Well, I just realized how damn long my profile is. I'll try to find the time to shorten it at some point, but no promises. I think it would be a good idea for them to implement the spoiler boxes some forums use to collapse large sections of text into a box about 3 or 4 lines long, with a little 'click here' thing to expand it. Would definitely make some profiles more tolerable...

In short, I have only 119 favorite stories, 5 favorite authors, 351 followed stories, and 9 followed authors. Why? Because I have a lot of dead stories on my follow list that I'm hoping will somehow be revived or something. And I'm kind of lazy. And I kind of treat my follow list as a favorite list. Eh. XD

Alright...just because I feel like being a nice guy, my real name is Brian, and I'm 26 years old, currently in college as a information technology major (formerly mechanical engineering).

My favorite hobbies (read: "ways to waste time") are reading (actual books (novels), manga, and fanfiction), origami, paracord crafting, duct tape crafting, playing video games, watching videos on YouTube, and watching anime.

In any event, I'll start with a few of my favorite quotes!

"Welcome to reality! Everyone's just a LITTLE bit weird here..." (made it up on my own, but someone else probably came up with it before me...)

"Those who dance are considered insane...by those who cannot hear the music." (saw it on a t-shirt)

"When you've watched the Impulse get crushed by a falling building, you get a few ideas of how to use it to save your own ass." Heine Westenfluss (Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Serenity, Chapter 26 (fic has been deleted and is undergoing a re-boot))

"If Obama was your answer, that was a stupid question." (bumper sticker)

"Boss, why is it that you always say 'I've got a plan' like a terrorist says 'I've got a bomb'?" - Garrus Vakarian (Razor's Edge: Requiem)

"Sometimes I stop to think and forget to start again." (T-shirt)

"I don't understand, but I disagree." - my older sister misquoting my younger brother. (He had said "I understand, but I disagree." I like my sister's version better.)

EDIT: As of 3/20/2013, I HATE FF.N's NEW LOOK. I want the previous one back. I liked the white summary box and the darker background from the contrast button. I don't like the black text on grey background in the summary box now, and the same goes for the links in the summary box. I also prefer how the old 'chapter select' and 'next/previous chapter' drop-down menus and buttons looked.
(Well whaddaya know. My first rant on this site that doesn't have to do with how someone's written something. LMAO)

EDIT: 3/25/2013 - About time they fixed that... well, partially, IMHO. They finally got around to changing the color of the text in the summary box to fit the contrast mode.

EDIT: 7/25/2013 - WHY??? WHY DID THEY DO THIS TO US??? Am I the ONLY one who hated the fact that he had to go back and RE-BOOKMARK all the categories I regularly check because they HAD to change the way the URL works? Good grief... I understand wanting to add functions to the filters to NOT include X category or Y character(s) or Z world... but I seriously wish you'd found a better way to do it... Hell, why not just use something like "/1-24/etc." in the URL for "include selections one and four for _ filter and do not include selection two"? Sure, you might think the abbreviations in the URL are helpful, but I thought the way the order of the filter boxes USED to match up with the order of "/1/3/5/9/0/0/0/5/etc." was nicer...

EDIT: 3/22/2016 - I really don't understand why they haven't added ONE specific filter: fic type. And by 'fic type' I mean things like 'modern AU', 'post-canon', and so on. I mean, seriously. Would it REALLY be that difficult to add that? Sure, it would be a pain in the butt for some people to go and add a label to all of their fics (especially those who post things like individual drabbles _

For those who are curious, my name is a reference to one of my favorite series of Star Wars books, specifically a certain character.

Favorite anime/manga:
Gundam SEED
Gundam SEED Destiny (That's only on my list of favorites because its the sequel to SEED. I honestly didn't like much of Destiny other than the Strike Freedom, the Infinite Justice, and the Akatsuki. Honestly, the Destiny (the mobile suit) just treated combat like some kind of hack-and-slash game...)
00 Gundam (However, I did NOT really like the movie, "Awakening of the Trailblazer"... Aside from the tech, I found almost nothing about that movie appealing.)
Gundam Wing
One Piece
Naruto (This one, not so much lately. Been on a bit of a downhill slide lately.)
(and a bunch of others I can't remember off the top of my head...)

