The Rec Center #87
Greetings! It looks like, sort of by accident, we have a lot of Game of Thrones things this week! But we also have a *very* long fic list for our very literal “Labor Day” theme: stories about workers’ rights and organized labor. If you’re in the US and lucky enough to have Monday off, we’ve got you covered if you plan on skipping the barbecue or the beach. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Here at the End of All Things” by Adrian Daub at Longreads
“On losing oneself in the geography of fantasy worlds, from Middle Earth to Westeros.”
“R+L=J: a comprehensive oral history of Game of Thrones’ ultimate fan theory” by Aja Romano at Vox
Fans look back at the mystery that shaped 20 years of A Song of Ice and Fire fandom, culminating in the GoT season 7 finale this week.
The mysterious author of My Immortal has seemingly resurfaced after 10 years
“My Immortal” is basically The Room of fanfiction, an iconically bad Harry Potter fanfic that has evolved into a kind of legend. Following last week’s drama over the NYT bestseller scam book Handbook for Mortals, the author of “My Immortal” may have resurfaced on Fictionpress. Oh my God?? P.S. For supplementary reading, here’s Abe Riesman’s 2015 Vulture profile of “My Immortal” and its ~cultural impact~.
older stuff
“‘Game Of Thrones’ Fans Shocked After Some Little Goblin Or Something Killed Off In Last Night’s Episode” at The Onion
This Onion story NEVER GETS OLD.
tumblr & beyond
Fanart: Queen Medusa of the Inhumans by ookaookaooka
Kevin Catalan created a very cool gallery of Game of Thrones creature illustrations on Imgur.
“tonights bdsm safe word is “superwholock” because thats the best moodkiller i can think of”
“The White Lodge”: Greg Ruth’s incredible Twin Peaks art
fanfiction
So this list was prompted by this conversation:
And we got a *ton* of submissions. Like previous calls for themed recs (summer, Halloween, wintry holidays parts 1 & 2) I decided to just make a massive list rather than pick and choose. That means it’s a bit heavy on certain fandoms—if you’re a Les Mis fan and/or a Captain America fan, you’re in luck. Thank you to all of our guest reccers, and a special thank you to chestnut_filly, a regular rec-submitter who had so many stories for this theme! — Elizabeth
“a flame-red ribbon” by arriviste. 7.8K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Les Mis (all adaptations); Ship: Joly/Bossuet/Musichetta
Recced by: Chestnut_filly
Backstory: Musichetta is the practically-a-textual-ghost lover of two of Les Mis’ revolutionaries, both of whom die at the barricade. This story explores how Musichetta copes afterwards.
Rec: This is a great character study as well as being a really interesting look into the lives of lower-class women living unmarried in Paris during the time. It’s very sad and yet has moments of bright joy and a scene of hope towards the end.
Content warnings: Canonical character deaths, pregnancy
“Recto Verso” by Zambla. 8.5K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Harry Potter; Ship: Remus/Sirius
Recced by: Gen
Backstory: Just a classic. This was Zambla's piece for RS Games 2016.
Rec: For your Labor Day rec list about worker’s rights—this is, in my humble opinion, the only one that matters. A devastating, incredibly poetic emotional bulldozer by the best writer I’ve ever encountered in fandom.
Content warnings: mentions of HIV/AIDS, mentions of domestic violence (not between the main characters)
“Average Avengers Local Chapter 7 of New York City” by hetrez. 9K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Avengers; Ship: Steve/Tony
Backstory: Set in the present-day Avengers era, with Steve Rogers getting used to life in 21st century New York.
Rec: Steve Rogers gets righteously indignant about non-union labor and accidentally starts a social movement. Tony Stark goes along for the ride.
Content warnings: N/A
“Arise and Seize the Day” by chash. 15K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The 100; Ship: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Recced by: Kay
Backstory: The 100 is a grimdark (for The CW, anyway) post-apocalyptic nightmare, which means the fandom is roughly 75% AUs. This one, delightfully enough, is a Newsies AU.
Rec: Chash has a habit of writing my favorite AUs in most fandoms, and Arise and Seize the Day is an excellent example. Bellamy has started selling papers to make ends meet after his mother is injured in a factory accident. He teams up with Griffin, one of the city’s best news boys (meaning we get excellent girl-in-trousers secret identity shenanigans). They, and the other news boys, eventually strike against their unfair bosses. Lots of found family feels and fighting The Man.
Content warnings: Minor violence, period-typical attitudes
“A Garden in the Punjab” by Rosie_Rues. 8.3K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Secret Garden; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Chestnut_filly
Backstory: The Secret Garden’s protagonist is an orphaned daughter of a wealthy family who spent her early years in British-controlled India, raised by an Indian ayah who gets only a handful of mentions before being left behind for ~good British values.
Rec: This amazing story takes Mary’s ayah and her daughter, names them, and explores the Amritsar of the turn of the 20th century. It’s full of beautiful sensory description and ends on a lovely note.
Content warnings: N/A
“Get you out the friend zone” by lowriseflare and threeguesses. 5K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Superstore; Ship: Jonah Simms/Amy Dubanowski
Recced by: sandyk
Backstory: Every Superstore episode is about workers’ rights, including the one where nearly everyone walks out in a strike. This fic takes place after the 2nd season finale when the store was destroyed in a tornado, layoffs, and Jonah and Amy having fantastic sex.
Rec: So true to the characters, so funny, also hot.
Content warning: Infidelity
“The one where they’re antiglobalization protesters” by sapote. 8K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis; Ship: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Recced by: saz
Backstory: McKay and Shepard are another in a long line of odd couple sci-fi space husband OTPs. This is an AU, so you really don’t need to know much.
