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Life Ore Death - DC Feruchemy [Young Justice]

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The Froggy Ninja said:
See, that always fascinated me. The Emotional Spectrum is one of the few powers that doesn't fit into either magic, science, biology or bullshit. Although DC tends to be better about the bullshit than Marvel. Alan's ring is a magic equivalent to the technological green lantern rings and the Maltusians seem to be able to manifest it directly. I've always wanted to see a fic about a planet where mages figured out how to tap Emotional Light and designed this whole magic system based on it.
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There might actually be universes in which that happened shown.

In the universe of League of Shamans, all the superheroes are magic. Including Green Lantern.

In Green Lantern One hundred and one nights, the green genie and the lamp came from little blue wizards, and was vulnerable to yellow genies.

And the rings are basically just batteries with AI. What makes them special is the energy stored within.

But rings have been shown to be able to store energies outside of the emotional spectrum. Electricity in the Static Shock cartoon, the energy of the cosmic cube in a Marvel crossover, or the magic of the Starheart.

Crimson Doom said:
It hasn't been a baby blanket for a long time, if memory serves.
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I believe that went away with Crisis. Before Crisis, Superman's costume was invulnerable because it was made of invulnerable cloth, after crisis, Superman had a skintight forcefield that gave his invulnerability to whatever he was wearing which was skintight.
 
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stsword said:
And the rings are basically just batteries with AI. What makes them special is the energy stored within.

But rings have been shown to be able to store energies outside of the emotional spectrum. Electricity in the Static Shock cartoon, the energy of the cosmic cube in a Marvel crossover, or the magic of the Starheart.
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They also seem to act as a focusing device. Being able to even manipulate your own ring without wearing it was pretty uncommon iirc.
 
On title suggestions, I'm not sure if this would work for what you have planned but I've been trying to think of a variant of "Six one way, half a dozen the other." Ferris learned that phrase recently, and if my count is right there will be six members of the team who can't hop realities. (EDIT: Nope, seven. My bad. Won't work unless one of them isn't available to be involved.) It wouldn't be too hard to mirror that with a specific number of Justice League members on the other side.

So, maybe "Dozen Divided" or "Six One Way" or just "Splitting the Difference" will fit the episode?
 
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Ten Truths - B08
  • Sidestory
    • Roy B08 - Ten Truths

    1. Roy Harper (the Third) has heroism in his blood, in more ways than just being the clone of a hero's apprentice. Though he doesn't know he's a clone, his source material Roy Harper (Jr.) was the original Speedy, to be sure, but their lineage in heroism traces further back, beyond James Jacob Harper (the Original Guardian) to his parents: Hamish and Margaret Harper.

    The couple moved from Scotland to the new world in their late teens, migrated where Hamish could find work for a few years, raising their children as they were born, until the family eventually ended up in Metropolis's Suicide Slums. With Margaret doing seamstress work on the side, despite her progressing pregnancy, Hamish signed up to serve in WWI, where he was killed in action. Margaret struggled and survived, raising their four children through the Roaring 20s, until she was killed protecting a younger mother with child from armed robbers in an alley.

    Roy Harper (the Third, as well as his original template) was inspired to heroism by memories of four men: the stories he heard from early life about Jim Harper, the original Guardian; his father's noble & heroic behavior as forest ranger, as well as Roy John Harper's devotion to service despite possessing comfortable wealth to live on; Brave Bow's generosity as the first to take in Roy Harper (Jr.) as a ward, asking nothing in return despite (the original) Roy's inheritance; and Oliver Queen in his actions as Green Arrow.


    2. Not all of Roy's body is cloned; while Cadmus was running interference on the disappearance, they discovered a slight hitch in their plan to replace Roy Harper Jr., because Oliver Queen had a security system that included fingerprint & palm print scanners, and Roy Jr's right hand had been keyed into them. Even identical twins and clones don't develop the same fingerprints, which posed a problem.

    They removed the original Roy's arm at the elbow; it was not a cleaver-cut job, but an intricate and elegant piece of surgery to peel away the skin of both original & clone, pinch off the blood vessels, pry loose the ligaments & tendons without severing them, and then re-attach the original's arm to the clone's elbow (the elbow joint being where their medicine could most quickly & thoroughly reintegrate it). They didn't bother to replace the original's arm with the clone's, because who would ever notice?


    3. Despite being orphans, Roy Harper (III, and his original template) have several living family members, some of whom they are in contact with and a few of whom they might prefer to do without. Most notably, in addition to being the great-nephew of the original Guardian through their father, both boys are the biological great-grandchildren of Vandal Savage himself, through their mother's lineage.

    Additionally, when Roy spent some time tracing his lineage, he discovered a few other extant branches of the family tree, including a family of semi-famous (if slightly vapid) B-movie stars he doesn't have much to do with, and a Gotham cop who isn't a crook, by the name of Jamie, who he and Ollie have shared a Christmas with once. (She's not an orphan, although her parents are often abroad so they haven't met yet, but her father was orphaned at too young an age to know the stories of Guardian, so Roy got to tell her about being an unintentional namesake.)


    4. Roy Jr's capture, leading to the creation of Roy III as the future Red Arrow, was both easily avoidable and no one's particular fault. By early 2007, Brave Bow was dying of liver cancer. After handing his official duties off to his successor he took Roy to Star City, where they succeeded in getting Green Arrow's attention and interest. Oliver taking Roy on as a ward (and Green Arrow being the actual Oliver Queen) was more than either had expected, but a welcome event.

    However, when Ollie tried to set up a trust fund for Roy not long after, a discussion upturned the fact that Roy already had a trust fund, and a respectable one at that. Oliver didn't expect that a single-father forest ranger could provide so well for his son, and got the idea that Roy might still have surviving family. The two decided to do some digging.


    5. Tracing his father's lineage was easiest, since Roy grew up on stories of the original Guardian, which was how he met most of his relatives. Unfortunately, the investigation into his mother's history triggered a warning Savage employed to keep track of his close-generation descendants. It was easy enough for him to arrange a fake meeting with an impersonator pretending to be Roy's mother's sister, which provided him with a few bits of hair.

    The Light was already formed by then, if still developing its full web, aims, and methods, and the hair was enough for a sorcerous divination into Roy's current situation. No one expected to turn up the secret identity of a Justice League sidekick and his mentor, but the Light was not one to ignore such a windfall. A tip was placed about a Lex Corp shell company, Speedy responded, and the sting went off.


    6. Similarly, although many people might blame Green Arrow for losing track of Roy during the five months it took to send in Roy III as a replacement and then not look too deeply into his return, the matter was not that simple.

    To the best of Green Arrow's knowledge, Speedy was only missing for two days before he tracked the location down, burst in through the warehouse door to find his sidekick being brutalized by a couple of thugs, and gave the crooks what they had coming to them. Speedy (actually a shape-shifter employed by the Light) seemed a bit off to Oliver, but the boy had a concussion or two, and he still knew Oliver's real identity, as well as his own and the basic details of their living situation. "Imposter" was not on Green Arrow's top ten list of concerns.

