The Rec Center #384
Hello everyone! Happy Tears of the Kingdom Day to all who celebrate (though I acknowledge you are probably not reading this today because you are busy playing the game, godspeed to you all). This week we have (topical!) coverage of trans Zelda players, the impending Imgur purge, and a special section devoted to the incomperable Bigolas Dickolas. Plus Pacific Rim fanart and a multifandom grab-bag of fic! — Elizabeth
new stuff
“A Link Between Genders: Trans Joy and the Legend of Zelda” by Linda Codega at Gizmodo
On TotK release day, a long exploration of the special meaning Link holds for a lot of trans gamers, in their own words.
“Being Black in a Small Town” by Joy Spearchief-Morris at The Walrus
“Schitt’s Creek and Gilmore Girls would have us believe there’s room for only one Black person in every small town. When will pop culture catch up to reality?”
“Something Awful is racing to save the best and worst of web history” by Adi Robertson at The Verge
Last month, the image-hosting site Imgur—which was very popular in earlier eras of fandom—announced it would be purging very vaguely-defined categories of adult and inactive content. Cue the Great Imgur Download Caper, “part of a constant struggle to shore up digital culture and to convince people that it matters.”
if they didn’t want young women to relate to kendall roy, why’d they give him homoerotic frenemies, a post-breakdown haircut, suicidal thoughts on his birthday, and a love for his listening to his little hype playlist before work?
— meg succession text posts (@successtextpost) May 10, 2023
new stuff: bigolas dickolas edition
Rarely do we see a Twitter Main Character have a positive influence on the culture. This week though, a Trigun stan named Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood made headlines due to a viral book recommendation tweet. Reccing the 2019 sapphic sci-fi novella This Is How You Lose The Time War (Ed. note: Good book!), this tweet led the book to reach the #3 spot on Amazon, turning Bigolas Dickolas into a hero of the publishing industry.
Here, we offer you some essential coverage:
“An Interview With the Author Whose Novel Is Rocketing up the Amazon Charts Thanks to a Tweet From Someone Called ‘Bigolas Dickolas’” by Dan Kois at Slate
A delightful Q&A with Time War co-author Amal El-Mohtar, covering her own reactions and her theories around why this particular tweet took off.
“Viral Sensation Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood Has Spoken: Read Time War, Watch Trigun” by Linda Codega at Gizmodo
Mr Bigolas expands on their original recommendation, Trigun, and fan culture.
“‘Bigolas Dickolas’ is more powerful than the Pulitzer Prize” by Amanda Silberling at Techcrunch
Comparing this viral phenom to the influence of BookTok, this piece offers a more inside-baseball look at the impact of Bigolas Dickolas on book sales, as other authors hope for their own Dickolas moment.
“This is How Bigolas Dickolas Won the Twitter” by Grace P. Fong at Buttondown
Aaand an analysis of the technical and social reasons why the original tweet went viral—due to Twitter’s algorithm, Bigolas Dickolas’s catchy screenname, and their established presence in anime fandom.
in the same way that news is always delivered via destiel on tumblr i expect all recommendations on twitter to be delivered via wolfwood from now on
— welcome to the horse divorce (@corviiid) May 12, 2023
older stuff
“Your Favorite Podcast Is Probably an ‘Experience’ Now” by Marah Eakin at WIRED
On the immersive experiences podcasters are building for fans, and how an already intimate medium is experimenting with ways for creators and listeners to meet face-to-face.
tumblr & beyond
Pacific Rim fanart by hannahspoonsart
oh you think you’re soooo original for having a vulcan in your improv comedy troupe.
gives me hope for my own abandoned wips tbh.
“an alpha posting “idk man, omegas in heat just don’t smell like they used to” and every reply saying ‘you have covid’”
fanfiction
Just an unthemed grab-bag this week! Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“Tower Rats” by Roadie. 89K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Supergirl; Ship: Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer
Recced by: cairophoenix
Backstory: Alex is Supergirl’s adoptive sister, a scientist and field agent with the DEO. Maggie Sawyer is a cop who she falls in love with. This is a wildly inventive dystopian AU.
Rec: This is honestly the best thing, full stop, that I’ve read in a LONG time. The worldbuilding blew me out of the goddamn water. Most fics read like fic, and that’s wonderful, but this is every inch a novel in its approach to storytelling.
