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

Given that at least three separate species of radiophagic/radiovorous black mold have been discovered inside what's left of Chernobyl's reactor #4, happily photosynthesizing the gamma radiation the corium in the "elephant's foot" is giving off, I don't think the idea of what's essentially a photovoltaic cell working in the gamma ray wavelengths is that implausible.

Inefficient, yes, like all solar cells (in terms of surface area required per energy output), and prone to rapid decay due to the damage from alpha and beta particles, but I don't see any physics-based reason it couldn't be made to work, anyway. Gamma rays are merely, as Spock once put it, high-energy photons, after all.


The energy differential between irradiated area and working mechanical device is just absurd though. Either the mech has to sit in place for days to charge or its charging in an area with enough energy to flash ignite the air. There's no way a regular photovoltaic wouldn't generate at least as much if not geometrically more energy.

Also, if the area is heavily irradiated enough to make a specially radiation based voltaic cell viable, then why not just make a breeder reactor ??

That said fallout is a setting notorious for magic radiation.
 
The energy differential between irradiated area and working mechanical device is just absurd though. Either the mech has to sit in place for days to charge or its charging in an area with enough energy to flash ignite the air. There's no way a regular photovoltaic wouldn't generate at least as much if not geometrically more energy.

Also, if the area is heavily irradiated enough to make a specially radiation based voltaic cell viable, then why not just make a breeder reactor ??

That said fallout is a setting notorious for magic radiation.
Did I ever tell you that I don't have a Physics GCSE? My school just did Double Award Science, and one of my classmates used the power packs to elecrocute pencils. At set fire to gas taps.

Last I heard he was in prison, which is probably for the best.
 
Last I heard he was in prison, which is probably for the best.

Went to college for electronics, had a guy in the class with me that was a bit ... odd.

He'd try to solve math equations by trial and error rather then cross multiplying and solving for the variable. His 'try things randomly to see if it was right' methods extended to wiring too, when we did a relatively simple series of logic gates (the jeopardy button setup if you're curious) which should have taken a handful of TTL logic chips and 1 breadboard. His took 3 boards, was actually melting the plastic, and could alter the results by waving your hand over the thing....he didn't construct a logic map for the circuit, he just randomly wired shit until he got something he liked.

But he had a Dream.....To build a (and I'm quoting here) 'Saw Chucker'

A device to automatically target and hurl saw blades at things.....because he wanted to. Also he wanted it to explode when it ran out of things to throw.

Needless to say he dropped the course before high voltages came in to the material, and transferred into travel and tourism.

Last I heard from him he was trying to figure out if he could send unruly tourists to north korea.
 
Went to college for electronics, had a guy in the class with me that was a bit ... odd.

He'd try to solve math equations by trial and error rather then cross multiplying and solving for the variable. His 'try things randomly to see if it was right' methods extended to wiring too, when we did a relatively simple series of logic gates (the jeopardy button setup if you're curious) which should have taken a handful of TTL logic chips and 1 breadboard. His took 3 boards, was actually melting the plastic, and could alter the results by waving your hand over the thing....he didn't construct a logic map for the circuit, he just randomly wired shit until he got something he liked.

But he had a Dream.....To build a (and I'm quoting here) 'Saw Chucker'

A device to automatically target and hurl saw blades at things.....because he wanted to. Also he wanted it to explode when it ran out of things to throw.

Needless to say he dropped the course before high voltages came in to the material, and transferred into travel and tourism.

Last I heard from him he was trying to figure out if he could send unruly tourists to north korea.


This is a supervillain origin story!


Mr Zoat

Nah this is a fallout side story in a super hero fanfic the bar for physics to realism is somewhere south of just shouting the word Atomic! Every other sentence.
 
Went to college for electronics, had a guy in the class with me that was a bit ... odd.

He'd try to solve math equations by trial and error rather then cross multiplying and solving for the variable. His 'try things randomly to see if it was right' methods extended to wiring too, when we did a relatively simple series of logic gates (the jeopardy button setup if you're curious) which should have taken a handful of TTL logic chips and 1 breadboard. His took 3 boards, was actually melting the plastic, and could alter the results by waving your hand over the thing....he didn't construct a logic map for the circuit, he just randomly wired shit until he got something he liked.

But he had a Dream.....To build a (and I'm quoting here) 'Saw Chucker'

A device to automatically target and hurl saw blades at things.....because he wanted to. Also he wanted it to explode when it ran out of things to throw.

