The Rec Center #241
Hello! This week we have for you: K-pop coverage and an article about supervillain romances, some lovely Star Trek fanart, a look in on the Dune fandom, multifandom angst fanfic recs, and more! — Gav
new stuff
“Black ‘The Sims 4’ Players Are Changing One of the World’s Biggest Games” by Gita Jackson at Vice
On Black Sims fans’ coordinated campaign that “demanded developers give them better tools to make Sims that look like themselves.”
“The K-Pop Fans Who Tweet Fake News” by Crystal Bell at Paper
A great, in-depth reported piece about “clearing searches,” when K-pop fans flood Twitter—sometimes with stories that are outright false—on an attempt to drown out critical conversation about their faves.
“Spike and Drusilla, Fisk and Vanessa, and the most villainous #relationshipgoals” by Lacy Baugher at Syfy
A celebration of great villain romances in pop culture.
older stuff
“Sugar, We’re Going Down Posting” by Arielle Gordon at The Outline
“For thousands of teenage girls, the Livejournal community fbr_trash provided an outlet where emo fans could discuss, gossip about, and troll the bands they loved.”
tumblr & beyond
Garak/Bashir fanart by kaelio
Star Wars fandom vs Dune fandom.
“just saw a ‘only one bed’ fic with the major character death warning”
will graham’s trolley problem
everytime zuko goes out he leaves iroh a note that says “gone insane, back later”
fanfiction
Fluff last week, angst this week! Thank you very much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“A Long Winter” by dropdeaddream, WhatAreFears. 36K words rated Teen.
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (movies); Ships: Steve Rogers/Peggy Carter, Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes
Recced by: Mandy
Backstory: Imagine Steve doesn’t get trapped in the arctic ice for 70 years and lives a life with Peggy... all the while thinking about Bucky, too.
Rec: Really beautiful examination of a bisexual Steve Rogers and how hard it would be to feel such a way before bisexuality had been “explained” to the masses.
Content warnings: N/A
“This One’s Mine” by iColor with Crayons. 254K workes, rated Teen.
Fandom: Hamilton; Ships: Alexander Hamilton/Angelica Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton/Eliza Schuyler
Recced by: Claire
Backstory: Modern-day AU that divides in two timelines: the canon one and the rewind one, in which Angelica decides to not give her love away.
Rec: The author takes the rewinding in the musical to a whole new level, and uses it as the main structure to build all the “what if” feelings that Angelica’s story has. Yes, it’s VERY angst. Also, the modernisation of the canon story is one of the best I’ve read.
Content warnings: Suicide, death by gun, abortion
“House Hunters” by Warbles. 17K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Venom; Ship: Background Eddie/Venom
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Set after the 2018 movie. From AO3: Eddie Brock becomes roommates with a 72-year-old geriatric Chinese woman, her fugly cat, and an assortment of half dead plants. Somehow, it works.
Rec: Mrs. Chen is fleshed out and given her own story here, and the friendship between her and Eddie is really well done.
Content warning: Mention of cannibalism
“Love in the Sky” by Jonghyunslisterine. 73K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: BTS; Ship: Min Yoongi | Suga/Park Jimin
Recced by: Amorphine
Backstory: BTS rpf. It’s set in the Korean music industry but Jimin and Yoongi are not in a band together. Yoongi is a successful producer and rapper and Jimin is a trainee hoping to become an idol.
Rec: You’d think it’s just going to be porn, but then it turns into this beautiful and heartbreaking dark story that leaves you gutted.
Content warnings: Dom/sub overtones, mental illness, drug addiction, past abuse
“Reputations” by Tromper. 187K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Critical Role; Ship: Caleb Widogast/Mollymauk Tealeaf
Recced by: ro
Backstory: Very canon-divergent arranged marriage AU where Caleb is a prominent Archmage with a deadly reputation and Molly is one of the most notorious mercenaries, married in order to end the war between the Empire and Xhorhas.
Rec: Devastatingly angsty, a masterpiece of mutual pining and self-loathing that balances a slow burn romance, incredible canon-compliant au world building, a political thriller plot, and a large ensemble background cast without falling short. And it has a regular, weekly update.
Content warnings: Canon-typical violence, references and flashbacks to war, war crimes, torture
“Under the Table and Dreaming” hollycomb. 103K words rated Teen.
Fandom: The Toy Story series; Ship: Sid Phillips/Andy Davis
Recced by: anon
Backstory: A novel-like story of how Sid and Andy met, and re-met again and again. And how they got together with different episodes throughout their lives.
Rec: OP really brought these characters to life and fleshed them out, this really reads like a YA novel. Angsty teens falling in love and experiencing their firsts together, realizing their sexualities and going well into adulthood together is not something I expected from a Toy Story fic, but here we are!
Content warnings: Underage sex, explicit, drug use and other substances use, mentions of child neglect and abuse
FINAL THOUGHT
Have a great weekend, everyone! — 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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