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

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TheEyes said:
It's genuinely shocking (in the best way) to see a Harley who is genuinely interested in academia like this. Too often Harley in fanfiction, even before meeting the Joker, ends up shunted into a ditzy role (I remember one version slept with her professor for a degree, with the goal of writing a tell-all book to get rich quick). I like the idea of a Harley who is a real scientist.


Birds of Prey, WTR Edition? I like it.
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I'd take a look at some of Unpretty's "sorrowful and imaculate hearts" series on AO3. She's very crazy but sharp as a tack and absolutely has her PHD.
 
Paul being so consistently upset at people doing to him the exact same thing he has done to others in the past never ceases to be amusing. :D
 
Mr Zoat said:
13th February 2012
22:43 GMT -6

"…in front of him, then showed him my diplomatic passport."

I take a sip of my drink, which in defiance of my usual custom is actually alcoholic. I'm even letting it intoxicate me a little. Just a little, but… I'm still feeling unhappy about Vega. Perhaps a mild amount of mind-altering will give me a new perspective?

"Are you rilly supposed t' use it like that?"

I sit back in my seat. I think Harleen just shifted from 'casual' to 'slightly professional', which… That's not a terrible idea. With someone like me -including me- the people around me have good reason to want to make sure that I'm thinking straight.

"Generally, Queen Hippolyta is happy for me to use it to duck certain vexatious consequences of my work as a superhero. Specifically…" I shrug. "I'm honestly not sure if she's ever touched a computer in her life, so I've got no idea how I'd even start explaining 'microtransactions' to her." I smile. "Though if they try talking her into rescinding my immunity, I'd love to watch them."

"Yeah, but it's kinda out of charactah, ain't it?"

"Y-ess… Sort of." I slightly raise my left hand and rotate the rings so that they're 'sigil up'. "Just because I can focus on long term things, that doesn't mean that I don't still feel the same impulses to implement quick fixes to the things in my immediate environment. I just think twice before I do it. And after the week I've had, I felt the need to do something a little impulsive."

"What happened?"

"Some.. people I was giving a great deal of leeway to used it in a way that I'd rather that they hadn't. And now I'm giving serious thought to whether I need to keep closer watch on the people I give rings to."

"How bad are we tawkin' here?"

"Hard to say. I'm not even completely certain that they were in the wrong." I shake my head. "There was a planet inhabited by a really evil species. And I don't.. mean just.. 'they had a bad government' or whatever, they literally biologically and sociologically engineered themselves to be as cruel and vicious as possible and to enjoy it."

"'Was'."

"Yeah. The thing is, they had a lot of 'test subjects' on their planet. And they were planning on fleeing the region. I'm not usually one for palming problems off when I can resolve them, but if they'd offered to trade their hostages for the ability to leave… I'd probably have agreed. As it was, they were all killed and only a handful of their prisoners were rescued. And… A lot of people I trusted… To a degree, anyway, went out of their way to keep me out of the loop. And… I effectively decided not to deal with the problem myself, so I'm annoyed with them for excluding me but also annoyed at myself for being annoyed about them taking the initiative. I mean, orange light; their desires aren't going to line up perfectly with my own."

"You should probably-"

"Talk to them about it." / "-tawk t' them abowt it."

We both chuckle quietly. It's an oldie, but… Yes. Talking to Komand'r and Koriand'r about what I expect from them and what they expect from me is something I'm going to need to do. In a little while. Let things settle down. I checked before I left and there really isn't anything they have planned that I don't approve of.

"Hey, lady. Halloween was five months ago." I look over towards the door as the doorman intercepts my other guest. "And I'm gunna want to see some I… D...."

A slightly-built figure in an all-enveloping cloak and wearing a decorated porcelain mask stares at him for a moment and his whole body locks up. Then she walks past, a damp patch appearing at the crotch of his trousers and trickling down his right leg.

I hold up my right hand in a wave to get Melinoë's attention as she studies the bar. She spots me, but keeps going until she has the whole place surveyed and the bouncer partially collapses against the wall before heading over to us.

"That ain't somethin' you see every day. Do I run now..?"

Melinoë stops at our table and stands there motionless. Alright, I suppose that it's for me to make the introductions.

"Thank you for joining us."

"Father insisted."

Her tone is frostier than usual.

"Have I done something wrong?"