Content warnings: Some violence
“ladies and gentlemen we’re floating in space” by vowelinthug. 30K, part of a 70K series, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Black Sails; Ship: Flint/Hamilton/Silver
Recced by: Runawaymarbles
Backstory: After 4x10, Flint and Thomas leave the plantation: Silver joins them later when Madi goes to join a Maroon rebellion in Jamaica and doesn’t let him come. He, Thomas and Flint navigate a relationship.
Rec: It’s a great post-finale fic that allows all the characters to be humanly flawed: it’s one of my favorite portrayals of post-Bethlem Thomas, and his interactions and growing understanding with Silver are really well done.
Content warnings: Past torture
“Precious Gift” by Kimber. 4K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Ship: Buffy/Spike
Recced by: melagan
Backstory: Established couple fic. (Buffy/Spike) and they have a child. Spike reads a goodnight story—The Velveteen Rabbit to their daughter.
Rec: I loved the parallels in the story. How Rabbit wants to be a real bunny and Spike’s need to be a real boy. I read this story years ago and it’s always stuck with me.
Content warnings: Some mild swearing
“real worlds can be manic too” by drawingspaces. 250K words (WIP), rated Explicit.
Fandom: BTS; Ship: Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung
Recced by: sallylockharts
Backstory: AU; They meet, have a one night stand, keep bumping into each other, and decide to platonically date, even though they both have a lot of issues. A story about soulmates, the universe, addiction, and Jungkook’s red lips.
Rec: Somehow a story that starts with a long, explicit sex scene becomes such a scorching slow burn that by the time they touch hands three quarters through the story you will melt through the floor. Stunning writing, stunning romance. Don’t be put off by this being a WIP! It can be read essentially as a finished story at this point.
Content warnings: Mentions of alcohol addiction, sex and love addiction
“Fathers and Sons” by DaniKin. 55K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Megamind (2010); Ship: Gen mostly, canon pairing Megamind/Roxanne mentioned
Recced by: Erin
Backstory: An exploration of how the warden of the prison views and interacts with Megamind, as the person who raised him and his father figure. It could be canon-compliant and references canon events, with a happy ending.
Rec: This is a very beautiful view of a parent and child who care about each other but are bad at expressing it and become estranged. I love well-written parent and child relationships, especially when they are hard but worth it.
Content warnings: Heart attack, incarceration
“Scorched Earth, Deep Ocean” by margrave. 35K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV); Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yun Lan
Recced by: anon
Backstory: The official proclamation of ceasefire between Haixing and Dixing was an event worth celebrating. His Imperial Majesty Kun Lun was not expecting the additional Concubine, who also happened to be the Great General of the West and Royal Prince of Dixing. The man who could murder them all.
Rec: Brilliant characterization in this AU, with all the mystery and history and tension of the original series, full of political intrigue, pining, power, and passion. The worldbuilding in this story is masterful and descriptive. In this story the omegaverse dynamics support the plot and the story, not the other way round—nothing feels forced or awkward in the telling when the sexuality comes into play; there is substantial depth here, and this fic quickly become a Guardian fandom classic.
Content warnings: Dubcon involving the drugging of a character
“the only place worth being” by overnights. 17K words, Not Rated, est. Teen.
Fandom: Young Avengers; Ship: Kate Bishop/America Chavez
Recced by: jules
Backstory: Kate and America are members of the queer teenage hero group the Young Avengers. Kate is having a sexuality crisis and America is a superhuman badass lesbian who can travel between dimensions.
Rec: This story gets all the characters exactly right. Kate gets to discover her sexuality in her own time as she goes through the mundane struggles of everyday superhero life and just life as a young adult, and everyone gives her that time.
Content warnings: N/A
COSTELLO: then who’s in charge?
— yuuko from nichijou (@headfallsoff) May 9, 2023
ABBOTT: the witch king of angmar
COSTELLO: yes, which king of angmar?
FINAL THOUGHT
In 2020, the OTW (AO3’s parent organization) issued an official statement about taking action on racism, but they’ve given extremely minimal updates in the three years since. Now, a group of fans have organized to draw attention to this lack of action. On May 17-31, they’re inviting AO3 users to participate in End Racism in the OTW, a protest involving (among other things), spreading the word on social media, editing the titles of your own fanworks to read “End Racism in the OTW,” posting new fanworks with this title, and contacting the OTW directly. (We at The Rec Center will both be participating in some capacity!)
If you’re unfamiliar with why this is such an urgent issue, please check out the End OTW Racism manifesto, alongside their list of demands regarding how the OTW should tackle racism on AO3. — Gav