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LynxKlaw In reply to ??? [2018-01-19 04:44:29 +0000 UTC]

Hey, Dude!

Sorry for the delay, but I've had some recent issues with both health and scheduling at work.  But things are settling down again and getting... to a new form of normal for me, so I'm back in the saddle as it were.

I'm doing okay and the fanfic itself is nearing completion!  I just uploaded Chapter 17's Author's Note, so there's that in place.  Just a few more to go!

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Dudegotgts In reply to LynxKlaw [2018-01-19 12:57:05 +0000 UTC]

Ok

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LynxKlaw In reply to naruko-chaan [2017-10-18 01:18:09 +0000 UTC]

Hey there, Naruko!  Sorry this is late, I've been having some pretty busy days here along with some medical concerns that have kept me from updating as regularly as I'd like.  Still, I do have an answer for you, and it's already in the story.  I'll direct your eyes to Chapter 7, where Kamala and the Warden are talking:

“But!  Before I go spilling the beans... inquiring minds want to know:  Just what does IMRO stand for?  You tell me your secret, and I’ll tell you mine.  I’m pretty sure mine’s even better than yours, so you’re kind of getting lucky, here.”

Her continued grin only seemed to infuriate him.  The Warden wheezed something close to a growl and it only led to coughing fit.  He could only glower deeper as she chuckled at his expense.

“The IMRO is a facility... for dealing with the menace... that you represent, 3120,” he spat the number like an epithet.  “You and your kind belong here... sealed away where you cannot... corrupt this world.  One day, all your kind... will languor—and then die—in these cells.

“This facility, 3120..., is but the start of what will... soon be a world-wide effort.  We are the Indian Metahuman... Response Organization.  This is a living landfill... and you are the filth...”

The answer is, the IMRO is the "Indian Metahuman Response Organization."  As discussed by Batman, it's essentially the start of a global effort to stem the tide of Metahumans.  It won't work, because it's essentially a genetic mutation, much like Mutants in the Marvel universe.  Still, it's all part of "Preventative Measures", a super-classified series of black operations to keep Humanity as top-dog when it's being threatened (real or perceived) by Metahumans, Inhumans, Extra-Terrestrials, Extra-Dimensionals, or other Creatures and Powers That Be.

There's a full explanation on it found in the comments below.  I grabbed the link to it for you: comments.deviantart.com/1/3440…

Hope that helps!  I'm still recovering, and it's going to be a little bit until I get everything sorted out, but I'm hoping to be back for a Halloween update!

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LynxKlaw In reply to CommanderCritic [2017-09-13 00:56:52 +0000 UTC]

Hey, Commander!

Glad you enjoyed the story!  I do have quite a bit in the works.  Normally, I'd have a huge, long post to cover all this... and I do--just, not here in this post.

Glazios is correct on that facet: I do plan a sequel, but my focus currently lies in my original works based on my world of... Origin.  There's an in-lore reason it's called that, I'm not just being punny.

If you scroll down below, you'll see my reply to Crooked, which covers a lot of the sequel information, as well as one of my replies to Glazios (if you search "Jan 1, 2017" you'll find it) about Jessie.  There's plenty more to find here if you search "No Laughing Matter" or "NLM".

The short of it is that I've a mass of character and plots to explore in NLM, which is looking to be more of a... series than it is just a sequel.  I've yet to tie everything together, but that's what I do best.  It could take a while, but the interest is there!

I have three focuses: "Origin," "No Laughing Matter," and "Chronicle of Darkness."  I may bob and weave between them all, but those are my three projects.

Sorry to send you doing legwork for the details on it, but there's just entirely too much to spend copying and pasting here.  XD  I mean, there's literal pages of material in the comments, here! Nevertheless, it should be insightful!

Thanks again and I hope you continue to enjoy my works!

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glazios In reply to CommanderCritic [2017-09-12 09:40:34 +0000 UTC]

There is a sequel planned, called "No Laughing Matter", though other than that it will explore more of Jessie Terr's story, I'm not sure what Lynx intends it to entail. I think Lynx will be focusing on his more-original works for a while now, but a follow-up is definitely in the works, from what I understand. If you want my advice, read Lynx's replies to comments here; they can be very in-depth and informative.

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LynxKlaw In reply to KanethNaer [2017-09-13 00:25:51 +0000 UTC]

Hey, Kaneth!

Yeah, I can understand that.  I've actually had this issue brought up to me, recently!  I already addressed it--I think.

Try the PDF again, now?  With the suggestion and ongoing help of my Beta-reader and another reviewer, I've formatted the PDF to fit the A5 size paper size.  It has been tested on my Motorola Moto Z Play Droid, running Android v7.1.1.  I also had my Beta try it on his LG Max Pro, also running Android.  (Sorry Mac users, I don't know anyone with an iPhone/iPad to try it.)  It fits much better and is far more legible!

That said, if it's the file type bothering you, you can always check it out on ArchiveofourOwn, where it is up in its entirety!

Direct Link: archiveofourown.org/works/1195…

They also have a download option for various file types, including HTML and MOBI.  If none of those work, let me know.  I have the RTF files that I use to upload to FFnet.  I can email them or put them on a temp file-share site if all else fails.

Let me know how it goes!

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LynxKlaw In reply to Throwaway6249 [2017-09-13 00:14:56 +0000 UTC]

The thing you have to remember about most of this is that there is a definable difference between M and MA ratings.  MA contains explicit material regarding sex and violence.  M actually is more restrictive and doesn't permit explicit scenes.  My story did break FFnet's rules, I fully admit that.  ...But it's not a problem, and I'll explain why in just a moment.  The funny thing is that, when I started posting this on FFnet, I only half-jokingly asked my Beta Reader, "How long do you think this will take to get banned?"  The answer:  About six months.

I've been prepared for this since I first wrote the lemon back in 2013.  ZadArchie just made me move up my plans a little ahead of schedule.  I'd intended to post everything to FFnet, then post to ArchiveofourOwn.  Now I'm doing both simultaneously.

The other thing you have to remember is that Critics United aren't just an unnecessary force, but an overeager, fear-mongering group.  Sure, you get to reading those profiles and the forums, you would think they have a point about the site being forcefully closed down.  They tote around those Terms of Service like a war banner.  But... here's the thing.  I read the TOS.  There are two things in there that honestly put this issue to rest.

Firstly, there's what's called a non-indemnity clause.  This means that they do not pay back a correlating amount of damages.  By presenting their site and making an account, you agree to their terms and agree that they have the right to remove any works posted on their website without notice or reason given.  They're not required to pay anything back.  Likewise, removing the offending posted work also satisfies any legal concerns, and they will not be liable for paying back any damages.  This is why many multiplayer games say "Online Interactions Not Rated By the ESRB."  They can't guarantee what users will do.  That leads me to the second point...

Secondly, there's a limited liability clause.  Because there's no way to govern exactly what an end-user might do, then FFnet's due diligence extends to removing those stories as a satisfactory form of resolution.  It's their version of an EULA in that TOS.  They even state that the account holder is held responsible for their own content, and they still retain the right to remove any or all of their work, up to and including their active account status without notice or reason given.  Once again, they've covered themselves.

Third and lastly, they provide a means of reporting stories in violation, yes.  This is up to the community, yes, but it's not a requirement.

So it begs the question:  Exactly why is Critics United using it as though they are moderators?  End-users don't need to report stories, though they can.  What this group is doing is claiming that, without them here to save us all from these grievous infractions, that FFnet would collapse.  As I've just covered in my two points above... that's not the case.

...

To answer your question: I'm currently posting it in three places.  All three places have identical material, if in a slightly different format.

1. You can view it here, on deviantART, where you will have access to a PDF updated every two weeks until its completed author's notes reach the epilogue.

2. You can view it on FFnet, though not chapters 3, 4, 7, 14, and 15.  It will continue to be updated in the same way.

3. You can view it on ArchiveofOurOwn, with all chapters and author's notes just as they would be posted on FFnet, and even download it in various formats there.

Direct Link: archiveofourown.org/works/1195…

It's the same wherever you go, so just grab whichever you like.  I'm partial to the PDF here because it allows me to format different fonts... but that's just me.  If you're not concerned with seeing specialized fonts for certain things, then AO3 is your best bet.  FFnet will continue to get updates despite everything else.

I'm not going to feed ZadArchie and his fellow cronies.  They can monitor the story all they like, but I'm absolutely not letting them junk up my review page with all their inane threats and warnings.  I was polite and professional in my dealings with this.  I didn't curse them out, nor did I argue with them.  They want that, they get a kick out of it.  I didn't so much cave to their demands as preserved my story, redirected traffic, and avoided conflict.

The standard rules of engagement on the internet apply:  Do not feed trolls, it only makes them stronger.

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LynxKlaw In reply to damncrooked [2017-09-12 05:31:12 +0000 UTC]

Hey, there, Crooked!  Thanks for enjoying!

I have my plans for it.  I've been working toward this for a while and now I'm finally in a position to focus on other projects.  And yes, Origin is going to be my focus for the time-being, but that doesn't mean I don't have thoughts and things to add to stories like "No Laughing Matter" all the time.

See, "No Laughing Matter" started out as a straight-up sequel, but it kind of... evolved.  Sure, it still has the sequel..., because Jessie.  However, there's more to tell; there's going to be a few arcs and tie-ins. There's a version of "Gotham Girls" to it. A short and totally un-spoilerish list of original characters presenting will be:

Abigail Torres
Batgirl
Falcon
Jessie Terr
Mara Roth (not related to Raven)
Marcus
SABI

...and one of them is a guy, granted, but overall there's a ton of female characters that will be doing things in and around Gotham, Jump, and an as-yet unnamed city.

