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

[Bolo]

What happened to Cornwall boy? Haven't heard from him in a long while.
Did the demon worshippers grab or something?

 

[Bud-E]

And the League isn't exactly trying to stop people from enhancing themselves; most people may not want to be enhanced or there are laws in place to stop it from happening.

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The League has possession of several warehouses full of super-tech and is just sitting on it they have explicitly stated that they think humanity isn't ready for this tech. So they might not bust down doors to stop advances to science they certainly don't help once they come into contact with tech that's been misused. And I'm pretty sure at least this fic has proved if most people have the option they would choose to be superhuman.

 

[Darko]

What happened to Cornwall boy? Haven't heard from him in a long while.
Did the demon worshippers grab or something?

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He was left mentioned during that investigation with Crimson Avenger; he apparently talked to some of the plants Black Orchid, the victim, had.

The British demon worshippers were wiped out by the Angels.

 

[Tzeentch]

"My proposal is that non-monotheistic religions should act in concert… At least, in the initial stages, in order to normalise theological pluralism and defray potential backlash."

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A Pantheistic-Animist Alliance then?

 

[Mastigos2]

What I'm rather curious about is the perspective of these gods on the fact that they are talking to Paul, not Hephestean.

I mean on the one hand, he's a mortal. On the other hand, he's arguably Hephestean's patron instead of the other way around (and at the very least Zeus fell and Hephestean rose because OL decided that would happen). On the third tentacle is OL just acting as Hephestean's secretary?

 

[Ngamer11]

What I'm rather curious about is the perspective of these gods on the fact that they are talking to Paul, not Hephestean.

I mean on the one hand, he's a mortal. On the other hand, he's arguably Hephestean's patron instead of the other way around (and at the very least Zeus fell and Hephestean rose because OL decided that would happen). On the third tentacle is OL just acting as Hephestean's secretary?

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This may be an expansion of how several governments interact with Paul. Although he isn't a member of the Justice League, they know he has some pull with them, especially since they know Accomplished Perfect Position got in thanks to Paul's recommendation. As such, the gods go to Paul because they know he has an in with the new King of Olympus.

 

[Tzeentch]

"Týr. Or call me Tyr; I know English-speakers don't like the accents."

"Oh. Excellent. I actually recommended you for the position two years ago, so I'm very glad that you're here. Um, what's in the bag?"

He wraps his hook around the straps holding the back closed and tugs, revealing...

"Five thousand years worth of references. I'm eager to join a pantheon that's as proactive as I am, so I thought I should make a strong impression. How am I doing?"

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Now, considering how much of a opportunistic schemer Odin is, is Tyr being genuine, or is he an agent of the All-Father sent in to provide Asgard intel as to what improvements Hephaestaean is making so that the Aesir/Vanir can do likewise and hopefully avoid Ragnarok?

 

[Darko]

What I'm rather curious about is the perspective of these gods on the fact that they are talking to Paul, not Hephestean.

I mean on the one hand, he's a mortal. On the other hand, he's arguably Hephestean's patron instead of the other way around (and at the very least Zeus fell and Hephestean rose because OL decided that would happen). On the third tentacle is OL just acting as Hephestean's secretary?

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Remember that Paul is also the Agent of the Serpent of Avarice, so he's very far from a normal mortal.

Now, considering how much of a opportunistic schemer Odin is, is Tyr being genuine, or is he an agent of the All-Father sent in to provide Asgard intel as to what improvements Hephaestaean is making so that the Aesir/Vanir can do likewise and hopefully avoid Ragnarok?

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If it's like the situation in the comics then Odin may potentially be looking for a refuge for his pantheon when Ragnarok happens and Tyr could probably put in a good word.

Or Odin is looking to acquire weapons from the New Olympus.

 

[Bud-E]

I just realized those Desire goddess must hate Paul now that he put Hephestean in charge. He'll make them actually have work now.

 

[Bramble Thorn]

I get the powers he's getting, but what does "Neptune's Depth" give him?

