Frescko
King of Silver 🏳️⚧️
Kinda sorta very off topic, but how's/how'd the Vacation go Ficser?
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 (Young Justice/Gamer/Multicross OC)
- Thread starter Mister Ficser
- Start date
Kinda sorta very off topic, but how's/how'd the Vacation go Ficser?
The country I went to was beautiful but I was sick for the first half of the trip and my wife was sick for the second half, which kind of made enjoying things a bit difficult.
That said, I'd absolutely suggest that anyone interested in visiting Taiwan, to go ahead and do so. It'll be really helpful when I finally get around to writing the Lex Luthor/Rhelasia episode.
Which means I'll actually know more about the country than the writers of YJ DC did -_-
Does "really helpful" means "have Lex Luthor be sick during his trip to Rhelasia"?
Rich people get sick too.
Lex: 🤢🤮 "BLARG!!!"
Mister Ficser: (evil smile)
Yes. North and South Rhelasia were having their peace talks 'moderated' by their mutual arms dealer Lex Luthor in Taipei, Taiwan.
If you want to know something specific about Korea Mister Ficster, I'm currently living here, so I might know the answer. Feel free to message me.
Thank you! I'll keep that in mind. The DC writers basically made the cutouts murderously argumentative which doesn't really offer any depth into the people or culture.
I've also got my wife on tap, she's from Taiwan and has worked in China and a little bit in Korea. The Seoul airport was beautiful when I had a layover there about four years ago.
Magos Tractor-1
Archmagos Dominus
- Location
- Somewhere in Mars, Olymus Mons probably
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Alchemist being in a vacation in Taiwan while the summit is happening is a nice plot bunny. One of Light's leaders interacting with Alchemist and said mad wizard being unimpressed at Luthor's Luthorness is a scene that makes me feel immense schadenfreude.
Edit: Also personally giving Luthor his next artery clogging meal.
Edit: Also personally giving Luthor his next artery clogging meal.
I forget, will Luthor give any speeches or opening proclamations at the Rhelasia summit?
In one of the "Naked Gun" movies, Leslie Nelson's character gives a speech, forgets to turn off the mic clipped to his shirt, and leaves to goes to the bathroom where everything can be heard on the PA system.
On PA speakers:
PPPPFFFFRRRTTT!!!
Lex Luthor:
"Shouldn't have had that second helping of curry."
FWEEEEEE-SPRT-SPRT!!!
Lex Luthor: "Oh god my butthole is on fire!"
[later]
Lex Luthor: (returns from bathroom)
Lex Luthor: "Why is everyone looking at me?"
The Rhelasians: 
?!?!
PPPPFFFFRRRTTT!!!
Lex Luthor:
"Shouldn't have had that second helping of curry."FWEEEEEE-SPRT-SPRT!!!
Lex Luthor:
"Oh god my butthole is on fire!"[later]
Lex Luthor: (returns from bathroom)
Lex Luthor:
"Why is everyone looking at me?"The Rhelasians:
?!?!
Magos Tractor-1
Archmagos Dominus
- Location
- Somewhere in Mars, Olymus Mons probably
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
And despite all that money and influence, Luthor wipes his ass with TP before zipping up, like an uneducated barbarian. Bidet and TP combo, FTW!I forget, will Luthor give any speeches or opening proclamations at the Rhelasia summit?
In one of the "Naked Gun" movies, Leslie Nelson's character gives a speech, forgets to turn off the mic clipped to his shirt, and leaves to goes to the bathroom where everything can be heard on the PA system.
On PA speakers:
PPPPFFFFRRRTTT!!!
Lex Luthor:
FWEEEEEE-SPRT-SPRT!!!
Lex Luthor:
[later]
Lex Luthor: (returns from bathroom)
Lex Luthor:
The Rhelasians:
- Location
- Whadjuk Noongar boodja
Owch, shots fired.
And more up their nose than across the bows, to boot!
Two questions:
=(1) Which K-Pop songs were popular in 2010? That's the year "Young Justice" season one takes place, and Alchemist is the type to make pop culture references.
=(2) For Alchemist's permanent [Tongues] and [Comprehend Languages], would it be a big deal on Social Media for an American/Western celebrity (or a Justice League member) to be heard speaking* fluent grammatically-correct Korean/Rhelasian? Or would it NOT be a big deal and they are just "pleasantly surprised" an American/Western celebrity took the time to learn their language?
*If Alchemist was recorded speaking by someone's camera-phone, would the recording sound like the listener's native language?
That gave me an idea, so I went and looked up Gangnam Style.
It's from 2012, unfortunately.
I can't speak a lick of any foreign languages myself, and not for lack of trying. Nothing sticks and I end up confusing myself when I do play with any of them. With that said- In my experience, especially watching other foreigners who actually can speak Japanese, Chinese, etc..., people in East Asia tend to be surprised and confused when a foreigner can speak and understand their language.
Usually they're happy with it but some seem to have a hard time understanding how someone that didn't grow up with the language can speak it.
The idea that Al can be recorded in All-Speech is something I've toyed with, off and on, and I think I would go with a tentative yes unless someone more familiar with how Tongues interacts with recordings can bring up why not.
It's from 2012, unfortunately.
I can't speak a lick of any foreign languages myself, and not for lack of trying. Nothing sticks and I end up confusing myself when I do play with any of them. With that said- In my experience, especially watching other foreigners who actually can speak Japanese, Chinese, etc..., people in East Asia tend to be surprised and confused when a foreigner can speak and understand their language.