Something funny I noticed about Gundam SEED: the Strike's beam rifle HIGHLY resembles an AR-15 (like the M4 or M16) assault rifle with a grenade launcher (mostly just b/c of the parts sticking up on the top of the rifle and the shape of the handguard/front grip (the section right below the barrel) (or what would be without the tube underneath it). Yes, I do know the Duel's rifle is the one with the under-barrel 'grenade' (it's more of a rocket...) and that the Strike's has no such thing.

Favorite fan-fiction...(uhh..."types"? "universes"? "categories"? ..."bases"? (you'll know what I mean...))
Naruto
Mass Effect (I prefer a (mostly Paragon) male Shepard with a Tali romance, like in Razor's Edge)
Gundam SEED/Destiny
Gundam Wing
Gundam 00
(some crossovers of the above 3)
Gundam (SEED, mostly) x Mass Effect (So far, I've only actually found two of these that I like... I also found a decent(-ish) MExTransformers fic too.)
Gundam SEED x Star Wars (Well, when an author does it right, they might have a REALLY good fic for this. I don't write, and I can easily tell that it would be VERY hard trying to deal with starfighters, mobile suits (espcially those with a DRAGOON system), Jedi, and berserkers/SEED-users (eg: Kira, Athrun, Shinn, etc.)/newtypes, and the different types of shields (SEED with anti-beam shields, laminated armor, Phase Shift, and beam shields/positron reflectors and Star Wars with its deflector shields). And let's not even TRY to get into the different types of weapons...)
Halo
Metroid
Legend of Zelda
Halo x Metroid (tbh, haven't read any of these in a LOOOONG while) (Also, lets be honest. The suits are so different that it's obvious Samus' power suit is much stronger than the Chief's. I mean, seriously. Which one has multiple built in (ENERGY) weapons with unlimited ammo (beams (power, ice, plasma, etc.) and explosives (specifically the morph ball bombs))? Which one can take more damage? Also, I'm pretty sure the speed booster goes faster than a SPARTAN can run... Finally, which one can actually TRANSFORM?) [EDIT (7/11/2013): Also, sure the Chief's shield regenerates, but consider the sheer amount of damage Samus's can take. The Power Suit has its own energy shield, which is powered by the energy tanks. The Chief's shield is designed to take regular bullets and (to a somewhat lesser extent) small plasma/energy blasts. Samus's shield can withstand... let's see... immersion in lava (temporary immersion, until you get the Varia and Gravity Suits) and being STOMPED on by RIDLEY (which I'm pretty sure would constitute an insta-gib by Halo physics), and is DESIGNED to be able to withstand MASSIVE energy blasts. Hell, I'm pretty sure a plasma grenade would pretty much just bounce off Samus's Power Suit. And it might not even stick to her in the first place...]

Favorite Pairings
Gundam Seed:
KiraxLacus
AthrunxCagalli
MuxMurrue (I'm also considering Mu and Neo to be the same person. I'm mostly guessing that Mu suffered memory loss, so Logos (or whoever it was that actually recovered him) just gave him a new name, a fabricated history, and "reasons" to be loyal. As time goes on, I would guess that he'd just go back to being (mostly) the same Mu as he was before he lost his memory.)
(Other than that, I'm rather flexible on the pairings, I consider those three to pretty much be OTPs.)

Gundam Wing:
HeeroxRelena
DuoxHilde
QuatrexDororthy
ZechsxNoin

After War Gundam X:
GarrodxTiffa (sure, they probably won't go anywhere beyond friendship anytime soon, but I think they're a really cute pair.)
WitzxToniya
(I'll be honest, I've only watched Gundam X a couple of times, and those are the only ones I can actually recall. I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting one or two...)