    (The Light would have taken Green Arrow too, but the recent presence of Black Canary, combined with the shape-shifter's discovery of a hand print security reader, resulted in the call to pull out in stealth. Oliver had known Roy for less than half a year, and after that nasty head injury Oliver saw nothing strange about the boy's acceptance of his maternal aunt's offer to put him up for the rest of the summer, allowing the charade to be dropped except for weekly forged letters 'from Roy'.)


    7. Roy Jr signed up with Green Arrow in February, was taken in early June, and Green Arrow began searching for him in August, after the Light staged an "attack" on the home of his "aunt" just before he was scheduled to return to Star City for the school year, killing her and leaving him MIA. Oliver lost no time in throwing the might of the Justice League's full resources at the issue, but the Light had been preparing for several months by then.

    "Sightings" of people matching Roy's description and using the signals pulled from Roy's memory were arranged in a spread of places, widely enough that Ra's al Ghul didn't even bother to hide his involvement in the operation when Batman confronted him on it. He did deceive Batman about the nature of it, pretending to be the one Roy was on the run from, but he mixed in enough of his usual ranting, enough mentions of the insult the original Guardian had dealt him at some point in the past, and enough losses (Ra's pride would never have sustained faking so many lost "clashes" and failed "attempts" if Savage had not talked him into it,) for that part of the story to pass muster.

    In November of 2007, Roy III and Jim Harper contacted a Justice League line from where they had been hiding out, after the Light approved their growth and programming. Introductions were made, many people were relieved, Jim made mention of perhaps resurrecting the Guardian identity if such evil people so badly hated it, and Roy grudgingly returned to Star City with a diagnosis of light duty for the rest of the year, to let the joint and tendons of his wrenched right elbow heal. He served as Speedy ever since.


    8. When Roy heard about the events on Independence Day, he blew the information off, due to an internal command to avoid engaging Cadmus as much as possible, and combined with his drive to join the Justice League he ended up refusing the offer to join the Team more harshly than he might have otherwise. If the Light had known about the Team and the offer, they would have instructed him to accept, but the difficulty with having an unknowing sleeper agent is the difficulty in modifying said agent's orders. The Light didn't receive confirmation that the Team existed as a coherent unit until Red Arrow's "debriefing" in Rhelasia, at which point they gave the order to contact the Team for back-up so they could find out more.

    They repeated the trick in China, using Sportsmaster and Red Arrow to gather two different perspectives on the most mysterious member of the Team, to good effect, and sent him to contact the Team about the "mole" possibility shortly after as a way of opening further communications. Roy himself is busy following his programming, but because his programming makes him think about certain things, he's formed some pretty strong opinions. Roy wants to join the League, and he wants to believe that the Team is a holding pen where the League keeps their kid sidekicks on a short leash; the revelation from Ferris about what exactly the Team had been doing made him re-evaluate a lot of things in his life, many of which the Light would not be happy about.


    9. Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad's admiration of him is not misplaced. Roy has played 'big brother' to all three of them at one time or another. Robin has the most distance, emotionally, with Batman's greater isolation and his stronger connections to Wondergirl & Wally, but as the youngest he also most looks up to Roy as the cool older sibling who gave him tips Batman wouldn't know and Donna never needed about keeping together a hero life and a secret identity, juggling work with school, etc. Wally has a similar opinion of him, and they've bonded over occasional troubles with their mentors and they way they took their own initiatives in approaching their respective mentors. Kaldur and Roy have the strongest bond, as he was Kaldur's first friend on the surface, introducing the Atlantean to much of the new & confusing culture, and even now he is Kaldur's best friend on the surface.

    (Speedy doesn't regret his nickname, but in the days before Kid Flash he did consider whether to try a "wonder" epithet the way Robin "the Boy Wonder" said he should, so that they and Donna could be the Wonder Trio. As it was, that never happened, but he did have interactions with Wondergirl while she was active, since they lived in the same state. The two dated for a year before fizzling out.)


    10. Roy has always felt out of place in a way he could never quite explain, and he clammed up at any attempt by Dinah to explore his more internal feelings. Finding out his status as a clone would both aid and exacerbate his insecurities, as he would have an actual reason for his self-inadequacy. In truth a large part of it is sub-conscious reaction to having telepathic orders implanted (rebellion against everything is a common symptom of this among humans, but it's not widespread enough in occurrence to be noticed for a diagnosis) as well as Cadmus instructions for him to enter the Justice League, meaning he won't be satisfied until achieving that.

    The only times he ever really feels at home is in the field, acting out against the forces of evil. This is not helpful, as one reason he hates himself and clashes with Oliver is his inability to accept the home Oliver has offered him, and so he projects. That Oliver is in other ways not the best role model is another source of issues, but despite his popularity Roy has often been too driven by his Justice League dreams to do much about his popularity with women. He's married to his job, like it or not, and it will take one hell of a shock to split them up. He can try rationalizing it as a good thing, but in the dark of the night it just make him wonder again, 'What is wrong with me?'
     
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  • Sidestory
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    Childhood's Hour __ Episode 25
  • Threadmarks
    • Life Ore Death​
    ** Episode 25 __ Childhood's Hour

    From childhood's hour I have not been
    As others were—I have not seen​

    * November 4 [Renka PoV] Thursday

    It was far from unusual for me to participate in therapy sessions of one form or another.

    It was a regular occurrence for me to talk with Dinah, the Black Canary, about something for the better part of at least an hour each week.

    It was not unheard of for me to be summoned by her to such a session on short notice, though it rarely occurred.

    It was a first for Dinah to be in the patient's chair, babbling at me, while I attempted to talk through her concerns.

    "Dinah," I intervened calmly as we reached the half-hour mark and she repeated herself for the third time in five minutes, "in a case where you are this off-balance, I find the best way to stop going in mental circles is to discuss something else, and let the upset settle."

    She sagged down onto the couch again and ran her fingers through her hair again, for the fifth time in a few minutes.

    "Right, right. I have been a bit of a mess about this, haven't I? I just-,"

    "Mm," I hummed warningly, and she stopped. "Tell me about Queen Perdita, please. She is a queen now, yes?"

    "Yes, her father, King Guntram Vlatava, passed away two days ago."

    "I had believed she was already the queen, though?" I wondered. "Robin said the 'reigning monarch' needed to remove Vertigo's diplomatic immunity, a month in the past, and he said Perdita was the 'reigning monarch'."

    "Yes, but she hadn't been crowned as queen then, and still hasn't technically. There's a small difference between royalty, crowned royalty, and reigning royalty; royalty is a member of the royal family, crowned royalty is someone who has been through the ceremonies and been recognized as the ruling king or queen, and reigning royalty is the member of the royal family making decisions about ruling."

    "That means something was preventing King Guntram, her father, from being a ruling king," I assumed, to which Dinah nodded.

    "Do you know the word 'inbreeding'?" I wrinkled my nose.