Usually they're happy with it but some seem to have a hard time understanding how someone that didn't grow up with the language can speak it.
The idea that Al can be recorded in All-Speech is something I've toyed with, off and on, and I think I would go with a tentative yes unless someone more familiar with how Tongues interacts with recordings can bring up why not.
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
More fun to be had if Luthor remembers their interaction, knows that he met "L," but can't remember who he is or what he looks like, and nobody else can, either, including Klarion's attempts at scrying the past, which just end up with a big non-Euclidian blob where "L" was.
- Location
- A small blue dot
This is making me think of other possibly strange scenarios with all speak. Would using All-Speech telepathy on a deaf person cause them to 'hear' sign language or see hands in their mind? What would happen when speaking to a species that doesn't use sound to communicate, but does have the ability to hear (for example a species that uses bioluminescent light patterns to communicate)? Would it be like synesthesia? It probably doesn't work on deaf species, but is there an All-Speech sign language?
The same questions could be asked about the lantern rings and their universal translators. I'm sure there are alien species out there that don't communicate using sound, though the rings can be more flexible with their translators since they also have other functions that the translator can bootstrap for communication purposes.
The same questions could be asked about the lantern rings and their universal translators. I'm sure there are alien species out there that don't communicate using sound, though the rings can be more flexible with their translators since they also have other functions that the translator can bootstrap for communication purposes.
Quick Disclaimer: I've only lived in Korea for about two years (2022-2023) so I am by no means an expert, but...
Here's the Wikipedia page on kpop in the year 2010 if that's helpful.
While Gangnam style us from 2012, Psy, the singer who made it, has been around for a while and had just released his 5th album, PsyFive, on October 20, 2010. One of the songs got banned for under 19s due to a reference to alcohol and overall, the album did pretty well and even won some awards in 2011.
Here's the Wikipedia page on kpop in the year 2010 if that's helpful.
In my experience it really depends on where in Korea someone is from. Someone from Seoul, who sees plenty of foreigners who speak at least a little Korean, would not be nearly as impressed as someone from a less touristy city such as Daegu or a small provincial town. They'd probably be more confused in 2010 however, before BTS made learning Korean trendy (2016) and Duolingo made starting new languages easy (public launch in 2012).
As long as you make it consistent with that one chapter immediately after they came back with the dragon ship and hear someone speak French
- Pronouns
- he/him/his
...I'm not certain this scene is internally consistent on the matter. The woman asking if he speaks French seems to indicate that she did not hear him in French, but then there was apparently a change in the language coming out of his mouth after casting Dispel.
Possibly he said "Sorry, wrong number" in French because he heard the French reply?
In the chapter prior, he spoke on the radio with leadership of the country that made the dragonship with no issues. I highly doubt that they were speaking English.
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
I think maybe Alchemist has to hear a bit of the language being spoke before Comprehend Languages translates properly? Maybe? He didn't know he was supposed to speak French, so the spell didn't properly translate. But once he did, he had to dispel it, else he'd be speaking French.
Though I don't think this was ever brought up as an actual point of fact anywhere.
It also depends on when the Rhelasian peace talks take place, and if it coincides with any holidays or dates of historic importance.
I've been told that Christmas in Japan and Korea is like a second Valentine's Day, so Alchemist would be extra-annoyed if Lex Luthor's shenanigans interrupted his special day with Kary-chan.
On social media:
SpecificProtagonist: (picture of Al and Kary on date)
SpecificProtagonist: "Good husbandos bringing their waifus KFC on Christmas."
VoidCowboy: "An angel eating fried chicken? Isn't that cannibalism?"
All_Seeing_Eye: (proceeds to describe how chickens can and will eat anything they can get their beaks on)
🐔🐓🍗
I've been told that Christmas in Japan and Korea is like a second Valentine's Day, so Alchemist would be extra-annoyed if Lex Luthor's shenanigans interrupted his special day with Kary-chan.
On social media:
SpecificProtagonist: (picture of Al and Kary on date)
SpecificProtagonist: "Good husbandos bringing their waifus KFC on Christmas."
VoidCowboy:
"An angel eating fried chicken? Isn't that cannibalism?"All_Seeing_Eye: (proceeds to describe how chickens can and will eat anything they can get their beaks on)
🐔🐓🍗
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
What a fustercluck.
All-Speech and Tongues work by the person listening automatically translate the words they hear into their own language.
All-Speech is Divine/magical, and probably can't be recorded properly and keep its nature, but that's your call. People hear the words exactly as they are meant to be heard, bypassing all language, and those who have it can also naturally understand all languages, as well. It's the Divine power that makes it work.
Tongues expressly only works on those within range of the effect, and a recording would simply hear normal English. It's the people listening who hear it in their mother tongues.
Comprehend Languages enables you to understand a written or spoken language (one at a time), it does not allow you to SPEAK it.
So someone watching Alchemist address a bunch of foreigners in English, listen to them replying in their native tongues, and everyone understanding everyone might look a bit odd in a recording.
In my own stories, I use the concept of 'genetic language'. There IS a Human Language, and connects all people through the Akasha, the biblical 'one language' that was lost at the fall of the Tower of Babel. Rediscovering it is one of the Great Events that helps unite humanity.
