Hello everyone! This week we have articles on Netflix, the new ATLA movie, and writing about Spider-Man in our current political moment. Plus Odyssey fanart and a multifandom grab-bag of fic recs. — Elizabeth

new stuff

“How Netflix Broke TV’s Most Important Promise” by Sam Adams at Slate
This piece discusses how Netflix’s TV delivery model—i.e. dropping an entire season at once, with over a year to wait between seasons—has sabotaged the relationship between TV shows and their viewers, which used to develop over years of weekly serialized storytelling.

“The Messy Release of ‘Avatar Aang’ Continued at San Diego Comic-Con” by Justin Carter at Gizmodo
The new ATLA movie faced controversy this week thanks to an art book that cited ChatGPT when discussing the film’s character design. Fans weren’t happy with this allusion to generative AI, but this article corrects the record, clarifying that the movie is AI-free.

“Is Money Ruining Fanfiction?” at Imaginary Worlds
Elizabeth spoke to Imaginary Worlds host Eric Molinsky about a range of fic-related topics—beyond the monetization/P2P trends, they discussed longstanding biases with fic fandom, concerns about AI, and more. (Note: Elizabeth clearly said the wrong hockey player names when discussing RPF! Sometimes it’s very hard to retrieve information you only know through fandom osmosis in the moment.)

Wile E. Coyote, despaired, takes a bucket of paint and a brush and paints a beautiful two-bedroom house on a mountainside. He paints a beautiful coyote wife in the window, and two adorable coyote kids running around in the yard. He tries to enter this new coyote life, but it is inaccessible to him

— Hagai Palevsky (he/him) (@dialhforhagai.bsky.social) July 25, 2026 at 7:26 AM

new stuff: fansplaining

“What Spider-Man Can’t Save” by Joshua Rivera
“Stories just don’t feel like enough right now.” Fansplaining’s latest is a beautiful essay by culture writer Joshua Rivera, who calls back to the first time he wrote about Spider-Man—and wonders if this will be his last time.

older stuff

“At World’s End” at Reply All
This vintage episode of the internet culture podcast Reply All is a sweet and strange tale of a student who desperately wants to reconnect with a long-forgotten Flash game. The resulting investigation dives into early-2000s Flash game fandom, exploring why this medium died out.

tumblr & beyond

Odyssey fanart by rrcenic

“i applied doylist analysis by looking into the author’s brain and intuiting all their intentions directly.”

pushing the boundaries of the tumblr sexyman genre.

the fanart fixation timeline

a true free spirit

Linkedin business slop wordsmiths take on The Odyssey.

fanfiction

We’ve got a grab bag this week! Thanks so much to everyone — Elizabeth

“Tropical Vacation (Sun, Sand, Sea, and Superman)” by cattyk8. 12K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: DCU; Ship: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne
Recced by: Dominique
Backstory: What it takes for everyone else to decide Batman needs a vacation and what it takes for Bruce Wayne to choose to do so (hint: it’s in the title).
Rec: Action and humor, injury and romance, light and deep moments in perfect proportions. A secret relationship against the backdrop of super-heroics in tropical paradises with absolutely riveting prose from start to finish.
Content warnings: N/A

“Bonsai” by disturbeddreams. 8.8K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Stray Kids; Ship: Seungmin/Jeongin
Recced by: cee
Backstory: Taking place within the world of Severance, Seungmin has agoraphobia, and he seeks treatment assistance from a Lumon employee. Who happens to be his husband’s Innie.
Rec: The way the story uses the concept of reintegration and the implications of the split between Innies and Outies is SO smart and fascinating.
Content warnings: Mild discussion of homophobia, potential implications regarding consent and clinician-patient relationships, sickness

“Thank You For Your Time” by Rosalind_In_Arden. 9.4K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: The Sopranos; Ship: Jennifer Melfi/Carmela Soprano
Recced by: Chronograph
Backstory: Carmela Soprano is the wife of mob boss Tony Soprano, and Dr. Melfi is Tony’s psychiatrist. In one season 3 episode, Carmela ends up in a session alone with Dr. Melfi. This fic imagines what the two might talk about if Carmela hadn’t walked out early.
Rec: The author does a fantastic job with the dialogue—the two sound exactly like on the show. The story also does a great job tying into the show’s themes of whether and how much people can change. It feels like a missing scene from canon.
Content warnings: Discussion of canon rape, cheating, and domestic violence

“tell me about despair” by hattalove. 149K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: 9-1-1; Ship: Evan “Buck” Buckley/Eddie Diaz Recced by: ppyajunebug
Backstory: Eddie Diaz—firefighter, father, veteran, and Buck’s “straight” best friend—breaks down and breaks open. It’s called “the unrepression fic” for a reason. Rec: This, to me, is the ultimate exploration of Eddie Diaz as a character struggling with internalized homophobia and compulsory heterosexuality. It makes me cry every damn time.
Content warnings: PTSD, descriptions of panic attacks, homophobia, canon-typical accidents/violence, so much parental trauma

“Full of Wisdom and Perfect in Beauty” by dracoena. 987K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Lord of the Rings; Ship: Gen
Recced by: Abbieprime
Backstory: A masterful telling of the Second Age of Middle Earth, a part of Tolkien's universe that doesn’t seem to get as much love. This is a true epic that covers the history of Númenor from Ar-Sakalthôr’s through Ar-Pharazôn’s reigns, trying to unravel the mythology to discover the story as it really would have happened, tracing the lives of generations of Númenoreans right up to the Fall.
Rec: So it’s not a spoiler to say you know how this story ends: the Fall of Númenor is a warning tale that is woven throughout all of Tolkien’s work. But knowing that Númenor fell is one thing. Reading it in this expansive, detailed, exquisitely characterized fic is entirely another. The dread of the coming wave drenches this entire story, and tracing the missteps and hubris from generation to generation as I read felt both historical and incredibly relevant to me at the same time. Dracoena’s ability to pick up all of Tolkien’s threads and discern the tapestry within them made for an incredible tale, and the sheer scale of their storytelling is truly awe-inspiring. I don’t have words to adequately express how thrilling I found the experience of reading this story.
Content warnings: Canon-typical violence, including depictions of war and religious sacrifice

And a vid!

“Teen Idle” by Eleuthera. 3:49, est. Rated Teen.
Fandom: Ophelia (2018 movie); Ship: Mostly gen (it’s a character study of Ophelia), some Hamlet/Ophelia
Recced by: ceceril
Backstory: Ophelia is an Ophelia-centred retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, with some changes to the plot and starring Daisy Ridley as Ophelia. The gist of it is that Ophelia falls in love with Hamlet, but he’s emotionally immature and loves honour and vengeance more than he does her. Cue angst.
Rec: This is expertly edited, and the song fits the material so well. You really get the feeling of Ophelia regretting her life choices. Also Daisy Ridley is all pre-Raphaelitic and pretty.
Content warnings: Suicide (spoiler: in the movie it’s only fake suicide, but it looks real enough in the vid and it’s real in the original play), violence

To get casual fans caught up, the new Avengers movie should start with all the characters doing a rap where they say who they are and what their deal is

— pixelatedboat aka “mr bluesky” (@pixelatedboat.bsky.social) July 26, 2026 at 6:22 PM

FINAL THOUGHT

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