idella

I warn for major triggers. If you feel that I have inadequately warned for any story, or if you have questions about the content of any story, feel free to comment here or e-mail me at idella [dot] sometimes [at] gmail [dot] com.

Constructive criticism is welcome.

I give blanket permission to podfic, remix, etc.

This list is no longer up-to-date. You may find all of my fic here on AO3.

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( Come, Thou Tortoise - Jessica GrantCollapse )

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( Venetia - Georgette HeyerCollapse )

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scully_fest!

1. hummingfly67 sent me a very funky elephant card for my birthday!

2. discordantwords wrote me a brilliant Samantha Mulder story for xf_santa. Check it out, along with a whole bunch of other brand new TXF fanworks, over at the comm. Stories, art, graphics, podfic, and a (very cool) vid are now live. \o/

3. I got a lot of work placement work done today.

Title: Sea Legs
Author: idella
Fandom: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Pairing: Madoka/Homura, background Kyoko/Sayaka
Rating: PG
Word count: 2600
Warnings: major character death (canon)
A/N: Written for biichan for femslash11. Thank you to netgirl_y2k and especially to sailorptah for beta-reading.
Summary: Homura's never had to be good at what comes after. (Set during the finale.)

click here to read Sea Legs at AO3

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I'm going to paraphrase Steve Martin for a minute, while those of you who read TXF fic help me out by pretending I've just said that perfect thing that will convince you to go read wendelah1's newest story either right now (preferable), or very soon (if you insist).

She has been known to refer to it as her "S2 novel of doom" and if by "doom" she means "complete brilliance," she totally has something there. Or I suppose she could have been referring to the angst. With a summary like, "The X-Files have been reopened. Nearly three months after her abduction, Dana Scully is still missing and Fox Mulder is still searching for her," of course there is angst. Also a compelling and fast-paced plot, great writing, and spot-on characterizations. It slots into TXF canon between "Ascension" and "3," and I wish it could have been actual canon.

In full-disclosure news, I beta read it. That doesn't mean it's not wonderful.

Link to the story (on LJ): Hope Without Reason

In other news, yes, I am still alive. Hi.

Thank you very much, anonymous person, for the paid LJ time!  How thoughtful and kind and surprising.  *hugs*

Thank you very much, anonymous v-gifter! *hugs*

I've barely read anything yet, but I still bring, for those who may be interested, recs.

First off, my two AMAZING gifts:

Nowhere As Strange As Now (5681 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Skim
Relationships: Kimberly Keiko Cameron/Katie Matthews
Summary:

It's December and there's still no sign of snow.

Or, Kim and Katie think about graduation and growing up, but not necessarily in that order.

Every bit as lovely and complicated as canon. This is just gorgeous. <3 <3 <3


Then and Now (1318 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Skim
Relationships: Kimberly Keiko Cameron aka Skim/Katie Matthews
Summary:

Kim and Katie, post-canon-a Yuletide treat.

Kim and Katie, growing up, and grown up, and kicking ass. As they would. <3 <3 <3

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Music meme, from memories_child, who gave me the letter T.

1. Reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter.
2. List (and upload) 5 songs you love that begin with that letter.
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions.

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Let me know if you want a letter for your very own.

So, 2009 books. Obviously quite late, but a) I am not the only one and b) I posted about 2008's books in mid-February last year, so really, this is early. Yes.


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Happy birthday, sarcasma!

My bidding thread for help_haiti is here, if anyone is interested. TXF, Leverage, and a couple of small fandoms.

Check out the comm for other ways you can help, either by offering your creative services, or by bidding on the creative services of other people. OR BOTH.

Happy New Year, flist!

I have read ridiculously few of this year's Yuletide stories. This is still a rec post. Twenty bookmarks at AO3, and links to ten favourites under the cut.

