The Rec Center #12
HAPPY BATMAN V SUPERMAN DAY. Something worth celebrating whether you are actually excited about the film or if reviews like this one are giving you LIFE. We have links and conversation around Batman + Superman + manpain, but don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of other stuff too, including guest recs from Liz, a long-time X-Men fan, and a couple bonus HP recs from me. (I’m realizing many readers love HP fic as much as I do, I shouldn’t try to deny our love or withhold links from you, sorry everyone.) — Elizabeth
new stuff
“The Life and Death of Lexa” by Jason Rothenberg at Medium
If you’re not up to date on the ongoing fallout in The 100 fandom, yesterday the showrunner posted an apology. Whether it’s successful or not is up for you to decide, though you can check out the comments if you want to see how well that went over.
“Hear Moby Dick Read in Its Entirety by Benedict Cumberbatch, John Waters, Stephen Fry, Tilda Swinton & More” at Open Culture
Only tangentially fandom-related, but interesting nonetheless: a free recording of Moby Dick, read out loud by a selection of actors including Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton. (One caveat though: David Cameron reads a bit of it. Bleurgh.)
Gav wrote a couple of [VERY SPOILERY] Daredevil articles this week:
1) A theory that season 2 is all about Daredevil’s failure as a superhero, and Matt Murdock’s history of being brainwashed by a cult.
2) An investigation into THE HOLE, a fascinatingly bizarre plot twist that then just... vanished. A literal plot hole. Incredible.
old(er) stuff
“I Swear” by dualbunny, greensilver, pipsqueak, and sweetestdrain
Since this is kind of Superman Week, it feels like the perfect time to share one of the most memorable vids in fandom history. Even if you’ve never seen an episode of Smallville in your life, I can’t stress enough how **VITALLY IMPORTANT** this vid is. Watch it all the way through. You won’t regret it.
gav is starting a podcast!
Very excited about this! I’m starting a weekly pop-culture podcast with my friend Morgan Leigh Davies, who some of you may know from her Marvel & Teen Wolf fic. The podcast is called Overinvested, and each episode will focus on one of our obsessions—whether that’s a movie, a TV show, a fandom, or something further off the beaten track.
Our first episode is all about the mesmerizingly disastrous Batman v Superman, which we’ve both been (morbidly) obsessed with for months. Find us here on Tumblr, Twitter, Soundcloud, and our website. And check back on Monday for our first episode! I’m hoping it’s the kind of thing you guys will love. :) — Gav
tumblr and beyond
Fair.
We’re VERY into this Diane Lane/Holly Hunter-centric interpretation of Batman v Superman.
PSA for zombie AU writers: here’s your efficient new zombie disposal method.
fanfiction
This week’s guest reccer is Liz, who brings us some multi-ship X-Men fic. She spends most of her time ranting about comic books at lizbethanne.tumblr.com.
X-Men is my ultimate “comfort food” fandom—I’ve been reading X-fic for 20 years, and it seems that there’s always something new and amazing happening. As an added bonus, there are so many canon characters, alternate universes, and assorted backstories that literally any AU seems plausible. After spending my summer bingeing on Magneto/Professor X stories, I’ve spent the winter searching for fic about less popular characters—and these amazing writers do not disappoint. — Liz
“The Busy Griefs” by likeadeuce, 7.7K words words, rated Teen.
One of my favorite fics in any fandom, this post-X2 fic focuses on how Ororo deals with the fallout of the government invading her home and the death of her close friend/teammate.There are a lot of little touches that give depth to the story—not only are we getting access to Ororo’s thoughts, but her observations on the rest of the team as well.
“Firebirds” by antiochene. 176K words, rated Teen.
This is a flawless fix-it fic for the recent Avengers vs. X-Men comics crossover: it gives a lot of characters a chance to shine, and neither the X-Men nor the Avengers come off as the bad guys. Basically: what if Avengers vs. X-Men was actually X-Men + Avengers vs. the rest of the universe, and was good? (Warning: character death. Warning: made me cry in public.)
“Adaptation Under Adverse Circumstances” by persiflet. 12K words, rated Teen.
The X-Men movies aren’t without flaws, but Darwin’s death in X-Men: First Class is just inexpiable. “Adaptation” fixes this, and throws in a road trip (sort of) for good measure.
“The Mutant Problem” by Katt
A New York Times editorial by Peter Parker (scientist and photographer, not Spider-Man), reflecting on “the mutant problem” ten years after X2. It showcases photos and interviews with mutants from the movies and the comics. It’s a cool multimedia fic that absolutely seems like an op-ed the NYT would run in a world where mutants existed.
