As some of you may recall, I posted "The Yankee Wizard" a while back, only to encounter loads of criticisms. I decided to try starting it over from scratch. And while I have developed a massive amount of Backstory and some good Plot Stuff, lately I've been having some difficulty deciding just how to release certain Butterflies, and how to avoid making this too much of a Rehash.

Which is why I decided to ask you, members of Dark Lord Potter, for advice on which HP story I should end up writing. I will present some of my ideas for stories, and let you pick the ones I should focus on.

1. A Magical Yankee in Dumbledore's Court. Essentially the Re-written version of "Yankee Wizard." The story revolves around Ted Franklin, an American wizard, who attends Hogwarts instead of the American school. The basic idea is in my Sig, although I have made changes to it, like having Ted befriend Harry on the train.

2. The Son of Padfoot. Remus had a sister who married Sirius. They had a son named Richard. The story starts when Richard is about to attend Third Year, when he learns the father he hates has escaped Azkaban. The story will start with Richard dealing with his father's escape, Pranking with Gred/Forge, avoiding Harry like the Plague, and at last mastering the Animagus transformation (for his uncle Remus, of course).

3. A Revolutionary Riddle. In this story, there are three main political sides: Tom "Riddle" (he was adopted, so he would have a different last name), who leads the Revolutionaries, the "Squibs, Mudbloods, and Blood Traitors" who want to create a new Wizarding Society; Dumbledore, who leads the Reactionaries who wants to maintain the Status Quo; and the Moderates, who want to have some reforms but not as many as the Revolutionaries and led by the Potters. The story starts when James and Lily have been killed by a Splinter Sect, and Tom and Dumbledore agree to leave him with the Dursleys until he attends Hogwarts. Due to a variety of reasons, he commands a great deal of influence by people, and both Tom and Dumbledore desire to have him on their side. However, Harry could easily make a third option...

4. You Reap What You Sow. Here, Harry became the Dark Lord Prometheus, who ended up starting a World War that set the world on fire. Alex (also known as Chronos or the Grey Lord), has at last defeated and killed Prometheus at the ruins of Hogwarts. Chronos is now the Master of Death (he already claimed the Stone and the Cloak, and Prometheus had the Wand). As he contemplates and mourns the destruction of the world, Chronos wishes for a chance to save what he can. As Master of Death, he gets that wish, and goes back to when he first claimed the Stone (his first Hallow) after his mother's death, and when Prometheus is just starting to stretch his muscles. Chronos will do everything in his power both to stop Prometheus and destroy those he blames for creating the monster (namely Voldemort and Dumbledore). Unfortunately, Butterflies can be a bitch for our Grey Hero.

5. Unnamed HP/Bond Crossover. As the Dark Lady Eris has grown in power, there are those who fear she has become a threat to the Muggle World as well. This leads Minister Shacklebolt and the leader of MI6 to bring their best agents together to stop them. Harry Potter and James Bond, working together in a great team-up of epicness. Instead of debating whether a gun beats a wand, they use both.

6. Ginny Weasley vs. the World. More of a Comedy than anything else. It's a Crossover with Scott Pilgrim. Ginny Weasley meets a mysterious Harry Potter and starts dating him, only to realize she has to face off against his Seven Evil Exes. Each Evil Ex essentially takes major Cliches in Harry Shippers and Bashes them in the head. Among the Exes I have so far (in no particular order) are: Fleur Delacour, Tonks, Daphne Greengrass, Draco Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Susan Bones, and the Evilest of them all, Hermione Jean Granger.

7. I am Not the Boy Who Lived. We all read Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived Stories, where everyone thinks the Twin is the BWL, and Harry is at best to be ignored and at worst abused. But WI there was in fact a curse that made virtually everyone besides the Twins, Voldemort, and non-Humans literally unable to understand the possibility Harry is the BWL, and Charles is merely a Boy? Watch as they go through Seven Years of trying and failing to explain to people the Truth. Fortunately, they will get help along the way. Unfortunately, so does Voldemort.

Thanks in Advance, My Lords and Ladies.

 

Um, how about writing the story you wish to write, as opposed to leaving it up to a DLP poll? All of us on here have a list of fifty-odd story blurbs that we could write, but haven't because we don't have the spark that will carry the effort through to completion. My advice to you would be to ignore the polling, work out for yourself what story on the list (if any) you really want to tell, and then tell that story.

 

To be honest the only one that sounds any good is number 3. And even then what you have is a back story, not a plot.

Seriously, why so many stories based around OCs? Smells of self-insert.

 

1. - OC that reeks of self-insert.
2. - OC that reeks of self-insert.
3. - Maybe, but what Taure said, what is the plot?
4. - Canon characters takes OC name and I don't know what the fuck is going on, and who is who.
5. - Lungs is doing something similar.
6. - Interesting idea, but will it be more than just a rehash of Scott Pilgrim with HP characters?
7. - Similar to Jerams' Harry & the Mysterious Curse of the Girl Who Lived.

As stated previously, write what you want and post it.

 

1. OC self-insert. Not really interesting, to me.
2. Seen enough of these types of story on FFn - some above average, most utter crap. Wouldn't bother.
Also, again OC self-insert.
3. No real plot, getting atypical Indie!Harry vibes.
4. God, hell no.
5. Lungs has kicked off a Bond-type Harry story. Even though it's not personally my cup of tea, it's got a lot of promise to it.
6. Might be interesting if you ditched Malfoy and Bellatrix - the former because LolSlashNo and the latter because...well, she's Bellatrix.
Give each of the women an unusual twist to their characterization, and you'll have me as a reader.
7. So, outside of this foible of fate, what plot is there? Just muddling along? Meh.
Also, already sort-of done with Jeram's story.

