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

maybe 'than'
'They've'
Maybe you can make it 'we have'.
I know it's just a shortened way of saying we have, but it sounds kinda weird.
Thank you, corrected.
its pretty good but it is forever associated with the death of the old world. thankfully they are bringing it back. kinda was hopping this would be an update on the previous warhammer fantasy interlude.
To be grudgingly fair, I'm mostly familiar with the early access version, which ignored bases for working out how close models were to each other and didn't have point values. I could have lived with Sigmarines, but I'm still not happy about regiments and defensive WS being done away with.
 
22nd April 2012
11:31 GMT -5


Ted's grinning as he points to the whistle held in the vice.

"To put it simply: it puts people to sleep."
Huh, I honestly assumed it summoned someone. Maybe one of these days I should try to reread the series... Maybe once I'm done with the Judge Dredd Complete Case Files... And all the fanfics...

Huh.

No, no, that actually makes a good deal of sense. The Dreamkin were stealing objects from dreams and using Sandy's connection to the Dreaming to keep them existing in the waking world. If we assume that they used other people prior to him… Or just knocked people out to take their dreams at times of their own convenience, it would make a lot of sense for them to prioritise that sort of artefact.
It's honestly quite non-violent, given their characters. Neither particularly give a damn about others, so the fact they make it as easy to get what they want as they can does make sense.

"For… How long?"

"Until they wake up. We've been able to wake up our volunteers after about a minute, and no one's stayed asleep more then nine hours. All the tests we've on brain waves, blood chemistry… Everything, shows the sleep itself is completely mundane. But… It's the whistle, not the sound. We've replicated the sound, played recordings… It doesn't work. And our magic people can't make sense of it either."
So no cases of Sleepy Sickness, like during Morpheus' imprisonment. Which kind of makes it an aural counterpart to Dodds' knockout gas.

"No. It's a dream manifestation, not an enchanted object. They're probably never seen one before. Dream magic isn't really.. studied in Atlantis."

Because it's a pain to study and because as of a little while ago King Orin accepted the fait accompli and recognised Venturia's independence, meaning that they're not part of Atlantis any longer. Though Cyprian did agree to open his city to trade with the other city states, so… Really, the rest of Atlantis is getting more out of the place now than they have for decades.
Well, glad to see that resolve itself peacefully, with minimal involvement from OL. Good to hear Cyprian's being reasonable, and realises his city can't cut itself off completely. Like some of the hardliners would want it to.

"So… Someone dreamed about a whistle that could put people to sleep, and this is it?" He regards it with a frown. "It can't be that easy."

"No, it's more like… This object is an archetype that people dream about, and they're all dreaming about this."
But... o_O A whistle? Does any culture have symbology like that, or was it alien? Could it be related to stories of music making people sleepy... Man, the Dreaming is a weird place.

"And now they can't, because it's here? Are we gunna get in trouble with Morpheus about that?"

"We've all slept at least once since we acquired it. He's spoken to Glob, so he knows we've got it. If he had a problem with it, we'd definitely know about it by now."
Yeah, or he'd simply have collected it when no-one was paying attention. Hopefully, it's a case of him being mildly amused by OL's interest in studying the Dreaming and its workings.

He nods, his momentary concern being overshadowed by his fascination with his new toy.

"It works on insomniacs, too. I mean, we haven't tested in on people with actual neurological disorders-. Is that safe?"

"It should be, but I can't give you any guarantees. It should just do what it does, but… There could be just about any other effects."
Might at least want to have a skilled healer standing by. Just in case.

"And we can't exactly just call Morpheus up and ask him about it."

"Actually, we can. He's not a demon so there aren't really any laws against it. He can just decide not to answer. Just asking him to put in an appearance shouldn't… Bother him. Or we can ask Melinoë, or find someone who knows how to dream lucidly… There are options."
Just have to go about it very politely. As always, the last thing you want to do is annoy him...

"Is it possible to make more of them?" I raise my eyebrows. "Sure, it's not hurricane control, but we could put every sleep aid manufacturer out of business. And it would make a pretty good low-lethality weapon."

