The Rec Center #69
#69. Nice.
new stuff
“Fan Fiction vs. Fanfiction” by Flourish Klink at Fansplaining
Elizabeth’s podcast partner takes on Merriam-Webster—which puts the dreaded space between “fan” and “fiction.” Featuring a (brief) Gav citation!
“Mei Qi & Xuan Yi of WJSN are actually married lesbian Chinese billionaires, says Internet” at AsianJunkie
If you’ve been on Twitter today, you may have seen some viral tweets celebrating the marriage of two Chinese lesbian billionaires. Pretty rad! Except they’re actually members of the band WSJN, and they’re not married. Congrats to K-pop fandom for getting this trending, we suppose!
older stuff
“Barthes, Austen and the internet” by Michael Saler at the TLS
On historical fandom, the death of the author, the rise of secularism, and the embrace of fantastical worlds.
tumblr & beyond
“A YA dystopian novel, but twenty pages in you realize the society I’m describing is literally just people flying first class vs. coach”: Paul Kruger’s too-real narrative about flying is A++
The two approaches to canon.
“vader’s final scene in rogue one but with gimme more by britney spears” by kanjiklubs
The Harry Potter ambient sound mixer: this sound mixing site includes a bunch of ambient noises to play while you’re writing, hanging out, etc. Some of them are Harry Potter-inspired, like the sound of the Gryffindor common room!
realm of the elderlings explainer
[Ed note: Last week we put out a call for guest explainers and ship manifestos and we had an incredible response! If anyone wants to rec their favorite thing or go to bat for their favorite ship, just reply to this email and let us know. This week Maddy starts things off with the final installment of Robin Hobb’s fantasy series.]
Maddy can be found on tumblr or AO3, where they regularly post about video games, TV, and books. Maddy first picked up Assassin’s Apprentice, book one of the Realm of the Elderlings series in 2009, and hasn’t put them down since.
FitzChivalry Farseer is born the bastard of the King-in-Waiting Chivalry Farseer, and is the catalyst that causes his father’s abdication of the throne of the Six Duchies. Fitz’s own chaotic life at court is sheltered under his grandfather, the king, while he learns to be useful by becoming a royal assassin. Robin Hobb’s masterful high fantasy books take from the best of a wide variety of genres—world development from science fiction, mystery from detective novels, complex and fleshed out magic systems from fantasy fiction—and combines them to create the character driven narrative style that defines Hobb’s works.
There are so many reasons I love these books, but the two main characters of the series cinch it together for me. Fitz is a lovable idiot, whose main flaw is caring too much for the people around him as his country falls apart—the King’s health falters and his two remaining sons vie for power while war bears down from the sea. Fitz’s musings on love, life and his place in world make me laugh and cry in equal amounts. The other main character, the Fool, is a trickster, wood carver and sometime prophet, whose self-stated goal is to save the world from itself. He is the first genderqueer character I found in fiction, and is completely unapologetic about who he is. On a quest to save the world, the Fool winds his way in and out of the fifteen books in the Realm of the Elderlings series, always there to hint and guide in order to achieve his goals. An amazingly complex character, the Fool is the shining jewel of Hobb’s character-driven style.
Other reasons you should read these books:
Dragons—intelligent dragons, with agency, character and flaws.
Fitz and the Fool’s relationship drives the entire series, and it’s canon that they love each other (they confess in book 3).
Books set in a medieval fantasy world that has its own conflict outside Fitz’s point of view.
Fierce women in powerful positions who are unrepentant about their goals and how they achieve them.
Amazing world building and magic, with deep mysteries uncovered as the series progresses.
The sixteenth and last book, Assassin’s Fate, is going to be released on May 4th in the UK and May 9th in the US.
If you’d like any more information about the series or just want to yell at me about it, I can be found at staraptordreams.tumblr.com—feel free to ask me anything. Now, please go and pick up the first book, Assassin’s Apprentice, and get reading!
fanfiction
This week we have a grab bag—stories from a variety of fandoms! As always, thanks to people who sent in recs, and if you have one of your own, please share via our submissions form. :-) — Elizabeth
“A Cord of Three Strands” by Fasnacht. 250K words, rated Explicit (eventually).
Fandom: Harry Potter; Ships: Hermione Granger/Fred Weasley/George Weasley (threesome but no incest—a V relationship)
Recced by: Taylor
Backstory: AU where Fred, George, and Hermione are a magically powerful triad, the power behind the the the Golden Trio. They hold the power that will eventually enable Harry to defeat Voldemort. Covers books 1-7.
Rec: I’m a sucker for anything with the Weasley twins, and this is a relatively unique take on soul bonds/Powerful!Hermione fics. The Granger parents are given their own roles and much more agency than they have in the books as well.
