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

[Mr Zoat]

vested

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I think it's like 'flammable' and 'inflammable'.

 

[Duke Long]

I think it's like 'flammable' and 'inflammable'.

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That may be true (I have no idea), but I am pretty sure John would say 'vested'.

 

[Windona]

I don't think this is really fair. JFK did think that he had an afterlife arranged, in the Silver City (though he probably would have gone to Hell), but then for whatever reason he got dumped in this place instead (which is probably still better than Hell, come to think of it).

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Think Paul's point is that Kennedy didn't ensure where he was going the way Paul did. Paul has had direct chats, and when he ended up in the Silver City instead he had another chat with Hades about that. Paul has it in verbal contract, if not in writing, and also has clones and such ready.

...I guess the closest thing Kennedy could have done was get the Pope to make sure there was a 'this man is 100% going to the Pearly Gates'. Which iirc is theologically iffy on getting done, but I don't know enough about Catholicism to say if the Pope can go 'you are tots going to heaven' in the 60's.

(Though IIRC if JFK had said the Lord's Prayer and asked for forgiveness for his sins recently enough before he died, anything bad he did would have been forgiven and he would have gone to heaven? Sorry, I am but a Quaker whose knowledge of the complexities of other Christian theologies is a bit poor.)

 

[Vaermina]

Not really. Orange lanterns as a whole aren't really especially vulnerable or resistant to blue light compared to other lanterns. Larfleeze on the other hand IS because he's an emotional wreck who mainlined orange light and part of him hopes one day to be free of it.

As a rule Blues are better at messing with Reds and Yellows, however there's always a level of variation due to individual, culture, and species differences, like how Tamaranians deal with orange light so well on average.

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It's not that Orange Lanterns are vulnerable to Blue Light.

It's that the Orange Light can't take from the Blue.

 

[Bud-E]

Mr Zoat Since this JFK is the idealized version of the American psyche does he look just like the late JFK? Is this one taller/more handsome/buffer or since we have a clear image of what JFK looked like that's the only way he's imagined?

 

[Tyrantviewer]

I just had an idea is Demon-Constantine's plan to turn himself into a weird love elemental, but because he's such a screwed up person (Him being a demon and all) he somehow calls/summons the Predator the elemental embodiment of love.

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Probably not a love elemental, but he probably wants to be turned into something other than a demon- Paul should get him and Richard Simons to work together on such a project to benefit them both- Surprisingly neither of them are in hell fairly- Simons is only their due to being forced to use Nergal's body since his was fried and constantine's had cancer, and Demon constantine was created to take on constantine's debt, and that of the sinner constantine added to flesh him out- Frankly I don't think either John would deserve hell without selling their soul, it goes wrong often but just How many people has he saved at great personal risk?

I wonder what route they will go- more fruits from eden? The silver city is probably guarding them better now. I guess Love elemental isn't off the table for Demon Constantine but it just feels wrong, and they don't have a similar artifact to the star saphire to do other emotional elemental conversions... Paul could probably do an orange conversion but I don't think Avarice Elemental Constantine is an improvement to Paul in terms of risks, and D-Constantine probably would be hesitant to tie himself to an energy source that Paul is so good with, and has a giant snake enbodiment that could eat him.

Chaos and Order are options- on that note I wonder if this search for Original John will reveal what is up with Welsh John, My original guess was that he was the Golden Boy, the hypothetical magician if John's twin had been the one to survive in the womb, and who is using his version of Constantine Serependipity powers to mess with John in canon. My thought was that he Hijacked John's order connection to become real since John was struggling with balancing both powers... Its still an option, especially if his current backstory is reality acomidating him or a result of whatever incarnation shenanigans Original John is doing right now.

Think Paul's point is that Kennedy didn't ensure where he was going the way Paul did. Paul has had direct chats, and when he ended up in the Silver City instead he had another chat with Hades about that. Paul has it in verbal contract, if not in writing, and also has clones and such ready.

