Ganurath
Literal Enthusiast
- Location
- A Valid Location
- Pronouns
- He/Him
He'll probably save it for later, though.
With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Twelve)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
- Status
He'll probably save it for later, though.
- Location
- texas
Hector Hammond ate the orange power battery, the Zamarans supposedly manipulate the light of love with their minds, ditto Scar for the black, and Ganthet and his protege with the blue light of hope.
I didn't read the issue, but with Hector Hammond, but I imagine it would be hard to tell the difference, Ganthet and his protege seemed okay mainlining hope, as for the Zamarans being malthusians the chances they were ever sane or rational seems rather slim.
I am disappointed with 3/4 of this answer especially how I asked about people who weren't the guardians or a cast off different version of them.
I don't believe The Metropolitan Man has anything he could charge his ring off of, so his best bet for long term survival would probably be using his initial ring charge to duplicate the birthing matrix's ability that created Superman, and raiding all the Kryptonian science with whatever charge is left over.
Red Son has green lanterns, so assimilating a lantern is still a safe bet.
MM would be an interesting world, since Lex Luthor is a lot more subtle then his canon counterpart and Superman is capable of mentally snapping.
Lack of relevant meta-knowledge (unless he's read The Metropolitan Man?) could blindside him if he trusts the wrong people.
"Why yes Mr. Luthor. Your deduction is correct. My ring does have a limited charge."
Red Son would be... amusing.
USA under Luthor, Russia under Superman and Britain
Brains, Power and Hyper-Tech
Last edited:
- Location
- Hampden Park
Thank you, noted.
When was that thing I put it spoiler tags, you mean?
Stars, Crossed (supplementary, SI option)
- Location
- Hampden Park
26th February
11:14 GMT -5
I take a moment to check my watch before ringing the doorbell of the Beecher residence. Just one of the many ways in which real life is different to comics: people have extended families. And parents. Reverend Grace Beecher is the local Episcopal vicar. No, wait, they call them… Ministers.. or something, don't they? Her husband Dylan is a gardener. Anyway, Karen thought that she might want me to give a talk to the local churchgoing parents on the subject of meta teens and sure enough the Reverend invited me around for a chat. Um. I didn't quite lie to her. I am fully qualified to provide entry level counselling to newly empowered metahumans, even ignoring the power ring aspect. Public speaking doesn't bother me any longer. It's just… I really don't have any sort of connection to the local community. I don't even shop around here any more.
I hear footsteps on the far side of the door and a moment later Reverend Beecher opens the door. "Hello! You must be Paul."
She holds out her right hand and I shake it. "Reverend. Pleased to meet you."
"Oh, call me Grace." She backs up slightly. "Come in, come in."
"Thank you." I step forward into the house.
She leads me in the direction of the living room. "Did you have a long trip?"
Only a couple of miles from the mountain. "No, not really."
"Karon said you were a.. metal trader?"
"That's the bit of what I do that I get paid for, certainly. But it isn't what I spend most of my time doing."
"Oh? So what do you do?"
"Various things. My work with metahumans takes up some of my time, though.. sad to say, they usually come to my attention when they're already involved in the criminal justice system."
"That's a shame. Take a seat?"
I sit down in an armchair. "Thank you. You see, there isn't… Metahumans are such a small percentage of the population that.. outside of war time, it just isn't worth the government putting any sort of outreach program into effect."
"What about private programs?"
"I work for… Well, volunteer, for a charitable organisation, but its income just about covers its operating costs. There's no way it could manage any sort of outreach work. A few businesses have expressed interest in the past… Then they hear what the hit rate is like and decide to put their money somewhere else. Apart from the ones who're looking for a superhero to sponsor and we.. really don't like dealing with them."
"Why not?"
