The Rec Center #381
Hi all! This week we’ve got articles about the TV writers strike, the teen chess craze, and Succession fandom, along with some lovely Hualian fanart, a grab-bag of multifandom fic recs, and more! — Gav
new stuff
“As strike looms, The Bear, CSI: Vegas, and more TV writers tell us what it’s really like behind the scenes” by Mary Kate Carr at The A.V. Club
Nearly 98 (!!) percent of WGA members voted to authorize a strike this week. This piece breaks down the realities in the industry right now with the direct perspectives from TV writers.
“‘Succession’: Shiv Roy’s Thirsty Fan Army Is Taking Over the Internet” by E.J. Dickson at Rolling Stone
An interesting analysis of the gulf between Shiv’s canonical role as a horrible rich person (like every other character in Succession!), and the girlboss side of her IRL fanbase, who often position her as a relatable—even feminist—female character.
“Why teens are suddenly obsessed with chess” by Nicole Carpenter at Polygon
The gaming sensation sweeping the nation(s)!!!!
Gender isn't binary, except for the two (2) shows about soccer. The boy show (Ted Lasso) is about what happens when boys play soccer (crying), and the girl show (Yellowjackets) is about what happens when girls play soccer (murder). Both shows are accurate.
— Emily St. James (@emilystjams) April 19, 2023
older stuff
“Music of the Night after Night after Night” by Jay Caspian Kang at This American Life
The longest-running show on Broadway, Phantom of the Opera, finally closed this past week after 35 years. There’s been some coverage of the Phandom, but we wanted to include arguably the greatest piece ever created about the musical, on the members of the orchestra—some of whom have played in the pit since the very first performance.
tumblr & beyond
Heaven Official’s Blessing fanart by plustimetheartist
The Andor Sourcebook, a fanmade TTRPG sourcebook featuring characters, planets, weapons, lore etc. based on the TV show Andor. (Ed. note: We have not looked at this in detail because it’s 50 freaking pages long, but it looks pretty cool!)
“Bugs Bunny could have simply walked into Mordor.”
truly, what more is there to say about noted heterosexual misha collins.
“it is objectively quite funny to say ‘you still can’t let me go?’ to the head you’ve got stored in your cupboard”
An amazing crowdsourced rec list: “Stories that spoke to us: MDZS and the Chinese diaspora experience.”
fanfiction
An unthemed grab-bag this week! Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“His Untamed Heart” by Mithen. 3.6K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: DCU (Comics); Ship: Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent
Recced by: mlraven
Backstory: Bruce discovers that the protagonists of a certain pseudonymous author’s romance novels bear a striking resemblance to himself, and instead of talking to Clark like adults, he escalates.
Rec: This fic always makes me think of the Kate Beaton ’80s businesswoman comics. Lighthearted and funny, and featuring long-suffering Alfred, the best kind.
Content warnings: N/A
“Confluence” by captain_apostrophe. 122K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: MDZS/The Untamed; Ship: Jiang Wanyin/Nie Huaisang
Recced by: Petirrojo57
Backstory: Every 100 years, Jiang Wanyin sees Nie Huaisang reincarnated. Every 100 years he relives his fate of being the cause of Huaisang’s death. The details vary but the outcome has never changed. Never, that is, until this time.
Rec: Tense, moody, this atmospheric story of immortals and reincarnated characters lets the reader consider how coping with never-dying and seeing loved ones always dying can affect a cultivator. It’s a great blend of spooky and poignant too.
Content warnings: Mental health issues, alcohol abuse, suicide, self-harm
“forty milimetres” by Spikettes. 9.4K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: SKAM (Norway); Ship: Eva Kvigg Mohn/Vilde Lien Hellerud
Recced by: Ampelette
Backstory: Skam is a multimedia teen show focusing on different characters coming of age each season—imagine Skins, but more Norwegian. This story, prequel to a longer fic, is about how two of the characters fall in love at Pride.
Rec: It’s a really cute and enjoyable short story about meeting someone on a night out and falling in love, as simple as that! The writing is funny and wraps humour around the sweet emotional core of the romance.
Content warnings: N/A
“Second Dawn” by Writerly. 214K words (WIP), rated Teen.
Fandom: Horizon: Zero Dawn; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Nem
Backstory: Horizon: Zero Dawn is set in a post-apocalyptic world populated by both humans and animal-like drones (you may know this as the “robot dinosaurs” game!). Protagonist Aloy discovers the creation of the robots is tied to her own history.
Rec: Second Dawn focuses on the relationship between Aloy and her mother, who doesn’t appear alive in the game but is characterized beautifully here. In fact, all of the character voices are spot on.
Content warnings: Post-game psychological trauma
“helping hands” by duckgirlie. 4.2K words, rated Explicit.
Fandoms: Mamamoo, Red Velvet (K-pop RPF); Ship: Moonbyul/Solar/Seulgi
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Extremely hot PWP where established relationship Moonbyul/Solar have Seulgi over for a threesome.
Rec: It’s just extremely hot. Very very very hot.
Content warnings:
“Troy’s Island” by onenotewaffles. 25K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: NBC’s Community; Ship: Jeff Winger/Annie Edison
Recced by: Glorious Clio
Backstory: Set several years after the finale, Abed learns that Troy may have run into trouble in the Pacific Ocean. It’s up to our rag-tag study group to rescue him. Along the way, Jeff and Annie decide to act on their mutual attraction.
Rec: This is a new-to-me story for a fandom I loved in its heyday. Fun, sweet, and detailed, I kept needing to read the next chapter. And Abed’s prayer to John Hughes had me laughing out loud!
Content warnings: Some sitcom-level violence
And a comic!
“The Version Not Written By Chuck” by Masiv Comics/Masivart/Megan Suka. 6 chapters (WIP), estimated rated Teen.
Fandom: Supernatural; Ships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester/Eileen Leahy
Recced by: sophia
Backstory: A beautiful fix-it comic that takes place after 15x19, with Dean and Sam trying to move on after defeating Chuck and trying to get Cas back from the Empty.
Rec: It’s so beautifully illustrated and one of a kind in the fandom. The story is also really good and captivating!
Content warnings: Past death/grief, canon-typical violence
back in 2015ish when instagram didn’t have a save feature yet i started dming pete wentz any recipes i found so that i could keep them all in one place and by the time they did it was such a habit i couldn’t just stop so now i’ve been sending that man recipes for eight years
— jay (@xx_halfdoomed) April 16, 2023
FINAL THOUGHT
For a future list, we’re looking for fics that fit the broad “trapped together” trope: if characters are stuck in a place with no way out in the immediate future, we want it. Interesting “trapped” locations especially encouraged! Please use our one-off submission form and put “trapped together” or something similar in the themes/tropes field. — Elizabeth