...I guess the closest thing Kennedy could have done was get the Pope to make sure there was a 'this man is 100% going to the Pearly Gates'. Which iirc is theologically iffy on getting done, but I don't know enough about Catholicism to say if the Pope can go 'you are tots going to heaven' in the 60's.

(Though IIRC if JFK had said the Lord's Prayer and asked for forgiveness for his sins recently enough before he died, anything bad he did would have been forgiven and he would have gone to heaven? Sorry, I am but a Quaker whose knowledge of the complexities of other Christian theologies is a bit poor.)

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Paul would possibly consider Hell a better option than JFK's previous state of being a brain damaged, incoherent phantasm in an incarnation of what is worst about America, Paul probably doesn't hold JFK's state against him, JFK probably thought he was either going to heaven or hell, and barring Uncle Sam, No One could possibly have predicted JFK ending up like he was where he was.

Paul is objecting to the issue in general, especially in the current age where blatant, tangible proof of the afterlife is a thing, There is no better time to go to the church of your choice and work hard to get the afterlife you want.


On the topic of the Brass- I kind of want Paul and Alan to bring up the Sheeda, so JFK can have a hopeful and optimistic bit about mankind banding together to defend each other- in a way that jives with building up the military- Frankly I could see Paul trying to sell the Brass on improvements that would help against aliens and other threats, or bribing them by promising to pursue that in the real world in order to get past to deal with Smiley.

On that note F*** SMILEY I can't wait to see him get his.

 

[PDV]

The slightly nasal tone doesn't impact the phonetics, and Kennedy's voice didn't emphasize the non-rhotic nature of his accent very strongly.

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Disagree. I grew up in Massachusetts and JFK dropped his R's more than literally anyone I knew there. He's a prototypical Boston accent.

 

[DAT_NOOB]

It took an embarrassing amount of time for me to realize that JFK was the John in Dear John this episode, you cheeky man.

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MOTHERFUCKER!
Sorry I just didn't realise that until you mentioned it.

 

[Coda]

Disagree. I grew up in Massachusetts and JFK dropped his R's more than literally anyone I knew there. He's a prototypical Boston accent.

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Oh, I'm not saying he didn't. He definitely did. But it wasn't as exaggerated as... say, for example, Harley Quinn, whose drawl is cartoonishly strong.

 

[xSieg]

Yeah, Alan's totally gonna be the one to hope hard enough to allow Ganthet to create a Blue Central Battery when someone eventually digs Nekron's tombsite or something equally dumb.

I wonder who's gonna craft the Red Ring in the OLC? None of Paul's students seem like they have enough rage and mastery to do it, even with Kalmin helping. Maybe Kalmin himself mainlines it after Nekron ressurects the Anti-Monitors as a puppet? Pretty interesting stuff to think about, though it's also very far away in Zoat's predicted timeline iirc.

Also, sorta cool to think about how Joy works. I remember people complaing about Nommo Balewa being a bit too affected for an Enlightened human in the Naziverse, but Paul's theory on the White Light makes it seems very normal for someone who's expressing his sense of Self individually and collectively constantly; He cannot act to change things even when he should, because he values the self image of every human there to do anything against their collective 'will'.

"In theory, though I don't think it's ever been done. Is everyone wearing their wards?" Three nods, and I use my ring to check the area for listening devices before ensuring that no sound will leave the immediate area. "There's no fundamental reason why a ring couldn't be made to channel all seven."

Onik's face falls slightly.

"All seven? So you could switch between them?"

"No."

Dul frowns. "All at once? How could someone combine-?"

"No."

Xalitan nods. "Self. You would not use each of the colours. You would use what they share. Manifesting the self in the universe. The self of you. The self of all."

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[Darko]

Also, sorta cool to think about how Joy works. I remember people complaing about Nommo Balewa being a bit too affected for an Enlightened human in the Naziverse, but Paul's theory on the White Light makes it seems very normal for someone who's expressing his sense of Self individually and collectively constantly; He cannot act to change things even when he should, because he values the self image of every human there to do anything against their collective 'will

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I don't think most of the African people that the Nazi subjugate would care about their self image if it means that the Nazis are out and they're free.