Needless to say he dropped the course before high voltages came in to the material, and transferred into travel and tourism.

Last I heard from him he was trying to figure out if he could send unruly tourists to north korea.

He sounds like an...interesting individual.

This is a supervillain origin story!

Yep, it really is.
 
Doctor Rubens rolls her eyes. "General Atomics used chimpanzee brains for their robobrains. Not a lot of chimpanzees in America today. This is new."

"With the greatest respect, Doctor, I am something of an expert on human brains. The robobrains guarding the Vault-Tec headquarters in Washington D.C. were definitely using human brains, as were the ones recovered from the Sierra Army Depot."
My many criticisms of Fallout 4 aside, being able to go through the research facility/ black site prison that made robobrains out of convicts and political dissidents was one of the most intellectually horrifying experiences I've had in Fallout.

So naturally I've had to go as the Silver Shroud every time since, as it makes that boss delightfully cartoonish.
 
A device to automatically target and hurl saw blades at things.....because he wanted to.
latest
 
Dear John (part 17)
7th November 2012
Roughly 10:38 GMT -5


I aim my clay pigeon launcher up over the hillock we're hiding behind and fire, the ceramic projectile flying-.

Boomboomboom!

Ratatatatatatatata!

Shooooom!

And small fragments of it rain down on the-.

Alan thrusts his right arm forwards, a fairground claw machine grabber punching into the ground and coming out with a squirming, blind, writhing worm that smells horrible, drips acid so that it will hurt anyone that touches it and can only bite, consume and excrete.

A bit heavy-handed, but that's the sort of place we're in.

"What.. do I..?"

I shake my head. "It doesn't matter, Alan. Chuck it away and it will go back to what it was doing before. Throw it at the Complex and they'll kill it, but it will immediately be replaced by something identical. It lacks the capacity to be anything other than what it is."

"Okay, but is it an animal, or just-"

It spits a blob of acid at him, which he blocks with a stars and stripes kite shield.

"-a really nasty person?"

"Its mindset is too different for me to tell for certain. I think animal, but that might be a result of its inherent magics keeping it simple rather than an indication of a total inability to cogitate."

"I don't.. like cruelty to animals, but if it's literally an embodiment of political corruption then I guess I'll live with myself."

The arm construct swings and the worm goes flying towards the Complex. I wait for the-.



I wait for the guns..?

Nothing. Alan frowns interrogatively at me. Why would-?

I nod. "Because it's supposed to be there. The Complex doesn't think that corrupt politicians are its enemy; they're its friends."

Alan creates a periscope construct and uses it to peek out of cover. "Think I could pass as Carter?"

I look at his blue glow.

"No." I look around as I try to-. "Wait, where did the vulture-?"

"Darn it. Eagle, did you see-?"

"I smell something!" He tilts his head back, sniffing the air. "An American icon!"

"In here? Lead the way!"

The eagle doesn't hesitate, leaping and flapping upwards and westward, Alan and I right behind it. I glance back at the Complex as we go, the colossal fortress walls and buttress-mounted guns seeming to glare at us as we go. And it might actually be glaring if it has the type of intelligence that I suspect it does. The eagle picks up speed, and I see… Some sort of main road, and there's the vulture, flapping towards… A humanoid figure, wearing a somewhat soiled suit and missing a portion of its head. And both his arms.

The vulture flies past them, lading next to a lump of something on the ground behind the unsteady figure. The face looks-.

Alan gasps!

"That's Kennedy!"

He dives down, and I can feel his drive to rescue someone from this place bubble to the surface. A blue glow reassembles the man's arms before Alan really thinks through what he's doing, and then he's left floating in the air just in front of the dead president.

The dead president whose face is… Kind of hanging in there, but a large piece of his skull and most of his brain is just sort of gone.

Alan spots the vulture tucking in.

"Hey, get away from that!"

"Why?" It gulps, swallowing a beakful of temporal lobe. "You can't tell me that this brain is keeping him alive."

"That-." Alan realises that he has a point as the late President Kennedy stares at him with a vague smile on his face. "That's no excuse. What happened to waiting until he's dead?"

"He has literally no brain. Why does me eating-" The vulture pecks up a little more, then tilts her head back to swallow. "-a little bit of what he's not using matter?"

I scan the available brain matter, but… Yes. This isn't Kennedy, not in the flesh. This is the idea of Kennedy, or… Possibly the man's soul. There isn't any organic matter there for me to analyse.

"M-m hmm hmm hm."