"I have no idea. I.. doubt it, and… It'll be years at least before we know enough about how the Dreaming works to do it… 'Digitally'."
And besides, something like Dodds' sleep gas is probably an easier and more affordable option. Hell, he stumbled upon it without even realising it was alchemical...

"So we gotta talk to Morpheus."

"If you think this is worth pursuing right now."

He thinks for a moment, then sags slightly. "I wanna say 'yes'… But I don't think it is. Not right now. Not with the healing ray roll-out coming up, and the earthquake control systems and the water purifiers…"
Man, slow down a little, you're going to burn out at this rate. Now imagine if he was trying to do this and the superhero thing too? That's how the comics version lost his company.

"No need to sound so disappointed. You're doing better than STAR Labs managed."

"But it's just all so great! We're making more progress on this stuff than I expected to for decades! Sometimes I have to pinch myself-. Oh."

"Oh?"
To be honest, STAR Labs always seemed like a boondoggle sort of thing. Something to show 'our best people' were working on super-science stuff, but they rarely achieved anything... Beside superhero and supervillain origins stories...

"Speaking of things I can't believe are happening to me… I got a date."

"You're good company, rich, and passably attractive. It's not that weird. Did Io say 'yes', or-."
Nah, that would be too good to be true. She's practically married to her anvil. I bet there are jokes about what she gets up to, late at night, when she's all alone...:oops:

He winces, shaking his head.

"Oh… God no. Turns out? Most Amazons are gay."

"I honestly hadn't spotted that."
He says in his best British deadpan. ;) This really feels like a perfect place for a 'no, really?!' meme-face...

"Yeah… Well… You think… 'Okay, they haven't seen a man in three thousand years, maybe they're curious'. And… They're not. Not in a million-. Ah, three thousand years."

"I may not live in New York, but I have heard the stories."
Oh, I can already see where this is going... I hope there weren't too many broken bones...

And attended the court hearings. Honestly, those are usually more the Amazon's fault than those of the men -and it virtually always is men- they get into fights with. They think they're ready, we try to ease them in gradually, then they encounter men in the wild and they all too often don't react well.

We haven't had a maternity lawsuit yet, and if incidents so far are anything to go by we don't have anything to worry about.
Thank heavens for small mercies, eh? I'm surprised there aren't more Amazon couples asking for OL's help with that.

"And I like Io. We have a lot in common. But she wasn't picking up on my signals, and when I asked about it… She didn't even recognise what I was doing. And she was pretty direct about not being into men. So that was a bust. But I got talking to Tia Sivana and she asked me out."

Considering what she was doing this time last year…
Oh-ho, is Ted bound for Venus? An actual date? Amazing!

"Did she.. mention-?"

"Yeah, I know, it's her family day and she wants to be able to pretend that she's got a social life… Which I can relate to. But she's brilliant-"
Clearly a man attracted to both brains and beauty. He has good taste. Let's hope Doctor Sivana senior doesn't scare him too much with the shovel speech.

"And about a decade younger than you."

"Sure, but it's not like I lie about my age."
Hehhehehhh...

Oh, don't take it personally, OL. He doesn't know. Though honestly, I'm surprised you haven't opened up to him about that.

"Not since I could buy alcohol legally, anyway. And you can't tell me that she's not mature enough to make her own decisions."

"No, I… Suppose I can't."
Glass houses, OL. It'd be a bit cheeky to say anything...

"You went with her last year, right?" I nod. "What's it..? Like?"

"It's a sealed artificial habitat on a death world. As automated as a family of technological and scientific geniuses can make it. Venus is a very nice woman-. You know Beautia only took me because she finds dealing with her siblings extremely trying, right?"
And at least it went better than the Renegade's version of events...

"I didn't think Magnificus was that bad. But just in case, I've read up on his work enough that I should be able to stroke his ego."

"Okay, and what about Thaddeus and Georgia?"

