The Rec Center #149
Hi there! This week we have a multifandom rec list of excellent, recently published fanfic, Elizabeth’s new feature article on free speech ~discourse in fandom, a piece about fictional map design, and more. — Gav
new stuff
“The Online Free Speech Debate is Raging in Fan Fiction, Too” by Elizabeth at The Verge
Elizabeth’s first piece for The Verge! On AO3, free speech, censorship, archives v communities, alllll sorts of discourse topics.
“How Writers Map Their Imaginary Worlds” by Sarah Laskow at Atlas Obscura
We included a piece on this book a few weeks back, but this piece has even more sketches and drawings for all you fictional map fans out there.
“He clawed his way to my gay heart—a cartoon tiger” by Andrew Wheeler at Xtra
On queer affinity and representation in children’s shows, 30 years ago and today.
older stuff
“Fan Fiction vs. Fanfiction” by Flourish Klink at Fansplaining
Look folks, because this convo has come back into my life this week, the reason publications write “fan fiction” is because the dictionary does, and the reason the dictionary does is because publications do. After editing this piece last year I actually became LESS of a no-space-in-fanfiction absolutist, but if you want to see this change, well, lobby your dictionary of choice (yay M-W!) to include writing on fanfic done within fandom in its corpus. :-DDD — Elizabeth
tumblr & beyond
Yuri Plisetksy fanart by Mali
“The Grinch/Gritty”
“I always think of, like, 2nd century scriptural debates when matters of canon come up.”
Don’t worry all the eel-related info in this fanfic is absolutely accurate.
HAVE YOU SEEN the statue in Crowley’s flat in the new Good Omens TV series?
fanfiction
This week we have a multifandom grab-bag of recently published fic! ~Fresh and crisp.~
“the other way to someday” by theslap. 84K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Detroit: Become Human; Ship: Hank Anderson/Connor
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: I’m not familiar with Detroit: Become Human canon so I can’t speak to this fic’s characterization etc. However, it’s definitely accessible to people who haven’t played the game.
Rec: A single parent/schoolteacher romance AU with a May/October kind of age gap (the single dad is in his 50s and the teacher is about 30). I’m not generally into everyday suburban life AUs but this fic really sucked me in with a thoughtful and intense love story. The author does a great job of illustrating why these people are attracted to each other, how they might screw up their relationship, and why they ultimately improve each other’s lives. Character development!!
Content warnings: N/A
“burning up like a wildfire” by parcequelle. 2.5K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Ocean’s 8; Ship: Debbie Ocean/Lou
Recced by: tristcoteuse
Backstory: Debbie and Lou are the rare lady version of the satisfying-close-partnership-with-homoerotic-tension so common among m/m ships. Their relationship is great as is, but also, they’re totally, obviously in love.
Rec: Just a nice short lost scene pwp (well, a little plot about their relationship!) which definitely happened and which satisfied my craving immediately post-movie. This kind of thing is my weakness and it such a special joy to get this type of fic about a pairing involving Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock.
Content warnings: N/A
“the five unmistakable marks” by magdaliny. 9K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Captain America movies; Ship: Steve/Bucky, gen
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: An outsider-POV look at Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes during their overseas deployment in Captain America: The First Avenger.
Rec: This fic is beautifully written, told from the perspective of a psychiatrist stationed at the same military base as Steve and Bucky. Like many Captain America fics, it’s rooted in the queer history of the period, and offers a moving look at Steve and Bucky’s life during WWII, with a very specific and well-characterized original character.
Content warnings: N/A
“Muckraker!” by orphan. 33K words, Unrated (R).
Fandom: Venom (2018 movie); Ship: Eddie/Venom, gen
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: Takes place after the movie. Eddie Brock is a down-on-his-luck journalist in San Francisco, and Venom is... a man-eating alien symbiote who lives in his body.
Rec: I’m EXTREMELY glad someone wrote this fic because it’s exactly what I wanted after seeing the film’s very dubious depiction of journalism. It’s a story about Eddie Brock investigating Silicon Valley tech startups (in fact, it’s more about that than it is about his relationship with Venom), with a welcome understanding of a) how reporting actually works, and b) what the SF tech scene is like. It’s satisfyingly well-informed about the politics relevant to Eddie’s career, as well as having v witty dialogue.
Content warnings: N/A
“Stargazer” by LemonadeGarden. 47K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Batman; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Nicole
Backstory: Jason Todd, Batman’s second Robin, was killed by the Joker and then resurrected. His relationship with Bruce is tense and uneasy, but he still desperately misses having him as a pseudo-father.
Rec: Jason Todd makes a post-death bucket list of all the things he never got to do. Since most of those things involve his estranged father, he doesn’t believe they’ll ever happen—but they do. This is a gorgeous story about unbreakable bonds and healing from trauma.
Content warning: Panic attacks
Plus! A Zine!
“Possible Here: A Queer Black Sails Zine” edited by Jamie Beckenstein & Penny Weber. 11 ~2 page essays
Fandom: Black Sails
Recced by: kathleen
Rec: Black Sails was incredible and I didn’t really know how to think about it; this provided a couple of lenses and reassured me that the monumental way I felt was echoed elsewhere. I particularly loved “England is Not Inevitable” as a way to memorialize the complexity of the finale and carry Black Sails forward.
Content warnings: [Ed. note: kathleen doesn’t list any for this meta, but just to be safe, any Black Sails viewer is likely to know the show’s content requires...some warnings!]
FINAL THOUGHT
Very exciting news: Dr. Lori Morimoto’s “Fan Studies for Fans” course has returned! It’s kind of wild that we can get fan studies lectures for literally $1 each—I can’t recommend Lori’s work enough. (She’s been on Fansplaining twice, first on shipping and activism, second on transcultural fandom, a conversation in which her framings kind of blew my mind and reshaped some of my thoughts about fandom.) She charges per lecture, rather than on a monthly subscription, so you’re only paying for new content. If you’re curious about fan studies—or you want to support independent scholarship!—don’t delay! Pledge now! — Elizabeth
Have a favorite one-off rec? Please send it our way! We’ll use it in a future list. Other fanworks—comics, vids, zines, 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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