The Rec Center #23
We found an overabundance of interesting links this week, along with recs from some readers, and (finally) a fandom primer/rec post for Person of Interest. This show is SO AWESOME, and includes some truly excellent het, slash, and femslash pairings! I’ve included fic recs, fanvids, a viewing guide, and an explainer for why PoI is such a great show. Join meeee! — Gav
new stuff
“Interview with Hannibal and Sherlock fanartist Reapersun” by Ray Sonne at Women Write About Comics
A great conversation about comics, fanart, and running a successful Patreon.
“Inside the BeyHive” by Alyssa Bereznak at The Ringer
“How Beyoncé’s worker bees—the most committed fans on the internet—organize”
“Reading Through Rebirth” by Jessica Plummer at Panels
Jessica Plummer is reading through every first issue in DC’s new “Rebirth” relaunch. Very useful if you’re unfamiliar with DC canon/what Rebirth means.
“Fandom, Explained” at Vox
A general link for Vox’s fan culture coverage this week. (And check out the #fandomis hashtag which became a ~Twitter moment~, still no idea what that means!)
old(er) stuff
“Gargoyles Was the Most Important Cartoon of my Pre-Intellectual Black Childhood” by Jordan Calhoun at Black Nerd Problems
On the greatest show EVER (Elizabeth is biased). “Race, betrayal, trust, motives, relationships, Shakespeare…Gargoyles challenged me more than any other network cartoon dared try.”
tumblr and beyond
“#Ham4Pamphlet: 45 Illustrators Draw the 46 Tracks of ‘Hamilton’” by Arielle Jovellanos
Hannibal soundtrack harp medley by MaggieMcG
The new generation of Harry Potter characters as ~lads.
“Glitter & Gold” by Grable 424 is essential viewing for Marvel fans this week.
Person of Interest fandom primer
Person of Interest is a strange combination of episodic crime TV, and insightful near-future sci-fi. It predicted the NSA’s domestic surveillance program two years before the Snowden leak, albeit in the form of a godlike Artificial Intelligence. It also features several excellent OTP options, including a canon queer female Winter Soldier arc. It’s now in its fifth and final season, and the first four seasons are on Netflix.
Quick summary: Secretive billionaire Harold Finch created an A.I. after 9/11, tracking everyone’s personal data (CCTV, finances, travel, etc) in an attempt to predict future terrorist attacks. The A.I. is also able to predict premeditated crimes, so Finch hires former CIA agent John Reese to help prevent them. The other main characters are Reese’s ally Detective Joss Carter, hacker/criminal Root (vid rec!), and assassin Sameen Shaw (vid rec!). Root/Shaw = the femslash OTP, played by Amy Acker and Sarah Shahi.
This vid by Astolat does a great job of illustrating the tone of the earlier seasons.
Click through for a longer primer including a more extensive (although spoiler-free) overview, character summaries and vid recs, and an episode guide for new viewers.
Shipping: I’m into Finch/Reese and Root/Shaw, so I’m mostly reccing that. (Sorry, Reese/Carter fans.)
Finch/Reese is SO good in the earlier seasons, in this very intense but understated way. Reese is introduced as a homeless alcoholic, disillusioned by the things he had to do in the CIA and special forces. Finch gives him a purpose, and bankrolls his new life. (Meta rec!)
If you like ships with a basis in potent loyalty, you will love Finch/Reese. Finch is quietly powerful, rich, and obsessively private; Reese is a handsome action hero who is recovering from years of trauma, and will follow Finch’s orders with the dedication of a medieval knight to his king. Reese spent his entire adult life trying to serve his country and help people, but was betrayed and corrupted by the military-industrial complex. He values himself as a weapon due to his background and skillset, which is why he and Finch are such a perfect match: Finch needs a trustworthy operative; Reese needs someone Good to give the orders. (Meta rec!)
Vid rec: “No Man’s Woman” by giandujakiss is a great, lighthearted Reese and Finch/Reese vid!