"Do you have any idea what the mortality rate for rookie superheroes is? Because I do. So many people think they can do a few self defence classes -or do a tiny amount of practice with their innate powers- and go out and take on people armed with guns. A lot of metahuman abilities aren't even all that useful in a fight, most are less useful than a gun would be. And that's not even getting into the legal issues associated with vigilantism."
"I guess superheroes and supervillains are what most people think of when they hear 'metahuman'."
I nod. "But… Like in a lot of things, the ones you hear about don't represent the largest part of the community."
She nods. "How do people usually find out that their son or daughter is a metahuman?"
"Any number of ways. Sometimes there'll be a physical alteration which is visible when they.. go in for an ultrasound scan. Sometimes it won't get picked up there, but there'll be something obvious at birth. We sometimes get calls from obstetricians who want to check that an apparent deformity is just that and not something more exotic. I don't.. usually handle those myself. For those abilities which manifest later-."
"I'm sorry, do you know what proportion that is?"
"I know what proportion it is of the cases we deal with. There isn't any sort of.. nationwide register, so I can't tell you what actual proportion they represent. As far as we know, it's probably less than a hundred each year in the United States."
"Okay, what about abilities that show up later?"
"Some are active nearly immediately even though they don't look different from other people. There's an eight year old girl I met who was always unusually strong. Other abilities only kick in at puberty. Though that's.. all leaving aside abilities which come purely from external sources."
She nods again. "Do metahumans face any sort of discrimination?"
"No, not really. I don't know if it's because the strongest associations are positive ones… All the work superheroes do… Or because people just regard it as a medical thing. The only significant hostility comes from medical professionals."
"Why do you suppose that is?"
"They have to deal with all the idiots who try ingesting dangerous substances in the insane belief it will give them superpowers rather than kill or maim them. There's been a resurgence of that lately."
"Why would anyone do that to themselves?"
"Plastic Man joining the Justice League, basically. He got an amazing power in an industrial accident and that fact got leaked to the press. He ended up having to do a press conference to remind journalists what usually happens when someone does that, but even so a lot of people have taken it upon themselves to try following his example. Anyway, doctors also have to deal with the fact that metahumans don't always respond in the usual way to medical intervention and sometimes lose the ability to precisely control themselves when they're injured or ill. And because in an emergency they don't always know if the person they're working on is a metahuman."
She nods again. "You told Karen metahumans can't give blood. Is that why?"
"Pretty much. They can't predict… Because there's no such thing as 'metahuman blood', just the blood of a particular metahuman. The studies that have been done show that in a lot of cases, blood taken from a metahuman will behave exactly the same as any blood of the blood group."
"But not always."
"No. And most national blood services impose a general ban as a precaution."
"How would someone find out that they're a metahuman?"
"Usually, the first manifestation of their powers. There are blood tests for known markers -those are what the blood service use- but they only work on known markers. Even the companies who offer the tests to people who send in samples make it clear that they can only tell people if they are, never that they're definitively not. Some universities have programs where they'll try more intensive approaches, but those usually only want to deal with known positives."
"How long does it usually take for a metahuman to learn to control their powers? That.. girl you mentioned with super strength, for example."
"That answer changes for every example. That girl had near-perfect control from the start. When she was very small she accidentally crushed a few things and involuntary actions are still a problem, but a fairly minor one. A lot of metahumans have an intuitive understanding of what they can do. Others have to learn their triggers. The tricky ones are the ones governed by emotional states. The people who get those often never get complete control."
"What happens if someone gets a power they don't want?"
"Usually, they can simply choose not to use it. Failing that, there are suppression collars for certain types of ability, though those make you look like a Belle Reve inmate and they're fairly expensive. At the moment, there's so many ways a person can get powers that there's no way to remove all of them. Heck, most of them simply can't be removed without radically altering the person in a way that's beyond medical science."
She nods again and sits back. "Thank you. I found that very interesting. Would you be willing to give a talk on the subject in the church hall? We've got a space in the schedule two weeks on Wednesday."
"I'd be happy to."