    "Yes, I have good reason to look up words in English about breeding," I reminded her. "The royal family suffers inbreeding?"

    "They are prone to birth defects, yes. Perdita has a potentially lethal heart murmur, Vertigo has… something to do with his inner ear and his brain, I remember, and King Guntram had something as well. He spent most of the past two years in and out of deliriums and a coma, leaving Perdita the next in line for the throne, formally in charge of making decisions about ruling."

    "Vertigo is her uncle, yes? Is he her only uncle? Is her mother-?"

    "Queen Alvermia was killed in the accident that started King Guntram's downward spiral. Guntram and Vertigo are brothers, but I believe they have a few cousins, and Alvermia has some siblings not part of the royal family."

    "Mm. A month in the past, Robin said Perdita was already in the You-Ess-Ay for surgery, but you said she only arrived yesterday?"

    "She arrived in Star City yesterday, she was already in the United States. She needs a heart transplant-," I perked up and paid closer attention to the interesting subject that could overlap with creating a Hemalurgic spike non-lethally. "-and there are a few potential matches in the country who are willing and in a position to donate. Queen Perdita has refused to consider anything like scheduling the donation in advance, because there is the potential of failure, and she refuses to let someone end their life before their natural time when it's possible doing so wouldn't save her anyway. Up until now, she was in Boston with one of the prospective donors, a man expected to pass away soon."

    "To be clear, the people who donate a heart is to be dead. There is no donor to donate a heart for replace them, too?"

    "Yes. Organ donation, especially of vital organs, occurs only after the donor is dead. The organs can be preserved for a short time and transplanted into any recipient known to be a potential match, and within range for the surgery to be performed in time."

    "One person can donate more than one organ, yes?" Dinah nodded, and I kept quiet beyond that. I was of the opinion that if there was a willing donor it would be more sensible and convenient to pre-schedule the death and have all the patients prepared and in range.

    I also knew that Earth placed more emphasis (ironically) than Scadrial on the Preservation of human life, and that such a scheduled death would be equivalent to killing the patient, or allowing them to commit suicide. 'Potential abuses include pressuring people with organs able to be donated to let themselves die, whether they are willing or not. There is also the issue of, "what if the donor declines at the last second".'

    I turned my thoughts back to Perdita's arrival, instead. 'Multiple potential donors, a change of cities, and an assassination attempt….'

    "Is the arrival in Star City because the donor in Boston did not work, or because a better donor was there, in Star City?" I asked.

    "Perdita changed hospitals because in addition to one potential donor in Seattle, another potential organ match popped up, so with the odds of getting a donation from the West Coast area doubled, they flew her over to be closer to those matches. I believe she'll be moving up to Seattle later today, with or without the new potential donor as well; Superman and Green Arrow have already arranged to guard her."

    "Mm, good. I hope she will get well soon," I said. "Relate what you know of the assassination attempt, please?"

    "Yes, yes. Among other things, her guard arranged a body double – I'm not certain how they pulled that off, I only heard that it happened – and dyed Perdita's hair brown on the plane to misdirect assassins, but it didn't work too well. The Justice League wasn't supposed to be involved, Green Arrow was just coming to pick me up at the airport, but the timing and traffic happened to coincide."

    "Why were you at the airport instead of using a Zeta Tube?" I wondered.

    "You need a Zeta Tube at both locations to move between them," she reminded me. "There's no Zeta Tube near Tucson, Phoenix."

    I did not know the location, but since that was her point, I made no further comment on it, nor did I ask why she was at that place.

    "You were only involved in the end of the assassination attempt?"

    "Yes." She chuckled bitterly. "I should have stayed in the baggage claim area and waited for- for Green Arrow, it would have been faster."

    "I know the Green Arrow's secret identity is Oliver Queen," I volunteered, to Dinah's visible surprise, so I elaborated on that. "The Red Arrow came to visit us at the mountain one day before Halloween. I knew his name was Roy from our time working together in China."

    "Yes," she sighed. "That's one of the reasons I decided to come talk to you, truth be told. I'm not sure what you said to Roy – he didn't want to talk much about it – but he mentioned you'd hit him over his metaphorical head with how thick-headed he was being." I may have gaped slightly. "Oh. You aren't certain what you said either, are you?" I shut my jaw and shook my head. "Care to talk about it?"

    "I should say we are here to talk about you," I reminded her, "but yes, I will care to. Truth be told," I parroted, "I encouraged him."

    "In what way?" Dinah asked, taking a bit of her Therapist tone back up.

    "The Red Arrow, I think, sees- or he saw himself as the victim, alone, rebelling hopelessly against the world, fighting bitterly to accomplish great acts alone, succeeding despite hardship in doing things no one else can or will do. I pointed out that he had inspired us."

    "I wouldn't have describe Roy quite that way," Dinah hemmed, "but you aren't wrong, Renka. Did you include yourself in the 'us'?"

    I had expected a comment from Dinah about the way she had tried to do the same tactic, leading to the subject of what I had done differently. Her redirection to myself, which I took as a sign of her repossession of the Therapist confidence, was something I could use, still.

    "By association," I allowed, tapping a touch more from my duralumin-mind to translate more difficult terms. "It was more along the lines of, 'you going off on your own as a journeyman inspired the other apprentices, here is what we have done because you started it'."

    "A journeyman? I haven't thought much about it… He was working and training under Ollie, but now he's struck out… it applies."

    "Yes. I did not expect it would help like you said it may have helped, though," I revealed, expecting it would probably tweak Dinah's temper. "He thought we were on a 'kiddie leash,' and thus I predicted he would be ashamed and mentally hammer his fingers because we have been doing the 'big, important, deadly, League-level work,' he wanted in his absence, like the Injustice League, the meta-human human trafficking of the League of Shadows, along with Brain's experiments, and the Red Robot family. I wonder why he felt better?"

    I made a point of raising my eyes to the ceiling as I said that to myself, as though I had forgotten Dinah was present.

    A light tap from my vision tin-mind and a faint tilting of my head let me keep her face in view, reflected off of a metal light cover.

    Even without that, I could as good as feel her narrow her eyes at me.

    "You're telling me that you wanted to make his issues worse, and you're disappointed that you helped instead," she summed darkly.

    "You do remember we have discussed my 'emotional sadism' and 'Schadenfreude' tendencies before, Dinah? I am what I am."

    "I am as well, Renka," she countered icily. "You do remember, talking about this with me, that I'm as good Roy's mother, don't you?"

    I laughed in her face.

    The immediate impulse to do so was brief, but in the moment I had huffed with a smile, I entirely realized what Dinah had just said to me, appearing to be 'in all seriousness,' and in response I unbridled my self-control to laugh long, loud, and raucously at her.

    Through my throes of hilarity, I saw Dinah had recoiled in shock as though I had manually slapped her, rather than verbally.

    She stayed off-balance and uncertain even as I hammered the brass bell and quieted back down. She opened her mouth to speak.

    I was faster. "Dinah, you are not Roy's mother, and if you behave as such to him then I am far less confused by his problems."

