The Rec Center #359
Hi folks! This week we have articles about fan wikis and Pokemon marketing, some lovely Interview with the Vampire fanart, multifandom short fic recs, and more! — Gav
new stuff
“The Race to Save Fanfiction History Before It’s Lost Forever” by Jay Castello at Slate
“A massive fan project aims to make zines and other physical media available online—before it’s too late.”
“When Pokémon came to the US, it literally rained Pikachus” by Nicole Clark at Polygon
The initial publicity campaign for Pokemon in the nineties was... very ambitious, it turns out?
“Massive Zelda Wiki Reclaims Independence Six Months Before Tears of the Kingdom” by Levi Winslow at Kotaku
As you may know, the corporate entity known as “Fandom” (as opposed to “fandom” as a more general concept) is the hosting platform for numerous fandom wikis. The main Zelda wiki decided to break away, for very understandable reasons explained here.
https://twitter.com/Srirachachau/status/1588614307797151744
older stuff
“How Missy Elliott’s Black iconoclasm gave me a sense of identity” by Christine Ochefu at The Guardian
From The Guardian’s “The fandom that made me” series: “For a racially isolated girl in north-west England, the rapper’s weird fantasy worlds on MTV were a surrealist confidence boost.”
tumblr & beyond
Interview with the Vampire fanart by saintstars
“thats just how music people are”
yes we’re really in the thick of IWTV posting rn.
“Furby customization and refurbishing will have me saying the most serial killer shit out of context.”
“after two characters look at each other”
fanfiction
Next week we’ll be running a list of super-long fic (in honor of the super-long Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S.), so this week, we thought we’d do a list for the short-fic fans out there. All stories here are under 2K words. Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec! — Elizabeth
“Revenge is best served @” by Perpetual Motion. 1.9K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Check Please!; Ship: Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmerman
Recced by: galia
Backstory: Eric Bittle is an incredible baker, former college hockey player, and devoted partner to NHL star Jack Zimmerman. He’s sassy as all get-out and phenomenal at social media.
Rec: It combines giggle-inducing characterization and an absolute merciless take-down of some snooty jerks—everything I could want from a Check Please! fic.
Content warnings: N/A
“The Court Of The Raven King” by The_Whelk. 1.3K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Game of Thrones (TV); Ship: Gen
Recced by: Greyscaled
Backstory: What happens after the end of the GOT Show now that Bran is King and that Bran is not Bran.
Rec: A Gothic horror ficlet thought experiment we like to see.
Content warnings: N/A
“the shape of things we cannot ignore” by iwillbeyourgoal. 1.9K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Adventure Zone; Ship: Taako/Kravitz
Recced by: beth
Backstory: The Adventure Zone is a real play podcast by the McElroy family, and this particular story takes place in their first arc, the balance arc. Taako, the elven wizard, and Kravitz, the grim reaper, kiiiind of started dating about 2/3 of the way through the arc, but they only kiss in the finale. This story takes place post-canon
Rec: It has one of my favorite relationships—Taako and his twin sister Lup—talking about relationships and romance the only way they can with each other.
Content warnings: N/A
“Mercy” by Barkour. 660 words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Star Wars: The Sequel Trilogy; Ship: Kylo Ren/Rey (unrequited)
Recced by: anon
Backstory: This fic takes place after The Last Jedi and was written before The Rise of Skywalker had come out. After being drawn to each other in TLJ through a forcebond, Rey refuses Kylo’s plead to join him and returns to the Resistance, while Kylo becomes the leader of the fascist First Order.
Rec: The language in this fic is absolutely gorgeous and poetic, I find a new line to love with every reread. Personally, it captures my ideal Reylo dynamic: Kylo in unrequited love with Rey, Kylo’s horribleness & vulnerability, Rey’s compassion & pragmatism, the tragedy of their relationship and the war.
Content warnings: Major character death, mercy-killing
“Informed Consent and Other Cosmic Ironies” by KiaraSayre. 527 words, Not Rated.
Fandom: The Magnus Archives; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Maria
Backstory: A (hilarious) attempt at ethical review paperwork when your organization is pretty much an extension of an evil fear entity. Contains spoilers up through mid-season 3.
Rec: This story is the funniest Magnus Archives pic I’ve come across. Poor Tim, but I would read his paperwork any day!
Content warnings: N/A
“Faded laughter against her ear” by SharpestRose. 1.4K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Harry Potter; Ship: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, mostly gen
Recced by: Ludicrous
Backstory: Ginny finds a portrait in the attic.
Rec: This story may be short but it’s so well-written that you will get sucked into it after a few sentences!
Content warnings: Don’t read this if you haven’t gotten over Sirius’ death
https://twitter.com/nobodymovepal/status/1593056122445135872
FINAL THOUGHT
This week our respective podcasts have episodes on shows that people are really into right now! We don’t often plug our podcasts here, but since these might be of special interest, we wanted to share them:
Overinvested (Gav): Andor (available to all!)
Fansplaining (Elizabeth): Interview with the Vampire (patrons-only!)
— Elizabeth & Gav