Dragnew posted a comment on Wednesday 14th January 2009 9:13pm for Chapter 27 - Aftermath - and Beginnings

I like the way you handle Harry's angst here. Whilst I've never killed a dozen men with my bare hands, in my (thankfully still quite few) experiences with grief, it's never hit straight away, like it does in so many bad angst fanfics. And I like the idea of Harry having grey streaks. Makes him distinguished and elegant.

Abraxan replied:

Thanks!   I've been through some serious grief, and I know all the stages of it all too well.   I used that experience in writing Harry's stories.   You'll see another bit of my personal history in "Now and Forever" when I show Harry dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which my father had after WWII (if you'd flown 43 bombig missions over Germany and   ridden two B-17s to the ground the hard way, you might have PTSD too).

I'm glad you like the gray streaks!   I got four gray hairs in the top of my head when I was 19 due to some serious stress, so I know it can happen.   And no, my hair hasn't gone gray.   I'll be 59 in a few weeks and I still only have a little bit of gray hair, which doesn't show thanks to a good beautician!   LOL!

Abraxan

RockBiter posted a comment on Friday 5th September 2008 1:21pm for Chapter 27 - Aftermath - and Beginnings

Ah, I'm 55 as well . . . till next month, anyway. It's nice to know there are others out there who are my age and also Harry fans. Go baby boomers!

Abraxan replied:

LOL!   Yup, there are a lot of us Boomers as HP fans!   And this shows how long the story's been online - I'm 58 now (holding on to that until January!) Happy birthday to you, soon!

Abraxan

TxA_GunFighter posted a comment on Friday 23rd May 2008 8:39am for Chapter 27 - Aftermath - and Beginnings

Very good chapter. Yes girl skin feels good to a teenage boy and to an old guy too...lol.

gunny

Abraxan replied:

LOL!  

Abraxan

annemjw posted a comment on Friday 25th January 2008 8:16pm for Chapter 27 - Aftermath - and Beginnings

I've really enjoyed this story so far, good job! I just thought I'd point out that 'stroppy' actually means the exact opposite of feisty, or at least, it means someone difficult to deal with, and annoying, and generally someone who complains a lot, which is not, I think, what you meant! Just a nitpick :)

Abraxan replied:

I'm American, not British, and my British Brit-picker said that was the word to use intstead of "feisty," which she said is rarely used there.   I'm not changing the published stories - they've been up for years - but I do use "stroppy" correctly now.   Glad you're enjoying the story!

Abraxan

k13cat posted a comment on Friday 2nd November 2007 8:00am for Chapter 27 - Aftermath - and Beginnings

I peeked at the next chapter to see if there would be any repercussions for Ginny's actions & don't see any. By sneaking out and following the team she in essence put everyone, in particular Harry, in more danger. Regardless of how stubborn (or cute or impetuous) she is, she should have been sent home.

The battle & the aftermath for Harry was well done. Very vivid, flowed well & I could truly feel his anguish. You've done very well at conveying his turbulent emotions in this story - i've spent a lot of time crying. I hope that he will return to his mosaic creations particularly because it would be a tribute to Casey's father.

Abraxan replied:

Sometimes in stressful situations, there isn't time or the opportunity for "repercussions" to disobedience.   That's what happened here.   I'm glad you can feel Harry's anguish - I wanted that to come through clearly.   And I'm glad you like his mosaics.   He does too.   :)

Abraxan

Fenraellis posted a comment on Wednesday 12th September 2007 5:36am for Chapter 27 - Aftermath - and Beginnings

Abraxan,

Hmm... First time I've commented on FFA, since I randomly feel like it... So you had best be honored, heh!

"You’ll continue on your journey, and these Order members will go with you," Dumbledore replied. He was quiet a few more moments. "Do you know if anyone has tried Cheering Charms on Harry?"

"I think Ginny may have," Ron said, "but I’m not sure. He was a lot happier when I called them to dinner than he had been before."

"Maybe she can work her magic on him again, then," Dumbledore replied.

Ah, a nice spot of making out with a pinch of friendly groping with a beautiful lady... The poor ma... okay, the rich man's 'cheering charm'. ^_^

Anyway, since I'm already commenting, I might as well go all out, eh? With that in mind, I must say that this is quite the story. Indeed, it's one of the better ones that I've stumbled upon... like Tonks and the troll-foot umbrella stand, this one.=P It's hard to miss, and I'm glad I didn't.

So... As for my opinions on various matters, I suppose I can give a few. First off, I must certainly say that Casey's character was a much needed breath of fresh air, and she was executed quite excellently. (Yes, she was 'executed' too, but that's not what I meant... >_>) As for Harry's relationship with Ginny, I approve of how you have the development between them being at a steady-ish, but unhurried pace. I like a romance as much as the next guy, but I do have an appreciation for a more realistic, relaxed approach to a relationship's development between characters. It's too bad that Casey had to bite the bullet, so to speak, but some characters are, to paraphrase something you said, just "made to serve a purpose, then perish", and Casey served her purpose quite admirably. In fact, while he may respect her memory, it would just be a bit awkward if he often thought of Casey(as some reviewers comment how she seems to be 'just tossed aside and forgotten'), in the context of your story(Hey, he might think of her while you, the author, are sleeping =P), since he is with Ginny now.