Last edited:
All Speech would be understood as however it was needed to be understood by the one listening/receiving. How they visualize it could be widely different by person, but it would ACCURATE, which is the important part.
As speech, it requires the ability to hear. The user of All-speech could certainly discern and understand a visual language that is relevant, as understanding a language isn't limited by hearing (we call that writing, and signal Morse Code, among other things). I would put a caveat on that for living beings, however: it's been demonstrated many times that Thor and Hercules don't automatically understand computer languages or engravings without actually knowing the languages involved on their own.
It is entirely possible that All-Speech could be radiated/translated visibly if the user is capable of doing so. I imagine Thor would have his hammer crackle in the appropriate rhythms if needed and he realized what was needed for the other party to perceive his words. As for written/sign language forms, usually that falls under Runes of some kind, since magic would be involved.
Lantern Rings can communicate across many modes, including telepathy and sound. There is a Green Lantern who is completely blind, and his Oath indicates that the sound of the Lantern's Light is an F-Sharp bell!
As an aside, the Tongues spell allows you to communicate in non-verbal modes, too. It could translate the Saurial Paladin Dragonbait's scent-based speech back and forth, for instance.
Last edited:
Al has basically show the JL folks that he's willing to teach anybody if they just ask pretty shure it's a combination of zataras misunderstanding and just general paranoia around the usual motivations of his fellow mages coloring his judgment about AL, Nabu basically stating that he's just a cataclysmic entity with no redeeming features and must just be planing something evil and that even if he's not evil he's chaotic and that's worse, Diana the team mental health "expert" letting everyone know that she believes he's a psychopath with an inability to conect with others to the entire team wich even if it were true doctor patients confidence should have kept her from sharing this.Diana also seem jealous of him in some ways and is reacting to anything he dose with either a tantrum when she can't force a conversation or messing with his reputation from personal dislike. These things combined seem to be makeing other JL members weary of every interacting with AL. It has been shown that after spending time with him or just around him most of the older heros seem to realize that some stuff they've heard doesn't match with reality. Honestly would love to see Zatara deciding to ase AL about magic, retiring and straight up bullying AL to accept him and his daughter as apprentices cause he's tired of his own family's bull, also I think Zatana had an older son at one point he died pretty badly from what I remember. Zatana never knew him I don't think. Besides who better to teach his daughter than a dragon who has access to resources extinct on their earth I'm shere shadowchrest has so.e spells that can't or haven't been used in generations dew to lack of material components. Also smug semi-domesticated shadowcrest loading it over the other stalker homes that it actually got the dragons not only to visit but stay and read.
Chapter 263
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 Alpha Build 2.6.3
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
25/11/2010
Thanksgiving.
M'gann had so many ideas about Thanksgiving. Food and family and togetherness, just like she used to see on T.V.! She wanted to cook a turkey! She wanted to bake a pumpkin pie! She wanted to... sauce... a... cranberry?
Okay, she wasn't one-hundred percent certain on that one. But she wanted to figure it out and then do that!
Unfortunately, her uncle J'onn was busy answering some weird questions from people at NASA about some kind of alien that showed up on the moon talking about the capital city of Mars.
So she was on her own for the day. And she kind of wanted to use a kitchen that was much, much better equipped than his.
"B-Zero-Five!" an automated voice declared as the young woman stepped out of the Zeta Terminal in Mount Justice. Looking around as she stepped out of the immaterial tunnel, M'gann didn't see anyone around.
Not really a surprise. People had their own things, their own families to spend Thanksgiving wi-
"C'mon! C'mon-c'mon-c'mon-Yes!" a voice shouted from the common area as M'gann walked deeper into the mountain. "Yes! Touchdown! Woo! Yes!"
Stepping into the room, M'gann felt a bit confused and out of place as Cheetah was leaning forward on the couch, a hefty plate loaded with ham and stuffing on the table in front of her and a sports game playing on the big screen. Turning to the side, the martian saw Red Tornado was seated with his hands on his knees near the villain, clearly disinterested, and Alchemist was in the kitchen, boxing up some leftovers while the sink was running.
"Suck it, Bengals!" Cheetah continued to shout at the screen while a guy wearing a green football outfit with the number 10 on it danced on the screen. "Cheetahs are the best big cats and don't you forget it!"
M'gann looked at the crowing cat, the very still robot and the mage who was snapping his fingers and cleaning the dishes. Out of the three?
She chose to step into the kitchen.
"Hey-o," Alchemist quietly greeted her as a beer commercial started to play on the television. "Half expected you to be with Connor today. What's up?"
"He's spending the day with his family and I wasn't... I don't know if I'm invited," M'gann admitted, reaching across herself to nervously hold her arm. "So I kind of wanted to experiment in the kitchen. What are you doing here?"
"Making sure Barbara has a good, hearty meal for the holiday," Alchemist explained, waving his hands towards the containers he'd been filling. Most of a ham, stuffing, peas and carrots and a so far untouched apple pie. "Ended up making more than I thought, especially since Garfield and Marie have gone back home. Still, she's enjoying herself, which is nice considering her case has stalled out at the moment."
The redheaded martian turned to look at the lounging cat woman, reaching out with her mind to get a general feel for her emotions.
Satisfied, happy, full yes but there was an undercurrent of stress and anxiety that the woman was doing a wonderful job ignoring.
