SEE BOTTOM OF PROFILE FOR LATEST UPDATES! (LATEST 05/27/15)

A Bit About Me

I am a graduate of Kent State University's Library and Information Science program, having completed the program in May 2010. I completed my Bachelor's at Ohio University, with a major in European History and a minor in Classical Civilizations, in early June 2008.

Things I Like to Talk About

Harry Potter Tropes I Like/Dislike

Super!Harry: One of the biggest peeves that a lot of fans had with Harry was his reaction to finding out about the prophecy; many were not impressed with his behavior in book six. He took the "training" offered to him by Dumbledore, but made little effort to try and prepare himself for the task that lay ahead of him. I mean, he has a powerful madman bent on killing him, and he's focusing on Quidditch? WTF? Seriously, I'd have been much more impressed if Harry had harkened back to his actions in Goblet of Fire, seeking to learn as many spells as he could so that he might actually have a prayer of surviving an actual duel with Voldemort. Instead, he spends most of the year sniffing at Ginny Weasley's skirts. Possibly Harry's only behavior that I applauded in Halfblood Prince was his suspicion of Draco Malfoy and his attempts to discover what he was up to. He knew what he saw with Draco and tried to find out what was going on, despite people like Hermione and Ron blowing off his concerns.

As a result of this rather... illogical behavior in canon, I really love a good story where Harry buckles down and focuses on learning as much magic as possible. A Harry Potter that takes the time to focus and learn is much more impressive than a kid who just blindly accepts that a bunch of memories about Tom Riddle's family and childhood will save him.

Harry is the Heir of Merlin/Founders/etc: This is a cliché that's actually gotten a little out of hand. There are some good stories that play with this trope, but a lot of them have gotten ridiculous. Harry finding out that he's the heir of one or more of the Founders or Merlin has practically become a normality in a lot of fics. It'd be nice to see something new and different on this front, and I've actually come to prefer stories that, when they use this trope, point out that, given how inbred Wizarding Britain is, many people are probably descended from the Founders and as such would have an equal claim on anything they left behind. For example, the Smith family is said to descend from Helga Hufflepuff (something Zacharias Smith seems quite proud of), and one of them even had Helga's cup in their possession until Tom Riddle killed her and stole it. So, why is Harry thrown in to be Helga's heir over them?

Harry is insanely rich: Harry has a decently-sized trust fund in Gringotts, it's true, but there's no indication that he has anything beyond that in canon. My guess is that his trust fund comes from his parents and what they had when they died, possibly earning interest over the ten years it sat in Gringotts while Harry was sequestered away at the Dursleys. Much of it probably went toward paying Harry's Hogwarts education, and while he was made a partner in the Weasley twins' joke shop, that wouldn't have made him a millionaire by any means. Then there is also the other part of the trope, that Harry inherits a fortune from Sirius after his death. Given the state of Grimmauld Place, I highly doubt that there is a fortune sitting around somewhere. Plus, if there was, you can bet that men like Lucius Malfoy would have laid claim to every part of it they could. I personally prefer stories that have Harry using his own cleverness to make himself rich. Much more satisfying than just inheriting it.

Manipulative!Dumbledore: Let's get one thing straight -- I love Dumbledore, I do. But I also love ragging on him, because let's face it -- he's a manipulative sonofabitch. He pulled Snape and Harry's strings like a true puppet master. So, I love stories of this trope, with Harry fighting back. However, like so many other clichés, this one's also gone overboard. More and more often, you have Dumbledore in his office, sucking lemon drops while he plots Harry's death "for the greater good", has numerous confrontations with Harry and loses them because of Harry's moral superiority, and never learns from that. Dumbledore is not an idiot. If he loses a confrontation with Harry, then he should adapt from that loss accordingly, not keep playing the same tune over and over again in the vain hope that Harry will go back to kissing the ground he walks on. This is a man who, even if he says that he knows that he shouldn't be trusted with political power, held THREE highly influential positions -- Headmaster of Hogwarts (where he could shape the minds of the Wizarding World's future), Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot (the Wizarding courts), and Supreme Mugwump of what seems to be the magical version of the United Nations. He didn't get there by being a complete moron.

