February HP Poll... with a twist and Announcement

Howdy, all.  Getting this up now. Hiryo’s gotten Climbing Together back to me, and I will work on that next.  Then I will address some Journey06 stuff Novus pointed out.  But I wanted this up first.

So, I have mentioned a few times that this February is going to be even worse than past Februarys in terms of RL getting in the way.  I have two presents – things I have been working on here and there when the muses for existing works just wouldn’t come – that I can finish up for the Super Bowl. I think you’ll get a kick out of both of them, but the rest of the month is just… oooh boy.  Normal dental/medical things, one not so normal medical thing (allergies change as you grow, who knew?) and losing five days entirely because I will be babysitting night and day the toddler as the parents head down to a wedding and Valentine’s Day in quick succession.

On top of that, there are several house-related things to get done (I want a hot shower, fucking damn it, shower/plumbing issues, and the floor in one of my rooms needs a few new floorboards) and then there are a few patreon/story related things I have been putting off.  This whole Royal Road thing… yeah, gonna need to do something about that, if I can, finally.  And then there’s the need to really start cross-cultivating between Ao3 and fanfic, see if I can finally figure out how to add colors and such to Bhaalson Remodel on Ao3. 

Oh, and rewriting some of the Harry/Ahkenaten fight because I didn’t like how it ended, and getting that posted over on fanfic. Just a lot of maintenance on the fic front and Real Life front.

With all that said, there will only be two polls this month.  One Ranma, one HP.  HOWEVER there is a difference here with the HP poll. The Ranma poll will be between Effect and Stallion as usual, because I think that I can keep those chapters down to at max, 27,000 words. 

The HP poll, which you will find here, will be made of those HP stories I feel I could keep under 22,000 words.  And yes, that includes Fate, which I just posted, and not Magic, Bhaalson or FILFy.  Even my bare outline for Bhaalson tells me it’ll be at least 30,000, and there’s so much editing/formatting needed in that fic it adds on more time. FILFy, I can’t remember even once being accurate about how big a chapter in that work will be, and Magic… yeah, that isn’t happening either. 

Now, you ask, what about King of Champions or Death’s Avenger?  Death’s Avenger is probably going to be around 35,000 at least.  I have a lot of Tyrande stuff in that chapter, then Harry, Versera and Tyrande stuff, along with some Air Elemental type worldbuilding before putting the fic on hiatus to do some long term planning.  King of Champions, is somewhat similar, but closer to 30,000. There are a a few world building things that will be happening in that fic that aren’t actually in the current summary, something I will change in the summary for March.    

So, that leaves just Fate of all the HP choices. But since I won’t have a HP poll in March to work on FILFy, I felt I needed to add something in.  There’s going off the rails, which was a recent HP/SW crossover a lot of people liked, but… I’m already writing a blurb for that fic for the Super Bowl. There. You know at least one of the gifts you all are getting.

So that brings me to Harry Sawyer and the Kuroinu/HP crossover teaser chapters.  Those are stories I feel I could get out a full chapter out for you all, my Patrons, even if they are fics that won’t reappear until after FILFy is done. 

For those who don’t know what those are, I urge you to use the Teaser Chapter tab to use these links to look them up, as you won’t have any idea about what is leading up to the summaries below.

Harry Sawyer | Patreon                                        HP/Kuroinu concept. | Patreon

And before anyone asks, I was asked to about Kuroinu and pointed to several really good fics that cross over into it before learning about the original.  For the sake of your souls, do not look into the original. Japan can produce some horrific, horrible shit.  That is all.

So why the Kuroinu crossover instead of some of the other story ideas?  I’ve already written what is essentially significant portions of the first two chapters of that fic. So I would be essentially just adding 20-25,000 words to cover all of year one and year two at Hogwarts.

  … I might have also found another decent Kuroinu fic over on AO3 and it got me thinking.  Not that kind of fic, pervs.

