I dunno, something about real people fiction puts me right off. Plus, having it be HP fanfiction gives a broader audience and an immediate connection to the characters and an awareness of their background that adds the barest shade of nuance to this fic (them being old yearmates who bickered/crushed on each other, etc).

 

I disagree. There’s something in it for both the author and the audience that it’s HP characters in this story.

The author doesn’t (have to) describe anyone’s looks beyond a phrase here or there because already knows what the HP cast looks like. There’s an established audience for your fic.

The audience are more invested in the characters. There’s also moments where Remus or whoever pops up where we go ‘ha, appropriate’ or the opposite. Or puns or whatever that just wouldn’t work if it’s all new characters.

It makes sense for this to a fanfic rather than original work, and I like it better for it.

 

I liked it enough that I put it up for review: https://forums.darklordpotter.net/threads/salmon-fishing-in-the-olympics-by-ghostofbambi-t.37539/

 

You didn’t review it though. You just rated it.

 

A sequel popped up to his other 2 fics.
I think I submitted the first one for review but people disliked Voldemort's character, that he was reluctantly working with Harry. Deal with the Devil was the title.

The Lord in the Mist by The Wayland Smith

'There are things in books which could drive you mad,' said Pilgrim. 'I rather think, Dumbledore, that we ought to consider what might have crawled out of this book in particular and why.' The year is 1996. The Second War is in mid-swing. A mysterious traveller is asking questions about forbidden texts, and someone is following him. Time for a Dark Lord to save the world

 

Dialog in summaries is one of those things that stops be from even bothering to try a fic.

 

His summaries suck for sure. I tried his original fic just because I was bored, and it turned out good and creative. Don't know why he can't get the summaries good

 

Oh god, I had repressed all those stories.

 

A Study in Magic

By: Books of Change
When Professor McGonagall went to visit Harry Watson, son of Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, to deliver his Hogwarts letter, she was in the mindset of performing a familiar if stressful annual routine. Consequently, she was not prepared to find Harry Potter at 221B Baker Street. BBC Sherlock HP crossover AU
Rated: Fiction T - English - Family - Harry P., Sherlock H., John W. - Chapters: 82 - Words: 515,850 - Reviews: 5,257 - Favs: 6,092 - Follows: 4,886 - Updated: Mar 28, 2014 - Published: Nov 24, 2011 - Status: Complete - id: 7578572

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This would be the first story I'm contributing since I've joined. I've been wanting to for a while, but refrained from doing so because I read this about a year ago. But I did read this around the same time I fell in love with What You Leave Behind, so at the very least, I know that this isn't terrible by any stretch, seeing as I hardly put it down until I was done with it.

There's more than a few things in it that could put people off, but there's a lot of good stuff too.

It totally isn't a story about a Badass Motherfucker Harry. Instead, you see him grow up in a more nurturing environment. There is still conflict, but a lot of it is drama. The "Family" genre is very appropriate here. Hell, even "Hurt/Comfort" would fit to some extent. I generally read darker stories, but I recall really enjoying this. If one goes in with that in mind, I dare say they might have an enjoyable experience.

Reading this felt like watching an episode where Harry got adopted by Sherlock and Watson.

In this universe, Lestrade isn't an ordinary muggle (hint: his name). There's a bunch of OCs, most of whom are quite quirky and charming in their own way. In particular, Grandmaster Shin and Dr. Robert. Shin is a badass like Dumbledore, who was trained in a different form of magic and only learned the wand variation when he came to England to become an unspeakable. His two sons were in Slytherin and did very well there. His daughter is a shy squib who slowly comes into her own. Robert has an interesting take on just about everything from acupuncture (which works a lot better if it's done the proper way, i.e, with magic, lol) to potions equipment (why not use a skillet or a sous-vide for such and such potion instead of a cauldron). Watson has a weekly meeting with the ladies.

Harry is clever, but not overly so. Sherlock and Watson are very involved in his life, but it still feels like a Harry Potter story. Unlike HP and the Iron Lady, which I got a bit annoyed with after a while.

Anyway, hope someone likes it. I've put off sharing this long enough, but I will write a better review once I've re-read it again.

 

I love this story, even though I have small issues with the characterization of the Shin family. The sequel is also updating (it's not as good as this though, which is a shame).

The author has an interesting style of writing. It has been a while since I read it, but I still remember the chapters about the beginning of the first year. Reading from others' perspectives is always fun. Very fics do it nowadays, but I still consider Book of Change one of the best in that area. It has never been boring reading a non-Harry POV chapter. I like Hermione's presentation as well: clever, hardworking but not without her faults, certainly not infallible (not that she ha a huge role in the fic...)

I also like how the author delved into different branches if magic. Can't say I agree with all of them, but it was nice to see an idea presented in a story to be explored nicely.

This sounds a bit weird without the spoiler below:

Spoiler

John Watson is a woman. Later in life, she took his twin brother's name, who died as a newborn, I think.

