March 17, 2023

The Rec Center #376

Hi folks! This week we’ve got articles about chatbots, Taylor Swift tickets, and Michelle Yeoh, along with some cool Doomguy fanart, a rec list of heist fanfic from guest reccer Laiqualaurelote, and more! — Gav

new stuff

“Custom AI chatbots are quietly becoming the next big thing in fandom” by Allegra Rosenberg at The Verge
An interesting, nuanced article about AI and fandom. (And a good antidote if you read any coverage of the OpenAI co-founder’s comments at SXSW about what fans want from AI!!)

“The disabled villain: why sensitivity reading can’t kill off this ugly trope” by Jan Grue at The Guardian
“For centuries, fictional narratives have used outer difference to telegraph inner monstrosity. As someone who uses a wheelchair, I’ve learned you can’t just edit out a few slurs or bad words to fix this—it’s often baked deep into the story.”

“Taylor Swift Fans Needed a Miracle. Here’s How They Got Tickets.” by Joe Coscarelli at The New York Times
“I can’t believe that somebody would voluntarily spend this much of their time to make sure that we can get to the concerts. They just love seeing Taylor fans not getting screwed over by scammers and not being overcharged three or four times over.”

older stuff

“On Star Trek: Discovery and Michelle Yeoh’s accent” by Swapna Krishna at Syfy Wire
A vintage piece on the impact of Michelle Yeoh’s role in Star Trek—a role she may or may not reprise in her planned solo spinoff now she’s won an Oscar!

tumblr & beyond

Doom fanart by punkcakestrike

“Don’t know how many times I’ve showed a non-Tumblr person a Tumblr post and had the whole thing derail because the poor soul actually read someone’s user name.”

Kirk v Picard inaccurate headcanons.

“What did the author mean by the curtains being blue? Hi, literary expert here to help!”

“prestige this. streaming that. tv still hasn’t topped data’s first appearance after having sex for the first time.”

A true delight of a fanwork: Banshees: The Game.

fanfiction

Laiqualaurelote adores AUs and crossovers, often incredibly niche ones. She is the author of the Ted Lasso heist AU “they will see us waving from such great heists” and can be found on Tumblr here.

Someone once described heist fic to me as the Little Black Dress of AUs—it’ll go with anything, provided you can pull it off. The joy of the heist AU lies in how it deploys its tropes—it’s delightful to see an ensemble you love cast in the archetypes of the heist crew: the Mastermind, the Grifter, the Hacker, the Hitter, the Thief, the Driver, the Forger, the Person Who Blows Stuff Up, etc. (All the better if this unfolds in a Recruitment Montage.) Most heist AUs riff off Ocean’s Eleven and/or Leverage, but the good ones are especially ingenious in how they adapt the cons to fit the fandom and manage to keep the reader guessing till the final sleight of hand. Heist heist baby!

(General content warning for criminality) — Laiqualaurelote

“Rose’s Eleven” by leupagus. 50K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Schitt’s Creek; Ships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose, Ted Mullens/Alexis Rose
Backstory: Schitt’s Creek is a show about a wealthy family losing all their money and being forced to relocate to a small town they once bought as a joke. (I have never actually seen it, which is how good this AU is.) In this fic, David Rose, released on parole, assembles a team to rob the Met Gala as vengeance against the man who got him sent to prison, Sebastien Raine—who seems to be dating David’s ex-husband Patrick.
Rec: This AU appears at first to be your standard Ocean’s Eleven dynamic combined with an Ocean’s Eight plot, but there’s a lot more going on. I was bowled over by the complexity of the heist, with its double-crosses and triple-crosses. Love the criminals who are also working mothers.
Content warnings: N/A

“The Kansas City Shuffle Job” by arboreal_overlords. 45K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Magnus Archives; Ships: Jonathan Sims/Martin Blackwood/Tim Stoker, Basira Hussain/Alice “Daisy” Tonner
Backstory: The Magnus Archives is a horror podcast in which fear entities manifest in the world through human avatars, who are granted eldritch powers. In this Leverage-based AU, the characters still have their avatar powers, only they use them for crime. Jon, who left the Magnus Institute after his assistant Sasha was murdered in a conspiracy involving his boss, is hired to lead a heist team comprising hitter Daisy, hacker Melanie and thief Tim. When they are double-crossed, they have to bring on board the best con man in England, Martin.
Rec: Wonderful reimagining of the Magnus universe as a criminal underworld, with an intricately plotted heist and character studies carefully woven into the cons. “Let’s go steal an Institute!”
Content warnings: Canonical character death, some canon-typical suicidal ideation

“Three Card Monte” by enjambament. 14K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Harry Potter; Ships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Caradoc Dearborn/Fabian Prewett, Lily Evans/James Potter
Backstory: In this non-wizarding Marauders AU, Sirius gets out of prison and looks up Remus with a plan to rob the casino at Hotel Voldemort and steal...a piano.
Rec: A clever, compact Oceans-esque heist with fun twists on canon, from grizzled hacker Mad-Eye Moody to young thief Tonks, still learning to grift on the job.
Content warnings: Mention of past abusive relationship

“The Casterly Rock Job” by Netgirl_Y2K. 3.2K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Game of Thrones; Ship: Yara Greyjoy/Daenerys Targaryen
Backstory: Daenerys’ plan to steal the Lannisters’ dirty little secrets for their business rival Olenna Tyrell involves enlisting Arya’s burglary skills, Margaery’s knack for seduction and Yara’s speedboat driving.
Rec: Love an all-women heist crew! Criminal mastermind Dany has a delightful swagger, seen through the eyes of hard-bitten mobster’s daughter Yara.
Content warnings: N/A

“i don’t need a parachute (if i’ve got you)” by thewestwinged. 6K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Locked Tomb; Ship: Gen, Camilla Hect & Palamedes Sextus
Backstory: Thief Camilla teams up with the hacker known as The Warden to one-up his mother, the legendary grifter Juno Zeta, Who Met God And Convinced Him She Was One Of His Angels And Then, Ostensibly, Stole A Lot Of Money From Him.
Rec: Spot-on voices for Camilla “hides a taser in a fake gun” Hect and Palamedes “uploads erotica onto Elon Musk’s website” Sextus. I would watch an entire series of Cam & Pal Commit Crimes.
Content warnings: N/A

“Provenance” by rageprufrock. 20K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Inception; Ships: Arthur/Eames, Dominic Cobb/Mallorie Miles
Backstory: Inception is technically canonically about a heist, but in this AU there is no dream technology and it’s about art theft instead. The theft of a Raphael painting from the National Gallery reunites Interpol agent Dom, insurance company representative Arthur, and the painting’s owner Eames, who may or may not have stolen it himself.
Rec: Brilliant, funny, unusual in that it follows neither the Ocean’s Eleven nor Leverage moulds but strikes out on its own. The long-suffering hapless POV of Dom Cobb, usually a hugely unedifying character, is priceless.
Content warnings: N/A

FINAL THOUGHT

Have a great weekend, everyone! — Elizabeth