I'm not a writer, though I've been told I have potential. I DO think better in text. Mostly, though, I'm just fairly eloquent, and I like a good story. That, and I'm a geeky fangirl! Especially when it comes to anything Zelda (my college friends are fond of telling me that their most memorable first impression of me was the moment I pulled out my sketchbook and proceeded to show them my genealogy chart and family tree for Link and Zelda, the rules of grammar for modern Hyrulean script, complete with alphabet glyphs and key whole-word hieroglyphs, and a 2-page spread of 20-30 characters, most of them original, that I'd designed based around the first two Zelda games, and proceeded to give brief background info for ALL of them. Yes, I'm THAT kind of geeky fangirl.) In fact, I'm currently sitting on a new sketchbook with about 30 pages of front-and-back handwritten notes varying from movie scene ideas to character bios, comparison of Hyrulean costums vs Calatian customs, a breakdown of the nature of Hylian magic and how it works, and other such info, not counting the pages of character sketches and diagrams of the various pieces of clothing and protective gear that go into Link's trademark outfit. (If anyone at Nintendo is reading this: I don't care if you just want me to be Shigeru Miyamoto's personal coffee-fetching assistant for a year, just get me in there!! Get me in on the design team for a Zelda game, and I don't even care about pay: just leave me a couch and some snacks in the break room every day so I can sleep and not starve.)

Professionally, I consider myself a visual artist. I do concept stuff in 2D and model characters and environments in virtual 3D. I enjoy using Sculpey, too, but sadly, I have to curb that hobby due to lack of shelf space. Following are my galleries and LJ page:

http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com

http://webspace.ringling.edu/~ydiaz/

http://oldschoollozfan.livejournal.com/

Links to artwork for my original fan-fiction can be found here:

Link and Lydia as adolescents (follow the link in the description for a story snippet): http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/WIP-tone-Night-before-Goodbye-89079788

Link (upper-body detail/"Yes, I'm a Sexy Beast" pose): http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Linkshaia-upper-body-detail-88114654

Lydia: http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Lydia-in-uniform-74090758

Link and Lydia meet the gang: http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Yes-we-re-twins-89007499

Link's Family: http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/al-Silva-and-dal-Brisby-Family-86378294

Karina: http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Karina-WiP-87427870

Rommel (full-body): http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Rommel-WiP-87428177

Rommel (facial detail): http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Rommel-facial-close-up-89010913

Link (facial expression diagram): http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/model-sheet-dal-Brisby-male-86445619

I've also drawn fanart for Aubuyn's Loz fan-fiction, "Weeping Eye" (hosted on FanFiction.net AND her LJ page). The images are works-in-progress, but I'm already inking them, and color will (hopefully) follow soon:

Sheik (young): http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Sheikah-Child-88326533

Sheik (adult, unmasked): http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Sheik-unmasked-88197158

Seth & Elij: http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Seth-and-Elij-86347753

Auri & Liana: http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Auri-and-Liana-86348453

Taera: http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Taera-86348202

Also, these don't relate to anything in particular, other than LoZ, but since I'm listing fan-art:

Fun with my Link-bishie and Zelda-muse: http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/A-Little-Request-90191161

4-Swords Shenanigans: http://neko-zhaniel.deviantart.com/art/Dinner-s-Served-90190675

In case anyone's interested, here's the obligatory list of preferences. Be warned: I am VERY random in my tastes.

Favorite Games (that I've played):

"The Legend of Zelda" (I'll play anything in the series, but my favorites are Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Majora's Mask.)

"Final Fantasy VII", "Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver", "Xenogears", "Shadow Hearts", "Chrono Trigger"

Favorite Games (that I've sat and watched my friends play)

"Metal Gear Solid", "Resident Evil", "God of War"

FavoriteBooks/Comics/Authors

anything by Neil Gaiman and/or Terry Pratchett, especially "American Gods", "Good Omens", and "Sandman"

Robert Jordan: "The Wheel of Time" series (a must-read for anyone studying character and world development, in my opinion)

David Mack: "Kabuki" (sheer visual poetry)

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: various short fiction stories, especially "A Very Old Man with Very Large Wings"

Jorge Luis Borges: various short fiction stories (best read in their original Spanish, if you have that option)

Ayn Rand: "Atlas Shrugged" (this book changed my life philosophy completely!)

Robert Kirkman: "The Walking Dead" comic series

Alan Moore: "Watchmen" and "V for Vendetta"

Roman Dirge: "Lenore" comic series

Favorite Movies:

"Pan's Labyrinth", "Mirrormask", "V for Vendetta", "Stardust", "Spaceballs", "300", "Final Fantasy: Advent Children", "Happy Feet" (what? you don't like dancing penguins?)

Favorite Shows/Anime:

"Invader Zim", "Robot Chicken", "Family Guy", "South Park", "Avatar: The Last Air Bender", "Death Note", "Read or Die", "Vision of Escaflowne", "Neon Genesis: Evangelion", "Serial Experiments: LAIN", "DiGi Charat", "Excel Saga", "Fullmetal Alchemist", "Ranma 1/2"

Favorite Characters:

Link, Sheik, Midna, Raziel, "V", Cloud Strife, Vincent Valentine, Sephiroth, Yuri Volte Hyuga, Sesshomaru, "L", Gir, Lenore, Ragamuffin

special note: Thanks to certain of Fanfiction.net's own writers, I'm also now a major fan of Dark Link. In particular, God love you, BatNeko and hylian_shadow!

Favorite Singers/Composers, etc:

Linkin Park, Queen, Pink, Megumi Hayashibara, anything touched by Yokko Kanno