The Rec Center #504
Hello all! This week we have an article the complicated intersection between fannish and professional creative spaces, along with a report from a singalong K-Pop Demon Hunters screening, and a very critical review of the latest Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode. Also some cool DC Comics fanart, multifandom fic recs, and more! — Gav
new stuff
“The Fan, the Pro, and the Spaces In Between” by Tessa Gratton at Fansplaining
Fansplaining’s August piece is a long, thoughtful essay from Tessa Gratton, who writes fanfic, original queer novels, and books within Star Wars: The High Republic. On power, and how the queered space of fanfiction intersects with that power.
“K-Pop Fans Sing the Demons Away” by Alex Vadukul with photos by Ye Fan at The New York Times
A charming report from a special singalong screening of K-Pop Demon Hunters at the Netflix-owned Paris Theater in Manhattan last weekend.
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Vulcan Transformation Episode Is a Bizarre Misfire” by Gav at TV Guide
“On the latest Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, four Enterprise crewmembers take a magic potion that makes them racist.” Some thoughts on a notably ill-conceived Star Trek episode, and how it mishandles decades of Vulcan lore.
"dark academia" do you mean middle school
— mattie lubchansky (@mattielubchansky.com) August 26, 2025 at 8:12 AM
older stuff
“Chadwick Boseman Was Ready For History Every Time” by Evan Narcisse at GQ
“You can’t find Wakanda on a map, but it is real. The Unconquered Realm lives in the collective diasporic yearning to restore connection with an ancestral past.” Five years on from Chadwick Boseman’s death, a beautiful remembrance connecting his work across Black history and culture.
tumblr & beyond
Batman/Superman fanart by to00fu
“tumblr mutuals love getting into the most random esoteric media possible”
a lil spirk etymology lesson
“I’ve gone fifteen years on this website without absorbing any information about homestuck and I’m not about to start now”
the last word on gaylor conspiracy theories.
fanfiction
We’ve got a grab-bag this week! Thanks to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“The Better Half” by roipecheur. 150K words, rated Explicit.
Fandoms: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017); Ship: Frank Castle/Matt Murdock
Recced by: RDuncan
Backstory: Daredevil and The Punisher can be uneasy allies, but there’s always a bit more to the connection.
Rec: When Frank can’t get rid of Matt Murdock’s suicidal train wreck of a twin brother, he does the next best thing: take him on an extended, cross-country road trip. Of course, Matt never really had a twin brother…
Content warnings: N/A
“don’t look now” by thatyourefuse. 10K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Agatha All Along (TV); Ship: Agatha Harkness/Rio Vidal
Recced by: breathedout
Backstory: In the opening episode of Agatha All Along, witch Agatha Harkness has been magically transposed out of her own life and into a gritty procedural drama, cursed to believe that she is the police investigator Agnes of Westview, who has a hostile, sniping relationship with her colleague, Agent Vidal. In reality Vidal is Agatha’s ex-girlfriend Rio (amongst other things), who knows Agatha’s true identity and remembers their true history together. In this “Agnes”-POV fic, our narrator struggles with mental interference from her real life and memories as she and “Agent Vidal” have an extremely intense after-work hookup.
Rec: This fic absolutely revels in its identity-porn premise, and I am HERE FOR IT. Watching Rio gauge her interactions with Agatha in a way that the reader understands but Agnes doesn’t, is totally delicious, and thatyourefuse captures Agnes/Agatha’s confused, fugue-like mental/emotional state superbly. This story also fully embraces f/f sex that is physically messy, rough-verging-on-violent, and extremely emotionally conflicted, something that is sometimes hard to find in f/f fiction.
Content warnings: Consent issues due to Agnes/Agatha’s curse-induced mental state
“Self Made” by aceaceaceace. 23K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: ATEEZ (Band); Ship: Gen, Choi Jongho-focused
Recced by: honeyedsea
Backstory: Ateez are an eight member K-pop group. This fic explores what it might be like if one of them was a trans man and the specific pressures that come with being closeted whilst living in the public eye.
Rec: The portrayal of being a trans person in this fic is written so well, down to the offhand comments about gender roles that reveal a bit about how dismantling them is complicated for us trans folks. The struggle between both needing independence and support is also really well done. The title with its nod to multiple themes in the fic is so smart.
Content warnings: Gender dysphoria, potential for being outed, brief mention of suicide
“All The Things Money Can’t Buy” by Lys ap Adin. 45K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender; Ship: Keith/Shiro
Recced by: Brig
Backstory: Keith is an antisocial teenager/feral cat with trust issues and a temper, and Shiro is the only person in his life who has never let him down. Keith is the only person that knows Shiro’s responsible and hyper-competent facade hides a mess of trauma.
Rec: A wonderful Sugar Daddy AU with an emphasis on Keith taking control of his own life, and Shiro secretly being the more fucked up one.
Content warnings: Light BDSM
“Xenoethnography” by Therrae (Dasha_mte). 409K words across 8 stories, rated Teen.
Fandom: Transformers; Ship: Optimus Prime & OFC
Recced by: Beatrice_Otter
Backstory: Transformers is a story about refugee alien machines engulfed in a civil war coming to Earth and allying with humans. This series is about a human anthropologist (OC) hired to help explain Transformers to humans, and humans to transformers.
Rec: I love worldbuilding and characterization, and this fic delivers both. It’s all about how you build relationships with people who are incredibly different, amid the pressures of living on a military base fighting a secret war.
Content warnings: N/A
“Sexting Chicken: It’s More Likely Than You’d Think” by la_dissonance. 11K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Untamed RPF; Ship: Wang Yibo/Xiao Zhan
Recced by: Nicasio
Backstory: Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan starred as embattled soulmates on the Chinese xianxia show The Untamed. They’re mega-famous idols and are known for a feature of their playful friendship: exuberant compliment-battles.
Rec: Come for the hilarity of the mental gymnastics that Xiao Zhan goes through to initially believe that perhaps Yibo is sexting him as a haha-bros-just-do-this-sometimes thing. Stay for the absolutely scorching culmination.
Content warnings: N/A
"This isn't the ending I wanted!" Okay. Cool. This is exactly what fanfic is for. Go! Be free! Run wild across the adjective plains, adverbs whipping through your hair.
— K.B. Spangler (@kbspangler.com) August 29, 2025 at 12:58 PM
FINAL THOUGHT
If you have Monday off, have a great long weekend! If you don’t….have a great regular weekend haha. — Elizabeth