She folds her arms across her chest and looks away.

"I am unhappy to be called upon in this manner. My brother has been making.. lewd insinuations, about our interactions."

"I'll put him straight when I see him." I turn to Harleen. "Doctor Harleen Quinzel, this is Melinoë, chthonic nymph of-."

"Madness. Yeah."

"Madness and nightmares. Don't assume that I can't touch you just because you're sane."

Shadows coil under her, forming themselves into a stool. She sits, then removes her mask and places it upon the table. Harleen blinks in surprise as she gets an unimpeded view of Melinoë's face. The lighting in here is too low for her to see the skin tone clearly but the horns are very obvious.

"Why am I here?"

"Since I've been helping your father find new relevance, it hit me that I could do the same for you."

"Ahum..?"

"You want me to spread madness and nightmares?"

"There was a short story written by my favourite author, in which a travel agent tried to convince the devil that while no one wanted to be stuck in Hell permanently, plenty of people would pay to go there temporarily. People like dabbling with fear or horror in controlled environments. That's.. basically what horror films are."

She regards me carefully. "Go on."

"It wouldn't take much effort to make marker tokens, which could be taken by people who actively want nightmares. Then you could practise your trade upon them."

"What sort of idiot would volunteer for something like that?"

"Hey, that's your future cultists you're talking about."

"And you think people will volunteer to be struck mad too?"

"For just a little while?"

Melinoë deigns to look at Harleen. "That is within my power."

"Are you-? Yeah, just abowt ev'ry shrink on the planet. You could get all kinds of insight if you could get a disordah for a whyle then go back to bein' neurotypical."

She seems genuinely excited at the idea. Melinoë just looks puzzled.

"Perhaps I was premature in my assessment of your mental state after all."
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Im sorry but independence in sector lanterns is great and all but genocide should be one of those things thats clearly stated to be SENT UP THE CHAIN OF COMMAND.
 
rkyeun said:
The spores each have a bit of intelligence, but are a hivemind. Collectively, the billion of them have the will to wield a power ring.
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You missed the point of the Collective.

Each of the individual puffballs "is a living power ring."

They aren't effectively one green lantern that can be in over a billion places, rather they are effectively over a billion green lanterns that share a mind.

That is why their sector is the safest sector in the universe.

Anyway, I tracked down the story, and I was right about the rings thing, they don't have any.

The Glow is transmitted from the Queen through the same mechanism that the Collective shares thought.

Also, the Collective also has a collective mind. The Queen absorbs the minds of beings it eats. Which is why TO-T-U-K fed himself to the Queen.

So the Collective has the will to use the Glow because TO-T-U-K had the will to use the glow.

If TO-T-U-K hadn't fed himself to the Queen, the Collective would still only be of animal intelligence.
 
Vaermina said:
You seem to be forgetting that Paul isn't the leader of the Orange Lantern Corp.
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He's above the sisters though. The fact that they kept him out of the loop because they figured he would stop them from doing what they did makes it a clear-cut case of insubordination.
 
Vaermina said:
Actually he's not above the Sisters, he's to the side of them.
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Vaermina said:
You seem to be forgetting that Paul isn't the leader of the Orange Lantern Corp.
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Except as Illustres he's second in command and is also immediately in charge of whatever OLC operation that's being conducted wherever he goes unless Dox or one of the Controllers are there and I highly doubt the sisters contacted Dox to let him know since if they had he would've insisted on sending Lanterns there to get some battle experience as Paul said
Vaermina said:
Paul being so consistently upset at people doing to him the exact same thing he has done to others in the past never ceases to be amusing. :D
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Except that there's a clear difference between this and the Nabu situation, which is what I assume you're referring to

In the Nabu situation Paul never lied to those that trusted him nor sent them on a wild goose chase to waste their time, he didn't commit any acts of insubordination, he only didn't tell Diana, or the League in general, about his plan because they had already made their stance on the matter clear and even if they didn't try to stop him or rat him out it would still mean someone who was constantly in Nabu's presence knowing about the plot and he did everything he could to limit casualties

Whereas here all of his supposed allies in Vega, including two of his own Lanterns, worked together to mislead him so he didn't realise what was happening, the princesses specifically didn't report their taking part in the operation to their superiors, the only reason Paul was left out of the operation was so that Blake could claim that they'd done it without OLC assistance, despite the fact that still had two Orange Lanterns helping them, and even then it's arguable that he really only did it because he wants to be needed in Vega so he had to prove himself to be just as good as Paul and b cause of Blakes actions at least 11,000 people who didn't need to die did
 
Vaermina said:
Actually he's not above the Sisters, he's to the side of them.
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what? at best the sisters could be considered honour guard (although I tend to think that they are more regular orange lantern mooks in terms of rank) and paul is second in command subordinate only to Drox. That's like saying an NCO is to the side of the deputy secretary of defence.
 
