i’m still here

Omg I have re-read your fanfics so many times I lost count, I always seem to find myself coming back to it now and again over the years. As corny as it sounds it holds a special place in my heart and I hope one day you get the chance to finish it. P.S I still don’t forgive you for that cliffhanger on the last chapter ;) Julian is one of my favorites characters and hopefully we get to see him again.

So Harry’s reaction to Julian’s death was really interesting! Leaves me wondering whether Kasimira’s potion actually linked Harry and Julian together or if it just has something to do with their overall weird connection to one another. I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t the last we hear from Julian. I will say, when Santi tells him that he’ll give the flute to Julian and not Harry, I’m not entirely clear if we were meant to understand the significance there? Am I missing a relevant detail from earlier in the story? Or do we get an explanation for that later?
And I doubt Harry and Kasimira are ever really friends in part 1, but we now see there’s a common link between them since they’ve both lost Julian. Maybe they encounter each other after Harry and Tom return to the Von Krauss estate?
I also really need to commend your ability to write complex characters and relationships. Particularly the way we as the reader have come to know Kasimira’s character and enjoy seeing her and Julian’s short-lived relationship. Shes very interesting and I’m excited to see how she becomes an asset to Antares in the future as his grandmother. Also, just the parallels we can see in Harry and Tom’s relationship to Gryffindor/Slytherin and Grindelwald/Julian. I’m sure they don’t quite wind up the same exact way as either of the latter two, but it’s interesting to how some layers of their relationship are similar.
Hope all is well with you, I know it’s been a crazy last couple years since the pandemic. This is one of the best stories I’ve seen on this platform, so I wanted to be sure you know there are plenty of us still invested in the plot here if you’re ever able to pick it back up. Thanks for a great read!

Damn! This was an epic chapter, I don’t even know where to start. Such a climactic point for Harry and Tom’s relationship. I can’t believe Tom was really ready to drop that truth bomb on Harry that they’re not actually siblings. I wonder if he would wind up regretting it, I have a hard time gauging when he’s being honest. Like, when Tom told Harry he was lying when he said he shouldn’t be afraid of him. I think in some ways, this whole ordeal was just a huge tantrum on Tom’s part because he’s threatened by Harry’s autonomy and growing strength. He’s having some major cognitive dissonance since he basically sees Harry as a pet he decided to keep.
On another note, their confrontation ended because Harry transformed and knocked Tom unconscious -
if Tom can’t recall Harry’s animagus form, where would he remember their fight ending? Harry dropped his wand, so how would he have otherwise cast the Imperius curse on him to stop their fight when he doesn’t have a handle on his wandless magic? That part isn’t clear to me, but perhaps it’s addressed in later chapters. I have a theory that in Harry’s final moments, he uses his animagus ace again and that’s why Grindelwald has a disfigured face. Serves him right, if I’m correct. This story would be fascinating to read from Tom’s perspective and hearing about all the weird crap he keeps from Harry. Plus we know from the flash forward, that he and Grindelwald go off the radar for a couple years, I’d be curious to see how he spends that time without Harry.
Lastly, poor Alphard! He’s one of my favorite characters, such a good kid. I don’t know that I picture Harry returning his feelings, which is a shame because they’re so compatible. I’m sure Tom will continue to be possessive of Harry in their fourth year, and I'm curious to see how their relationship changes then since you mentioned that’s when the slash becomes more prominent. I think a lot of us are here and rooting for Tom/Harry but I don’t see any way for them to become endgame right now, though I realize thats part of the mystery with this story. We know Harry/Tom happens, but we don’t know if it works out.

Lol the way you describe Harry and Tom when they’re angry is somehow so funny to me. Particularly when you’ve described Tom as looking “fit to be tied,” because I can just really picture it. Hes also just buckets of crazy anyway so that should probably already happen as it is.

Santi makes me big mad the same way as Tom and Grindelwald. It seems like he gives advice to both Harry and Julian to nudge them into the direction he wants to create the future he wants. When he tells Harry he doesn’t care what he does about Slytherin, I’m assuming that’s just because he doesn’t have any stakes in the decision, but he’ll chime in to all other matters if it involves his future with Harry. I would say he’s even manipulating Harry’s future at a level higher than Grindelwald. I cringed when Harry told Santi about Antares speaking to him, like ooh that was not a good idea. I want Harry to have a leg up over everybody else in his next life (I’m on Team Harry lol, I just want him to be happy) and I wouldn’t put it past Santi to jump through time and prevent Antares from gaining that ability. Idk if this is possible, but I was wondering if Harry’s raging bad mood was so bad because Antares was feeling the same way on the other side of time. When Harry was talking about Antares being a “nasty, vindictive” guy, I’m sitting there thinking…bro that’s gonna be you, cause everybody screwed you over big time. Santi literally could’ve saved him from everything and chooses not to - that’s actually why I was surprised Antares called him one of the two people he loves. It was at least a relief to see that he wasn’t (at the moment) reciprocating Santi’s feelings, cause that’s some majorly imbalanced power dynamic for the first half of their relationship. Plus I get that Santi wants to wait till he’s older, but it’s still like he’s grooming Harry and that’s just all kinds of ick for me.