00 Gundam:
AllelujahxMarie
SetsunaxFeldt (Yes, I know there is no real canon pairing for Setsuna. I don't particularly care much. I really didn't care for Awakening of the Trailblazer...)
LichtyxChristina (Only barely introduced before... yeah... But I still like the pairing.)
BillyxSumeragi (or BillyxKujo, depending on what you prefer to call her...)
PatrickxKati (You just have to love Patrick... he's so over-the-top and overconfident it's kind of adorable...)
SajixLouise (Admit it, they have such a funny relationship. It's pretty adorable.)
EDIT 4/16/2015 (FOUR years after first watching the show): Well, I just realized something about the first ending for 00 Gundam Season 2. The things around Setsuna in the first sequence in the ending are assault rifles with flowers growing on them. I know it's fairly obvious if you pay attention to the images, but I always paid more attention to the WORDS of the song, so I only just noticed, and the symbolism behind that brought me to tears instantly. Trust me, not many things have that big of an impact on me that quickly.

Naruto:
NarutoxHinata (I just think they're really cute. And Hinata was pretty much the only one in their age group who actually LIKED Naruto at all up until... oh, after the Land of Waves arc? Whatever.)
NejixTenten (I actually cried when I read that part of the manga.)
ShikamaruxTemari ("Troublesome..." XD)
...and not much beyond that. But I will admit to being violently opposed to anything that breaks MinatoxKushina...

Gundam AGE: (I finally managed to get around to watching it... lol.)
Also, WTF is with the manga version? I never even bothered finishing the second chapter of the manga. One, the design of the colony physically makes NO sense whatsoever. Two, he takes a FAN that probably has 100 meter long fan blades... and PUTS IT ON HIS GUNDAM'S BACK in order to beat mobile suits his BEAM blade can't damage? ...WTF???
FlitxEmily
FlitxYurin (I'm not sure if I would prefer Emily or Yurin... Episodes 14 and 15 really made me cry, dammit... On a somewhat related note, since the cockpit in UE mobile suits is in the head, why didn't Flit use his X-Rounder abilities (not that he knew what those were at the time, IIRC) to realize this and cut the head off, ground it out (like what Kio did towards the end of the series), and bring it to safety? "FUCK LOGIC." Yurin was one of those people you just can't NOT like...)
AsemuxRomary (I have to admit, I like Flit better than Asemu so far...)
WoolfxMillais (It's only a minor relationship, it might not even go beyond friendship, but I can imagine, right?)
ObrightxRemi (Dammit... Episode 27 actually had me crying... The only other parts of a Gundam series that had me actually CRY were Tolle's and Flay's deaths (and Mu's 'death') in SEED, the Junius 7 drop towards the beginning of GS:D (I still cry frequently when I listen to Felds of Hope), Stella's death in GS:D, and Yurin's death during the first 'generation' of Gundam AGE. (I never cried at either Kira's 'death's (about halfway through each GS and GS:D) or Athrun's and Meyrin's 'death's (about halfway through GS:D) simply because I was just kind of shocked. I mean, by all appearances, they appeared to kill off the protagonist (who is essentially a mobile suit piloting god) and the one person who could maybe beat him in combat when in a mobile suit as powerful as his? Keep in mind, the Gundam shows do NOT have a history of killing off protagonist or semi-protagonist characters...) And why couldn't Dique or one of the other techs do the repairs? Shouldn't they have all been checked out on the repair flyers?)
ZeheartxFram (I really wish Fram hadn't waited until her death to tell Zeheart... Episode 48 was OBSCENELY cruel. I don't think I've EVER been that upset over the death of an antagonist/antagonist-supporting character.)
SericxNatora (Damn necessary sacrifices...)
KioxEmily
BTW, I liked the Flit from the first 'generation' of the show more than the other 'generations'. After what happened to Yurin, he just became an 'absolutist jerk.' (i.e.: "If you're not with me, you're against me." In this case, "You're all Vagans, so you are all monsters that need to be eradicated.")

Legend of Zelda:
LinkxZelda
...pretty much sums up all the pairings I can think of. This includes LinkxTetra, of course, since Tetra IS Zelda... Oh, and Sheik is female. Seriously, I'm pretty sure the only magic Zelda used when she 'transformed' from Sheik to Zelda in OoT was to instantly switch outfits and eye color.

