The Rec Center #325

Hi folks! This week we have articles about newspaper comics fandom and Broadway crafters, along with some cool Turning Red art, multifandom historical romance fic recs, and more! — Gav

new stuff

“The strange second life of legacy comic strips or: I want Wilbur Weston dead” by Zach Rabiroff at The Comics Journal
A long and fascinating look at the history of old-school newspaper comic strips - and their flourishing millennial fandom, as evidenced by the revamped Nancy and Mark Trail, and the Twitter furore around Wilbur (almost!!) getting killed off in Mary Worth this year.

“At the Broadway Makers Marketplace, theater fans find both crafts and community” by Jeff Lunden at All Things Considered
On a Broadway-themed, fan-run pop-up store/meeting space in the Columbus Circle subway station in Manhattan, run by a group of craftspeople who met at BroadwayCon.

“Professor X vs. Magneto: Who’s the better sex ed teacher?” by Jay Edidin at Polygon
An expert analysis!

https://twitter.com/meakoopa/status/1505705775414579206

older stuff

“Bizarro World” by Billy Baker at The Boston Globe
A very fun 2007 article written by a journalist who discovers by accident that his wife is the greatest Tetris player in the world—and that she herself had no idea. Together they travel to a videogame tournament to prove her record-breaking high scores.

tumblr & beyond

Luke Skywalker in his mother’s costumes by alphaalnitak

A beautiful painting of Carrie Coon eating pizza in her Gilded Age costume.

Some cute Turning Red art from someone who worked on the film!

A vintage piece of Star Trek zine fanon just entered official canon!

A satirical poster for a nonexistent movie... fetishizing... the French Revolution...?

From Fandom Olds to Fandom Youngs: A brief history of the “Canadian shack” trope.

fanfiction

With the return of Bridgerton this week, Gav suggested a historical romance theme! This list is half Regency romance, half other historical settings. Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth

“All Our Stars Aligned (Put Love On Hold)” by two_ravens and xaritomene. 133K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Bandom (mainly Fall Out Boy); Ship: Pete Wentz/Patrick Stump
Recced by: earlgreytea68
Backstory: Fall Out Boy is a band! Relevantly speaking for this story, there is a lead singer named Patrick who writes the music and a bassist named Pete who writes the lyrics. They’ve been in an intense creative relationship with each other since Patrick was a teenager, have a very trope-heavy history that I can only give you the very tip of the iceberg here, and describe their communicative link as “cryptophasia.”
Rec: If Bridgerton made you crave a good Regency AU, here is one. This is the kind of fic that gives you every single moment of how these two people fall in love with each other, every witty conversation, every longing glance, and for me that is catnip. Why these two people belong together leaps off the page (screen), and the authors take their time building the foundation so you really believe in the OTP. I was up all night reading this fic and at the end I was just blearily like, “...but who the hell is Pete Wentz????”
Content warnings: Depression

“Rightful Tribute” by redscudery. 658 words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Sherlock; Ship: Sally Donovan/Janine Hawkins
Recced by: tiltedsyllogism
Backstory: The summary: “It was really the swan that started it, though Janine would always afterwards assert that Sally had been planning an alfresco assault on her virtue for some time.”
Rec: Redscudery writes *brilliant* Victorian and Regency-era smut. This is one of many shining gems in her smut coronet.
Content warnings: N/A

“the marriage plot” by jamiethegardener. 20K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King; Ship: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Recced by: Alana
Backstory: A Regency AU set around Christmas in which all the Losers (but mainly Eddie, Richie, Bev, Ben, and Bill) get into scandals on the marriage mart. Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, Eddie decides he must marry and Richie decides he must help him...even though he can barely stand the idea.
Rec: The author manages to fuse Regency dialogue with the feel of the Losers. This fandom is really lacking in Regency AUs and this one has all the snappy dialogue and Ton drama you could want.
Content warnings: References to abuse, Canon-typical violence, reference to abortion

“Family Placement” by notlucy. 88K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Captain America/Marvel; Ship: Steve/Bucky
Recced by: Heidi
Backstory: Steve and Bucky fall in love on the prairie.
Rec: It’s like Little House with way less morality and way more smut and queerness. Just a lovely, homey story with Steve and Bucky and a great cast of characters (including one of my favorite Peggy Carter portrayals ever).
Content warnings: N/A

“you’re in my blood like holy wine” by magneticwave. 73K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Game of Thrones (TV); Ship: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Regency AU where Sansa tries to guide Arya through the dangerous waters of her first Season. Jon offers her his help, but Sansa is afraid to rely on him thanks to a secret in her past.
Rec: Stunningly written, full of period-accurate detail, and perfectly transposes Sansa’s talent at court-maneuvering to Jane Austen-era England. Marriage is life and death for women in Sansa’s world, and the author really makes you feel the stakes for Sansa here.
Content warnings: Mention of past rape (not on the page)

“Lan Fangji series” by astronicht 18K words over 3 works, rated Explicit.
Fandom: MDZS/The Untamed ; Ship: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: MDZS/The Untamed is a Chinese historical fantasy fandom, but canon is largely irrelevant to this AU.
Rec: I love the extreme specificity of this AU, which melds the xianxia roots of MDZS canon with a Renaissance Italy setting. The two main characters are now a vampire and a necromancer from Ming Dynasty China, meeting by coincidence while traveling in Europe. This may sound like a lot of extra worldbuilding for a relatively brief trio of stories, but the new set-up is deftly introduced and very fun, with a hilariously original meet-cute!
Content warnings: Graphic violence in one of the fics

https://twitter.com/AShihipar/status/1505222469652787203

FINAL THOUGHT

Have a great weekend, everyone! — Elizabeth