Kennedy's humming? Why is he humming God Save The Queen? I mean, thanks, but in this position I wouldn't start humming The Star-Spangled Banner.

"Paul, I-. I don't know how to fix a man's brain. Not when it's this far gone."

"Ah… I don't either. But I don't think that's the issue. The Vulture of Freedom is right. This is Kennedy's soul, or something like it. Organic repairs aren't this issue. Though you could have cleaned up his excrement when you-"

"Darn it, yeah."

"-repaired his arms."

"Hrrrn hrn hrn huuuughnuuhnuuuh."

"I think this is going to have to be a magic thing."

"So we can't help him out until we can get Doctor Mist or Giovanni in here."

"No. I mean… Look, someone who knows how to damage souls has had a go at him, right? We can't fix that. But we can fix him-. Or rather, since I don't think we need him to go running off after Marilyn Monroe, you can."

He looks sceptical.

"This isn't the best time to talk me through some whole new ring power, Paul."

"On the contrary, it's the best time. As President, he can walk us through the Military Industrial Complex. And since he's dead, even if you get it badly wrong you can't kill him because he's already dead."

"Ah…" Alan looks at Kennedy's injury, his gaze going through the man's head. "I can't exactly say that you're wrong there, but I don't know what you want me to do."

"Sometimes, people come to represent more than they actually are. Kennedy did a lot of bad things during his time in office, but Americans seem to regard him fondly. He was a focus of hope."

"And you think I can draw on that hope to fix him up?"

"I think you might be able to draw on it to make him better."

Alan takes a breath, then raises his ring.

"Guess I won't know until I try, huh?"
 
Last edited:
The arm construct swings and the worm goes flying towards the Complex. I wait for the-.



I wait for the guns..?

Nothing. Alan frowns interrogatively at me. Why would-?

Because the Complex wouldn't hurt one of its closest allies.

I nod. "Because it's supposed to be there. The Complex doesn't think that corrupt politicians are its enemy; they're it's friends"

Yep.

I scan the available brain matter, but… Yes. This isn't Kennedy, not in the flesh. This is the idea of Kennedy, or… Possibly the man's soul. There isn't any organic matter there for me to analyse.

I'm guessing that since JFK was viewed as being something like a pinnacle of American politics then this thing represents how corruptive American politics are becoming.

Or maybe Uncle Sam wasn't the only being that was kidnapped.

Kennedy's humming? Why is he humming God Save The Queen? I mean, thanks, but in this position I wouldn't start humming The Star-Spangled Banner.

Maybe it's to show how far his corruption has come that he''s singing the song of another country.

"I this is going to have to be a magic thing."

'I think this'

since I don't think we need him to go running off after Marilyn Munroe, you can."

Well, unless you want to get closer to the Japanese pantheon.

"And you think I can draw on that hop to fix him up?"

'on that hope'
 
7th November 2012
Roughly 10:38 GMT -5


I aim my clay pigeon launcher up over the hillock we're hiding behind and fire, the ceramic projectile flying-.

Boomboomboom!
Yeah, once again, the old adage proves true: "What do you call a flying soldier? Skeet." Evidently they've arrived at Washington, or it's counterparts in the Badlands. No doubt the metaphysical incarnation of some old Hawks are having the time of their unlife shooting their whiz-bang killy guns.

Ratatatatatatatata!

Shooooom!
:confused: ...A lot of whiz-bang killy guns. Talk about Dakka.

And small fragments of it rain down on the-.

Alan thrusts his right arm forwards, a fairground claw machine grabber punching into the ground and coming out with a squirming, blind, writhing worm that smells horrible, drips acid so that it will hurt anyone that touches it and can only bite, consume and excrete.
Gee, there's some nasty metaphorical doodoo. I won't try and guess what that might represent.

A bit heavy-handed, but that's the sort of place we're in.

"What.. do I..?"
Well, don't let it get its fangs into you, it'll never let go.

I shake my head. "It doesn't matter, Alan. Chuck it away and it will go back to what it was doing before. Throw it at the Complex and they'll kill it, but it will immediately be replaced by something identical. It lacks the capacity to be anything other than what it is."

"Okay, but is it an animal, or just-"
Let's just not think about that, okay? It's probably enough to make you lose hope...

It spits a blob of acid at him, which he blocks with a stars and stripes kite shield.

"-a really nasty person?"
Is that a Captain America reference I see? :D I mean, in some timelines, the Marvel comics do exist in the DCU. Probably not big sellers compared to real superheroes, but...

