The Rec Center #141
Hi folks! This week we have a grab-bag of fanfic recs for you, along with an article about YouTube stars, some cute Adventure Time fanart, and more. — Gav
new stuff
“The YouTube stars heading for burnout: ‘The most fun job imaginable became deeply bleak’” by Simon Parkin at The Guardian
“It’s one of the most toxic things: the point at which you’re breaking down is the point at which the algorithm loves you the most.”
“The Videogame Fandom That Wrote the Book on Their Favorite Series” by Cian Maher at VRV
“Without the help of the community, this lore could not have been so clearly laid out—and yet, it’s present in the text.“ A look at the uniquely complicated task of unearthing the narrative of a videogame that, on the surface, does not seem to have a narrative at all.
“God bless the Capitals’ party dummies for partying harder than any team is allowed to ever again” by Rave Sashayed at Deadspin
A vital report from ice hockey fandom, re: the truly astounding level of partying achieved by the Washington Capitals this summer.
older stuff
“Fandom in/as Contact Zone” by Lori Morimoto at the Fan Meta Reader
On communities and cultures within fandom, and what happens when different groups rub up against each other.
tumblr & beyond
Bubblegum/Marceline fanart by Kelsey Eng
A case for original authors to use AO3 tags to describe their work.
Hannibal’s Will Graham and the metaphor swear-jar.
This live amateur production of Star Wars looks like, uh, A Lot.
fanfiction
This week we have a grab-bag of multi-fandom fic! Including a new Black Sails fic that I am itching to read!!! Thank you, as always, to our guest reccers, and to all people writing nuanced fanfiction about James McGraw & the Hamiltons. — Elizabeth
“Some Affair” by equestrianstatue. 23K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Black Sails; Ships: James McGraw/Miranda Hamilton, James McGraw/Thomas Hamilton, Miranda Hamilton & Thomas Hamilton
Recced by: pamphilia/yunitsa
Backstory: The show’s flashbacks to Captain Flint’s tragic backstory offer tantalising glimpses of his relationships with first Lady and then Lord Hamilton, which have fuelled endless fan speculation (you should see the DM history between me and Elizabeth!) about how exactly the three of them fit together. This story fills in those blanks perfectly.
Rec: The author really *gets* these characters and the complex and delicate emotions between them in a way that felt entirely convincing to me as an extension of what we see on screen, with an excellent sense of voice and period (and some scorching sex!).
Content warnings: all in the third chapter (sob)—mentions of involuntary institutionalisation, pirate violence
“Empty Graves” by Unpretty. 6.5K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: DC Universe, Superman; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Aasta
Backstory: “Time travelers who plan to kill Superman never account for Martha Kent in their plans. She may not be the World’s Finest, but she’s a mother with a shotgun, and all told that might be scarier.”
Rec: This fic is so unbelievably charming you guys. If the idea of Martha Kent shooting time travelers trying to kill Clark before he becomes Superman isn’t enough to woo you, there is an amazing part where Martha tells Clark about how she spent three years convinced he was in a larval stage, and she was going to wake up one morning and he would be a crab. All of Unpretty’s fics are really funny but this one is my favorite, because of its perfect characterization of the Kents.
Content warning: Mild violence
“the moon a black hole in the blaze of night” by damask_and_dark. 4K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Snow White and the Huntsman; Ship: Ravenna/Snow White
Recced by: AurumCalendula
Backstory: “˜There is no king, this time. When Ravenna tries to capture Snow White’s kingdom, she is rescued by an armoured queen.”
Rec: I love the themes of love and redemption and I adore damask_and_dark’s prose—especially how she highlights the parallels between Ravenna and Snow White and her use of light and dark imagery.
Content warning: N/A
“Where the Night Goes & Companion Stories” by bigspoonnoya. 69K words over 5 works, rated Mature.
Fandom: Haikyuu!!; Ship: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Recced by: ahbuggrit
Backstory: Hinata and Kageyama have eyes for little else but volleyball (and maybe each other).
Rec: Fairly realistic future-fic where two blockheads finally open up and get together. Lots of talking it out, and feelings; important in the last work about same-sex marriage in Japan and surrogacy.
Content warnings: N/A
“the best you ever had” by firstaudrina. 17K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Gossip Girl; Ship: Dan Humphrey/Carter Baizen
Recced by: Sofia
Backstory: Gossip Girl was a CW TV show about extremely wealthy teens on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Dan Humphrey was the “outsider” writer from Brooklyn, Carter Baizen the junkie bad boy; on the show their interaction is minimal.
Rec: All characters are exactly as unlikeable as they are in the show (which is a lot) and their interactions are very in character. I also love how, even though the story is ship-centric, it’s not ship-exclusive, and there’s a lot about the characters’ lives.
Content warnings: Drug use, very unlikeable characters, cheating.
FINAL THOUGHT
Thanks again to everyone who wrote in about doing videogame explainers and rec lists! We are always open to more explainers and rec lists from guests—in 141 weeks of The Rec Center we’ve probably only had two or three dozen, so if you’ve been waiting to see someone do a rec list about something, you are strongly encouraged to BE THAT PERSON. :-) I’ve said this before but I am still a mess: if we owe you a response on something you wanted to write and you still want to write us, please nudge us. elizabethandgav at gmail dot com. — Elizabeth
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.
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