Mass Effect:
Shepard(male)xTali (Admit it, Tali's adorable.)

Transformers: Cybertron:
CobyxLori

Radiata Stories:
JackxRidley

Eureka Seven:
RentonxEureka
(I read the original manga series, tried a little E7:AO but didn't like it, it's been a long time since I read it, blah blah blah, so I don't really remember much about pretty much any of the characters. I just remember that I always thought they were a cute couple.)

Zoids: Chaotic Century/Guardian Force: (I'm not a particularly big fan of the other Zoids timelines. They really de-emphasize the Zoids as characters and start treating them more like animal-versions of traditional mobile suits/generic mecha. Hello? I thought a LOT of them seemed to have personalities in CC/GF!)
VanxFiona (I think they're a cute couple. So very very cute.)
RavenxReese (I'm honestly not sure why I think this is a good pairing... then again, it has been a long time since I watched this series.)
IrvinexMoonbay (Again, same as RavenxReese. But they have known each other for a while already, right?)

...And that's all I can think of off the top of my head right now.

Favorite video games: (and usernames where applicable)

PC:
For most games on Steam: Wraith 5 and Rogue 9 (current variation: Wraith 5 IGYB)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Wraith 5 (haven't played this in over a year...)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Wraith 5 IGYB (Also, if anyone plays this and is looking for someone to do spec ops co-op with, I'd LOVE to. On my Wraith 5 account I've in the top 10,000 scores worldwide on all of the survival maps I've played, and in the top 5000 on at least half of them. Also, I've looked through )
I used to play MW3 on the Wraith 5 account, but I got banned for using an FPS unlocker my friend made. (My computer has a hard time running MW3 at anything RESEMBLING a stable framerate, and the FPS unlocker uncaps the framerate, simplifies a few textures, and (used to) disables gun camos to make it a bit easier to run. I used one of the unapproved versions (rather than the one approved version) for about a year and a half before VAC decided to just up and ban me. *shrug* So, yeah. Banned on a damn technicality. FUCK YOU VAC/ACTIVISION/IW/SLEDGEHAMMER!!!! (Note: if I did something equivalent on the PS3/XBox version, I would've gotten a 24 hour ban and a stat reset. But noooo. Valve decided all VAC bans are permanent and non-removable.)
Let's be honest folks, multiplayer in Modern Warfare 3 is BEYOND broken. Spawns in Kill Confirmed (well... in general) are WAY beyond FUBAR. Poor hit detection, a lot of BS lag, and the "lag OVER-compensation" just screws you over more (did some messing around in my config file, managed to (somewhat) fix this). Add to that the fact that there are no RANKED dedicated servers...CoD4 is soooo much better. EDIT: with the use of an up-to-date FPS unlocker (EDIT again: I don't use the FPS unlocker any longer because my friend hasn't updated it in ages and the version I used got me banned (even though it didn't do anything but STABILIZE my framerate) and some edits to the config file, MW3 MP is *relatively* good. Lag comp. and hit detection are still shit. I'll find some way to show some of my experiences with this sometime. Can you say "point blank shotgun center-of-mass HITMARKER at two feet" (headshots don't do extra damage on shotguns)? I've had that happen with all of the shotguns. I've even gotten a hitmarker at five feet with the KSG. The guy was stationary and PERFECTLY centered in my crosshairs. Somewhat related is the fact that I find it EASY to get one-hit kills with the UNDER-BARREL SHOTGUN in the 20-25 foot range (and the only shotgun in MW3 with worse range AND damage per shot is the AA-12)
EDIT (again): Well, I'm not nearly as irritated at the game as I used to be... I'm managing to go on 5 killstreaks with the KSG (the worse pump-action shotgun) fairly regularly, I've had SEVERAL 30 kill matches in 6v6 TDM (75 kill matches), and I have earned a MOAB (25 gun kills in one life (24 with hardline and/or specialist strike package)). Even better? I earned the MOAB camping with a sniper in team deathmatch. LOL!
EDIT (AGAIN): HOLY HELL!!! I've earned a second MOAB, running and gunning with an SMG. ALSO in TDM. And to make things worse, I didn't have ANY pro perks or 'good' attachments. I had a UMP .45 with kick and red dot sight, and a P99 with a suppressor. O.O
EDIT (yeah, AGAIN): I've gotten FOUR MOABs now. Current tally: one traditional-style sniping on Mission in TDM, one traditional-style sniping on Mission in Domination, and two run-n-gunning with SMGs in TDM (one on Hardhat, one on Underground). Never thought I'd actually reach that kind of level... XD
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - Wraith 5 (I usually use an in-game clan tag, typically Whut or HvK)
-(Haven't actually played this in at least half a year, or something like that...)-
Also, at this point, I have to say that MW3 multiplayer is currently more 'playable' than BO2 multiplayer. I mean, the local host matchmaking system used in MW3 seems MUCH better at handling the fairly low player count than BO2's dedicated server matchmaking system. These days, I rarely see more than 2,500 people playing regular TDM in BO2 and 3,000 playing regular TDM in MW3. And the lag I get in BO2 nowadays is MUCH worse than the lag I've been getting in MW3 (even with the P.o.S. lag comp used in MW3...). "Lesser of two evils," and all that, right?
Anyhoo, I've gotten 2 quad feeds in this game, and one of those '5 quick kills' medals (Frenzy or Fury, one of those). No Nuclears for me, especially since I don't really play the gametypes where those are usually feasible. I tend to play TDM almost exclusively, and I don't meet the requisite skill level to get a Nuclear in 6v6 to 75 kills, especially considering the number of people who run obvious-as-shit wallhacks...
Magicka - Wraith 5 (no IGYB)
(Single player games:)
Star Wars: Republic Commando (Never really bothered with the multiplayer for this, considering how much time passed between the game's release and when I got it.)
Half Life 2 (I haven't played HL1, but the Black Mesa mod for HL2 is AMAZING. So far.)
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D
Star Wars: Jedi Knights 2: Jedi Outcast (I love using console commands... I've crashed the game by stacking too many det packs XD) (Note: I don't play the multiplayer for this game. I started playing this game back when I was still in high school, and my parents had a rule about playing on the computer: you only get ONE turn a day, and you can only play for 20 minutes. Not very useful for a multiplayer game, huh?)
Star Wars: X-Wing (...Holy hell. This used to be one of my favorite games of all times. Now, its getting close to 15-ish years since I last TOUCHED it... Truth be told, its my dad's anyways. Not really mine...)
Antichamber - I haven't actually played this yet. Once I manage to find something with enough memory, I'm planning to record and upload a blind Let's Play to YouTube. (As things are now, I've got about 40 GB of empty memory on an external hard drive. Not exactly a good amount for recording relatively good quality video, right?)

