The Rec Center #103
Welcome to our penultimate newsletter of 2017! We’ve got a list of mostly Christmassy recs this week, plus an intensive post-TLJ analysis from me (I’m very proud of it lol), some funny Supernatural meta, an article about a weird meme in anime art, and more. — Gav
new stuff
“The Last Jedi has no interest in nostalgia—and that’s a good thing” by Gav at the Daily Dot
This is Gav’s post-TLJ magnum opus, exploring the film’s attitude to its own history, and how that relates to fannish nostalgia.
“In the chaotic rush to escape the First Order, our heroes lose almost everything. The story encourages detachment from things that cannot or should not be saved. Material symbols are depicted as important but transitory. In fannish terms, it’s the opposite of buying a mint-condition action figure and keeping it in the packaging forever. But regardless of what some fans believe, Rian Johnson didn’t throw their toys in the trash, either.”
“Why Is Anime Obsessed With Power Lines?” by Eric Grundhauser at Atlas Obscura
A Tumblr account started tracking the meticulously detailed illustrations of power lines in anime, and writer Eric Grundhauser decided to get to the bottom of it.
older stuff
“Dungeons & Dragons Wouldn’t Be What It Is Today Without These Women” by Cecilia D’Anastasio at Kotaku
“Almost every copy of the first Dungeons & Dragons adventure written by a woman is buried in a landfill in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.”
tumblr & beyond
Cute modern-day fanart of Luke, Chewie, and Rey by cocoz42.
This thread reimagines Supernatural with a Prius instead of a vintage muscle car, and it’s A Delight.
Will we ever get sick of Poe Dameron prank call memes? Signs point to no.
A heartwarming WIP story—seriously, it’s never too late to finish.
fanfiction
MULTI-FANDOM HOLIDAY FIC! This is one of those big themed lists with a bit of fandom and ship overlap—the more, the merrier, right? Thank you to all who submitted recs, for this list and for every list this year. We couldn’t do the newsletter without you. <3 — Elizabeth
“With Six You Get Eggroll” by Cesperanza. 31K words, not rated but would say Gen/Teen.
Fandom: Due South; Ships: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Ray Vecchio/Stella Kowalski
Recced by: yunitsa
Backstory: Due South is a deservedly-beloved magical realist police procedural about a Canadian Mountie partnered with a Chicago cop. This is one of many stories set after its finale, where Fraser and his second partner go back to Canada in the closest thing to a happily-ever-after available on 90s network TV.
Rec: This story is a fandom classic—it added “lost zebra day” to the lexicon—and with its focus on found family and awkward reunions (RayV is Fraser’s former partner now dating RayK’s ex-wife, and then there are the six adopted children), it’s the perfect read for the holidays: fluffy without being treacly, and with all the trademark Due South chaos that Speranza captures so well.
Content warnings: some discussion of parental death (in backstory to the children being adopted)
“your love is bright as ever” by aknightley. 6K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Voltron; Ship: Keith/Lance
Recced by: Kelly
Backstory: Keith and Lance are both professional athletes who are together, despite training in different cities. This fic is about Lance coming home for Christmas.
Rec: This is such a tender fic, but Keith’s innate prickliness keeps it from tipping into tooth-rotting sweetness. Also there are cats.
Content warnings: N/A
“Over the River and Through the Woods” by elmathelas. 7.8K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Wonder Boys; Ship: Terry Crabtree/James Leer
Recced by: Nicole
Backstory: Wonder Boys is a 2000 movie adapted from a novel by Michael Chabon. It centers on a struggling writer and English professor Grady Tripp, and his students, one of whom is the young, quiet James Leer—who ends up in a relationship with Grady’s editor, Terry Crabtree. This fic takes place after the movie/book, wherein James and Terry have continued their relationship.
Rec: First of all: BOSTON. This fic captures the feel of Boston in winter so well, and perfectly describes many places in the city I am very familiar with. The fic is a nice scene of holiday travel, loving bickering, and covert Amtrak handjobs.
Content warnings: N/A
“Emerson Cod’s Entirely Acceptable Christmas” HalfshellVenus. 2.3K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Pushing Daisies; Ship: Gen
Recced by: shadowkeeper
Backstory: The show with the bright colourful fairytale-feeling world, teaming with murder. This is Emerson Codd, the crotchety knitting detective, spending the Christmas season doing the things he loves best.
Rec: This fic has all the best stuff. There is knitting, murder, and pies. There is also good movies, the making of money, the sending of presents, and the warmest of friendships between Emerson and his itty-bitty, Olive.
