Hello all! This week we’re coming to you with an on-site report from outside Taylor and Travis’s wedding, an exciting announcement about the classic sci-fi magazine Starlog, and some ominous news regarding the future of Letterboxd. Also our weekly update from Fansplaining (including some very timely reporting on generative AI in fandom!), a grab bag of multifandom fic recs, and much more! — Gav

new stuff

“‘You Can’t Get Tickets to This’: Thirty hours with the locals, cops, Swifties, and paparazzi who staked out the Tayvis wedding in NYC” by Fran Hoepfner at Vulture
“‘She can fuck up a lot,’ a woman told me, waiting for New Jersey Transit, ‘but I don’t think she can fuck up the trains.’” An on-the-ground report from the area around MSG and Penn Station—aka the armpit of New York City, as well as the location of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding.

“Legendary magazine Starlog is being resurrected” by Andrew Liptak at Transfer Orbit
Beloved sci-fi magazine Starlog, which shuttered in 2009, is being resurrected in time for its 50th anniversary, now headed by io9 founder and novelist Annalee Newitz. This piece goes into the history of the original Starlog alongside discussing the revival.

“Netflix Among Parties in Early Talks to Buy Letterboxd: Report” by Todd Spangler at Variety
Several entertainment companies are currently in talks to buy Letterboxd, in yet another example of corporate media trying to capitalize on a fan-driven community. It doesn’t take a genius to understand why it would be bad news for Netflix or Sony to take over an app where film buffs purposefully draw attention to hidden gems and word-of-mouth hits.

The Mandalorian and grogu is filmed in front of a live studio audience

— little lamb (@puddleofbrain.bsky.social) July 2, 2026 at 9:09 PM

new stuff: fansplaining

“Heated Rivalry is at the Center of Fanfic’s AI Reckoning” by Kayti Burt
Generative AI has been a growing problem in fanfiction for a while, but things came to a head in the ultra-fast-paced Heated Rivalry fic fandom last week, when an anonymous doc ID’ing authors who left remnants of Claude outputs in their fic was released on X. In this reported piece, Kayti surveys fan reactions, talks to Heated Rivalry fic authors, and discusses the existential threat of AI use in transformative fandom.

“The Vampire Lestat: The Queen of the Damned” by Gav
Marius and Akasha finally make an appearance in this week’s episode, as Lestat returns to the studio and Louis embarks on a mindblowingly unhealthy relationship with Claudia’s human lookalike Regina. Once again, this show is exploring a fascinating range of dysfunctional parental dynamics, a topic that overlaps with Daniel’s budding courtship with Armand.

And a note from Elizabeth: In additional Fansplaining news, this week we officially opened for pitches! You can read about everything we’re looking for (and not looking for) in our pitching guide. We are absolutely open to folks who haven’t been published in a journalistic outlet before—if you write meta and might be interested in expanding on an idea (about fandom, or about a fannish property) with the guidance of an editor, consider pitching! Just share samples of your writing so we can get a sense of your analysis and voice.

their juvenile "headcanon" vs our enlightened "literary analysis"

— kam (@stoneshipage.bsky.social) July 1, 2026 at 12:05 AM

older stuff

“The Toast”
Beloved 2010’s-era site The Toast has suddenly reappeared online! We’ll likely be re-sharing some of our favorites in this section over the coming months.

tumblr & beyond

The Vampire Lestat fanart by saevity

"can you imagine being a parent in the pokemon world and your kid comes home with one of those straight up basically human pokemon"

someone translated translated the Ea-Nasir complaint letter into Vulcan and engraved it in on a copper plate

the reality of hockey is perpetually at war with fans’ attempts at romantic rpf, unfortunately

some interesting meta on when historical fiction attempts to imbue upper-class characters with contemporary progressive values.

here’s hoping that Doctor Who unironically embraces a new era of the Wilderness Years.

