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

BR549 · Sep 25, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"No. Um. And it would be unwise for me to sire more than a couple in any case. They would all be half-brothers and half-sisters, so the risk of-."

Okay, they're farmers, so I'm going to assume that they know that inbreeding is bad, even if they don't know what genes are, but a technical explanation using words that Themysciran Greek doesn't have isn't going to help.

But actually, Jingles...

Inbreeding and linebreeding - the breeding of descendants of multiple generations back to an original ancestor - are standard animal husbandry practices, for the fixing of desirable traits in offspring.

For instance, say you have a white hen. One day, it lays a clutch of eggs, and one hatches into a black rooster. Once it matures, you mate the that rooster back to that hen (inbreeding), in order that - ideally - the eggs from that will produce multiple black roosters. You then mate those back to the original hen (linebreeding) to further fix the 'black rooster' genes.

At this point, you start bringing in outside blood to avoid the odds of negative traits expressing going crazy. So - they would know that excessive inbreeding is bad, being farmers, it being a bad thing in humans overall is not necessarily something that would come up.

...of course it's not necessarily entirely bad, or at least dangerous from a biological/genetic standpoint, in humans either. Things like-

Cuchulin said:
When it comes to inbreeding? I have two words to remember, Blue Fugates.

- and the Habsburgs are the result of multi-generational inbreeding; a 'first generation' child would be very unlikely to show any significant negative genetic traits (unless both sets of grandparents had matching negative recessive genes, which if they were unrelated should be unlikely). The 'they'll have a third eye and webbed feet!' stereotypes are exaggerated to reinforce the societial negativity.

Which is, of course, a rather important point, and the fact Paul isn't interested in doing so at all is the even bigger concern.

Radix · Sep 25, 2022

I still can't get over the kids being called Pavlova considering it is also the name of a dessert. Just kind of funny.

And yeah this seems straightforward. They were both operating from different cultural contexts. It isn't unusual to just have a short term sexual relationship like that. But a woman from American culture would likely say so given the default is an expectation of more, while a Themiscyran would expect the opposite.

Bud-E · Sep 25, 2022

Radix said:
I still can't get over the kids being called Pavlova considering it is also the name of a dessert. Just kind of funny.

And yeah this seems straightforward. They were both operating from different cultural contexts. It isn't unusual to just have a short term sexual relationship like that. But a woman from American culture would likely say so given the default is an expectation of more, while a Themiscyran would expect the opposite.

Yeah but that still raises the point of what should they do now? They both understand the other now but Rodriguez still wants to be in his child's life while Medina and her wives probably want nothing to do with him. So unless shared custody becomes a thing in Theymiscria there right back to where they started.

Radix · Sep 25, 2022

Bud-E said:
Yeah but that still raises the point of what should they do now? They both understand the other now but Rodriguez still wants to be in his child's life while Medina and her wives probably want nothing to do with him. So unless shared custody becomes a thing in Theymiscria there right back to where they started.

The child is in the mother's jurisdiction. So that would simplify it imo without any agreement between governments.

One of the key things in custody in American courts is that it is assumed to be better for the child to have both parents present in their life. But if there already are 2 (or more) parents, that kind of counters that. There could be exceptions in some jurisdictions, but my impression is that an affair baby is still considered the husband's legally if they accept it. It is very hard to get parental rights when there already are parents who love and accept the child. Especially if the other parent signs the birth certificate.

Stsword · Sep 25, 2022

This is going to the forum.

So it will be a matter of how many reject the idea of an Amazon having a father in her life. The traditional viewpoint.

How many think that if the father wishes to be a parent he should be allowed to do so. Modernists willing to adapt with the times.

And those who think that stronger ties with the outside world are worth compromise. The pragmatists.

Impatient_Quill · Sep 25, 2022

Stsword said:
This is going to the forum.

So it will be a matter of how many reject the idea of an Amazon having a father in her life. The traditional viewpoint.

How many think that if the father wishes to be a parent he should be allowed to do so. Modernists willing to adapt with the times.

And those who think that stronger ties with the outside world are worth compromise. The pragmatists.

And those who think that stronger ties with the outside world are detrimental. The regressionists.

