With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Twelve)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
- Status
HanEmpire
Delicious
Paul is big on working with the system, so he will care. But not to the extent that he will abide stupidity, especially obstructionist ones for something as ethically clear-cut as chemical weapons cleanup. In conclusion he definitely will take the time to address the politicians if things do get heated up, and knock down political jackals standing against public good.
I have no doubt that every politician on the planet heard about OL's little rant. People pay attention to superheroes and they pay attention when a politician makes an ass of themselves.
BlackLantern2814
Hello darkness my old friend.
- Location
- Earth
Meeting yourself hardly counts.
- Location
- United States
... That does not account for her emotional maturity though.
I don't quite remember that being explained.
The whole "lying about my age" thing is a conflict I find to be rather contrived. The whole thing will be resolved in one of two ways:
Way 1: the person hearing it blows him off, saying "oh, I don't really care; why did you think something like that would tear us apart?" The result makes the whole conflict pointless to begin with.
Way 2: the person hearing it is hurt and confused by it "oh Paul, how could you lie to us? I thought we were friends!" The result would make that character look like a jerk, Paul will have more angst, and eventually, the whole thing will blow over.
Unless Mr. Zoat decides to resolve this plot point in an original way (and while I really like his work, I cannot stress how hard to make this kind of plot really work), it just seems like a big time-waster that we could have avoided.
I have actually read the entire story beginning to end, with the exception of some of the Renegade parts. Some parts, I have read twice. I like this story for the fascinating and entertaining world it builds, the colorful characters, the references to the vast mythology of DC Comics, and its challenge to the traditional depiction of superheroes. I like the SI, because even though his political and religious beliefs are opposed to mine, I think he is an entertaining and nuanced character and a model superhero. Paul is mostly who I am talking about, but as of "Stars, Crossed", I believe Grayven has redeemed himself as a character in my eyes, going from being a skip, a hop, and a jump from being a supervillain to being a straighter anti-hero.
Silveraith
Argent Phantasm
- Location
- Terra Atlantus
Anyone have a link to the rant against banning magic, I feel the need to laugh again after the day I've had.
Date Night (part 4)
- Location
- Hampden Park
26th March
21:07 GMT +7
She takes a moment to look at the greenery below us before shifting her gaze to the coastline. Probably trying to work out exactly where we are.
"It's a chemical herbicide the US military used on Vietnamese jungles and farms during the Vietnam War."
"Yep." She glances at me. "Keep going."
"They didn't just use it to attack the North. It also got used on rural areas in the South that they thought supported the Communists to drive people off the land and into cities the US could control."
"That worked pretty well." I blink, and national borders appear in our field of vision as thick orange lines, with thinner ones for provincial boundaries.
"I also know that it causes cancer and birth defects and that there's enough of it still in the soil in a lot of places that people are still being affected."
I fill in the national boundaries with orange intensity corresponding to the level of contamination. "Yep. Vietnam being what it is, it's hard for me to get completely reliable figures on how much, but it's a lot."
"The Vietnam War was bad. I get it. I went to school in America. No one really tries to defend it anymore."
"Ra's did. Batman actually wrote down what he said about it during one of his post-Pit rants. He thought that the longevity of the toxins involved suggested great potential for his whole 'depopulate the world' mission. No, it's not a chemical warfare agent, it's a herbicide. An insecticide. He actually tried to-."
"Are we here for a reason?"
"I was hoping you'd be a bit more annoyed than this."
I get a puzzled frown. "I'm an American. I've been to Vietnam twice my entire life."
I nod. "You know, I have the same problem. Hard to care about things you don't have a personal investment in, isn't it?" I nod, more to myself than to her. "When Klarion split the world... There were a lot of injured children right in front of me, and I could only heal a few of them. If they'd been my friends… One wave of orange, no more problem. People I don't know?" I pause for a moment. "How well do you remember the funeral?"
