The Rec Center #168
Hi folks! This week we’ve got coverage of the ~great Star Wars merchandise heist~, some Geocities fandom nostalgia, along with multifandom recs on a political theme, Always Sunny fanart, and more. — Gav
new stuff
“The Great Star Wars Heist” by Alexander Huls at Popular Mechanics
“In 2017, an uncovered toy theft ruptured the Star Wars collecting community. Two years later, the collectors—and the convicted—are still looking for a way forward.”
“GeoCities Oral History #3: Jennifer Pursley” by Olia
An oral history of the late-90s feud between Titanic and Star Wars fandom, interviewing a woman who (as a teenager) created an anti-Titanic webring.
“Scientists Like Me Are Studying Your Tweets—Are You OK With That?” by Casey Fiesler at How We Get To Next
Fansplaining listeners may remember information science professor Casey Fiesler discussing ethical considerations for studying fandom on an episode a few months back. She’s expanded it in this piece about researching digital communities on a whole, especially groups posting on public platforms whose content is intended to stay within their communities.
older stuff
“The Abridged History of Disney, 2015-2040 AD” by Chris Plante at The Verge
Presented in honor of the finalization of the Disney-Fox handover this week, it’s...too real. But hey, they don’t get Fox until 2025 in this timeline.
tumblr & beyond
Gleb Melnikov drew a fantastically creepy poster for the It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia musical, The Nightman Cometh.
Good Place fans! Submissions for this charity Good Place zine close at the end of the month.
“the doctor who writers were super lucky they picked britney spears toxic for the ‘traditional earth ballad’ joke because the song was only 2 years old then”
This person from the medical side of Tumblr thinks they may have diagnosed the cause of... all of Steve Rogers’ ailments in the first Captain America movie??
V much in favor of this interpretation of Lois & Clark’s relationship in contemporary Superman stories.
fanfiction
Wherever you live, real-world politics right now are pretty much a horrorshow from which we cannot escape, but politics in fanfic, on the other hand...! I put out a request for more lady-centered fic and got a whole bunch of great-looking stuff at the last minute, so fictional politics fans, enjoy your double-length list. :-) Thank you, as always, to our guest reccers. — Elizabeth
“Election” by Dee12. 11K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Twilight; Ship: Bella/Rosalie
Recced by: ArcadianMaggie
Backstory: Author Summary: Attrition Warfare: a strategic concept which states that to win a war, one's enemy must be gradually worn down to the point of collapse. The race for Senior Class President brings Bella and Rosalie’s own war to a head.
Rec: Bella Swan channels Tracy Flick. This high school AH/AU (all human) is witty, sharp and absolutely hilarious.
Content warnings: N/A
“War Criminals” by FabulaRasa. 42K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: West Wing; Ship: Leo McGarry/Lord John Marbury
Recced by: gurrier
Backstory: Rarest of rare pairs. “Turns out, Marbury always did know his name.”
Rec: Two clever, guarded, men; it’s about the defences they’ve erected around themselves, and how eventually they let one another in. (Also domestic and foreign political intricacies.)
Content warnings: Violence, homophobia, alcoholism
“The Most Dangerous Game” by JocelynTorrent. 161K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Dragon Age; Ship: Briala/Celine I
Recced by: anon
Backstory: The Empress of Orlais, Celine I, and her erstwhile elven chambermaid/spy Briala (The Empress with an Elf? Quel scandale!) had a torrid and illicit affair until Briala decided to raze an Elven community to score political points. Fate and the Inquisition have conspired to bring them back together. Can they reconcile?
Rec: Orlais is pretty much Louis XIV France, and the intrigue and scandal portrayed in this fic are off the charts. Both Briala and Celine are strong political figures and strong personalities, and the hurt and betrayal and power imbalance are keenly felt.
Content warnings: N/A
“Scooby Doo, Where Are You?” by yorickjones. 22K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Scooby Doo; Ships: Daphne/Fred and Daphne/Velma
Recced by: Nellied
Backstory: A considerably darker take than canon on the Scooby Doo gang, as Velma writes her memoirs, reminiscing on her (increasingly rebellious) college days. Covers several years, all with a backdrop of 60s counterculture, the Vietnam War and 20th-century politics, as well as the Scooby crew getting high and painting the Mystery Machine.
Rec: One of the best stories I've ever read, full-stop. Wonderfully witty and sarcastic, a fascinating snapshot of an era, and it made me cry a lot.
Content warning: Drug addiction
“Known Associates” by thingswithwings. 295K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Captain America; Ships: Steve/Bucky, Steve/Peggy, Steve/Rhodey, Steve/Sam Wilson, Steve/OCs, Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov (background), Tony/Pepper/Rhodey (background)
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: This fic covers everything from Steve Rogers’ 1930s youth to his present-day life with the Avengers.
