I am...

A creative, valiant, fiercely loyal Pre-Raphaelite warrior with the soul of a savage, noble beast, the voice of an ancient bard, the heart of a seafarer, the hand of an artist, the mind of a genius, and the dark, passionate intrigue of a dramatic villain.

At home in my suit of armor whether literal or metaphorical.

One with the wild.

A visionary, a dreamer, and a reclusive, rare red rose.

Still pretty undateable, so please be understanding. I'm happily friend-seeking until the time is right (one can never have too many friends to talk with or do friend-type activities with, and I tend to get along with men better than women anyway). Ideally, I want the next relationship I have to last my whole life, so I need time to be good and ready for it so I can savor the incredible adventure that it will be. Until then, I am forming a life for myself (I have not had much of one before ever, and it is pretty nice to get one at last). As for a romantic partner, I'm going to take my time and choose very, very carefully. At heart, I'm as die-hard a romantic as they come. I am ultimately in search of my one-and-only, life-long EPIC romance. And I *do* mean EPIC. I will fight to the death for true love. I seek one as fiercely loyal, adventure-ready, fun-loving, and incredibly passionate as I am to coauthor a unique and legendary story at which others will only be able to gaze in awe and wonder at. Under my watch, I want my match to feel like the luckiest and most blessed man on earth and to find in me his biggest fan, muse, and source of encouragement for following all his dreams. Of course, I'll want the same from him, but I promise to give at least my one-hundred percent. Let it also be known that, to me, never finding my one true love and soul mate would be preferable by far to ever compromising myself again with someone who doesn't fit my preferences or mesh with my dreams. My eyes are still open. It I meet someone really amazing here, I'll certainly give dating some thought. However, I can't presently expect I'll be ready for romance within any specific time frame. It may be months, or it may be years. If you want to catch my interest, you will have to be someone incredibly extraordinary indeed.

*Being generally strong and fierce*: My body type is naturally muscular and solid. I'm built to be a warrior.

*Diplomacy*: I'll go out of my way to make peace in hard situations. I make a good arbiter because I'm good at maintaining neutrality. I dislike interpersonal drama everywhere but on a stage, and I'll strive to ignore, to cut, or to redirect into something positive and constructive any political nonsense I hear. I just hate strife, petty behavior, and meanness. There's just no reason for it, and it never makes anyone look good.

*Improvising*: I am adept in ingenuity and enjoy inventing creative solutions and Macgyverising.

*Art*: I'm a self-taught artist. I draw. I paint. My favorite medium is probably pencil. I also enjoy pen and ink, though haven't done that in a while. I can draw portraits well. I learned to draw as a child by studying animals a lot and then reproducing them from my head. Some of my drawings can approach photorealism. I hope to keep improving with this over time. I've also done a good amount of theatre work like technical direction and set painting. I'm good at it, and I like it a lot.

*Writing*: I'm a creative writer who has some pretty mad poetry and fiction writing skills. I've also experimented with playwriting and want to do more of it! I'm working on a few novels in historical / fantasy / sci-fi / steampunk hybrid genres. I can write a sonnet within fifteen minutes when the muse is with me.

*Literary criticism*: I love archetypes, metaphors, and all that stuff. I can perform great feats of dissection, charting, and plumbing the depths of literature. I appreciate artful, complex symbolism and intensive, multilayered literary craftsmanship, and my own stories and other writings reflect this sensitivity. This same skill has nice crossover with being able to generate any kind of scholarly writing (especially but not exclusively the qualitative variety); I've published one gaming studies article on racial depiction and race-based questing privilege in WoW.

*Zoological naturalist skills*: My first love was zoology. As a kid, I watched animal documentaries all the time for fun and read as many non-fiction animal books as I could get my hands on. I'm great at interpreting animal behavior, spotting animals, identifying obscure animals, finding animal tracks, etc. On hearing of my skills, a friend of my father's approached me in a restaurant when I was probably about fifteen (though I'd had mad animal skills long before then); she was convinced that I would not be able to guess the species of her pet. I looked at the photo. "Is that a genet?" I asked. I didn't have to phrase it as a question because I knew the answer, but I wanted to sound polite. It was an African Large-Spotted Genet to be exact. She was amazed. I had already done a school report on genets by the time I was ten, and I had independently researched their care as exotic pets afterwards. They're neat animals. Perhaps I will have one someday. In college as a non-science major, when I attended a senior thesis presentation on penguin vocalizations, I asked such good questions that the attending professors wanted to know who I was. I admit that I'm a bit out of practice at the moment, but I definitely have the mind for zoology. If a zoo would hire me without having to have existing zoological work experience and a degree in the field, I'd be working at one now.

