The Rec Center #159
Hello! Hope everyone’s hanging in there as we approach the ~scientifically-determined Most Depressing Day of the Year. This week we’ve got the return of Star Trek: Discovery, some gorgeous animated Into the Spiderverse fanart, and a rec list celebrating a rock-solid trope: enemies to lovers. — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Is Spotify’s Model Wiping Out Music’s Middle Class?” by Victor Luckerson at The Ringer
Spotify’s revenue model makes it impossible for mid-level artists to be fairly compensated—and they’re letting fans know where their subscription fees are really going.
“Recap: Star Trek: Discovery welcomes a charismatic new captain in season 2” by Gav at the Daily Dot
Discovery is back and so are Gav’s weekly recaps!! The season premiere was a delight, featuring a more upbeat tone and introducing a charming new version of Christopher Pike, aka Captain Dad Joke, aka Kirk’s predecessor on the Enterprise. There’s a lot to explore in this ep, from the crew’s new camaraderie to the slightly dubious role given to Spock’s mom.
BTW if you were curious about what we learned from Pike’s Starfleet service record in that one scene, we’ve got you covered there too!
older stuff
“I Love You, Jake Gyllenhaal” by Kaitlyn Tiffany at The Verge
Reflections on a year of celebrity fandom. “Sometimes, writing a letter to and about Jake Gyllenhaal every week felt like writing a letter to the air.”
tumblr & beyond
Miles Morales fanart by January Sun
Star Trek: TNG, reimagined thru an ~adorable Snapchat filter.
This Seahawk-from-She-Ra cosplayer is so good???
A fun tale of sending fanmail to a beloved creator and then receiving a deeply bizarre reply.
Some terrifying thoughts on the evolutionary ladder of the Donald Duck/Mickey Mouse cartoon universe.
fanfiction
Enemies to lovers! Classic A+++ trope. And get ready, some of these were tagged with the exciting variation “enemies to FRIENDS to lovers” as well. Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth
“Conjoined” by TheGlintOfTheRail. 57K words (WIP), rated Teen.
Fandom: Hannibal; Ship: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Recced by: Orangistae
Backstory: Star Trek AU in which Will is a half-Betazoid, half-Trill Starfleet engineer with painfully sensitive empathic abilities, who lives in self-imposed isolation on a Vulcan-crewed ship until they take on a Trill passenger by the name of Doctor Lecter.
Rec: This is a fantastic AU that uses the peculiarities of Star Trek’s alien races (described in the fic, no prior knowledge is necessary) to put some very interesting new twists on Will and Hannibal’s relationship, while still remaining true to their canon personalities/dynamic.
Content warnings: All the usual Hannibal stuff
“Long Way to Happy” by DesBellesChoses. 79K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Naruto; Ship: Suigetsu/Karin
Recced by: Onceandalwaysenglishmajor
Backstory: Deals with Karin’s pat trauma and how she eventually works through that.
Rec: It’s a masterpiece of emotion and gives characters who are usually shunted aside their chance in the spotlight.
Content warnings: Read the tags, they’re accurate
“Fuck pride (pride only hurts, it never helps)” by ImogenGotDrunk. 41K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Detroit: Become Human; Ship: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Recced by: key
Backstory: At the end of the game if you run evil Connor, you are introduced to RK900, who is Connor’s upgraded model and who will be replacing him.
Rec: One of the most popular pairings in this fandom is between two characters who never spoke to each other in canon. This really made me ship it.
Content warnings: N/A
“All of Life is Yours to Miss” by Saras_Girl. 114K words (podfic is almost 12 hours); rated Mature.
Fandom: Harry Potter; Ship: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Recced by: galvelociraptor
Backstory: An EWE in which Draco has become the new Transfigurations professor and still doesn’t like Harry. At first. Also features a brief prank war that goes horribly wrong and a meddling McGonagall.
Rec: This is a character study of Draco, because Harry is in a coma for most of the story. It’s also somewhat epistolary, because Draco narrates his day to Harry, giving the story the feeling of a series of letters.
Content warning: There’s a large, friendly beetle named Stanley
“Let Me Look at the Sun” by Telanu. 20K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: The Good Place; Ship: Michael/Eleanor Shellstrop
Recced by: Gav
Backstory: Spoilers for season 2 of The Good Place.
Rec: Taking place during one of Michael’s later attempt at designing a fake Good Place in season 2, this fic sees him gradually begin to recognize Eleanor as a kindred spirit, even when she doesn’t fully remember what’s going on (yet). A fun and snappy story that basically reads like a more adult-rated version of the show, told from Michael’s perspective.
Content warning: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
We’re eligible for a Hugo Award! If you’re able to nominated in the Hugos (ie, if you’re a Worldcon attendee or bought a supporting membership), please consider us on your ballot in the Best Fanzine category. Oh, and both of our podcasts (Overinvested and Fansplaining) are eligible in the podcast category too! — Gav
Have a favorite one-off rec? Please send it our way! We’ll use it in a future list. Other fanworks—comics, vids, zines, etc—are strongly encouraged as well. And if you have any interest in doing an entire rec list, explainer, or ship manifesto, please get in touch! elizabethandgav at gmail dot com.
If you liked this, please share it with your friends! https://thereccenter.substack.com/. And find us on social media: Gav (twitter/tumblr) & Elizabeth (twitter/tumblr)