jay21317 posted a comment on Tuesday 9th December 2014 11:41am for Chapter the last

I had a blast reading this, I do wonder about the mundane magic ritual Harry was going to do for the wedding, and how that would have worked out.

Kokopelli replied:

He used the BCP vows (wedding service) as magical, rather than mundane vows.

takon65 posted a comment on Monday 8th December 2014 11:36am for Chapter the last

Baron Greengrass,

For my family, "The Great War" was the American Civil War also known as "The War of Yankee Agression." That was my great-grandfather's war. My grandfather served with you in what he hoped would be, "The War that would end all Wars". That wasn't meant to be, so my father served in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.

Was the First World War a combination Magical/Muggle conflict as the Second one was? If so, did you serve in the Muggle or Magical Armed Forces. Would you please tell us a story of your service?

Thank you.

Kokopelli replied:

Malcolm, here.

To the best of my knowledge there were no Greengrass family members in the American War between the States, but there were Greengrasses in Canada at the time, so I might be wrong on that assumption.

All wars are stupid, the Great War being more stupid than most.   I was the second son, not obviously in line to succeed my father, the Baron, but it was clear to all that I had a great affinity to Earth magic, while my older brother did not.   My brother, full of piss and vinegar took a commission in His Majesties’ army at the beginning of the war.   As was the custom, men of noble birth were given great consideration (read that rubber stamped) for Officer Commissions, especially if they had any military experience.   My brother had played at the militia, and thus considered that serving King and Country necessitated embracing the war.   Shortly after my father got over the shock of my brother accepting a commission, I persuaded my father that I should enlist as well.   My affinity for Earth magic was quite pronounced, so I knew that I would not be a soldier.   Instead I worked for most of the war as a stretcher bearer and ambulance driver.   There were no medics as we know them now, but the stretcher bearers were given a modicum of training and learned all they could from the nurses and doctors.   When I think of the transfusions I assisted with in the most primitive of conditions, I’m now slightly horrified.

The Magical involvement in the Great War was different from the war that followed.   Many of the smaller Muggle governments were actually puppets of the magical kingdoms, but on the whole it was the Muggle treaties that triggered each country throwing themselves into the abyss of war.

My brother was blinded in a gas attack, went back to England where he was healed by proper magical medical care, and returned to battle, where he was lost when his position was overrun by one of the few successful German advances during the trench wars in 1916.

It’s amazing, really what Episkey will do for many, many wounds.   It is even more amazing what Reparo will do in keeping an ambulance running.  I became quite popular with many of the units at the front.   The officers of those units sometimes went to great lengths to insure that my unit was supporting theirs, including a bidding war with my superiors which kept my commander well provisioned in whiskey and tinned beef.  

I made many friends during the war, lost many friends during the war, and resolved to do what I could to keep my family from participating in any more wars.

enbrel posted a comment on Sunday 7th December 2014 3:19pm for Chapter the last

It was a very good story, thank you.

It reminded me of another good story with Daphne Greengrass, "Beltane Child" from White Angel of Auralon on fanfiction ( https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9415372/1/Beltane-Child ), where Harry and Daphne are brought together by "accident" (though the circumstance are very different).

Thanks again

Kokopelli replied:

Thanks for your kind words.

heathw posted a comment on Saturday 6th December 2014 2:59am for Chapter the last

Truly, this deserves much comment, but it is very late and I am very tired. Let me at least say, this story is truly magnificent.

Kokopelli replied:

Thanks for your kind words.

tcl7189 posted a comment on Tuesday 2nd December 2014 6:40am for Chapter the last

Great ride...loved it from the start!!

Kokopelli replied:

Thanks, I came to remember what I liked about writing doing this story.

 

 

Dale Dietzman posted a comment on Saturday 29th November 2014 4:32pm for Chapter the last

Hi. I am one of those who seldom reviews unless I really, really like a story, or unless I can help fix a problem. In this case, it is the first. The second does enter in, but I don't expect you to make changes. Because I really like your work, and especially THIS story, i will point our one mistake which is so important to the plot that it would be too much work to correct. You place the Earldom of Marr in Scotland, but you have the locals call Lord Greengrass "the Baron" and Daphne is the prospective "Baroness". Yet this is Scotland, (sassenach and all that). and Scotland has no Barons (that is an English title). Scotland has Thanes. When they are tossing "Thane of this" and "Thane of that" around in MacBeth, those are Baronies with much land and many vassles. But this is too embedded a plot point with too many references to change, even for accuracy. And frankly, I don't even know what the feminine form of Thane is. Loved the story. Winced at every Baron/Baroness.