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How about an 'aura' of Depth that literally allows him to create some/all of the conditions of the Depths? Like he could create an omnidirectional crushing aura around things, all the way from 'just underwater' to 'very bottom of the Mariana Trench' or darken the surroundings, as the light seems further and farther away? make people loose contact with the ground beneath them as they start drift as if submerged in water?

What I'm rather curious about is the perspective of these gods on the fact that they are talking to Paul, not Hephestean.

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Remember Heph talking about how Jesus's character wasn't as relevant to his religion as you'd think, since he considered his church to be the creation of Paul? They could see OL as the Paul of the Restructured Olympian Mysteries; the one laying the foundations for whatever comes after.

Going to that person at the very beginning (before policies you may disagree with get entrenched), and lobbying for the ideology and doctrine to be inside the shared space of the Venn Diagram circles of 'things you want' and 'things OL wants' sounds like a really god idea.

I mean it sounded like just about no one really wanted Zeus as King. But nothing changed. Then someone went and convinced OL that Zeus needed to go and lo and behold, he stopped being King shortly thereafter. (Zeus being the person that did the convincing being rather ironic.) But now you have a demonstrated situation where people know that if you can make a sufficiently strong case to OL, can get him invested in something you care about...

 

[Stsword]

I get the powers he's getting, but what does "Neptune's Depth" give him?

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Never established, but it may be a poetic way to say resistance to injury, just as somehow the courage of Achilles grants invulnerability and courage.

I mean what do you call minor injuries? Shallow wounds.

So perhaps with the Depth of Neptune, all wounds are shallow.

Unless it was something that would actually pierce to the bottom of the ocean.

I may of course be giving it more thought than the writer was.

Or if one wants to use even more word play, depth can also be a reference to intensity. "Deep knowledge, depth of despair." In which case it could be a general modifier like back in the day Superman could just do anything by using super as a prefix. "Super hypnotism. Super ventriloquy. Super typing. Super underwater basket weaving."

 

[Mastigos2]

I have a (probably terrible) idea for how Heph could hand the Persephone situation. Basically, put the problem to Hades himself ... but not as Hades, husband of Persephone. No, let the Judge of the Dead cast his best judgement. Basically pit Hades' own devotion to evenhanded dour judgment against his emotional attachment.

 

[0zymandias]

"By setting certain standards of behavior, we could limit the influence of those who… Struggle to remember that we're here to work with mortals. You may find our help useful if some of the Othrysians don't cope very well with freedom."

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My response to this would be that if the Shinto are so willing to help what were they doing when Oceanus was having his moment? The wave he sent towards North America would have destroyed the statue of Liberty and America as whole.

 

[Old Knife]

......... Okay now I'm just wondering how long it will take the church of superman to get their hands on a Theology-magic specialist and convert their object of reverence into a god against his will.
It's not like he'll stop saving people and him not tapping into that power is just begging Lex to steal it.

Lex as superman's devil sounds like a terrible recipe. He should get warded to avoid that.

 

[Stsword]

Lex as superman's devil sounds like a terrible recipe. He should get warded to avoid that.

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Lex is a secret supervillain in YJ, so I doubt that enough people know about him to instill any sort of anti-divinity into him.

Make me wonder who people think of as Superman's archnemesis in YJ. Match seems to be the Bizarro equivalent, Darkseid isn't publicly known, Lex is supposed to be a billionaire philanthropist, Brainiac hasn't visited Earth yet...Metallo maybe? Parasite?

 

[Prince Charon]

I have a (probably terrible) idea for how Heph could hand the Penelope situation. Basically, put the problem to Hades himself ... but not as Hades, husband of Penelope. No, let the Judge of the Dead cast his best judgement. Basically pit Hades' own devotion to evenhanded dour judgment against his emotional attachment.

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I'm guessing you mean Persephone, and got hit by autocorrupt (or is that an alternate name for her that I missed)? That might be a good way to handle it.

 

[Mr Zoat]

29th October 2012
05:19 GMT +3

"…which is when Odin started laughing." He waves his right forearm dismissively. "I learned a valuable lesson about not taking loyalty for granted that day."