Rec: One of MCU fandom’s true epics. Thingswithwings builds on the popular depiction of Steve Rogers as a politically active and queer (and in this case genderqueer) hero, incorporating an impressive amount of historical research. The story is plausible within the confines of Marvel canon, but still goes pretty far from the commonly-held assumptions about these characters. To begin with, Steve and Bucky are fully embedded in the queer scene of 1940s New York, and Steve’s gender identity and sexuality are a central theme throughout. The author put a lot of thought into how Steve would conceive his own identity (and others) as a queer individual in the ’40s, and how he would have to change when confronted with modern social mores. It’s unusual for a popular fic to list this many overlapping romantic pairings instead of clearly highlighting one “endgame” pairing, but even if you’re concerned about that, I urge you to give this fic a try anyway.
Content warnings: No listed warnings, although the fic is helpfully tagged with any potentially triggering topics including homophobic slurs, body dysmorphia, and police brutality
“Heart, Temper, Touch” by snowdarkred. 5K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The West Wing; Ships: rule 63!Sam Seaborn/Ainsley Hayes, unrequited Josh Lyman/rule 63!Sam Seaborn
Recced by: Kay
Backstory: The quintessential political show of our time, but with a twist: rule 63 lesbian Sam Seaborn. “Samantha Norma Seaborn is outed during Jed Bartlet's first campaign.”
Rec: Really gorgeous character piece for a canon that needed more queer and female characters.
Content warnings: Attempted assassination as hate crime, homophobia
“effeuiller la marguerite” by arriviste. 22K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Les Misérables; Ship: Enjolras/Grantaire
Recced by: Ingwer
Backstory: Enjolras and Grantaire are a highly tension-filled pairing with a radical left political background. The importance of friendship is the one thing they fully agree on, everything else is up for debate.
Rec: I enjoy Enjolras and Grantaire as characters and the political/social themes of the Les Mis Fandom very much, if I can get Enjolras and Grantaire as women politically and sexually, even better. Also, the story is beautifully written.
Content warnings: homophobic hate and bodily harm
“Soldier, Weapon, Stranger, Monster” by TobermorianSass. 1.3K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: MCU: Ship: Gen
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Explaining the political consequences of Civil War through one of the less explored characters, Wanda Maximoff, especially the xenophobia she faces.
Rec: This is really good because it challenges how the Civil War treats her and raises interesting political questions without exploring them.
Content warning: PTSD
“Let's get caught downtown in the whirlwind” by lesbianbean. 19K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Transformers Generation One; Ship: Megatron/Starscream
Recced by: perictione
Backstory: In canon, Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons and Starscream is the traitorous second-in-command who wants to be leader of the Decepticons. This fic is a Rule 63, all politics all the time human!AU: “Megatron wants to be majority whip. Starscream's ambition is barely overriding her desire to be anywhere but Texas. Soundwave really wants both of them to just shut the fuck up. The story of a campaign from hell.”
Rec: It’s a fast-paced, character-driven political drama featuring “morally grey women who reluctantly fall in love with each other” and I love it. Also, because of the gender disparity of the giant alien robots canon, almost every character is a woman, which means almost every politician is a woman, and the story offers no explanation for that, just treats it as normal, and it honestly soothes my soul.
Content warnings: N/A
“Little Red Courgette” by blamebrampton. 31K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Harry Potter; Ship: Harry/Draco
Recced by: Elizabeth
Backstory: Harry is, unsurprisingly, the head of the Aurors, but in this fic, Draco works in the Office for the Volumetric Standardisation of Edible Wizarding Greengrocery Produce. Yes, vegetable size regulations: a subject that truly shines as both a parody of (former?!) British/EU relations and a way to make endless euphemistic innuendos.
Rec: I actually suggested doing a politics list because I was thinking about Brexit (wild, I know) and then started thinking about this fic, which is an absolute joy from start to finish. I am aware that reading an exquisite send-up of Britain-in-the-EU post-2016 might bring some people down, so full warning! Alternately, it might make you nostalgic for Britain’s grudging participation on the EU prior to Brexit. The finest depiction of bureaucracy I’ve ever seen in a fanfic, ever, plus immensely satisfying Harry/Draco interactions.
“You were not amusing at school, I am certain of this.”
“I was, you were too busy plotting my downfall to notice.”
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
A/B/O fans, rest easy, we got MULTIPLE volunteers to do explainers and rec lists after we mentioned it last week. So it’s worth mentioning—if there’s a trope you’d love and would like to put together a list of recs and explainer for (I’m thinking ship manifestos, for tropes, but also, more ship manifestos please) then please get in touch! Hit reply, or write elizabethandgav at gmail dot com. — 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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