"I don't want some Canada Cowboy winning the MVP award!" That came from most NBA players in 2006 when Steve Nash was nominated for league MVP. For Nash, he did end up winning the award, becoming one of nine very special players to win it back-to-back. And thats where my pen name came from; after all, there are doubters across the world, so shouldn't life be about overcoming those odds and trying to acheieve something special, and in essence, feeling good about doing it?

As for writing, I would just like to say that I am not restricted to any genre or idea. My inspiration comes from all over the place and I will write stories from many different shows/games/books. Sometimes it's because I have an idea that works well in a certain situation, sometimes it's because I felt the canonical sequence should be improved, and sometimes it's because of challenges from friends. Don't be surprised if my works reach across many different fandoms, because that's just how my strange, twisted little mind works (evil laughter).

Some info about myself:

Residence: Alberta, Canada

Gender: Male (think: Cowboy not Cowgirl)

Interests: Reading, writing, watching sports games, environmental law (I have aspirations of becoming a lawyer)

Favourites:

Book: Surviving Galeras by Stan Williams, the Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper

Video games: Madden NFL franchise, Super Smash Brothers (the first one, Melee, and Brawl), Mario Baseball, Tales of Symphonia

TV Shows: CSI: Las Vegas, Mike Duffy Live, most NHL games involving the Calgary Flames, Walking with Dinosaurs, Mayday (Air Crash Investigation), Law & Order

Movies: Jurassic Park, Chronicles of Narnia, Superman Returns, most works by Hayao Miyazaki

Sports teams: MLB - Oakland Athletics, NFL - Green Bay Packers, NBA - Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns, NHL - Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche

Interesting Quotes I've heard throughout my life:

"You play to win the game! You don't play it just to play it, that's the greatest thing about sports!" - Herman Edwards

"If you drop a person out of a plane in Alberta, they will have to crawl an average of 120 m on the ground once they've landed to reach the nearest road." - Brad Stelfox

"It's a hawk, but there's nothing holiday about it." " Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle hm hm hmmm..." - Sierra Mist commercial

"D-CAF!! (stomps twice) D-CAF!! (stomps twice)" - Peyton Manning

"He gone!" - Hawk Harrelson

"You can put it on the boooooaaarrrd...yes!!" - Hawk Harrelson

"Yeeeeeaaaaahhh babyyyyy!!" - Peter Maher

"Great thing about being a lawyer: fewer neighbors will let their dogs crap on your lawn in case you sue their pants off." - Aaron Renert

"How we treat an animal is dependent on 2 factors: physical appearance and perceived intelligence. For example: lobster, ugly and stupid, so dump it in boiling water; kitty cat, cute and moderately intelligent, so keep it as a pet." - Aaron Renert

"The short answer to your question in no. The long answer to your question is...(jumps onto desk and stomps hard) no!!" - Bill Ross

"Environmental impact assessments in Antarctica are made public to all interested parties. But since Antarctica is an uninhabited land, are all the interested parties of the penguin species?" - Bill Ross

"Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking, we have a small problem. All fours engines have stopped, we're doing our damnedest to get it under control, I trust you are not in too much distress." - Capt. Eric Moody

"When someone has explosives, they're not for making a birthday cake." - Capt. Bernard Dhellemme

"Everybody wants to be understood, well I can hear you. Everybody wants to be loved, don't give up, because you are loved!" - Josh Groban's You Are Loved. (I'm not a Christian, but I absolutely love this song, and the quote is so true too!)

"The blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds." - Paul Linnman on the exploding whale.

"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny." - Frank Outlaw

"I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind." - John G. Diefenbaker.

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" - Epicurus.

"Be decisive, only justice will bring peace, actively shape your own destiny, and do whatever it takes to protect the world." - Avatars Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, and Yangchen.

My policy on reviews:

As you know, most fanfics are subjective, and there's really no right or wrong way to write a fic. So in essence, I try to focus on things that are expected of ALL of us, regardless of our writing style and genre. Here's a checklist:

1.) Content is a must, because I didn't come here to read gibberish.

2.) Writing style must at least satisfy the basic requirements (no run-on sentences, paragraphing everytime a new person speaks, adequate spelling, correct punctuation, etc). We are all mature writers here, and I expect at least that much from you.

