The Rec Center #169
Hey friends it’s Friday and we’re here in your inbox with poly relationship recs, X-Men fanart, this week’s viral Alien high school play story, and more! — Gav
new stuff
“Rhea Butcher’s Podcast Is For Baseball’s Overlooked Fans” by John Lingan at Deadspin
“I know there are people who love sports but don’t necessarily see that love reflected back.” In honor of the start of spring training, an interview with queer nonbinary comedian Rhea Butcher about their baseball podcast, “Three Swings.”
“Equitable Cinematography: Director Lexi Alexander on the Politics of Focus” by Mary Jo Watts at CinemaVitas
A fantastic in-depth interview about sexism and gender equity—especially recommended for anyone interested in digging into the technical visual elements of film and television.
“High School ‘Alien’ Production Wins Internet Raves” by Dave Itzkoff at The New York Times
A New Jersey high school staged a theatrical version of Alien last week, going viral to the point where it wound up in, yes, the NYT. It looks like a truly awesome creative project, and if you’re seething with jealousy because your own high school play was something boringly xenomorph-free like Oklahoma or The Crucible, you’re not alone. Here’s the trailer, and a clip someone taped from the audience.
older stuff
“Millennials can’t stop writing fanfiction about coffee shops” by Gav at The Daily Dot
We had a reader request for more info on the coffeeshop AU this week, so it feels like a fine time to re-share Gav’s deep dive on the subject!
tumblr & beyond
Lisa Frank-inspired 90s fanart of X-Men’s Jubilee by Rian Gonzalez
Say hello to fandom’s new goth/nerd/prep/jock alignment chart.
Blackout poetry, Sherlock Holmes fanfic style.
“Sometimes I think of the pioneers of the Trek fandom, painstakingly putting together zines, copying their fanfiction over and over...”
This Tom Hiddleston commercial is literally... a self-insert imagine fic come to life...??
fanfiction
We ran a pair of poly ship lists last summer—part 1 and part 2—so it felt like we were overdue for another. Thank you to all of our guest reccers! — Elizabeth
“Flat Packers” by Sholio. 1.2K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Stranger Things; Ship: Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler
Recced by: penna.nomen
Backstory: The characters complain and banter while assembling furniture from IKEA.
Rec: Sholio is a master at telling stories that I enjoy even though I’m not familiar with the fandoms. I don’t know what the characters look like and have only a vague sense of their roles on the TV show, but they sound so real and amusing in her hands that I’ll willingly dive into any story she publishes. It’s easy to imagine yourself as part of the group, struggling to follow the instructions for the furniture.
Content warnings: N/A
“It Takes a Village” by GoggledMonkey. 11K words, not rated.
Fandom: Three Men and A Baby; Ship: Jack Holden/Michael Kellam/Peter Mitchell/Sylvia Bennington
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Three Men and A Baby is a wacky 80s comedy about three bachelor roommates caring for a baby, Mary, who was left on their metaphorical door step. The movie ends with Mary’s mother returning and all four deciding raise the baby together.
Rec: This is a beautiful, well written depiction of a non-traditional family. It’s sweet and funny, with great characterization.
Content warnings: N/A
“Sleeping With the Light On” by starkly. 4K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Iron Man; Ship: Tony/Pepper/Rhodey
Recced by: shadowkeeper
Backstory: 100% high grade uncut friends-to-lovers, OT3 flavour.
Rec: This fic doesn’t skimp on the relationship buildup between the characters and the different dynamics they all bring to the table with each other.
Content warnings: N/A
“we built this city” by fahye. 14K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Raven Cycle; Ship: Henry Cheng/Richard Gansey/Blue Sargent
Recced by: Ookami
Backstory: The Raven Cycle is four books of teenage hijinks, dying, and magic in a small American town. This is the (practically) canon ot3 ship and a post canon road trip fic.
Rec: Anything ever written by fahye is amazing—she stays true to the characters, does feelings incredibly well, and this is such a heart-warming road trip story I regularly come back to it.
Content warnings: N/A
“Old Dog” by thingswithwings. 16K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Leverage; Ship: Eliot Spencer/Parker/Alec Hardison
Recced by: springofviolets
Backstory: Takes place post-series, with Parker (thief and mastermind of the con team), Hardison (hacker, established relationship with Parker) and Eliot (the brawn/hitter, pining for both of them) as the team. There are a few references to cons, but it focuses on their relationship.
Rec: Really captures the way Eliot shows his love, and his doubts about himself and the relationship, and how Parker and Hardison love him and make room for that.
Content warnings: TV-typical violence, some dom/sub undertones
FINAL THOUGHT
This week Article 13, the EU’s controversial copyright directive, passed in the European Parliament by a slim margin (though apparently a bunch of them...didn’t even know what they were voting on….ha….ha ha….ha….). Since this was initially drafted and publicly debated, I’ve seen some *bad* takes from fandom spheres, ranging from the overly dismissive and the pro-extra-restrictive copyright (how, folks) on over to things like THIS WILL LITERALLY KILL TRANSFORMATIVE FANDOM (please stop spreading alarmist stuff like this on Tumblr!!).
Thankfully there is an entire wing of the Organization for Transformative Works (which also runs the AO3) full of lawyers, OTW Legal, and today they’ve put out a sober, lawyerly read on what Article 13 might or might not mean for transformative fanworks and fans of all sorts. So please be sure to share this if you see anyone claiming this directive either doesn’t matter to fandom at all—or that it will kill fandom as we know it. Because, as they write, “We won’t sugarcoat it—it’s bad news—but it isn’t the end of the world.” — Elizabeth
Have a favorite one-off rec? Please send it our way! We’ll use it in a future list. Other fanworks—comics, vids, zines, 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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