I’m a disaster gay legal assistant, a nerd, and a sad boi who is frankly embarrassed to be an American right now :)

While I’m no longer a student, I’m always learning more about creative writing and appreciate constructive feedback. My friends and I all agree: I love words, which is both my greatest strength as a writer and my fatal flaw. I love detailed descriptions, spectacular action sequences, and deep dives into the heads of characters (being an introspective guy myself). My favorite properties include Avatar: The Last Airbender, Star Wars (80% Legends), Wheel of Time (I’m a book purist, sorry show fans), The Inheritance Cycle, A Song of Ice & Fire (I like to mix some show-canon into my headcanon) Marvel (my first introduction was the MCU, so it’s my first love), some DC & Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter (JKR be damned, I have a nostalgia filter). Conversely, I'm not usually a fan of anime. I have nothing against it or the people who enjoy it; it's just not my cup of tea.

I write characters as realistically as I can while remaining faithful to the canon, but I’m not above ignoring or reinterpreting canon when I feel it appropriate. My interpretations of fictional characters and the universes they live in are based on actual source material, but they are ultimately just my opinion, and you can disagree all you like. I don’t expect anyone to treat my words as gospel, but I won’t debate with trolls either. Facts are facts, and opinions are opinions; no more, no less.

I’m not a fan of dark fics or gratuitous suffering; real life is depressing enough. When I write, it’s to entertain and to put characters in situations I find interesting. That doesn’t mean everything I write will be full of sunshine and rainbows, of course; where’s the fun in that? Also, while I am a sucker for happy endings, I’m more likely to write bittersweet endings, if only because I prefer realistic/believable storytelling.

While I love the fantasy genre to bits, I generally prefer media where the characters’ power levels are relatively grounded. This is not because I dislike OP characters—I love them, actually—but because my autistic brain is obsessed with logistics. For example, if the Flash can run faster than light, how does he see where he’s going? If two characters with the power to destroy planets get into a fight, how do they keep from destroying the planet they’re fighting on as collateral damage? If the strongest protagonist in the setting is several tiers above their enemies, what’s stopping them from turning every battle into a curb stomp? Antagonists who are significantly more powerful than the heroes get a bit of leeway, but only if it serves the narrative. Conversely, I hate kryptonite and plot devices similar to it. It’s a boring solution to the “invincible hero” problem that drives me nuts every time it shows up.

I like to see complex characters with believable development arcs, humor that’s clever without being excessive, an air of mystery that doesn’t feel contrived, climactic final battles, and logical story progression. I appreciate a good romance and am a sucker for well-written slash. Plot holes, bad sentence structure, cheap storytelling, and excessive spelling and grammar errors get on my nerves, but I can forgive apparent plot holes if there is a reasonable explanation, and I can tolerate a few grammar and spelling goofs if the story itself is good enough. No one is perfect. I certainly make my share of mistakes. I’m partial to fix-it fics, even the ones dependent on time travel if they’re done right, and I absolutely love crossovers.

I’m of two minds about gray morality. On the one hand, life is complex, and I believe our fiction should reflect that complexity. However, I’ve noticed a trend in fanfiction where authors will label a character as “morally gray” and then write them as an edgy pragmatist surrounded by naive “Killing is wrong under any circumstance,” types. This is especially prevalent in Harry Potter fics, and it’s incredibly annoying. While there is some overlap, pragmatism and moral ambiguity are not the same thing.

My opinion on slash—same-sex pairings involving one or more canonically straight characters—is a bit biased. I usually hate it when characters are written OOC, but sexuality is, like all things in fiction, open to interpretation. Many characters who are canonically straight exhibit behavior or thoughts that suggest they’re on the LGBT spectrum. Often, such characters end up in unsatisfying pairings in canon. For example, Steve Rogers is officially straight in all forms of Marvel media, but his comic book incarnations have a long history of blatant homoeroticism between them. Therefore I am 100% confident in categorizing Steve as bisexual in my headcanon. And SamBucky is basically canon in the MCU, even if no official source will ever come out and say it. However, I dislike many popular slash pairings, including Stucky. I’m a particular guy; not sorry.

I’m not fool enough to expect everyone to agree with me, but I do expect people to be mature about their disagreement. Therefore, while I welcome constructive criticism and reasoned debates, I won’t baby the reader. Sometimes I write slash, sometimes I don’t, but I won’t tag it as part of the story until and unless the characters actually get together. If I’m doing my job as the writer, you’ll see it coming before I write it outright; if you don’t like it, just walk away.

I Strongly Dislike:

Dramatic OOC: If you have to change, twist, or ignore a major component of a character’s personality to make your story work, then chances are you either don’t understand that character or you’re not writing a good story. This is a big problem with a lot of Harry Potter fics, especially the ones focusing on slash. There is absolutely no way that Harry Potter would be best friends with Draco Malfoy, much less fall in love with him. I hate the Drarry ship, because it just doesn’t work, yet it’s the most popular slash ship in the fandom. Even the authors of the original source material fanfics are based on can be guilty of OOC. For example, I can believe that Harry would eventually forgive Severus Snape for all the crap Snape put him through, but there’s no believable way he would name one of his kids after the guy. Alternate Universes like “What if Harry was raised by Death Eaters,” and believable slash pairings are possible exceptions to my dislike of OOC, but only to an extent. And don’t get me started on how much I despise “Wrong Boy Who Lived,” stories.

