nodding appreciatively. "I don't get this treatment in American embassies."
"I'm sure there's a metaphor there."
Down a corridor, through a door, and then turn off through another door. Private Tanaka stands aside and indicates an image of… I think that's Susano-o-no-Mikoto, appropriately enough, along with various decorations.
"Thank you, this will be perfect. Do you want to watch?"
"Sir, I am a Christian!"
"Then, thank you, please return to your post."
He about-faces and walks out, rotates to firmly sneck the door and then marches away.
The eagle then leaps off his perch and flies at the-. Dives into the image, a painting of an eagle in flight appearing next to the multi-departmental deity.
"Orange Lantern to Doctor Mist."
There's a delay of a few moments.
"Doctor Mist here. Can I assume that he was not there?"
"You can. I've acquired an eagle."
"I do not think that you are supposed to take them from the wild."
"No, from the Heartland. He represents freedom or.. something, and he's helping track down Uncle Sam."
"He is not helping you to track down John Constantine?"
"Ultimately we need to find both of them. There can't be that many high-end magical hiding places."
"You are quite wrong in that assumption. There are at least as many hiding places as there are minds on Earth."
I frown. "You think he could be hiding in someone else's mind?"
"I have been trying to understand John Constantine's mind. To understand why he does the things that he does."
"Overwhelming curiosity and learned ruthlessness?"
"Do you understand what is meant by synchronicity wave riding?"
"Roughly. Moving in time with the universe. The Question does it as well." Hm. "Sounds a bit like a Jedi thing, really."
"Tell a person of an ancient spiritual practice and they stare at you blankly. Mention something out of a George Lucas movie and suddenly everybody is a thaumaturgy scholar."
"That's a surprisingly modern reference for you?"
"In my second century of life, I developed a technique to allow a portion of the Dream to intrude into the world in response to a storyteller's words. I could even preserve the shared dream in a bottle so that it would be experienced later. Cinema is a poor substitute in some ways, but I like it. To return to the point: I believe that I can understand why he has done what he has done."
"Well, yes. He couldn't cope with being connected to Order and Chaos at the same time."
"He usurped Klarion's greater arcane presence. He did not do the same to Nabu."
"Is that a deduction on your part, or do you actually know that?"
"John Quinn has allowed me to study the Helmet of Fate, now that it is… Empty."
"It's empty?"
"Nabu is no longer at home. The power of Order flows through it more freely now that it is not interrupted by a mind."
"Did you ever meet Nabu while he was..? Alive?"
"No. I did feel his presence when he first arrived on Earth, but by the time I reached Kahndaq to meet him he was already using host bodies. The point which I wish to make is that John's relationship with Order is fundamentally different to his relationship to Chaos."
"Alright. I mean, he can't pawn off his Chaos power in the same way he did the Helmet."
"On the contrary, it is my belief thet he would seek to do just thet. John Constantine is not a man who seeks responsibility. I do not think thet he would throw it aside if it came to him, but if he could escape it, I think thet he would."
I think about that for a minute. Yes, John had a shed or two filled with low to mid level magic artefacts. But he never really bothered to use them until he had a specific need for them. Otherwise… Well, the journey was the point, not the destination. But I don't remember him dumping stuff off, either.
Except that one time with Bran the Blessed's severed head, where he cooked it and fed it to some of his friends rather than trying to do something clever to boost himself. But I'm comfortable describing that as a statistical outlier.
"Yeah. I think you're right."
"He has a power which he does not want, but he will not toss it aside if it might harm others."
"Unless he were drunk or thought it the lesser of two evils. He's not that cunning."
"Who would he trust with thet power?"
"He'd synchronicity ride until he bumped into someone. Or into someone or something that… Let him find someone. That's why he asked about reincarnation."
"Thet is not all. There are rituals which make it easier for a person to become other than what they are. He may not have been looking for someone else, but rather looking for a way to become that person himself."
"That's certainly-."
I glance at the shrine, and-. And see that the picture is showing quite a lot of lightning and an eagle flying in my direction.
"Call you back!"