"I don't remember much. There were a lot of strange people around and I didn't speak Vietnamese very well."
"Do you remember… Artemis called him 'Funny Uncle Hien'? One of your mother's younger brothers?"
She frowns, trying to think back. "I think I remember him. He was looking after the children."
"No, he wasn't. It was just easier for the person looking after him to keep an eye on the rest of you as well." I highlight the -I hesitate to call it this- hospital below us. They do their best, but this isn't a rich country by any stretch of the imagination. Then I create a construct showing his distorted face, his stick-thin and malformed limbs and the ichthyosis on his skin. "Obviously you wouldn't have realised what was wrong with him at that age. The fact that both of your maternal grandparents were exposed to the stuff shouldn't really be a surprise. If anything, the fact that they had unaffected children at all is the odd thing. He's forty five and he has the mental age-."
Jade doesn't look at the image, instead focusing her full attention on me. "And what exactly-" I take hold of John's ring with my left forefinger and thumb. "-do you expect me-" I pull it off- "-to do about it?" -and hold it out to her. She blinks, looks down at it, then back up to my face as her eyes widen.
"I want you to want to fix it. I want you to see the same wrongness in this as I did when I heard that the government of Britain used the same stuff during the Malayan Emergency. And when you feel that, I want you to take this ring-" I wiggle it. "-and fix it."
"Why haven't you?"
"No personal investment at all. The sad fact is, these faces…" I generate constructs of a few cases. Young children for the most part, though of course they won't remain young children. "I could do Malaya because it was Britain… Even though I'm not a British citizen, I feel.. responsible. Britain kept out of Vietnam." I shrug.
"So, what? That's your plan? Get me to join the Orange Lantern Corps?"
"No, this is a one off. Maybe -if you don't find the experience completely horrifying- you could start learning how to use the orange light in a controlled way with a view to eventually joining. For this exercise, a strong impetus to bring about a change is all that is required. The ring-" I wiggle it again. "-has all the data on Human physiology and soil chemistry it needs. It just needs someone who cares. Someone whom I trust to try."
Her eyes go to the ring again. She's definitely nervous about touching it. "I thought those things drove people crazy."
"Definitely a risk. But I'll still have a ring and I'm a much more capable Lantern than you'll be. Unless I've very much misread you, short term exposure -even high intensity exposure- shouldn't cause lasting psychological harm."
"That's reassuring."
I close my left hand and then open it again, John's ring lying flat on my palm. "Well?"
I can clearly see the orange inside her, swirling and churning. I'm certainly not going to tell her quite what the percentage her desire to prove her value to me is of her final decision, but it's in the mix along with her desire for power and purpose. That's fine, empathy isn't what I need. The normal reaction of the Human psyche to such horrific deformity is there, but there's no special connection to the country as a whole. I suppose it was a bit of a stretch to think that she'd regard the people of Vietnam as being hers. She also wants a combat challenge after six months' imprisonment, and this is the closest I could arrange. I'm not putting her in an actual fight with a ring without doing an awful lot of preparation first. There's the ever-present need to defy her father. The final significant factor is the fear she feels, both of the ring and of the radical change in her life I'm forcing on her.
A fear she instinctively reacts against, wanting to overcome it without its existence being noticed by anyone.
She reaches out with her left hand and I pull the ring back slightly. "No, not like that. Call it to you. Focus your mind on your desires, your wants, your needs. Focus your mind on actualising them through this ring. Demand that it appear on your finger."
Her eyes narrow, remaining fixed on the ring as she raises her left hand slightly and spreads out her fingers. Her breathing slows as she puts those mental techniques she learned with the Shadows to use. Inside her I see the confusing blur of lights slow as she makes herself consciously aware of them and imposes structure. Similarly, I still my own mind so as not to crowd out her far weaker grasp.
