I'll be honest, I'm glad you rec'd this, as I have found it rather enjoyable. Unless I'm somehow completely off the mark, the author is a mid-twenties grad student who has read and written enough to keep his plot moderately plausible, even when delving into politics.

I will say that the fic is a little slow, as he has not yet gotten to Hogwarts. It is there that the plot could make or break this story, but fortunately I don't think it will be a fic with just "self-insert goes off with Golden Trio on wacky adventures and saves the day because he's awesome." In fact, it's displayed a remarkably realistic evolution of the protagonist's views on nobility and his new family as he grows up, so his interactions with Harry and co may be a little more interesting than what one would have expected they started reading.

There is also the risk of the character becoming a Mary Sue, but the author has made a conscious attempt to avoid such. Of course, a 25 year old in the body of an infant could obviously be prone to being Mary Suish, so I think he's addressed the issue quite well by limiting the protagonist both in influence, and by making magic mastery quite difficult, at least for a pre-Hogwarts aged child.

I too winced when he messed up date involving the protagonist's birth and Voldemort's downfall. I however, did not find any other canonical errors after. Also, he's set this insert in a slight AU, with the point of divergence being quite some time prior to the story. There are few dissimilarities that could account for any perceived mistakes you may see.

Honestly, I found the writing to be acceptable. Yes, there were a few sports that could use some commas, but unless I was really off my game as a reader, the punctuation and overall style were fine.




I've also read some of the other fic that was recced, In Between Reality. I would say that In Bad Faith is much, much better.

 

Thanks so much for this story suggestion!

It IS a really, really good read!

 

Because that isn't creepy at all, right?

 

I'm (belatedly) pretty sure that the guy in question isn't from Australia. I think I mixed up what I was reading at the time with a Naruto self-insert I was reading earlier in the afternoon. Other than that... yeah. Creepy.

I was pretty uppity about the fic earlier, but I do like the later chapters quite a bit. The author's transparent attempts to humanize his least favorite characters is handled decently enough through Desdemona's eyes, particularly in the case of Walburga Black, and the not-so-intricate schemes that necessitate Desdemona having to commit herself/himself to increasingly convoluted explanations and lies is very amusing.

 

I do actually like the story; handicapping your character by not making them Harry Potter is a pretty good idea.

 

What is creepy about it?

 

Thanks for the rec, Platypus. It's hard to find a self-insert that doesn't quickly devolve. So far this one had me intrigued even with the slow pacing. I like some of the AU changes and am waiting to see how the Hogwarts year plays out.

 

Yeah, he's American. It's mentioned a few times in the fic. I enjoyed it.

The author wants some critiques:

 

Are there any stories where Professor Binns does something interesting or otherwise plays a major role? Always felt like that guy has a lot of historical perspective that could come in handy.

 

I remember reading one fic where Binns had some valuable input and played a fairly important role.

I'll be damned if I can remember what fic it was, though I'll sleep on it, and maybe the details will pop into my brain.

The only things I recall are:

• It was readable, but not anything I'd put up for review.
• Canon pairings

 

There's the fic where Binns throws timeturner dust at a class which causes them to go back in time to random periods in history.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4198643/1/Timely-Errors

 

Does anyone know good "Remus raises Harry" stories? Without all the regular shit, like family=werewolf- pack, "cub", RL/SB, werewolve!Harry, Stupid!Evil!Dumbledore etc. pp?

BTW: I really enjoyed "In bad faith", one of the better self- inserts I ever read. Give it a try.

 

Innocent, a story recently in Almost Recommended has Remus playing a significant part in Harry's upbringing (though it's primarily Sirius). It avoids most of the annoying cliches, does an above average job of making 9-10 yr. old characters interesting, realistic, and not annoying, but is very slow-paced.

 

Is there any good Harry Potter/Lovecraft crossovers or at least any good stories which borrow Lovecraftian themes.

 

In before everyone links Gentleman Usher of the Scarlet Rod. It's usually the first fic that people read in this category, or the fic people read first that cause them to post searches like this.

http://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?t=9881

 

Here you go

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8616362/1/Harry-Potter-The-Last-Avatar

He isn't a major character but has relevance to the story. He also made a badass speech on history there.

 

I wanna read a Marauders story. Any good ones featuring their time at Hogwarts and up until the attack? Preferably from James' pov.

 

Any Harry/Ginny fics that are decently written?

I dislike her normally for way too many reasons to list, but if anyone knows any fics where she's characterized as being... actually, shit, if I ask for her being an essential anti-Ginny (developing from the Mary Sue baby of the 'loving family' into an actually meaningful character), then she's not really Ginny anymore, is she?

 

Are there any stories in which Harry transfers from Hogwarts to another school and the new school isn't vastly better than Hogwarts in every way (other than the school's secret evil thing)?

 

I suppose you've read Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived. It's the first story that comes to mind.