So I was bored one day, and found this site. I'm glad I did. I mainly look at the Fire Emblem fanfictions here, but I'm also interested in Final Fantasy (3), Metroid, and Zelda, as far as story-heavy games go. For now, I might just read fics, but in the future, I'll probably try my hand at writing some...

Some people may think that I have an overprecise view of what a good fanfiction is. Most of this is just personal preference, so take it with a grain of salt. First of all, your fanfiction should explain something in the game, or fill a hole. I don't care about the adventures of some random minor character if they're totally unrelated to the story, but if they tie into the events of the main show/game/whatever, I'll be interested. Your story might elaborate on an established detail, it could provide some backstory, or possibly act as an epilogue. I also don't really like original characters in fanfictions. Obviously, not all characters have to be taken from the original work, but I don't like it when OCs are too central. If I want to read an original work (which I only ever do when it's highly recommended, I like it inside the box), I'll go a library. Even if your OCs are in the original work's universe and tie into the story, I probably won't read unless there are characters from the original work in there. Characters are the main part of a story, for me. They also need to stay in character most of the time. So you think Link is a womanizer? That might be good in a humorous oneshot, but in a deeper fiction, you might want to stay closer to the game's portrayal of our Hylian hero. Speaking of Link, I think that he is the primary reason that most Zelda fanfics can't follow the previous rule... since he doesn't talk (and, no, the two lines in "The Adventure of Link" don't count...) . It's hard to what a character is like if they don't talk, and when you don't know a character's personality, you can't portray him or her well. A Zelda fanfic could work well if Link was cut out of the story (difficult to do), or if Link had few to no lines. Putting the story from Link's point of view would be another cool idea. On the other hand, I think Fire Emblem fics work very well. Since there are so many well developed characters, there are lots of opportunities to 'ship, come up with some character history, or elaborate on established details. Making a story about a game that doesn't need/have/want one is also silly. For example, while there are many things that could be explained in a game like Super Smash Bros. Brawl (such as how the characters all got in the same universe), they are better left unexplained, sort of like Hobbes. I also dislike crossovers...

If your fic can follow these guidelines, and is well written, then please, let me know where I can read it!