The Rec Center #98
Hi everyone! This week we have your Thanksgiving and family holiday meal recs, our usual mix of articles and Tumblr posts, and, importantly, Gav explains why everyone is so excited about Due South being released on YouTube. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Nerd: The Efniks cover story for November, on Queer & Trans People of Color in Geek Culture and Academia” at Efniks
A great collection of pieces by QTPOC on the “twin spaces” of academia and geek culture.
“fandoms: identities shaped by the things we love” at NPR
This week NPR has been running a series on fans talking about their objects of fandom, from comics to wrestling to “General Hospital.”
“Gearing up for FTH 2018” from Fandom Trumps Hate
If you participated in the fanworks auction earlier this year—or if you wanted to but weren’t able to—they’re getting ready to announce details about the next one, so it’s something to put on your radar!
older stuff
“For Women of Color, the Price of Fandom Can Be Too High” by Angelica Jade Bastién at the New Republic
“When the geek community is asked to empathize with characters who don’t look like them, the backlash can be severe.”
tumblr & beyond
Thor and his siblings play video games by meruz
Nothing but respect for MY Bruce Wayne.
“i could write an entire sociology thesis on the tom hiddleston fandom tbh”
“destiel, but every time they come back to each other africa by toto starts playing”
AO3 needs an Australian slang search engine for Overwatch fans, stat.
fanfiction
We asked for Thanksgiving-y fics, and you delivered! Since we got so many, I’ve held ones that were Christmas-oriented or just general family but not holidayish for future lists. Thank you to everyone who sent in a rec, and if you plan on using any of these to hide from your extended family next weekend, Godspeed. — Elizabeth
“Feast of the Assumptions” by Amazonia_8. 20K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Supernatural; Ship: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Recced by: Esti
Backstory: Just a general SPN Destiel AU where Dean has to cook Thanksgiving Dinner and Castiel is the cooking hotline operator he calls for help.
Rec: This fic is hilarious, it made me laugh so hard and it’s one of my all time favorite Destiel fics (and I have read MANY).
Content warnings: N/A
“gonna wanna make it move” by decinq. 8.2K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Check Please!; Ship: Bitty/Jack
Recced by: tarastarr1
Backstory: “Jack knows it’s a bad idea from the very start.” What, no Jack, pretending your friend who you have a huge crush on is your boyfriend and inviting him home for Thanksgiving is a GREAT idea.
Rec: *pounds on table* FAKE DATING FAKE DATING FAKE DATING. Thanksgiving-remix.
Content warnings: N/A
“Forgive Me These November Days” by obstinate_questionings. 79K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Pitch Perfect; Ship: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Recced by: Kay
Backstory: Chloe-centric novel-length AU (or at least is now AU after the sequels) as told through yearly Celebrations of Thanksgiving (and usually Friendsgiving)
Rec: A sweet and rich character piece about Chloe with a focus on families, the ones we're born into, the ones we choose, and the ones that find us along the way. Requires very little knowledge of Pitch Perfect canon to enjoy on it's own and has a lovely f/f romance between Chloe and Beca.
Content Warnings: occasional references to mental illness (anxiety-related), as well as to a close family member who passed away after a struggle with cancer
“The Queen’s Jewels” by Silbrith. 73K words, rated Teen..
Fandom: White Collar; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Penna
Backstory: In canon, FBI Agent Peter Burke arrested and then recruited con artist/thief/forger Neal Caffrey. In this AU, they skipped the arrest and a younger Neal works for Peter, who is a father figure for Neal. The story features the theft of jewelry that belonged to Marie Antionette, where Neal is framed and must rely on friends to help clear his name.
Rec: Two Thanksgiving celebrations! One celebration with graduate school friends, and the other with family. The story includes fencing and references to The Three Musketeers, and has a fantastic balance of mystery, angst and fluff.
Content warnings: N/A
“can’t be hateful, gotta be grateful” by HalfFizzbin. 6K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Teen Wolf; Ship: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Recced by: Meghan
Backstory: Fake boyfriend AU: Stiles and his father drag Derek along to Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma’s house so he isn’t alone on the holiday. They definitely don’t expect to be pretending to be dating while they’re there.
Rec: This is one of my favorites. It’s full of warmth and fondness, and perfect to read around the holidays. The voice feel super authentic, it’s full of humour, and you can just feel the romantic tension (read: DENIAL) between Stiles and Derek the whole way. Read this with pie.
Content warnings: N/A
“No touch can do half as much” by iwillnotbecaged. 9K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Captain America; Ship: Sam/Steve
Recced by: anon
Backstory: A canon-divergence fic that picks up mid-CA:TWS and follows Sam after the events of the movie as he travels with a touch-starved Steve on a search for Bucky.
Rec: Sam Wilson is often sidelined in fic (even when he’s the POV character), but this one keeps him at the center of things and also manages to explore Steve’s character as well. The journey from friends to lovers is fluffy, sweet, and full of goodness.
Content warnings: N/A
“make this house a home” by bleep0bleep. 2.8K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Check Please!; Ship: Bitty/Jack
Recced by: tarastarr1
Backstory: With the prospect of an empty Haus for Thanksgiving, Jack invites Bitty over to his new place in Providence. As friends, of course.
Rec: Bitty loves baking and I love hearing about it. Will Bitty and Jack get together?? (I mean, yeah, this is feel-good fic :)
Content warnings: N/A
“In The Weeds” by Saone. 4.3K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: The Avengers (MCU); Ship: Clint/Coulson
Recced by: Goodwin
Backstory: Clint opens a diner that becomes popular with police and emergency services personnel. This is Thanksgiving at Hawkeye’s.
Rec: Both heartwarming and funny, you can see why the patrons come to Hawkeye’s. This is part 4 of the A Lunch Counter Love Story series.
Content warnings: N/A
“if you will come all the way down with me” by coloredink. 7K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Hannibal; Ship: Will/Hannibal
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: Futurefic where Will and Hannibal run away together with Abigail as their adopted daughter. Written before season 3.
Rec: I picked this fic because it includes a lot of food preparation scenes, with Hannibal teaching Will and Abigail to cook in their new family home. It’s not a full-on cannibalism and murder story, but if you want a darker fic for our Thanksgiving theme, this is absolutely the one for you.
Content warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, major character death
FINAL THOUGHT
PSA: The first season of Due South is now available on YouTube, for free. VITALLY IMPORTANT.
If you don’t understand quite why you should care about a 90s cop show, here’s a short post on why it’s Absolutely Essential. And god knows it’s a million times better than this weekend’s big two superhero releases, Justice League and The Punisher. Save yourselves! — 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)