May 3, 2024

The Rec Center #435

Hello all! This week we have articles about Magneto and media archiving, along with some Fallout fanart, multifandom fic recs about friendship, and more! — Gav

 

new stuff

“The Judgment Of Magneto” by Asher Elbein at Defector
A fantastic piece on the history of Magneto as a character across the 60+ years of X-Men comics, tied to the real-world politics of the Holocaust’s legacy, Israel, and the Jewish diaspora. (Definitely worth creating a log-in to read; Defector is a GREAT worker-owned publication.)

“The Person Saving The Media You Love Is You” by Chris Person at Aftermath
“I wanted to save two of my favourite comedy specials. Two years later, thanks to VHS-Decode and ld-decode, I have become obsessed with the cutting edge of archiving.” (Aftermath, another GREAT worker-owned publication, is also worth creating a log-in for!)

“What Happens When a Romance Writer Gets Locked Out of Google Docs” by Madeline Ashby at WIRED
You may have seen a well-meaning fandom PSA about this in the past two weeks—and it might have been more rumor than fact. This story digs into what actually happened to hockey romance writer K. Renee and her explicit writing on GDocs.

 

 

older stuff

“How Star Wars Hypeman Charles Lippincott Changed Fandom Forever” by Ryan Britt at Den of Geek
“Have you ever asked yourself why countless people lined up to see Star Wars in 1977 on the day it came out? There was no internet and TV advertising was expensive. How did Star Wars find its audience? More importantly, how did Star Wars find its audience before it became a massive hit? The answer is the late Charles Lippincott.”

 

tumblr & beyond

Fallout fanart by frongfriend

“I think one of my favorite enduring traditions of fandom is finding people that you can do ‘storytime’ with”

some heartwarming community spirit

"HE'S TRYING TO CHEAT ON YOU ON THE ONE DIRECTION IMAGINES WEBSITE?"

a chilling mental image tbh.

“they need to stop making big world-changing canon updates to doctor who and get back to the core of the show”

 

fanfiction

As we’ve done a few times in the past, this week’s list is a mix of friendship fic as tagged by our reccers, including platonic friendships, friends to lovers, and friends with benefits. Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec! — Elizabeth

“no unread messages” by warfare. 4.7K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Haikyuu!!; Ship: Gen, Kageyama Tobio & Kozume Kenma, Kageyama Tobio & Karasuno VB club
Recced by: sweetpollyolliver
Backstory: Kageyama starts out in Haikyuu!! as someone who doesn't really know what friendship is. This fic explores Kageyama gradually learning how to make connections via messages. It follows the progression of an unlikely friendship between him and fellow setter Kenma. Rec: My heart really goes out to someone who struggles to understand and make friendships. This fic perfectly captures the painful awkwardness, confusion and how much it means to eventually get it right.
Content warnings: N/A

“There Was, There Wasn't” by Minim Calibre. 14K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe; Ship: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff
Recced by: Sara
Backstory: Gives Natasha's perspective throughout Captain America: The Winter Soldier through a series of missing scenes that show her and Steve becoming friends with benefits for a short-lived time.
Rec: This pairing is rarely written in a way that totally sells it for me, but this portrays the easy comfort—and a sense of understated feelings—between them so well. The writing is spare in a way that fits Natasha’s viewpoint perfectly while still making her very human.
Content warnings: N/A

“Most Likely To” by Kaneko. 8K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Breakfast Club (1985); Ship: Brian Johnson/John Bender
Recced by: hownowredclown
Backstory: Breakfast Club is about 6 teens from wildly different cliques forced into detention one Saturday and end up as best friends—even though they all think it won't last on Monday. Brian is a nerd who is suicidal from the pressure and Bender is an abused slacker that everyone is scared of.
Rec: This is a classic from Yuletide 2009. It's non-chronological and it takes you through Brian's life as he finds and loses success after graduation, then comes back to his small town and meets up again with someone he hasn't seen since high school. It's sweet and a great exploration of life not turning out the way you thought, but somehow being even better than you could have imagined.
Content warnings: Suicidal ideation (mentioned, canon-compliant), alcoholism and abuse (mentioned, canon-compliant), homophobia (mentioned, period-appropriate)

“Norwegian Conclusion” by tryfanstone. 14K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Johnson Johnson series - Dorothy Dunnett; Ship: Gen
Recced by: gelasticjew
Backstory: This is a friendship-themed rec set among canon characters who are all friends who solve mysteries-but not cozy ones! Rita Geddes, a Hollywood makeup and practical effects professional, is shot at while opening the Norwegian amusement park she's worked on; in usual fashion, it turns out that Johnson Johnson is involved.
Rec: This reads as if it were written by the original author of the canon books, Dorothy Dunnett, and tells as interesting and compelling a story as she would.
Content warnings: Offscreen historical canon death

“Before the Second Show” by CharredLips. 75K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: My Chemical Romance; Ship: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Bullets era, Frank just joined the band. He's on top of the world and falling (in love) fast.
Rec: It’s very sweet and happy. There’s something very satisfying about the only true obstacle being obliviousness.
Content warnings: Swearing, smoking/drinking, brief non-graphic mention of past suicide attempt

“sayo” by thefullergirl. 40K words (full series 131K words over 3 works), rated Teen.
Fandom: NCT (Band), specifically, NCT Dream; Ship: Huang Renjun/Na Jaemin, with side pairings
Recced by: anon
Backstory: NCT Dream uni AU! The setting is specifically a university in the Philippines, and the four same-age members of the Dreamies navigate through their final year in uni. Rec: It’s a love letter to the university campus as much as a love story between the main pairing. I love it for how it deals with uni students coming of age and the slice-of-life moments of graduating, the year and months before being thrown into the “real” world.
Content warnings: Homophobia

“sixteen cans of vindaloo” by kathkin. 13K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Red Dwarf; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Gin / myrmidryad
Backstory: Reluctant flatmates Lister and Rimmer are forced to move into a one bedroom flat after getting evicted. Unfortunately, it's early 2020 and what was supposed to be a temporary situation drags on. And on…
Rec: I started laughing around maybe the second sentence and sort of just didn't stop. This fic is perfect in every way! Everyone's characterisation is so good, especially Rimmer, the most irritating and pitiable flatmate you're glad you never had to share a lockdown with.
Content warnings: The general horror and fear of early 2020, mild transphobia (which is shot down by everyone who isn't Rimmer)

 

 

FINAL THOUGHT

Have a great weekend, everyone! — Elizabeth