Who am I? Unimportant. I'm just a random shipper.

On FictionPress.com I'm jernoe19. That's where I post my original stories. Incidentally, I've posted my origin story there, if anyone wants to know how I became as I am today. It's also posted on my AO3 account (Giveadogabone), along with the few stories I've written that may have crossed the line just a little too far to be postable here.

I'm not sure how writing works for everyone else, but I've come to understand how to express how it works for me. Story ideas come to me primarily as feelings, always accompanied by images, and occasionally by sound. Sometimes the images are present throughout the entire concept, but sometimes they only come up in key moments, and they vary in clarity, sometimes vivid, sometimes obscure. In my opinion, my best writing happens when I can 'see' and 'hear' the entire story take place, start to finish, but that's very rare. When I can't 'hear' it, my consistency in reproducing characters' voices becomes sketchy at best. When I can't 'see' it, I struggle mightily to express the feeling I'm getting from the concept at all, and there is frequently at least a moment or two per story, and sometimes most of the story, when I can't 'see' anything. If I were a more responsible person, I wouldn't start a story until I could at least 'see' the whole thing...but if I like a story concept enough, I often try to run with it when my feet aren't on the ground yet. I guess the point of all of this is to fish for sympathy for my lack of both quality and quantity in my writing.

IMPORTANT! Any and all of my stories are up for adoption. Just ask, and I'll pass it over to you, along with whatever ideas I had for plot points if you want them. I will finish all my stories eventually, but if you're supremely impatient, feel free to take it on and finish it yourself. Alternatively, what would really speed up the writing of a story for me is to have a coauthor, someone to talk through scenarios and plot points with and to more or less feed me inspiration. Any coauthor of mine would be credited as such in my author's notes, but would only need to do as much actual writing as he/she wanted. If you're truly desperate for another chapter but don't feel confident in your writing skills, I highly recommend this route.

What am I into? EVERYTHING. Movies, shows, games, anime/manga, american comics, whatever. I love it all.

What do I ship? Again...EVERYTHING. I love fast ships and slow ships, happy ships and tragic ships, fluffy ships and smutty ships, silly ships and angsty ships, canon ships and ships with no cannons nor any other defense systems whatsoever. As long as the author is skilled enough, any ship can be the ship of a lifetime. I will, however, admit to having a special place in my heart for nearly-canon ships. The couples that just never...quite...get there during the main story. So like, pretty much every shounen action manga protag and and his/her main love interest ever.

But, even though I'm a random shipper, I don't ship indiscriminately. I always have a reason for my ships. Because they love each other, I'll ship it. Because they take care of each other, I'll ship it. Because they annoy each other, I'll ship it. Because they're childhood friends, I'll ship it. Because they know each other, I'll ship it. Because they live in the same universe, I'll ship it. Because I feel like it, I'll ship it. For no reason at all, I'll ship it.

(For anyone who understands the above reference, there's two things you should know. One, you are an awesome person. And two, you are my good buddy for life.)

(Even if you didn't understand the first reference, if you understood the 'there's two things you should know' reference, you are still an awesome person.)

I don't have a list of favorite ships, as I've said, but I do have a list of favorite characters. This list is restricted to fandoms in which I was able to narrow it down to one single favorite character. In other words, fandoms in which multiple characters share the distinction will be omitted, which takes quite a number of my favorite characters of all time off of the list. List goes Series: Character. in that order, separated by category as given on this site.

Anime/Manga:

Naruto: Shikamaru. Yuru Yuri: Akane. Kill la Kill: Mako. ZatchBell: Brago. Rwby: Yang. Bleach: Kenpachi. Fairy Tail: Gajeel. Rorouni Kenshin: Saito. Claymore: Jean. Detective Conan: Sera. Hunter x Hunter: Hisoka. Haikyuu: Noya. SAO: Yui. Madoka Magical: Homura. Gekken Shoujo Nozaki-kun: Seo. History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi: Akisame. Dengeki Daisy: Teru. Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Miyuki. Freezing: Chiffon. Oresama Teacher: Banchou. Koi Dano Ai Dano, The Great Observer Kanoko-Sama: Kanoko. Akame Ga Kiru: Akame. El Cazador De La Bruja: Ellis. My Hero Academia: Tsu. Little Witch Academia: Sucy. Beelzebub: Oga Misaki. Tiger and Bunny: Dragon Kid. Medaka Box: Namanie Neinami.

