Death is but the Next Great Adventure

Not an Update! (AUTHOR'S NOTE)

Hello everybody! I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. The feedback for both that and the other HP story I posted recently have been very positive and encouraging. I just wanted to speak to you briefly about something that came up in these last few chapters. I have always been very open to criticism, it is important and most of the criticism I get is very helpful and genuine and I appreciate it very much. However, I have recently gotten some comments that are not so helpful. There have thankfully been very few in comparison to all the good and positivety you guys have shared with me, but I do wish to address this issue before moving forward with the story.

While I understand that I don't always write what you want me to, please understand it is impossible to write as a reader. Try as we may to anticipate how certain things will come off, I will only ever know how something will be received after I post it. Also, I have been writing this story for over two years. It is something I love and it has allowed me to connect with so many wonderful people who share my love for the Harry Potter world. However, I've never beta-ed this story, and I'm not always at my peak when writing each chapter. I'm not perfect, I forget details, my mood or circumstances can affect how I write a character from chapter to chapter, and the points I'm trying to convey sometimes completely miss their mark.

Understand that, I did not write this story for money, or recognition, or gratitude. I wrote it for myself because writing is something I love and always will love, and I posted it because I hoped that it might make someone's day a little less troublesome or tedious if they had something to entertain them.

I get that you may be annoyed by the choices I make with plot lines and characters, but that does not mean I welcome being berated and called an 'idiot' or 'moron' or being told I know nothing about writing just because the lenses we write and read through are not the same. We are all on different paths in our writing and creativity. We all have different levels of experience and education. What you find to be the ideal writing style likely isn't what I look for in writing.

To address the recent chapters and some of the feedback I have received (I'm talking about the ones who were confused, frustrated, or simply just concerned with the direction of the story, not those who came off as antagonistic) I would like to talk with you as the author of this story quick. From the very beginning, this story has been about connection and people. One of the biggest themes of this story is the choice to empathize and be apart of the world instead of just adjacent. Harry starts off as cold, detached, and apathetic; and while he will always remain rather aloof, passive, and a bit on the chilly side of things, over the years he has been developing and growing as a person. He genuinely cares about those around him and has been actively trying to reclaim a bit of normality and a healthy psychology. Harry is not one-dimensional, he is complex, he has emotions, he's still young and he is entitled to feel anger and joy and love and fear. He's allowed to make mistakes and be irrational. We all are. It's what makes us human and what makes us better than the alternative.

So, yes, Harry will get angry, he will say and do things that are not the wisest, he will not always have the answers--not even Death is omnipotent. It doesn't mean he's 'turning into a dumb Gryffindor,' it means he's a person. And, yes, he cares about the other students at Hogwarts because he has Never been alright with the harm of children. It was never my intention to lead anyone to believe that Harry doesn't feel empathy or compassion for other people. He sometimes struggles with it, but he has always made an effort to be better and not allow himself to completely detach. While, resilience is important, it is not the ideal. It is not the best thing to not feel anything. I have struggled a lot over the years with this exact thing; because not feeling is easy, but it destroys relationships and makes you feel like you're watching life, not living it. It doesn't make you 'more Slytherin' to dissociate and compartmentalize, or 'more Gryffindor' to allow your emotions to guide you no matter the consequences. I just earlier read an article on the validity of Hagrid being a Slytherin, and nobody is more emotional than that oaf! Life is about balance, and putting yourself too firmly on one side or the other only keeps you from enjoying it to the fullest.

It does not make you weak to feel, or to be effected by things. I see a lot of fanworks that look at the original canon content and demonize optimism and trust and faith. I hoped that my story would be different in that I took Harry, started him off as jaded, detached, and pessimistic, and then had his main character-arch be his slow healing into accepting himself and learning to trust and enjoy life without negativity. Instead of going from the more naive and bright Harry, into the broken and angry man. While stories like those are very entertaining--I've written stories like that!--I think we need to also remember that this isn't applicable to real life and one should not be glorified over the other.

Look, I know I can ramble and this is getting very long-winded already, but my main point is: if you do not like to read my story, if it frustrates you, if it angers you, then I ask you either quietly give me another chance, or you leave. I like the way a write. And though I don't know how I will write a year—or ten years—from now, I am comfortable in my writing style right now. So, while it is hurtful to be berated, I do not let it break my confidence in my writing. But, I am not the only writer on this platform and there are many out there who are new to writing in this way or are trying out styles to see what fits them and damaging someone's creative self-esteem can be harrowing. I ask that you always respect those who take the time, the effort, and the courage to write and post it on the internet without any sort of compensation in return. You gain nothing from your barbed words, but everything from what you say and do to build someone up.

I've always tried to refrain from saying too much in the notes or in my replies to comments so as not to push my own opinions of you guys, but these are things I've been wanting to address for a long time and if you've come this far in the story, and yet you still only see this as a work about how Harry is better and superior to everyone else and they should all 'bow down or be slaughtered for their insolence' then I felt I needed to step in and say it most certainly isn't. There are dark themes and concepts in this story, but overall it is fairly optimistic. So, no, he's not going to gut Umbridge like a pig in front of the whole school and dance around her remains, he's not going to take over the world and become the next dark lord. He's going to drink his honey tea, do what he can, and love the absolute shite out of Tom.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful day, that you love and appreciate those who are in your life, and that you create without fear, because the world will only ever see itself through your eyes if you show them. I will get back to working on the next chapter soon and I am always so grateful to have you wonderful folks around to ready my stuff!

-Pleasant Readings!

From Yours truly, The ObsidianQuill.