The Rec Center #215
Hello all! Femslash February continues this week with another multi-fandom fic list, plus some delightful Harley Quinn fanart from the equally delightful Birds of Prey (which I just saw in 4DX, highly recommended if you like adding extreme goofiness to your cinematic experience, plus don’t mind being punched by your own chair). — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Save Me a Seat on the Couch: Spoiler Culture, Inclusion, and Disability” by Marissa Lingen at Uncanny Magazine
Lingen’s balance disorder means she can no longer see films in theaters. A great essay about experiencing culture—in this case, The Rise of Skywalker—through other fans’ reactions.
“The Pious World of Christian Sonic the Hedgehog Fan Art” by Colin Spacetwinks at NYMag
“Dancing right on the border of ‘extremely online’ and ‘extremely offline,’ you will find the Christian Sonic the Hedgehog fandom.”
older stuff
“Fantasy’s Widow: The Fight Over The Legacy Of Dungeons & Dragons” by Cecilia D’Anastasio at Kotaku
A deeply reported piece on Gail Gygax and what happened in the years following the death of her husband, Gary, who co-created D&D.
tumblr & beyond
Harley Quinn fanart by meruuda
Physiotherapy fanart for a Spider-Man fan!
thanks for your input magneto.
Truly stunning picture of one of Star Trek’s main Klingon actors brandishing a Pride flag bat’leth.
God bless Demi Adejuyigbe (who also created arguably the *greatest* Succession fanwork) for these Bojack Horseman-themed posters for this year’s Oscar-nominated films.
fanfiction
Femslash February 2020, week 2. For week 1, click here! Thank you to everyone who sent in a rec. <3 — Elizabeth
“Marked (Or Four Times Yennefer and Tissaia Meet After Ascension)” by galeaspida. 5K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Witcher (TV); Ship: Tissaia de Vries/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Recced by: robocryptid
Backstory: Tissaia is Yennefer’s former instructor and mentor, who took her from her family home to teach her how to be a sorceress. Now as adults, they have a tense, complicated relationship in which Yennefer is the resentful, angry protege who nonetheless holds some begrudging respect (and in this fic, attraction) for Tissaia.
Rec: After watching the show, I went looking for fic of this ship, mostly out of curiosity. I found this fic and it single-handedly convinced me this was definitely a ship worth shipping.
Content warning: Major character injury
“Carmilla of Green Gables” by Elizasky. 24K words, rated Teen.
Fandoms: Anne of Green Gables, Carmilla; Ship: Anne/Diana
Recced by: Samantha Vimes
Backstory: This is a parody/retelling of the 1871 gothic lesbian vampire short story “Carmilla” but set in Anne of Green Gables.
Rec: The author has a lot of fun re-using sentences from canon that take on a whole new meaning when Anne is a vampire. Also, unlike the original, the immortal teen lesbian vampires get a happy ending.
Content warnings: N/A
“Viva La” by gyzym. 2K words, rated Mature.
Fandoms: Good Omens, Marvel; Ships: Pepper Potts/Natasha Romanov, Pepper (Pippin Galadriel Moonchild)/War
Recced by: haygahr #9190
Backstory: Natasha is War; Pepper’s always been Pepper. The end of the world isn’t nearly so old-school as it once was.
Rec: A wonderfully sharp take, very much in the tone of Terry Pratchett.
Content warnings: N/A
“Girl Out Boy” by scarredsodeep. 66K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Fall Out Boy; Ship: (F/F) Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz
Recced by: leyley09
Backstory What if Fall Out Boy was a girl band? (Van Days canon femslash.)
Rec: If you’ve ever been a girl and a teenager, someone in this story will resonate with you. It’s beautifully written, and the struggles of being a girl are combined so well with the struggles of being successful as a band.
Content warning: Underage
“Death & The Magician” by Theoroark. 3K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Overwatch; Ship: Sombra | Olivia Colomar/Widowmaker | Amélie Lacroix
Recced by: robocryptid
Backstory: Sombra is a brilliant hacker contracted by a near-future terrorist organization known as Talon. This fic explores her entry into Talon and her growing interest in Widowmaker, a sniper who was previously brainwashed by the same organization.
Rec: The characters feel so beautifully on point, and I think accessible even to those who have not encountered this fandom before. The author also manages, in a very concise manner, to provide a nuanced look at how these two women might react to the traumas that shaped their lives.
Content warning: Mention of suicide in passing
And a vid!
“I Come With Knives” by hollywoodgrrl. 4:25, Not Rated (est. Mature).
Fandoms: Xena: Warrior Princess, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Legend of the Seeker; Ships: Xena/Callisto (Xena), Buffy Summers/Faith Lehane (Buffy), Kahlan Amnell/Cara Mason (Legend of the Seeker)
Recced by: Tal
Backstory: Three classic femslash ships from fantasy shows who either want to kill each other or sleep with each other. Or both. The lines blur! Callisto wants revenge on Xena for her actions as a warlord (Xena killed her family); Buffy and Faith are both Slayers who end up on opposite sides; Cara and Kahlan are reluctant allies but their orders, the Mord’Sith and Confessors are historical enemies.
Rec: Sometimes it takes an extremely well-edited fanvid to demonstrate just how apt the fighting-as-fucking metaphor is, you know? So while none of these ships are canon, they are, as presented here, dripping with sexual tension and loathing, and it’s really, really hot.
Content warnings: Quick/stuttery cuts, blood, violence, knives, choking, death, torture, fire, stabbing
FINAL THOUGHT
In line with our Femslash February theme (and with Valentine’s Day!) we have a movie rec: Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which already came out in some countries but just arrived in the US this week. It’s a gorgeous 18th century French lesbian romance by writer/director Celine Sciamma, about a female artist who is hired to paint the portrait of a young woman destined for an arranged marriage.
This movie is just unbelievably good on every level, subverting the typical artist/muse dynamic in a wonderfully tender and thoughtful way, depicting women in a historical setting without overlaying the story with modern feminist ideas. You can read several great reviews & thinkpieces about it in this Twitter thread, although I’ll warn you that most of them spoil elements of the story after the first 3 or so paragraphs.
P.S. Celine Sciamma is very much in favor of people writing fanfic about her movie, which is not something you usually hear from indie art filmmakers during press tours lol. One of us! — 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)