The Rec Center #105
Welcome to 2018! This week we have multifandom fic recs from Yuletide 2017, an incredibly astute Tumblr post about General Hux in The Last Jedi, some advice on ~loving things~ from Elizabeth, and more. — Gav
new stuff
“The Year of Loving Things Again” by Elizabeth at Fansplaining
On the ways we can fall out of fandom—ageism, life interferences, and more—and how we can give ourselves permission to come back to it.
“‘Black Sails’ is the best show you didn’t watch in 2017” by Gav at The Daily Dot
In case you missed it last week (lol), Gav wrote a spoiler-free manifesto for why Black Sails is The Best and absolutely essential viewing. Very important.
“How Fans Invented #Hannie, the Ultimate Social Media Supercouple” by Taylor Lorenz at The Daily Beast
An interesting look into a tween shipping fandom that many of us may not have noticed. (Because, u know, we’re Old.) These children got famous on social media and are now starring in a webseries together, built on the massive fan-following for their (totally fictitious) relationship.
older stuff
“How the Internet Picks Its Boyfriends” by Sulagna Misra at The Cut
Since it’s The Rec Center’s anniversary, why not include one of the pieces we highlighted in our very first issue? Also Oscar Isaac continues to delight the collective internet, so….
tumblr & beyond
Finn and Rose by Caspar Wijngaard
“2018 lets bring back fanfic authors interruptng their own stories to have conversations with the characters”
In defense of Poison Ivy.
“He looks like the deranged personification of the most unhinged British foreign policy choices circa 1890.” a legit beautiful celebration of General Hux by darthnickels.
fanfiction
I love Yuletide season!! For those who aren’t familiar, it’s an annual fanfic gift exchange, specifically geared toward obscure (and often nonexistent) fandoms. Here are some of my favorite fics from this year, selected with the rather unfair criteria of “source material I’m actually familiar with.” (Which is why this list doesn’t include any fics for Pitch or The Good Place, two of the most popular fandoms this year. Sorry, folks! Feel free to rec your own.) — Gav
“The Extraordinary Egg” by Edonohana. 2.2K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell; Ship: Gen
Backstory: Gerald Durrell was a 20th century British zookeeper and conservationist, known for his funny and ~educational memoirs. This fic takes place during his first memoir, My Family and Other Animals, covering his eccentric childhood on the Greek island of Corfu.
Rec: A charming and well-characterized short story about the Durrell family finding a phoenix egg.
Content warnings: N/A
“Nightgowns” by Evander. 2K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett; Ship: Maladict/Polly Perks
Backstory: Monstrous Regiment is a standalone novel in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. The protagonist, Polly Perks, is a girl who disguises herself as a boy to join the army, and gradually realizes that many of her fellow soldiers are also secretly women. Maladict is a vampire she befriends in the army. (This fic includes spoilers!)
Rec: A great little glimpse into Monstrous Regiment from Maladict’s perspective, continuing on after the end of the book.
Content warnings: N/A
“Star Baker” by SapphoIsBurning. 1.5K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Great British Bake Off/Batman crossover; Ship: Gen
Backstory: Alfred the butler (from Batman/DC Comics) goes undercover as a contestant on the Great British Bake Off.
Rec: This is SUCH a clever combination of characters. Alfred’s Britishness and sanguine attitude have a special kind of humor that fits very well with GBBO.
Content warnings: N/A
“Marlowe in the Otherworld” by Mosca. 4.8K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Elizabethan & Jacobean Theater RPF; Ship: Christopher Marlowe/OMC
Backstory: Instead of dying, the 16th century playwright Christopher Marlowe is abducted into fairyland by his elvish lover.
Rec: If you enjoyed the Hob Gadling interlude in the Sandman comics, you’ll enjoy this. It’s a classic “stolen away to fairyland” story, told from Christopher Marlowe’s perspective as he experiences centuries of human culture via temporary visits from his immortal life in fairyland. Appropriately tagged, “the grand sweep of queer history.”
Content warnings: N/A
“only a full house gonna have a prayer” by yasaman. 3.4K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: “17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future” by Jon Bois; Ship: Gen
Backstory: 17776 is a unique and strangely entertaining online sci-fi narrative that I really can’t explain here. I recommend just taking a look at the source material yourself; the fic won’t make sense if you haven’t read some of 17776 first. This is a sequel where aliens make contact with earth.
Rec: This is probably my favorite Yuletide fic this year, partly because it’s a perfect Yuletide fandom (obscure yet zeitgeist-y!) and partly because it’s a really well-executed pastiche of a very specific writing style. Without using any of the more complicated formatting from 17776, the author does a great job of emulating the original’s sense of humor.
Content warnings: N/A
“Something Borrowed” by miss_pryss. 7.4K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Jupiter Ascending; Ship: Jupiter Jones/Caine Wise
Backstory: Jupiter Ascending is an EXTREMELY fun sci-fi/fantasy movie about a human woman who discovers she’s a space princess, and falls in love with a mutant werewolf alien soldier played by Channing Tatum.
Rec: Jupiter Ascending is the reigning champion of Disney princess wish-fulfillment fantasies for adults, and this fic flips the roles to make Caine the princess instead. It invents a cool worldbuilding detail wherein Caine LOVES weddings and Jupiter makes every effort to give him the Special Day he deserves. Delightfully romantic and self-indulgent in a perfectly fitting way for the source material.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
New year, new call for recs! A few weeks back a reader wrote in with a suggestion for a theme that I totally love: we’re looking for “that one fic” that you would rec to someone when they were joining a fandom. As the Keeper of the Recs, I’ve noticed that people do rec popular stories alongside ~hidden gems, but they generally tend to shy away from the suuuuper-popular stuff. I’ve long speculated that it’s because we assume everyone has already read it, which makes sense...but if you’re not in that fandom, it’ll be new to you!
SO. We might get a ton of overlap here, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. If you submit a rec, please include “that one fic” in the tags section, so I’ll be able to tell. And I’ve mentioned this recently but I think it bears repeating: please please please include content warnings—we rely on you to create a space of trust for your fellow readers—and Gav & I are not reading these, just sharing them, so please be sure to actually include a rec, not just a link. :-) — 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.
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