september recs, day one: tropes in hockey fandom
Hi guys! Long time no post, I know. I'm still alive and finally back from Europe (and missing khoshgeleh_16 and aramley terribly ;_;) and I'm trying to commit to being around more, so I've decided to challenge myself by doing a set of five recs every day this month. I've got some themes in mind already, but if there's something you'd like to see (fandom-specific or not), drop a comment and let me know, because I definitely don't have plans for all thirty days! This first set is something I promised to ladytelemachus ages ago, so hopefully she still wants to read it and forgives my incredible tardiness...
Trope Inversion in Hockey RPF
Let it not be said that I went into hockey fandom willingly. I went kicking and screaming all the way (while managing to unwittingly incept a couple of you before even accepting the fandom into my heart? My brain is a weird place sometimes and my enabling powers are apparently off the hook), but damn if that fandom doesn't know how to write a good fic. (And some really shitty ones, let's be real, we aren't looking for miracles here.) And furthermore, hockey fandom is all about tropes, which is pretty much my jam, y'all know I was doomed from the start.
Let's talk about tropes! I love them all (okay, almost all, de-aging sometimes freaks me out and I can go either way on mpreg and babyfic, but I will reject nothing out of hand), and I love it when a fic goes all-in on one: balls to the wall, let's cliche the fuck out of this trope is really good for me. But there is a special space in my heart for fic that takes a trope and uses it to say something else, whether it's about fandom or fic or the world in general. So here, have some recommendations for what I think are really outstanding examples of trope inversion.
a light-handed approach to regulation, by hazel (Kane/Toews) [Alpha/Omega]
I can see you flinching and backing away from the alpha/omega category already. Don't. I have a lot of opinions about the Alpha/Omega trope in general and how it expresses unspoken anxieties about the debate surrounding reproductive rights and this fic is a really great example of that, but all of that aside, this is a fantastic story with great worldbuilding and an unexpectedly beautiful romance.
Switch, by montrose (Kane/Toews) [BDSM Universe]
I'm not sure how many of you have read helenish's Take Clothes Off As Directed (if you haven't, go, this page will be waiting when you get back), but this story does not suffer in comparison AT ALL, and that's saying something. BDSM universe as a metaphor for women's rights is definitely still worth exploring, but this particular example also does some really interesting things with the "myth" of bisexuality, which I hadn't seen before and thought was very well handled.
Fastening One Heart to Every Falling Thing, by thefourthvine (Crosby/Malkin) [Soulbonding]
You know what's all over fandom these days as a romantic trope? Soulbonding. You know what would really, really suck in real life? Being soulbonded to someone. You know what's actually romantic? Being with somebody because you want to, not because you have to. Throw in some truly spectacular worldbuilding and a heaping portion of hurt/comfort AND really delightful found family and you have one of the masterpieces of hockey fandom!
beating like a hammer, by grim_lupine (Richards/Carter) [De-Aging]
De-aging is a weirdly prevalent trope in hockey fandom despite the fact that the basic premise (someone gets turned into a child due to an inability to handle adult stressors and is consequently left helpless and lacking in verbal filter, prospective romantic partner must take care him/her and in the process reveals/discovers that their love is mutual) is sketchy as hell. I was really pleased to discover this fic, in which nobody is regressed to below the age of consent, and also the glorious misery of teenage brain chemistry is showcased to perfection.
Love in Fast Forward, by ionthesparrow (Richards+Carter) [Friends to Lovers]
I hesitated to read this for a really long time because the summary ("No, they don't get together in the end") made me think it would make me sad. I cannot express how wrong I was. This story (pair of stories, really) is one of the most uplifting narratives I've ever read, and I keep going back to it when I need a pick-me-up. It wasn't the first fic I thought of to put on this list by a long shot, either, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it needed to be on here, because what trope is more prevalent in sports RPF than friends to lovers? Aside from rival hatesex, that's pretty much all sports RPF is. But there's more than one kind of love out there. They don't always have to get together in the end.
