Siskulous
Know what you're doing yet?
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Oof. I'm not at all familiar with Erfworld, but I can imagine that would be the death knell of any creative pursuits I had for quite a long while.
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
-
- Tags
- self insert young justice
DrThoth
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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My first thought was 'she has a power-ring translator' but then I remembered that classic Tamaranean quirk. Was that always a part of Starfire's original incarnation or a later addition by a different writer?
We've seen different levels of translation technologies, both in this fic and in canon, and it makes me wonder where the linguistic proficiency via Tamaranean-kissing would fit in that hierarchy. There may be a possible market niche they could fulfill as low-tech and aesthetically appealing translators in galactic diplomacy.
GodKiller999
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I agree with the general sentiment, used to advocate for some simple to implement, yet useful upgrades myself, but while the SI is for trans humanism he's rather unwilling to really make a push for it on an individual level, it's hard to say if it's due to Zoat not wanting to make him stronger or something else.
How would you define the problems he's facing?
Power projection and the ability to fix issues that require to be powerful, ending Darkseid would be a powerful net good for the universe for example. The issue most people who reach that level have is that further improvement takes a very long time with marginal gains, but the SI has spend very little time one that relatively speaking, there's a ton of low hanging fruits for improvements that are painfully easy to implement compared to others thanks to his orage power ring.
Idkusername
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Look, the SI's body is a perfect representation of 'him' as an idea, of his self-concept. He doesn't want bodily upgrades more than he wants to be him. Even if he did do it, he would have to constantly focus on stopping his ring from changing him back to his fully human form.
Though it could be argued that if he spent long enough with whatever upgrades he would get (I personally think that the Garrick formula is of much more use to him than the Danner formula), they would pretty much become part of his self-image and thus his default state.
Darko
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He may try to get some upgrades, but he may want to remove them in the future and add other upgrades, but if he doesn't understand what he has to upgrade himself with he may find it more difficult.
The Danner formula is still being researched.
He now has Compound V and if Sivana figures out how to make it safe then OL can potentially get Superman level powers.
The Danner formula is still being researched.
He now has Compound V and if Sivana figures out how to make it safe then OL can potentially get Superman level powers.
GodKiller999
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If his mindset was so rigid he wouldn't have changed himself the moment he came into this universe. He wouldn't be much of a trans humanism advocate if he saw things this way, would defeat the whole point. Hell just recently he cosplayed as an abomination by changing his body, so this is clearly not the case.
Beyond that there's a lot that can be done while still keeping a human appearance, it's not like fixing some of the basic design flaws in the human body or taking lessons from existing animals would require for him to look different.
He can't use the formulas because of his soul, even if he could Zoat wouldn't let him use the Garrick formula due to how powerful it'd make him (he literally said as much before).
Idkusername
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No, his ring changed his body the moment he became conscious because of such a mindset, turning him into an idealised version of him. As such, any change to perfection is be definition imperfection.
Well, yeah, the soul is part of why he can't use the Garrick formula. As for balancing, you brought up Watsonian complaints and I responded in kind.
GodKiller999
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If that's how you look at it, but again we saw him assume other forms when he felt like it, clearly showing change is possible if he wishes it. It was also only shallow "perfection" like being in peak condition for a human and obviously if he's not aware of better upgrades he wouldn't have implemented them at the start, hence why later he got some light brain upgrades.
cereal_lurker
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In the Renegade timeline, after the conquest of The Citadel, didn't she engage in a 3-way with Grayven and her sister? It was explained as a more "in the heat of the moment she wanted to have sex, and they were the only ones who likely wouldn't die from the encounter" so I don't know if concepts like gay or straight would generally apply. If she wants to have sex with someone, what difference does their gender matter?
0zymandias
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While I agree with you that having being a master with one decent power set is more useful than being a novice with all of them, what I'm suggesting is that Paul supplement his power set not replace it. With the power ring he can already mimic nearly any power set imaginable. Being Dannered or Garricked wouldn't actual be a massive up shift for Paul as he
If we are thinking conventionally yes, but we don't have to. It's entirely possible for Paul to either buy or acquire bleeding edge supercomputers from Earth companies, use Ray Palmer's tech to shrink it to the size of a single grain of rice or smaller and then have either Palmer or Cranius or Dox or Sivana surgically attach it to his brain. There, significant improvements in his reaction speed, memory and comprehension.
