November 3, 2023

The Rec Center #409

Hello everyone! This week we have coverage of concert merch woes, the Five Nights at Freddy’s fandom, and an interview I did on the omegaverse lawsuit, Magnus Archives fanart, and a rec list and explainer on the alt-history space program show For All Mankind from guest reccer tiltedsyllogism. — Elizabeth

new stuff

“The Fight Between Musicians and Venues Over Merch Profits Is a Big Deal With a Simple Solution” by Nina Corcoran at Pitchfork
Venues have taken increasingly large portions of merch sales in recent years, and musicians have started to speak out about it. This piece goes deep on why it’s happening, and what might fix it.

“The ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Fandom Is Unlike Any Other” by Allegra Frank at The Daily Beast
Bewildered by the runaway popularity of Five Nights at Freddy’s? Here’s an explainer on the passionate fandom around this lore-heavy franchise, a gen-Z phenomenon whose new movie is making bank at the box office—while earning negative reviews and overwhelming confusion from non-fandom viewers.

“Paradigm Shift: Copyright & Fanfiction: Who Owns What?” by Bethanne Patrick at Missing Pages
Elizabeth was extensively interviewed for this podcast about the omegaverse lawsuit from a few years back, on the ways communal tropes work within fic fandom, and on Disney’s detrimental effect on copyright law. :-))

older stuff

“Is Star Trek’s Warp Drive Possible?” by Don Lincoln at JSTOR Daily
“In speculative science, it is always foolhardy to say that something is impossible.” On the physics of warp drive, on the screen and in reality.

tumblr & beyond

Magnus Archives fanart by dcartcorner

An intriguing interpretation of the Dracula/Jonathan Harker dynamic.

“little kids are always asking if you watch beebo and jammer or something or other.”

we hope Poseidon appreciates this gift.

“Mewtwo can prescribe psychiatric meds in the Pokémon universe.”

“‘this fandom is annoying’ every fandom is annoying dipshit.”

fanfiction + explainer: for all mankind

tiltedsyllogism has been in fandom communities for over 20 years (shoutout to the OBSSE listserv!) but only made the leap into ficdom with BBC Sherlock in 2012. Later loves have included Jessica Jones, the She-Ra reboot and Midnight Mass, but nothing has set her brain on fire quite like For All Mankind. You can see the damage for yourself on either her tumblr or her ao3.

For All Mankind is probably the best TV show you’ve never heard of. Helmed by Ron Moore*, it’s an alternate history that asks: what if the Soviets had beaten the US to the Moon in 1969? Well, the space race never ends, is the show’s answer—because NASA now throws everything it’s got at having the first base on the moon instead, and that’s just the beginning of a vastly accelerated space program that will eventually take humankind to Mars by the 1990s.

* yes, that Ron Moore! If, like me, you’ve been waiting a decade+ for a spiritual successor to BSG, this is it.

how it started: Margo Madison, backup flight dynamics officer on Apollo 11, at the beginning of her meteoric career at NASA

But back to the beginning: In the wake of the lost race for the Moon, NASA’s willing to explore some unconventional avenues (well, for the year 1969), and opens up the astronaut program to women. (Be warned, you won’t meet them until episode 3, but the wait is worth it!)

no really. The wait is worth it.

It’s a workplace drama, except the workplace is NASA and the professional questions are about the logistics of establishing a permanent moon base, and how to manage the militarization of space without setting off a new war earthside. It’s a family story about the people who dedicate their lives to space exploration and the people they leave behind on earth. It’s a space adventure, with truly breathtaking scenes of space travel and dangerous landings (all with top-notch special effects—thanks, Apple!) And it’s an historical drama that is slowly and steadily developing into science fiction. FAM’s world starts out looking more or less exactly like ours, and develops a plausible and compelling vision of what the world could have been—or could still be.

Two astronaut spouses nervously watching a launch

And tying it all together are some of the best characters I’ve ever seen on screen—like, a truly astonishing number of fully-realized human beings—whose changing relationships with one another across the decades weave together all of these spheres.

how it’s going: Mission Control in the mid-90s

Even though this is a fairly small fandom fic-wise, there are several excellent writers. Here are some of my favorites! Warning: spoilers abound! I’ve tagged each of these stories according to when they’re set and the earliest major detail that they spoil. — tiltedsyllogism

“tonight, tonight” by fire_and_soup. 2k, rated Teen.
Timeframe: Set during 2.5; spoilers for 1.4; Ship: Ellen Waverly/Pam Horton
Backstory: This fic is a little missing scene set in episode 2.5. Pam and Ellen have reconnected after many years apart, when Ellen broke Pam’s heart by refusing to acknowledge her publicly and Pam broke Ellen’s because she couldn’t keep living the lie. Pam has a new partner, but there’s still a visible spark between them.
Rec: If you ever see a gifset of this scene without having seen the episode itself, you might think it’s a fan edit: Pam and Ellen are saying goodbye at the Outpost, and then suddenly they’re in Ellen’s bedroom undressing each other. But no, that’s really how it goes onscreen! It’s fantastic, but it does leave some real questions. This Pam PoV fic beautifully and affectingly explores how Pam (and Ellen, too, secondhand) decides that she’s not ready to close the book on the love of her life.
Content warnings: N/A