Content warnings: canon levels of violence
“Experiments in Writer’s Block” by Pax. 2.6K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Y Tu Mamá También; Ship: Tenoch Iturbide/Julio Zapata
Recced by: Chestnut_filly
Backstory: YTMT is Alfonso Cuarón’s masterpiece road trip/Bildungsroman/Mexican political commentary movie, one of the landmarks of el Nuevo Cine Mexicano, and a great movie to watch when you’re young and confused and bi and in transition. The ship is an angsty one, but so interesting and full of unspokens.
Rec: This story is really predicated on the movie’s last, fantastic scene. It gets right into Tenoch’s head and does a beautiful job explaining how he gets to the person he is by the last scene. It’s gorgeously written and headcanon material for sure.
Content warnings: N/A
“Lacuna” by morpholomeg. 29K words, rated Teen.
Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, His Dark Materials; Ship: Gen, Natasha Romanoff & Clint Barton friendship
Recced by: Serie11/acesamw
Backstory: The MCU has a lot of gaps in its canon, especially regarding minor characters that don’t have whole movies dedicated to them. This lends itself wonderfully to fanfiction, and HDM has elements that can be easily incorporated into fics.
Rec: An amazing look at how Clint and Natasha could have developed their friendship pre-Avengers,with plot and character development that's spiced up with daemons from His Dark Materials canon.
Content warning: Some violence
“Don’t Call the Midwife” by Square Pudding. 14K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Welcome to Night Vale; Ship: Carlos/Cecil Palmer
Recced by: Theresa
Backstory: Cecil and Carlos (the Scientist) became boyfriends canonically, after Cecil’s many loving rambles on Night Vale radio and Carlos’ near-death experience.
Rec: A very loving and supportive relationship mixed in with the oddity of Night Vale. Plus, consentacles!
Content warnings: Tentacles, mpreg, gender dysphoria
“Being Dead Ain’t Easy” by D. Draggy. 68K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh; Ship: Seto Kaiba/Joey Wheeler
Recced by: espionne
Backstory: Nostalgia ahoy! Wherein spirits from Ancient Egypt involve others in their nonsense via a children’s card game—it’s serious business. Kaiba and Joey (or Jounouchi) seemingly are polar opposites who detest each other, but instead are great foils and can't help but rise to the other’s bait.
Rec: This goes beyond the central conceit of the series and expands on what Ancient Egyptian spirits, reincarnation, and magic have to do with a “mundane” friend character. Ghost shenanigans, UST, a great plot, hilarious internal narration, and fantastic characterization for all involved.
Content warning: Major character death at beginning
“Lover In Low Light” by Chrmdpoet. 85K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: The 100; Ship: Clarke/Lexa (with Lexa/Costia and Clarke/Finn to start)
Recced by: Mel
Backstory: Five years after their relationship’s end, college sweethearts Lexa and Clarke find themselves in the same city again. Now, they are different people with different lovers and different lives, but neither ever fully let the other go.
Rec: Chrmdpoet has an expressive, poetic way of writing that feels like being wrapped in a warm blanket and given a cup of tea. This fic made me ache with feelings of love, tenderness, pain, comfort, and satisfaction.
Content warnings: Alcohol and drunkenness, marijuana use, anxiety attacks, referenced minor character (parent) death
“four and twenty lovebirds (baked in a pie)” by stardust_rain. 34k words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Rivers of London (Great British Bake Off AU) Ship: Peter Grant/Thomas Nightingale
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: The Rivers of London novels are an urban fantasy series, but you don’t need to know them to read this fic. Why? Because it’s a Great British Bake Off AU! All you need to know is: Thomas Nightingale is the judge of a competitive baking show (imagine Colin Firth being charming yet uptight), and Peter Grant is one of the contestants. The other contestants are supporting characters from the books.
Rec: This fic is an unexpected idea that works IMPRESSIVELY well. It’s told through TV recaps, blog posts, and media coverage of GBBO—which, if you’re not already aware, is a massive media event in the UK. Like, people are so obsessed with Bake Off! Peter and Nightingale fall in love during the show, but we mostly view their romance through the lens of the subsequent media fallout. It’s a really accurate portrayal of GBBO coverage and fandom, including political commentary about the diverse cast of contestants, and the way viewers interact with the show on social media.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
American Gods starts this weekend! I’m excited to see what everyone thinks of it, partly because I suspect fandom may have a slightly different reaction than the glowingly positive critical reception. I’ve already published a spoiler-free review of the first four episodes, and I’ll be publishing weekly recaps at the Daily Dot.
Overall, I know exactly what I think of the show as a critic, but as a fan?? I’m just not sure! It’s artistically interesting, but surprisingly unemotional compared to Bryan Fuller’s previous work (ie, Hannibal), and I tend to think of relationships and emotional arcs as a necessity to fandom engagement. — Gav
FINAL FINAL THOUGHT
Many of you have probably already taken it, but if you haven’t, Fansplaining’s Fanfiction Definitions Survey closes this weekend! (And after you try to set your personal boundaries for what constitutes fic, listen to Flourish and me struggle over it. We’ll record a follow-up episode next month with the survey responses! — Elizabeth)
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)