Mrs.Weasley: I have to say, she drives me crazy with her attempts to wrap the younger characters in cotton in book five, but then, I'm not a parent, so I can't say that I wouldn't try to smother my children with a ton of protection if I was in her position. Nonetheless, her portrayal in a lot of fics drives me up the wall. Making her blindly loyal to Dumbledore has gotten out of hand. If anyone so much as says boo in his direction, she's up in arms, screaming at people to shut up and how dare they say such things to him. She gets upset if someone criticizes Dumbledore, simply because he's Dumbledore. So what? He's as human as the rest of them, and it's a person's right to disagree with him. I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more adult behavior from her somewhere.

MY POSTED STORIES

By Fandom.

Batman Beyond
- That Which We Are, We Are: I am continually surprised by how popular this story was and how much people continue to like it. It's an older one, and I cringe to read it, and yet readers continue to put it on their favorites' lists, or even leave the occasional review. Perhaps someday I'll go back and revise it and turn it into something that doesn't make me want to die of embarrassment.

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
- Stumbling to the End: My first attempt at writing for the Buffy fandom (I know, talk about being late to joining the sensation!). I have a huge, huge love for both Buffy and Giles, and this was my first try at writing something for that pairing. I hope to add more to the fandom in the future.

CSI
Three Days: My first and only attempt at writing for this fandom, and it became one among many post-ep stories written after 7x24 Living Doll aired. Of course, given the GSR-ness that was so rampant in that episode, it's perhaps not too surprising that the episode became such a lightning rod for post-ep fics. Still, I had fun writing it nonetheless, injecting a few lines of some of my favorite poems into it.

Downton Abbey
- Delayed Reaction: Currently my only fic for this fandom as well. I sort of fell into the show by accident, after seeing an advertisement about the show on television, one that included Dame Maggie Smith. Being a huge fan of that great lady (I still remember being terrified of her when watching her play Mrs. Medlock in The Secret Garden!), I was always willing to try anything she was in at least once, and it grew from there. I came to have a huge love for the Mary/Matthew pairing (even as I wanted to shake them both in their stupider moments), and this story became my way of dealing with my grief caused by the third season Christmas Special. Of course, it has since been made AU by the fourth series.

Eureka
- Break Away
- Eureka Drabbles and Ficlets
- Tea and Crumpets, Except Not: I actually love this story, though I admit it could use some serious polishing. I wrote it for the Eureka Gen Ficathon on LiveJournal several years ago, and was thrilled to write something featuring Zoë Carter and Allison Blake, two characters who didn't necessarily get much screentime together.

Harry Potter
- Odds and Ends: This is just a gathering place for a few bits and bobs that I'd written for the fandom. At least one or two are ideas that I'd like to come back to someday and write more for.

Justice League
- A to Z, an Anthology
- Fine Lines
- Little Moments
- Musings of the Gods: I love being able to play with the Greek pantheon in the JL's 'verse, and this was the first time I'd ever focused primarily on one of the gods that group and how they interacted with the mortals.
- Realities

Merlin
- Along a Sea Unknown
- Fallen Prey: Despite not being an overly long fic, I continue to have a huge soft spot for this story. It involves the death of one of the main characters, but the idea of what happens here and the influence the events could have on the Merlin 'verse continue to intrigue me immensely. I don't know if I'll ever write more for this 'verse, but I certainly wouldn't be adverse to someone else playing with it, provided they asked me first.
- how dreams end
- Malice Toward No One
- MERLIN EMRYS: Guide and Owner's Manual
- Ritual
The Magic You So Despise: Written for the 2013 Merlin Big Bang over at Paperlegends on LiveJournal. As I began to develop this story, I quickly found that I had so many ideas that it could quickly spin out of control. As a result, I had to limit myself to a particular period of time within the story, and thus this story is now only the first in a series. There are three other stories loosely planned out to follow this one.
- The Undiscovered Country
- Watching
what is lost

Merlin-Downton Abbey Crossover
- Right Place, Right Time: Just a little fix-it fic for the third season Christmas Special. It still makes me smile a little.

