The Rec Center #121
Hello! Looks like spring might finally have also arrived on my side of the Atlantic? (Apologies if you’re still stuck in winter, she says after a childhood of snow banks lingering into May.) This week we have articles on representation, a Jason Statham RPG, and a full rundown of what happened at Universal Fan Con. Plus! Soulmate AUs from our submissions bank! — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Seeing A Black Hermione Still Feels Like A Bright Spot In A Torn-Up World” by Alanna Bennett at Buzzfeed
“If Hermione can be black not only in our hearts but in an official production, what other borders can we expand? What else can we, collectively, make room for?”
“A Documentary Reveals the Dangerous Fickleness of Online Fame in China” by Christina Larson at Slate
On Chinese online celebrity culture and a documentary that shows “the lonely shadows where the lines between online and offline dissolve.”
“Universal Fan Con: Peeling Back the Layers” by Jazmine Joyner and Rosie Knight at Women Write About Comics
An in-depth investigation into what went wrong with Universal Fan Con, the hotly anticipated new convention that was cancelled last Friday with no explanation. The whole situation is an astounding fiasco, and while more info has come out since this piece was published on Wednesday, it’s still the definitive overview.
older stuff
“What is ‘The Dynamic,’ Anyway?” by Seph at The Niche
If you haven’t read the most important post going around this week, it’s time to familiarize yourself with the Sweaterboy and the Absolute Nightmare. And to figure out your own Sweaterboy/Absolute Nightmare alignment, be sure to take this extraordinarily scientific quiz.
tumblr & beyond
“modern adaptations of pride and prejudice should replace Mrs Bennet’s obsession w/ marrying her daughters off with a determination to see them all be lawyers/doctors/engineers”
“JASON STATHAM'S BIG VACATION is a free roleplaying game about trying to make sure that Jason Statham has a nice time on his holidays despite the efforts of a vengeful sniper.”
Does Ted Tonks have a tiny cameo in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone??
People are voting on the new “official” AO3 tag for Hannibal Lecter/Gordon Ramsay fanfic, and some of the suggestions are... truly sublime.
TFW that mysterious line of beautiful poetry turns out to be a quote from Captain America fanfic.
“Venom is just an orca fursuit gone wrong.”
fanfiction
Ah, soulmate AUs, an ever-popular trope. Our list this week is a mix of things reccers have tagged “soulmate” or “soulbond,” whatever that means in the context of the story. We also got a few soulmate AU submissions from our call for “trope subversion” last week (which is still open! Send us your subverted tropes), so we wanted to include these as well, since, since sometimes part of the fun of a trope is playing around with it, too. Thanks, as always, to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“Gentle Antidote” x_los. 11K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Peter Wimsey; Ship: Peter/Harriet
Recced by: Stephanie
Backstory: A soulmate tattoo AU of Sayers’s novel Strong Poison, in which Harriet does not have to wait until she’s on trial for murder to meet Peter.
Rec: This is the first soulmate AU I’d ever read, and it’s still one of my favorites. I adore Sayers, but Harriet has a rough time in the books, and this is a sweet, lovely little fantasy of a world in which everything is easier.
Content warnings: N/A
“The Trouble with Threesomes and Supernatural Soul Mates” by Akira_of_the_Twilight. 88K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Teen Wolf; Ship: Peter Hale/Chris Argent/Stiles Stilinski
Recced by: Gryvon
Backstory: Stiles has not one, but two soulmates. Unfortunately, they’re both older men who have been together almost as long as Stiles has been alive.
Rec: This is what kickstarted my love of this specific pairing, and added fuel to my fiery love of threesome fic.
Content warnings: N/A
“Promised To Me” by DaughterOfTheRevolution. 338K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Hetalia; Ship: America/Russia
Recced by: joethecat
Backstory: Hetalia is a comedy webcomic turned anime with anthropomorphized countries interacting. While the webcomic in itself isn’t very political (even if set up in political situations) the fandom tends to include history into their stories a lot more, and America and Russia certainly have an interesting history.
Rec: If you’re a history buff, the well researched and interestingly interpreted history of the United States and Russia will highly appeal. If this is a bit heavy for some, the story still follows a passionate slow burn filled with almost every trope under the earth (most noticeable the concept of soulmates).
Content warnings: MANY. It is advisable for one to heed the warnings on their own since there’s plenty. War, violence, racism, rape
“Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes” by huffleluff. 22K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Teen Wolf; Ship: Allison Argent/Lydia Martin
Recced by: sakerattminnas
Backstory: On her 18th birthday Allison finds out that Lydia is her soulmate, but Allison is dating Scott and has always thought that she was straight. Lydia doesn’t turn 18 for another year, so Allison decides to hide her soul mark from everyone.
Rec: This is one of the fics I keep coming back to, partly because I remember that feeling of realising that you aren’t who you thought you were and dealing with that, which is represented so well in this fic. Also because I’m a sucker for angst with a happy ending, as well as supportive friends and this fic hit all those marks, as well as really selling a pairing that I hadn’t really considered before.
Content warnings: Homophobia, being (accidentally) outed, being disowned
And the ones tagged “trope subversion”:
“An Ever-Fixed Mark” by AMarguerite. 190K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Jane Austen; Ships: Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet/Colonel Fitzwilliam
Recced by: grey-sleipnir
Backstory: One would think that having the name of one’s soulmate appear on one’s wrist on one’s sixteenth birthday would make matrimony much less complicated. It mostly does not. And not at all for Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourne.
Rec: Complete deconstruction of the “soulmate identifying mark” trope. Not only is this an extremely well written story, true to the voice and themes of Austen, but it also questions the soulmark trope in fascinating ways, having the characters voice several different interpretations of what these names on a person’s wrist mean. The fic starts with Elizabeth Bennet thinking she understands what having the name “Fitzwilliam” on her wrist means, only to have events in her life make her question the role of that name on her wrist.
Content warnings: N/A
Annnnd two people sent in a rec for this one, literally coming in back-to-back in our submissions queue. GREAT MINDS. So we’ll compress their recs into one:
“Fastening One Heart To Every Falling Thing” by thefourthvine. 52K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Hockey RPF; Ship: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin
Recced by: Cat and meretricula
Backstory: Cat writes: “In real life, Sidney Crosby is a hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins from Canada, and Evgeni "Geno" Malkin is a hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins from Russia. Here, they’re also those things, but it’s a ‘soulmates AU’ where people can form psychic bonds with their romantic partner.”
Meretricula writes: “Sidney Crosby is Canada’s favorite hockeybot. Geno Malkin is a sometimes goofy, sometimes grumpy Russian bear. Together, they <s>fight crime</s> win championships for Pittsburgh!”
Rec: Cat writes: “This fic creates a universe where humans can have the ultimate romance—a soulbond!—and lets you know, from the summary, that our romantic leads aren’t going to do that. It’s not only a trope subversion, but a beautiful treatment of living and loving with a disability, examining every facet of having a brain or body that’s considered wrong or that hurts you.”
Meretricula writes: “If you have ever considered the soulbond trope and thought, ‘actually that sounds like a horrifying violation of privacy and personal agency,’ this fic is for you! And it’s simultaneously one of the sweetest, most satisfying slow burn love stories I’ve ever read.”
Content warnings: Depression, social anxiety, fantasy analogies to ableism, a lot of description of concussion symptoms, including throwing up
FINAL THOUGHT
Happy Avengers: Infinity War weekend! As with a lot of Marvel movies, I’m probably more interested in the resulting fanfic than the film itself. Here’s my spoiler-free review! — Gav
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, explainer, or ship manifesto, please get in touch! elizabethandgav at gmail dot com.
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