    "E-excuse me?" She stood up in her chair in anger and I kept my body language undefended; she only took one step before she mastered her anger and reclaimed her control. Dinah sat down again, but kept her posture assertive. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

    "When the Red Arrow visited the day before Halloween, we talked about his history before Red Arrow or Speedy, when he was only Roy and did not have met the Green Arrow," I informed Dinah, continuing to project my amusement at her. "It was more than three and less than four years ago that Roy joined with the Green Arrow, and only after that did he meet you, yes?

    "I- yes," Dinah allowed.

    "He lived a decade and half again of life when he did not know you, Dinah. Yes," I continued in summary, "he was raised by his father and then by his godfather, but people can have no father or mother as rightly as they can have many of each and both. If you try to behave like his mother, he will, I think, be feel insulted by you."

    "I love him like my own," she said sharply, "and I know he feels the same way, despite his recent growing pains."

    "You love him like family, and Roy is family in your heart, as you are in his heart," I agreed, "but that does not mean mother. You are not Mauslen, I am certain, and you have not been in the life of Roy long enough or deep enough to be Dwynra. I know he has given you more than one Mother's Day card in the past – Robin and Roy spoke of Mother's Day without living mothers – but it is not the same. In the book of Zatanna's faith, do you know the story of…-" I grimaced, reaching ineffectually. "-of the first murder, the fratricide of the second son?"

    "Cain and Abel?" she suggested, willing to hear me out at least. 'Which means she isn't spitting furious, but I make my point, at least.'

    "Yes," I said, distracted for a moment by the thought I had heard those names outside the religious parable. "…Yes. I had this talk with the Superman too, about Conner, from the opposite. Cain asks, 'Am I my brother's keeper?' It is to deflect suspicion from his crime, but the question is important alone."

    "You mean more than just caring about your fellow man," Dinah assumed.

    "Yes, people are good to care for and keep each other safe, I think, but who is your brother's keeper? I say, a man is not his brother's keeper, because his parents are his brother's keepers. If they give him the task to be responsible, and if the brother is not, that is one thing, but in the relationships of family, siblings, sisters, and brothers are very different from between parents and children."

    "…You're saying he sees me as more of a sister, and I should do the same? There's not a big difference between the two, Renka."

    I shook my head at her in mock despair. "There is, Dinah. How old is the Green Arrow?"

    "…Thirty-two." I paused, because I knew Dinah's age, 24, and I had not expected such an extended distance between them.

    "He is a third again your age? And he still now is this much different after you have dated already for three years?"

    "I've heard it all before, Renka," she said sourly, folding her arms as I shook my head a bit. " I don't need this from you, too."

    "Very well, I will move on; you are adult," I decided, and caught a flicker of her surprise. 'Or maybe I imagined that.' "But Dinah, I make the point that there are eight years between you and the Green Arrow, but only six years between you and the Red Arrow. I now do not know the exact date, but I will wager fifty dollars with you about the age difference is smaller with you and Roy than Artemis and Cheshire."

    "Artemis and Cheshire? That's an odd pair to choose," she said, with something….

    "You did not know Artemis has told us her sister is Cheshire, yes? Her father is Sportsmaster as well. She told us about her family on Monday, and she said the Green Arrow and the Batman know. I may owe her an apology if you did not," I worried. Dinah shook her head.

    "No, no, I knew about that. I just had no idea she told the rest of the Team; she seemed very vehement about the idea before."

    "M'gann knew because she read Cheshire's mind, and on Halloween they had a fight because she told Artemis she knew. Artemis already said to Zatanna, M'gann, and I she was not really the Green Arrow's niece, and when M'gann knew and did not hate her, and after I had said her secret was not likely to be more hatred-deserving than my killing, she decided to trust. I met Sportsmaster and Cheshire in China working with the Red Arrow and the Ghost Fox Killer – I now realize what he said hinted at knowing Artemis – so that maybe helped."

    Dinah smiled. "I'm very proud she decided to tell the Team her secrets. Everything went over well?"

    "You can ask Artemis later, in person," I suggested. "We are here, I think, to talk about you, yes?"

    "…I suppose that is why I asked you for help, yes," she chuckled. "Wh-,"

    "Returning to you and the Red Arrow," I cut in before she could attempt to redirect, "I have laid out why the Red Arrow would not consider you appropriate for a mother to him, even if you are the primary female figure of influence in his life. The two categories overlap, but they are not... mutually… whatever is the opposite of mutually exclusive," I corrected. Scadrese had a term along the lines of 'mutually inclusive,' but it did not work well in English translation. "The Green Arrow is a mentor and teacher, not a parent. The Red Arrow was a ward and apprentice, but he was not a child when he met the Green Arrow, yes? And he reached first out, not the reverse, like with Artemis?"

    "I… yes, that's accurate, although it was more of... more arranged," she informed me.

    "But Roy was mostly grown from the beginning," I specified clearly before she could go into details less than relative to the point.

    "I'm not certain that fifteen-,"

    "Robin is fourteen years, Wally is fifteen, Artemis is fifteen, and Superboy is either sixteen years or four months. Because he fits the best, Wally: if Wally's parents and his uncle the Flash were killed and he was taken in by a new man, do you believe he would-,"

    "I take your point," Dinah cut in, grimacing. "I suppose I should give Roy an apology, if I've been part of the problem as well."

    I chuckled, certain that my next barb was sure to unsettle her. "Just be careful with awareness of hugging and physical contact when you do. Part of the Red Arrow's problem in rebellion may be that he wishes to compete with the Green Arrow for your affection."

    "He what!" There was a split second where I heard the warble of Dinah's Canary Cry but had yet to feel it, so I tapped weight.

    I had also been tapping a shallow draw from my zinc-mind during the conversation; I reflexively drained more to react in time.

    The impact still almost tipped me off-balance, but I had increased my weight and braced for it. Dinah would certainly have tumbled me backwards for a dozen paces if she put in the effort, but this was an accident, and because I had caused it I was not upset to endure it.

    She fell silent quickly, and I spoke before the pause of fright at her own voice could end.

    "I am fine, I expected that, do not feel guilty when I upset you, but I am honest when I say I think it is possible and sensible."

    "I-? Renka, I'm very sorry about that, are you-!" I slid out of my chair with steel-mind speed, crossed the distance between us in three steps, and covered her mouth, gently but firmly, with my fingers.

    "Dinah, I knew my words would provoke you when I said them, and I am unharmed. The words 'I'm sorry' should not be said to me when I knew what to expect, and before you ask, while I said the words knowing they would upset you and being amused by your reaction, I said them to be honest and serious as well, because it is possible."

    "It's ridiculous," she muttered, but her heart was not in it, while her head was too busy thinking.

    "The Red Arrow is eighteen: a legal adult here," I continued over her weak interjection, "and closer than the Green Arrow is to your age. He has, I think, known you almost as long as he has known the Green Arrow, and having the hormones of a young man, he may feel some attraction as well as affection to the beautiful, kind, honorable, and admirable young woman who spends time in his life."