Now, with that out of the way, here’s the HP poll:

Fate Touched in Middle Earth – HP/Tolkien Crossover: While Harry and the Stonefoot house fought on one front, Thorin and his army are tested in the fire of war on another. Saruman and humans being there limit some things he can do, but help in other ways, and Thorin leads the army through a series of sharp, brutal battles, smashing two different armies before linking up with the army from his wife’s hold.  This leads him into another battle just as Harry reaches Blacklocks land, learning this in a somewhat regrettable friendly fire moment.  As Thorin plots, Harry catches up with the cavalry-based army just as it charges into battle with Thorin’s army.  Harry’s arrival and magic prompts Saruman to put forth his own strength, and the two of them work to save the day, letting the dwarven host break contact and pull away.   Harry reunites with his friend and speaks with Saruman, with Harry giving away more than he should.  Another battle occurs, matching Thorin against the enemy Lord Militant of this front.  Back and forth the battle goes, pitting Easterling discipline and numbers against dwarven ingenuity and grit as the war continues.

Harry Sawyer – HP ONLY fic:  The winds and waves make trouble for Harry again, but Harry hand’s it better this time, crossing the Channel to France, and deciding to hug the coast for a time.  At one point this puts him in an area he really shouldn’t be where he meets a very intrigued woman on vacation. Narcissa Malfoy is in France for some ‘me time’ only to have her sunning interrupted by a surprising young man. Her Slytherin mind rearing its head, she decides to manipulate him a little bit while learning more about what he can do, being very careful not to alienate him, merely setting the groundwork, and offering what help she can, playing the long game. After a day with his new acquaintance, Narcissa helps him get away before his arrival is noticed by the Aurors.  Two adventures at sea follow, with Harry wounding himself at one point, only to discover more about his magical abilities.  Hugging the coastline still, Harry stops in to buy food in Spain, meeting a young man out on his own, the two becoming somewhat friendly before Harry moves on, heading into Portugal, leaving behind another attempt by Dumbledore to discover his presence while back in England, Narcissa’s plotting runs into issues, and she decides on another long term investment.

HP/Kuroinu crossover (Will be named in the chapter if it wins) – With the knowledge that he’s magical, there is magic out there and that elves are certainly real, Harry finds the magical world somewhat disappointing as he goes to Hogwarts for his first year until he starts making friends, which makes it all worth it.  His friendship with Ron Weasley comes and goes as Harry discovers more of his personality, but Hermione, despite some scholastic rivalry seems set to stay, helped with along with a certain trollish issue.  Self-study and exploration pull Harry away from useless classes, leading him to find out a few interesting things about Hogwarts before an adventure near the end of the year lands his mind in the same realm he met Celestine, only to meet someone entirely new.  Harry’s second year starts far worse, but exercise and somewhat better living over the summer have him a little happier despite Dobby trying to make trouble for him. Second year goes even worse in terms of some of his classes, but with Hermione and a new friend, Harry perseveres, growing and becoming more friendly with many in the Lions Den even as the rest of the school turns on him for a very stupid reason. That ends after yet another larger adventure, during which Harry kills a large snake for the affront of hurting Hermione, and once mores meets Celestine, being given a task for his next summer at the Durzkaban.   

Hmm… I don’t have a preference in the Ranma poll. I… might vote for Harry Sawyer? The magic school I’ve been creating for Harry there is fun. On the other hand, the HP/Kuroniu crossover will be a lot of fun down the line, and if I write this teaser chapter that’s one step closer to that if I pick it up while FILFy is done… hmm…  One of the two, i think, because I did just update Fate.

(REMEMBER FOLKS, if you saw a lore error or a continuity issue in the latest chapter, you have until tonight to tell me and i can correct them before posting the fic over on fanfic.

This fic will end on the ninth.  I figure that since two of these choices will be Patron only, it makes sense to end it sooner. 

The Ranma poll will be up later tonight.  I want to hop on Climbing and get that up first, but I will be out for most of the afternoon and evening.