The Rec Center #368
Hello all! This week we have pieces on OFMD and queer cheerleaders, some lovely Clark Kent fanart, and a rec list of fic that centers disabled characters. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Learning to Take Risks Like the Queer Pirates in ‘Our Flag Means Death’” by Hope Rehak at Catapult
“Love and connection require emotional risk. After the harrowing nature of the last three years, I needed ‘Our Flag Means Death’ to remind me.”
“Stunt Queens: The History and Cultural Significance of the ‘Queerleader’ in Film and Television” by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya at Autostraddle
A great deep dive into the long history of queer cheerleaders on film and television.
“Dungeons & Dragons’ publisher will put the game under a Creative Commons license” by Amanda Silberling at Techcrunch
A very dramatic update on the D&D situation we covered last week.
https://twitter.com/shenanigansen/status/1615876096674926597
older stuff
“Sorry, But Artificial Intelligence Will Never Be Able To Rehash Pre-Existing IP As Soullessly As A Flesh-And-Blood Studio Executive (By Bob Iger)” at Clickhole
“I’ve mastered the craft of recycling cash cow, decades-old media, and I’m not being arrogant when I say that some pile of wires and circuits can never feel the hollow, joyless drive to increase shareholder value that I do.”
tumblr & beyond
Clark Kent fanart by januariat
A crucial note on some Glass Onion fanon about Benoit Blanc’s husband.
medieval regicide apologists dni.
“trying to watch things for an actor you find hot is like”
as ever, congrats to guillermo del toro.
check out this vintage 1970s Star Trek string art!
fanfiction
This week’s theme is fics that center disabled characters. Thank you so much to everyone who sent in these recs, and as a side note, we’d love even more going forward—it’s definitely an underrepresented category in our pool of recs, so please don’t hesitate to send your favorites our way! — Elizabeth
“Back to the Wall” by SirCumference. 131K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender; Ships: Keith/Lance, various background pairings
Recced by: rhizomaticx
Backstory: This is a light sports AU where Keith and Lance are hobbyist rock climbers who meet at a rock gym two years after a one-off hookup. Other VLD characters are present in interesting configurations.
Rec: It’s extremely specific, which leads it to feel incredibly real. Both Keith and Lance deal with chronic disabilities in realistic ways, the setting (Montreal) is sketched out in loving detail and the characters feel localized beautifully, and I ended up learning a lot about climbing/bouldering. Super immersive stuff.
Content warnings: No archive warnings but generally unflinching disability stuff including depictions of panic attacks and acute pain.
“Sand into glass” by Glorious_clio. 2.2K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Star Wars; Ship: Gen
Recced by: betttina
Backstory: AU where Cliegg is around for Luke’s arrival at the Lars homestead. Luke has a lot to learn from his grandfather.
Rec: Glorious_clio is a great author and even greater person. This story is beautifully inclusive for disabilities.
Content warnings: N/A
“Eddie’s Phantom” by bottle_of_smoke. 33K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier; Ship:
Recced by: hownowredclown
Backstory: Eddie and Richie, along with their friends, fight a clown that’s actually a shapeshifting alien that feeds on their fear, once when they’re kids in 1989 and again when they’re adults in 2016, and in between, they’ve forgotten each other. During the forgetting years, they lose all their bravery and Richie is a closeted 40 year old and Eddie is married to someone who is identical to his abusive mother.
Rec: Eddie, post-canon, is recovering from losing an arm in the final fight and struggling to fit back into his old life after everything has changed (Richie is both helpful and not very helpful with this). The journey Eddie has of letting go of the things he thought he needs in order to have the things he wants is as beautiful as the prose.
Content warnings: Eating disorders/others controlling someone’s food, infidelity, internalized homophobia, homophobia, a touch of body horror (amputation), health anxiety, abuse
“Elder, an Aesthetic” by MarbleGlove. 8.4K words, rated Gen.
Fandoms: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Mysana
Backstory: Wei Wuxian, the main character of The Untamed, has been seriously messed up by a war, including being disabled after sacrificing his magic to his brother, and keeping this a secret. After the war ends he’s in a bad place and is seen as a threat by many for the powerful necromancy he uses.
Rec: This is a story about accepting disability and the limitations within it, and the healing and growth that can come from that. It’s also very funny as the politics plays out.
Content warnings: Permanent injury/disability, internalised ableism
“mezzanine” series by ivorygates, synecdochic. 225K words over 29 works, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Stargate SG-1; Ships: Eventually every permutation of Cameron Mitchell/Daniel Jackson/Clone Jack O’Neill
Recced by: mlraven
Backstory: Cameron Mitchell is Cammie instead, and more injured in the 302 crash than in canon. From the summary: “[Cammie] is crippled, retired, and looking for something to do. When the teenaged clone of Jack O’Neill comes knocking, things only get weirder.”
Rec: A complex, deep exploration of living with chronic pain and physical disabilities, found family, identity and sexuality exploration, and non-linear PTSD recovery; interwoven with rich, realistic portrayals of queerplatonic relationships evolving through the years.
Content warnings: PTSD, substance use issues, internalized ableism
https://twitter.com/hexprax/status/1615638191188639746
FINAL THOUGHT
Have a relaxing weekend, everyone! — Gav