    I let that sink into her for a second. Only after I saw her facial expression change did I remove my hand and return to my seat.

    "…Oh god," Dinah muttered. I felt a little guilty about messing with her, but it was a genuine possibility.

    'It would even be a disservice to let her continue her interactions and sabotage her own chance to mend bridges as she desires without being aware of this. Granted, I am not at all certain, which I am telling her, but the circumstances fit. …Of course, I also thought that about Artemis being the Green Arrow's out-of-wedlock daughter and dating Robin, and Kaldur'ahm being a clone, but I can tell her that as well.'

    "Renka, are you-? On your mother's grave-,"

    "On my mother's grave, I swear I consider this to be a legitimate possibility. I may be wrong, but I am not lying. It is still possible I am wrong, as when I believe some ideas I do not re-examine why until I am faced with my mistake. For instance, I also believed that Artemis was the Green Arrow's daughter recently taken in, and her mother was likely a… I believe the term is 'a honey pot,' Shadows agent."

    Dinah let out a little laugh/half-sob, her face cradled in her hands. "Oh, 'make your brain melt out your ears,' talk about on target."

    "Thank you," I murmured politely. "As the saying is, that 'iodine' stings means it is cleansing, yes?"
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Oh, poor Dinah, I'm sorry but I can't stop laughing! This is one of the reasons Renka is so fun to read about: she is very interested in getting these kinds of reactions, so we get to see people's brains melt out their ears.
     
    It seems to be lacking a threadmark, both here and on spacebattles. But its really good, your work is consistently interesting.

    Edit: of course it still leaves the question of what upset Black Canary enough that she really needed to talk to someone open, doesn't it.
     
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    You know, I'd read Renka saying some version of the "you have to reopen the wound/make it hurt more before it can really heal" analogy enough times that I was starting to get a little annoyed at the overuse. Until this update, because I just realized why she keeps saying it. It's one of her foundational beliefs, isn't it? It's why she lets herself indulge her sadistic side among allies-she's not just needling them, she's helping them to heal by hurting them. If she does it, it stops enemies from attacking that weak point, and it lets her air out problems in an environment where it can be resolved without becoming a bigger issue.

    But I think that's only part of it. Renka is someone who knows she's done horrible things, and doesn't entirely want to stop doing them. She enjoys hurting people, yes, but she wants to be a force for good. So, a big part of her philosophy is that doing bad things at the right time and place, to the right person, can actually make things better.

    Because of this, she's kind of an inverse of the normal motivations for a superhero. She took a job whose description is "beat people to a pulp to make the world a better place", because beating the crap out of acceptable targets is a way she can exercise her worst tendencies without lapsing back into becoming the monster she was when Ruin was whispering in her ear. And the reason she keeps saying it? She's double checking. She's not just referring to a figure of speech because she likes it; she's making sure it still applies. She asks people in power, people whose opinions she trusts whether the pain she's causing is still helping. If this is a situation where she causes more good than harm. It's a very subtle bit of characterization, Obloquy, and I applaud you for it.
     
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    Renka, you gem! As always, it's a pleasure to see how she perceives the world. Looking at things from a different angle; lacking the constrictions of our social norms, due to being from an extradimensional society and a sadist; and generally cutting to the root of a situation. I really do love her, kudos for creating such an awesome original character!
     
    I love that image of Renka provoking the canary cry and just weathering it with a smile on her face. And then she super-speeds across the room to gloat ... humblebrag ... look at the pain in her victim's eyes ...take responsibility and refuse Dinah's apology.

    I'm (only a little) surprised that it took that much to get Dinah clued in. I mean, it makes sense that there'd be some willful blindness there, but I had the exact same thought as Renka and it's not a difficult conclusion to reach. I wasn't expecting her to have to spell it out so thoroughly for Dinah to get the point.

    As someone who only caught up to the story last week, I've been trying to figure out the update schedule so I know what to plan for. From the index it looks like there are updates every weekend, but that the amount of content varies week by week. Some weeks see a single chapter, while others see up to four, spread out over a couple days. Am I interpreting that correctly? What's the best way to set my expectations (and not come across as a needy story addict who just wants more Renka all the time)?
     
    Childhood's Hour - part 2
  • Threadmarks
    • Life Ore Death​

    As others saw—I could not bring
    My passions from a common spring—    ​

    * November 4 [Renka PoV] Thursday

    "…Renka, did Roy ever tell you about the first time he and I met?" Dinah finally asked weakly, looking up at me.

    "No, he did not. Do you wish to?"

    "It… sort of fits with what you're bringing up. Scarily so, to be honest. This happened back before Green Arrow and I knew each other's secret identities. Given that Oliver's reputation speaks for itself-,"

    "Mm. I know his name is Oliver Queen, but I do not know who Oliver Queen is," I interrupted. "It is important?"

    "I… yes, in this case it is." She sighed. "I've told you about my mother, inheriting the Black Canary title, and training with Wildcat?"

    "Yes. I met the Wildcat as well, when the Jay-Ess-Ay reunited about the Red Tornado and siblings," I affirmed; he had mentioned her.

    "Right, right. Before he became Green Arrow, Oliver was a 'millionaire playboy,' having inherited control of Queen Industries and its revenue from his parents. He briefly became more serious once he started fighting crime as Green Arrow, until he realized he needed a better cover and, 'started trying to out playboy Wayne at his own game,' as he put it, so that if he disappeared on short notice the public would assume he was hung-over, being irresponsible, off having a secret rendezvous with triplets, or something like that, rather than fighting crime."

    "Is who is Wayne important?" I asked, but she waved it away.

    "No, he's just another of the millionaire playboy types known for setting the bar about it… Well, a billionaire playboy, but still."

    "Mm. How much or less does it bother you, that the Green Arrow has slept with more people than I have killed?" I asked curiously.

    "I wouldn't go that far," she objected. I resisted an urge to roll my eyes, gave in after second thoughts, and did math at her in return.

    "If the minimum bar for a 'playboy' is to sleep with one different woman every month, starting when he was twenty-two, then we can multiply the ten years by the twelve months and assume a minimum number. If he wanted to 'out-playboy' the playboy 'known for setting the bar,' then I think he would have far more than the minimum, yes? Although if he did stop three years ago when he dated you-?"

    "Enough, enough," Dinah beseeched me. "I take your point, but he doesn't do that anymore. The story is that he and I had a one-night stand in our secret identities, and I met Roy when I had to do the walk of shame to get breakfast the morning after."

    'One night stand' was relatively obvious in context, and I could confidently guess at 'walk of shame' as well as 'morning after,' so I nodded.

    "And my suggestion now has you very aware of the age differences, the first impression he had as a teenager tied closely to your sexual activity, and you are now remembering the event in a different light." I felt mildly guilty, but more amazed she had never guessed it.

    "Yes, and I'm not feeling very happy that I never thought about it before," she groaned. "He has hormones and he would consider me attractive and he knows me pretty well after all this time. I trained him in martial arts, too. Do you really think-?" I snorted.

