The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory. - Anon.

FantomoDrako means 'PhantomDragon' in Esperanto.

25th March, 2020 - Writing took a back seat for a while as I lost interest in doing many of the things I enjoy. The bushfires in Australia - one of them was visible from my backyard - impacted a number of daily things for me for a while. Now, of course, we have a pandemic which is also impacting daily life. Being more confined with limitations placed on many things leaves me with more time and ability to get back into the things I enjoy. I plan to use this time to indulge in my writing etc. so hopefully you'll see the progress section of my profile updated far more often, leading to various new story chapters.

Feel free to check for progress updates whenever you like! If you have any questions or you'd like some writer's advice, please don't hesitate to PM me!

Name: Linda

Gender: Female

Age: Not a child.

Lives: In my imagination where I frolic with the hordes of plot bunnies. They're fluffy but vicious.

Likes: Reading, drawing, writing, fantasy, dragons, wolves, foxes, anime, cartoons, video games, true friends, listening to music, working on my online game

Dislikes: Bugs, especially spiders. Mean/rude people (manners cost nothing!), good stories that never get finished, commonly mistaken words (stop writing 'defiantly' in place of 'definitely'!)

NOTE: For anyone awaiting updates, I am sorry. I only write when the inspiration or motivation hits me. Sadly, that happens no where near as often as I would like, but I've been working hard on writing bits and pieces here and there. Better than nothing, right?

Having said that: I'm a human being, not a machine - I write for fun when I can, not because people yell at me to. The more you yell, the less I want to write.

Story Updates:

In progress:

Phantoms, Powers and Prophecies - working on 12th chapter- 3 3/4/12 pages (Danny Phantom, Harry Potter)

Clichés - working on 3rd chapter - 2/7 pages (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Cleansing Rain - working on 7th chapter - 4 1/2/10 pages (Ranma 1/2) On a roll! Almost halfway!

Beyond the Sea - working on 6th chapter - 2 1/2/5 pages (Fullmetal Alchemist) Writer's Block

Blanka Ardezo - working on 5th chapter - 4/6 pages (Danny Phantom)

Hidden Depths - working on 3rd chapter - 4 1/2/9 pages - (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Spark of the Soul - working on 4th chapter - 0 1/4/6 pages (Astro Boy)

Behind the Doors in the Zone - 3 oneshots done (Danny Phantom - may include random crossovers)

Fox Food - working on 5th chapter - 6 1/4/10 pages (Naruto) Co-authored by inukagome15 Writer's Block

Law of the Jungle - working on 2nd chapter - 7 1/2/11 pages (Doctor Who) Hiatus

Black, White and Shades of Grey - have yet to start 3rd chapter 0/4 pages (Soul Eater) discontinued

The Dark Behind the Shadows - 8 3/4/8 pages (Vexx) I'm turning this into a two-shot by request!

Digging Deeper - working on 8th chapter - 4 3/4/12 pages (Ranma 1/2, InuYasha) Writer's Block

Tek Ma'tek - working on 2nd chapter - 2 1/4/7 pages (Ratchet and Clank, Stargate: SG-1) Hiatus

Opposing Forces - working on 3rd chapter - /? pages (This story is posted on XTAIGAX's account!) (Astro Boy) Currently with XTAIGAX

Warrior's Tempest - working on 5th chapter - 3 1/4/10 pages (This story is posted on Renegade Bladesman's account!) (Ranma 1/2, s-CRY-ed) Currently with Renegade Bladesman (I haven't had any contact with Renegade in a while, so I'm guessing this will be on hiatus indefinitely. If you want an update you'll have to ask Renegade.)

True Curse of the Cat-Fist - working on 3rd chapter - 4 1/2/? pages (This story is posted on Ryo-chan wolfgirl's account!) (Ranma 1/2) Currently with Ryo-chan wolfgirl

Sinister Schemes - ATTENTION!! This story is on permanent hiatus and is up for adoption. PM or e-mail me if you would like to adopt it. (InuYasha)

NOTE: The page counts are based on the number of pages in Microsoft Word. I have a rough guess of how many pages the average chapter of a story has. I will aim to reach that average or over. I post my progress here in the hopes to placate some of my more impatient readers, and I update it whenever necessary.

Pending:

Untitled - A Danny Phantom fic co-written with Iymea. (The epicness!) I won't give out a summary just yet, but it is multi-chaptered. Stay tuned!