Also, not sure how the traditional viewpoint meshes with the fact we have yet to hear the fetus's gender, which would determine if they every get shipped to the male side of the family, what ever that currently means.

jonasquinn · Sep 25, 2022

AmericanNumbers said:
So there needs to be some briefing packages prepared for the Amazons when leaving.

Im pretty positive that there already are, either Medina ignored it completely, it didn't specify the importance of ensuring both you and your partner are on the same page or it did and Medina kind of just underestimated the importance of that part and assumed she'd done well enough

Stsword said:
And those who think that stronger ties with the outside world are worth compromise. The pragmatis

Not just better relations but avoiding a much worse relationship and potentially losing the option to meet men from the outside world, this whole program is in its infancy and if it makes headlines back in the US that it has already resulted in a custody case where the Themysciran government has refused to grant the father any rights it'll die in its cradle

Ngamer11 · Sep 26, 2022

Mr Zoat, I'm just going to ask some questions about things that I think might be interesting to see here because I'll probably forget later if I don't do it now. With Paul trying to do more uncomplicated good deeds, could he try to look for people with powers in bad spots but aren't quite criminals yet in order to convince them to use their abilities for a profit by doing good? The only example I could think of is Black Alice, the magic leech. She could maybe learn a few things from Cornwall Boy, as they are both thaumavores, though she's probably more powerful since she can actually use the magic she absorbs instead of just converting it to pure magical energy to use for whatever she could already do like the latter does.

Can we see Tillettit in the future? I just want to see more places that are in awe of Paul, in contrast to how Earth still mostly sees him as the Cake Man. Sidenote, I want Paul to say in an interview that Earth is the Gotham/Arkham of the universe, just to explain to normal humans just how crazy the rest of the universe sees Earth.

Cuchulin · Sep 26, 2022

BR549 said:
- and the Habsburgs are the result of multi-generational inbreeding; a 'first generation' child would be very unlikely to show any significant negative genetic traits (unless both sets of grandparents had matching negative recessive genes, which if they were unrelated should be unlikely). The 'they'll have a third eye and webbed feet!' stereotypes are exaggerated to reinforce the societial negativity.
Which is, of course, a rather important point, and the fact Paul isn't interested in doing so at all is the even bigger concern.

Well, yes. But everyone knows about the Habsburgs.
Also the Fugates are American and much more recent.

Mr Zoat · Sep 26, 2022

22nd December 2012
17:08 GMT +3

Kal-El and I turn our heads to look each other in the eyes for a moment. Then he takes a breath, and gives Medina his full attention.

"Perhaps you could explain to me how it worked before the Amazons came to this island? That way I'd know what you were expecting."

"We weren't…" Medina looks around at her wives, but she's clearly being given the floor. "We didn't live in the Old City. We lived in a village east of there. The Old City was women-only, except for the princes and foreigners who had business there. In Merbakades, where we are from, men and women lived… Separately, but in the same settlement."

Kal-El frowns. "If so many women lived in the Old City, wouldn't that mean that the rest of the country was mostly men?"

"Yes." She nods. "I still find it a little strange, sometimes, that things are different here."

"After three thousand years?"

"It…" She glances at Karyne, who nods sympathetically. "It doesn't feel like three thousand years, sometimes."

Keep doing the same thing and time can fly by, I suppose.

"So if there were a lot more men than women… How did that work?"

She snorts. "We did not sport ourselves with all of them, if that is what you mean. Men who wished to sire children travelled to the City for the Festival, and we…"

Rina nods. "We hadn't been together all that long when… When the City was invaded. None of us had children."

Chloe smiles. "Which isn't to say that none of us attended the Festival as well!"

"But men and women… Didn't… I mean, outside of this… The festival…"

Medina shrugs. "It probably happened, but they kept it quiet. It wasn't normal in Themyscira. But there was no… We did not have slavery, as the Cities of Men did. Anyone who was unhappy could leave if they wanted. The men were happy enough with one another, so far as I remember."

Oh my goodness me Kal-El's actually blushing a little. Yes, Old Themyscira was homosexual central, and not just the women. Adult men, unlike the Athenians far to the south.

"So have any of you had children before?"

Four nods, but Medina shakes her head. "I did not, which is why my darlings allowed me to go first this time."