    "If you believe I know certainty more or have more evidence than you do about the Red Arrow and his feelings, I will laugh again."

    Dinah narrowed her eyes at me. "…You don't need to know more than me to know something I don't," she pointed out petulantly.

    '…That is accurate, I admit.' I relented.

    "I am sorry, Dinah, that is correct for you to say. I also do not know what would be important, but I am willing to talk if you desire."

    The review of my adventures in China, and my working with Red Arrow, ate up another 15+ minutes as we discussed his behavior.

    'It is convenient Dinah chose to ask my opinion today, rather than tomorrow, or I would be canceling on one person or another by now.'

    "So: you are not sure because I have upset your certainty, and the best way is still to talk to him," I observed to her at the end of it.

    "Yes, I suppose it is. You know, I came to talk hoping you could help me feel better, or make up my mind," she sighed, standing.

    "You will feel better in the end," I told her, rising as well to stop her from walking away. "Right now we are still in the bitter medicine and painful surgery stage, Dinah, and we are not done yet at talking." Dinah only folded her arms and scowled at me.

    "Renka," she said flatly, "I don't think I have the energy to talk about this anymore."

    "Good, that is what I wanted, so you would not have the energy to panic," I told her. "I will stop you unless you really try to leave."

    She kept walking, so I slid after her and grabbed her arm before she neared the door. She tried to throw me, but I tapped weight.

    Dinah pin-wheeled for a moment, thrown off-balance, and I abused my steel-mind speed to scoop her up and plop her back in the chair.

    "If you truthfully do not want to talk about the Green Arrow planning to propose marriage, you may hit me with your Canary Cry."

    "What? Renka," she protested, "I'm not going to do that, just let me go." I tapped a bit more connection to get my point across.

    "Dinah, you spent the first time part of our conversation in a panic; while I admit to enjoyed mentally needling you in our talking, and the results were far beyond what I anticipated, the entire point of it was not my fun, but to exhaust you enough that you can now sit down and talk out your issues with marriage calmly and methodically, as the grown adult woman I respect for being a heroine."

    "…" She said nothing to that, but we had a brief, tentative, silent shoving match of her trying to make me let her go. I sighed.

    "Dinah, you know I can take a Canary Cry at this range with little problem of harm; my gold-mind is enough. I know that you would only use the Canary Cry on a friend under great emotional duress. If you hate the idea of finishing this discussion enough to hit me with the Cry then I will accept it as serious, but if not I will treat it as a child wanting to avoid an inoculation, because before this you were acting like a child."

    Her face contorted into a glare, and she inhaled sharply. I relaxed my body and prepared to take my fit retribution.

    Slowly, oh so slowly, Dinah exhaled. Silence.

    "I think I see what Batman meant, on the Watchtower. 'I appreciate your point, but not the manner in which you delivered it.'"

    I wanted to gloat a little, and bring up that he had relented on the matter in the end, despite his later, mild retribution, but I did not.

    "It is what you wanted, when you came to ask me, even if you know to not admit it. I am cleaning wounds for them to heal, Dinah."

    "…After I rescued Ollie and Perdita in baggage claim, I made one of those funny little quips. I asked, 'What would you do without me?' Vertigo – or whatever double or whatever it was with those looks and powers, because his guards have recordings of him being in their custody two time zones away and he just disappeared before we could cuff the bastard – his powers had forced Ollie to the floor."

    She stopped talking, subsumed in memories.

    "Yes, on the floor, from Vertigo," I prodded after ten silent seconds. Dinah vaguely nodded, her fingers laced over her mouth.

    "I held out my hand to help him up, but he took it and said, 'Well, since I'm on my knees anyway,' and reached for his pocket. Oliver has an okay poker face, but after three years on and off I know his tics, and he had that little twitch of panicked realization before he rallied."

    "He did not ask you without the ring?" 'I knew it was significant to Earth traditions, but that much? If he was ready to ask anyway….'

    "He made a joke about begging on his knees for me to… well, there was a place he wanted to take me to, he said. The rest is a bit private, but I could guess what he was going to say. There was a lot of bother with the authorities and making sure Perdita was safe, trying to figure out how Vertigo pulled off being there and then being in another time zone when we tried to accuse him… Before we made it out of there, Perdita pulled me aside to thank me, and to confide that he'd had a ring ready. 'It was a very nice ring, too,' she said; it got used as a circuit breaker to defuse a bomb that was part of the assassination attempt," Dinah sighed. "Am I a horrible person for being relieved?"

    "No. I am a horrible person, at times, and it takes one to know one, so no, I know you are not," I answered firmly. "Would you answer yes?"

    "If he still had the ring and asked me that first time? In public, in front of Perdita, the cameras, and the guards and god knows who else was rushing over? I don't think I could have said no. I'm just not sure I would have stuck by it, and that scares me. I feel… ashamed."

    I nodded. "That is a lot of pressure, or I so imagine. His sincerity and vulnerability can be endearing, when any man offers such a grand gesture to a woman-," 'Or vice-versa, but I've observed that is far less expected an occurrence on Earth.' "-but it can also be a weapon. I have used similar weakness tactics in advance; even when unintentional, they play on people's base unwillingness to harm others."

    Dinah grimaced a bit. "A little more extreme than I would have put it, but yes. Do you have a lot of experience with that type of thing?"

    "Not in person, but we have in the past discussed 'nightmare scenarios' in everyday life, and after his suggestion of being in class unclothed was laughed off, Wally spelled out instead for the Team the humiliation of a grand romantic gesture gone wrong. It was… interesting."

    "You would think so," Dinah grumbled, but there was an absence of venom to the bite.

    "Whether or not you want to marry him, you actively do-not-want to deeply hurt him, yes?"

    "Yes," she sighed. "For all the size of his ego, it can be fragile in places, and actually hitting him where it hurts, that humiliation-,"

    "It could damage the good things that are between you," I finished. "It could Ruin your relationship." Dinah shivered at my words.

    "Exactly."

    "So, the best thing I can help you to do is, I think, to make sure that does not happen. Will you answer scenario questions for me?"

    "Hypothetical scenarios? …Okay, hit me," she invited.

    "Would you want to ask the Green Arrow to marry you?" I asked first. Dinah took a moment to think it over. She shook her head.

    "Not at this time of my life, no. We...have been seeing each other over the past three years, but it hasn't been all in a row. We've broken up- I've broken up with him three times, although we ended up back together one, four, and two months afterward."

    "Why does he believe you want to marry him?"

    "The first time we broke up, we'd had a discussion about our future, and where we saw things going. I was interested in something more long-term and stable, leading up to marriage. He told me he wasn't planning to settle down any time soon. We parted ways."

    'I had not even meant to ask about the break-up events. Still, if they ended up together again a month later…. Who changed their mind?'

    "If he had asked and you had said yes, would you have continued with the plans for marriage?"

    "I- I think so, yes. It's not that I necessarily hate the idea… I'm also wondering if- no, I shouldn't worry about that."

