The Playthings of Her Life

My primary fandom is The X-Files. I am a life-long fan of Star Trek: TOS, watched all of the spin-offs and loved the 2009 movie. Other shows I love include Stargate SG-1, Farscape, Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Burn Notice and Fringe. Quite recently, I have become seriously enamored of Sherlock BBC.

My account at Archive of Our Own is the best place to read my stories.

I moderate The reading group for X-Files fanfiction at Live Journal, where I am wendelah1.

“I don’t know if Mulder should develop. I mean, Mulder’s Mulder...That’s the nature of the character and what I eventually learned to love about him, is he’s set, and he’s a great character. So, the great thing about Mulder is we know what he’s going to do, and we know what he likes, and we know what he loves, and we know what he hates.”
DD, ‘Connie & Carla’ press conference, 2004. Photo and accompanying quote re-blogged from Shit.Between.Us.

Very belatedly, this is the end of the year fic post. Considering that I'd thought I spent most of the year mired in writer's block, I posted a lot of words in 2011, more than I have before, and I suspect more than I ever will again.

( Seven Stories I Finished and One That I Didn't: A year in the life of a fanfiction writer )

Added all up, that brought me just short of 50,000 words, easily exceeding my total for all previous years of fan writing. Go me.

Further Statistical Breakdown.

I wrote three short gen stories, one short het story and three medium-to-long Bob stories. All but three stories failed the Bechdel Test: "Hope Without Reason," "Reason" and "Dollars to Doughnuts." Only four stories were written from the POV of a female character, although HWR does have some Diana POV. Long story short, I wrote more from the point of view of one Special Agent Fox Mulder than I ever could have imagined doing when I started this fanfic gig.

That's okay. Mulder's a cool guy, even Gillian Anderson says so.

Day Seven

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts. Drop a link to your wish-list in this post. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Maybe you will grant a wish. If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

I got so many wonderful stories written for me last year, as gifts and for charitable contributions I made for various causes, that it feels a little awkward to be asking for more, but I guess that's the challenge part.

One: This is a left-over wish from the Fall Fandom Free-For-All.

Fic: I'd be intrigued to read a remix of any of my stories. I wrote a couple of very short-shorts for TXF, which would be easy to remix. They feature rare pairings, and one of them is non-con, but I like them. My Fringe stories are short, too. I love remixes but since I don't write slash, I doubt I'll ever write enough fic in a popular fandom to participate in Remix. My stories are here: http://archiveofourown.org/users/wendelah1

Two: Also a left-over from the FFFFA.

Fic: I want a Sherlock/The X-Files cross-over. Maybe Amanda wrote one and it's good, I recced it here. Or maybe I meant to and didn't? Brain is dead, seriously. But it's just a vignette, not a casefile. I want a genfic casefile cross-over. I think it would have to be set in London, not here, and post-series for TXF, otherwise the time-lines don't work. Call me a dreamer, but I want to see Sherlock and Dr. Watson and Mulder and Dr. Scully, all in the same room, arguing over a case. Just the thought of it is making me laugh.

Three: Predictable Wendelah is predictable.

Fic: A fill for any of the prompts at The Comment-Ficathon for Women of The X-Files. I know I have a one-track mind but you're used to that by now.

Four: This is an easy one to do.

It would be so wonderful if more people would comment on the stories they read, at Dreamwidth, at LiveJournal and at AO3. I don't mean on mine, although that would be lovely, too, I mean on everyone's. I looked at the hit counts on the new Fringe stories (not mine, I turned that puppy off long ago) just posted at AO3, and they are so disproportionate to the comments and even to the kudos. And these are good stories! Some of them are great stories! And how about all of the new stories at xf_santa?

Writing is hard work, and despite Tumblr's ascension, I still want to believe fanfiction is the engine that drives fandom. Either way, it would be nice to see the writers in fandom get some deserved recognition.

runpunkrun had a great idea, too. Next time you re-enjoy a favorite fanwork -- it doesn't even have to be mine! -- consider dropping the artist a note telling them so. It's such a thrill to learn that a story I wrote has become something a reader returns to, and I bet other artists feel the same way.

(I am half-convinced that the reason prufrock's love came out of retirement is because of the discussions we had of her fic at xf_book_club. Okay, maybe not. But you know what I mean.)

Banner by seeitbloom

Fandom Snowflake Challenge, Days Three, Four and Five

For Day Three of the Snowflake Challenge, I was supposed to go comment on a story or post by someone I didn't know. This was ridiculously easy. I just hit the Network button, scrolled until I found something cool and made a comment. I have no problem with doing that. As a rule, I probably make too many comments, containing too much unwanted advice. The post was so educational, I saved it to memories. It was about Regency dress, complete with illustrations!

I didn't complete Day Four, which was to introduce myself to someone I admire and then add them to my reading list. In my defense, I do that sometimes, although probably not as often as I want to, but I can't do it on command. I freeze up. I almost added yahtzee because (1) she wrote my Fringe story and (2) she's awesome, but then at the last second when I had to click the "add to my circle" button, I chickened out. Lurking is fine. Lurking is more than fine. LURKING IS WHAT SOME OF US DO BEST HERE, ALRIGHT, she said testily, taking some slow, deep breaths. Since Yahtzee recently posted it to AO3, I can now thank her properly for writing "A Very Empty Room."

Stealth Fanfic Rec for the win!

