June 4, 2021

The Rec Center #283

This week we’ve got articles about Kelly Marie Tran and a unique 1980s roleplaying community, some beautiful Word of Honor fanart, multifandom Pacific Rim AU fic recs, and more! — Gav

new stuff

“Kelly Marie Tran on Raya, Internet Harassment, and Fandom” by Stitch at Teen Vogue
A thoughtful and very personal interview with Star Wars/Raya and the Last Dragon actress Kelly Marie Tran, discussing fandom, shipping, online harassment, and her evolution as a public figure.

“Welcome to Planet Egirl” by Cecilia D’Anastasio at Wired
“What does it look like when women’s long-held interest in gaming is finally accepted into the mainstream—and embraced by billion-dollar industries?”

“1992: Silverwolf” by Aaron A. Reed at 50 Years of Text Games/Substack
The most engrossing post you’ll read all week. The enigmatic history of an all-female roleplaying community; a group who ran a historical BDSM-infused “school” in Ireland, released several well-reviewed text adventure games in the 1980s, and maintained an air of mystery throughout.

older stuff

“For disabled and other marginalized fans, online events aren’t a compromise—they’re a lifeline” by Katie Rife, Annie Zaleski, and Shannon Miller at The A.V. Club
A roundtable discussion about the way the pandemic forced traditionally in-person events online: what panelists felt worked, what didn’t, and what they hoped would stay after the pandemic receded.

tumblr & beyond

Word of Honor fanart by holographings

necessity is the mother of invention.

“im going to skim a handful of the most popular Saw fanfics and tell you what i think the plot is”

TikTok: “Suppressing my deep knowledge of Kingdom Hearts lore so my students don’t think I’m weird”

A fanmade map estimating the locations in Word of Honor.

Gorgeous iced biscuits (UK edition) inspired by Outlander and other historical imagery!

“Not to sound pretentious but i strongly encourage y’all to save your twitter thread fics on ao3”

Stunning LaForge/Data fanart at a 1980s roller disco!

video: “i found ao3 fic titles for every lyric of a thousand years by christina perri”

fanfiction

A few weeks back, my friend 1degosuperego sent me this post for the newsletter alongside a suggestion for a rec list of Pacific Rim fusions. We got *so many submissions*, and decided to run a big batch of them today (with more to come). And yes, there are multiple stories titled “Drift Compatible.” :-)) Thank you very much to 1degosuperego for the suggestion, and to all our guest reccers for sending in fics! — Elizabeth

“Drift Compatible” by cricketnationrise. 3.5K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Check, Please!; Ship: Derek “Nursey” Nurse/William “Dex” Poindexter
Recced by: Rachel
Backstory: Check, Please! is a webcomic focuses on a fictional college men’s hockey team. Nursey and Dex are a defensive pair on the team, whose main job it is to stop the other team from scoring. The author took their dynamic and dropped them into the world of Pacific Rim.
Rec: The author did a great job of exploring how the source material character dynamics would have been altered by being in a world where Jaegers and Kaiju exist. There’s also fun callbacks to the original Pacific Rim movie. Just a good job fusing the two sources, without needing too much knowledge of either.
Content warnings: N/A

“To Speak and Echo Through The Stars” by Cryo_Bucky. 27K words (WIP but complete), rated Mature.
Fandom: The Mandalorian; Ship: Boba Fett/Din Djarin
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Former Jaeger pilot Din Djarin gets pulled back to fight the latest wave of Kaiju, years after a traumatic accident killed his copilot. Meanwhile, the Jedi Order is working with the black market dealer Boba Fett to rid the galaxy of Kaiju forever—and all of them are on a collision course with Din.
Rec: This fic creates a brilliant hybrid world where Kaiju are attacking in the Galaxy Far Far Away. The worldbuilding finds fun ways to combine Din’s Mandalorian Creed with Pacific Rim politics and technology; also, Boba Fett is basically Hannibal Chau, which is amazing.
Content warnings: PTSD, minor character death, canon-typical violence

“At the Edge of the World” by Anecdotalist. 23K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Nirvana in Fire; Ship: MCS/Jingyan
Recced by: kimboo_york
Backstory: Some stories were just meant to be—Jingyan and Lin Shu being drift compatible is a given, but what about Jingyan and MCS? What does it mean when you can’t be who you were, and who you were was supposed to save the world?
Rec: I love how the author brought the complexity of relationships and the long-tail history of the characters to the Pacific Rim setting of “saving the world at all costs.” Especially how the author addresses MCS’s disabilities.
Content warnings: N/A