DAT_NOOB said:
What? at best the sisters could be considered honour guard (although I tend to think that they are more regular orange lantern mooks in terms of rank) and paul is second in command subordinate only to Drox. That's like saying an NCO is to the side of the deputy secretary of defence.
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Except Honor Guard aren't actually higher ranked then Sector Lanterns.

The difference is that they have authority in all sectors instead of just the sector they are assigned to.

So technically speaking Paul has equal authority to the Sisters.
 
TheMidnightRook said:
The "slept with her professor" part has actually been part of her canon backstory at least a couple of times. The Tvtropes page for the relevant trope not only uses Harley for the page image; but of the five entries under Comic Books, three are about her.
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the thing they keep going back and forth on (in universe, even), is if she genuinely slept her way into her position, or she genuinely passed/was competent on her own merits -despite- doing the above- at times its not -just- inconsistent writers, but an in-universe uncertainty as to wither she has occasional moments of insight through dumb luck, or its her actual experience/knowledge peeking from under the cracked surface of her psyche.......
 
Vaermina said:
Except Honor Guard aren't actually higher ranked then Sector Lanterns.

The difference is that they have authority in all sectors instead of just the sector they are assigned to.

So technically speaking Paul has equal authority to the Sisters.
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I have no idea where you're getting this from, we saw in just the last episode that Honour Guard Lanterns have authority over other Lanterns

And even if they didn't that doesn't necessarily mean that that's also how the OLC would work, we've seen numerous Orange Lanterns address Paul as a superior officer and when Paul makes the deal with Dox to from OLC he makes it pretty clear that Dox would be the number one and he would be second in command
 
jonasquinn said:
I have no idea where you're getting this from, we saw in just the last episode that Honour Guard Lanterns have authority over other Lanterns

And even if they didn't that doesn't necessarily mean that that's also how the OLC would work, we've seen numerous Orange Lanterns address Paul as a superior officer and when Paul makes the deal with Dox to from OLC he makes it pretty clear that Dox would be the number one and he would be second in command
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Remember, just because Paul says or thinks something doesn't make it true.
 
Remember, just because it was explicitly stated in story doesn't mean you can't throw a hissy fit about Zoat not making your Waifu act like you want him to.

Remember Vaermina, if you want to tap Paul that bad, Zoat is both real and possibly bisexual so you're all set.
 
.... if nothing else, i will -not- be suppressed if Dox utterly flips his shit over this (in privacy)- he was....twitchy over some of OL's impulsive/seemingly impulsive behavior alone- THIS is the sort of thing that would -irk- him enough to start bleeding red into his text again >.<

...maybe they could bond over this?

... damage-control/ low-key retaliation-wise, id kinda like to see Paul/the OLC in general respond by actively HELPING distributing the news of the successful operation- but heavily emphasizing the presence of two combat-veteran Orange Lanterns to passively undermine the intended message-
it wouldn't harm anyone (aside from the ego's of those involved), or directly harm this little confederation, but it would effectively,and neatly scupper the mythology-building in a way that would be almost impossible to respond with without the attempted exclusion's ACTUAL motivation being blatantly obvious- and OL has the means/potential connections to spread the story far and wide before the alliance can get their boots on-
no to minimal chance of causing meaningful harm, it -would- get under certain
skins- and it would be accurate anyway- the best kind of petty revenge~

what are they going to do? complain that their attempt to craft a constructed "we saved outselves from the psions because nobody else would"narrative at the cost of the lives of their own sailors was derailed by someone spreading accurate infomation?
 
