The Rec Center #454
Hello all! This week we have articles about action movie fandom, Good Omens, and the video game industry, along with some cute X-Men fanart, a grab-bag of multifandom fic recs, and more! — Gav
new stuff
“‘Good Omens’ Final Season Suspends Production Following Neil Gaiman Assault Allegations” by J. Kim Murphy at Variety
We’re sure most fandom folks have seen this news, but if you somehow missed it, Amazon has paused Good Omens production because of the ongoing situation with Neil Gaiman. Arguably the biggest of his current adaptations, it’s also the second to be put on hold due to the allegations, after Disney halted development of “The Graveyard Book” last week.
“Online Action Movie Fandom Birthed a New Film-Fest Era” by Jordan Crucchiloa at WIRED
“The Big Bad Film Fest, now in its second year, is like a big, muscle-bound hug for Very Online action-movie obsessives who brought it to life.”
“Video Game Developers Are Leaving The Industry And Doing Something, Anything Else” by Luke Plunkett at Aftermath
A snapshot of the video game industry, which has faced grueling layoffs in recent years, featuring interviews with a number of developers who have been forced to change careers.
if SCREAM were real there would be a bunch of girls on tiktok doing videos like “ok babes here’s how to survive ghostface on a cruise, use this towel under your door handle” and also a bunch of videos like “I want to fuck ghostface”
— Emma Berquist (@eeberquist) September 5, 2024
older stuff
“The Yuletide Fanfiction Exchange Is a Holiday Marvel” by Elizabeth at Atlas Obscura
Nominations for Yuletide—the rare-fandom fic exchange that runs through the final months of the year—are currently open, so it felt like a good time to re-share Elizabeth’s piece about the event, featuring the words of longtime participants. (And if you like something that currently has just a few—or zero—fics on the AO3, nominate it!)
tumblr & beyond
X-Men: First Class fanart by scentofmint
“it’s time to kill the cop in your head, especially if you're currently at the devils sacrament”
The perfect marriage of content and form: a fanbinding of the fic Gritty Kills Tony Stark.
“Jesse I have to sell you to one direction”
“It’s his first day on the job and the first officer is in heat”
regrettably this is indeed what star wars is like.
fanfiction
A grab-bag this week! Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“Off to the Races” by Eve_Louise. 20K words, Not Rated (est. Mature).
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; Ship: Elim Garak/Julian Bashir
Recced by: reserve
Backstory: ds9 is a thoughtful, dark, at times very funny Star Trek series currently enjoying a bit of a resurgence. Garak/Bashir is a classic ship, and this story, which sends our heroes on an undercover adventure, is clever and very tightly written. And sexy!
Rec: Garak and Bashir go on a real-life undercover adventure featuring space pirates, sexy Klingon women, and a lot of revealing bespoke clothing for Julian. Unrated fics sometimes don’t get the love they deserve, and this fic deserves a lot of love.
Content warnings: Mention of human trafficking
“a double dream” by Gogollescent. 2.9K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Silmarillion; Ship: Eärendil/Elwing
Recced by: Chestnut_filly
Backstory: The Silmarillion is the sprawling semi-mythical backstory to the Lord of the Rings. Elwing and Eärendil are the product of an Age of deeply traumatic and destructive wars, seeking aid across the sea as the last possibility for survival.
Rec: So much of Tolkien’s work is based on hope at the last extremity, and this story carries that out beautifully. Hope that seems hopeless but is worth it for its own sake. It shines fiercely through the writing and relationship here.
Content warnings: Mentions of assumed child death
“Synchrony” by Rheanna. 34K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Moon Knight; Ship: Gen
Recced by: mific
Backstory: In Moon Knight the central character has multiple personalities—Marc is the superpowered avatar of the Egyptian god Khonshu, and Steven an anxious British Museum employee.
Rec: Gripping and psychologically complex, as Rheanna’s taken the multiple-personality aspect and made it futuristic science fiction, where Composites are made from two consciousnesses to pilot interstellar ships. As it’s new for Steven, it’s explained in the fic, and plot twists arise because Marc has secrets both he and the spaceship company are concealing.
Content warnings: N/A
“Heartbeat in Iambic” by Dennis. 7K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Daria; Ship: Sandi/Quinn (unrequited)
Recced by: Christopher
Backstory: Sandi Griffith’s status at Lawndale High is on the line. She’s a very good poet, and has submitted to a literary magazine under a pseudonym—beating out known Brain Daria Morgendorffer for publication. If anyone ever found out she wrote poetry, she'd be ruined. And if the subject of her poem found out it was about her, it would be worse.
Rec: Sandi Griffith (Fashion Club President) is an absolutely awful human being in canon. In this fic, the author gives her a moment of vulnerability, and the conceit of her being a talented poet is unexpected and refreshing.
Content warnings: N/A
“Rowing” by drivingsideways. 5.5K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Black Sails; Ship: Gen
Recced by: friendofthefrogs
Backstory: A fic about Madi post-canon, slightly canon divergent, where she is in Nassau.
Rec: Madi’s character is impeccable and it incorporates the themes of the show super beautifully. I especially love all her interactions with Max.
Content warnings: N/A
“The Mixtape, Or: Six Things You Learn in Thursday School” by Amiril. 6K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Supernatural; Ship: Dean Winchester/Castiel
Recced by: Ellie
Backstory: At the end of the show, Sam, Dean and Jack defeat God, and Jack (Lucifer's son) becomes the new God. Set thousands of years later, this fic treats the events of the show as the founding of a new religion—but of course over time, things evolve or get misinterpreted.
Rec: The OC characters all take their faith seriously, but with canon knowledge of the show, it's very funny (and full of Easter eggs.) A great look at how stories change over time, and because of who is telling them.
Content warnings: N/A
And a vid!
“Dance With Me” by helcinda. 2:53, rated Gen.
Fandom: 山河令 | Word of Honor (TV 2021); Ship: Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu
Recced by: AirgiodSLV
Backstory: Word of Honor is a Chinese wuxia drama in which two unlikely heroes find each other and quickly become ensnared in the political power struggle around them. This video plays with the idea of fighting as a dance, and highlights a few of the moments when the protagonists flirt by sparring with each other.
Rec: Watching this always puts a smile on my face. The movements are so beautiful, and the constant physical teasing/flirting/playing these two do as their relationship grows is really well-illustrated. The tags for this are “shl is a romcom actually,” “fighting as dancing,” and “fighting as flirting,” all of which are delightfully accurate.
Content warnings: Non-graphic violence
Jensen Ackles is not a name. It's some sort of old-timey phrase for a degenerative joint condition
— Haus of Decline (@hausofdecline) August 24, 2024
FINAL THOUGHT
At the Fan Studies North America conference next month, Flourish and I are giving a talk called “Studying Fans Outside the Academy.” The conference is online and runs from Thursday, October 17th through Sunday, October 21st; we’ll be on Friday the 18th. Tickets are now on sale—and they’re just $10 for students and independent scholars! There will be a ton of smart folks presenting on a huge range of fan studies topics, so if you’re even vaguely interested in the academic side of fandom, definitely check it out! — Elizabeth