The Rec Center #194
Hello all! This week we have our usual mix of articles & tumblr posts and some beautiful Black Sails fanart (hope you celebrated “Talk Like A Pirate Day” this week by saying classic pirate things like, “In the dark, there is discovery, there is possibility, there is freedom in the dark once someone has illuminated it.”). We also have an explainer and rec list on Boku No Hero Academia from guest reccer Raizel! — Elizabeth
new stuff
“From Succession to The Bold Type: how recap culture made us love television more” by Wendy Syfret at the Guardian
A look at recap culture, today and over the past few decades, and how it fuels TV fandom.
“The ensuring legacy of Amok Time” by Lauren Coates at Star Trek.com
The official Star Trek website (!) published a history of how the "fuck or die" fanfic trope originated with the original Star Trek series.
older stuff
“ConCrit in Comments Only: What Writing Fanfiction Taught Me as an Editor” by Diana Pho at Tor
“These formative experiences helped me hone my editorial eye as much as my years as a reader and my formal education elsewhere.”
tumblr & beyond
Black Sails fanart by Candra Hope
Kpop stans vs anime stans.
Loki... no.
“Cowboy Bebop is just your extended family from Winston Salem.”
Twilight fandom has aged like a fine wine.
Want to make a student film based on a work by Stephen King? He’s offering the film rights to these titles for $1 each.
fanfiction + explainer: boku no hero academia
Raizel is a long time fan of so many fandoms and of fandom itself who lately has been writing meta about audio drama podcasts, editing Fanlore, and being angry about The Magicians season 4 finale.
Have you ever wondered what the X-Men universe might look like in reverse? Neither had I until I read My Hero Academia, an animanga series which takes us decades past the introduction of superpowers into a world where superpowers (called Quirks) are the norm and being a superhero is a government-backed and celebrity-status profession.
Protagonist Izuku Midoriya, hero alias Deku, was one of the rare kids born without superpowers. Quirkless, bullied by a former close friend, and constantly discouraged from his dream of being a Hero, Midoriya is about to apply for high schools when he has a run-in with the number one Hero of Japan and his personal favourite: All Might. All Might’s revelations to Midoriya about the nature of his Quirk allow Midoriya to attend the top Hero high school in the country, where Midoriya must contend with the stiff competition from other Hero hopefuls, his childhood best friend turned childhood bully Bakugou Katsuki, and the sinister workings of various Villains, particularly the ominous and rising League of Villains.
BNHA Jump Cover featuring Midoriya and All Might
MHA or BNHA (Boku no Hero Academia) is a star of the shounen (boys’, action-focused) manga/anime genre. With a ginormous cast of characters—the first two arcs alone introduce the twenty kids of class 1-A, three of their teachers, and one adorable mom—that increases with every arc, there is an untold realm of possibility for fic.
The most popular type of fic is longread AUs which give Midoriya any number of Quirks from birth, keep him Quirkless, portray him as a Villain or Vigilante, or any combination of those three. The fandom’s second obsession is Bakugou, and along with Bakugou/Midoriya, fans love shipping him with the world’s sweetest dudebro, Kirishima. On the other hand, the most popular ship in the fandom is actually Tododeku, pairing Midoriya with Todoroki Shouto, his once school rival whom Midoriya saved from the shadow of Todoroki’s pro-Hero dad. A lot of fic about the two them mentions the child abuse/neglect that the Todoroki children suffered, so here’s a permanent cautionary warning for reading those. — Raizel
BNHA Color Page of the Second Popularity Poll
Recs:
“Yesterday Upon the Stair” by PitViperofDoom. 417K words (WIP), rated Teen.
Ship: Queerplatonic Todoroki Shouto/Midoriya Izuku
Rec: Truly, That One Fic for BNHA. While the premise—what if Deku’s Quirk was seeing ghosts but it was so unbelievable that he was still outcasted as Quirkless?—is, perhaps, not the AU one would have expected to reign supreme in the fandom, Viper’s outstanding plotting and character work elevate YUTS to fandom classic. I think the fic’s strength lies in Viper’s version of Midoriya: permanently scared by all he has seen, traumatized by Bakugou’s early violence towards him, but only braver and kinder for it—with the added benefit of a sassier mouth than canon Midoriya.
Content Warnings: Violence, child abuse
“but you gotta get up at least once more” by simkjrs. 104K words (WIP), rated Teen.