*Making certain animal sounds*: As a kid, I trained myself to have a very convincing growl. I actually got to the point where my growl was reflexive in anger, and I still have it :). As a kid, I also trained myself to be able to trumpet like an elephant and make a few other calls quite convincingly. Have you ever seen a video of Jane Goodall making chimpanzee noises? Crazy awesome. I've always been really interested in getting to speak with animals and generally commune with them. I can also have conversations with mourning doves, but I have no idea what they are saying back to me. Maybe I'll be able to decipher it one day.

*Memorizing and performing Shakespeare speeches*: I can remember these for a long time, and I have a voice that I can really project to reach a whole crowd. No body microphones are necessary for me! Once, just for a fun challenge, I memorized the "To be or not to be" speech in French about 9 years ago. I don't still know it, but I could probably re-acquire it pretty quickly. My most recent favorites are from Henry V. I've used the Bishop of Canterbury's speech on the Salic Land for more than one audition. I've also performed both "Once more unto the breach..." and the St. Crispin's Day speech on the list field of a medieval armored combat event and moved some folks to flutters and tears with my passion.

*Language acquisition*: I was able to speak Spanish and French in school quickly with pretty much no American accent. I can sound like a native. Some languages are hard for me to make the sounds of (like German, but I'm sure I could if I worked at it). I was able to compose improvised metrical verses in Middle English at length before my undergraduate Chaucer course ended.

*Faking certain accents*: Like Scottish. Or Jack Sparrow, for which I earned the nickname "Pirate" in college from an admirer of my skill. (Aside: I was given another nickname in college, "Hercules," from my fencing coach for being "too strong").

*Rubber band sharpshooting*: Ok, so this is a silly one. But when reasonably in practice, I have crazy accuracy in shooting rubber bands off my finger and can aim instinctively. (I'm trying to get this same instinctive aiming into my archery/longbow skills; I have a way to go, but so far, so good). I practice rubber band accuracy with inanimate targets, but I also don't own a flyswatter for this reason.

My smile

My laugh

My dark eyes

My quiet intelligence (I do very much consider myself an intellectual, and my glasses may help lend the look. I only need them for distance reading and for driving, but I usually leave them on most of the day for convenience. I really like them. I didn't find them; they found me. Their style name happens to be "dragon" [which I think is pretty awesome]. They are brown with turquoise inside - two of my favorite colors).

My depiction of an antiquated beauty ideal - like that of Pre-Raphaelite paintings

My leonine mane - my hair is long, thick, brown-gold, often delightfully frizzy, and varies between curly, wavy, and and straight depending on how it dries

Wisdom beyond my years? (It might be hard to see this visually-speaking).

My fair, rosy complexion that glows when I am happy

My height and build (I'm taller than most women, but I still feel a little shorter than I should have been; both my parents are six feet tall, so I grew up expecting to be the same one day. Oh well. I'm tall enough to be tall, and I've honestly always been content with my height). I have a curvy, muscular, solid frame.

This whole section is a work-in-progress and will develop further as more come to mind.

**BOOKS & POETRY**(in no particular order):

Moby-Dick or anything Melville; The Catcher in the Rye; The Once and Future King; Anything in the Redwall Series (I've read only about ten of them so far, but my favorite yet may be Mossflower); The Canterbury Tales (in Middle English too); LotR Series; The Bible; The Chronicles of Narnia and other stuff by Lewis; Writings of N.T. Wright; Wild at Heart (so powerful); Captivating; The Five Love Languages (will help you relate to everyone in your life more easily and provide tools for having a great romantic relationship too!); Shakespeare's Complete Works; The Romantics (especially Coleridge, Byron, and Keats); Tennyson; The Sea Rover's Practice; Bridge to Terrabithia (the ending made me cry reading it in seventh grade - and that was back when NOTHING made me cry); By the Sword (Cohen); To Kill a Mockingbird; The Passion (Winterson); Anything by Arturo Perez Reverte; Grania; ...to be continued

