The Rec Center #85
Hi folks! It’s been a difficult week so hopefully we can give you a bit of a break. :) Marie’s here with Good Omens fanfic recs because of the casting news, we’ve got some adorable Star Trek: Discovery fanart, and an exciting update for fans of the Captive Prince trilogy. — Gav
new stuff
“Poaching in the Textual Enclosure: Nineteenth-Century Literary Fandoms, at the Intersection of Gender and Space” by Evan Hayles Gledhill
For the academically-minded/interested! Evan’s episode of Fansplaining, “Fangirling Through Time,” was one of listeners’ all-time favorites. If you enjoyed that, read this right now! “The title of this article draws a parallel between debates over authorship and control of the text, and the enclosure debates about ownership and land usage in the nineteenth century.” 😍
“C.S. Pacat announces new comic series ‘Fence’” by Tracy Brown at the LA Times
Captive Prince author C.S. Pacat is collaborating with artist Johanna the Mad to create a sports anime-inspired comic about teen fencing students. OMG!
“The Enormous Night” by Zan Romanoff at Hazlitt
If you were interested in but have yet to get your hands on a copy of Zan Romanoff’s Grace and the Fever, a YA novel about boyband fandom that came out a few months ago, Hazlitt has an excerpt up this week! (For more on Grace and other boyband YA novels, be sure to check out Allyson Gross’s piece on the subject, too!)
older stuff
“Silence in the library: Archives and the preservation of fannish history” by Versaphile at Transformative Works and Cultures
“For those who seek to read and be read, to build on and be inspired by the collective history of fannish creativity, there is nothing so vital to authorial fandom's survival as the archive.”
tumblr & beyond
Michael Burnham and young Spock Star Trek: Discovery fanart by gj-fangirls
The Most Accurate Jeeves & Wooster graph
The ultimate soulmate AU.
This anecdote about the Battlestar Galactica reboot is an interesting reminder that basically every reboot is greeted with intense dislike by fans, regardless of how awesome it turns out to be.
fanfiction
Marie is a graphic designer, book reviewer, and comic book artist, as well as the author of Scale Hearts, a book about dragons out this December!
Good Omens is a book about the apocalypse co-written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It’s about a demon and an angel who have been on earth since the very beginning and have started to get comfortable. They hear that the end of the world is scheduled in eleven years and they decide to work together to stop it from happening. But they’re both somewhat incompetent, and they manage to lose the antichrist. Hilarity ensues.
I’ve been in the Good Omens fandom on and off for about ten years now, and a lot of these fics are from the olden times of ff.net and livejournal. They might all be fandom famous, but they’re a good starting point. Also I ship Aziraphale and Crowley but I tried to throw in some diversity in there too. — Marie
“When Summoning, Please Watch The Wording” by Ryuuza Kochoul. 5.4K words, rated Teen.
Fandoms: Good Omens, Supernatural; Ship: Gen
Backstory: Dean and Sam fall into the hands of Satanists, who, naturally, want to use Sam as the vessel for the Golden Eyed Demon. Well...they do get A Certain Golden Eyed Demon. And an avenging Angel. And a serious posterior whooping. Good Omens Crossover
Rec: Set before angels were a part of the Supernatural universe. Just a very funny story, really, where Crowley refuses to act like a proper demon.
Content warnings: Temporary death of a child
“Manchester Lost” (and its sequel! “Paradise Thwarted”) by Moczo. 100K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Good Omens; Ship: Aziraphale/Crowley, others
Backstory: -an ensemble sequel to the novel- Our heroes have managed to make things worse, as the Apocalypse is starting up…again. Drama! Action! Humor! Adventure! Tea! Suspense! Snark! Romance!
Rec: This fic is both awesome and hilarious. Even the OCs are so likeable that they’re dangerously close to becoming headcanon, especially the archangels. With a flowing and incredibly funny narration, it’s a must read for every Good Omens fan.
Content warnings: usually only temporary character deaths
“The Sacred and the Profane” (alternate link) by afrai. 38K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Good Omens; Ship: Zirah/Caphriel (Demon!Aziraphael and Angel!Crowley)
Backstory: Somewhere else the happy ending was different. A retelling of GO canon with the angel/demon roles flipped for Aziraphale and Crowley.
Rec: You know how every fandom has that one fic that had great writing but is sure to break your heart, but that you read anyway because it's that good? And then you’re crying your life and vow to never read it again? This is it. It’s unforgettable. According to TV Tropes: “with a twisted undercurrent to it; this is what Good Omens would have been like if processed through a nightmarish filter of cynicism.” Everything is terrible, but implied happy ending.
Content warnings: everything is sort of disturbing, mention of off-screen baby death, major character death
“And So We Come Full Circle” by Hekateras. 38K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Good Omens; Ship: Aziraphale/Crowley
Backstory: Nothing lasts forever and the final Apocalypse can only be delayed for so long.
There is a school of thought that says you cannot fight fate. And another that claims there’s no such thing as predestination, only those powerful enough to make your choices for you—if you let them. Aziraphale puts both to the test.
Rec: Excuse me while I go cry in a corner. No, but really, this is beautiful. The “it will keep you awake in the night” kind of beautiful. The whole series is a must read. This is a fandom-famous fic, and for damned good reasons. Happy ending though! For those who were worried.
Content warnings: temporary character death, general apocalypse things
“The Captain Crowley” series by Daegaer. 22K words, mostly rated Gen, but one part is rated Teen.
Fandom: Good Omens; Ship: Gen
Backstory: The story of Crowley, from his fall to the end of the world
Rec: Basically, this story is about how Crowley is sent to WWI by Hell to make soldiers renounce God, and he says ‘fuck that. We’re already in hell. I’m bringing my boys home.’ It’s beautiful.
Content warnings: General WWI-related things: death, PTSD, trench warfare, violence
“A Matter of Convenience” by Hekateras. 13K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Good Omens; Ship: Gen
Backstory: “You know,” Crowley rasped as he struggled to scrape himself off the ground, “I can't shake the feeling that there must be an easier way to go about this.” A possible take on the birth of the Arrangement.
Rec: An interesting story about how the Arrangement might have come to be. I just love their characterization in this, esp. at the beginning.
Content warnings: N/A
“Falling rain” by Aria. 7.6K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Good Omens; Ship: Aziraphale/Crowley
Backstory: Once upon a time, an angel and a demon hitched a ride on the Ark.
Rec: It’s actually more like ‘Aziraphale gets invited on the ark, Crowley hides on it, and they somehow agree to a temporary truce while all this is happening.’ As usual for Good Omens fic, very funny.
Content warnings: N/A
“Il n’y a de nouveau que ce qui est oublié” by Marie Suzette. 3.9K words, rated Teen.
Fandoms: Good Omens, The Avengers MCU; Ship: Gen
Backstory: Before she was Pepper Potts, her name was Virginia. And before she was Virginia, she lived in Lower Tadfield...
Rec: A wonderful short story about how Pippin Galadriel Moonchild became Pepper Potts
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
If you’re in the New York City area, FlameCon, a fantastic queer fan con going into its third year, will be this Saturday and Sunday in downtown Brooklyn. I will be there both days! Tickets are still on sale and it’s more affordable than most cons I’ve been to, so if you’re within easy traveling distance, it’s highly recommended. Not least because ALL THESE ARTISTS will be selling their work. :-DDD — Elizabeth
Have a favorite one-off rec? Please send it our way! We’ll use it in a future list. Other fanworks—comics, vids, etc—are strongly encouraged as well.
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)