“Blue, they were the eyes of shade” by naturaliseme. 5K words, rated Explicit.
Timeframe: Set after 2.5; spoilers for 2.1; Ship: Molly Cobb/Margo Madison
Backstory: Molly Cobb is the first American woman to go to space, a cocksure astronaut with the skills to back up her attitude; Margo Madison is a flight dynamics engineer and the first woman in Mission Control, and oh boy do these two rub each other the wrong way, and oh boy is it absolutely delicious to watch. If you’re into f/f ships (or just any ship in general) where two brilliant, talented people respect each other but also annoy the shit out of each other, this ship is for you.
Rec: This first-time fic is set in S2, and follows Margo on a late-night visit to Molly’s office for reasons she hasn’t quite acknowledged to herself. Molly helps her figure it out. This one earns its rating, and it’s fantastic.
Content warnings: N/A

“Worth It” by NiceHatGeorgia. 1.5K words, rated Gen.
Timeframe: Set during 2.8; spoilers for 2.6; Ship: Margo Madison/Sergei Nikulov
Backstory: During the Apollo-Soyuz handshake-in-space mission (which is a real thing in our timeline too, though it happened earlier) Margo finds an unexpected friend and ally in Sergei Nikulov, the head of the Soyuz delegation that’s been sent to Houston to make it all work. Their developing trust and collaboration, in an era of high political tensions, is one of the most compelling elements of the show.
Rec: If you’ve ever seen the “what if we kissed in the…” meme, you’re halfway to understanding the incredible pull that the docking module prototype at NASA has over this fandom. This fic beautifully, plausibly, and satisfyingly extends the canon scene—in which Margo and Sergei stage a practice run of the handshake and then giggle about it together—into an actual kiss, and then the conversation afterward. It takes a moment onscreen that was practically made for fic and delivers a note-perfect story that scratches that itch.
Content warnings: N/A

“come along home” by themysterybox. 5K words, Rated Teen.
Timeframe: Set post S2; light spoilers 1.4, spoilers for 2.1; Ships: Ed Baldwin and Molly Cobb, Ed Baldwin and Wayne Cobb, Molly Cobb/Wayne Cobb
Backstory: FAM canonically includes one of the queerest het couples onscreen: Molly Cobb and her artistic, enlightened husband Wayne. Wayne is basically the opposite of Ed Baldwin, Molly’s commander and crewmate for Apollo 15, and Molly and Ed get off to a rough start. But they bond while hunting for lunar ice during Apollo 15, and their enduring friendship is one of the great joys of the show.
Rec: This is a post-s2 fic that follows Ed for the rest of his life, though his deep friendship with Molly and his less-comfortable but still-profound developing friendship with Wayne. It’s a beautifully nuanced exploration of these three characters as individuals and in relation to one another. It’s not S3 compliant, but it’s well worth your time.
Content warnings: Major character death

“Ink” by born2bewild. 2.3K words, rated Teen.
Timeframe: Set post s3; spoilers for 2.1; Ship: Danielle Poole & Grigoriy Kuznetsov
Backstory: During the race to Mars, Danielle and Kuz (as she later begins calling him) are rival mission commanders, then reluctant teammates who struggle for power over their now-combined crew. But during the difficult months at Happy Valley, they grow into deep mutual respect and appreciation. The third character—physically absent but emotionally present—is Danielle’s husband Clayton, who came home traumatized from Viet Nam early in S1 and ultimately took his own life.
Rec: While the remaining Happy Valley crew are living on top of one another in a Helios hab, Kuz (as Dani has taken to calling him) spots a usually-covered tattoo and asks for the story. In addition to being a beautiful character study, this quiet little gem of a story captures so much of what makes FAM extraordinary: hard-earned affection and intimacy between people from different walks of life, genuine friendship between women and men, and a felt sense of how we carry our dead forward with us.
Content warnings: N/A

“Reach for the stars (literally touch a star(stars aren’t that hot)” by doze apples. 2.3K words, rated Teen.
Timeframe: Set post s3; light spoilers for 1.7, big spoilers for 2.10; Ships: Ed Baldwin & Danny Stevens, Ed Baldwin & Venom from Marvel Comics
Backstory: Danny and Ed are both part of Helios’ Mars crew; Ed ad commander, Danny as the erratic fuck-up whom Ed brings along anyway because of personal attachment. By the end of the season, Danny’s irresponsibility has gotten a lot of people killed, and the survivors vote to exile him in the now-abandoned North Korean hab. Venom is a sentient alien symbiote. How do these characters go together? Well might you ask…
Rec: This is one of those rare, wonderful fusions that seems completely bonkers but is somehow exquisitely incisive. It captures not only Ed and Danny’s voices but also all the complicated dimensions of their shared history.
Content warnings: N/A

“A line to everything you’ve left behind” by elselsels. 5K words, rated Teen.
Timeframe: Set post s3; spoilers for 3.3, massive spoilers for 3.10; Ships: Margo Madison & Aleida Rosales, Margo Madison & Sergei Nikulov
Backstory: When JSC is bombed at the end of 3.10, it at first appears that Margo is among the many casualties. The final shot of the season reveals that she’s alive in Moscow, presumably having taken Roscosmos’ deal—but as far as we know, nobody in the US knows this.
Rec: This story, set ten months after the JSC bombing, imagines Margo sending very highly coded messages to the two people she loves most. The final chapter puts Aleida and Sergei in conversation about the possibility that Margo might still be alive, all while exploring the different kinds of grief they both feel. It’s an intriguing premise, and beautifully executed.
Content warnings: N/A

FINAL THOUGHT

That’s all, folks! Have a relaxing weekend! — Gav