The Rec Center #274
Hello! This week we have reporting on the McElroy Brothers fandom, Star Trek fanart, and fic recs for one of my personal favorite tropes: found family. And a quick note: obviously if you’re reading this, our new Buttondown-hosted newsletters are not going to your spam folder! But if any of your friends report that they didn’t receive The Rec Center this week or last week, please encourage them to check their spam folders and manually mark our emails “not spam,” to help their email service provider correctly classify them going forward. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Everyone Loves the McElroys, So Why Is Everyone Mad at the McElroys?” by Gita Jackson at Vice
A look inside the increasingly troubled state of the McElroy Brothers fandom—a podcast empire that prides itself on positivity, but is rapidly expanding beyond its cosy family brand.
“How Star Wars’ Biggest Fan Wiki Found Itself in a Fight Over Trans Identity” by James Whitbrook at io9
Created in 2005, Wookieepedia is the go-to resource for Star Wars trivia, famed for its drily factual style. But as this article explains, this fan-run wiki is currently in the midst of a contentious argument over trans rights.
“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier embraces queerbaiting in episode 2” by Gav at The Daily Dot
Queerbaiting in the MCU? Say it ain’t so! With spoilers up to episode 2 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, this article explains the history of queer subtext in the Captain America franchise, and Disney’s subsequent mishandling of the fandom... setting the scene for some dubious choices in the new Sam Wilson/Bucky Barnes TV show.
“An update on blocking and muting features” at AO3 News
In the wake of rumors going around about AO3 blocking and muting features, this post is a very clear update about the org’s work on that front: the decisions that are being made, and why it’s not as simple as “just hire someone to build it.” Plus: they include skins you can implement now to hide individual works or users from your searches.
https://twitter.com/MeganBitchell/status/1377381629463646210
older stuff
“I Should Be Offended By Queer Villains, But I Cannot Help But Love Them” by Carmen Maria Machado at Refinery29
In this excerpt from her book In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado delves into the complicated appeal of queer villain tropes.
tumblr & beyond
Garak from Star Trek: DS9 as a 14th century European gentleman by Tiffany Baxter
Following the international success of The Untamed, more Westerners are starting to watch Chinese historical/fantasy/martial arts dramas. This Twitter thread is a great resource for people just getting into the wuxia genre, explaining some of the popular tropes you’re likely to see in many different shows.
A legendary single-serving fanvid: Captain Picard vs the Tribbles.
Pacific Rim is great because of the absolutely fanfiction level of its plot points.
Amazing fanart: Lil Nas X as a god from the videogame Hades.
“Riker Maneuver by difficulty.”
An intriguing pitch for a Muppet version of Supernatural.
fanfiction
Found family! All-time great trope. If you want even more recs, we ran a found family list around this time last year. Thank you very much to all of our guest reccers. — Elizabeth
“The Fox’s Wedding” by thehoyden. 11K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Hannibal (TV); Ship: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Recced by: fredfinch
Backstory: Because Will’s life is bullshit, he gets gently kidnapped from the hospital after Hannibal guts him.
Rec: Reconciliation through kidnapping and found family with a murderous twist is right up my alley, unfortunately. I really enjoy the way Hannibal takes care of Will while he's healing, and the way they both fill the roles of parent to Abigail in different ways is really warming.
Content warnings: Kidnapping, healing from serious injury, mentions of cannibalism
“Nothing Like a Round on ‘The Krypton Factor’” by neverfaraway. 20K words, rated Teen
Fandom: BBC Ghosts; Ship: Pat/The Captain
Recced by: gobnaits
Backstory: Ghosts is a comedy show about a young couple who unexpectedly inherit an English manor house and the ghosts who haunt it. One of the ghosts is the deeply closeted WWII army captain and another is the kindly scoutmaster, Pat.
Rec: This fic really reads like an episode, giving all the ghosts something to do and while also feeling incredibly in-character for The Captain and Pat.
Content warnings: Internalized homophobia
“Fox Country” by evil_whimsey. 224K words over 2 works, Not rated (est. Teen).
Fandom: Ouran Highschool Host Club; Ship: Arai/Morinozuka Takashi
Recced by: Maggie
Backstory: Though it’s technically an OHHC AU, Fox Country is far enough removed from the original material that it reads like an original work: you don’t have to know anything about the OHHC canon. The story follows Mori, who lives as a hermit in an abandoned cottage in the woods, the magic he encounters, and the friends he makes along the way.
Rec: The prose is magical, gorgeous, and deeply atmospheric. If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming a hermit, or just want a good long read that leaves you with a profound sense of peace, this fic is for you.
Content warnings: N/A
“The One Where It’s Letters” by shuofthewind and thestancyg. 74K words, Not rated (est. Teen).
Fandoms: Thor/MCU, Criminal Minds; Ship: Darcy Lewis/Spencer Reid
Recced by: shadaras
Backstory: Darcy Lewis is working for Stark Industries and also doing a doctoral dissertation in politics that overlaps with criminal psychology. She emails the Criminal Minds crew in hopes of interviewing at least one of them, and hits it off with Spencer Reid. The rest is history. Or the story, at least.
Rec: I read this story despite having no idea what Criminal Minds is, because I trust Shu as an author that much. This story does a fantastic job of setting up all the relationships between the characters (even if you don’t know one side of the fandom!) and showing how they shift and change over time, while also being entirely in the form of emails and text messages. Beautiful love story, and also it sort of has a plot?
Content warnings: Canon-typical Violence, references to rape and sexual abuse, references to child abuse, “All Of This Is Criminal Minds Shit It Doesn’t Get Described In Visceral Detail”
“Who Needs a Guy?” by fullborn. 11K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Halt and Catch Fire; Ships: Gordon Clark/Joe MacMillan, Donna Clark/Cameron Howe
Recced by: deluxeyellowflower
Backstory: Halt and Catch Fire's last season ends with the main characters estranged from one another. This is a fix-it fic asking: what if they stayed? (Also, everyone's bi now!)
Rec: HaCF is beautiful in its incongruity: the characters are water and oil; they only mix for a short time. I love that, and I also love this softer, kinder ending that I think they all deserved.
Content warnings: Brief internalized ableism, brief ableism
“ANBU Legacy” by Nezu, Ki, DK, and Aubrey. 1,000,000-plus words (ongoing), rated Mature.
Fandom: Naruto; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Calanthe
Backstory: ANBU Legacy is a collaborative serial novel based on the world of Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto. It follows an alternate timeline, taking place in a Konoha where the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi—and lived. Set approximately four years after that event, Legacy is focused on the young men and women of ANBU, who took the vow to defend the Hokage and their village at all costs.
Rec: The writers work perfectly together to flesh out realised, empathetic characters, the tension is delicious, and the mission arcs have you on the edge of your seat. Honestly one of the hidden gems of the Naruto fandom, with incredible world-building and characterisation.
Content warnings: Blood and gore, mentions of past child abuse
https://twitter.com/shutupmikeginn/status/1374036147223941120
FINAL THOUGHT
TGIF! Wishing you all a chill weekend. XOXO, Gav.