I'm a newbie fanfic writer still figuring this stuff out, but I'm trying. I am working on my first story, The Dogfather, and I hope to update it weekly.

Update 29/2/17: Yeah, no weekly updates. Honestly, school and life just got in the way. I know where the story is heading, but writing it is taking a while especially since I'm not at all happy with my writing.

4/5/17: Back to regular updates. The Dogfather will probably end up being 15 or 16 chapters long, and I hope to complete it over the next couple of weeks (but no promises).

21/5/17: The Dogfather is complete! Started a new fic called Professor Tufts.

27/5/17: Professor Tufts has shorter chapters, but is currently being updated daily. It's basically about raising Tom Riddle to be Mycroft Holmes instead of Jim Moriarty (kind of).

25/6/17: Professor Tufts is complete! The story was, I felt, dragging due to a lack of major conflict in the plot - it reads as more of 'This is what Tom did' and, honestly, there wasn't much of a plot. I do like it, and I am proud of myself for writing it, but don't read it expecting action or adventure.

07/09/18: Currently 40k into a new fic about the Potters leaving a muggle will and trustee for Harry - totally changes his childhood which impacts canon events.

05/10/18: I apologize that I haven't updated as much as I should - I've been writing as I post which means that when I get to a difficult part I have to slow down my updates. I do plan on finishing the solicitor story - I think it will end up being something like 20 chapters, and I'm currently writing chapter 16. I'm not sure if Year 2 will be a new story or if I will just continue this one.

So, pet peeve: When writers make a significant change in canon (i.e. having Lily accompany Harry as a ghost or introducing a magical child who recognizes Harry before 1991) but don't change canon events. Like, having ghost Lily talk to Dumbles about not sending Harry to Petunia, yet still doing so and conveniently not mentioning the Sirius/Peter mix up... So annoying mostly because if I wanted to read through the canon events I could read the original series, and most of the canon plotholes or idiocy plots happen due to the events of 1981. Harry would have been less likely to throw himself into danger or circumvent adult advice if he had trusted adults who love and care for him instead of the Dursleys, and said adults would have kept Dumble's mad schemes in check. I can't actually point out the laziness of changing fundamental elements of canon without bothering to veer away from canon events because people would call me a troll and start crying about how they post for others' enjoyment and don't want to see any criticism. Instead, I stop reading and get angry that what little I read added to the view count. I sometimes really wish there was a thumbs down button. My stories suck, I expect to receive criticism (that I will acknowledge but I won't change my stories because I already finished them and I'm too lazy to go back and fix them) which is nice because it says people were engaged enough to want to help me be better.

Fanfic prompts from RoseLilian:

1) SI as a muggle neighbour of the Dursleys'.

2) SI as Petunia Dursley (muggle, do not gradually develop magic) - you 'wake up' in her body the day HP arrives on your doorstep, with everything before being canon.

3) The Potters have a house elf who they order to hide away from them "until the Dark Lord is defeated." House-elf finds HP on Dursley doorstep, take it from there.

4) This may already exist, I'm not sure - Sherlock-HP crossover: Hermione is Mycroft Holmes, Ron is Greg Lestrade, Neville is Molly Hooper, Luna is Mrs. Hudson, Harry is John Watson, and Fred and George as Sherlock and Jim Moriarty. Setting is Hogwarts 1991-on, and they are all children with no memories of past lives or whatever, just similar personalities to their counterparts in Sherlock tv show. You can use James Potter and Sirius (or Peter Pettigrew) as Sherlock and Jim Moriarty, but can't change canon events before 1991 as Harry experiences them (so if you want Sirius to escape Azkaban before 1991, Harry can't meet him or know about him before 1991).

5) Tom Riddle goes back in time to raise himself.

Harry Potter Fanfic ideas I'm not fond of:

This is just stuff that makes it likely for me to abandon a fanfic as soon as I come across it. Others may not agree, but this is my profile so I don't care :D.

1) When Harry or another character have two or more animagus forms - I don't mind when Harry is a phoenix or dragon, but the point of the animagus transformation is to find the animal that most represents you. Having two animals is like being bipolar or having split personality issues - its a sign of mental or emotional instability, and most authors don't address it. If you are going to use multiple animals forms, address the mental health issues behind that.

2) HarryxHermione pairing - I'm also not a fan of HarryxGinny, but H/Hr is worse. Hermione (in the books) is pushy, somewhat closed-minded, and firmly believes that she is the be all and end all of knowledge (though this eases off slightly later on). Harry, while not an intellectual, would still find her need to constantly assert her mental superiority very annoying. Ron can get along with her because she is basically a cross between Molly and Percy Weasley and he's used to living with them.

3) Teacher/student pairings - just no, unless there is long-term time travel involved making them similar ages.

4) When Harry is super rich and is the heir to Gryffindor/Slytherin/Merlin and everyone in between. Yes, it is likely that Harry inherited money from people other than his parents, but some people just go over the top with it. I do like "Harry Potter Lord of the Swamp" by Dayja since it makes fun of that type of plot device.

5) Uber abuse stories - hear enough of them on the news. Also, Harry's magic would have either protected him or caused enough damage to draw attention - his magic has always been shown to be volatile.

6) When Luna is over the top ridiculous and acts as if she's forever stuck as a 4 year old. Luna is highly intelligent, and while Hermione is logical and clever, Luna's creativity and open-mindedness pushes her into genius territory. She's basically a non-sociopathic Holmes. The fact that some authors use her as a sort of comic relief or ridiculousness booster rubs me the wrong way.

7) Twin speak for Fred and George (also Gred and Forge, that was a one time joke told in book 1 or 2 get over it) - they don't go around taking turns saying two words each. They may finish each others sentences, but that's mostly the long ones and only when they're trying to mislead the listener.

8) Harry having a twin - if Harry had a twin, or another relative from his mum's side, he would not need to stay with the Dursley's. If there is an evil Dumbledore plot line, the author would need to come up with another excuse since Petunia only accepts him because of the need for blood wards and the minuscule amount of positive emotion she feels for her sister.

To a lesser extent:

8) Sadistic Harry - I've seen them done really well, I just like to think of Harry as the good guy.

9) Bad grammar - I understand language barriers/issues, but it's still annoying. It's really sad too because some of the storylines are awesome and creative and the writing style is good, it's just the grammar. Having said that, it is something my own writing suffers from, so if anyone notices it in my stories, please let me know.

10) Constant back and forth in timelines - too many flashbacks, or, in cases of time travel, keep showing what the people in the original present (the starting point of the time jump) are doing. It just annoys/frustrates me, but it's a personal preference issue.

11) Severitus or where Draco is a nice guy - Both characters are meant to show that being an unlikable person doesn't make you outright evil. Just like dumb lore shows that being wise doesn't give you all the answers. I do like stories where both are gits who realize that they're better off with Voldie dead.

I also don't like stories told in the first person, but that's not specific to HP fanfics.