"That was nice of you," M'gann commented as the man kept putting away the leftovers. "What about your own family?"
"I've got plans with them, don't worry," he said as he closed the fridge and turned his eyes over to meet hers. "What about yours?"
"I..." The question actually brought the girl up short. She hadn't really thought about her mom, her dad or her brothers and sisters in a while. Not actively. Things had just been too hectic, too many distractions pulling her attention every which way. "I haven't really thought about them. I... hope they're doing okay?"
"We can go check on them if you want," the man told her, his voice soft as he moved over to the still-running sink and began to wash his hands. "I can get us to Mars pretty quick. Faster now than when I made the offer a while back, really."
M'gann looked down to the floor as she thought on his offer.
Going by bioship was a slow, ponderous journey that was downright maddening and miserable. A journey that even her uncle J'onn wouldn't take unless things were scheduled just right to cut down the travel time as much as possible.
"How long would it take?" M'gann asked, looking back up as Alchemist cut off the water.
"Somewhere in the range of five minutes," the mage told her as he snapped his wet fingers and a window formed in the air in front of her.
M'gann recognized the scene that she saw through it. It was different, bigger than she remembered but that was Alchemist's personal realm.
She sent the man a confused glance and got a nod in return.
Curious, and maybe more than a little homesick, she stepped through the Gate and Alchemist quickly followed her.
The place was bigger than she remembered it being. There was a house, now, and a whole bunch of metal men were tending to a garden and a growing orchard of fruit trees and small saplings. A faint smell of dung clung to the air but it did nothing to overpower the scent from the flowers growing in pots around the walls of the cabins.
One sapling in particular stood out from the others. It stood alone in a big pot right next to the cabin they'd all slept in. But whatever strange aura surrounded the young tree was indecipherable to the Martian. It was important, she knew that, she could feel it, but...
It just looked like another sapling, to her.
"Hey... Alchemist?" M'gann asked, an idea forming.
"Yeah?"
"Could you help me with some cooking?" she asked, excitement and eagerness filling her chest with a light, fluttery feeling. "My family has seen Thanksgiving dinners on T.V. but we don't have things like 'Turkeys' or 'Pumpkin Pies' or 'Cranberry Sauce' on Mars."
"...Sure," the man agreed after a second of hesitation. "How many people did you want to feed?"
"My mom, my dad, M'comm, Em'ree, D'orr, Nay'll, maybe some leftover for uncle J'onn, J'imm, J'kib..." M'gann began to happily list off, naming her many, many, many brothers and sisters.
M'gann was so busy reciting her very extended family tree, she quite missed it when Alchemist sighed and said "I'm going to need a bigger kitchen..."
-----
Alchemist hadn't been planning on doing a full Thanksgiving dinner for the day but M'gann wanted to share a bit of Earth culture with her family and he...
Well, he'd had his Bilocation duplicate looking over the homonculus he'd been growing over the past month. There really wasn't anything left for him to do with the creation, not really. It was stable, which was good and bad.
Good, it just needed a nutrient solution pumped into the tank and it would keep maturing with minimal supervision.
Bad, it had passed the point where he could make any further modifications without risking the whole thing falling apart. He'd picked up some preserved Elf flesh when he was ransacking Lezard's Tower and that could've imparted, or helped reinforce, the homonculus's capacity for metaphysical growth. As it was, the homonculus Alchemist was making for Lucifer's daughter, Alex, was just going to have to settle for a native soul capacity capable of housing a member of the seraphic host and filled with the blood of titans.
Ah well. It was hardly the first time that Alchemist had gotten his hands on some potentially amazing materials when it was already too late to use them.
Letting that instance of himself fade away as he stepped into his demi-plane, Alchemist felt as though he'd stopped crossing his eyes and the new monofocus came with a genuine sense of relief.
Keeping up Bilocation wasn't a strain. He'd been making liberal use and abuse of it nearly every day. With that said, it was still nice to let the spell drop and just be in one place at a time.
Inhaling deeply, especially appreciative of how unobtrusive the smell of horse dung was after he and the golems had spent so much time collecting it and cleaning the demi-plane-
His roofs, especially, had needed a thorough prestidigitating.
-Alchemist turned towards his house and began to walk to it. "Come on," he called out to M'gann, pulling the girl out of whatever place her mind had gone. "It's been a while since I've done a full turkey, so I might be a bit rusty."
"Oh, uh, alright," M'gann said, filling the silence as she followed him into his home. "But you know how to do all of that, right?"
"Most of it," he told her as they walked into the kitchen. Alchemist took a moment to survey the countertops and cookware, mentally putting together a list of what all he needed. "I'll need to dig up a recipe for cranberry sauce; I've never made that, but I've done the rest."
It took a few minutes for the two to start working, time that was spent simply figuring out what all they needed. A large pot to do double-duty for boiling ears of corn and steaming a hefty amount of peas and carrots. A deep roasting pan for a reasonably large turkey. A baking sheet for dinner rolls. A pie tin, for the pie, of course. Finally, after consulting a recipe book that Alchemist didn't remember picking up but was in his inventory regardless-
Actually there were quite a few recipe books. He assumed he must have grabbed them back when he and Batman went on a looting spree in the Zombie I.D.
-they added a sauce pan to the pile.
"...What should we do first?" M'gann asked as she looked over the various implements, then over to the kitchen table where the raw ingredients were piled up.