"Its mindset is too different for me to tell for certain. I think animal, but that might be a result of its inherent magics keeping it simple rather than an indication of a total inability to cogitate."

"I don't.. like cruelty to animals, but if it's literally an embodiment of political corruption then I guess I'll live with myself."
And like he said, whatever you do to it won't matter, it's replaceable.

The arm construct swings and the worm goes flying towards the Complex. I wait for the-.

:mad: "Friendly target detected. Hold your fire, boys!"
:( "Aw, Sarge... I still got half a clip in this here shooter!"

I wait for the guns..?

Nothing. Alan frowns interrogatively at me. Why would-?
Sadly, I doubt they've run out of ammo. The logic of this place only has two states, probably: 'Open Fire!' and 'Reloading!'

I nod. "Because it's supposed to be there. The Complex doesn't think that corrupt politicians are its enemy; they're it's friends"

Alan creates a periscope construct and uses it to peak out of cover. "Think I could pass as Carter?"
:p What makes you think that would work?

I look at his blue glow.

"No." I look around as I try to-. "Wait, where did the vulture-?"
Is it any great loss? I rather think not...

"Darn it. Eagle, did you see-?"

"I smell something!" He tilts his head back, sniffing the air. "An American icon!"
Oh, dear. I get the feeling this isn't going to be pretty for Roger...

"In here? Lead the way!"

The eagle doesn't hesitate, leaping and flapping upwards and westward, Alan and I right behind it. I glance back at the Complex as we go, the colossal fortress walls and buttress-mounted guns seeming to glare at us as we go. And it might actually be glaring if it has the type of intelligence that I suspect it does. The eagle picks up speed, and I see… Some sort of main road, and there's the vulture, flapping towards… A humanoid figure, wearing a somewhat soiled suit and missing a portion of its head. And both his arms.
Remember that pic Mr Zoat linked a few days back? Yeah... That's probably why Lady Liberty wanted to hit John in the junk. (Not sure of the source, though... The Wikis are proving unhelpful...)

The vulture flies past them, lading next to a lump of something on the ground behind the unsteady figure. The face looks-.

Alan gasps!
Gordon: "What? A girl gets hungry. And you saps aren't dying anytime soon, it looks like..."

"That's Kennedy!"

He dives down, and I can feel his drive to rescue someone from this place bubble to the surface. A blue glow reassembles the man's arms before Alan really thinks through what he's doing, and then he's left floating in the air just in front of the dead president.
No, that's the memory of Kennedy. And in this place, that almost certainly means...

The dead president whose face is… Kind of hanging in there, but a large piece of his skull and most of his brain is just sort of gone.

Alan spots the vulture tucking in.
...That this fellow is fresh from that car ride in Dallas...

"Hey, get away from that!"

"Why?" It gulps, swallowing a beakful of temporal lobe. "You can't tell me that this brain is keeping him alive."
And in this place, that'd probably be a bad thing anyway...

"That-." Alan realises that he has a point as the late President Kennedy stares at him with a vague smile on his face. "That's not excuse. What happened to waiting until he's dead?"

"He has literally no brain. Why does me eating-" The vulture pecks up a little more, then tilts her head back to swallow. "-a little bit of what he's not using matter?"
Most humans have this squeamish thing about seeing other people getting hurt, you know?

I scan the available brain matter, but… Yes. This isn't Kennedy, not in the flesh. This is the idea of Kennedy, or… Possibly the man's soul. There isn't any organic matter there for me to analyse.

"M-m hmm hmm hm."
And doesn't that just say nice things about what this place does to the ideas of great men, huh? :rolleyes:

Kennedy's humming? Why is he humming God Save The Queen? I mean, thanks, but in this position I wouldn't start humming The Star-Spangled Banner.

"Paul, I-. I don't know how to fix a man's brain. Not when it's this far gone."
Yeah, once that much is missing, anything you put back in there will be someone else.

"Ah… I don't either. But I don't think that's the issue. The Vulture of Freedom is right. This is Kennedy's soul, or something like it. Organic repairs aren't this issue. Though you could have cleaned up his excrement when you-"

"Darn it, yeah."
Well, that's one problem fixed, I suppose. But Johnny here's still a hot mess.

"-repaired his arms."

"Hrrrn hrn hrn huuuughnuuhnuuuh."
:oops: I'd say something about him not being able to hold a tune, but really, in this shape, I'm impressed he's not got a tin ear.

"I this is going to have to be a magic thing."