( Anastasia Krupnik; Babylon 5; Bridge to Terabithia; Don't Care High; Dragaera (Vlad Taltos); Fairy Tales (Rumpelstiltskin); Harriet the Spy; The Pigeon; The Royal Tenenbaums; The Thin Man; The WireCollapse )

I was reading Pride and Prejudice in a pub last night, and yes, eventually it did hit me that it was JUST LIKE the bit with Selena (ha) and the party in The Shortest Way to Hades. Only with beer instead of special brownies.

(Okay, instead of "throwing all propriety to the wind," it was more like "waiting to get a ride home because I'd misjudged how much sole, exactly, my shoes had left," but you can't have everything. SIGH.)

Dear Yuletide author,

Thank you so much for taking on one of my requested fandoms and writing a story just for me! You are awesome.

In general:

• I am all about gen, het, and f/f slash. I don’t dislike m/m slash, but chances are, if I’m digging a particular fandom, it’s because of the female characters.


• I love character exploration only slightly more than I do a good plot.


• If you are moved to write sex, I’d like it if it weren’t the only component of your story.


• It may be relevant, so I’ll say here that I am fine with consensual sex between underage characters.


• And with kink.


• I get a kick out of dark, angsty, twisted fic, but fluff can make me very happy, too.


• I am squicked by character embarrassment.


• If you make me laugh or cry, or laugh and cry, I will love you.


• I have written two of the characters I’ve requested. If you chose to read my versions (and you definitely don’t have to), please don’t let my characterizations confine you in any way!


• I am open to experimental styles and structures.


• If you are in doubt, I encourage you to go for it. I read all sorts of different stuff, and I’m sure I will appreciate your risk-taking.

Likes: friendship fic, private conversations in public places, angst, flawed characters, unlikable characters, math, passion, conflict, ust, regret, posturing, yearning, competence, desperation, bad choices, impossible choices, secret histories, a sense of history, cities, banter, snark, moral ambiguity, repressed feelings, secrets, smiling, mutual sacrifice, sex that doesn't solve anything, bleak endings, happy endings, knowing what people are wearing, finding out how things work, first times, last times, private jokes, explosions, capers, awkward situations, complications, humour, dark humour, and cats. (This is not a laundry list of things I expect you to include! Think of it more as a shopping list, from which you can pick and choose and discard at will.)

Dislikes: babyfic, kidfic, character bashing, sappy romance, mpreg, OTPs (in the sense that everyone is destined for one person, and one person only)

Specific fandoms, in alphabetical order, ahead. This gets long. I would be equally happy to receive a story in any of these fandoms! Pay no attention to the varying word counts in the details. :)

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Having said all that, optional details are totally optional. Consider them even more optional whenever I mention potential plots. I would love to be surprised with something I'm not expecting, and I would rather read something you are passionate about than something you feel you have to write. I mean it.

Have fun with your story, YT author! I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

From glitterboy1. Name ten female poets off the top of your head. (Quick, before I peek at his answers!)

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Two quick things:

1) ficfinishing is a community where writers who join/sign up can get help completing unfinished fics. Fandoms served include Battlestar Galactica, Bones, and starting this month, The X-Files. You can get involved as either a reader or writer, but if you want to participate this month, today is the last day to sign up. (Sign-ups do happen monthly, though.) More information can be found here.

2) bsg_pornbattle. DO I EVEN NEED TO SAY MORE.

(I can't get the words to work, you guys. This is why I haven't been posting. But this is important.)

I found out about the discussions collectively known as RaceFail '09 through metafandom. As a result, I've been educating myself on white privilege and racism. I needed (and need) it. This particular post is not about me, though.

This post exists partly as a way of speaking out. I don't want my silence to be assent to racism in science fiction and fantasy circles (or anywhere, for that matter).

I am mostly, however, interested in bring RaceFail to the attention of people on my flist who may not be aware of what is going on, especially people who read science fiction and fantasy.

So, for anyone who is interested, some further reading. (Quotes are from their respective links.)


Two introductory links:

1) tablesaw's O HAI RACEFAILZ: Notes on Reading an Internet Conflict

"RaceFail is a discussion about science fiction, fantasy, fandom, publishing, race, racism, power, and many other things."

