The Rec Center #221
Greetings from this incredibly strange and sad time to live in New York City. Since a lot of far-off friends monitoring the news this week have written to check in with me, I should state here that I’m safe and as well as can be right now (day 17 of self-isolation, v grateful my job was already work-from-home, worrying for everyone—friends and strangers—whose essential jobs are not).
This week we’re introducing a new section: lockdown stuff. Fandom-oriented things that bring people together online as most of our readers are sheltering in place. We’ve also got some gorgeous fanart from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and a longish grab-bag of multi-fandom fic if you are finding reading fic to be a good coping strategy right now. — Elizabeth
lockdown stuff
Welcome to our new section, one that we hope to continue over the coming weeks & months. Please send us any fandom-oriented online community events, fests, virtual cons, etc (that’s elizabethandgav at gmail dot com) and we’ll share them with the group! We’re anticipating minimal ~new stuff~, with so much of the media (rightly) geared towards the pandemic, but hopefully we can always include links here. Thank you so much to everyone who sent in our first batch. — Elizabeth
Red Dragon Con-solation Fest: Originally meant to be an online accompaniment for anyone who couldn’t attend Hannibal-oriented Red Dragon Con IRL, that now includes...everyone. Begins today and runs through the end of the weekend!
Rec Center reader Raziel has been watching twitch streamers with smaller chat sizes to help deal with isolation, especially Rainbow Arcade, ISEKAI, LimitBreak, and Transmission.
Last week we shared details about the Lock Down Fest (which remains open for a few more days). This week, another open fic fest, Fic Journal of the Plague Year, organized by earlybloomingparentheses. This one isn’t about being isolated/quarantined/illness—it’s about writing to process feelings at this moment in history. For more info, check out the initial post from epb as well!
new stuff
“Quarantine love stories are becoming a romance trope” by Aja Romano at Vox
“Perhaps you’ve been secretly crushing on your roommate all this time; perhaps this sudden proximity means you’ve started seeing them in a new light. Whatever your circumstance, congratulations! The cultural zeitgeist is rooting for you.”
older stuff
“The Great Star Wars Heist” by Alexander Huls at Popular Mechanics
“In 2017, an uncovered toy theft ruptured the Star Wars collecting community. Two years later, the collectors—and the convicted—are still looking for a way forward.”
tumblr & beyond
Nausicaä fanart by Plokky
An alternative to quarantine fic: Videoconference romance.
Time to dust off those old WIPs, apparently!
“right now, as you read this, there’s a fandom server on discord having drama the likes of which we could not even fathom.”
OK can someone please translate this Icelandic version of Dracula back into English??
“The existence of Christmas implies that someone has been crucified in animal crossing canon.”
A brief video interlude from MDZS fandom...
fanfiction
Just an unthemed grab-bag of fic this week! Thank you very much to everyone who sent in a rec. <3 — Elizabeth
“Gluttony” by Booksblanketsandtea. 5K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Good Omens; Ship: Aziraphale/Crowley
Recced by: Sassy Slytherin
Backstory: Crowley decides to change up his Effort (down there) and Aziraphale reacts accordingly.
Rec: This fic is just excellent. The characterisation is on point and the writing is great—but honestly, it’s just Insanely hot. But also quite sweet. (Also the author is asexual which I found interesting!)
Content warnings: N/A
“Battle Is The Great Redeemer” by Lady_in_Red. 69K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Game of Thrones; Ship: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Jaime dies in the battle of King’s Landing—and wakes up days earlier in Brienne’s bed. An “Edge of Tomorrow”/”Groundhog Day” AU fix-it of Jaime’s very bad, no good “Game of Thrones” ending.
Rec: It is so smart and moving and emotional and addresses all the terrible things about the GOT ending in really intelligent and interesting ways.
Content warnings: N/A
“A Gilded World” by smiles. 175K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: BTS rpf; Ship: Kim Seokjin/Min Yoongi
Recced by: anon
Backstory: An arranged marriage AU, as tropey and delightful as it can get.
Rec: If you like slow burn, really solid plot full of nicely done tropes and great storytelling, this is for you. I love love how smiles writes this pairing; they take their time to make them ~really~ connect in every story and once you get to the juicy parts it feels so fulfilling, I’m always left with a happy feeling after reading their fics.
Content warnings: N/A
“Knockout” by girlbookwrm. 33K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe; Ship: Peggy Carter/Natasha Romanov
Recced by: 2012bookworm
Backstory: Takes place in a world where Peggy Carter got the serum rather than Steve. Natasha isn’t sure what to do about this woman out of time she’s required to work with.
Rec: The characterizations of both Natasha and Peggy in this fic are exquisite, complicated and nuanced in the best of ways. And the exploration of what it means to be both woman and symbol is spot on.
Content warning: Canon-typical violence
“the sun, the stars (let me give you the universe)” by notcaycepollard. 3K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy; Ship: Poe/Finn/Rey
Recced by: Christine
Backstory: Set after The Force Awakens, featuring a clueless Poe, pining after Finn & Rey.
Rec: Comprised entirely of tender, small moments and observations, beautifully written with such warmth—this fic is where I want to live.
Content warnings: N/A
“Stubborn Mouths: Humans In Translation” by Hannah. 63K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Star Trek Deep Space Nine; Ship: Julian Bashir/Elim Garak
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Several people have indicated that the augmentation aspect of Julian’s canon backstory is reminiscent of the abuse and forced medical treatment autistic/neuroatypical children undergo from parents who want a “normal” child. This posits an AU where Julian is autistic, and was allowed to be himself rather than be changed.
Rec: I was one of the people that felt Julian Bashir came across as autistic-coded in canon, and I love this exploration of him as an autistic person. The struggles he describes feel very real to me, and I feel Seen by this story, in a positive way.
Content warnings: ableism, anti-autistic sentiment, mentions of murder of disabled/neuroatypical children by their parents, parental abuse (past mention)
FINAL THOUGHT
Like many people rn, I’ve embarked on a new ~fanfic project~ during self-isolation. It’s a Star Trek multimedia AU, reimagining the Original Series crew (plus a couple of Discovery characters) as the cast of a spaceship-themed reality show. Told through a combination of tweets, TV recaps, fan commentary and traditional prose, you can follow for daily updates here on Twitter, or here on AO3! — 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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