"But… Weren't men and women living together when the Island was settled? Didn't that..? Change how they related to one another?"

"Of course! But the men didn't… I mean, the villages…" She appears to be struggling to work out how to explain something that must be so obvious to an Amazon. "The city women just lived like we village women. The Festival was… Much the same, a time for getting with child."

"But weren't the children living closer to their fathers?"

"I…" Medina frowns as she tries to remember. "Perhaps? It was a long-"

Rina nods. "Yes."

"-time ago and how do you remember that?"

Rina frowns. "How do you not? The chaos of our first planting seasons is still as fresh in my mind as it was then. And no, it did not change our families overmuch. Boys still went to their uncles once they were weaned, and girls stayed with their mothers."

"Their uncles?"

"Their mother's brothers. Or one of them." She shifts in her seat. "Things were… If there was no uncle, things could be different. I had two daughters, so I did not have to deal with it myself."

"So what did you plan on doing if Medina had a boy?"

Medina shrugs. "The Princess has two sons. I'm sure that we could raise one in a civilised manner."

How modern.

"You said that, back in the Old City, if a man and a woman wanted to marry one another, they could leave the country. So you are aware that other countries handle relations between men and women differently."

Four nods, and Rina waits to see where we're going.

"Do you remember how that worked?"

"Their women were chattel of their fathers and husbands." Medina shakes her head. "I know that is not how things are now."

"Alright, but who raised the children?"

"I… Don't know..?"

Rina spots Medina becoming uncomfortable, and interjects.

"The fathers?"

"In most societies, children are raised jointly by their father and mother, with input from the extended family. The structure that Amazons use is… Unique, as far as I know. The closest I can think of is Sparta-."

They all glare.

"Exactly. Is that the comparison you want?"

Medina drops her eyes for a moment.

"So… Felix thought that… We were courting, as if we were to be married."

"Yes."

"And he was willing to have sex with me because he believed that we would raise the child together."

"Ah, actually, he thought you were using a medicine that would stop you conceiving, but-" She frowns. "-assumed that if you did conceive that you would raise the child together."

Karyne shakes her head. "Medina, did you not even mention that you were trying to conceive?"

"I-." She blinks, probably trying to recall the precise conversation. "I said that I wanted children. But I… Suppose that he might have thought that I meant 'at some time, after we are… Married', and not 'this is why I am having sex with you'. I… I think I owe him an apology."

Karyne nods. "Yes."

"But… What does that mean for..?"

"Ideally, the two of you discuss things and come to an agreement- and please bear in mind the cultural differences and don't assume things- and we present that to the forum as the correct way of handling the issue. If you can't, well… Then you state your positions to the forum and hope for the best, which isn't the best approach."

"No. Ah. If I… Cross through the portal again, will-?"

"I'll ask Princess Diana to invite him to the embassy in New York for the talks."

She nods, slightly relieved.

"Now, are you aware of any other women outside of your marriage group planning something similar? I'd like to get ahead of the problem."

Darko · Sep 26, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
turn our head to

"heads"

Mr Zoat said:
"Their women were chattel of their fathers and husbands." Medina shakes her head. "I know that is not how things are now

Sadly it still occurs in some places.

Mr Zoat · Sep 26, 2022

Ngamer11 said:
Mr Zoat, I'm just going to ask some questions about things that I think might be interesting to see here because I'll probably forget later if I don't do it now. With Paul trying to do more uncomplicated good deeds, could he try to look for people with powers in bad spots but aren't quite criminals yet in order to convince them to use their abilities for a profit by doing good?

Already doing that with Ted Kord. There isn't much he can add by showing up to the office, though you can assume that he's putting in at least some time off panel.

The only example I could think of is Black Alice, the magic leech. She could maybe learn a few things from Cornwall Boy, as they are both thaumavores, though she's probably more powerful since she can actually use the magic she absorbs instead of just converting it to pure magical energy to use for whatever she could already do like the latter does.

She's probably a lot younger than the Team in this setting.

Can we see Tillettit in the future? I just want to see more places that are in awe of Paul, in contrast to how Earth still mostly sees him as the Cake Man.

If I can think of a reason for him to go there, maybe.

