July 29, 2022

The Rec Center #343

Hello all! This week we have pieces on Marvel’s abysmal treatment of its VFX artists and the marginalization of queer fans of color, some beautiful ATLA fanart, and the second half of our fandom AU fic rec list. — Elizabeth

new stuff

“I’m in VFX, and I’m tired of getting ‘Pixel-Fucked’ by Marvel” by Anonymous at Vulture
An anonymous visual effects artist speaks out about the hellish experience of working on an MCU project. Essential reading to understand our current pop-culture landscape, both in terms of why these movies look bad, and in terms of labor rights issues in the entertainment industry.

“On White Queer Fandom and the Erasure of Fans of Color” by Stitch at Teen Vogue
“Fandom is supposed to be for everyone, an escapist space where we’re all seen and respected for what makes us different. For queer fans of color, that doesn’t always feel like a reality because of the ways fandom tells us queer fans are expected to behave.”

“Players are putting their own pets into ‘Stray,’ the cat video game” by Jonathan Lee at the Washington Post
The fact that it took one (1) week for MULTIPLE people to create personalized mods so they could play Stray as their own pet cats... disgustingly adorable.

older stuff

“Hollywood Studios Locked In Massive Bidding War For Screenplay Entitled ‘Existing IP TBD’” at The Onion
“‘In terms of the sheer number of possibilities it leaves open, this script has more potential than anything I’ve read in my entire career,’ said William Morris Endeavor agent Karen Arbuckle, who represents the virtually blank, 138-page screenplay reported to contain dummy text for scene headings and occasional placeholder dialogue by ‘[insert character here].’”

tumblr & beyond

ATLA fanart by shi-yin-drawings (@_Aychux on Twitter and Instagram)

check out this gorgeous bedazzled papercraft kirk/spock photo album!!

“we will never have true gender equality until we start obnoxiously woobifying female villains.”

this sounds like such a lovely way to experience Dracula??

a very important documentation of all the most important plot twists in Riverdale. (you will NOT regret reading this.)

congrats to The Sims on finally permitting straight representation

fanfiction

Last week we ran our first batch of fandom AUs. We thought we were just doing two, but you kept sending them in—so we now have enough for a third! We’ll probably run that in a few weeks; in the meantime, here’s batch #2. Thank you so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth

“untamed social media au but they’re all in an unrelated fandom and it’s way more focused on their opinions than their interpersonal drama” by crowkids. Hard to estimate length—it is a completed threadfic; rated est. Teen.
Fandom: The Untamed; Ships: Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji, background Nie Huaisang/Jiang Cheng
Recced by: Minna
Backstory: In The Untamed, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are soulmates but a lot of secrets and necromancy and social pressure come between them. And Wei Wuxian very much dies and gets better. The pair are kind of an opposites attract situation: reckless renegade Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, reserved and bound by rules.
Rec: This story is SUCH a fun take on fandom AU; the medium makes the social media aspect feel very natural, and the way the characters interact with their shared fandom is so funny and in-character. And then there’s this plot piece that weaves in towards the end that takes the in-character fandom discussion from fun to fascinating.
Content warnings: N/A

“Miles From Where You Are” by Mooncactus. 29K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy; Ship: Rey/Kylo Ren
Recced by: nat
Backstory: Enemies-to-lovers long distance slowburn between a gatekeeping canon nerd prequel-hating Kylo Ren and a prequels and Clone Wars loving Rey.
Rec: Meta fic is popular in reylo because most of us experienced a backlash to the ship, it’s a reflection of our personal experiences being called fake fans for liking a (canon!) ship. This is one of the top tier examples showcasing real arguments and interests the community had especially post-The Last Jedi about the greater SW universe.
Content warnings: Language

“Another Kind of Fandom Wank” by Arionrhod, McKay. 40K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Harry Potter; Ship: Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Recced by: Pockectrocket
Backstory: After faking his death and leaving the Wizarding world behind, Severus unwittingly reunites with someone from his past in the most unlikely of places: online in a Blood Bathory fan community.
Rec: It’s a lovely exploration of two mature people interacting in a (fake) online fandom, and how being anonymous can make us behave more openly.
Content warnings: Talk of suicide, one occurs off screen to a named but very minor OC; mentions of chronic illness

“Kill Your Darling(s)” by meloncafe. 5.3K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Stray Kids (Kpop RPF); Ship: Kim Seungmin/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Recced by: Averytree
Backstory: Minho, a kpop idol, accidently clicks on an ao3 link on twitter, only to discover that the Stay fandom has absolutely failed in writing him accurately as a character. In particular, the stories shipping him with Seungmin are all very bad. He decides to write his own fanfic to show the fandom how is should be done.
Rec: Very funny, wonderfully characterized, meta in a delightful way, this story feels remarkably plausible for an idol deciding to write fanfiction about himself. It’s also a celebration of the feeling of getting sucked into your own writing, and the joy of receiving comments and kudos.
Content warnings: N/A

“You have already left kudos here. ;)” by jessalae. 13K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: The Magicians (TV); Ship: Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh
Recced by: Biscuit
Backstory: This fic says “if Quentin and Margo are grad students and also fandom nerds, wouldn’t they write fanfic?” and also “even if you got into magic grad school, wouldn’t you still post?”
Rec: I love this story because it rightly understands that if you got swept away to a magic school without warning and had no internet access your fandom bff would worry.
Content warnings: N/A

And four different reccers sent in this fic!!

“5U175” by Closer. 26K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Suits (USA TV show); Ships: Mike Ross/Harvey Spector, background Donna/OFC
Recced by: defractum, anon, bisexualshakespeare, and fuzzyeldritchhorror
Backstory: defractum writes: In Suits, Harvey Specter is a fancy corporate lawyer, Mike Ross is his associate. They’re both still lawyers in this AU, they’re just also in fandom around their day jobs. Harvey is a Star Trek BNF, Mike is a multi-fandom writer who encroaches.
Rec: defractum writes: This is a great blend of canon references (that Harvey likes sci fi) into a fandom AU, and it feels like the fandom experience of the early 2010s with LJ posts, IMs, emails and memes inserted into the text.
anon writes: Most fandom AUs go completely AU but this one keeps the canon setting and relationships, just adding another level of competitive interaction between Harvey and Mike. Almost like a You’ve Got Mail twist as Mike slowly realises the guy he’s been trading barbs with on livejournal is in fact, his boss.
bisexualshakespeare writes: It’s got You’ve Got Mail vibes with people talking online and suggesting things that have impact in their real lives.
fuzzyeldritchhorror writes:I’m a big fan of identity porn/online dynamics, and this does both really well. I'm not a part of the Suits or Star Trek fandom and this really sucked me in and got me invested.
Content warnings: fuzzyeldritchhorror writes: They are coworkers/Harvey is, I believe technically Mike’s boss, but the power imbalance doesn’t really play a role. Some language that I think might border on transphobic iirc?

FINAL THOUGHT

Have a great weekend, everyone! — Gav