February 23, 2024

The Rec Center #425

Hello everyone! It’s the final week of Femslash February, so we have one more batch of multifandom f/f—plus articles on Christopher Nolan fans and a brand-new TTRPG site, some Portal fanart, and Gav’s review of the live-action ATLA! — Elizabeth

new stuff

“Rascal Domain Expansion: Alternative. Independent. Roguelike.” by Lin Codega, Rowan Zeoli, and Chase Carter at Rascal
TTRPG fans! Rascal is a new worker-owned site covering the “the industry, fandom, and finances that make up the TTRPG ecosystem.”

“The People Who Never Stopped Loving Tenet” by Tim Grierson at RogerEbert.com
A deep dive into the niche but intense fanbase for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, covering the film’s original reception, its legacy as a lockdown-era movie, and why some people are so keen to argue that it’s a misunderstood gem.

“‘There Aren’t Enough Hours in the Day to Get Anything Done!’ Says Woman Who Just Spent Three of Them Reading ‘Trolls’ Fan Fiction on Her Phone” at Reductress
Look…

older stuff

“Writing Fan Fiction Gave Me Community and Creative Freedom” by Sabrina Qiao at Electric Literature
“I write fanfiction for the same reason people join a recreational soccer league or enroll in a pottery-making class: to find a community where I could practice my passion and skills with like-minded individuals.”

tumblr & beyond

Portal fanart by frigid-shade

“pretty cool ship you’ve got there. have you considered adding another guy to it though”

an unintentional (??) Spiders Georg fanwork????

alarming news from the het side of omegaverse.

“i’m not into slow burn because i yearn to feel i am worthy of longing or something...”

“he has bewitched me btw.”

fanfiction

And we have reached the final week of Femslash February! (If you missed any installments, here’s Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3.) If you sent in a rec this month and you haven’t seen it here, it’s because I’m holding onto it to get more f/f into all our other lists throughout the year! Thanks so much to everyone who submitted something (and we’re always after more femslash, so please, don’t hesitate to share!). <3 — Elizabeth

“Fifteen Reasons To Do The Right Thing” by KL_Morgan. 16K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Orange Is the New Black; Ship: Alex Vause/Piper Chapman
Recced by: runawaymarbles
Backstory: OITNB is set in a women’s prison; Alex and Piper are ex-girlfriends who are both there for drug trafficking,
Rec: It’s a wonderful look at the characters and relationship that doesn’t soften them, but also doesn’t villanize them. Alex’s internal monologue feels very real to the character, with some great bits of humor thrown in.
Content warnings: Prison, drug use

“you set my soul alight” by tangeriinedreams. 42K words, rated Explicit,
Fandom: Dreamcatcher (Korean girl group); Ship: Handong/Yoohyeon
Recced by: Anne
Backstory: Contemporary AU where some of the members of kpop rock girl group Dreamcatcher work together, and one of them, Yoohyeon, decides to see a professional domme for the first time.
Rec: I can’t stop thinking about this story even two years after reading it because the balance between gentle exploration of kink in conversation and gorgeous intense sex is perfect. The characters are obviously reminiscent of the real singers, but there is also a lot of in-depth characterisation that is unique to the story and makes the AU versions of them stand out.
Content warnings: No archive warnings, author details content warnings at the start of each chapter

“Orange Petals” by wjock. 2K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: The Strange Case of Starship Iris; Ship: Violet Liu/Arkady Patel/Sana Tripathi
Recced by: enchantedsleeper
Backstory: The Strange Case of Starship Iris is a podcast that feels like it’s best described as “be gay, do crimes in space,” though there are also elements of mystery, linguistics, alien civilisations, and lots of found-family feels. Not taking place at any specific point in the canon, this fic brings the ship’s captain Sana Tripathi together with her first mate, Arkady Patel, and the ship’s science officer, Violet Liu, after a close brush with some alien flora.
Rec: This fic focuses on the not-so-often-seen threesome of Sana/Arkady/Violet, who have a brilliant contrast of personalities—and puts Sana in a situation where she’s vulnerable, something we don’t see that often. The fic explores Sana’s conflict over acting on her feelings for Arkady and Violet as well as over leaning on them in a tough situation, while making clear that Arkady and Violet are fully on board with being there for Sana—even when that requires “emergency” sex.
Content warnings: Dubious consent owing to sex pollen (even though the characters are shown to be consenting as much as they can in-fic)

“you know my name” by kaydeefalls. 4.6K words, rated Teen.
Fandoms: The Old Guard + Bond fusion; Ship: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Recced by: stars-inthe-sky
Backstory: The Old Guard features a found family of extremely long-lived immortals, including Andromache (the 7000-year-old leader) and Quynh, who are strongly implied to have been romantically and sexually involved in the past. This story is a 007/Bond AU, but you don’t need to know anything about any Bond movies.
Rec: It’s just fun, with gadgets and hjinks aplenty, as well as some real feels.
Content warnings: Light angst

“full bloom” by seventhswan. 16K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy; Ship: Rey/Jessika Pava
Recced by: seralica
Backstory: Set in a version of the SW Sequel Trilogy verse which has romantic soulmates, where marks appear at some point in one’s life. Rey does not know any more than that, and gets some surprises. Note: written after TFA, ignores TLJ/TROS.
Rec: I love this for two reasons: one, a really interesting exploration of a common trope. Two, Rey’s relationships in this: not just the very sweet well-built romance between Rey and Jessika Pava (one of the X-wing pilots), but her friendships and familial relationships on Jakku and in the Resistance.
Content warnings: N/A

“Still life with oranges” by pigflight. 4.3K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Dimension 20 - Fantasy High: Sophomore Year; Ship: Ayda Aguefort/Figueroth Faeth
Recced by: baz
Backstory: Ayda is a half-phoenix wizard who grew up on the enormous pirate ship/city of Leviathan feeling constantly out of place and alone. Fig is an adventuring high school student and part time rock star who struggles with her self-worth. When they meet on Leviathan they’re immediately drawn together and a very sweet friendship-turned-romance begins to bloom—this fic is about their first official date.
Rec: Ayda and Fig are very different people but they treat each other with a tenderness and understanding that is so sweet to read, and this author gets it just absolutely right. My favorite part is that, despite it being from Ayda’s POV, you can clearly see how much Fig is also enjoying herself on their ice cream date.
Content warnings: N/A

“The Daily Grind” by PerpetuaLilium. 38K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Locked Tomb; Ship: Gideon Nav/Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Recced by: a-big-apple
Backstory: Modern AU of a science fantasy book series about necromancy and space imperialism! Harrowhark Nona hires her childhood nemesis as the new cook in her family’s struggling Italian restaurant in Upstate New York, and I bet you can guess what happens when they actually spend time together without fighting!
Rec: This is the most specific and gorgeous AU I’ve ever read. The narrative voice is to die for, watching the restaurant be slowly turned around is intensely satisfying, and there’s a lovely pragmatism to the romantic story that makes it feel very real.
Content warnings: Discussion of past child abuse, brief mention of a past suicide, discussion of past hallucinations and unreality due to mental illness, COVID is a plot point

FINAL THOUGHT

I reviewed Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender this week, and it was a disappointing experience to say the least. As a fan of the original show, this felt like a depressingly predictable style of mishandled live-action remake, “staying true to the story” while stripping away most of the source material’s charm, humor and complexity. When will Hollywood learn!! — Gav