That said, I have little flashes of inspiration for things here and there with Wraith, Charcoal, V, and Vipin.  Nothing concrete, but I can see them as setting up shop in a city.  Not... quite heroes.  Vigilantes, but more based out of a certain city than actually working like Batman does.  What I envision for them is something like the Outlaws.  They pick a City, clean it up a bit, stake their name and interest in it.  But then they would lend their services out as mercenaries.

It would be almost Suicide Squad like, but without the heavy-handedness of it.  Basically, they may even work with government sanction in a given area or set of areas.  This would also grant them a government stipend for things like ammunition and travel expense.

Once Bruce gets in on Checkmate, I can see him eyeing Jinx and Wraith as valuable commodities.  I mean... hireable mercenaries that aren't likely to turn on you and try to "stick it to the man"... because you're not their jailer, just their client/employer?  Hell yeah!

And Bats is going to have to get used to a growing number of Metas.  And not all of them troublemakers.  I know he doesn't like them in his city, but I've got plans to make him... slowly become more tolerant.  Nobody wants a bat-bigot.

I'm glad you've enjoyed my portrayals as well!  It's one of those things that... really, I just treat them like people.  It's simple to make a cookie-cutter character, yes, but I have a tendency to want to flesh out a backstory or at least a detailed set of personality traits before I jump into writing a character.  That always helps me.  I think I made mention of that in one of the author's notes here... either there or in these replies.  Either way, I'm always thrilled to talk about both writing as a skill as well as my ideas.

Feel free to ask questions and such.  I typically don't take requests for stories, I just kind of... do my thing, but I'm always happy to share my thoughts and ideas with others!

Thankfully, as the IMRO was a prototype facility that just went belly-up, I don't think anyone's going to be funding anything like that anytime soon.  Not with the whole Justice League now on the lookout for shit like this.  Still, DC did run the whole "Salvation" Planet thing, so this could really go either way.  I like to think it prevents the issue of Salvation, though.

As far as Origin goes, I've got the main plot down...  I've broken it into three arcs for the totality of Senri and Niraphael's story.  To be honest, I've done... pages upon pages of work on it.  The whole story started out as a Diablo II fanfiction.  You can actually find it here on dA!  It's in my scraps, merely labeled "Senri" - it has a Diablo icon.  The thing is... you can't publish that.  So I had some work ahead of me.

To make the story my own, I reinvented the world and made some wide, sweeping changes that helped me stray from my inspirations so that I could truly own the series.

I've since created an entire world, a lore for its creation, a set of gods and the spheres they preside over, orders for which worship and service are dedicated to them...  There's two major continents, seven provinces (three on the northern continent, two on the southern, and two on islands).  I've made a makeshift map for them--I really need to revamp it, but there's about 20 cities, and probably a dozen other locales.  Some of them are "holy" cities built around the patronage to a certain god or goddess... others are literally favored (or outright created by) one of said deities.

I put together some overarching, Realm-wide holidays and made historical figures, events, battles, miracles that made Origin the world it is at the time of the story's start.

Others were just... risen either as kingdoms or cities as mankind flourished.  I have 8 Gods, at least 3 demi-Gods, 9 types of True Undead, 9 types of Blighted Undead, 4 Daemos Arch Lords (these are the Arch Lords I've been talking about all this time!), and 4 Realms (one of which is Origin).

This isn't even touching the dozens of characters and events I've pulled together.

I've built a quest line, but with only the major quests, it's kind of lacking in fluff.  Not that I don't have tons of side-quests, but the problem with those is that they're not really... integral to the plot.  I'm still trying to swing those into necessary detours for my Questers, but... it's going to take a bit.

To be honest, Origin is very well put-together for something I don't have a lot of actual... content for, just yet.  I have tons of scenes, but they are more like one-shots that take place in a certain time before or after some major events.  I just need to gather it all together into a coherent story and give it a write-over to make sure everything flows contiguously and continuously into a well-formed and dramatic plot.

The magic system you've been reading about?  The Daemos language you've been reading?  All of that is included in my fanfictions because it's an easy place to work out all the kinks and mechanics of it before I do something professional with it.  Yes, that makes my fanfics at times info-dumps, but... I enjoy working with my stuff and providing entertainment at the same time.  It seems to have worked!

...Anyway, I'm rambling again.  So... uh, I'll just end this here.  Thanks for listening to me (if you go this far), and I hope you continue to enjoy my work in the future!

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LynxKlaw In reply to crazy123456 [2017-06-02 00:23:35 +0000 UTC]

Hey!  Thanks for reading!  I know, it's kinda sad it's over, but I'm super glad to have it completed.  It was a blast to write, but an accomplishment to finish.  Hope you'll enjoy the author's notes over on FFnet.  Feel free to comment, I'm just as compulsive to answer them as I am these--which is why you're seeing this reply so late.

Even so, it's my birthday, so I'm looking to do something special and fun for it... like... say... a birthday extra-update?!

I'll be working on it!  Hope you enjoy!

Also glad you enjoyed that bit about Doc.  I've had that lying in wait for a few years.  Heh.

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LynxKlaw In reply to warteller [2017-06-02 00:17:31 +0000 UTC]

Glad to hear it!  Thanks for sticking with me to the end!  For more, check it out on FFnet for some author's notes and insight on each chapter!

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LynxKlaw In reply to Zawan [2017-06-02 00:15:27 +0000 UTC]

This one's late in coming, but just stopping in to reply to all these comments I've left while working over on FFnet on things.  Thanks for the commendations; I've worked with them for years and it's good to see someone appreciate the personalities that have developed over  the long time I've dealt with them.

...You might be getting something special soon.  After all, it's my birthday and I'm considering something a little extra once I'm done here!

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LynxKlaw In reply to glazios [2017-06-02 00:05:50 +0000 UTC]

Heh.  Yeah, I'd had that scene written for quite some time and just... resting in my Prey Mate folder for years.  Then, as I neared the end, I--ah--doctored it up with some additions, like mentions of LeKher's treatment and such since that was also a medical procedure.

And yeah.  Raven doesn't necessarily need all the complicated processes to spawn life in her mate.  My Daemos can reproduce asexually and, depending on the type of Daemos, that may either be the common or uncommon method.  A majority will take a mate--temporary or otherwise--to create spawn.

Those who don't--like the Arch Lord Temershad--will take of their own essence, and form a Core.  From there, they will fill that core with essence.  It's rather unlike an egg, however, in that the Core is the soul/heart of a Daemos.  Whatever penchants were added to the essence and the core determine what grows from it (much like a seed).  The core will cover itself in a outer-layer that will mature into a bodily structure--whether that contains a skeleton or not or some other, strange form of bodily mass is entirely up to how the Daemos in question built it.

I have some notes on the matter...  Ah, found them:

===

Over time, Demons would want to procreate...  They can do this in the usual fashion of copulation; that's an adaptation they would have readily developed even in their animalistic, Krimak state.

The copulation would bring about a mixing of energies that would draw upon the mother (and could possibly be fed energy from the father)... and when it finished gestating, a Demonic Core (termed: Hathori) would develop, then form a Demonic body around it.

A Demonic Core is both heart and soul for a Demon.  The offspring is a Demon Spawn (termed: Posdaemos).

Alternatively, Demons have the ability to form their own version of a Soul Egg... a Demon Egg, as it were.  These are bundles of one (or more) parental energies.  In this sense, Demons do not need two parents.  A Demon can choose to take from their very own life-essence (termed: Hirau) and form this Demonic Egg... and then form the Posdaemos to their liking.  In a sense, it's guiding that evolutionary path into a form they find pleasing.

So many Demonic spawn born this way are exactly what their Demonic parents want.

Demon parents, by the way, are known as Anadaemos.

---

When I say breeding, that means intercourse--as Hybrids cannot come about via the Essence-Spawning.  Obviously spawning done with your own essence will only create another version of yourself.  This isn't a clone, as this Demon-spawn might have a completely different temperament and personality, even if you molded their physicality to exactly what you imagined.

Wherein two (or even more) Demons combine their energies, this would still not create a Hybrid.. as you are only dealing with a Demon's Essence.  It is entirely possible that whomever provides creates the Demon-Core (the hathori) for the essence to fill... that is the type of Demon the Demon-Spawn will be.

It is only through birthing that a combination of the two Demon-parent's Core can exist.  Thusly, because it's intercourse, there can only be two parents--and the only way to make a Hybrid of three or more types is through breeding a Demon that is already a Hybrid.

Heh... Hybrids are almost always dual-cores.  XD  Anyway...

That said, Demons can have something like four or five parents (if you can find that many willing to sire a Spawn together), if the respective Demons decide to pour their essence into a core.

The entire process this way is very non-sexual, so we're not talking about an orgy so much as a complicated channeling spell.

It's like giving a transfusion into what is essentially an orb of energy, which will grow a body around itself--which can be molded on what Humans would term a genetic level.

---

Remember what I said about "the one who makes the hathori."  In this sense, if a passion-type makes the core... it will be a passion-type.  If a Water-Elemental provided the hathori, but didn't put any energy into it--and instead six Passion-Conditionals provided said energy...

The result is a Water-Elemental--with seven parents.

That's unlikely, however, as there is a matter of pride and honor to consider--and a Demon who doesn't provide energy for the hathori would be frowned upon (unless there were extenuating circumstances).

===

It wouldn't take much tailoring, however, for Raven to basically embed a core into a ova-fusion style of mortal vessel, and allow the Daemos essence to empower the cell division, using the genetic material for the "shell."  The result would also be like Raven: having both a corporeal and incorporeal element to her existence.

...

Ah, the Doctor.  I figure it's safe to blurb a bunch here, now that the general story is over.