He pales slightly. "They're gunna be there?"
Think 'younger siblings' times one thousand, then add in a dash of oddball science... I'm sure he'll do fine.

"It's a family day, and they haven't committed any crimes on Venus."

"Oh. And her… Will her.. father be there?"

"Probably. But there's a truce, so he probably won't do anything."
Ted's already envisioning Thaddeus senior giving him the shovel speech, isn't he? Just imagine how much more terrific it is coming from an honest-to-gods supervillain...

"Huh." He thinks for a moment. "You know, I read up on his stuff, too. You were right; it's a real shame no one took him up on it before he… You know, went-"

"Supervillain."
If you want to put it crudely. Still, he was kind of justified, but not in going as far as he did, really. And then everything after piled on top...

"-crazy. Can I..? Talk about that with him?"

"I wouldn't start with that, but yes. He doesn't care what anyone outside of his family thinks about him." He nods, risking a small smile. "It's the younger siblings you should be worried about. Has Beautia told you about the possumizer?"
..Maybe Ted should have some protective gear along. A personal forcefield, at least...

Boy, Ted's diving into the deep end with the Sivana family, isn't he? On the up side, if he can survive the day without getting possumised, killed, brain-fried or any of the millions of things they could to to him, he'll probably have earned their respect...
 
So Ted, eho is marketing superscience and magic, is going to meet the guy who is pissed because people rejected his superscience plus his daughter who is researching the weird stasis effect.

The possible future implications are enormous, yet Pauls concern is the possumizer.

I eould reaoly love an update or teo showcasing the economical disruptions Paul is causing.

No matter how careful they are with the role-out, just knowing these things are possible should sent the markets spinning.
 
It works on insomniacs

Maybe they can get Hypnos to put insomniacs to sleep.

They already have Melinoe giving some people nightmares, so it isn't out of the realm of possibility that they can have him do that.

Maybe set up some kind of system, like that 'Dream thrower', in which insomniacs pray to him, or do some kind of ritual for him, and he gets them to sleep.

And all the fanfics...

You'll never finish all the fanfics my friend.

Like some of the hardliners would want it to.

I don't think there were any hardliners that wanted to be completely isolated.

They wanted independence yes, but not complete isolation.

But... o_O A whistle? Does any culture have symbology like that, or was it alien? Could it be related to stories of music making people sleepy... Man, the Dreaming is a weird place.

Probably the music thing, or they could have shaped the thing to look like a whistle to make it easier to use.

And besides, something like Dodds' sleep gas is probably an easier and more affordable option. Hell, he stumbled upon it without even realising it was alchemical...

Wally may be able to replicate that now.

Nah, that would be too good to be true. She's practically married to her anvil. I bet there are jokes about what she gets up to, late at night, when she's all alone...:oops:

Especially after OL's first visit there.

Even Diana thought they were doing it.

Thank heavens for small mercies, eh? I'm surprised there aren't more Amazon couples asking for OL's help with that.

They either don't want it, or are still considering it.

Seeing as they are quasi immortals they have a lot of time to decide and don't need to worry about menopause.

Let's hope Doctor Sivana senior doesn't scare him too much with the shovel speech.
Ted's already envisioning Thaddeus senior giving him the shovel speech, isn't he? Just imagine how much more terrific it is coming from an honest-to-gods supervillain...

Sivana didn't really give OL a shovel speech so he may not try to do it to Ted.

Though seeing as he is trying to be more social he may try to engage in some activities that fathers typically engage in, like threatening their daughters boyfriends. Although in his case I expect it would be more like that scene in Goldfinger where Bond is going to be cut in half by a laser.

Think 'younger siblings' times one thousand, then add in a dash of oddball science... I'm sure he'll do fine.

This recipe reminded me of this recipe:



Though I'm sure the Sivanas would prefer a more equation like explanation:

 
They're all gonna die and Paul isn't gonna be there to save them is he?
Paul hasn't really experienced much loss of that caliber before - Teekl and Michael Siskin being the only exceptions. Could be an interesting arc.

