The Rec Center #310
Hello all! This week we have pieces on YouTube and Grateful Dead fandom, What We Do In The Shadows fanart, and—speaking of roommates!—a multi-fandom rec list of roommate fic. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Why Do People Make (and Watch) 5-Hour iCarly Analysis Videos?” by Amelia Tait at Wired
An interesting deep dive into certain corners of fandom on YouTube—where the videos are getting longer and longer.
“Those of Us Who Love the Dead” by Sophie Haigney at Gawker
A beautiful meditation on multi-generational Grateful Dead fandom. “I have wondered what it means that I have kept circling around this world, coming back to this spring of continuing loss for more and more.”
“Every photo from the 2001 Lord of the Rings media blitz is a priceless work of art” by Matt Patches at Polygon
The latest instalment in Polygon’s 20th anniversary Fellowship of the Ring celebration is an affectionate look back at early-2000s celebrity fashion, an era before everyone was professionally styled to within an inch of their lives.
any wizard born after the Fourth Age can’t cast…all they know is runes, ponder they orb, read scroll, eat strange herb, and lie
— Allergic to my own Swag (@coherentstates) December 3, 2021
older stuff
“Wherefore Art Thou Warrio’s Princess?” by Quinn Myers at Mel
“How fans of the Mario franchise went from asking where Wario and Waluigi’s girlfriends are, to championing them as LGBTQ icons.”
tumblr & beyond
What We Do In The Shadows fanart by ratbbag
“the Doctor is actually so named because he wrote and successfully defended a dissertation”
“I am once again thinking about this X-Files promo shoot from the 90s.”
“If there’s something iconic is the dads that come to Harry styles’ concerts”
important historical research question.
“if you’re arguing which kind of fanfictions are more weird than others your brain is already rotted from being Online”
fanfiction
This week’s theme is “roomates,” an old stalwart of a trope that I’m pretty sure we haven’t explicitly featured before, which seems wild 300+ issues in. And yes, one of the fics is literally titled “And they were roommates…” haha. Thank you so much to everyone who sent in a rec! — Elizabeth
“steady hands and solid ground” by theundiagnosable. 37K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Hockey RPF; Ship: Frederik Andersen/Morgan Rielly
Recced by: das
Backstory: Tagged as a “slowburn arospec fic about biotechnology and grief and responsibility and mental health.” A pilot-turned-jaeger mechanic has to room with the base’s new neuroscientist, who helps him confront the complex grief that’s defined his life since he lost his partner.
Rec: Sort of a ‘hope at the end of the world’ story. It explores the characters’ attempts to find meaning and connection after world-ending personal loss and while living under the threat of literal destruction. The base and its little community of people fighting for humanity are really vividly described.
Content warnings: Characters deal with grief and symptoms of PTSD
“House Proud” by laiqualaurelote. 29K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Game of Thrones; Ship: Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen
Recced by: Bee
Backstory: Modern AU of Game of Thrones where Jon and Tyrion are flatmates, and Daenerys moves in in the flat above them, and they are all so goddamn eccentric. Spirals out into involving most of the GoT cast, and is mainly about them fighting the Lannisters, bc they are terrible landlords.
Rec: Loads of humour and hijinks, the chapter names are gold and there is never a dull moment. Daenerys is a cat lady, Arya is a badass, the Starks have hilarious family videochats, and it is all cute and fluffy and the good guys win, what more can one want.
Content warnings: Some violence and fighting, arson
“Pledge” by EllaBesmirched. 124K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Attack on Titan; Ship: Levi/Erwin Smith
Recced by: JaneBuzJane
Backstory: College administration decides the best way to reform ex-gang member Levi is to have Erwin, the clean-cut head of a campus fraternity—and, ironically, Levi’s roommate—mentor him. It goes about as well as you’d expect at first, but the two of them find themselves bending in unprecedented ways as they come to respect their differences (and similarities).
Rec: The parallels drawn between the different types of families to which a person can belong twine together in a fic that resonates with nostalgia and tenderness. The juxtaposition of such different worlds as felt by Levi and Erwin struck me as deeply as it did when something similar happened to me in my first year of college!
Content warnings: Some instances of derogatory language
“And they were roommates...” by harriet_vane. 41K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: The Untamed; Ship: (f/f) Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian
Recced by: tinystreetlamp
Backstory: Femslash modern AU: .“I (21f) have a crush on my roommate (20f). I can.’t figure out if she actually likes me back or not or is just being friendly.”
Rec: LOVELY tension and pining and amazing chemistry, 100% in character despite the wildly different setting.
Content warnings: N/A
“sign a new agreement with itunes” by nuitdenovembre. 16K, rated Mature.
Fandom: Hetalia; Ship: France/England or Francis/Arthur
Recced by: Sam
Backstory: Two idiots have all reached an equilibrium in sharing their flat—satisfied enough at home, at work, and in their jobs—when it begins to dawn on each of them that there is one thing they still might want.
Rec: The perfect calm, quiet fic of average people realizing they should have been having sex this whole time. The details and atmosphere are on point.
Content warnings: N/A
“The Universe Needs More You” by AttilaTheHun. 87K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: BTS; Ships: Namjoon/Hoseok, Yoongi/Seokjin, Jimin/Yaehyung
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Namjoon is a university professor of philosophy who’s been in love with one Hoseok, one of his best friends, for years. Hoseok is always dating someone else, and Namjoon’s made his peace with that, until Hoseok is suddenly single and needs someplace to live.
Rec: The writing style is the number one seller for this for me, and let me tell you as a cold hearted B, I wept at multiple times reading this. The friendships are heartbreakingly beautiful, Namjoon’s introspection, Yoongi’s character development, the friendships, it’s all deeply personal and real and quite simply exceptional.
Content warnings: Indirect exploration of anxiety, mental health, internalized homophobia and coming out before being ready
funny how if Harry Styles wore this you’d all lose your minds but rn it’s crickets pic.twitter.com/scY0abcae3
— carter hambley (@carterhambley) December 9, 2021
FINAL THOUGHT
Have a relaxing weekend, everyone! xoxo, Gav