11:14 GMT -5
I take a moment to check my watch before ringing the doorbell of the Beecher residence. Just one of the many ways in which real life is different to comics: people have extended families. And parents. Reverend Grace Beecher is the local Episcopal vicar. No, wait, they call them… Ministers.. or something, don't they? Her husband Dylan is a gardener. Anyway, Karen thought that she might want me to give a talk to the local churchgoing parents on the subject of meta teens and sure enough the Reverend invited me around for a chat. Um. I didn't quite lie to her. I am fully qualified to provide entry level counselling to newly empowered metahumans, even ignoring the power ring aspect. Public speaking doesn't bother me any longer. It's just… I really don't have any sort of connection to the local community. I don't even shop around here any more.
I hear footsteps on the far side of the door and a moment later Reverend Beecher opens the door. "Hello! You must be Paul."
She holds out her right hand and I shake it. "Reverend. Pleased to meet you."
"Oh, call me Grace." She backs up slightly. "Come in, come in."
"Thank you." I step forward into the house.
She leads me in the direction of the living room. "Did you have a long trip?"
Only a couple of miles from the mountain. "No, not really."
"Karon said you were a.. metal trader?"
"That's the bit of what I do that I get paid for, certainly. But it isn't what I spend most of my time doing."
"Oh? So what do you do?"
"Various things. My work with metahumans takes up some of my time, though.. sad to say, they usually come to my attention when they're already involved in the criminal justice system."
"That's a shame. Take a seat?"
I sit down in an armchair. "Thank you. You see, there isn't… Metahumans are such a small percentage of the population that.. outside of war time, it just isn't worth the government putting any sort of outreach program into effect."
"What about private programs?"
"I work for… Well, volunteer, for a charitable organisation, but its income just about covers its operating costs. There's no way it could manage any sort of outreach work. A few businesses have expressed interest in the past… Then they hear what the hit rate is like and decide to put their money somewhere else. Apart from the ones who're looking for a superhero to sponsor and we.. really don't like dealing with them."
"Why not?"
"Do you have any idea what the mortality rate for rookie superheroes is? Because I do. So many people think they can do a few self defence classes -or do a tiny amount of practice with their innate powers- and go out and take on people armed with guns. A lot of metahuman abilities aren't even all that useful in a fight, most are less useful than a gun would be. And that's not even getting into the legal issues associated with vigilantism."
"I guess superheroes and supervillains are what most people think of when they hear 'metahuman'."
I nod. "But… Like in a lot of things, the ones you hear about don't represent the largest part of the community."
She nods. "How do people usually find out that their son or daughter is a metahuman?"
"Any number of ways. Sometimes there'll be a physical alteration which is visible when they.. go in for an ultrasound scan. Sometimes it won't get picked up there, but there'll be something obvious at birth. We sometimes get calls from obstetricians who want to check that an apparent deformity is just that and not something more exotic. I don't.. usually handle those myself. For those abilities which manifest later-."
"I'm sorry, do you know what proportion that is?"
"I know what proportion it is of the cases we deal with. There isn't any sort of.. nationwide register, so I can't tell you what actual proportion they represent. As far as we know, it's probably less than a hundred each year in the United States."
"Okay, what about abilities that show up later?"
"Some are active nearly immediately even though they don't look different from other people. There's an eight year old girl I met who was always unusually strong. Other abilities only kick in at puberty. Though that's.. all leaving aside abilities which come purely from external sources."
She nods again. "Do metahumans face any sort of discrimination?"
"No, not really. I don't know if it's because the strongest associations are positive ones… All the work superheroes do… Or because people just regard it as a medical thing. The only significant hostility comes from medical professionals."
"Why do you suppose that is?"
"They have to deal with all the idiots who try ingesting dangerous substances in the insane belief it will give them superpowers rather than kill or maim them. There's been a resurgence of that lately."
"Why would anyone do that to themselves?"
