Hello all! This week we have articles about the popularity of the sheep mystery novel Three Bags Full, a Devil Wears Prada sequel controversy, and Star Trek: Deep Space 9 tie-in fiction. Also some cool Green Knight fanart, a grab bag of multifandom fic recs, and more! — Gav

new stuff

“Three Bags Full’s Faithful Flock” by Morgan Leigh Davies at Fansplaining
The new Sheep Detectives film is based on a truly delightful novel, Three Bags Full, in which sheep try to solve the murder of their shepherd. Originally a German novel titled Glennkill, it was a mainstream hit in Germany, but has been more of a beloved cult favorite abroad. This piece traces that cult status, talking to book club members, mystery experts, and author Leonie Swann herself about what makes the book so special to so many.

“Justice for Jin Chao: If Asian Americans Want Better Media Representation, We Need to Learn to Be Better Critics” by Jeff Yang at Angry Asian Man
Film critic Jeff Yang critiques the backlash against Jin Chao, a supporting character in The Devil Wears Prada 2. She was initially accused of being stereotypical or offensive toward Asian diaspora audiences, but as Yang explains, these complaints were more to do with the fact that she doesn’t conform to a very narrow beauty standard.

“The End of This Day’s Business—or, My Life as Repetitive Epic” by Una McCormack at Uncanny Magazine
“In the twenty-second episode of the second season of Star Trek: Deep Space 9, ‘The Wire’ (which is a holy text), we learn of the existence of a genre of Cardassian literature called ‘the repetitive epic.’” On writing fanfiction and official tie-in fiction for Star Trek.

ChatGPT: you’re right you’re so much smarter than him. He’s so schlubby and you’re so suave. Columbo will never catch you.

— Ernest Luckman (@ernieluckman.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 8:22 AM

older stuff

“One Man’s Mission to Make Video Games a Little Less White” by Jamal Michael at Mother Jones
“When you’re the butt of a joke, your true self feels like a rumor no one wants to believe.” A great profile of journalist, comics writer, and narrative designer Evan Narcisse.

tumblr & beyond

The Green Knight fanart by harlequinides

An extremely cool tool for generating scientifically realistic star systems.

“next year’s met gala theme should be the cw’s supernatural”

usernames mozartswigsweat and bonnetenthusiast have logged the fuck on.

“is.. is there a Kiki Fett?”

team rocket in a nutshell

fanfiction

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

“in the green north” by frausorge. 5.7K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis; Ship: Aravis Tarkheena/Lasaraleen Tarkheena
Recced by: littlerhymes
Backstory: This story is set during and after The Horse and His Boy, with one big change—what if Lasaraleen left Calormen with Aravis, and they stayed together in Archenland afterwards?
Rec: This is such a warm and lovely story—it captures the language and tone of the book so well while giving both Aravis and Las chances to grow and change in ways that are new yet feel so right for them.
Content warnings: N/A

“Four Weeks of Rain” by rilina. 1.8K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Naruto; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Akoyfish
Backstory: Naruto is a series about ninjas. This is a snapshot of the village during the rainy season.
Rec: It perfectly captures the camaraderie between the huge cast of characters, especially those who don’t often get the spotlight.
Content warnings: N/A

“nothing but teeth” by crescenteluce. 25K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Formula 1 RPF; Ship: Alexander Albon/George Russell
Recced by: kay
Backstory: Alex and George are childhood best friends who came into Formula One in the same year and delight in reminding everyone that they’ve now established a decades long codependency. This fic is set in 2022, when George has just been promoted to a top team and Alex (fresh off a year out of the sport) has taken George’s seat at his old team.
Rec: The best thing about friends with benefits is when the lines between friendship and romance become irrevocably blurred, and this fic sets that up so well. The closeness and ease of Alex and George’s relationship is so clear from the first scene, and the brilliant and tight George POV allows the reader to see what George can’t. It’s masterfully executed, and every reread makes my stomach twist with agony and delight.
Content warnings: N/A

“a pretty little songbird” by verity. 1.1K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù; Ship: Gen (Jiang Yanli & Nie Huaisang, Mo Xuanyu & Nie Huaisang)
Recced by: sophia_sol
Backstory: A Nie Huaisang pov fic about his interactions with Jiang Yanli during the war, and with Mo Xuanyu leading up to his sacrificial ritual.
Rec: This is a gorgeous, ouchy, spare little glimpse into the ways that Jiang Yanli might have been an influence on Nie Huaisang, and the purposes to which he directs the things he learned from her.
Content warnings: N/A

“The Hottest Cold War” by Vee (Vera_DragonMuse). 117K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Heated Rivalry (TV); Ships: Scott Hunter/Ilya Rozanov, Scott Hunter/Kip Grady, Ilya Rozanov/Shane Hollander, slight Ilya/Svetlana
Recced by: teaspoonsandwaves
Backstory: Scott, Ilya, and Shane are all professional hockey players, and are all also men who like men (Scott and Shane are gay, Ilya is bisexual). In canon, Scott falls in love with Kip, a graduate student in art history; Ilya and Shane are in a years-long rivalry in the hockey league, but are also secret lovers the whole time. In this story, Ilya and Scott hookup before Ilya’s rookie year, and then keep hooking up for years, while also falling in love with their main canon partners.
Rec: Scott and Ilya have traumas that run in parallel, I love that they both take care of each other, and really help each other feel worthy of love. Scott feels very well characterized as a fixer and I love how Vee gave everyone in this fic a distinctive voice (it’s Scott's POV, but there’s incredible texting).
Content warnings: N/A

And a vid!

“WHERE IS MY HUSBAND” by 0101a. 3:14, rated Teen.
Fandom: Revolutionary Girl Utena; Ship: Utena/Anthy but also everyone?
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Revolutionary Girl Utena is a classic 90s anime about the effects of one girl’s encounter with a prince, exploring themes of desire and gender.
Rec: I mean, it’s a Utena fanvid set to Raye’s “Where Is My Husband” which is an absolutely inspired choice. It’s so good.
Content warnings: Flashing images

I don't think online ticket sales should be allowed for The Mandalorian and Grogu. I think you should have to look a bored teenager in the face and ask for it by name.

— Joseph Fink, we're going to win (@planetoffinks.bsky.social) May 4, 2026 at 2:15 PM

FINAL THOUGHT

If you would like to see my face! Fellow Fansplaining editor Lin Codega and I went on the “It’s A Fandom Thing” podcast to talk about the relaunch, the state of the media industry today (especially the way it covers fans), and what we’re hoping to do with this project. You can watch or listen to it on YouTube here.

And speaking of Fansplaining! I know I promised not to do too much of that here ahaha, but we’re just getting started, and this announcement is particularly relevant to Rec Center readers: this week we revealed that Gav will be recapping/analzying The Vampire Lestat for us!!!! You can sign up as a member for free, but if you want to help us pay Gav for her IWTV expertise :-) as well as all the other writers we’re working with, please become a subscriber! (A reminder that we have a discount for folks with limited funds—just get in touch with me for the code.) — Elizabeth