Cartoons:

TMNT (Og 80's cartoon only, plz!) Donatello. KND: Numbah Two, Hoagie. Gargoyles: Broadway. Daria: Daria. Boondocks: Huey. The Real/Extreme Ghostbusters: Egon. Grim and Evil: Mandy. Fillmore: Ingrid. Adventure Time: Marceline. Fairly Oddparents: Norm. Phineas and Ferb: Doofenshmirtz. Gravity Falls: Mabel. Steven Universe: Sapphire.

Books:

The Hunger Games: Haymitch. Game of Thrones: Arya. Discworld: Vimes. Dragonlance: Tasslehoff. Forgotten Realms: Entreri. Dragonriders of Pern: Fandaral. Enderverse: Bean. Harry Potter: Sirius. Recluce Saga: Cerryl. Symphony of Ages: Achmed. Shannara series: Garat Jax. Mercy Thompson series: Stefan. Animorphs: Marco.

TV:

Gilmore Girls: Lorelei. Bones: Brennan. Psych: Juliet. ICarly: Spenser. iZombie: Ravi.

Comics:

DC Comics: The Question, Vic Sage. Marvel Comics: Deadpool.

Games: (This is favorite character for STORYLINE purposes only, not necessarily favorite to play. Some of these are both, but that's coincidental.)

Twisted Metal: Axel. FFVI: Relm. FFVII: Vincent. FFX, X-2: Rikku. Mario: Luigi. Tekken: Paul. Dynasty Warriors: Guan Yu. Soul Caliber: Cassandra. Street Fighter: Guile. Chrono Trigger: Magus. Sonic: Knuckles. Arc the Lad: Bebedora. Gauntlet: Kore (the elf, archer).

Even a casual glance at these lists makes it obvious that I have no absolute pattern for who will be my favorite character in a given fandom. However, there are a few traits that definitely increase the likelihood, with some example characters (though there are a few characters on the list that embody practically none of these traits):

1. Exceptional intelligence, whether in perception, intuitiveness, technology, logic, tactics, or practically anything else. (Brennan, Bean, Donatello, Daria, Huey...this could actually describe most of the characters on these lists, and is the closest to being an absolute requirement)

2. Emotionally alien, stunted, or at least distant. (Bebedora, Garat Jax, Ellis, Stefan, Mandy)

3. Borderline villain, villainous tendencies, or villain turned hero. (Deadpool, Brago, Magus, Entreri, Kenpachi)

4. Exceptional toughness, physical and mental. (Axel, Gajeel, Jean, Seo, Noya)

5. Absolute wing-nut insanity. (Deadpool, Mabel, Mako, Seo, Doofenshmirtz)

6. Comic relief, especially cornball pun related comedy. (Numbuh Two, Spenser, Tasslehoff, Yang, Luigi)

7. A cute little girl. I mean, who doesn't love a cute little girl? What are you all, heartless? (Bebedora, Yui, Relm, Teru, Ellis)

Since I enjoy making lists, I'll add a list of not my favorite ships, but nonetheless ships that I ship with all the shippiness of a squealing schoolgirl, that I will almost certainly never write for. A very sad list indeed. There are two reasons a ship will end up on this list: Either I don't trust my ability to reproduce the characters accurately, or lack of inspiration (the plot bunnies are too good at hide-and-seek). Often, these two reasons will feed off of and exacerbate each other.

