The Rec Center #395
Hi all! This week we have some Comic-Con coverage from Elizabeth, an article about how influencers are handling the actors’ strike, and a thinkpiece (from me!) about Barbie’s exploration of compulsory heterosexuality. Also some cool Nimona fanart, and a Critical Role/Imodna primer and accompanying rec list from guest reccer Abby! — Gav
new stuff
“At a Comic-Con Without Hollywood, Fans Show Their Allegiances” by Elizabeth at WIRED
A report from a very unusual SDCC, which was full of solidarity between writers, actors, and fans. As one striking SAG-AFTRA member put it, “The people that I have met today have been all thumbs-up, V for victory, hugs. We love it, and we’re very pleasantly surprised.”
“Hollywood Strike Leaves Influencers Sidelined and Confused” by Sapna Maheshwari and Madison Malone Kircher at The New York Times
In more strike news, a very interesting piece on the tricky place influencers are currently in (which really helps clarify what “influencer” means in this context).
“Essay: The real ‘Barbie’ villain is compulsory heterosexuality” by Gav at The Daily Dot
In addition to the much-discussed queer subtext for Barbie herself, the Barbie movie has a lot to say about how hetero expectations shape every character’s role. “After staking his entire identity on boyfriendhood, Ken’s only recourse is to invent a boyfriend-centric society.”
https://twitter.com/TitoMahalo/status/1684471105065725953
older stuff
“Fanboy” by Alexander Chee at The Morning News
“It would have been easier to be a mutant, I decided. I sometimes told myself I was one, that it was the only explanation for the reason so many people asked me ‘What are you?’”
tumblr & beyond
Nimona fanart by habken
a truly beautiful julian bashir cake.
instructions on how to make hard copies of your fanfic, just in case!
actually yeah, bruce wayne WOULD figure out shazam’s secret identity in like 10 seconds.
“this is literally how being a fan of any sport works”
the true meaning of glup shitto.
explainer + fanfiction: Critical Role’s Imodna
Abby fell into Critical Role in 2019 and fell even harder for Imodna the instant Campaign 3 began in 2021. She plays a lot of D&D (life clerics 4ever), stays up too late on Thursday nights, and writes fic as cairophoenix.
Critical Role is an actual play show starring eight nerdy-ass voice actors who sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons. It has been running since 2015 and is currently well into its third “campaign,” or season. The show has abundant plot, but one of the things that most draws viewers is the depth of attention to character. Since the show is unscripted and built on a combination of improvised roleplay and rolling dice, we get to watch the actors develop their characters and those characters’ relationships in real time.
One of the hearts of Campaign 3 is the relationship between Imogen Temult and Laudna, two sorcerers with strong soulmate vibes. Imogen, a telepath, grew up in a small town with a distant father and missing mother. When her powers developed, she found her mind flooded with the thoughts of everyone around her. Unable to shut out the noise, confronted with the very worst of everyone around her, she withdrew deep into self-isolation to escape. She had nearly entirely succumbed to despair when Laudna appeared in town.
Laudna grew up in a city called Whitestone, but that’s long in the past now. When she was 20, she was murdered, a casualty of a larger massacre. Through some twist of fate and magic, she was brought back, and Laudna spent the next thirty years on the run, being chased out of her makeshift homes by alarmed townspeople afraid of the spooky-looking, unaging witch in the woods. Desperately alone, with only the voice of her now-dead murderer for company (long story), Laudna nevertheless managed to cling to hope and good cheer, continuing on optimistically into another lonely tomorrow with the knowledge that, in her own words, “the worst thing that could ever happen to me has already happened.”
Fanart by dadrielle
Then, one day, Laudna found herself in Imogen’s hometown, about to be chased out by another pitchforked mob—and Imogen sprang to her defense, unleashing lightning magic she hadn’t known she even had. The two of them fled town together. Laudna, suddenly, was no longer alone; Imogen, suddenly, had someone whose thoughts she could bear to be around. They traveled together for more than two years before meeting the rest of the main characters.
Right from the start of the show, Imogen and Laudna’s friendship felt romantic. Laudna’s thoughts sound like music to Imogen; they’ve told each other things like “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t find you”; they share a bed, cuddle, and hold hands while they sleep. Laudna constantly showers Imogen in compliments (her favorite is “very capable”) and Imogen looks at Laudna like she hangs the stars.
