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WIP With This Ring by Mr Zoat- T - Young Justice

Discussion in 'Almost Recommended' started by Nemrut, Mar 20, 2015.

  1. Bramastra

    Bramastra Groundskeeper

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    I like it but the colored font is really starting to grate, I'll give it a 3/5 because it spends way too many words on one mission making me skim a lot
     
  2. Ilverin

    Ilverin First Year

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    Another question:

    Does anyone know if there is a single chapter which starts with a red-colored font which is actual 'canon' (aka not an omake)?

    I had assumed that 'canon' was all the chapters starting with white-colored font except for the parts after the 'renegade' red image. But now there's chapters starting with orange-colored font which clearly do seem to be canon.

    So to summarize, please correct me if either of the following points are incorrect:
    1. If a chapter starts with white-colored or orange-colored text, it is canon until a renegade red image appears at which point it is no longer canon for the rest of the chapter.
    2. If a chapter starts with red-colored text, the entire chapter is not canon.
     
  3. Agayek

    Agayek Dimensional Trunk DLP Supporter

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    That appears to be the case, as best I've been able to tell. I've completely skipped every "renegade" chapter after the first 2 and don't seem to have missed anything, so at the very least if one or more of them is canon, it's not important enough to worry about missing.
     
  4. Bramastra

    Bramastra Groundskeeper

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  5. Nemrut

    Nemrut The Black Mage ~ Prestige ~

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    This might have been a story that is only truly enjoyable once one is caught up on the mood. Reading it one snippet at a time is far less enjoyable so far and I found myself skimming them.

    Seeing that they are relatively short to begin with, that's not a good thing.

    Edit: sorry, should have made that clear. Am talking about With This Ring.

    I also didn't realize that SI reincarnating in the DC universe with a Lantern ring was a whole subculture.
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2015
  6. Bramastra

    Bramastra Groundskeeper

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    Are you talking about With This Ring or In Blackest Night
     
  7. Ilverin

    Ilverin First Year

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    Why not put it up for review as well?
     
  8. Bramastra

    Bramastra Groundskeeper

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    Done, In Blackest Night is up for review
     
  9. Invictus

    Invictus Master of Death

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    Since NuitTombee already linked my review, so it's a solid 3/5 from me, the characters and the Story per se are just not good.
     
  10. Nemrut

    Nemrut The Black Mage ~ Prestige ~

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    Holy shit, didn't think one year had already passed since I recced this story here.

    So, this story is still getting daily updates and I have been mostly checking up on those. Between 1k or 2k each day is like ten minutes at most and makes for an entertaining enough read.

    I admit, there are times I mostly skip the Renegade stuff but there was actually an entertaining Renegade arc when he got pulled in the Justice Lords universe and interacted with the Sinestro Ring which was pretty fun. The stuff in the regular timeline is still pretty solid though, although that arc in England with that magicwhathaveyou really dragged and was my personal low point for the story.

    Still, am impressed that is able to crank out daily updates for years now.

    Anyone still reading this?
     
  11. Fatality

    Fatality Order Member

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    Yeah, I'm still reading it. At this point it's almost routine to check the newest update every day. It's nothing amazing but it's an interesting look at the DC Universe (even if it tends towards fix it fic territory occasionally) with generally good story arcs. And daily updates are daily updates.
     
  12. Thaumologist

    Thaumologist Fifth Year ~ Prestige ~

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    I found this fic a week or two back, and read the whole thing over about four or five days - the story only thread was 34 pages at that time, so it did take quite a while. However, massive dump of chapters today (six pages worth!), so I thought I'd rec it. But I checked first, and found this. Also, sorry for the necromancy... Hoping this is decent enough to bother raising the thread.

    The age thing that's been mentioned wasn't something I really thought about. The SI says that he was put in his perfect body by the ring, and was just assumed to be young, and he rode with it. I don't know for certain what the reason was, but I'm just going to assume Orange Light of Avarice shenanigans.

    It's the same with the bisexuality. After a while, I think the Ophidian arc, this seemed to fade into nothingness. We got a more recent explanation where the SI states that he was lowering his testosterone levels so he wouldn't have as many urges, because moving on them would be naughty. In earlier arcs, SI stated (paraphrasing) "I wanted to avoid being a rapist more than I wanted to have sex with her", which is a really flimsy way of avoiding that whole thing, but I don't really want to read a story about Orange Lantern the Rapist.
    That's what QQ is for.
    But it is still a strike against the author.

    The lack of mental instability does set of the Special Snowflake Siren, but I'll be honest, I don't mind too much. I've read the Larfleeze centred comic arc, and I don't want to just read a rehashing of that. A rehash of Young Justice isn't too much of an issue, because I never watched the show. As such, my knowledge is from wiki-walking, and general DC reading. The SI probably doesn't alter much from the canon timelines to begin with, but I think that could well be changing more recently.
    Also, given that it doesn't look like the author has written anything else, it could just be that they're finding their feet now, and are more willing to strike into AU territory.

    The text colours are so-so. They're gimmicky, but I don't mind too much. The invisitext is infuriating, and I hate whoever first thought it would be a good idea in stories. Thankfully, the use is minimal, and the author is consistent in when he uses it, and in paragraph spacing, so it's normally easy to pick up on.
    Still, I dislike it.

    I also originally disliked the red-timed AU snippets. I felt they were lazy, and a waste of time. But they do give the benefit of being able to see another perspective - so where in one timeline bad things happen for no reason, in the other timeline we can actually see what's caused the events. But I did initially think they were being written because the author couldn't be bothered to write exposition scenes. However, the timelines have diverged quite a bit by now, and I'm sure there's a mention somewhere that the two characters haven't met... Yet.