Juri/Leomon, Digimon. Sakaki/Chiyo, Azumanga Daioh. Riddler/Yin, The Batman. Chad/Karin, Bleach. Priss/Lena, Bubblegum Crisis. Magus/Schala, Crono Trigger. Jean/Claire, Claymore. Kogoro/Eri, Detective Conan. Ender/Valentine, Enderverse. Elisa/Goliath, Gargoyles. Waka/Seo, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. Umaru/Kirie, Himouto Umaru-chan. Mako/Ryuuko, Pin/Yano, Kimi ni Todoke. Tsukimi/Shu, Kuragehime. Tsuda/Suzu, Seitokai Yakuindomo. Kyoko/Moko, Skip Beat!. Ika/Eiko, Squid Girl. Albel/Nel, Star Ocean. Static/Permafrost, Static Shock. Jun/Kazuya, Tekken. Yuna/Togo, Yuki Yuna is a Hero. Zstrap/Elastica, Zevo 3. Mamoru/Haruka, Until Death Do Us Part.

If you write any of the above pairings, I love you.

I suppose it's worth noting that there are those who write because they want to, and those who write because they have to. I am neither of those. Writing is a difficult and time-consuming activity for me, and I can't say I actually enjoy it. Sometimes, I'd even say I hate it. Nor is there some person with a gun to my head, forcing me to slave away at the keyboard. I don't write because there's a story I want to write, I write because there's a story I want to have written. It's the end result that is desirable for me, not the process.

I hate, hate, HATE coming up with titles. Just take a look through the titles of my stories. Go ahead. I dare you. Awful, no? Inspiration for a title is far more rare for me than inspiration for a story concept or prompt, so usually I just have to kind of force one out there, no matter how stupid it is. SO! Give me ideas, fellow authors, I'm begging you! I'll make sure to credit you in my story if you can give me a decent one.

My favorite professional authors are, in no particular order: Orson Scott Card, Robert Jordan, L. E. Modesitt Jr., Gordon R. Dickson, Elizabeth Haydon, Piers Anthony, Patricia Briggs, Terry Goodkind, Terry Pratchett, Terry Brooks, Robert Asprin, R. A. Salvatore, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (but only together), Frank Peretti and Stephen R. Lawhead. Of course, I have read uncountable other authors whose works I have enjoyed tremendously, but this list is restricted to what I refer to as my "A List" authors, meaning absolutely everything they touch is pure gold. There are probably some others that belong on this list. I'll add more if I think of them.

Let's go ahead and make a recommended reading list for manga and manhwa, while we're here. I'll assume everyone has heard of the big ones, like One Piece and Naruto, so I won't bother recommending anything mainstream, but maybe I can point you in the direction of some lesser known but still awesome manga that you might never have encountered. All of these are stories I would consider 10/10, easily, and all are complete. I do not recommend ongoing stories as a rule.

Can't See Can't Hear But Love. Probably my favorite manhwa ever, one of my favorite stories ever. A comedy drama with lots of romance, about a blind former manhwaga who meets and falls in love with an amazing young deaf girl. The heavy angst present throughout is interspersed with and broken up perfectly by some very subdued humor, often punctuated by the use of chibi art.

Molester Man. Don't let the title fool you. It's not a hentai. Probably the most unique manga I've ever read, it's the single most slice of lifeish slice of life romance manga in existence (or at least tied for the title with a few others that attempt to do the same thing), made so by the fact that the events of the story are all based on the real life experience of the mangaka. It's not angst. It's not funny. It's not particularly romantic. But it IS brilliant, in a way that only strange depictions and re-imaginings of real life can be.

Warau Kanoko-sama and the sequel, Koi Dano Ai Dano. Hands down my favorite manga of all time. This amazing story is at once a complete and utter vicious deconstruction of every major trope of Shoujo manga, and a personification and perfection of the same. Megahot, hyperpopular delinquentesque dude with a terrible personality falls for the plain, unpopular background character of a main protag, who just so happens to be my favorite manga character ever. I don't have the words to describe how much I love Kanoko. You'll just have to read and find out how awesome she is.

Time to break my own rule to recommend Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. I can do that, because I feel no guilt recommending an incomplete series when it's a 4 koma, and no manga recommendation list of mine would be complete without it, seeing as how it's the only manga I've ever read where I literally laughed out loud at a minimum of once per chapter. To be clear, you read this for the comedy. There's nothing else of note there. But the comedy is pure gold.