 

[Mr Zoat]

(Though IIRC if JFK had said the Lord's Prayer and asked for forgiveness for his sins recently enough before he died, anything bad he did would have been forgiven and he would have gone to heaven? Sorry, I am but a Quaker whose knowledge of the complexities of other Christian theologies is a bit poor.)

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It's not a matter of asking for forgiveness, it's a matter of repenting. Genuinely regretting what you have done, and in the case of Catholicism stating that to a priest.

Mr Zoat Since this JFK is the idealized version of the American psyche does he look just like the late JFK? Is this one taller/more handsome/buffer or since we have a clear image of what JFK looked like that's the only way he's imagined?

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Now? Yes, idealised.

 

[Cuchulin]

I don't think this is really fair. JFK did think that he had an afterlife arranged, in the Silver City (though he probably would have gone to Hell), but then for whatever reason he got dumped in this place instead (which is probably still better than Hell, come to think of it).

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Considering how much JFK slept around, his involvement in politics and his families mob ties? I'd say he was expecting a more or less light stint in purgatory before heading to the Silver City.

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th November 2012
Roughly 10:55 GMT -5

Cannons. Big cannons. Battleship cannons, Second World War era, no longer in use. Can't see a loading mechanism, magic. Robot has… A face that would probably mean something to someone who knew more about the minutia of American military history than me.

Odd that I can't see the wall from inside-. Right.

Kennedy raises his right hand in what I think is meant to be a placatory gesture. "This is not-."

KABOOM!

Guns fire and we frantically evade, Alan creating a shield to protect Kennedy. Some of the fusillade slams into the invisible wall behind us, momentarily disrupting the image of… Hah, the idyllic landscape visible from here that certainly doesn't actually exist out there. Some shrapnel from fused explosives hits my construct shield, causing cracks-.

"Avarice!" Something bangs, and a second later there's a iron chain wrapped around my construct shield. "Just what we need! And hope! Do you know how many hopes I've sent to die?"

The chains glow orange-. They're sucking the light out of my con-!

I drop as the construct fails, the chains above me clanging into each other and then leaping back towards their master.

"Paul?!"

I land on the road, take a few staggered steps-. Ring, charge?

One hundred and twenty three percent remaining.

"Uninjured, reporting energy draining chains. You?"

What did I lose?

Twenty seven percent maximum charge of one ring.

That's not sustainable.

"I felt… Like a thousand of America's sons were asking me why I threw their lives away."

"It's The Brass, a manifestation of the worst of America's officer corps. I'd guess that he saw the same thing, but didn't feel guilty about it. Can you still make constructs?"

"Kennedy and the eagle are giving me a pep talk."

"Good show. Guns seem to be slow firing."

I rise back into the air, trying to keep what appears to be the statue of a giant phallus between me and where The Brass fired its chain from. Looking closer, I see something moving across the upper portions of its armour…

The worms. The worms are carrying the ammunition to reload its guns.

"What do you think, fly up to it and flick them off?"

"While I'm struggling to think of killing corrupt worms as something that would worsen the American political process, it's still mind control."

"The old one-two?"

"I think we need something less literal. Weaken it under its own rules, then get it to stand down." The worms are squirming away from the guns now. "Ultimately, it's a distraction."

"Alright, but I've been working on this for a while."

A giant blue gun forms in the sky to my right, positively inviting the guns The Brass trains on it to fire. But Alan fires first, the beam lancing out and striking-.

Striking an invisible force field around The Brass. And I know this is going to be a painful metaphor, but I can't-.

"The Veil of Legitimacy! So long as I wear the uniform, I'm untouchable by your un-American weapons!"

There it is-.

Guns-

KABOOM!