Fanart by browz
By episode 25, it’s clear that Imogen has feelings for Laudna, and just as clear that Laudna finds her own feelings incomprehensible. The two exist in an escalating romantic limbo (telling each other that they’re each other’s tethers; that they love each other more than anything; that they’re each other’s better halves) until episode 51, when an apocalyptic event flings them to opposite sides of the globe. And finally, finally: when they reunite, Imogen can no longer hold it in. She asks Laudna if she can kiss her, and Laudna, in overwhelmed, emotional delight, says yes.
Fanart by cvleart
The ship is most often called “Imodna” or “Southern Gothic,” and it’s the largest active ship for this campaign—around 1,200 fics on AO3 and, very likely, about to skyrocket, because that kiss just happened earlier this month! If you’d like to check out canon before you look at fic, check out the Imodna supercut (it’s a useful point of entry since the show has a lot of content!). Otherwise, here are just a few of my favorite Imodna fics — Abby
“High Speed Connection” by HoodieHeda. 49K words, rated Teen.
Backstory: Modern AU where Imogen is a Twitch gaming streamer with an anxiety disorder, who meets barista, crafting streamer, and longtime fan Laudna when she tries to go out to a coffee shop. Imogen starts tuning into Laudna’s streams and, with some urging from their friends, the two of them start to flirt.
Rec: This is the most popular Imodna fic on AO3, and with good reason. Absent the traumatic backstories of their canon counterparts, this version of Imogen and Laudna get to be sweet, gay, and head over heels for each other in the most delightful of ways.
Content warnings: Brief description of a panic attack in the first chapter
“Flowers” by AstoriaColumnStaircase. 22K words, rated Mature.
Backstory: Five times Laudna gets flowers on her (un)birthday, and one time when they are given to her. A 5+1 starting with Laudna’s reawakening after her first death and following the anniversaries thereafter, from the sad lonely ones through to the hopeful, loving, and joyful.
Rec: Astoria is a gorgeous and haunting writer in every one of her fics, and this one takes you through the entire arc of Laudna’s undeath/life in a way that breaks your heart and then fills it back up to overflowing.
Content warnings: Mentions of death by hanging and subsequent resurrection, body horror
“A Long Road Home” by mintywolf. Webcomic with screenreader-friendly transcriptions currently totaling 7K words, rated Teen.
Backstory: This is a fan comic that serves as a prequel to the campaign, showing us Imogen and Laudna’s first meeting and subsequent time on the road together. It’s largely canon-compliant, painting between the occasional lines of backstory we’ve gotten in the show.
Rec: This comic updates weekly on Mondays, thereby making my entire week better. It’s still in its early days but is very much worth following for the clever story it’s beginning to weave and the pathos it captures in its beautiful panels.
Content warnings: Strongly suggested suicidal ideation and aborted attempt
“That Look That’s Perfectly Un-Sad” by doribuki. 10K words, rated Mature.
Backstory: Laudna starts to doubt her place in the group, and in Imogen’s life. She decides to run away before she can get chased out, joins a circus where she copes poorly with her trauma and her desperate unrequited (...requited) love, and leaves behind a group of friends that will do anything to find her.
Rec: Doribuki is reliably brilliant, and this fic is well-loved in the fandom. It’s clever and twisted and funny and emotionally wrenching and does a brilliant job plumbing Laudna’s psyche, with a great love story embedded to boot.
Content warnings: Implied/referenced self-harm, self-loathing, allusions to torture, hanging/noose imagery
“Watersong” by pigflight. 10K words, rated Mature.
Backstory: This is a mermaid AU, although probably not quite what you’re picturing. Laudna feels almost alien here; she is lonely and strange and hungry and desperate for connection, and when she saves the human Imogen from a dangerous, deliberate fall, the two of them find something in each other.
Rec: I am completely insane about every single fic that pigflight writes but this instantly became an all-time favorite. It’s visceral and urgent and mesmerizing and earnest and frightening and astonishing in the best of ways.
Content warnings: Suicide attempt, body horror, cannibalism, blood, gore, animal death, dissociation, reference to torture
“Fixed Twixt Drear Trees” by dadrielle. 10.6K words, rated Teen.
Backstory: A post-canon imagining of the home Imogen and Laudna might build together, and the shenanigans they might get up to.
Rec: When in canon the apocalypse is looming, sometimes all you want is to imagine the happy ending these two so richly deserve. This one is rich and funny and charming and just a joy.
Content warnings: Chronic pain
https://twitter.com/terminalhearts/status/1681836705794465793
FINAL THOUGHT
Have a great weekend, everyone! And if you are in one of the many parts of the world that is currently Way Too Hot, stay safe! — Elizabeth