I'm a writer, I'm obsessed with writing, and fanfiction is my writing candy. I'm a whumper, I love H/C, and I'm very particular about it. I still use , but I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with it, so not all of my fanfic will be posted here.

My Livejournal, where you can find more fanfic and links to fanfic not posted on .

http:///

The Gen Table - A Merlin gen prompt-fest community. You don't have to be a member to leave a prompt, and can even prompt anonymously if you want. Please give it a look. We could really use more prompts, and for you writers, you might come across some really interesting story ideas.

Stealth Dragon at Fictionpress.com - My original works.

Ack!

Revamped! Revamped! Revamped! (Because for some reason the old bio's length kind of annoyed me.

The gist of it all is this...

As a writer, I never post anything until it's completed. And by completed I mean written and edited/beta'd. I'm also very open to prompts. I love prompts, because sometimes the plot bunnies are lazy and don't want to give me any ideas. I can't promise that whatever prompt is tossed my way will be written - my plot bunnies are also very fickle - but I'm always up for hearing your idea so long as they do not involve anything listed under the "Eep" section of this bio. Right now my fandom of focus is the Merlin fandom, so please only Merlin prompts.

As a reader, I am... rather picky. Spelling and grammar I can be lenient about so long as the spelling and grammar mistakes don't make the story difficult to read. Mistakes happen. What I'm picky about tends to vary, from who is whumped in a story, to how they're whumped, to how a story ends. I'm also incredibly wary about whether or not a story will be finished - I've been painfully shafted by unfinished stories in the past (it's also why I won't write WIPs anymore). I've also been painfully shafted by stories with some... rather unpleasant surprises (there was actually this one story that ended up squicking me for two years). What this all adds up to is why it's rare for me to comment. I'll normally wait until a story is completed before finally commenting, unless A) I wish to encourage a writer to keep writing or B) I know the author well enough to know what I'm getting myself into as a reader.

Hmm...

Pet Peeves

1. Putting Author's Notes within the story instead of at the beginning or end. Do you see professional writers doing that? Of course not! So what would possibly possess you to ruin a good story by interrupting your readers with remarks that couldn't wait until the end of the chapter. Unless you want your readers hitting the back button and never returning (and, no, it is not the same as author commentary).

2. Threatening readers with "no moar chapters, grr!" unless you get a certain number of reviews. No one likes to be threatened and no one trusts a desperate author.

3. Saying your summary sucks. It tends to make readers assume that you're not too confident about your story, either.

4. Really, really, really good stories that are never updated again, ever. That... is just cruel.

5. People who happily nit-pick well-written stories with few to no spelling, grammar or plot mistakes, yet the story written by a native English speaker chalked full of mistakes as well as botched facts that should be basic knowledge (or are at least easy as pie to research) is left completely alone except to be praised and adored.

6. Stories rated M when they are, in fact, very much K (the characters aren't even swearing, how is this M!)

7. Cheap, unrealistic hurt/comfort. I don't expect people to memorize medical texts and get everything precisely right but I do expect at least a basic knowledge of basic facts - such as how it takes a heck of a lot longer than a couple of days to get over a serious injury, that you don't perform CPR on someone who's heart is still beating, that certain injuries prevent you from doing certain things like, say, lifting heavy objects, and so on. Oh, and most important of all, that injuries hurt, like crazy. You have the Internet, so do the research.

8. Lack of appropriate labels and warnings. I know there's a whole kerfuffle over this with some who want warnings and others who avoid them like the plague because they give too much away, and I understand the latter, I really do, but... well... it's hard to be sympathetic when you're reading along and you hit something that presses all your "do not want" buttons. Most especially if it's something that is a monumental squick.

The thing is, and as I've been saying quite a bit, lately, labels aren't always about warning people. They're also about advertisement. For example, if you label a story as gen and it's pretty much slash all the way, what you're going to get is a lot of ticked off genners while your hard-core slashers will skip right over the story. Give your stories the right labels and you'll attract the right readers. Let people know what they're getting into and you're more likely to avoid flames. Of course, it's our individual decision whether or not we warn and what we warn for but... a little consideration would be nice, at least where genres are concerned. I find no reason not to label a story as slash, or het, or M/M, or M/F, or F/F or gen or bromance or romance or whatever your story is, because life is so much more pleasant when we don't have to stumble blindly through what we read with only a hope that's it's the kind of story we like.

Eep!

While I'm very much open to story prompts and suggestions, there are certain story types I will not do - Slash, het, anything sexual, mpregs, genderbenders - so please don't request them. I also tend not to read said story types, and will stop reading should such things pop up (that's not a threat, just that if a story suddenly takes a romantic turn without warning after being nothing but gen, for example, and I stop commenting, that's probably why).

Histfts!

A mess of writing tips.

1. Try not to be repetitive, repetitive, repetitive... - For example: "His eyes widened as he stared into her eyes, her eyes shining with tears that slid from her eyes, making his own eyes water." might sound a lot better like this "His eyes widened as he met her gaze, and as tears rolled down her cheeks, they rolled down his as well." Or like this: "He looked into her eyes, she into his, and they both wept." Repetition like what I used in the above example can be incredibly jarring, so watch out for it, and try to be as diverse in your words as you can.

2. I do not think it means what you think it means - You may want to make sure that bit of fancy vocabulary actually means what you think it means. This is something I struggle with all the time, and why the Thesaurus and Dictionary are my BFFs. For example, I used to think nonplussed meant the same as indifferent or unconcerned. I was wrong, so very wrong. It actually means something along the lines of bewildered and baffled.

