The Rec Center #152
Hi folks! We’re back this week with another round of fanfic series recs, some of which are over a million (!) words long. We’ve also got news about the latest fanfic-inspired movie, some cute Yuri!! on Ice fanart, and more. — Gav
new stuff
“Internet fanfiction is becoming mainstream—but not necessarily more representative” by Sarah Manavis at the New Statesman
“Fanfiction’s mainstream turn is riddled with problems, according to long-time readers—particularly in what kind of fanfiction actually becomes the pop culture hits.”
“The Creators of The Wicked + The Divine Talk About Making Beautiful Magic Together” by Evan Narcisse at io9
A great interview with Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. Highly recommended for anyone interested in artistic collaboration!
“Overwatch is still king of Tumblr, but self-generated fandom rules the rest” by Megan Farokhmanesh at The Verge
Tumblr just released its year-end list of the most popular topics of 2018, and (perhaps unsurprisingly) the two most popular videogames are Overwatch and Detroit: Become Human—games with a huge online presence for fanfic and art, unlike Fortnite, which is massively successful but didn’t inspire the same kind of creative fandom.
older stuff
“What a Fangirl Knows” by Sunny at Rookie
Today the delightful teen site Rookie is shutting down today after seven years. There’s some great fandom writing in their archives, including this piece: “You love this band/actor/personality, and you do so boundlessly. You never have to conceal your ardency for another person’s sake.”
tumblr & beyond
Yuri!! on Ice historical AU fanart by riceball-in-a-fruit-basket
What does Pikachu look like when you dunk him in the water?
How to respond when someone tries to drag you into shipping or kink discourse when you don’t want to.
“I was a manager at Hot Topic during peak Twilight craze...”
A high-concept pitch for the extended universe of Sherlock Holmes adaptations.
fanfiction
A few week back we published the first batch of SERIES recs, and here’s the second. Thanks, as always, to our guest reccers. — Elizabeth
“datenights in the stitching ward” series by nerakrose. 66K words over 3 works, rated Mature.
Fandom: MCU; Ship: Steve/Bucky
Recced by: epaulettes (link to twitter, @epaulettes)
Backstory: A non-powered AU in which Steve and Bucky meet in the ER, and then keep meeting in the ER because Steve and because Bucky and because all of their crazy friends.
Rec: Really delightful AU with many canon-allied disabilities (tiny!Steve, and deaf!Clint among them), and just a lot of interesting character dynamics happening in between the almost painfully adorable rom-com storyline.
Content warnings: Injuries both major and minor, some discussion of trauma and depression
“Reprise” series by Elfpen. 435K words over 6 works (the last installment is a WIP), rated Teen.
Fandom: Star Wars (Prequel trilogy and Clone Wars TV show); Ship: Gen
Recced by: procrastinatingplatypus
Backstory: Ever wonder what might happen if Obi-Wan Kenobi was bumped back in time by the force to when he was a teen? How he might fix everything that went wrong?
Rec: Gosh it’s really hard to condense my feelings about this series without just saying “aaaaaaahhhhhh so gooood” but; during the summer I went on a star wars time travel fic binge and this is one of the standouts of the bunch. Surprisingly (to me), this fic made me feel lots of FEELINGS for BOTH teen and old obi-wan. If found family and fixing past wrongs are your thing then read this.
Content warnings: old Obi-Wan has some pretty severe PTSD in this one unsurprisingly
“Break to Breathe” series: Parts 1-3 and Part 4 by OkamiRayne. 1.2 million words over 4 works, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Naruto; Ships: ShikaNeji, InoKiba, Kakashi/Genma, Genma/OMC
Recced by: vargs
Backstory: Naruto is one of those big childhood anime fandoms for many of us. This is a canon-compliant, heavily researched and meticulously-plotted longfic that absolutely made the case for this rarepair’s appeal and existence.
Rec: Not only is this entire thing longer than the HP series and full of some of the most extensive plotting and sub-plotting I’ve ever read, it’s also a visible indicator of the author’s journey to becoming a truly excellent writer. By the time you reach Part IV, you’re going to believe in their ability to expand on every one of the MANY characters and relationships that play important roles in this grand scheme, and it’s satisfying to know both that such scope can be achieved, and that someone really did emerge, after spending years writing 1.2mil words, equipped with the means to take on original fiction.
Content warnings: Canon-typical violence, references to torture and non-con, depictions of PTSD and mental illness, character death
“Wherever You Will Be (That’s Where I’ll Call Home)” [The DomesticVerse] by Gyzym. 74K words over 8 works, rated Mature.
Fandom: Inception; Ship: Arthur/Eames
Recced by: raehynd
Backstory: Arthur and Eames get together and gradually grow more comfortable and domestic with each other, without losing any of their own character traits—Arthur’s still vicious and competent, Eames is still slightly trashy and fun. We just experience slices of their lives together, and their various terrible relatives.
Rec: I think I’ve reread this series more than anything else in my life because it’s just wonderful. It’s sweetly romantic without being cloying, it’s physically painful at times from the family drama, but there are scenes from these fics which are utterly unforgettable.
Content warnings: Canon-typical violence, family drama
And since we had two recs for this Merlin series, we combined them, as we’ve done in the past:
“Loaded March” by Footloose. 1.2 million words over 16 works, rated Mature.
Fandom: Merlin; Ship: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon
Recced by: Amalthia and 2012bookworm
Summary: Amalthia writes: The reason SAS Captain Arthur Pendragon can’t keep a communications specialist in Team Excalibur because none of them are good enough. And then Lieutenant Merlin Emrys gets assigned to his squad, and Arthur does everything he can to prove that Merlin isn’t good enough, either. Except he is.
2012bookworm writes: Using the characters from the BBC Merlin, this modern day AU turns them into an elite SAS unit deployed in Afghanistan. While there are callbacks to the original show, this series is enough its own that you don’t have to have seen the show to enjoy it.
Rec: Amalthia writes: This is a must-read for anyone in Merlin fandom. I’m glad I waited until the series finished because once I started reading I couldn’t stop. I loved the military aspects, the character voices, the plot, the scope and ambition of the story isn’t something you find every day.
2012bookworm writes: The world building is incredible, as well as the complexity of all the different characters and relationships. Even the minor characters feel real, and grow and change throughout the series. It’s intense and funny and so good you won’t want to come up for air.
Content warnings: Military violence
FINAL THOUGHT
Two Decembers ago we did a call for HOLIDAY recs and it proved very popular, so I’d like to try that again. More generally, it’s a call for recs that aren’t just about the specific Decemberish holidays (Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year’s Eve) but general wintry stuff as well. Please use our form, and include “winter holidays” in the tropes section. <3 — 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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