Hello and welcome to my profile! Nothing much to say, really. I'll post updates on my stories here, advice for other authors based on what I've read so far, things like that. I like video games, am trying to get a degree in engineering (not doing too well at the moment but oh well), and I've recently taken an interest in writing and drawing, hence this account.

Advice for fellow authors: First off, grammar is not only important, it is a writer's religion. No seriously, I have seen way too many potentially great stories get wrecked by sloppy grammar. Proofreading your work at least once or twice can solve most of these problems, and having someone read your work before you post it will only help even more. Plus, they just might have some good ideas for you. If you are not very familiar with the English language and you are writing to practice it, you can always have someone more proficient grammar check it for you, and that will only help you learn the language. On a side note, I salute those of you learning more than one language, I only know a few words in Spanish, Portuguese, and German so you have me beat!

Secondly, don't rush the story. This is the other big story killer out there. The reader can't see into your head, they can only imagine what you write down, so it pays to take some time and flush out the story. Describe the scenery, give the characters some depth, and above all else make sure to clearly note scene changes, especially time skips and perspective changes and the like. Even something as simple as a line or a couple extra spaces will do the trick and your readers will thank you for it. The best way to get what I mean is to read other stories. I particularly recommend bigger stories, with a ratio of about 2000 words per chapter and a total of about 30000 words or more.

Finally, on the subject of romance, don't rush it. A strong romance depends on the characters and the bond they develop. Just like in the real world, love takes time, effort, and compromise to truly bloom. If you rush the romance, it feels forced and the reader won't be emotionally invested in the characters or their relationship. Take a look at the story "Artificial Sweetener" in my favorites. This story does a much better job of explaining what I mean and it's great inspiration for writing romances. Even if you don't like Pearlshipping (Satoshi&Hikari from the Pokemon anime if you didn't know) I encourage you to give it a read. As far as sexuality goes, that's up to you. The only thing I can say is keep it realistic.

I'll end this with two random bits of advice. If you are going to use an established character but write them out of character, make sure it's justified. For example, if you want Ash, who's normally happy and innocent, to be a dark, bad-ass anti-hero, make him go through some event that causes that change, or make an alternate universe story where he grows up in a Mad Max world or something. Don't make a character O.O.C. just for the heck of it, and don't get too carried away, otherwise what's the point of using that character in the first place? This last one is just for Pokemon writers but same concept applies to everyone: Don't write an overused cliche' unless you are going to do something to make it unique. There are way too many stories where Ash gets betrayed by his friends (usually for very unrealistic reasons) and comes back years later as some kind of super trainer. It's a fun concept but it's been used to death and is usually written badly. The same goes for romance stories where Ash, Gary, Drew, and Paul somehow (again usually in an unrealistic way) start dating Misty, Leaf, May, and Dawn respectively. This combination of shippings has been done to death and is usually very poorly written. Most readers won't give such stories the time of day at this point so it just isn't worth the time.

Story Updates: Lord of the Masks: A Legend of Zelda and Lord of the Rings crossover, with steampunk elements because why not? Prologue is finished, main story outlined.
Concepts: A sequel to Lord of the Masks based on Wind Waker and Twilight Princess

On Romantic Pairings (also called shippings): Since I'm sure you Pokemon fans out there are dying to know, here's my take on shippings (Pokemon Only)
Pearlshipping- This is my favorite pairing overall, mainly because I like the close bond Ash and Dawn (or Satoshi and Hikari if you prefer) have and the way they act together in the anime. I like this both in the romantic sense and in the brotherly love sense, though I prefer the romantic take on it. That being said, I'll be the first to admit it's more brotherly in the anime itself, but they are 10 so romantic feelings would be rather odd, no?

Advanceshipping- While I'm not a huge fan, I still like this pairing. There's also plenty of good stories for it.

Contestshipping- I also like this one, though I slightly prefer Advanceshipping.

Pokeshipping- I used to support it back in the day, but this pairing is just too overused and because Pokeshipping's fanbase is so large the trolls and flamers in it's community are much more obvious. That and honestly, there are other characters that I feel are just better matches for both Ash and Misty. I don't hate it, but it's not my thing.

To save space, I don't support any of the other pairings for Dawn, though I am okay with Twinleafshipping and Cavaliershipping. I don't support any PokemonXhuman pairings, and I'm not into most homosexual shippings either. The exception to this is Palletshipping(AshXGary) and DawnXZoey or DawnXMay, which are all right.

For Misty I think Orangeshipping is the best match, though GaryXMisty also has a nice feel to it.

I'm only okay with CynthiaXAsh or CynthiaXDawn when Cynthia's age is closer to that of the other two. In the anime she is way too old to be interested in either of them.

Amourshipping is okay, but the way Serena acts in the anime is a bit creepy and obsessive, which turned me off on this one. Still alright though.

I'm indifferent to most other pairings.

Update: I recently got into Zelda stories and even put my Pokemon stories on the back burner to focus on one myself, so here's a quick bit on Zelda pairings for you romantics out there.

Zelink (ZeldaXLink): Depends on the story or game. It's decent overall, though a bit overused. As far as games go, it's practically canon in Skyward Sword, very likely in Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, and Minish Cap, pretty unlikely in Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask (ironic since the pairing is so popular for stories based on OoT), and borderline impossible in Twilight Princess. I haven't played other Zelda games and can't speak for them.

Telink (TetraXLink): Really just one version of Zelink, but easily my favorite of the bunch. They're a blast to write/read about with their love hate relationship and childish antics. It's just overall fun!

LinkXSheik: Male Sheik? Interesting but not my cup of tea. Female Sheik (not Zelda)? Also interesting, but not done nearly as often.

LinkXDark Link: Link and his own shadow? Eww no thanks. Same for any Four Swords Link with any other Four Swords Link. Link dating himself, if that isn't narcissistic(and creepy) I don't know what is. No offense to those who like these pairings but I'll pass.

LinkXSaria: This is a funny one. On the one hand Saria is older than Link, but on the other hand Link grows to be an adult Hylian while Saria stays a Kokiri (a race of child-like spirit beings or something) They also grew up together and are best friends. In OoT, it's pretty vague as to whether they just have an affectionate friendship or have deeper feelings so it's really in the eye of the beholder, and if they were attracted to eachother, well damn, talk about relationship challenges. It also depends on how you view the Kokiri race as so little is actually known. Are they immortal children (never actually says they are in the game as far as I know)? If so then why do they have genders at all, or romantic feelings (Mido is strongly implied to have a crush on Saria and his jealous of Link's friendship with her)? Or do they in fact age? Does any Hylian child who enters the forest become a Kokiri? If so then would that mean that if they left the forest they would age normally (the Kokiri can actually leave the forest as seen in OoT's ending cutscenes) like Link did? Wouldn't that also mean that Link was in fact a Kokiri the whole time (mind blown)? What about the whole Korok thing? Was that just magic transformation gone mad (like Link's mask transformations)? are they the Kokiri's true forms, or can the Kokiri just change their form on a whim? And this isn't even touching the whole bloodline of sages thing. So yeah, on the surface it's weird, but dig a little and it's easily the most unique pairing out there. Interesting to fool around with, so long as you avoid the pedophilia trap, cuz that's just nasty.

And that's a wrap. Hope you enjoy my stories (when they actually get posted) and I always welcome constructive criticism. Flaming and trolling won't work so don't waste your time, ha! Adios!