**MOVIES** (in no particular order):

Stardust (quite similar in style to Princess Bride and based on the novel by Neil Gaiman); The Princess Bride; The Sea Hawk; V for Vendetta; Gladiator; Braveheart; 12 Angry Men; How to Train Your Dragon; Brave; Wall-E; The Duellists; Cyrano de Bergerac (the Jose Ferrer version is masterful, but I also love Gerard Depardieu); Tristan + Isolde (oh boy could I relate to this one); Sucker Punch (another one I found I could relate to a bit too well); Shakespeare in Love; Henry V (Branagh); Much Ado about Nothing (Branagh); Branagh in anything else, especially Shakespeare!; Ivanhoe (A&E); The Lion King; Mulan; Beauty and the Beast; Pirates of the Caribbean (especially the first one); Inception; Master and Commander; Red Cliff; Letters from Iwo Jima; The Boondock Saints (first one only); ...to be continued

**MUSIC** (in no particular order):

Corvus Corax; Loreena McKennitt; Steeleye Span; Some Disturbed ("Indestructible" has to be one of the most awesome workout songs of all time); Imagine Dragons; Of Monsters and Men; Coldplay; P!nk; All good classical stuff; Renaissance period music (Renaisance dance music is great!); Spanish guitar (ooh); Gregorian chants; Well-sung classic sea shanties, like those by Robert Shaw Band and ones like "Derelict" by Pirates for Sail; too much rock and other stuff to name; ...to be continued

**GAMES** (in no particular order):

Conqueror 1086 AD; Conquest of the New World; The original Spyro (Which I re-acquired and finally beat this past March); WoW, though I haven't played in some time now; Pirates of the Burning Sea (great concept but clunky IMHO, so I haven't played this much at all); Tabletop RPGs; Board Games; Carcassonne; Oblivion and similar games; Old Text Adventures; Zelda is awesome; so is Oregon Trail; Fable II; The First Templar (enjoyable engine and surprisingly good storyline that raises truly interesting moral and philosophical questions); Fun stuff like Metal Gear Solid (great humor); Sid Meier's Pirates (repetitive but still fun and an interesting engine); Champions of Norrath (fun engine); Mount & Blade (awesome concept, but I wish the engine were better); too many others to name; ...to be continued

**TV SHOWS** (in no particular order):

I almost never watch TV, but here's a list of stuff I like/have liked anyway...

Nature/wildlife documentaries; History documentaries; Horatio Hornblower series (A&E); Firefly; Game of Thrones; Monty Python's Flying Circus (I don't find all of it funny, but some of the sketches are fantastic)...to be continued

**THEATRE SHOWS & FAVORITE PLAYS** (in no particular order):

Man of La Mancha; Some of my top Shakespeare favorites: Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Much Ado about Nothing, All's Well that Ends Well, Henry V, Richard III, Cymbeline; The Glass Menagerie (but maybe too much like my life); Gilbert & Sullivan (i.e. The Pirates of Penzance); ...to be continued

**FOOD/DRINKS** (in no particular order):

I really try to eat a clean diet whenever possible nowadays, and it feels great! Here are some of my favorites. I also love inventing new recipes to try.

Spinach; Smoked salmon (especially on bagels); London broil; Any kind of good steak, cheese steak, or burger; Charcoal-grilled ribs; Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Tapas, Vietnamese... love ethnic foods; Pho; Black cherries; Mangoes; Fresh local apples; I'm not a huge cheese eater, but I really like goat cheese and almost any cheese except Swiss; Asparagus (may well be my favorite vegetable); Mushrooms; Red plums; Pretty much any fresh vegetable or fruit!; Greek yogurt (the protein bonus can't be beat either)!; Water (classic choice); Milk (I love it); Fresh local apple cider (I'm so spoiled by the nearby orchard); Sparkling cider (mmm Martinelli's!); Mead (hot, cold, spiced... doesn't matter!); Rum (and rather partial to spiced rum - it's also great in apple cider!); I'm not much of a drinker, but I do appreciate almost anything I try, and I'm decent at picking out the flavor complexities in wine; ...to be continued

1) Freedom

2) Faith

3) Friendship

4) Swordplay

5) Poetry

6) Imagination

Elaboration and some more things...

*Honor*: I take honor very seriously. I value promises, keep high moral standards, and like to consider word as bond. I also strive to conduct myself chivalrously. I don't believe chivalry is just for men.

