April 5, 2024

The Rec Center #431

Hello everyone! This week we have television endings, literary fan tourism, and Gav on the 25th anniversary of The Matrix, plus Witcher fanart and a multifandom list of daemon AUs! — Elizabeth

 

new stuff

“What makes a TV ending?” by Sadie Witkowski at In Defense of Fandom
IDoF is a fan culture podcast that just started its second season—on TV show endings and fans’ responses to them—and Elizabeth is one of the guests! The first episode is out now.

“With Melville in Pittsfield” by J. D. Daniels at The Paris Review
“It was snowing on the hill as I stood and stared at the white whale’s twin.” An interesting, meandering essay about a trip to Herman Melville’s house in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

“25 Years Ago, The Matrix Redefined Cinematic Cool” by Gav at Inverse
For The Matrix's 25th anniversary, Gav wrote about how the Wachowskis captured a very specific zeitgeist in 1999, inspiring a flood of ripoffs throughout the 2000s.

 

 

older stuff

“Inside the Homes Where Passionate Fandoms Come to Life” by Katherine McLaughlin at Architectural Digest
“If we have a right to choose where we live, I want to live in the place that makes me the happiest.” On people who let their fandoms guide their interior-decorating choices.

 

tumblr & beyond

The Witcher fanart by plaidposh

passing the bisexual torch

“Can you test for drift compatibility via improv comedy”

pouring one out for everyone currently obsessed with Some Guy.

"PICARD: They do not owe us the emotional labor of a response, Mr. Worf."

deepest respect for Anya Taylor-Joy’s Vampire Chronicles-themed wedding (the anatomical heart cakes!)

“I think that after the wire bashir should have prescribed garak sunglasses”

 

fanfiction

Daemon AUs! A popular fusion element across fandoms. If you love them (or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, if you are confused about what a “daemon” is) we ran a daemon AU guest explainer and rec list back in 2019! Thanks to everyone who sent in this batch of recs. — Elizabeth

“one for sorrow, two for joy” by Ariaste. 36K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Hands of the Emperor - Victoria Goddard; Ship: Gen
Recced by: stackingturtles
Backstory: HotE is a long fantasy book focused on bureaucracy and the deep, growing, treasonous friendship between a living god-emperor and his brilliant secretary from the hinterlands of his Empire (both in their later years). Their (treasonous) friendship is the foundation for turning the empire upside down in the name of a more just world—and retirement!
Rec: This is a daemon AU—except the emperor, who is by tradition a god and therefore cannot have one. But the emperor is, of course, really a man and must have a daemon. This fic is about using daemons as a route to knowing one's (treasonous) friends' souls a little better, with all the humour and angst that entails.
Content warnings: N/A

“Witch Oil and Marsh Fire” by PanBoleyn 70K words over 3 works, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Magicians; Ship: Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh
Recced by: Nicole
Backstory: So far the only Daemon AU I've seen in the Magicians fandom (ed. note: we received this rec a while ago, but there seem to be a few more now), but even if it wasn't, it'd be my favourite. This is a series, but split into three different AUs—remixed in three different ways the story could have unfolded post the (wildly disappointing to say the least) S4 finale.
Rec: The character dynamics with both the people and daemons are SO good and well thought out, but seeing how they vary and evolve within the three separate AU/timelines just enhances each of them individually!
Content warnings: Standard fare for The Magicians—suicidal ideation, canonical suicide (fix it though!) and a little non-con (nothing too explicit) as it relates to The Monster.

“it's what isn’t in the name” by tciddaemina. 41K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death; Ship: Ed/Stede
Recced by: chocolatepot
Backstory: OFMD is an outrageously creative fandom with a strong love of AUs.
Rec: Makes amazing use of the premise to emphasize the themes of the show—masculinity, gender performance, the underestimation of Stede Bonnet.
Content warnings: Bullying, declawing

“Lacuna” by morpholomeg. 29K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: MCU; Ship: Gen (Natasha & Clint)
Recced by: transkakashi
Backstory: Set before the events of the modern MCU movies, this fic explores how Natasha and Clint develop their relationship and end up trusting each other. It's also an HDM fusion, with each character's daemon playing an important role in the story.
Rec: Natasha and Clint's characterisation is superb here, and the added lens of including daemons just makes everything better. The worldbuilding and characters make this fic lovable and easy to read.
Content warnings: Canon-typical violence

“​​All Cats Are Black in the Dark” by Asuka Kureru 5.8K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Bleach; Ship: Grimmjow Jaegerjaques/Kurosaki Ichigo
Recced by: berry
Backstory: The first fic in a series that explores how events could have gone in the Bleach universe if everyone had daemons except for Hollows.
Rec: I love how the daemons are seamlessly blended into the canon world, and the exploration of how the addition of daemons changes things. The emotions are charged and the writing is raw and poignant.
Content warnings: Canon-typcial violence, non-consensual daemon touching?, canon character death

“A Few Notes in the Song of Creation (a Lord of the Rings Dæmon AU)” by kathkin. 50K words over 20 works, rated Gen to Teen.
Fandom: Lord of the Rings (movies/books); Ship: Mostly Gen
Recced by: celeryy
Backstory: Missing moment scenes set in a re-worked LOTR canon where the characters have daemons, a la His Dark Materials. A great read even if you aren't familiar with Phillip Pullman’s work.
Rec: Delightful characters and dialogue (characterization falls somewhere between book and movie versions)—especially for the hobbits. The AU factor is fully integrated into the world of Middle Earth, with its own internal logic and implications, becoming a whole new lens for exploring the story we know and love.
Content warnings: N/A

 

 

FINAL THOUGHT

Happy 10th anniversary to Captain America: The Winter Soldier! That movie remains a highlight of my fandom experience to date—an incredibly prolific and creative community, and surely the MCU’s peak in terms of transformative fan culture. — Gav