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So I started this story the day before yesterday (using the story only thread, as 12 threads are a bit much) and I must say I am pretty impressed, I've read now for i'd say almost 20 hours and I'm on page 13 of 35, but now I've gotten confused. I hope you'll forgive me for not reading twelve threads though.

I gave up on the red chapters practically immediately since I didn't like the MC in them. I assumed they are a sort of alternate version of the story, but not 'canon'.
Now I've gotten to the orange chapters, where Paul has been overtaken by his avarice inside the simulation, and am now right after the simulation has ended.
At the beginning the simulation-chapters were interlaced with the dinner with Artemis. But now the simulation chapters are the orange ones and the dinner ones have stopped and this whole mess has confused me immensely.
When is the dinner happening exactly?
Could someone please explain to me what the hell is going on? (I don't mind if the explanation has a bit of spoilers in it)
 
Now I've gotten to the orange chapters, where Paul has been overtaken by his avarice inside the simulation, and am now right after the simulation has ended.
At the beginning the simulation-chapters were interlaced with the dinner with Artemis. But now the simulation chapters are the orange ones and the dinner ones have stopped and this whole mess has confused me immensely.
When is the dinner happening exactly?
Could someone please explain to me what the hell is going on? (I don't mind if the explanation has a bit of spoilers in it)
Those chapters weren't in chronological order, you can see the date at the beginning of the chapter for a better idea of when they happened.
 
Nope: thanks to the Childe-Langmuir Limit, using more power with an Ion thruster only gets you Vacuum Arcing, and eventually, Matter/antimatter annihilation explosions from Virtual Particle/antiparticle pairs determinating out of the Quantum Foam.
This is not a technical issue; it's a Laws of Physics prohibition. Ion Engines Cannot have High thrust; Your "Ion Thrusters" must actually be Orange-Light-powered-rockets that merely look like the SI's conception of what an Ion Thruster should be, while not actually operating the Way an Ion thruster does, but by how he WANTs them to.
If I'm reading this article right, he could potentially be using multiple copies of this type of thruster to generate thrust. It seems conceptually similar to a railguns, which is thematically fitting, and it says that it is efficient at high energies and uses common gases as fuel. Giving a little leeway for this being a comic book universe and OL using a magitech ring and xenotech constructs, I'm inclined to accept it.
 
So I started this story the day before yesterday (using the story only thread, as 12 threads are a bit much) and I must say I am pretty impressed, I've read now for i'd say almost 20 hours and I'm on page 13 of 35, but now I've gotten confused. I hope you'll forgive me for not reading twelve threads though.

I gave up on the red chapters practically immediately since I didn't like the MC in them. I assumed they are a sort of alternate version of the story, but not 'canon'.
Now I've gotten to the orange chapters, where Paul has been overtaken by his avarice inside the simulation, and am now right after the simulation has ended.
At the beginning the simulation-chapters were interlaced with the dinner with Artemis. But now the simulation chapters are the orange ones and the dinner ones have stopped and this whole mess has confused me immensely.
When is the dinner happening exactly?
Could someone please explain to me what the hell is going on? (I don't mind if the explanation has a bit of spoilers in it)
Red chapters are an AU that you should read, as AU Pauls become a thing. However, Red (Renegade) Paul may well grow on you in time. He starts out as an asshole you only see at the climax of his version of an episode, but he does have things going on. He improves as a character. He stays a dick, but he has some wonderful moments.
 
Red chapters are an AU that you should read, as AU Pauls become a thing. However, Red (Renegade) Paul may well grow on you in time. He starts out as an asshole you only see at the climax of his version of an episode, but he does have things going on. He improves as a character. He stays a dick, but he has some wonderful moments.

The Abberance arc is where he really starts to shine.
 
and I must say I am pretty impressed, I've read now for i'd say almost 20 hours and I'm on page 13 of 35, but now I've gotten confused.
47 pages as of my last check.

Funny, to think when I first found this story it only had 25. Nearly been here for half the duration of the entire story.
I hope you'll forgive me for not reading twelve threads though.
No one expects you to. I think only one person has read through them all at once.
I gave up on the red chapters practically immediately since I didn't like the MC in them. I assumed they are a sort of alternate version of the story, but not 'canon'.
The divergence is that Renegade had a bad day at work prior to the start of the story, which caused him to not want to ever be stepped on again. Every divergence afterwards follows from that. They are an alternate version of the story, but they are canon.
The Abberance arc is where he really starts to shine.
Eh, I'd say that Displaced is. Contingency is where it starts to get good, and Aberrance is where Renegade becomes likable in his own right. Stars, Crossed is the culmination of everything the Renegade has done since the start of the story.
So Red Paul becomes important to the main universe then? Hmmm.
Anything else I should know before I make a horrible mistake while reading the story?
As of now, the Renegade has influenced precisely two lines in the main story. There are plans for more interaction between the timelines, but we have virtually no details on that. As for what you need to know, read the FAQ. Relevant excerpt:
As of the present time none of the actions that have taken place in the Renegade timeline have affected the main SI's timeline and vise versa. Yes, this means that you can skip them if you like.

