The Rec Center #129
Greetings from the UK! (Which is, to be clear, the place Gav is generally greeting you from...but now I’m here too haha.) This week we’ve got articles on Tumblr fandom and Wynonna Earp, some important European legal action on fanworks, and a multi-fandom list of gen recs, submitted by our readers. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Tumblr and Fandom”: Vol. 27 of Transformative Works and Cultures, edited by Lori Morimoto and Louisa Ellen Stein
GIF culture! Internet boyfriends! Discourse! The newest issue of TWC is full of fascinating papers about tumblr + fandom, including....
“Roundtable: Tumblr and fandom” with Amanda Brennan, Elizabeth Minkel, Keidra Chaney, and Aja Romano, moderated by Lori Morimoto
Elizabeth was a part of a long conversation about Tumblr as a platform for fannish engagement, and said things like, “you know that I think Tumblr is a hellscape, right?”
“How Wynonna Earp Nurtures Healthy Fandom” by Kayti Burt at Den of Geek
“No community is perfect, but in an era in which internet discourse can bring to light some of the most hateful and divisive values in the world, Wynonna Earp fandom is a pretty wonderful, safe place to be.”
“Warner Bros. crackdown puts Dark Mark over Potter festivals” by Kristen de Groot at the AP
Warner Bros. is cracking down on fan-organized Harry Potter conventions and events, but honest? Good luck with that. If this continues, we fully expect HP fandom to win this PR battle in the long term.
older stuff
“What Is the Point of Pop Culture in a World Gone Mad?” by Vinnie Mancuso at the Observer
“What role, if any, does pop culture have in this reality we’re living in?”
tumblr & beyond
“people really weren’t lying when they said that twitter is turning into 2013 tumblr”
Look, as non-gamers we don’t pretend to fully understand this elaborate sleuthing from the Death Stranding fandom? But we definitely respect it.
It’s always time to over-analyse Legolas’s trashy dialect of Elvish.
fanfiction
Gen fic! Perpetually underappreciated in a shipping-focused world but still a pillar of the fanfiction community. These fics are pulled from our submissions bank; thanks, as always, to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“A Cry Answered” by imperfectcircle. 5.5K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Pacific Rim
Recced by: blackestglass
Backstory: A year in the life of Stacker and Mako after he saves her, told from their perspectives and the perspective of their therapist, Fuyumi Yoshida.
Rec: This was the father-daughter feels fic I was looking for when I came out of the movie. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me make undignified squee-ing noises. Each character’s POV is so perfectly and lovingly rendered and the author does some really fascinating stuff with language/code-switching to signal characterization. This story inspired three (3!) podfics (full disclosure: two of which I produced). One with a multivoice cast to read each POV, one which included Japanese translations for the code switching, and a remix where I combined the character voices from the multipod with my narration and Hananobira’s translations.
Content warning: Canonical character death
“he will have power the dark lord knows not” by dirgewithoutmusic. 12K words, not rated (estimated Teen).
Fandom: Harry Potter
Recced by: Magali
Backstory: This fic answers the prompt “what if Harry Potter were a squib?” and takes us through the events of the entire series through that lens.
Rec: I love this story because it encapsulates all that is wonderful and challenging about being in HP fandom: falling in love with Hogwarts, but feeling let down by the myriad unexamined questions and injustices in the world, and trying to solve or at least answer them yourself.
Content warnings: N/A
“Past Today” dollarformyname. 28K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Dark Angel
Recced by: Janah
Backstory: Dark Angel ran for two seasons in the early 2000s and followed the adventures of genetically engineered supersoldiers as they tried to evade capture by their creators. The show was set in post-apocalyptic Seattle and included the characters of Ben and Alec, played by Jensen Ackles.
Rec: Past Today offers a really beautiful, poignant take on what could have happened after the events of the show, and explores the minds of Ben and Alec in a way that is true to their characters and their world. It’s a perfect ending to a show that was cut short far too early, dark but ultimately hopeful in all the right ways.
Content warnings: Offscreen character death
“Embers” by Vathara. 704K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Recced by: Kat
Backstory: In a world with “benders” who can control the elements of air, water, earth, and fire, a war has raged over the past century. The Fire Nation has wiped out the Airbenders, disrupting the balance of the world, and the Avatar—one person who can control all the elements—has been lost. Until a young boy wakes is found trapped in an iceberg...
Rec: I actually read this before I ever watched AtLA, and I still like it better than the real series (although the series is great). With amazing attention to political intrigue, historical precedents, possible cultural misunderstandings, character development, and just... so much world-building, this fic is an absolute treasure.
Content warnings: violence (although no more than any action movie), mentioned abuse
“a hat fashioned from tin foil” by kabukichou. 9k words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Batman (comics)
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: Requires some knowledge of Batman comics canon (ie Jason Todd was the second Robin, and he died and then came back to life as another vigilante called the Red Hood), but honestly I think most people should be able to figure it out from context clues/fandom osmosis?
Rec: A funny epistolary fic of social media posts and news articles about Gotham City conspiracy theories, overlapping between the Bat-family’s superhero personas and their IRL identities as Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, etc. Just a really great and well-observed selection of tones between their use of Twitter threads, magazine interviews, etc.
Content warnings: N/A
“The Hannibet: A Hannibal Abecedarium” by faerymorstan and strangelock. Not rated.
Fandom: Hannibal
Recced by: Clever Manka
Backstory: Like Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies, but Hannibal-style.
Rec: The art is charming and the rhymes are perfect.
Content warnings: N/A
And a vid!
“The Greatest” by bironic. 4:27, rated Teen.
Fandoms: Various (full listing on AO3)
Recced by: fredfinch
Backstory: “Don’t give up.” A celebration of some badass characters of color in recent science fiction, fantasy and horror TV and movies. Made for resolute as part of the Fandom Trumps Hate 2017-2018 charity auction.
Rec: Amazing and effective editing, set to Sia & Kendrick Lamar (!), and carries an emotional punch throughout.
Content warnings: Death, violence
FINAL THOUGHT
European/UK readers, please contact your MEP and ask them to vote against the EU’s catastrophic new internet regulations! You can find out more at the Save Your Internet site, which will help you call or email your MEP with a specific message. These regulations will impact everyone who uses the internet, but they’re especially dangerous for fan-created content.
If you’re not in Europe, please boost the signal on social media!
— Gav
Have a favorite one-off rec? Please send it our way! We’ll use it in a future list. Other fanworks—comics, vids, etc—are strongly encouraged as well. And if you have any interest in doing an entire rec list, explainer, or ship manifesto, please get in touch! elizabethandgav at gmail dot com.
If you liked this, please share it with your friends! https://thereccenter.substack.com/. And find us on social media: Gav (twitter/tumblr) & Elizabeth (twitter/tumblr)