"So we can't help him out until we can get Doctor Mist or Giovanni in here."
...Alan, no. Let it go, he's beyond helping. Save it for after you feed the Smiling Git his own arsehole.

"No. I mean… Look, someone who knows how to damage souls has had a go at him, right? We can't fix that. But we can fix him-. Or rather, since I don't think we need him to go running off after Marilyn Munroe, you can."

He looks sceptical.
Heh. Yeah, I don't think OL's hands will be much use in putting this humpty-dumpty back together again.

"This isn't the best time to talk me through some whole new ring power, Paul."

"On the contrary, it's the best time. As President, he can walk us through the Military Industrial Complex. And since he's dead, even if you get it badly wrong you can't kill him because he's already dead."
:confused: ...I suppose that's one way to find a silver lining?

"Ah…" Alan looks at Kennedy's injury, his gaze going through the man's head. "I can't exactly say that you're wrong there, but I don't know what you want me to do."

"Sometimes, people come to represent more than they actually are. Kennedy did a lot of bad things during him time in office, but Americans seem to regard him fondly. He was a focus of hope."
...Not untrue, I suppose.

"And you think I can draw on that hope to fix him up?"

"I think you might be able to draw on it to make him better."
Assuming he doesn't turn into a caricature of the man he used to be...

Alan takes a breath, then raises his ring.

"Guess I won't know until I try, huh?"
Good luck, and godspeed.

Huh. This has taken a rather bizarre turn. Who'd have thought when this episode started that we'd see Alan trying to put the ghost of Kennedy back together? Much less in hopes of using him to sneak past more Dakka than most Ork Waaaghs? Better hold on to your popcorn or Malteasers, folks, because this ride is just getting started...


...we need him to go running off after Marilyn Munroe, you can."
...we need him to go running off after Marilyn Monroe, you can."
 
Wait, do people seriously not recognize/remember the American song that borrows the tune of God Save The Queen?

A couple different countries used that tune for their anthems, including Imperial Germany, Imperial Russia, and a few others. But the version used in America is My Country, Tis Of Thee.



It was one of the de facto national anthems of America before we officially adopted Star Spangled Banner in 1931.

So, no, it wasn't Kennedy singing another country's song because of spiritual brain damage. It's just a tune that multiple countries decided to change the lyrics to for their own purposes.
 
Well, you can build a whole soul out of spectrum energies, so you should be able to patch one up with them.
 
Is Kennedy making a joke or is a joke being played on Kennedy?
There's some irrelevant American song that has the same tune.
"think" before "this". Or maybe just remove the "I".
"him" should be "his".
"hop" to "hope".
...we need him to go running off after Marilyn Monroe, you can."
Thank you, corrected.
Remember that pic Mr Zoat linked a few days back? Yeah... That's probably why Lady Liberty wanted to hit John in the junk. (Not sure of the source, though... The Wikis are proving unhelpful...)
Hellblazer... 70ish?
 
Hellblazer... 70ish?
Found it. Hellblazer Volume 1, #72 to #75. Dubbed the 'Damnation's Flame' story arc... Which sees John take a wild trip in New York courtesy of a hallucinogenic Mickey Finn supplied by Papa Midnite...
And reading the synopsis, I can see why Lady Liberty is a bit narked off at him... ;) Also, I suspect, more than a little of the inspiration for the current location Alan and OL have found themselves dumped into.
 
Ah, a fun hallucinatory journey.

And I can understand why Kennedy was there- he's an assassinated president who was the subject of a lot of conspiracy theories, and people paint him more with their interpretations than a real look at his policies these days.

"This isn't the best time to talk me through some whole new ring power, Paul."

"On the contrary, it's the best time. As President, he can walk us through the Military Industrial Complex. And since he's dead, even if you get it badly wrong you can't kill him because he's already dead."

No time like when the plot needs it! And Paul's right, it's a win-win situation.

(Next we need Paul humming 'My Country Tis of Thee' according to Wally)
 
Considering the recent Batman: Fortress had Batman refusing to stop rioters from looting stores and burning down buildings because "it wasn't his job to protect their profits" and "they had insurance", this seems like an idea some professional DC writer is going to take and make their own.

---

What if they just wrapped themselves in worms? Or, can Paul Assimilate them?
 
Considering the recent Batman: Fortress had Batman refusing to stop rioters from looting stores and burning down buildings because "it wasn't his job to protect their profits" and "they had insurance", this seems like an idea some professional DC writer is going to take and make their own.
JJJAAAAAHHHHHRULE8RULE8RULE8!
 

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