“ you’re thinking about this way more than i am. sometimes, you just have to go with the flow. ” which, y’know. might not be the most applicable sentiment when the particular flow you’re talking about is realizing that there are multiple alternate universes and that they’re not really alternate anymore. but that’s all a matter of details. terese doesn’t want to focus on the details. “ get to know some new people, enjoy the opportunity for what it is. we’re supposed to live positively and all that shit, right? ”
simon crosses his arms over his chest and listens, quietly for a moment. except she looks twelve, and simon feels at least slightly more qualified to deal with inter-dimensional phenomena “ i’d call it more of a crisis than an opportunity. there’s a lot of big threats to consider. ” he sounds way too serious for his own liking. he misses john, level-headed and composed and efficient. he would know what to do about the devastation done to the green lantern corps.
“It’s cool what you guys can do. I’ve never been that lucky, no powers just constant training and dieting for me. I’m pretty sure if my body could talk it’d just be like – what the fuck?” Roy chuckles though as he looks at the other man, holding onto the water bottle with his hand. “We should train sometime though, what about that?”
“ oh, it’s crazy-cool. ” simon doesn’t take being a lantern for granted. it’s pretty much the coolest possible gig in the world. he gives a laugh, too, takes a swig of his own water. “ the corps makes us train a lot, too, you should go a few rounds with kilowog. ” not to mention hal and john and guy and kyle, each a very specific kind of menace. “ training sounds fun. i could use to brush up on my hand to hand. ”
“Willpower, huh?” Rose countered, trying hard not to sound impressed. She had always been curious about the Lanterns, what makes them special and what not. “So, how did you exactly got chosen? Is it like in Power Rangers in which you were somewhat brought into place you wouldn’t imagine you’re self to be in then found the ring or like the god of Green Lanterns descended and bestowed you with it?”
simon’s demeanor changes a little at the question. it’s not a story he’s ashamed of, exactly, but it’s not one that he shares with many people. the justice league knows it because they saw it happen. jess knows it because she’s his partner. the guardians know it because they’re a bunch of nosy blue bastards. “ i was in prison, and then the ring found me. said i overcame my fear, and the rest is history. ”
“ i - what? ” clearly, it’s a distraction that works. by the time jess is done cracking up, there’s a stitch in her side and her head doesn’t feel as FULL with worries as it did before. “ aren’t you an educated man, simon? do better, nerd. you have to set the green lantern example now. ” because it’s either them or kyle and…well, simon’s not entirely far off in his own assessment.
simon sniffs, affronted by the insult of it all. “ i’m a very educated man, jess, ” he says plaintively. an educated man who doesn’t know a lick about astrology or astronomy, thanks. ( not exactly a great quality in a man who spends half his time in space, but simon politely digresses, thanks. ) “ i actually called kilowog and he’s coming to earth to take over, so i don’t have to be the responsible one. ”
“You tellin’ me you’re going to punch your way out of every situation?” Roy asks with a raised eyebrow to the man. “Well, now that I’ve asked that I do a lot of that myself so maybe it is a good answer.” He chuckles a bit at that as he lifts the water bottle to his lips to take a sip out of it.
“ not every situation, no, ” simon says. he’s pretty decent at punching, personally, but he’s trying to learn to use it as a last resort. “ see ?? it works. ” in all honesty, he’s kind of obsessed with the concept of heroes who go at it without rings or powers or at least a pretty cool suit of armor. simon’s got will power for days, but that’s...an impressive and enviable amount of idiotic bravery. “ you get it. you’d fit right in with the lanterns. ”
Rose shoot up a glare at him. “You won’t see the end of it if you will call me kid one more time.” She threatened him. Even if she probably wouldn’t cut his tongue with her sword, Rose’s tone suggested it would not end good and she just hoped she would get her point across. “So, not just anyone can wear that ring, right?”