Chojin Patriarch · Sep 26, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
22nd December 2012
17:08 GMT +3

Kal-El and I turn our head to look each other in the eyes for a moment. Then he takes a breath, and gives Medina his full attention.

"Perhaps you could explain to me how it worked before the Amazons came to this island? That way I'd know what you were expecting."

And in the process, give us readers the same education concerning this universe's Amazons, eh? Got to love being able to work exposition like that into the story without an 'As You Know...' moment.

Sometimes those are as subtle as a brick to the soft parts of the foot... A LEGO brick.

"We weren't…" Medina looks around at her wives, but she's clearly being given the floor. "We didn't live in the Old City. We lived in a village east of there. The Old City was women-only, except for the princes and foreigners who had business there. In Merbakades, where we are from, men and women lived… Separately, but in the same settlement."

Kal-El frowns. "If so many women lived in the Old City, wouldn't that mean that the rest of the country was mostly men?"

Well, that depends on the make-up of those smaller villages, I guess. But it's safe to say some of them had a lot higher mix of men to women.

"Yes." She nods. "I still find it a little strange, sometimes, that things are different here."

"After three thousand years?"

The human brain is just not built for long-term storage, really. That's why we remember significant things more easily.

"It…" She glances at Karyne, who nods sympathetically. "It doesn't feel like three thousand years, sometimes."

Keep doing the same thing and time can fly by, I suppose.

Yep. Routine things like the daily farming jobs just blur together.

"So if there were a lot more men than women… How did that work?"

She snorts. "We did not sport ourselves with all of them, if that is what you mean. Men who wished to sire children travelled to the City for the Festival, and we…"

I suppose it made it easier to manage timing of births, if nothing else.

Rina nods. "We hadn't been together all that long when… When the City was invaded. None of us had children."

Chloe smiles. "Which isn't to say that none of us attended the Festival as well!"

Oh, I'll bet, honey. Given the way your partner reacted to Kal there...

"But men and women… Didn't… I mean, outside of this… The festival…"

Medina shrugs. "It probably happened, but they kept it quiet. It wasn't normal in Themyscira. But there was no… We did not have slavery, as the Cities of Men did. Anyone who was unhappy could leave if they wanted. The men were happy enough with one another, so far as I remember."

Quite the progressive paradise, I guess. Especially compared to some of the other city-states of the era.

Oh my goodness me Kal-El's actually blushing a little. Yes, Old Themyscira was homosexual central, and not just the women. Adult men, unlike the Athenians far to the south.

"So have any of you had children before?"

Just a gay old time, huh?

...As long as everyone involved was consenting, of course.

Four nods, but Medina shakes her head. "I did not, which is why my darlings allowed me to go first this time."

"But… Weren't men and women living together when the Island was settled? Didn't that..? Change how they related to one another?"

Closer proximity, of course. But generations of established culture won't disappear overnight... Not without some divine dickery, anyway.

"Of course! But the men didn't… I mean, the villages…" She appears to be struggling to work out how to explain something that must be so obvious to an Amazon. "The city women just lived like we village women. The Festival was… Much the same, a time for getting with child."

"But weren't the children living closer to their fathers?"

Well, that depends on what sex they were, after all... But a girl could probably run across the island to visit Papa, or a son, his mother.

"I…" Medina frowns as she tries to remember. "Perhaps? It was a long-"

Rina nods. "Yes."

Memories brought to mind by the current state of things, perhaps?

"-time ago and how do you remember that?"

Rina frowns. "How do you not? The chaos of our first planting seasons is still as fresh in my mind as it was then. And no, it did not change our families overmuch. Boys still went to their uncles once they were weaned, and girls stayed with their mothers."

Some people do simply have better memories than others...

"Their uncles?"

"Their mother's brothers. Or one of them." She shifts in her seat. "Things were… If there was no uncle, things could be different. I had two daughters, so I did not have to deal with it myself."

Handy. Could still be an issue here, depending on Medina's luck.

"So what did you plan on doing if Medina had a boy?"

Medina shrugs. "The Princess has two sons. I'm sure that we could raise one in a civilised manner."

Even though he'll someday grow old and die, assuming he doesn't choose to leave the island?

