Fic rec - The Fourth Estate

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: The Fourth Estate

Author: Chronolith

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: NC-17

Pairing:Lance/Allura, Keith/James - more tbd

Warnings: violence, ptsd,  racism/species-ism, racially-motivated violence and terrorism - more tbd

Other notes: post-war, social media, military - more tbd

Length: 90k, WIP

Summary: The Fourth Estate: a segment of society that wields the soft but momentous power of public opinion despite its lack of formal recognition within the political system.

Or, the first thing that rebuilds itself after Sendak's defeat is the press. With the press comes social media. You know what you get when you have social media? Fandom. You get fandom.

My thoughts:

 

Like I said, I was just about to exit the Voltron tag on AO3 and switch to another fandom, but I ran across two fics I enjoyed so much they jumped my queue.

I usually don’t do WIPs, unless it’s a multi-part series, but this one just grabbed me. I’ve mentioned that social media fics are hit-or-miss for me, mostly because a lot of them are more meme than narrative, but this one is a goddamn spy thriller. I did not expect that going into this fic. 

Whereto even start, hmm.

This fic evokes a lot of emotion out of me. I found myself getting really pissed off on behalf of the characters. Keith and Allura are hounded by racists, there’s a humans first league forming that — look, we know the news these days. This is all stuff happening right now, and it’s no less terrifying or frustrating for being fictional. And Lance — I’m not even a big Lance fan but I’m sitting here going, I think my boy is in trouble, please help him.

(Oh.Oh oh oh oh.

Lagavulin and Guinness. I forgot that fic. I forget the absolute heartbreak it visited upon me. And now I am reminded. Oh, god, if you want to see a character suffer for no reason except some asshole’s prejudiced shit and feel the most righteous indignation, you read that fic. )

So, I’m really concerned for these characters, and the tension is just getting worse and worse as the story goes on. By which, of course I mean, the writing is getting better and better, because I am cursing up a storm with every political machination, every blunder caught on social media, every almost-too-real instance of violence.

But also — this is a fic that really uses the social media aspects well. Social media does influence the world — the politics, the narrative. And you know — I am familiar with the idea of the“fourth estate,” but I’ve never considered how it could encompass fandom, and social media. Traditionally, the press is the fourth estate, but social media has let the idea of “news” broaden dramatically. I mean, yeah, it’s a major problem that people can post anything without any vetting or fact checking, but that is a truth for our world right now. Like it or not, public opinion gets swayed, and gets swayed quickly, by social media. And fandom? Fandom is capable of creating, resurrecting, and changing all sorts of things. 

There are so many small details I love in this fic, from Lance volunteering to post his collection of selfies taken with alien allies to boost interstellar goodwill to Keith softening his image by trying to cook with Hunk (and being adorably confused when it blows up) to the constantly changing shippers. 

It’s actually kind of a twist, luring me in with cute social media shenanigans while slowly ramping up the fact that there are trolls and terrorists also slowly ramping up in the background. Erk. Too real.

Also, oddly enough, a very attractive tattooing scene. I don’t have any tattoos myself, um, yet, but this kind of makes me less nervous? It’s a terribly painful description

Allura laughs, breathy from pain and light in a way that says her feelings are anything but light. Her eyes are closed against the pain again. The artist wipes away the blood, hands gentle against Allura’s dark skin and Ina is glad for that. There’s a long moment where Allura breathes slow and steady, control against the pain, and then she opens her beautiful ice blue eyes. Ina thinks she might love these cold, controlled eyes.

and yet, when Allura says “skin art” and posts a picture of herself, well.

[image: Allura of Altea stares down at the camera, eyes dark and cool,with one hand holding her hair piled on top of her hair where it tumbles from her grasp, curling around her shoulders, the other hand holds her left breast up and out of the way of a tattoo that starts under her heart and crawls down her side to the top of her hip. Her expression is faintly challenging and distant. The tattoo covers her dusky skin in soft pinks and pale reds, painting her ribs with flowers that look like stylized stargazer lilies. The glowing lines of her markings like vines supporting the gentle arch of the lilies.]

I am so useless and so gay

Like, damnit, I can see that photo in my head, and, yes, I am indeed probably also gay for Allura in this moment. This is legit a tumblr post I could have written. Allura is gorgeous, I now want to bite the bullet and get a tattoo, and then — back to that excellent use of social media — we find out that some random roleplayer has the account with Allura’s actual name so her account is a “PrincessofStolenScreenNames.”

Man, I’ve just enjoyed and also feared every bit of this fic as it goes along, and I am looking forward to further installments when they come. 

(Looking for more fic recs?)
Originally crossposted on tumblr and pillowfort on 11/09/18