The Rec Center #278
Hello! We’ve got *a lot* going on this week: Ben Barnes, Chloé Zhao, an incredible story about a man who was trapped on a boyband reality show, plus a wide selection of A/B/O worldbuilding TikToks. For fic, we’re similarly all over the place: multi-fandom AUs that take characters from Formula 1 racing to outer space to (incompetently?) video conferencing during the pandemic. Hopefully something for everyone. :-)) — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Yahoo, the Destroyer
” by Kaitlyn Tiffany at The Atlantic
From its destruction of Geocities to the gutting of Yahoo Groups to...whatever it did while it owned Tumblr, Yahoo has played an outsized—and pretty negative!—role in the history of online fandom. This is a great deep dive into a company that’s notable to internet scholars for “the sheer amount of destruction they’ve done to the historical record.”
“All hail the Ben Barnes renaissance” by Gavia at the Daily Dot
A look back through Ben Barnes fandom from Prince Caspian to his new role in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone, explaining his beloved B-list heartthrob status among two generations of fantasy fans.
“Russian man ‘trapped’ on Chinese reality TV show finally voted out after three months” by Helen Davidson and Andrew Roth at the Guardian
The tragicomic tale of Lelush, a young Russian man who accidentally joined a Chinese boyband reality show and very quickly regretted his decision. Despite repeated requests for the public to vote him off, his fanbase was simply too invested.
“How Marvel Studios intentionally lowers our artistic expectations” by Gavia at the Daily Dot
Film Twitter was dunking on MCU boss Kevin Feige this week, due to some absurd comments where he expressed awe over director Chloé Zhao’s filmmaking techniques. (She filmed outdoors instead of on a soundstage!) This article discusses how Marvel’s PR machine thrives on making average things sound exceptional and groundbreaking—even in the context of hiring an, Oscar-winning director.
(P.S. Two Gav posts in one week? Yes, encouraged by Elizabeth! Sometimes our self-promos are relevant!)
https://twitter.com/wornsword/status/1384932855923580930
older stuff
“The Bin Borne Identity: The Origin of "Bin Bons" (an ONTD Original)” by @gingerywilson at Oh No They Didn’t
This painstakingly detailed post trawls through the early years of Ben Barnes fandom to figure out when, exactly, everyone started referring to him as Bin Bons.
tumblr & beyond
https://twitter.com/hannibaby_/status/1385252471312982019
Chloé Zhao is now an Oscar-winning director—and a longtime fic writer.
“logically i know that Bucky is sitting on a couch in his therapist’s office…”
Love this OT3 visual meme going around! A few favorites: The Untamed, Star Trek, and The Road to El Dorado.
Someone paid one of those essay bot accounts to write a fanfic for them.
“Enemies to taco truckers, slow braised 500k.”
“magneto watching dazzler perform at the Hellfire Gala”
This one’s a deep cut, but it’s fascinating even if you don’t know the fandom. Basically a popular ship for the Chinese webnovel Heaven Official’s Blessing is nicknamed “beefleaf” in English-language fandom, but this nickname... has no canonical basis. It’s actually due to an emoji-based password for someone’s NSFW fanart, chronicled here by the ship name’s accidental creator. Phew!
fanfiction
This week’s theme is AUs—the “toss them in a new setting” kind, not the canon-divergent kind. Thank you very much to everyone who sent in a rec! — Elizabeth
“Love in the Time of Video Conferencing” by Elizabeth. 19K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: The Witcher; Ship: Geralt/Jaskier
Recced by: Lis
Backstory: In canon, Geralt is a Witcher (a monster hunter with special mutations that let him do cool stuff) and Jaskier is a bard who follows him and writes songs about him and drives him nuts (but he likes it). In this DELIGHTFUL 2020 videoconferencing AU, Geralt is a history professor struggling with his technology and Jaskier is the tech trying to solve his problems.
Rec: This is a fantastic fic that really captures the quarantine zeitgeist and the personalities of the characters beautifully, as well as the quarantine feelings I think a lot of people are struggling with right now. Also, it’s goddamn hilarious and sweet.
Content warnings: It’s about the current pandemic, but there’s no illness depicted.
“at the end we’ll start again” by strangehunger. 18K words, rated Mature.
Fandoms: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, San Junipero (Black Mirror); Ship: Adora/Catra
Recced by: girlwithlandscape
Backstory: An AU in which Catra and Adora are in a version of the virtual reality afterlife from the Black Mirror episode “San Junipero,” elderly women in their younger bodies, and see each other again after years of being out of each other’s lives.