How modern.

"You said that, back in the Old City, if a man and a woman wanted to marry one another, they could leave the country. So you are aware that other countries handle relations between men and women differently."

Hmm... An interesting line of questioning. Trying to determine if she knew better or simply didn't care?

Four nods, and Rina waits to see where we're going.

"Do you remember how that worked?"

...Because ignorance of a custom does not excuse the breaking of it. It might mitigate the penalties...

"Their women were chattel of their fathers and husbands." Medina shakes her head. "I know that is not how things are now."

"Alright, but who raised the children?"

Well, she's not completely ignorant of things. Will she realise how she screwed up, or...

"I… Don't know..?"

Rina spots Medina becoming uncomfortable, and interjects.

One for all, all for one, eh? A good partner in action.

"The fathers?"

"In most societies, children are raised jointly by their father and mother, with input from the extended family. The structure that Amazons use is… Unique, as far as I know. The closest I can think of is Sparta-."

...Ooh, bad idea to bring that up. They'd be like the eternal opposite of the Amazons, especially with their 'descended from Herakles' claims.

They all glare.

"Exactly. Is that the comparison you want?"

...He's got a point. Some people probably think of Themyscira as a perfect little resort town with hordes of beautiful women just laying around sunbathing or playing beach games... Others probably look at it and go 'A nation of warrior women? Must be like an army camp!'

Medina drops her eyes for a moment.

"So… Felix thought that… We were courting, as if we were to be married."

Ah, the obol drops, I see. Yes, you did rather go into things with the wrong idea, didn't you?

"Yes."

"And he was willing to have sex with me because he believed that we would raise the child together."

Not quite, but I doubt she'd grok the expected idea of 'chastity before marriage.'

"Ah, actually, he thought you were using a medicine that would stop you conceiving, but-" She frowns. "-assumed that if you did conceive that you would raise the child together."

Karyne shakes her head. "Medina, did you not even mention that you were trying to conceive?"

Though it'd be a rare case where it's not the bride's family pushing them to marry...

"I-." She blinks, probably trying to recall the precise conversation. "I said that I wanted children. But I… Suppose that he might have thought that I meant 'at some time, after we are… Married', and not 'this is why I am having sex with you'. I… I think I owe him an apology."

Karyne nods. "Yes."

Ah, light dawns. Yes, you've rather made a mess of things, young lady. All because you assumed he'd understand your intentions without explaining them...

"But… What does that mean for..?"

"Ideally, the two of you discuss things and come to an agreement- and please bear in mind the cultural differences and don't assume things- and we present that to the forum as the correct way of handling the issue. If you can't, well… Then you state your positions to the forum and hope for the best, which isn't the best approach."

And let's hope proper communication can settle things, then.

"No. Ah. If I… Cross through the portal again, will-?"

"I'll ask Princess Diana to invite him to the embassy in New York for the talks."

Quite the bonus for him, then.

She nods, slightly relieved.

"Now, are you aware of any other women outside of your marriage group planning something similar? I'd like to get ahead of the problem."

Because I have no doubt that one or two others did the 'go look for a handsome man for a few days of canoodling' but went with a more casual hook-up.

Ah, the joy of getting someone to actually look at things and think. And realise that no, not everyone has the same cultural assumptions. Now, let's see if the prospective parents-to-be can work something out. If nothing else comes of this, I suspect women planning to travel outside Themyscira will be given a much more in-depth rundown on cultural differences. One less headache for the Palace, then.

goricnac · Sep 26, 2022

I love how the arc called Uncomplicated Good Works has the fucking family court dispute

Sordid Snake · Sep 26, 2022

Cuchulin said:
When it comes to inbreeding? I have two words to remember, Blue Fugates.

Today any ok looking females among them could have made a career in cosplaying.

Mr Zoat · Sep 26, 2022

goricnac said:
I love how the arc called Uncomplicated Good Works has the fucking family court dispute

He tried.

w34v3r · Sep 26, 2022

OL has become his own sub-genre, he can't escape.

BR549 · Sep 26, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
He tried.

And the universe ensured that things were quite trying.

Old Knife · Sep 26, 2022

Hilarious subtext. Lex will be dealing with a more thoughtful superman who has long term planning outside of "save the day". Changing and shaping the world they will one day leave behind.

