Critiquing what's already done and written is pointless. The author isn't going to bendover backwards for us. He's already got some idea on where things are going. We can't really say "Your plot is lame. It's cliche and slow. Where's the conflict?" because then he'd have to rewrite the story from scratch... and then it wouldn't even be his story anymore, it'd be ours.

As far as ff goes, the most you can do is "stay away from this" or "try that instead of that" as the story progresses. Nobody's going to waste their time rewriting more than a chapter or two (at most two).

I hate timetravel stories where the protagonist gives away the fact he's travelled through time, seeking help from some higher source. It kills a lot of good conflict. A good author can craft a reason why the protagonist shouldn't tell somebody, so why should he do it? Unless the story's focus isn't the character overcoming all the consequences of timetravel (the fact only "I" know those peopled existed, the fact "I" know what could happen, the fact "I" have actually lived life, and no one understand what "I" have gone through). Sure, it presents a situation where emo and bad logic are rampant, but a good author will have his character overcome such faults (or have him fail because he can't).

 

Or you could say "your plot is lame, it's cliche and slow, where's the conflict?" and SHE will generally nod in acknowledgment and realize that she's made a flaw with the pacing of it. I've known her for three years and she's fairly good at reading criticism and using it to take an objective look at her own work. But painting all writers with the same brush and making broad assumptions like that is a good way to avoid having to confront an author directly with your issues, I suppose.

 

You hit the nail on the head.

It's all relative. People will make an effort to confront an author if they care. Most stories that are put up for review do not compel a reader to review. They see something they do not like and move on to the next story. If it was something like Jono's Stranger trilogy, more readers are compelled to offer criticism. They see a flaw and feel obligated to point it out because the rest of the story is good, which is more profound than seeing a flaw in a story that one doesn't care for.

 

I tried reading this a while back. Seemed like yet another canon-humper AU. And considering it was post-DH, it has every chance of plummeting down into shithood he the same way canon had. I mean, if it's such an unimaginative boring crap (it appears to be from the first few chapters) while copying the 'good' books (1 through 4.5), how bad do you think it'll get once the source quality reaches the downward curve? IMO avoid unless desperate.

 

I just can't get into it, since there doesn't seem to be any point in the story.

I'd have given it a 3/5, but when I forced myself to continue reading it I got to the point of Hermione bitching about Harry's letters. That just ruined any chance for me to read another chapter.

2/5

 

...but they compel a reader to navigate back here, hit either the quote or quick reply buttons, and offer up a review of the story on HERE, rather than where an author can see it?

 

That's easily answered. The off-the-scene reviewer posts his review on the site to do a so that people he or she has spoken with can better decide from their opinions whether to spend time on it or not. That is, after all, the purpose of the sub-forum.

Whereas with an author, you have to regulate how soundly your criticism comes off. One has to force himself to make it nice, as the vast majority of authors will disregard anything even resembling a flame.

If your are personally invested in this story, you could direct the author here.

 

It's honestly, as I discussed with LT2000, more than a little eerie to find out stories we've posted have entire threads dedicated to them that we have no knowledge of. It's easy for you all to say "authors wouldn't want to hear what we're saying", but what if they do? As for Jedi herself, I'm talking with a few other TtH authors but honestly, anything at this point would look like a mass attack or something equally asinine. Unless the moderators really want a flood of new members who sign up solely to argue in one or two threads a piece, that is.

Back to the story in question... in Jedi's case, I know her and I have a general sense for what she writes. How did it even end up being posted here? I mean, it's the equivalent of posting a Harry/Ginny fluff fic. Of course you guys aren't going to like it, it's not intended for this forum. It's never marked as being dark, or even grey. FF.N tags it as General/Drama and over on TtH it's Action. But because anyone can post anything, there's now a thread complaining about a fic that has nothing to do with this site is supposedly about.

 

I could see how the reaction could be eerie. Makes you wonder what e-peen war the story ignited in a website you never heard of.

The story has been rated fairly highly, though it seems to be dropping. One never knows when a story is well-writtten enough that the people on a board that dislikes the genre can embrace it.

Fundamentally there's a reason things are disliked. It doesn't only apply to certain genres in fanfiction for a book series. Some incompetent fool already set a precedent, which as a result distances people from a genre.

Taure was essentially looking to find a story that was outside the forum's preferences, and put it forth to see whether it had broken the precedent for Time-Travel fics.

 

The main purpose of reviewing a fic on DLP is not to cater to the whims of the author, but to recommend to fellow members of DLP whether or not a fic is worth reading. Now, of course, the author may come to DLP and respond and improve his or her fic, and that would be a positive side-effect, but it is unassociated with the main purpose of the criticism - whether or not this fic is worth reading for fellow DLPers.

If I may, I will use an analogy to a criticism over President Bush's actions. Most likely George Bush will never listen; he has grown very immune to any criticism. But this does not make the complaint invalid, nor should the complainee stop his criticism.

Please don't stereotype this site, as you accuse it of doing to others.

But I sense that you don't really feel comfortable with the atmosphere of DLP. In that case, there is nothing preventing you from leaving the site and devoting your attentions elsewhere.

P.S. The last paragraph's a nice way of telling you what others will state in a more brazen manner.