But, judging by how Georgia is probably going with Dox, the whole family is made up of mad science geniuses and has considerable weapons in storage (meant to counter Sheeda) and that they have the most powerful Superhero in the world on speed dial, plus Captain Marvel if Beautia's relations with him haven't soured, I'd say they're fine.

Worst case scenario, the Sheeda attack, the Orange Lantern Corps gets involved. Also, quick question - Ted was Blue Beetle in the show, and was reported to have a scarab in Kord Industries. Why has there been no mention of that?
 
Worst case scenario, the Sheeda attack, the Orange Lantern Corps gets involved. Also, quick question - Ted was Blue Beetle in the show, and was reported to have a scarab in Kord Industries. Why has there been no mention of that?
Mr Zoat said that because Paul has been giving Ted so many ideas, he has decided to just stay a scientist and not become a superhero. Also, the Scarab is probably still in storage somewhere.
 
Mr Zoat said that because Paul has been giving Ted so many ideas, he has decided to just stay a scientist and not become a superhero. Also, the Scarab is probably still in storage somewhere.
I mean, still, the OLC is about to go to war with the Reach. Wouldn't it be prudent to give it to Dox or someone to study - develop counter measures against Beetles and whatnot?
 
So Ted, eho is marketing superscience and magic, is going to meet the guy who is pissed because people rejected his superscience plus his daughter who is researching the weird stasis effect.

The possible future implications are enormous, yet Pauls concern is the possumizer.

I eould reaoly love an update or teo showcasing the economical disruptions Paul is causing.

No matter how careful they are with the role-out, just knowing these things are possible should sent the markets spinning.
...

What happened to your 'w' key?
You are Dead to me Zoat. Dead.
Yeah...

I...

Yeah.
Worst case scenario, the Sheeda attack, the Orange Lantern Corps gets involved. Also, quick question - Ted was Blue Beetle in the show, and was reported to have a scarab in Kord Industries. Why has there been no mention of that?
It used to be on his desk, then he got a nearly-room-temperature-super conductor, so it got moved to a display.

It used to be in the display, then he got invisible psychic monkeys, so it got moved to storage.

It used to be in storage, but then he got magical weather control, so it got moved to a trunk.

It used to be in a trunk, but he forgot it was there and got it moved to his loft.
 
Well either Zoat has truly nerfed the Sandman's whistle, or Ted has barely scratched the surface of what it's capable of.

It can summon things from dreams- Brute, Glob, Kirby's Sandman, unicorns.

It can melt metal or just blow things up, a Sandman villain planned on blowing up DC one building at a time with the whistle.

It can teleport you.

According to the series Bug! The adventures of Forager (the wiki claims it happens in prime continuity, but since it's a sequel to Cosmic Odyssey that never happened in Prime continuity so that doesn't actually make sense), it is made out of Orichalcum, the dream metal that alters reality, the metal that "makes dreams flesh."
 
The diversion to King Orin accepting Venturia's independence seems to be a non-sequitur. What does that have to do with why dream magic isn't studied in Atlantis?
If Venturia was still a part of Atlantis, then some part of Atlantis would, in fact, be studying the dream magic, since that's what OL asked of their mages.
 
I'd be genuinely surprised if most Amazons were actually full bore homosexual rather than situationally homosexual.

I'm sure a decent amount were happy they had access to cocks again.

Then they probably got hit on by New Yorkers, and really no woman deserves to be hit on by a New Yorker.
 
I'd be genuinely surprised if most Amazons were actually full bore homosexual rather than situationally homosexual.

I'm sure a decent amount were happy they had access to cocks again.

Then they probably got hit on by New Yorkers, and really no woman deserves to be hit on by a New Yorker.

Or a Ted Mosby tried to romance them.

No woman deserves that.
 
I'd be genuinely surprised if most Amazons were actually full bore homosexual rather than situationally homosexual.

I'm sure a decent amount were happy they had access to cocks again.