Will this mark the start of a different sort of rivalry or will they work together?

Karmic Acumen · Sep 26, 2022

Old Knife said:
Will this mark the start of a different sort of rivalry or will they work together?

You're joking, right?

LiteraryChangeling69 · Sep 26, 2022

Family court as it is overcorrected. The solution is as simple as both parents have equal rights in the child. Now if you go into the weeds with surrogacy it gets more complicated because of contract law involved as well.

Old Knife · Sep 26, 2022

Karmic Acumen said:
You're joking, right?

Of course. This lex isn't nearly as obsessed as the other ones normally are.

rkyeun · Sep 26, 2022

goricnac said:
I love how the arc called Uncomplicated Good Works has the fucking family court dispute

Hey now, it hasn't gone to court yet. If they can work this out for themselves just by actually talking to each other like adults, avoiding family court is, unambiguously, an uncomplicated good work.

Pez · Sep 26, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"I did not, which is why my darlings allowed me to go first this time."

Medina = Zero Two confirmed!

Radix · Sep 26, 2022

LiteraryChangeling69 said:
Family court as it is overcorrected. The solution is as simple as both parents have equal rights in the child. Now if you go into the weeds with surrogacy it gets more complicated because of contract law involved as well.

Do they have equal rights? I can't see the forum saying that the father can force the child from Themiscyra.

I can certainly see a right to visitation, or potentially even for the father to live nearby outside the city as the men of old did and possibly be more actively involved in the child's upbringing.

But given the reason for their paradise, and their shared cultural trauma of children, I just can't see them agreeing to a child being "taken" away from them back into man's world.

DbDRAKE · Sep 26, 2022

I love the polticis and social dynamics arcs; they are always fun.

Take comic DC setting conciets and play them out seriouslt, type of thing.

Cuchulin · Sep 27, 2022

Pez said:
Medina = Zero Two confirmed!

No. Lum.

Because Lum = devotion and Urusei Yatsura is getting a new Anime.

Mr Zoat · Sep 27, 2022

24th December 2012
10:13 GMT +3

"Forum wrangled?"

Kon nods, glancing down towards it from the edge of the palace plaza. "Eventually. Grandma's meeting up with a guy from the State Department to… Start the process of writing up a treaty."

I frown. "I thought they already had one."

"Yeah, but you know it was written for Mom and the occasional visitor."

I shrug. "Sure, numbers are up, but it's not exactly a flood of Amazons."

"I dunno then. They wanted a meeting, and Grandma thought it was a good idea."

"Is this..? After the presidential handover, or before? Horne's still in charge until next year, but I doubt a career bureaucrat is going to enact the old boss's policy when the new boss might just reverse it."

"I guess. But it's like you said, Themyscira's not that big. I guess there's a lot of stuff that the President doesn't need to get personally involved in."

"Yes. Though it would be a nice way for Horne to finish his term."

Kon frowns. "Is Knight being President going to change anything?"

"It might be slightly easier to improve American defence policy. And he gave the impression that he plans on spreading taxpayer cash around the place, so if you've got any investments it would be a good time to review them."

"I mean, about Themyscira. Or Brazil, or Atlantis."

"I don't think so. Brazil, maybe. He made a few noises about thinking that Horne didn't deal with Swamp Thing's attack on Gotham particularly well."

That was how his fairly mild statement was portrayed, anyway. And that's something that he understands and that I've noticed Horne doesn't. But Horne can retire knowing that he did an okay job in trying times, which is all most of us can hope for.

Kon smiles. "I guess as long as he's not planning on attacking any more cities it shouldn't be a problem."

We look at each other for a moment.

"I'll check today." / "You should probably-."

Kon smiles, nodding. "How come he isn't in Brazil?"

"Because he likes Louisiana. Or.. because he thinks that Euanthe and Doctor Isley have it covered. I don't know."

"So, what are you doing for Christmas?"

"Jade couldn't get the time off work, so Alan, Guy and me are flying to the Reach periphery to spend the day there. Her whole squad's going to try eating traditional Earth food, so I'm.. packing extra sick bags. Paula's spending it with the Allen family. You?"

