Fandom Growth Exchange

[sholio]

fandomgrowthexchange (an exchange for pairings, characters, or fandoms with fewer than 10 fics on AO3) revealed a few days ago, and my gift is GLORIOUS.

The Foxes (Biggles series, Biggles/Marie/von Stalhein, 9800 words)
When Marie arrives in England, trouble follows her.

Almost 10K(!!!) of OT3 get-together casefic, with a recuperating Biggles, self-sacrificing von Stalhein who thinks they don't need him, and resourceful, takes-no-prisoners Marie. It's fantastic and I have already read it several times; I recommend highly if this threesome is at all your thing, and for those who are reading this fandom canon-blind - and I know there are a few of you! - you can absolutely read this as 50s-era Cold War spyfic, if with a rather specific backstory for the characters.

I wrote two things for this exchange, my assignment and a pinch hit, both of which are extremely on brand for me but in very different ways. Author reveals will be on Nov. 1!

Comments

[sovay]

(an exchange for pairings, characters, or fandoms with fewer than 10 fics on AO3)

I just really like this idea. Also the sound of your gift, which I will go read.

[sholio]

I just really like this idea

It's like Extra Rare Mode Yuletide! I really enjoyed it.

Also the sound of your gift, which I will go read.

Now I just hope it's not terribly incomprehensible if you don't know the canon. But I really don't think so. <3

[sovay]

Now I just hope it's not terribly incomprehensible if you don't know the canon. But I really don't think so.

I have generally found other fic in this canon to be comprehensible, to the point where I should probably read the original books!

[sholio]

Rachel and I can give you recs and links if you're interested! There's definitely a continuum that runs from "genuinely well-written adventure/spy novels" to "avoid at all costs." And, regrettably, a number that combine aspects of both; some of the books have absolutely killer action and emotional scenes combined with high levels of do-not-want. W.E. Johns, why do you have to be like this.

(Interestingly given the high levels of DNW in some of the books, there are some things he's genuinely much better about than a lot of other pulp-fiction authors of the era: sexism, classism, antisemitism. On the whole, his female, working-class, and Jewish characters are well-rounded and sympathetic and unstereotypical. AND THEN THERE'S THE RACISM, WHICH IS A LOT.)

[sovay]

Rachel and I can give you recs and links if you're interested!

Oh, sure! I am familiar with the candy-to-DNW calculations. I was just re-reading a Ngaio Marsh.

[rachelmanija]

Optional but for you specifically, I would start with The Camels Are Coming. It's the first book, a collection of WWI stories. Von Stalhein isn't in it, but I think it would be really up your alley. It introduces Biggles, his buddy Algy, and Marie Janis.

Essential: Biggles Flies East. It introduces von Stalhein, Algy has a really good role in it, and it's a really good book.

Optional: Biggles and the Black Peril. It's a fun adventure that introduces Ginger, who's important in the next book.

Essential: Biggles & Co. It's a really fun heist book with von Stalhein and Biggles having a very typical and delightful post-war interaction.

Essential: Biggles Follows On. A post-war spy story with von Stalhein. It's a good book and a lot of fanfic references specific scenes in it.

Optional but one of my favorites: Biggles Fails to Return. This one is a showcase for Algy, Ginger, and Bertie (basically fighter pilot Bertie Wooster), and it's excellent but you do need to have read some previous books with the characters. It's really well-structured, fun, and atmospheric. It has a Chinese character who's sympathetic and non-stereotypical although it does also have some of-the-time language.

Essential: Biggles Buries a Hatchet. This is the one where Biggles rescues von Stalhein from a gulag.

Essential: Biggles Looks Back. This is the last von Stalhein book and it's a good one. Biggles and von Stalhein team up to help out their mutual old flame, Marie Janis. You get a good look at the relationship between all three of them, it's got a good adventure story, and it ends with either a continuing friendship or a threesome.

[rachelmanija]

Which books have Jewish characters? I don't think I've read any of those yet.

[sholio]

Johns doesn't often - the main one I can think of that has a named Jewish character who does stuff is in Biggles Takes a Hand (the one in which von Stalhein, post-defection, is sneaking around passing Biggles spy information while wearing a series of literal fake mustaches; he's so OTT it's hilarious). Anyway, the Jewish side character in that book is someone they're trying to find as part of the spy plot, and he's really just a regular guy, a dentist or something living in London. I think it was something I noticed because he is just a regular guy and not ... any of the various other things he could've been.

[sholio]

This is an excellent Biggles starter list and I second it! sovay, let us know if you need links, because we found a site that has most of the books uploaded. (Some of them are really hard to find any other way.)

[rachelmanija]

Some paragraphs got scrambled. The Chinese character is in Biggles Follows On.

[copperfyre]

I'm still reading Biggles fics canon blind and having a great time (I'm kickingtheladder on AO3), and this was an absolute delight! Thank you for the above rec list as well, I did manage to get hold of the Biggles books so maybe I will break my canon duck and actually read some now I can whittle down the overwhelming 98 books I ended up with!

[sholio]

Hahaha, I was thinking that I didn't remember a Chinese character in Fails to Return and I needed to reread it! (It's one of my favorites, also; it's really excellent, and I love the rest of the team being showcased as they are in that book.)

[sovay]

I think it was something I noticed because he is just a regular guy and not ... any of the various other things he could've been.

That is definitely a way I notice Jewish (and queer) characters, too.

[sovay]

Optional but for you specifically, I would start with The Camels Are Coming. It's the first book, a collection of WWI stories. Von Stalhein isn't in it, but I think it would be really up your alley.

Thank you for this and for the other recommendations! Links would be welcome, too, since my local library system turns up zip on the subject of W.E. Johns.

[sholio]

Links would be welcome, too, since my local library system turns up zip on the subject of W.E. Johns.

Here is the most comprehensive Biggles source we've found so far. If this ever goes down I will be sad, because it has nearly all the books in epub format. (Actually this reminds me that I should probably go grab some more of the ones I don't have yet, just in case.)

[sovay]

Here is the most comprehensive Biggles source we've found so far.

Damn! Thank you.

[sholio]

Hi there, I have been appreciating your comments, and I *was* curious if you'd read the books or were one of the people who had been reading the fic only! :D I'm really happy you've been enjoying it!

I feel that Rachel's rec list is a very good starter kit; I think she did a great job of picking the essentials for the Biggles-von Stalhein storyline and also the books that are most enjoyable with a minimum of period-typical-everything.

[rachelmanija]

The Camels Are Coming is horribly formatted on that site (the other books are fine) so I ended up reading it on the Internet Archive.

https://archive.org/details/biggles-01-the-camels-are-coming/mode/2up?view=theater

[rachelmanija]

think it was something I noticed because he is just a regular guy and not ... any of the various other things he could've been.

Honestly, for books not specifically about being Jewish, that's the ideal.

[philomytha]

That’s a great list! Not too overwhelming but has enough to get a good flavour of the series :-)

[sovay]

The Camels Are Coming is horribly formatted on that site (the other books are fine) so I ended up reading it on the Internet Archive.

Good to know!