The Rec Center #175
Hi folks! This week we have an EXTENSIVE rec list of female-centric Game of Thrones fanfic from guest reccer Kavita, along with an article about a popular ~nerd cruise, some historical fanart, a truly delightful interview with actor Bill Nighy, and more. — Gav
new stuff
“What Happens When You Put 2,000 Nerds on a Boat?” by John Schwartz at The New York Times
“I’m guaranteed that no matter what room I walk into, I will find people who are passionate, people who are knowledgeable, people who are excited to be doing whatever they are doing.”
“Game of Thrones Fans on Duolingo Are Geeking Out in High Valyrian” by Quinn Myers at MEL
On a partnership between conlanger David Peterson (“Hollywood’s premier language creator”) and language-learning app Duolingo—and the thousands of fans formally learning High Valyrian this past month.
“On Letting People Enjoy Things” by Esther Rosenfield on Medium
Some interesting thoughts on a viral comic strip you’ve almost certainly seen on social media, and how it ties into the culture around corporate media like Marvel and Game of Thrones. We see the comic posted everywhere. “Let people enjoy things.” What it really means is “You’re not allowed to not enjoy things.”
older stuff
“The Sobering Reality of Actual Black Nerd Problems” by William Evans at Black Nerd Problems
“How the fuck is it that my Friday night Comic-Con experience is hijacked by me doing the math on if I could get to my car with a giant, cartoonish sword strapped across my back?”
tumblr & beyond
Napoleon/Duke of Wellington fanart (YES YOU HEARD US RIGHT) by Stubblebrilliant
Ubiquitous post of the week: Marvel movies ranked by if there are trains in them.
TREASURING this interview with Bill Nighy about his newfound passion for Pokemon.
Dark Souls fandom, how u doin?
“there’s no better feeling than getting fucked up by an author over and over as you make your way through their ao3 fic list.”
Group projects, LotR-style.
fanfiction
Kavita has been writing fanfiction since primary school and has an obsession with tragic prequels. She credits fanfic with helping her get through graduate school and survive academic precarity. She can be found on AO3, Tumblr, and Twitter.
All men must die (but we are not men): A Reclist of Ice and Fire
In honour of the final season of Game of Thrones where we (presumably) find out how the story ends at least in broad strokes, it seemed worth putting together a reclist that highlighted the amazing characters in the universe who are not men. This felt especially important in light of the most recent episode (8.04) which proved to me once and for all that the showrunners and writers don’t care about female characters (especially not women of colour) except as plot points for men.
I consider myself a devotee of the women of Westeros and Essos (to the point of having been on a panel of that title at the ill-fated Dashcon in 2014, which several people have pointed to as proof that the event wasn’t wholly a disaster, so thanks for that). I’ve also written academic essays and meta about female characters in ASOIAF/GoT, a number of woman-centric fics, including a series with a primary F/F pairing and an all-female-POV prequel about Robert’s Rebellion.
Which is to say that the majority of ASOIAF/GoT stories I read are about women, and they tend to skew toward women who are either dismissed or forgotten by canon (especially show canon, *coughEliaMartellcough*). In the corners of fandom that I frequent, this is known as the Dead Ladies Club, although not all the fics below focus on these characters. And while I’m only reccing one story from each of these excellent writers, they have all written more in the fandom and I recommend you check out more of their work.
ETA (post 8.04): I have added a rec for a fic centred on Missandei (you deserved so much better). It’s book-fandom but it is a backstory fic, so it still applies. — Kavita
“A Lion Among Ladies” by Netgirl_y2k. 1.2K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones; Ships: Jaime Lannister/Cersei Lannister
Backstory: Cersei Lannister and her children.
Rec: A short but incredibly dense look at Cersei’s relationships with her three children. Really, I’d just recommend everything netgirl_y2k has written in this fandom. She is brilliant.
Content warnings: Childbirth, references to domestic abuse, animal harm (offstage)
“Whore” by redcandle17. 1.5K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire; Ship: Gen
Backstory: A character study of a minor character who was cut from the show, but who, in the books, must have seen and heard a great deal.
Rec: There are only a small handful of named characters of color in A Song of Ice and Fire and the show cut most of them. Every word counts in this short story from the point of view of one of the sex workers in King’s Landing named Alayaya. Her mother owns a brothel frequented by most of the men at court and she sees—and hears—everything.