-into action and I'm moving as the two shots pointed my way fly past what's probably a very nice monument of some sort in the real world and detonate around me, shards of magical shrapnel slamming into my construct shields. They hold, but they take a battering and I'm already moving to try to avoid a possible chain-.

The chain wraps around the monument and emasculates it.

"Got any paint?"

"What colour?"

"Green and red."

"Can't say I-. Did that thing just wreck the Washington Monument?"

"Probably. Cover me?"

"As long as it's not in paint."

"It's not worth my time to roust you out." The Brass reaches down to somewhere I can't see, then straightens back up with a… Giant rugby ball with a radioactive symbol on the side. He pulls his right arm back, ready to throw. "Time to use strategic weapons!"

"I am not President Truman, and you are not General Groves." I fly upwards, and spot Kennedy strolling towards The Brass in the open, eagle flying along with him and the vulture lurking off to the side. "The authority to unleash this great nation's nuclear arsenal belongs to the president alone. You do not have the right to use the nuclear football."

Sounds like an opening. I fly around The Brass's right while his attention is focused on Kennedy, fabricating-. Would a hologram projector be easier? Yes, I can't guarantee that paint would get through. Drones, stealth drones with holoprojectors.

Fabrication complete.

Okay, that should deal with the Veil of Legitimacy. How do I stop the worms handing resources to The Brass that would be better applied elsewhere? Actually, The Brass hasn't walked anywhere since we arrived. What fuels The Brass?

Gain a little height, and… Looks like there are cables plugged into his lower legs, running to somewhere… The same place the worms are coming from, underneath… A twisted version of the Lincoln Memorial. Clearly there's something there, but I'm sure there will be other defences in place that I can't see.

Tally ho.

"You want the football?"

"The football is rightfully mine."

"Then you can-." The holoprojectors get into position and activate, and suddenly The Brass is wearing the uniform of a Soviet Lieutenant. "What the hell is this?"

Alan fires again, his shot tearing through The Brass's armour and sending the giant guns on its left shoulder plummeting to the ground. And while that's happening I fire out titanium chains, wrapping up the worms around the Memorial in something they can't just melt their way through-.

"Not too shabby, boy."

The stone figure sitting on the seat mimes clapping. They're… A slightly wrong version of-.

"Bad Sam."

"Lazy, boy. Lazy." He stands, brick dust puffing of him as he pats himself down. "And since you're here in mah place of power, ah will have to give y'all a hidin' for it."

 

[Ngamer11]

"I felt… Like a thousand of America's son were asking me why I threw their lives away."

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That should say 'sons'.

I rise back into the air, trying to keep what appears to be the statue of a giant phallus between me and where The Brass fired its chain from. Looking closer, I see something moving across the upper portions of its armour…

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Of course Paul would call it that. I want to see him say that out loud in front of cameras and in the company of his friends, who would most likely be facepalming.

"You want the football?"

"The football is rightfully mine."

"Then you can-." The holoprojectors get into position and activate, and suddenly The Brass is wearing the uniform of a Soviet Lieutenant. "What the hell is this?"

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That's an easy way to get rid of his conceptual protection. I also want to see Alan do something clever like this, especially if Paul will be struggling against 'Bad Sam'.

 

[jasonh23761]

Well now, that's certainly an interesting interpretation.

 

[Z000]

Of course Paul would call it that. I want to see him say that out loud in front of cameras and in the company of his friends, who would most likely be facepalming.

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alot of people are just that juvenile but it something else when it come out of Paul/Zoat though

probably his British side talking

but that apply both way, alot of tall object in the UK can also be compare to a phallus

 

[Massgamer]

Do love how fighting has to be done smartly, figuring out enemy based on symbolism and such. Paul just can't steamroll things in conceptional world.

 

[Darko]

lan creating a shield to project Kennedy.

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'protect Kennedy'

A giant blue guns forms in the

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'blue gun'

s the two shot pointed my way fly past what's probably a

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'shots'

"Lazy, boy. Lazy." He stands, brick dust puffing of him as he pats himself down. "And since you're here in mah place of power, ah will have to give y'all a hidin' for it."

