https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10131514/1/Back-to-the-Beginning

HP/LotR crossover and it's genderbent Fem!Harry.

If this story keeps Legolas' love for Harry unrequited I'll put this in for recommendation - mostly because the idea that a solely women liking guy suddenly liking men because he changed into a women is ridiculous.

Spoiler

My suspicion is that Harry was a Maia, she went into and eternal sleep because she wasn't allowed to die and then she had her memories suppressed before being places in the unborn Harry Potter. Harry lives his life, has a few rugrats and then dies where he's returned to Middle Earth.

Anyway, if the author defies the usual rubbish of Harry being paired with Legolas (he's so hawt!1!1) in HP/LotR crossovers I'll be happy.

 

Ridiculous? More ridiculous than a man changing to woman by magic? Probably the author holds, that the mind is a plaything of the body?

 

I read that story before it was posted here and surprisingly no. Harry so far doesn't seem to have been affected by it in that way and it doesn't look like it is going to change.

 

Harry and Hermione developed bloodthirsty tendencies out of the blue. They act out of character, especially Hermione. Also, Harry and Hermione didn't bat an eye on witnessing murder, and later they even committed murder themselves and then acted like there was nothing out of the ordinary.

 

Oh, good comeback. Now if only I had some evidence... like all those clichés throughout the story...

... or maybe all of those pesky Author Notes where the author repeatedly tells why his characters are doing something, rather than bother to actually show it in the story through a little known literary device that I like to call "characterization"?

Personally, I think a general lack of originality and multiple examples where the author informs the reader of his characters' motivations and intentions in an A/N OUTSIDE the actual events of the story (rather than THROUGH what happens IN the story) are ample evidence that this ISN'T good writing - not to mention clearly refute any claims of "great characterization".

There are a lot of writers in the WbA who get the feedback that they need to "show" not "tell". I really don't understand why anyone is willing to give this writer a pass on such a basic building block of storytelling.

 

The A/Ns bother me too, Yaz. They'd put me off from the story entirely if they were a substitute for characterization, rather than a supplement. I just stopped reading them. I'd be the first to admit The Merging has its share of problems. The problems don't bug me enough to stop reading, and the good things (The lighthearted tone, and Harry's gradual development) interest me enough to overlook some flaws.

 

Thanks for the recc man. This is definitely library worthy in my opinion(I've only read the first ten chapters) solely based on the fact that the author actually respects and knows something about the universe and the characters within it that Tolkien created. It's sadly far too common to find the opposite in the LotR fanfiction.
I'm honestly pretty open regarding fem!Harry's future relationship(s). It really all depends on how the author goes about it, as long as it isn't rushed.

 

We're talking about magic here. Limitations don't exist.

---------- Post automerged at 12:53 ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 ----------

Would you suddenly change your sexual preference if you switched genders or does that idea that you could suddenly change your preference bother you?

 

Bullseye.

No idea, since there is no such thing as magic in the real world.

No.

 

On the Merging: It is, quite honestly, the epitome of Almost Recommended. The writing quality really isn't that bad. The characters are interesting, and consistent. They actually feel like people. The author is even able to take some of the overuse cliches, like Ice Queen!Daphne, or Escaping the Malfoys!Narcissa and a a twist or quirk that makes it interesting. So far, he's been able to tie his plot points and such together fairly well.

Where the fic suffers is the plot. It's slow paced. For a long time, I felt more like I was watching a soap opera, instead of an adventure fic. I blame the focus on Romance that was going on for a long time. The cliches are still cliches and while some are suitably twisted enough to not be obstructive, some are just unneeded. Magical Cores, and such. That Alternate Dimension Chapter was just horrible to get through.

Maybe it'll become relevant later, but for now, it just seemed unneeded.

I'd give a 4/5 For Characterization, 3/5 for technical quality, and 3/5 for plot, averaging out to about 3.3/5. (Rounded down to 3/5)

It's not as bad as Yaz makes it sound, but not as good as Newcomb makes it out to be either

 

WTF. This is my complaint about The Merging - it's crap writing.

Not that it's not entertaining, not that you should hate it, not that the author should give up writing.

My objection is that a cliché filled mess with identified characterization and pacing problems is being called "great".

It's not.

I stand by that declaration with ample evidence in the writer's own hand at my side.