And that makes five! I hope even if you're not in a given fandom you'll take a look (especially for this set, because if you're in hockey fandom you've probably already read all five of these at least twice) -- I'll do my best to pick accessible examples. It's been a long time since I've done recs, but it's good to get back in the saddle!
Trope Inversion in Hockey RPF
Let it not be said that I went into hockey fandom willingly. I went kicking and screaming all the way (while managing to unwittingly incept a couple of you before even accepting the fandom into my heart? My brain is a weird place sometimes and my enabling powers are apparently off the hook), but damn if that fandom doesn't know how to write a good fic. (And some really shitty ones, let's be real, we aren't looking for miracles here.) And furthermore, hockey fandom is all about tropes, which is pretty much my jam, y'all know I was doomed from the start.
Let's talk about tropes! I love them all (okay, almost all, de-aging sometimes freaks me out and I can go either way on mpreg and babyfic, but I will reject nothing out of hand), and I love it when a fic goes all-in on one: balls to the wall, let's cliche the fuck out of this trope is really good for me. But there is a special space in my heart for fic that takes a trope and uses it to say something else, whether it's about fandom or fic or the world in general. So here, have some recommendations for what I think are really outstanding examples of trope inversion.
a light-handed approach to regulation, by hazel (Kane/Toews) [Alpha/Omega]
I can see you flinching and backing away from the alpha/omega category already. Don't. I have a lot of opinions about the Alpha/Omega trope in general and how it expresses unspoken anxieties about the debate surrounding reproductive rights and this fic is a really great example of that, but all of that aside, this is a fantastic story with great worldbuilding and an unexpectedly beautiful romance.
Switch, by montrose (Kane/Toews) [BDSM Universe]
I'm not sure how many of you have read helenish's Take Clothes Off As Directed (if you haven't, go, this page will be waiting when you get back), but this story does not suffer in comparison AT ALL, and that's saying something. BDSM universe as a metaphor for women's rights is definitely still worth exploring, but this particular example also does some really interesting things with the "myth" of bisexuality, which I hadn't seen before and thought was very well handled.
Fastening One Heart to Every Falling Thing, by thefourthvine (Crosby/Malkin) [Soulbonding]
You know what's all over fandom these days as a romantic trope? Soulbonding. You know what would really, really suck in real life? Being soulbonded to someone. You know what's actually romantic? Being with somebody because you want to, not because you have to. Throw in some truly spectacular worldbuilding and a heaping portion of hurt/comfort AND really delightful found family and you have one of the masterpieces of hockey fandom!
beating like a hammer, by grim_lupine (Richards/Carter) [De-Aging]
De-aging is a weirdly prevalent trope in hockey fandom despite the fact that the basic premise (someone gets turned into a child due to an inability to handle adult stressors and is consequently left helpless and lacking in verbal filter, prospective romantic partner must take care him/her and in the process reveals/discovers that their love is mutual) is sketchy as hell. I was really pleased to discover this fic, in which nobody is regressed to below the age of consent, and also the glorious misery of teenage brain chemistry is showcased to perfection.
Love in Fast Forward, by ionthesparrow (Richards+Carter) [Friends to Lovers]
I hesitated to read this for a really long time because the summary ("No, they don't get together in the end") made me think it would make me sad. I cannot express how wrong I was. This story (pair of stories, really) is one of the most uplifting narratives I've ever read, and I keep going back to it when I need a pick-me-up. It wasn't the first fic I thought of to put on this list by a long shot, either, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it needed to be on here, because what trope is more prevalent in sports RPF than friends to lovers? Aside from rival hatesex, that's pretty much all sports RPF is. But there's more than one kind of love out there. They don't always have to get together in the end.
And that makes five! I hope even if you're not in a given fandom you'll take a look (especially for this set, because if you're in hockey fandom you've probably already read all five of these at least twice) -- I'll do my best to pick accessible examples. It's been a long time since I've done recs, but it's good to get back in the saddle!