3.) Be descriptive. Do not just give me a piece full of dialogue, and when people do talk, use elements around them to describe their emotion and mood. If all you give me is dialogue, you might as well write in script format, which is not allowed here.

4.) Ideas must be organized and flow in a logical manner. There must be adequate reason why your characters do what they do, and how they get themselves out of their conflict. That means no deux ex machina!!

5.) When doing characterizations, please bare in mind that Mary-Sues and Gary-Stus are frowned upon, even if they were canonical characters. If your character is from canon, then you should write in a way that improves upon the qualities that they already have; if your character is original, then at least be original and creative about them, instead of creating a person that is always likeable, has no flaw, and has enough skills to beat anyone at anything faster than I can blink.

Anyone who received a review by me should just check out that list and make sure they've done those 5 very simple things. Eveytime I write a review, I will try to include these elements, and would like to ask all of you who write reviews to me to at least comment on these elements in my story as well, and be clear when you point out to me where you feel I am weak or lacking in certain areas. Note that I'll never write mindless flames, because they don't help a fellow writer improve. So please don't write me one, and don't complain that any negative review I write is a flame. Likewise, mindless praise like: "OMG ur story iz so gud plz update LOL XDDD" is also a no-no for me, because they're as useless as a flame, since they don't explain why a writer is doing well.

If a review is negative it's only because I'm telling the truth, not purposely attacking you or putting you down. I am a huge believer that harshness and being picky are important as only by being scrutinized heavily will one realize all of one's mistakes and seeing how they can be prevented and/or corrected. And also, making sure that one learns from past mistakes is also important, as a writer's growth depends on self-reflection. There are relatively few writers willing to do that, and it's truly sad that not more people can understand this point. I learned these points when I was 12 years old, not even old enough to join the site, yet I still see writers one and a half times older than that (sometimes even twice as old) not follow through with them. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me.

One thing I absolutely cannot stand are those who whine about harshness. Let me tell you something: just because a review sounds harsh or blunt doesn't mean it is a flame. Flaming would be like telling you to "throw acid on your story, tell you to jump off a cliff, and saying your mother should be ashamed of giving birth to you." I've gotten quite a few many situations where just because I was blunt with the person, they felt I insulted their family, culture, and religion combined. My response is this: stop whining!! Writers are responsible for everything they put out, and readers should be allowed to scrutinize every element. If you can't take a little bit of harsh criticism, then you shouldn't be here. I've gotten my fair share of these whines and rants throughout my stay here, and I'm really fed up with them.

And another thing I don't like to hear are people who say stuff like: "It's about choice. If you don't like my stories then don't read them." I'm sorry, but that argument goes both ways. If you're afraid of getting criticized, then you can choose not to post here. You can choose to wait until you build your ideas better, or wait until you consulted with an editor or beta-reader, or even planned the story out so that it is overall more convincing. There is always a choice, and I find it sickening that because one can't stand harsh reviews they hide behind this motto. If you can't make things right, then wait. Don't post complete gibberish on the site, and expect to get good reviews. Flattery will get you nowhere, and I find it sad that so few people on this site understand this fact.

Stories so far:

Finished:

The World's Greatest Uncle (Super Smash Bros)

Tales of the Departed (Tales of Symphonia)

The World's Greatest Uncle 2 (Super Smash Bros)

The Gil Irving Files: Altamira Murders (Tales of Symphonia)

The Gil Irving Files: Cult of Martel (Tales of Symphonia)

The Triforce Pendant (Super Smash Bros)

Current Works:

Avatar: Rites of Passage (Avatar the Last Airbender) - Originally started off as a challenge by another writer, but given that this person no longer has intention to carry through their end of the bargain (ex: submitting a fic of quality for the challenge I issued to them), this story became my personal challenge, as a way to experiment with my writing style. This is designed as a series of one-shots that describe the events in most major characters' lives that brought forth their maturation and growth. These are their stories, these are their rites of passage (32 chapters).

Future Works:

TBA - I have shards of ideas for both TOS and SSB, but I'm having too much fun at the Avatar fandom, so I'm willing to stay there just a bit longer. Besides, I have an insanely tight schedule, to the point where I simply don't have the time to do too much brainstorming. So for now, I'm satisfied with just keeping to Avatar and not worry about anything else. Hopefully, when Avatar starts wrapping up, I'll do more on the other fandoms. Until then, that's where I'll be until Spring 2010.