Chapter 1 - 4 1/4/? pages

Open: If you'd like someone to bounce ideas off, or you'd like some advice, I'm open. Also, if you have a story idea but can't put it all together yourself, I'll be your co-author. Just make sure I know what fandom you're working with as I might not be familiar with it and therefore cannot help out. (Most of the ones I know are listed on my beta profile.)

Fan Art: I'd love to draw fan art for any story! Sadly, I suck at drawing people, so that really limits me...I'm pretty good with animals, though. (Yes, this includes Mobians for any Sonic fans reading this!)

I also love receiving fan art! If you feel like drawing something from one of my stories, by all means, go right ahead! Just send me a link so I know. I'll then put that link in here, so everybody will see it!

Digging Deeper:

Ryoga the Wolf Demon - by Ryo-chan wolfgirl. I think it's awesome! Goes well with Digging Deeper.

The forms of Ryoga DD - by Ryo-chan wolfgirl. Isn't she great? Ryoga in all his forms from Digging Deeper. Coloured version here!

Ryoga Hibiki Wolf Form 2 - by me by request from AmberFox and Lyell.

Ryoga Hibiki Wolf Form 2 - by me by request from AmberFox and Lyell.

Wolf Ryoga Head Collage - by me by request from AmberFox and Lyell.

Wolf Ryoga Coloured - by me by request from Ryo-chan wolfgirl.

Wolf Ryoga from DD - by me

CHARACTER BASHING - A Rant by Fantomo

Okay, so, I've seen a good bit of this happening in fan fiction. I've seen it most prominently myself (among the few fandoms I scroll through) in the Harry Potter and Ranma 1/2 sections.

I do not approve of senseless character bashing, no matter what character you target. Every character in every series has their good points and their bad points. And yes, sometimes it's fun to twist canon events that can actually be viewed in a different light, concerning actions taken, into something darker and more twisted regarding certain individuals.

I know Manipulative!Dumbledore is a favourite for that in the Harry Potter fandom. Sometimes it's done really well and I enjoy the story. But I see so many bashing the Weasleys - particularly Ron, Ginny and Molly; mostly Ron. He has his bad points, of course, but that makes him a relatable character and one of the more fleshed out characters in the HP world. I can see where people could gain a dislike of him, but the overt bashing I see, along with other members of his family and others such as Dumbledore and Hermione, is terrible. Because of this people see these characters as one dimensional cardboard cutouts.

Dumbledore is an old, old man that made a lot of stupid mistakes concerning a number of things, the biggest of which is Harry. It is fun to see these mistakes pushed under Dumbledore's nose where he is forced to acknowledge all the harm, intentional or otherwise, that's he's done - especially to Harry. It's also nice to see him try and atone for these mistakes, especially when trying to re-establish a genuine friendly (mentor or grandfatherly) bond with Harry. These mistakes, however, can easily be twisted into much darker machinations on Dumbledore's part - it really isn't a stretch from canon for some things and sometimes it's fun to see writers explore such things. But I've seen so many go down the same path and the results were not fun to read. I am so sick to death of seeing Dumbledore think/say "For the Greater Good". If you're going to twist things at least put forth some real effort so people stop seeing carbon copy stories about Manipulative!Dumbledore. It's just the same old bashing at that point.

I've seen a number of stories where the Weasleys, particularly Molly, Ron and Ginny, are getting paid to hang out/spend time with Harry. This payment often comes from Harry's own vault or the ancestral Potter family vault. This payment also often includes Dumbledore, who tends to pay himself from Potter funds for 'being the boy's magical guardian' or some such reason and is usually the one to forward payments to the Weasleys. This is clear defamation of the characters and, while I have seen it done to good effect, mostly it comes down to the writer giving the readers all the reasons about the place to hate those characters. I do find it funny that while the Weaselys are often a target for bashing, the twins - Fred and George - are often vindicated and not included in the bash-fest. In fact they often end up joining Harry in disliking the rest of their family. It becomes a horrible sight to see when the writer's hate for certain characters infects the story to such a degree that all the characters they do like end up joining in the bashing in-story.

I'm not a big fan of Ron or Dumbledore, I will admit that. I can see why people dislike them, but I can also see their good points and I do not like seeing them mindlessly bashed. I don't mind reading stories where they're not portrayed in the best light if they're well written, but there are those out there that only have fan fiction instead of most of the canon to work from and they get the wrong idea, thinking that these characters truly are that bad. It's sad to see.

