Yo, I'm HereticalShinigami. I'm a postgrad student with a love for cartoons, books, anime and manga. I also like battles, playing metal music and video gaming. I do a bit of re-enactment here and there, and I work on a lot of historical stuff. My specialty is in anything military, particularly tanks at the moment (half inspired by Girls und Panzer), and I've just finished a paper on the mechanisation of the British Cavalry for my dissertation.

On reading: I read a lot, just mostly for my degree at the moment, which is kind of sad. I love the work of Tolkien, Pratchett, Cornwell, Fabbri, Iggulden, Abnett and Mitchell in particular for my fictional library. Non-fiction-wise, Harris's Men, Ideas and Tanks is my go-to book at the moment, which details the conception of the idea of the tank, through to its logical conclusion at the start of World War Two. It's a great work that I use heavily for my academic writing.

My Top 5 Generals (since I'm a military history student):

Napoleon Bonaparte - A Corsican noble's son who rose from Lieutenant to Emperor in just over a decade. Extensive list of spectacular victories, but more importantly, knew how to inspire an army. So successful it took an alliance of most major European powers to stop him, and then they had to do it again, because they didn't imprison him properly. His campaigns inspired Clausewitz's book 'On War'.

Hannibal Barca - A man who took elephants over the alps, trounced the Romans in several decisive battles. Pity he couldn't take Rome. Basically masterminded the 'double envelopment' at Cannae, where he destroyed the equivalent of about thirteen legions in a single engagement, with a force half the size of his enemy's. His brilliant tactical mind and use of terrain, even with limited resources, allowed him to bring Rome closer to destruction than any other force.

Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington - The best defensive general and military planner of all time in my opinion. Took an army outnumbered over 5-1 to victory in the Spanish Peninsula, and one outnumbered 10-1 to victory in India. Also a proper British gentleman. In campaigns oft marginalised in histories of the Napoleonic Wars, Wellesley ousted a French army several times the size of his from the entirety of Spain, defeating many of Napoleon's vaunted marshals, before finally breaking into France itself. Then won at Waterloo, and went on to become Prime Minister.

Belisarius - Hailed as one of the last great Romans, this general served the emperor Justinian. Despite repeated fallings-out with the emperor, Belisarius essentially retook the most important centres of the Western Roman Empire with less than 10,000 men. Regarded as a shrewd leader and a genius tactician, he took limited resources and turned them into something greater than the sum of their parts.

Erwin Rommel - A spectacular commander, and famous for his honour in a war infamously without honour. Proved himself just as capable in command of a squad as in command of an army, managing feats like the capture of 7000 men with around 100 at Caporetto, or routing Richie's force at Gazala. In Jan. 1941, Rommel headed to North Africa, at the head of two divisions, to support the Italians. Taking command instead, Rommel went on the offensive, driving the British all the way back to Egypt. Under-supplied and under-manned, the Afrika Korps was still a powerful opponent for the British, due to Rommel's keen tactical sense. His legend has only further increased since his death.

Favourite Tank - The Panzer VI, The Tiger - The most widely recognisable tank ever produced, the Tiger had power beyond its numbers. A hulking behemoth of a tank, it was impervious to nigh on everything from its introduction to at least 1944, when the Allies finally formulated a response. Weighing 60 tonnes, with 100mm of strong frontal armour, a superb Maybach engine and the incomparable 88mm gun, this tank struck fear into the hearts of Allied troops and became a rallying point for German soldiers on every front. Although only around 1400 were produced, the Tiger, despite being over-engineered, was in my opinion one of the best tanks of World War Two.

Favourite Self-Propelled Gun - Sturmgeschutz III - The most widely produced German armoured vehicle of WW2, the StuG III was based on the Panzer III chassis. Originally intended to provide close support for infantry units, the StuG was rapidly converted into a tank destroyer on the Eastern Front, and its low silhouette and powerful gun made it a fearsome foe. The StuG claimed the most kills out of any German vehicle during the war, serving on all fronts, from the start to the end of the war. Rugged, simple and a brilliant workhorse, the StuG was a superb vehicle.

Completed Anime List: Naruto (until end of Pein, then I lost interest), Bleach, FMA Brotherhood, Girls und Panzer, D-Frag, Log Horizon, Kantai Collection, The World God Only Knows, Baka To Test To Shoukanjuu, Cromartie High School, Great Teacher Onizuka, One Punch Man, Gate: Jieitai Kanochi Nite Kaku Tatakaeri, Aoki Hagane No Arpeggio, Sword Art Online, Hataraku Maou-Sama, Shimoneta, Overlord, Hellsing Ultimate, Sekirei, No Game No Life, Ben-To!, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Black Lagoon, Baccano, and Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.