I feel a very slight vibration from the ring in the palm of my hand. The minutest flicker of orange light running around the inner surface. Everything in Jade that isn't orange fades into the background. The ring is glowing now, not with the brilliant light it has when I use it but she's definitely formed a connection.
She stretches out her left hand once more. "It's mine."
The ring shoots onto her ring finger and Jade is consumed in orange light.
21:07 GMT +7
She takes a moment to look at the greenery below us before shifting her gaze to the coastline. Probably trying to work out exactly where we are.
"It's a chemical herbicide the US military used on Vietnamese jungles and farms during the Vietnam War."
"Yep." She glances at me. "Keep going."
"They didn't just use it to attack the North. It also got used on rural areas in the South that they thought supported the Communists to drive people off the land and into cities the US could control."
"That worked pretty well." I blink, and national borders appear in our field of vision as thick orange lines, with thinner ones for provincial boundaries.
"I also know that it causes cancer and birth defects and that there's enough of it still in the soil in a lot of places that people are still being affected."
I fill in the national boundaries with orange intensity corresponding to the level of contamination. "Yep. Vietnam being what it is, it's hard for me to get completely reliable figures on how much, but it's a lot."
"The Vietnam War was bad. I get it. I went to school in America. No one really tries to defend it anymore."
"Ra's did. Batman actually wrote down what he said about it during one of his post-Pit rants. He thought that the longevity of the toxins involved suggested great potential for his whole 'depopulate the world' mission. No, it's not a chemical warfare agent, it's a herbicide. An insecticide. He actually tried to-."
"Are we here for a reason?"
"I was hoping you'd be a bit more annoyed than this."
I get a puzzled frown. "I'm an American. I've been to Vietnam twice my entire life."
I nod. "You know, I have the same problem. Hard to care about things you don't have a personal investment in, isn't it?" I nod, more to myself than to her. "When Klarion split the world... There were a lot of injured children right in front of me, and I could only heal a few of them. If they'd been my friends… One wave of orange, no more problem. People I don't know?" I pause for a moment. "How well do you remember the funeral?"
"I don't remember much. There were a lot of strange people around and I didn't speak Vietnamese very well."
"Do you remember… Artemis called him 'Funny Uncle Hien'? One of your mother's younger brothers?"
She frowns, trying to think back. "I think I remember him. He was looking after the children."
"No, he wasn't. It was just easier for the person looking after him to keep an eye on the rest of you as well." I highlight the -I hesitate to call it this- hospital below us. They do their best, but this isn't a rich country by any stretch of the imagination. Then I create a construct showing his distorted face, his stick-thin and malformed limbs and the ichthyosis on his skin. "Obviously you wouldn't have realised what was wrong with him at that age. The fact that both of your maternal grandparents were exposed to the stuff shouldn't really be a surprise. If anything, the fact that they had unaffected children at all is the odd thing. He's forty five and he has the mental age-."
Jade doesn't look at the image, instead focusing her full attention on me. "And what exactly-" I take hold of John's ring with my left forefinger and thumb. "-do you expect me-" I pull it off- "-to do about it?" -and hold it out to her. She blinks, looks down at it, then back up to my face as her eyes widen.
"I want you to want to fix it. I want you to see the same wrongness in this as I did when I heard that the government of Britain used the same stuff during the Malayan Emergency. And when you feel that, I want you to take this ring-" I wiggle it. "-and fix it."
"Why haven't you?"
"No personal investment at all. The sad fact is, these faces…" I generate constructs of a few cases. Young children for the most part, though of course they won't remain young children. "I could do Malaya because it was Britain… Even though I'm not a British citizen, I feel.. responsible. Britain kept out of Vietnam." I shrug.
"So, what? That's your plan? Get me to join the Orange Lantern Corps?"
"No, this is a one off. Maybe -if you don't find the experience completely horrifying- you could start learning how to use the orange light in a controlled way with a view to eventually joining. For this exercise, a strong impetus to bring about a change is all that is required. The ring-" I wiggle it again. "-has all the data on Human physiology and soil chemistry it needs. It just needs someone who cares. Someone whom I trust to try."