Merlin-Warehouse 13 Crossover
- Flying Hats and Disney's Lies: I still giggle over this one. Pete and Myka being attacked by Merlin's poofy red hat from the first series? What's not to love?

Mummy
- I'm Sorry, My Princess: I always wondered why Imhotep didn't seem to recognize Evie as Nefertiri, and then decided to write something showing that maybe he did, even if he didn't give any overt hint that he did.

National Treasure
- Ten Such Men: Just a quick little ficlet covering the conversation between Ben Gates and the President about the President being an honorable man. Inspired by my unrelenting crush on Bruce Greenwood.

NCIS
- A Second Chance
- a star to guide by
- Pieces of the Puzzle: A series of unconnected episode tags or missing scenes. Most of them have an Abby/Gibbs bent to them, though not all.

Revenge
Down to This: A character study of Daniel set during 4x10 Atonement. My first foray into this fandom.

Star Trek: Alternate Original Series
- Lie of Omission
- That Bind Us All
- The World Before: Another part of my unending fascination with Bruce Greenwood, and a way of writing a backstory for Christopher Pike to fit with the AOS.
- Watching the Cloud of Dust

Star Wars
- All the Gifts I Have Been Given
- Fallen Angel
- Rebel Choice: I am still immensely proud of this story, this being my first attempt to write fictional politics on my own. Looking at the events surrounding the dissolution of the Imperial Senate through the eyes of Pooja Naberrie was ten kinds of fun.
- Song of Rest
- What History Will Say of Us: A dark AU featuring killingmachine!Vader, broken!Obi-Wan, and insane!empress!Padmé. I had so much fun writing this, I can't even tell you.
- Where Jedi Go to Die: My first attempt at a Rebels fic, based off what Kanan told Hera about Mustafar.

Stargate: Atlantis
- As it Should Be
- Between Sleep and Awake
- In the Evening Quiet
- Shattered Mirror: Alternate realities are huge amounts of fun, yo.
- The Way It Is
- Under Siege
- Wrongs Set Right

Stargate: SG-1
- Matriarum Filiarumque
- Quiet
- The Jacket
- These Foreign Stars: I really wish we could have had some kind of interaction between Tomin and Daniel, one Vala's 'husband' and the other whom people like Tomin and Adria would call her 'lover'. There could have been so much to play with there, so I ended up writing it myself. Plus, The Quest, Part 2 really inspired my Daniel/Vala muse.
- Two Worlds at Once
- Universal: My tribute to Janet Fraiser, that amazing woman who could stare down even the most steely-eyed colonel.
- Wanted

Star Trek: Voyager
- Our Time is Past

The Tudors
- All the Difference
- graven with diamonds in letters plain

The Tudors-Merlin Crossover
- Roundabout Route: One of Katie McGrath's earliest roles was a tiny part in the second series of The Tudors, and after she took on the part of Morgana in Merlin, I just couldn't resist combining the two roles. Little redeeming value here.

MY UPCOMING STORIES

By fandom.

Tudors - The Price of Princes: An AU beginning in 2x08, when Anne does not miscarry her son. Everything ripples from there, from Henry's relationships with Anne and Jane, to the politics both foreign and domestic. I have several chapters written for this, but I plan to have a complete, betaed draft before I start posting this story. (UPDATED 01/01/15)

OTHER NOTIFICATIONS

For The Magic You So Despise Fans: I've received many PMs asking about the sequel for this story, so I thought it best to just post a notification here for people to read. At this time, the sequel is on indefinite hold. I truly do hope to come back to write more for this 'verse, because there is so much to tell, but it is not going to appear in the near future. Again, I am so thankful for everyone's interest and am honored that people have enjoyed this story so much, as it was a true labor of love. (UPDATED 05/27/15)