Favourite 5 Anime Characters (prone to change):

Karasuba/Sekirei- One of the few characters in her series that doesn't engage in ridiculous fanservice, Karasuba is one of my favourites for several reasons: she's a brilliant swordswoman, has a lot of depth, is incredibly alluring, and is a bit axe-crazy. A rare combination, her few appearances in the series are nonetheless poignant and compelling.

Akatsuki/Log Horizon - I loved Akatsuki's aesthetic in Log Horizon, and she was made into a great character by her ability to play off other characters like Naotsugu, making for great banter between them. The fact that she's also a cool ninja only adds to the awesome. It's a tie between her and Shiroe for my favourite character from this series, but she edges it with the amusing chibi moments.

Sousuke Aizen/Bleach (just as planned) - A brilliant villain by most standards. Slightly tarnished by the later series, where Kubo took Aizen to ridiculous levels of power and prescience (up to and including engineering Ichigo's mother's death so that he would become powerful in future), as well as removed his glasses. Seriously, he looked far more terrifying with them. Nevertheless, a super villain of Machiavellian intellect and ridiculous power.

Olivier Mira Armstrong/Full Metal Alchemist A superb character in all respects, and by far my favourite character in Full Metal Alchemist. A ferociously independent woman, loyal to her troops, skilled with her blades, attractive, perceptive and devoted to her duty, she's got a laundry list of awesome traits. An appropriate amount of ruthlessness raises her even higher in my estimations. She also proves that one doesn't need to be an alchemist to kick ass. Gains extra credit for driving a tank.

Yukari Akiyama/Girls und Panzer - Anyone who shares my love of tanks is likely to make this list, and I feel like I know nothing compared to Yukari's vast knowledge of armoured vehicles. She's also an interesting character, inspiring at points while also possessed of numerous character flaws. Even her aesthetic is wonderfully done, and I can't bring myself to fault her.

Honourable mentions:

Haruna/Aoki Hagane No Arpeggio

Alucard/Hellsing Ultimate

Shiro/No Game No Life

Riko 'Erwin' Matsumoto/Girls und Panzer

Kongou/Kantai Collection

Roka Shibasaki/D-Frag

I am very much an adherent to the idea of premise, and solid, logical plotlines, with a few twists here and there. Never go in with a half-completed idea, and always try to make sure that story flows from point A to point B in a logical manner. Don't rush things, and keep the pacing appropriate. Too many authors try to rush to the meat of their story, at the expense of their setup, and it makes for poor reading.

My advice for writing stuff? Always talk to others. I am in regular contact with my reviewers, and my friends who read my writing, because they often have crucial ways to reform things. Nobody is omniscient, and another perspective can really help you with the creative process. Oh, and for the love of god spell-check everything. While your characters may be Japanese and set off the spell-checker, just run through things a couple of times to make sure. Nothing ruins a good story more than poorly proof-read documents. Also, don't just stick to the plot-line. Naruto fanfictions are the worst for this. They spend all of their time rehashing canon events, when they should create something divergent and different. If I wanted the normal story of your particular fandom, I would go and watch/read it. This doesn't mean you have to be 100% original all the time. My work borrows from established ideas within the fandom, as many Girls Und Panzer based stories follow the idea of boys competing. But, you have to remember this: Carve Your Own Path. The canon is exactly what it is, fixed in place, so respect that, but feel free to work around vagueness in it, diverge from it at a specific point or expand on it, but canon is canon. I would probably spend a good several years rewriting Naruto if I could be bothered, since I don't like canon, but I can't change the fact that it is there, and it is established fact for that universe.

Working on: A Girls und Panzer fanfic at the minute. I'm also preparing a draft chapter for a new Log Horizon story, which should hopefully be finished soon. There's always ideas floating around in my head, but I never nail them down.

Current works:

Girls und Panzer: Open Warfare - The fic itself is based around military academies joining the tankery tournament, with a bunch of OCs of my creation coming to contest the tournament against Oarai and their friends. The story is written from the perspective of both Oarai and Wellesley Academy, the main canon protagonists and my main OC protagonists. I will attempt to make the tank battles fast-paced, exciting and realistic (to a point), the fluff thought-provoking, emotive and natural, and the characters I create compelling, entertaining and relatable. This story is a work in progress and will likely last up to, if not more than 40 chapters (of roughly 7-8k each), and I will probably attempt to edit and improve it after the story is fully finished. Work in progress

Enclave - A Log Horizon Project that I'm working on. Trial Chapter, will be on hold until Open Warfare is finished.

Collaborative Project (On DeviantArt) - I am currently working on an omake series with my good friend and pen pal LWKilroy. I write short omakes, usually on Girls Und Panzer, and he draws lovely sketches to accompany them. They can be found on Kilroy's profile, KilroyLW, on DeviantArt.