September 6, 2024

The Rec Center #453

Hello everyone! This week we have coverage of the NaNoWriMo-AI debacle, Gav on the accents in Rings of Power, and Fansplaining’s latest, on continued divisions in the Scream fandom nearly a year after one of the films’ stars was fired for pro-Palestian social media posts. Plus: Pokémon fanart and a back-to-school-themed list of university AUs. — Elizabeth

 

new stuff

“NaNoWriMo Organizers Said It Was Classist and Ableist to Condemn AI. All Hell Broke Loose” by Meghan Herbst at WIRED
You’d have to be pretty offline to miss the NaNo drama this week—when it was revealed that the organization that runs the annual writing event is pro-gen AI and has an AI writing tool as main sponsor. This article covers the fallout, as sponsors and authors alike cut ties with the org.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Has an Accent Problem” by Gav at TV Guide
The Rings of Power has already faced criticism for its use of stereotypical regional accents, depicting Irish-accented characters as bumbling, childlike peasants while the characters with upper-class English accents receive more “serious” storylines. Here, Gavia breaks down the classist hierarchy of TRoP’s accent choices, reflecting tired old tropes throughout British pop culture.

“The Scream Fandom’s Enduring Divide” by Michael Boyle at Fansplaining
Last November, Melissa Barerra was fired from the Scream franchise for speaking out against the genocide in Gaza. In the year since, fans have been split over whether to boycott the franchise. This is a nuanced, thoughtful look at that ongoing fandom conversation—and the ways “toxic fan” language can be weaponized against people raising genuine political issues.

 

 

older stuff

“With Arms Wide Open” by Luke Winkie at Slate
A great longread set on a Creed cruise: “How did Creed, the most hated band of the 1990s, become so beloved—and even cool? I sailed the seas with thousands of fellow lunatics to find out.”

 

tumblr & beyond

Pokémon fanart by occasionallysubtle

wow, what an honor for The Terror fandom!

“lestat’s hair getting longer between season 1 and 2 is so funny to me.”

ok but which Beatle would?

the golden rule of fandom accounts who have their fav character in the url.

“listen I’m so glad you all are having fun with the dragon incest show, but…”

FYI you do NOT need to go to that doctor for that last one :-)

A perfect anecdote from The Terror’s Gordon Morris inspires perfect fanart, too.

 

fanfiction

It’s back-to-school time, so we’ve got a mix of school AUs this week—mostly college/university, with dashes of grad school and high school. Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec! — Elizabeth

“The Life of the Mind” by sheepknitssweater. 49K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: IT (Movies - Muschietti); Ship: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Recced by: Jamie
Backstory: A modern college AU! Realistic, funny, melancholic, and weird.
Rec: Sometimes fanfiction can idealize its characters, but this story is all about making Richie and Eddie actual, kind of gross college boys who are learning the things you have to learn in college, like that it’s fine not to be that close to your parents and that the world doesn’t actually revolve around you. Also, bonus very good scenes of Mike friendship.
Content warnings: Internalized homophobia, recreational drug use, the cultural landscape of 2017-2018 and all its horrors

“the tower room” by aeriallon. 16K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: The 100; Ship: Bellamy Blake/John Murphy
Recced by: ExpatGirl
Backstory: A university AU wherein Murphy and Bellamy share the nicest room at Cambridge, and both want it for themselves.
Rec: I know only a little about the show, so you can read fandom-blind. The character dynamics are great, the sexual tension is relentless, the ending is sweet.
Content warnings: Minor recreational drug use

“That Wilderness So Savage” by Winter_of_our_Discontent. 6.8K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Hannibal; Ship: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Recced by: EJ
Backstory: Will, ABD grad student, meets Prof. Lecter at a conference. Neither of their lives will be the same.
Rec: AnnoyedGradStudent!Will is my jam.
Content warnings: N/A

“Don’t drink and text, kids” by lizbobjones. 1.2K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Supernatural; Ship: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Recced by: Ludicrous
Backstory: “It’s a good thing Charlie was up at 2am anyway with the new World of Warcraft expansion and a rogue that needed her attention—thankfully an easy class to level because she was still buzzed from the crazy college party she’d been at until a few hours ago with friends from her dorm... And then she got a text from Dean.”
Rec: This is from Charlie’s POV and it’s so funny—I would tell you why but it’s a spoiler so... go read it and see for yourselves!
Content warnings: N/A

“Good Boys” by jennypen. 25K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender; Ship: Shiro/Keith/Lance
Recced by: Brig
Backstory: Keith becomes infatuated with an amateur camboy’s videos, and realizes to his horror that said camboy is actually his fellow obnoxious college student Lance, who he has to face in class every day .
Rec: A fic where Shiro and Lance are actually a couple first, with emotionally constipated Keith coming late to the party. Also this is the continuation of a fantastic super kinky WIP, which doesn’t have to be read first.
Content warnings: N/A

“World Ain’t Ready” by idiopathicsmile. 186K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Les Misérables; Ship: Enjolras/Grantaire
Recced by: duessa
Backstory: High school AU. As the author puts it: “in which there are pretend boyfriends for great justice”.
Rec: I don’t even go to this fandom but idiopathicsmile’s writing is AMAZING. I laughed aloud more times than I can count reading this.
Content warnings: Homophobia and bad parenting

“RE: Thesis defense issue” by kalirush. 3K words, Not Rated.
Fandom: FAQ: The “Snake Fight” Portion Of Your Thesis Defense (McSweeney’s Post) - Luke Burns; Ship: Gen
Recced by: mypantsflewoff
Backstory: Classic McSweeney’s text about having to fight a snake at your thesis defense (IMO not that far off from reality!). The better the thesis, the smaller the snake and vice versa. This is what happens when the chain of command breaks down in the days right before said defense.
Rec: So, if you’ve ever been a student (or a professor) in a graduate level setting, this will make you HOWL with laughter. Seriously. We have all gone through a chain of emails like this. I myself had my own defense room cancelled out from under me because I didn’t check email for 24 hours. This is the ultimate fanfic for academics and academic-adjacents.
Content warnings: There are 2 photos of snakes in the fic nearish the end

 

 

FINAL THOUGHT

Have a relaxing weekend, everyone! — Gav