Hello all! This week we have articles about the Good Omens finale, the demise of Grogu, and Magic: The Gathering fandom archiving. Also some Avatar: The Last Airbender fanart, a multifandom list of established relationship fic recs, and some podcast commentary on the new Devil Wears Prada movie! — Gav

new stuff

“Good Omens’ Final Love Letter to Fanfiction” by Anne Jamison at Fansplaining
In the wake of the Good Omens series finale last week, Anne (who you might know as the author of “Fic: How Fanfiction is Taking Over the World”) argues the episode was a metatextual commentary on fandom and fanfic—one that handed the characters back to the fans.

“This Archivist Has Saved 175,000 Articles from 30 Years of Writing about Magic: The Gathering” by Matthew Gault at 404 Media
An interview with the man behind the Library of Leng, a searchable database of writing about Magic: The Gathering that stretches back to usenet days.

“Kill Grogu” by Sean T. Collins at Defector
“I, however, am far less interested in this movie’s box-office death than I am in imagining a series of gruesome endings, perhaps thousands of them, for the little beast Grogu himself. I am not alone.”

With the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu, we are going to see a big uptick in adoptions. As someone who works in Grogu rescue, I will remind you: when you adopt a Baby Yoda, you are committing to its 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘯. Grogus can live up to 900 years. They can also move shit around your apartment.

— Lauren Flans (@laurenflans.bsky.social) May 18, 2026 at 2:59 PM

older stuff

“The Linux of social media—How LiveJournal pioneered (then lost) blogging” by Steven T. Wright at Ars Technica
A nostalgic but informative look behind the scenes of the halcyon days of LiveJournal.

tumblr & beyond

Avatar: The Last Airbender fanart by oakorri

“mr beast has decoys”

a list of shane hollander and ilya rozanov twitter cancellations.

pop-up book tricorder!

wowie zowie

fanfiction

This week’s list features something I think fanfiction does well: established relationships. (Shipping doesn’t just rest on getting-together stories alone!) We’d love even more of these in the bank, so please continue sending in your favorites. And thanks to all our reccers for this batch! — Elizabeth

“The Orphans of Silence” by what_alchemy. 41K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Ted Lasso; Ship: Trent Crimm/Ted Lasso
Recced by: Iz
Backstory: Ted and Trent are happily living with their kids in London when they learn that Ted’s mother has died. Returning to Kansas brings up a lot of emotions, especially when Ted discovers his dad’s diary.
Rec: This fic is equally beautiful and heartbreaking. Be prepared to cry.
Content warnings: Homophobia, conversion therapy, religious trauma, canon suicide

“Favorable Winds” by RurouniHime. 2K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Avengers (Marvel Movies); Ship: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Recced by: Saklani
Backstory: Steve and Sam need a hideout right after Winter Soldier and go to Tony Stark for help. Sam’s POV on his first meeting with Iron Man and the relationship between Steve and Tony.
Rec: Unusual POV and timeline for this pairing. Strong characterization, especially from Sam seeing the two lead Avengers together for the first time.
Content warnings: N/A

“everyone says, this love will change you, and I ask, isn’t that what love’s supposed to do” by raven (singlecrow). 4,4K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Parks and Recreation; Ships: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt, April Ludgate/Andy Dwyer, Ben/some other people
Recced by: RabbitRunnah
Backstory: For anybody who watched that episode of Parks and Recreation where Ben asked, “Look, who hasn’t had gay thoughts?” and took that as confirmation that Ben is bi, well, this is the fic that explores that.
Rec: This fic takes a canon line and spins it out into its logical conclusion, which is Ben Wyatt acknowledging his bisexuality—and his interest in maybe wanting to explore that side of himself—while in an established relationship with Leslie Knope. Who brings a very Leslie Knope attitude to the situation. While this is ultimately about Ben’s personal journey, the tender and loving way it portrays his relationship with Leslie highlights what a great partnership they have. The characterization of familiar Parks and Rec supporting characters is pitch perfect, and there are enough humorous moments (to remind you that Parks and Rec is a comedy).
Content warnings: N/A

“(a quiet place)” series by A (mumblemutter). 38K words over 5 works, rated Explicit.
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF; Ship: Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong
Recced by: lunarriviera
Backstory: This series continues the relationship of the two actors who played the leads in the 2018 censored-BL Chinese drama Guardian (based on the danmei by Priest).
Rec: One of the best RPF pieces I’ve ever read: subtle like breathing, outlining so sparely the tiny, almost invisible delicacy of its dance between scene partners, in two senses of the term—both as actors, and with its gossamer-soft exploration of kink. (This series has not only an excellent sequel but fostered an extended RPF polyamorous universe, “and i will make a silence for you.”)
Content warnings: Various tagged BDSM activities

“Your Necro Questions Answered” by Magichorse. 8.8K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Locked Tomb; Ship: Gideon Nav/Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Recced by: sillyunicorn
Backstory: Gideon is the cavalier (fancy bodyguard) for her necromancer Harrow. The fic is post-canon crack formatted as an advice column Gideon writes for other cavaliers concerned about their necromancers.
Rec: It’s my favorite combo of hilarious writing with heartfelt sentiment woven through.
Content warnings: Creator chose not to use archive warnings

“Aching, Aching, Aching, and Alive” by verbaepulchellae. 17K words, rated Explicit.
Fandoms: Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry (TV); Ship: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov
Recced by: AirgiodSLV
Backstory: This is a post-canon story, with Shane and Ilya both playing hockey for Ottawa as a publicly out couple.
Rec: This is a fantastic kink exploration (specifically fisting) from the moment of discovery to putting it into practice, which takes time for all of the embarrassed conversations, serious logistics research, and experimentation along the way. It delves into beautiful character and relationship study as the main couple really commit to figuring things out together.
Content warnings: Light Dom/sub, kink exploration, mention of disordered eating, navigation of slight sexual freak out

multishipping a character is a sign of my respect. i’m bestowing upon them the greatest honour i know: slut

— birds von bag (@birdsbag.bsky.social) May 19, 2026 at 1:50 AM

FINAL THOUGHT

Interested in some CRITICAL COMMENTARY about new film The Devil Wears Prada 2? We’ve got you covered…perhaps too covered. May we offer you DWP2 episodes from:

• Overinvested (Gav’s review podcast)
• Fansplaining (my podcast—Flourish, a Mirandy shipper, returns for this special ep, and we talk about Mirandy at length)

I should note that Overinvested’s episode is free, while Fansplaining’s is for paying subscribers ahahaha. (Like all special episodes, Fansplaining’s is also available for one-off purchase!) If you’re interested in a wide range of critiques on this film from people who work in the industry being depicted, why not both? 😉 — Elizabeth