The Rec Center #100
Thank you Elizabeth for catering to my whimsically specific theme this week: Fandoms aged 100 years or older, to celebrate our 100th newsletter! Our recs range from Shakespeare to historical RPF about the Carthaginian general Hannibal, but we also have some more ~contemporary content in the form of Terrible Marvel News and the world’s best summary of Overwatch. — Gav
new stuff
“The Digital Ruins of a Forgotten Future” by Leslie Jamison at The Atlantic
Second Life reached its height in the mid-2000s but there are still plenty of active users living digital lives there. A really fascinating read that is definitely fandom-relevant, from thinking about analog and digital worlds, or thinking about divisions between fiction and “real life.”
“Listening to My Heroes” by LaKase Perry at Black Girl Nerds
“Our culture demands strength and a good measure of quiet acceptance of pain. I hope to live life as my own version of those superheroes and wise women who gave me strength as a child, never settling for pain without a fight.” (CW: childhood sexual abuse)
Marvel’s yellowface scandal
On his first day as Marvel’s new Editor-in-Chief, C.B. Cebulski confirmed a quiet but longstanding rumor: In the mid-2000s, he wrote ~Japanese-inspired~ comics under the name Akira Yoshida. As explained in this article, this was both a textbook example of cultural appropriation, and totally against Marvel’s internal ethics guidelines. And yet! Neither he nor Marvel thought it was a big deal. That is... until this week, when it was picked up by dozens of media outlets. For analysis of WTF is going on here and why it matters, we recommend these pieces by Clara Mae at the Daily Beast, and Priya Huq at Women Write About Comics.
older stuff
“Fangirling Through Time”: a conversation with Evan Hayles Gledhill on Fansplaining
It felt like the perfect occasion to share one of Fansplaining’s most popular episodes, on Victorian fannish practices and fans. If you’d rather read than listen, there’s a transcript, too!
tumblr & beyond
“I fell into a brown study” by Sidney Paget, published in The Strand Magazine in Jan. 1893
Why Avengers: Infinity War should be a musical.
An important critique of Steve Rogers’ new costume.
“Jesse did nothing wrong.”
Overwatch in a nutshell.
TAKEN: NYC transit edition
fanfiction
The “thank you for catering to Gav’s whimsically specific theme” actually belongs with our guest reccers: thanks so everyone who sent in a submission. We decided to keep it relatively strict: just source material over 100, holding the crossovers and fics from modern fandoms with past elements for future lists.
One note, because I saw a bunch of it in our submissions this past week: our guest recs are entirely guest-written, meaning we’re not reading these fics ourselves! (Unless we’re drawn in by a rec hahaha) We had more than a few fics submitted with just a link and no rec—and no contact info to follow up! I’m sorry we can’t include these fics, but if you left us one of these links, please submit it again and tell us why you like it. We’d love to share it. :-) — Elizabeth
“Ephesus” by dirtybinary. 7K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Historical RPF; Ship: Scipio Africanus/Hannibal Barca
Recced by: Orangistae
Backstory: Hannibal was a Carthaginian general who warred against the Roman Empire before being defeated by Scipio at the Battle of Zama, and later served as military advisor to the Greek king Antiochus. This fic is set during Scipio’s visit to Antiochus’ court as a Roman envoy.
Rec: dirtybinary writes the relationship between Scipio and Hannibal with a wonderful sense of wistfulness, as two men who like and admire each other but are kept apart by their opposing political loyalties. I had no idea who Scipio was prior to reading, but both characters are very compelling and well-drawn, and I was rooting for them to find some way to be together.
Content warnings: N/A
“The Red Country” by jibrailis. 49K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Alice in Wonderland—Lewis Carroll; Ship: Queen of Hearts/White Queen
Recced by: joyinrepetition
Backstory: Two Victorian girls discover Wonderland long before Alice in this atmospheric Queen of Hearts / White Queen origin story. Boarding school! Pining! Friends-to-lovers!
Rec: Poignant, unsettling, and lovely. It took a minute to get into, but once in, I was completely immersed. Jibrailis is absolutely a dream at characterization and worldbuilding.
Content warnings: N/A
“The Kindest Use a Knife” by Angevin2. 11K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Richard II (Shakespeare); Ship: Past Aumerle/Richard
Recced by: Chestnut_filly
Backstory: In Shakespeare’s RII, Edward of Aumerle is a close (and subtexty) friend and advisor of Richard who, after Richard’s fall, tries and fails to assassinate the usurper Henry Bolingbroke (soon to be Henry IV). Many productions recently have double-cast him with a different courtier such that Aumerle is the one to kill Richard. I am inclined to think this is a terrible choice, but this fic just about convinces me otherwise.
Rec: Edward goes wandering through England, dealing with his grief. It’s heart-wrenching and gorgeous and wonderfully bitter. 10/10, would depose.
Content warnings: Canonical death, attempted suicide, discussion of cannibalism and torture (separately!)
“Love and Other Accidents” by Paperclipz. 208K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Pride and Prejudice; Ship: William Darcy/Elizabeth Bennett
Recced by: Brenna
Backstory: Modern AU where the leading men are in a boy band and the leading ladies are graduate students. The drama remains the same.
