"Fantasy's hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it."

Hey there! You may have seen me posting comments anonymously on some of the Merlin, Glee, Sherlock, and Harry Potter stories. There may be some other fandoms too, but I've been commenting anonymously for so long I'm not really sure anymore. Well, I finally got myself a pen name! How long that will last, only time will tell.

About Me:

I'm an American female college student who is studying to be a writer. I've been writing fantasy since I was in 4th or 5th grade and reading fan fiction since 7th or 8th (geez, that's a long time!)

In personality I consider myself a mix of Elizabeth Bennet's wit and exasperation with difficult people (though not necessarily her good judgement of character or sharpness), Nick Carraway's love/hate relationship with society and open-mindedness to people, Jane Eyre's depth and struggle for spirituality, and Clarisse McClellan's optimism, passion for books, and tendency to drift into space (if you don't know who these characters are, look them up. The novels they belong to are awesome and classic and wonderful), with a touch of Henry Mills' compassion and insights into how stories reflect life(Once Upon a Time), and my own whimsy and supreme difficulty in making timely decisions. Of course, I could just be a slightly introverted and delusional book nerd who wants to have these positive qualities. But then, as Dumbledore said, it's our choices that define us.

Other than writing and reading, I enjoy theater, musical theater (there is a difference), singing, baking, and doodling.

Sign: Aquarius

Stone: Amethyst

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw (according to Pottermore. Also think I'm partial to Hufflepuff, which is an awesome house no matter what anyone says)

Wand: Cypress w/ Unicorn Hair, 10 in, Surprisingly Swishy

Element: Air, Water, Light

Myer-Briggs: INFP

Favorite colors: Lavender above all, other shades of purple, shades of blue, lighter pinks, silver

Favorite seasons: Fall and Summer

What I Write:

A Mingling of Magics

Merlin BBC / Sorcerer's Apprentice 2010 / Avalon High Movie crossover

Summary: Merlin wakes up in a strange kingdom called "New York" in 2010. To get back to Camelot, he must work with teenaged Miles (from Disney's 2010 Avalon High adaptation) and 20-year-old Dave Stutler (from The Sorcerer's Apprentice film), whose magic ring brought them there. Will these strangers discover the magic that links them together before it's too late? Time travel, x-over, reincarnation fic. In Merlin's timeline, takes place before "The Coming of Arthur."

This is actually what I had planned to be my first fanfic, but got delayed. I had seen the Merlin TV Show first (so awesome!), and after watching Sorcerer's Apprentice and Avalon High I saw a lot of similarities of the Merlin-type characters in those films to the Merlin on the BBC show, both in personality and appearance. Now, do I like everything about the Avalon High film compared to the book? No. No I don't. In fact, if it wasn't for a particular facet of the ending that has a lot of potential, I would alter the ending within this fic. But the idea of the characters in these three fandoms meeting was too good to pass up.

5/4/13 Update: Hey guys! Yes, I'm still alive, just trucking through, starting reading period. My last final is in 10 days, and after that I'll finally be able to work on Part 5! So you should be seeing a new chapter, if not two, by the end of May. Get excited!

Also, Avalon High is no longer on Youtube :( Sorry! You can purchase it on iTunes if you'd like, but I don't think it's a requirement.

Who Do You Think You Are?

Completed Glee One Shot

Summary: Dave is extraordinarily ordinary... or he was, until his 13th birthday. Now he's taking lessons with Kurt Hummel, of all people, on a very bizarre subject. Pre-Glee AU One Shot, non-slash.

This was taken from a piece with original characters that I had already written, and I kind of just Glee-ified it on a whim. The people who have reviewed it have asked for more, so in the future I might add some companion pieces to this reality. I took it out of the Glee timeline because I really didn't want to deal with figuring that out -- I haven't watched a lot of Glee episodes front to back, and I didn't want people to call me out on it. Plus, the original story had the characters at 13, so I just figured I'd keep that in. Still, I would like to revise that in the future, perhaps setting it within season 2 instead.

1/29/12 - Ok, so that revision? Not happening anytime soon. A little busy with "A Mingling of Magics" and college is starting up again, so... yeah.

Possible Future Projects:

I ask that no one use these ideas unless you message me about it. I'll be keeping an eye out for copycats.

Not Quite Camelot

Merlin/ Once Upon a Time Crossover

One minute, he was Oliver Ambrose, a poor community college student working part time at the pharmacy with his uncle. Then the curse over Storybrooke broke, the magic came back, and Merlin remembered...

A series of one shots of life in Storybrooke for the young warlock. Featuring Arthur (of course), Henry, and more.

What I Read:

Fandoms:

Harry Potter, Glee, Merlin, Sherlock, Once Upon a Time

I also like Doctor Who, Pushing Daisies, Princess Tutu, Disney, Danny Phantom, Chronicles of Narnia, Eyes Like Stars, and Charmed, among others, but I don't tend to read their fanfics. Slowly getting into Lord of the Rings (very slowly)

Pairings:

Please note, I will not only read fics with these pairings, but these are the ones I enjoy reading most. I guess I'm a bit of a canon purist, but I do make exceptions

Harry Potter: Most of the canon ones - Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Lily/James. Outside canon, Neville/Luna (if it's particularly good. I do think they probably dated for a while, but weren't meant for each other in the long run), Draco/Ginny (sometimes...)

