The Rec Center #295
Hi all! This week we have articles on Twilight and environmentalism, clashes between a journalist and an artist’s fans, and more. We also have some amazing Jennifer’s body/Hannibal fanart, plus multifandom modern AU fic recs! — Elizabeth
new stuff
“The ‘Twilight’ romance no one talks about” by Kate Yoder at Grist
An interesting piece about Forks, Washington, and the way Twilight and its fandom changed the town—and spurred real environmental change in the area.
“Journalists and Fandoms COLLIDE, Everyone LOSES” by Kate Lindsay at Study Hall
Some rather grim coverage of the culture clash between YouTube celebrity Trisha Paytas, and a Buzzfeed journalist assigned to write about them. When the article didn’t come out as Paytas wanted, their stans wound up harassing the reporter en masse.
“In the Dead Archives” by Max Ableson at n + 1
A beautiful piece about the commenters in the Grateful Dead archives: “Dreamy, detailed, and sometimes deranged sentences run on like the riffs they describe. These posts are tender, nostalgic, and frequently celestial. Hipness, a linchpin of music writing, is nowhere in sight. Authority and expertise disappear when each opinion is about as right as the one above.”
https://twitter.com/cheryllynneaton/status/1430578970991513605?s=19
older stuff
“A Century of Female Fandom” by Ciara Wardlow at Film School Rejects
“The stereotype—whether it be by the name of ‘screen-struck girl’ circa 1917 or ‘fangirl’ circa now—has, beyond the name, changed very little.”
tumblr & beyond
Jennifer’s Body/Hannibal crossover fanart by ling
what if you asked, “permission to speak freely, captain?” and the captain said no?
Some very cool Six of Crows papercraft art!
TikTok: The LOTR movie fan trivia hotline.
“reverse hanahaki. i cant stop eating these flowers. they’re so fucking tasty.”
The most important Spider-Man clip.
You’ve probably heard by now about AO3’s upcoming 75-tag limit. To get a sense of how often users actually employ massive numbers of tags, this data analysis is really interesting!
fanfiction
In Fansplaining’s latest special “tropefest” episode, we explored modern AUs, so this week I suggested to Gav that we make that our fic theme! Thank you very much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“Rowhome” by orange_crushed. 48K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: 山河令 | Word of Honor (TV 2021); Ship: Xie Wang/Ye Baiyi
Recced by: machinebender
Backstory: Gritty modern AU. Xie Wang runs away from his abusive uberwealthy guardian and lands in a neglected rowhome in Philadelphia, attracting the interest of neighbor Ye Baiyi.
Rec: Heady abuse recovery by way of house renovation. The personalities and setting are lovingly layered and nuanced.
Content warnings: Past abuse, Past sexual abuse, being orphaned/orphanages, eating disorder, suicidal thoughts, binge drinking, smoking, PTSD, sexual assault aftermath
“something’s set to start” by maxtbh. 3.5K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Witcher; Ship: Geralt/Jaskier
Recced by: Fanny
Backstory: Short and sweet geraskier PWP wherein they don’t know each other and are both terribly lonely. For this reason, they agree to hookup on new year’s eve, because of course.
Rec: Geralt is trans in this fic, and it’s done so well! He and Jaskier have discussed each other’s preferences over Tinder but neither are expecting to catch feelings...Very in character for both of them, despite the modern AU, which can often feel off in Witcher fic!
Content warnings: Vague mentions of dysphoria
“A Nice Boy (The Family Matters Edition)” by pocky_slash. 20K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: X-Men; Ship: Charles Xavier/Erik Lehnsherr
Recced by: starknjarvis27
Backstory: Charles and Erik (Professor X and Magneto) are central X-Men enemies, and clearly also star-crossed lovers. This fic is a modern, no powers AU. Charles is still disabled, and Erik still went through hell at Shaw’s hands.
Rec: Though there are no mutants in this story, it still stays true to the characters. Charles and Erik bicker, but their arguments come from a place of deep respect. I love fics about friends that don’t realize that they’ve stumbled into a romantic relationship.
Content warnings: Past child abuse
“Play to Win” by Enterprisingly. 162K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Star Wars; Ship: Kylo Ren (Ben Solo)/Rey
Recced by: Leah ER
Backstory: KyloRen, pro gamer, is the king of the eSports world—until an unknown user, ReyOfLight, dethrones him.
Rec: No previous eSports knowledge required to enjoy this beautiful, character-growth-focused AU fic! Seeing how Rey and Kylo’s online enemies to lovers relationship develops, plus how the rest of the Star Wars crew, locations, and battles translates to the modern pro-gaming world, is pure delight.
Content warnings: Misogynistic and homophobic harrassment within the gaming community
“Come into the water” by feyburner. 4.8K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Untamed/Módào Zǔshī; Ship: (F/F) Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Recced by: juliethegay
Backstory: Modern AU established relationship, but their first time and the vulnerability of that on different levels.
Rec: Besides the stunning and scorching writing, Wei Ying’s vulnerability as being more new to it versus her previous experiences feels very real and their communication is wonderful.
Content warnings: N/A
“Ze Vlog of a Miseráble” (plus the vlogs on youtube) by ZeMiserable. 41K words and 24 vlogs, Not Rated.
Fandom: Les Misérables; Ship: Enjolras/Grantaire
Recced by: alienticia
Backstory: Most of Les Mis fic are about the young group of revolutionaries known as Les Amis de L’ABC, who die tragically both in the book and the musical. This fic is told both in prose and through vlogs, and reimagines Grantaire as a vlogger, and the ABC as a group of LGBTQ leftists in contemporary Paris.
Rec: I really like just how ambitious the project is, being told through vlogs AND text AND a twitter and instagram for Grantaire! Also love how the fic is accurate about the dynamics of leftist groups, and the author writes non-binary and asexual characters really well.
Content warnings: N/A
https://twitter.com/gusucloudbunny/status/1428687811553624068?s=19
FINAL THOUGHT
That’s all, folks! Hope you enjoy this week’s recs! — Gav