Yes, the Doctor has his own connections and he is entirely too well informed.  That is, it shouldn't be possible for him to know all the things he knows, and yet he does.  First and foremost, he is, of course, a doctor.  He takes that extremely seriously.  His goal is to treat his patients.  Nothing that happens to those under his care goes without his notice.  If you interfere with the treatment of his patients, you will rue it.

He wasn't so much a part of IMRO, as present within it.  Oh, surely, he was hired on for the position and he accepted.  But don't think for a moment that wasn't exactly where he wanted to be.  The need for him there was great.  The Doctor maneuvered events into a position where he would be the one to work within the IMRO's confines full-time.  Medical treatment there was entirely his domain.

But how?  There's a very simple answer to all of this...  The obvious answer is that he has powers of some sort to go along with those connections, or very likely are the means through which he forged those connections.

The Doctor is an Agent of Order.  Much like Jinx, he is not a large-scale enactor and does not serve the Lords of Order, but the Urge of Order itself.  If you recall Jinx's conversations, there are two parts to Order and Chaos.  Chaos creates, but also destroys; Order preserves, but also stagnates.  All Agents know this duality.

The trick is not to get caught up in some spiral of imbalance.  Jinx knows that they are two sides of the same coin, and that for every bit of order, there's some chaos and vice versa.  Doc knows this, too.  He came to the IMRO because he knew that he would have to preserve the status quo--to keep as many of his patients as healthy as possible until this stagnant edifice could fall through Chaos.

Put simply, the Doctor preserved Order while awaiting his counterpart.  He knew something, or someone, would arise to serve this place the Chaos to make it fall.  He wasn't there to take part in the IMRO's downfall; that would happen without any input from him.  But the enactor of Chaos had to survive.  It was, however, of some large surprise to the Doctor to discover that he would not just be enabling a source of Chaos, but a very Agent of Chaos itself.

Doc knew what Jinx was the moment he met her.  He patched her up and made sure she recovered swiftly, was healthy, and would continue on her Chaotic path.  It was only when the Warden demanded he discover the source of her power that he bothered running those tests.  He knew it was a bad idea, but he couldn't tell the Warden that.

Doc sacrificed an MRI machine to his service of Order.  He doesn't hold any ill will toward Jinx for killing it.  Likewise, when she was injured and some guards decided to mess with her...  He dealt with them.  The Warden couldn't afford to lose his premier doctor, especially not when he was so good at what he did.

The Doctor's powers are two-fold.  Like Jinx's power, it's not as simple as mere probability and foreknowledge.  It's all part of Order and preservation.

First, Doc has the ability to know the best means of treating a patient with any and all given tools at his disposal.  This means an almost prerequisite and intrinsic understanding of the ailment, injury, or affliction affecting his patient.  Secondly, he has a high probability of success and his patients are granted a high probability of recovery (possibly a boosted recovery).  That said, he doesn't display any healing power... at least not that we see.  If he has healing powers, he would have had to hide them from the Warden lest he be thrown in a cell of his own.

Secondly, Doc has the ability to know his patients.  It's not an omniscience, it's limited claircognizance pertaining to the treatment of his patients.  He doesn't get these flashes of knowledge about their favorite color, what they had for dinner last night, or anything like that.  (Well, if something they ate last night was poisoned... ...anyway!)

He is a consummate expert in all things medical. Of course, there are many fields of medicine, so that's quite a bit of invasive amount of information he can have about someone.  Neurology, endocrinology, osteology, hematology, pharmaceutics, rheumatology, chiropractics, cardiology, gastroenterology, dietician, dentistry, ENT, ophthalmology, allergist, virology, bacteriology, dermatology, gynecology--those are just off the top of my head...  Then there's the mental aspects including psychiatry, behavioral therapy, psychopathology...

Imagine if he could just... take someone as a patient and immediately know the aspects pertinent to making this person as healthy and productive as possible?  Yeah, that's a ton of information.  So yeah, Doc is kinda scary.  You also have to figure, with his abilities, he probably has some parapsychology and metaphysics.

Now throw all that together with a sense that he needs to be going somewhere or doing something (much like Jinx gets her nudges)?  This is a man on a mission.  As I mentioned, he was not a friend, not an ally, and not really biased.  He isn't just a doctor; he is the doctor.  (No, not The Doctor.  You take your Tardis out of here right this instant.)

So he stuck around and instilled order and preserved lives until it was time to leave.  He administered Jinx's sedative and then promptly got out of the IMRO.  He knew that once Jinx was back, it was the signal he had been waiting years for: the end of Order.  Sides of a coin, this wasn't a bad thing for him--well, other than losing all his patients' files.

Doc was fighting a different battle.  He was fighting to destroy the stagnancy that Warden's version of Order brought.  He knew that only death lay down that path, so he was called to correct Order until the natural flow of Order-Chaos-Order-etc. could reassert itself.

Now that he's out and about, you can bet someone would want to scoop him up.  But like Jinx, he's not so easily controlled.  Furthermore, he's a doctor--and he still has patients that requires follow-ups.

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glazios In reply to LynxKlaw [2017-06-02 01:37:54 +0000 UTC]

Well that makes for an interesting read! The Doc just got more interesting by a few orders of magnitude, there (and no pun intended). So, an Agent of Order...and a consummate medical professional. Not so sinister as I thought, now...makes me want to see more of him, if only as we have here with Prey Mate. I wonder if Jinx might come to recognise the Doc as an Agent, the same way he recognises her as such; she has due respect for him, but I wonder how she might react to a greater understanding of his role in things in that context. I also wonder if he'll ever approach Dark Way as a means to regain access to his patients, or at least to their records. Doubtless, their development and well-being would be an ongoing concern for him.

Jinx was right, though - the Warden would've shit a brick if he knew!

The Daemos reproductive stuff here was an intriguing read, too. Curious what kind of kid Rae and Jinx might have, if they decided to walk that path, as it were...they'd probably have to figure out the whole thing with binding their souls together first, unless I miss my guess, but I'm still curious.

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LynxKlaw In reply to SCInsainty [2017-06-01 21:57:39 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, the story is finished... but the ride apparently isn't over.  Funny you should mention FFnet...

I find myself creating Author's Notes for the FanFiction.net community as I post each chapter, giving my thoughts on it as I re-read chapters with my readers.  It's interesting, and some of the comment chains here have helped me flesh out some of those author's notes.

I love it, honestly, and if you wanna see more of my thoughts on the chapters, feel free to check 'em out on FFnet:

www.fanfiction.net/s/12393517/…

You can probably skip the actual story, 'cause it hasn't changed... but at the same time, it also has fewer formatting options than the PDF file that I uploaded here.

Still!  You might get a kick out of it.  ^_^

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LynxKlaw In reply to Belgarion213 [2017-06-01 21:55:55 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!  I know this is coming late, but I've just hit a slight lull and I have a few days where I can take a breather and work on some things, so I figured I'd catch up on comments, reviews, and other things.  It's be a wild ride, and I feel really accomplished...

And yet, I'm still getting mileage off of it.  Been posting it (with author's notes!) on the chapters, so that's providing more entertainment while I work on other projects!

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LynxKlaw In reply to Belgarion213 [2017-01-06 08:58:05 +0000 UTC]

Heya!  Yeah, it was a small update, but it was all I'd managed to put on paper, despite my insane amount of detailing this and that with my beta.  Most of it was for "No Laughing Matter," so that's probably understandable.  Regardless, I wanted to at least show something for the time this story's not been updated--for all it's never been forgotten or ignored.  Still hoping to get more done on it, looking forward to closing this up and opening up NLM.  I've had a slight focus shift to my "Origin" story, the original novel, but it's always been in tandem with something else like this.

And please, don't feel it's confrontational!  A critique will always come with good and bad points and it's important as an author that I find my flaws and fix them.  Obviously, I used Jinx as a speaker-piece for a lot of the information necessary, specifically regarding magic, Daemos, and Jessie.  That much was practically unavoidable unless I wanted to trawl into a whole side-story that would have diverted majorly from the main plot.  Unfortunately, that left me with few options.  Throw Batman in there, and you've got a one-way ticket to some dialogue heavy info-dumps.  Honestly, I tried to be sparing with those, but it was a little impossible when situations like Lois' magic inquiry and discussions of Demonology popped up with Nin, Terry, and Darryl.

Obviously, with the trio, there was some needed exposition.  If they're going to take a trip to a foreign Realm and interact with an entirely different species--specifically a sub-culture that exists for that particular Clan--they will need something of a primer.  I can cut down here or there, but just snipping off little bits of information won't detract from what comes down to purely necessary information.  There was just a lot of it, and I tried to kind of... pad it by making the whole thing more conversational.  I'm not sure if that did anything more than just bloat the issue, however.

The main problem with all this is that I also have to inform the reader; otherwise, I would have just mentioned that they had their talks and been done with it.  My beta and I were both aware of the info-dump there and we actually discussed it.  I went through a few iterations of it before we came to the conclusion that there wasn't really any better way to throw all that information in there all at one time--at least, not that we could think of at the time.  What with this being one of the last scenes with Nin, Terry, and Darryl, I needed to kind of sum up everything that needed said.  I'm sure there's a better way to present that, but I'm still not fetching up against anything useful.

If you have any ideas regarding that, I would love to hear them!  I may have tons of literary tools at my fingertips, but providing significant amounts of information without turning it into info-dumps is a pitfall of mine.

When I finally go into "No Laughing Matter," it will be much lighter on such exposition (probably), because I'll have addressed most of what needs addressing in Prey Mate.  People will be primed for magic, Daemos, Jessie, Jinx's mercenary work, Dark Way Prep, HIVE Academy, and just about anything else that might play important undercurrents in NLM.  I expect not to have to pause Jinx or Batman or Raven every other chapter to provide some lengthy discussion on why things are they way they are.

