December 3, 2021

The Rec Center #309

Hi folks! This week we’ve got a Ted Lasso fandom explainer from guest reccer Praycambrian, along with a variety of interesting articles about music fandom, posts about Stephen King and Bruce Wayne, and more! — Gav

new stuff

“Cherished Words From Theater’s Encourager-in-Chief” by Laura Collins-Hughes at the New York Times
Musical theater icon Stephen Sondheim passed away this week, prompting an outpouring of love from generations of fans. This article collects anecdotes from people in the theater community, celebrating Sondheim’s unique impact as an artistic mentor.

“The Unbearable Whiteness of Taylor Swift’s Fandom” by Jenna Mahale at Mic
“It’s left the non-white Swiftie in a kind of community limbo, part of a diverse and growing global fandom whose beginnings are firmly rooted in whiteness.”

“Play it by ear: Inside the collision of gaming and music fandom” by Emma Madden at Entertainment Weekly
As we enter the era of the metaverse, platforms like Roblox and Fortnite are utilizing unpaid fandom labor to flesh out their virtual worlds. “Eventually, the gamification of music fandom, while dressed in a rhetoric of empowerment and participation, may end up benefiting everyone but the fan.”

older stuff

“Up Close and Personal” by Jessica Lehrman at Vice
“Really searching and finding something to live for and sharing that potential with like-minded people is magical.” A photographer who focuses on music fans discusses her work, accompanied by beautiful photographs.

tumblr & beyond

“If there’s one thing I will never understand it’s Lord of the Rings fans wanting to be an elf in Middle Earth”

Nothing but respect for the Dune bagpipes.

Bruce Wayne is simply too tired for this kidnapping attempt.

Dickscourse, if you will.

THE peak Tobey Maguire-era Spider-Man fanvid!!

“the fundamental un-monetizeability of ‘G.I. Joe / Bionicle / Polly Pocket Crossover AU of the Iran-Contra affair’ is King Shit.”

This person who mistook IT (Stephen King) fanfic for a real novel… perhaps the best Reddit post of the week?

fanfiction + explainer: ted lasso

Praycambrian is a writer who has lurked in various fandoms for fifteen years and only recently worked up the courage to start sharing fic, only to find that people are mostly nice, really. You can find her on tumblr and AO3.

[TW anxiety]

As you may or may not have heard from one smitten source or another, Ted Lasso (AppleTV) is a plucky, goodhearted show about a plucky, goodhearted American football coach who starts coaching a British football team, despite knowing less about the sport than the average six-year-old. Why would he do such a silly thing, you may ask; well, the pilot reveals he’s got his reasons, heartbreaking as they may be. The pilot also reveals the reason club owner Rebecca Welton, the show’s co-lead, hired Lasso in the first place: as part of a secret, convoluted revenge plot to get back at her philandering ex-husband.

A character that originated as a standard fish-out-of-water gag for a series of commercials in 2013 now anchors a show that’s actually a really smart, character-driven ensemble, more of a workplace comedy than a sports drama. (Somewhat to the disappointment of fans like me who would actually love to see more soccer, please and thank you.)

As the first season progresses, Ted struggles to do his job and connect with the team (while being one of only two-point-three people in the entire UK who believe he’s capable of it); at the same time, Rebecca’s growing increasingly conflicted between her desire for revenge and the reluctant (very reluctant) friendship she’s forming with Ted. The second season—which, while still generally critically acclaimed, was a bit more divisive among fans—picks up with a team whose morale is now solid as an ingot of gold, while Ted himself is the one to struggle with long-repressed anxiety and depression.

fanart by jarrows

While I’m as susceptible to puns, slapstick, and numerous Phil Collins references as the next guy, the thing that really gets me about this show is the strength of the ensemble. Each character has their own flaws and endearments and hopes; each of them messes up, sometimes profoundly, and they mostly act like adults by apologizing and changing and moving forward. Even [redacted], who takes a rather precipitous fall from grace in the second season, is still a very well-written character, with consistent motivations and screen time that neither condemns nor absolves.