Bitter Virgin. This one is difficult to swallow, not gonna lie. The angst is heavy, and there's little to no humor to offset it. It doesn't exactly end happily, either, more than earning the 'tragedy' tag. Not normally my cup of tea, but this one was as beautiful as it was heart-wrenching, so it gets the upvote despite having 'too much bad stuff happening' for my taste.

Psyren. If you're into mainstream Shounen battle manga, this one is for you. It's every bit as good as hits like Bleach, Beelzebub, Fairy Tail and other popular manga, it just never reached notoriety for some reason. A bit darker in feel than a typical mainstream manga, but not so dark as some of the more morbid and horrorish stories that had good success...and maybe that's the secret to its lack of fame. Not dark enough for horror, not light enough for upbeat 'friendship is power' stories.

Green Boy. If sports manga is your thing, look no further than this manhwa. A very down to earth boxing story with copious amounts of romance thrown in. No secret techniques or power ups or superhuman training montages, just pure amateur boxing. As is frequent in stories I like, it features a strong, intelligent, independent, likable female lead.

If you end up reading any of these on my recommendation and enjoy yourself, please tell me. It would be nice to know I'm having a positive impact on people's entertainment, even though my writing is still crap.

Now, a brief moment for a shout out. I have read good and bad fics since finding this website, some that were worth the time and some that were...not. I'd like to give major, major props to the writers of fics that I have enjoyed as much as any books written by professional authors I have ever read. Consider this my recommended reading list for fanfiction (but only for random shippers like myself. If you have a problem with certain types of ships, you may run across that type on my list. You've been warned.).

Alone, Together by Failte200. This is a Kim Possible fic containing Kigo, for mature audiences. Do not, however, let the M rating scare you off if you don't like insubstantial smut. This is NOT that. It's a very long story for this site, and the romance is slow burn, full of angst, and deep as deep can be. I can honestly say that it is among my favorite stories ever, and that includes ones written by my favorite professional authors. Highest possible recommendation on this one.

A Kigo series by StarvingLunatic, starting with Walking the Line and continuing through four stories, concluding with One in a Billion (again Kigo, I know, I'll get to other stuff eventually). The author takes the inspiration for this series from the manga Kimi Wa Pet, so for all of you out there that thought it was a great premise, prepare for a reprise. It is most definitely AU, but I felt the author kept just enough in character to still feel very Kim Possible-ish, as well as be completely original, at least where the two main characters, Kim and Shego, are concerned. The author also introduces a host of OC's, which are very well done and interesting in their own right. A very nice piece of work, and if it's not the longest fic on this site, it's gotta be very, very close.

Cat and Cave, by Ninnik Nishukan. Moving on from Kigo now, but still in the KP universe, this story is Drakken/Shego, post Grad. I was most impressed with the author's grasp of the complexities of the two characters, particularly Drakken, who gets the POV in this story. Drakken is by far the most misrepresented character in KP fanfiction, imho. This story does him and his unique personality justice. Short and sweet...and sweet. But not too sweet.

iSteal Spencer Back recently caught my attention. You'll find it on AO3. An exceptionally difficult pairing to pull off, perfectly executed. The writing style was very reminiscent of the show, something I always appreciate in fanfiction.

A collective shout out to every FOP TimmyxVickie writer on this site. All their stories are good. I mean every single one. I will, however, single out voice of morgoth, whose stories I enjoyed just slightly more.

Troumvirate gets a shout out for writing the absolute best trollfics/parodies I've ever read. The stories are not for those that take themselves and their fandoms too seriously, but if you have a strong sense of irony and the ability to laugh at yourself and your fandom, they are among the most humorous you will ever encounter.

My opinion on the key to good writing: Understanding the difference between cliche and unoriginal. They are NOT one and the same. All my favorite stories involve tons of cliche, also called tropes. They're pretty much a necessity to any interesting story. As Megamind says, the difference is all in the presentation.

