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Dead Link Lily and the Art of Being Sisyphus by The Carnivorous Muffin

Discussion in 'Trash Bin' started by Stan, Jan 16, 2015.

  1. Bramastra

    Bramastra Groundskeeper

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    I feel bad because I refuse to read it on account of the OC
     
  2. Nazgoose

    Nazgoose The Honky-tonk ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter DLP Gold Supporter

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    Why does that make you feel bad?

    Either you feel you should give it a chance, and you'll do so, or you can't tolerate those sorts of stories, and you won't. Not much to feel guilty off either way is there?
     
  3. LilC16

    LilC16 Second Year

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    I liked it for it's humor and originality in the beginning, but it just gets boring as you go on. New character is introduced to Lily, who gives them a silly nickname, and that person reacts to her and usually comments on how unique she is. It gets stale.
     
  4. Dark Minion

    Dark Minion Bright Henchman DLP Supporter Retired Staff

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    I admit that it's drifting in that direction, but for me it isn't as repetitive yet as you make it sound.

    In contrary, until now the author managed to keep it interesting with introducing new aspects and his general style. Take Dumbledore and his changing stance towards Lily. Or Rabbit - whatever it might be.
     
  5. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    I'm with Minion for once. It has the potential to get old, but it hasn't yet because the author has continued to find new things to keep it fresh.
     
  6. Stan

    Stan Order Member

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    Just because it is an absurdist story doesn't mean it has bad characterizations. Lily's characterization here is in many ways reminiscent of canon Luna - there is a fundamental difference between how she and everyone else view the world. Does that make the characterization bad or unrealistic? On the contrary, I would say that such characters are harder to get right - most fanfic writers suck at characterizing Luna. Also, the other characterizations are done very well. It is no easy feat making Voldemort a sympathetic character and Dumbledore an antagonist without taking away the essence of their characters.

    I feel your criticism of the author is unwarranted. She (I think its a 'she', though I'm not sure) manages several stories at once - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and October are two other HP stories by the same author. She has a Death Note story as well that just updated yesterday. All her stories are quite different, and Android is probably the sort of 'real fic' you're looking for. It was supposed to be her original 'ambitious' project - but her two lesser fics became much more popular, so she focuses more on those.

    Most importantly, the author is original. Both Lily and October use ideas that I've never seen used anywhere in the fandom before. The author manages to reinvent the first year fic that has been done to death, which I think speaks volumes about her creativity. She takes prompts from the reviewers and produces quality oneshots often containing more than 8k words in a few days' time - definitely not the easiest thing in the world. She has written almost half a million words in the last year alone. That alone is something that certainly deserves recognition.

    This is true of any story that focuses on humor. Either way, the author pulls out new and fascinating stuff every other chapter - I have faith she will continue to do so. I do see your point though - a lot of humor or niche stories start off great but lose steam as they go along. A lot of this depends on what would happen after Wizard Lenin gains a body (or fails to do so) and the philosopher's stone plot point is resolved. Would that be the end of the story? What of Lily's time travel? Where does Death come into all this? And what of Rabbit? Ah, I love this story.
     
  7. Jeram

    Jeram Elder of Zion ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Nonsense. Lady Gaga is great, you just don't get it. This story I get, but I agree that's it's overly pretentious and borderline unreadable due to that.
     
  8. LilC16

    LilC16 Second Year

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    Don't get me wrong, the story is humorous, but I can't stay interested in a story whose main characters attraction is that she's "so random".
     
  9. Mutton

    Mutton Order Member

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    I don't follow; how is this story random? It has nutty ideas but follows is inner logic fairly well, characters stay, well, in character, there's an underlying plot with goals that the protagonist is working towards...

    That's why the story is absurdist rather than crack. They're a strong skeleton here told in a silly manner
     
  10. Nazgoose

    Nazgoose The Honky-tonk ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter DLP Gold Supporter

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    I wouldn't really say she's random, just has a very different viewpoint than we do. She's certainly internally consistent in my opinion.
     
  11. Ferdiad

    Ferdiad Unspeakable

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    I went into the fic having read her most of her other work so my expectations were pretty high, I enjoy her style of writing and find it pretty high quality. I was hooked in the first chapter and read the whole thing in one sitting. I'd probably rate it 4.5/5.
     
  12. Stan

    Stan Order Member

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    The story updated with a new chapter : In which Rabbit's highly attractive features gain him considerable popularity with the ladies and causes Lily quite a few headaches, after months of isolation and disappointment Hermione Granger finally reaches her breaking point, and Wizard Lenin and Lily discover the reason for Quirrell's entire existence.

    Wow, the chapter took Hermione's social estrangement from canon and turned it up to 11. It was fascinating to read - I wish it would have lasted longer. Saving Hermione from the troll might be way overdone in fanfiction, but I still liked the way it was done here.

    Also, Lily using Quirrell as a guinea pig. This has so much potential to go wrong. I love it.
     
  13. NuScorpii

    NuScorpii Professor

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    I feel like it's beginning to reach a point where I will eventually lose interest in the story. It failed to capture my attention, even the fight with the troll. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's becoming monotonous, but there's definitely something that feels repetitive.
     
  14. Dark Minion

    Dark Minion Bright Henchman DLP Supporter Retired Staff

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    I wouldn't say repetitive, I'd rather say 'very slowly progressing'. Though the kind of cliffhanger at the end made up for it (for now).

    And Hermione:

    The situation with Hermione was interesting, with breaking her for an entirely different reason than in canon, but completely staying in character. But every time certain canon!events are rehashed in these kind of stories, I think it feels forced, and I felt the same with the troll incident.

    Neville coming down on Hermione during Potions was great, but it really didn't need to fall together with the troll.
     
  15. capo327

    capo327 Sixth Year

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    I must have forgotten some plot points. Can someone explain why Neville defended Lily so ardently to Hermione?
     
  16. Stan

    Stan Order Member

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    They bonded over detention with Snape. This one-shot shows Neville's thoughts on Lily. Its a decent read.
     
  17. Dark Minion

    Dark Minion Bright Henchman DLP Supporter Retired Staff

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    I didn't read the oneshots yet, but one thing came to mind at once. Both Lily and Neville grew up without their parents.

    Hermione complained that everything was handed Lily on a silver platter - but that what made her the girl who lived had cost her the parents.
     
  18. capo327

    capo327 Sixth Year

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    Thanks for the helpful answers and link.
     
  19. Stan

    Stan Order Member

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    Well, you should. You really, really should. The oneshots are often more fun to read than than story itself, and now that the reviews are pouring in fast, the author writes a one-shot after almost every chapter. They provide insight into the minds of characters other than Lily, and there are some other one-shots which are AU to the main fic. You do yourself a disservice by reading the main fic, yet not reading the one-shots.
     
  20. NuScorpii

    NuScorpii Professor

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    There's a new chapter.

    This one was quite interesting. I guess Quirrel the Squirrel is gone and Wizard Lenin has taken over, although I think I'm beginning to dislike this Hermionie.
     
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