The Rec Center #401
Hello all! This week we have pieces on Rotten Tomatoes and discourse around queer media, Red Dead Redemption fanart, and a multifandom grab-bag of fic. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“The Decomposition of Rotten Tomatoes” by Lane Brown at Vulture
“The most overrated metric in movies is erratic, reductive, and easily hacked—and yet has Hollywood in its grip.”
“The legacy of Star Trek: The Animated Series, 50 years on” by Swapna Krishna at BBC
On Star Trek: The Animated Series, which premiered in September 1973, and broader ideas of what “canon” means for modern Star Trek fans.
“On Red, White & Royal Blue, Heartstopper, and the Insidiousness of Purity Culture” by K-Ci Williams at Teen Vogue
An interesting piece discussing Heartstopper and Red, White & Royal Blue in the context of purity discourse—and comparing their portrayal of MLM sex and relationships to Asian BL media.
It is visually implied, but not stated, that somewhere between the end of TOS and the beginning of the Star Trek films, that James T. Kirk learned the curly girl method
— Butch Vulcan (@DeepSpaceErmine) August 29, 2023
older stuff
“On Discord, Music Fans Become Artists’ Besties, Collaborators, and Even Unpaid Interns” by Cat Zhang at Pitchfork
“Originally launched as a messaging app for gamers, the platform has become an intimate place for artists and fans to connect and build community. Can this fragile ecosystem last?”
tumblr & beyond
Red Dead Redemption 2 fanart by elesketchii
Anthony Bourdain discovers vampirism.
Things to never say to someone who just came out, Black Sails edition.
“... From the bible??”
“proud to announce they tapped me to rewrite Dune. I haven’t read the book but I’m pretty sure I got the tone right”
“I want to show you an actual training slide from my customer service job that I had to see yesterday.”
fanfiction
Another grab-bag week! Thank you very much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“all that glitters (is not gold)” by indomitablelove. 112K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Red White & Royal Blue; Ships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, June Claremont-Diaz/Nora Holleran
Recced by: ratherbeatspacecamp
Backstory: In Red, White & Royal Blue, Alex Claremont-Diaz, the son of America’s first female President, and Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, grandson of the Queen of England, have an enemies-to-lovers romance. Part of their love story is a series of emails which are eventually leaked to the press, outing them. This story deals with the aftermath of that.
Rec: This story picks up where the novel leaves off and explores how being outed in such an invasive manner impacts Alex. It also beautifully fleshes out many of the details we got hints of in the novel regarding both Alex and Henry’s past struggles with mental health.
Content warnings: Past suicide attempt referenced, anxiety, depression, general mental health issues, some homophobia
“The Things We Must Do” by Parvumautomaton. 25K words, rated Teen.
Fandoms: Young Justice, Blue Beetle; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Windona
Backstory: Set after season 2 of the Young Justice cartoon, this is about Jaime and Khaji Da taking on the rest of the Reach Empire.
Rec: It’s an excellent continuation of a plot, and it shows the impact Jaime has on everyone around him.
Content warnings: N/A
“soft storm” by shipwrecks (seasignals). 1.2K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: LE SSERAFIM (Band); Ship: Huh Yunjin/Kim Chaewon
Recced by: ninamonday
Backstory: Le Sserafim is a kpop girl group. This fic is set in the apocalyptic AU of their music video for “Antifragile.”
Rec: This story handles the apocalyptic content with a light touch and is really more about girlhood and young romance, with a delicate, meditative touch.
Content warnings: N/A
“Unreliable Narration” by fox_of_nine_tales. 9K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV); 盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles - Xu Lei; Ship: Gen
Recced by: momosandlemonsoda
Backstory: The Graverobbers Chronicles or Daomu Biji is a sprawling universe that started out as fanfiction of another Chinese series. The premise is that naive young lad Wu Xie goes grave robbing with his ne’er-do-well uncle (it’s kind of the family business) and stumbles on a conspiracy, meets a mysterious man in black, and manages to make friends with a solid 70% of the people who try to kill him. There are 8 books in the original series, along with a lot of half-finished sequels, and they’ve been transformed into several overlapping Chinese dramas with varied casts. The Lost Tomb Reboot is a post-canon series where Wu Xie is in his late 30s, not so naive, and dealing with his own mortality. One of the many friends he makes who starts out trying to kill him is Liu Sang, a specialist with extremely good hearing and the bitchy attitude that says he knows it.
Rec: I really love this character study of Liu Sang, who’s been put in an extreme situation and has to trust in his own competence to get himself and Wu Xie out alive.
Content warnings: There’s some violence and wound care
“Open Up the Promise of the Day” by dharmaavaocado. 17K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Star Wars; Ship: Obi-wan Kenobi/Rex
Recced by: plingokat
Backstory: A RexObi fic set from the Clone War era to the OG films.
Rec: RexObi is rare(ish) pair within this fandom, but it’s so consistently good. This fic is at turns hilarious and quietly, deeply impactful, and conveys a depth of feeling that’s super satisfying to read about.
Content warnings: N/A
“la petite mort” by howlingmoonrise. 4K words, rated Teen.
Fandoms: Barbie, Dracula; Ship: Barbie/Dracula
Recced by: surefireshore
Backstory: As Barbie and Dracula meet and grow close, Dracula finds himself unable to resist her charms, bear the idea of her death, or offer her immortality. Self-described as “a crack ship taken VERY seriously”, and with a bit of a twist.
Rec: An original, fascinating take on two iconic characters with rich imagery to keep it feeling rooted. This fic does an amazing job of depicting the full lives and personalities of each character, though it is more of a Transylvania!Dracula in the hot, well-cultured aristocrat way as opposed to the magic-heavy, creepy Stoker!Dracula.
Content warnings: Temporary major character death, discussion of vampire-related injury and illness, blood
god i love having mutuals who have interests entirely separate from mine. i pass them on the timeline and am always giving them a thumbs up. i don’t know that man but he is beautiful and tortured-looking and i hope you’re having the time of your life with him
— 声 (@billionsswords) August 31, 2023
FINAL THOUGHT
That’s all, folks! Have a relaxing weekend! — Gav