No, we don't even acknowledge those....

 

I know that I'm going to get flamed really bad for this, but I'm curious.

Why is it so bad that a HP/BtVS cross uses a familial relation as the means in which to connect the verses? No I haven't read a good one, but the idea has merit. Lily was a muggleborn, and that's all we know about her family. We can't she be related to Willow, or even better Giles, as a cousin?

I'm not talking about a method to make Harry and the 'Scoobies' meet, I'm talking about the logistics. Why is it so bad, if an author uses (insert character) is a cousin of Lily as a means to connect the two universes?

Okay I've asked my question, so feel free to flame as much as you want. I could use a tan.

 

Because you can do that for any two universes. It tells the reader that the author wasn't imaginative enough to come up with a better connection and resorted to the default x-is-y's-cousin plot device.

Automatic failure before the story even takes off.

 

The whole idea of HP/BtVS crossovers is really awkward, not because of the differences in magic typology, but because of the differences in the way power works in general.

The way Slayers and Vampires are depicted on the screen leaves them looking seriously lame compared to a competent HP wizard. At the same time, Illyria could stop time and rip out Voldemort's spine without thinking twice. Big bads get beaten by circumstances and explosives and mcguffins.

Power in HP is something you learn and aspire to. Power in BtVS is something you are. If you want a Slayer to still be a legendary figure capable of tangling with big boys in the HPverse, she needs to be faster and stronger and tougher than really got shown on the show. If you let the Slayer just be an insignificant nothing, then why the hell does a Slayer exist in a universe where average wizard thugs are so far above her power level and that of vampires? If a Slayer IS faster and stronger, then what does that say about things like Glory and Illyria? If Slayers are more dangerous than trained wizards, how do you rationalize what hundreds of new Slayers at once do to the power structure of the world?

You just run into lots of these sorts of difficulties, and if it isn't done really well one side ends up feeling really trivialized.

 

Think about the odds of that hypothetical connection- no selfrespecting author should use obvious plot devices just to get his story started.

 

@Rhys

Fusion is never on the cards to begin with because the problems you have mentioned. I don't even look at them.

Harry jumping dimensions much more likely as in the original series we see other dimensions a number of hell dimensions, a dimension where demons and humans live (Lorne's dimension) why not HP dimension?

 

Frankly, I didn't realize that there were that many HP/Buffy xovers at all.

In fact, the only one I can remember has Harry going to Sunnydale, fluffy buffy stuff, then Dolohov is the bag guy. Or something like that. Wasn't particularly good, but not horrible either.

What are the best HP/Buffy xovers? I don't care what pairings or anything.

 

We'll, I can't think of any worth recommending but I did like this one up until a point...

Prophecies? We don't Need No Stinking Prophecies! by Greywizard

I guess I should mention Wand of Uru, for some reason people seem to like it...I can't see why.

Harry Potter and the Wand of Uru by JoeHundredaire

 

I wouldn't call that a Buggy crossover so much as Joe's wank fantasy on paper. Ugh.

 

It's okay.

No, just no.

 

Wand of Uru is a god Harry fic. Those only work in the comedy realm of fiction sometimes and rarely as main characters. Also it commits the cardinal sin (and one of my biggest pet peeves) Harry telling everyone and their mom that he's from an alternate universe in the future.

 

Hero trilogy by joe was the fucking nuts. God!Harry fics work, they are just more difficult to write. Immature, untalented authors are the main reason this genre is shunned so much in my opinion.

 

This is probably what you were thinking of Ellisande.

It is sadly pretty high up there on the best HP/Buffy crossovers, it isn't even all that awesome.

 

It burns us!

 

Deathly Hallows Revisited

Disregard the shitty title, this is actually a rather decent H/HR romance. Technical writing is good, the relationship development is done in (agonizingly) slow steps and the author has a firm grip on the canon characters. There are some surprising AU elements besides the changed ship and the ending is still rather open. No Ron bashing either. A warning for Canon!Nazis, this fic mixes the books and the movies. Also: Don't read if you can't stand some fluff and angst.

3.5/5

 

K+ + agonizingly slow + Angst = Fear

I think I'll pass.

 

Haha! The truth is spoken.

In the back of my head, there's a tiny voice that says, "Unless someone is looking for smut, there's no reason to simply assume that a story rated below T is an immature piece of shit."

But I rarely listen to that voice. For some reason, I just have this preconceived notion that fics rated below T (or even below M) just aren't going to have issues I'm going to care about, fights worth reading, and so on.

I'm not sure why I started thinking that way, but it's been there pretty much ever since I've been reading fan fic from sites that employ a ratings system.

 

Just from my favorites list:

There are tons more with a 'T' rating, but also this:

All quality fics, five out of six in the DLP library. I think this should invalidate your "preconceived notion".

 

The only one from that list that I'd consider to be good would be the Alexandra Quick book. And there I'd argue that it's the exception that proves the rule, as it's the only book of it's type really.

Honestly though. I don't think i've ever looked at a fics rating, except when in a C2 to make sure I display them all.

 

Btw- there are 4 pages of "non M" fics in the "DLP 5-Starred and Featured Authors" C2, 22 of the stories with a rating below 'T' level.