Rec: It’s the G8 summit / Battle in Seattle, but with gay nerds! The team dynamics are well rendered and it makes me think fondly of leftists in my own life
Content warning: if you love capitalism, you will not love this fic
“All the Angels and the Saints” by Speranza. 49K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Captain America; Ship: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: Captain America (A.K.A. Steve Rogers) is a WWII superhero who was frozen in the 1940s and woke up in the present day. He’s the working-class child of Irish immigrants in Depression-era Brooklyn, and because he missed the post-War conservatism of the 1950s, many fans prefer to interpret him as a highly progressive (often socialist) hero, subverting people’s expectations of a “historical” American icon. This fic begins with his childhood and friendship with Bucky Barnes, before moving onto the present day.
Rec: A truly wonderful story covering Steve Rogers’ entire life, exploring his religious upbringing, his relationships, his political ideals, and his cultural background in 1930s/40s New York. I love this characterization of Steve as a political activist in the ’40s, tying into his uncompromising brand of heroism in the Marvel movies. It’s also brilliantly romantic and miserable in its depiction of Steve and Bucky’s epic love story—a popular theme in Captain America fic.
Content warnings: N/A
“The Last Laugh” by bobbiewickham. 17K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Les Mis (Hugo); Ships: Favourite & Feuilly, Favourite/Bahorel
Recced by: Chestnut_filly
Backstory: One of Les Mis’ main plots focuses on a group of student revolutionaries, many of whom have mistresses who are never mentioned at all. One such is Bahorel’s “laughing mistress,” whose name we never learn.
Rec: This story goes into depth on this woman, focusing on the life of a grisette and her relationships with the other young, unmarried women of Paris. It’s a wonderful mix of heavy and light emotions and a great fantastic character study.
Content warning: Canonical character death
“Across the Border” by Tarasque. 115K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Ship: Finn/Poe
Recced by: Krytella
Backstory: The author was inspired by the real-world “doomed friendship between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X.” The good guys won; now what? (Finn is going to lead the workers in seizing the means of production, that’s what).
Rec: I love the politics and worldbuilding.
Content warning: Violence
“Poème, symphonie, orage” by Anamia. 5.8K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Les Mis (all adaptations); Ship: Feuilly & Cosette
Recced by: Chestnut_filly
Backstory: One of Les Mis’ main storylines centers around a group of young revolutionaries, of whom Feuilly is sort of the working class conscience. In this AU, he is joined in his fan-painting workshop by Cosette, who in the canon present lives a genteel life of comfort.
Rec: This is a great character study of both Cosette and Feuilly as well as a well-researched (with sources!) look at the workaday lives of Paris’ lower-middle class of the 1830s. Charming and a unique premise!
Content warnings: N/A
“Bruce Wayne banned from Walmart” by unpretty. Short, rated ~PG
Fandom: Batman; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: Tim Drake is Bruce Wayne/Batman’s adopted son. Unpretty has a delightful (and quite specific) characterization for all her DC Comics characters, I think taking inspiration from the animated series? But I find it very easy to follow with an extremely basic knowledge of Batman stuff.
Rec: Very funny, short fic about Tim Drake introducing a very deadpan Bruce Wayne to Walmart, told in the form of Snapchats. (Just go with it!)
Content warnings: N/A
“The World Turned Upside Down” by dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram. 71K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: One Direction; Ship: Louis/Harry
Recced by: Karen
Backstory: Louis is a striking miner and Harry is the photography student who documents the strike.
Rec: Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners/Pride AU about the 1984 British Miner’s Strike that’s wonderfully researched and portrays both the strike and the gay experience in the mid-80s.
Content warnings: mention of the AIDS epidemic, period-typical homophobia
“Known Associates” by thingswithwings. 295K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Captain America; Ships: Steve/Bucky, Steve/Peggy, Steve/Rhodey, Steve/Sam Wilson, Steve/OCs, Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov (background), Tony/Pepper/Rhodey (background)
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: Like “All the Angels and the Saints,” this fic covers everything from Steve’s 1930s youth to his present-day life with the Avengers.
Rec: One of Marvel fandom’s true epics. Thingswithwings builds on the popular depiction of Steve Rogers as a politically active and queer (and in this case genderqueer) hero, incorporating an impressive amount of historical research. The story is plausible within the confines of Marvel canon, but still goes pretty far from the commonly-held assumptions about these characters. To begin with, Steve and Bucky are fully embedded in the queer scene of 1940s New York, and Steve’s gender identity and sexuality are a central theme throughout the story. The author put a lot of thought into how Steve would conceive his own identity (and others) as a queer individual in the ‘40s, and how he would have to change when confronted with modern social mores. It’s unusual for a popular fic to list this many romantic pairings instead of clearly highlighting one “endgame” pairing, but if you’re concerned about that, I urge you to give this fic a try anyway.
Content warnings: No listed warnings, although the fic is helpfully tagged with any potentially triggering topics including homophobic slurs, body dysmorphia, and police brutality.
FINAL THOUGHT
Phew! That’s a lot of fic recs. Hopefully that will tide you over for the long weekend. To sign off, I’m including a quick plug for the fandom/geek culture podcast I just launched at the Daily Dot. It’s called the Parsec Podcast, and episode 1 is a panel discussion about Game of Thrones season 7, which I (unfortunately) had to marathon for this purpose. Guys......... Game of Thrones is kind of bad now? Right? — Gav
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)