My opinion on the key to writing good fanfiction: Knowing the characters inside-out, top to bottom, front to back, as intimately as possible. An accurate grasp of the characters is by FAR the most important aspect of fanfiction. If you wanted to write a Harry Potter AU where there's no magic and Harry is a sniveling coward and Draco is a bastion of all that is good and right with the world, I'm not saying you can't. You can write that. If you're good enough, you can write that brilliantly. What you can't do, is write that and have it actually be a real Harry Potter fanfiction. The thing is, names are nothing but placeholders. If you leave all your characters' names blank, will everyone recognize them as who they are in canon? If the answer is no, then you're doing fanfiction wrong. The characters must be recognizably themselves for a story to be good fanfiction. Otherwise, it's just a good story. A good story that I'm automatically biased against, because I picked it up expecting to see characters I love in it, but they're not in it. Instead, there are some original characters walking around with those characters' names attached to them. Not cool, bro. Not cool. Oh, but I am talking about good stories written by good writers, here. If you're an average writer just scraping by, writing fanfiction because you love it (this is me), and you have trouble making the characters think and talk and act like themselves, that's okay. You did your best. What I'm talking about here are those writers who are fairly skilled, yet they go into a story with no intention whatsoever of even attempting an accurate portrayal of the characters from the fandom they're pretending to write for. Like, for real, man, just post it as an original story already. You've already got a whole cast of original characters, just go all the way and give them original names, too.

Some slightly more specific, and hopefully more useful, advice for those who want to improve their fanfiction. Saturate yourself in the source material. I personally binged the entire series of Madoka Magica again before sitting down to write a story about it. If you love it, you should need no incentive to go consume it again. If you don't love it, why are you writing about it? And while you're watching/reading/playing it again, pay very close attention to the tone and cadence of the characters' voices. The whole rant I went on about staying in character is like 90% in the voice. For instance, if you write a 'Harry is a sniveling coward and Draco is awesome' story and Draco sounds like Draco and Harry sounds like Harry, people are more likely to forgive the fact that they aren't doing the kinds of things we would expect them to do. If you do saturate yourself in the source material as I've suggested and you concentrate on trying to capture the voices and you still can't manage to make your favorite characters sound like they should...when all else fails, use their catchphrases. A lot. Most characters most of the time have multiple catchphrases for multiple situations, and every single time they character says those phrases, they sound like themselves. Treat it like one of those kids' learning tools. The Shaggy says 'zoinks'. The Pooh says 'bother'. The Darth Vader says 'Luke. I am your father'. No, he doesn't. Don't use that one.

On Plagiarism: First of all, don't get me wrong, plagiarism is bad. I don't want anyone taking what I say as approval of or endorsement of plagiarism, and I would never, never do it myself. However...I view plagiarism as kind of a Golden Goose thing. If someone takes one of my Golden Eggs, I'm not very concerned. I'm the Goose, I can make more stories, they can't. Eventually, someone will see their Golden Egg and say, "Hey, nice egg. How about making more?" And they'll be like, "Uhhhhhhh..." and that's that. That's the ideal, anyway. The reality is, I'm not making Golden Eggs here. More like Copper Eggs. So someone will take one, and it'll sit on their mantle piece, and people will come over and wonder why in the WORLD this person has this crappy Copper Egg on their mantle piece. So yeah. In conclusion, plagiarism is bad, don't do it, but if you take my stuff I don't really care...but if I ever get to the point where I can make money writing, all that goes out the window. Then if you take my stuff, you're getting sued up the bunghole.

Another thing: I absolutely adore Easter Eggs. Not the actual thing, of course. I'm talking about hidden, indirect references to other things within a story. I've left quite a number in my stories, some of them obscure, others completely blatant. It would make me happy if some of my reviewers would catch one and point it out every so often.

I've begun posting outlines for all of my ongoing and future stories on my AO3 account. The outlines will contain major spoilers, but if you're curious to see where a story is going, or you just don't trust me to finish and want to see how it all ends, you might give it a glance.

Aaaaaand if you made it all the way here and you're still wondering about the two references I made near the top of the page, the first was from Medaka Box (Kei Munakata) and the second from Kill la Kill (Tsumugu Kingase).