The complex and dynamic relationships between all of these characters have led to a really rich variety in ships, pairings, and groupings among fanworks. (I’m not really expecting this show to give me my first canonical poly relationship since the word-of-God Leverage OT3, but I am, unfortunately, not entirely without hope.) These multishipper recs—plus a few really standout gen fics—are just the start of what this small-but-growing fandom is up to. — Praycambrian

“now that you’re down” by chainofclovers. 3.7K words, rated Teen.
Ship: Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton
Backstory: Rebecca and Ted’s date is interrupted by Bex, Rebecca’s ex-husband’s gorgeous new wife—and she needs help.
Rec: As is true of all of this author’s work in this fandom, every character note of this is spot on, whether the characters appear or not. Ted and Rebecca’s relationship is still in the early stages, but that bedrock of mutual trust, respect, and affection is so solid even as it’s delicately morphing into something new. Bex—a character the show’s writers themselves haven’t done too well by—becomes a real person, and her conversation with Rebecca reveals a lot about them both.
Content warning: Mentions of emotional abuse

“When It Comes to Nightlife” by anonymous. 6.1K words, rated Explicit.
Ship: Keeley Jones/Rebecca Welton
Backstory: In the first season, Keeley and Rebecca share a hotel suite and a little light flirting; in this canon divergence, the flirting turns into sex that makes Rebecca make a few decisions differently.
Rec: Hot, sweet, and smart. This Keeley voice is especially good—bubbly and accented without being cartoonish. The author’s command of humor helps propel things along in a fun, believable way before an equally believable pivot into Feelings, namely Rebecca’s shame and guilt over the secrets she’s keeping.
Content warning: Mention of past emotional abuse

“a kind of dwell and welcome” by leupagus. 85K words, rated Explicit.
Ship: Ted Lasso/Trent Crimm
Backstory: In this alternate universe, Trent stops covering Richmond because he’s fallen for Ted, thereby compromising his journalistic integrity. Spoiler alert, the pining is absolutely requited.
Rec: The fic that launched a ship! This premise is one of the few believable ways I’ve found to make Ted/Trent work without an accompanying tangle of ethical & professional whoopsies, but far beyond that, this novel-length fic is just a sheer joy to read. The character voices are fantastic, the humor is sweet and subtle, the sex is hot as hell, and the emotional arcs are super satisfying. Leupagus’s story has inspired about a dozen others in the same universe, including a sequel I wrote.
Content warnings: Anxiety, some background homophobia

“Leave Elegance to the Tailor” by anonymous. 3.5K words, rated Mature.
Ships: Ted Lasso/Nathan Shelley, Keeley Jones/Nathan Shelley, Rupert Mannion/Nathan Shelley
Backstory: This triptych of vignettes traces Nate’s (Nathan’s? Shelley’s?) character arc over the course of three suit fittings. The tagged relationships are largely one-sided.
Rec: This is the fic I didn’t know I wanted to read right after the finale. It’s a searingly insightful character study that plays really well with themes of sexuality and body image and self-esteem, expanding on the character we’re shown in the show in a very human and actually kind of chilling way.
Content warnings: Manipulation, implied infidelity

“A Change is as Good as a Rest” by Siria. 7.2K words, rated Explicit.
Ship: Keeley Jones/Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt
Backstory: After the season two finale, Roy goes on a vacation he wasn’t expecting to go on alone; luckily, Keeley sends him some company, in the form of Jamie Tartt.
Rec: The voices and dialogue are so deft and funny and in-character yet surprising, and the buildup to a romantic & sexual relationship being established among the three of them is so well paced and believable. Siria’s Roy POV is a treat—bullheaded and grumpy, but also thoughtful and willing to change—and their three-part dynamic pays off in a great way.
Content warnings: N/A

“Two Mornings After” by chainofclovers. 3.1K words, rated Mature.
Ships: Keeley Jones/Roy Kent/Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton, Keeley Jones/Ted Lasso, Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton, Roy Kent/Ted Lasso
Backstory: Part of a series imagining an OT4, this story focuses on Ted and Keeley’s unique relationship within the larger dynamic as they navigate a pregnancy scare that maybe isn’t actually that scary.
Rec: I’m a sucker for poly ships, though they’re hard to write well; chainofclovers does a great job treating each relationship as its own entity within the whole. By focusing on Ted and Keeley—perhaps the least expected pairing among these four—the story delivers a really tender, emotional, mature character study in pitch-perfect voices.
Content warning: Discussion of abortion

“(wait for) the year to drown” by elanoides. 2.3K words, rated Gen.
Ship: Gen
Backstory: Ted meditates on Kansas, the Western Interior Seaway, and fathers & sons.
Rec: This dreamlike, lyrical story focuses on Ted during the second season as he struggles with panic attacks and thinks about going home, though it predicts an end to the season that turned out not to be canon. The prose is so rich and evocative and the direction the author takes Ted is just as compelling, if not more so, than what ended up actually happening.
Content warnings: Anxiety, some description of nightmarish imagery

FINAL THOUGHT

Have a great weekend, everyone! — Elizabeth