The Rec Center #485
Hello all! This week we have articles about romantasy roleplay performers, Katy Perry space tourism backlash, and a unique Japanese trading card game. Also multifandom fic recs, some cool Disco Elysium fanart, and more! — Gav
new stuff
“Middle-Aged Man Trading Cards Go Viral in Rural Japan Town” by Ynes Sarah Filleul at Tokyo Weekender
Very charmed by this municipal project to bridge generational divides, resulting in a town’s schoolchildren collecting trading cards of local retirees.
“‘Book Boyfriends’ and ‘Shadow Daddies’: the men cashing in on romantasy” by Decca Muldowney at The Verge
An introduction to the cosplay performers who roleplay as sexy dudes from romantasy bestsellers, appearing at expensive costume balls to dance and hang out with their fans.
“Pop Stans Were Not So Impressed with Katy Perry’s 11-Minute Spaceflight” by Miles Klee at Rolling Stone
If you found the #girlboss coverage of the Katy Perry Blue Origin flight incredibly bleak, this piece might cheer you up. “Wait this is actually legendary promo… it would have made so much noise had it been a relevant artist.”
i love the wire first-person shooter but i worry that making every character selectable in multiplayer compromises the story's canon. in my last match i played as brother mouzone and got fragged by assistant principal marcia donnelly with a grenade launcher. that never would've happened in the show
— Jon Bois (@jonbois.bsky.social) 2025-03-30T18:37:25.907Z
older stuff
“Keep Your Memories, Kill Your Nostalgia” by Lin Codega at Gizmodo
This week saw a devastating Supreme Court ruling against trans freedom in the UK, publicly supported by JK Rowling—both financially and otherwise. (If you haven’t seen her reaction, here you go. Warning: it’s not pleasant.) Also this week, the main adult cast of HBO’s Harry Potter television show was made official—so in that light, we wanted to re-share this 2023 article written when the show was first announced, making a strong argument to abandon any lingering support or affection for Harry Potter.
tumblr & beyond
Disco Elysium fanart by corelle-vairel
“there’s nothing better than having That One Mutual with an advanced degree in ancient greek tragedy who writes minecraft youtube fanfiction”
this post was written by the devil whispering in the ear of the Supernatural creative team, we fear.
“dni unless you have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, all the modern languages…”
ok but what IS Superman’s kryptonite???
A new generation discovers that using “Madison” as a girls’ name was in fact popularized by the 1980s mermaid romcom Splash.
fanfiction
A multifandom grab-bag this week! Thanks to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“Midnight at the Mithraeum” by zoicite. 67K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Locked Tomb Trilogy | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir; Ship: Gideon Nav/Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Recced by: Alana
Backstory: The Locked Tomb series is about lesbian necromancers in space, written by a massively well read genius who packs the writing with literary references and ass jokes. It both contains the greatest dad joke ever written and is about how love, like religious devotion, can persist beyond flesh or death. This fic is about what if the two main characters worked at a bar together and accidentally got married.
Rec: Somehow “necromantic cultish lesbian nun” maps super well onto "goth bartender in the desert!" This Harrow and Gideon read very in character and their ass backwards approach to falling in love feels just right.
Content warnings: Drunken decision making, heavy drinking, smoking
“Too Sick to Pray” by Joe Lawson. 6.1K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Hawaii Five-0 (2010); Ship: Steve McGarrett/Danny “Danno” Williams
Recced by: Dlasta
Backstory: “There was no funeral, because there was no body, or maybe not yet.” Genuinely unsettling monster/vampire story.
Rec: It’s mean and fresh and satisfies like only fanfic does.
Content warnings: It’s very well crafted horror, with implied rape/non-con. All after the fact but still.
“a kind of dwell and welcome” by leupagus. 86K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Ted Lasso; Ship: Ted Lasso/Trent Crim
Recced by: queuest
Backstory: Trent has a crush on one of the subjects of his reporting at AFC Richmond so he’s forced to switch up his beat. Ted charmingly does his best to help Trent sort out his crush so he can come back to the team.
Rec: This is the fic that single-handedly forced the Ted Lasso fandom to go crazy for Ted/Trent. It’s a great look at a middle aged, post divorce relationship, with a side of dealing with being famous. A really heartwarming, long read.
Content warnings: Some homophobia
“A Wealth of Intimacies” by Anna (arctic_grey). 93K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: BTS; Ship: Namjoon/Jin
Recced by: Asheru
Backstory: “The wider world has been obsessed with Namjoon’s pack ever since their debut: not only were they an idol group mixing omegas, betas and alphas together, but seven packmates headed by a young alpha squaring his shoulders. Most expected Namjoon to fail, for his pack to implode and disintegrate, but to Namjoon’s relief they have topped several World’s Most Powerful Pack lists. Yet when Seokjin unexpectedly needs time off for a heat, Namjoon falters. When Seokjin further requires an alpha to spend the heat with, Namjoon stops functioning altogether, and years of missed moments begin to dawn on him. (or: if you wanted alpha!Namjoon whipped af for omega!Seokjin but denying his feelings for years (and vice versa), boy do I have the fic for you).”
Rec: Scorchingly hot, funny, angsty in places and so very romantic, I have re-read this an embarrassing number of times and it is still one of my all time top 10 favourite fics in any fandom!
Content warnings: Some possessive behaviour and co-dependency as per pack dynamics, omega-targeted sexual harassment, one instance of attempted sexual assault (off-screen but discussed at length), addresses infertility and abortions, briefly references eating disorders, one mention of rape, some jealousy, also some lack of aftercare—please read the tags, too.
“You Shake My Nerves” by Arsenic. 7.5K words, rated Gen.
Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain Marvel (2019); Ship: Carol Danvers/Natasha Romanov
Recced by: suzalooz
Backstory: Hurt/comfort one-shot where Carol finds Natasha, alive but in bad shape, on an inhospitable planet after the events of Endgame. Carol and Natasha’s relationship builds on their friendship formed during the blip.
Rec: Short and sweet. A happy ending for Natasha after her exit in Endgame. The line “Carol, despite everything, smiled,” which pretty much sums it up.
Content warnings: Physical injuries, injuries from exposure
And a fan animation!
“The Queen’s Thief Title Sequence | Fan Animation” by Chimaera-Writes. 2:06, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Queen’s Thief by Megan Whalen Turner; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Chronograph
Backstory: Queen’s Thief is a book series set in a fantasy peninsula inspired by ancient Greece, and heavily feature prophecies, political machinations, and a thief called Eugenides who can steal anything. The fanvid is an imaginary title sequence for a hypothetical Netflix TV adaptation.
Rec: The animation is gorgeous and each image is perfectly chosen from points across all the books. Since it’s a title sequence, you don’t have to have read the books to enjoy it, but doing so lets you get much more out of the imagery.
Content warnings: Blood
reading my own wip wow, really fucked up of the author to not finish this, i wonder what happens next
— brawls (@brawlite.badvibes.party) 2024-11-12T01:42:49.410Z
FINAL THOUGHT
Have a great weekend, everyone! — Elizabeth