Merlin: Arthur/Gwen, Merlin/Freya, Merlin/Morgana (though not strongly since no longer possible in canon). I prefer Merlin and Arthur as best friends, but I'm willing to read good slash. If said slash includes Gwen/Lance, I'm good with that too.

Glee: Klaine, Finchel, Tike, Samcedes, Quinn/Sam (yes, I like both options, so sue me), Will/Emma. I will usually read Kurtofsky only if it's AU (aka, Blaine doesn't exist). Also, I was something of Tina/Artie fan in the first season, so I'll go for that too.

Once Upon a Time: Snow/Charming (I was such a huge Disney Snow White fan as a little girl, you have no idea), Emma/Graham, Emma/Archie (I saw one fic that I rather liked for this one, so I'm willing to try a few of these. Do I think it will happen on the show? Absolutely not. Do I think it's fun to imagine? Yes). Emma/August (er... I can see it. But I can just as easily see this as a brother-sister relationship. Hard to say), Emma/Nealfire (In canon, I think them getting back together could go either way. But I do like reading Charming Family stories that include him, and he clicks w/ Henry well, that's always a plus in my book)

Sherlock: (sighs) Look. I really, truly don't think there was much romance in mind for this series. So that being said, I find Sherlock/John unlikely within canon. But it's fun to read outside canon, especially in fantasy oneshots. In general, I dislike that the show is so very male-centric. So, yeah.

Dislikes:

Under no circumstances will I read incest. I'm sorry, but it's not happening. Ever. Not only do I find it hard to stomach, but to me it's completely implausible because siblings just don't fall for siblings; they bug each other too much. Cousins also fall in this territory, except in older works when this was more acceptable (though still a bit creepy). Also will not read teachers/students. Just no. Don't even.

Preferred Genres:

Fantasy, supernatural, sci-fi (sometimes). If the series already heavily involves magic (Merlin), adventure, family and friendship fics. Also like reveal fics when characters have a secret identity (Merlin, DP) and time travel fics (especially in Harry Potter). Not a big fan of dark and angsty.

Quotes

"Broadway, is a very special place, filled with very special people. People who can sing and dance, often at the same time!"

-- Sir Robin, Spamalot

"Can we panic now?!"

-- Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Ron: Maybe he needs a hug!

Harry: I don't want a hug!

Ron: Give me a hug, Harry.

Harry: NO!

Ron: Hug you!

Ron: Harry hit me!

Harry: Ron invaded my personal bubble!

-- Potter Puppet Pals, "Wizard Angst"

"Did none of you read my book?!"

-- Riley, National Treasure 2

Arthur: You still think I'm arrogant?

Merlin: No. More... supercilious.

A: That's a big word, Merlin! You sure you know what it means?

M: Condescending.

A: Very good.

M: Patronizing.

A: Doesn't quite mean that.

M: No, these are other things you are.

A: Hang on!

M: Overbearing! Very overbearing!

-- Merlin, "The Last Dragonlord"

"It's a big blue-ish green man... with a strange-looking goatee... I'm guessing that's significant..."(hug!)

-- Riley, National Treasure

"Oh, it's the most terrible thing! It tickles in all the wrong ways!"

-- Potter Pupper Pals, "The Vortex"

"Why couldn't it be follow the butterflies?"

-- Ron, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Marty: This is heavy, Doc!

Doc: There's that word again! Is there something wrong with the earth's gravitational pull in the future?

-- Back to the Future

"The only reason I'm friends with any of you is because I outgrew the Von Trapp children,one annoying Austrian at a time."

-- Bertie, Eyes Like Stars

"Golden Retrievers are Hufflepuffs."

-- Me

Okay, I'm posting this here for now. I'm not going to let this turn into on of those profiles with all the "copy this if you believe this" type of deals, but I wrote this for Facebook, decided not to post it there, but didn't want it to go to waste. Maybe you guys will find it enlightening. Or annoying. I don't know. Message me if you have a comment on this:

Diabetes may not seem like a big deal. It's not considered a terminal illness, like cancer, and it can be managed with insulin shots and the like.

But I think of it this way: you have to monitor your body's reaction to everything you eat or drink every second of every day, from when you wake to when you sleep (and even then, there's the possibility that something goes wrong as you're sleeping), and no matter how much you try to stay on top of it, you can never really can. It effects your grades, your relationships, your work, your play. And no matter how good you are, or how long you've been dealing with it, it only takes one miscalculation to land you in the hospital. I'm sure that what I've said doesn't completely cover the diabetic experience. This is only from what I've seen from my own friend with Type 1 whom I've known since before she was diagnosed as a little girl. But there are so many misconceptions about diabetes. I see jokes about a movie or a picture being "so sweet it causes diabetes." And I cringe. Perhaps I take it too seriously, and I certainly don't revoke the right to joke, but... a lot of people die because they develop diabetes and it wasn't caught soon enough, especially kids.

Just something to keep in mind.

Feel free to scroll through my favorites list; there are some really great stories and authors that are worth checking out on there.

* Astraea *