As for other elements of your story, I think that your approach to Animagus training is interesting, since most people go along with what the books mention of people having(assuming they can be an animagus in the first place) a single form, which is in some way, based on various traits of that person. As opposed to your version of people seemingly, essentially choosing their form, or forms, where Harry, and Dumbledore are concerned.

Can I think of anything else at the moment, I'm not sure. Overall though, I have greatly enjoyed your story, even if I have been checking out other pairings recently, besides the obvious Harry and Ginny pairing. I've avoided Harry and Hermione for the most part, so far, since it just doesn't seem quite right for the most part. As for other pairings, it's a personal pleasure when I find an alternate pairing that has enough background and/or following development to actually work properly. I do so appreciate a well-written Harry and Luna, since I just like Luna's character so much, for her being who she is, moments of wackiness and clarity mixed together to make her who she is. ("Luna's Hubby" on FFN is a good story, for example.) Speaking of which, where is Luna in your story? I'm just wondering, since you've had Neville occasionally, and Luna is supposed to be a friend of Ginny's somewhat, and Harry also appreciates her more than most people do. Anyway, as for more minor characters, it's hardy, but I've read several good stories here and there. Harry and Original Character pairings, are some of the hardest to find well-written stories of, and as I said before, your character Casey, is probably up there in the top few, from the OC's/Crossover-Characters(pretty much an OC, depending on the circumstances, like Wednesday in Ishtar's "Family Values", since she isn't native to the 'Potter-verse'.) in that I've read.

Well, I think I might be rambling a bit, but this is probably one of your longer reviews for this story, so ha! Then again, I am covering the story up to this point, since it seemed counter-productive to post a review on every chapter of a story that was already completed some time ago. Anyway, I shall continue the story now, and I'm sure I will continue to be pleased as well.

Until next time,
~Fenraellis

p.s. I'm nearly 20 now, but on my birthmark, which grows hair over it normally for its position(which is good, since the skin there is quite a bit darker than my normal skin tone), which is positioned in such a place on my face( in front of the middle half of the portion of my right ear that's attached to my head), that I simply leave an equal amount of hair on the left side when shaving, and I have normal sized , short sideburns... Anyway, to get back to my point, I've been getting the occasional white hairs there, since around the time I was around 15 or so years old. Personally, I think it's the birthmark, and not stress or anything in this regard, but it's still amusing to have white hairs sometimes. =)

Abraxan replied:

Thank you for your rambling and entertaining review!   I'm so glad you like Casey and understand why things happened as they did with her.

I get a lot of grumblings from folks who think Harry shouldn't have forgotten her, but they seem to forget, he was putting his memories of her in a Pensieve so he could deal with them a little at a time, when he pulled out too big a wad of memories and nearly killed himself - he doesn't HAVE memories of her, until he starts replacing them (long  after she died, and I don't really show it much, it's just mentioned as something that happens off-camera somewhere later in the story).

I hope you enjoy the rest of RF and its sequel, "The Time of Destiny."   I've also written several short fics that fit into the epilogue of Destiny (don't read them ahead of time or they won't make much sense to you!), so be sure to look for those as well.

I'm currently finishing up a new fic, a chaptered story showing how Harry deals with the aftermath of war and showing him going through   his first year of Auror School and of playing with the Lions.   His and Ginny's wedding is part of this fic, as well.  

I've completed two original novels, the first of which will be published soon:   "Star Sons:   Dawn of the Two" - I'll put ordering info for the novel in the Author's Notes of each chapter as they're uploaded, so stay tuned!  

I hope you enjoy the rest of my stories!   Thanks for writing.

Abraxan

thisgirlreads posted a comment on Tuesday 3rd July 2007 11:00pm for Chapter 27 - Aftermath - and Beginnings

For those who don’t speak "Brit," when Harry says "You’re the stroppy one, aren’t you?" — "stroppy" means "feisty" but Brits don’t use that word, so I have "stroppy" here instead!

Just a little nitpick about that- In my experience as a born-and-bred Brit, 'stroppy' normally means 'angry' or 'unreasonable'. Feisty would be the more appropriate word there (and it definitely describes Ginny perfectly ;P)

I'm really enjoying this story so far, and plan to read the other chapters soon. Congratulations on a fantastic piece of writing!

Abraxan replied:

Well, I tried to use "feisty" but my Brit-picker insisted on "stroppy" and what I said is a quote from her.   She's from West Yorkshire, so maybe things are different there, I dunno.   Glad you're enjoying it.

Abraxan

Wooster posted a comment on Saturday 3rd December 2005 4:53am for Chapter 27 - Aftermath - and Beginnings

Liked the line about Ginny not kissing bad at all. Very clever and cute. Poor Harry, this generally sucks for him, doesn't it?

Great chappie again, and now i must bid you adieu 'cause my brother's kicking me off the computer...again.

The Resident posted a comment on Friday 11th November 2005 4:06pm for Chapter 27 - Aftermath - and Beginnings

I/m not a Brit, but I,m related to a bunch of Scots. Anyway, Harry's still got a whole mountain of psychological problems and a long way to go to get them resolved. Damn I wish that boy some great luck, 'cause wishes of good luck just ain't doing the job.