Content warnings: Misogyny, racism
“The Nymeria Series” by crossingwinter. 47K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire; Ships: Nymeria of Ny Sar/OFC, Nymeria/Mors Martell, Nymeria/Davos Dayne
Backstory: From the history of Westeros, the founding of Dorne by Princess Nymeria. If the name is familiar, it’s because Arya Stark named her direwolf after this character.
Rec: If I had to describe this series in one word, it would be epic. Crossingwinter has created a larger-than-life history of Nymeria based on a few chapters in The World of Ice and Fire, and it is truly amazing to read.
Content warnings: Underage sex, non-explicit violence
“The Kindness of Strangers” by averita. 2.6K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire; Ships: Lysa Tully/Tyrion Lannister, Lysa Tully/Stannis Baratheon, Lysa Tully/Benjen Stark, Lysa Tully/Rhaegar Targaryen, Lysa Tully/Lyanna Stark, Lysa Tully/Marq Piper, Lysa Tully/Petyr Baelish
Backstory: Five marriages that might have made Lysa Tully happy, and one life where she didn’t marry at all.
Rec: There are so few stories about Lysa, probably because she comes off so poorly in canon, but her story is truly heartbreaking and this fic offers several alternatives where things might have turned out well for her.
Content warnings: Miraculously, none
“Malevolent and without form” by SecondStarOnTheLeft. 2K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire; Ships: Gen
Backstory: AU where Elia Martell and her children survive the sack of King’s Landing.
Rec: This story has had mixed reviews, which shocks me since I absolutely love it. Elia Martell here is brilliantly ruthless, and I only wish there were more in this universe, but the fic as it stands is fantastic. Really, everything by SecondStarOnTheLeft is amazing and you should just read all her fics.
Content warnings: Major character death (offstage)
“blame me, I will wear it” by lilith_morgana. 1.8K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones; Ships: Gen
Backstory: The history of Shae.
Rec: Shae is one of those characters who has been done all kinds of disservice by both book and show canon (although I love Sibell Kekilli’s performance). This fic offers a look into her history and her perspective on sex work in Westeros, court, and Lannisters.
Content warnings: Sexual assault, major character death
“Sunshadow” by Gehayi. 18K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire; Ships: Gen
Backstory: A history of Melisandre of Asshai.
Rec: It’s not quite canon-compliant anymore, but this remains my favourite history of Melisandre of Asshai, and I wanted to rec it in honour of her unexpected appearance in “The Long Night.” Gehayi offers so much detail of Melisandre’s journey from wildling child in the depths of the Long Night (the original one) to slave to priestess of R’hllor in the terrifying arcane city of Asshai-by-the-Shadow. Gehayi’s great strength as a writer is worldbuilding, and all of her ASOIAF stories are amazingly detailed and immersive.
Content warnings: Major character death, violence, slavery
“Her Greatest Trial” by The_Plaid_Slytherin. 1.1K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones; Ships: Gen
Backstory: A short, pre-series fic set in Winterfell.
Rec: There is so much characterization packed into this tiny fic about Arya and Sansa Stark. Both of them come through so strongly here—Arya’s wildness and Sansa’s love of stories—as does their father, and it just makes you ache as a reader for what might have been.
Content warnings: N/A
“There is nothing lost (but may be found, if sought)” by branwyn. 69K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Game of Thrones; Ships: Oberyn Martell/Sansa Stark, Ellaria Sand/Sansa Stark, Oberyn Martell/Sansa Stark/Ellaria Sand.
Backstory: AU where Sansa escapes to Dorne.
Rec: I am normally not the biggest Sansa shipper, but this story gripped me from the start and I couldn’t stop reading. branwyn has a wonderful narrative voice that shifts beautifully from character to character, and the descriptions are just incredible.
Content warnings: Violence, underage sexual content if going by book!canon, not by show
“Strange Language” by Brigdh. 3K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire; Ships: Gen
Backstory: A history for Missandei of Nath.
Rec: In the wreckage of Episode 8.04 of Game of Thrones, I needed to add a story about Missandei. There are few of them that aren’t shippy stories about her and Grey Worm (and, to be clear, I have nothing against those! I ship them too!), and I wanted one that was just about her. This one, told through the lens of the many languages she learns, tells her story.
Content warnings: Violence (non-explicit), slavery, racism
FINAL THOUGHT
Have a great weekend, everyone! — 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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