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WIP 0800-Rent-A-[Redacted] by brainthief - T

Discussion in 'Almost Recommended' started by Dark Minion, May 31, 2015.

  1. Coffee Break

    Coffee Break First Year

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    You can also just disable JavaScript.
     
  2. Download

    Download Auror ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Disabling Javascript breaks the chapter selection drop box and the next chapter buttons.
     
  3. KrzaQ

    KrzaQ Denarii Host DLP Supporter

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  4. Republic

    Republic The Snow Queen –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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    This updated. I disliked basically ALL the interactions, but there was some nice Divination and stuff, so whatever. Felt like filler. Not much happened.
     
  5. newageofpower

    newageofpower Professor DLP Supporter

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    The divination was quite good, although it felt a bit rushed.
     
  6. nahdawg

    nahdawg First Year

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    One of the main problems I have with this story is that nobody is likable. The order, the Ministry/Dobby, are supposed to be unlikeable, but I can't really empathize with this version of Harry at all. He's extremely OOC in this story (he cackles to himself? really?) and when he's not miserable and brooding, he's smug and condescending.

    When you have no one to root for at all, it's hard to like a story, even if some of the ideas and the style of writing are solid.

    2.5/5
     
  7. Dicra

    Dicra Groundskeeper

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    Hm, it seems this gets less annoying if you're reading every chapter at once because this "punchbag" Harry did bother me, but by far not as bad as it bothered most here.
    There were three characters senselessly cruel to Harry: Mme Bones, McGonagall and Ollivander. Ollivander was a failure in this fiction and I absolutely don't understand why the author's done that.
    Mme Bones' short temper is monumentally overdone.
    McGonagall's dislike for the subject is known - but to take it out on the teacher seems highly unlikely for her especially regarding that scene in OotP when she was comforting Trelawney.
    Dobby is surely out of character, but his carefulness is at least explainable and therefore less frustrating for me.

    However, apart from that? From this thread I got the impression Harry always lets himself be beaten up, but in my opinion that is not the case.
    The howlers were simply brilliant, I really liked how competent he handles being teacher of divination and - most importantly - those punching-bag-episodes become less and less frequent. He handles himself quite well actually - for example the "farseeing" part was one I really liked.

    Iris has been annoying, but understandably so, and while I disliked her for being a prat I admire the author for giving a reason and finishing it before it would have become unbearable.

    Spoilering aside, the author mostly describes believable reactions and the general conflict Harry has is really interesting for me. Therefore, I can feel with Harry and Iris, therefore I am far less annoyed by the reactions of them.
    Fillers don't seem bad until now, but that might be due to my experiences with "A Cadmean Victory" and due to reading this in one piece.

    There are flaws, I don't want to pretend otherwise. This world being generally unlikeable is the major one for me (and most others, I guess) but if the author keeps Harry being a competent teacher and manages to write the logical conclusion (-> him being respected far more), if the author keeps writing those interesting paragraphs about divination and if he makes his new dimension more likeable (two of those are quite probable, the last one ... errrm ... he will have to work on it) then this will be definitely the best dimension-traveling story I've read so far.

    3,5/5 for now, may increase that to a 4/5 if the author removes the previously named flaws.
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2015
  8. anvyl

    anvyl Third Year

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    We ARE on page 8 already, so clearly he is doing something right in that regard.
     
  9. Rahkesh Asmodaeus

    Rahkesh Asmodaeus THUNDAH Bawd Admin DLP Supporter

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    My Immortal is even spoken about outside the fanfiction niche. What's your point?
     
  10. newageofpower

    newageofpower Professor DLP Supporter

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    That's not a good comparison. My Immortal is widely regarded as trash. Rent-A-Hero is regarded (even on DLP) as having potential and being interesting (see the thread)

    It blows monkey that the story seems to be shitting on it's good points as it progresses, but I don't see it ever dropping to the level of My Immortal.
     
  11. Republic

    Republic The Snow Queen –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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    I think it safe to say that amount of discussion =/= proof of quality.
     
  12. Distaly

    Distaly Fifth Year

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    But I would still say its atleast a proof thats entertaining. Whether by really good or really bad writing. Although in this story the writing isnt really bad so it seems to be good enough.
     
  13. anvyl

    anvyl Third Year

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    That goes in the direction i was going with my comment.
    My Immortal aside, real trash usually just goes unnoticed.

    The world is not black and white. On DLP as well; the rating system is not 0-1.
    My point is: Absolute Shit stories usually don't get a lot of readers/comments. This is inductive reason, not deductive. You will miss out on a lot of interesting parts of life if you rely solely on deduction.
    The story seems to be decent enough to tickle a lot of people's fancy or different enough to hold hold their interest. Good art should strive for doing something that hasn't been done before (at least in general). I wasn't saying the story is amazing, just mediocre enough that the author seems to be doing something right. This is not the same as doing everything right.
     
  14. Republic

    Republic The Snow Queen –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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    No, it does not. In an ideal world it would, but that's now how popularity and/or sales work. There are other factors at work.

    Hell, you don't even have to limit yourself to fanfiction to see this at work. Look at actual published works and you will see this.
     
  15. chrnno

    chrnno High Inquisitor

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    Personally thinking on the most popular movies, books, series, comics and such around the world only a few qualify what I think of as best so by this point once popularity crosses a certain level I count it as a negative.
     
  16. anvyl

    anvyl Third Year

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    ... black and white
     
  17. Russano

    Russano Disappeared

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    The stories that get the most traffic are either the best of the best or the ones that manage to be interesting while simultaneously having things that really piss people off and make them want to comment.
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2015
  18. Anarchy

    Anarchy Half-Blood Prince DLP Supporter

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    There's tens of thousands of people who legit think Harry Crow is a good story. Obviously we on DLP recognize it as unrepentant shit, but popularity and discussion have nothing to do with the quality of a story. You can quanitify it by saying that a story is more likely to be good or bad based on anecdotal evidence of past stories, but that itself is not conclusive.
     
  19. Russano

    Russano Disappeared

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    I was talking purely about discussion on DLP.
     
  20. Dark Minion

    Dark Minion Bright Henchman DLP Supporter Retired Staff

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    By now I found some time to read the last two chapters and I still don't regret reading and posting it here.

    I liked the fallout with Iris and its conclusion. Iris behaviour as an reaction to earlier events was believable. That no one noticed her using a glamour is apparently common in this fic (see Harry and his glamour).

    The scene in the Three Broomsticks was mostly well done, until the moment Harry used Divination to locate Katie's friend.

    Yeah, the progress is slow, with loads of filler scenes. But in contrary to other stories it really doesn't bother me. The author still manages to hold my interest.