“Office Hours” by GrayJay. 3.2K words.
Set early during Whedon’s run of Astonishing X-Men, this fic punched me in the heart. A conversation between Kitty and Scott, it really gets into the parallels between them, and how difficult it must be to grow up and deal with tragedy when you've been raised as an X-Man. (Scott Summers is my problematic fave and I enjoy fics where he’s aware that his choices are garbage.)
FINAL THOUGHT: BvS
[This exchange was written before Gav saw BvS. She went to a midnight screening last night, because she hates herself. Elizabeth is planning to save her $16—if this movie is ever on a plane, she will consider watching it.]
Gav: OK, so: Are you Team Batman or Team Superman? Or do you even like either of these two things?
Elizabeth: I have never, ever seen any appeal in Superman. I'm sure I could find some if I really thought about it. I also have no idea what the "political" positions are in this particular movie, all I saw was them in a total hatesex pre-slash situation and Jesse Eisenberg doing a Jesse Eisenberg impersonation. I really loved the Batman animated series when I was in middle school, I had little figurines of Harley Quinn and some other characters. And I loved The Dark Knight but feel kind of silly about it because Nolan dudebros are the worst kind of fanboy and The Dark Knight Rises was such a nightmare and sometimes I like #manpain, that’s shameful.
OK so should I guess which one you like? Oh Gav, I have no idea. I feel like I could make a blunt, completely uninformed decision and say that Batman : Superman :: Iron Man : Captain America, so you are a Superman fan? ???
Gav: In a general sense I like both Batman AND Superman, but in the context of this movie I suspect I’m going to hate them both. Henry Cavill’s Superman is about as charismatic as a filing cabinet, and Ben Affleck’s Batman is some kind of nightmarish Zack Snyder midlife crisis rage-monster. I’m Team Wonder Woman, or maybe Team Lex.
As for the BvS/Civil War analogy, that comparison does kind of make sense! Except the MCU has created a reasonably coherent ideology and character arc for both Iron Man and Captain America, whereas the Batman v Superman conflict is sort of... stupid and unnecessary. Speaking of which, I’m curious to hear what you think this movie is about. I’ve spent the past few months tracking all of its terrible trailers and promo interviews with morbid curiosity, but I’m guessing you’re a lot less... ~overinvested?
Elizabeth: I have watched all the trailers and they are fucking hilarious. When one came on during a screening of Star Wars I was at, I laughed out loud—and no one else joined me. I just watched #2 again to write this and, like, ffs, I had to watch both Civil War trailers afterwards to feel better about superhero movies. Batman’s a vigilante, that seems to be the general thing for Serious Batman Films, and Superman...doesn’t like it? Wants to stop him? Mark Zuckerberg insults a blond woman on a roof. There’s some bland-looking high-budget monster. I’m assuming they’re all going to team up to fight Lex or the monster or both. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I am going to be *delighted* when you tell me that I’ve deciphered the entire film.
Gav: Surprisingly close!! (BTW, I also LOLed during at least one of the major BvS trailers. They’re just... so...hilarious...)
You’re correct about the monster, whose name is Doomsday. I assume his function is to give Batman and Superman something to fight when they inevitably settle their differences and team up. (Unlike Civil War, where there are at least some stakes, BvS has a foregone conclusion: Bats and Supes gotta get together for the next movie, Justice League.)
As for the rest of it, Mark Zuckerberg is Tech Bro Lex Luthor, the blond woman is Lois Lane (the only bearable part of Man of Steel), and the BvS rivalry kind of follows on from MoS. Bruce Wayne thinks Superman is an untrustworthy alien, and might abuse his power. So then... they fight? And Superman pulverizes Batman’s head with a single blow, killing him instantly. That’s the end of the movie, but I hear there’s a great post-credits scene where the autopsy reveals Bruce Wayne’s giant back tattoo of a phoenix rising from the ashes.
FINAL FINAL NOTE
Re: those “18 million Remus/Sirius recs” I mentioned last week: apparently all off-hand comments I make about Harry Potter fanfiction are going to be met with a slew of messages. I AM SORRY TO TEASE. How about I offer up my favorite series ever, “The Rising Storm” by Rosie_Rues. (That’s rosemaryandrue on LJ, if you remember reading it back in the day.) And within that series, “The Winter of Discontent” in particular. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. It’s thorny and complicated and beautiful and grapples with the politics of the first wizarding war as well as the Muggle politics of that moment (the general strike in January 1979).
I am OBSESSED with political HP stories right now, btw, I may as well also share “Corridors of Power” by blythely, Harry/Draco set IN PARLIAMENT. One million thank yous to Aja Romano for this one. — Elizabeth
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