March 15, 2024

The Rec Center #428

Hi all! This week we have articles about Gamergate 2.0, Titanic VHS tapes, and Tolkien’s unfortunate political legacy in Italy, along with some cool Dune fanart and a multifandom grab-bag of fic recs. — Gav

 

new stuff

“The Small Company at the Center of ‘Gamergate 2.0’” by Megan Farokhmanesh at WIRED
Yes, you read that right: Gamergate 2.0. If you’re only adjacent to the gaming world and have been wondering about the references to GG in the past week, definitely start with this piece.

“Experience: I own nearly 3,000 VHS tapes of Titanic” by Josh D at The Guardian
“My dream would be to own a touring Titanic museum bus. I could drive it all around the country, and maybe the world, and people could come in and see my collection.”

“Leggete Tolkien, Stolti!” by Hari Kunzru at Harper’s Magazine
An informative (if demoralizing) article about how Italy’s far-right movement co-opted Lord of the Rings. “Tolkien arrived in Italy as part of an ideological project that saw tradition and mysticism as weapons in a culture war that also had a material and violent dimension.”

 

 

older stuff

“How U.S. Copyright Law Fails Fan Creators” by EarlGreyTea68 at Fansplaining
“But actually? Fan creators might be the ‘real’ artists here. Because fan creators know that all art is built on building blocks. It’s not hidden; it’s explicit. Fan creators know that creativity isn’t a finite resource that needs to be kept behind lock and key.”

 

tumblr & beyond

Dune fanart by aidelon

“spock’s room decor is actually fucking bonkers.”

regrettably they are correct... it does sound like a yeerk slur.

“my favourite genre of post on tiktok is the alpha male slideshows that are literally just pictures of cillian murphy”

it’s time for the Breaking Bad guys to branch out.

 

fanfiction

We’ve got a multifandom grab-bag this week! Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth

“The One Where the Crew Has a Betting Pool (Series)” by sistermichael. 59K words over 4 works, rated Explicit.
Fandom: What We Do In the Shadows; Ship: Guillermo/Nandor
Recced by: queuest
Backstory: This is told from the perspective of the documentary crew filming the What We Do In the Shadows documentary. Even the crew can see the painfully obvious pining between a certain vampire and his familiar (but they're professionals of course).
Rec: The original characters are wonderful, the plot lines are just as fun and out there as the cannon, there’s weird vampire sex stuff, and it's an all out cant-put-it-down good read from start to finish.
Content warnings: N/A

“temper, temper” by malariamonsters. 22K words, rated Explicit .
Fandom: The Bear (TV 2022); Ship: Sydney Adamu/Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto
Recced by: Alana
Backstory: The Bear is a TV show about dysfunctional people running a restaurant who slowly learn to be slightly more functional. This story is about how the two main characters Sydney and Carmy get together.
Rec: Deliciously in-character fic with just enough good food detail to be believable, fleshing out Sydney in a way that I craved, complete with a chef-kiss epilogue ending explaining what happens to every character 14 years later.
Content warnings: References to suicide and drug addiction

“Centimeter-increments” by disillusioned (miscalculated). 28K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS; Ship: Namjoon/Seokjin
Recced by: howtosolveit2
Backstory: In this AU, Seokjin is the token straight in a queer friend group, and he's finally been invited out for a night on the town. He reconnects with Namjoon, who’s part of the same friend group but who has never really connected with Seokjin. Namjoon takes the opportunity to woo Seokjin.
Rec: This fic is an amazing psychological exploration of the experience of being a straight (and older!) person questioning your sexuality and flirting with the primal attraction/shame/guilt that comes from being desired. An amazing character study of both Namjoon and Seokjin. tbh the entire Bangtan supporting cast are well characterized.
Content warnings: Mild dubcon

“Quick Pro Quo” by vands38. 7.6K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Campaign: Star Wars (podcast); Ship: Trust Valentine/Leenik Geelo
Recced by: you_tacky_thing
Backstory: Human & Rhodian bounty hunters have been crushing on each other for a while, and when the asexual Rhodian walks in on the kinky human masturbating, they figure out how to make it work.
Rec: Sexy as heck, and a thoughtful, interesting depiction of an asexual character navigating sex!
Content warnings: N/A

“Back on the Beat” by Pens. 15K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: KinnPorsche (TV); Ship: Porchay Pichaya Kittisawat/Kim Khimhant Theerapanyakun
Recced by: AirgiodSLV
Backstory: This is a post-canon story about rebuilding a relationship after a breakup. After taking some time and space apart, the characters start talking again over texts...mostly in memes.
Rec: This is such a fun, clever blend of art and text. The animations are delightful and the illustrations are really cute; they bring so much personality and life to the story.
Content warnings: N/A

And a vid!

“Critical Role vid - All in Together (edited by usuallyhats)” by usuallyhats. 3:13, Not Rated.
Fandom: Critical Role campaign 2; song is "All In Together" by Professor Elemental feat. Nick Maxwell; Ship: Gen
Recced by: mischiefseven
Backstory: Critical Role is a Dungeons and Dragons actualplay show, and also an excuse for a group of friends to get together and act ridiculous.
Rec: Perfectly captures the joyous absurdity of the show. There's not a lot of fanvids for Critical Role, since the visual component of it is just people sitting at a table, but this one makes it work wonderfully.
Content warnings: N/A

 

 

FINAL THOUGHT

Have a great weekend, everyone! — Elizabeth