The Rec Center #265
Hi folks! This week we have some multifandom fic recs from the hosts of the I Met You On LJ podcast, clustered around some ever-popular fanfic tropes. We also have some wonderful Good Omens fanart, a new column about fan culture, an article about Rogue One, and more! — Gav
new stuff
“Who Actually Gets to ‘Escape’ Into Fandom?” by Stitch at Teen Vogue
Longstanding fandom commentator Stitch just launched a column at Teen Vogue. Here’s their first piece, discussing the conflicted relationship between escapist fandom and racism.
“My Totally Normal Addiction to Buying Teen Magazines on eBay” by Tara Ariano at the New York Times
This nostalgic article about the early-90s Sassy magazine is a reminder that parasocial fandoms existed long before the internet. Sassy readers didn’t just read the magazine; they were encouraged to engage with its writers, becoming fans of the staff as well as the brand.
“Rebels at the Multiplex” by Esmé Weijun Wang at Criterion
A thoughtful look back at Rogue One, which came out shortly after the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Taiwanese-American writer Esmé Weijun Wang reflects on the experience of watching a Star Wars movie with a multiracial cast, resisting an oppressive regime in a way that felt more resonant than ever.
older stuff
“ConCrit in Comments Only: What Writing Fanfiction Taught Me as an Editor” by Diana M. Pho at Uncanny Magazine
“Writing skills don’t always have to come from an MFA or out of how-to books. Sometimes they can be gathered together from the most unexpected places.”
tumblr & beyond
Late Renaissance Good Omens fanart by Eliza Maru. (Part of an ongoing series of fantastic faux-historical paintings.)
Someone... identified... all the birds in the background of Black Sails?? Heroic.
Comic: “Why does Batman keep the lower half of his face uncovered?"
“superimposing the destiel ending onto straight characters is a very fun thing to do.”
Ah yes, the year 100 trillion.
Love this Giancarlo Esposito Spider-Man fanart!
Gav made a video essay about the costume design of NBC’s Hannibal!
fanfiction
I Met You On LJ is a weekly fandom podcast hosted by Maggie (glycerineclown) and V (aimmyarrowshigh), two fic writers and friends who met back on LiveJournal—but who haven’t had a fandom in common since then. Every week, we each choose one of our fandoms based on a theme and then compare and contrast them to find the universal through-lines. From our beginnings in the most different bandoms there could possibly be (Red Hot Chili Peppers and boy band Dream Street) to the surprisingly similar sci-fi movies we like (Ex Machina and Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century), we somehow always find something that we can relate to in each other’s experiences, if not their taste.
We also talk about fanfiction and fannish history—a lot—and have started two weekly series on our official site/tumblr that we think Rec Center readers would enjoy: This Week In Fandom History every Thursday, and #FicTropeFriday every Friday. To celebrate the latter, we’ve picked a fic rec for each of the five tropes highlighted so far in 2021! — Maggie & V
Snowed In
“The Last Man On Earth” by Survivah. 20K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Old Guard; Ship: Sebastien “Booker” LeLivre/Nile Freeman
Recced by: V
Backstory: The Old Guard are a group of immortal humans from different eras in history; Booker, from the Napoleonic invasion of Russia, was the youngest until Nile discovers her immortality as a soldier in Afghanistan in 2020. Because the other immortal members of the Guard seem to have found soulmates with their immortality—Andromache/Quynh and Joe/Nicky are both canon pairings—many people suspect that Booker and Nile are touched by some amount of destiny to be together. However, while avoiding spoilers, let’s just say that Booker needs to do some work on himself before he deserves an eternal love as great as Nile.
Rec: This fic delves into one of the conundrums of Booker/Nile as a ship—can you really choose to be with someone if they are, essentially, the only person on Earth you can date without risking outliving them and breaking your own heart?—with both depth and humor. Nile’s despair at Booker being a sad old white man is both raw and funny, which is a hard balance to achieve, but this fic does it delightfully. And of course, the climax of being snowed in is delicious and hurts in the best way, just like a snowed in fic should.
Content Warnings: The Old Guard canon-typical violence
Coffee Shop AU
#FicTropeFriday:
“sweet on you” by moogle62. 73K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Social Network; Ship: Mark Zuckerberg/Eduardo Saverin
Recced by: Maggie
Backstory: It’s RPF in that technically The Social Network is a piece of RPF, and one that asked all the right emotional questions about betrayal when you go into business with your best friend—but this fic does away with most of that. Mark’s still the CEO of Facebook, and Eduardo runs a bakery down the street, churning out treats (and coffee!) that the whole office can’t get enough of. Mark is his typical, left-brained, cranky asshole self, and Eduardo gets in under the wire with sunshine, rainbows, great hair, and people skills. Chris and Dustin delight in teasing their friend who has not been on a date in years. It’s very fluffy.