    "If it is worrying you, you should face it and with reason dismiss it," I advised her. Dinah heaved another sigh and flopped back.

    "Oliver was a multi-millionaire, meaning he had plenty of women who wanted him for his money, back when he had it. I've always wondered if that was a deciding part in his unwillingness to discuss marriage. It isn't a problem anymore, because between his cover, his genuine bad habits, and a few pieces of bad luck, he's no longer a millionaire, not really. He can still live unsupported as he is, but all things considered, I'm sure Roy has more money than Oliver, now. Meaning, he doesn't have to worry about any women who want his money."

    "Do you think he thought you were one of the women who wanted his money before he lost it?" I wondered absently.

    "No, I don't think he would intentionally act like that, or treat me like that, but I don't like the implications behind it, either."

    "Mm. What other problems make you worry about marrying him?" I asked, because beyond that I… might've been drawing a blank.

    "…The second time we broke up, for the longest time, it was because he slept with another woman. Two other women, in fact."

    'There, that has it all making more sense again.' "Do you worry he will do so again?"

    "Not really. Either he does or he doesn't, and harping at him about it is unhealthy, as well as an excellent way to push him away."

    "Wise," I complimented. "Do you believe he would forgive you for doing the same?"

    "For wha-? Where did that come from?" Dinah asked in return, sitting up sharply.

    "Marriage is a loving bond between equal partners, or so, yes? You have forgiven him once. Do you believe he equally is willing to forgive you should you make the same mistake?"

    "That… I think he probably would, but if I got to the point where I would consensually do that with another man despite our being together, I'm not certain I would want to ask for his forgiveness."

    "Mm. In this case, if you are uncertain, perhaps a test. It does not need to happen, but if you say you slept with another man-,"

    "Renka, no. That is blatantly manipulative and an abuse of his trust." I let her search for things to say. "You've been known to advise that we should wonder about, 'what could go wrong?' If I did that, I couldn't imagine trying to tell him I'd lied to him about something so important, afterward. What would it say about me if I mistrusted him so much that I went to those lengths? How would I justify that to him?"

    "It is only a suggestion," I sighed. "Tell him it is my fault. Many of the Justice League know what talking to me can do to a mind."

    "That- On that note, perhaps I should end this conversation." She stood up, and this time I let her, because I was almost done.

    But I followed her as she walked away, because I was only almost done.

    "In connection to the problem of what to say if he asks you to marry him, especially if he asks you in public, you might delay."

    Dinah paused. "I'm sorry?" she asked.

    In reply, I cleared my throat.

    "M-marriage? I… Oliver, this is… Oliver, I'm sorry, I want, I mean, there are things going on in my life right now that I haven't told you about, and I'm in no- I can't- Hold onto the ring, and give me three days to get everything in order, and then I'll tell you everything."

    Dinah stared. I smiled beatifically at her, pressed the 'open' button, and stepped into the hall.

    "Renka?" she called after I took three steps.

    "Mm?" I stopped, but I did not turn around to face her.

    "Thank you. I thought this talk- no, this talk was a mess, but I'm walking out of it with one solid piece of advice." She gave a choked little half-laugh. "Heck, with all the things spinning through my brain, it's even true that I'm in no fit state to think about- thank you."

    I gave a rippling little laugh. "Truly, my pleasure," I replied in all meanings. Dinah snorted at me.

    "Oh, I'll just bet," she muttered more darkly. "See if I do this again."

    "I am surprised you did it the first time. But now you are thinking about the worst, and either it will be true and you will be warned, or it will not and you will be pleasantly surprised, yes?" Dinah sighed a final time behind me.

    "Maybe we need to have another session about you sometime soon. We are overdue, aren't we, what with-,"

    "What with the personal business that leaves you mostly on leave for the next while, which I do not need to know about," I cut through and interjected. "There is an English saying that good fences make good neighbors. With the understanding that a 'good fence' has a gate, I agree. I am almost always happy to talk to you, Dinah, but today I am doing more experiments with Wally, Zatanna, and the Green Lantern after the end of their school. Tomorrow I am mediating a meeting with the Red Robot family and the Metal Men in the morning, then the Captain Marvel and I will take Miss Beautia Sivana to Germany so she will discuss her encounter with Captain Nazi to Miss Gerri Brauer, who is a part of the search for him. Saturday I am standing guard at Star Labs with the Ice and then going on a patrol and a children's hospital visit in Metropolis. On Sunday after ten and before three I am certain to be free," I informed her.

    "I will see you then," Dinah agreed. I finally looked back, we both nodded amicably, if tiredly, and we parted down the hall.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • You know, this conversation makes me wonder how Renka would handle the other origin of the second Black Canary.

    Black Canary was a golden age hero, Green Arrow wasn't.

    So the writers realized that GA was dating a woman from a previous generation.

    They decided that was icky.

    So their solution was to make Black Canary 2 the first Canary's mindless daughter that her mother ends up possessing.

    Yes, somehow the DC writers thought that the solution to Ollie dating an older woman was to make that older woman her own mother.

    Big improvement on the icky scale, I'm sure.

    One of the decisions that gave me the theory that comic book writers get paid in booze and drugs.
     
    Obloquy said:
    "It is only a suggestion," I sighed. "Tell him it is my fault. Many of the Justice League know what talking to me can do to a mind."

    "That- On that note, perhaps I should end this conversation."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Snrk :lol
    Obloquy said:
    "I am surprised you did it the first time. But now you are thinking about the worst, and either it will be true and you will be warned, or it will not and you will be pleasantly surprised, yes?"
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Oh my god, that's my not-at-all-paranoid philosophy too!
     
    Ten Truths - B07
  • Sidestory
    • Artemis B07 - Ten Truths

    1. Artemis is 90% sure she has Stockholm syndrome. She's talked to Dinah about it obliquely a few times, but she hasn't ever come right out and asked if the older blonde thinks Artemis is mentally ill. She's too worried that maybe Dinah hasn't noticed it yet (she's not actually sure if Dinah has any license involving psychology) but would agree if it's brought up and kick her off the Team. But even when she can't like her father, there are still times she admits she loves him: however abusive he may have been, she can't forget he was also her only source of care & support for six years, and shouldn't one sorta cancel the other a bit out?


    2. Ignoring Superboy's berserk tantrum in Bialya, Artemis is the Team member who was youngest when she first killed: age 11, when Sportsmaster left her with an acceptable target in Thailand. It left her messed up badly enough that Sportsmaster expressed regret about it, apologized to her, and turned down two jobs to stick around and nurse her through the worst of it. She's not sure if she's forgiven him, (or would/could ever) but she won't be throwing it in his face any time soon, either. Mostly, Artemis just wants to ignore that it ever happened.


    3. Even without a bow and arrows, Artemis is good enough in & out of combat to act as a valuable member of the Team. She's had six years of personal training under Sportsmaster, who is no less a task master than Batman, although they emphasize different areas. Artemis is almost as good at sneaking as Robin, is proficient with more melee weapons than everyone else on the Team, and has the best ranged weapon abilities, be it with thrown weapons like Robin's discs, a bow and arrow, or firearms.

