The Rec Center #337
Hi folks! This week we’ve got articles about mobile gaming and Star Wars fandom racism, along with some cool Discworld fanart, ace and aro fanfic recs, and more! — Gav
new stuff
“Star Wars’ BIPOC Fans Speak Out on Lucasfilm Addressing Racism in Fandom” by Linda Codega and Sabina Graves at Gizmodo
“You can’t have a Star Wars celebration of your community if most are afraid to even show up.”
“I’m embarrassed by how much I love Merge Mansion” by Swapna Krishna at Wired
We’ve all seen the weird cartoon ads for mobile games like Merge Mansion—the twist being that the games themselves bear little resemblance to the surreal soap opera vibe of their clickbait online marketing. In this piece, Swapna Krishna explains the appeal—and examines why she feels embarrassed about loving this kind of mobile game.
“Did a beloved indie movie really cause a googly eye shortage?” by Heather Schwedel at Slate
Googly eyes feature prominently in the super-popular movie Everything Everywhere All At Once. So, is this film’s fandom to blame for the sudden lack of googly eyes in stores like Michaels? Slate investigates.
my boss told me i looked like i watched star trek and then as i was leaving she said “may the force be with you… wait no it’s live fast and get fucked or whatever” and held up the hand salute. so i guess it was a good day at work
— kailey🛸 (@theyregayjim) May 22, 2022
older stuff
“The Art of Bookish Baking” by Alex Johnson at Fine Books & Collections
They’re unusual, but we definitely think Ella Hawkins’s beautiful “biscuit art”—featuring designs inspired by Jane Austen, Elizabethan fabrics, William Morris, and more—count as fanworks.
tumblr & beyond
Vimes fanart by murphysletsdraw
this lotr reenactment... stunning
“unless I can simulate the crew doing community theatre in the holodeck I’m just not that interested”
undeniable proof that tumblr fandom has entered a new era.
”i wonder if it’s time for a cultural reappraisal of rob liefeld’s art.”
fanfiction
We put out a call for ace & aro (and everything falling under those umbrellas) fic a few days ago, and the response was overwhelming—we probably have enough for a whole month of lists! We’ll start with this batch, with a second one coming soon. Thank you so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“The Sum of Its Parts” series by KouriArashi. 1.2 million words (!) over 16 works, mostly rated Teen (one is Mature).
Fandom: Teen Wolf; Ships: Queerplatonic-ish Derek/Stiles, other background pairings
Recced by: anon
Backstory: AU off of season 1. The pack comes together, and are functional and happy, and end up taking the supernatural world by storm. Derek & Stiles have a sort-of romantic, asexual open relationship.
Rec: Fantastic worldbuilding and character development, and lots of fluffy feelings about wolf pack families. Long series, with distinct (and very well developed!) plots for each work.
Content warnings: Canon-typical violence & death, canonical past sexual abuse, non-graphic attempted rape
“In Complete Steel” by Daegaer. 7K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Axis Powers Hetalia; Ship: Gen: Prussia, Germany, Hungary
Recced by: Nicole
Backstory: Axis Powers Hetalia is a webcomic and anime about anthropomorphized countries, playing out their histories in often humorous ways. Prussia is the bombastic older brother to Germany. He has a somewhat antagonistic relationship to other modern European countries, spending much of his time boasting about his past glories as a Teutonic Knight and his beloved king Frederick II.
Rec: Of all the ace-related fics and media I’ve read, this is the one that’s stuck with me the longest—since the heyday of Hetalia fandom, almost 10 years ago! Prussia’s blasé attitude to his own absence of a sex life (is this fic resulting from his lifetime adherence to religious vows of celibacy), his disregard of others' concerns about it, and his contentment living with just friends and family—are so relatable to me as an aromantic asexual person. To read about someone’s comfort in their identity, how they have decided to live their own life, is a joy—even if it comes from a joke webcomic series about moé nations.
Content warnings:
“Girl Boss Destiny” by growlery, olive2pod (olive2read), sophinisba, and thingswithwings. 31K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Schitt’s Creek; Ship: Alexis Rose/Stevie Budd/Twyla Sands
Recced by: Jenny Hamilton
Backstory: Although David/Patrick is the flagship of the warm, lovely Canadian sitcom Schitt’s Creek, the show also features a bunch of really awesome women.
Rec: The authors capture the voices of all three characters really really well, and the fic as a whole is incredibly tender and gentle. The girls are all figuring out who they are and what they want, and (to the theme of this rec list!) Stevie’s coming to terms with her aromanticism.
Content warnings: N/A
“Like You Mean It” by CoatWrites. 5.7K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi; Ship: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian
Recced by: boycottromance
Backstory: Modern AU take on the relationship between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. The characters get married in canon, and are described as “soulmates” in some versions/translations of the canon.
Rec: I enjoyed the way the asexuality revelation and the relationship negotiation were handled! Also the footnotes are hilarious.
Content warnings: Unsolicited dick pics
“self-contained kitchens of the heart.” by yewlojee. 2.3K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Murderbot Diaries; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Hummus
Backstory: The Murderbot Diaries is about a construct designed as a Security Unit, which manages to override its governor module, thus enabling it to develop independence, which it primarily uses to watch soap operas. As it spends more time with a series of caring people (both humans and fellow artificial intelligences), it starts developing friendships and emotional connections, which it finds inconvenient.
Rec: Murderbot is a very taciturn character from an outside perspective: it’s verbose and snarky in its journals but very quiet otherwise. This story is an outside POV from Ratthi, one of Murderbot’s friends: Ratthi is aro and dealing with a breakup caused by a mismatch of expectations, and Murderbot is helping in its own way.
Content warnings: Misunderstanding of aromanticism (offscreen)
And a rec for a collection!
“BNHA Aro & Ace Week Collection” by various authors. 2K to 23K words (28 complete works, 1 WIP), rated from Gen to Explicit.
Fandom: My Hero Academia; Ships: Various
Recced by: Bumblewyn
Backstory: This is a collection of works that were written for the 2021-2022 BNHA Ace Exchange. Every story is based on a participant’s request, and features at least one main character under the asexual umbrella.
Rec: I really enjoyed moderating this exchange, and I’m so proud of everyone’s works! My favourite thing about the collection is how diverse the stories are in their depiction of asexuality, and what role asexuality plays in a character’s life and possible relationship(s). There is no one way to be ace, and it makes me so happy to see that represented!
Content warnings: Various, every story should be tagged.
i didn’t know two of the wiggles were married and then broke up but kept performing together. the fleetwood mac of childrens entertainment
— amy b (@arb) June 5, 2022
FINAL THOUGHT
Even though we already got a whole lot already, we are still soliciting ace/aro recs! Particularly featuring characters of color and/or not cis guys. You can use our form to send in your favorites.
And speaking of submissions, an unrelated call for recs: we’re soliciting fandom AUs, aka fics where characters are in fandom themselves. Please send any you love our way to include in a future list! — Elizabeth