Kokopelli replied:

Well, Wikipedia says that Scotland does have baronies and barons, but it's not like it is/was south of the border.  Actually, the whole Baron gig is an homage to Prattchett's Tiffany Aching stories, set in the Chalk, which are more or less the Discworld version of the Scottish Highlands.  I'm American, through and through, so I write at my peril when I set things in foreign (to me) locations.

Glad you liked the story.

HP-DG-SB posted a comment on Thursday 27th November 2014 5:19pm for Chapter the last

This was a fantastic story. I really enjoyed reading it. Thank you for taking the time to write this. It was a refreshing take on the HP/Daphne pairing. I had seen something of a similar nature involving Scotland and highlander clan themes in a story with an HP/Morag MacDougal story written by Itsme66 on fanfiction.net. There's a lot of themes mentioned that I don't understand well, but I find them very fascinating so I always enjoy the stories that use them when I run across them.

Your version of Daphne was new and refreshing and I think you nailed Harry pretty well too. A lot of people like to make him out to know everything about relationships and whatnot without anykind of explanations as to how that happened, so you going the way you did was fantastic and original. Most of the other important characters were fleshed out well too, so your story for the main characters was well supported by the rest of the characters in it. Again, a lot of people sorta skip the secondary characters when fleshing out the stories, so it was another point in favour for your story.

I read a few of Jeconais' stories and he mentions you as a beta reader often so I finally decided to check and see if I could find anything interesting in your posted stories. I'm very glad I did. I will most likely keep looking at some of you other stories now to see what else I can find in there. Great job with this story.

HP-DG-SB

Kokopelli replied:

I've been working with Jeconais for years, he wrote some of the dialog in this story, and I've written scenes in his.  

Harry really is clueless about a lot of things, which is one of the things I was exploring in this story.

Mathew McCrillis posted a comment on Tuesday 25th November 2014 3:14am for Chapter the last

Thank you for sharing this tale with all of us!

Cheers~!

Kokopelli replied:

thanks for your kind words

Patches posted a comment on Monday 24th November 2014 2:55pm for Chapter the last

I have really enjoyed this story. The ups and downs of their courtship (best word I could think of) was really realistic. The confrontation with Astoria in the barn was unexpected. I'm glad your worked it out the way you did. I really enjoyed the way Harry neutralized "Lucky". Making him use a "nickname" like that was really good punnishment for the arogant jerk. The way that Harry and Daphne made her an earth witch was excellent. The proof in the old rose bushes was really an excellent touch. I enjoy all of your stories and especially all the unique details that are different in each story. Thanks again for writing. I look forward to whatever you decide to write next. Sincerely, Patches

Kokopelli replied:

Yes, it was a courtship story.  

In my early days of fanfic writing, I published pretty much as I wrote the story.  Now I try to more or less finish the story and then publish.  I'm deliberately trying to write shorter stuff, so sometimes I don't explore a lot of things.

The earth witch gig (with the dirt on the sheets) was in the works from the very beginning of the story.

steveh11 posted a comment on Monday 24th November 2014 2:52pm for Chapter the last

Absolutely superb story. Many thanks for writing it.

I find I now have two favourite stories on here: this and "White Knight, Grey Queen" by Jeconais. There are obvious parallels between the two, so it seems I have a 'type'. ;-)

Please don't stop writing. I enjoy reading too much!

Steve.

Kokopelli replied:

I'll be hanged if I can figure out the parallels with White Knight-Grey Queen and this story, other than Jeconais and I both had something to do with the stories.

Aaran St Vines posted a comment on Sunday 23rd November 2014 6:14pm for Chapter the last

Great handling of Lucius. I wish we could see Draco dealt with at least as satisfactorily.

Very well created and developed tale.

Thanks for writing!