Then they probably got hit on by New Yorkers, and really no woman deserves to be hit on by a New Yorker.
Unless the Island had some crazy self selection going on statistics tell us that is almost certainly the case.
 
I'd be genuinely surprised if most Amazons were actually full bore homosexual rather than situationally homosexual.

After 3000 years without so much as a decent painting of a man to look at I'd imagine their initial situational homosexuality could become so deeply ingrained that the thought of being with a man doesn't have much appeal anymore. Probably not to the full "men are as attractive as pubic hair on a bar of soap" extent that born lesbians have, but close enough given how many of them have been in committed relationships for hundreds of years.
 
Then they probably got hit on by New Yorkers, and really no woman deserves to be hit on by a New Yorker.
Yeah, New York would definitely not be my first choice for their introduction to the "World of Man".

Maybe someplace modern, yet rural-ish. Denver, CO would be an excellent option. Topeka, KS would be a good option as well (it is a quite a bit smaller than Denver). Dallas or Austin, TX would probably be the best option to ease them into the modern world though. They are modern, large, polite, moderate on politics (mostly).

There are probably many good options over in Europe as well, don't know enough to say. Japan has a decent culture. Australia, they would probably embrace Dyonisis well. Heck, I seem to recall that Mr. Zoat wrote about Hera becoming a relationship columnist there.

There are literally thousands of better places for them to be introduced to the world than New York.
 
But... o_O A whistle? Does any culture have symbology like that, or was it alien? Could it be related to stories of music making people sleepy... Man, the Dreaming is a weird place.

I think I remember, very, very vaguely, an old legend that had someone, or multiple someone's, get put tp sleep with a whistle, can't remember what it was called or even where it's from, but I'm pretty sure I heard about it somewhere. Aside from that sound/music has a lot of stuff about it being able to alter the way people think, both from an actual scientific perspective and a fantasy one, in human culture, and there's a more modern connection between whistles and sleep in the form of the stereotypical drill-sargent wakeup at a bootcamp to consider as well.

Others have also mentioned the fact that the whistle could have just been reshaped by the Dreamkin so they could use it easier or that it isn't even an archetype in the first place, just being a magic object crafted in The Dreaming from a super metal.

But what do I know? I'm just some idiot that got most of his DC lore from WTR in the first place.
 
Otherworld (part 2)
26th April
07:03 GMT -5


Sanderson looks up as I walk into the kitchen and take a seat opposite him.

"So you're today's babysitter."

"You need help, I'm here to give it."

He turns his head back towards his cereal bowl. "You know I can't eat this? It just sits… In me until I change shape, and then it falls out. The milk is the worst part."

"Can you eat sand?"

"'Kid' Flash already thought of that. I can, but it doesn't do anything. And it feels really weird, like it never really becomes part of me."

"Makes sense. However this happened to you, you couldn't function without some way to differentiate between the bits that are part of you and the bits that aren't."

Okay, awkward bit.

"I know Diana's already talked to you about school, but I was wondering if anyone had asked-? No, I'm wondering what you wanted to do about being made of sand."

"What can I do?"

I take an enchanted necklace out of my equipment harness and put in on the table in front of him.

"There's a range of options, and that's step one."

"I don't wear jewellery. Or clothes."

"It's enchanted. One of my particular talents is locating solutions to apparently intractable problems. This… Should make you feel more human. I got the original put together for a man named Matthew Hagen, who got turned into clay-rich mud. It took a little while to get a version adapted for you, but we're pretty sure that it will work now."

He reaches for it with his right hand. "What exactly does it-?"

The change starts the moment he touches it, the 'flesh' parts of his body gaining a fleshy appearance and his clothing starting to look like clothing again. He gasps in shock, dropping the amulet. As it clatters against the table his body shifts back.

"That-! It felt-!"

"Yes, you won't just look human to everyone else. It also gives you sensory feedback. I don't know how you perceive the world as a man made out of sand-."

"Do you know what it's like not to be able to feel your own heart beating?"

"Yes. I once had to turn myself into a cyborg, and I replaced my heart with a pump."