Another thing to consider is optics, it's easier to convince people to get enhancements and augmentations when you yourself have them. If he really wants to set the ball rolling then he should try convincing celebrities, influencers and other notables to get them. Maybe even go so far as starting up a Metahuman Olympics or something to get some exposure. Show that metas can be more than just heroes or villains.
Someguy Somewhere
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Better for Paul to work on the more social aspects of being a super hero....it's much easier for him to phone a friend with the proper power set or know-how, then it is to bring himself up to those standards. That is how you out 'batman' the genuine article.
Will Murder for Personal Satisfaction
Mr Zoat
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8th January 2005
19:12 GMT +5:45
Komand'r stalks along the corridor of Shadow Spire, and I.. walk behind her. She's been on edge since we got back and she refuses to talk to me about it. My people skills aren't all that great, but I'd have thought…
I love her, she loves me. Why is this-? Why can't she..?
There aren't a lot of Shadow Cabinet operatives around. With only twenty or so of us on the planet… That I know about, anyway. I certainly wouldn't put it past Dharma to have a whole lot more people on retainer. But the point is, we have lives. We have jobs. We don't hang around the command centre that mostly exists to keep the brains of the operation safe and informed.
"Where is he?!"
"Just to the-."
Krona.
I appear next to her, and point to the door leading to Dharma's office.
"That's his office, but-."
Komand'r flies at it, shoving it inward against its hinges and snapping it off the wall!
Dharma is standing just outside of door range without any breakable object between him and Komand'r. Ramon's with him, but-. Yes, looks like he got pulled in for bodyguard duty. I'm not too worried about him. He.. kind of approves of my direct action approach, and he does owe me for boosting his raw power by about a million times.
His ability is to transform parts of himself into other animals. I still can't believe no one had asked him whether or not he could do kryptonians before.
We make momentary eye contact as Komand'r faces down Dharma. I shrug, apologetically. He nods sympathetically.
Komand'r's eyes are glowing as she floats at looking-down-on-you height. Dharma's eyes aren't focused, and his head isn't really orientated on her.
"Shall I answer your questions, or would you like to ask them first?"
"Why haven't you got any jobs for us? Is the world suddenly fine? Because it didn't look fine!"
"The world isn't fine. It has never been fine and it will probably never be fine. I see that every day. But that isn't what you want to ask."
"Well if you answer it then maybe I'll ask something else!"
"I do not have any tasks for you because every time I look at the result of assigning a task to you I see the outcome becoming worse."
"What? How can killing monsters make things get worse?"
"That is something that I am trying to determine. I do not like having my operatives unavailable. I suggest going back to Jump City. There always seems to be something-."
"We can't go there because my stupid sister made me promise not to kill anyone!"
"It doesn't matter. I only suggested it because you seem to-."
"So give me something or I'll just kill someone at random!"
"The only person in Jump City who can cause a true catastrophe is Raven, and you have already refused to kill her." His right hand drifts to his belt, and I see that he's got a swatch of fabric I brought him torn from Ms Roth's cloak tucked into it. "Yes… Only a few years, now. Are you sure that you won't reconsider?"
"No! Yes, I won't 'reconsider'! I like her!"
I take a step closer.
"Dharma, if you could.. just come up with something. It doesn't even have to be-."
Dharma steps left, right hand darting out to touch Komand'r's left leg while his left taps my chest. He blinks as I step past him to catch Komand'r's fist as she ow swings at him-.
Her eyes go out and she drops to the floor as I pick myself up and gently test-ow, yep, that's broken. I stand-.
And I sit down again. Oh dear. That… Hurts. And I feel dizzy and the room's blurring.
Komand'r is just in front of me, eyes wide with concern as she stares into my eyes and then looks at my shattered armour plates.
Then she turns back to Dharma.
"That was your fault!"
You'd think that a superhero world… Heck, a superhero team, would have all sorts of advanced healing options. If that is the case, they're not selling them in places where I can buy them. The best I've been able to get hold of is some magic stones that increase the human body's natural healing speed by about one fifth and a 'may cause malignant tumours' stem cell injector. And of course aliens are no help.
And -refusal to murder her notwithstanding- I don't think Rachel likes me enough to heal me directly.
"…risk of sending you out in your current state."
