The Rec Center #135
Hello! This week we have everything from “horse girls” to cyberpunk to MCU crossovers, plus a multifandom poly fic rec list. (And after being flooded with submissions, it’s the first of several, at least, that we’ll be able to do in the coming months!)
And one quick housekeeping note: we got a message from a reader last week about antivirus software blocking our links and links on other TinyLetters. We checked in with TinyLetter, and they’re aware of the issue and hope to have it solved soon. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Giddy Up, Girlfriend!” by Gray Chapman at The New York Times
On “horse girls” and Breyerfest, an annual horse fandom convention in Lexington, Kentucky.
“Why isn’t cyberpunk better at trans representation?” by Gav at the Daily Dot
Trans and nonbinary cyberpunk fans explain why the genre resonates with them—and how mainstream offerings like Blade Runner 2049 and Altered Carbon are failing to explore cyberpunk’s trans themes.
The “Hidden search operators cheatsheet” from AO3
Post-filtering update, AO3 has updated its search cheatseat, including things like finding multi-chapter fics vs oneshots, fics without relationship tags, and more.
older stuff
“Fic, Interrupted” by Caroline Crampton at Fansplaining
On reading and writing works in progress, in fanfic and throughout the history of publishing.
tumblr & beyond
Amazing Nintendo cosplay!!
So let’s talk about the pedagogical implications Thanos’s snap would have on the Sesame Street curriculum within the greater MCU.
Queer Eye for the Hawkeye
fanfiction
Multi-fandom poly fic! And even better news: yesterday I put out a call on twitter looking for “a few more” poly recs that center characters of color...and you all submitted nearly two dozen stories! So I’ve included a few here, but now we have enough for, like, four more lists—we’ll probably spread them out over the coming months, but if you love poly fic, GET READY.
If you can’t wait, be sure to check out:
Our first OT3 list, from 2016
Also from 2016, a Leverage list by guest reccer James
I did a Black Sails list (a show that features TWO canonical poly ships, as I am sure you have heard us mention approx. 1,000 times) with my friend Pamphilia
As always, thank you to everyone who sent in a rec. <3 — Elizabeth
“where one starts from” by AlchemyAlice. 10K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Flash (Arrowverse); Ship: Iris/Eddy/Barry
Recced by: shadowkeeper
Backstory: Season 1 Flash, where everyone was happy and adorable, with a trio of genuinely nice people who negotiate into a sweet polyam relationship while they apartment hunt.
Rec: This story takes the relatively low-stakes love triangle from season 1, where everyone genuinely has the best intentions, and turns it into a sweet slow build OT3.
Content warnings: N/A
“anything you can give” Thorinsmut. 17K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Leverage; Ship: Eliot/Parker/Hardison
Recced by: featherquillpen
Backstory: The Leverage OT3 is my fandom happy place. These three thieves just make each other so much better.
Rec: This fic fills in a marriage proposal before the super OT3-shippy episode “The Rundown Job,” which makes so much sense. Eliot, Parker, and Hardison work out the complexities of what their relationship means to each of them.
Content warning: Mentions of past sexual trauma
“de même que les incendies éclairent toute la ville” by magnificentbastards. 10K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Les Mis; Ship: Enjolras/Courfeyrac/Combeferre
Recced by: Brig
Backstory: A slightly less common OT3 pairing for the boys of the revolution. Enjolras is the fiery and beautiful leader of a group of radical thinkers in 1832 France, Combeferre is his highly competent and reserved second in command, and Courfeyrac is the extrovert who insists that everyone become friends, and maybe kiss a little bit. A first meetings story.
Rec: A canon sort of College AU since most of the Les Amis are college students. I love OT3s and I love supportive second in command characters, and I love the idea that the leadership of this ragtag rebel group requires three people with disparate personalities to all support and steady each other.
Content warning: N/A
“Leaving The Liars In Lima (And Finding Truth In New York)” by Owl_Be_Writing. 92K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Glee; Ship: Kurt Hummel/Elliott “Starchild” Gilbert/Original Character
Recced by: Vee
Backstory: Kurt has been dealt a hard deal in Glee canon. This story sets up a character in the show to be a good support system for him, including a lot of OCs who are wonderfully written, which ends in a nice OT3 with Kurt, the secondary character and one of the original characters.
Rec: There is an agender character, lots of LGBT+ rep, sex worker positive, and generally very versatile and not at all the repetitive storylines from Glee.
Content warning: Misgendering out of ignorance, some mentions of racism and misgendering (immediately emphasized on how wrong that is)
“Drop Dead Sprint” by captainkoik. 11K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Teen Wolf; Ship: Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey/Scott McCall
Recced by: Ellie
Backstory: Teenage werewolves plus feelings—a story about learning to forgive and love each other with added supernatural drama.
Rec: Excellent character study, with fluff and lots of feelings.
Content warnings: N/A
“to the moon and back” by kaythebest. 82K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: BTS; Ship: Kim Taehyung/Park Jimin/Jeon Jungkook
Recced by: Lemmnpie
Backstory: BTS is a K-pop band with 7 members; Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook are the younger members of the seven. Other members and a few other kpop idols also appear in the fic. This is a very self-contained AU and it should be easy to read with no prior knowledge of the characters.
Rec: Mystery! Supernatural elements! Great plot! But most importantly, a carefully constructed romance between the main characters that never feels forced. The interactions between Taehyung and Jimin are some of my favorites I’ve read in fics, and the way Jungkook is introduced to the relationship is great.
Content warnings: Minor character death, non-graphic animal death, kidnapping, guns, mentions of arson and executions
And THREE different people recced this Marvel comicsverse fic, so, as we’ve done in the past, we’ve combined the summaries and included the recs from each submission:
“Life of Crime” by neveralarch. 35K words, Rated Explicit.
Fandom: Marvel 616; Ships: Clint Barton/Carol Danvers, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov/Bucky Barnes
Recced by: Anon, a different anon (!), and Rose
Backstory: Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Kate Bishop, and Bucky Barnes are a team of for-hire supercriminals. Very strongly based on the comics, but easy enough to get in to even if you’ve only seen the movies. Familiarity with the Fraction/Aja Hawkeye run will help with tone.
Recs: Anon 1 writes: This story is one of the funniest I have ever read, but is also surprisingly heartfelt. It balances relationship dynamics, a realistic take on low level super villains, and a hilarious sense of humor that could be straight out of the Fraction/Aja Hawkeye run masterfully.
Anon 2 writes: Set from a ‘supercriminal’ POV in a superhero world, this is already unusual, and the exploration of that is fascinating. But this also has complex adult relationships—and Clint Barton. Great read.
Rose writes: One of the best Marvel fics I have ever read, with amazing Clint Barton characterization that could be right out of Fractions run, looking at the life of relatively low level supercriminals in a realistic and hilarious way. So many good lines.
Content warnings: Canon-typical violence, realistic description of injuries, under-negotiated kink, edgeplay, each chapter has thorough warnings
FINAL THOUGHT
I (Gav) will be at the Nine Worlds convention in London next weekend! Please join me for some of my panels! Here’s my schedule, with five panels spread over Friday and Saturday: Costume design, cyberpunk, spooky polar history, The Last Jedi, and Black Sails. — 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.
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)