"The turkey," Alchemist immediately answered. "It's going to take the longest, so we need to get it started first."
So saying, he hefted the bird in both hands and set it into the roasting pan. Swiftly divesting it of its packaging, the duo got to work. Alchemist began to prepare the stuffing while M'gann, with her much smaller hands, gently pulled and stretched the skin of the bird so she could season the meat underneath with salt and pepper. The fact that she could stretch out her arms and thin down her wrists allowed her to adeptly do so without ripping or tearing anything. It didn't take long at all until the two were done, the outside of the bird slathered in butter and everything was wrapped up in foil and put into the oven to slowly roast over several hours.
With the cleared counter space, Alchemist grabbed a cutting board and got to work on the vegetables while M'gann got started making the pie.
"How are we going to cook everything else?" M'gann asked, flouring a countertop so she could start rolling out the pie dough.
"We can use the oven in the cabin," Alchemist told the girl as he sliced up some carrots. "Otherwise we'll have to work around the turkey."
The two sank into a companionable silence as they worked. Over the course of several hours, they made steamed peas and carrots, whole ears of corn, golden-brown dinner rolls, one very tasty looking pie with a spiral of whipped cream in the center, two failed batches of cranberry sauce before they worked out a recipe that wasn't incredibly tart and one slow-roasted turkey full of stuffing.
All multiplied nine times over thanks to Alchemist's crafting perks.
The way the mage figured it, there should be more than enough to feed M'gann's family, her uncle, probably a few other people with leftovers enough for him to share it with everyone that he'd moved to the island.
At least, Alchemist thought as he remembered just how big M'gann could be in her base form, he hoped so.
"So, uh..." M'gann spoke up as Alchemist led her back outside so he could open a Gate straight to Mars. "You, uh, you know how us Martians are shapeshifters, right?"
"...Yeah," Alchemist admitted as he paused in place, turning to focus on the girl. "Why?"
"It's just, on Mars? We usually don't, we kind of, we usually stay in our 'base' forms," the girl nervously explained.
"Okay?" Alchemist asked, momentarily confused before he got an idea on what the girl was trying to get at. "Are you worried I'll freak out when you change?"
"No!" M'gann immediately denied, crossing her arms in front of herself. "Not, not that! You've been to Mars before, so you know what we look like. I'm just... not really comfortable. With myself."
"Ah, alright," the wizard mumbled with a nod. He pursed his lips in thought for a moment before shrugging, lifting one hand and snapping his fingers.
An instant later and Alchemist, as a large dragon, inventoried his shoes.
"I kan play dis-straction," Alchemist offered, actually speaking instead of simply using Ghost Sound as he typically did whilst in his dragon form. "Whil thiss help?"
"...Yes," M'gann admitted, holding a hand up to stifle a giggle at his speech impediment. "I think it really will."
-----
Kary stood below the lip of the volcano on Infinity Island, dusting off her hands as she surveyed her handiwork.
The topmost terrace was absolutely brimming with the remains of the undead, barely covered by a few centimeters of soil. The rotten, curdled, corrupted energies inherent in the offal seethed like a roiling mass of maggots beneath the blackening dirt, poisonous miasma seeped from the grave into the air, rising with the sulfur and ash of the volcano itself.
And, planted in the foul grave dirt, tiny shoots of brilliant green leaves rose deceptively.
Dragon Grass. An herb that Alchemist and Jinx had recovered during the Final Fantasy Five boss rush that they'd taken Batman, Aquaman and several of the children to.
If grown upon rocky mountain soil, it would remain little more than a nutritious, downright miraculous herb that could heal nearly any wound upon a creature bearing dragon blood within their veins.
Reaching down, the fallen ran her hand across the newly planted sprouts. Tiny barbs formed around the edges of each leaf, razor sharp and ready to rip themselves through flesh and under scales.
"Aww..." Kary cooed at the plants as they failed to penetrate her defenses. "You are just adorable, yes you are..."
If allowed to feed upon the remains of the undead, however, Dragon Grass would warp and twist. Becoming a predatory plant, guarding its miraculous medicinal properties with poison and thorns.
Kary had been downright giddy at the idea of planting an entire ring around the volcano.
Especially, the fallen angel thought as she hiked up to the rim of the volcano and looked down to the caldera, to the adamantine tower that rose out of the lava.
Especially with what that Dragon Grass would be helping to safeguard.
The ninth tower, at the heart of the island. Twice the size of any of the other eight around the island, twice as tall but still fully concealed within the volcano.
Empty, however. What her beloved planned to put inside of the tower had nearly left Kary speechless when he'd told her. The time it would take to manufacture everything, the equipment, the defenders he intended to make...
Alchemist certainly had some ambitious plans. Plans she dearly hoped to be able to help bring to fruition. The chaos it would cause if he succeeded would be absolutely...
Delicious.
That, however, would be a slow and tedious process.
She had wondered why he hadn't initiated another instant quest, lately. Kary hadn't wanted to pressure her beloved but she was growing... restless. Plotting and planning and preparing were all well and good, she fully supported such endeavors, but...
She wanted to fight. Not just spar, but properly face some form of opposition, worthy or not, and cut them down for daring to try and challenge her.
