Well, I've never read anything else by Joe, but that was long, completed, and in DLP recommended group so I went ahead with it. And hey, surely there are some good old fics, it's not like there were some new secret and great writing techniques created in last few years.

Good to know. I hope that you didn't take my rant too personally, I have a bad tendency to sound overly aggressive when I criticise something.

 

I remember thinking book 1 was alright (better than most fics out there even after a few years and the new ones out) but not amazing, book 2 was a fair bit better and I could never bring myself to finish past like chapter 5 in book 3 [/spoiler] Or whenever the hell it is he comes back to Grimmauld after going all Human Torch on the vampires after returning to his original world[/spoiler]. Course I think I read them in like 09' or something.

 

See, this makes intuitive sense, but it isn't actually the case.

There's been a long history here, that as time passes fics we once thought were acceptable no longer are. Seriously, go read any thread from back in 2007 etc, you'll find that almost none of them stand the test of time.

A Black Comedy might be one exception to the rule, Boy Who Lived another. Of course there'll be a few others based on personal preference, but nothing significant.

Why this is the case is another question. I presume it's some combination of us growing up as people, things we once thought were awesome no longer are, and that our standards keep being raised by better and better writing.

 

It's been a good long while since I've taken anything personally. I was more surprised you read it at all, let alone took the time to highlight errors long since erred.

Hell, I don't have a clue what you're referencing there. Must have been my early scotch days.

Yeah, we're constantly raising the bar. You can't get away with easy plot and expanded trunks these days. Man, I remember back in '04, getting blown up and down Fiction Alley - and all I had to do was pair Harry with someone who wasn't Hermione or Ginny.

 

I feel a story like this should be in some sort of legacy section, or archived, rather than something that is still actively voted on. Looking at a 15 year old story like this though a 2019 lens pretty much means that is has no chance, but I think it is very important story.

 

While I think that's true of many stories in the library, I don't know that I'd attribute that great a legacy value to this one. Its greatest influence was simply having been the proving ground where Joe cut his teeth on writing fic. It didn't have a large influence on fanfiction in general, forum culture, etc. In 15 years it has less than 50 posts in the thread, and it was of questionable quality even by 2008 standards.

 

I do agree with you, but I wasn't necessarily thinking of a dumping grounds for ex-5 star stories. I know there's talk every year of going through the library and purging all the old 4 star fics from 2008 that are actually 1.5 star fics these days (talks end up the same every time). I was thinking something like how the C2 is done - despite the title, there were a lot of questionable quality fics in there, just because the author was proven.

Anyways, I do remember reading this story back in 2009. It was one of those stories I just chugged through in that 3 month honeymoon period of discovering fanfiction and trying to jam as many words into my veins regardless of quality. And I do remember struggling to get through it, mostly because of the hokey sword fighting scenes that it starts out with. But I do remember a lot of epic stuff (such as all the demon stuff I think was in the second book). There's a lot of Ginny stuff that is cringey by any standards as well, but that's kind of the whole story (literally moving the world to save her, or something). I do remember the ending, but without being able to remember the whole context of the story, I can't say if it was satisfying or not, but I do remember that he broke the 4th wall, so probably not.

 

Oof, why you gotta bring up these memories? This was my first ever attempt at story writing. Started in 2004 when I was 15, and completed in 2008 when it probably should have been taken out back and shot.

My writing is worlds away, if you'll pardon the pun, from what's on display here.

Anyway, 5/5.

 

Strange as this may sound, I think I dropped the first in the series and couldn't get into it, yet picked up the second one, followed along just fine, and it somehow worked for me that way. Goddamn, though. A million words in four years as a teenager. It took me six weeks to write a one-pager for homework back at that age.

Will give this a re-read but I remember enjoying bits of it and pretty much ignoring bits of it. Created a separate story-within-a-story through judicious applications of self-delusion and denial.

The author has come a long way since then, so looking back is a fun trip. I can see the beginnings of certain trends which he's developed, techniques he's polished, and ideas he's shamelessly cribbed for original fiction. Although as they were AU elements, who's to say that this story didn't travel forwards in time to steal those ideas from the original work which followed?

TIME HEIST fits his M.O.

 

I sell shirts with that on the back.

 

I'm far less discerning than most other members on the site, but I enjoyed reading through this.

I think it's aged really well and it was this particular story/trilogy that gave me a whole new outlook on writing battles, even if I'm still scrap at it.

In chapter three, a fight scene between Harry and Voldemort's top Death Eaters. By no means did he win, but he managed well with strong tactics, caution, and general badassery.

5/5.

 

Fuck. Now I have to reread this as it's been more than a decade (and now I feel old...). I remember enjoying the hell out of this back in 2008 though, so excuse me while I lose the next week of my life. Will report back.