Hi, I am a Scientist with a fanfiction reading hobby. One of my New Year Resolutions is to begin posting some of my own fanfiction on this site. (Hope I succeed). I currently frequent the Harry Potter Fandom.

I believe that fanfiction allows us to explore the numerous what-ifs in the fantastic books / movies / TV shows and gives us an avenue to keep the stories alive in our hearts.

I find it strangely amusing that the most negatively-toned reviews are almost always posted by those who have not yet published on this site. To all those whose stories I review / comment upon - if I forgot to add it in - I absolutely loved your story. Because if I did not like it, I would not have read it let alone review it :-) (Although, there are scores of stories I liked but haven't gotten around to reviewing them... yet!)

I admit it is hypocritical of me: I enjoy Harry Potter fanfiction with Dumbledore/Weasley bashing but I cannot stand Hermione bashing especially if the character does not redeem itself by the time the story ends. I guess I have a soft spot for bookworms.

I am at heart a HHr shipper (hey, he's the hero and she's the heroine of the story IMHO). I guess I just prefer stories where the hero and heroine act on an equal footing than stories where the hero's significant other is merely window dressing or just appears in scenes to give blazing looks. In a way, canon is a good thing... more fuel for fanfiction!

In fact, my default search setting for fanfiction is Harry Potter stories where Character (A) is Harry P and Character (B) is Hermione G. But I realize now that I miss dozens of excellent stories that way especially if a HHr story does not have Harry / Hermione as the two main characters. And I have found true gems even if they do not contain HHr romance. Hey, everyone has their tastes and we are fortunate to have such a large collection of HP fanfiction so as to cater to everyone's personal preferences.

August 2013 A random thought: I think that Severus Snape and Petunia Dursley deserve each other. Both hate one of Harry's parents, refuse to leave the past behind, and take it out on poor Harry.

October 2013 You know there are many a fanfiction with Marauders apologizing to Snape for their actions during Hogwarts. But what about Snape apologizing? After all you cannot clap with one hand... I find it hard to believe that Snape (going from the way he acted in his adulthood) was a defenseless lamb in his altercations as a Hogwarts student. Howsoever he was bullied, that does not give him the right to bully his students, especially Harry Potter. We only see Snape's memories and the canon is very clear about the fact that he is biased.. who is to say his memories only showed one side?

March 2015 I have read a few stories where Harry is raised by someone other than the Dursleys. When it is by the parents of one of his classmates, I have seen a pattern. Whenever it is someone in the magical world like the Bones, Greengrass, or even the Weasleys, Harry almost always gets paired with the daughter from that House. But when it is in the muggle world (mostly Grangers), Harry and Hermione become instant siblings with no chance for a romance. Why this double standard? Also, Harry being raised by the Weasleys is quite impractical since they already have an unusually large number of children (No other child in Harry's generation has that many siblings), and are already economically stretched (evident by the state of their vault).

One other observation... I am realising after reading numerous fan fiction with Luna Lovegood's so-called ability to see what other people do not. She may be a gentle soul and be bullied terribly, but I think her tendency to blurt out "truths" with zero empathy (how it might affect others, for example reveal someone's secret in public) makes her sound either foolish / touched in the head or vindictive and cruel at worst. Just wanted to air it out :-)

September 2015 An observation and a personal opinion about Harry/Daphne pairings. Given the fact that she is just mentioned in passing once or twice in the books, Daphne Greengrass is pretty much a fanon concept / more of an Original Character (OC) / a blank slate. Therefore having strong opinions about her (either way) does not make much sense. Having said that, I noticed that the most common portrayal of the character Daphne Greengrass is as a cunning shrewd cold-blooded (often as a mask) 'Pure Blood Princess.' Sometimes she is a spoilt brat or condescending and arrogant especially towards Harry's friends. I just find it hard to believe that Harry Potter being puppetered his entire life would pair up with such a manipulative and controlling girl as Daphne is usually portrayed. Just venting... :)

March 2016 Another vent after reading tons of Harry-travels-back-in-time stories wherein he is extra nice to Snape... err Professor Snape. I have watched the movies and have re-read most of the books (especially Books 3, 5, 6 and 7 where Snape is mentioned / appears in the scenes). I simply do not understand why Harry Potter and a large number of fan fiction authors are so partial to such a dark character as Severus Snape, the Half Blood Prince. I recently read a story wherein the time traveling Harry is nice to Snape... sorry Professor Snape because he was his mother's best friend??!! Well with that logic, should not Harry Potter also be nice, respectful and subservient to Peter Pettigrew? In fact, I do not see much of a difference between the two characters Snape and Pettigrew. Look at the similarities: (1) Both were close friends to one of Harry's parents, (2) Both joined Voldemort and his Death Eaters, willingly (3) Both betrayed the Potters to the Dark Side (4) After the first war, both seek refuge in the bosom of the Light Side: Hogwarts / Weasley household (5) Both Snape and Pettigrew consider themselves blameless in their actions against Harry Potter (6) Both owe some sort of life debt to a Potter. (7) Despite the life debt angle (which is probably more fanon than canon), both seek to bring about the death of Harry Potter... I still think sending the Gryffindor sword inside a freezing lake was Snape's effort to kill Potter... and it was Snape's memories which lead Harry to essentially commit suicide in Book 7. The only major difference is that Snape was a Slytherin so he was more cunning and subtle in his wish to see the Potter line extinct. There! I feel so much better now!!