What are you reading?

[Ebiris]

In Essence Divided is a sadly unfinished story that hasn't been updated in over a year. The main premise is that in the Chamber of Secrets Riddle kills Ginny and takes her body for his own, before using the scar horcrux to try and take Harry. He loses and Harry ends up with two bodies, a neat premise which on its own makes for a good story. But what really caught my attention was something called the Warlock's Circle introduced in chapter 4. Big spoilers ahead.

Spoiler: ShowHide

When Dumbleldore is killed in Paris, Britain responds by reinstating the Warlock's Circle, an elite group of wizards last used in the war with Grindelwald. Who are they?

The Warlock's Circle had arrived.

There were twelve of them in total, every one of them dressed in black. They were striding down the platform flanked by yet more Dementors. Their leader, Rufus Scrimgeour, was a tall man with a mane of rust coloured hair. He held his arm aloft, and his finger bore a ring identical to those the Dementors wore.

The wizards and witches behind him were an impressive sight. Black was able to name most of them as they passed.

"Bartemius Burke," he said, indicating a grizzled old man with a pointy grey beard. He was armed to the teeth with medieval-looking weapons - all of them likely enchanted with Dark magic. "He plundered half of Europe in the forties. All those weapons are priceless, one of a kind, artefacts. And that one's Cygnus Thames-"

"The bald one with the bandoliers?" Harry asked.

"That's the one. Potions specialist. Wanted dead or alive in thirty-five sovereign states for poisoning the city of Olm. Got it into the water supply - all for the chance Grindelwald might take a sip. Killed a hundred thousand Muggles - the city's been obliviated from Muggle history."

The idea of such a man walking free made Harry feel sick. She began to understand the uproar caused by the reinstatement of the Warlock's Circle.

"What about him?" she asked, pointing to another. He was the youngest of the bunch, handsome, with light brown hair neatly cut. The air seemed to ripple around him, and each time his boot hit the ground it wobbled, like he was walking on jelly.

"Christ!" Black exclaimed, seeing the man for the first time. An oddly Muggle expression. "No one knows his real name. He goes by Quicksilver. Banished from Britain in the sixties for practising alchemical wizardry. Captured by Dumbledore himself. It was huge."

"What's alchemical wizardry?" asked Harry, staring at the mysterious Quicksilver. He seemed different from the others, somehow.

"Complicated," Black said with a wry smile. "A bit of legilimency, a bit of transfiguration, a bit of potions. But mostly it's about the soul. Don't know much more than that. But there was a string of mysterious deaths right before Quicksilver was brought it. Brutal stuff."

As Quicksilver passed, Harry's eyes were drawn to the man behind him. She gaped. It was mad. They couldn't be controlled.

"What the hell are those?" Black said.

He was pointing at two snakes that were making their way down the platform, each one at least ten feet long and as thick as a man's leg. A wizard was walking between them, brandishing his wand, directing the snakes. They had blinkers covering their eyes.

"Basilisks," said Harry, still disbelieving.

"Fuck," said Black. It was an apt summary of Harry's feelings.

And then they saw the first witch. Black just stared at her. She was beautiful, in a way, with pale skin, red lips, and long, wild dark hair. She swaggered down the platform as if she owned it.

"Bellatrix," said Black. He looked completely shocked. "They let Bellatrix out. They're absolutely insane. Do they want to start a war?"

If this Bellatrix woman shocked Black speechless, it was Harry's turn when she saw the man a few steps behind her. Only one person's robes billowed like that.

"Snape!" she said, pointing wildly.

The thought that in times of crisis Britain can pull out a crowd of crazed recluses and Azkaban's baddest lunatics which even include convicted Death Eaters to take care of business just has so much potential, it's crying out for a story devoted to those guys. Something like Suicide Squad or Thunderbolts if you know those comics, to throw out when all else fails.

[Anastasia]

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9059345/10/Of-The-Stars

Of the Stars updated. Meh.

[spoiler]Rei gets herself into trouble before becoming Sailor Mars? Not a bad idea. Rei's hastily drawn ofuda turns a youma into a bonfire? Uh. Rei snaps and goes SSJ/Exalts/whatever? ... Rei meets some weird OC Moonshadow guy? The fuck? See, I like this fic because it was tweaking Sailor Moon some without losing sight of what it was. The last few chapters don't jive with this. I guess it's trying to constantly hit you with high impact events but it's broken my suspension of disbelief instead. Somewhere in the middle of this chapter I stopped and realized that I thought this was bullshit.

