The Rec Center #164
Hi there! This week we have an article on the science of stan culture, a peculiar tale about a Riverdale actor, and our final (!) rec list of Femslash February: a Young Avengers AmeriKate primer. Have a great weekend! — Gav
new stuff
“The Science of Stanning and Why You Want Your Fave to Run You Over With a Bus” by Allie Volpe at MTV News
Elizabeth is quoted here about being a mess in a performative way. :-) A thoughtful, nuanced piece about stan culture and all the emotions that accompany it.
“What Does Fandom’s Ultimate Online Destination Look Like?” by Clare McBride and Carly Lane at SyFy Wire
On the history—and future—of fannish platforms on the web.
“The ghost in my Netflix account” by Jen Deaderick at Experience Magazine
Jen Deaderick’s child asked to share their Netflix login info with an actor from Riverdale. What happened next will, as they say, surprise you.
older stuff
“When Defaulting to White Isn’t an Option” by Kendra James at Racialicious
“Though I’ve long since learned that I’m not as alone in fandom as I once thought, the visual reminder was striking: Brown kids like science fiction and fantasy too…”
tumblr & beyond
A great post about Mark Hamill’s lightsaber skills.
Ordinarily we’d never dream of laughing at a fanwork, but these wildly inaccurate Star Wars casting prediction fan posters are too good to pass up.
Luv this moodboard of Captain Pike’s v excellent facial expressions in Star Trek: Discovery.
That feeling when you play The Sims, “like a bored god who’s only hubris was thinking he could create something beautiful.”
fanfiction
Maya is a neuroscientist, nerd, and overly enthusiastic fan about pretty much everything who can always be found yelling about things on Twitter as @ppyajunebug along with sharing pictures of her extremely cute cat, Kitty Pryde.
THE COUPLE
One’s a former New York socialite turned LA private eye. The other’s a refugee from the Utopian Parallel who ran away after her moms’ deaths to be a hero across the cosmos. One’s armed with sarcasm and a bow and arrow. The other’s got cosmic powers and can kick her way into the multiverse.
They’re Kate Bishop and America Chavez, best friends and the ultimate “gal pals” who are referred to by shippers as “AmeriKate.”
Kate and America first appear together in Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s run on the Marvel series Young Avengers. Kate had been a part of the Young Avengers team ever since she kept them from completely bungling their attempts to stop bad guys from ruining her sister’s wedding; she eventually adopted the name Hawkeye since Clint Barton was dead at the time (comics, amirite?) and she’s deadly with a bow and arrow. America had been part of a deeply boring team called the Teen Brigade where she briefly dated a rando named Ultimate Nullifier (comics, amirite?) and was way too good for them.
They meet fighting an interdimensional being called Mother who has come to feed on the realities and powers of the Young Avengers while taking the form of their dead parents. By the end of the series they’ve eaten Korean barbecue, visited hundreds of dimensions, dealt with Kid!Loki’s severely twisted past, and survived several break-ups. Kate and America become good friends, but the first hint of them being something more comes in the very last issue, when Kate realizes that pretty much everyone on the team is bi or queer.
Since then, Kate and America have been a constant in each others’ shifting lives, always texting or calling when they’re living in different cities and always there to support each other. Kate is awkward and sarcastic as compared to America’s seemingly effortless cool (something that gets heightened in fanfic), but the two of them balance each other out beautifully.
Currently, they’re finally back on the same team, the West Coast Avengers, and dating a brother and sister. But I still hold out hope that one day AmeriKate will be canon and my two favorite characters will become more than best friends.
THE FIC
Herewith are a few of my favorite AmeriKate fics that I’ve read over the years!
“i don’t wanna be your superman” by paperclipbitch. 1.2K words, rated Teen.
Backstory: Kate is just too damn lazy to do anything other than wear her own costume to Comic-Con. No one’s going to care, right?
Rec: This is the first AmeriKate story I ever read and it’s still one of my favorites. We get cameos from the other Young Avengers, cosplay, veteran!America, and hapless!Kate.
Content warnings: N/A
“Who the Fuck Wants to Die Alone” by paperclipbitch. 7.2K words, rated Teen.
Backstory: Kate is trying to tell America she likes her, pretend she isn’t actually part of the 1%, and keep Clint from killing himself with his stupidity all at the same time.
Rec: This is an amazing No Powers AU where Clint is his usual messed up self, Kate is just trying to keep everything together, and America is both amused and bemused. The way the author adapts all the beats from Young Avengers to work in the AU is just perfect.
Content warnings: N/A
“Cut and Run” by Corlaire. 5.5K words, rated Teen.
Backstory: America is starting the Avengers back up again and wants Clint to be her Hawkeye. Clint has a better idea.
Rec: Thank god for Yuletide. This feels like it could be a coda to some eventual comics timeline, with Clint finally getting too old for this shit and getting his best friend together with her best friend to make sure they’re both happy.
Content warnings: N/A
“what’s my age again?” by verity. 3.4K words, rated Teen.
Backstory: Kate is learning ASL, booty-calling America, and fighting with the Avengers. It’s just a lot, you know?
Rec: This one is pretty Kate-centric (as are a lot of this fics in this fandom; she’s got a particularly fun voice to write), but I love it because it presents a very canon-friendly and easy to imagine world where Kate and America are hooking up and the rest of the Young Avengers and Avengers pop in and out of Kate’s life with gleeful abandon.
Content warnings: N/A
“going up, going down, anything for the crown” by defcontwo. 1.9K words, rated Mature.
Backstory: Kate and America are two of the best figure skaters in the world. The media loves to portray them as bitter rivals. The reality is a bit more complicated than that.
Rec: This is a short, hot, and fun figure skating AU (truly one of my weaknesses). It really highlights the differences between Kate and America’s personalities and styles as seen in the comics and works them seamlessly into the AU. It builds a whole world in not a lot of text and it’s honestly great.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this year’s Femslash February! We genuinely couldn’t get such a variety of fandoms in there without all of our guest contributors. And I’m pleased to report that my sneaky plan to get more f/f fic than we can run in a single month succeeded—there will be plenty more in the coming months. — 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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