fanfiction

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

“Jeno and Hide” by ImJaebabie. 100K words, rated Mature (with a Explicit sequel).
Fandom: NCT (Band); Ship: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Recced by: macarmua
Backstory: Jeno, Jaemin and Renjun are members of the K-pop group NCT. In this Symbiote AU, Jeno is the human host to symbiote Jaemin, and they both have a crush on their classmate, Renjun.
Rec: This was so fun to read, unexpectedly very sweet and slice-of-life.
Content warnings: Family issues, minor homophobia

“April” by ninety6tears. 17K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Long Walk - Stephen King; Ship: Ray Garraty/Peter McVries
Recced by: Sara
Backstory: This AU takes place in the same dystopian world of the novel in which teens are sacrificed in a deadly annual walking contest, but diverges from canon by showing a quite different Ray who never lost his father and happens to meet Pete in different circumstances than them both being contestants in the Walk.
Rec: All the particular ways this does and doesn’t diverge from canon are gradually revealed and handled in such a brilliant way that it makes this seem like such an obvious AU idea that the fandom should have many versions of. But this fic is surprisingly unique and inventive in its premise, not a neat fix-it or AU that takes the pairing out of the novel’s fascist version of 1970s America, but one with Ray and Pete dealing with the same hopelessness and repression that drives them in canon and still being able to become lifelines for each other in less doomed circumstances. The characterizations of both are so stunningly believable and emotionally wrought that these versions of them in some ways live more vividly in my mind than their canon selves.
Content warnings: Underage sex

“Shorelines” by Prevalent_Masters. 20K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Old Guard; Ships: Andy/Quỳnh, background Joe/Nicky
Recced by: Posher10
Backstory: Quỳnh is out of the Iron Maiden, and she is angry, and she goes hunting. She’ll make her family pay for forgetting her under the water, even if she still loves them under her hate.
Rec: The exploration of Quỳnh’s character is so incredibly well-done in this fic. Its depiction of her complicated emotions and motivations for her revenge easily makes it my favorite depiction of her character.
Content warnings: Graphic depictions of drowning, violence, torture, and death

“The Jaws That Snatch” by Linsky. 5.7K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Scholomance - Naomi Novik; Ship: El Higgins/Orion Lake
Recced by: Orangistae
Backstory: Picking up from the end of The Last Graduate, El is desperate to find a way back to the Scholomance to rescue Orion, and goes to New York to learn more about enclave-building.
Rec: This fic legitimately reads like the first chapter of the next book; it perfectly captures El’s voice, has spot-on characterisation all around, and builds up to a brilliant twist that I’m now dying to see become canon.
Content warnings: Mild canon-typical horror

“Pianist’s Hands” by sabertoothhousecat. 3.7K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia; Ship: Todoroki Fuyumi/Usagiyama Rumi | Miruko
Recced by: beatrice-babe
Backstory: Rumi is the rabbit hero from My Hero Academia, and Fuyumi is the daughter of Endeavor the flame hero, and the sister of Todoroki Shouto. Fuyumi isn’t a hero herself, but is from a family of heroes.
Rec: Fuyumi doesn’t get a lot of screentime in the show but I love how she is loved in this fic. Same with Rumi, not as much screentime but this fic loves her, so seeing that is a delight, and they match so well!
Content warnings: N/A

And a vid!

“Cobra | Louis de Pointe du Lac” by fruba. 2:49, Not Rated.
Fandom: Interview with the Vampire (2022); song is “Cobra” by Megan Thee Stallion; Ship: Gen
Recced by: mischiefseven
Backstory: Interview with the Vampire is a gothic horror drama whose first two seasons focused on Louis de Pointe du Lac, a Black gay man living (and soon, undead) in the early 20th century.
Rec: I love a fanvid that gets inside a character’s head, and this one does it masterfully.
Content warnings: Canon-typical gore, violence, suicidal ideation

sorry, i don't think this friendship is working out. you depicted my favorite character with an entirely different type of foreskin from my headcanon. you clearly don't know them like i do.

— 💚🤍💙 Brave 💚🤍💙 (@brave.fatbirdlovers.org) July 2, 2026 at 1:13 PM

FINAL THOUGHT

Have a great weekend, everyone! — Elizabeth