I started reading that and could barely finish the first chapter.

The 2 reasons I stopped reading are..
1. I've never been a big fan of marriage contracts. They are typically (as always, there are exceptions) used as a tool to force an unlikely pairing, lots of stories do this instead of having actual character development. Also, in this case, it seems that there is the potential for Narcissa's redemption based on the "I had no choice! I had to marry him! I never wanted to (insert crimes here)!"

2. Narcissa, as a child, was forced to sign a contract that forces loyalty "stronger than the imperius curse." Apparently they only used it once, but the potential for what could happen makes me cringe, it's just not my style.

On the plus side, the letter from Sirius to Harry was interesting.

 

Well the contracts/oaths are gone quite soon after the beginning.

What broke it for me is that in the beginning Harry is so against being manipulated (by Dumbledore) that he happily uses the equivalent of imperius to marry Draco's mother to gain control, but then when Narcissa turns the tables he just rolls over and lets her manipulate and boss him to save Bellatrix and Draco from Azkaban...

 

For everyone who likes Hermione as a character - I know, not many on DLP, but still - I recommend Hermione Granger and the Goblet of Fire.

The story is already in the trash bin, but it was recently completed and isn't half bad, if one can overlook the obvious problems inherent in a Hermione!centric fic.

4/5

 

How Harmonian is this story?

I read through first couple of chapters and there seems to be hints of Hermione taking care of meek little Harry. >.<

But than it shows promise avoiding the usual Harry fallowing Hermione around and hanging on her every word. Even the inevitable "grand" common room blowup scene between evil ron and the good guys didn't have Harry sticking up for Hermione's "honor".

On the downside Hermione is going to use muggle law to bring order to the barbaric wizards.

P.S. Since we are sharing almost recommendable stories that just finished. Oma's choice just finished. For those who don't know, it's super!Harry roflstomping the stargate universe. I would only recommend this if you are in the mood for a super!harry fic as it lacks any real tension.

The last chapter has a bit of a "rocks fall everyone dies" feel to it, as it abandons the hinted at conclusion for

Spoiler

Harry being locked in eternal battle with Anubis

 

@KGB The story is a nasty pile of dragon dung. I stopped after I read this:

I'd never thought about the plothole that comes with the whole "confounding binding magical contracts" in GoF, but the way the author tries to exploit it in this fic is abysmally stupid.

 

Do Unto Others

It's a short one-shot, but It manages to pack a lot of emotion into its small body. It's easily the most well done Snape redemption story I've ever read, powered by a very moving romance that, as with real life, can't be quite captured with words. This is a brilliantly refreshing take on Snape and the genre as a whole, and I really hope that one day the author chooses to continue this story.

 

why not...
I, Harry James Potter do swear
that I am a little girl.
Else may the following happen to Voldemort:
Death.



The stupid hurts a bit, even.


It would have been more hilarious if it went:
The contract did its usual glow of blue and then red and Harry felt two things happen at once to his body. He looked down. "What do you know, I am a little girl."

---Nauromerged---

Fandom: Harry Potter/RPS
Pairing: Severus Snape/Jesus
Rating: PG-ish
Warning: It's slash. It's got a real, historical person in it. It touches on religion. May contain peanuts. Do not drink and read: may cause spittakes. Keep out of reach of small children.


No.

 

Trollolololol.

I feel like magical contracts and oaths are done very shitilly most of the time, mainly since they're rarely actually used to, you know, enforce fair bargains in dangerous situations. It's always either oath with a wand to the head this, or rules lawyer wording that, or two eleven year olds being retarded there. I think Magical Oaths to enforce hostage exchanges or stakes in duels are actually kind of ok (even cool at times), but the problem is you rarely see them being used for stuff like that.

 

Nobody loves Snape. Not even Jesus.

 

Fan girls used to love him.

 

Thank Jesus that stopped.

 

You mean they got older and now prefer younger flesh, like Draco?

 

What the flying fuck is this shit?

 

I've been critical of munkeymaniac in the past, mainly because I've always felt that everything goes a little to perfectly and there isn't ever any conflict, however, this looks more promising.

Pros: Like all of his stories munkeymaniac doesn't do any real bashing, he does a nice job of portraying the characters as normal teenagers. The other real big plus about this story is that Harry/Daphne don't immediately fall in love or even get along, he actually allows things to develop at a believable pace. Also the update rate is very good.

Cons: Because the update rate is averaging about a 5k chapter every 3-4 days there are some grammar/spelling errors, but not many. There's the typical "Ice Queen" stereotype and the lack of real plot is a little disheartening, but it is listed as a romance.

3/5

 

3/5 is about right: this is solidly in "almost recommended" territory. Its primary draw is that it updates quickly, even if it's not exactly stellar writing.

 

The thing that annoys me the most about munkeymaniac's writing is that all his stories end abruptly in a "rocks fall, everyone dies" ending. Every single fic.

Now, you could see how a beginning author might do this: theyre not sure if they have the writing chops to take the story to its full conclusion, so cut the story short. But munkeymaniac has a lot of words to his name now. He should be in a place, mentally, where he's willing to try to do a story properly, rather than artificially ending them early.

 

I just can't stand the utter lack of conflict. Mind you, I hate romantic interpersonal conflict with a passion, I just find it uninteresting, but I want some real conflict in a story, and his stories have a real lack of conflict that means something. The few times that there is a real conflict, it is suddenly fixed as if by magic. Woohoo.

 

Having not read the author's stories, can I ask for clarification on one point?

When you say they lack conflict, does that mean they have no conflict in terms of physical danger or does that mean that the romance never even has to get past any sort of obstacle?

Because I have no issue with the story being a simple down-to-magical-earth romance where there are issues the character has to get through. That's still conflict, just a different kind. Not everything needs to blow up(...but I love when it does).

If the story has no conflict at all though and it's just one of those "There's literally nothing standing between the characters" then yeah, I'd agree that's a pretty huge issue.

 

I've never read one of his fics to conclusion, but in stories past (the ones I've started then stopped after about 100k words) the conflicts are all simple, emotional conflicts, for example, in the his Harry/Susan fic Ginny kissed Harry just to see what it was like and that was the major conflict, then, after that, it was a lot of teenage bullshit like "should I let him feel me up?" etc. All the stories I've read have lacked ambition. Like I've said, I've never read an ending to the his stories, but from what I've seen Voldemort is a background character, at best. If you're looking for action look elsewhere.

The only reason I've posted this story here is because of the update rate (helps pass time when you have nothing better to do) and because there seems to be legitimate character flaws, at least w/ Daphne.