3. Spellchecker is an acquaintance, not a friend - See, here's the thing about Spell Check: it only catches misspelled words. So if a word isn't misspelled but isn't the word you actually want - for example, you wanted there, not their. Or you meant to spell fat, not fed - Spellchecker isn't going to catch that for you.

4. And it's for the reasons stated in number three why not editing is a bad idea - if you have time to write, you have time to read through your story at least once (twice would be better, three times awesome) and clean things up as best you can. Mistakes will still manage to slip through, but the more mistakes you can catch and fix the fewer comments begging you to get a beta because your story is next to impossible to read due to all the mistakes you'll have to put up with.

Blah!

A few favorite bits of dialogue from here and there

Ah! The diabolical dice. A word of Caution, don't throw them when you're alone. The fiends lack loyalty and their notion of nourishment is quite disturbing - Chessire Cat, from American McGee's Alice. I find that sage advice for anyone with demon summoning dice.

You look more of a meal than a man - Lizbeth, from Clive Barker's Undying game. I just found that comment amusing.

I don't cuddle - Danny Messer. Dang straight my man!

What, you think I can just shut this off? - Danny Messer. During a very short stint of depression (that went away, thank goodness) I found this statement very poignant.

Smeeeagol. Why does it cry, Smeagol? - Gollum, LOTR. Well, Smeagol? Answer the question.

It's an animal thing - Riddick, Chronicles of Riddick. Monsters unite.

Malcolm - You wanna run this ship? Jain - Yes! Malcolm - Well... You can't! - From Serenity. Hee-Hee! (may not be exact)

I swallowed a bug - River, from Sernity. That's why you never fly in an open-air hover craft with your mouth open.

You kick like a nine year old girl - Reid to Hotch, from Criminal Minds. Once again, Hee-hee!

Idiot! Gosh! - Napolean Dynamite. I find myself quoting this one without realizing it.

If at first you don't succeed, keep on suckin' 'til you do succeed! - Soundbite from a radio station. Could be from a movie but not sure.

...and those naughty in my sight, shall snuff it - Book of Armaments, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Marge, Marge! The doll's trying to kill me and the toaster's been laughing at me! - Homer, while being strangled by a Krusty doll, The Simpsons. Why I don't like dolls.

Dad, wake up, you're not a robot, you're just possessed by the devil. - Lisa to Homer, The Simpsons.

I'm not not licking frogs - Homer, again, from the Simpsons, getting a slight buzz from some frogs.

Eat my photons, small heads! - Crow, Mystery Science theater 3000.

You always bring me the best violence. - Mr. Universe, from Serenity.

Guy killed me, Mal. Killed me with a sword. How weird is that? - Mr. Universe, Serenity.

How fine you look when dressed in rage - Again, American McGee's Alice. That game is so finely quotable.

"Holy sh-t," I breathed, " hellhounds." " Harry," Micheal said sternly. " You know I hate it when you swear." " You're right. Sorry. Holy Sh-t," I breathed. " Heckhounds..." - Grave Peril, book three of the Dresden Files. I'm with Micheal on the swearing, but you've gotta admit that's funny.

Wee!

Something I've seen done elsewhere with songs and stories (no, not song fic. I... really don't like song fic). But rather than songs reminding me of characters, they tend to remind me of entire shows.

The Golden Age - So very White Collar

Over my Head - Stargate Atlantis: awesome vid of said song found here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL4m-Ym0O3M&feature=my_liked_videos&list=LLbaE1ZOV05y50m05Hwtggdg

Wunderkind - Merlin. Has a little something for all the characters, I think. Someone should use this song to make a vid *hint, hint, wink, wink*

Mflszfip

She's at it again!

Yeah, here with another bit of advice. Although, really, it's more like a request. And this time it's to readers. If your one of those readers who likes to encourage writers to include a particular pairing in a story, please think before you leave a comment begging for that pairing. For example, I'm not a shipper or a slasher. I don't have OTPs and I don't write romance, and I tend to bristle when people leave comments begging me to include a certain pairing. It's not because I have anything against that pairing, or romance in general. It's more frustration over being asked to write something I don't write. Because the thing about pairings is that it doesn't matter how popular they are, they are still in the eye of the beholder. Your favorite pairing may be a pairing the author despises and wants nothing to do with. Or it's a pairing they just can't see happening and so have no idea how to write. Plus, the inclusion of a pairing could mean drastic changes to a story, because pairings don't just fall from the sky. Some of them have to be built up, and for an author to accomplish this they would have to take their story in a whole new direction, a direction they had no intention of taking it and so don't want to take it.

And for the love of everything, don't tell an author that a story would be better if it were het or slash or contained A/B pairing. Again, pairings are in the eye of the beholder, and if the author isn't a fan of that pairing then of course the addition of the pairing isn't going to make the story enjoyable, not for them. Plus... it kind of comes off as being rather rude, as if the story isn't good enough simply because it doesn't contain what you personally enjoy. (The same can also be said for, well, anything. Like, for example, telling an author their story would be better with whump when the author isn't a whump fan. there are critiques, and then there's trying to get the writer to write what you like. The former can be helpful, the latter is mostly just annoying).

So don't assume that all authors will be okay with you making those kinds of requests and statements. If they do like the pairing then they may be okay with you making the request, but don't give them grief if they are unable to comply with that request. Have consideration for what the author may or may not be into, and what the author may or may not be able to do with their story.