Hephaestaean nods, his fully repaired mechadendrites working their way through Tyr's truly impressive stack of references. Apparently, his most recent occupation was working in a bar in Reykjavík, which… Well, as he said, it's a people-orientated occupation.

Hephaestaean is occupying the position at the 'head' of the oval, with Metis on his right and the pile of papers and scrolls on his left. I'm not sure how they've been preserved; velum can last 1500 years but some of those are far older.

I'm sitting on the mid-right part of the oval, opposite our Shinto guests. Tyr looks happy enough to deliver his speech from the middle of the floor, and it's been a learning experience. I had no idea that he used to be the head of their pantheon. Or that Odin was supposed to release Fenrir, but decided that getting his boss crippled was a better idea.

"Do you think it will cause you difficulty in interacting with him in the future?"

"We haven't spoken for twelve hundred years. He is fixated with avoiding his own death at Ragnarok, I decided that a band of backstabbers weren't worth my time. I won't say that I wouldn't kick him in the balls if I had a clear shot, but I won't make revenge the focus of my life."

"And what about Fenrir?"

"I don't think he's going to give me my hand back. And I don't think I'd want it; he's probably drooled all over it."

"Is the feud between you ongoing?"

"He was my dog, you know? I think he regretted taking my hand the moment he saw how shocked I was." Tyr looks aside for a moment. "No, there's no grudge there. If I saw him again I'd offer him dinner, and I think he'd go after Odin rather than me."

"And what about Garmr?"

"He's supposed to kill me at the end of the world. I've never even seen him. If it happens, then it happens. I'm not going to worry about something that may never happen, and that I couldn't stop if it does end up happening."

"How are your relations with the other Æsir?"

"Freyja sends me a letter every year, and I send one back in return. Other than that, I don't have much to do with them."

"Have you spoken to Jon Haraldson?"

"I appear to him in his dreams sometimes and give him uplifting omens. He is Odin's man, and his wife is Odin's servant, and Odin already hates him. I don't want to make his life harder."

Hephaestaean nods. "Do you have any relationships with members of my pantheon that I don't know about?"

"I think Orange Lantern once suggested that I marry Athena, but I think-" Hephaestaean's tentacles stop for a moment, then go back to reading paperwork. "-that he was telling a joke. I have never even met her. Though I hear that she's a good god. I look forward to working with her."

"Very well. Now, what plans do you have for the domain of war?"

"I believe that my focus should be the soldiers and their guidance. There are good reasons to go to war, good reasons to kill intelligent beings. Usually, soldiers do not think about them when they go to fight. I would change that. I would help them understand what the good reasons to fight are. I want to teach them how to come to terms with their destructive urges and harness them. I wish to teach them the value of suffering and hardship and resolution."

"And why have you not done so before now?"

"I had no support amongst the Æsir. To change a people, you have to change their worldview. The whole pattern of thoughts they use to understand the world. I could not do that on my own. You can find a few hundred examples of my attempts to change men's hearts in my references. But I could not change everyone. Now, in this time, human civilisation is ready to change. And I want to be part of that."

"With the gods of the Hellenes?"

"I do not think that you will limit yourselves to the Hellenes."

"No, but I might start there."

Tyr nods. "It might be good to start with a smaller group of people. I have not been a god as part of a pantheon for a long time. Being able to travel where I want is nice, but I have reached the point in my life where I ache for the presence of peers. It will be better than working at Ikea, which is what I was going to do before Kratos telephoned me."

"Do you have plans on how to begin?"

"Yes. I have a few worshippers who could act as priests, and I will need to speak to the Amazons to see if some of them are willing. I know enough about rune magic that I think I can get their attention. The advantage of modern communications technology is that it is possible to share lessons with a great many people and have them shared accurately. I cannot plan for everything, but that is how I will start."

"Can you fight?"

"So long as I don't stick my sword hand in my enemy's mouth before the fight starts. It took me a long time to learn to fight left handed, but I prefer it to strapping a blade to my stump."

"Have you ever fought an angel?"

"Very briefly, during the invasion. Will we be fighting the Silver City?"