*My loved ones*: all the people closest to me whether by blood or by friendship. I love making friends, and my friends and family members are very dear to me.

*Shakespeare*: I love it. Reading, scholarship, performance, creative imitation. This is one of my major passions which is non-negotiable. My ideal mate is definitely a Bardophile too (or willing to entertain one). It's way too major a passion and turn-on to me not to be able to express in a romance. My last and only other relationship didn't have this (or much of any other common literary, creative, historical, or martial arts passion), and my soul was deader than dead. It's not the only thing I care about by far, BUT I have *always* dreamed of the amazing and passionate fun I'd have in getting to act, recite, quote, and discuss Shakespeare with someone special someday - including over swordplay ;) - and oh wow, will I watch the sparks fly! I want a love that will inspire me to immortalize him/us in verse. Want me to write a romantic/badass Shakespearean-flavored play or skit with you as a character? You got it. Shakespeare isn't meant to be obscuringly over-flowery, esoterically ethereal, dust-caked, archaic stuff. It's rough, immediate, witty, hilarious, fiery, and gloriously visceral.

*Swordplay and medieval martial arts*: If primal Shakespearean essence is one half of my heart, swordplay is the other. I need fencing and medieval/renaissance martial arts in order to be happy, healthy, and myself. This also includes armored combat with shields, swords, and other weapons in both melee/war scenarios and in single combat. I'm in the SCA, and I intend to work at becoming queen one day by my own hand with no questions or doubts about how I won. That's quite a task. I have written more about fencing below.

*Rainy, stormy weather*: I don't need every day to be cloudy or rainy, but I do need it occasionally to be happy. I love rain and thunderstorms. I need dramatic weather for creative inspiration. It just makes me feel good. I love sunlight and nice days too, but if every day is sunny, I really miss the rain.

*Creative inspiration*

*Art*

*Music*: Music can often heal and inspire like nothing else can. Music that is salve to my soul and that makes my soul sing is important to me.

*Passion*: Passion for life, living each moment to the fullest, loving, accomplishing one's goals and dreams, and everything else noble and worthy of pursuit

*Creative writing*

*Laughter*: Fun, joking, and humor are so important. I love good clean joking that makes you laugh so hard you cry or literally can't stand up anymore.

*Adventure, the outdoors, and nature*

*The love of seafaring*: The ocean and being near or on it is a lovely thing that I have not gotten to do enough of but that I adore nonetheless. Seafaring lore is also really interesting to me.

*Good gaming sessions*

*Brotherly camaraderie*: Whether fighting on the field or gathered around a warm fire enjoying food, drink, or pleasant conversation, it's all awesome.

My goals and dreams and how to reach them

How my heart has never been won

When and if my soul shall celebrate finding its mate

My friends and family, my sources of inspiration, and my various creative projects

My dream of joining or starting my own renaissance acting troupe someday and getting to write plays for it

Memories of certain awesome things. For example, the first time I ever landed two throwing axes simultaneously. Throwing weapons (but especially axes) is amazingly cathartic and has been noted to give me afterglow until the next day! I wonder when I'll get the space or place to set up my own practice area for this.

Assorted other musings like how Christianity might have been affected if the book of Judith were not apocryphal in so many versions of the Bible. It's a REALLY interesting book about an awesome female thematic counterpart of King David. Plus The renaissance artist Artemisia Gentileschi is one of my heroes! You might have seen her painting "Judith and Holofernes." Badass.

Fencing until there's none left to be had. I fence three nights a week - some rapier and some Olympic-style. I love it. Because fencing is one of my few big passions, my ideal match is definitely a fellow swashbuckler. Or at least a swashbuckler-at-heart with a soul-level desire to learn how to handle a blade. Swordplay is a major turn-on for me. It's too much of a turn-on to be willing to forefeit in a romance. It's something I really want to be able to share on a deep level with a significant other. I love studying the historic fencing masters and manuals too.

