A small portion of the next chapter has been written.

 

I thought the same so I pmmed the author. The version on AO3 is going to be slash, the one on ff.net isn't.

 

That's disappointing.

 

I like Snowfall, and I am curious to see how the changes are going to be. Simply by preventing Bran falling, Jon already changed so much that it will be hard to predict how things are going to go.

I hope this will include multiple POVs, just to see how differently things are playing out in Kingslanding, with Bran there and Ned not being that hostile and suspicious to the Lannister's. For one, doubt he will come to blows with Jaime in this one, nor will there be the whole tension about Tyrion's arrest.

Yeah, going to follow this one.

 

I found this via half-accident:

ASOIAF WI: A Connecticut Yankee in King Robert's Court (Story Only)

Following the premise of A Connecticut Yankee in King's Arthur's Court, our main character is, surprise surprise, a Yankee that wakes up one day in Westeros, inhabiting the body of Edmure Tully, including memories of Edmure's life as well as his own. He has never heard of Game of Thrones, but he has some engineering background, and thus, he sets to improve his living conditions as well to make sure his new home is safe and rich.



The link is to an alternatehistory forum, where only registered users can see. What's more, there's a couple of hours wait till you can actually see the thread in question, despite clicking on confirmation link in the email. Still, it was well worth the wait.

Sometimes, it does not feel completely like a story should, introducing lists and drier observations, but as far as general timelines (TL - local equivalent for something that ranges from a dry list of dates and facts, to full blown stories) in that forum go, this story has all of the things you'd expect for it to be a proper story - plot, interesting characters, and the slow and creeping change over everything.

And these butterflies are fun. ;D.

The only real flaw is that so far, it feels a bit too easy - and, has the usual pitfall of taking Tyrion to the 'good side' as soon as an excuse can be thought of - a trend seen in many fics that take the side of Starks (or their affiliates). I mean, yes, he is one of my favorite characters too, but why do you need to have him join 'your' side.

At least, this time, there has been some groundwork and leadup to the loyalty shifts - and what's more, Tyrion didn't have to really choose yet.

Spoiler

Tyrion wanted to give information on "Edmure's" new designs for agriculture, trying to convince Tywin to try and adopt these new innovations in Lanister lands. Tywin basically dismisses those as stupid to invest in things that don't guarantee profit and insults Tyrion. The scene ends with Tyrion rethinking his loyalties, and deciding not to show something that might be a flamethrower in the works (for wyldfire). But at the time, Eddard was still the hand of the king and alive. It's a wonder who's side would Tyrion take now that Eddard's state is unclear (probably following canon, but who knows - Robert just died). I doubt that the author will be able to completely step away from the 'wish fullfilment' side of things.

All in all, I rate this 4/5.

 

Yeah, it's good so far but the slash vibes are pretty strong. I never really understood the whole versioning thing with stories, it seems to me if you're cutting part out the rest might not make any sense.

 

A Secret of Spells updated, it's taking a bit of a turn for the worse. My review:

Basically the only mentions of Harry are to talk about how inept he is, and to discuss various handicaps the author has bestowed on him on top of his IQ of 50.

 

Post the reply, if the author gives you one.

 

I actually loved the update, "A secret of Spells" is becoming a *must-read* for everyone interested in HP/SoIaF crossovers. Taure might be correct that the treatment of Harry seems heavy handed, but for now it doesn't hinder my enjoyment.

Disclaimer: I'm a Hermione fan.

 

I'm a Hermione fan too and I think she's being depicted well. The fic would be much better if Harry just wasn't in it at all and Hermione was alone in Westeros - as that's functionally the case anyway. We're just left with the impression that Harry is only there to get shat on.

Not only have Hermione's natural canonical advantages (academically superiority) been maintained and emphasised while Harry's disadvantages (laziness, mostly) have been brought to the fore; the author has decided to heap additional advantages on Hermione (Hermione spells are more powerful in Westeros, Harry's are not) and additional disadvantages on Harry (he has to use Hermione's wand).

It light of those changes it looks less like the author is trying to be canonical and more like the story is going to be a Hermione wank at the expensive of cardboard cut-out Harry.

 

I'm fairly certain that the reason her wand is more effective is because of its dragon heart string core.

 

That's understood, but this line,

Is either saying that Harry's spells aren't as powerful (because at this point, he's using her wand), or is reiterating the fact that Harry's wand doesn't work. Which is it?

 

The authors given explanation as to why Harry's wand doesn't work is sufficiently plausible to not break immersion, but the question remains: why did the author choose to make it that way? It's certainly not the case that it had to be that wands wouldn't work if the creatures didn't exist in Westeros - after all, there are no wizards like Harry and Hermione is Westeros, yet their magic works fine.

So the author chose deliberately to nerf Harry. She managed to come up with a plausible explanation in-story, but it's a worrying decision for the author to take.

 

Isn't it possible that the author wants to first put Harry down and then have him rise? His lack of a functional wand might give him the impetus required to work harder... I hope.

As to why Harry's in Westeros with Hermione, possibly because the author understands what happens to lone females in that world and wanted to give her some basic protection. Sure, he's not going to scare anyone, but the presence of a male might deter loners from attacking her. However dull Harry is in the story, he'd probably soon reach a point where he might kill anyone who tried to really hurt her.

Not only that, but in the eyes of the locals he would be responsible for her and that would prevent anyone from trying to forcibly get her married.

Having said that, I understand your problem with him being portrayed as a duffer. Maybe we could all try nudging the author towards changing Harry a little with reviews.

 

author, pls nerf Harry :3

 

Replace the :3 with op and you've got it right.

 

Out of curiosity, has anyone come across any stories which contain a trial by seven?

 

A Secret of Spells' latest chapter's nosedive was so depressing. I like smart characters more than incompetent ones, so I don't mind Hermione excelling so much, but its awful when an author presents two supposedly main characters and obviously neglects one of them.

I was doubly disappointed because I thought I remembered Harry unknowingly casting Alohamora wandlessly earlier in the story. Then, I thought, at least next chapter will make up for this last one by having him figure out he can use wandless magic for some reason (and I'll try to ignore how lame wandless magic is). Welp - turns out it was Hermione that did it, not Harry. So at best it will be another aspect of magic for Hermione to be better at, at (the much more probable) worst it will be something only Hermione can do.

And of course the two biggest threats to Hermione's dominance (marriage expectations and physical vulnerability) were effortlessly brushed aside, too, when Ned and Jon both acquiesced to her without question. Very, very disappointing chapter.

 

The signs were there from the start, in retrospect. The lack of a language handwave was really the major red flag, as that's something ultimately unnecessary that will immediately favor Hermione strongly, to the point of limiting Harry's ability to have lines with anyone but Hermione. The lack of wands from the start removes Harry's main way of resolving conflicts, which is action. The lack of Lannisters immediately showing up and throwing things into trouble gives Hermione her favorite equalizing resource: downtime. The paranoia both of them have about using magic further supports Hermione's usual MO of sitting back and gathering data before acting.

None of these things are very concerning in isolation, but all of them together contribute to a very contrived-feeling atmosphere. I had some hard to vocalize doubts about this story from the start, and didn't mention them because it was hard (then) to unite vague signs into a coherent picture. I think the picture is very clear to everyone now.

 

You would know what was wrong if you had followed THE POTTER LAW;

Right at the top even.