09:52 GMT -5
I wave at the Japanese soldiers converging-but-not-too-quickly on me and the eagle.
"Nothing to worry about. We just need to borrow your shrine to talk to one of your gods really quickly."
The sergeant is demonstrating why he's the sergeant, already on the radio and getting instructions while the rest just take in… Yeah, I know how that sounded. People need to get used to statements like that. He nods, smiles at me and waves me through.
"Thank you."
"Private Tanaka! Escort Orange Lantern!"
"Sir!"
The indicated private marches into the building, two of his colleagues opening the door for us.
"This is nice." The eagle looks around as we walk through the building, nodding appreciatively. "I don't get this treatment in American embassies."
"I'm sure there's a metaphor there."
Down a corridor, through a door, and then turn off through another door. Private Tanaka stands aside and indicates an image of… I think that's Susano-o-no-Mikoto, appropriately enough, along with various decorations.
"Thank you, this will be perfect. Do you want to watch?"
"Sir, I am a Christian!"
"Then, thank you, please return to your post."
He about-faces and walks out, rotates to firmly sneck the door and then marches away.
The eagle then leaps off his perch and flies at the-. Dives into the image, a painting of an eagle in flight appearing next to the multi-departmental deity.
"Orange Lantern to Doctor Mist."
There's a delay of a few moments.
"Doctor Mist here. Can I assume that he was not there?"
"You can. I've acquired an eagle."
"I do not think that you are supposed to take them from the wild."
"No, from the Heartland. He represents freedom or.. something, and he's helping track down Uncle Sam."
"He is not helping you to track down John Constantine?"
"Ultimately we need to find both of them. There can't be that many high-end magical hiding places."
"You are quite wrong in that assumption. There are at least as many hiding places as there are minds on Earth."
I frown. "You think he could be hiding in someone else's mind?"
"I have been trying to understand John Constantine's mind. To understand why he does the things that he does."
"Overwhelming curiosity and learned ruthlessness?"
"Do you understand what is meant by synchronicity wave riding?"
"Roughly. Moving in time with the universe. The Question does it as well." Hm. "Sounds a bit like a Jedi thing, really."
"Tell a person of an ancient spiritual practice and they stare at you blankly. Mention something out of a George Lucas movie and suddenly everybody is a thaumaturgy scholar."
"That's a surprisingly modern reference for you?"
"In my second century of life, I developed a technique to allow a portion of the Dream to intrude into the world in response to a storyteller's words. I could even preserve the shared dream in a bottle so that it would be experienced later. Cinema is a poor substitute in some ways, but I like it. To return to the point: I believe that I can understand why he has done what he has done."
"Well, yes. He couldn't cope with being connected to Order and Chaos at the same time."
"He usurped Klarion's greater arcane presence. He did not do the same to Nabu."
"Is that a deduction on your part, or do you actually know that?"
"John Quinn has allowed me to study the Helmet of Fate, now that it is… Empty."
"It's empty?"
"Nabu is no longer at home. The power of Order flows through it more freely now that it is not interrupted by a mind."
"Did you ever meet Nabu while he was..? Alive?"
"No. I did feel his presence when he first arrived on Earth, but by the time I reached Kahndaq to meet him he was already using host bodies. The point which I wish to make is that John's relationship with Order is fundamentally different to his relationship to Chaos."
"Alright. I mean, he can't pawn off his Chaos power in the same way he did the Helmet."
"On the contrary, it is my belief thet he would seek to do just thet. John Constantine is not a man who seeks responsibility. I do not think thet he would throw it aside if it came to him, but if he could escape it, I think thet he would."
I think about that for a minute. Yes, John had a shed or two filled with low to mid level magic artefacts. But he never really bothered to use them until he had a specific need for them. Otherwise… Well, the journey was the point, not the destination. But I don't remember him dumping stuff off, either.
Except that one time with Bran the Blessed's severed head, where he cooked it and fed it to some of his friends rather than trying to do something clever to boost himself. But I'm comfortable describing that as a statistical outlier.
"Yeah. I think you're right."