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Hmm, I seem to remember that during the Civil War, Sam was split into two different beings that fought each other, so maybe Bad Sam was his Confederate self.

 

[PrinceJonathan]

Paul just can't steamroll things in conceptional world.

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Saying something like that is just asking Paul to summon a steamroller that conceptualizes America tearing down a Wall of Oppression to build the Freeway to Freedom.

 

[iamnuff]

I love conceptual shit like this. This is what A Practical Guide is all about.

Seeing JFK stop them from using the nukes just by pointing out that they're not allowed to do that is cool.
The Brass would have absolutely used that nuclear football. They don't have the right. they're not allowed to use nukes without the president's permission, but they have enough conceptual weight that they'd probably have been able to somehow get away with it anyway.

Except there was the one person in the whole country who has the authority to call them out and remind them that they're not permitted to do that, and him simply saying that was enough to if not actually prohibit it, at the very least force them to hesitate.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

7th November 2012
Roughly 10:55 GMT -5

Cannons. Big cannons. Battleship cannons, Second World War era, no longer in use. Can't see a loading mechanism, magic. Robot has… A face that would probably mean something to someone who knew more about the minutia of American military history than me.

Odd that I can't see the wall from inside-. Right.

Click to shrink...

Conceptual space. Distance means nothing here. If they don't want you to see the defences guarding their gates against The Enemy, then you won't. Hardly matters, when they're right in front of you.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Kennedy raises his right hand in what I think is meant to be a placatory gesture. "This is not-."

KABOOM!

Click to shrink...

Does it count as gross insubordination or treason, given that he's shooting at his nominal commander-in-chief?

Guns fire and we frantically evade, Alan creating a shield to project Kennedy. Some of the fusillade slams into the invisible wall behind us, momentarily disrupting the image of… Hah, the idyllic landscape visible from here that certainly doesn't actually exist out there. Some shrapnel from fused explosives hits my construct shield, causing cracks-.

"Avarice!" Something bangs, and a second later there's a iron chain wrapped around my construct shield. "Just what we need! And hope! Do you know how many hopes I've sent to die?"

Click to shrink...

Well, this is going completely wrong, right from the start.

The chains glow orange-. They're sucking the light out of my con-!

I drop as the construct fails, the chains above me clanging into each other and then leaping back towards their master.

Click to shrink...

Dirty pool. This is going to be a total puzzle boss, isn't it?

"Paul?!"

I land on the road, take a few staggered steps-. Ring, charge?

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Good thing he doesn't rely solely on his ring for flight. Still, going airborne is going to be risky given their firepower.

One hundred and twenty three percent remaining.

"Uninjured, reporting energy draining chains. You?"

Click to shrink...

And no doubt The Brass is hungry for more, more, more.

What did I lose?

Twenty seven percent maximum charge of one ring.

Click to shrink...

That's a lot of charge in one hit. Luckily they don't seem to be able to throw it back at him.

That's not sustainable.

"I felt… Like a thousand of America's sons were asking me why I threw their lives away."

Click to shrink...

Ouch. Now that's a nasty way to break someone's sense of hope.

"It's The Brass, a manifestation of the worst of America's officer corps. I'd guess that he saw the same thing, but didn't feel guilty about it. Can you still make constructs?"

"Kennedy and the eagle are giving me a pep talk."

Click to shrink...

Should be super-effective, between his being American and their collective hopefulness.

"Good show. Guns seem to be slow firing."

I rise back into the air, trying to keep what appears to be the statue of a giant phallus between me and where The Brass fired its chain from. Looking closer, I see something moving across the upper portions of its armour…

Click to shrink...

Riggers, eh? Now I'm picturing it being like an ugly male version of a shipgirl.

The worms. The worms are carrying the ammunition to reload its guns.

"What do you think, fly up to it and flick them off?"

Click to shrink...

