The Rec Center #186
Hello all! Greetings from the depths of the post-SDCC plague. This week we’ve got multi-fandom OT3 (or more!) fic, plus articles on corporate media, ~queer icon Peppa Pig~, and more. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Meet the Marvel Fans That Helped ‘Endgame’ #BeatAvatar” by Ben Lindbergh at The Ringer
Elizabeth is quoted at length here on the exciting $$$ race between the Disney-owned Avatar franchise and the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Peppa Pig is a queer icon” by Joseph Longo at Mel Magazine
“To put it mildly, Peppa is aspirational in every sense. She doesn’t just have a hit TV show and a BAFTA Award, she now has the album of the year, too.” Inside Peppa Pig gay stan culture.
“YouTube Made Them Famous. Now, They’re Done With It. What Happened?” by Kathryn Lindsay at Refinery29
On VidCon—and the YouTubers who were stars when the convention was established—nearly a decade on.
older stuff
“Affective Hoarding” by Miranda Larsen at On/Off Screen
Revisiting an interesting post on “affective hoarding,” when a person’s fandom is about getting—and denying other people—access to things like exclusive spaces or limited edition objects.
tumblr & beyond
Is Queen Elizabeth cancelled????
Absolutely delighted by these Into the Spider-Verse headcanons.
This is what a hobbit would mug you with.
Prepare yourself for a stunning new fanfic trope.
fanfiction
The return of the ever-popular OT3(+) list! If you love poly fic, be sure to check out previous lists from the past year. Thanks, as always, to our guest reccers. — Elizabeth
“King by the Roadside” by nimmieamee. 164K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Raven Cycle; Ships: Adam/Blue/Gansey, eventually Adam/Blue/Gansey/Noah/Ronan
Recced by: Moony
Backstory: The Raven Cycle is a fantasy YA book series where a group of teens look for the sleeping king Glendower. The fic is an AU where one of the mains, Gansey, didn’t experience the major trauma that sent him on the quest , and explores what it might have taken for the group to get together and the story to unfold that way.
Rec: Ths fic nails both atmosphere and characterization. If you like mentally ill teen best friends discovering polyamory while threatened by ancient forces of evil, this story is such a good “what if” that it can be read with close to no knowledge of the source material.
Content warnings: Death of relatives, some violence
“Odd One Out” by thingswithwings. 28K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Leverage; Ship: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Recced by: Jenny @ Reading the End
Backstory: Leverage is a show where a team of criminals does super-slick crimes to people who deserve it. Hardison, Parker, and Spencer are the best 60% of the team.
Rec: Very typically for this author, “Odd One Out” does a wonderful job of negotiating this OT3 relationship and how each member of it goes about discovering what they and the others want. It’s also pitch-perfect on dialogue and characterization and feels very true to the fun and weirdness of the show.
Content warnings: N/A
“When The Reckoning Arrives” by AetherAria. 23K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Second Citadel (The Penumbra Podcast); Ship: Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla
Recced by: anon
Backstory: A small human kingdom faces off against a powerful society of monsters. But a human knight and an herbalist, engaged to each other, both catch feelings for an enigmatic monster—without the other knowing.
Rec: Really has the goofy/dramatic tone of the podcast down, with great characterization. If you’re good with an OT3 pairing where one of the love interests is a magical lizard monster, this fic is for you!
Content warnings: N/A
“Let’s Give Ourselves Promises of Our Unending” by aimmyarrowshigh and nichestars. 105K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Star Wars, Rogue One; Ship: Cassian Andor/Shara Bey/Kes Dameron
Recced by: KJ
Backstory: Cassian lives AU after the Rogue One mission to get the Death Star plans. This is his slowly-built and steamy (for Hoth, anyway) relationship with Shara Bey and Kes Dameron, fellow Rebellion fighters and the parents of everyone’s favorite hotshot pilot Poe.
Rec: I liked how incredibly #married Shara and Kes are, and how you see the opening up of the very guarded Cassian Andor as they all respectfully tiptoe together. Also, examines the concept of Space Latinx Identity further.
Content warnings: Bog Standard Star Wars Violence, a smut scene that involves menstruation if that puts you off
“everything you want (you can have)” by melonbutterfly. 12K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis; Ship: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay/Jennifer Keller
Recced by: Kay
Backstory: While the fandom was overwhelmingly full of John/Rodney fics, there is a small, but lovely subset of poly fics featuring canon pairing Rodney/Jennifer with John in some kind of romantic and/or sexual relationship.
Rec: This fic is a really compelling examination of asexual romantic and platonic relationships, as well as polyamory negotiations between partners of varying sexualities. It’s also just a really lovely character study of three people we didn’t get to see interact as a unit much on the show.
Content warnings: Internalized homophobia and acephobia, references to past abusive relationships (both familial and sexual)
“And Beyond” by AlchemyAlice. 32K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Avengers/MCU; Ship: Tony Stark/Steve Rogers/Pepper Potts
Recced by: alasse
Backstory: Everyone knows—I think—Avengers and MCU, and throughout the Infinity Saga there’s been an interesting ebb and flow in the way people write Steve and Tony together, as well as Pepper in relation to them. This story takes place after Endgame, but changes a few things, so we get to see all characters with the breadth of the entire saga behind them.
Rec: I love fix-its and mid-story AUs, and this is that in addition to so much more. A gorgeous exploration of Steve, and Tony, and Pepper (and Rhodey, and Morgan) that quietly but beautifully fixes some of the things that were unsaid, some of the things that were broken, and creates a completely believable and earned OT3 by the end of it, together with some really cool world-building.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
That’s all, folks! Have a great weekend and stay hydrated out there! — 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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