May 6, 2022

The Rec Center #331

Hi all! This week we’ve got articles about Star Trek science and some niche collecting drama, along with some gorgeous OFMD fanart and multifandom friendship recs. — Gav

new stuff

“Squishmallows are adorable, but their online fandom has a dark side” by Jessica Lucas at Input
“I’ve seen people get fully doxxed online for reselling, and I’ve seen people post pictures of ‘shelf clearers’ at the store with their names and everything.” On the increasingly toxic dynamics within digital communities devoted to popular stuffed animals Squishmallows.

“How Marvel Studios Buried Secret Messages via QR Codes Inside ‘Moon Knight’” by Adam B. Vary at Variety
Moon Knight’s in-scene QR codes lead to a site where people can read the original comics, and so far, they’ve had 1.5 million visitors. This isn’t the first cross-media interactivity embedded within a show, but it’s a potentially interesting start of a trend, especially since it has a far lower barrier to entry than things like full-on ARGs often do.

“The hero scientist who passed off a Star Trek episode as a scientific paper” by Ryan Menezes at Cracked
In order to illustrate the editorial flaws of a fraudulent academic journal, someone submitted and published a paper presenting the events of Star Trek: Voyager’s “Threshold” as fact. yes, the one where Tom Paris turns into a lizard.

older stuff

“The race to save Kirk and Spock’s fanfiction legacy” by Jay Castello at Polygon
For fans of fandom history, a great piece from last fall on migrating the Kirk/Spock Fanfiction Archive to the AO3 via the OTW’s Open Doors project.

tumblr & beyond

Jim fanart by marina-does-things

“trying to invent a new superhero discourse”

verklempt over this vintage clip of keanu and carrie-anne being cute while filming the matrix.

greetings from week 1 of Dracula Daily

The Untamed as text posts. (yes we know there are a million of these but it’s funny!!!)

”Watching tng makes spirk so much funnier”

this sincerely IS blackbeard’s flirtation technique in ofmd.

fanfiction

This week’s theme is friendship: platonic, romantic, and everything in between. And just as last week’s Groundhog Day list included an actual Groundhog Day fanwork, we’re continuing the trend this week by including a Friends fic rec on the friendship list. 😂 Thank you very much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth

“forever and a day” by falmarien. 1.2K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Dunkirk (2017); Ship: Gen
Recced by: anon
Backstory: On France’s beach in 1940, Tommy and Gibson are two soldiers trying to evade the German army and escape to England (with Gibson turning out to be French, not English). Over a week, they form a silent friendship and Gibson saves Tommy’s life, but only Tommy makes it to England, as Gibson ends up drowning.
Rec: This story is the beautiful coda to Tommy and Gibson’s friendship in Dunkirk, a strange and bittersweet companionship of two people trying not to die. I love how it plays with dramatic irony (in the film, Tommy doesn’t see Gibson drown, but the audience does), its dream-like language, and how it echoes lines of Churchill’s historic address after the evacuation.
Content warnings: Descriptions of war and violence, drowning

“Birthday Sex” by danfanciesphil. 239K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Dan and Phil; Ship: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Recced by: Miriam
Backstory: After they break up in 2011, Dan and Phil decide to have sex on each others’ birthdays, friends-with-benefits style. What could go wrong?
Rec: The seemingly silly title and premise deceived me on just how much this fic would emotionally wreck me and then heal me. It’s a captivating and sorrowful portrait of a fucked-up relationship, and I cried many sad and (eventually) happy tears.
Content warnings: Emotional manipulation, cheating, alcohol abuse, accidental overdose, self-harm, suicide attempt

“the moments we spend together underneath our artificial plaster sky” by andfinallywearehome. 2.4K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Friends (TV); Ship: Monica Geller/Rachel Green
Recced by: E
Backstory: Monica is the center of the friend group and maybe also Rachel’s heart with a dash of queer solidarity.
Rec: Queering this show is therapy for the time I spent watching such homophobic, transphobic nonsense while closeted and sad.
Content warnings: N/A

“A Bit of Ruthlessness” by jirluvien. 110K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: MDZS; Ship: Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen
Recced by: Nat
Backstory: From the author’s summary: “When Jiang Cheng hears that Lan Xichen went into seclusion following Jin Guangyao’s death, it’s almost as if he can see the grabby hands of a restless ghost, reaching out for something to keep him company. (...) And as history has proved time and time again, the Lans are perfect victims when it comes to giving in to ghosts. Yeah, no. Not on Jiang Cheng’s fucking watch.”
Rec: Jiang Cheng’s coming for you with his EPISTOLARY POWERS. My favorite thing about this fic is that, main pairing notwithstanding, the story is very much focused on building friendships. I love that every character gets forcefully befriended by someone else. Also, Song Lan deserves all the friends ever!
Content warnings: A bit of apologism to mass murderers? But that’s also present in the canon, so...

“An Elegant Escapade” by Heavenward (PreludeInZ). 29K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go (2015); Ship: John Tracy & Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward - Friendship
Recced by: Yarol2075
Backstory: Lady Penelope needs an escort for her Great Aunt Sylvia’s Garden Party, where the creme de la creme of the spy world will be in attendance. Unfortunately, her first choice of the Tracy Brothers is off counting cormorants; fortunately, her best friend, John Tracy, is available.
Rec: It looks at a very loving friendship between an aro-ace character, John Tracy, and one that is not, Lady Penelope, and, in flashbacks, at the bumps in the road that occurred as they get to their current point. It’s just a sweet, fun story. And there are cormorants.
Content warnings: Alcohol consumption

“this is no bridget jones” by nicheinhischest. 55K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: One Direction; Ship: Zayn/Liam
Recced by: fredfinch
Backstory: Zayn and Liam are high school friends who end up getting into the same university. Zayn is, of course, hopelessly in love with Liam. His new friends Harry and Niall concoct a plan to help him woo Liam, with Louis cracking jokes the whole way.
Rec: Ugh, this gave me heart flutters. Liam is adorable and thick as a brick, and Zayn’s desperate crush is so relatable. It kills me. Even the non-ship scenes where the boys hang out and become friends are absolutely sweet! Quote from an author’s note: “secretly this whole entire fic is about friendship, so that’s a thing.”
Content warnings: N/A

FINAL THOUGHT

When Gav recently suggested we do an A/B/O list, I was surprised to see we barely had any A/B/O submissions in our guest fic rec bank. So this is a fresh call for your favorites—and I’ll expand that to say I’d love to see peoples’ recs for all sorts of fics that do interesting things with set worlds (omegaverse, D/s AUs, soulmark AUs, etc. etc.). Please use our submissions form, and be sure to mention whatever kind of world it is in the themes & tropes field! — Elizabeth