Things are going way out of control not even halfway before the normal Jadeite arc ends. It's too much to maintain immersion in the story. I don't care how cool it might be, but if I sit back, stop and mutter 'the fuck is this?' several times in the chapter? It's a fundamental failure of fanfiction. Maybe I'd believe this with more buildup or without going straight to kablooey territory. I like a good re-imagining of an old story as much as the next guy, but you have to stay connected to the original work. All the mumbo jumbo about french Dark Kingdom ranks or Silver Millenium leftovers doesn't compensate for that.

I'll give it another chapter, maybe two. It's possible that the author will pull up and rebalance things, but I'm not holding my breath. Remakes that try and spice things up by amping the power levels and 'hey isn't this cool guys' level tend not to work for me.

[Dracos]

I've finished Victory at Ostagar.  It was a pleasure, and the addition of the alternate ending definitely betters it.

[Rayearth]

In Essence Divided is a sadly unfinished story that hasn't been updated in over a year. The main premise is that in the Chamber of Secrets Riddle kills Ginny and takes her body for his own, before using the scar horcrux to try and take Harry. He loses and Harry ends up with two bodies, a neat premise which on its own makes for a good story.

You're right, two-bodies-one-mind makes for an incredibly interesting premise. The only other story I know that deals with this is a Ranma fanfic, Mirror, Mirror - but that fic has been dead for more than a decade.

[Dracos]

Consumed the Leaf's Naruto, Latest chapter of Steal My Thunder God (which still seems to meander), and a cute Harry Potter Timewarp fic currently in our writing forum.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8971041/8/Steal-My-Thunder-God

[Anastasia]

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9457368/1/I-am-Noble

ZnT/DnD crossover. It's just starting and looks like it has some promise. While I wince at the summary, the story has potential and invert the bad stereotype it promises instead.

[Ebiris]

Been reading Traveler which is a really good Pokemon story. Ash gets a nidoran instead of pikachu as his starter, and then things just kinda go off the rails. He travels with two OCs for a few chapters but after that is mostly on his own, with Brock and Misty sticking to their gyms for the most part, while Jessie and James only get a cameo in favour of the much more sinister and competent side of Team Rocket presenting far more dangerous problems. It's a fresh take on the pokemon journey, and has some good stuff focusing on actual training of pokemon rather than just fighting and getting stronger. The gym leaders and elite four all get some good focus as well.

[Dracos]

Interesting, I may take a look.  It's kind of a pity that really Ash is generally granted super empathy and that's why he wins versus any concept or theories of "Okay, this is how we're going to do more than the other guys".

[Ebiris]

This one's pretty good in that Ash earns what he gets in the proper manner - he wins every gym badge by fighting rather than wacky adventures, and gets most of his pokemon by battling/capturing them. He is nice and empathic with them, but when you see the pokemon of other trainers (except Gary) it's a trait generally shared by the best.

[Dracos]

Yeah, I don't mind super-empathy, just it by itself is uninteresting to hear making progress as a Best In The World.

"Okay, so basically you're super-talented, have wacky adventures, and therefore trump the people we see training hard.  Also we rarely see you training at all.  Yeah, I think I'm done with Destined Winner."

[thepanda]

Ash can't train them like that (except in the first season) because it would break the formula. Same reason Ash's skills reset every time he changes regions.

What I've always wondered about pokemon is how the hell is anyone supposed to get a badge? Seriously, aren't gym leaders a bunch of I-do-nothing-but-train-pokemon-for-a-living badasses? Yet badges do not seem to be in short supply.

[Ebiris]

I figure they scale themselves. If they see an eleven year old with his starter and a rattata they'll use their younger/less experienced pokemon, and if it's someone who either looks experienced or they know got a badge last year, they break out their older and more badass pokemon to get a proper workout. I figure that also explains the gulf in the game and why Erkia's so weak compared to say Blaine, when realistically they should all be close to the same level, with a few outliers as standouts within the gym circuit like Sabrina/Giovanni to keep people from completely coasting through.

Basically the gym circuit itself is the qualifier for the conference rather than just having the baddest pokemon, since it shows the devotion and time put into getting there.

[thepanda]

...Misty and Brock were gym leaders.

[Merc]

The easier explanation about gym badges, empathy, Ash's luck, and Team Rocket's Jessie/James combo in the anime: Pokemon Explained

I recommend the above be read while listening to: There will be Brawl - The Very Best

[thepanda]

I've hated that meme and every other one like it always and forever. -_-