GENERAL INFO

I'm 20+ year old male from Eastern Europe.

I've found about fan-fiction while I was searching the Gnutella network, looking for the sixth book of Harry Potter saga (without realizing that, back then, OOTP had just been published). Instead, I've found Barb's Psychic Serpent trilogy and a few other pieces of what I latter learned was called "fan-fiction".

Soon, I was totally hooked, browsing PhoenixSong.net, Portket.com and Fanfiction.net, reading any 100,000+ words story I could lay my hands on. At first, I was looking for stories as canon like as possible, but I still preferred H/G over H/Hr, and stories featuring powerful, resourceful Harry, over a weak, abused twit.

These days, I strongly dislike both the jealous moronic sidekick and conceited know-it-all beaver, along with the stalker love potion wielding slut, that's always sticking her nose where it doesn't belong (you figure out who is who).

Could be because I've read too many canon-like fluffs, but it's probably just the fact that they boss Harry around too much and turn him into an overly-romantic henpecked dweeb, with 'good moral values' sticking from his arse.

The stories I enjoy the most feature Independent!Harry in the true sense of that word. Meaning, Harry who is smart , proactive and has some sort of a drive and purpose in his life, instead of just dragging his angsty self around, with his head stuck deep inside the fucking puppet master's wrinkled ol' arse. "Dumbledore's man", indeed. What a pathetic little shit.

And yes, Independent!Harry can actually coexist with Dumbledore, but personally, I prefer to see them at odds with each other, with the old man being a manipulative bastard, but genius nonetheless.

Other genres I like are Dark!Harry, Powerful!Harry, romances with rare pairings, time travel, AU... Pretty much anything not canon-like and with Harry growing at least a little bit of brain and balls.

WARNING! SPOILERS!

Ok, let's start from good points and proceed downwards.

Excellent:

- Voldemort's showmanship
Am I the only one who liked the way he manipulated and led around his death eaters, calling himself 'Lord Voldemort' and such? Not his actual plots and plans, mind you; just dialogues and general charisma.

- Cursed word 'Voldemort'
Pretty good idea. I've actually had a similar plot bunny.

- Underground radio and school resistance
Now that was just cool. Should have put in more of it.

Good:

- Manipulative!Dumbledore
points finger mockingly Ha ha!
Really, the old man's back-story and scheming were pretty good. The only thing missing was an expansion to some conspiracy theories in earlier years. Seems like a missed opportunity.

- Character deaths
I was pleasantly surprised by the number of character deaths. I may not like that Tonks and Dobby are dead, but I appreciate JKR's attempt to overcome her own pussyness and actually try to depict a half-realistic war.

- Areal action scenes
Pretty neat. Harry actually kills some people there (they fall stunned, but still).

Meh:

- Ginny
No, she doesn't need to go any lower. Her input in story in general was absolutely minimal. If she was a girl I approved of, I'd be pissed off I haven't seen more of her. If you're reluctant to read this because you're against HG, don't be; it doesn't bite... too hard.

- Redeemed!Snape
So expected. His fascination with Lily doesn't make much sense (considering the way he treated Harry), but I guess it's as good excuse as any to promote the mercy-kill theory from HBP.

- Ministry takeover
Soo, Voldemort needs less than two weeks to organize a complete takeover of the government? What the hell has he been doing for two years? On the other hand, the idea in general was good. Upping the stakes a bit.

Bad:

- Hermione
Too competent. She's like a universal band aid for any situation where some bit of knowledge is required. I mean, she did have good OWL's and all, but she's far from a prodigy like Dumbledore, Riddle or Snape. Harry and Ron are supposed to be decent students, but here, they are depicted as total bozos, thanks to her doing almost all the magic in the trio. The only reason she doesn't sink into the next category is that JKR made sure to make her rather uncertain under pressure.

- Life on the road
The central part was fucking boring. I had to literary force myself to keep plowing through all that pointless filler. I have a feeling JKR wanted to write something like LOTR, but lacked the plotting skills and foreplanning to pull it off properly. Thus, instead we have the trio wandering around aimlessly and angsting abut their cruel fate - for pages and pages and pages, until the next deus-ex machina finally steps in and gives them their next clue.

- Voldemort's sticky end
Sooo, by forcefully taking your opponent's wand, you take over the ownership over it? Wow, I guess DADA classes are a riot when practicing Expelliarmus. Everything about this finale seemed kind of random, too complicated and simply put - lame. A big letdown for sure.

- Snape's sticky end
It was just lame. Snape was depicted as a pretty kick-ass wizard here, but Voldemort shows him his little snake and he freezes, squealing like a pussy. Pathetic. I was hoping for some dramatic duel or a last stand or ANYTHING but this random fucking shit.

