The Rec Center #19
Hello! Greetings to our new subscribers! So. GOOD NEWS: if you are really into Captain America and want a ton of meta, fanfic, fanart, and other commentary, Gav has put together a massive list for you in the outro. OTHER GOOD NEWS: if you are really *not* into Captain America, you have a newsletter utterly devoid of it until the outro, where you can stop reading. :-)
This week’s guest reccer is Aimee, who brings us shorter Supernatural fic that might not make it onto a comprehensive rec list. And just a note to anyone who has written about guest reccing and is waiting on a response: I am a garbage fire and promise to catch up on email soon. As always, thank you to everyone who has written or volunteered to write guest rec lists. And if you’d like to write one—or if you’ve done one and want to do another—we are always up for more! — Elizabeth
new stuff
“White Men Don’t Own Nerd Culture, And I’m Not Stealing It” by Latonya Pennington at The Establishment
“As a queer black woman who has been, yes, a nerd since childhood, I can tell you: I’m not appropriating anything. This culture belongs to me as much as it belongs to any man.”
“‘I’m done taking pictures’: Justin Bieber, fandom and mental health” by Anna Leszkiewicz at the New Statesman
An exploration of the boundaries between celebrities and their fans—and who’s owed what in those transactions.
“The Blue-Velvet Vapelord: On Perfume Genius’s Twitter” by John Sherman at The New York Times
Gav’s been a longtime fan of Perfume Genius’s Twitter presence (and, you know, his music), so she greatly appreciated this write-up in the NYT.
old(er) stuff
“We Are Closing The Toast July 1st” by Mallory Ortberg and Nicole Cliffe at The Toast
OK, this one’s not old at all—in fact, it was just published this morning—but in case you don’t have Twitter or are living under a rock, The Toast is shuttering in just two months. This isn’t a proper eulogy, but a suggestion to go back and look through the archives of one of the more reliably fannish spaces in the mainstream media right now. From articles and comment threads populated by fangirls to the regular fanfic that Mallory pens (most recently, THIS), the site has been a joyful corner of the internet for the past few years.
tumblr and beyond
“Bad Publicity” and “#weedhorse69” by Unpretty. Short multimedia fic, gen, DC Comics/movies.
THESE. MULTIMEDIA FICS. ARE HILARIOUS. You don’t need to follow DC fandom to enjoy them. #weedhorse69 is about a Superman fanartist who finds out that Superman has stolen his costume redesigns from Deviantart. Bad Publicity is about Bruce Wayne’s weird Twitter account.
This juxtaposition of a Harry Styles selfie and 17th-century religious art is genius.
A DEVASTATING Family Guy/Simpsons webcomic.
fanfiction
Aimee is an artist and co-editor of the Captain America fanzine BROOKLYN and the Hannibal fanbook RAW.
It is no secret that there are approximately 2 billion Supernatural fanfics in the world, as is only natural considering it has been running for 11 years. I've read... a startling amount of them. Everyone has their favorites based on when they started and what they're into, but I feel like many rec-lists go through and try and hit the high points—the longest, the most popular, etc. I figured I'd try a different tactic! I've listed mostly shorter (mostly under 10K) stories which might otherwise slip through the cracks on a more comprehensive rec-list, but which I've come back to over the years as being really enjoyable or memorable or of-the-moment. — Aimee
“Like Unto Him” by lifting_latches. 10K words, rated NC-17.
Dean/Castiel/Sam
If I could have gone back in time and ended the series at Season 5, I would have ended it like this.
“Except Thou Bless Me” by architeuthis. 10.5K, rated NC-17.
Dean/Castiel
Warnings: dubious consent, specifically: BDSM (basically) that’s not previously negotiated between parties.
Written back when Castiel was a lot more unknowable and angelic, this classic piece of writing is about Dean feeling adrift without the violence of Hell and so goading Castiel into beating him up, but then it gets sexy.
“Restore From Saved Draft” by twoskeletons. 4.5K, rated PG.
S5 gen
Some Becky & Chuck & Dean+Cas+Sam gen-fic, from before they made her really creepy for pretty much zero reason. Includes some of the of-the-moment breaking the fourth wall stuff from that season. Features Castiel writing a fanfiction, which is unexpectedly devastating.
“Find Me, Find Me” by uselessplayback. 5.5K, rated NC-17.
Dean/Castiel
Quiet, very atmospheric piece about Dean halfway accidentally taking a week off from the apocalypse, and getting kissed unexpectedly. Several times. Then more.
“Set Yourself on Fire” by trinityofone. 2.5K, rated NC-17.
Dean/Castiel
An excellent Endverse!Castiel piece. Castiel-from-the-future visits Dean in his dreams, and it makes Dean think about Castiel-in-the-present differently.
“Vocation” by orange_crushed. 5K, rated PG-13.
S10 gen, Dean/Castiel
A bit of a character piece about Hannah, featuring a series of phone calls between Hannah and Dean, mostly about Castiel, but also sometimes about Star Wars.
“Binding” by astolat. 7K, rated NC-17.
Sam/Dean
Warning: dubious consent, specifically: magical influence
Set mid-Season 2, Bobby gives Sam and Dean some amulets which will supposedly protect them from demon possession. They do, but there are some serious side-effects.
“Like Glass” by entanglednow. 14.5K, rated R.
Sam/Gabriel
Warnings: dubious consent, specifically: magical binding that one party doesn’t really get a say in; some gore & body horror.
Something goes wrong with Sam, Dean calls Gabriel. Gabriel fixes it, but it comes with a catch. I am very fond of Sam/Gabriel, though now it’s such a dated pairing that I have to double-check that people even remember who Gabriel is, but I wanted to put at least one on here. (If you enjoy it, check out the other Sam/Gabe fics by this author!)
FINAL THOUGHT: GAV’S CA:CW BONANZA
I have like a zillion Civil War recs here, so I’m compressing them into as short a space as possible.
“Lines That Were Conspicuously Missing in Civil War” by delightfulexcess
(“Wait, what’s this about no lawyers and a fucking ‘raft prison?’ I’m not signing this bullshit.”)
Fanart by bonsoirbirb: What DID happen when #TeamCap “suited up” in that car park before the big Berlin airport showdown?
Some excellent thoughts from septembriseur about Bucky and T’Challa’s potential relationship in fic after Civil War. (I would LOVE to see more of this!!)
Fanart by maximagination: Black Panther and his bodyguards, the dora milaje.
Podcast: Two Captain America fangirls argue about Civil War. (This is from my podcast, Overinvested, wherein I enjoyed CACW but my co-host Morgan HATED IT and had many criticisms. A true Civil War!!)
The ultimate Bucky Barnes CACW gifset by mishasminions.
A beginner’s guide to Black Panther, including comics/meta/interviews/etc. I put this together because I’m super keen for more people to join Black Panther fandom!
FIC: “wear your momentum” by sandyk. 1,610 words, rated Mature, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark.
FIC: “Peacable Skills” by Dira Sudis. 1,682 words, rated G, Bucky Barnes gen.
FIC: “Readjust” by fuckener. 2263 words, rated Teen, James “Rhodey” Rhodes/Tony Stark.
FIC: Untitled tumblr ficlet by queerly-it-is. Steve and T’Challa with Bucky in the background, post-movie.
4-page Steve/Bucky webcomic by @theyoungdoyler.
This extremely badass Black Panther movie poster by sahinduzgunart.
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