Rec: Beautifully written and great world-building. A tearjerker with a happy ending.
Content warnings: Death and aging
“Mass Calculations” by Nautilicious. 7K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: BBC Sherlock; Ship: John/Sherlock
Recced by: anon
Backstory: It’s a classing pairing, but in space! Deals with Reichenbach.
Rec: Really I’m just amazed that someone thought to rewrite a famous, classic hard sci-fi story using these characters. The author stays true to both source materials (BBC Sherlock and The Cold Equations).
Content warnings: N/A
“a cold night for good deeds” by theprophetlemonade. 510K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Shadowhunters; Ship: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Recced by: Lex
Backstory: While very little to no canon knowledge is needed for this fic, the contrast between Magnus being outwardly experienced and confident vs Alec’s more reserved (and yet still incredibly competent) uncertainty and how that develops into a relationship is incredible! Factor in a war against criminal enterprise The Circle (led by Valentine Morgenstern) for a constant tug of war between plot and romance. The fic itself is an AU inspired by Watchmen a.k.a a neonoir slow-burn superheroes AU about identity, truth, and falling in love without knowing someone’s real name.
Rec: If very descriptive, evocative story-telling is your jam then this is the fic for you. When rec’d to me I didn’t take seriously the “You’ll wish it was 500k longer.” This fic has single handedly restored my faith in the slow burn tag—it’s glacial and perfect. The two-person love square is navigated to perfection.
Content warnings: Graphic description of violence and crime scenes, major character injury, mentions of self harm
“hold me by the heart” by lily_winterwood. 88K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: MDZS (novel, not the TV show); Ship: F/F Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji
Recced by: Nia
Backstory: A 3-part Rule 63 AU series featuring Chinese literature professor Lan Zhan and her model girlfriend, Wei Ying.
Rec: While at first glance this seems like just another pwp, this fic delves into issues of sexism, Chinese family values, and body confidence in ways that make it both satisfying and personally cathartic to read. Plus the worldbuilding is so much fun!
Content warnings: Family drama, forced outing, invasion of privacy, sexism, mild transphobia
“Rose’s Eleven” by Leupagus. 46K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Schitt’s Creek; Ship: David Rose/Patrick Brewer
Recced by: Asofterbutch
Backstory: Schitt’s Creek is a comedy about the wealthy Rose family, who lose all their money and have to move to a tiny town with a strange cast of characters. This fic is an Ocean’s Eleven fusion AU.
Rec: Using elements from Ocean’s 11 and 8, this fic includes an original heist and great characterisations of an ensemble cast. There’s twists and turns and arseholes getting their comeuppance, everything you want from a heist narrative!
Content warnings: N/A
And we got two recs for this fic, so we’ve combined them:
“Heart Full of Gasoline” by sdwolfpup. 407K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Game of Thrones; Ship: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Recced by: flashforeward and theworldunseen
Backstory: theworldunseen writes: Jaime Lannister is an F1 race car driver with a bad reputation who’s desperate for a good mechanic he can trust. Brienne Tarth is an unlikely mechanic who thinks she’ll never make it to the highest ranks of the sport she loves.
Rec: flashforeward writes: It’s superbly written and the blend of the GoT universe into a sort-of-modern AU is so well done.
theworldunseen writes: You do not need to know anything about race car driving to love this story, but it might make you feel in love with race car driving. It’s just beautifully written, perfectly steamy, smart and fun and warm and just great. major character injury (the one from canon)
Content warnings: N/A
https://twitter.com/seandehey/status/1385840337449406468
FINAL THOUGHT
A couple of weeks ago we asked you for Omegaverse roleplay TikToks (NOT as NSFW as it sounds!!) and oh boy, did you deliver. A reader named 57dimensions sent in a bunch of recs for this trend for TikToks riffing on A/B/O worldbuilding, including how various religions would react. Thank you, 57dimensions!
TikToker omarsbigsister has a whole series of Muslim A/B/O videos, kicking off with this hilarious TikTok about being unable to breed your omega during Ramadan. This led into Christian TikTokers riffing on the Bible quote about God being “the alpha and the omega.”
There’s also some mesmerizingly realistic fake discourse about Alpha/Omega biases, jokes about “nice guy” Alphas, and people vlogging about awkward moments like uh.... having your rut triggered by your friend’s dad’s pre-heat. Also, some intense debate over omegas getting “heat leave.” — Gav
FINAL FINAL THOUGHT
Now that the show’s finished, we’re soliciting fic for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier—please send us anything good you’ve read!