"Plastic Man joining the Justice League, basically. He got an amazing power in an industrial accident and that fact got leaked to the press. He ended up having to do a press conference to remind journalists what usually happens when someone does that, but even so a lot of people have taken it upon themselves to try following his example. Anyway, doctors also have to deal with the fact that metahumans don't always respond in the usual way to medical intervention and sometimes lose the ability to precisely control themselves when they're injured or ill. And because in an emergency they don't always know if the person they're working on is a metahuman."
She nods again. "You told Karen metahumans can't give blood. Is that why?"
"Pretty much. They can't predict… Because there's no such thing as 'metahuman blood', just the blood of a particular metahuman. The studies that have been done show that in a lot of cases, blood taken from a metahuman will behave exactly the same as any blood of the blood group."
"But not always."
"No. And most national blood services impose a general ban as a precaution."
"How would someone find out that they're a metahuman?"
"Usually, the first manifestation of their powers. There are blood tests for known markers -those are what the blood service use- but they only work on known markers. Even the companies who offer the tests to people who send in samples make it clear that they can only tell people if they are, never that they're definitively not. Some universities have programs where they'll try more intensive approaches, but those usually only want to deal with known positives."
"How long does it usually take for a metahuman to learn to control their powers? That.. girl you mentioned with super strength, for example."
"That answer changes for every example. That girl had near-perfect control from the start. When she was very small she accidentally crushed a few things and involuntary actions are still a problem, but a fairly minor one. A lot of metahumans have an intuitive understanding of what they can do. Others have to learn their triggers. The tricky ones are the ones governed by emotional states. The people who get those often never get complete control."
"What happens if someone gets a power they don't want?"
"Usually, they can simply choose not to use it. Failing that, there are suppression collars for certain types of ability, though those make you look like a Belle Reve inmate and they're fairly expensive. At the moment, there's so many ways a person can get powers that there's no way to remove all of them. Heck, most of them simply can't be removed without radically altering the person in a way that's beyond medical science."
She nods again and sits back. "Thank you. I found that very interesting. Would you be willing to give a talk on the subject in the church hall? We've got a space in the schedule two weeks on Wednesday."
"I'd be happy to."
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TriviaFreak
Time of reluctance.
Tch. Thought I missed a reference somewhere.
That... was nice? Very "as you know"/exposition chapter, though.
Ganurath
Literal Enthusiast
- Location
- A Valid Location
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That was a subtle hint for you to edit your post so that the spoiler remain unspoiled.
That, or general annoyance, depending on how long it's gone on.
Typos:
"That's"
That phrase seems off; "worth it to the government to put"?
"than"
"you look like"
Oh I am slain!
Wynaut?
- Location
- Tatooine
Interesting info, though it did feel like they got past pleasantries awfully quickly, with no light-hearted conversation in the middle nor end either. I would have expected some more of that from OL's usual style.
backgroundnoise
Getting Too Old For This...
- Location
- The Shadowlands
I have to admit, I find myself almost embarrassingly interested in this perfectly mundane plot-line.
Strunkriidiisk
THE LEGEND
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Silveraith
Argent Phantasm
- Location
- Terra Atlantus
"Than".
TriviaFreak
Time of reluctance.
Apparently, I don't get subtlety.
- Location
- Hampden Park
As I said earlier, this was originally going to be the SI talking to Karen's parents about her being a metahuman. Then it turned out she wasn't one. This is what I salvaged from the ruins.
BlackLantern2814
Hello darkness my old friend.
- Location
- Earth
You can just make her one if you wanted.
Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
-
"Look like a" ?
Chaoswind
Lord of nonsense
- Location
- Latin America
Seems like it.
Paul snip is suffering from the same problems as the African American girl with a TV show, honestly I would think the best approach would be to only change the universe/point of view if there are more than 2 chapters from the same PoV in a row, otherwise the change of pace its just too annoying.
- Status