The Rec Center #250
Hello everyone and welcome to our 250th (!!) issue! We’re glad you’ve all stuck around! This week we’ve got a nostalgic look back at the Social Network press tour, an article about 17th century woodcuts, some advice for actors playing Sherlock Holmes, and a multifandom rec list of fanfic about older characters. — Gav
new stuff
“The anti-monarchist professor who became a living meme” by Peter Guest at Rest of World
“Even as the risks of dissent increase, Thailand’s anti-government demonstrators look to online culture for inspiration.”
“The Agony and the Ecstasy of the Social Network Press Tour” by Frankie Thomas at The Niche
“At this very moment, ten years ago, the whole world was watching Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield. The two young actors were starring in a story that transfixed a generation. How much of it was true? How much of it was fiction? It hardly mattered. It was electrifying.”
older stuff
“Early Modern Memes” by Katie Sisneros at The Public Domain Review
A fascinating piece about 17th century woodcuts and their parallels with modern meme culture.
tumblr & beyond
Gandalf/Merlin fanart by lesbiansandboromir
legendary gifset of the Game of Thrones cast reading the finale script for the first time.
“enough coffee shop AUs. it’s time for The Thing AUs.”
key advice for any actors planning to play Sherlock Holmes.
Tolkien simply could not help himself.
this is what The Matrix is about, actually.
“pirating movies by seeing them in tumblr gifs.”
fanfiction
At the ripe old age of 250 (weeks) (hey that’s a lot of newsletters!!) we decided to solicit recs about older characters. This week, we have a multi-fandom list about characters who are “older” as defined by the normal human lifespan; next week we’ll have a list about immortal or supernaturally old characters. We got a great mix and more than we could include in two lists, so please send in more of your favorites and we’ll be able to put together future lists! And thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“Bionic Battle Granny” by ozhawk. 12K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: MCU; Ships: past Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa, Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers
Recced by: ppyajunebug
Backstory: Peggy Carter is 84 years old with titanium hip replacements and the beginnings of dementia. She’ll be damned if a bunch of baby-faced SHIELD agents will keep her from doing whatever the hell she feels like.
Rec: There is nothing more entertaining than a badass octogenarian Peggy Carter running circles around Fury, Coulson, and most of the Avengers. A great story for those of us who were disappointed with her later appearances in the MCU films.
Content warnings: N/A
“Moonchild” by Pucedelapuce. 2.6K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: BTS; Ship: Jimin/Namjoon
Recced by: ninamonday
Backstory: BTS is a phenomenally popular Korean group with seven members. Namjoon is the leader.
Rec: This future fic where Jimin, now in his seventies, goes to visit Namjoon in a colony on the moon is one of the most tender, beautiful things I’ve ever read, both nostalgic and hopeful.
Content warnings: N/A
“I Think I Just Blacked Out” by Telanu. 7K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Grace and Frankie; Ship: Grace Hanson/Frankie Bergstein
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Takes place after Frankie comes back from Santa Fe and moves back in with Grace at the beach house. Frankie and Grace attempt to announce their relationship and upcoming nuptials to Brianna; she misunderstands and thinks they’re taking their vibrator company public.
Rec: Both funny and bursting with warmth, this story really captures the characters and feels like it could have been a plotline for an episode.
Content warnings: N/A
“Everything About It Is a Love Song” by pocky_slash. 20K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: X-Men: First Class; Ship: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Recced by: Vera_Dragonmuse
Backstory: Erik decides to retire from the Brotherhood of Mutants and Charles goes with him.
Rec: The real story here is how their relationship is both decades old, but newly tested by living together.
Content warning: Discusses depression
“Of Hats and Flutes” by FixaIdea. 6K words (WIP), rated Gen.
Fandoms: The Untamed; Discworld; Ship: Gen, background Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian
Recced by: Puck
Backstory: Wei Wuxian sets up as a witch in Lancre, and fits in surprisingly well.
Rec: It has a perfect Discworld tone while incorporating my new favorite piece of media.
Content warnings: Necromancy, I guess, but mainly it’s very fluffy and fun
“A Year in Toussaint” by astolat. 30K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Witcher; Ship: Geralt of Rivia/Emhyr var Emreis
Recced by: door
Backstory: There are a lot of Witcher things now but this fic builds on the video games, specifically Witcher 3. There’s a DLC which sees Geralt being given a vineyard in fantasy Tuscany and then retiring there, and this fic poses the question: What if the emperor of the world, having conquered everything, also retired there and became Geralt’s neighbor?
Rec: It really is about two old men (Geralt is around 100, which in Witcher terms makes him roughly middle-aged) who are accustomed to being very active, whether killing monsters or outsmarting political rivals, settling unhappily into retirement. Geralt’s vineyard is so successful that he no longer needs to work for his dinner, which he hates, and Emhyr keeps undertaking history projects which end up far more complicated than he said they’d be. The whole thing comes to a head in a comedic scene worthy of a French farce.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
Seriously though, 250 issues!! Thank you so much to everyone who has shared the newsletter with friends, sent in recs, wrote explainers, etc etc. We couldn’t do this without you. <3 — Elizabeth
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! http://tinyletter.com/elizabethandgav. And find us on social media: Gav (twitter/tumblr) & Elizabeth (twitter/tumblr)