June 21, 2024

The Rec Center #442

Hi all! This week we have articles on Bridgerton fans, Kpop fans, and Interview with the Vampire fans. (Why yes, that last one is by me, how did you guess.) (Counting down the minutes until 2x07 btw!!!) Plus JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fanart, and a multifandom grab-bag of fics. — Elizabeth

 

new stuff

“Interview With the Vampire Fans Say the Stakes Have Never Been Higher” by Elizabeth at WIRED
Elizabeth reported on broader fan anxieties in the volatile streaming era—and how those struck the IWTV fandom specifically in recent weeks. On the “nobody’s watching the best show on TV” narrative, and some fans’ frustrations over AMC’s marketing efforts this season.

“As the Genocide in Gaza Continues, Palestinian K-pop Fans Organize For Their People” by Kayti Burt at Paste
A deep dive into Kpop fans’ organizing work around Gaza, particularly the boycott and divestment campaigns directed at HYBE, the parent company of BTS, SEVENTEEN, and a lot of other big acts.

“Bridgerton finally gave us queer storylines. Fans aren’t having it.” by Aja Romano at Vox
Somewhat belatedly, Bridgerton has finally introduced some queer characters among its main cast, setting up a queer love story as the centerpiece for at least one upcoming season. However some fans of the (considerably straighter and whiter) Bridgerton novels are not pleased with this decision.

 

 

older stuff

“How black "Game of Thrones" fans made #DemThrones more than a hashtag” by Antonia Hylton at Vice
“It’s a ‘shared experience of blackness,’ enjoying these characters in a mostly white fictional world.” A great video story about Black GoT fan communities, from just before the original show’s series finale.

 

tumblr & beyond

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fanart by wald-prinz

“I love scrolling around and coming across a Fandom dissertation for something I’ve never heard of”

Some amazing IWTV fanart playing on 70s/80s-style print ads.

poor Anthony Bridgerton was really going through it...

A lovely story about Hugh Dancy learning about Will Graham’s popularity as a transmasc character in Hannibal fandom.

“Young Professor X (via telepathy): Elvis! Can you hear me?”

 

fanfiction

Just an unthemed grab-bag this week! Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth

“all the problems we could solve” by Stratisphyre. 19K words, rated Teen. Fandom: The Untamed; Ship: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian
Recced by: humsandroses
Backstory: Lan Wangji is a thief who steals from the rich and powerful on behalf of the oppressed. Wei Wuxian is an assassin who helps create new identities for innocent targets. Neither knows about the other’s real life…
Rec: This bears little to no relationship to canon, but has delightful Leverage vibes along with the main characters being, as always, head over heels in love with each other.
Content warnings: N/A

“music when soft voices die” by brella. 6.5K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Breath of the Wild; Ship: Link/Zelda
Recced by: Katrina
Backstory: Takes place post-game where Zelda’s back and there’s not that much left of her Kingdom.
Rec: This story captures the feeling of the Hyrule Field we see in the game but effortlessly including gameplay elements as a part of storytelling. Very cute.
Content warnings: N/A

“your heart’s a coarse black dog” by gleamingandwholeanddeadly (something_safe) and printersdevils (tuesdaysgone). 31K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Hannibal; Ship: Will Graham/Hannibal Lector
Recced by: emptyheart
Backstory: When Will gets released from prison he confronts Hannibal, but decides to let Han prove his forgiveness. One condition: Han must raise a puppy Will isn’t able to keep.
Rec: Very strong writing. The story maintains the characters’ edges, capturing the internal struggle both Will and Hannibal have coming to terms with the truth of each other. Without becoming OOC, it’s the Hannibal take on a classic meet-cute. With a dash of Abigail thrown in.
Content warnings: Light d/s themes

“Riposte” by Humanfish451. 1K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Star Wars; Ship: Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker
Recced by: Minna
Backstory: In Star Wars Legends, Luke had an enemies to lovers thing with a former Imperial darksider who later became his wife. This, of course, places that in a modern AU.
Rec: It takes so few words to build up such a lovely ace (and, I think, aro) love story—little droplets of the years that form Luke and Mara into something defined only by them. There’s also such a lovely deep well of trust at the center of it.
Content warnings: Injury (non-graphic)

“Brush Talk” by starlady. 2.7K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Heian Era RPF; Ship: Murasaki Shikibu/Sei Shōnagon
Recced by: Chestnut_pod
Backstory: Lady Murasaki and Sei Shōnagon were courtiers attached to the Japanese imperial court around the turn of the 11th century who rose to prominence as literary luminaries: Lady Murasaki as the author of the novel the Tale of Genji, and Sei Shōnagon as the author of the diaristic-memoiristic-epigrammatic Pillow Book. They were of slightly different generations and did not serve at court together, but were well aware of one another as authors and personalities (and Lady Murasaki did not approve of Sei Shōnagon)!
Rec: This lovely short fic considers the awkward, prickly possibilities of their meeting, and also the generative, creative ones. It has some beautiful descriptions of the act of writing and it makes the importance of writing—to these characters and in general—really shine. Much like Sei Shōnagon’s hair in the moonlight…
Content warnings: N/A

“Look at the wonderful mess that we made” by Sherlockelly. 90K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: NHL RPF; Ship: Jamie Benn/Tyler Seguin
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Jamie and Tyler are hockey players in a world where your soulmates name appears on your wrist at puberty.
Rec: It’s gloriously long and complex. The set up is long, which means when they meet, you totally understand why they act the way they do. Pining and misunderstandings and such good pay off.
Content warnings: Internalised homophobia, one reference to self harm

 

 

FINAL THOUGHT

That’s all, folks! Have a great weekend! — Gavia