"Emotions are high in RaceFail, and it may remind you of other internet discussions where emotions run high that we generally refer to as "wank." Don't let the similarity lead you to dismiss RaceFail as wank."


2) throughadoor's Some Advice for White Fans Who Have Only Recently Encountered RaceFail

"It's okay if the only thing you take from having engaged in this mess is which professional science fiction authors are people you can respect and which ones aren't."

(I'm uncomfortable with it being okay that this is the only thing someone may take from this, but I think it's an important thing. See tablesaw's post for more information.)

"The only thing you may learn from RaceFail is that we're all a whole lot more racist than you previously wanted to suspect."


Stuff you can do (see the introductory links, too):

sparkymonster's Race Fail, Silence and Words


Recommended reading for, among other things, the symmetry:

bossymarmalade's response to Elizabeth Bear's...post


*

There is a daddy-long-legs crawling on the wall above my computer, keeping me company.

I hope everyone is well.

*

ETA more links: 1) For Clueless White People and 2) rydra_wong's epic linkspam. Thank you, tree.

Okay, okay, it's February, but I never got around to posting my 2008 book stuff.

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Pick up to 15 OTPs.
Describe them in fewer than about fifteen words.
Have your flist guess the OTP.


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A couple quick notes...

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(I have joined the ranks of the sick. Boo.)

I got a NYR yuletide fic! bluemoon02 wrote me near-perfect Mitford Family RPF!

Not Very Sisterly ("Lost letters between Nancy and Jessica Mitford, dated 1941 and 1943, in which they share dark secrets." Rated G.)

My definitely shallow and quite possibly irresponsible wish-list for BSG season 4.5 under the cuts.

Series-destroying spoilers up to 4x10, but I am unspoiled beyond that point and I wish to remain that way!

(Also, I have not watched any BSG for a while - I still have to re-watch S4 - so I know I am missing many, many things that would be awesome.) (Also, I mentioned this is shallow, right?)

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These five selected by anniemarie75
1. Reply to this post and I will select five of your icons
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose if you damn well feel like it
3. Other people can them comment to you and make their own posts
4. This will result in a never-ending cycle of icon glee

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(Okay, yesterday when I was trying to see if there are any half-decent Laura/Lee vids, I stumbled on this brilliant, hilarious Baltar vid. bop_radar's summary - "Gaius Balter is...Gaius Baltar" - is so apt, and if you get any sort of kick out of Baltar being a slimy bastard, I strongly encourage you to to check it out. The song she uses is perfect, as are her editing/pacing/clip choices. I watched this at least four times yesterday and it made me laugh SO MUCH.)

(This was made by kismet_icons.) I've had this icon ever since I've had a LJ (four and a half years), and it's in rotation fairly frequently. It's my iconic representation of ♥ and I use it for people I like. It doubles as a food icon, because CANDY. If I don't have anything sexier in rotation (not a problem right now because Tory's stepped up), it's my sexy icon, too.

(This pretty icon was made by rowan_belle.) This is Susan and Peter from the first Narnia movie. I'm not the biggest fan of the books or the movie, but I've always had a soft spot for Susan, particularly Susan as I want her to be, not as she is. I love the colouring, the icy blues and the bluey whites and the pinks that are too pink to be real. It reminds me of winter and magic. I'm using this as my holiday icon.

(This was made by shazzerwise, who clearly has great taste in books.) This is the Pigeon from Mo Willems' Pigeon books for young children/EVERYONE. This picture is from the first book, where the Pigeon wants to drive a bus, and you're not supposed to let him. In later books, the Pigeon finds a hot dog, wants to stay up late (my kind of Pigeon) and wants a puppy dog. I love the clean lines and simplicity of Willems' illustrations, and I love the Pigeon, with all his (or her?) irascible charm. Kids at my (old) school love the Pigeon, too. I use this icon for posting or commenting about children, books and children's books. It's also good for being bossy or when I am THIS CLOSE to losing it. Recently, it came in very handy over the American Thanksgiving weekend. The Pigeon is the closest thing I have to a turkey.