That appears to take the wind out of his sails slightly.

"Oh. How did you..? Fix it?"

"Power ring." I shrug. "Everything apart from the brain is basically brain-support anyway. I can transmute machine into flesh and back again. You're difficult because you don't have a brain and your mind is distributed across your body with magic." I hesitate. "I assume magic, because I can't work out how a piezoelectric consciousness would work and you were transformed by an alchemical solution."

He nods and picks it up again, holding it in both-

Canis strides in, sketchbook in hand, pencil already in motion.

-hands, the transformative effect taking hold again. Ignoring the pencil-scratching sound and Canis's stare, he cautiously lifts his left hand away and runs it through his hair.

"Oh God. Is this permanent?"

"It recharges from ambient magic energy, so as long as you don't go into space power consumption isn't an issue. But you need to remember that this is all appearance; you're still made of sand underneath it all."

He nods, lowering his left hand and staring at it for a moment before pulling in his fingers and turning it into a sandy bulb.

"This feels weirder."

"Because the spell is only designed for things that are human-shaped. It's trying to give you the feedback you'd get from a hand when you don't physically have a hand."

He nods, re-extruding his fingers. "So these aren't clothes and this isn't hair, but it can pretend."

I nod. "Which is why I want to know what you want to do next. The magic people I work with find this all fascinating, so the cost isn't a problem. The problem is the decidedly finite pool of people who can meaningfully work on this, which is why you need to tell me what outcome you want so I can tell them what they should be working on."

He puts the necklace around his neck, wiggles a little to make sure that it remains active when moving, then nods.

"What are my options?"

"We can try and transfer your consciousness into a new human body. Since I don't have any record of your genetic structure it won't be exactly the same as the one you were born with, but I've got pictures of you and records on your closest relations so it'll be close."

He doesn't look comfortable with that. Which is reasonable. I suppose that I could try and find an old hair or skin cell or something. DNA lasts a very long time. But finding-.

"And what happens to the copy?"

I blink. "I'm sorry?"

"The new body. What happens to its consciousness? When I get… Put in there?"

I shake my head. "No, no, it wouldn't have one. For goodness sake, Sanderson, what sort of person do you think I am?"

"Oh. Right. Sorry, I didn't-. It just sounded like mad.. Frankenstein-science. I shouldn't have said that."

He actually.. holds out his right hand.

"Okay." I take his hand and shake it. "But please try to remember that despite my eccentricities I am a superhero. I'm not going to murder people for the sake of personal advantage."

He nods, releasing my hand. "How long will it take?"

"No idea. Creating a 'blank' human body is easy. Transferring a consciousness isn't too hard, but since we don't understand how you work there are a lot of added risks. And unless you're familiar with the magic involved yourself there would be a risk that you might 'snap back' into the sand that you're occupying now."

"Alright. What are my other options?"

"We could try undoing the transformation spell." He opens his mouth but I hold up my right hand. "We don't know how you were turned into sand. People are going over Mister Dodds' notes in detail now, but they're going to have to relearn everything he did before they can even think about how to undo the results of the test that changed you. It might not even be possible."

He nods. "Are there any other options?"

"You can stay like this. You're nearly immortal and have super powers; that's not so bad. There's a man I know called Rama Khan who can make bodies out of coloured sand; he might be able to tutor you." He doesn't look impressed. "We could try making a deal with an eldritch life form to change you."

"Like a.. demon..?"

"I do know a few demons who could charge a price we could bear, but I was thinking about one of the Olympians or possibly Morpheus himself. We wouldn't learn anything about the process and the price might still be considerable, but that's probably the fastest option."

"I'm not so keen on doing that."

"As you will. We could try creating a new spell to grant you human form without directly undoing the original transformation. We can make you a body you can control by proxy without being fully transferred into it. Or you could learn magic yourself and focus on self-transformation spells."

He nods. "Look, I appreciate the help, but this is a lot to take in. Can I think about it?"

I nod. "Of course. Let me know what you decide."
 
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