~~ FROM: Alchemist ~~
~~ TO: Jinx, Kar'Yashlan, Yuffie ~~
~~ I'm helping M'gann do Thanksgiving for her family, so I've been cooking for the last few hours. I'm going to have a bunch of tables set up in the demi-plane, loaded up with things like turkey, rolls, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. Could you go and get the residents of the island and tell them the demi-plane door is open and they're all welcome to come by and grab a bite? I'll be opening a Gate when M'gann and I get to her family home so everyone can just come and go and help themselves. ~~
Kary blinked at the sudden message, then took a moment to actually read it.
Pursing her lips in thought, Kary started to hike down the side of the volcano.
M'gann was a Martian, an obligate psychic not unlike an Illithid. If Alchemist intended to be around a group of them, how did he-
~~ FROM: Alchemist ~~
~~ TO: Jinx, Kar'Yashlan, Yuffie ~~
~~ Also, everyone should grab a gold-rarefied Blashpemer's Cloak and put it on. I know I've got a couple dozen in the inventory. Those will protect us from Possession and similar mind-controlling effects without shutting us out from the mind readers. I'm trying to be open minded here; that doesn't mean I'm willing to bare my throat. ~~
-nevermind. That answered her unasked question rather succinctly.
Placing a hand over her rumbling stomach, Kary actually found herself looking forward to the meal.
Different foods from what they normally cooked. Different people from those she'd ever met.
Good or bad, things certainly promised to be interesting!
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
25/11/2010
Thanksgiving.
M'gann had so many ideas about Thanksgiving. Food and family and togetherness, just like she used to see on T.V.! She wanted to cook a turkey! She wanted to bake a pumpkin pie! She wanted to... sauce... a... cranberry?
Okay, she wasn't one-hundred percent certain on that one. But she wanted to figure it out and then do that!
Unfortunately, her uncle J'onn was busy answering some weird questions from people at NASA about some kind of alien that showed up on the moon talking about the capital city of Mars.
So she was on her own for the day. And she kind of wanted to use a kitchen that was much, much better equipped than his.
"B-Zero-Five!" an automated voice declared as the young woman stepped out of the Zeta Terminal in Mount Justice. Looking around as she stepped out of the immaterial tunnel, M'gann didn't see anyone around.
Not really a surprise. People had their own things, their own families to spend Thanksgiving wi-
"C'mon! C'mon-c'mon-c'mon-Yes!" a voice shouted from the common area as M'gann walked deeper into the mountain. "Yes! Touchdown! Woo! Yes!"
Stepping into the room, M'gann felt a bit confused and out of place as Cheetah was leaning forward on the couch, a hefty plate loaded with ham and stuffing on the table in front of her and a sports game playing on the big screen. Turning to the side, the martian saw Red Tornado was seated with his hands on his knees near the villain, clearly disinterested, and Alchemist was in the kitchen, boxing up some leftovers while the sink was running.
"Suck it, Bengals!" Cheetah continued to shout at the screen while a guy wearing a green football outfit with the number 10 on it danced on the screen. "Cheetahs are the best big cats and don't you forget it!"
M'gann looked at the crowing cat, the very still robot and the mage who was snapping his fingers and cleaning the dishes. Out of the three?
She chose to step into the kitchen.
"Hey-o," Alchemist quietly greeted her as a beer commercial started to play on the television. "Half expected you to be with Connor today. What's up?"
"He's spending the day with his family and I wasn't... I don't know if I'm invited," M'gann admitted, reaching across herself to nervously hold her arm. "So I kind of wanted to experiment in the kitchen. What are you doing here?"
"Making sure Barbara has a good, hearty meal for the holiday," Alchemist explained, waving his hands towards the containers he'd been filling. Most of a ham, stuffing, peas and carrots and a so far untouched apple pie. "Ended up making more than I thought, especially since Garfield and Marie have gone back home. Still, she's enjoying herself, which is nice considering her case has stalled out at the moment."
The redheaded martian turned to look at the lounging cat woman, reaching out with her mind to get a general feel for her emotions.
Satisfied, happy, full yes but there was an undercurrent of stress and anxiety that the woman was doing a wonderful job ignoring.
"That was nice of you," M'gann commented as the man kept putting away the leftovers. "What about your own family?"
"I've got plans with them, don't worry," he said as he closed the fridge and turned his eyes over to meet hers. "What about yours?"
"I..." The question actually brought the girl up short. She hadn't really thought about her mom, her dad or her brothers and sisters in a while. Not actively. Things had just been too hectic, too many distractions pulling her attention every which way. "I haven't really thought about them. I... hope they're doing okay?"
"We can go check on them if you want," the man told her, his voice soft as he moved over to the still-running sink and began to wash his hands. "I can get us to Mars pretty quick. Faster now than when I made the offer a while back, really."
M'gann looked down to the floor as she thought on his offer.
Going by bioship was a slow, ponderous journey that was downright maddening and miserable. A journey that even her uncle J'onn wouldn't take unless things were scheduled just right to cut down the travel time as much as possible.
"How long would it take?" M'gann asked, looking back up as Alchemist cut off the water.
"Somewhere in the range of five minutes," the mage told her as he snapped his wet fingers and a window formed in the air in front of her.
M'gann recognized the scene that she saw through it. It was different, bigger than she remembered but that was Alchemist's personal realm.
She sent the man a confused glance and got a nod in return.
Curious, and maybe more than a little homesick, she stepped through the Gate and Alchemist quickly followed her.