Speaking of which, if you noticed any specific portion that could use work or point out a section that could be re-worked, I'd definitely take a look at it.  After all, the story isn't finished and is still subject to retro-active changes--hence why it's still in the Scraps folder.  If you can give me a direction--even just suggestion on what went awry or how you think I could improve it.  You don't have to go into any huge detail--my beta and I will go over it with a fine-toothed comb on our own time.  And, if you feel up to it, I may ask some follow-up questions or provide further info into the intent and function of said areas to better assist in merging the goals of the scene with the quality of writing I strive to present.

Moving on from that, I'm super-glad you like Jessie.  Back when I first saw Dark Knight, I was struck with the idea of Jessie... and she's developed well in my head and on paper for quite some time.  She's been years in the making and has finally made her debut to the public, and I can't wait to write a story that will heavily feature her!  "No Laughing Matter" will split itself between Jump and Gotham, but will likely focus more on the latter.  The ensuing shenanigans should be amusing, the action riveting, and the drama compelling.  And Captain Obvious should be obvious.

As much as Jessie has spoiled most of her origins, I'm hoping to still provide quite a bit of mystery here and there.  What with the Bat Clan, Jessie, the Gotham Families, and the ever-present Rogues, it's rather unavoidable that some involved mess tumbles out onto the streets of Gotham.  Anyhow, it's super late and I need to get to bed, but I just wanted to reply to this and let you know how thrilled it is to be in contact with my readers again!  Hope to hear from you in future updates--which I shall try to make more frequent, I promise!

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LynxKlaw In reply to glazios [2017-01-02 01:57:12 +0000 UTC]

Yyyeah, it seems that anytime I write Jessie or Batman, they decide to spoil a chunk of things.  But I find that I really don't mind.  It'll inspire me to write better, keeping in mind that certain aspects of the future are already known, I'll just have to surprise you in a different way!

And true, while you and I may know the identity of a certain Gothamite, Jinx and the rest of them have no clue.  Said mute is not yet widely known outside of Gotham, and even then is quite a mystery to most.  Jinx likely has not put two and two together, yet, because she's never met Batgirl--in fact, this displays that she's totally unaware of there even being another Batgirl.  Outside of a few pictures you'd have to trawl the Gotham Gazette to find (which Jessie does), there's not a whole lot of information readily available to the public.  And, as part of Jinx's agreement with the League, she's pointedly not doing any research into the Bat-Clan (as a matter of courtesy).

Of course, none of that is going to mean anything come the sequel, "No Laughing Matter."

...As for the things Jessie does...  Hm.  You know what?  I think I ought to nab everyone a little belated Christmas present!

I made a Starter Kit profile for her years ago.  It included her description, powers, and general info-dump about Jessie.  The bio section is extremely outdated by now, but that's understandable.  I doctored it up a bit and updated the info on the profile.

Basically, it was her setup before she had any affiliations with Batman (and likely even Jinx).  It was used as a role-playing resource profile in a Gotham RP.  Keep in mind that Jessie isn't a vigilante, isn't rich, and doesn't have a wealth of technically inclined friends.  As this was before I figured Jinx into her backstory, a lot of her general nature was more... self-sustaining.  It was what Dabney Donovan had the limited resources to create for her.  So at an early stage--such as where she is right now, as a student--she doesn't have access to nor the need for things like an ultra-light kevlar-nomex weave jacket and vest or nifty bat-gadgets.  Everything she currently owns would be readily available on-the-market or, in the case of the few actual gadgets she has, created by Dabney Donovan himself or pilfered in secret by said scientist.

It struggles to be considered "field gear" in this sense, because most of  it isn't very protective.  Still, as you read through it (if you choose to do so), remember that one of Jessie's features is an extreme adaptability and resourcefulness.  The things I've provided her with can take her very far--as far as India, as you well know!

Anyhow... let me just... go upload this and you can enjoy even more of my custom DC Universe stuff!

--a short intermission later--

Aaand uploaded!  Link here: fav.me/datvdid

If we're going full-on spoilers about the power in specific, I can say that her gravitational power is specifically linked to her perception.  She could technically fly like many of the super-powered peoples in DC, but so far, she hasn't quite figured that out/actualized the full capability of her power.  Everything about her is affected by the gravitational effect--that is, for instance, her hair.  However, her clothing, the things in her pockets, and things that are not her (e.g. anything she's holding) are not affected by her powers.

She has a smattering of Meta-powers, but they're not high-tier.  They are, however, quite enough make her a force to be reckoned with when she utilizes them to their fullest extent.  It's never so much about what powers you have as how you use them.

Let me know what you think.  There's not too terribly much in there that you couldn't infer from reading, but there are some nifty little tidbits of information you'll never get anywhere else (and very likely never admitted in any stories).  ^_^

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glazios In reply to LynxKlaw [2017-01-02 05:02:46 +0000 UTC]

Having gone through said dossier, I'm now very much looking forward to more appearances by Jessie. She's a cool character; her power set may not exactly stand up to Superman (but honestly, whose does?) but what she does have is impressive, appropriately-chaotic, and of course, as you say, the hand you're dealt is only really limited by how you play your cards - especially when you can manipulate probability and generate your own gravity.

...Seriously, that last part is crazy-awesome. Lots of DC characters can fly, but I can't think of many who do it by generating their own gravity. That's a cool power.

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LynxKlaw In reply to glazios [2017-01-09 02:27:02 +0000 UTC]

True, but I don't really intend to have Jessie fly... not on purpose, or at least not for quite some time.  More to the point is that she's currently still stuck on the concept that her feet are anchors.  While this isn't... untrue, it's not the sole answer to the question she hasn't begun to ask, yet.

(Note: This is going to be one of those long explanations, but I hope you enjoy it!)

With a normal person, they jump from a planar surface of ground with their feet, they land on that planar surface of ground with their feet.

This is not so with Jessie's personal gravity.  That means that the whole equation is in flux.

If Jessie so shifts herself personal gravity, the wall becomes her anchor.  This means that she is drawn to the wall as her ground, thus she may stand upon it and walk upon it as any normal person might.  Or, in the case of the story, she could sit on the ceiling, because she has designated her gravity now particular to the ceiling.

Now, consider her plane.  In both of these examples, that anchor is perpendicular to her anatomical posture.  That is, she can still fall.  If you pushed her shoulders, she would fall onto the ceiling with just as much force as if you had pushed her while she was standing on the floor.  This, too, is something Jessie can alter.  If she needs a bit of a speed boost, she could be running along a wall... and shift her gravity so that the wall was no longer a perpendicular plane, but a downward slope ("downward" in this sense a local-gravity specific term).  Now she's got further momentum by being drawn by that pull.  Of course, there is the risk of tripping, so she has to be careful--just as with anyone walking or running on a steep decline.

At a point where she needed to slow down, she would shift to a perpendicular or incline surface and thus be fighting her forward momentum with opposing gravity.  Momentum is the greatest threat to this entire act, as she can't control that.

In the event that she would fall, it would also be a simple matter of tilting her plane again to regain her footing.  Is she about to fall backward on a perpendicular plane?  Shifted to a plane that is a steep downward slope at just the right angle would have her tipping forward.  As long as she's careful not to loose footing and slide back on her rump, she's no longer falling backward or forward, but balance precariously; that is, she has killed all momentum.  She can then simultaneously regains proper footing and shift the plane back to perpendicular to stand normally.

Jessie's mind essentially has the equivalent to sea-legs with personal gravity.  However, it limits itself by focusing on planes--but we'll get into that in a little bit, yeah?  For now, let's move on.

This is a singular surface interaction.  Planar-to-planar interaction is up next.  Yeah, because nothing Jessie does can ever be simple, right?

Just as Jessie can shift a the anchor of one plane to tilt, she can also move that anchor to another plane.  If she's running along the ground, and comes to a wall, a simple tilt-shift will suddenly have her running on the wall.  It might take her a quick parkour-style tumble (especially if she just hits the junction of the floor and the wall).  Alternatively, she could make a leap and turn shift her gravity so that the wall is actually a slope.  This conserves her momentum while directing it into her new direction.  Otherwise, she would be shifting her gravity 90 degrees and have a very sudden downward (what had been forward) momentum, and it would be similar to landing from a great height in a single stride.

But let's say she's pushed off a roof.  Instead of falling straight down, she can lean her gravity back toward the building's wall--interpreted as a slope, and come onto it at a run (much like a parachutist coming in for a landing) and then shift the plane to a moderate incline to quickly kill her momentum.  A slight shift after that and she's standing on the wall.

Alternatively, let's say she takes a flying leap from one building (a la Matrix) and wants to land on the other.  She would shift her gravity to anchor the rooftop of the opposite building as a perpendicular surface to her personal gravity (a wall, if you will).  This means she is actually falling.  Once she passes the edge of the roof, a quick shift of the rooftop from parallel surface to perpendicular means she's at prime momentum (running speed) and ready to hit the ground running in a very literal sense.  Alternatively, she could tumble to kill some momentum and now be standing on the rooftop.

Maybe she needs to eat up ground at a really quick rate.  Maybe she doesn't have a grappling hook. She could even just shift the gravity a full 90 degrees and free-fall.  It should be noted that this movement may not have a plane associated with it other than a vague idea of far below her.  If she's running on a building's wall and shifts her gravity to be far down the road... she could fall (in absolute direction, falling sideways) for several buildings or even a block or two...

Remember what I said about momentum?  Doing this would enter her into terminal velocity as with any other person--between 8 and 15 seconds.  Eventually, however, she would need anchor herself to a surface for landing, and that would mean her legs would have to keep up the pace.  ...That's about 122 mph (195 km/h)--not something you should attempt.  It's likely that she would need to slide and tumble while slowly tilting her personal gravity to a less steep decline before she could kill enough momentum for her to survive that.

