Fan Rec Friday: 2 Fast 2 Fan

[lostlenore]

 
The second ever Fan Rec Friday post! It's been one hell of a week and boy do I have some recs for you. 

I've got a novel, a webseries, three fics and a webcomic for you this week so let's get started!

The Novel:

1. Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher

My love for epistolary fiction, let me show you it. Told in a series of letter, mostly letters of recommendation, this book is the story of the saltiest, most cynical English professor I've ever read and it is a DELIGHT. He writes hilarious, terrible letters to his ex-wive(s) in various departments all over campus, he writes letters to the dean of the college about how the department is literally falling down around them, and he writes letter after goddamn letter of recommendation that never gets read. He's a grumpy old man but though his letters you come to realize that he honestly loves his students and tries so hard to do right by them. It's amazing and awful, mostly because everything about his godawful experience in academia hits very close to home with my godawful experiences in academia. Read it, it's great. 

The Webseries: 

1. Nothing Much To Do / Lovely Little Losers by The Candle Wasters

These are two adaptations of Shakespearean classics by a group of actors from New Zealand told in the style of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. They're a bit looser and more episodic than LBD ever was, with the first series a high school version of Much Ado About Nothing and the second a college sequel patterned after Love's Labours Lost.  I'll be honest: the first season was really slow and I only watched all the episodes because it was my day off and I had nothing better to do. The ending of that series sets up some important context for the second series though, which is updating thrice weekly and is proving to be much more engaging and much more gay. Both series are great if you need something light and atmospheric to watch, and if you're into slice of life stories or Shakespeare retellings (raises both hands)  you'll probably enjoy them.  

 The Fics: 

1. Secret Agent Man by goshemily (Les Mis)  30k Enjolras/Grantaire

FAKE MARRIED SPIES.  There was never any way a story about Enjolras and Grantaire going undercover as husbands in the South of France was going to be anything other than 5000% my jam. And lo and behold, this author delivered. It has all the good bickering tension and pining you want from the e/R setup, plus the in-jokes and aside between characters are so clever. Especially with the Grantaire characterization- he can be such a difficult character to write in a way that's not a caricature. There's gorgeous language, fantastic religious imagery, hot angry sex (sometimes all three at once). I'm swooning. A thousand gold stars. 

2. Off By Two by astolat  (MCU) 9k Sam/Steve

An alternate universe where the events of CATWS go down very differently, Steve never meets Sam while jogging, and sets out questing for Bucky on his own. The plot is kind of difficult to summarize, but know that it involves Sam and Steve huddling for warmth, Bears, and Sam air-dropping Chinese takeout. It's really sweet and got some lowkey hurt/comfort aspects, but it doesn't trivialize either Sam or Steve's experiences and nobody is healed with the magical powers of dick. I guess I'd describe it as 'Unexpectedly Charming Survivalist Romcom' except I've read this author several time before and so the charming part wasn't exactly a surprise. Cute, quick and lovely. 

3. Down By the Brazos  by ionthesparrow (Hockey RPF) 23k Carts/Richie 

Oh god. I'm pretty sure I cry every time I read this fic. An alternate universe where Jeff Carter grows up in Southern Texas and Mike Richards still plays for the LA Kings. The setting is the main character here, and the beauty of this story is in the details about the community and the language, all the little things that make this town alive. Because what do you do when you love your hometown so much, and it doesn't love you back?  Also featuring quality friends-to-lovers Jeff/Mike, mouth-watering descriptions of food, and one of the rare instances where writing in dialect is immersive instead of grating. Highly recommended. 

The Webcomic: 

1. Tobias & Guy  by Daryl Toh 

A series of episodic strips on Tumblr chronicling the adventures of Tobias the Demon and his human boyfriend Guy. As of now there's no strict updating schedule but new strips come out about every month. And anyway, the story has no serious plot to follow I(Tobias' demon father is a goat who rules hell, c'mon) but it's also really cute? Who would have thought raising a hellhound together or going on dates to the fiery pit of eternity would be cute? I don't know what to tell you guys. It works for me.