Rec: A beautiful reimagining of the story that still surprises me to this day how it managed to keep so much of the original while adding modern touches that fit in seamlessly! I reread this probably once a year at least and the imaginary built through words still hits me. Plus the author wrote lyrics!
Content warnings: Mild warnings for alcoholism, miscarriage (mentioned for maybe two or three chapters, side character)
“I have to see a man about a god” by Toastzombie. 44K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Greek and Roman Mythology; Ship: Gen
Recced by: vnoche
Backstory: A 1920s AU in which Apollo and Dionysus are reluctant partners trying to catch a killer while also navigating the complications of a Mafia family.
Rec: It’s a clever reimagining of mythological beings that preserves a lot of the original myths. Fun cameos abound!
Content warnings: 1920s racism and sexism, some violence
“Eminent Edwardians” by disenchanted. 6.5K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Bloomsbury Group RPF; Ships: Lytton Strachey/Duncan Grant, Duncan Grant/James Strachey, James Strachey/George Mallory, Duncan Grant/Maynard Keynes (all about equally significant)
Recced by: (havingbeen)breathedout
Backstory: The years 1905-1908 amongst the members of the semi-secret Cambridge discussion society The Apostles (many of whom later went on to be members of the Bloomsbury Group, i.e. Lytton Strachey and his brother James, John Maynard Keynes, Duncan Grant) were a tangled web of familial connections, frenemy rivalries, and absurd sexual liaisons both love-related and not. Because most of these men were also both incorrigible gossips and genuine long-term friends, the ins and outs of their university angst is preserved forever in a plethora of witty letters, on which this story draws.
Rec: Disenchanted gets the arch yet slightly melancholy Bloomsbury voice down perfectly, and strikes just the right balance between revelling in the absurdity of these characters while still making them feel fleshed out and human. There are many laugh-out-loud funny moments, and there are also moments of real beauty in the prose. The structure of the story—a series of vignettes of shifting point of view, linked from lover to beloved to beloved’s beloved and so on—also feels very true to both the social dynamics depicted, and the literature that later came out of this social group. But mostly it’s just great fun to read.
Content warnings: The earnest self-absorption of being 20 years old
“An Ever-Fixed Mark” by AMarguerite. 191K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Pride and Prejudice; Ship: Elizabeth Bennet/Richard Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy
Recced by: girlmarauders
Backstory: A Pride and Prejudice soulmark AU, which interprets the latter-half of the novel and the succeeding period of Elizabeth’s life in a world where everyone has the name of their soulmate on their wrist.
Rec: The writing style fits very perfectly into Austen’s style, meaning it reads like another novel, while adding in a few modern touches that keep you interested, and fully incorporates the ~mythos of soulmarks into British upper-class regency culture. If soulmarks were real, Austen would definitely have written this. The love stories read perfectly and the slow burn is SO GOOD.
Content warnings: a semi-major character dies but a) there is an alternative ending meaning you can avoid that if you want and b) it is very very well handled
“The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway” by katayla. 1K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Anne of Green Gables; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Tafadhali
Backstory: After Anne Shirley has left Green Gables for teaching college in Avonlea, her adoptive mother Marilla takes in two recently orphaned relations, 6-year-old twins Dora and Davy Keith.
Rec: Dora, the “good girl,” is consistently overlooked in favor of her trouble-making but adorable brother. This lovely fic gives Dora a teacher who really understands her and turns a spotlight on an underappreciated Anne of Green Gables character.
Content warnings: N/A
“The Obvious and Proper Sense” by breathedout. 20K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Bloomsbury Group RPF; Ship: Lytton Strachey/John Maynard Keynes
Recced by: Chestnut_filly
Backstory: The Bloomsbury Group were the literary and artistic circle that formed around a group of Cambridge friends that included Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, and John Maynard Keynes. This story follows Keynes and Lytton Strachey about a few weeks in 1905 where poor choices are made and many jokes are cracked about English public schools.
Rec: This is a story about two upper-class twits being awful and far too clever for their own good. It’s witty and silly and unwarrantedly hot and it’s got FOOTNOTES.
Content warning: References to prior underage sex (the characters are university age)
“Absolute Transparency” by emilyenrose. 2.5K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Doctor Faustus (Christopher Marlowe); Ship: John Faustus/Helen of Troy
Recced by: Orangistae
Backstory: The scholar Faustus sells his soul to Lucifer in exchange for magic and the services of the demon Mephistopheles.
Rec: This beautifully-written fic uses Faustus/Helen to examine Mephistopheles’ tortured psychology as a fallen angel, and it’s deliciously tragic and chilling.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
100 REC CENTERS!!! As I said last week, kind of an arbitrary milestone, but still, exciting! I don’t think we say it enough: thank you so, so much to all of our readers. Whether you were here for #1 or just subscribed this week, we’re so grateful for your feedback, your enthusiasm, your submissions, and all the kind things you’ve said about the newsletter over the past two years. We love making it—and we’re so glad so many people love reading it. <3 — Elizabeth
Have a favorite one-off rec? Please send it our way! We’ll use it in a future list. Other fanworks—comics, vids, etc—are strongly encouraged as well.
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