Now... we just discussed a technically non-existent anchor.  This is about as close to flying as Jessie currently gets--and that's more of a controlled fall.

A better idea would be a quick spot-and-tilt sort of rocking motion to her gravity.  Choose a short falling distance, shift it to the ground to make it similar to an Olympic long-jump... and push off again, then tilt to another short-fall, turn that into a landing, etc.  It would be like... kinda what you see in Naruto when they lunge for God-knows-how-long before landing only to push off again for another long distance.

It's also possible for her to jump up, do a half-flip, and shift her gravity to land on her feet on the ceiling.  This requires a shift of gravity to a point above herself.  But always, she chooses an anchor--a plane.  This concept limits her, and is a mental block.

What Jessie doesn't yet understand/comprehend about her powers is that her gravity isn't about planes at all.  It's about a local point at her center mass.  Put beneath her feet on the ground and she's standing.  Put behind her against a wall, and she's lying upon it.  Put in front of her and she's doing that "falling sideways" thing.  ...  Put above her head and she's falling up.  If she just chose a local point in the sky, she would "fall" to it and stick there, floating in the air if she didn't move it.  She would achieve a weightlessness from being at her absolute center of gravity.  She could even use that to decelerate herself from a free-fall.

For instance: Placed far, far away from her, she would be drawn to terminal velocity (she would be an object falling "downward")... and then swung in an opposing direction far enough to kill her momentum (she would be an object thrown "upward").  Once her momentum stops, she could snap her gravity to her center mass and stay floating there.

But that requires her to think of her gravity as something similar to a rubber-band.

...If Jessie ever figures it out, she's likely to describe her personal gravity as a game of paddle-ball.

(And holy crap, I think that's the first time I've actually put all that to text.  It takes a lot longer to type than to say!)

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glazios In reply to LynxKlaw [2017-01-09 04:19:15 +0000 UTC]

...Is it bad that I'm sort-of surprised at myself that I understood all that? I mean, technically, gravitational planes and shifting centre mass according to them to adjust one's personal gravity...that's nuts. And given that it's Jessie, it makes perfect, crazy-assed sense that she'd be able to do all of that, if she ever figures it all out. I'd wager that Jinx or Raven will probably crack the theory of it all long before Jessie herself does, though; I figure she's naturally more-inclined toward figuring out new nuances of her powers on the fly, rather than actually sitting down in a training room for some trial-and-error - something tells me she'd have neither the attention span nor the inclination, unless Jinx/other appropriately-qualified teacher figure is there to keep her focused.

I like these technical chats/explanatory tangents; I could go into a few of my own concerning my own characters, but that would likely get out of hand real quick... > . >

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LynxKlaw In reply to Lu5342 [2016-12-22 21:45:08 +0000 UTC]

Hey, there!  I'm thrilled you enjoyed the story thus far!  And, by the way, I think you expressed yourself just fine.  ^_^  And yes, I'm continuing this clear to its end, I just haven't found the breathing room to sit down and get the rest of it out.  Honestly, there's not much left to the story--a few key scenes.  But they'll sum up everything nicely.  I've already laid down the seeds necessary for me to get a running start on "No Laughing Matter" as a sequel, whenever possible to get to that.

For now, I'm just trying to get over this cold and relax enough to get my head in gear for writing.  I've been taking care of myself and hopefully I'll make a little progress between Christmas and New Years.  We'll see.  In the meantime, thanks so much for being patient with me and I hope you'll continue to enjoy my writings!

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LynxKlaw In reply to crazy123456 [2016-07-17 22:57:19 +0000 UTC]

Oh, my God.  You're more than right about being busy.  Truth is, troubleshooting DirecTV technical issues all day is extremely draining on the mind and will.  I get home most days and the last thing I want to do is think anymore.  Most of my writing time is relegated to weekends.  And!  I have been writing.  Perhaps not always on "Prey Mate," but I have been writing.  As it stands, today I spent a few hours working out particulars of the Undead for my "Origin" world series.  I had most of it down in my head, but today I put some larger, unmentioned chunks to paper so I wouldn't have to keep it all in my head.

Want a tiny preview?  Well, you're about to get one.  You may notice in the small description field that I have these both listed as "Blighted Undead"... there are also "True Undead"... but I'm still keeping most of this close to my chest.

---

Holteif
Blighted Undead
A being whose mortal coil was infected and slowly replaced with blight. The soul unfetters, leaving the corpse to be pervaded and animated by blight energy. The blight slows the corpse's rate of decay, makes it stronger and more durable, but not necessarily faster. Holtief work on instinct, and driven to kill living beings. If a Holteif is not destroyed, over time it will decay and become a Flain.

Graogaunts
Blighted Undead
A being who, while turning into a Holtief, does not unfetter the soul. The mortal coil is flushed with blight and tethers the soul to the corpse. Once the turning is complete, the mortal coil has been replaced by a blighted ethereal link, which transmutes ether given off by the soul into pure blight.

Blight stored in Graogaunts suffuses their bodies and makes them far more durable and even less prone to decay than most Holtief. They can unleash a wave of blight aura by screaming. Any corpses with a mortal coil in the area become Holtief. They may also vomit blight-bile.

Graogaunts function on instinct and are drawn to corpses with mortal coils as well as driven to kill living beings, but may still hold rudimentary intelligence. If a Graogaunt is not destroyed, it will eventually become a Skraem.

---

I will say that I have a total of 18 types of Undead.  9 True, and 9 Blighted.  Technically, it's 16, because 2 of them are literally one-of-a-kind...  What is a Flain?  What is a Skraem?  What are True Undead?  What is the Blight?  Where does it come from?  ...Well, these are all things about my original novel series that I probably won't share much here.  Sorry.  I'm just a bit paranoid about people (not you, but other unscrupulous bastards) that can't respect others' intellectual property.

Regardless, I have also been reading "Prey Mate" several times.  I've been making small fixes I find and I know what scenes are coming next.  There's literally only a few scenes left and most of them are pretty clear in my head.  I just need to get the energy to sit down and write them.  I'm going to try to make some headway today, as I've been saving up my PTO and I put in for a three-day weekend.  I did the same thing last weekend, but last weekend was busy even with three days to do everything.  So... that was all sorts of not fun.

Still, the story isn't dead or on hiatus or anything, I just need to gather up the spoons to complete this sucker.  Thank you so much for your patience and understanding while I get my shit together.  Hopefully, I'll have something to show for my efforts soon.  I've got the scenes playing over and over in my head and I'm almost always ready to write them.  Once I have the mood and the energy aligned, I can summon my muse with the Great Sapphic Ritual!

Please, feel free to peruse my writings again while I work on it.  And hey, I'm around.  I actually do check my dA (usually daily) for comments and such.  During the week I may not answer posts (unless I find the energy), but I'm almost always catching up with these things on weekends, these days.

On that note, I should mention:  My schedule is about to change, so I'll no longer have Sat/Sun off.  Shift bids are wonky this time around and I'm annoyed I'll be losing my real weekends.  The only Sat/Sun they have are morning schedules, like... 7AM - 4PM.  That is absolutely not happening.  XD  So my definition of "weekend" is about to change... again.

Anyway, ramble over.  I just finished looking at my "Origin" stuff and I'm gonna take a look at "Prey Mate," now.  Let's hope I get something to show for it!

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crazy123456 In reply to Belgarion213 [2015-12-23 04:52:45 +0000 UTC]

Glad I'm not the only one who struggles with Second Hand Embarrassment. XD The conversation is hitting me twice as hard cause they're all just talking about the mating debacle in the middle of a restaurant. 😂😱

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Belgarion213 In reply to crazy123456 [2015-12-23 04:57:47 +0000 UTC]

Yeah...that's was kind of my thing. I mean even talking to Jinx's demon friend was a bit much I thought but then spilling the beans to her human friends...just seems awkward and something that SHOULD have had Raven mildly annoyed about. 

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LynxKlaw In reply to Belgarion213 [2015-12-31 01:13:24 +0000 UTC]

I apologize in advance for the amazingly long ramble these comments evoked from me... XD

I would be inclined to agree with you two (and Raven), but there's a few things I had to consider as I wrote this.  It might make the scene a little less mortifying (well, for us).  In retrospect, I didn't realize how this scene looked from that point of view.

The first thing I considered is that Jinx has always been, even before her friends knew she was a mercenary, unfiltered.  Nin even commented on that after Raven's heat had ended.  When her friends ask her a question, she answers truthfully... in whatever capacity and to whatever extent she can.  As she's told them repeatedly in some areas, she can't talk about it.  Usually this is due to respected privacy or trauma.

As with the whole hidden-cameras issue, Jinx doesn't really place a whole lot of importance on the kind of thing that might be embarrassing to others who didn't live the life she and the other HIVE Kids had.  However, Jinx is typically very reticent with others she doesn't completely trust.  This is shown by her adept sidestepping of most issues when speaking with the majority of the Justice League.  Only Batman, Nin, Terry, Darryl, and--to some extent--Nightwing have the kind of access to Kamala's forthcomingness.

Even then, there's some things that aren't hers to share.  Namely, that would have been anything about Raven's past.  However, this is currently a time for Nin, Terry, and Darryl to learn about the supernatural, mercenary, and superhero world around them.  It was Raven's decision to begin talking about her past.  Everything that Kamala has expounded upon has already been covered by Raven.  Otherwise, Kamala would never bring up any psychological aspects.  These three already got hit with the big ones regarding Raven's upbringing as well as her heritage.

Everything from Azarath to Trigon and how those events have shaped her psyche was first issued by Raven.  Considering their link, Raven probably would have sent either some guiding emotions or a full-on telepathic message to Kammie if there had been something she didn't want discussed.  Raven herself is very open about what she does and does not want to talk about, as well.

