Title:Vindico Atrum
Author: Firephoenix8
Rating: M
Genre: Adventure/Drama

Pairing: HP/Several
Summary: AU. Harry carves out his own path to become something beyond a Dark Lord.
Durmstrang, Dark Arts, dueling, powers, heritage, horcruxes, hallows, Necromancy, Voldemort, Tom, Draco, Grindelwald. Slash. Sequel to The Black Heir.

Link : http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3762636/1/The_Black_Heir
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4582846/1/Vindico_Atrum


This fic is the continuation of another called the Black Heir, by the same author. It was after the persistent needling of my best friend that I decided to read both fics, despite that they have Slash content, and I don't like slash. Nevertheless, I finally read them and I must say that they pleasantly surprised me, given my initial misgivings in reading something with slash and with some HP/LV content.

The Slash can be easily skipped since the author always warns about slash content in chapters which have those scenes, and for those who like slash, from what I read of it, it wasn't nastily explicit, it doesn't use vulgar words, at least, and it describes emotions rather than lewd acts. And at least Voldemort isn't an old snake-faced man, but a young dark wizard, much slier, powerful and interesting than in canon. And the HP/LV doesn't figure much in the fics, since they are mostly centered on Harry's path in becoming a Dark Lord.

Harry's quest for power, followers and knowledge is what's most commendable about the story, along with the complex plot, the depth of the ideas on magic and blood that it explores, the details and thoughts behind everything, the development of Harry's 'dark' character, the slow and realistic growth of his powers, and the characterization of OCs.

In the latter, the character of Lord Grindelwald is what marvelled me the most, since I have never read a fic in which Grindelwald plays such an important part and I loved the way the author portrayed the former Dark Lord. I also liked the author's incorporation of Necromancy, which wasn't portrayed with the usual cliched abilities, but rather with some original skills.

The only negative issue is that the fics are very long, since the plot embarks so many twists and topics, and some parts can get tedious if one isn't in the mood to think too much and just wants to get to the action. Also, some times it touches on attempted-rape and mpreg, but it never happens, and Harry comes out of it victorious after dolling out revenge.

All in all, I give it a 4/5, because I would have enjoyed it much more if it hadn't contained slash and if Harry was paired with a female character, like the OC Calypso, who is my personal favorite. Nevertheless, it is a good and entertaining read when one doesn't find a fic which is exactly as one would have dreamt it.

 

Is this the same sick story where there are vivid descriptions of Voldemort/Harry sex? Fuck this shit.

 

It is. It's readable - and even quite pleasurable to read - if you can ignore whole paragraphs of graphic slash and mpreg. That said, it's rather hard to ignore.

I quite enjoyed reading this story - with ignoring said parts - until I joined DLP and found its library.

 

This thread is going to be fun to read. I can not believe this was posted for review.

 

http://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?t=2803&highlight=firephoenix8

Learn to read.

Why is this filth constantly being submitted for review? It fails every single time, and the OP actually tried to circumvent them by posting the sequel instead of the first story. It's as if the fanbase's lives depend on it entering the library.

http://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?t=8457

The writer didn't try to fix it, so once again I must quote this lovely passage:

The writer blatantly wanted Harry raped and sodomized repeatedly. Harry avoids the first, but the second happens to him in massive amounts. I can see why the female OP liked the story though.

Edit: Not only that Palver, but Harry gives birth to Voldemort's child.

 

Ah, I see, heh

I didn't read that list. I didn't know that this story had already been submitted for review, sorry about that then. I simply thought they were good Dark!Harry fics, so I wanted to share. True, they have slash scenes, but they are very few, and weren't sick, icky or disgusting, since they weren't explicit by the use of vulgar words, and the fic isn't about romance or sex at all, it's mostly pure plot. But anyway, to each his own, I say. And if it wasn't liked, then that's that.

cheers.

 

Yeah, um no.

I'll admit that I read this (while skipping the extremely graphic butt-sex, gay-love, and m-preg b.s.), when other updates aren't forthcoming, because it does have its interesting ideas--they're just very few and far between. The fic has too many problems to name. Dark Wizards being genetically designed that way because of their innate magic is just one example.

