The Rec Center #130
Hi folks! This week’s letter is a little shorter than usual because we’ve been a little busy. Some Detroit: Become Human fanart, some fluffy multifandom recs, and an article about the National Library. And remember: European fans, please contact your MEPs to protect internet freedom, as per last week’s message! — Gav
new stuff
“The power of fandom” by Brodie Lancaster at the Saturday Paper
“As the National Library raises funds to preserve 19th-century fan scrapbooks, the author reflects on giving herself over to fandom—and how its obsessiveness is both critical and self-reflective.”
older stuff
“What I Learned About the Internet From The Baby-Sitters Club” by Casey Fiesler at Slate
“It was the Baby-Sitters Club that first taught me that a computer could be used for talking to people.”
tumblr & beyond
Detroit: Become Human fanart by 6y9brows
A really moving and thoughtful... Garfield fan comic?
A tragic prequel to the video game Left Behind.
fanfiction
It’s been an incredibly challenging week, on many fronts, so we’ve pulled some fluffy fic if you’re looking for an escape this weekend. Just a note: like a lot of our trope-based lists, “fluff” is in the eye of the beholder, or in this case, in the eye of the guest reccer. Thanks, as always, to everyone who sent in a rec. <3 — Elizabeth
“You Get Away With Murder, So Innocent” by CryptoHomoRocker. 6K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: MCU; Ship: Darcy Lewis/Natasha Romanov
Recced by: Kitty August
Backstory: Darcy Lewis is a fandom favourite, a side character from the Thor films (Jane Foster’s dorky and outspoken assistant). Natasha Romanova is the Black Widow, former Soviet black ops legend turned Avenger.
Rec: The summary says it all “Darcy gets a cat, and Natasha gets a Darcy.” This fic is everything it promises to be and the characters are both delightfully expressed.
Content warnings: N/A
“chaser of fate” by freshia. 7K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender; Ship: Keith/Lance
Recced by: May
Backstory: Lance’s friends bring a new guy named Keith into their study group, and Lance can’t figure out where he’s seen Keith before.
Rec: A sweet, funny, totally-in-character college AU that...also happens to be reincarnation fic! Lance and Keith are rendered so well, and both their banter and their meaningful conversations in this fic are a delight.
Content warnings: N/A
“Lines on Palms” by Fahye. 35K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Captive Prince; Ship: Laurent/Damen
Recced by: Brig
Backstory: Captive Prince is one of those rare satisfying original novels that reads like excellent fanfic: an icy blond intellectual prince forced to survive in a cutthroat court versus his mirror opposite; a brawny, handsome, warrior prince who didn’t see a political betrayal coming and becomes a slave, given as property to Laurent. Laurent is cool and calculating while Damen is honest and fiery, and everything about their relationship is the tease of how good they could be for each other if they weren’t positioned as enemies with their families killing each other and their kingdoms at war. This story is an AU mentioned in the canon, where Damen muses on how their lives could have been different if they had met prince to prince, before the war and all the bloodshed.
Rec: Beautiful, indulgent fluff written in the same distinctive prose style as the canon but without all the murder. It gives Laurent and Damen time to know each other without death and war hanging over their heads, and the chance to help each other from the start. Everything Fahye writes for this fandom is equally excellent.
Content warnings: Sex slaves, public sex. The canon novel does involve incest and underage sex but this story does not.
“as to the river, so to the sea” by pepperfield. 5K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Black Panther; Ship: Gen
Recced by: fredfinch
Backstory: Erik came to live in Wakanda when he was seven. This is a short, fluffy piece made up of scenes from a family life.
Rec: The banter between characters is very funny, and Shuri’s devotion to terrible teen memes is pretty spot on. T’Challa and Erik are like brothers in this fic, which is what I wanted after watching the movie. Short and sweet!
Content warnings: N/A
“Sunshine & Good Wine” by softestpunk. 25K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Witcher; Ship: Geralt of Rivia/Iorveth/Vernon Roche
Recced by: Maddie
Backstory: Roche is a special forces commander, Iorveth is a terrorist elf, and Geralt is a superhuman monster hunter called a witcher. At one point they all lived in a country called Temeria, where Roche and Iorveth did their best to kill one another while Geralt basically just tried to live, but by the time this fic starts the country has been taken over by the empire of Nilfgaard.
Rec: I was inspired to share this rec based on Elizabeth and Flourish’s reflections on redemption stories in the recent Fansplaining podcast ep “Bad Fans.” The Witcher Series deals A LOT with the messiness of morality. This fic interests me because it doesn’t pass judgement on whether or not Roche and Iorveth deserve redemption but instead focuses on the two finding peace after years of violence and a very personal kind of forgiveness between them.
Content warnings: References to torture, brief panic due to flashbacks of unspecified sexual assault
FINAL THOUGHT
I’ve spent the day at the Fan Studies Network conference in Cardiff! If you’re here, come and say hello this evening or tomorrow; if you’re not, follow along with the presentations with the Twitter conference hashtag. :-) — 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, explainer, or ship manifesto, 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)