Rec: Originally posted on LJ in 2011, this is a MarkWardo classic for good reason. I don’t usually go for ~workplace AUs, but this one gets at the core of their dynamic well, without the heavy emotional betrayal from the movie. Mark’s struggles to communicate with others feel totally appropriate for him, and Eduardo is absolutely charming. There’s domesticity and nice daily routines and endless pastries and so much facepalming. This is a very Obama-era fic, so if you want to disappear into a universe that feels totally separate from our own for a while, this fic is a good choice. The smut is great, and I like imagining Andrew Garfield in an apron. I’m hungry.
Content Warnings: None really. There’s a bit of humor re: women that belongs in the mid-2000s, but it’s not OOC for Mark.
Slow Burn
#FicTropeFriday:
“to the sky without wings” by leupagus. 81K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Star Wars; Ship: Poe Dameron/Luke Skywalker
Recced by: Maggie
Backstory: Over the course of a quarter century, in the shadow of Luke Skywalker, Poe Dameron grows from a boy into a man, from a student at the Academy into a General. In that time, Luke mostly just goes from grumpy to grumpier as he fends off Poe’s advances for LITERAL DECADES. Much of the history included (Poe’s parents and their relationship to the Skywalkers) comes from the comics, but they aren’t necessary to read before this fic. If you have read the comics, particularly Shattered Empire, you will be absolutely delighted to see Kes Dameron and the Dameron koyo orchard come to life so beautifully in this fic.
Rec: This is a triumph. This is the slow burn to end all slow burns, with no real filler. I intentionally read it over a few days so that I could really savor it. The language changes so effectively as Poe grows up and it really makes this story feel immersive and intensely personal. Both V and I consider this fic among the best we’ve ever read.
Content warnings: Alcohol-influenced sex acts, age difference, mentions of sex slavery and trafficking
OT3
#FicTropeFriday:
“The Pauline Trilogy” by kaikamahine (antistar_e). 16K words over 3 works, rated Teen.
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians; Ship: Percy Jackson/Nico DiAngelo/Annabeth Chase
Recced by: V
Backstory: As demigods, the main characters of the Percy Jackson series have different powers depending on their godly heritage—Percy is the son of Poseidon, Nico the son of Hades, and Annabeth the daughter of Athena. As the son of Hades, Nico’s powers include shadowtravel, summoning ghosts, and sensing the presence of the dead, all of which are relevant in this dark and moving trilogy of one-shots. The original quintet of PJO books ends in a way that leaves the lingering question of what a young hero does after they’ve already saved the world and now have to live in it as just your average adult, and this trilogy answers it for Percy with thoughtfulness and joy.
Rec: This is one of the fics that is never far from my mind when I think about the power of transformation in transformative works. The use of language in the Pauline Trilogy is impeccable and so voicey it practically oozes personality, and it fits both the young ages of its protagonists and the casually traumatized, but aggressively optimistic, reaction to supernatural (and more human) horrors that they would face after the events of the PJO books. This trilogy is right up there with the gold standard of fanfiction for me.
Content Warnings: One vernacular use of an anti-Romany slur outside of that context; child death; violent crime against a child (mentioned).
And They Were Roommates
#FicTropeFriday:
“sine qua non” by mellyfiori. 24K words, rated Explicit.
Recced by: V
Fandom: The Old Guard; Ship: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Backstory: This is a modern, no-powers AU, so no backstory is necessary! In canon, Joe and Nicky are a canon couple of over 950 years who had the ugliest meet-ugly in the history of romance, but in this story, they begin as undergrads competing against one another in the Speech Team (Forensics) and things progress from there.
Rec: The face-clutching “oh my god, they’re roommates” of it all begins in Chapter 2 of this fic, and oh my god, they’re roommates, and I’m dying. The warmth that Joe and Nicky have for one another as best friends in this fic glows from the first words, despite their hilariously-translated-from-canon meet-ugly, and it makes the ache of their mutually unrequited pining feel realistic in a way that trope normally doesn’t achieve for me. You really get the sense that they see the other person as the most important in their world, and it’s understandable why they don’t want to risk that friendship by making a move even though in all universes, Joe and Nicky are made for each other. The supporting cast of characters, especially Joe’s sisters, make this version of Joe/Nicky feel totally fresh and totally real.
Content Warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
It’s that time of year again: the multi-fandom charity fanworks auction Fandom Trumps Hate is back for its fifth year (!), and creator signups are open until next Tuesday, February 2nd. Read full details about this year’s auction here. I’d encourage anyone who has the bandwidth to create something for a fellow fan to check it out—far beyond fic and fanart, there are a ton of other things you can offer, including beta reading, various kinds of ~picking~ (think Brit-picking, but for all sorts of backgrounds), and more. — Elizabeth
FINAL FINAL THOUGHT
Femslash February begins next week! We are still soliciting recs—just put “f/f” or “Femslash February” in the “themes” section of our submissions form so it’s easier to see. If you’re interested in doing a guest list, please email us: elizabethandgav at gmail dot com. A single ship, a grab-bag, a theme or trope—as long as it’s femslash, it’s welcome!
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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