May 28, 2021

The Rec Center #282

Hi everyone! This week we’ve got articles about the Evangelion theme and Black girl fantasy, along with a cute Star Wars fancomic, a very cool Studio Ghibli zoetrope, and more. Plus, a Word of Honor fandom primer and fic recs from yours truly! — Gav

new stuff

“I’m Not Sure Why Evangelion’s Opening Was Used in This Olympics Documentary, But It’s Sick” by James Whitbrook at io9
This obscure Olympics documentary took Twitter by storm yesterday, and with good reason!!

“How I Became a Scholar of Black Girl Fantasy” by Ravynn Stringfield at Catapult
“In the superhero and fantasy narratives I loved so much, when had I ever encountered characters that behaved and looked like me? When had I ever seen an audacious Black girl exploring new worlds or literally taking flight?”

older stuff

“When did the overhand flashlight hold become dominant in film and television?” at the ArcheoThoughts blog
In contemporary film and TV, characters usually hold their flashlights overhand—which isn’t something most normal people do IRL. This class of film students decided to figure out when and why this became a thing.

tumblr & beyond

Shadow & Bone fanart by calicoture

Star Trek fanart: The crew of the Enterprise performs a traditional Earth dance.

Screaming @ this fake Shailene Woodley videogame.

A delightful lil Star Wars fancomic about Rey crushing on Rose Tico!

#how nice to be able to walk beside an author on the noble labor that is a wip

A beautiful zoetrope inspired by My Neighbor Totoro.

Yahoo Answers: “do you think dan and phil got engaged during their japan trip?”

fanfiction + explainer: Word of Honor

Adapted from the novel Tian Ya Ke (Faraway Wanderers) by Priest, Word of Honor is a Chinese martial arts drama with gorgeous fight scenes and a compelling m/m romance at its heart. (Also: It’s very funny!!) All 36 eps are available on YouTube and Netflix with English subtitles. (P.S. The YouTube subs are reportedly better. Also the very important epilogue minisode is only on YouTube!)

WORD OF HONOR’S INCOMPARABLE VIBES

This show has everything: Flirty romcom energy, hurt/comfort, found families, tragic backstories, ride-or-die loyalty… and a fantastic supporting cast including sympathetic AND hateable villains. To get you in the zone, please enjoy this short-and-sweet fanvid!

The central relationship is between Zhou Zishu (ZZS) and Wen Kexing (WKX), a pair of semi-reformed ~villains. WKX is flirtatious and volatile while ZZS is more self-contained. Both have dark pasts they want to escape, leading to a conflicted love story where neither man believes he deserves a happy ending. Meanwhile, various martial arts sects are trying to kill them and/or each other. In between the (incredible!) fight scenes and furious plotting, the show dedicates a lot of screentime to just… having WKX and ZZS go on dates. Love that for us!

In lieu of trailers, here are some fanvids showcasing WoH’s strengths: Stunning fight choreography and visual style; the romance of WKX/ZZS; and pure comedy.

THE PLOT

Embracing and subverting a plethora of classic wuxia tropes about revenge, morality and self-determination, Word of Honor is structured around power struggles between ambitious leaders. (Wuxia newbies won’t find it hard to follow! But if you want some background on the genre, you can start with Wikipedia or this [spoilery] AO3 explainer.)

The show begins with ZZS quitting his job as the chief assassin for a prince, leaving him with just three years to live as a free man. Donning a disguise, he wanders off to be a drunken vagabond... at which point he meets the dangerous and eccentric WKX, who instantly becomes obsessed with him. Both men are keeping secrets about their true identities, and their journey is about learning to trust each other and build a new life beyond their traumatic pasts.

Here are some of my fav fics! You can read some without watching the show. Otherwise, I’m putting episodic spoiler warnings before the spoilery “backstory” section of each rec.

“The Will of Heaven” by manic_intent. 4.5K words, rated Explicit.
Ship: WKX/ZZS
Spoiler level: No plot spoilers because it’s a canon-divergent AU. But it does “spoil” WKX’s not-so-secret identity, something that isn’t explicitly clear at the start of the show.
Backstory: ZZS is a spy; WKX is the leader of a dangerous group called Ghost Valley. In this fic, ZZS mistakes WKX for an informant.
Rec: manic_intent has written several fics in this fandom, with a fantastic grasp of the spiky back-and-forth between WKX and ZZS in the early stages of their relationship. Flirty espionage with a real hint of danger!
Content warnings: N/A

“Strays.” by orange_crushed. 47K words, rated Explicit.
Ship: WKX/ZZS
Spoiler level: Some general spoilers for both characters’ backstories, but this is a canon-divergent AU where WKX and ZZS meet as teenagers.
Backstory: ZZS is the young leader of a training camp for assassins; WKX is a teenage runaway who wants to train with him. Rec: This wonderful slow-burn fic leans into the ruthless and calculating side of both characters, while exploring what they might have been like at a younger and (slightly) less cynical age. A very well-written friendship-to-romance story where WKX worms his way into ZZS’s life and they both change each other for the better.
Content warnings: Both characters had traumatic childhoods so the tags include specific warnings including mentions of child abuse and self-harm.

“your flower rain at the end of the road // 长路终点满天花雨” by gardencitymovements. 22K words, rated Mature.
Ship: WKX/ZZS
Spoiler level: General spoilers up to ep 24, leading into a canon-divergent AU.
Backstory: After a long series of adventures, WKX, ZZS and ZZS’s tween disciple Chengling settle down in ZZS’s childhood home. ZZS is suffering from a chronic, self-inflicted ailment, leading him to lose his senses one by one.
Rec: A soft yet evocative falling-in-love fic, emerging from a very domestic period in canon. Tagged “food as a metaphor for love,” we see WKX show off his cooking skills, celebrate Chinese New Year and care for ZZS.
Content warnings: N/A

“Siji Mountain Rest Stop for the Weary Traveller” by sundermount. 17K words, rated Teen.
Ship: Gen, background WKX/ZZS
Spoiler level: Major spoilers for the finale & epilogue... but nothing else.
Backstory: (Spoilers!) Set in the present day, WKX and ZZS are the reclusive (and secretly immortal) owners of a mountain rest-stop.
Rec: An extremely charming and funny outsider-POV fic, told through Yelp reviews and internet posts, and from the perspective of WKX & ZZS’s young employee, implicitly the reincarnation of Chengling.
Content warnings: N/A

“you’re the trouble that i always find” by sundiscus. 27K words, rated Mature.
Ship: WKX/ZZS
Spoiler level: Set around eps 30-31.
Backstory: At this point in canon, WKX and ZZS have a close relationship. But then ZZS gets kidnapped by his former boss Jin Wang (a manipulative prince), who is trying to force ZZS back into his own life as a spy.
Rec: An intense and very romantic fic that digs into the passionate, self-sacrificial loyalty between WKX and ZZS. Here, Jin Wang attempts to brainwash ZZS by giving him Inception-style dreams where he’s forced to kill and/or betray WKX. But the real WKX invades those dreams and helps to guide ZZS out.
Content warnings: Graphic violence

https://twitter.com/garfieIdfilms/status/1395412890853777408

FINAL THOUGHT

On Tuesday, June 8th at 7 PM ET, I’ll be moderating a (digital) conversation with Freya Marske and Gwenda Bond as a part of the Edelweiss Bookfest! I’m very excited to talk to both of these authors about the intersections of fandom and the publishing world. :-)) There are a lot of wonderful authors speaking at the festival; you can register here and use the promo code ELMBOOKFEST30 to get $20 tickets! — Elizabeth