- Imperius and other canon upgrades
I'm displeased for the most part. Imperius is way too powerful, you can be your own secret keeper, house elves can transport people through wards and tracer spells and 17th birthday limitation(s) were just STUPID. Lots of potential plot holes if people start using these 'improvements'.

Terrible:

- The dratted epilogue
Terribly written + it completely ruins fanfiction. Seems like an ad-hoc solution, forced by editors and fans.

- Harry's character
Once again doesn't learn anything new, as he spends all the free time twiddling with his dick. Refuses to use lethal measures and instead recycles the same 2-3 curses from OOTP. His entire repertoire is consisted of 10 or so spells mentioned in canon - for everything else, he relies on Hermione. Apparently, he hadn't even heard of transfiguration (didn't he get like E at OWLs?). Only a symbolic usage of Unforgivables; Imperio could have been used a LOT more often and Crucio was totally misused and unmotivated (I expected him to fry Umbridge or Bellatrix, not some random guy for being mean to some hag he barely knows). Forgives everyone, including the manipulative!Dumbledore and the greasy sallow child molester who had spent the entire life jerking off at the memory of his mum. Refuses power, preferring to be an average shmock.
Simply said, terrible. Absolutely terrible. The worst Harry ever.

----

Overall, the book had its good and not so good parts, but its main problem remains the general idea and direction JKR had taken starting with HBP.

Until OOTP, the point of HP was mostly self-empowerment; Harry and his friends were spending a lot of times learning new spells and skills that depended on their own power and dedication. Magic was fair, straightforward and fun.

But with HBP, the focus suddenly shifts towards enchanted objects and arcane/emotional crap. Harry stops practicing curses and starts tinkering with potions; Dumbledore spends all his time blabbing about some enchanted trinkets and obscure soul/love magic. Even Draco uses fucking trinkets to try and kill Dumbledore. What the hell happened with good old incantation, concentration, firm rules, homework?

DH continues in that same vein; More uber-powerful magical items, more arcane random magic and less actual brains and skills. Harry doesn't learn a single new spell during the course of book (and he has a LOT of time). Instead, we have even MORE fucking trinkets; uber wand, fabulous stone, mega cloak, yippee tents, potions, more wands, more crap... Even fucking Rowena Ravenclaw is smart only because of that super-brainomatic thingamajig on her head. And magic connecting all this is more random than ever; love sacrifices, remorse for redemption, freaky soul trips, death wish repelling AK, conquering wands like a fucking pimp hookers.

What the hell happened the whole 'wands only' rules from GOF? Isn't the whole point of being a wizard that you can do stuff WITHOUT having to carry around a bunch of junk with you? What's up with everybody suddenly squabbling over some fucking enchanted garbage, like bums in a refuse yard?

Honestly, this HP setting is a LOT different from the post-OOTP setting we love and know. I'm not sure I'd be able to write anything meaningful in this land of flashy trinkets, screwy random magic and deus-ex machines. Give me a wand, textbooks and an eager hardworking lad ready to learn and prosper; not this scavenger hunt shit.

Thus, if seen as a continuation of HBP, this gets 3/5.
As a standalone fic... err novel, no more than 2/5 (and that's generous too)

10 new, obscure or just interesting HP fanfictions to look out. Updated with each new chapter I post.

• Magical Relations by evansentranced
AU. Slytherin!Harry. Harry and Dudley both get to go to Hogwarts. A decent light read.

• What Would Slytherin Harry Do? by Big D on a Diet
AU. A series of ficlets featuring one of the best Slytherin!Harry's ever written.

• Second Life by Nia River
Dimension travel, Harry adopts his younger self. A guilty plerasure.

• Dark Respite by Omagic
Post-HBP, super!Harry, sarcasm, humor and coolness. Unjustly overlooked story.

• Jack of All Trades by ax546
Post-OOTP, an amusing fast read. Harry mentored by Fenrir Greyback.

• Cadet Potter by loralee1
AU, Harry sent to the military academy by the Dursleys. A decent light read.

• Two Sides of the Same Coin by Ten Toes
AU, pre-Hogwarts. A bit repetitive and poorly written, but interesting nonetheless. Very realistic characterization of Slytherin!Harry.

• Interview with the Slytherin Childe by DisobedienceWriter
AU. Dark!Super!Harry taking over the world. Completed.

• The Duality of Harry Potter by Imperator Pesmerga
AU. Spoiled but very talented Gryffindor!Harry is forced to move into Slytherin.

