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Best of the Old

Discussion in 'Story Search' started by Villanelle, Oct 11, 2017.

  1. Villanelle

    Villanelle Groundskeeper

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    Stories that came out between book releases.

    Preferably ones where the romance is as non-obstructive as possible. I certainly don't mind romance, but that's not what I read Harry Potter for. I'll bear with it, and may even appreciate it, if it happens plausibly. It's really grating to read a plot that moves forward because of a pairing.

    It's hard to find a story with a lot of cool stuff going on *and* also have good romance. What Lies Beneath manages to do it, even though the love interests are rather one-dimensional, but again, I don't care because that wasn't the draw for me.

    Surely there must have been some good (i.e, at least Almost Recommended tier) gen fics that came out in that period?

    There's two which come to mind, that I've seen recommended by Perspicacity on Reddit a few times, but their names escape me at the moment. "The Serpent and..." being one of them, and both involving Ginny. I've also read a bit of Copperbadge, which I enjoyed.
     
  2. T3t

    T3t Purple Beast of DLP ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    The Psychic Serpent trilogy is the original classic. There's a fair bit of romance but it doesn't exactly drive the plot. Some of the characterizations are going to look pretty weird.

    Harry Potter and the Years of Rebellion is another very good one. Again - a fair bit of romance, but it's not exactly the driving force behind the plot.

    A Black Comedy was started before DH came out, but I'm sure you've read it already.

    Harry Potter and the Fall of Childhood is a great post-GoF story but unfortunately it is romance-driven.

    For a pretty strong YMMV fic, Echoes of Power, Part I: Anger has some 5/5 moments, especially once you get past the initial cliche setup, but it's a bit dated.
     
  3. Zombie

    Zombie Black Philip Moderator DLP Supporter

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    Wasn't this the author that wrote like a ten page author note and talked shit about DLP all the time? Something something BattleMage! Harry?
     
  4. T3t

    T3t Purple Beast of DLP ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Yep. Still a good fic.
     
  5. Sataniel

    Sataniel High Inquisitor

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    It's one of the worst things about the fic though, the other one being pacing. See Harry angsting about homework for three chapters.

    Anyway, the Unbroken Universe is pretty decent. Definitely, the most interesting old fic I've read, even though it has serious problems.
    0 (the prequel, was written later), 1, 2, 3
     
  6. T3t

    T3t Purple Beast of DLP ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    The pacing is a bit off, but I disagree with the criticism of the romance. IMO (and many others) it's one of the best romances in the fandom.
     
  7. Stan

    Stan Order Member

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    The Phoenix and the Serpent. The other one's maybe Arabella's The Very Secret Diary? Both are very good.

    Anyway, even avoiding romances there are plenty of these. Mostly, avoid OP indy Harry and you'll be fine.

    The Song of the Trees
    Percy Weasley: Rogue Demon Hunter
    Evil Be Thou My Good
    Just a Random Tuesday
    The Ring of Gold
    Invisible Circus
    Secrets
    I'd Kill You If You Weren't Already Dead
    Winter's Debt
    Knives
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2017
  8. Sataniel

    Sataniel High Inquisitor

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    How in the world? Hermione is incredibly uninteresting and the fic walk over everything and everyone in the way to the ship.

    Ron acts like retard, Heather (much better love interest) gets a mindwipe, not to mention stuff like the aforementioned homework with "Lust vs Love"

    So, if I'm already disagreeing with people, I can go further. The Phoenix and the Serpent starts well, but gets terribly dull around 1/3 way in. The Very Secret Diary suffers from having all the entries which leads to it being very repetitive in Ginny's messages and Tom's manipulations.
     
  9. Villanelle

    Villanelle Groundskeeper

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    Thanks for the recommendations. Hope that'll keep me busy for a while.

    Yep, the Phoenix and the Serpent. Nah, the other one was by an author with a fairly short username. Something in that format: ab-xyz. There might have been an "r", a "t", and/or an "s" somewhere. I tried looking for it, but short of going through __Pers' post history page, I can't think of anything else. At any rate, it hardly matters. Got a bit carried away there...

    I remember trying to read this a year ago, and found the first few chapters boring. Or found it hard to care about Remus? Can't remember exactly, but I tried it twice and gave up. Does it get better?

    My issue isn't so much romance as much as it is fairy tale romance specifically. The one true love that conquers all. It usually feels stilted and very awkward. I mentioned WLB because Harry's relationship with Tracey didn't feel like that at all. It was actually believable, and felt a bit more grown up. Now that I think of it, I also liked the bit where Harry reminisces about his dead girlfriend in Circular Reasoning.

    Maybe I'm just bitter. Maybe I don't want to think too much about my own cringe-worthy moments.

    I don't watch romantic comedies anymore either, but one that still has a special place in my heart would be Linklater's Before trilogy. It feels real as fuck (especially the last one, which I hated at first). There are segments that feel a lot like relationships I've had. It's been a few years now, so maybe I wouldn't like them if I watched them now.

    It's hard to imagine a Harry Potter fanfiction that's has a gripping enough storyline with badass magic, on top of a compelling romance element. If I ever feel like reading sappy, there's always The Fault in Our Stars or something.

    But if I'm wrong and there are, I'll read them. Admittedly, I haven't looked much in the Romance section of the library. Should I?
     
  10. ScottPress

    ScottPress The Horny Sovereign –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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    @Stan linked The Ring of Gold. I'm not going to turn this thread into a discussion for that fic, but I just want to say that, while it has some good stuff, be prepared for a sluggish read. It's like 300k words and a third of that doesn't need to be there. The author has the tendency to focus on uninportant details which slays pacing. But there are some interesting plot developments. Ginny is a major POV character. It's a slightly below 3/5 for me.
     
  11. Johnnyseattle

    Johnnyseattle Chief Warlock DLP Supporter

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    It was mentioned, but the Psychic Serpent trilogy is very well-written, and holds up surprisingly well. Only problem is, and I feel obligated to mention this every time it comes up, is it has absolutely the worst ending of any fic I've ever read. Ever read Unsung Hero? Yeah, this one is worse. Again, the story up to that is pretty damned cool though.

    Some people probably like it, but I almost wish she'd have just stopped writing suddenly, a la POTDK, instead of doing what she did.
     
  12. Villanelle

    Villanelle Groundskeeper

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    Thanks for the heads up @ScottPress.

    @Johnnyseattle, yep I have, but thankfully I read it well after it was completed and didn't wait for updates. If I had, I likely would have been pissed off too. As it stands, I found it pretty funny. That's the one where Harry
    embraced his inner snake and became their King, yes?

    I guess I'll start with The Psychic Serpent then.
     
  13. Johnnyseattle

    Johnnyseattle Chief Warlock DLP Supporter

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    Alrighty. Don't say I didn't warn you. :)
     
  14. Sataniel

    Sataniel High Inquisitor

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    It only truly starts when Sirius escapes, what you have earlier is an introduction to the world.
     
  15. Johnnyseattle

    Johnnyseattle Chief Warlock DLP Supporter

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    I had never heard of this one somehow, and am quite impressed by how well it holds up compared to other fics of that age. The author alludes to it being part of a trilogy, but I can't find anything else - is this another in a long history of let-downs? Total bummer, if so.
     
  16. T3t

    T3t Purple Beast of DLP ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Yes - the sequel was started, I think, but never got very far and was then pulled (along with the author's other stories).
     
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