The Rec Center #114
Do you know how many people send us fic recs for slow burn romance? SO MANY, is the answer. So that’s our rec theme this week! We also have a look at fan studies in 2018 from expert Henry Jenkins, some Wakandan cooking, and more. — Gav
new stuff
“The State of Fandom Studies” by Henry Jenkins
If you’re interested in fan studies, bookmark (?? do people bookmark anymore? ...keep an eye on??) this page: Henry Jenkins is showcasing a wide variety of fan studies voices—including emerging ones—and the lineup over the coming months looks *amazing*. Starting with:
Rukmini Pande and Rebecca Wanzo: Part 1 and Part 2
A fantastic dialogue about race and racism in fandom (and fan studies), postcolonialism, the idea of “fandom killjoys,” and more.
“How Dressing as Mr. Darcy Taught Me Not to Be an Academic Snob” by Ted Scheinman at The Chronicle of Higher Education
“The funny part of Austen cosplay is how unsilly it all feels: the escapism is bound up with the element of discovery, and the costume allows you for a brief and hallowed moment to enter a new version of yourself.”
“Wakandan Jeweled Vegetable Pilau With Berbere Braised Lamb” by Kiano Moju at at Buzzfeed Tasty
An East African-inspired Wakandan recipe, created in a collaboration with Black Panther: Long Live The King writer Nnedi Okorafor. You can can check out the ~Buzzfeed Tasty~ video here.
older stuff
“What Harry Potter Fan Fiction Taught Me About Sex” by Kendra James at Elle
“Writing fanfiction meant reasoning through actions and the resulting emotions in a way my teachers never asked for, even after my supposed spouse killed our egg child.”
tumblr & beyond
Some...intriguing Voltron alien etymology.
“FBI-sona discourse ensues”
A thread on why Bruce Banner’s seven PhDs are not, in fact, very impressive from an academic standpoint.
“Who gives us freedom, One Direction or the military?”
fanfiction
We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again: “slow burn” is BY FAR the most popular tag amongst our submissions, so we’ve got another slow burn list (the first; the second). As always, some peoples’ burn preferences are slower than others, so take that with a grain of salt. But these are generally pretty so long, so I’m guessing they’re delightfully, painfully drawn out. :-) Thanks, as always, to our guest reccers. — Elizabeth
“I Will Roam if You Say Roam” by Lavellington. 73K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency; Ship: Todd Brotzman/Dirk Gently
Recced by: aesthetic-dissonance
Backstory: Dirk and Todd take a trip to London to empty out Dirk's old apartment, and get caught up in a new case involving some of Dirk's former schoolmates. UST abounds!
Rec: An excellent fic for an under-appreciated show, by turns hilarious and heartbreaking. The author nails the offbeat, humorous tone and the characters’ vibrant voices, in addition to introducing some memorable OCs. Todd and Dirk are head over heels but both so painfully insecure they take forever to spit it out—the relationship buildup feels natural and perfectly paced.
Content warnings: Minimal; some peril and sexual situations. Author includes CWs before each chapter.
“from the dark with you above” by Cairophoenix. 22K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries; Ship: Lydia Bennet/Gigi Darcy
Recced by: Chestnut_filly
Backstory: The LBD was a web series that adapted Pride and Prejudice to modern-day SoCal. It expanded Lydia and Georgiana’s roles and explored the real repercussions of dealing with a man like George Wickham.
Rec: I love this story for its moments of quiet, for its deft handling of Lydia’s familial relationships, for the sympathy and tenderness with which it treats everything from George trauma to the slipperiness of newfound attraction to suburban loneliness, for the spot-on soundtrack, and for the sweetness of the ending.
Content warnings: Discussion of past abusive relationships
“The Scottish Boy” by Bette Noire. 130K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Captain America; Ship: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes
Recced by: anon
Backstory: A novel-length medieval thriller AU that requires no knowledge of Captain America to enjoy. Steve is a young English knight forced to take a surly teenage Scottish prisoner as his squire, or lose his impoverished manor.
Rec: It’s brilliantly characterised and ridiculously historically accurate (something which historical AUs never really are). The author’s Drunk History-style notes at the end of each chapter are an extra treat. Also, knights banging each other.
Content warnings: Graphic violence. So much.
“Love is All You Need to Destroy Your Enemies” by shadydave. 222K words, rated Teen.
Fandoms: Welcome to Night Vale, The Dresden Files; Ship: Carlos Ramirez/Cecil Palmer
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Carlos Ramirez from the Dresden Files is the Carlos from Welcome to Nightvale. Everything changes, and yet it doesn’t.
Rec: This works amazingly well, and the two canons merge together with nary a continuity error. Well written and laugh-out-loud funny.
Content warnings: N/A
“Elephants” by feltknickers. 128K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Rizzoli & Isles; Ship: Maura/Jane
Recced by: twbird18
Backstory: Jane is pregnant and asks Maura to raise the baby with her.
Rec: I always thought the show would have been really interesting if Jane’s pregnancy had played out in the show.
Content warnings: N/A
“floating, sinking” by Shuofthewind. 188K words, NR by author, I’d give it about an M.
Fandom: Rogue One; Ship: Jyn/Cassian, Baze/Chirrut
Recced by: Chestnut_filly
Backstory: There’s a noble tradition of Everybody Lives fics in Rogue One fandom, which face the challenge of integrating the characters into the subsequent Star Wars films. This is a masterpiece of speculative fix-it.
Rec: A true ensemble fic, each character is perfectly characterized and fits just right into the proceedings of A New Hope. I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish, and every single action and consequence felt logical, emotionally honest, and earned. It's honestly just incredible.
Content warnings: Torture, chronic injuries, wartime nastiness, child soldiers
Plus a vid!
“The Profound Bond” by k9lover27. 2:11, not rated but estimated Teen.
Fandom: Supernatural; Ship: Dean/Castiel
Recced by: Goodwin
Backstory: From the vid description: “The Profound Bond”—A new romantic comedy starring Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins. When Federal Agent Dean Winchester gets paired with an angel as part of the Bureau's new Human-Angel Cooperation Initiative, the partnership seems less than ideal.”
Rec: This vid makes this ship appear to be canon so convincingly that some viewers at first thought it was an actual movie trailer. Every scene advances the plot, and the music and editing are used to great effect. I want to see this movie!
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
Survey time! I’ll just quote the post directly, because it says it all perfectly:
Have you been part of fandom for at least ten years (even non-consecutively)?
We’re Casey Fiesler and Brianna Dym, longtime fan community members, and also researchers in the Department of Information Science at University of Colorado Boulder. We’re conducting a survey about how fan communities migrate across platforms! So if you’ve used multiple platforms in that time (Livejournal, Tumblr, AO3, Usenet…), we would love to have you participate!
You might be familiar with Casey’s previous work on fandom, “An Archive of Their Own: A Case Study of Feminist HCI and Values in Design” (if you’re not, go read it). I’ve personally been really eager for someone to research on this topic, so I selfishly request that everyone who’s been in fandom for a while to take this and share it widely, PLEASE. :-) — 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)