The place was bigger than she remembered it being. There was a house, now, and a whole bunch of metal men were tending to a garden and a growing orchard of fruit trees and small saplings. A faint smell of dung clung to the air but it did nothing to overpower the scent from the flowers growing in pots around the walls of the cabins.
One sapling in particular stood out from the others. It stood alone in a big pot right next to the cabin they'd all slept in. But whatever strange aura surrounded the young tree was indecipherable to the Martian. It was important, she knew that, she could feel it, but...
It just looked like another sapling, to her.
"Hey... Alchemist?" M'gann asked, an idea forming.
"Yeah?"
"Could you help me with some cooking?" she asked, excitement and eagerness filling her chest with a light, fluttery feeling. "My family has seen Thanksgiving dinners on T.V. but we don't have things like 'Turkeys' or 'Pumpkin Pies' or 'Cranberry Sauce' on Mars."
"...Sure," the man agreed after a second of hesitation. "How many people did you want to feed?"
"My mom, my dad, M'comm, Em'ree, D'orr, Nay'll, maybe some leftover for uncle J'onn, J'imm, J'kib..." M'gann began to happily list off, naming her many, many, many brothers and sisters.
M'gann was so busy reciting her very extended family tree, she quite missed it when Alchemist sighed and said "I'm going to need a bigger kitchen..."
-----
Alchemist hadn't been planning on doing a full Thanksgiving dinner for the day but M'gann wanted to share a bit of Earth culture with her family and he...
Well, he'd had his Bilocation duplicate looking over the homonculus he'd been growing over the past month. There really wasn't anything left for him to do with the creation, not really. It was stable, which was good and bad.
Good, it just needed a nutrient solution pumped into the tank and it would keep maturing with minimal supervision.
Bad, it had passed the point where he could make any further modifications without risking the whole thing falling apart. He'd picked up some preserved Elf flesh when he was ransacking Lezard's Tower and that could've imparted, or helped reinforce, the homonculus's capacity for metaphysical growth. As it was, the homonculus Alchemist was making for Lucifer's daughter, Alex, was just going to have to settle for a native soul capacity capable of housing a member of the seraphic host and filled with the blood of titans.
Ah well. It was hardly the first time that Alchemist had gotten his hands on some potentially amazing materials when it was already too late to use them.
Letting that instance of himself fade away as he stepped into his demi-plane, Alchemist felt as though he'd stopped crossing his eyes and the new monofocus came with a genuine sense of relief.
Keeping up Bilocation wasn't a strain. He'd been making liberal use and abuse of it nearly every day. With that said, it was still nice to let the spell drop and just be in one place at a time.
Inhaling deeply, especially appreciative of how unobtrusive the smell of horse dung was after he and the golems had spent so much time collecting it and cleaning the demi-plane-
His roofs, especially, had needed a thorough prestidigitating.
-Alchemist turned towards his house and began to walk to it. "Come on," he called out to M'gann, pulling the girl out of whatever place her mind had gone. "It's been a while since I've done a full turkey, so I might be a bit rusty."
"Oh, uh, alright," M'gann said, filling the silence as she followed him into his home. "But you know how to do all of that, right?"
"Most of it," he told her as they walked into the kitchen. Alchemist took a moment to survey the countertops and cookware, mentally putting together a list of what all he needed. "I'll need to dig up a recipe for cranberry sauce; I've never made that, but I've done the rest."
It took a few minutes for the two to start working, time that was spent simply figuring out what all they needed. A large pot to do double-duty for boiling ears of corn and steaming a hefty amount of peas and carrots. A deep roasting pan for a reasonably large turkey. A baking sheet for dinner rolls. A pie tin, for the pie, of course. Finally, after consulting a recipe book that Alchemist didn't remember picking up but was in his inventory regardless-
Actually there were quite a few recipe books. He assumed he must have grabbed them back when he and Batman went on a looting spree in the Zombie I.D.
-they added a sauce pan to the pile.
"...What should we do first?" M'gann asked as she looked over the various implements, then over to the kitchen table where the raw ingredients were piled up.
"The turkey," Alchemist immediately answered. "It's going to take the longest, so we need to get it started first."
So saying, he hefted the bird in both hands and set it into the roasting pan. Swiftly divesting it of its packaging, the duo got to work. Alchemist began to prepare the stuffing while M'gann, with her much smaller hands, gently pulled and stretched the skin of the bird so she could season the meat underneath with salt and pepper. The fact that she could stretch out her arms and thin down her wrists allowed her to adeptly do so without ripping or tearing anything. It didn't take long at all until the two were done, the outside of the bird slathered in butter and everything was wrapped up in foil and put into the oven to slowly roast over several hours.
With the cleared counter space, Alchemist grabbed a cutting board and got to work on the vegetables while M'gann got started making the pie.
"How are we going to cook everything else?" M'gann asked, flouring a countertop so she could start rolling out the pie dough.
"We can use the oven in the cabin," Alchemist told the girl as he sliced up some carrots. "Otherwise we'll have to work around the turkey."
The two sank into a companionable silence as they worked. Over the course of several hours, they made steamed peas and carrots, whole ears of corn, golden-brown dinner rolls, one very tasty looking pie with a spiral of whipped cream in the center, two failed batches of cranberry sauce before they worked out a recipe that wasn't incredibly tart and one slow-roasted turkey full of stuffing.
All multiplied nine times over thanks to Alchemist's crafting perks.
