June 9, 2023

The Rec Center #388

Hi all! This week we have Spider-Verse coverage, an article about the doom era of the streaming wars, some awesome Deep Space 9 fanart, a multifandom fic rec list for Pride Month, and more! — Gav

new stuff

“The Binge Purge” by Josef Adalian and Lane Brown at Vulture
Your must-read television industry story of the week: a really informative (and frank) deep dive into the current state of streaming, and the exact ways these models screw over both creators and viewers.

“Across the Spider-Verse’s greatest feat is the way it takes Spider-Man’s fandom to task” by Charles Pulliam-Moore at The Verge
The first of two Spider-Verse pieces we’re sharing this week (it’s a hot topic!), this is a fantastic analysis of how Miles Morales’ role in Across the Spider-Verse serves as an allegory for how the character was treated by fans (and haters) in real life.

“Why Gwen is clearly a trans allegory in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’” by Gav at the Daily Dot
Gav wrote about one of the prevailing fan theories following Across the Spider-Verse, where many viewers interpreted Gwen Stacy’s arc as a trans allegory—an idea that was predictably divisive, in part due to the clash between representation discourse and the ambiguous nature of queer-coded subtext.

older stuff

“The Haute Couture History of Sailor Moon” by Angelica Frey at Jezebel
“It’s time to recognize the show as more than classic ’90s girl-power fare; it’s an eminent and influential work of visual art.”

tumblr & beyond

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 fanart by bribinart

“they just found out about football on the yellowjackets subreddit”

A Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India desi playlist!

OFMD fans are invited to join the show’s writing staff on the WGA strike picket lines on June 14!

“Tintin...”

Yet another iconic behind-the-scenes Leonard Nimoy Star Trek anecdote.

fanfiction

This week we have our first Pride Month list featuring stories about queer and trans identities, themes, experiences, etc. We got a good number of submissions, but we’d love to run at least one more list this month (and to have more fics in the bank for future lists!), so please continue to send in your faves via the link at the bottom of the newsletter. Thanks so much to everyone who recced a fic in this week’s list! — Elizabeth

“i need your love before i fall” by Miralana. 60K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS; Ship: Min Yoongi | Suga/Park Jimin
Recced by: anon
Backstory: College-age BTS where Jimin is figuring out (and avoiding) his ace identity while hiding a massive crush on Yoongi. This fic is fully AU and you don’t need to know anything besides the fact that there’s 7 members in BTS.
Rec: This fic just feels so realistically painful and healing in ways I have a hard time expressing. The members, while far from perfect, are all doing their best to be supportive of each other and this is an all-around amazing ace coming out story.
Content warnings: Internal and external acephobia, depression, anxiety

“let’s hear it for the boy” by hattalove. 56K, rated Teen.
Fandom: 9-1-1 (TV); Ship: Evan “Buck” Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Recced by: buddieboos
Backstory: Since Eddie joined the firefighting crew where he works as Buck’s partner, the two grew ever closer to the point they’re coparenting Eddie’s son. They’re very oblivious about what else this connection might mean as a result of a bunch of separate and personal hangups.
Rec: I love stories that give Eddie extensive therapy because boy does he need it. This one combines his 1:1 therapy with group therapy where the group is other queer men. The author is so gentle in their treatment of Eddie, and it’s lovely to join Eddie as he discovers this part of himself.
Content warnings: Minor injury and violence, some homophobia, all warnings explained in the story notes

“It’s Only Gravity” by midnight_vision. 115K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy; Ship: Padmé Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Recced by: seralica
Backstory: This is a modern prequel trilogy AU with married Padme and Anakin living in an apartment above Obi-Wan; they meet over... neighbourly volume disputes... and then grow into a polyamorous throuple. They live in Naboo, which here is a city in the US (California).
Rec: This is a genuinely beautiful representation of a triad relationship where one party member (Obi-Wan) is sex-neutral biromantic asexual (both Padme and Anakin are bi). The representation and exploration of asexuality is rich and so, so fulfilling as an ace person myself, and the depiction of polyamory is similarly nuanced and thoughtful.
Content warnings: Past parental verbal abuse

“pretty things are for pretty girls” by nyoomerr. 5K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù; Ship: Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū
Recced by: Mysana
Backstory: Canonically, Shen Yuan is the master of denial and Luo Binghe is obsessed with Shen Yuan. In this fic, Luo Binghe counters Shen Yuan’s “I’m not gay” with an instant “I’m a woman”.
Rec: This story really captures some of the strange edges of queerness, and how it can be much more obvious from the outside, in a really funny way.
Content warnings: Internalised and externalised transphobia and homophobia

“The End and the Way” by Luzula. 12K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula Le Guin; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Orangistae
Backstory: Coming-of-age story set on Gethen about an OC who is a female pervert (i.e. permanently female and allosexual, as opposed to the norm of being agender and asexual apart from monthly periods of ‘kemmer’), who leaves home to search for her place in the world.
Rec: A really interesting and engaging exploration of the world of Gethen and its attitudes to gender and sexuality, written in a beautifully spare, Le Guin-like style and threaded with Handdara/Taoist philosophical ideas. Love it.
Content warnings: Gender/sexual discrimination, mention of conversion treatment, (brief) attempted sexual assault

FINAL THOUGHT

Have a great weekend, everyone! — Elizabeth