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Complete A Study in Magic by Vixit - T

Discussion in 'The Alternates' started by Styx0444, Oct 23, 2011.

  1. Rahkesh Asmodaeus

    Rahkesh Asmodaeus THUNDAH Bawd Admin DLP Supporter

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    Uh. Is it ever explained why Dumbledore shows up at Holmes' place randomly and decides to hand the savior of the wizarding world off to him?
     
  2. Nauro

    Nauro Headmaster

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    I think its just one of the foundations of the fic. I mean you can find some half-true explanations, like (example in <2 minutes), Dumbledore was in slight awe of Holmes, and checked him first, and only when saw his expectations meet did he actually hand out Harry to him (perhaps in pursuit of the "power the DL knows not" as in Muggle reasoning).
    But the main reason is just to start the plot. I take Dumbledore deciding to give Harry to Holmes as an axiom, and never extensively question it. ;D
     
  3. Peace

    Peace High Inquisitor

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    In one of the last chapters it's implied that he's related to Lily or James.
     
  4. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Something along the lines of "I want someone who will take care of Harry and teach him to be useful but not love him, so that when he comes to Hogwarts he will happily confide in me and I will be able to manipulate him using friendship/emotional control." It's standard manipulative Dumbledore but it's not as overdone as it is in most stories. I don't like it but it does take a back seat -- so far at least.

    There may be other factors such as Holmes being a distant relative but that isn't really mentioned.
     
  5. Churchey

    Churchey Supreme Mugwump

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    I'm not rating this because I'm busy reading a pokemon fic from the other fandoms forum, but I had to add:
    Anyone else immediately think of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkn8n18yS7A?

    I don't know how the first page has so much discussion about bottomless bags when the bag mentioned in this story is a mokeskin bag which is canon. The author takes some liberties with it, but saying that his use of a bottomless bag is stealing from MoR is like saying that LessWrong's rules of fanfiction are actually his rules of fanfiction.

    There is a reason why things like purebloods being Lords, magical cores, and a plethora of other things I can't think of right now are called fanon. No one author is attributed with their creation and they sure as hell aren't the owners of that creative property, even if there was one original individual who came up with the idea. Furthermore, Lesswrong didn't come up with the magical trunk/bag concept. Magical trunks are canon enough.

    The fic itself is surprisingly entertaining, despite several cliches. At least he didn't go on a shopping spree and fill his trunk with rare-books-on-advanced-magic-ex-machina. It is more than just a canon rehash, and I was infinitely surprised in a pleasant way when Harry didn't have to sift through a thousand wands.

    Based on writing quality alone, the story is leaps and bounds ahead of mostly everything you see on ffn these days.
    I'd say this is a 4/5.
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2011
  6. Ceins

    Ceins Second Year

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    No, the reason Dumbledore went with Holmes is explained in chapter 10, basically in the hopes that Harry would be a 'a child who craved approval.'

    And despite all the cliches and whatnot I still like it.
     
  7. Stormey

    Stormey Groundskeeper

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    I dont think its over as some people seem to think. Of course the author can be lazy and just finish it here, but I am reasonably sure they wont.

    The fic did give me MOR vibes, but its not a clone or anything too similar.
    Though, I did enjoy MOR more, it was still nice.
    Quirrell I thought could have been fleshed out a bit more.

    The story has just really started even though it is at chapter 19. We have not gotten to the real plot yet. Probably a rating of 4/5 at this point.
     
  8. Mock Moniker

    Mock Moniker Professor

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    I like it so far

    The weakest part of the story, imo, is Quirrel and his extra lessons. They just weren't interesting. I would much rather have read some real plot, but I can see why the author wanted to characterize Quirrel a bit. Unfortunately, I don't think he did a very good job of it. Also, I felt like some of the "detective" parts are a little contrived, but that's to be expected and is forgivable. One thing that really bugged me was Dumbledore's reason for putting Harry with Sherlock, but thankfully it seems he's just moved past it and isn't going to mention it again.

    I don't see it as a MoR clone: Harry has a vaguely similar personality, but that's expected from the summary of the fic. Thankfully, this Harry lacks most of the annoying qualities of the MoR Harry.

    It's still pretty early on in this fic plot-wise, but I'll give it a tentative 4/5.
     
