The Rec Center #179
Hello everyone! I’m about to head out to see Dark Phoenix, and yes, I am already filled with vague jumbled feelings of regret and sadness, fandom is great that way!! This week’s newsletter is, unsurprisingly, pretty X-Men-y, plus Gav’s put together a great-looking list of multi-fandom Regency AUs. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“For K-Pop Fans, Devotion Can Come at a High Price” by Biju Belinky at Vice
“As the huge queues at BTS’ London pop-up showed this week, merch matters. But keeping up appearances as a fan has its price.” On K-pop stan culture and consumer fandom.
Gav’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix review at the Daily Dot
We know there are a lot of X-Men fans reading this newsletter, so if you’re ambivalent about the new movie, here’s Gav’s take. Basically, Dark Phoenix really is as bad as the critical consensus suggests, but from the POV of the Magneto/Xavier arc that dominated much of the franchise, it’s actually quite emotionally satisfying.
older stuff
“The X-Men Made Me Gay” by John Leavitt at The Nib
A webcomic about, well, what it says in the headline.
tumblr & beyond
Petition to make all superhero film marketing as gorgeous as this official Chinese Dark Phoenix poster.
“this is literally what i look like when i’m reading one of those 20k word fics with the really long lowercase titles that are formatted (like this)”
Oh sweet, we’re in the universe where Spider-Man is French.
Today in “fanvids the creator probably wouldn’t classify as fanvids,” here’s the trailer from First Reformed recut to include Godzilla.
“The emotional labor of explaining transformers porn”
fanfiction
Regency AUs are a perennial favorite, so I decided to share some of my faves. This multifandom list runs the gamut from tropey romance to a direct Pride and Prejudice pastiche, all set in some version of the Regency era. — Gav
“Bargains” by Gwen77. 18K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Game of Thrones; Ship: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Backstory: In GoT canon, Jaime Lannister is a handsome aristocrat with a terrible family (including a sister he’s embroiled in an incestuous relationship with), while Brienne is an honorable and badass warrior who doesn’t conform to gender norms.
Rec: Forced into an arranged marriage, Jaime and Brienne are a very unlikely couple. Yet the more time Jaime spends with Brienne, the more he admires her honor and heart, and begins to shift away from the toxic relationships of his family. A satisfyingly romantic twist on their relationship, combining their canon dynamic with a familiar Regency tone.
Content warnings: Incest (Jaime and Cersei)
“To Know His Heart” by hapakitsune. 26K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Hockey RPF; Ship: Jamie Benn/Tyler Seguin
Backstory: This bears so little resemblance to any IRL people that you really don’t need any background info.
Rec: Disgraced gentleman Tyler Seguin enters into a marriage with the more staid Jamie Benn, to save his reputation. Thus begins a wonderfully anguished love story full of ~pining and misunderstandings.
Content warnings: N/A
“Most Ardently” by magisterpavus. 31K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Voltron; Ship: Keith/Shiro
Backstory: Keith and Shiro are best friends (and space-traveling heroes) in canon, so this is another fic you can probably follow without knowing the source material.
Rec: Unlike the many Regency AUs that take place in a world where same-sex marriage is the norm, this one uses a more real-world setting where both characters are by necessity in the closet. Shiro is a country gentleman while Keith is a visiting American rancher, and although Shiro is smitten at first sight, circumstances conspire to interfere with their relationship.
Content warnings: N/A
“A Marital Education” by Yahtzee. 13K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Pride and Prejudice; Ship: Lizzie Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy
Backstory: Spoiler alert: Lizzie and Darcy get married at the end of Pride and Prejudice. ;)
Rec: A funny and heartfelt fic about Lizzie helping Darcy to navigate his erectile dysfunction. Yes, really. It’s very good, written in a much closer style to Jane Austen than most Regency AUs, which generally have a more modern tone.
Content warnings: N/A
“Heartsease” by Spatz. 12K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Person of Interest; Ship: Harold Finch/John Reese
Backstory: In canon, Finch and Reese are a pair of vigilantes, with Finch as the brains and Reese as the hyper-competent brawn. This fic reimagines them (and the show’s supporting cast) as a clever twist on Regency stock characters, meeting for the first time when Finch, a mysterious stranger, visits Reese’s town in the English countryside.
Rec: Spatz does a fantastic job of blending canon characterization with the setting, borrowing the idea that the two characters meet when Reese is at a low point in his life. In this case, he’s recovering from the death of his wife, and tentatively befriends Finch while Finch (seemingly) courts his friend Jocelyn. A great fic for fans of quietly suppressed suffering, with a central romance between two men who feel realistically middle-aged instead of being more typical young romantic leads.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
Thanks to the new Good Omens show, there’s been an influx of brilliant new Good Omens fic to add to the writing that’s already been around for years. If anyone would like to contribute a Good Omens rec list, please hit us up! — Gav
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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