 

To be fair, despite having exactly twenty-four recorded HP fic ideas (though 8k words in one case is hardly a blurb), I entered the DLP Jan/Feb contest because I figured other people were interested in the theme. Knowing somebody is interested can be a serious motivator to my muse, though I suppose everyone is different.

To OP: While OCSI's are a major guilty pleasure of mine, it's only the literal kind -- where the main character actually knows he's in a fictional universe -- that I always want to read.

I know, I know, laugh all you want.

So I choose number 7, although personally I think it's a mistake to commit to writing all seven years unless you're already a super prolific writer. I wouldn't count out writing a novel-length story first (on my second try at writing fanfiction I wrote 180k words about one school year), but I wouldn't suggest starting something that could run away from you like that. I'm trying it now, and more often than not I wish I'd chosen differently.

 

I choose #6 but my advice is to replace Malfoy with Cho Chang.

EDIT: I think more people would love it if you interchange Fleur and Ginny

 

Meh, personally none sound all that appealing to me.

I think you should just write what you want to write and do your best with it.

Or, if you want write something you think a lot people will 'like', you should sit down and do a bit more brain storming, while trying your hand at a few shorter pieces to keep you writing in the meantime.

I know how feel to want to just write something, but for something decent and of decent length, you really have to let the ideas stew and fester. You'll know which story to write, when you go for days on end without being able to get it off your mind.

 

I find none of these options appealing OP

If I were you I'd go to the Thank God You're Here 2 thread and ask for and complete several challenges and get feedback on those. You'll hopefully make a lot of progress with that.

 

See, this is why I posted this here. While alternatehistory.com, the other forum I'm in, simply said the ones they liked, you actually took the time to critique each one.

For the record, none of the OOCs were self-inserts, merely my personal characters I could mold.

To be honest, at the moment I'm thinking Revolutionary Riddle. I have loads of good ideas with that one.

 

I don't understand the point of the OC in #4.

Harry becomes evil. OC rises up and beats him, but has lost so much he goes back in time to try and make things right. Problems ensue.

You could replace Harry with Voldemort and the OC with Harry and we have a well used plot. Few good, mind you, but plentiful stories with this. You'd lose the majority of your reader base instantly though, as OC main characters aren't what we read HP for.

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The only one I'd be likely to read as the description stands is #6. Even so, unless Ginny (and, frankly, all the exes, though do explain to us why Malfoy is in there) is extremely well characterised, I can't imagine I'd find it too interesting.

 

As for the OCs:

But for the sake of different points of view: It's not as though you're expounding on a character that exists, but rather creating one and squeezing him in and then the relationships and history will feel plastic. Little Albus Potter, Dean Thomas, or even Ludo Bagman, 'Grey Lord' can be related to more to than a stranger, because they have an existing history with 'Dark Lord Harry Potter.'

I wouldn't mind #6, either. It's got the potential to be funny, and I wouldn't mind reading about Ginny's struggle against women with more substance.

 

True, though it made me realize that I wouldn't mind reading that kind of story from the POV of the person the traveler has come back to stop. Though in that case making the traveler an OC would make obvious what could otherwise be a decent mystery.

But, as others have said, write whatever you want to write.

 

If your goal is feedback, I suggest attempting to overcome this mindset.

The great thing about fanfiction is you can mold Harry into whatever type of character you want him to be through events or an AU - no need for an OC. Writers have made him a genius nerd (Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived), a ruthless power seeker (Control), and even a girl (Alexandra Potter), and all have been well received. There's really no limit.

If you don't want to write about canon Harry, change him to have the personality you do want to write about. If you do, you'll have more readers, more encouragement, and more constructive criticism.

 

I, uh... there's a reason James Bond doesn't exist in my Bond/Harry "crossover" :\

 

because the fucking statute
because Harry is god
because we want this stuff to stay off pinterest
because this isn't a place that supports the Game of Thrones and Ninjas and Thrones or whatever the naruto cross is
because they wouldn't be bros
because they wouldn't like each other
because fusions are so hot right now
because Bond would hate magic like he hates foreigns and well shaped women
because there are no spells to cure alcoholism
because dicks would touch
because two orphans is two sad
because I haven't had a drink yet and I can't handle how bad putting two protags together to "team up" is
because Amuro Rei isn't born yet
because Harry would look like Shinji compared to Bond's Misato
because no one wants to see wizards die by bullets
because Felix Leiter would be a wizard disgusted by the US
because there are only so many times they can have a heart to heart before you realize neither is good with it
because there is a limit to the amount of ways a hero can evade death without any real reprecussions
because who wants a Bond 16-20 rehash mixed with a DH "fix-up"
because Lungs already got the blend right
because I just don't see Bond not fucking Ginny, he likes his women (in the books it's a Thing) a bit boyish and lacking curves.
because the only redeeming factor is incompetent!Harry raising Bond's kid after he dies
because Daddy don't approve

 

I'm sorry, did I miss the memo where DLP became tumblr?

 

No, I just felt it was fine to list my thoughts. I didn't even know people post like that on tumblr. other than my girlfriend showing me stuff from disney-themed blogs I've never spent more than about half an hour every three months on there.