That'll probably just make it mad.

"While I'm struggling to think of killing corrupt worms as something that would worsen the American political process, it's still mind control."

"The old one-two?"

Click to shrink...

Sadly, it isn't as concerned about collateral damage as you have to be...

"I think we need something less literal. Weaken it under its own rules, then get it to stand down." The worms are squirming away from the guns now. "Ultimately, it's a distraction."

"Alright, but I've been working on this for a while."

Click to shrink...

Alan certainly seems to be the sort not to rest on his laurels.

A giant blue guns forms in the sky to my right, positively inviting the guns The Brass trains on it to fire. But Alan fires first, the beam lancing out and striking-.

Striking an invisible force field around The Brass. And I know this is going to be a painful metaphor, but I can't-.

Click to shrink...

Oh, that's just cheating, now. Or, for a more appropriate quote: 'Not enough gun.'

"The Veil of Legitimacy! So long as I wear the uniform, I'm untouchable by your un-American weapons!"

There it is-.

Click to shrink...

Maybe Alan needs to bust out something more American. Giant Colt 1911s, maybe?

Guns-

KABOOM!

-into action and I'm moving as the two shots pointed my way fly past what's probably a very nice monument of some sort in the real world and detonate around me, shards of magical shrapnel slamming into my construct shields. They hold, but they take a battering and I'm already moving to try to avoid a possible chain-.

Click to shrink...

The Brass: "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning!"

The chain wraps around the monument and emasculates it.

"Got any paint?"

Click to shrink...

What, going to try painting it pink or something? You know? Ruin its ego by making it a literal pinko?

"What colour?"

"Green and red."

Click to shrink...

Oooh, clever. I doubt the rest of the defences would turn their guns on it, but it might give it pause.

"Can't say I-. Did that thing just wreck the Washington Monument?"

"Probably. Cover me?"

"As long as it's not in paint."

Click to shrink...

...Mind out of the gutter...

"It's not worth my time to winkle you out." The Brass reaches down to somewhere I can't see, then straightens back up with a… Giant rugby ball with a radioactive symbol on the side. He pulls his right arm back, ready to throw. "Time to use strategic weapons!"

"I am not President Truman, and you are not General Groves." I fly upwards, and spot Kennedy strolling towards The Brass in the open, eagle flying along with him and the vulture lurking off to the side. "The authority to unleash this great nation's nuclear arsenal belongs to the president alone. You do not have the right to use the nuclear football."

Click to shrink...

...Motherfucking badass. Makes sense that he feels no fear.

Sounds like an opening. I fly around The Brass's right while his attention is focused on Kennedy, fabricating-. Would a hologram projector be easier? Yes, I can't guarantee that paint would get through. Drones, stealth drones with holoprojectors.

Fabrication complete.

Click to shrink...

Bring on the lightshow! Don't forget the moustache!

Okay, that should deal with the Veil of Legitimacy. How do I stop the worms handing resources to The Brass that would be better applied elsewhere? Actually, The Brass hasn't walked anywhere since we arrived. What fuels The Brass?

Gain a little height, and… Looks like there are cables plugged into his lower legs, running to somewhere… The same place the worms are coming from, underneath… A twisted version of the Lincoln Memorial. Clearly there's something there, but I'm sure there will be other defences in place that I can't see.

Click to shrink...

Amusing. It runs on an extension cord.

Tally ho.

"You want the football?"

Click to shrink...

Oh, he's going to just throw the bomb without arming it, isn't he? Still a few tons of metal, after all, and Kennedy is still more-or-less flesh.

"The football is rightfully mine."

"Then you can-." The holoprojectors get into position and activate, and suddenly The Brass is wearing the uniform of a Soviet Lieutenant. "What the hell is this?"

Click to shrink...

Ha! Not only a turncoat, but he got a demotion too.

Alan fires again, his shot tearing through The Brass's armour and sending the giant guns on its left shoulder plummeting to the ground. And while that's happening I fire out titanium chains, wrapping up the worms around the Memorial in something they can't just melt their way through-.

