The Rec Center #496
Hello all! This week we have articles about Brad Pitt’s PR machinations and early digital Deadheads, plus KPop Demon Hunters fanart and a grab-bag of fic! — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Brad Pitt Is Fooling You” by Angelica Jade Bastién at Vulture
An astute critique of Brad Pitt’s publicity tour for the new Formula 1 movie, which Angelica Jade Bastién describes as “a carefully attuned charm offensive meant to obscure, if not outright bury, the alleged violent particulars of his behavior toward ex-wife Angelina Jolie.”
“How the Grateful Dead built the internet” by Allegra Rosenberg at the BBC
A fascinating look back at Deadheads’ pre-World Wide Web digital spheres—especially the Well (Whole Earth ’Lectronic Link)—and how that Bay Area-based fandom activity directly influenced the modern internet.
“The Translated Hugo Initiative”
“Putting the World in Worldcon”: A new campaign to get the Hugos to add a “Best Translated Work” category.
[catching up on andor] mm, glad this happened a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, because it would be kinda a bummer in our galaxy in the present
— noam chompers (@noamchompers.bsky.social) July 2, 2025 at 9:27 PM
older stuff
“Why Netflix action movies always suck” by Gav at The Daily Dot
Back in 2022, Gav published this feature about Netflix’s continuing attempts to launch a Marvel-level blockbuster franchise, pouring money and star power into projects that yield minimal cultural impact. One of the few exceptions is, of course, the Tumblr-popular action movie The Old Guard, whose belated sequel arrived this week. (You can read Gav’s review here!)
tumblr & beyond
KPop Demon Hunters fanart by calladraws101
“I remember meeting a guy at a bar a year or so ago who told me he worked at the international consortium that does the porn parodies of all the top-grossing film releases.”
the agony and the ecstasy of the “will they/won’t they” trope.
an unavoidable struggle when writing star wars fic tbh.
“If Pikachu were real, it would not be a very pleasant animal.”
just another reason to hate the current era of 10-episode tv seasons...
fanfiction
We’ve got a grab-bag this week! Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. <3 — Elizabeth
“Sincerely, Your Pal” by Lettered. 66K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Captain America; Ship: Steve/Bucky
Recced by: Ro
Backstory: Steve and Bucky send each other letters and fall in love.
Rec: This fic is an epistolary masterpiece! Lettered conveys so much personality in both Steve and Bucky’s letters. It’s truly hilarious and sexy and heartbreaking. Plus amazing historically accurate details of how gay couples got around army censorship in WW2!
Content warnings: Period-typical homophobia
“The Eternal Stranger” by litbynosun, word_docs_and_willowboughs. 17K words (WIP), rated Mature.
Fandom: Heaven Official’s Blessing|Tian Guan Ci Fu; Ship: f!Hua Cheng/f!Xie Lian
Recced by: Chocolatepot
Backstory: This is not only a genderbend, but has a big change to canon due to the Utena fusion, which situates the original book’s love interest (an “evil” ghost) as a cultivator ascended to godhood. The original MC is an ex-god who collects scraps in canon, but here is a sort of prize for the current Prince (ie, like Anthy in Utena).
Rec: Though this fic is sadly unfinished, I adore the opportunity it gives Hua Cheng to be a heroine with prestige and to rescue Xie Lian within heavenly society. Full of chivalry and devotion, with a central mystery that I want to see solved someday.
Content warnings: N/A
“IRIS Log #1548” by deadchannelradio. 8.5K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: DCU, Batman; Ship: Gen
Recced by: akoyfish
Backstory: Transcript of a traffic accident involving Batman and all his various Robins and Batgirls.
Rec: An unbelievably HILARIOUS
story accomplished almost entirely by the strength of its dialogue alone. Also the batfamily dynamics depicted here bring me such immense joy.
Content warnings: Injuries due to a car accident but everyone is okay!
“Instruments of Ratification” series by tiend, countessofbiscuit. 62K words over 12 works, rated Teen to Explicit.
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars; Ship: Commander Fox/Riyo Chuchi
Recced by: Sara
Backstory: Commander Fox is a clone trooper with only a few minutes of screentime who leads the Coruscant Guard, protecting the Republic capital in wartime. In her few TCW appearances Riyo is characterized as one of the good Senators, if not as squeaky-clean as Padmé, in a time that increasing corruption can make measures like blackmail seemingly the only currency for getting anything done, and in later canon she advocates for clone rights. They never interact. Thus a ship is born from nothing but imagination for a very different kind of forbidden romance than Anakin/Padme going on inside the walls of the Galactic Senate building.
Rec: Fox’s characterization in this series is kind of a miracle, now that rare kind of widely accepted fanon that’s actually great, lol. He’s all at once a hardass who enjoys intimidating his subordinates, a total softie, loyal to his clone brothers, and lonely among them because of his position. The huge difference in privilege between him and Riyo and the way their illicit attraction upsets his high-strung sense of propriety make them very unique and specific as a clone ship and ridiculously sexy.
Content warnings: Noncon in the final story
“An Agreement Between Gentlemen” by kjack89. 70K words, rated Explicit.
Fandoms: Les Miserables, Bridgerton; Ship: Enjolras/Grantaire
Recced by: she_is_destroyer_of_worlds
Backstory: Enjolras needs to find a wife and enlists his friend Grantaire to assist him. Sparks fly between the two friends.
Rec: Les Mis characters who get an AU happy ending, they deserve it! Also, Lady Whistledown exists in this AU and gets to be another narrative voice for the story which is fun!
Content warnings: Canon-era homophobia, minor violence, gunshot wounds
“only a full house gonna have a prayer” by yasaman. 3.4K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: 17776; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Nemonus
Backstory: 17776 is a strange, hopeful, vast web serial/internet phenomenon published on SBNation about “the future of football” seen from the point of view of three sentient space probes. This is a strange, hopeful, less vast fic about those space probes meeting aliens.
Rec: This fic captures the tone of the original while also bringing something completely new. It’s incredibly atmospheric, laugh-out-loud funny, and occasionally tearful, all in a nicely paced oneshot.
Content warnings: N/A
the John Wick universe is what you get if someone explained everything about Vampire: the Masquerade except that the characters are vampires
— Materialist Gnostic (@walmsley.bsky.social) June 15, 2025 at 11:03 AM
FINAL THOUGHT
That’s all, folks! Wishing you a relaxing weekend! And a happy Steve Rogers’ Birthday to all who celebrate! — Gav