    She's really good with firearms, but her chances to practice with them were limited while Sportsmaster was away at work; archery equipment she can carry in public and practice in a Gotham park unsupervised, which is why she chose to use it when she first went out.


    4. There are multiple overlapping reasons for Artemis the girl styling herself as she did to be Artemis the heroine. First was her longtime admiration of Green Arrow; he was the most well-known normal human hero beside the storied Batman (whom Artemis was too worried about encountering to admire), having been active since 2001 and already serving on the League when it was revealed to the public.

    Second was pragmatism: arrows let her stay at a safe range and potentially move around in public without attracting too much attention (sports equipment and her lack of the best armor available), while dark green clothing is actually far better than pitch black for moving in camouflage and stealth.

    Third was practicality, because her first uniform was made of the best material available with her limited funds and resources. In short, it was a mix of what she had on hand and what she could afford without access to Sportsmaster's funds. Similarly, she kept it despite theoretically having access to the Justice League's resources because it was still pretty good, and put her less in their debt (although she did get a layer of the skin-tight super-spandex to go under it and cover her torso, after the brainstorming session where the Team discussed how they could up their game).


    5. Given the theory of "all's well that ends well," Artemis is of the opinion that her first interactions with the Team went pretty well, in light of how horrible things could have been. It wasn't until she knew Ferris better that she realized the dangerous woman had been warning her off in the introductions, when Artemis had mocked Wally (Renka's currently closest friend).

    The inclusion of Jade's unexpected reappearance nearly gave her a heart attack at the time, and then her trying to stay on the sidelines ended up in the perfect position to break Jade a little bit, just by dumb luck and Ferris's forethought. Then Sportsmaster had shown, all insane, and she'd been terrified. But she'd walked away without (she thought) anyone aware of her family history, so that was okay.


    6. Artemis loves her mother, and is glad to have her back, but often she feels that the woman who returned is not the same mother she lost. Huntress was hard and sharp, able to be subtle as well as strong; the woman who returned from prison was reduced to crying to convince Artemis of bettering her life's opportunities at Gotham Academy, rather than laying down the law. Huntress had never needed violence, and only rarely its threat, in order to exert her will on others.

    She understood it — Paula Crock was coming off of six years' helplessness in a wheelchair, with no family visits, and no opportunities to keep sharp any skills — but as much as Artemis loved having her mother back, a nasty little part inside her insisted that she did not have her mother back. As a result, Artemis tends to swing back and forth between avoiding her mother via Team activities and trying desperately to bond with her and make up for lost time. She hopes it evens out.


    7. Artemis has tried to keep up with the people she knew at Gotham North public high school, but it is easier said than done. The school is not a breeding ground for criminals, whatever elitist propaganda tries to say, but a lot of the kids there are very aware of the dropout rate, the college matriculation rate, the exam averages, etc. Some of them resent her good fortune and don't want to talk to her. Some of them don't care and it's a bit awkward, but they get over it when they can. Some want to experience it vicariously, and Artemis has to reluctantly explain that she can't put in a good word for them about scholarships because she still doesn't know who the hell arranged hers.

    Green Arrow says he doesn't have that kind of pull in Gotham, Robin claims he doesn't have an idea, and her number 1 suspect is Batman, but getting a straight answer out of him is like pulling teeth (even if she's brave enough to ask). So Artemis has let it be, but she wishes there were ways to bring the facets of her life — heroism, the bad side of town, and the scholarship student — together better.


    8. Not being a Star City native, and having only met the man after he lost much of his fortune, Artemis doesn't really find anything odd or not about Green Arrow's identity as Oliver Queen. At most, she's flattered by the extension of trust shown in telling her who he is.

    She spends a lot of time in Star City despite living in Gotham — not quite as much as Ferris in Metropolis, since the elder doesn't have to juggle school during the day, but close — and likes how overcast it isn't, as well as finding a bunch of good places. She wishes she could bring non-Team friends over, but accepts life as it is. She wouldn't want to move there yet, but maybe in college….


    9. Her interactions with the other three females on the Team — and Dinah, who she sees a lot of in Star City — only drive home how screwed up a lot of her family relationships are. Not only is there a epic amount of bridge repair to do with her mother, but she has not a clue if Jade actually cares about her or not, especially when compared with Ferris. Artemis is much closer to sisterhood with M'gann than Renka, but their relationship is one of equals, whereas she admires Ferris for all that she's survived and still coming back to a better path. It gives her hope for Jade, but also throws her natural sister's faults into a much sharper light.

    She's the least happy of the 4 — M'gann is preppy and peppy, Zatanna stays upbeat, and even Renka makes clear how much she enjoys many aspects of life — but hey, someone has to be, and almost everyone she knows has commented on how much more cheerful she's been at times. (A part of that is also due to more amiable interactions with Wally, not that she'd admit it.)


    10. Artemis is pretty sure she's been made by Barbara Gordon, but there's been no confrontation and the girl's cool so she's fine with that. Bab's dad does interact with Batman on a regular basis, so it isn't like the younger girl would expose her, and the redhead is halfway to vigilantism herself, juggling her straight A grades and kickass gymnastics career. They don't have enough classes together (or any) for Barbara to be her best school friend — that's Bette Kane currently — but they hang in between.

    There was some grouchiness at first, since Dick Grayson (the ward of Bruce freaking Wayne himself, so he probably knew who got his dad's namesake scholarship, even if the freshman didn't know Barbara was crushing on him) had snapped a selfie with her out of nowhere, but when Artemis ignored the freshman as the annoying troll he is Barbara warmed right up to her and Bette both.

    There's been talk about starting up a women's self-defense class/club as an extra curricular, prompted by Artemis's comment as to her old high school, "this is Gotham, a girl getting mugged is practically a right of passage," which apparently hit a little close to home. On top of gymnastics, Barbara has taken some kind of karate since her dad's a cop, then Bette's walk betrayed some training as well, reminiscent of military styles, and Dick Grayson had been an acrobat before the accident that orphaned him, and after there'd been enough kidnapping attempts that he got taught too.

    She hasn't been entirely folded into the freshmen's friend group, or any of her own age ranges, but most people have known each other at least a year (assuming they didn't matriculate in from as associated lower-lever educational institute). She's fine with growing more comfortable slowly, and there's been astoundingly little mockery over her social class in class. She still prefers to spend time with the Team, but there are people she's starting to care about. Things are finally looking up.
     
  • Sidestory
    • I'm glad this little peek into Artemis's mind doesn't focus on how she interacts with guys, but I'm disappointed there wasn't any insight into her thoughts on superpowers. Is she more fearful of mindreading (now that her secret is out) or superstrength since the latter can make her feel helpless? Has she toyed with the idea of asking Wally how to get superspeed? What are her feelings about atlantean magic or darker magics and her own potential? How does she feel about Fate's helmet and has she judged herself according to the qualities Fate told Ferris he cared about in a host?
     
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