Kokopelli replied:

Draco is of no use to Harry, therefore he'll be ignored.

Thanks for reading!

reseh posted a comment on Sunday 23rd November 2014 12:10pm for Chapter the last

I enjoyed this story. I thought it moved at a very good pace. I liked the interactions between Daphne and Hermione. I really enjoyed this last chapter with the insights to the Greengrass grimorie. I think it would be interesting to see what could manifest between the Greengrass powers and Neville's herbology prowess. All in all, a really great story to read. Thanks for sharing!

Kokopelli replied:

I suspect that Neville may get the "Friends and Family" rate.

LittleTom45 posted a comment on Saturday 22nd November 2014 11:26pm for Chapter the last

Thank you. It was a wonderful story and I truely enjoyed it.

Kokopelli replied:

You're quite welcome.

BJH posted a comment on Saturday 22nd November 2014 10:31pm for Chapter the last

Sorry, no questions here but I did greatly enjoy the story.

Actually, I do have one question: does Hermione become Headmistress? Somehow, I can't imagine Neville not wanting kids so I suppose that might have been an issue.

BJH

Kokopelli replied:

Not yet, but she's on track.

Noble Korhedron posted a comment on Saturday 22nd November 2014 6:55pm for Chapter the last

Great story, pity it's over.... :-(

Kokopelli replied:

Yeah, well, family, job, hobby - hmmm, which will take priority?

sanbeegoldiewhitey posted a comment on Saturday 22nd November 2014 3:20pm for Chapter the last

No, happy is not good. Happy is GREAT! Happy makes me read the story again and again. I wish I can give you a review whenever I read this story. I turned to this story after I was disappointed by your friend, Jeconais' concluding chapter of Blue Steel. That story was very well-written but it did not make me happy. I am not a critic, just a reader who seeks enjoyment from writers like you. In fairness to Jeconais, I derived so much happiness from his Harry/Daphne, Harry /Gabrielle and even one Harry/Cho stories. I try to avoid writers who favor realism because their stories make me sad. If I want realism, I will watch the news where there is always sadness. So thank you for this wonderful story that is almost like a relaxant pill to me. I enjoyed the part where Harry effectively "neutered" Lucius. But my favorite part was Daphne feeling Harry's magic in the garden. She was so happy to feel the proof that Harry really loves her. And lastly, poor Astoria. Extraordinarily beautiful and unmarried yet. Is she still in a competitive mood and wants a husband that can compare favorably with her brother-in-law? Thank you very much again.

Kokopelli replied:

I'm glad that I could bring you some pleasure with my storytelling.

Yes, the moment in the garden is really magical, in all senses of the word.

 

Part of the reason why Harry never told her that he loved her was that he thought that she thought that he should say that.

zonianx posted a comment on Saturday 22nd November 2014 10:47am for Chapter the last

This was a nice story. I did want to let you know that I liked the story and that I appreciated the time and effort that you put into this.

Kokopelli replied:

Thanks for reading and providing feedback.

genkitty posted a comment on Saturday 22nd November 2014 9:20am for Chapter the last

I really enjoyed this story. Thank you for writing and posting it.

Kokopelli replied:

Thanks for reading, and reviewing.

Alun Lewis posted a comment on Saturday 22nd November 2014 4:14am for Chapter the last

So...Harry did find out about Daphne and Hermione's conversation, eh? His reaction was happily restrained but fitting...even if Hermione is right about his desire to having more than one child, making that kind of decision based on believing herself the best judge is an established track record and takes the choice out of Harry's hands.

Still, all in all, I'm thrilled about how things turned out and everyone who deserved a happy ending got one, even someone with a mixed karma balance sheet like Ron. Amazing work!

Kokopelli replied:

Harry's point isn't about what Hermione thought, it was about what Daphne did, which is go behind his back (which wasn't too bad) and then attempt to make the decision without Harry's input (which was bad).

Thanks for reading.

Wolfric posted a comment on Saturday 22nd November 2014 4:00am for Chapter the last

Congratulations on finishing your fine story. It has been wonderful to hear from you again. If you get the impulse to write another story, please indulge it. I quite like to read them. Thanks for writing. W.

Kokopelli replied:

Thanks for reading.