You'll note that, after Raven expressed her desire not to speak on the topic of her heat and their mating, that Jinx stopped delving so deeply into the topic and happenings of their recent mating.  Instead, she moved onto the purely physical explanations of a Daemos heat and how that relates to their situation.

This is important because these three will need to know some basics of Daemos life.  After all, they're about to spend a week in the Daezurev (the Daemos Realm) among the Dying Night Clan to celebrate a betrothal and belated betrothal/mating.  As they're headed into the Mating Season, it's also important that they understand the meaning and reasoning behind the instincts that will drive the Daemos during this time.

The Ethereal Realm has regular pulses--a tide, if you will--that causes energy to permeate throughout the whole of the Daezurev.  The Daemos ecosystem is built around this phenomenon.  Here's the quick and dirty version with regards to the Mating Season...

=== Detour of info! ===

These are the six seasons:

Nature:

The Seeding

The Harvest

The Hunt

Life:

The Mating

The Blooding

Magic:

The Breach

And here is the general information on The Mating:

The fifth season sees the Ethereal Realm begin to ebb.  No longer producing excess energy from fonts, the fonts are now a finite energy source.

Lower status Demons will battle all the fiercer over the last dregs of energy here.

The Arch Lords generally agree that full-scale war must cede priority to the longevity of their species.  Supplies harvested from flora and fauna are bountiful, and energy has been harvested year-round for this moment.

This is the time when most Demons will choose to spawn or conceive.  Ethereal energy will never be higher than now—and will only decline for the rest of the year.  This is the best time to ensure a strong offspring.

The time of wars flows into political jockeying, and Demons will hold many galas within and between Clans.  Young Demons are brought to mingle, to meet and greet potential, future mates.  Older Demons meet for the purposes of finding Mates—short-term, long-term, or otherwise.

The Mating is also known as the “Season of the Court,” as the military is no longer out in full force.  Demons build or destroy alliances during this time.  Subterfuge usually follows during this time.  It is the height of espionage and sabotage.

=== End detour! ==

That last bit there explains what that means for the Dying Night Clan.  Excluding the adopted members of the Clan such as Kamala or other Daemos of other types (empowered, elemental, or other Conditional), the Clan's natural "bloodlines" consist of Deception Conditionals.  This is when other Clans and their Houses may look to employ the Dying Night Clan's various members as spies and/or saboteurs.  This is where their Clan shines.

...Okay, so what all that means is that they're getting quite a bit of baseline information in a practically relatable issue.  If there are any Challenges, then they'll understand what a Challenge is, how it works, and what the two types of Challenges are.  Also, it might also explain to them why some of the Daemos might be openly flirty, aggressive, or assertive even for the typically shy natures of most Deception Conditionals.

Now, Raven brought up most of the topics regarding herself and as such she won't be annoyed with the information discussed for the most part.  Of course, portions of this were intended to be embarrassing for Raven.  And she did get annoyed when things kept going into a very personal space (her first heat), especially when Jenai Kor was sort of accusing her of carelessness, but she firmly put her foot down on that.

You are both correct in that Jenai Kor does bring out a less restrictive part of Jinx, because Daemos culture is much less bothered by the typical sexual taboos that most mortals have.  She isn't concerned with nudity and has no problem discussing mating habits and practices because it's natural.  Jinx was already thinking in a more Daemos mindset in explaining things to Nin, Terry, and Darryl... but having Jenai Kor there merely exacerbates that mindset and makes her already "unfiltered" nature--which is very Daemos-like already--into a level that most would consider uninhibited.

She has zero inhibitions with those she considers family--the HIVE Kids and even moreso with Mikron and Baran.  It would be completely within a commonplace event for Gizmo to take one glance at Jinx as she woke up late and tell her that he just got back from the store and the midol is in a bag on the counter.  Why?  Because Giz would know when she was going on her period, knew well enough to know Kamala had intended to get some while shopping today, and preempted that to save everyone some potential bitching all through the supermarket.  When you have people that know your business about as well as you do without having lived it, it doesn't really leave a lot of room for privacy.

Now, I stress that she's this open right now because she trusts these three.  However, that doesn't hold true for the public.  Crazy123456 raised a point about being in the middle of a restaurant.  I didn't really bring this up in the story, and perhaps I should have.  This is one of those mom-and-pop shop diner-style pizzerias.  A quick google search showed me this: [  retaildesignblog.net/wp-conten… ], which is very similar save a few differences (aisle is too narrow, tables should have benches).  It's honestly almost identical to the Diner in Santa Monica in Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines: [ media.moddb.com/cache/images/m… ].

Their typical haunt is this little place called Pizzeria Mafioso, which is owned by "Don Aquila."  He works with either his wife or his niece; I haven't made up my mind, but I'm leaning toward the niece.  It's not a huge place and doesn't get many days where they fill all the tables and counter.  As of this time, there's no one else eating there... or if there was, they finished up and left before any of the exciting stuff happened.

I never stated it... but it's about 2 or 3 PM, as Kammie and her friends usually play through the regular lunch hours, and take their break after most of the midday lunch-crowd.  When Prey Mate first began with the pizzeria, I had Jinx state it was 2:12 and she asked if they wanted to go back to playing at 3 or 3:30.  I sort of stuck to that and never gave thought to another time.

As it was, I never wrote any reactions to that because I honestly never even thought about other customers even being there to react.  It was just in my head that they were alone at this time in the restaurant.  I should have noted something down, now that I think about it, and I may go back and add in that the pizzeria is mostly empty.  These are little oversights that I made because, as an author, I write from an 'insider perspective' and forgot that my readers can't always know exactly what's in my head.  I'll try to find a place to work in those things.

Furthermore, by now Jinx is a regular of Pizzeria Mafioso.  She's never made any waves, so the Don's never had any issues with her--suspected Meta or no.  They're used to her particular brand of weirdness.  Of course, a sharp-toothed, barely clad girl walking in might cause some concern... especially with the various Metas and madmen in Jump.  This along might have had other pizzeria patrons running out the door, and Jinx's flip over a part of the table would have garnered a whole lot more attention...

As far as the owner and his niece goes, once he saw that Jinx knew the newcomer and there wasn't going to be any trouble... and they just sat down to talk, they would have just accepted it.  When you don't have a heavy, steady stream of customers, you don't shoo away the few you have.  Of course, none of this is mentioned at all, so I can't really expect anyone to know things about the inner workings of people and places I've never defined on the written page.

Still, I hope this makes the scene a little less awkward for you... or at least help it seem more sensible instead of strange and out-of-place!  Man, this reply just kinda got away from me, didn't it?  Anyhow, I'll leave it here.  Questions, comments, and critiques are always welcome, so feel free to reply no matter what it is!  Finally, I'd like to thank you two for bringing these things to my attention!

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Belgarion213 In reply to LynxKlaw [2015-12-31 04:25:09 +0000 UTC]

Yeah that explains things but it still leaves me feeling it might be a bit much, especially at a restaurant. Though that's mostly the fact that I DON'T like talking about things like that.

I have done a re-read of the story and its every bit as good as I remember it being. My only real complaint (well other than the embarrassing conversation above) was a few times that you seemed to go out of your way to paint the Titan's as naive compared to the Hive 5, or 'almost as good' in this or that. I'm going to head-cannon that as Jinx being a bit biased but sometimes I felt things like Raven going "Wait you knew this?" and then Jinx pointing out of course she knew this seemed to strike me as a bit OOC for Raven and Nightwing at least (Raven being shocked that Jinx knew they were being hired by Nightwing seemed a bit out there).

Sorry I don't mean to criticise because those were tiny points in an amazing sotry but just the quality is usually so high that those tiny points stand out. 

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LynxKlaw In reply to Belgarion213 [2016-01-01 08:36:41 +0000 UTC]

No, no--that's actually great!  I say that critiques are welcome and they absolutely are.  I have explanations for things, but not everything is about writing the scene everyone likes.  Sorry for the awkwardness of that scene for you, but it was kind of intended to be that way.  Still, good to know I can evoke emotions.

You mentioned that the Titans were sometimes displayed as naive.  Can you point a few of those moments out to me?  I'd like to take a look at those scenes and see what I can do better.  Honestly, I never intended to display them as not as good as the Titans.  Most of the time I spend delving into the HIVE Five because there's not much about them displayed in the show.  It's my time to extrapolate.  A lot of the things I do with the HF usually come by way of their whole 'unspoken understanding' thing, which is really just a matter of Jinx's traumatized silence near the beginning.

That's not to say that the Titans can't read each other, either, just that Jinx's situation necessitated a different style of progression in her team-relations.  The Titans themselves have other merits that balanced them against the HF back in their days of fighting, but that even had a whole episode dedicated to it and I didn't really think I would need to explain what most people already knew.  If that made the Titans team seem as though they played second fiddle, then I need to evaluate those scenes again.

And, of course, Jinx is very close to her team... so when I write in her perspective, I write it in a very close way with anything in regards to Mike or Baran.  She won't downplay the Titans--because that would be underestimating the enemy, as it were, even if they're not enemies anymore.  (After all, she did claim that they may still oppose one another at some future time.)  Of course, Jinx does condescend to the Justice League, and isn't quite happy with how dependent the Titans might sometimes appear to be, but that's a whole other can of worms.  Jinx doesn't really trust the Justice League or the government, so her paranoia regarding that might well bleed over into some subconscious antagonism for the Titans--as an organization linked to the Justice League, not the members themselves.

If you recall any of those moments where Jinx seems to 'put down' the Titans as a team, can you point it out to me?

