The Rec Center #62
This week seems to be a convergence of fandom anniversaries and birthdays: we’ve got segments on Buffy and Bucky, two of our respective fannish loves. :-) We also have a large collection of reviews if you’re looking for some Iron Fist schadenfreude, and for fic, we have a multi-fandom rec list that centers around friendship—both friends to lovers and friendship in general. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“I Took Gamer Drugs For A Week And This Is What They Did To My Body” by Maddy Myers at Kotaku
“I’m aware that many professional gamers swear by stimulants, although the stereotypical stimulant of choice for pro gamers isn’t caffeine, but Adderall (amphetamines) or Ritalin (methylphenidate).” Do not try this at home.
“Why Marvel fans can’t stop arguing about whether Captain America is a Nazi” by Gav at the Daily Dot
Last year the comic Captain America: Steve Rogers rebooted Steve as a Hydra agent, which angered a lot of fans because Hydra are (or were) Nazis. The comic’s writer Nick Spencer disagrees, saying that Steve and Hydra are just apolitically evil. This piece covers both sides of the story, and explains why Spencer can’t escape from the comic’s ugly political subtext.
Iron Fist reviews
Marvel’s fourth Netflix show, the martial arts superhero drama Iron Fist, has long been controversial due to its racist, culturally appropriative roots. The first round of reviews were published this week, and they’re almost universally negative. It was panned for being dull, racist, poorly written, and even having bad action sequences. For your schadenfreude pleasure, here’s a rundown of reviews: Polygon, The Verge, Variety, io9, and Gav’s review at the Daily Dot. In the interests of balance, here’s the one positive review we could find: ComicBookMovie.com.
older stuff: happy anniversary, btvs
99.9% sure you’ve heard this already, but today is BUFFY DAY! It’s the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “Welcome to the Hellmouth” aired on the WB on March 10, 1997. Some of you might know that Buffy was my first real fandom—the first time I came online and saw that other people were into it the way I was into it, the first time I realized fanfiction was a thing other people did. Unlike maybe every other journalist on earth (except Gav lol), I did not write a “Buffy changed my life” piece for today, but I could. Apparently they would be a bit different from a lot of the ones I’m seeing, because while this data analysis is important and admirable
Obviously a correct graph would have Giles at the top, a horizontal line across all time, with all those other losers hugging close to the X-axis. :-D
No, it’s true, my round-up of Buffy content for today would invariably be Giles-centric, but how could it not be when ANTHONY STEWART HEAD WROTE THIS PIECE: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a feminist parable for everyone—including me.” And Gav found this thread:
Which starts with this A+ observation about the Buffy + Giles relationship and winds up tapping into a huge part of why the show spoke to me (and many others).
If you want a true blast from the past, can I suggest this v important trailer for 2000-era WB at large (via @TheEricGoldman):
Or images from my Buffy scrapbook, a proto-Tumblr that’s one of my most prized possessions, which I began compiling in the spring of 1999. :-) — Elizabeth
tumblr & beyond
A unique fan theory about Scotty’s accent in Star Trek.
SAMUEL L JACKSON HENTAI CLIP!?!?!
If you haven’t already watched it 100 times, treat yourself to repeat viewings of Patrick Stewart meeting his new foster dog, Ginger.
Last month, Bryan Fuller revealed that this song was originally meant to be in Hannibal’s first episode, reflecting Will & Hannibal’s relationship in s1: ShyBoy, covering Nik Kershaw’s ‘Wouldn’t It Be Good.’
fanfiction
Friendship! This list is culled from our submissions—thanks as always if you sent in a story—and the general theme is ~friends: stories where reccers mentioned “friends to lovers,” a perennial favorite, or cite friendship in their rec. Don’t worry—for our more combative readers, we’ll be putting together an “enemies to lovers” list soon. — Elizabeth
“Of All The Trees That Are In The Wood” by Carberusia. 7K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Rosemary and Thyme; Ship: Laura Thyme/Rosemary Boxer
Recced by: A Tostie
Backstory and rec: Rosemary and Thyme is a cozy British mystery show about two women who are interested in botany and also coincidentally keep getting involved in solving murders. They occasionally get mistaken for a couple in canon and I ship it :D
Content warnings: N/A
“Things Have Gotten Closer To The Sun” by starseas. 49K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: One Direction; Ships: Harry/Louis, Zayn/Liam
Recced by: Clare
Backstory: When a solar flare is announced to end the world in twelve days, Harry finds himself drawn back to the people that he used to know better than the back of his own hand.
Rec: This fic is so well written (sometimes the prose is breathtaking) and personifies everything I love about 1D fic, particularly the deep filial love these boys have for one another, and the star crossed beauty that is the Harry/Louis OTP. The fic is a poignant rumination on the nature of our choices, on regret, forgiveness, and the nature of friendship.