Nintendo DS:
Metroid Prime Hunters (haven't played this in a LOOONG time)
Pokémon Soul Silver - Rogue 9 (Well, I've managed to get my Typhlosion up to level 71, but the rest of my Pokémon haven't even hit level 60 yet. I'm just lucky one of my brothers has Heart Gold and several of the other games. Oh, I've also maxed out my game corner coin case once already, spent it all, and I'm about 60% of the way to maxing it out again. Voltorb Flip is addicting...)

Nintendo Wii:
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (haven't played this in a LOOONG time)

Nintendo WiiU:
Super Smash Bros. 4 - I main Samus and Captain Falcon. I'm decent at it.

If you find a fan-fic that you think i might be interested in, send me a message recommending it! (and NO, i don't want people to send me links to THEIR OWN STORIES!!! (unless they REALLY think I'd be interested in it))
ESPECIALLY don't send me links to AU fics that put characters in a HIGH SCHOOL or similar setting...I'm not a big fan of fics that are THAT AU...if its a Gundam fic, then make sure that its GOT GUNDAMS IN IT!! (and a plot)

And finally... please only send me ones written by competent authors. OCCASIONAL spelling/grammar/etc. errors are okay, but if they don't use commas, capital letters, or appropriate paragraphing (you know, like breaking up dialogue between multiple characters?), I find it LITERALLY painful to read. No, I am not exaggerating. Also, if the author doesn't bother to use proper grammar, use proper spelling, or even CAPITALIZE the first letter of names/sentences in the SUMMARY of a story, I probably won't bother reading it.