Unwarranted character bashing: (AKA 'Ron the Death Eater') Some fictional characters are intentionally designed to be unlikeable, but even major league villains like Thanos and Azula have a certain charisma, a compelling element that makes them more likable than, say, Dolores Umbridge. Yet, so many authors mercilessly bash characters out of blind hatred: James Potter, the Weasleys, Hermione, Steve Rogers, Catelyn Stark, etc. James Potter was fifteen when he bullied Snape, and he grew up into a loving and responsible man, unlike Snape, who not only gave as good as he got, but emotionally abused children he was supposed to be teaching. Catelyn Stark is obviously flawed, but she deserves better than what most authors give her. No one is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. It can be satisfying to call out a character for their misdeeds when canon lets them off too easily, but bashing is a problem, and it needs to stop.

Stanning: The opposite of bashing a character is to stan them: fan" plus "stalker" equals "stan.” Stanning is when an author sings a character’s praises and makes them the star of the story while completely ignoring their flaws and ruthlessly bashing any character who does something remotely bad to them. Even the best heroes aren’t perfect, and propping them up to be infallible, messianic figures who can do no wrong is not healthy. Contrary to what a vocal portion of the fandom claims, Tony Stark was a pretty messed up guy who caused just as many problems as he solved, and his legacy is one of deadly arrogance, toxicity, and failure as much as heroism.

Woobification: Similar to stanning, woobification of antagonistic characters (AKA 'Draco in Leather Pants’) drives me up the wall and down again. While a villainous character’s suffering can go a long way to explaining their actions, it doesn’t excuse them. Characters who do bad things are not babies. While I pity Loki for what happens to him in the canon MCU, he is still in complete control of his actions during most of his appearances. He is not some helpless, I-need-a-hug victim of his big bad adoptive father. Similarly, Zuko and Azula are victims of an abusive father, but they both started ATLA as unambiguous villains. The difference is that Zuko had genuine redeeming qualities that, through two and a half seasons of character development, eventually led to his heroic turn. Even then, he spends several episodes making amends to the other protagonists. Azula, by contrast, exhibited sociopathic and sadistic behavior from a disturbingly young age and never demonstrates a lick of remorse for the harm she causes in most of her appearances.

Raceswapping: I’ve had a rollercoaster of a relationship with this trope. It makes me uncomfortable to see a character I’m familiar with race-swapped when adapted from the page to the screen, either because their description stands out in my mind or because race-bending creates a new subtext that distorts the character and opens the door to toxic new interpretations. For example, while making the Velaryons black in HBO’s House of the Dragon adds much-needed diversity to the cast, it also creates numerous continuity difficulties and opens the door to uncomfortable interpretations from racially sensitive audiences. Still, raceswapping can and has been done well in official adaptations. So far, I’ve been distinctly unimpressed with fanfiction that engages in raceswapping, especially when there’s no precedent for it in canon. I don’t like it, and it’s not something I like to engage in.

Genderbent Main Characters: Most of the time, a background character’s personality and role in the story don’t change if they’re genderswapped, so I don’t care either way if it’s done. I might not even notice. Changing a main character’s gender, on the other hand, is a dramatic deviation from canon that’s impossible not to focus on. It’s already controversial in “canon” media, where the results are hit or miss. Tilda Swinton killed it as the Ancient One, but Antonia Dreykov as the MCU’s Taskmaster? Why? Every time I see this done in fanfiction, it ruins the story for me. Given how 99% of genderbender fics turn a male character into a woman, it's difficult to see the trope as anything other than a clumsy attempt to promote equal representation of the sexes. Just keep it away from me.

Harems: Not a fan, and I never will be. I would never consent to being a member of one, and I would never consent to having one for myself. This trope usually shows up in power fantasy, and it makes me deeply uncomfortable. For one thing, I’m a romantic and prefer deep, meaningful relationships. For another, real harems have historically been rife with nasty internal politics. A harem is not a polycule. Don't be the author who writes a great story and then ruins it by giving the protagonist a harem. If you sincerely believe that giving someone a harem makes them more badass, cool, lucky, or whatever, here's a news flash; it really doesn't.

Character Fusion: Some fics take two characters from different fandoms and make them into the same person. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a waste of both characters and creates a ridiculous amount of inexplicable plot holes, so no. Just, no. I have encountered one or two stories that did it well, but even then, it rubs me wrong on a level too deep for me to ignore.

Crack and Parody: With rare exceptions, I avoid these. If I need a story whose sole purpose is to make me smile, I'll read something with setting-consistent humor or fluff. Parody is not my cup of tea. Crack-treated-seriously gets a bit of leeway, but only a little. That’s all.

Mpreg "for Reasons": Some settings make male pregnancy and the questions/issues that accompany it the whole point of the story. Fine; if that’s your angle, by all means. What really offends me is giving a male character the ability to carry children “just because.” Magic? Alien biology? Omegaverse? I’ve seen them all, and it makes me deeply uncomfortable. Virtually every example of Mpreg I’ve come across in fanfiction is either Yaoi (a genre that fetishizes gay relationships to appeal to straight women) or a clumsy attempt to erase the fundamental differences between hetero and homosexual relationships. Human male biology is not designed to carry a fetus, and forcing it to do so is incredibly dangerous. If you want your gay couple to have kids, please respect the fundamentals of biology.

Characters I Love

Ahsoka Tano

Avatar Aang

Avatar Yangchen

Clint Barton (Marvel 616)

Eragon Shadeslayer

Jaime Lannister

Jon Snow

Rand al’Thor

Rangi

Raven (the OG from Teen Titans)

Robb Stark

Sansa Stark

Sokka

Steve Rogers

Toph

Wanda Maximoff

Characters I… Dislike

Draco Malfoy (cowardly, bigoted bully)

Loki (I don’t find him very compelling)

Severus Snape (do I really need to say it?)

Stannis Baratheon (overrated to the point it gets on my nerves)

Tony Stark (overrated asshole who reminds me of the robber barons)

Tywin Lannister (complete monster with no redeeming qualities and good PR through the show)