It's just as bad in the Ranma 1/2 fandom and I know there are readers/writers there that have only fan fiction as their sources of knowledge. I've seen it written in reviews etc. They see the bashing and the bad traits ramped up to the max and think that's simply how things are, since it's more common than you think, and go on to spread that belief.

Again this leads to characters becoming one dimensional - the same limited traits repeated over and over. The biggest victim of this bashing in the Ranma 1/2 fandom is Akane Tendo, followed by Genma, Ryoga and several others to a lesser degree.

Genma I can understand to a degree - he really is a dreadful person. But he does have his good points and he really does care for Ranma in his own way. He needs a comeuppance and it's always fun to see his deeds catch up to him, but there are limits. So many writers reduce him and Soun Tendo to the same few lines and actions - play shogi, cry about stuff, harp on Ranma and devise dumb schemes to get Ranma and Akane married. Both characters actually do more than this in the manga and anime, but in fan fiction it's all too easy to shove them into their little role boxes and it makes me disappointed to see it over and over.

Same with Ryoga - he's not a saint, but he's generally a good person. I see so much hate piled on him and while some of it is deserved, rightfully so, much is not. He is often reduced to the role of scapegoat where he becomes comic relief only; a plot device simply to annoy Ranma, such as his P-chan form being doted on endlessly by Akane, or twisted beyond recognition into a maniacal killer. He's usually shouting things like 'Prepare to die!' at Ranma, yes, and he got close to doing major damage during the training for the Hiryu Shoten Ha, but even then he never went the distance. A good enough shot to the right place and Ranma would've been gone in one blow (or crippled with attacks to weak points) but Ryoga didn't do that. He often helps Ranma and has hung around Ranma as a pal more than once. Ryoga has gone out of his way to help/defend Ranma; even seeking Ranma out for help himself and it annoys me when people ignore all of that. Ryoga Hibiki is one of the most complex characters in Ranma 1/2 and I hate seeing that potential trampled because someone wants a token enemy to toss at Ranma.

Then there's Akane. Bashed as an irredeemable violent brute that swings a mallet created by anger-fuelled ki. Akane has only used a mallet a small handful of times (in both the manga AND anime); most of the time she simply punches and kicks. Nor can she use ki like that - that is pure fanon even though a number of people in the fandom take it as gospel. It's just ye age olde anime/manga ability of hammer-space where characters, mostly female, seem to pull things out of thin air. She's violent, yes, but not without reasons. She definitely has a problem with jumping to conclusions and wild accusations, but she's a nice girl that is genuinely compassionate. People also call her useless when it comes to martial arts. She's not in the same league as a number of the others (Cologne, Happosai, Ranma and Ryoga to name the main ones) but she isn't a bad martial artist in her own right - she just lacks drive. When she has the drive you can see her skills shine through (Ryugenzawa and the fake Tendo sisters to name some). I hate seeing all of her good traits narrowed down (or completely obliterated) for plot convenience while her bad traits are boosted to ridiculous degrees. I'm not a big fan of Akane, but it's unfair to the character and there are some great stories out there with her featured.

I see people put 'character name bashing' in their story summaries and it makes me sick. I would not like to be friends with such an unfair and shallow person. Whether you are writing a story that bashes characters, intentionally or not, or you are reviewing a story and praise the bashing aspect I implore you to take a step back and evaluate what kind of person you really are.

There are ways to make a character a worse person than canon that readers will dislike without bashing them - I've seen it done. Don't bash for the sake of bashing. Be a smart writer and use that character's potential and that of the characters around them to achieve the effect you're going for in a constructive way.

Writers, step up your game.

ATTENTION!! Bored? Looking for a good laugh? Like Naruto, Yu Yu Hakusho, Yu-Gi-Oh! or Dragon Ball Z? Then I highly recommend watching the Abridged series!

Naruto: The Abridged Series can be found here: (You can also download them here, but you'll need to download Veoh Web Player Beta. It's worth it!) - Created by MasakoX and Vegeta3986

Yu Yu Hakusho Abridged can be found at www.youtube.com and covers the movie! Yu Yu Hakusho: Poltergiest Report Abridged is WAY better than the actual movie! - Created by Lanipator

Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged can be found at YouTube and covers the Duel Monster series and movies, part of the original series and part of the spin-off Capsule Monsters - by LittleKuriboh

Dragon Ball Z Abridged can be found at www.youtube.com along with movies. - By TeamFourStar

I wouldn't call myself a true fan until I'd at least checked out the Abridged version. It's worth it, trust me!