"He has a power which he does not want, but he will not toss it aside if it might harm others."
"Unless he were drunk or thought it the lesser of two evils. He's not that cunning."
"Who would he trust with thet power?"
"He'd synchronicity ride until he bumped into someone. Or into someone or something that… Let him find someone. That's why he asked about reincarnation."
"Thet is not all. There are rituals which make it easier for a person to become other than what they are. He may not have been looking for someone else, but rather looking for a way to become that person himself."
"That's certainly-."
I glance at the shrine, and-. And see that the picture is showing quite a lot of lightning and an eagle flying in my direction.
"Call you back!"
Brainwasher-Boy
Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.
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Is the plot thickening, or is this yet another distraction?
Oglymogly
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Upholding the travel traditions of Americans everywhere! I'm proud of the little pidgon.
Darko
Connoisseur.
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Careful there, Doc.
Only madness exists there.
I don't remember this but it sounds like something he'd do.
Handlewithcare
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Uh oh Freedom Pidgeon pissed someone off!
And John doing reckless John things. Trying to change himself into a responsible person with magic? No way that could backfire...
And John doing reckless John things. Trying to change himself into a responsible person with magic? No way that could backfire...
Darko
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I think Susanoo is just coming out to have a talk.
NightmareWarden
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"TELL ME MORE. PLEASE."
Who has read Sandman or works with Dr Mist? Have we seen this before? Could this technique be related to the Olympian Muses, who were born from the Dream?
Become a scholar yourself, you blowhard! Write for us puny mortals before you suffer your final death due to costumed heroics! Cowardly hermit, the power of your spiritual words is not greater than a nuke. You deserve the nonsense of the DC universe.
As for storytelling
Raven PoV-
Apply this to spirituality and principals for a richer life. New ideas born from art, built upon those who touched enlightenment in ages past.., Write some essays or dialogues or treatises, Dr Mist. Learn from Hera's example.
So I wonder if Liberty was home in that realm or if she was still on Olympus.
Chojin Patriarch
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Admit it, OL. Two years ago, could you ever imagine uttering those words outside of a role-playing game campaign? ...Though a phrase like that would be rather rare in all but the very strangest groups anyway. Sadly, too many players just run on 'murderhobo' logic: Kill bad things, take their stuff...
Though I suspect his higher-ups had a moment of 'Wait, what? Oh, Cake-Man-san? Best to step aside and take cover.'
The joy of middling rank: passing the buck up, and dropping shit duties downhill.
Such is Japanese politeness. If you don't make a fuss, things go so much smoother.
Well, that's very handy indeed.
Not surprising. Presumably a reasonably devout one, especially in light of recent years.
All right, some privacy. Now, is there any particular ritual needed...
...Guess not? I suppose he is a minor divinity, after all.
Yeah, long story short...
Probably not. But this one was a bit more intelligent than the average bird...
Knowing OL's luck, and Narrative Causality, he probably could.
Never mind when you start to slip the leash of conventional reality. Alternate reality, pocket dimensions, the Dreaming...
Take care not to get too deep. He's probably got tricks and traps laid for that sort of thing.
Anything like 'Go with the flow, man'?
...Hey, pop culture does make it easier to understand basic concepts. If someone gets more interested, then they can seek out a proper teacher...
Huh. Wonder if he has a favourite genre? I suspect Fantasy Adventure would be too easy a mark. And probably like watching someone babble vaguely familiar gibberish.
...Hmm. Yeah, sounds about right. He underwent the ritual of Chaotic Ascension, technically.
I'm sure he's learned more than a few new tricks from it.
So Nabu was actually messing up the flow? How ironic.
Yes, well, that's like saying water is wet. Or grass is green.
...Wonder if he's had a few other Lords poking around looking for weakness.
Bran-the-blessed, for reference. My bet is he was trying to bind the protective properties the head was ascribed onto his friends. Given his track record...
Which it would, if only by allowing another Lord to claim this world. How very in-character for John...
Amongst those he knows? Not anyone, I bet.