Her eyes go to the ring again. She's definitely nervous about touching it. "I thought those things drove people crazy."
"Definitely a risk. But I'll still have a ring and I'm a much more capable Lantern than you'll be. Unless I've very much misread you, short term exposure -even high intensity exposure- shouldn't cause lasting psychological harm."
"That's reassuring."
I close my left hand and then open it again, John's ring lying flat on my palm. "Well?"
I can clearly see the orange inside her, swirling and churning. I'm certainly not going to tell her quite what the percentage her desire to prove her value to me is of her final decision, but it's in the mix along with her desire for power and purpose. That's fine, empathy isn't what I need. The normal reaction of the Human psyche to such horrific deformity is there, but there's no special connection to the country as a whole. I suppose it was a bit of a stretch to think that she'd regard the people of Vietnam as being hers. She also wants a combat challenge after six months' imprisonment, and this is the closest I could arrange. I'm not putting her in an actual fight with a ring without doing an awful lot of preparation first. There's the ever-present need to defy her father. The final significant factor is the fear she feels, both of the ring and of the radical change in her life I'm forcing on her.
A fear she instinctively reacts against, wanting to overcome it without its existence being noticed by anyone.
She reaches out with her left hand and I pull the ring back slightly. "No, not like that. Call it to you. Focus your mind on your desires, your wants, your needs. Focus your mind on actualising them through this ring. Demand that it appear on your finger."
Her eyes narrow, remaining fixed on the ring as she raises her left hand slightly and spreads out her fingers. Her breathing slows as she puts those mental techniques she learned with the Shadows to use. Inside her I see the confusing blur of lights slow as she makes herself consciously aware of them and imposes structure. Similarly, I still my own mind so as not to crowd out her far weaker grasp.
I feel a very slight vibration from the ring in the palm of my hand. The minutest flicker of orange light running around the inner surface. Everything in Jade that isn't orange fades into the background. The ring is glowing now, not with the brilliant light it has when I use it but she's definitely formed a connection.
She stretches out her left hand once more. "It's mine."
The ring shoots onto her ring finger and Jade is consumed in orange light.
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I think this might be a holdover from what you had written before?
It does if it's an alternate. After all, it's a version of you that's making different choices, thus making it essentially the same thing as a set of twins that were separated after birth.
The Chosen One
Yes, THAT One.
- Location
- The Pedant Gallery
What could possibly go wrong?
Last edited:
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Also nice to see Paul using Jade as a beta tester for his recruitment strategies. Good going, OL!
SparraNova
Dead Account Walking
- Location
- Some Wasteland
Well this is unexpected. What exactly lead Paul to think she could handle the Ring?
Typos:
"borders"
"than you'll"
"connection"
"use"
- Location
- Los Angeles
thick orange lines
- Location
- Hampden Park
Yes. Thank you, corrected.
There are plenty, but the SI knows he's got to start trying the orange rings on people sooner or later.
Thank you, corrected.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
as thick
defend it anymore
Huh, Jade with an orange ring, fixing war messes. Nice.
- Location
- Oblivion
She should clear the lead and other dangerous heavy metals out of the water table too.
Well, Blight, the MC isn't going to muse poetically about his motivations when they can be inferred via context clues and a smidgen of critical thinking.
He's not some Republic serial villain.
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Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
O ye of little faith. Paul has Ophi-chan on his side, remember? No single Orange Lantern short of Larfleeze himself poses any REAL threat to Paul.
I suspect it's a combination of being sure she's mentally stable enough to not suffer permanent trauma, inexperienced enough that he can overcome her if necessary, and the hope that she's somewhere around the "sweet spot" to use an orange ring well. Avaricious-minded enough to use it and maintain control (unlike Robin), but not so much that she'll immediately go crazy.
- Status