I'm 25. I have a real job, a real boyfriend, and a real life.

I just love playing pretend. :)

I like to think that my fanfic has improved drastically in the ten+ years I've been writing it on the web, ever since I joined my first Labyrinth fanfic email list. I've been on FF.net for about 8 years now. I love it here -- you really have to dig to find the gold, and when you do, it's REALLY, REALLY shiny.

fanfic pet peeves:

1) Blatant self insertion. (oh, you're an early twenties Wiccan horse-trainer from Idaho, and omg! So is Alice Smith, your 5th-year American Hogwarts transfer. Gimme a break.)

2) REALLY BAD Mary Sues. I love OC fics, but the bad ones make me want to tear my hair out. They almost ALWAYS coincide with pet peeve no. 4, but sometimes you'll get a fic that is decently written, with a horrendously trite, flawless, daughter-of-Dumbledore kind of character at center stage. Pet peeves no. 1 & 2 are often indistinguishable from one another.

3) Implausibly executed character pairings. I ship HG/SS. About one in a hundred fanfics can work this pairing to my liking. Give me a GOOD REASON why these two are falling for each other -- or even just hot for each other -- and you've got me hooked. But don't do it merely to manipulate two characters towards your own fantasy.

4) Plain old bad writing. I understand typos (believe me, I make plenty of them myself!) but writing like a drunk third-grader is not acceptable. Unless you ARE a drunk third-grader. And if you are, GET OFF THE INTERNET, ya lush!

5) Overly graphic adult fics. FF.net removed the "NC-17" rating for a reason. There are plenty of sites that encourage and welcome that sort of writing, and I believe it has a time and place. There's a way to write erotic scenes without using porn-friendly language, and in my experience, imagination fills in the gaps very nicely.

6) Writers who beg for reviews, or even offer readers a chance to change their story based on a poll. I have been guilty of the first part in the (distant!) past, but never to the extent that I have seen some people go. I write because I love it, not so you'll say nice things about it and pump my ego. I am ALWAYS open to constructive criticism. If you want validation that your stories are being read, use the hit tracker tool. Don't bully me into reviewing.

and on the flip side, things that made my heart warm:

1) Excellent one-shots. I am terrible at these, and I have a great deal of respect for people who can write a complete story in less than 5,000 words.

2) Mammoth, novel length stories. Well-written, of course. Like Shadows on a Winter Sky (no longer here, and I can't remember the author's name), Recognition, by Jezzie, and Accountable by Dyce are three that come to mind.

3) Real constructive criticism.

4) Stories that successfully utilize an original character. Harder than it sounds, and I know I'm not successful at it 100 percent of the time.

5) Writers that branch out of the canon world, that dare to imagine and incorporate new ideas into a well-known storyline.

Thats it!