I am scared to re-read Denarian series. I remember it being good but I also remember Harry in that story actually acting like very clishê Indy Harry only with much better writing with his shoulder angel.

 

While there's quite a bit that hasn't aged well, JBern's The Lie I've Lived is definitely a fic one can re-read. I have, in fact, done it once this year when I had too much time on my hands. The Sorting Hat is unique to say the least, and while Harry Potter reads a bit like Harry Dresden in both his luck with women and the situations he keeps getting into, I've managed to suspend critiquing the story and just enjoyed it flow. Everything, from Harry dredging up his parents' sex lives in intimate detail to Peter Pettigrew taking the marauders out to a gay discotheque made me chuckle.

I suppose Barb's Psychic Serpent trilogy is something I'm afraid to tackle again. I don't know why, I just... don't want to.

 

I've been meaning to re-read The Lie I've Lived again and see how it holds up now. I liked it the past few times but I haven't opened it in about four years.

I noticed this as well. When I was younger I thought it was great, but I reread the story a couple of months back and I had to just skip some of the conversations between everyone as it progressed. Not perfect but on the whole it does hold up.

 

Year's Of Rebellion has aged really well IMO. Some of the ideas in it are still really fresh. Ron's depiction is really well done, Harry and Hermione are solid and the Romance is understated but still feels fresh. IIRC the complaints about it were that Harry wasn't bamf enough which isn't really the point of the story.

Also the phoenix and the serpent is as indomitable as ever.

 

I feel like it's the comedy elements of the story. It didn't take itself seriously to begin with, and that doesn't really change with time. And the elements that were absurd back then (such as Harry's phoenix-hand thing in Browncoat) are still absurd now.

Anyways, I'm not going to comment on TLIL other to say that I didn't like it when it first came out, and a decade of time passing has not made it more palatable.

One story that has aged remarkable well is the Death Arch trilogy. Maybe it's even better now than it was back then. One of people's main sticking points is how the first few chapters were from Ginny's perspective and people would rather just shut the fic down and complain about it instead of actually reading it, so maybe these days some people will see it as the 5 star fic that it actually is. It's one of those fics that when I first read, I was excited for people to try and take some of the ideas in it and do their own epic versions but it just hasn't happened. 12 years later and it's still relatively unique.

On the other hand, Make A Wish has not aged well at all. But, TBH, I'm not sure if it was actually good to begin with, but it is one of those fics people have put into the "classic" folder.

 

I read the Ring of Gold on your recommendation and while it had some interesting ideas, the execution is boring as fuck. It's not about Ginny's POV--it's that the author stretched it by 50k words and on top of that, writing is flavorless. Take the first chapter--an overwrought, over-detailed flashback, a goddamn chore to read. I cannot fathom how anyone could sit through that twice more.

 

The Denarian Series is a lot more nuanced than your typical indie fic. Though Harry has his disagreements with Dumbledore, there are no signs of Dumbledore bashing, and in many of the cases, Dumbledore is shown to be in the right.

I can understand being annoyed at Harry's attitude to an extent, though I don't have any issues with it personally. There isn't a sudden transition from cannon Harry to this sarcastic, more aggressive version. Unlike in bad indie fics, his character changes over time, as a result of his changing situation and the influence of being raised by Meciel. Does Harry have his character flaws? Sure, but that is essential in any story to keep it from getting bland and uninteresting. And the plot has seldom been equaled in the fandom, before or since. All in all, it's still probably my favourite fic.

 

Almost all of nonjon's work aged great. I can still reread some of his stories like A Black Comedy and Where in the World is Harry Potter to get a laugh.

Not quite sure I'd call them classics, but I'd definitely strongly recommend basically all of them.

 

YMMV on its classic status, but every time I read it I find more about the Sacrifices Arc that I don't like.

 

Alexandra Quick series should still be a great read I think.

 

I'm rereading Wastelands right now and I'll say that Joe's style is a little, um, heavy-handed here. From Unfound Door on, he really polished his prose.

The story still holds up though, at least as far as I can tell a third of the way through. Less perhaps as a HP fanfic because it's so different than anything else in the fandom, but certainly as an epic adventure story. It's kind of amazing how Joe was writing a canon-ish Dumbledore in the era of the Indy!Harry bashfests.

 

I think Timely Error has aged pretty well actually considering it was written in 2008-2009. Same for Prince of a Dark Kingdom which was first started in 2007, although it is incomplete.

 

Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived still holds up as one of the best. Santi truly is one of the best writers to ever do it in the HP fandom to me.

 

It’s kinda amazing how that fic took so long to be mentioned, come to think of it. Wasn’t DLP inundated with new accounts just to read it?

 

I hold out hope, Scott! Considering I was one of those accounts that came just to read Santi's work, I have to have at least the tiniest bit of hope. Though I ended up staying because the better views on different characters that can be found here.