Things I like in a fanfic:
A good plot (yes, that DOES mean a plot is actually required)
Character development
Logical plot advancement. (I enjoy plot twists as much as the next guy, but there are limits...)
Moments of fluff.
Good action scenes/sequences. (By this, I mean there isn't frequent use of 'They charged, *screen break, the other machine exploded.' Where's the appeal in that??? Also, they don't describe EVERY. Single. Little. Thing. a character does an exchange of blows. THAT JUST GETS BORING AS FUCK!!!!!)
Appropriate moments of sad.
Good grammar.
Good spelling.
=I do realize that the two items above do not apply quite evenly given regional 'dialects,' speaking habits, or whatever you want to call them.
Use of past tense when third person perspective is used, use of present tense when first person perspective is used.
My favorite fic I've recently read that fits this:
Team 8 by S'TarKan
(Hell, you could probably just look at most of the fics on my favorite list. Sure, there's a lot of them, but they're there for a reason!)

Things I do not like in a fanfic:
Character bashing (Well, most of the time. I will accept moderate bashing of a truly douchebag-ish character and mild bashing of assholes, but like above, there are limits... just keep it within reasonable limits.)
People acting OOC. Example: Hyuuga Hinata being overly gung-ho (especially Naruto-level gung-ho) and Naruto being absurdly shy. If the author can work the character development to actually make the behavior fit, then I'll accept it (probably, lol).
HIGH SCHOOL AU. If I'm reading a Gundam fic, I WANT THERE TO BE GODDAMN GUNDAMS IN IT!!!!
Yaoi. I have nothing against homosexual people, I just have problems with reading it. Especially when it involves character(s) who are obviously heterosexual.
Time travel (beyond the limits of the original work). I just do not like the whole idea in the first place.
Self inserts/'real world crossovers' (those fics in the Legend of Zelda category where the author (or someone else from the real world) ends up taking Link's place in the plot). On the other hand, if the author makes an OC who has aspects BASED on the author, that will probably be acceptable, IF DONE CORRECTLY. An example of this done correctly: Makoto in Maileesaeya's Gundam SEED: Divinity trilogy. I found it was most noticeable during the Winter Solstice segment of Serenity (the second part of the trilogy).
Also, I don't really like/understand the idea behind a crossover of a series and its sequel. (Example: a crossover between Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED: Destiny.)
Using game mechanics as an actual 'real' thing in a fic. (Example: In Radiata Stories, there are 'Volty Attacks', which use 'Volty Points' you build up by landing attacks on an enemy. In particular, the 'Volty Bursts', which actually break SEVERAL laws of physics... Also, having the character use specific weapons/equipment. I mean, seriously. Purchasing new weapons, armor, and so on is (usually) a mechanic to balance damage done by enemies based on how far you've progressed through a game. It's usually either that or a purely aesthetic feature. I've also seen this used in God Eaters Burst fics, and then there's the sheer "what"-ness of ACTUALLY using EXP in a Pokemon fic.)
Incorrect... uhh... 'labeling' of speech (best word I can think of). Example: Here.
Wall-o-text.
Bad spelling.
Bad grammar.
=I am being quite serious. The four items above can cause a fic to be literally painful to read.
(No, I will not list examples for the last three, you can find those anywhere. I don't want to go through that pain again... And the only reasons I provided an example for the other one were because it is (relatively) rare, and I actually needed an example to explain what I meant.)
Present tense in third-person perspective. (This is only irritating. I can still read this, but I don't like to.)
Past tense in first-person perspective. (Likewise, this is irritating, but I can read it.
Summaries that include things like "Will they _?" or "Will _ do _?" (I find this to be one of the biggest turn-offs a summary can use.)