The Rec Center #76
Hello! It’s been a while since we said it, so a reminder: you survived the week. We’ve got a mix of articles and tumblr stuff (including Gav’s reporting on that Whedon Wonder Woman atrocity that I’m not reading because I’ve decided to treat myself) and fic and fanart FROM SPACE—a mix of space AUs and canon set in space. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Joss Whedon’s leaked ‘Wonder Woman’ screenplay is mindblowingly sexist” by Gav at the Daily Dot
This leaked screenplay resurfaced on Twitter last night, shared by various fans including internet hero Rave Sashayed. (For a full rundown of quotes, we recommend heading over to her Twitter thread.) This article looks into the weirdly sexualized and unpleasant nature of the screenplay, and how it ties into Joss Whedon’s other work.
“The Founder Of Pinboard On Why Understanding Fandom Is Good For Business” by Kaitlyn Tiffany at The Verge
If you haven’t read Maciej Cegłowski’s famous talk about coming to understand fandom through the way fans used Pinboard, quick, go now! Here he talks more about fandom and the recent acquisition of Delicious (which has a good fandom ~backstory itself).
“Hannibal’s Fannibals: An Insider's Guide to TV’s Most Devoted Fandom” by Samantha McLaren at Paste
An affectionate look at how Hannibal fandom influenced one woman’s life. This isn’t an especially in-depth look at fan culture, but it’s a heartwarming story and (we think) quite representative of how welcoming the fannibal community is. (Incidentally, we just found out there’s a Scottish fannibal meetup in Glasgow next month, just in case any readers are interested!)
older stuff
“That Obsessive Recursiveness: An Interview with Leo Mandel,” Leo Mandel interviewed by Seth Dickinson at Strange Horizons
An exquisite conversation about writing that veers towards fandom and fanfiction at the end. H/t to Charlotte Geater!
tumblr & beyond
Rogue One fanart by taluhkk
This Wonder Woman fan figured out that you can TOTALLY FIT A SWORD IN YOUR DRESS, just like in the movie.
Official Yuri!! on Ice fanart continues to be...astounding.
Some background on Wonder Woman’s mom’s girlfriend, who was ~mysteriously absent~ from the movie.
fanfiction
SPACE. (Here it takes all of my willpower to not add, “The final frontier,” whoops technically I kind of added it.) This week we’ve got a mix of space AUs and canon set in space. Thanks to everyone who sent in a rec! — Elizabeth
“Stargazer” by Fahye. 23K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Yuri!! On Ice; Ship: Yuuri/Victor
Recced by: Kelly
Backstory: A sci-fi au of the show where Victor is a space prince, Yuuri is a commoner, and skating is replaced by a zero-gravity sport called ballisting.
Rec: The characters are completely on-point, and the worldbuilding is so, so good. I would read hundreds of stories based in this universe.
Content warnings: N/A
“Letters from the Northern Continent” by The Hoyden. 8K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space 9; Ship: Elim Garak/Julian Bashir
Recced by: Gryvon
Backstory: It just figured that the first time Julian Bashir set foot on Cardassia after the war, it would be halfway around the world from Elim Garak.
Rec: I love this look at post-series Cardassia, a nation that has often been the antagonist in other series, suddenly humanized post-war.
Content warnings: N/A
“Won’t You Let Us Wander (series)” by angel_deux. 234K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; Ships: Jyn Erso/Cassian Andor, with warm fuzzies supplied by Chirrut Imwe/Baze Malbus
Recced by: Kellis
Backstory: A series of adventures set just after the events of Rogue One. Everyone lives, Jyn and Cassian try to come to terms with their pasts, their resulting emotional limitations and what that means for their relationship with their crewmates, the rebellion and each other. Chirrut and Baze are the bickering SpaceDads we always imagined them to be. Also in her occasional appearances Leia resents her angelic image, curses like a sailor and is generally awesome.
Rec: This series provides the emotional arc these awesome movie characters deserve. The plot is coherent and exciting, the characterization is spot on and completely consistent throughout, favorite OG Star Wars characters are involved and written in a totally believable way, and the language itself is poignant and sometimes downright poetic. The themes of love and grief, hope and fear, family and duty are all handled in a masterful way. It is genuinely moving and ultimately joyful. A privilege to read.
Content warnings: Minor description of torture, reference to suicidal thoughts
“A Curious Carriage of Crystal and Cold” by Etharei. 114K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: X-Men: First Class; Ship: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Recced by: Gryvon
Backstory: Charles, a miner from a poor village in the countryside, saves the life of Erik Lehnsherr, scion of a successful business family and the richest man on the planet Eisen. Charles is a telepath and somewhat anxious about it, while Erik abstains from relationships because the lights flicker and doors open and electronics vibrate when he gets too excited.
Rec: This is an amazing sci-fi AU using the characters of the X-Men universe mixed with a bit of a rags-to-riches kind of romance.
Content warnings: N/A
Plus a SPACE VID:
“Handclap” by mithborien. 3:18, rated PG-13.
Fandom: Fifth Element; Ship: Korben Dallas/Leeloo
Recced by: cupidsbow
Backstory: This vid was made for Spring Equinox 2017: Vids in Space! which is well worth a look—lots of great vids there.
Rec: Mithborien has done a glorious job here. Not only is this a great action vid, but she’s colour-matched the clips in the most aesthetically pleasing way.
Content warnings: N/A
One quick note:
A few readers got in touch to tell us the link to the xxxholic fic “Supernatural Elements” by flakedice was broken. Apologies, this is entirely on me (and my now-nonfunctional LJ, I assumed this link would work if I was logged in, which was wrong). I suspect this fic has been removed from the web, but if anyone knows of a public, working link, please write us and we’ll share it with everyone! — Elizabeth
FINAL THOUGHT
An A++ thread to start your weekend. Click through to read the whole thing!
Have a favorite one-off rec? Please send it our way! We’ll use it in a future list. Other fanworks—comics, vids, etc—are strongly encouraged as well.
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)