The way the mage figured it, there should be more than enough to feed M'gann's family, her uncle, probably a few other people with leftovers enough for him to share it with everyone that he'd moved to the island.
At least, Alchemist thought as he remembered just how big M'gann could be in her base form, he hoped so.
"So, uh..." M'gann spoke up as Alchemist led her back outside so he could open a Gate straight to Mars. "You, uh, you know how us Martians are shapeshifters, right?"
"...Yeah," Alchemist admitted as he paused in place, turning to focus on the girl. "Why?"
"It's just, on Mars? We usually don't, we kind of, we usually stay in our 'base' forms," the girl nervously explained.
"Okay?" Alchemist asked, momentarily confused before he got an idea on what the girl was trying to get at. "Are you worried I'll freak out when you change?"
"No!" M'gann immediately denied, crossing her arms in front of herself. "Not, not that! You've been to Mars before, so you know what we look like. I'm just... not really comfortable. With myself."
"Ah, alright," the wizard mumbled with a nod. He pursed his lips in thought for a moment before shrugging, lifting one hand and snapping his fingers.
An instant later and Alchemist, as a large dragon, inventoried his shoes.
"I kan play dis-straction," Alchemist offered, actually speaking instead of simply using Ghost Sound as he typically did whilst in his dragon form. "Whil thiss help?"
"...Yes," M'gann admitted, holding a hand up to stifle a giggle at his speech impediment. "I think it really will."
-----
Kary stood below the lip of the volcano on Infinity Island, dusting off her hands as she surveyed her handiwork.
The topmost terrace was absolutely brimming with the remains of the undead, barely covered by a few centimeters of soil. The rotten, curdled, corrupted energies inherent in the offal seethed like a roiling mass of maggots beneath the blackening dirt, poisonous miasma seeped from the grave into the air, rising with the sulfur and ash of the volcano itself.
And, planted in the foul grave dirt, tiny shoots of brilliant green leaves rose deceptively.
Dragon Grass. An herb that Alchemist and Jinx had recovered during the Final Fantasy Five boss rush that they'd taken Batman, Aquaman and several of the children to.
If grown upon rocky mountain soil, it would remain little more than a nutritious, downright miraculous herb that could heal nearly any wound upon a creature bearing dragon blood within their veins.
Reaching down, the fallen ran her hand across the newly planted sprouts. Tiny barbs formed around the edges of each leaf, razor sharp and ready to rip themselves through flesh and under scales.
"Aww..." Kary cooed at the plants as they failed to penetrate her defenses. "You are just adorable, yes you are..."
If allowed to feed upon the remains of the undead, however, Dragon Grass would warp and twist. Becoming a predatory plant, guarding its miraculous medicinal properties with poison and thorns.
Kary had been downright giddy at the idea of planting an entire ring around the volcano.
Especially, the fallen angel thought as she hiked up to the rim of the volcano and looked down to the caldera, to the adamantine tower that rose out of the lava.
Especially with what that Dragon Grass would be helping to safeguard.
The ninth tower, at the heart of the island. Twice the size of any of the other eight around the island, twice as tall but still fully concealed within the volcano.
Empty, however. What her beloved planned to put inside of the tower had nearly left Kary speechless when he'd told her. The time it would take to manufacture everything, the equipment, the defenders he intended to make...
Alchemist certainly had some ambitious plans. Plans she dearly hoped to be able to help bring to fruition. The chaos it would cause if he succeeded would be absolutely...
Delicious.
That, however, would be a slow and tedious process.
She had wondered why he hadn't initiated another instant quest, lately. Kary hadn't wanted to pressure her beloved but she was growing... restless. Plotting and planning and preparing were all well and good, she fully supported such endeavors, but...
She wanted to fight. Not just spar, but properly face some form of opposition, worthy or not, and cut them down for daring to try and challenge her.
~~ FROM: Alchemist ~~
~~ TO: Jinx, Kar'Yashlan, Yuffie ~~
~~ I'm helping M'gann do Thanksgiving for her family, so I've been cooking for the last few hours. I'm going to have a bunch of tables set up in the demi-plane, loaded up with things like turkey, rolls, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. Could you go and get the residents of the island and tell them the demi-plane door is open and they're all welcome to come by and grab a bite? I'll be opening a Gate when M'gann and I get to her family home so everyone can just come and go and help themselves. ~~
Kary blinked at the sudden message, then took a moment to actually read it.
Pursing her lips in thought, Kary started to hike down the side of the volcano.
M'gann was a Martian, an obligate psychic not unlike an Illithid. If Alchemist intended to be around a group of them, how did he-
~~ FROM: Alchemist ~~
~~ TO: Jinx, Kar'Yashlan, Yuffie ~~
~~ Also, everyone should grab a gold-rarefied Blashpemer's Cloak and put it on. I know I've got a couple dozen in the inventory. Those will protect us from Possession and similar mind-controlling effects without shutting us out from the mind readers. I'm trying to be open minded here; that doesn't mean I'm willing to bare my throat. ~~
-nevermind. That answered her unasked question rather succinctly.
Placing a hand over her rumbling stomach, Kary actually found herself looking forward to the meal.
Different foods from what they normally cooked. Different people from those she'd ever met.
Good or bad, things certainly promised to be interesting!
- Location
- Here
Darn it, now I want turkey again.
Thanks for the update!
Thanks for the update!