Ramon is actually standing between them now, ready to hold her back if she goes for Dharma again. Not sure how annoyed I should be about him not using some of that super speed to shield me, but I suppose that's not what he's here for.
"You knew that was going to happen!"
"For about half a second before it did, yes, but-."
Komand'r's about to go critical and I'm being weak.
I let out a wince-gasp as the red light flares through me, basic.. blood magic and a touch of the Red patching some of my injuries. Or at least patching them over. My arm is still going to need a splint, but at least I can see straight.
Komand'r's attention immediately switches to me as she revises her assessment of my injuries then-.
"Komand'r, stop taking it out on him. Tell me what's going on. You've gone longer than this between missions before. I want to help and I don't understand."
She stares at me, her face falling.
Then she half looks at Dharma and Ramon.
"Get out."
Dharma's already walking through the door-space. Ramon gives me a decidedly dubious look. I nod, and he follows our employer out.
"Was it Kron-?"
"Yes!" … "No."
She starts pacing, fists balled and stutter-glowing.
"I was trapped! Powerless! Those.. robots just..! Stuck me in a cell like I was so weak I wasn't even worth killing!"
"Komand'r, there's always someone stronger and tougher. You told me-."
She stops, facing away from me.
"It made me think of the psions. Being strapped into their machine. Being… Being strapped to a table while they experimented on me to see how long it took me to die."
She takes a few breaths.
"I hate it. Why didn't-? All the-. Yous let me kill him?"
"I don't know." I carefully come to my feet, and I spot Komand'r notice out of the corner of her eye and then start to move towards me to help before stopping herself. "But I know that I love you and I want to help. And if we can't hunt down Krona… Maybe we can hunt down the psion responsible for your transformation?"
19:12 GMT +5:45
Komand'r stalks along the corridor of Shadow Spire, and I.. walk behind her. She's been on edge since we got back and she refuses to talk to me about it. My people skills aren't all that great, but I'd have thought…
I love her, she loves me. Why is this-? Why can't she..?
There aren't a lot of Shadow Cabinet operatives around. With only twenty or so of us on the planet… That I know about, anyway. I certainly wouldn't put it past Dharma to have a whole lot more people on retainer. But the point is, we have lives. We have jobs. We don't hang around the command centre that mostly exists to keep the brains of the operation safe and informed.
"Where is he?!"
"Just to the-."
Krona.
I appear next to her, and point to the door leading to Dharma's office.
"That's his office, but-."
Komand'r flies at it, shoving it inward against its hinges and snapping it off the wall!
Dharma is standing just outside of door range without any breakable object between him and Komand'r. Ramon's with him, but-. Yes, looks like he got pulled in for bodyguard duty. I'm not too worried about him. He.. kind of approves of my direct action approach, and he does owe me for boosting his raw power by about a million times.
His ability is to transform parts of himself into other animals. I still can't believe no one had asked him whether or not he could do kryptonians before.
We make momentary eye contact as Komand'r faces down Dharma. I shrug, apologetically. He nods sympathetically.
Komand'r's eyes are glowing as she floats at looking-down-on-you height. Dharma's eyes aren't focused, and his head isn't really orientated on her.
"Shall I answer your questions, or would you like to ask them first?"
"Why haven't you got any jobs for us? Is the world suddenly fine? Because it didn't look fine!"
"The world isn't fine. It has never been fine and it will probably never be fine. I see that every day. But that isn't what you want to ask."
"Well if you answer it then maybe I'll ask something else!"
"I do not have any tasks for you because every time I look at the result of assigning a task to you I see the outcome becoming worse."
"What? How can killing monsters make things get worse?"
"That is something that I am trying to determine. I do not like having my operatives unavailable. I suggest going back to Jump City. There always seems to be something-."
"We can't go there because my stupid sister made me promise not to kill anyone!"
"It doesn't matter. I only suggested it because you seem to-."
"So give me something or I'll just kill someone at random!"
"The only person in Jump City who can cause a true catastrophe is Raven, and you have already refused to kill her." His right hand drifts to his belt, and I see that he's got a swatch of fabric I brought him torn from Ms Roth's cloak tucked into it. "Yes… Only a few years, now. Are you sure that you won't reconsider?"
"No! Yes, I won't 'reconsider'! I like her!"
I take a step closer.
"Dharma, if you could.. just come up with something. It doesn't even have to be-."