"Not too shabby, boy."

Click to shrink...

Well, about time we got to meet this jackass.

The stone figure sitting on the seat mimes clapping. They're… A slightly wrong version of-.

"Bad Sam."

"Lazy, boy. Lazy." He stands, brick dust puffing of him as he pats himself down. "And since you're here in mah place of power, ah will have to give y'all a hidin' for it."

Click to shrink...

Oh, boy... Maybe you guys should have gone after the real Sam first, maybe?

And now we get to the real meat of the episode, eh? Somehow, I get the feeling this is going to be a Hopeless Boss Fight... Unless there's a last minute Big Damn Heroes from the real Sam, OL and team are really going to be up against it here. Even with Hope!Kennedy's help, I don't think the Lanterns have the metaphysical oomph to beat this one. Tomorrow should be impressive.

 

[FreeGod]

Then you can-." The holoprojectors get into position and activate, and suddenly The Brass is wearing the uniform of a Soviet Lieutenant. "What the hell is this?"

Click to shrink...

The red scare. Might as well use one american problem to beat another. When in doubt call your opponent a communist.

No reason to be subtle when it's a battle of metaphor.

 

[Rebu]

Saying something like that is just asking Paul to summon a steamroller that conceptualizes America tearing down a Wall of Oppression to build the Freeway to Freedom.

Click to shrink...

"Mistah Orange Lantern, teah dawhn this wahll!"

"Yes, sir!"

 

[Grimnar]

How do I stop the worms handing resources to The Brass that would be better applied elsewhere?

Click to shrink...

Is this bait? It has to be.

Fun fact, the American Military is actually underfunded to fullfill all the duties it's been given. It's a feature creep of their duties by the government, not the military being hilariously overbloated with funds.

 

[DrThoth]

So the impostor/Bizarro Uncle Sam isn't just Boss Smiley, I guess. I suppose that makes sense, since Smiley might be an egregore of a more universal (in terms of humanity) political corruption/subtle manipulation. Thinking of egregores makes me kind of picture the comics Candlemaker as being manifested in the Nuclear Football now.

I'd have thought Paragon is metaphysically powerful/'high-ranking' enough to avoid things draining the orange light, even if they're conceptually suited to it (or especially so). Maybe he can still reverse the Brass's (or the whole place's) connection avarice somehow, though that may be skirting the whole brainwashing the American psyche thing.

I'm a bit surprised there isn't any evident manifestation of the lizard men conspiracy theory (which I believe is also anti-Semitic?) but I suppose there's still time for that.

 

[Stsword]

I'm a bit surprised there isn't any evident manifestation of the lizard men conspiracy theory (which I believe is also anti-Semitic?) but I suppose there's still time for that.

Click to shrink...

It's not a conspiracy theory in DC, actually, it happened. Martian Manhunter defeated the shapeshifting reptilians and their Martian master in Martian Manhunter: American Secrets.

"He was a Martian, I was a beatnik." It makes sense in context.

Doesn't work in Earth-16 though, since Mars is neither a dead planet nor was Jonn on Earth during that time, so if Zoat wanted to incorporate that bit he'd need to take quite a few liberties.

 

[woweed]

Sidebar: Was the implication that the MIC has the face of General Groves?

 

[Mr Zoat]

That should say 'sons'.

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

Of course Paul would call it that. I want to see him say that out loud in front of cameras and in the company of his friends, who would most likely be facepalming.

Click to shrink...

No, it's not just an insult. The version here is literally a phallus.

'protect Kennedy'
'blue gun'
'shots'

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

Hmm, I seem to remember that during the Civil War, Sam was split into two different beings that fought each other, so maybe Bad Sam was his Confederate self.

Click to shrink...

Well done.

 

[Luma]

I love conceptual shit like this. This is what A Practical Guide is all about.

Click to shrink...

Yep, the Heartland feels like American Arcadia.