Title: The Mind of Arthur Weasley
Author: Northumbrian
Rating: K+
Genre: Humor/Romance
Words: 4,035
Published: Jan 17, 2010
Status: One-Shot
Library Category: Romance
Pairings: Canon pairings -- Arthur/Molly, Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione
Summary: In the kitchen at the Burrow, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Molly and Arthur sit down at the table. The youngsters look nervous. Arthur suspects that they are up to something. What is going on inside…
Link: Link

A nice little character sketch of Arthur Weasley. I liked it, because it is well written and amusing, and I always felt Arthur to be one of the more overlooked canon characters. Might not to be to everyone's tastes, but I enjoyed it greatly. 4/5.

It might be important to note that the author is the same as that of the much lauded Strangers at Drakeshaugh, and that the story takes place in the same post-canon universe as all 83 of his stories. Fortunately, you don't need to read any of the author's other works to understand the story, nor does the story give away spoilers for any of the others. If you liked Strangers, you might want to give this one a read.

 

Yes, it really is a nice, short oneshot about some of the mechanics within the Weasley family.

It doesn't match my picture of the Weasleys, at least not entirely, nevertheless I second Stan.

4/5

 

Thirded. Maybe the observant Arthur is a bit of a cliche (I've certainly seen it quite a bit), but the execution is good, the dialogue is reasonably in-character, and it's just a good example that conflict in fiction doesn't need to be world-ending in scope. It's not going to win any prizes for best piece of fanfiction ever, but it's good for what it is. 4/5.

 

That was amusing...nice little dive into the mind of Mr. Weasley.
4/5

 

It was a fun, light read, that does well what it was setting out to do.
4/5

 

It did what it said on the box. 4/5

 

It's interesting to see so many people give this a 4/5 for doing what it set out to do, when I would assume that that would be the definition of a 3/5.

I gave this a 3/5, and would go so far as to say that this fic is not library worthy (huge fucking asterisk here for people who need every opinion to come with an opinion tag).

I say this because it's a one shot about Arthur Weasley that graphs a parental archetype on him and completely ignores his canon traits in order to add some depth to the Weasley's as a family. This is not a library worthy feat, technical grammar/writing aside, if only because while 'it does what it set out to do', what it sets out to do isn't great. It isn't even good. It's just 'what if Arthur Weasley actually knew what was going on all the time? Oh wait, nothing changes because I'm a slave to canon anyway.'

 

In that case we should probably give Wastelands of Time and The Denarian series 3/5 for not adhering to canon traits...Although I think it does contain his canon traits. Extreme love for his family, biological and adopted? Check. Parental concern for his children? Check. That's pretty much the broad strokes of his character. I would say all this piece does is suggest the idea that there is more going on behind his eyes.

I enjoyed it. Solid writing, a spin on Arthur's rather glakkit manner that still managed to be heart warming. 4/5

 

That argument has so many holes in it I don't know where to start, so I'll just start from the top.

This makes literally no fucking sense, and the way you tried to throw my words back at me is in no way effecting how I'm writing this. If you had more than two fucking brain cells to squish together, you'd have understood that it wasn't just the fact that Arthur Weasley was conveniently replaced with the author's ideal form of parenting, but that the idea in and of itself wasn't worth 4 stars.

The lack of canonical authenticity isn't the problem (but we'll get to that), the problem is the lack of original thought. Arthur as the suddenly all knowing, very together father has been done before, as has already been said, but more than that, one-shot character pieces that subvert the initial thoughts about a certain character by giving them bullshit retroactive agency are about as original as the shit I took two minutes ago (not very, in my own life I'd have to say I've taken several shits very similar, and I'm sure you have too).

Wastelands of Time and The Denarian trilogy are so far beyond this fic in terms of original thought, and entertainment value, that I can only hope that the authors are as insulted by the insinuation as I am. What this means is that they do far and beyond what they 'say on the box.'
The summary for Wastelands is:

Now while this summary is admittedly pretty kick-ass, I still had no idea that when I clicked it, I'd get something THAT good. That's what it means when someone says 'it does what it says on the box,' that it's exactly what you expect it to be, one of the worst things I think a fic could ever set out to be. I'm not going to go into how this also holds true for the Denarian series as well because I think I've made my point.

Those are the broad strokes of Arthur Weasley to you? Sure, I can see that those are some of his character, as he is indeed a parent and he does indeed seem to be very accepting and loving of Harry and later Hermione, but if that's all you got out of reading the books than I can see why you defended this fic like a smarmy douche. For your benefit though, let me tell you why this fic is not only an unoriginal piece of shovel fiction written by an author with a plethora of other equally thought out pieces, but also completely not canon compliant.

Let's start with the gimme, Muggles. Arthur Weasley has a hard on for muggles the likes of which the world has only seen before in every other computer obsessed old person who has no idea what they're doing. It's pretty clear that the author passes over this often one-note trait as a way to differentiate the fic from the norm, but by ignoring this simple thing they do themselves a huge disservice. I assume that the reasoning behind it is, Ron and Hermione have been dating a while so why would he need to talk about any of that shit?

Wrong motherfucker, wrong. Old people don't learn, it's just science (joke tag because I'm sure someone is enough of a fucking mongoloid to say that's not true, or that Arthur doesn't have Alzheimer's). Try teaching an old person how a computer works, it'll go in one ear and out the other and they'll ask you again in a couple hours. Not to mention, they actually haven't been together for that fucking long at all. Or at least, not anywhere near the Weasley family for the last year since this fic takes place pretty immediately after they go back to finish school.

All of that bullshit aside though, this fic does something pretty incredible that I don't think you've caught on to yet. It gives canon!Arthur Weasley a level of agency that suggests that not only is he not an absent-minded, over-worked husband, but that he also doesn't give a fuck about the constant danger his kids are in. Why you ask?

Because someone as intelligent and observant as this Arthur would never attack Malfoy in a bookshop, nor would he ever not notice that the kids were leaving at the end of sixth year, and generally would not act like Arthur Weasley at all during these pivotal moments because he would know it was time to 'take off the mask.' The only way Arthur works in canon, is as is, because he is an absent-minded, over-worked father who loves his kids, loves his muggles, and loves his kids' friends, but just doesn't have the time or even the energy to properly care for all fucking 7 of them (9 including Harry and Hermione).

tldr; Not only is this fic not canonical, it isn't original.
Like it if you want, but don't try to invalidate an opinion you don't understand

 

Your arguments sound remarkably similar to that of those people who put the HP books under a microscope and try to find evidence of evil Dumbledore. Please stop.

In the end, regardless of whether you feel the premise is library worthy or not, the story is still a satisfactory look at the workings of Weasley family, especially of the Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione relationships. I enjoyed reading it, as did many others, which is the most important thing in a story, regardless of whether it has end-of-the-world level of conflict or it is just an amusing family drama piece. If enough people like it, I see no reason why it can't be in the library.

 

Parody tags are a thing because of people like you.

 

Stop right here.

That's not a request but an order.

 

Short enough to read and review instantly.

prose was good, I got bored in the middle but the denouement worked for me. I don't feel like this is something I have to read though.

I usually use the adjective system to rate and this was better than ok, good even.
4/5