The Rec Center #514
Hello everyone! A very good afternoon from Mayor-Elect Mamdani’s New York City. :-D We’ve got articles on Timothée Chalamet lookalikes, a new gaming trend (coin flips??), and the worst news in media this week: the shuttering of Teen Vogue. Plus some animated (!) fanart for Piranesi, and a grab-bag of multifandom fic. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“The long and unexpected afterlife of the Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest” by Elise Ryan at AP News
Last year, a New York Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest went unexpectedly viral, spawning copycat contests for other celebrities, and eventually taking the winner to the Golden Globes. A year on, AP News checks in on some of the contestants—a community who now refer to themselves as “the Brothers Chalamet.”
“The hottest trend in speedrunning is flipping a coin” by Jay Castello at The Verge
A community of gamers are working furiously to outwit an indie game that is literally just about... flipping a coin. “Unfair Flips is a game that very directly addresses our relationship to probability as humans and within the games industry.” In the words of its creator, “It is saying, how little of a game can somebody make while still keeping that same level of compulsion to continue playing?”
“What We Lost When Condé Nast Unceremoniously Shuttered Teen Vogue” by Allegra Kirkland at Talking Points Memo
On Monday, Teen Vogue’s parent company, Condé Nast, announced the magazine would be folded into Vogue, firing most of its staff in the process. We’ve shared a ton of Teen Vogue stuff over the years: they’re one of the only mainstream outlets that continues to take fan culture seriously, and is willing to report on the negative sides of fandom, especially around racism, without falling into reductive “toxic fandom” narratives. This piece is about the magazine more broadly, and what a loss this decision is for the media landscape—especially for younger folks.
boiling yoda down to a powerful extract
— georgia-lux (@georgialux.bsky.social) April 21, 2024 at 2:59 PM
older stuff
“Gate Crashing: Fanfiction Becomes Mainstream” at the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Last year, we did a long video interview about our careers and The Rec Center for the EFF’s series “Gate Crashing,” which is about “people who have used the internet to take nontraditional paths to the very traditional worlds of journalism, creativity, and criticism.” The EFF is re-sharing those interviews, so here’s ours! See our faces (or read a transcript of our words).
tumblr & beyond
Piranesi fanart by deathcomequickly
saruman cancelled.
the most gothic OSHA violation
“just like that bald bitch John Luke the Card”
“anything can be a slow burn if it takes you forever to upload new chapters”
every day brings on tumblr a new and effervescent Seinfeld take.
fanfiction
We’ve got a grab-bag of fic this week! Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“No Real Reason to Be Lonely” by tiltedsyllogism. 3K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: For All Mankind; Ship: Gen, Ed Baldwin & Molly Cobb
Recced by: breathedout
Backstory: For All Mankind is an alternate-history show set in a world where the Soviets are the first to the moon, and the US space program therefore evolves differently. Ed Baldwin and Molly Cobb are prickly astronauts who were initially hostile to one another but who by this point have become good friends. This fic is set on the day of Ed’s divorce, after which Molly takes him to a strip club to take his mind off things.
Rec: I absolutely love the characterization in this story, particularly of prickly, take-no-bullshit Molly Cobb bullying Ed into accepting her version of help from a friend. The nuanced depiction of his feelings about his divorce—anger, grief, shame, dread, self-castigation—layered over his ill-disguised embarrassment over how to act and where to look in the strip club works extremely well, and the banter between him and Molly as they discuss marriage and their shared past, is top-notch.
Content warnings: Drinking, sex work
“The Revolution Will Not be Civilized” by the_ragnarok. 54K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Inception; Ship: Arthur/Eames
Recced by: Erin
Backstory: An Inception AU where Arthur is the son of the ruler, and an omega male. Eames is leading the revolution. Which kidnaps Arthur. This is only the start of their problems.
Rec: This story has very strong world building with an interesting addition to the omegaverse dynamic in the concept of “heat bonding,” a phenomenon that ties the alpha and omega together emotionally post-heat, and is used well here to build the tenuous relationship between Arthur and Eames.
Content warnings: Dubious consent, mpreg
“The Lady Gardener” by jessthereckless. 81K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Good Omens; Ship: f!Aziraphale/f!Crowley
Recced by: Chocolatepot
Backstory: In canon, Crowley looks after Warlock Dowling as Nanny Astoreth while Aziraphale’s disguise is Brother Francis. In this fic, Aziraphale also takes on a female form, which results in the two starting a romantic relationship.
Rec: This fic is delightful and extremely hot, and as with most f!Aziraphale fics, is so larger-body-positive that it makes me feel better about myself as well.
Content warnings: N/A
“pray for disaster (when the world is razed we’ll still be burning)” by omegalomania. 1.5 million words over 11 works, rated Teen.
Fandom: Killjoys (comics); Ship: Gen
Recced by: sputnikvalntine
Backstory: Following each member of the Fabulous Four Killjoys, the girl, the scarecrow who taunts and tracks them across the desert, and Cherry Cola who picks up the pieces before and after their wake. This series dives into the characters with backstories and relationships that separate this story from anything like it in this fandom.
Rec: This story builds upon characters, history, and world building of the killjoys universe in such a way that leaves the original looking like an elevator pitch. It is ingenious, and deeply moving, smart and devastating.
Content warnings: PTSD, animal death, suicidal thoughts, war, torture, child soldiers
“tell me about the sky” by cerinamroth. 3K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Attack on Titan; Ship: Erwin Smith/Levi Ackerman
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Attack on Titan is a popular (and politically problematic) Japanese anime/manga, a story of people living in a walled country, threatened by the existence of “titans” outside. This fic takes place after the second Battle to Reclaim Wall Maria, a battle with high casualty, and deals with the aftermath of the death of one particular character.
Rec: The understated way this fic deals with grief amidst a war is both moving and in character, and I love how it incorporates Hiroshi Kamiya’s (the voice actor) comment on how he sees the character Levi after the battle.
Content warnings: Mentions of off-screen character death
“And Then We Shot the Ox” by mightystickbug. 3K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Oregon Trail; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Renay
Backstory: In the past, people made their way west to Oregon. Years later, a small group of determined travelers follow the roads back east.
Rec: The vibe in this story is of subtle threat right under the surface as our unnamed narrator writes in a journal about the difficult trip east. In each section, a clue is dropped that raises the tension perfectly.
Content warnings: Violence, starvation, death
If you ever question if your fanfic is too self indulgent please remember that’s actually the point of fanfiction
— Nemi (@nemialmasy.bsky.social) November 5, 2025 at 9:56 PM
FINAL THOUGHT
That’s all, folks! Have a good weekend! — Gav