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Vaermina said:
Remember, just because Paul says or thinks something doesn't make it true.
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Remember, that Paul literally founded the Orange Lantern Corps and is the single most experienced Orange Lantern in the galaxy so even if it hadn't been expressly stated that he's the second in command in terms of pure seniority he absolutely is
 
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Gantradies said:
.... if nothing else, i will -not- be suppressed if Dox utterly flips his shit over this (in privacy)- he was....twitchy over some of OL's impulsive/seemingly impulsive behavior alone- THIS is the sort of thing that would -irk- him enough to start bleeding red into his text again >.<

...maybe they could bond over this?
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Eh, he'd probably agree with them in my opinion.
 
Conqueror's Moon (part 28)
  • Threadmarks
    • 30th December 2004
    14:13 GMT -4

    "I'm… Curious." Kanto watches me cautiously as I study the five hundred year old mortal remains of Claudia Romanus. "You were not in attendance at Darkseid's court when I gained my god-name. Kanto Thirteen hadn't the wit to speak of my time on Earth. I chose not to, and I never heard Lord Darkseid do so. So how did you know of it?"

    Sinestro?

    I'm sure that you can come up with a convincing lie on your own, Lantern Grayven.

    I meant, with the reconstruction.

    The basic structure is simple enough. However, without a portrait, it simply isn't possible to recapture the specifics.

    "Are you sure that you don't have a portrait?"

    "It would have been hard to explain to her brother why I, a lowly page of insignificant birth, wanted a picture of his sister. I intended to have one commissioned after the wedding, but alas that proved impossible."

    I can still see where Kanto 13's bomb tore open her abdomen; the damage to the bones of her ribs and pelvis is quite significant. The metallic residue suggests that her mortician more or less had to use some sort of metal corset to make the corpse stay in one piece. I hope that she lost consciousness quickly.

    "If you don't mind me saying, you're being surprisingly easygoing about this."

    "I don't mind you saying that at all." "You heard what Lashina said when Granny died?"

    I smile. "Alright then. Have you considered the possibility that Cesare Borgia wrote something about his most unusual page, the man who married his sister?" "Yes, of course."

    "Considered. And dismissed. He wouldn't write anything so frivolous. One of his courtiers might have done, but the chance of it surviving for so long is… Slender." "She was bound to Granny Goodness, as I was bound to Lord Darkseid. With his death, some of the truths he impressed upon me seemed somewhat less true."

    "I spent some time in a parallel universe, far more removed from this one than the one where I now make my home. There, I read it in a comic book."

    "Hm. And how did the author know, I wonder?"

    "Pass. Look…" I gesture to Claudia's corpse. "I've got a full genetic work-up, and the analysis of her bones gives me enough information on her general state of health and diet that I can mostly repair her body. But without a visual guide to work from it won't be exactly the same, and even as an aristocrat her health would have been less good than that of a modern human."

    "Your alter ego's entire reason for taking Earth was to turn humans into New God lieutenants. And if learning such a technique was within his grasp, then it puts a new spin on the abilities of this Sector's former Green Lantern."

    "Yes, thanks to the Father Box of Desaad Sixteen, I know how to do it. But perhaps we should give her a little time to adapt to being alive once more before revealing that her beloved is an alien god-assassin."

    "And of course you'll need to decide what you want in return."

    "No. That isn't how I conduct my affairs." I theatrically hold my hands over the bones and begin. Restoring the bones to pristine condition is simple enough, though if there were any older breaks in the time-eaten parts those will be vanishing. Then comes cartilage and connective tissue. "Spend time with your wife, live the life that Kanto Thirteen and Darkseid denied you. And then, at some point in the future, if you actually want to work with me, then get in touch."

    "What happened to you, to make you this different? Or am I similarly liberated in the universe where you make your home?"

    "I've never met Kanto Sixteen-." I frown as I reassemble Claudia's muscles and organs. "You know, given how Kantos used to be numbered, using 'universe numbers' to refer to the different versions of you is a little confusing."

    "I know who you mean."

    "Well, him. So I've only got Desaad's old notes to tell me about his behaviour. But nothing there suggests that he's all that different to you. But consider the issue: the bonds binding you to Apokolips exist in your soul, tied to your god-name. The core of your identity is indelibly imprinted with that way of life. So if you want to leave…"

    Kanto frowns at me, then his eyes widen and he actually steps back. "You would have to destroy-! You did that?"