Ship: Gen
Rec: Simkjrs riffs off of One Punch Man’s premise of overwhelming super-strength through simple exercise routine to create a version of Midoriya who stays outside of the professional Hero system, becoming a Vigilante in all but technicality, and whose overwhelming power begins to attract unwanted attention. Simk’s Deku plays stronger into his anxiety, making him pathologically afraid of attention. A must-read for fans of recovery fic and anyone who wants a Bakugou & Midoriya friendship that acknowledges just how much Bakugou’s bullying did/could have fucked Midoriya up.
Content Warnings: Violence, mentions of abuse, panic attacks
“Sugar Stardust” by milkcandie. 52K words, rated Teen.
Ship: Katsuki Bakugou/Izuku Midoriya
Rec: Want to avoid the potential moral implications but still interested in Bakugou and Deku’s relationship? Try an AU where they meet in adulthood on for size! This very cute bakery AU sends elite American baker Bakugou to the backwaters of Japan to save a failing bakery of the same chain that Bakugou works at which is being run by Midoriya. In the quiet days while they try to drum up more business with their fantastic baking skills, the two become closer. A solid, heart-warming entry, as much about Midoriya’s struggle to move on as Bakugou’s need to slow down and find the quieter side of life.
Content warnings: N/A
“Solid Ground” by silvercistern. 28K words, rated Mature.
Ship: Tamaki Amakiji/Mirio Togata
Rec: I have a personal weakness is for Tamaki/Mirio fics. These two are introduced fairly late in the manga, but how they inspire each other to greater heights is exactly what I want from my romance. This particular fic takes place during Mirio’s training with Sir Nighteye before the two enter the story in canon, filling in the gaps in how The Big Three became the hyper-competent near-Heroes they were when we met them in canon. Mirio and Tamaki’s devotion to each other, their adolescent fumblings at sex beneath their families’ noses, and their rightful fear for their own and each other’s futures gives this fic a warm place in my heart.
Content warnings: Canon-typical violence
“Puzzle Pieces” by KuriKuri. 5K words, rated Teen.
Ship: Aizawa Shouta/Yamada Hizashi (Eraserhead/Present Mic)
Rec: Did you think you were getting out of here without any Erasermic? Not with me here. We all need more of exhausted, secretive, quiet Aizawa and his loud-mouthed and affectionate best friend Present Mic falling in love. This is a cute, short 5+1 fic where the students of Class 1A continually fail to realize that their teachers are married.
Content warnings: N/A
“vienna waits for you” by xShieru. 5K words (WIP), rated Teen.
Ships: Yaoyorozu Momo/Jirou Kyouka, Todoroki Shouto/Midoriya Izuku
Rec: An unfortunately probably never to be finished WIP that still has perhaps my favourite Momo voice, a great Momo/Todoroki friendship, all the rich kids rebelliously slumming it shenanigans, and a solid beginning to the electric spark that many jirou/yaoyorozu fans feel in their relationship.
Content warnings: N/A
“i wont just buy you a rose” by aknightley. 13K words, rated Gen.
Ship: Todoroki Shouto/Midoriya Izuku (Deku)
Rec: This fic is a Flower Shop AU where Deku never gained All Might’s power and instead works at his family’s flower store. Todoroki stops in on his first visit to his mom in the hospital, and even though he has bigger fish to fry, he can’t help but be fascinated by the sunny clerk behind the counter. If you’re looking for a simple shipping fic where Todoroki and Midoriya fall hard in love, this is one of my favourites.
Content warning: Mentions of child abuse
“break your bones but not your promises” by PitViperofDoom. 51K words (WIP), rated Teen.
Ship: Midoriya Inko/Todoroki Rei
Rec: Although Yesterday Upon the Stair might be Viper’s magnum opus in the BNHA fandom, that doesn’t stop Viper from producing other incredible fics. I’m a particular sucker for their works playing in fae worlds, balancing humanity, magic, and the Courts. In this fic, we begin with Inko—Midoriya’s mom—questing into faerie realms to save her stolen son with a faerie changeling silent in her arms, but move on to explore the struggles for friendship of sphinx Momo, the decision to be kind with half-sprite Uraraka, and the consequences of unrestrained curiosity with magically sentient rat Nedzu. I, personally, can’t wait to see where this one goes, because it’s truly a delightful read.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
There’s an ongoing controversy about AO3’s Hugo award and whether fanfic writers can describe themselves as “Hugo winners,” and while I can’t pretend to understand the discourse (what discourse, my friends!!!), you’ve gotta love this response in the form of fanfic about the Stanley Cup. — 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.
If you liked this, please share it with your friends! https://thereccenter.substack.com/. And find us on social media: Gav (twitter/tumblr) & Elizabeth (twitter/tumblr)