June 7, 2024

The Rec Center #440

Hello all! This week we have articles about tamagotchis and hot anime boys, along with some cool Magnus Archives fanart, multifandom reality TV AU fic recs, and more! — Gav

 

new stuff

“A 27-Year Old Tamagotchi Mystery Has Been Solved” by Jason Koebler at 404 Media
“I think this is one of the coolest tama developments ever. I thought it’d be an eternal mystery.” Big news in the Tamagotchi fandom this week, as one member figured out how to unlock a pair of secret characters—something people have been trying to do since 1997.

“The Hot Boys of Anime Are Back” by Angelica Jade Bastién at Vulture
“‘I’m looking for the hoochie daddies! Where they at?’ They’re in anime, baby.” The great Angelica Jade Bastién counts down ten of the hottest boys in contemporary anime.

“Hans in Carbonite, Ranked” by Germain Lussier at Gizmodo
For reasons only he can explain, entertainment reporter Germain Lussier owns 43 (?) pieces of Star Wars merchandise depicting Han Solo frozen in carbonite. Join him for this ranked list of Hans.

 

 

older stuff

“The Obsessive World of Digital Music Collectors” by Matthew Ismael Ruiz at Pitchfork
On the people who build who collect and organize thousands and thousands of digital song files, which can “hit the sweet spot between the accessibility of streaming and the personal touch of a physical collection.”

 

tumblr & beyond

Magnus Archives fanart by mangozic

Fact-checked statement: “I don’t fuck w nerds.”

“live grenade dropped into the work chatroom”

congrats to a very specific corner of tumblr on the major players of this year’s Stanley Cup finals.

batfam fic readers, iykyk.

once again: we truly need to put a moratorium on fandom fav characters named Eddie.

 

fanfiction

Our next batch of fic from the recent call for recs is reality TV AUs, putting some of your favorite characters in everything from Love is Blind to GBBO (twice!). Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth

“don’t threaten me with a good time” by livinginaworldofnoise. 60K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù; Ship: WangXian (Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian)
Recced by: kisahawklin
Backstory: This is a Great British Bake Off modern AU, entirely readable without canon knowledge but hilarious if you have some.
Rec: This fic is absolutely hilarious. Many great moments from GBBO and chaos as only Wei Wuxian (MDZS’s titular character) can provide, and wrap via twitter rewatch on the end.
Content warnings: N/A

“I Almost Didn’t Find You” by Chash. 23K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The 100 (main) with a bunch of other background surprises; Ship: Bellamy/Clarke
Recced by: jordanpelavin
Backstory: What if a whole bunch of fictional characters were on Love is Blind? But also what if the show was trying to fix its blind spots about gender and sexuality? Clarke (the main character from The 100) was on a season of the show and experienced a bunch of biphobia. So the next season is all queer and features tons of interesting conversations about identity, sexuality, and community.
Rec: I like the exploration of identity and also all the other fun fandom cameos! It somehow makes me appreciate the idea of Love is Blind, AND it manages to cover tons of different gender identities, relationship structures, sexualities, and more. Also the romance makes me swoon!
Content warnings: Biphobia

“Naked and Afraid” by makeit_takeit. 10K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Men’s Hockey RPF; Ship: Jamie Benn/Tyler Seguin
Recced by: Persephone_Jones
Backstory: An oldie-but-goodie from 2018 in honor of the Dallas Stars’ playoff run. In RPF Stars captain Jamie Benn is a shy, sincere goof who is good at hockey and Tyler Seguin is a attempting-to-reform bad boy who is getting a second chance in Texas. In this Naked and Afraid fusion, Jamie is from a Victoria fishing family and Tyler is a free spirited adventurer who turn out to be the perfect team.
Rec: It’s just so sweet: Jamie’s self-deprecating internal narration, the backstory on how each of them won their respective seasons, the layering of what they know of each other from reality TV edits and what they see in person. When you’re on the island, what is real and what is fake?
Content warnings: Gross reality TV things like injuries and scavenged food

“The Catch” by TracksDifferent. 138K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS; Ship: Kim Seokjin/Everyone
Recced by: honeyedsea
Backstory: Tired of an empty house and fake friends, Kim Seokjin joins a gay bachelor-style reality TV show in an attempt to find the cure for his loneliness. But once there, he encounters more than a few complications on the road to love. Readers do not need to be familiar with BTS to read this story.
Rec: I really like how this fic exposes the machinations that take place behind the scenes on a reality TV show and how it uses them to further the plot and emotional arcs. I think it also does a good job at keeping the reader guessing on the final ship until the very end, even while making all the ships easy to root for.
Content warnings: Mentions of previous substance use and rehab, mentions of parental death

“the imperfect reality of eddie kaspbrak” by questionablemorals. 29K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: IT (Movies - Muschietti); Ship: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Recced by: Alana
Backstory: IT is a horror novel about a group of friends who fight a nightmare clown. This fic is about what if instead of fighting a clown that hates them for being gay, Eddie and Richie were on a season of MTV’s Are You The One (queer edition).
Rec: If you are one of the twelve people who saw and loved this season of reality TV, you too may be delighted by this fic! Sweet, sexy, and it just feels nice to read a fic where everyone is out and queer and happy.
Content warnings: N/A

“Devilishly Heavenly Bakes” by junkshopdisco. 30K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Good Omens; Ship: Crowley/Aziraphale
Recced by: BristolBird
Backstory: Crowley and Aziraphale are normally a demon and an angel, but in this AU they are the celebrities competing on the holiday special of Great British Bake Off.
Rec: I love how their personalities come through in the bakes they choose to make and how they interact with each other and the rest of the contestants. Although it’s holiday-adjacent, this one is a sweet treat year-round.
Content warnings: Past mentions of drug/alcohol use and addiction

 

 

FINAL THOUGHT

Have you ever made a recipe you saw in a fic? Have you ever put a recipe in a fic you’ve written? I’m working on a piece about food and fandom, and I’d love to quote a few folks who’ve done either of these things (using a pseud is fine), so please help me out! You can reply to this email or write directly to elizabethandgav at gmail. — Elizabeth