Wow, what a chapter! I really had to laugh where Harry talked Tom out of names for him and his merry little band of thugs.

It’s such a bummer hearing Harry imagine his life after Hogwarts knowing he may not even finish school. Makes me wonder what is the trigger to Tom agreeing to let Grindelwald sacrifice Harry, and if it has anything to do with his plan to part ways with Tom to lead a peaceful life. I cannot picture Tom letting Harry leave him willingly. I kept thinking, what would be the point for Tom in Harry’s rebirth when they no longer have any shared memories and he’s essentially a different person - I still think that to some extent, why not just let him die? - but if he’s growing up as a Malfoy, a dark pure blooded family with really conservative (racist) ideals, he’s more likely to support Tom.

On another note, I can see why Sorting Hat!Slytherin told Harry he’d have to become a titan in his own right to stand on equal ground with the others. Little does he know at this point that’s the only way he’s going to be able to keep offsetting Tom's destructive tendencies. They’re kind of like yin and yang. Also, Harry and Tom often speak about the tactics behind the lawmakers in ww2, and I’ve been wondering if that’s foreshadowing to how their relationship will look in the future when Harry is Antares and Tom is Lord Slytherin. I can’t imagine Harry supports him after the whole assisted ritual sacrifice thing, so I’m assuming he joins forces with Dumbledore and team to some degree, even while I imagine him with his own agenda on how to deal with Tom once and for all. I really prefer the parallel between Harry and Tom and Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin rather than Harry and Tom and their similarities to Julian and Grindelwald. It’s too sad that way, Julian is such a tragic character and Harry really deserves as happy an ending as what’s realistically possible in this universe.

I actually don’t think I mind a Harry and Alphard pairing. He’s one of the only good people in Harry’s life.
Also, I’m just so curious about when the Harry/Tom pairing happens. Seems like it has to start in his life as Harry, because I really can’t even imagine what their relationship is like in his life as Antares. We know Tom probably assists in some capacity with Harry’s ritual sacrifice, so I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if the romantic aspect ends there.

Very curious to see how a meeting between Kasimira and Tom looks in the future. He has such a low opinion of women, but she’s certainly not any type he’s met before.
Also, we as the reader know that Julian doesn’t survive, so wondering what happens with Kasimira since she’s already so attached.

Rlly hoping that Santi and Harry are not the final pairing here. It’s too creepy for me. Plus I can’t get over how he’s the only person who could’ve saved Harry from what’s awaiting him, but he chooses not to.

Also, lol Tom for thinking he’s not a textbook psychopath.

years late this is.. But this is wordy, and overly detailed in places. P

good story it is a shame it was never finished.

Hey, commenting here after...it must be 4 or 5 years now...a recent reread of this fic. Honestly it still astounds me how much worldbuilding you've developed, how much you've plotted, I don't know how you keep it all straight! But to me this has always been one of the more realistic portrayals of Tom Riddle I think I've read, and one of the most engaging Harrys I've read as well. After all this time I'm not really asking for an update on the fic but would like to know - are you okay? COVID and a bunch of stuff happened since you've posted so I hope you are! Please let us know.

As someone who is raised and practicing of jewish faith, along with having people in my family who have survived the holocaust and written books about it- I find myself lost for words at the emotions I feel reading this…. For an author to see my people to be kind and accepting…its just…. really really nice. It’s different. Anti-semitism, a topic many do not discuss- is still an issue my people face daily in their everyday lives; and honestly, it’s an issue that still lies dormant in this society to this day. Yes, schools teach about the holocaust-but the amount of derogatory commentary we are subjected to after this revelation is astounding. Children can be cruel, as you have stated before. As someone who has personally been the target of it, it feels amazing to have someone accept us and even compliment us.

I am nineteen years old and my dad had been forced to pull me out of a Virginia college in my semester of my freshman year because of the consistant antisemitic behavior I was subjected to. You would think people would have evolved from such narrow minded thinking, but alas it was not meant to be. Even though I dont personally know you and I have no clue if you still read fanfiction or your reviews, I hope you see this comment.

I would genuinely like to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Tom is such a dick lmao

gre a t story second time readingnit all... wish u'll continue it