Dharma steps left, right hand darting out to touch Komand'r's left leg while his left taps my chest. He blinks as I step past him to catch Komand'r's fist as she ow swings at him-.
Her eyes go out and she drops to the floor as I pick myself up and gently test-ow, yep, that's broken. I stand-.
And I sit down again. Oh dear. That… Hurts. And I feel dizzy and the room's blurring.
Komand'r is just in front of me, eyes wide with concern as she stares into my eyes and then looks at my shattered armour plates.
Then she turns back to Dharma.
"That was your fault!"
You'd think that a superhero world… Heck, a superhero team, would have all sorts of advanced healing options. If that is the case, they're not selling them in places where I can buy them. The best I've been able to get hold of is some magic stones that increase the human body's natural healing speed by about one fifth and a 'may cause malignant tumours' stem cell injector. And of course aliens are no help.
And -refusal to murder her notwithstanding- I don't think Rachel likes me enough to heal me directly.
"…risk of sending you out in your current state."
Ramon is actually standing between them now, ready to hold her back if she goes for Dharma again. Not sure how annoyed I should be about him not using some of that super speed to shield me, but I suppose that's not what he's here for.
"You knew that was going to happen!"
"For about half a second before it did, yes, but-."
Komand'r's about to go critical and I'm being weak.
I let out a wince-gasp as the red light flares through me, basic.. blood magic and a touch of the Red patching some of my injuries. Or at least patching them over. My arm is still going to need a splint, but at least I can see straight.
Komand'r's attention immediately switches to me as she revises her assessment of my injuries then-.
"Komand'r, stop taking it out on him. Tell me what's going on. You've gone longer than this between missions before. I want to help and I don't understand."
She stares at me, her face falling.
Then she half looks at Dharma and Ramon.
"Get out."
Dharma's already walking through the door-space. Ramon gives me a decidedly dubious look. I nod, and he follows our employer out.
"Was it Kron-?"
"Yes!" … "No."
She starts pacing, fists balled and stutter-glowing.
"I was trapped! Powerless! Those.. robots just..! Stuck me in a cell like I was so weak I wasn't even worth killing!"
"Komand'r, there's always someone stronger and tougher. You told me-."
She stops, facing away from me.
"It made me think of the psions. Being strapped into their machine. Being… Being strapped to a table while they experimented on me to see how long it took me to die."
She takes a few breaths.
"I hate it. Why didn't-? All the-. Yous let me kill him?"
"I don't know." I carefully come to my feet, and I spot Komand'r notice out of the corner of her eye and then start to move towards me to help before stopping herself. "But I know that I love you and I want to help. And if we can't hunt down Krona… Maybe we can hunt down the psion responsible for your transformation?"
Last edited:
thebishop8
Umm, ackchyually...
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Add "I'm" after "like".
Change "would " to "who".
Vaermina
Well worn.
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Because this universe doesn't run on "killing bad people makes things better" logic.
It runs on "reforming bad people makes things better" logic.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
No, but I've got another alternate SI for Saturday.
Darko
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Is this alternate going to be one we haven't read about so far, aside from the ones mentioned in the Repetition and Duplication episodes?
Handlewithcare
Versed in the lewd.
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Yeah, there is a reason the red light needs to be used with caution.
Berserkers hurt loved ones too.
Berserkers hurt loved ones too.
Chojin Patriarch
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Hmm... I doubt it's anything biological... Untreated trauma from Krona's little party?
And it's not like he does all the paperwork himself. Of course he's going to have non-combatant personnel working for him... And I suspect they're wisely keeping their heads down.
Empathic vision, or empathic nature? You decide!
Yeah, bad idea to get in her way when she's in this mood. Something, or someone, is gonna get broken.
So he can tap into the Red of other worlds? Impressive. Or is it an informational thing? Because TT Beast Boy does watch nature documentaries for ideas...
Using precognition? I suppose it's easier to answer questions when you know what they are ahead of time.
I would think it's something to do with the fact you two were abducted, or inducted, into an interdimensional team to save the multiverse. Could leave some lingering issues...
Ah, the joy of debating with precogs... When they know what you intend to say before you can have the joy of saying it. Because sometimes, you need to say something, not just take it as read.
Collateral damage? A violent fight getting the attention of the League? You losing control of yourself and going into a battlerage?
And right now, you really, really want to hurt something to make yourself feel better. Which is why he doesn't want you going out...