"I do not want to, but they may decide that they do not want other religions to be revived."

"Then we fight. I can defend against their magic, and their fire does little to me."

Hephaestaean nods. "I will need to follow up on your references, but I like what I have heard. You will have my decision within nine days. Do you have somewhere to stay, or do you require lodgings?"

"I have a tent on the slopes. Whether I go to Olympus or Sweden, I'd like to spend the rest of my free time in the natural world."

"Then I thank you for coming here, and give you leave to depart."

Tyr comes to attention facing Hephaestaean, gives him a formal bow, then turns and strides out of the deliberative chamber.

He's not even out of the room before Hephaestaean starts taking pieces of metal out of subspace and begins working on them, plasma cuttings stencilling the solid pieces as the structure begins to come together.

"A new right hand for your new right hand man?"

"Yes. He sounds perfect, and the references are good. This hand will symbolise our bond, as well as making it easier for him to hold things."

I nod. "Now that that's settled, I should visit Brazil. Do you want to speak to Euanthe here?"

"Yes. She has a base of worshippers and a clear role. If she will not come, get permission for us to build temples in her new land."

"Will do. Any other orders?"

The fingers of the hand flex as the plasma cuttings begin inscribing the runes that will grant it phyresis.

"No. Go with my blessing."

I nod, standing up-. Ah. "Lady Liberty, did you ever consider recruiting Uncle Sam?"

"Sure did, but Uncle Sam has not been seen in the Heartlands or in the material world for decades."

I frown. "Yes he has. He's been hanging around Washington for months."

She looks at me quizzically.

"Orange Lantern, I've known Uncle Sam for longer than anyone. I don't know who that person in Washington is, but they aren't Uncle Sam."

 

[Prince Charon]

"Orange Lantern, I've known Uncle Sam for longer than anyone. I don't know who that person in Washington is, but they aren't Uncle Sam."

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... um, well that's interesting. Also worrisome and unexpected. Something to check up on after talking to Euanthe.

Another distraction from looking for Constantine?

 

[Cuchulin]

"Orange Lantern, I've known Uncle Sam for longer than anyone. I don't know who that person in Washington is, but they aren't Uncle Sam."

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If that belle named Liberty says the Uncle Sam in DC isn't the real one than something super sus is up.

 

[hance1986]

Is this a similar situation to how Lucky Hans was turned into Captain Nazi?

 

[Idkusername]

It took my a long time to learn to fight left handed, but I prefer it to strapping a blade to my stump."

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took my a -> took me a

 

[Prince Charon]

Is this a similar situation to how Lucky Hans was turned into Captain Nazi?

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Had not considered that (since I'd forgotten that plot point, and now I'm wondering when it was brought up in the fic, though I do recall that it was), but it seems possible.

 

[Dur'id the Druid]

Uh oh. Boss Smiley?

 

[Darko]

Hephaestaean is occupying the position at the 'head' of the oval, with Metis on his right and the pile of papers and scrolls on his left. I'm not sure how they've been preserved; velum can last 1500 years but some of those are far older.

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Abridged Red Tornado: Because magic, you fucking potato!

r, and it's been a learning experience. I had no idea that he used to be the head of their pantheon

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I didn't either.

I first discoveredthat little bit in a video analysis of an American Gods episode where it was pointed out that in some of the older myths, Tyr was head honcho.

And what about Fenrir?"

"I don't think he's going to give me my hand back. And I don't think I'd want it; he's probably drooled all over it."

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Your hand may no longer be in Fenrir.

Though it may be...mushy.

I think Orange Lantern once suggested that I marry Athena, but I think-" Hephaestaean's tentacles stop for a moment, then go back to reading paperwork. "-that he was telling a joke

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Yeah, a joke.

will be better than working at Ikea, which is what I was going to before

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"was going to do before"

Then we fight. I can defend against their magic, and their fire does little to me."

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At least in small amounts.

Hephaestaean nods. "I will need to follow up on your references, but I like what I have heard. You will have my decision within nine days

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Ahh, nine, such a symbolic number for the Norse.