When I had Raven ask for clarification, it wasn't a statement of shock, more of a slightly annoyed confusion.  After all, at that point in their career, Raven would have expected Jinx to flat-out turn down an offer that could have well been a trap for the HIVE Five.  It wasn't that she wasn't able to follow the idea... or even that Nightwing and Raven hadn't considered the fact that Jinx might figure it out.  However, their planning had followed a rather binary basis: A) she doesn't figure it out, and maybe takes the job, or B) she does figure it out, and throws the offer back in their face.  Neither one of them considered the possibility that C) Jinx figures it out and decides to roll with it, anyway.  It doesn't make a whole lot of tactical sense, knowing that it could be a trick or a trap.  To be honest, I think she probably would have turned the job down.  Likely, she got one of Mr. Chaos' nudges.

Raven points that out in a sort of... mild chastisement of disbelief, much like a "Really?  You saw the risk... and that's what you decided to do?" more than anything else.

If you notice anything else I can either explain or work on, please don't hesitate to share!  Also, I am a fan of explaining a 'behind-the-scenes,' but I also like to keep in mind that if I have to explain it here like this, then I didn't do a good enough job explaining it there.  That means that I'm forgetting my audience while I tell the story.  That is, just having Raven frown won't sell the full range of her emotion or when I have Jinx internally monologue about something, then I need to temper that and provide some form of perspective on matters.

Writers love praise, but it's also very important that we not get comfortable, either!  Can't get better if I don't know where my flaws are.  Thanks for the heads up on these issues!

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LynxKlaw In reply to crazy123456 [2015-12-30 23:15:23 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for reading and enjoying!  I was going to answer this last week... and the during this week, but I've been exhausted.  Holidays flooded with tons of people needing tech support on their new equipment.  Lemme tell ya, lovely times.

Anyway, I'm glad you like the expanded universe I'm creating from the amalgam of comics, BMAS, JL, JLU, and TT.  It's something that I've been developing for years and this is the culmination of it all.  It's definitely my largest undertaking for this series and also a contender for my longest fanfic.  Only the unfinished Chronicles of Riddick-based story, "Chronicles of Darkness" exceed this one in length.  It, too, is an expanded world.

I love to write within those boundaries--or, as the case may be, outside them--and create whole new levels and travel down lesser-trodden paths.  Initially, "No Laughing Matter" was going to be the sequel to "To Catch a Raven," but it's very likely that NLM will wind up being "Prey Mate"'s sequel.  However, I've got other focuses; my original series, tentatively titled "Origin" will likely come first.

And before this gets too long-winded, I'll have a reply for Belgarion and your comments regarding the latest addition.  I hope you'll keep enjoying the story!

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LynxKlaw In reply to Belgarion213 [2015-10-14 00:27:59 +0000 UTC]

(This reply will be lengthy!)

Oh, yes--I love throwing in my Daemos to play with characters.  It's part of why I'm enjoying writing the novel I have built with Senri and Niraphael.  I don't know if I will, but the idea has crossed my mind to toss in a few of the Daemos I've created for the novel into my stories.  Lord knows I've used my characters across universes and fandoms enough as it is.

My reply to below is explanation enough on that!

I'm glad you're enjoying the OCs!  And to answer your question, you say, "Thank you!"

Zatana might simply because she's antsy about Demons in general.  After all, think about what Jinx said about your average mage: "Most mages are wary of Demons and don’t really want to get involved with them unless they’ve really brushed up on their demonology.  The problem with that particular discipline is that it’s basically built around a worst-case scenario.  It’s all about prevention—how not to be manipulated, how to keep them caged up, how to tilt a deal in your favor."

Zatana has had quite a few interactions with Demons, but many of them were antagonistic.  That's built a rather firm view that demons are a bad thing.  Now, you have to take into consideration that I'm using a canonical Zatana in a non-canonical situation.  In standard DC lore, Demons are very much the Christian unholy scourge.  The kind that Lucifer reigned over for some time before flitting off to a bar in Perth, Australia.  By nature, all Demons are evil--and driven to commit acts of evil.  This was Raven's crux, and why she had gone evil many times.  In DC Comics, Raven often thinks about killing her teammates.  It's natural for the evil Demon side of her to want to kill and dominate.

Obviously, I take a different route with my Daemos, but I left Zatana's prejudice there because I didn't want to mess with her canonical encounters.  For the purposes of my system/universe, there are three types of "Demon."

1. There's my Daemos, coming from the Daemos Realm--the Daezurev.  They're mine, DC can't have them.  Nyeh.  XP
2. There's the Cast Down Angels, who are still technically Angels, but no longer acknowledged as such by most mortals.
3. There's Inter-Dimensional Entities, which may or may not be Demons at all, but are still called as such by most mortals.

This leads me into your last statement.  Honestly, my Beta and I were very surprised at the astuteness of your comment.  Most people don't start putting that stuff together like that!  Logically, you're correct within the bounds of what I've admitted so far across my stories.  However, my system of lore for my personal stories (what I usually just call "my system"), has been something long-discussed for nigh upon a decade, now, and it's got a lot of things I haven't put up here. 

All four Arch Lords of the Daezurev started as standard Krimak, a compound word meaning "less creature."  Krimak has the particular meaning of Daemos fauna--animals.  At this point, they were still considered Kromak, another compound word meaning "non-sentient creature." By being cunning predators, they amassed energy over the eons and moved from just being intelligent predators to Junmak, meaning "sentient creature," or simply "person."  At this point in ancient, Daemos history, these four continued 'evolve' in intellect, reason, power, and form(*see Temershad).

(Slight detour, here...)

These four eventually became so powerful that they dwarfed all creatures in the realm.  By now, they could sense one another... and, being rather lonely for being at the top, they met.  It's kind of hard not to sense such power amassing in one place, so they all intelligently just gravitated toward one another.

From there, I won't get into the long-winded history... but the end product is that they started a competition to create a new form of Daemos, rather than just rutting and/or spawn as a typical Daemos might.  They each created a type of Daemos... and the end products were the new types of Daemos:

1. Conditional Takers - these gain power by being in the vicinity of a condition that matches their type.
2. Elementals - these are based on the classical elements of fire, air, water, earth, and the ethereal energy.
3. Empowered - these are Daemos with a specific power, such as energy-absorption, precognition, etc.

(I know, there's four Arch Lords at this point, but two of them had the same idea, but started with different elements...  It cause a small wrinkle in the competition that the four actually had to sit down and sort out before they continued the competition.)

To date, there are two named Arch Lords (I'm still working on the other two)...  The first Arch Lord is Temershad, who named himself of Temer Kashad ("to decide to earn"), is the Arch Lord of all Conditional Demons.  *Temershad is a great dragon, and he has kept this form throughout the eons; his symbol is reflective of his great form.  The second Arch Lord is Senekam Nephit, who named himself of Senek’tae Kam-os Nephit ("warring one’s strength"), is the Arch Lord of all Empowered Demons.  One should note his name's meaning, "warring one" is different from the Daemos language's word "warrior," which is gatilan.  This is purposeful, for Senekam Nephit is not just any warrior.

On the subject of Krimak... just because a Daemos is a Krimak does not necessarily mean they are always mindless beasts.  Many Krimak live long lives and, like the Arch Lords before them, gain sentience over time.  A sentient Krimak is only distinguishable from the spawned race of the Arch Lords in form (and sometimes not even then if they decide to alter their appearance), and are thus referred to as Junmak like any other sentient Daemos.

(Back on track...)

So there we have the types of Demons in my system.  Here's what that means:

Trigon was created by the people of Azarath when they cast off their evil.  This evil gained its own sentience while in the Eighth--a Dimension separate from the standard DC universe.

Within my system, every universe consists of the following Realms:

1. The "Mortal" Realm - properly the Material Realm.  This is what we humble mortals call 'home.'
2. The "Soul" Realm - properly the Spectral Realm.  This is where most mortal souls are drawn to if they are not claimed by a Deity or Daemos.
3. The "Magic" Realm - properly the Ethereal Realm.  This is the origin of all, and it is a hub realm of all the universes.  It is the source of souls, and it spawned all the Gods--from every dimension (so the Yahweh and Vishnu and Thor from the DC, Marvel, and our real universes?  All nine of them could meet here...)
4. The "Demonic" Realm - properly named the Daezurev, or the Forever Realm, by the Arch Lords themselves.  You guessed it, this is where Daemos come from!

Now, Trigon isn't a Daemos; he's an Inter-Dimensional Entity.  He has more in common with Deities or extraterrestrials that can cross such barriers.  Just like J'onn J'onzz is an extraterrestrial to our planet, Trigon is not technically from our universe (though he started as Azarathian's evil, and they're from Earth!)...

His ruling seat of power was the Eighth itself.  He destroyed that universe entirely.  The Eighth is a vast, empty universe, now.  Apparently, there were no major deities in the Eighth that could stand up to him.  Due to his level of power--comparable to an Arch Lord's vast amount essence--he was named by the other Arch Lords as the Arch Lord of the Eighth.  ...This wasn't an honorary thing, the Arch Lords were wary of him and rather disdainful of his destructive practices, but they wouldn't deny his power.  To demean him in such a way would mean to open oneself to underestimating an enemy.  That's something none of the Arch Lords ever do.

In killing Trigon, Raven nearly doubled his power level.  She is very clearly on the same footing as many an Arch Lord, so they don't distinguish between her power and theirs in terms of levels and labels.  She's an Arch Lord, now--whether she wants to be or not, and by their law (and just about any other law of the multiverse), she's inherited the Eighth along with the title.

Raven owns no lands in the Daezurev, but instead presides over the Eighth (which Raven will point out, is not a Hell Dimension!--no matter what it looks like!)...  Essentially, Raven in the Daezurev attending this betrothal ceremony is like a foreign dignitary attending any celebration of another country.  Or, really, like a Czar of Russia visiting China for a family friend's birthday...

