The Rec Center #56
Hello! Congratulations: you’ve survived this week. Have some fannish distractions! We’ve got our usual mix of articles and Tumblr stuff, plus Gav’s explainer and recs for Garak/Bashir from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine! — Elizabeth
new stuff
“‘The nerds are also here’: Talking to the women who marched with Princess Leia” by Esther Zuckerman at the AV Club
“Todd Fisher agreed that he saw the march in Washington as continuing his sister’s mission: ‘She was a champion of women, no one can deny it.’”
“Overwatch’s gamer girl hero inspires a feminist movement” by Allegra Frank at Polygon
On the other side of the globe from DC, women in Seoul, South Korea marched under the banner of the National D.Va Association, which finds inspiration in an Overwatch character.
“What one ‘Supergirl’ story arc taught me about coming out” by Andrea Towers at Mashable
We’ve shared another of these already, but it’s amazing how much of an impact this Supergirl storyline has had on so many fans! <3
“San Jose, California Councilman Proudly Holds a Captain America Shield While Taking Oath of Office” by Lori Dorn at Laughing Squid
“I think Captain America represents…embodies the ideals of America. And those are the kind of things I’m hoping to strive for: Equal justice, fair play, and, democracy. …I think it’s a symbol of what’s positive…in this darkened political landscape.” [WE LOVE THIS MAN]
older stuff
“Why Study Fan Archives?: An Interview with Abigail De Kosnik” Parts One and Two at Henry Jenkins’s blog
One aca-fan in conversation with another! On fannish archival practices, and fanworks as archives.
femslash february!
We’re about to embark on an experiment! Many fanfiction communities do Femslash February challenges, and last February when we were a very new newsletter we had our first femslash list from a guest reccer. (Elisabeth, with multi-fandom sports AUs!) But this February, we thought why not go for broke and dedicate the whole month to femslash? :-D We know from last year’s reader survey that tons of you want more femslash, so…! We have some one-off recs queued up and a few people interested in doing guest lists, but if you’d like to participate, you could:
Send one-off recs! Use our regular form, and please add “femslash” or “f/f” somewhere in there to help me sort through submissions. (As always, please send in one-offs of any sort—we’ll go back to mixing things up in March!)
Do a guest list! Respond to this or email elizabethandgav at gmail
Write an explainer or a ship manifesto! These could be separate from fic recs or in conjunction with them. Get in touch through the same channels…
I’m anticipating we’ll actually wind up with more #content than we can use, so hopefully this will help us close the gap between the desire for femslash and the disproportionate lack of it amongst all our fic recs.
One final note! As the Fanlore page mentions, there’s been a call to highlight Black women within Femslash February, since it coincides with Black History Month. We, too, are hoping we’ll be able to do that, so our call for recs is an extra-big request for stories featuring characters of color generally and Black characters in particular. If you have any favorite stories or ships, please please please send them our way. — Elizabeth
tumblr & beyond
Check out Queen of Luna’s amazing cosplay makeup and hijab looks!!
A beautiful tale of historical reenactments and unexpected fanfiction.
“Actual activist Shia LaBeouf.”
fanfiction
Many of you won’t have seen Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but that’s okay! I hadn’t when I started reading Garak/Bashir fic years ago, and I’m still only up to season 5 now. So, here’s a super-quick guide to Garak/Bashir and DS9, for the uninitiated! — Gav
Deep Space Nine is a space station in a war-torn quadrant of the galaxy, co-run by the Federation/Starfleet (i.e. the people in charge of the Enterprise etc) and the independent planet Bajor, which recently escaped decades of brutal colonization by the Cardassians, a reptilian race with a powerful military empire.
Julian Bashir is the young, cheerful, flirtatious (and occasionally unethical) chief medical officer of DS9. Elim Garak is the only Cardassian on the space station, a witty and cynical former spy who now works as a tailor. Here’s their first scene in the pilot episode! There’s a running joke where Garak insists he’s “just” a plain, simple tailor, when in reality he’s a fiendishly cunning Cold War veteran, living in exile despite a deep and complicated sense of patriotic duty towards the flawed Cardassian state. The two men share an unlikely friendship that would probably have been an explicit canonical romance if the show hadn’t been airing in the ‘90s: going on regular dinner dates, discussing literature and cultural differences, flirting constantly, and sharing various sci-fi/political adventures with the other characters.
“Opacity of Paradise” by thehoyden. 10K words long, rated Mature.
Backstory: This begins after a specific episode (which I haven’t actually reached yet) somewhere in the later seasons, which features an important plot twist for Julian’s character. So, only read this if you don’t care about spoilers!
Rec: A marriage of convenience story! TheHoyden’s Garak/Bashir fic is extremely well-characterized, romantic, and fun. I highly recommend all of her writing in this fandom.
Content warnings: N/A
“Bachelor’s Wife” by LadyDrace. 12K words, rated Explicit.
Backstory: Garak/Bashir fics vary between emphasizing the differences between Garak and Bashir’s physiological differences, and basically treating Garak like a human man with a few aesthetic changes. This one focuses on a pretty significant element of Cardassian physiology: Garak shedding his scales, and the taboo associated with having to deal with this alone.
Rec: Explores their relationship through sex rather than plot, in an original way that introduces an interesting and plausible new element of Cardassian culture. I appreciated the decision to tell this particular story from Garak’s POV, since he tends to be pretty enigmatic in the show, and is by definition an outsider compared to the other characters.
Content warnings: N/A
“Altering Course” by AuroraNova. 72K words, rated Teen.
Backstory: Takes place after the end of the show, but isn’t really spoilery except in the geopolitical sense. Julian decides to move to Cardassia to work as a doctor, and ends up living with Garak
Rec: Set in the post-war ruins of Cardassia, this is a long, slow-burn romance that deals with the aftermath of a war without really requiring any background knowledge of the canon specifics. It’s not especially dark, focusing more on the pragmatic side of survival, as Garak and Bashir fall in love and build a life together in their new home.
Content warnings: N/A
“Learning the Language” by Allemande. 13K words, rated Teen.
Backstory: Post-series, on Cardassia.
Rec: After working alongside Cardassians on a day-to-day basis, Julian becomes more familiar with Cardassian customs, and realizes some things he previously didn’t understand about his relationship with Garak. This is another rather mature take on their relationship, setting the two characters on a more equal footing than Julian’s youthful naivete on DS9.
Content warnings: N/A
“Strange and Distance Shorts” by gryvon. 7K words, rated Explicit.
Backstory: Post-series, on Cardassia.
Rec: Partly told as a retrospective interview with Garak sometime in the future; partly told in flashbacks to Julian’s first arrival on Cardassia, when he and Garak first fell in love.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
It turns out we’re eligible for a Hugo Award! If you enjoy The Rec Center and are able to nominate for the Hugos, please consider nominating us in the Fanzine category! — Gav
If you liked this, please share it with your friends! https://thereccenter.substack.com/. And find us on social media: Gav (twitter/tumblr) & Elizabeth (twitter/tumblr)