    "From what I remember, yes." Nerves, veins and arteries, brain… No way to actually make the neural connections that she would have had in life, but I can create an unspecialised network. Skin and hair… And a dress where it won't matter if it gets coated in Lazarus goop.

    "I'm impressed."

    "Putting a person back together isn't that hard with a power ring. Even the Green Lanterns can sometimes manage it."

    "No. Your determination. Your single-mindedness. You destroyed everything you were in order to become yourself."

    "If I could have killed Father instead, I would have." I cut off the flow of yellow light to the now-repaired corpse. "Does she look like you remember her?"

    "As close as I could expect a lifeless corpse to." He reaches forward and picks her up. "Still confident that you can deliver on your bargain?"

    "More confident than I would be about having you coming after me and mine."

    I lead the way over to where Sunset and Richard are checking over the Apokoliptian device I created for this process. The local version of Ra's al Ghul apparently didn't have quite the degree of knowledge that my version had, and even though it meant taking the construct-Lantern out of the basement where I'd had him writing his memoirs I felt that the increased reliability was worth the mental discomfort. But neither my Ra's nor the records Richard had access to via Batman could explain what this thing did to recapture the soul of the one it resurrected.

    Which is why in place of the pool or a sarcophagus, the gently-bubbling goop fills one of Grayven 50's modified Sarcophageuses. Those things are designed to play about with souls, and with my Mother Box plugged into it to provide a link to the Source… That should be enough to return her soul. I still don't know enough about mind-soul interfaces to know how much she'll remember… Well. If this fails then I'm sure that Sunset will embrace the challenge of improving the system.

    Speaking of-.

    Ping.

    Good show. "Now, Kanto, I must warn you that people resurrected by the Lazarus Pit are usually somewhat insensible for a time. And that there is no guarantee that we will succeed on our first try."

    "I understand." He reverentially lays her in the goop bath, then steps back as Sunset presses the button to submerge her.

    Hm. I should probably stick around, but this whole process could well end up taking hours. I sidle up to Richard.

    "How are you and Timothy holding up?"

    "I still can't really believe that he's dead."

    "I realise that you're not certain of your own feelings towards him, but he had a major impact on your life. It's only natural-."

    "No, I literally can't believe that he's dead. He had a minute between the boom tube opening and the Watchtower being destroyed. There are dozens of contingencies he could have activated in that time."

    I nod. "I see. I hope that you're right."

    "How are the Lords settling in in your mountain?"

    "Well enough. Diana appears to be enjoying training with Knockout. I don't suppose-?"

    "I've thought about it. I think maybe we could have them join the team. Eventually. But not yet. And I'm sure they're due some parental leave."

    I nod. "I'll pass that on." We watch the goop for a moment. "Hey, is there any chance I could take the ship off your-?"

    "No."
     
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    • Queshire said:
    Eh, he'd probably agree with them in my opinion.
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    depends- did they ASK for,and recieve authorization to participate in a major operation?
    if they DID get the green light from higher command maybe, but my understanding is they essentially randomly ran off and got the Corps involved in local galactic politics on a major scale with zero authority or authorization on a whim, and actively decieved their chain of command as to their actions- Dox has made a visible (color) effort to not go off at paul for doing something semi-impulsive, but still an arguably lesser provocation at LEAST once...

    at the very least, if you're going to help facilitate a complete shift in the political makeup of an entire region of the galaxy, your boss/high command -NEEDS- to know, even if its just to plan damage control/ start recalculating their strategic planning- the fact that the Psions desperately NEEDED killing isnt even a factor...
    and the entire situation is WORRYING on entirely another level-if they're being psychologically affected by their rings dispite the design adjustments/best snek taking up residence in the central battery, this could have serious consequences to the success/future of the corps in general barring further redesigns/even more restricted recruiting critera that bar even more potential candidates from selection...
     
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    It is kinda funny that, even in a low-fear enviroment, a power ring can still easily put a person back together.

    Not unbelievable, mind you. It's more unbelievable that no one else can. Come on people, it's just a bunch of wet nanotech. Lots of people use dry nanotech, and they had to design that from scratch. You can figure out how to put together some wet nano.


    Corrections:
    Mr Zoat said:
    "More confident that I would be about having you coming after me and mine."
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    "than" instead of "that".
    Mr Zoat said:
    If this fails thenI'm sure that Sunset will embrace the challenge of improving the system.
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    Missing a space.
     
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