The Rec Center #78
Hi, folks! This week we’ve got fanfiction about found families, an interesting podcast about Livejournal and Russian politics, some Harry Potter nostalgia, and more. Also, a warm welcome to everyone who just started watching Black Sails after last week’s primer! — Gav
new stuff
“The Adventure Zone and the Limits of Fandom Ownership” by Chris Kindred at Paste
On fan/creator interaction and the complicated intersections of critique, representation, and mutual respect.
“Why Doctor Doom is the best supervillain of all time” by Abraham Riesman at Vulture
A straightforward manifesto in favor of Marvel’s Doctor Doom, a truly excellent villain who never gets a fair shake in screen adaptations.
“Friends and Blasphemers” from the Reply All podcast
Not strictly speaking a fandom podcast, but certainly fandom-adjacent, and relevant to anyone who used to use Livejournal. Fandom bloggers migrated from LJ to other platforms a few years ago, and this podcast covers the political background of how LJ transformed from an international social blogging site to a heavily controlled Russian outlet.
Gav’s American Gods recaps at the Daily Dot
American Gods concluded its first season last week, and Gav wrote in-depth recaps for all eight episodes. She had mixed feelings about the show, but found it very interesting to analyze, both from a fandom POV and in terms of its mythological and political themes. You can find all of her recaps at the link above!
older stuff
It’s basically been ~let’s reminisce about Harry Potter~ week on the internet (I’ll note that I saw many people on my dash write, “wait but I think about HP every day though”; like, same) and there are far too many pieces to recommend. Via an anon on tumblr, we were sent Buzzfeed’s roundup of some great HP fandom pieces they’ve run over the past few years, several of which we recced when they came out. And I’ll also selfishly rec one of my own HP pieces, written a few years back, about the legacy of the fandom and the way many fans, now adults, have parlayed their passion both into other fandoms and professionally. — Elizabeth
tumblr & beyond
Harry Potter fanart by apriicat.
Fandom stats fans! Tumblr’s Fandometrics has published a deep-dive of shipping patterns on the platform over the past five years.
Someone got their hands on the Arthur Conan Doyle Tumblr URL, and they are using their powers for Good.
For fic writers interested in also shifting towards original fiction, fic writer and MFA student Bettydays is running a workshop where participants do both!
fanfiction
Hello! This week we’ve got a themed grab-bag with the theme of “found families,” a perennial favorite. As always, we’re going by the tags our reccers include in their submissions, so what “found families” means in practice might vary. If you want to rec a story (with found families or otherwise), please do! The link is at the bottom of the newsletter. — Elizabeth
“Teamwork-Verse” by Askerian. 265K words, rated Teen to Explicit.
Fandom: Naruto; Ship: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Recced by: ravelqueen
Backstory: Why the hell is Sakura waking up naked between her two teammates anyway? And why are all those important people the ones freaking out the most about it? (takes place before valley of the end)
Rec: I have always loved the Team 7 relationship and they are all so ridiculously in character here: all of them are well-rounded and especially Sakura is just so well done and likeable. I’m also just a huge fan of “people dealing with secrets coming out” and am still sad that Kishimoto *squandered* (imo) the Kyuubi revelation: this fic does it justice in great form.
Content warnings: sex under the influence, pregnancy (if that squicks anyone?), canon-typical violence
“If I” by Psilent (HereThereBeFic). 6K words, not rated.
Fandom: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014); Ship: Gen
Recced by: Dee
Backstory: This story deals is about Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy and it follows him being created in a lab to post-movie dealing with his identity and OCD.
Rec: Really just a fantastic character study about the trauma of being a sentient being who was created in a lab to be studied. Also, great representation for OCD and found family.
Content warnings: torture, abuse, dehumanization, intrusive thoughts
“Hard Living” by metisket. 14K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: D.Gray-Man; Ship: Kanda Yuu/Allen Walker
Recced by: ravelqueen
Backstory: Yuu and Allen are your usual rival at-each-others throat couple mostly because Yuu is grouchy, but honest and Allen is kind, but a compulsive liar. Both are late teen soldiers who are the only ones who can kill the shows awful half machine/half organic monsters that are created by torturing dead souls. This show is FUN HAPPY TIMES is what I’m saying^^;
Rec: This is the best-case post-canon scenario for this sad, sad fandom and it is HILARIOUS and heart breaking. It’s about overcoming trauma (or not), about living with consequences and about two stubborn people making it work.
Content warnings: references to canon, so past violence; stuff that borders on child abuse, morbid themes
“[Podfic of] Sansûkh”: original fic by determamfidd, podfic performed by the Sansûkh ensemble. 50K words/5 chapters up so far on the podfic, rated Teen.
Fandoms: The Hobbit, LOTR; Ships: Thorin/Bilbo, Gimli/Legolas, other canon pairings
Recced by: Sainatsukino
Backstory: Sansûkh is basically a fic where all the dead dwarves of Thorin’s company watch the LOTR quest unfold. The fic itself is rather well known in the Hobbit and LOTR fandoms. The podfic project is something unlike any other I’ve seen, with about fifty volunteer voice actors, sound effects, a chorus, someone writing music to go with the songs in the fic, etc.
Rec: The Sansûkh fanfic is amazing to start with, and the podfic people do SUCH A GOOD JOB. The audio quality is perfect, and the cast is huge and very talented. This is one of the best fandom collaborative project that I’ve seen.
Content warning: canonical death
“Squad Goals” by Elenothar. 15K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Ships: gen, brief mention of Finn/Rey/Poe
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: Takes place before and after The Force Awakens, focusing on Poe through the eyes of his friends and comrades.
Rec: A fun and well-characterized story about Poe Dameron's behavior as an officer, and how he builds a community around himself in the Resistance.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
We are *very* excited that last week’s Black Sails primer was so convincing. If you missed it, definitely check out our TREATISE on the show.
One note for people sending us reactions to season one: as we said, the show builds slowly. I’m happy to offer specific content warnings in advance, but it’s kind of hard to comment on the start of the show when you have the full context. But can we recommend this thread?
We also suggest that if you’re watching even partly because of us, feel free to hashtag tweets with #BlackSailsRC. As more people get deeper into the show we could have some sort of organized discussion, if anyone was interested, so let us know! But it’s a conversation that’s better to have when you’re in properly ~the depths. (I MEANT TEXTUALLY BUT IT’S ALSO A REFERENCE TO THE SEA.) 🌊🌊🌊 — Elizabeth
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. Also if you’d like to write an explainer or a ship manifesto, please let us know! (And if we owe you an email, please nudge us, and we are very sorry for being so delinquent.)
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)