October 4, 2024

The Rec Center #457

Hello all! This week we have articles on Brazilian stan Twitter, the Elvish language, and Age of Empires II. Plus some cute Gravity Falls fanart, a grab-bag of multifandom fic recs, and more! — Gav

 

new stuff

“The Stan Accounts That Keep Posting Through Brazil’s Ban on X” by Angela Watercutter and Gabriel Leão at WIRED
Brazilian users have long been the backbone of stan Twitter—and when the platform was banned in the country a month ago, many wondered what the fannish fallout would be. This article features interviews with Brazilian fandom users (some of whom are still managing to post there).

“You can learn to speak Elvish—just not J.R.R. Tolkien’s Elvish” by Christopher Gates at Polygon
On Tolkien’s creation of and relationship with Elvish, and its connection with the Elvish used in adaptations and known by fans.

“Age of Empires II at 25: the strategy game that inspired a generation of historians” by Holly Nielsen at The Guardian
“When I speak at conferences about history and video games, I have on many occasions had historians of a certain age sheepishly approach me to say that Age of Empires II got them into this field.”

 

 

older stuff

“The Yellow Balloon Movement” by Maria Temming at Fansplaining
“As a torrent of fans flows around the Phellowship circle like river water around a rock, Jacklin kicks off the meeting by shouting out the ground rules.” A deeply reported piece on clean and sober music fans, who find community at—and literally in the middle of—concerts.

 

tumblr & beyond

Gravity Falls fanart by charlikesalmon

“why does stephen king write like that”

“just found out my projector has a browser”

a rare positive use of the supernatural news update meme lol

“kill the tiktok ghost in your brain and comment on old stuff it’s NOT weird”

 

fanfiction

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

“Full Disk Burn” by fallintosanity (yopumpkinhead). 10.5K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Orangistae
Backstory: Murderbot is a rogue Security Unit that hacked its own governor module and is best friends with a spaceship, the Asshole Research Transport (ART). In this fic, they visit the set of one of their favourite serials, and stumble across a human in trouble.
Rec: Great little casefic featuring lots of fun bickering between Murderbot and ART, interesting exploration of the predictably terrible work practices of Corporation Rim media conglomerations, and a well-drawn human OC whose situation has some uncomfortable parallels with Murderbot’s own.
Content warnings: Canon-typical violence

“The Smithsonian Guard” by galerian_ash. 9K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Captain America; Ship: Steve/Bucky
Recced by: Summerfly
Backstory: Bucky makes friends with the Smithsonian Guard after the events of “CA:TWS.”
Rec: A really sweet story about the Guard from the Smithsonian playing acting as an intermediary for Steve and Bucky. Along the way they all become friends.
Content warnings: N/A

“The right words at the right time” by justpeace. 53K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: MDZS/CQL (魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)); Ship: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian
Recced by: bichenrights
Backstory: When she was sixteen, despite her best efforts, Lan Zhan fell in love with an infuriating visiting student at her kung fu school. When she’s 29, Lan Zhan meets Wei Ying again, and she realises that there are some things that haven’t changed.
Rec: This fic has everything- pining, competing and teasing, baking a cake with the one you love, family, community, working up a sweat with the one you love, a supportive older brother who ships his younger sister with the visiting student who got away… OR from a bookmark note, “Holding horse stance for twenty minutes IS, in fact, a viable way to suppress rampant teenage gay yearning.”
Content warnings: N/A

“The Letter” by arlenejp. 1K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Call Me By Your Name; Ship: Oliver/Elio
Recced by: arlenejp
Backstory: Oliver sends two letters to Italy to Elio. What happened to one of them?
Rec: The letter is supposed to bring closure to both of the men.
Content warnings: Age difference

“Oh, Be For Me The Sky” by inexplicifics. 25K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types; Ship: Ważka | Dragonfly/Original Female Character
Recced by: Grace
Backstory: Part of The Accidental Warlord and His Pack series, best read as part of the series. Witcher rescues human, they fall in love.
Rec: Love to see justice win.
Content warnings: The OFC is running from a potential IPV situation, but nothing happens or is described in the story.

And a vid!

“Put Me Back In It” by dylanb. 4:28, rated Gen.
Fandom: The Hunger Games; Ship: Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark
Recced by: cx
Backstory: This is a fanedit of The Hunger Games Films, focusing on the loss, heartbreak, and love of Katniss and Peeta.
Rec: This is maybe one of the most beautifully made edits I have ever seen, masterfully tying together the lyrics of Hozier’s “Francesca” with the plight of Katniss and Peeta being forced back into the Hunger Games, and the cyclical nature of trauma and trying to heal from it.
Content warnings: Implied/referenced canonical character deaths

 

 

FINAL THOUGHT

Last week we solicited ~spooky recs~ for October—that’s paranormal, horror, creatures (vampires, werewolves, etc, either AUs or source material), Halloween, and anything else that might fall under this very broad umbrella. We got a handful, but we would love more so we can do multiple weeks of lists, broken down by theme/type. So please keep sending them in! You can do so via our handy form—just please make sure to mention the themes/tropes field that you’re submitting for this call. — Elizabeth