The Rec Center #104
As we did last year, we’re breaking format for the final newsletter of 2017. Which means [get excited and/or brace yourself]....
the year in fandom: ⚓⚓⚓
Gav: I like to think we include a respectable variety of fandoms in this newsletter, but for Elizabeth & I, 2017 was all about one thing: Black Sails.
Weirdly, this is the first time we’ve shared a fandom. This time last year, I was super into Yuri on Ice, while Elizabeth was tentatively getting back into Harry Potter (oops). We generally bonded over the nebulous concept of ~fan culture~ until spring 2017, when Black Sails hit us both like a meteorite (or a cannonball? Or Cupid’s arrow?) and proceeded to dominate our cultural lives for the rest of the year. (If you’re still puzzled by our passion for the Miserable Pirate Show, here’s our previous Black Sails issue, and a spoiler-free guide I published this week.)
As a pop-culture journalist, I’m continually exposed to thinkpieces about “Why [insert media brand here] Is The Thing We Need Right Now.” People spent 2017 scrambling to make random TV shows and movies seem ~relevant to Trump’s America, regardless of whether a) they were, or b) they were any good at it. Black Sails was an unexpected winner in this regard, because its relevance is both painfully immediate, and removed enough that it doesn’t feel like an obvious allegory. It’s set in the early 18th century, and it’s a goddamn Treasure Island prequel. And since it was mostly ignored by mainstream critics, it avoided becoming part of the ~discourse.
Elizabeth: You know, I often push back against fandom’s tendency to make their faves seem Vitally Politically Important but I totally agree with everything you wrote here so I guess I will have to eat my own words lol. And yes, this has been such a surprise!!! Frankly, I wasn’t sure I was going to have any personal fandom stuff at all, coming into 2017—I was so consumed by our current political hellscape that I couldn’t see past it. If you’d told me I’d end the year totally consumed by “a show about pirates on Starz” I would have been...skeptical.
(If you’d told me I’d be consumed by a queer postcolonial text and/or Thomas Hamilton’s jewel-toned suits and long meaningful pauses...I would’ve been less skeptical, probably not skeptical at all, let’s be real here.)
It’s been a total joy being in the same fandom as Gav—and actually, specifically being drawn to the same characters and themes and agreeing on the big stuff (and most of the small stuff). I visited her in Scotland and we went to the Jacobite exhibit in Edinburgh, even though we had a hard time explaining the circuitous connection to Black Sails (just as we’re having a hard time explaining why we’re reading a bunch of 17th/18th century literature). And then my incredible friend Veronica took us on a tour of naval London circa 1705!!
Gav: Yep, BS opened up a whole new world of nerdishness for me, which is really saying something considering, you know... [waves hands at entire lifestyle and career]. Like, I wound up reading Paradise Lost because it felt thematically relevant? What on earth.
I tend to compare BS to Hannibal because they’re both a rare combination of fandom-friendly and... highbrow, I guess? We usually see fandoms spring up around flawed or incomplete source texts, with fanfic correcting problems or filling the gaps in canon. But with BS and Hannibal, you know that the subtext and symbolism is intentional. It’s thoughtful and intellectually invigorating. That kind of multilayered, coherent canon is very rewarding to discuss, and I found myself thinking more deeply about historical fiction and media criticism as a result.
Elizabeth: Wrapping up before we each write 10,000 more words about Black Sails, I’ll re-share the multi-ship BS fic rec list I did with our brilliant friend Pamphilia back in September (I have been collecting a few more since, so maybe we’ll do a part 2 in the new year). And also to say that I’m so glad that our Very Strong Enthusiasm for this show convinced so many people to watch it—I’ve been a bit delinquent responding to some messages, apologies for that, but I am SO HAPPY a whole bunch of you enjoyed the show as much as we did. And for everyone who is really fucking tired of hearing about our pirate show, sorrrry folks. Thank you for your patience/time to join us? :-)))
other stuff: gav
In the grand tradition of year-end lists, I can’t remember my favorite fanfic this year... or really any media that made a serious impact beyond The Shape Of Water (obvs), The Young Pope (A TRIUMPH), and Black Sails. Philip Pullman’s Book of Dust was well-worth the 17-year wait, but as far as I recall, I ended this year as I began: poring over Star Wars visual dictionaries. On that note, I’ve decided to repost the tweet I included in last year’s year-end letter, because I believe it counts now more than ever:
P.S. I actually forgot this, but... this year I posted two Star Wars fanfics? Nowhere near as impressive as 2016’s novel-length Hannibal fic, but if you’re into Rogue One and Baze/Chirrut specifically, here ya go.
other stuff: elizabeth
I cared about literally nothing in the vast media landscape but constantly refreshing my Twitter feed in the first few months of the year—that is, before Black Sails SAILED into my life. But since then, I’ve loved a bunch of things, and not just the early modern literature I’ve been reading to write my fanfiction. My favorite book of the year...OK, it’s set in the 18th century, not branching out a massive amount here, but it was published last year! Francis Spufford’s Golden Hill, set in Manhattan in 1746, is a TOTAL DELIGHT and I can’t recommend it highly enough (and honestly can’t really do it justice in a brief description—I liked this review, it’s a good start).
The other thing I totally fell for this year was The Good Place, though if you haven’t watched it already, you are probably tired of hearing about it. But if it’s on your list, move it up to the front asap, because it will bring you a great deal of joy (a running theme here) plus some really solid philosophy jokes. (And also my beloved Chidi Anagonye!!) The first season is on Netflix and you could watch the whole thing in approximately five hours if you take really short breaks.
FINAL THOUGHT
We’ll be back in the New Year with multifandom Yuletide recs! To tide you over, here’s are rec lists from Yuletide 2016 and Yuletide 2015!
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)