And the fact that you can give this story a 4/5 for characterization when the author regularly does his characterization IN HIS AUTHOR"S NOTES as opposed to developing those characters as PART OF THE STORY is fucking beyond belief. It's also an insult to any other author that has heard "show, don't tell" in the WbA.

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Ignoring that "average at best" mess, I noticed that Harry-Potter: Geth is now complete. The author apparently dumped all remaining chapters last night.

For the record, this story is still cringeworthy.

And look - I'm enjoying it without the pretense of claiming it's something it's not.

 

I agree, I read it as a crack fic, nothing more, nothing less.

 

Why are you so upset?

Some people like a story that you do not. Deal with it. I really don't understand why you're making such a huge fuss about that.
Please stop wasting kilobytes.

 

Did you actually read his whole post? He's trying to move on and you're prolonging a pointless discussion. Now tell me, who the fuck is the one "wasting" kilobytes,(aside from me) which is a stupid concept in and of itself.

 

Judging by his passive-aggressive post he clearly isn't:

One thing you got right is that I'm prolonging this discussion because shit like this happens all the time in here.

This is the Almost Recommended thread. Its purpose is for people to post new or recently updated stories that they wouldn't exactly recommend but aren't a waste of time either. Stories that they've enjoyed. Stories that have positive and negative aspects. I know this might come as a surprise, but topics like this are entirely subjective. It comes down to an opinion. Some people can tolerate many flaws and still appreciate a stories strengths, others can't. And that's totally fine.

Attacking someones opinion and preferences without any legitimate arguments beyond "it's crap writing" and "count the clichés" is not fine though.

This is a fanfiction forum, we welcome rational discussions about fanfiction. When several people think that a particular story is almost recommendable you have every right to disagree, that doesn't mean that they are wrong. Trying to devalue their opinion is just pointless.

 

I mostly agree, but Newcomb and Probellum obviously tried to discuss the issue with him without much success. You asking him why he's so upset isn't going to start a rational discussion, quite the opposite if my experiences on the internet are anything to go by. If you just wanted to call him out on being overly emotional/invested that's fine, but since you specifically called him out again under the pretense of wanting rational discussion that didn't seem to be the case.

 

Well I've read this and I quite like it. I don't see Harry being romanticalyl interested in anyone, let alone Legolas for whatever the length of the story is. You don't randomly turn gay even if you're in a female body after 70 years of being straight.

 

And you have the nerve to call me passive aggressive.

Attacking someone's opinion while completely ignoring what they said is not fine either.

Your "rational discussion" apparently means that people aren't allowed to point out flawed reasoning - backed by ample evidence. You conveniently dismiss all of my references to virtually every Author's Note (present in every almost every chapter of the referenced story) where the author tells you about his character's motivations and reasons - rather than show you through his alleged "great" writing skills. You also ignore the fact that the people who are calling it "great" freely acknowledge that it is cliché filled and has pacing problems. Instead you imply those are opinions I am forcing on others - they're not. I am merely unwilling to ignore those flaws.

Why are you so upset?

I don't like people labelling a story "great" when the author "tells, not shows" when in another thread (the WbA) authors are repeatedly told "show, not tell". I see it as an inconsistent message, and somewhat hypocritical. You don't agree with my opinion.

Deal with it.

I really don't understand why you're making such a huge fuss about that.

Please stop wasting kilobytes.

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With that, I'm done on all discussions related to this story - past, present or future. If anyone here can't see the blatant hypocrisy in praising a story for something we discourage in other authors in the WbA, then quite frankly you will never get it.

I loathe fem!Harry stories - 99% of the time I feel like they are an author self-insert.
I also hate canon re-hash. I've already read JKR's story, so why are you retelling it?
I also hate Snape/Harry(et) pairings... they creep me out.

You can probably imagine how annoyed I am that this story isn't... terrible. I might even have to keep reading it. I might have even used ficsave to d/l a copy to finish reading on my flight tomorrow. And I didn't think I'd ever be saying "thanks for the rec"

 

I think the fact I haven't seen Harry interested in Legolas at all that kept me reading. So far it's been completely unrequited and I hope it stays that way.

 

You sure? Because they've been SO much magical gender-benders running around lately to do studies with, right? Only one answer: A WIZARD DID IT.