...Could he have been looking to dump the power onto the Golden Boy's side? Stick him with the responsibility and the hassle?
Oh, for...
Roger didn't come on too strong with the Japanese, did he? I mean, American bluster would probably offend the more protocol-bound gods. At any rate, hopefully they'll accept OL's apologies. I expect the last thing he wants is a Shinto deity rampaging through a foreign embassy. Might be a bit hard to explain to the League. I'm sure we'll see tomorrow what actually happened in there.
Ganurath
Apologizes For Nothing
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The true price of freedom is that we must face the consequences of the choices that we're free to make. I think the Eagle of Freedom is learning this in a manner not entirely unlike peeing on an electric fence.
FeepingCreature
Not too sore, are you?
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There's nothing to learn there. It's his nature, he's just iterating it.
It's not like he of all totems doesn't know that freedom comes with consequences. As he said, free to soar, free to plunge.
rkyeun
Cabbitus Maximus
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Free to Brave Bird, Roost, and then get OHKO'd by Fissure.
Bud-E
Stand up so I can push you down!
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Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't Lords of Chaos free from any responsibility and just use their powers however they choose?
Awkward
Know what you're doing yet?
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Practically yes, technically no.
Lords of Chaos exist to cause chaos to create situations to promote progress, be that continuation of life via birth or to create natural disasters to promote innovation and cull the weak.
Meanwhile Lords of Order exist to provide stability and shelter for the living and to keep them alive long enough for the chaos to allow them to reproduce and build the things they innovate. On a metaphysical scale at least, physically they exist to fight each other because they hate the other. They are polar opposite forces of reality that on the whole exist in balance across the universe, with some more chaos in one place and some more order in another. Over all though the meat puppets are only used to fight it out.
FreeGod
If you see a God on the road fuck it!
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Maybe John believe in "With great power comes great responsibility". And therefore is trying to dump the power.
RichardWhereat
Aia airëa Fëanáro.
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Better than Necromantic Ascension.
Windona
Beetle Queen of Crackshipping
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Lol at Dr. Mist. But really, he should know that random masses won't necessarily understand technical jargon anymore than a layman would immediately know what apoptosis is. Tis the life of anyone who specialized in a field ever.
Dang it Eagle, couldn't help but anger someone.
Dang it Eagle, couldn't help but anger someone.
Impartial Panic
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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You know I'm beginning to wonder if John is trying to drop that burden on paul.
Would explain a lot of thins about what paul has been putting up with.
So John didn't so much hit him with an interesting times curse as he's been gradually transferring the Lord of Chaos mantle to him.
so we got a bigger than usual Constantine dodge plan and Paul is involved.
Well Crap.
Silveraith
Argent Phantasm
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Doctor Mist uses this word quite a few times in this installment instead of "that", so I'm not sure if it's a typo.
Darko
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Stsword
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Post flashpoint, yes, but traditionally Lords of Chaos are chaos in the entropic sense- The more stuff that is broken the more powerful they are, so the more stuff they can break. Until the universe dies. Apparently this basically holds true in YJ, considering Child showed up because Klarion wasn't being chaotic enough.
Except for the Kid Eternity Vertigo series, where they were demons hoping to get back into the Silver City by uplifting/getting humans apotheosis hoping that the Presence would take it as a reconciliatory gift. "We're sorry about that whole teenage rebellion thing 13.7 billion years ago, but we've learned our lesson so can't we move back in, Dad? We get it, your roof your rules, we promise."
Post flashpoint the Lords of Chaos are apparently just the 'Do as you will shall be the whole of the law" types, except they apply that attitude towards the laws of magic itself, those laws being artificial rules imposed by the Lords of Order on the limitless miracles of Hecate.
Coda
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I say "budgie" because I know better, but I think most Americans would probably say "parakeet."
Doccer
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Sorry. I don't know what time it is for you but it's like 2 o'clock or some when you usually post and I clicked on the first post I saw to read only partially noticing the story only bit. Then promptly forgot by the time I finished the chapter.
Mr Zoat
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As I understand it, a budgie is a type of parakeet.