2/5 for overwhelming faggotry.

 

Ah, again, Harry never has Voldemort's child. I don't understand why everyone's insisting so much about it. Have you actually read the whole fic or are you just repeating someone else's unfounded opinion? There's no mpreg in the story, there's no rape either, and the beatings aren't graphic but implied, and only mentioned in 2 short paragraphs in the whole gargantuan fic, and Harry kills the bastard in the end, so it's not something to get angsty and emo over.

 

Is this a soap opera? Can Harry gain a hundred pounds, complete his transformation into a fat lady and sing?

The point is that the slash isn't in just the explicit passages, but everywhere. It's in the way the entire story is written, in the dialogue, the descriptions, the weak ’sensitive' protagonist, and the ’hard-hitting questions’.

 

Lol, that's from the Black Heir, isn't it? Well, that's exactly why I recommended Vindico Atrum and not the first fic, where Harry is indeed too childish and overdramatic, but his character develops greatly by the time that the Vindico Atrum storyline unravels, and that's why I liked Vindico Atrum more than the Black Heir. In Vindico Atrum, there's no more of dramatic, angsty Harry, but a teenager already strong willed, dark and powerful, and who's managing to take over the so-called Dark side. Heh.

And I take offense at being called the 'female OP', refer to me by my nickname, if anything. I don't go calling you guys the 'males', do I? As if it's because that I'm female that I like seeing Harry abused, like some overeager, vapid Twilight fangirl - course not, that's insulting.

 

You don't? Seriously...

 

This story is well written, but the SLASH KILLS IT. ITS NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE HERE. BURN!

 

I have a gay best friend who is at my house right now and this shit sat me in horrified shock as I read through the thread. That's the most disgusting, romanticized man love I've ever had the vehemence to read in quoted form.

Get this shit off my DLP.

And yes it is because you're female that you have a completely different set of standards about how sopping wet with drama a fic can be. Guys don't get into heavy romances all too often, especially not uber-epeen ones that frequent DLP, and I sure as hell don't. The reason you do? You have female hormones that actually allow you to enjoy heavy drama. Think about it and get over your feminist drama.

 

In case bombastic missed it the first time, here it is again..
http://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?t=2803&highlight=firephoenix8
anyways, I've always been under the impression that this isn't the place for slash, yes, the story is readable, however slash, mpreg, etc. is not something we like here. Bombastic we are simply trying to point out the fact that a large portion of slash readers/writers are females between the ages of 14-18.

 

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPHANTS YEAH!

 

Snarf: First, it wasn't a feminist commentary, it was simply an objective remark, pointing out the unnecessary distinction of 'female op', which is a stereotipical label as any other. And if my one-sentence remark qualifies as 'feminist drama' in your book, as brief as it was, then I understand the narrowed set of your so-called 'standards' which you use to select your reading material, thus dismissing the 'sopping wet with drama', as you put it.

Perhaps it's true that since I'm female I like to read about some romance and drama woven into an interesting plot, but it doesn't mean that I like mushy and fluffy nonsense, and much less that I'm driven by my 'hormones' - which, you must know, that you, as a guy, have your share as well. Moreover, I don't see that you're much different, since in almost all the fics here, which some are admittedly good, Harry always gets the vapid, delicate, useless girl, like Fleur and such, which is clearly a male dream ideal, a painful and dreadful cliche, and a rather pathetic and weak female character. If he's dark, then why would he choose someone like Fleur? Someone dark, and worth his salt, would choose someone like a young Bellatrix, for instance, who is vastly much more interesting than any other. When it comes to preferences for Harry/Female pairings, I dare say that male readers are just as 'fangirl-ish' as female readers supposedly are, just in a different way, but the baseline is the same, isn't it?

Anyway, my point was that despite the slash, and the drama of the Harry of the first part of the story, the fics are good and interesting. Slash isn't my cup of tea either, but I can tolerate it when it comes hand-in-hand with complex and interesting plots riddled with war-motiffs and action, like these fics have.

However, you wrote that guys don't like that kind of story, with slash, however interesting the story might be. So, am I to understand that this site contains fics only palatable to guys, since guys are the majority of reviewers? Well, I'll certainly keep it in mind the next time I recommed a fic.

