The Rec Center #1
On the first day of 2016, Kevin Fanning asked a very important question:
Are there are good tinyletters about fandom-y stuff/fic recs etc
— kfan ⛅ (@kfan) January 1, 2016
And so, inspired by @kfan as our ~muse, we decided to launch The Rec Center. Each Friday we'll recommend a few fandom-related articles, a handful of fannish things we loved from around the web, and, most importantly, FANFIC. Some rec lists will come from us, but most will be penned by guest contributors, for maximum variety. If you have some rec ideas, please get in touch! And thanks for subscribing! — Elizabeth
new stuff
[Interesting new fandom articles from around the web. Sometimes we’ll include our own, but don’t worry—it won’t be a self-promotion machine.]
“How the Internet Picks Its Boyfriends,” by Sulagna Misra at The Cut
Breaking down the dynamics of collective internet crushes, and basking in Oscar Isaac gifs. “Unlike with IRL crushes, there’s an element of authorship to internet love.”
“How Avatar made $2.7 billion and garnered almost no fan base,” by Joe Blevins at A.V. Club
“How does an astronomically expensive yet astonishingly successful science-fiction blockbuster by a world-famous director dominate popular culture for months on end, only to disappear without a trace from the public’s minds?” Good question.
“Star Wars, queer representation and the mainstreaming of slash” by Elizabeth at the New Statesman
The mainstream media discovers slash, and is confused. On shipping vs. representation. “For many fans, ‘Online Support Grows for Potential [insert media property here] Romance’ is the story of our lives.”
old(er) stuff
[In addition to newer articles, we’ll also share pieces from a while back.]
“On Shipping: What’s Disney’s, What’s Yours, and What’s Mine” by Charlotte Geater at Women Write About Comics
It’s not about canon: it’s about desire. “One of the most radical things I tell myself about the media I consume is: fuck canon. Every story is as real as every other story.”
tumblr and beyond
“2015: A (Statistical) Year in Fandom” by destinationtoast
Partly inspired by the “Year in Fandom” episode of “Fansplaining,” the podcast Elizabeth co-hosts with Flourish Klink, fandom statistics genius destinationtoast analyzes the hell out of our favorite fanfiction archives.
“Lesbian Boba Fett,” by sashayed
The most important Star Wars post you’ll read all year, guaranteed. “Boba Fett is a Lesbian, 2k16. As Boba Fett (a lesbian) herself once said: “He’s no good to me dead [or alive, because he is a man, and I am a radical trans lesbian separatist with no use for men].” The outraged fanboy reactions are simply beautiful.
And Gingerhaze (aka Nimona creator Noelle Stevenson) wrote an incredible follow-up, following the canon of Boba Fett, Jango Fett, and Zam Wesell, and conclusively proving what we all knew already: that Boba Fett is canonically a lesbian.
fanfiction
Multifandom Yuletide recs from Gav
For the uninitiated, Yuletide is an annual fanfic challenge where writers anonymously exchange stories from rare & obscure fandoms. This ranges from memes to historical figures to popular movies that don’t ordinarily inspire much fic. Here are some of my faves from 2015.
The Martian: “You Know You Have a Permanent Piece of My Medium-Sized American Heart” by tricatular. 9K words, rated Teen.
This fic explores the public response to NASA sharing the video logs from Mark Watney (Matt Damon)’s time on Mars. Tricatular really captures the film’s humor, having a great time with the idea of Watney’s adventures being treated like a gruesome kind of reality TV show.
Hamilton: “Interlude (Rise Up)”, by Fahye. 3.5K words, rated Teen.
OK, this fic is IN VERSE, full of Hamilton-style wordplay (the title is a boner joke!!). It’s a dream sequence where Hamilton confronts his sexual fantasies about various characters in his life, emceed by Aaron Burr, and you can almost hear the voices of the cast members in your head. LOVE IT.
Spy: “Reports May Have Been Exaggerated” by Fahye. 6.9K words, rated Teen.
This is the second thing by Fahye on the list, but I fell in love with both before the anonymous YT authors were revealed. It’s a PERFECT & HILARIOUS fic for the Melissa McCarthy movie Spy, inspired by Rick Ford (Jason Statham)’s ridiculous bragging about his sexual exploits.
Brooklyn 99: “An Ever-Fixed Mark” by KiaraSayre. 4.2K words, rated Gen.
Cute fic about Captain Holt and his husband deciding to renew their vows. Great contrast between Ray and Kevin’s deadpan characterization, and the more frenetic personalities of the B99 cops.
Final thought for the week: Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy tweets erotic slashfic about the Oregon siege guys.
If you’ve been following the news, you’ll know that a militia of sovereign citizen nonsense-merchants are currently occupying a wildlife refuge in Oregon. The situation is too complicated to explain here (wikipedia!) but suffice it to say that the occupiers fall into a certain stereotype of gun-toting white Christian libertarian weirdness.
Two days ago, Decemberists frontman and proud Oregonian Colin Meloy decided to tweet erotic slashfic about some of the more prominent figures in the militia.
"Jason pressed Jed against a rack of "Birds of Oregon" books; his breath was sweet with jerky. Somewhere, an egret cried" #bundyeroticfanfic
— colin meloy (@colinmeloy) January 6, 2016
"They huddled together for warmth. The cold of Ammon's Ruger 22 against Brian's naked thigh sent a thrill up his spine." #bundyeroticfanfic
— colin meloy (@colinmeloy) January 6, 2016
@colinmeloy Ammon ran a hand through Ryan's hair, then eased him down, whispering "I grant you unlimited grazing rights." #bundyeroticfanfic
— Eric Heidle (@Ericheidle) January 7, 2016
Meloy has 1.5 million followers, so the #BundyEroticFanfic hashtag (named after militia leader Ammon Bundy) went viral enough to get coverage in places like NYMag. Which leaves us feeling... a little conflicted? On the one hand, these guys are intrinsically mockable, especially given their very specific brand of faux-military, faux-survivalist masculinity. But is “lol gay porn fanfic” really the ~right way to satirize this situation? TBH, we have no dang clue. Ponder this during your daily meditation, young Padawans. — Gav
P.S. Stick around for STAR WARS recs next week!
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