• Auburn fire by esama
Time-travel, AU. Harry mentored by Nicholas Flammel. MDP!Harry.

(date of update: July 2007)

The list that had been posted with my previous update.

• Stronger Than Hope by Alaunatar
Post-OOTP. Should end up with Snape mentoring Harry. So far, it's mostly mind games between those two. Rather well written, if a bit pointless, dark drama.

• And the Truth Shall Set You Free by silverskies
AU. Harry who can't lie is adopted by an escaped convict Bellatrix. It will probably end up being Slytherin!Harry.

• Rivers of Blood by Soulforger
Azkaban!Harry, Dark!Harry. One of the few Azkaban fics in which when Harry says revenge - he means revenge. Lots of blood and gore.

• Like Some Song You Can't Unlearn by BJH
Darkish Harry travels to an alternate dimension where his parents had survived, but he hadn't. H/Narcissa.

• Snake in Lion Skin by wolfwhispers
Post-OOTP. Independant!Harry creates his own side in the war by gathering all the oppressed magical creatures under his banner.

• In the Chamber by Fuegodefuerza
Post-COS AU. Independant!Harry. After failing to save Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets, Harry vows that he'll become the best wizard he could be.

• Not a Gryffindor Fight by SFD
Post-HBP. H/Hr. Action packed story, with all the common cliches (DA army, family fortunes, house elf rights etc...). Well written, though.

• Taking Hostages by The-Caitiff
Post-OOTP, Harry/Gabriella. Humor and romance in the usual Caitiff's style.

• Ripples in Time by padfootsrevenger
Powerful!Harry time-travels into his younger body - and 20 years back in time. Makes friends with Regulus and Yaxley.

• Blessed by Erised Burning
Post-HBP, super!Harry, dark!Hermione. Lots of action and destruction in this cool, if a bit strange, story. Completed.

(date of update: February 2007)

My main story at the moment. First part of (hopefully) a saga about Harry's struggle for gaining freedom, independence and power. Will he emerge from under Dumbledore's thumb and grow into a force to be reckoned with?

8 chapters / 105K words at this point

For GERMAN VERSION of Potter's Resistance, click HERE
Translated by CGB.

For RUSSIAN VERSION of Potter's Resistance, click HERE
Translated by Alexeyy.

NOTE: The story is not abandoned. I have 20K of the next chapter written, but first, I want to complete Yin & Yang.

If you have any questions about this story (or anything else), click HERE and leave a message on the DLP forum.

My first and probably the only post-HBP story. It will be a plot-driven short novel, with projected length of 5 chapters and some 100 thousand words or so. Genres are Dark!Harry and Independent!Harry. The gist of the plot is that Harry receives a series of messages with the Yin & Yang symbol on them. These messages point out various betrayals of his closest friends and allies, which eventually leads him to the dark side.

Oh, and I've used several well-established cliches, but try not to get too pissed off because of them too much, they all have a purpose.

3 chapters / 52K words at this point

If you have any questions about this story (or anything else), click HERE and leave a message on the DLP forum.

o - The Imposter

It's basically just a plot bunny I've had, so I wrote this one-shot, to get rid of it and return to my main story. It's pretty sick and contains character death, but I think that the twist is rather cool. You should read it if you're not too queasy.
DLP link

o - The shortest Severitus story ever

Very short parody on Severitus and Independent! Harry stories. Written in 20 minutes, but in retrospect, not bad at all.
DLP link

o - Arthur Weasley's newest toy

Semi-funny little one-shot and a possible plot-bunny. Arthur Weasley finds a strange muggle object...
DLP link

o - Albus Severus Potter’s role in life

Post-DH. A bizzare dark comedy. Just a dribble.

o - The last dinosaur's roar

Post-DH, dark!Harry, time travel. Harry must do some pretty awful stuff to save the future. The phrase 'for the greater good' gets its full meaning in this story.

I have an alternate account at FicWad (although this one is still my primary page). You can find it HERE.

Some of the places on internet that I like.

DarkLordPotter.net
A legendary forum for the lovers of harsh, no-bullshit fanfiction critique, Ginny bashing and flame wars. Sado-mazo stuff.

HP Recycle Bin
Yahoo!group for exchangeand storage of stories deleted from their original archives.

C2 Crap filter
My C2 groyp. No, it is not (just) for crappy stories; mostly for new & untested. Lots of dissapointments surely, but an occasional diamond may pop up.

The Reading Consortium
New HP forum. Still undeveloped, but sure as hell ambitious. Some nice guys are known to hang out there.

Alpha Fight Club
Can't say anything about it. That's the rule no. 1, you know :-)