Hey all! Welcome to my profile page.

I'm currently working on a few projects, in fandoms ranging from Mass Effect to Harry Potter to Percy Jackson. It's the last one that has monopolized most of my time recently (blame it on childhood nostalgia).

Ongoing Projects:

The Empire Series: Humanity discovered the Prothean Archives in the mid-21st Century, at the height of the Second Cold War. Sovereign stays inactive for another 300 years. History divulges from canon, culminating in factors that lead to a wildly different Human race and Galaxy. Almost Certainly Dead.

Might is Right: This fic came to be from a plot bunny that arose after watching Star Wars, and reading several fics (The Black Prince by cxjenious and the Son of Suns Trilogy by blank101). It's a setting where Humanity rules the stars, and where Mages rule Humanity. Stuck in Development Hell.

Unfettered: Take the PJO characters, blender the setting of Battletech, Mass Effect (sans aliens) and Star Wars, and mix them together. Unfettered is a sci-fi space opera/adventure focused fic, with a Sleeping Hero/Hidden Backup Prince premise.

The following are series/settings that will influence whatever I write:

- Mass Effect: This is the series that brought me to FFN, and it was my go-to game when I was in my early teens.
- Percy Jackson: This was my childhood book series that I read religiously until I was 14. I think I outgrew it, but it'll always be there in memory lane.
- Harry Potter: I did this one ass backwards, reading it on ffn before I actually picked up the books.
- Honor Harrington: Probably the most influential series in terms of what genres I ended up liking. Pretty sure you can get the books for free on Baen Free Library.

My upbringing will likely have the most influence on how I characterize and plot my stories. I was born into a double minority (ethnic, religious, and financial if that counts) in a developing country (third world, in other words). Ethnicity-wise I'm mostly of Chinese descent, but I'm 4-7 generations/1-2 centuries removed (depending on which side of the family tree) from the last ancestors that actually lived in China.

How does this translate into the fics, you might ask? There won't be any advocacy for America or democracy, for one. I avoid politics (of any nation) if I can, so there won't be bashing either. Britain won't be treated specially, and the same goes for its colonial successor states. India and China might seem overly-praised, but I make sure to keep them at the same level with how I characterize the Western powers.

You'll never see me write a main character POV that's content with mediocrity or poverty. Might will also translate to right in most cases, and appeals to force will work more often than not- that's the truth of the world. Inter-class marriages (hypergamy) will usually end up burning down in flames, as will inter-cultural ones.

On Future History Settings:

Most of what is used as 'future history' here is a mix of opinion and existing global trends for the near future. Beyond 25 years into the future it's actually more of a crapshoot. Remember, a large portion of the US establishment believed the Soviets would still be relevant (and indeed, actually grow in power) during the 1980s, and it collapsed a decade later.

Also complicating all of this is that any 'future' history on ffnet will involve Black Swan events- things that no one can reasonably predict happening. In any Mass Effect timeline, for instance, is the Prothean Ruins discovery, which would count as one. Events like this will shake up any world order. Real Life examples include World War 1 and the aforementioned collapse of the Soviet Union.

Personally, my opinion is that in any timeline not heavily affected by Black Swans, the world would look like this by 2100.

- The US will still be a world power. It's relative decline is just that- relative. It'll be the most powerful state on Earth, but unlike in the 90s it'll not have the ability to walk over any state it wishes to (other 'world' powers would interfere with that).

- China will settle into number 2 or 3 overall. Population should stabilize between 900 million to 1 billion. A lot of their economic status will rely on India and the success of OBOR. If they can keep India non-hostile, and have OBOR succeed in just Pakistan and Central Asia, they should be fine-ish. Taiwan will be subdued as time goes by- this doesn't even have to be done militarily. All the Chinese need to do here is to build up a reasonably sized navy and air force, and let their economy do the rest. I'm pretty sure 'reunification' won't involve violence on large scales, and that Taiwan would be given some level of autonomy.

- India will take its place in the Top 5. I personally can see it rising all the way to No.2 or 3, and eventually overtake the US (same as China), but it requires planning, patience and a dose of luck. India needs to get its population growth under control- I don't think a one-child policy is needed (or even a good idea), and simple increases in prosperity should actually do the job.

- There won't be an African superpower- the continent is simply too fractured for that. Typically, the more ethnically diverse a country is, the less they spend on navies and the more they spend on armies. Superpowers need navies to project power- end of story. I do believe there will be major regional powers- Nigeria, if they stay intact, is a frontrunner. They have to handle their own resource curse and secessionists in the north, however. East Africa as a region should be fine. South Africa is a more mixed bag- I'm iffy on that region and country in particular.

- The Middle East will settle down. I personally prefer Iran more than Saudi Arabia, since I can see how the former can slowly liberalize. The latter is just asking for a religious-infused civil war if liberal ideas are implemented. Islam will most likely go through what happened to Christianity- become less important to individuals as they become more prosperous. Islam is more government-focused than Christianity, however, so religious-based or oriented parties would most likely still exist.

- I personally think Argentina and Brazil will dominate South America, with the former being richer and the latter being more 'powerful' in the traditional sense. It's actually already like this today, and barring any disaster happening it'll most likely continue to be that way.

- I don't think the EU will survive in its current form. A smaller union between the actual 'rich' countries- meaning Benelux, France, Germany and maybe Italy, Scandinavia & Iberia, I can see. The eastern European countries would probably still have a Free Trade Agreement-type thing going on with the more compact EU. The UK too, since they don't really have another option.

- Russia is headed for a decline. The average age of the Russian Female is above 40- not past childbearing age, but not that far off either. Their population is barely growing now, and their economy is too reliant on oil and gas as it is. Their main export markets- Germany/EU and China, are both going renewable, and this means overall that's a bad thing for Russia. Their military will also be overstretched, so Russia will be more 'quiet' in the future compared to now. Their days as a major power are probably over.