So, yo, I'm mainstreet52... usually shortened to mainstreet most places on the 'net, but that simple a name is often taken, like here. So, mainstreet52 it is!

Not much about me to tell, really... I'm a sci-fi/fantasy reader, and I enjoy tabletop games... video games, not so much, though there are a few exceptions, such as Pokemon (sad that I don't have access to the newer games though).

I have started dabbling in writing, but other than the one partial story and few shorts up, there's nothing I've dared to actually publish yet. I'm just not at the level I'd want from myself. I'm working on it... kinda.

Writing Update: Okay, I started The Granger Revolution basically because someone dragged me into trying NaNo. As I predicted though, I ran out of time. I don't really want to immerse myself into a world to not have time to write it much, so expect it to not continue any time soon. The ideas for it just aren't flowing. I might post an occasional oneshot of other things, because for shorts it's easier to pop in and pop out of a universe idea I have. I can't promise I'll get back to Revolution, or anything else in particular... we'll see where my writing takes me, if anywhere at all! I am working on original sci-fi works at the same time, co-writing with Intyalle, so that is an issue as well with posting stuff.

I don't like giving negative reviews. If I don't like something, I'll usually walk away without a word. I simply don't have the time to put someone down -- there are so many great uses of my time that have a positive impact in the world... this is not to say I won't point out helpful things, but flaming is right out. Okay, I'm forced to declare an exception here: I will flame for one reason. If your fic is good enough to let me spend time on it, then through the rhetoric after I've spent time you're clearly revealed as a bigot in some form, I will call you on it. I don't find bigotry in any form acceptable. It's the 21st century, grow up! (This doesn't mean a character -- I can tell the difference between a bigoted character and a bigoted author.)

I have a few gripes on technical issues here which I need to talk about:

Formatting Abuse. No, your fic does not need to be all in bold, or all bold and italic, or all italic. No, you do not need to use a line break every 3 lines. This doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it's egregious and I can't stand it. It's hard enough to stare at a screen for hours on end to read fanfiction. I do it because it's enjoyable, but there is so much fic out there I don't need to give myself eye strain unnecessarily.

Atrocious Grammar. Most notably, failure to understand what a paragraph is or how to use it -- putting 30 lines of dialogue into one paragraph makes me cry a little inside. Please, please, please, learn to paragraph properly. I see people with so many good eyes, but then... wall of text, multiple people speaking in the same paragraph... to me, it becomes unreadable. Failure to capitalize names repeatedly, or sentences. (Irony note: the previous sentences are fragments. I'm just listing though.) I probably won't notice an occasional misplaced comma or misspelled word, though (if it's every other line, on the other hand...). Also, if your summary looks like it was written by a five-year-old I will assume your fic was as well and won't bother. Though I may go on IRC and mock your summary.

And now for something completely different...

Unreasonable Pairings. Before I get shouted at from people that think I'm prejudiced or some such rot, I will state that any pairing is possible if you actually explain it and provide circumstances where this could actually happen. However, one conversation where two individuals that hate each other and hate each other's ideas on life in general (in canon) were forced into is NOT a reasonable circumstance to trigger the pairing. This is even harder when we're also looking at cross-generational pairings. If two people don't respect each other as people in canon, they are NOT a realistic pairing unless you make substantial changes to at least one member of the pairing's existence, probably going well before the pairing would be triggers. I won't name specific pairs here to avoid flames, but this can make a good fic unreadable fast.

On that note, here are specifically, the points of "interest." Each point for a pairing requires more justification to make the pairing work. Very few pairings can't work at all, mind. But the more points, the more justification you need, imho:
If the characters are enemies, that's a point.
If the characters are from different generations, that's a point. (Even if they're "both adults"!)
If, in canon, one of the characters has gone out of their way to specifically antagonize the other, that's a point. Two points if it goes both ways.
If one of the characters belongs to a group that the other character does not respect, that's a point, especially if it's a prejudice/discrimination issue. Two points if it goes both ways.
If you must alter a character's canon sexual orientation, that's more than just a point.
If you must alter a character's gender/identity, that's two points, unless it doesn't advance your plot at all, or it is the main idea behind your plot, in which case, it's infinite points -- I certainly don't see the point in reading such an unoriginal and silly concept -- it SCREAMS forcing a pairing that you can't make work otherwise.
If the characters have a natural relationship that makes a "pairing" problematic, that is any number of points depending on the severity of it. (Student/Teacher pairings being very very close to infinite points -- these are just wrong to me.)

Obviously this whole bit is just my .02, and for readers that aren't me, they'll have different ideas, so don't take this as absolute. And remember, there is little that can't be overcome with quality effort in justification.

On a related note: artificial methods of forcing a pairing together are not justification. I don't have an issue with things like magical soul bonds, or contracts and the like, to a point, but if the pairing doesn't already get justified, or isn't handled well, it's just bad writing. (And don't even get me started on the ridiculousness of Marriage Law fics... this is just the very antithesis of actually putting effort into making your pairing work. The only good response to Marriage Law is the one done a few times that results in such a government going down hard.)

Another note: Please don't give yamis and hikaris their own bodies without explaining how this happened. Fastest way to kill a Yu-Gi-Oh! fic for me. It's not like it's that hard to come up with something believable, it is a fantasy storyline, there's way to concieve it, just actually please DO it.

Submit Your Own Character (Tribute/Trainer/Duelist/Student/etc.) fics: No. Please. No. If I make you a character, unless I make a lot of effort to make it very detailed, you will screw it up. If I do this, you will still screw it up. I'd be better off writing the character for a fic myself. Also you're just asking for people to hand you Mary Sues all day long. I can live with OCs in fics, but I do leave at the first sign of Mary Sue. Having open submissions, though, is just your way of saying "I don't want to put the effort in to make this fic work on my own."