Content warnings: N/A
“Pining for You” by The Librarina. 28K words, rated Teen.
Fandoms: Les Miserables, Hallmark movies; Ship: Enjolras/Grantaire
Recced by: disamphigory
Backstory: Les Miserables is a book (then musical, then movie) about the failed student revolution of 1832. The fandom largely focuses on the student revolutionaries. Enjolras is the leader, Grantaire a drunk art student who is in love with Enjolras.
Rec: This was for a hallmark challenge modern au and only loosely follows the characters from the canon, e.g. Enjolras is a lawyer, Grantaire does art. Loved this because it’s basically your classic feel good holiday rom-com, with characters I know already.
Content warnings: N/A
“The Weary World Rejoicing” by Annakovsky. 5K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Ship: Gen
Recced by: baudown
Backstory: A post-apocalyptic canon AU in which things went differently after The Gift. Xander’s counting down the days to Christmas.
Rec: It’s bleak, beautiful, and beautifully written. Despite being gen (and I read slash ALMOST exclusively), it hits me right in the feels.
Content warnings: N/A
“All Roads Lead Home” by dracogotgame. 15K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Harry Potter; Ship: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Recced by: mma
Backstory: During the first Christmas after the war Draco malfoy gets unexpectedly gets an invitation to spend the holiday with the Weasley family. Feat. warm, compassionate family feels and forgiveness.
Rec: The family dynamic in this fic is so incredibly heartwarming! As it’s the first Christmas after the war there’s a lingering sadness of course but there’s also healing and a whole lot of love.
Content warnings: N/A
“My Heart of Joy” by Chash. 140K words (WIP), rated Teen.
Fandom: The 100; Ships: Bellamy/Clarke; Monty/Nathan
Recced by: ReLynn
Backstory: Chash is prolific in their The 100 AUs. Here they take prompts from readers and fill 2-4 a day all December.
Rec: So many amazing AU interpretations in one collection. Many with fluff.
Content warnings: N/A
“The Weary World” meanderingsoul. 3.6K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Supernatural; Ship: Dean/Cas, Gen
Recced by: Tarastarr1
Backstory: Cas gets super into baking Christmas cookies.
Rec: This story is inspired by one of my other favorite fics, “Pie Without Plot,” and hits that same sweet-spot of fun fluff, feelings, and food descriptions.
Content warnings: N/A
“table for three” by pocky_slash. 5.8K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: X-Men: First Class; Ship: Gen (background Erik/Charles)
Recced by: shadowkeeper
Backstory: Modern day AU—it’s Christmas, and Erik Lensherr meets some new people at the Chinese restaurant.
Rec: It’s a lovely piece exploring mood and characters meeting and chatting, all on Christmas Eve, and it’s believable that the characters become friendly so quickly. But it’s also Erik growing and a person and Jewish mutants bonding over their holiday traditions.
Content warnings: N/A
“Holocene” by BeatnikFreak. 20K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Les Miserables; Ship: Enjolras/Grantaire
Recced by: Claire
Backstory: Modern AU in which Grantaire finds out Enjolras always spends the holidays alone. Instead the two of them end up having a cozy little Christmas with all the trimmings.
Rec: I love how this fic captures the slowed-down pace of the holidays and how warm & cozy it feels.
Content warnings: N/A
Plus a vid rec!
“A Happy Stucky Holiday” by kurozawa46. 2:02, rated Teen.
Fandom: Captain America; Ship: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes
Recced by: Orangistae
Rec: Cute fluffy Christmas vid with creative use of fanart, featuring Stucky dancing and makeouts in front of a roaring fire.
Content warnings: N/A
Annnnd a non-holiday bonus rec!
“Call and Response” by Lisse. 1K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: The Last Jedi; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Gav
Rec: While not as fluffy as the other recs on this list, this story is a wonderfully heartwarming epilogue to The Last Jedi. I won’t go into any more detail here for fear of spoilers, but it involves new people joining the Resistance.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
This is our last regular Rec Center of the year—next week we’ll have our second annual “~personal fandom year in review” (over-under on what percentage of this thing will be about Black Sails lolol….) Until then, we hope you all have safe and happy holidays over the coming days! — 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. And if you have any interest in doing an entire rec list or explainer, please get in touch! elizabethandgav at gmail dot com.
If you liked this, please share it with your friends! https://thereccenter.substack.com/. And find us on social media: Gav (twitter/tumblr) & Elizabeth (twitter/tumblr)