"Grandma decided that… Ah…"

"Themyscira isn't doing Christmas after what happened last year."

"Yeah. So Mom and me are going to spend it with M'gann and Mister J'onzz. M'gann got fed up with him always taking console duty on Christmas."

"So who's on duty?"

"Doctor Mist and Rocket Red. Kinda surprised, but apparently Rocket Red doesn't celebrate Christmas."

"The Soviet Union used to take atheism seriously. And I guess that being posted to Siberia meant that he's used to not getting home all that often. Oh."

I take his present out of subspace and hand it over.

"Happy Christmas. Oh, and-"

An orange shimmer.

"-this one's for Wolf."

"Thanks! I've-" He crouches down and pulls a wrapped box out of his satchel. "-got yours here."

Hm. Cube, about five centimetres along each side. No sound when I rattle it-.

"You gonna open it?"

"No, of course not. Christmas day is tomorrow, that would-."

Kon looks a little guilty as the paper falls off my present to him.

"Though naturally, Themyscira has different customs."

"A.. book? In kryptonese. Ah… Collection, before Vrang, stories? Kryptonian folk tales?"

"The Daxamites weren't using it."

He looks a little awkward. "Did you steal this?"

"As I understand the Daxamite religion, they consider owning information on pre-exodus society as heresy. So no, because it's-"

He smiles, shaking his head.

"-legally unowned."

"Thanks. I'll tell them that when they come and arrest me."

"No, Kon. You say 'I've never seen this before, but some really suspicious Orange guy was hanging around here earlier'."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Have a great Christmas with the Reach."

He hesitates, but I walk towards him instead and we embrace.

"I'll see you when I get back. Have fun with M'gann."

I

step out, homing in on the odd feeling of Swamp Thing's emotions before

appearing in Louisiana.

24th December 2012
02:17 GMT -5

"Merry Ch-."

He's sitting amongst a series of plants I don't recognise, vines running from them to his spinal area. It's dark, but the area is dimly illuminated with bioluminescent plants.

"Christmas, Swamp Thing."

"Hello, Orange Lantern. What brings you here?"

That was a surprisingly normal couple of sentences.

"President-Elect Knight made noises about being unhappy about Gotham. I thought that I'd check in with you just in case you had other problems you were getting annoyed about."

"No, I'm fine, Tefé is fine, and so is Abigail. Thank you for checking."

"Um."

"You're wondering about this? I once made a bio-computer to try and work out what to do about Sprout. But I didn't know much about magic. Doctor Isley helped me design this. Thinking is far easier, now. I know I should keep my head down. Don't worry about it. Merry Christmas."

I nod, and

vanish.

Assblaster5000 · Sep 27, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"Thanks. I'll tell them that when they come and arrest me.

Missing quotation mark.

Ngamer11 · Sep 27, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"Hello, Orange Lantern. What brings you here?"

That was a surprisingly normal couple of sentences.

"President Elect Knight made noises about being unhappy about Gotham. I thought that I'd check in with you just in case you had other problems you were getting annoyed about."

"No, I'm fine, Tefé is fine, and so is Abigail. Thank you for checking."

"Um."

"You're wondering about this? I once made a bio-computer to try and work out what to do about Sprout. But I didn't know much about magic. Doctor Isley helped me design this. Thinking is far easier, now. I know I should keep my head down. Don't worry about it. Merry Christmas."

I'm now excited by what an intelligent Swamp Thing can do. Also, he'd be an even better emergency call for Paul than he was before, if he ever needs it.

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

This is filth! FILTH!!

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Stand up so I can push you down!

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Versed in the lewd.

Versed in the lewd.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Experienced.

Versed in the lewd.

Dedicated ragequitter

Connoisseur.

Dedicated ragequitter

Veteran Lurker

I trust you know where the happy button is?

(Verified Viper)

Dedicated ragequitter

Versed in the lewd.

This is filth! FILTH!!

Not too sore, are you?

The long-suffering one

A lover of good literature.

Not too sore, are you?

Cabbitus Maximus

Spaceman

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Possibly some sort of Actual Dragon?

Versed in the lewd.

Dedicated ragequitter

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Experienced.

Users who are viewing this thread