  9. ray243

    ray243 Seventh Year

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    That's is rather disappointing.

    I'm a little concern with the way he chooses to portray Dumbledore. If the author interprets canon Dumbledore as a person who is willing to mold a child as the perfect tool to defeat Voldemort, it does make me feel that the author might not be good at characterisation.

    It seems to me that the author have yet to distinguish in what way is Harry Potter different from Sherlock Holmes, personality wise. It feels that we are just reading the stories of a young Sherlock Holmes and his adventures at Hogwarts. It would be nice if the author decides to flesh out Harry's immaturity as a child from time to time, in order make the character seems a little bit more real to us.

    It is not a great story, but it is still a decent fic.
     
  10. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    It's not as strong-handed as Dumbledore overtly trying to mold the child as a perfect tool to defeat Voldemort. It's more like he wanted Harry to confide in him so he put him somewhere that he felt would help that happen.

    Harry wants Sherlock's approval -- to me that highlights that he is a child. A lot of his curiosity about things stems from Sherlock. Sherlock himself never wanted approval from anyone in the books, and as a child I think his curiosity about things was something that he had naturally rather than was taught. I do wish they'd highlight a bit more that Harry is a child, but all in all I'm not as bothered as I am with most stories.
     
  11. bob99

    bob99 High Inquisitor

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    I do agree with you that the plot could have been fleshed out. But it looks like it was just completed. The author basically said that he will now just be working on revising it. I really did like the atmosphere though, so hopefully there is a sequel in the works.
     
  12. Styx0444

    Styx0444 Minister of Magic

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    Looks like I've been ninja'd, but I'll quote the AN anyway.


    All I can really say is... Da fuck? :confused:
     
  13. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    If that was just his first draft of the story then it was a damned good one. I agree that it could have been a bit more fleshed out in places but all in all it was a good story -- and it sounds like the author is going to be fleshing it out anyway. Though really I'd rather have a sequel than an edited story. I guess it depends how long it takes. If he really does have a fully edited final version out in a month then I will be surprised and impressed.

    Overall a very solid 4/5 from me.
     
  14. Gila

    Gila Second Year DLP Supporter

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    This has a lot of potential and the story really managed to grab me although I've been a big Sherlock Holmes fan since I was a kid. I'll probably reread it if the author manages to push out an improved version some time soonish. My only real gripe with the story is that while the story arc seems mostly complete it at the same time manages to almost scream for a sequel. This reads a bit too much like a prelude for something truly awesome, and as such if there is nothing more coming, I will be dissapointed.

    4/5 with the expectation of rewrite soon
     
  15. hexokinase

    hexokinase Banned

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    Vixit's "A Study in Magic" describes the outcome of being raised by an extreme parental figure - Sherlock Holmes, the detective/savaant. Harry grows up to learn several arts and magical tidbits about himself. At times Vixit stretches the level of belief we readers are willing to give: mokeskin pouch, really? He has that in his vault? He is rich? He is famous? He excels in school? Okay, boring. The main character has zero conflict in his life pretty much in comparasion to the original work of J.K Rowling. A sidestory - Quirrel, Sherlock, Dumbledore - takes over Harry's story. I think it is a mistake to position Harry as having a perfect life. It really deadens the emotional punches. But the author is giving a bit ---
    the death of Quirrel will be a tug to Harry's dark side.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 29, 2011
  16. CrackedMind

    CrackedMind Minister of Magic

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    I liked it quite a bit, though at times it seemed like a weird mesh of Victorian sensibilities and modern technology. Most of my gripes, aside from this, have been stated.

    A solid 4/5 from me.
     
  17. Mock Moniker

    Mock Moniker Professor

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    Hey hexo edit out that spoiler.
     
  18. Stormey

    Stormey Groundskeeper

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    If someone is reading the reviews before reading the story rather than just checking the star rating, then its their own fault. They cant complain about spoilers, because they should expect reviews to contain information about the story, like what they liked and what they didn't.
     
  19. Lungs

    Lungs KT Loser ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    You're as dumb as bricks. The majority of us don't read stories that don't get good reviews.
     
  20. Castiel

    Castiel Headmaster

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    I must have missed it. Where is that implied?
     
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