The Rec Center #468
Hello all! This week we’ve got articles about Crunchyroll, the ambivalent future of the Star Wars movie franchise, and Star Trek pets. Also some lovely Arcane fanart, multifandom holiday fic recs, and more! — Gav
new stuff
“Sony’s Crunchyroll Finds Its Early Lead in Anime Under Attack” by Cecilia D’Anastasio and Takashi Mochizuki at Bloomberg
Three years after Sony acquired Crunchyroll, some impressively in-depth reporting on how the site has fared amid an expanding global appetite for anime.
“Five Years After ‘The Rise of Skywalker,’ ‘Star Wars’ Moviemaking Somehow Hasn’t Returned” by Ben Lindbergh at The Ringer
If you’re a Star Wars fan, you might have been in theaters five years ago today, when Rise of Skywalker was released. This piece analyzes the franchise in the time since: “How did Disney go from releasing five Star Wars movies in four years to zero Star Wars movies in, at minimum, the next six and a half?”
“Man’s Best Friend In Space” by Nicole Donawho at Contingent Magazine
Connecting Star Trek with maritime history, this essay explores the context of Starfleet pets (Data’s cat Spot! Archer’s dog Porthos!) within the tradition of keeping animals onboard ships.
Gotta figure out a way to deal with the homophone problem of telling people “Yeah, I’m really excited about Krypto.”
— Chris Sims (@theisb.bsky.social) December 19, 2024 at 11:13 AM
older stuff
“Just How Formulaic Are Hallmark and Lifetime Holiday Movies? We (Over)analyzed 424 of Them.” by Alicia Parlapiano at The New York Times
From last December, a charming data analysis of made-for-TV holiday movies, which surprisingly are not all about a big-city career woman who returns to a small town (often she already lives in the small town!) (yes, the small town is key, but that’s a whole other essay).
tumblr & beyond
Arcane fanart by azvhaalk
"the real secret to zuko’s redemption arc is the month he spent working in public food service"
Apparently there’s a longstanding debate over Sailor Moon’s nigh-unbeatable power during realistic crossover battles between anime characters.
“that section is meant for your horny perverted mutual who proofread your work, you violated sacred law”
this is what people mean when they talk about community spirit.
“What does ‘deadbeat fujoshi’ mean in your bio?”
fanfiction
This week we’ve got the second half of our end-of-year seasonal recs; you can find the first half here. Thanks so much to everyone who sent one in! — Elizabeth
“Chinese Food and a Movie” by NotQuiteHydePark. 2.7K words, rated Gen.
Fandoms: X-Men, Fantastic Four; Ship: Gen - Kitty Pryde & Ben Grimm
Recced by: Dafna
Backstory: Kitty is proud she just killed an alien with a jet engine, but really wishes the X-Men would stop with all the Christmas stuff already. Her fellow Jewish superhero, The Thing, totally gets it and they go out for kung pao chicken.
Rec: This is told as a Kitty diary entry and her voice and random asides are delightful. Come for the discussion of early 1980s movies, stay for the baby goats and Ben Grimm’s Jewish book recs.
Content warnings: N/A
“i saw sexy kissing santa claus” by potidaea. 3.9K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Deadloch; Ships: Dulcie Collins/Eddie Redcliffe/Cath York, Dulcie Collins/Cath York, Dulcie Collins/Eddie Redcliffe
Recced by: impatientseamstress
Backstory: Deadloch is an Australian murder mystery set in a fictional Tasmanian town, it pairs straight (apart from the lesbianism) laced Dulcie Collins with disgraced wildcard detective Eddie Redcliffe (played to perfection by Madeline Sami). It’s a fantastically hilarious and deeply Australian show that ends with Dulcie and her wife Cath following Eddie to Darwin to help solve the mystery of Eddie’s former partner and best mate.
Rec: This story really captures the irreverent and funny tone of the show and voices of Eddie, Dulcie and Cath. It does a great job of turning Cath’s overly involved meddling for the forces of good (threesomes), when she decides her and Dulcie should invite Eddie over for Christmas.
Content warnings: N/A
“Lover’s Hill” by starwritess. 24K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Fence; Ship: Nicholas Cox/Seiji Katayama, Jesse Coste/Seiji Katayama (past)
Recced by: meerkitten47
Backstory: Seiji and Nicholas fenced competitively together in high school and kept their friendship into adulthood. Now, both men need a fake boyfriend for their upcoming holiday gatherings.
Rec: This fic is a great example of the fake dating trope turning into “wait... were we already dating all this time?!” I also loved how the characters’ personalities are true to the original comics but show how they’ve matured as adults.
Content warnings: N/A
“Shamash” by igrockspock. 1.5K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Star Trek, compatible with Kelvinverse or TOS; Ships: Spock & Amanda Grayson, light Spock/Uhura
Recced by: Chronograph
Backstory: A young Spock observes his mother lighting Hanukkah candles and has some questions. Much later, he invites Uhura to light a menorah with him.
Rec: It’s a thoughtful, quiet story about what it might look like for Spock to observe Jewish tradition, and what it means for him. I thought it was sweet.
Content warnings: N/A
“make a mercy out of me” by wingdingery. 13K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics); Ship: Gen
Recced by: sasheneskywalker
Backstory: Deathstroke/Slade Wilson is a mercenary and a villain/antihero. Joey Wilson is Deathstroke’s son and a member of Titans, a group of young superheroes led by Dick Grayson. The three of them end up snowed into a cabin after a mission.
Rec: It’s a brilliant character study and exploration of the relationships between the three mentioned characters. The conversations between Slade and Dick made me so emotional and the topics they discuss are very interesting.
Content warnings: Mentioned minor character death, mild injuries
“Hot Frosty” by ramsay_baggins. 11K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death (TV); Ship: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet
Recced by: Liam
Backstory: Our Flag Means Death is a queer historical romcom in which Stede Bonnet (aka The Gentleman Pirate) and Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard) fall in love.
Rec: In this AU, Ed is a snowman in Stede’s garden who comes to life for Christmas. This is such an adorable fic, and I can’t wait to see where the story is going!
Content warnings: N/A
“sun falls moon lights” by silentwalrus. 1.7K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Captain America; Ship: James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers
Recced by: Summerfly
Backstory: Bucky wants to celebrate the holidays.
Rec: A nice look at reclaiming traditions and the inherent drama of the holidays. Part of a larger series (which is awesome!) but can easily stand alone.
Content warnings: N/A
And a fanzine!
“Bonus Episode - Mistletoe” (a Hello from the Hallowoods fanzine) by sturmdunkel.
Fandom: Hello from the Hallowoods; Ship: Gen
Recced by: anon
Backstory: It’s a holiday/mistletoe themed fanzine for the podcast Hello from the Hallowoods.
Rec: sturmdunkel’s artstyle is beautiful, and the mistletoe kisses are so adorable!
Content warnings: no alt text/image descriptions
when the guy being annoying in your replies goes after another guy being even more annoying in your replies that's kinda like how vegeta got his character arc
— vanoreo (@vanoreo.bsky.social) December 18, 2024 at 2:07 PM
FINAL THOUGHT
We’ll be back for one more 2024 newsletter featuring our personal year-in-fandom reflections, and we’ll return in 2025 with, as always, recs from this year’s Yuletide. If you want to rec a fic when they go up next week, it’s not too early to submit—we’ll add the authors after reveals.
To everyone observing the various holidays over the coming week, I hope you and whoever you’re celebrating with have a wonderful time. <3 — Elizabeth