Joker, perhaps? Or would Batman get in the way? That would be exactly the kind of thing he's worried about, isn't it?
Besides, I doubt he can see every possibility involved. Every time she's gone demonic, the Titans have dragged her back.
I hope he foresaw that would defuse the situation, because that was a bad idea...
And Red healing hurts too much to make it better, huh?
Yeah, D, that kinda was. Even if you did it for a good reason...
And he's not on good enough terms with the League to ask Zatanna for a quick patch-up, either... One quick "Eb Delaeh." would fix that right up...
Seriously, Komy, you just broke your boyfriend's arm. Admittedly, because Dharma nudged you off-course, but that punch would have taken his head off...
Man, Precogs are so inconsistent... Then again, people are unpredictable...
Yup, Red healing: Get angry at the pain, and it goes away... But not without hurting more, as a reminder not to get hurt... Interesting feedback loop.
Seriously, she's acting crazy. Crazy like a bag full of cats. Is it PTSD?
Ah, private stuff. Stuff she doesn't want people like Dharma openly knowing. Because of course he'll listen in anyway.
It is PTSD, isn't it? But not from Krona's fooling around...
She's not seeing Krona's prison, is she?
Yep... But there's one good thing about this. She may not be able to take it out on Krona...
Ah, how little she knows. I doubt anyone will ever find out what happened to him.
Careful there, Raul, that's the sort of thing that gets her jumping your bones. And you're still carrying a broken arm there...
Well... Komand'r definitely has issues... A whole newsstand's worth, really. But this one, at least, she can do something about...
I let out a wince-gasp...
I nod, and he follows our employer out.
Stuck me in a cell like I was so weak I wasn't even worth killing!
Mr Zoat
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ForeverShogo
Not too sore, are you?
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Now. Now. Don't dismiss her desire to kill monsters out of hand. Sometimes DC does in fact run on "killing bad people makes things better" logic.
They usually reserve it for one shot What If scenarios, but every now and then they'll actually just come out and say, "The world would be a fuck of a lot better off if supervillains got killed instead of cycling through revolving door prisons."
They usually reserve it for one shot What If scenarios, but every now and then they'll actually just come out and say, "The world would be a fuck of a lot better off if supervillains got killed instead of cycling through revolving door prisons."
AidanMorgan
Essentially Overworked
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If you're gonna put your evil in a can don't make it one of those easy-open pop cans
Darko
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"Paul senpai is the best!" - Mashu.
Well there would certainly be a lot of orange ring candidates from that universe to recruit from if OL ever goes there.
-Diarmuid wants to serve a master loyally. Paul already showed Xor he is a great guy to work for.
-Iskander wants to essentially conquer the world and beating the Reach and taking their territory would be nice.
-Vlad wants to get rid of his reputation as a monster and having him free hundreds of worlds from Reach influence and other such evil things would accomplish that.
-Cu Chulainn wants to just fight and of all of mentioned candidates he seems to be a perfect fit for an orange ring. He and Ragnar would get along just fine.
-Fergus can also probably wield a ring like Cu can and he is very much in tune with his desires.
-Amakusa wants to bring peace to the world so maybe he can be given an orange ring to do that, though indigo and blue rings could also work for him if orange doesn't.
These are all of the ones I could think of at this time. If anyone has any other mentions then please share them.
Idkusername
Versed in the lewd.
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Hell, you're forgetting Mr 'I-own-everything-in-the-world'.
Darko
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True, but most of these guys are at least going to respect Paul and accept him as their leader or at least someone they should follow and listen to, and use their rings in a productive manner.
Gil could use a orange ring, but he'd most likely not follow, listen to, or respect Paul, plus he may not use his ring for anything productive.
Caster Gil could potentially be a good candidate.
Queshire
Not too sore, are you?
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So.... you're saying that it's Omake time. Right, gotcha.
Ace Dreamer
Questioning The Nature of our Realities
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Given how they're depicted in this story, I don't think RL's world is going to miss a few (a lot of) dead psions...
Mentioning Krona makes me wonder if Grayven's sword blow doesn't just result in reincarnation as a human if it does an instant-kill, but, also applies if they die (reasonably soon) after... If so, Fallout's going to get a really annoyed Ex-Ex-Guardian... Maybe with a copy of him in a Gold Ring, as well...