Hello, all! This week we have articles on archiving hip-hop media, Lord of the Rings as metaphor, and Gav’s review of Young Sherlock. Plus Ponyo fanart and a multifandom grab-bag of fic! — Elizabeth

new stuff

“Lost Recipes” by Abe Beame at Defector
“Black culture has always lagged behind when it comes to institutional support and preservation. By nature and necessity, hip-hop fans are crate diggers, but there are fewer crates to dig through.” A fantastic piece about the preservation of hip-hop writing and publications.

“Bittersweet Endings (for All Who Live to See Such Times)” by Samantha Mills at Uncanny Magazine
“There are some events that are so momentous, they split the world in half around them. There is before, and there is after, and there is no going back to before.” On watching the Fellowship of the Ring in theaters after a year of tragedy—both personal (a school shooting) and global (9/11 and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan).

“Young Sherlock Review: An Underwhelming Callback to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes Movies” by Gav at TV Guide
We all love a new Sherlock Holmes remix, but does this one have the juice? According to Gav, not so much. “Holmes and Moriarty are college besties” is a fun conceit, but in execution this new show mostly feels like a shallow retread of the Guy Ritchie movies.

my ideal living space is the Sunnydale High library i fear

— Anthony Oliveira (@meakoopa.bsky.social) February 25, 2026 at 5:38 PM

older stuff

“Alternate Universes” by Newt Albiston at Fansplaining
“These people live on all corners of the planet, and we share an innate enthusiasm for twisting and shifting the already fictional lives of fictional people. They all know me by a different name—and no one thinks I’m the girl that my family thinks I am.”

tumblr & beyond

Ponyo fanart by iliothermia

never log off

"AO3 should have an Annotation Mode"

shout out to the female blorbos

"The Pitt is baby’s first fandom for so many people."

ok, honestly hadn’t considered that this ubiquitous AO3 tagging convention has surely spoiled a non-zero number of character deaths.

fanfiction

We’ve got a grab-bag this week! Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec. — Elizabeth

“No Country for Young Women” by Coyotesuspect. 11K words, rated Teen. Fandoms: Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, Monstrous Regiment; Ship: Maladict/Polly Perks
Recced by: dalmatienne
Backstory: Maladict and Polly Perks are two soldiers who joined the army of an uber-religious, uber-conservative country while disguised as men. Hi-jinks ensued, but by the end of the novel both have been revealed to be (and identify as) women.
Rec: This story embraces the satire and humor of Pratchett while also exploring Polly and Mal’s relationship. I also just really like political intrigue and undercover fics.
Content warnings: N/A

“everything is going to be alright.” by sombregods. 6.1K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Fire Emblem: Three Houses; Ship: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Recced by: Carcharias
Backstory: FE3H is a video game about medieval war and gods and also...school? Dimitri is a crown prince/king and Felix is a swordsman and one of his best friends, though their relationship has been marred by tragedy.
Rec: This takes place in a fictional ~30 yrs after the end of one of the game’s routes, where Dimitri becomes king and Felix is his consort. It’s a fond and lovely take on where they may have ended up as older men, once sharp, deadly tools of war now softened by time and love.
Content warnings: General references to past canon violence

“And Time Is But a Paper Moon” by sami. 139K words (part of a series but stands well alone), rated Mature.
Fandom: The Untamed; Ships: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, Wen Qing/Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen
Recced by: cubeit
Backstory: The Untamed is a Xianxia story (Chinese historical martial-arts fantasy) in which a lot of things go quite badly for a lot of people. In this story, the main character Wei Wuxian travels back in time and has a chance to improve things.
Rec: This is a great time-travel fix-it story that deals with all the trauma and mental health issues suffered by everyone in canon. It also has an asexual triad as a side relationship, and it’s fantastic to watch these three people realise that there are others like them and they can build the kind of relationship they want and need in life.
Content warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, depictions of mental health issues

“A Bird in Morning” by bowditch. 45K words (WIP; not likely to update but has an open if satisfying end point), rated Teen.
Fandom: DCU (Comics), Batman (Comics); Ship: Gen, Bruce Wayne & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Alfred Pennyworth, Jason Todd & Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne & Alfred Pennyworth
Recced by: Rosemarycat5
Backstory: Batman’s adopted son and crime-fighting partner Jason Todd was killed six months ago. Somehow, he’s come back. In canon, Bruce doesn’t find out about this for years, but this fic shows him finding Jason very soon after the fact.
Rec: It hits such a sweet spot with the angst and hurt/comfort—the horror and the quiet moments of togetherness, the pain of death, the miraculous beauty of return. The use of Bruce’s 1980s characterization is a pleasure!! All the characters are excellent, and I love the OCs included as well. There are a million tiny details that fill the story—chess games and first editions and handmade blankets that leave it feeling rich.
Content warnings: N/A

“A Hermeneutics of Ass-Fucking” by Alsike. 6K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Star Trek: TOS and Strange New Worlds; Ship: Christine Chapel/T’Pring
Recced by: twtd11
Backstory: After T’Pring breaks up with Spock, she becomes a philosopher on Betazed. After the Enterprise, Christine focuses on her genetics research. They run into each other in a bar on Betazed, get a little drunk, and end up having sex.
Rec: The first in a series, the characters are so on point, and everyone comes off as super smart as both the canon and the author says they are. This pairing probably shouldn’t work, but the author bounces them off each other in a way that makes them fit with each other perfectly.
Content warnings: N/A

And a vid!

“Fine Not Fine” by jennaflare. 2:55, (estimated) Rated Teen. Fandom: Heated Rivalry; Ship: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov
Recced by: anon
Backstory: A beautifully crafted fanvid set to Fine Not Fine by Spector
Rec: Great beat and lyric matching, shot choices, and clean well-timed cuts.
Content warnings: N/A

listen i love ao3 as much as the next guy but ive seen people quit fic writing over the past few years because people comment and engage with authors way less, and then everyone still freaks out when ao3 goes down- if a fic is irreplaceable to u, let the author know!

— mia 🐰 (@polymorphicsoul.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 10:04 AM

FINAL THOUGHT

That’s all, folks! Have a relaxing weekend! — Gav