"Orange Lantern, I've known Uncle Sam for longer than anyone

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"far longer"

I nod, standing up-. Ah. "Lady Liberty, did you ever consider recruiting Uncle Sam?"

"Sure did, but Uncle Sam has not been seen in the Heartlands or in the material world for decades."

I frown. "Yes he has. He's been hanging around Washington for months."

She looks at me quizzically.

"Orange Lantern, I've known Uncle Sam for longer than anyone. I don't know who that person in Washington is, but they aren't Uncle Sam

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Huh, I remember that in the Z.E.R.O. episode Truggs and Circe talked and then a third person showed up and their face was compared to their of a recruitment poster or something.

I remember someone suggested Uncle Sam, so it looks like they may have been partially right.

 

[hance1986]

Had not considered that (since I'd forgotten that plot point, and now I'm wondering when it was brought up in the fic, though I do recall that it was), but it seems possible.

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It was back when the Team was investigating the Hitler Clone in Brazil. Wolf Krieger and Captain Nazi died at the end of that arc and Paul first claimed the Spear of Destiny. Sephitan freaked out because the Spear was too OP. It was also revealed that the Nazis captured the old 18th century national representation of Germany, Lucky Hans, and ritually killed him to create Captain Nazi, the ubermensch the Party needed. There was a line about how until Captain Nazi was killed he still had some kind of spiritual link to the German national character which is why modern Germany was still hung up on Nazi Germany in some ways in this fic.

 

[Ngamer11]

Huh, I remember that in the Z.E.R.O. episode Truggs and Circe talked and then a third person showed up and their face was compared to their of a recruitment poster or something.

I remember someone suggested Uncle Sam, so it looks like they may have been partially right.

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I forgot all about that. Is it possible that Truggs recruited an evil Uncle Sam from an alternate universe?

 

[Mr Zoat]

took my a -> took me a

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"was going to do before"

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Thank you, corrected.

"far longer"

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No, that's correct.

 

[goricnac]

Am calling it now, the Uncle Sam in Washington is John Constantine in disguise trying to learn about Order and Chaos and how to harmonize them from the complete mess that is Washington DC.

 

[Vaermina]

I'm sitting on the mid-right part of the oval, opposite our Shinto guests. Tyr looks happy enough to deliver his speech from the middle of the floor, and it's been a learning experience. I had no idea that he used to be the head of their pantheon. Or that Odin was supposed to release Fenrir, but decided that getting his boss crippled was a better idea.

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Boy that was fast...

Tyr is actually worse then Ares... So the amount Zoat is going to have to retcon here should be hilarious

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But even I'm impressed with the sheer amount of retconning Mr Zoat had to do with Tyr here...

Like, that is 100% Mr Zoat made up shit that has no foundation in either the real life Mythos or the DC mythos.

And he did it all because for some dumb reason he wants to make the Olympians the Author Insert power houses of the setting.

 

[crazygrox]

I nod. "Now that that's settled, I should visit Brazil. Do you want to speak to Euanthe here?"

"Yes. She has a base of worshippers and a clear role. If she will not come, get permission for us to build temples in her new land."

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I was wondering how Hephaestian and Euanthe would interact.
What with him being technology, and many of her worshippers being ecological primitivists/luddites.

There's probably a way to compromise there.
Between the Sheeda's destruction, and the mix of the tribes and Euanthe being radically pro-rainforest, but Danner probably trying to moderate things where it would cause unnecessary suffering, there are probably a bunch of people who refused to move out in the wake of the attacks and rainforest expansion, but who also recognize that they're outmatched in power and dependent on the tribal Danner enhanciles and Euanthe's magic for defense.
If Danner was given the opportunity to recruit for Hephastean's cult, it could provide an outlet for those people to seek power without disrupting the country, probably stabilizing it actually by giving him more powerful groups committed to the idea of a central government and varying in culture compared to those already existing, except for a common agreement on loyalty to his office.
There's also the advantage that Hephastean is committed to working through a whole pantheon. If his own cult doesn't flourish in Brazil that's no reason why his pantheon can't still do so.