Yeah Chocobos! Their butts are super fluffy and fun to draw. Their legs are lame though. For some reason I had a sudden urge to start drawing chocobos one night, and these three to the left are sort of the result of that. Good times.

I will update very sporadically. I apologize for this, but sometimes I have all the time and desire to write and sometimes I don't.

The Hero's Guide to Heroism is also on my AO3 account, tyrannosaurus_rose. All smut chapters I write from here on in will be posted there, per ffnet's site standards. Everything I wrote in high school is staying here, regardless of content.

Smut Chapters:

Heroism Chapter 10: Up and at 'Em

About me:

I was really into fanfiction writing when I was in middle and high school, and then suddenly just stopped. Now that I'm a college graduate, I've started feeling a need to get back into writing, but without any inspiration I wasn't sure what to do. I decided I should just give up on being inspired and pick something to write and see what happened. Since I tend to beat myself up over stupid imposed standards, and I'm really bad at finishing things once I know how they end, I set the following rules for myself:

1. The scene you write has no minimum length requirement, but must not exceed 1,000 words. (If I'm writing in a hardcopy notebook, the limit is set at one page.)
2. You must stop writing BEFORE you have exhausted whatever image you have in your head of the scene.

Somehow these simple rules have worked extraordinarily well for me, so I'm very happily writing again.

EDIT: Since I now have far too many ideas for future Heroism chapters to write, I have removed the 1,000 word limitation. Some of my chapters will still be short, but others will be much longer.

Writing Philosophy:

I'm a very character-driven writer, and what appeals to me most about fanfiction is that characters come pre-made for me to play with and develop as I will. Therefore, my fic typically center on character development in what-if scenarios: what if these two were romantically involved? What if this person didn't die? What if I transplant these characters into my universe? What if he was a girl, instead? How would they be different? How would they be the same? These are the kinds of questions that drive my fic writing, and the kinds of questions most of my favorite fic center around. (The rest are smut.)

I don't believe in utopia. I do believe in happily ever after, but only after some serious ongoing effort (and by ongoing I mean it doesn't stop once you get to the ever after part). Relationships, be they romantic, platonic, downright hostile or anything in-between, take work, and that means communication, interaction, and commitment. There's a lot to say about any relationship, and sometimes I like to say it.

I'm a strong believer in the serial nature of human monogamy. I'm not particularly attached to monogamy at all, per se, but I work with it as a plot device. However, I don't believe in "one person forever" or even "one true love (that I've been looking for all this time)." I believe there are characters that are more or less suited for each other, and the only way they can learn if it's more or if it's less is by developing their relationships.

I could go on at (greater) length, or I could just write more fic. So... yeah.

Contact Me:

I guess there are authors who prefer to live in seclusion from their fans (Bill Watterson and Harper Lee come to mind), but I'm definitely not one of them. Got a question? Comment? Idea? Hit me up!

I do my best to always respond to reviews, so if that's annoying to you, I apologize. A simple "nice chapter" will get a similarly simple "thanks for your support" but the more detail you give me, the more detail I'll give you. I'm a total over-sharer when it comes to talking excitedly about my fic, just try me. (I usually even know when the next update will be, I just don't post such things here because it's too much effort.)

If you're not a fan of reviews, or if you want to talk about something unrelated to my fic, PM me! Seriously, guys, the email I get from the ffnet bot when I have a new message... I live for that email. I light up like a Christmas tree every time, pretty much regardless of the content of the message. (I've never gotten hate mail, so that might be why.)

If you really want to, you can also skype me, but you have to PM me for that info. I'll post it publicly if there's a lot of interest, but until then I prefer to know who to expect.

Playing for Keeps is on hold indefinitely. I won't say it's dead, because there is still a chance that it will come back, but just... don't hold your breath.