The Rec Center #393
Hi all! We come to you with news of the actors guild strike and concert etiquette, along with some cute Star Trek fanart and a rec list of fanvids—selected due to AO3’s temporary outage this week, when we were concerned the site wouldn’t be back in time for this week’s letter! — Gav
new stuff
“Hollywood’s historic double strike, explained” by Alissa Wilkinson at Vox
A good ol’ Voxplainer on the crossover screenwriters/actors’ strike—the latter of which began yesterday, including (most dramatically!) the cast of Oppenheimer walking out mid-premiere. Both guilds have extremely valid reasons to strike, and the studio bosses are responding by behaving like demonic supervillains.
“Bebe Rexha. Harry Styles. Drake. How Did Concert Etiquette Get Here?” by Lexi McMenamin at Teen Vogue
A piece that threads the trend of of concertgoers chucking things at artists with the precarious state of the music industry—and the broader socio-political climate.
“Archive of Our Own Is Back Online After a Massive DDoS Attack” by Linda Codega at Gizmodo
Here’s some accurate reporting on AO3’s outage this week, and who may be responsible.
Deadline reporting that Charles Dickens has said “It was the best of times.”
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) July 13, 2023
older stuff
“The Pain Fandom” by Maria Temming at Fansplaining
“Hurt/comfort fans pop up through fandoms again and again, as predictable as mushrooms after a rain.” A deep dive on whump, and the communities around it.
tumblr & beyond
Star Trek fanart by gravelyhumerus
“Can Christians watch Riverdale?”
crucial strike-related update from the Supernatural meme news delivery team.
“this is my CUP OF SNAKES baby”
a terrifying glimpse into fox mulder’s email inbox.
fanfiction
With AO3 down at the start of this week, we decided to mix things up with an all-vid rec list. We’d love even more vid recs in our submissions, so please keep sending them in—and thanks to everyone who submitted these recs! — Elizabeth
“Black Sails| Everybody Knows” by julygiu95. 3:30, Not Rated.
Fandom: Black Sails; Ship: Gen
Recced by: heliza24
Backstory: I love this video because I think it could really act as an alternative trailer for Black Sails, which is ostensibly a TV show about pirates, but is actually about the nature of narrative, queer rebellion and rage, and incredibly well-developed characters.
Rec: I love how julygiu95 manages to interweave the lyrics of the song with the themes of the show so deftly. The lyrics they highlight mimic events in the show so well (everybody knows that the captain lied! everybody knows that the war is over!). The shots they choose really emphasize the strong connections and sometimes betrayals between characters. And the editing is just so good.
Content warnings: Blood, guns, and pirate-appropriate violence
“Augustine” by bonibaru. 3:13, Not Rated.
Fandom: Guardian; Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Recced by: Clever Manka
Backstory: Guardian is a Chinese drama based on a BL novel. Censorship issues meant various things were changed for the show, but the love story (which really skates the edge of plausible deniability) remains intact.
Rec: This show is a mix of everything I love: beautiful people, police(ish) procedural, group dynamics/found family, and off-the-charts UST. Beware a (spoiler!) not-terribly-happy-ending if you’re sensitive about that sort of thing though.
Content warnings: N/A
“All Star: A Taskmaster tribute” by hartknyx. 3:31, rated Teen.
Fandom: Taskmaster; Ship: Gen
Recced by: glorious_clio
Backstory: Taskmaster is a British panel show, where Greg Davies and his "assistant" Alex Horne set ridiculous or downright impossible tasks for panels of comedians. This is a tribute to the nonsense you can expect from the show.
Rec: Who doesn’t love a fanvid set to All Star? It really highlights a fraction of the show’s most hilarious moments. I watch it when I need a quick hit and don’t have time to watch a 45-minute episode.
Content warnings: N/A
“Slip Away” by Kiplng. 2:15, rated Teen.
Fandom: Marvel’s Runaways (TV show); Ship: Nico Minoru/ Karolina Dean
Recced by: Cathostage
Backstory: Runaways was a Marvel comic book series about teenagers who discovered their parents were evil super villains and so they, er, ran away. The comic book series was from the early 2000s and was recently adapted into a TV series on Hulu. Karolina Dean is a blonde, lesbian California princess who has super powers that make her a sparkly rainbow girl. Nico Minoru is her goth teen witch friend she has a crush on.
Rec: Karolina Dean was an explicitly lesbian character fifteen years ago who always had a crush on her BFF Nico. The TV show made the subtext of Nico being possibly bisexual full on text and gave fans the Nico/Karolina pairing the fans had been waiting for.
Content warnings: Teen angst, teen anger
“Want” by luminosity. 5:47, Not Rated.
Fandom: Hannibal; Ship: Hannibal/Will
Recced by: Clever Manka
Backstory: In luminosity’s words, this vid is “A conversation. A discussion.” between Will and Hannibal.
Rec: Beautiful, intense, creepy, and sexy with no pulled punches—exactly what I want in Hannigram fan content.
Content warnings: It’s Hannibal—you know what you’re getting into.
“Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down” by BeatriceEagle. 4:23, rated Teen.
Fandom: Star Trek; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Rebecca
Backstory: Star Trek is a huge franchise spanning decades, and while it contains some of the best characters and stories in fiction, there’s also a long history of mistreatment of marginalized characters and their actors.
Rec: This is an incredible, format-breaking fanvid dealing with some of the most egregious treatment suffered by some of Trek’s characters and their actors. A must-watch for anyone who enjoys Trek, and a great example of how fandom can be used to highlight real-life issues and injustices.
Content warnings: Expletives
I love how the most consistent thing about Spock's character throughout TOS, AOS, & SNW is that Spock is a freak. Just a real wild & crazy freak. That's all I need from my Spocks
— ✨ Lesbian Sheldon Cooper ✨ (@campyalien) June 22, 2023
FINAL THOUGHT
If you’re headed to San Diego Comic-Con next week, please come to my panel!
Thursday, July 20, 10:00am - 11:00am
Grand 10 & 11, Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina
“Covering Fandom: How Fan-Journalists Strike the Right Balance”
Fans have always held roles in the media, but the mainstreaming of fandom has dramatically increased opportunities for journalists and editors to use fandom in their work—or to cover fandom itself. Fans can bring unique angles, but the ethics of covering a thing you’re a fan of—or a fandom you’re a part of—can be sticky. Seasoned fan-journalists will discuss navigating these boundaries: Kat Moon (TV Guide, Fandom), Krutika Mallikarjuna (BuzzFeed, The Good Immigrant), Julian Cannon (The Knockturnal), Kayti Burt (Den of Geek, Rolling Stone), and Elizabeth Minkel (Fansplaining, WIRED). Moderated by Devon Maloney (Vulture, The Verge).
Devon Maloney and I organized the panel, which is ~presented~ by Fansplaining—and hopefully we’ll eventually be able to share some kind of recording for anyone who isn’t attending the con! — Elizabeth