October 13, 2023

The Rec Center #406

Hi all! This week we have articles about celebrity autograph tattoos and AO3 account locking, along with some cool Disco Elysium fanart, multifandom fic recs about friendship, and more. — Gavia

new stuff

“Taylor Swift Easter eggs are more than a puzzle—they’re a lifestyle” by Patricia Hernandez at Polygon
Other fandoms have conspiracy theories and online sleuthing and social media community building—but few have the gargantuan scale of Taylor Swift’s.

“How Autograph Tattoos Become the Ultimate Sign of Stanning” by Aamina Inayat Khan at Teen Vogue
On the intersections of modern tattoo culture and standom, where the traditional “getting a celebrity’s autograph” is being taken to another level (and going viral on social media).

“Fearing AI, fan fiction writers lock their accounts” by Morgan Sung at TechCrunch
More of a PSA than anything, because we have seen some fic readers confused about this: if it seems like works are vanishing from the AO3, it’s likely because their writers have archive-locked them due to fears of AI scraping.

older stuff

“How ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ created a generation of climate activists” by Britny Cordera at Grist
“‘All that cool nerdy shit shows us possibilities of what we can do in a failing system,’ he says. ‘And they show us apocalyptic alternatives of what can happen if we do nothing.’”

tumblr & beyond

Disco Elysium fanart by party-in-the-front

love this from liv tyler’s insta story.

JRR Tolkien submits a stern rebuttal to the descriptor “Tolkien-esque gloom” in a British newspaper.

great concept for a comments-only AO3 account.

“Star Wars has three types of guy: Fump Geezgo from the Womflee system, Stabba Badguyman, and Chris.”

happy almost-halloween from this... thread of jennifer coolidge slenderman photomanips...?

fanfiction

This week Fansplaining put out the latest episode in our Patrons-only “Tropefest” series, on friendship tropes of all sorts. In light of that, we’ve got a multifandom friendship list, including both gen and shippy fic. Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec, and if we didn’t use yours this week, it’ll be in a future list! — Elizabeth

“Dearly Detested” by DeerstalkerDeathFrisbee. 6.6K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia; Ship: Gen, Nighteye & Best Jeanist
Recced by: BeatriceBabe
Backstory: My Hero Academia is an anime set in a world where people are born with quirks and can become superheroes as a career path. Nighteye (Sasaki Mirai) and Best Jeanist (Hakamata Tsunagu) are both professional heroes.
Rec: The best way to demonstrate why I love this fic is just by quoting it: “The thing about having a rival is, there’s no one who can quite understand you like them. You like all the same things, you have similar hobbies, your interests and employments are perfectly aligned. You, quite simply, care about the same things on the same irrational, near-incoherent level unmatched by others.”
Content warnings: N/A

“Sweet Hope” by baladric. 40K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: The Goblin Emperor; Ships: Csevet Aisava/Maia Drazhar, Csethiro Ceresin/Maia Drazhar
Recced by: hetrez
Backstory: The Goblin Emperor is a wonderful novel about Maia, a half-goblin who becomes Emperor of the Elflands and begins transforming it through the power of kindness. By the end of the book he’s become friends with Csevet, his devoted secretary, and Csethiro, his fierce, protective fiancee.
Rec: Sweet Hope perfectly captures the delicate loveliness and wonder of the novel, imagining the way all of Maia’s friendships might develop—with his nieces and nephew, with his nohecharei and his household, with his mother’s sister Shaleän. It’s also a beautiful friends-to-lovers story, both for Maia and Csethiro, and for Maia and Csevet.
Content warnings: N/A

“birdhunt 2k20” by bysine. 10K words, rated Gen.
Fandoms: Captain America, Thor, Avengers, Marvel Cinematic Universe; Ship: Gen, Thor & Sam Wilson
Recced by: laiqualaurelote
Backstory: The premise of this fic, which is post-Thor: Ragnarok and canon-divergent as of Infinity War, is that Sam Wilson, while being figuratively the Falcon, can also literally talk to birds. Thor enlists his help to go around the world in search of his late father’s ravens, Huginn and Muninn, as a way to bring hope to the displaced Asgardians.
Rec: The entire odd couple buddies series is superb, but Thor and Sam’s epic road trip has a special place in my heart for its subtle humour and Sam’s world-weariness as he wrestles with whether to take up Captain America’s shield, juxtaposed with the wondrousness of his conversations with the birds of the world.
Content warnings: N/A

“Tell Me More, Tell Me More” by evol_love. 2.8K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Spring Awakening; Ship: Ilse Neumann/Thea
Recced by: phonecallfromgod
Backstory: Spring Awakening is a rock musical set in 1890s rural Germany to an anachronistic alternative rock score. This modern au reimagines two side characters into the Odd Couple friends to lovers dynamic of an alternative weirdo art student and her sorority girl friend.
Rec: Equal parts sweet and steamy this fic is totally accessible to those unfamiliar with the source material, while being such a perfect translation of Ilse and Thea’s rebel and good girl archetypes that those more familiar with canon will definitely appreciate. This fic perfectly captures the feeling of summertime on campus and the excitement of a new relationship.
Content warnings: N/A

“Children Of Dust And Shadow” by IceEchos12. 17K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Magnus Archives (podcast); Ship: Gen, Gerard Keay & Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist
Recced by: cobalt-knave
Backstory: Post-MAG 200 (the series finale), Jon ends up either back in time or in another world, glitching in and out of reality and entangled with the life of a young Gerry Keay. They form a close friendship as Jon helps Gerry steer his life away from the tragedy that befell him originally.
Rec: Their friendship is unique and wonderful, and there is so much healing and catharsis.
Content warnings: Referenced child abuse, nongraphic child injury, slight body horror, mentions of cancer and hospitals, mentions of canonical suicide

“Over the Moon” by ellibell (Naladot). 19K words, rated Teen.
Fandoms: Seventeen, assorted K-pop; Ship: Jeon Wonwoo/Wen Jun Hui | Jun
Recced by: Shen
Backstory: This is a fantastically surreal story where the 96-line friends (using the birth year, in this case 1996, to delineate friend groups in K-pop is quite common) end up stumbling into an alternate universe. Here, 7-11s have an octopus mascot, S.Coups isn’t Seventeen’s leader, and Wonwoo and Jun are boyfriends instead of friends.
Rec: The author builds the atmosphere in a creepy, uncanny valley way that lets you know something is off while also imbuing the text with humor and warmth. I especially love how the mirrorverse is used to explore Wonwoo’s existing feelings and gives him another lens through which to examine relationship, platonic or otherwise, with Jun.
Content warnings: N/A

And a vid!

“The Fellowship | Rivers ’til I reach you” by sheryloh. 4:00, rated Gen.
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings films; Ship: Gen
Recced by: mischiefseven
Backstory: Explores the bonds of friendship between the members of the Fellowship.
Rec: Fire-forged friendship is one of my favorite tropes, and this vid shows why LOTR is one of my favorite examples of it.
Content warnings: N/A

FINAL THOUGHT

FYI: Yuletide 2023 sign-ups open today and run through next Saturday. If you’re unfamiliar with the annual rare-fandoms fic exchange, read their FAQ on the AO3 or the Yuletide entry on Fanlore! — Elizabeth