    The main story takes place in Earth 16. The Justice Lords snippets (purely Renegade timeline) happen in Earth 50. The Blue Lantern invaders come from Earth 14...
    The Justice Lords were going to send Renegade back to Earth 16. I haven't read all of today's posts (on page 37 as I write this), but do they send him to the right one?

    So... I enjoy the story. It updates frequently, is decently written, and I'm able to follow it without too much hassle. The main character has some strange ideas, but it isn't anything like the majority of GoT SI fics. 4/5, although rounded up from 3.5

    EDIT

    On page 40 now (and it's gone up to 41)...

    The author is being /clever/. I dislike this sort of thing, because it's confusing. It took a quick google and a short explanation in text to explain what the hell was going on.
    That said, I also enjoy it, because the author is being clever, and actually explaining it.
    It's partly why I try to stick to story only threads where I can - you know that everything is actually relevant, and not just fans being stupid, and trying to force themselves into the continuity.

    Nothing to really add to the above, other than:
    If things get confusing, keep going. It mostly gets explained.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2016
  13. CrackedMind

    CrackedMind Chief Warlock

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    Does anyone still follow this story? I'm up to date, and while I do still enjoy it- the most recent episode was very meh.
    Ambush Bug was obviously an excuse to do crossovers. The resolution was pretty stupid, but I enjoyed the snippet for the Red, Blue, and Indigo versions of Paul. Anti-Green was a little meh. The MLP and Kung Fu Panda crossovers were sufficiently meh, but that's probably because I dont give a shit about either fandom. What I really hate is how someone from MLP is now in the Grayven-verse. I've been really skimming that recently just because it's gotten pretty bad overall. It reached it's high point with the Justice Lords crossover, but it's been downhill ever since then.
     
  14. Fatality

    Fatality Order Member

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    Yeah agreed, it's been going rapidly downhill. I mean there has been an overall down trend for a while but the last segment was pure shit. I've been reading this almost daily for ages but skipped most of those.

    Think the author needs to get back to some sort of main plot (i.e season 2 of the show it's based off of) or just something a bit more grounded. It's been him running around in alternate universes and interacting with weird characters trying to uplift humanity (in the most boring way possible) and I'm starting to lose interest. Pretty sick of the Renegade interludes (which have become like a third of the story or more at this point) too.
     
  15. CrackedMind

    CrackedMind Chief Warlock

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    It's funny, but I was really excited to see what would happen after Zoat got past Season One's plot- to really see what he could come up with, and where it would go. But you're right, he really needs the show's plot to keep him grounded. I think that's where my frustrations have started to come from; nothing really... happens. There's no progression in Paul's character. He doesn't even have a relationship, he just exists.

    Grayven was always hit-or-miss, but it's 90% miss now. Him adopting someone is stupid. Him making a speedster for no reason makes no sense, etc.

    The whole uplift subplot was always boring, it was just relatively easy to ignore with the missions going on.

    I'll keep reading, but more out of a sense of 'I'm in this far' than anything else.
     
  16. Thaumologist

    Thaumologist Fifth Year ~ Prestige ~

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    I didn't know who Ambush Bug was, and I only follow the "story only" thread, because SpaceBattles.

    I thought the author was just including all the 'omakes' that crop up in the wake of anything on SB, but I have to agree, they just felt like a waste of time. They might have progressed the plot forward a bit, but they felt more like they were being written because the author wanted to write those scenes, rather than because they were plot relevant.
     
  17. CrackedMind

    CrackedMind Chief Warlock

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    Does anyone still follow this? I know Zoat has been regularly updating, and I'm not sure if I'm willing to get back into the slog of it if the same general downturn in quality has continued.
     
  18. Jon

    Jon The Demon Mayor Admin DLP Supporter

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    It has... it's moments still, they're far apart, however.

    Mostly I just... read an update every day, skimming mostly.

    There have been some good moments in the past few months, but there are entire swaths of 'arcs' that exist purely because he is going to write this until he dies.
     
  19. Thaumologist

    Thaumologist Fifth Year ~ Prestige ~

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    I still follow it, because it's always updated by the time I wake up. A small 1K snip in the morning whilst I'm still groggy means I'm not just lying there whilst I kick myself into gear.

    I couldn't say about any changes in quality, but there haven't really been any moments recently where I've particularly reacted with anything but mild amusement.
     
  20. Halt

    Halt 1/3 of the Note Bros. Moderator

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    I binge read it a year back I think.

    I remember really enjoying it in the first part, but as the story dragged on it begins to grate.

    1) The use of colors in text annoyed me greatly, and I think the author does himself a disservice relying on those to communicate emotion instead of letting the dialogue speak for itself.

    2) The MC, while alright at first, becomes more unlikable as the story goes on. His arrogance is astounding tbh. He's also bland, and the greater focus on him "wanting" things and the psychopath orange voice that makes him possessive made me cringe whenever I saw it.

    3) The multiple streams of story it flits between I was not a fan of. I'm referring to those AU omakes of his? Felt even more wanky than the main story and seems to serve no purpose story wise.

    4) Later on especially, the story just drags. The problem is actually worse if you've watched Young Justice TV series. It follows Stations of Canon far too closely. I feel like for all the changes he's made, he hasn't actually changed canon all that significantly, making it feel like a fix it fic and detracts from the agency of the main character (not in the sense of not being able to make choices, but in the sense that those choices don't matter in the end). He has now moved from Young Justice to the Justice League stories last I read, and having watched that, I decided to drop it as I felt it would just be even more rehash.

    I will give the author props for his good update rate, his technically decent writing and involvement of less well known characters, but I don't believe these make up for the larger flaws in his story.

    2/5.
     
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