The Rec Center #94
Welcome! We have multifandom recs this week (including two fan-comics!), Neo Yokio fanart, some thoughts on baseball fandom sexism, and more. Have a great weekend! — Gav
new stuff
“Fic, interrupted” by Caroline Crampton at Fansplaining
Do you hate reading WIPs but still have a few of your own WIPs floating around online? On fanfic works in progress and the history of serialized literature, from the Victorian era to the present day.
“This Star Trek: Discovery actor may not actually exist in real life” by Gav at the Daily Dot
This fan theory is both wild and VERY PLAUSIBLE. Basically, CBS may have invented a fake actor for one of the lead roles in Star Trek: Discovery, to disguise a plot twist later on. The supporting evidence ties into Star Trek canon, going back to the Original Series. Gav did a ~forensic analysis~ in this article, but be warned: it contains possible spoilers for future episodes.
“The Plight of the Female Baseball Fan” by Kendra James at Shondaland
“I have questions: Why are men so focused on figuring out if women are here for the right reasons? Were they all kicked out their "Bachelor" fantasy leagues? The fragile male ego is a mystery to me.”
older stuff
“Why we’re terrified of fanfiction” by Constance Grady at Vox
“Young women are so attacked for loving the media they love that it is a radical act for a young woman to love something unashamedly.”
tumblr & beyond
Neo Yokio fanart by Moosopp (plus more fanart if you click through!)
BB-8 Halloween costume inspiration!
A great thread from an Egyptologist who translated the heiroglyphs in the new Assassin’s Creed game.
“Are you a fucking Reylo?” is the new copypasta for our time.
The epic search for the horniest Star Trek: TNG episode has finally concluded.
fanfiction
No theme this week! Just some multi-fandom recs from me, including a fanvid and two comics. — Gav
“A Field Guide to Common Birds in New York City” by Toft. 15K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Person of Interest
Ship: John Reese/Harold Finch
Backstory: Reese is a former CIA assassin, now working as a vigilante in New York. His boss/partner is Harold Finch, a secretive billionaire hacker. They fight crime using a surveillance system built by Finch.
Rec: This fic is a really great combination of in-character romance, casefic, and an unexpected concept: Reese gets a therapist, and she encourages him to find a hobby. Thanks to a rather bizarre string of work-related circumstances, his hobby becomes... Tumblr. Specifically, reblogging photos of cute birds on Tumblr. This premise may sound kind of wacky, but it works really well in a canonical context, playing into several popular themes in POI fic: surveillance, trauma, and Reese’s utter devotion to Finch.
Content warnings: N/A
Untitled Les Miserables AU comic by batcii. WIP, rated ~Teen.
Fandom: Les Miserables
Ships: Multi-ship/gen
Backstory: Modern AUs are very popular in Les Miserables fandom, generally focusing on the young revolutionaries led by Enjolras.
Rec: batcii is drawing single-page Les Mis scenes for Inktober, creating a loosely sequential slice-of-life comic. Like many Les Mis AUs, this webcomic reimagines Les Amis de l’ABC as a friendship group with various queer/poly ships, and it’s drawn in a really sweet style.
Content warnings: N/A
“Break Apart” by kiplng. 2:36, rated ~Gen.
Fandom: Supergirl
Ship: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Backstory: Kara is Supergirl; Lena is her friend, a businesswoman from a family of supervillains.
Rec: LITERALLY HOW IS THIS SHIP NOT CANON????
Content warnings: You will be mad that this ship isn’t canon.
“Fishermen” by louise_lux. 10K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Hannibal
Ship: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Backstory: Starts immediately after the finale.
Rec: NBC’s Hannibal ended with an obvious jumping-off point for fanfic, and it’s always exciting to come across a story that finds something fresh to do with it. This fic (currently a WIP, updating regularly) sees Will and Hannibal take shelter with an elderly couple.
Content warnings: N/A
“Hawkguy comic: Afternoon Stroll” drawn by AstridV, based on a fic by neverlarch. 5 pages, rated Teen.
Fandom: Hawkeye (Marvel Comics)
Ship: Gen
Backstory: Clint Barton and Kate Bishop are both superheroes known as Hawkeye. They live in New York.
Rec: A fun short story that fits perfectly with the tone of Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye comics. AstridV’s art (including the arrangement of the panels) follows the style of the canon comics without feeling like a carbon copy.
Content warnings: N/A
FINAL THOUGHT
Last week Gav thanked me for putting together most of the newsletter; now I need to thank *her* for doing the same this week! Tomorrow I am travelling to visit her IRL for the FIRST TIME EVER (uh, our first visit, though tbf our only IRL time previously was for like an hour at a con three years ago) so please think of us fondly, seeing Important Historical Artifacts but most likely just talking about
:-)))) — Elizabeth
Have a favorite one-off rec? Please send it our way! We’ll use it in a future list. Other fanworks—comics, vids, etc—are strongly encouraged as well.
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