 

Ah. It just seems odd; the story does indeed contain the time-travel aspect but none of the other hallmarks that seem to accompany a popular story on here. It's kinda like biting an apple and being surprised it tastes like an apple. The writer just uses a different style from what the majority of people on here seem to prefer.

So... in other words, you're telling me to go away because you can't figure out why a story that has absolutely nothing to do with a Dark or Grey Harry and will likely end up fluffier than a bunny that's been run through the dryer has ended up on a site for people who prefer the darker side of life?

 

The thing is, even though we all generally prefer darkish fiction, that doesn't mean that's ALL we like. Same way we have threads about video games, funny news and politics, we sometimes discuss stories that fall outside our supposed preferences. That's why we've had angsty, fluffy, canonish, Ginny-friendly and even slash stories that were discussed and sometimes highly rated on this site. This one just doesn't seem to cut it. Nothing personal, no foul in posting it, just take a peep if interested and move on if not.

 

One word... Jeconais. His writing falls about as far out from our 'perfered' fanfiction as any, yet his works are still in the library and enjoyed by many.

The thing is, until the author has written something creative, that hasn't been done a dozen times in stories just like it, it won't get any good reviews on here. It needs to bring something to the table that is not like the others. This, so far, does not.

3/5 average.

I'm reading it because the writing is good, as well as the characterization. I enjoy it, but am hoping for something more. If year one is up and nothing exciting or revolutionary has happened, I will most likely drop it.

Oh... and welcome back IP.

 

Allow me to cure you of a misconception.

While the name of the site is "Dark Lord Potter," if you spent a few moments to browse the site, you'd find the site isn't utterly dedicated to "dark" or "Grey" Harry.

Nonjon's "Where in the world" series or "Dimension Traveling" story don't really fall into Grey or Dark listing. And there are others.

Also, the point of posting here is not to review the story in most cases. Its to recommend the story to current members. In the case of the WBA and the occasion that the author is a member, it provides constructive reviews. IT is a break from mindless attacks or pointless reviews that plague Fanfiction.net.

If you are incapable of comprehending this or simply ignoring it, please feel free to vacate at once.

 

Without putting words in Belerdorhan's mouth, I think he's saying that you should not tell us what our forum is about. I'll add that you shouldn't tell us what is and is not appropriate for us to post on here.

Our forum is indexed by Google. Your name, and the first of your fics I searched for both rank DLP.net at or near the top of the results. We're hardly hidden away from any author who cares to look. Google likely hasn't crawled our site since this JediB thread started.

http://www.google.com/search?q="Harry+Potter+and+the+Shell+of+the+God-King"
http://www.google.com/search?q=JoeHundredaire

TtH, on the other hand, never makes an appearance on Google's results.

There is a long history (pre-HP) of writing reviews for other readers amongst the fanfic scene and not aiming them at authors. I sent my own comments and criticisms to JediB about this fic through the usual channels (ff.n reviews) yesterday, but any discussion I want to read or be involved in will happen here with other people who's biases and standards I'm already familiar with.

Talking about a fic within a group setting is a lot more entertaining than a one-on-one with the author. It also generates interest for other people who might not have read it to broaden their horizons.

Yak.

 

Is it supposed to be this?

It was the fourth result.

However, searching for Dark Lord Potter yields this forum first. ^_^

 

Aye, and searching for "Twisting the Hellmouth" yields it first. And second. And fourth. And fifth. Etc.

On the story in question, if you Google "Back Again, Harry?", the TtH version pops up fourth, the FF.N version sixth, and this thread... eighteenth total, most of the way down on the second page.

 

A DLP link doesn't arrive in my Google results at all. 73 results returned.
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&rls=en&q="back+again,+harry?"

Perhaps if I fiddle with my Google settings...

And it is this search query that doesn't return any TtH link to me. I copy-pasted the title from your page on TtH.
http://www.google.com/search?q="Harry+Potter+and+the+Shell+of+the+God-King"

Yak.

[edit] Fiddling with Google prefs did indeed help. If I limit Google to only return pages in English, then this thread does not appear. When I choose to "Search for pages written in any language" then this thread shows up as result 17 of 79. wtf?

Anyway, this is getting off topic.

We aren't beholden to notify authors of every review and discussion thread that we have about their fics. If we have c&c to pass on to them, then we will, at our individual discretion, like every other reader out there.

Making blanket, judgemental statements like that is insulting. You're trying to cajole us into providing more feedback and assuming that we aren't already providing it.

[/edit]

 

Gentlemen, this is a pointless argument. As Vash and others have pointed out, the review system works as the little comments under an Amazon book would. DLP members bravely go where no one has gone before to read stories and then post their impressions on it. It is true that does not give the author feedback on it, although particularly resourceful authors have found their way here through links on FFN.

When leaving a review on a fic here, I try to cut out the DLP relevancy and post a review on FFN too. It costs me nothing and provides some feedback to the author.

Onto the story:

I read it, and although it is tastefully written, the lack of conflict is beginning to bother me. I hope that some will be introduced soon. I have a misconception against child Harry stories, mostly because First year's suck. I hope this story will prove me wrong.

EDIT: this discussion has become even more pointless as the author has joined the forum.

 

Huh. I just put in "Back Again, Harry?" (you need the quotes and punctuation) in the search box in the upper right on Firefox. Fourth, sixth, and eighteenth.