Frequently Asked Questions

Question: How do you make your covers?
I go on Google and try to find a picture that fits the mood I'm going for with the cover (though I make sure the photo is public domain!). Then, basically, I use a couple of different apps:
• I have FontCandy for the fonts. I like that one because you can download any free font onto the app from online. It's free, though if you pay a dollar or two (it's been a while so I don't remember) you can get the premium version, which unlocks all the fonts and takes the FontCandy watermark off. I did that and have no regrets, but even the free version is vey nice!
• I use Picsart for filters and little technical details. It's got a lot of cool, weird things. Like the cover of The Riddle? A picture of Ginny with one of the strange filters this app has. I 100% approve.
• A lot of the pictures I use are actually two pictures spliced together. To do that, I use SplitPic Pro (premium again, because of the watermark; this one only cost like a dollar).

How did you get so many followers?
Honestly no clue. I'm not very active outside of my own works. I never spent much time promoting this account or my fanfictions. I think it's just the fact that I've had this account since November of 2014, and I've been posting regularly since early 2015.

Why is you Next Gen fanfic not like canon?
Two things coming into play here! One, Star of Gryffindor was actually started about a year before Cursed Child came out. I didn't know what Houses people belonged in, the exact ages of different characters beyond Albus, Scorpius, and Rose, and things like that. I did as well as I could with the information I had. Two, there are a couple of things I knowingly changed to fit better with my story, such as having dementors in Azkaban and having Harry working as the DADA teacher. I do my best to acknowledge that I changed something when I do, but sometimes it's evident how and why I changed something that was canon.

Can you look at my book or fanfiction?
I would honestly love to, really. However, I don't always have a lot of time. I can't always check out a book, especially if it's long. I'm always willing to give help or advice, though, if you have a specific question not covered in my guide!
By the way, I'm really sorry to all the people I've told I would read their works only to get too busy or forget. If I say I will, though, I really mean it, and you are definitely allowed to annoy me until I do if I forget.

What's your real name?
You can call me Elli, which is short for my real name! Maybe you'll find out someday in the distant future when my name is on the cover of a published book.

Why do you write fanfiction?
I started writing fanfiction because I thought of some cute headcanons of a crack ship and couldn't find any fanfics about it (Peeta and Clove? Please tell me no one remembers that fanfiction). I kept writing fanfiction because I fell in love with the characters from The Hunger Games, and later with the world from Harry Potter. I write fanfiction now for a couple of reasons. I'm not satisfied with the canon material in some areas, and I've fallen deeply in love with my own characters. More than that, though, I love my fanbase. To be completely honest, I might've given up long ago if I hadn't had incredibly loyal readers, whose excitement has kept me excited, as well.

Have you ever written anything original?
I have the beginnings of one or two original works on this account, and they're stories that I probably won't finish because they were written for contests or I lost motivation. So I suppose I haven't. However, I'm currently working on a huge project: turning Star of Gryffindor into something entirely mine. And I probably won't post that on this website, because I would really like to get it published.

If that project gets published someday, would you delete Star of Gryffindor?
That's a question I've been debating for a long time. Obviously, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, but I don't think I will. Of course, my goal is that my world would be unrecognizable from the Harry Potter one. The plot and characters would be changed so drastically because of this that I don't think I'll need to. I also couldn't bear to do that, if I'm being completely honest.

Do you have any social media?
I do have an Instagram for this account! Go check out smile_its_elli! I also use google hangouts with a few 抖阴社区 users, if any of you use that. If you have a particular reason you need to contact me, you can message me on Insta or dm me here and I'll give you my email.

How old are you?
In January of 2018, I turned 18! Starting college in the fall of 2018!

How often do you update?
The Star of Gryffindor series tends to be weekly (biweekly only if I'm really struggling with a chapter or weighed down by schoolwork). The Ultimate Guide is more sporadic, because I tend to write several of those chapters at once, in spurts, and it depends on how much free time I have. The Riddle hasn't been updated in about a year, but I'm trying to get to once a month with it. Those are the only works I am updating anymore.

Since you work at Chick-fil-A, do you actually say my pleasure all the time?
Out in the real world, I sure as heck do. I'm a little better at catching myself online, but it's become reflexive, honestly.