Content warnings: end of the world
“Lunch and Other Obscenities” by Rheanna. 9.7K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Star Trek (2009); Ship: Gen
Recced by: azriona
Backstory: The Star Trek reboot brought a lot of new perspectives, fans, and even characters to the Star Trek Universe—as well as a new way of looking at characters we all thought we knew. And because the world’s moved on in the last 50 years, there’s some great fic out there about characters originally overlooked previously.
Rec: I really like “Lunch” because it's a neat perspective on a young, idealistic, and naive Nyota Uhura who’s trying to figure out her own mind and opinions while studying to achieve her dreams at Starfleet Academy. The story’s about her growing friendship with her roomie, and I love that it focuses almost solely on Nyota and not anyone else.
Content warnings: N/A
“Madness in the Spring” by LucyToo. 35K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: The A-Team (Original Series); Ship: Face/Murdock
Recced by: Kitty
Backstory: The A Team is about a group of Vietnam War vets who are convicted of a crime they committed under orders they did not know were illegal so they bust of prison and fight crime. Face and Murdock are closest to each other on the team, comrades and jokesters who each wear their own masks, they rely on each other and the other’s knowledge of their true self entirely.
Rec: Each member of the A-Team has their own scars and this fic brilliantly explores how they might have gotten them. I like that Face does not merely tolerate Murdock’s eccentricities, he embraces them and finds his own comfort in them. As a side note, this fic also has the best verbal confrontation I have ever read in fanfic, ever.
Content warnings: N/A
“Giving Up On Greener Grasses” by missparker. 111K words, rated Explicit.
Fandoms: Major Crimes, The Closer; Ship: Brenda Leigh Johnson/Sharon Raydor
Recced by: AurumCalendula
Backstory: “New job, new neighborhood, new life.”
Rec: I’ve only seen of few episodes of the shows in question, but I adore Brenda and Sharon’s characters and how their friendship and romance develops.
Content warnings: N/A
“Sugaring Season” by nimmieamee. 19K words, rated Teen.
Fandoms: Riverdale, Ships: Betty/Veronica, Archie/Val, gen. (Jughead is not paired with anyone.)
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: Takes place after ep 5 of Riverdale, but it’s easy to follow if you’re familiar with Riverdale or Archie Comics in general.
Rec: HILARIOUS and very charming story, based around the idea that every family in Riverdale is secretly feuding over an ancient maple syrup fortune. The Riverdale teens decide to investigate Jason Blossom’s murder in the context of this maple syrup murder feud, and Betty and Veronica fall in love along the way.
This fic is entertainingly self-aware about the ridiculousness of the show, while also achieving pitch-perfect characterization for all the main characters. I have no idea how the author sustained this level of wit for 19k words, written in such a short period of time, but: Well Done. I wish I could quote it all right here, but you’ll just have to click through and read it instead!
Content warnings: N/A
And a bonus fanvid!
“A Better Son/Daughter” by eruthros. 4 minutes, 38 seconds, rated Teen.
Fandom: RPF—Carrie Fisher and Gary; Ship: Gen
Recced by: cupidsbow
Backstory: Carrie Fisher: a tribute in songivd form.
Rec: I wish you recced more songvids, so I decided to send you one from the current Festivids (which is awesome). This vid is my favourite this year: a spectacular fannish tribute to Carrie Fisher and the wonderful life she lived.
Content warnings: Brief mentions of fat shaming, addiction, and institutionalization. There is no footage of Carrie Fisher's hospitalization or funeral in this vid, but there is a shot of her on a gurney (from Wishful Drinking).
[Editor’s note: this was the submission that reminded us we haven’t been asking for vid recs, and we should have—please send us your favorites!]
FINAL THOUGHT
(Click through for all the panels of Jade’s Bucky birthday art!)
It’s Bucky Barnes’ 100th birthday today! We recommend you check out the Tumblr tag for everyone’s ~celebrations. Also (and this is more of a PSA than a rec because we haven’t read it yet), Speranza posted a new Steve/Bucky longfic, and since she’s written some of the best fic in the fandom, we’re pretty sure it’s great. — Gav
Have a favorite story you’d like to submit? We’re always looking for guest reccers to do full lists, but if you have a one-off, please send it in via our submissions form! We’ve also gotten vid and podfic recs in recent weeks—those are strongly encouraged and we’re excited to include more of them going forward.
If you liked this, please share it with your friends! https://thereccenter.substack.com/. And find us on social media: Gav (twitter/tumblr) & Elizabeth (twitter/tumblr)