And I must point out, that the Quote submitted by Andromalius was of when Harry was eleven years old, if I remember the first fic correctly. Sure, it's over-romanticized and mushy, but I'm sure that at age 11, no matter how 'manly' a boy is, he would not only be befriending a locket-Tom with stupid ideas about love and friendship in his mind, but he would also be crying for momma in real life - which the Harry of the fic doesn't, no matter the circunstances. So as much as he has his weaknesses, he also has his strengths.



Nevertheless, I grasp the point submitted by Killginny009. It's clear that slash isn't remotely tolerated in this site, no matter the context or the brief and irrelevant part that it has in the storyline, so this discussion is pointless.


cheers

 

Point proven with long, ranting diatribe.

Well, I'll give you points for backing up your side rather than just agreeing, but you've got to see my point. One of my favorite movies is How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days, not that you care, but most guys would laugh because they're homophobes.

The reason this story is disgusting is because I'm the kind of guy who sits and reads a whole story in a night. I can't just skip over all of the romance, it's a necessary device in the over-arching romance plot, but I surely don't want to read that Harry's development was riddled with rape and sodomy. Not my kind of bag, and it has an effect on every other action that this Harry does. It's his character at its roots. Yuck.

Anyways, I agree that I can be a fanboy, but I'd call myself a canon fanboy more than anything. Taure just gets that title because he's a know-it-all.

 

CheddarTrek:

Honestly, I feel that the second part is better because many things are already resolved and established, but a reader would probably feel disoriented and quite lost in the plotline if one started with Vindico Atrum. The interesting thing in Black Heir is seeing how Harry changes, how he develops his abilities, how he grows and discovers a lot of things, and how some of the twisty and complex plot is unravelled. And the first years of his time at school are the most engaging, so I would definitely recommend starting with the Black Heir because a lot of characters are introduced and developed, and necessary background and details are covered there. And the Black Heir is much more fast-paced than Vindico Atrum, since in Vindico Atrum the storyline gets more mysterious and intriguing before it clarifies.

Therefore, all in all, I recommend both fics, taking the time to read them without becoming impatient, because I found that many things are linked through far-spread chapters, and that's the fun part of it. How the convoluted plot makes sense and is linked together through all the details and hints dropped here and there. The plot is twisty, and with depth, always popping up unexpected things which one later regrets not having been smart enough to discover beforehand. And character development in the Black Heir plays a huge role. As long as slash doesn't bother you, and you aren't an impatient reader, I can personally guarantee that you'll enjoy the fics.

I hope you do read them and then tell me what you think of them, to see if I'm not the only here who liked them! *grins*

Snarf:

Heh, I do like to amply present my case and defend my point, and I like to write, so that's the reason for my long-winded 'diatribe' *grins* But I do understand your point. I haven't met a single guy who can swallow a slash HP fanfic, and it was even sometimes painful for me to read some of the stuff that happened or almost happen to Harry in this fic, so I can empathize. And I must admit that to some degree I'm fangirlish as well, since I only like Dark!Harry paired with a 'dark' female with a strong and interesting personality. So we'll bury the proverbial verbal hatchet *winks*

 

Clearly you've never read Lie.

And frankly most of the stories here feature a rather strong female character.

You find me a list of all these delicate useless women, and I'll find you a list twice as long of ones that can hold their own alongside Harry.

Fact of the matter is, you posted a story without reading the warnings about slash, and without searching to see if the story had been previously posted.

You've also spent all of your posts defending this story. My guess is that you signed up the day you posted this. Your defense of this story and your total lack of checking the rules/guidelines prior to posting it, really points to you having had this story in mind when you joined the site, which screams that you're the author or a rabid fangirl.

Things you probably should have read/done before posting this.

Read This Before Posting (Important Information)

Fair Warning To New Members Who Are Slashers

Morons Need Not Apply

Lurk More.

But at the end of the day it all comes down to basic math.

Story Bad + Slash - Regard for site rules, warnings, and practices = OP wrong.

PS: Even disregarding the slash, the story isn't particularly good.