it’s a fair complaint. simon isn’t exactly old enough to be throwing around kid all willy-nilly. he actually can’t tell how old the girl is; they could be the same age. he holds his hands up in surrender, doesn’t push the issue. his gaze turns to his ring, hand closing into a fist as he examines it proudly. “ nah, not just anyone. it’s all about willpower. rings choose you. ”
“ listen, kiddo -- ” simon’s channeling his best guy gardner in this time of need. he talks with his mouth full of an everything bagel. “ the only thing i know is that sometimes punching is the only answer. one time john punched batman, jess punched guy -- it’s like the lantern way. brightest day, blackest night, throw a punch, pick a fight. ”
“ does it ever get confusing having so many flashes ?? ” simon’s ninety percent sure every one with so much as a pinch of the speedforce ( that’s not how the speedforce works, is it ?? ) has been the flash at some point. “ i never know if someone’s talking to me when they say green lantern. ”
simon’s feet are a few feet off the ground, hovering and awash with green light. let it go on record that simon far, far, far prefers the watchtower to the hall of justice. he gets, of course, why everyone can’t move to space, but the view would be a heck of a lot better, that’s all he’s saying. “ so, what do you think, kid ?? how long is this apocalypse gonna last ?? ”
she’s definitely bugging out. she knows she’s bugging out, but - come on. half of the world’s greatest heroes are missing. “ seriously? i don’t think you’ve spent near enough time in space yet to be considered a certified star reader because this is totally not a sign that the universe is fine and dandy. ” no, she doesn’t buy that for a second and jess doesn’t think that simon buys it for a second, but she can appreciate the fact that he’s kept her relatively grounded thus far. “ if this is one big cosmic test, i have to warn you, i was never good at astronomy. ”
simon snorts, gives jessica an exaggerated rule of his eyes. “ so like a pisces to say that, j-bird. ” except he has no idea if she’s a pisces, doesn’t even know what he is. and -- “ that’s astrology isn’t it ?? ” classic misdirection. inane distractions are almost as good as breakfast food. either way, he’s freaking out too. no way does simon want to live in a world where kyle rayner is their highest ranking earth-lantern. he once saw that guy pick up a sandwich off the floor and eat it; he can’t be responsible for all this.
there’s hesitation . he’s none too keen to let someone that’s not himself handle his guns . and the last person who he let see these guns — timothy — replaced all his bullets with rubber ones the first chance he got . but he did carry more than one . so , if this dude pulled something he always had another to shoot him with . with that though , the red hood handed over one of the weapons . ❛ just be careful . these are two of my favorites , so don’t scratch them up . ❜
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simon turns the gun in his hands gingerly, cocks an eyebrow. “ how do you think i’m going to go about scratching up your gun ?? ” he asks. it’s not like he’s about to go throw it against a wall. he gives it another once over thn hands it back. his eyes settle on the bat logo. “ so how’s that work ?? i worked with batman once, and i don’t remember him being a big fan of guns. ”
-- “hey, can i see that thing?” simon asks. okay, so he gave up his gun a few months ago, and he knows he doesn’t NEED one, per se, but it doesn’t mean he can’t have a healthy-ish appreciation. ( don’t say anything about white boys carrying guns, baz, don’t you dare. ) he should get points for trying ot make friends, though, right? especially with surly looking, gun-toting batkids.
supposedly SIMON BAZ made it through the convergence. HE is TWENTY THREE and i hear they sometimes go by GREEN LANTERN. it seems they tend to be BRAVE, but STUBBORN. rumor has it they used to run with THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS, but do they have what it takes to keep up? mr. oz better keep an eye on this one going forward.
okay, first and foremost, this is my first serious foray into playing my sun and stars simon baz. please be gentle with me, i promise i’ll get better as i go. keep reading if you want some basic history about simon, but if you want to ask me for the cliffnotes version instead, i’d be fine with that.
simon is a lebanese-american from a family of immigrants. after 9/11, his family ended up subject to a lot of anti-muslim sentiment. long story short, simon was able to push through that and went on to get higher education. he majored in engineering, and was actually able to get a pretty goddamn good job but was fired after a while.
desperate for money, simon ended up doing some illegal street racing. ( if anyone was wondering, he’s very good at it, which is extremely sexy of him ) however, after a while of thise, simon ended up in an accident that put his best friend/brother-in-law in a coma. simon narrowly avoided being incarcerated after this, and that made getting a real job even harder
simon went on to steal cars to sell for parts after that, and eventually one of the cars he stole ended up being filled with explosives. when simon was apprehended, he was immediately suspected of terrorism and was thrown in prison immediately, where he was subjected to near-torture.
it was there that simon’s ring found him. though his ring was technically defected, having been tampered with by sinestro, it bonded with him and took him away from prison. this lead to a tense run in with the justice league, but the misunderstanding was eventually cleared up and simon joined the ranks of the green lantern corps, officially.
simon’s lantern partner since has been jessica cruz. their relationship was tense at first, but she’s since become the MOST important person in simon’s life, and he firmly believes that she has made him a far better lantern than he would have been otherwise.
a lot has happened during simon and jess’ run as lantern partners, but i wont go into all the details there, since simon’s personal history seems more relevant to get everyone caught up on.
simon possesses a particular talent as a green lantern called emerald sight. it’s not an exact science, but it occasionally lets him have visions of the near-future. he’s super confused by it, thanks.
“ don’t say that! every time someone says that, something bad happens. ” the absolute last thing they all needed was ANOTHER round of bad vibes coming their way. so, yeah, it could be worse, but throwing that out there into the universe only invites worse and jess wants none of that in her immediate circle, thanks.
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“jess, you’ve gotta calm down just a little.” truth is, she’s not wrong. simon’s practically inviting the other shoe to drop, isn’t he? but no way is he gonna buy into the paranoia, then they’re both gonna spiral. “maybe the universe knows what it’s doing?” which -- bold words from a man who knows that more than half of the lantern corps is gone.