I have an unusually strong masculine side for a straight woman. I am convinced that my heart is at least half male because of how I have always felt a strong gravitation towards having honor, martial prowess, and physical strength and wanting to do generally masculinely-associated things like hunting and roving the sea in a tall ship. I naturally gravitiate toward masculine gender roles and enjoy casually acting male Shakespeare roles (they tend to be meatier and more fun IMHO). I'm still very much a woman, but I'm definitely a nontraditional one. I love looking like and sometimes being like a classic Pre- Raphaelite beauty, but on the inside (and somewhat on the outside), think Spartan woman, Amazon, Sarah Bernhardt, Joan of Arc, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Boudica, Maria d'Estrada, Grace O'Malley, Britomart, Bradamante... that kind of woman. My ideal match must love this about me and not be turned off by it or too intimidated. I clean up well, and I don't mind going out of my way to look smashing in more feminine attire and makeup for someone special as long as he also appreciates me when I look more like a rugged adventurer ;). Even when I am my normal female persona at a renaissance event, I wear prevailingly male garb most of the time. That's partly for convenience when fighting and really a lot more because I just like men's renaissance style better as my personal style. I'm a swashbuckler, and I love it. This doesn't mean that I don't have some really nice dresses. It means that when I break out my gowns, I get some extra bonus "wow" shock value.

You're anyone who thinks I would make a cool friend.

You can make me laugh a lot.

You have an above-average affinity for pirates, love the sea, tall ships, sailing, or if you have ever actually helped sail a tall ship. I really want to do that.

You're someone who might like to exchange poetry - including sonnets -with me and who would appreciate being wooed by as much as wooing a certain special someone. Wooing can also include completely innocent flirts and pleasant contests of skill or wit. My ideal match is definitely a poet keen on having an epic poetic relationship - akin to that of the Brownings, but with no need to stop there. Imagine the amazing art that would have resulted if Shakespeare's lover were as prolific as he. That is what I want in due time. PLEASE for the love of all that is good and holy, message me if you write or like sonnets. I've already written a couple sonnets to message people on here just for fun. None of the recipients have written back to me, and my sonnet muscles need a stretch once in a while.

You are fluent in Klingon (or some equally awesome fantasy language). I love nerds. Plus, Klingon would be my first choice to learn as a Star Trek language. Did you know that there is a Klingon Language Institute that has translated some of Shakespeare's plays into Klingon? That's pretty awesome.

You would be significantly more asset than liability in the zombie apocalypse. Unless maybe you have a hilarious story about how you would be totally inept.

Wearing tasteful period garb can (or does!) make you feel like a sexy badass and not like a loser. I love medieval stuff, the Elizabethan era, and swashbuckler types like Zorro, conquistadors, or pirates. If and when I find myself dating again, this has to be one of my few dealbreakers. Why? No potential date in his right mind would ever want to forefeit the romantic and inspiring effect that this has on me, and I certainly wouldn't want a relationship without this bonus. Activity in various medieval/renaissance groups is also a big part of my life and who I am. I like wearing costume and participating in these groups because it lets me tap into what often feels like a truer version of myself. I've often wondered why I wasn't born centuries ago so I could see men running around all the time in long hair, beards, boots, and other awesomely dashing clothes.

I have a few other weaknesses too. They're not necessarily deal-breakers, but I'll throw them out there anyway. Bonus to lovely thick beards, long hair, curly brown or dark hair, or dreads. Goatees are hot - so hot in fact that I like to wear one whenever I feel like acting a male role (ask to see a picture). Whatever your height or size, being fit and healthy is really important. Bonus for having noteworthy strength, agility, dexterity, or tenacity for some kind of martial art while NOT being a self-absorbed jerk about it. Of course, it could also be nice if you look like you could have just walked out of Sparta. Humble Spartans, knights, and other and warrior types are welcome.

Your heroes/alter-egos include Don Quixote and Cyrano de Bergerac.

You might enjoy attempting epic battles of wit ala Beatrice and Benedick or having hilarious Shakespearean insult contests in general. Or if you love other silly, silly things that can make you laugh so hard you can't stand up.

Your ideal date would include something like rapier dueling (perhaps practicing La Verdadera Destreza) by torchlight in a starlit Spanish courtyard, acting out a scene from Shakespeare (like the classic Rom. 2.2), laughter, and good intellectual conversation or story sharing over an awesome but inexpensive candlelit dinner.

If you enjoy period dance or if you would like to teach me the paso doble. Hot.

You have a cool, adventure-loving exterior and a passionate heart.

If you are truly interested in me, by all means please go ahead and stalk out my answers to questions on here to see if we seem to be as good a match as you think. I've answered many hundreds of them now, and a lot of them include further explanations. I'd prefer not to spend lots of time answering questions I've already answered there. However, I would be happy to discuss them. Please note that I don't take all of them seriously.