“phantom/culture” by antistar_e. 12K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Social Network; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Phonecallfromgod
Backstory: Set in a Pacific Rim fusion au in which Mark Zuckerberg never created Facebook, the fic centres largely on Mark and Erica’s relationship as unlikely jaeger co-pilots but sprawls out to include what the entire main cast of the film are up to post K-Day.
Rec: This fic makes great use of the entire ensemble of characters from both TSN and PacRim and has just some breathtakingly gorgeous imagery and a great emotional heft behind it. It’s as much a fic about grief as about giant punching machines.
Content warnings: Minor character death, canon typical violence, an instance of gun violence

“Between the Shores of Our Souls” by GoldBerry. 11K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Mad Max; Ship: Furiosa/Max
Recced by: grey-sleipnir
Backstory: Pacific Rim AU where Max, Furiosa and all the characters from Fury Road are part of the Australian Thunderdome. Max and Furiosa are Jaeger pilots who lost their counterparts and are now asked to pilot Furiosa’s Jaeger, War Rig, together.
Rec: This story merges the two universes perfectly together, and it has a great take on Drifting. Also, instead of inserting the characters into the Hong Kong Thunderdome context, the author places them in the Australian one instead, allowing them to play a different role in the Pacific Rim story.
Content warnings: Past rape and sexual abuse. Past child abuse.

“Blind in the Fray” by themunchking. 16K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: NCT (Band); Ship: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Recced by: acrazyworldofdreams
Backstory: Pacific Rim AU but with three members of a k-pop group (non-idol au). Main plot is a pair of rangers is hurt in battle, with one ultimately needing a new drift partner. Cue an engineer to step in but much angst ensues. And that’s before the OG ranger wakes up from his coma!
Rec: Before reading this fic, I’d never read a Pacific Rim AU and it got me hooked. The style of writing is so engaging, and the opening scene just BLEW MY MIND. I love how well the author introduces you to the world of PR but doesn’t complicate it. And the characters are really well-rounded. Plus lots of low-key flirting.
Content warnings: Trauma, past character death, angst

“Through the Dark Tide of Memory” by scifigrl47. 60K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Avengers; Ship: Gen
Recced by: DarthAcademicus
Backstory: Tony Stark runs the Malibu Shatterdome, against all odds.
Rec: The *best* Pacific Rim fic: it beautifully captures the “working class hero” feel of the Jaeger teams—and Thor as a maintenance foreman is the best thing ever.
Content warnings: N/A

“Thunder Coming Over Me” by phnelt. 28K words (WIP), rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Untamed; Ship: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian
Recced by: anon
Backstory: A fantastic Pacific Rim/Avatar the Last Airbender AU fusion that takes all the best tropes and worldbuilding from both and fuses them with The Untamed. You don’t need to know either PacRim or ATLA to enjoy the story, which makes this setup that much more fun to discover on a first read.
Rec: This fic really has it all: mystery, monsters, magic, and sharing a brain space with your recently-resurrected crush. The detailed worldbuilding and character-driven reveals in each chapter build a compelling drama that pulls you in and leaves you wanting more.
Content warnings: Temporary character death

“Drift Compatible” by J_Baillier. 130K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: BBC Sherlock; Ship: John/Sherlock
Recced by: kzal
Backstory: John is a pilot who hasn’t drifted since Harry died in battle. Sherlock is a new recruit who can’t drift with anyone.
Rec: The characters are right on and the setting is well-described without being overbearing (I haven’t actually seen Pacific Rim).
Content warnings: One thing they combat is institutional homophobia

And we got two recs for...

“Dilation” by Fahye and theopteryx. 9K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat; Ship: Damen/Laurent
Recced by: SJ and Stephanie
Backstory: Laurent is a jaeger pilot, psychologically broken after his brother died while they were neurally linked. Damen is a disgraced kaiju manufacturer who built the model that killed Laurent’s brother.
Rec: SJ writes: I’ll admit, I’ve never watched Pacific Rim, but, even still, this fic was totally readable and incredibly enjoyable! The plot elements of the Captive Prince books were transported perfectly into the Pacific Rim setting. And, the fic is illustrated!
Stephanie writes: I loved how the author twisted Damen’s canonical situation to fit the PacRim setting. Laurent’s characterization really shines; his isolation and anger permeate every interaction.
Content warnings: N/A

FINAL THOUGHT

One more reminder! Next Tuesday, June 8th at at 7 PM ET, I’ll be talking with Freya Marske and Gwenda Bond about books & fandom as a part of the digital Edelweiss Bookfest. Use the promo code ELMBOOKFEST30 to get $20 tickets to the whole festival! — Elizabeth