Day Five: In your own space, share something non-fannish you are passionate about with your fannish friends. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Reading is my oldest and most persistent passion. I taught myself to read when I was four years old. The book I read aloud to my mother to prove to her I could was "Make Way for Ducklings" by Robert McCloskey. Last year, I started a GoodReads account to keep track of what I've read. It's complete as far back as it goes, which isn't very far. I've read a lot more books, too many to count. I love science fiction, mysteries, and children's literature. To list a few topics, I've collected (and read) books about Mars, infectious diseases, especially the Black Death, books written by Rumer Godden, and more recently, books having anything to do with The X-Files.



I live with a lot of books, too. I have no idea how many we have, but there are so many that we have offsite storage for the overflow. Apart from a couple of bookshelves, most of them belong to idunnoh. Starting when Kyle was in graduate school, they've gradually taken over our house. Things got out of hand when he inherited thirty boxes of books after his mother died. I shouldn't have let this happen but now I am determined to get my home back. I want someplace where I can have friends over again and invite people to stay, a home where every square inch of flat surface isn't covered with piles and boxes of books. He has a Kindle now which I hope will help. Unfortunately, the kind of books he likes to read usually aren't available for download. He's gradually making an effort to cull what he doesn't need, selling those with value and giving the rest away. I'm going through my things, too.

I don't aspire to the glossy perfection of House Beautiful. That's too sterile and it's not who I am anyway. I'm aiming more for A Perfectly Kept House Is a Sign of a Misspent Life. Organizing and arranging, plus learning to live with what it is, without having it make me too ashamed to open the front door, that's a worthwhile goal, and it's one I think I can achieve.

Title: "Like Heaven to Touch"
Author: wendelah1/wendelah1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: Teen
Characters/Pairing: Dana Scully and Fox Mulder
Category/Spoilers: Post-ep for "Syzygy."
Word Count: 1928

Summary: "You still believe I'm acting under the influence of that so-called cosmic convergence," she said flatly.

Author's Note: Written for zinnia03/ML for 2011 xf_santa. Thanks to amalnahurriyeh for the beta. All remaining mistakes are my own. Apologies for cross-posting.


( Like Heaven to Touch )

Day Two Fandom Snowflake Challenge

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Drop a link to your post in the comments. See if you can rec fanworks that are less likely to be praised: tiny fandoms, rare pairings, fanworks other than stories, lesser known kinks or tropes. Find fanworks that have few to no comments, or creators new to a particular fandom and maybe aren't well known or appreciated. Appreciate them.

This is kind of what I do here. I don't post recs every day or even every week, not even at xf_book_club, but the "fan fiction recs" tag has 80 entries with multiple recs per entry. But okay, here come three more.

( Three Recs )

More recs are coming, maybe tonight!

From idunnoh's journal, circa 1991.

Son of Wendelah: "Dad—is this my left hand?"

Idunnoh: "Yeah, that's it."

Son of Wendelah: "Is it always my left hand?"

Idunnoh: "That's right. Left and right are different from North, South, East and West. No matter which way you turn, this is always your left shoulder and your left hand."

Son of Wendelah: "Well...if you were a mummy in Egypt and they chopped off your left shoulder and left hand, and they chopped off your right shoulder and your right hand, and they switched them, then it wouldn't be your left hand."

Idunnoh: (laughing) "I guess you're right."

After reading this to me tonight, idunnoh's comment was, "The funny thing is, I think we could have this same discussion today."

I still can't access my own locked journal entries or locked reading list entries at Dreamwidth using Firefox on my desktop (laptop works fine, work computer worked fine). I downloaded Chrome to use for Dreamwidth until I can figure out what the heck is up with the version of Firefox I am using. Maybe I'll have to upgrade to a more recent, stable version even though I don't like the sound of the changes they've made to it, just to see if that helps.

I think Chrome loads image heavy websites faster than my clunky old version of Firefox, but OMIGOD, the Flashing Ads Everywhere give me migraines, so not an option for me in the long run. Is there a version of Ad Blocker for Chrome, or would that be not allowed by Google, I wonder? I don't like how it's set up either, with so many things hidden and having to be searched for, simple things like copy and paste? Why so difficult, Chrome?

The author's names are up at Yuletide, so I can reveal that I wrote "Dollars to Doughnuts" for elevenoclock. Once I figured out what the story was about, I had a lot of fun writing it.

Dollars to Doughnuts (2952 words) by wendelah1
Fandom: The Mysterious Benedict Society
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Reynie Muldoon, Constance Contraire, Sticky Washington, Kate Weatherall
Summary:

"A trip to Antarctica is quite an undertaking," he agreed. Saving the world did tend to give one a sense of invincibility that went well beyond that of the average three-year-old girl.

I can also properly thank wasabi_girl1 for writing the delightful "World of Difference" for me.

World of Difference (1048 words) by wasabi_girl1
Fandom: The X-Files RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson
Summary:

Two people, two decades, and the moments in between.

Upcoming spamming will include (surprise!) more recs, my Fringe Secret Santa story, which tree guessed right off and she doesn't even know the fandom, my xf_santa story, ALL THE STORIES I WROTE IN 2011, a fandom meme, some New Year's Resolutions, and probably a melancholy post on death and dying inspired by amalnahurriyeh's elegiac Caseyverse story, "Raise It Up", which you should go read immediately.

Eh, maybe I'll skip the death and dying post.

By the way, Mister Smartypants, idunnoh, has been misspelling and mispronouncing "elegiac" his entire life, whereas I've only been mispronouncing it. Yes! I win!

I'm off to get ready to go out to breakfast with Mister Smartypants.

Happy New Year!

Is anyone else having problems with logging in at Dreamwidth? I login and then the site immediately logs me out again as soon as I try to do anything. I've occasionally had this problem at the LJ but never on Dreamwidth.

Let's see if this posts.