Renegade episodes are largely taken from the point of view of the Renegade. Again, at the moment they have not directly affected the main SI's timeline and I presently have no plans for them to do so. However, you may struggle to understand the SI segments in these episodes if you do not read the whole thing.
I would recommend reading the Renegade bits anyway even if you don't like them much. They progressively get better to the point that it's widely agreed that the second Renegade focused episode is the best so far in the story.
 
Shower the Aegean with suicide drones and record when they stop transmitting. Then use novel teleportation. Expensive, but doable.
That may qualify as brute forcing Luck (like buying so may lotto tickets you are mathematically guaranteed to win a big prize):p

Why would he have known?
because Truggs does reeeesearch (couldn't find a suitable Uncle clip on Youtube to link)

You'd first have to figure out what want actually is, but in theory the organ would output the same "brain wave" that occurs when OL uses wholeness rightly assumed and the ring would pick up on that and heal him.
But then either it's constantly draining power to trigger Wholeness, or it's smart enough to know when to activate it, at which point it starts fighting for control of his body.

This ring charge problem is getting annoying. Lanterns have enough power in them to blow a large chunk of a planet off and OL is loosing percentages just flying around making mundane constructs.
He's also fighting a fairly strong (and increasing?) gravitational pull the whole time he's flying around.

So I started this story the day before yesterday (using the story only thread, as 12 threads are a bit much) and I must say I am pretty impressed, I've read now for i'd say almost 20 hours and I'm on page 13 of 35, but now I've gotten confused. I hope you'll forgive me for not reading twelve threads though.

I gave up on the red chapters practically immediately since I didn't like the MC in them. I assumed they are a sort of alternate version of the story, but not 'canon'.
Now I've gotten to the orange chapters, where Paul has been overtaken by his avarice inside the simulation, and am now right after the simulation has ended.
At the beginning the simulation-chapters were interlaced with the dinner with Artemis. But now the simulation chapters are the orange ones and the dinner ones have stopped and this whole mess has confused me immensely.
When is the dinner happening exactly?
Could someone please explain to me what the hell is going on? (I don't mind if the explanation has a bit of spoilers in it)
Okay, to start with, once you start reading the discussion threads, there's a long running joke that this story is sort of a playthrough of a Young Justice RPG video game along the lines of Mass Effect. the main character is often referred to as Paragon, while the Red chapters are essentially the Renegade playthrough.

At the start of each story segment there's the arc title and the time stamp. These are color coded (White for Paragon, Red for Renegade, eventually other colors start to appear as well). The colour of the Arc title tells you which character/universe the arc is focused on, while the time stamp colour tells you which Paul is the viewpoint character for that segment.

While Renegade's first several segments come off kinda Mary-sue-ish, that's because we don't get to see the planning and maneuvering he performs to pull off his victories. Eventually there's a few story arcs which are primarily focused on him (with Paragon interludes) where we get to see that sort of thing, as well as Renegade scrambling/improvising like mad when things are not going to plan. Although even then he tries to project an impression of 'Just as planned/I meant to do that'. We also get to see the downsides of his bluntness and choices more in the full chapters.

Basicly, the Renegade does come to have more importance story wise, and while you don't have to read them (and some readers are quite vocal on their hatred of the character), it does add to the story, if nothing else than by giving a different viewpoint on events common to both timelines.

So Red Paul becomes important to the main universe then? Hmmm.
Anything else I should know before I make a horrible mistake while reading the story?
The two timelines haven't directly interacted so far, but they've both have had encounters with additional DC timelines, and hints from the author indicate they will eventually meet.

Learn to stop worrying and love the whaw.
As finbikkifin indicates here, Mr Zoat does tend to spell words the way he pronounces them (whaw = wow for example), and tries to use British or American spelling of words based on the speaking character's origin. For example, Batman would say 'color', but Constantine would say 'colour'.
 
because Truggs does reeeesearch (couldn't find a suitable Uncle clip on Youtube to link)
Same he knew about how OL would be able to get the ring back?
But then either it's constantly draining power to trigger Wholeness, or it's smart enough to know when to activate it, at which point it starts fighting for control of his body.
It wouldn't be a brain, just an organ that can replicate the output of a specific brain pattern. It'd be like saying your liver is gonna fight your brain for dominance. And obviously would be meant to trigger when OL suffers brain damage, no need for it to be smart to be able to do that, just having a custom automated response would do.
 
47 pages as of my last check.

Good to know that the SB thread is a bit behind. Maybe Mr Zoat should write a warning in that one, or just make the link in the signature to the SV thread.