I was skeptical at first, because it's almost always done due to fluffy, weird romance reasons, but things worked out nicely.

 

Definitely one of my guilty pleasure fics, and perfect for the almost recommended board. I haven't read more than a few chapters of the sequel, as there was such a long layoff I wasn't sure they'd finish it, good to hear it's still going. The author does a fine job of capturing the BBC Sherlock personality, I get a good laugh out of his interactions with the magicals - Snape especially, but they're all good. Well worth a read if you're looking for interesting magical theory takes, or a good laugh at an interesting premise.

 

I'm sure some of you have read "Delenda Est" by Lord Silvere (I think there's an Almost Recommended thread somewhere).
Last month, he began uploading his new story: Final Protocol. It's a time travel fic with Harry and Susan Bones going back to their first year. While I'm a sucker for such fics, this one has quite a few issues

• Harry is mentally ill and hasn't left his bed for the whole fic. He can't do anything and isn't even in Hogwarts
• I'm not sure when Harry will begin taking part in the actual plot
• There's a mental bond between Harry and Susan
• Prior to their time travel, Susan spends 10 (?) years taking care of a comatose Harry (why?)
• Some characters (like the ministry guys working with Amelia Bones) are acting stupid.

However, I've never read a fic with Susan as the main protagonist and surprisingly, it works quite well. Also, Susan was never part of Harry's adventures during his time at Hogwarts, so she doesn't know everything that happened. If you like time travel fics and need to waste an hour or two (there are currently 30k words, but new updates come pretty fast) you might give this a look.

2.5/5

 

I almost can't believe this is the same person that wrote Delenda Est. The dialogue is stunted and boring, the scenes don't give me any sense of emotion, and Susan has no discernible personality beyond being basically a sock puppet for Harry. And he's too crippled to make that the fun way.

2/5 at best for me, at this point. Hopefully it gets better, I know the author has it in them after Delenda Est.

 

So just like Delenda Est. I'm confused about your confusion.

 

Pretty sure Delenda Est had a co-author that left midway through the story, though? Which would also explain why I recall it taking me ages to finish the story when I read it, but my memory is a bit hazy on the particulars. I’ll check the new one out, but I shouldn’t expect too much, I suppose.

 

Sorry, I totally forgot about this post.

Indeed. The characterisations of Hermione and Snape remind me of that fem!Harry story by laventadorn @T3t recommended a few months ago. Especially the Watson-Snape interactions, which were hilarious.

At any rate, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one here who enjoyed this one. I discovered it accidentally. I vaguely remembered a story with the same title in the library here and when I googled it, I found this one and mistook it as the other. It was a lucky find.

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So, I saw a Slytherin!Harry story recommended on /r/HPFanfiction a few days ago.

Harry Potter and the Den of Snakes by sunmoonandstars

Summary:
After ten years of misery with the Dursleys, Harry Potter learns that he has magic. Except, in this story, it's not a surprise-the only surprise is that there are others like him. Including his twin brother, Julian Potter, the savior of the Wizarding world.

This isn't the Harry you think you know.

Words: 78245
Published: 2017-11-02
Completed: 2017-11-12
Kudos: 546

Lily is dead. Harry's twin, the presumed Boy-Who-Lived, lived with James, while Harry was sent to the Dursleys for security reasons. Petunia was to inform James if ever Harry displayed signs of accidental magic. She never did. Harry hates his brother Julian and James, who think he's weird, too quiet and a slimey snake. Snape is also less of an arse. Draco's mentioned that his father's informed of secret passages in the common room. Oh and he's been practicing wandless magic and talking to Snakes for a while. He's not super!Harry (yet) or anything though.

I've read all the way till the first potions lesson, and it's eerily similar to The Prince of Slytherin so far. Only slightly less convoluted and with way less words. It's not great or anything, but if this is fanfiction (or er...a ripoff?) of PoS, maybe some of the ideas The Sinister Man brings up will be explored, but with less clutter? Anyway, it's borderline acceptable as far as time wasters go. Haven't been impressed yet, and I'm not holding my breath.

1.5-2/5.

Maybe something you'd be interested in, @Dicra? If anyone here can tell if I'm seeing things or not (i.e, is this a PoS ripoff or not), it's probably you, lmao.

edit: Hope I didn't fuck up the submission format.

 

When a story starts with Harry is sent to the Dursley while his twin is raised by his parents or parent, unless they were mind rape, there is no logical reason for that.
Especially the Dursley.
Which lead to clicking the tiny x.

 

Yes, it definitely is at least "heavily inspired" by PoS. Harry has similar friends, an eerily similar attitude, his brother and father behave the same, the reasons for them sending him to the Dursleys are the same, it's James that takes him away from the Dursleys - and that's just the first few chapters.
At the moment, I almost feel like this is some kind of "canon rehash", just in this case, PoS is the canon that's been rehashed.

PoS could use someone rewriting it with half the words though, so I think I might even continue reading it.