Okay, I think that pretty much addresses everything!  Hope you found this enlightening and entertaining!  See you in future updates or comments!

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Belgarion213 In reply to LynxKlaw [2015-10-14 06:52:55 +0000 UTC]

Wow thanks for the reply and for expanding on some of the background of this story. 

So Raven is twice as powerful as Trigon was, that's kind of terrifying really. I mean from what we know from Trigon's power (Beyond Pride, the comics) that's "I can destroy the Universe" level power. No wonder Raven is focusing her power through that chakra gem, its probably hard to affect things as 'small' as single people without accidentally shattering continents. 

So Trigon destroyed the Eighth then? Is it just completely empty or has Raven actually done something with that empty realm...if only filled it with books and herbal tea (I really want Jinx to find out that Raven has taken over an emtpy universe to turn it into an infinite library/tea-shop because she couldn't really think of what else to do with it). 

Anyway yeah a foreign dignity is probably a good way to explain Raven coming to the wedding...though probably its like the US President or the PM of England deciding to drop by your college buddies wedding (rather surreal). I want to see the reaction of "Jinx...why is she here? What did you do?!"  

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LynxKlaw In reply to Belgarion213 [2015-10-18 06:13:20 +0000 UTC]

Well, she wasn't as powerful as Trigon was, but she had the tricks up her sleeve and the right timing to take him out.  At this point, she's approximately 1.6x to 1.8x Trigon's full power. When you're playing on this level of ability, the amount of energy in your body becomes less and less important.

That's why the Arch Lords don't really care if they're on exactly even power levels with one another or even others.  The point is, removing any Arch Lord or, in this instance, Trigon through brute force would require a sufficient effort that is world-altering/shattering.  If you are capable of killing such an entity, then you aren't concerned with the amount of power it takes to do so.  In this way, it's one of those "If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it" moments; if you have to ask if you can kill an Arch Lord... you're not ready to play on their level.

Furthermore: my Daemos are highly motivated to become more powerful.  They abhor the idea of lost power.  That is why they have extremely particular rules about children (the Non-Blooded) and genocide.  Even in war, the goal is to take territory and claim dominance... not to eradicate a Clan.  Yes, even if that means they swear vengeance.  Why?  Because that Clan may have something useful to contribute to Daemos-kind that no other Clan may ever duplicate.  Even though Daemos will fight amongst one another--demon to demon, clan to clan, house to house--they won't wipe out one another for fear of crippling their own society.

---(this starts a detour...)

This ideology flows upward.  The Arch Lords created the new Daemos races... and then did nothing.  Those are part of the rules to the Great Competition.  The very Daemos they created are free to choose; they may pledge fealty to any Arch Lord they feel best supports their endeavors.  They may even pledge to a God (yes, there are Christian Daemos who serve Yahweh)... or, rarely, nobody at all--become a Rogue Daemos (or form a Rogue Clan).

The "end" of the game is essentially the one who ends up with all the marbles.  It's unfeasible and eternal, but they've got eternity and feasibility is something that will come in time--perhaps in their eventual ascension into godhood, wherein anything becomes feasible.  Anyway, the actual wars started typically due to territory and persuasion--to prove ones' dominance in fealty over another, thus swaying others to their side.

War is a way of life for the Daemos.  A recently decided trait for my Daemos is "forward-facing and forward-thinking" nature.  They acknowledge their past mistakes and failures, but they do not discuss them unless it's a matter of research for that forward-thinking--stratagem either for overcoming an obstacle, training, defending a weakness, or turning a weakness into a strength.

Daemos will not talk of their failures to others.  Furthermore, a polite Daemos will never mention another's failure withing that context.  E.g.: A Challenge fought will only focus on what the champion of said Challenge did to win, even if it was "Daemos A lost hold of his shield, and Daemos B exploited the opening!"  This is factual, and Daemos B would be lauded for taking advantage of an opportunity.  Daemos A will never have "you lost grip of your shield" thrown in his face.  It's not proper.  That's facing forward.

Thinking forward would be Daemos A being told, "We will train your blocking skills to help you better wield your shield."  This skirts the topic of failure and makes it part of a plan for success.

If you do mention a failure, it's considered a faux pas at best and a personal insult to the one that failed at worst.  In this way, Daemos may seem haughty to outside cultures.  They don't fail; even losing a Challenge isn't a failure--loss is a result, not a state of being like failure.  Racially, this engenders progression despite internal war with itself; it's making itself stronger by promoting the strong within itself.

In this way, they hold respect for those they defeat--an honorable death makes them stronger.  If you had not fought a Challenge and won it, or fought a Clan War and defeated the other clan... then you would not have that achievement to claim as your own.  Personally, every warrior in your way is a stepping stone to greatness.  You may also be a stepping stone if someone bests you... but that's okay, because without you there, they wouldn't be where they are now.  On a larger scale, battles are a means of displaying prowess of the Clan and attaining more recognition.

In relation to story:

This is why Jenai prefers more people at her wedding.  With more recognition comes more respect, and respect translates into honor, honor is its own form of power.  It's also why Jenai focused on the positive aspect of Jinx's drunken exploits.  It's not in their nature to be so cynical.

Raven's typical snarks and whatnot can and do tone down with regards to Daemos, unless she's pointedly trying to insult said Daemos, e.g. the Challenge with Raeth.  Now, Raven wasn't raised Daemos... so she might be seen as a little uncouth at times by some Daemos.  However, there are times when things she does might be thrown into question.

Remember how she taunted the Warden before she killed him?  This may reflect badly upon her in Daemos terms, but one must also consider that the Warden was dishonorable in all his actions.  Furthermore, he hurt children--as I mentioned, Daemos are extremetly protective of children.  They're even protective of the children of opposing Clans with whom they are in an embittered combat.  (This is why Marnioln in the Addie/Tara story basically has The Black Spot and is marked for execution on sight.)

Thus every insult was warranted--and could be construed as a Challenging accusation, which obviously and most typically results in a formal Challenge.

Now, if you want to fight, Challenge someone or even just ask to test their mettle.  Just because two Daemos fight--with rules like a Challenge--doesn't make it a Challenge.  A Challenge has somethign at stake.  There's no need to insult someone if you just want to try a new technique, spell, weapon, or just see who's more prepared or the better fighter that day.

An insult is an attack--on the Daemos character and/or honor.

In this way, Trigon--with his constant belittling and destructive habits--is seen as barbaric.  The only reason the Arch Lords gave him the title of Arch Lord is due to his very real threat to... everything.

...uh... okay, that was a detour.  :: goes back to annotate said detour ::

---(this is the end of that detour...)

So!  The Eighth now belongs to Raven, and is empty of life.  It still has some husks of planets and whatnot.  You remember the TV show where Azarath is a complete ruin?  Remember the vision, the "message" that Deathstroke delivers to Raven?  "The skies will burn!  Flesh will become stone!  The sun will set on your world, never to rise again!"  Some worlds are just... cracked in half, floating in pieces.  Others were obliterated like Krypton.  The Eighth is a very desolate, burnt place.

Now, Raven is of sufficient power to reshape it.  If she wanted to take a few weeks, she could probably do exactly as you suggested and morph a respectable portion of it into whatever she wanted and make that area an inviolable spot.  Raven holds total dominion over that Realm and its physics by the nature of having it linked to her.  The Eighth had life in it before Trigon got to it... and apparently it had no gods of sufficient power to really claim it.  Now it has none, and Trigon had linked it to himself.  That defaulted to Raven.

Consider Trigon's mere arrival into the Material Realm turned all of planet earth into a smoldering, magmatic ruin.  Ever wonder why you don't see Arch Lords barging into our Realm and taking it over?  They'd probably destroy it on accident.  Also, there are rules regarding this sort of thing; it's part of the Great Competition.  Trigon broke the rules (if he ever even heard them)... and thus the Arch Lords let Raven take him out.  They wouldn't have aided Trigon for anything.  The Arch Lords have watched Raven, but are hands-off; the Eighth isn't their place to bother with, now, and so long as Raven isn't causing trouble, they'll leave it alone.

...there was... something else...

Oh!  Right!  On the notion of power and Raven using her ruby ajna chakra gem?  That's true, she has a lot of power, but she's learned a thing or three about control from the Azarathian mages.  They were all about control.  Raven has sealed a great portion of her power away.  This way, she can't accidentally overdo it.  She can access it--and she does access a portion of it in this story, when she goes into her Red Raven form.  That is her accessing a higher tier of her power.

If I had to put crude figures to it...  Hmm...  Currently, Raven has about 1/6 of her total power.  However, that is spread across her bodily self and her Emotional Effigies.  Anger, Happiness, Hedonism, Intelligence, Bravery, Fear, Friendship, Lust, Sadness, and Pride all have a portion of that sixth of power.  Now, when they all act together as one (for the 'whole' 1/6), such as when Raven attacks the IMRO, that's when you get that world-wide attention.

Raven's red form can access between 1/3 and 1/2 of her full power.  Anything further requires transubstantiation into an even higher form (likely to "mythic" or "godly" proportions, like Trigon's massive size).  So Raven won't accidentally crack a continent in half, and focusing through that ruby ensures she also won't crush a person into pulp when she uses her power to ensnare them.

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glazios In reply to LynxKlaw [2015-10-14 03:38:47 +0000 UTC]

Ah, so Raven doesn't necessarily have a Clan to which she belongs and presides over. That clears one or two things up, actually. Hmm - does that then suggest that Raven comprises the entire House of Scath, in and of herself, given that both of her parents are dead and her clan technically has no other members? My previous assumptions about the Titans being an extension of Raven's clan fall flat, then...but in light of that, do the Titans then count as being Raven's actual clan, in that respect, given that Raven considers their team to be her family? Eregh, brain fail... x_x

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