I would recommend reading the Renegade bits anyway even if you don't like them much. They progressively get better to the point that it's widely agreed that the second Renegade focused episode is the best so far in the story.

Then I'll try reading it and hope he'll grow on me (like a parasite or fungus).

As finbikkifin indicates here, Mr Zoat does tend to spell words the way he pronounces them (whaw = wow for example), and tries to use British or American spelling of words based on the speaking character's origin. For example, Batman would say 'color', but Constantine would say 'colour'.

Yeah, I noticed he also writes 'tee shirt' and the like when someone is actually saying it. I don't mind reading accents or dialects like they're pronounced, but stuff like that looks honestly kinda stupid to me and I always have to read the sentence twice to get what he meant. Though I got used to them over the 'long' time I've been reading the story.
 
Same he knew about how OL would be able to get the ring back?
Same as he knew how to incapacitate Orange Lantern so as to get the Ring in the first place. Truggs found out what his tactics and (demonstrated) capabilities were. And if Paul had superstrength, he would have made use of it in recorded events ((not necessarily public records, but Truggs had access to the Light's data on the team as well)
The enhanced durability would be harder to differentiate from the ring's shield, but usually accompanies superstrength, if only so the character doesn't injure themselves trying to use their strength.

Then again, I don't 'get' Transhumanism, so I suspect we'll never fully agree on what Paul should be doing to 'upgrade' himself.

Edit:
Good to know that the SB thread is a bit behind. Maybe Mr Zoat should write a warning in that one, or just make the link in the signature to the SV thread.
Well, that's because Mr Zoat stopped posting on SB entirely.
 
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Same as he knew how to incapacitate Orange Lantern so as to get the Ring in the first place. Truggs found out what his tactics and (demonstrated) capabilities were. And if Paul had superstrength, he would have made use of it in recorded events ((not necessarily public records, but Truggs had access to the Light's data on the team as well)
Who would be able to make the difference between innate superstrength and ring assisted superstrength exactly?
Then again, I don't 'get' Transhumanism, so I suspect we'll never fully agree on what Paul should be doing to 'upgrade' himself.
Well the whole "not dying a painful death" is always a plus.
 
, Nope: thanks to the Childe-Langmuir Limit, using more power with an Ion thruster only gets you Vacuum Arcing, and eventually, Matter/antimatter annihilation explosions from Virtual Particle/antiparticle pairs determinating out of the Quantum Foam.
This is not a technical issue; it's a Laws of Physics prohibition. Ion Engines Cannot have High thrust; Your "Ion Thrusters" must actually be Orange-Light-powered-rockets that merely look like the SI's conception of what an Ion Thruster should be, while not actually operating the Way an Ion thruster does, but by how he WANTs them to.

which is par for the course with Lantern constructs, of course...

Good to know that the SB thread is a bit behind. Maybe Mr Zoat should write a warning in that one, or just make the link in the signature to the SV thread.
I was planning to, but the thread got locked before the SV Story Only thread caught up. And I don't particularly want to talk to the SB moderators.
Who would be able to make the difference between innate superstrength and ring assisted superstrength exactly?
One will keep going when the ring runs out of power or is removed. The other won't.
 
Briefly. Essentially, the mutations are how it does what it does. The only way to prevent them is not not let the formula change you at all, which rather defeats the object. The Renegade got the best deal from that he could.
He couldn't figure out a way to make smaller mutations for a less powerful result? Double normal human strength and durability is pathetic compared to the full effect, but is still an upgrade that would probably involve fewer mutations. Well, maybe not, I don't know how mutations like that work. Maybe even the smallest boost creates significant changes.

Still, it should be possible to carry some Venom Buster around with him to get the full mutation in fights when he needs it (against enemies such as this which bypass his other defenses, or when he needs to conserve power), and then just use the ring to change back after everything is done. We know he can do that easily enough, after all. I suppose OL might not have thought of it, or had other reasons against it.

The power requirements are absolutes, he just has the ability to add extra warnings and restrictions.
Checking later, OL does state that he doesn't want to fly if he doesn't have to, not that he can't. I thought 10% was the cutoff where flight became completely impossible, though? I think that came up as a problem during that whole demon invasion thing where Marvel was stabbed with the Sword of the Fallen, since they had to travel a lot more slowly. Rereading it, OL does consider using a construct rocket to boost his speed, and so could probably have flown normally too, but wanted to save power more in case he needed to fight someone. What is the cutoff point for flight, then? I thought FTL was 15%, flight 10%, translation 5%. Translation is extremely low in power requirements, so I'm sure flight takes more, but there's not a big range there.
 
Who would be able to make the difference between innate superstrength and ring assisted superstrength exactly?
Well, for starters, if you want to move something really heavy with the ring, you don't need to walk over and grab it. You just point the ring and use it to move the object. If he's picking up something heavy with his hands then he has superstrength.
 
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