Root/Shaw is a lot more...visceral. They’re both really high-energy characters, and don’t follow the same moral code as Finch and Reese. Root is gleeful, sadistic, and views the Machine as a godlike protector of humanity. Shaw is violent and lacking in empathy, but ultimately wants to do the right thing. As the show progresses, Root begins to flirt with (and fall in love with) Shaw, and Shaw eventually returns her feelings. (P.S. Since this is a canon queer female pairing, I know some people will be concerned about the possibility of character deaths. If you want to know how these characters are doing by season 5, click here for spoilers. Otherwise, I recommend watching the show unspoiled!)
Vid rec: “Parachute” by SquiresIsle
“Friction” by pornado
Also recommended: Miranda Meyer’s episode recaps at AfterEllen.
fanfiction
“Hamartia (the hero’s fatal flaw)” by Astolat. 15K words, rated Explicit.
Ship: Finch/Reese
Finch and Reese go undercover as a couple with a baby, following the REAL EPISODE where they briefly adopt a baby. You can read this without watching the show, but I’d obviously recommend the baby episode (1x17) first.
P.S. You should just read everything by Astolat, she’s brilliant. “Fealty” and “Escapism” are both excellent examples of why Finch/Reese is such a compelling ship, and she’s also written a wide range of incredible AUs, either semi-connected with the canon of the show (soulbonding; apocalypse; alternate timeline) and full AUs like Pacific Rim.
“why don't we get together and call ourselves an institute” by leupagus. 4K words, rated Mature.
Ship: Finch/Reese
Funny and lovable fic about Finch and Reese maintaining a pair of their undercover personas. “Mr Warren” and “Mr Wren” go to an office party together, partly depicted through the outsider POV of their employees.
“Total Knee Arthroplasty” by anon. Short genfic.
I love this short comment fic about how the NYC hospital system handles the sudden influx of kneecap injuries caused by John Reese.
“Hate the Player” by bruisespristine. 45K, rated explicit.
Ship: Root/Shaw
[This rec is from guest contributor Elisabeth.] Soccer AU. “It gives you all your favorite canon characters in unexpected roles—and also a fair amount of 10/10 smut.”
“less bigger than the least begin” by queenklu. 16K, rated Explicit.
Ship: Finch/Reese
Finch hired other employees before choosing Reese as his permanent partner. This is what happens when one of them comes back.
“The Silenus Club” by Speranza. 3.6K words, rated Explicit.
Ship: Finch/Reese
A riff on the “undercover in a gay bar” trope, but with a twist that works very well in the context of the show.
“Secondary Storage” by rivkat and “You Are Part Of A Machine (you are not a human being)” by Netgirl_y2k are both short Root/Shaw genfics. Both contain SPOILERS for season 5, so read at your own risk!
FINAL THOUGHT
We’ve had a few messages from readers in the past week reccing *us* stuff in turn, so I thought I’d link to a few of them.
First, from Sara, a fantastic response to “Fandom is Broken”: “(Ir)rational Outrage: Reevaluating Fandom Criticism” (tumblr link here): “As I see it, there are three main problems at work in the standard media response to the HydraCap controversy: a misdirection of ire, an age-old desire to keep certain people out of the party, and an underestimation of the value of outrage as a critical tool.”
Next, from Vands88, AO3 Tag of the Day’s “The Great Fic Mimicry Contest,” where readers took tags and pairings from an existing story and wrote a new one in reverse. It’s a...very special pairing.
And finally, from Ally, RPF about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes as a VAMPIRE. This is particularly exciting for me, since I produce a tech podcast and spent the other day working on the transcript of an episode ABOUT Elizabeth Holmes, vampire.
Yesterday also saw this tweet, further evidence that my worlds are smashing into each other:
Next week—Rec Center #24! We’ll have made two dozen of these!—we’re hoping to put out a survey so we can get a sense of what you guys like, want more of, hate with the heat of a thousand suns, etc. And everyone who’s volunteered to rec for us, please send your lists our way! Just let me know if you have questions. And if your email has slipped through the cracks, please nudge me. Have a great weekend! — Elizabeth
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)