Hello all! This week we have articles about the recent Wattpad exodus, Steam’s censorship guidelines, and a surprise box-office hit in China. Also some awesome Heated Rivalry fanart, a grab bag of multifandom fic recs, and an explainer for the anime Nintama Rantarou by guest reccer DT! — Gav

new stuff

“Wattpad’s alleged smut ban sends fan-fiction readers running to AO3” by Olivia Tauber at Mashable
A tale as old as time! Wattpad users are currently flocking to AO3 in the wake of a rumored ban on sexually explicit content, prompting a wave of discourse about AO3 etiquette. This piece explains what happened—including Wattpad’s assurance that the site has not, in fact, “banned smut.”

“‘Who’s Deciding The Fate Of This Game?’ The Secretive Process Of Getting A Game With Sexual Content On Steam” by Jay Castello at Aftermath
Amid increasing censorship and crackdowns on sexual content across the web (hey, a running theme this week! 🫠) a deep dive into the opaque moderation process on Steam.

“A Chinese animated film mocked as ‘terrible’ becomes a box-office hit” by Fu Ting at AP News
Niu Lai’s word-of-mouth success is THE box office phenom of the season—an effectively homemade animated movie whose main claim to fame is being totally appalling.

Galaxy Far Far Away historian who is irritated with pop culture depictions of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, whose leadership included royalty and religious fanatics, as a democratic, progressive movement.

— J.A. Prentice (@japrenticewrites.bsky.social) August 16, 2026 at 12:49 PM

new stuff: fansplaining

“Putting Away Childish Things” by Morgan Leigh Davies
“In The Book of Dust trilogy, Philip Pullman does what few authors for young readers ever attempt: he lets his protagonist grow up.” A close read of Pullman’s recent writing about a now-adult Lyra, and what it means when franchises never seem to end.

“Lanterns: Are You Afraid?” by Gav
Gav’s new recap series covers HBO’s gritty, earthbound reimagining of Green Lantern, which aims to be the superhero version of True Detective. Can it reach that lofty goal? Gav already has a lot of thoughts—including how this show fits into HBO’s brand and the wider DCU under James Gunn. (No paywall!)

I think it’s an interesting choice that they never explain HOW Spider-Man became half spider. Might be fun to explore that in a future film

— ceej (@ceej.online) August 14, 2026 at 11:58 PM

older stuff

“19 Hours Inside the Airbnb X-Mansion” by Jodi Walker at The Ringer
For the first season of X-Men ’97, Airbnb created an “X-Mansion” in Westchester county styled like the cartoon, which this reporter visited: “Why does this house exist? What’s it really like living in 2D? And why is there no kitchen? Here’s what I learned from my time as an X-Man.”

tumblr & beyond

Heated Rivalry fanart by yolkylemon

“come on girl not every half-sunk shattered visage is Ozymandias”

an innovative way to watch the IWTV movie

emily wilson’s media criticism grid

Kindergarten Cop is Silent Hill?

a map of Ankh-Morpork in the style of Google Maps!

explainer: Nintama Rantarou

DT came back to participating in fandom thanks to ninja pretty boys. You can find him on Tumblr and read his fic on AO3.

The anime Nintama Rantarou, based on the children’s gag manga Rakudai Ninja Rantarou by Amako Soubei, started in 1993 and is still going strong to this day with over 2,500 episodes as well as multiple movies and musicals. Set in Japan in the later half of the Muromachi period (around the sixteenth century), the anime focuses on a school for ninja called Ninjutsu Academy, and all of the predicaments that the students and staff get into.

The first thing that drew me to the series was the characters, and there are tons of them. It’s like Pokémon, where the amount of characters looks overwhelming at the start, but soon you’re astonished there was a point where you couldn’t name (and gush about) its hundreds of characters.

Befitting a gag series, the cast is made up of strong personalities and wonderful weirdos whose quirks make them collide and clash in the best ways. At the same time, there are plenty of quieter moments and heartfelt interactions which reveal a different side to the characters. The writing’s biggest strength, in my opinion, is that characters are easy to understand but, for those with an eye for it, still hold a lot of depth to explore (it’s not for nothing that this was the series that got me back into writing fic after so long). The number of unique characters makes it likely you’ll find at least one who feels like they were made just for you, and you might end up hopelessly devoted to the most tertiary of characters.

One of the things that sets it apart from many other comical children’s anime is that it’s deeply steeped in the details and cultural intricacies of the historical time period it’s set in. While humorous anachronisms abound, the series is known for its author’s meticulous eye for historical detail. All of the ninjutsu techniques the characters perform are based on those found in ninja manuals from the era; similarly, clothing, weapons, and customs are drawn directly from historical source material, and are explained for the viewers.

The realities of the era exist comfortably alongside the more light-hearted content in a way that doesn’t seem forced or incongruous (and which allows fans to have their fun with the angsty possibilities of the time period). When the series itself touches on these serious subjects—one of the main students is an orphan who constantly works odd jobs to earn money, for example, and the constant war and civil unrest isn’t played down—its tone tends toward hope, of believing in others, of moving forward.

All of this combines to create a series that feels nostalgic even for those who first encountered it well past childhood. The sheer number of characters and episodes as well as the series’s unique setting create a world unto itself that’s fun to get lost in, and even more fun to play around with.

fanfiction

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

“The Unknowable History” by what_alchemy. 15K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Pitt; Ship: Jack Abbot/Michael “Robby” Robinavitch
Recced by: Lara
Backstory: These two doctors have both been through it—and taking turns talking each other off rooftops is part of what makes the ship so compelling.
Rec: Robby is in a bad place at the end of the second season, and this fic does a gorgeous job of combining expanded backstory with a really profound mental health journey. Content warnings: Discussion of suicide

“More Pleasing Than Wine” by tardigrape. 3.1K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Good Omens; Ship: f!Aziraphale/f!Crowley
Recced by: Chocolatepot
Backstory: In (TV) canon, Aziraphale gets into trouble on multiple occasions with the apparent expectation/hope of rescue by Crowley; this fic plays on that while making them both female.
Rec: I love seeing the deliberateness of the rescue setup (which is kink-adjacent, really) from Aziraphale’s perspective, and then the way Aziraphale’s enjoyment of their meal afterward affects Crowley (MORE than kink-adjacent).
Content warnings: Some menace from Aziraphale’s captors but it’s gone pretty quick

“Bliss in Every Thorn” by alyse. 5.1K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Primeval; Ship: Abby Maitland/Connor Temple
Recced by: lanalucy
Backstory: The circle of friends in Primeval is small, and Abby and Connor are tight. I don’t remember if they become a canon couple.
Rec: Alyse is one of my favorite writers, no matter the fandom. In this one, I loved the gentle way Abby worked Connor into spanking her. It was gentle enough that I (grown up in an abusive home) was eased into it, too, and it’s become by far my favorite spanking fic.
Content warnings: Spanking, object insertion

“Easy As Pie” by MapleleafCameo. 23K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Check Please!; Ship: Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmermann
Recced by: noadventureshere
Backstory: Sweet and awesome.
Rec: It’s brilliantly written and super creative. I’m going to make everything she mentions.
Content warnings: Panic attacks and homophobia, bullying (mostly in the past)

“Chapter 742: Unleash the Holy Globes of Justice!!” by Margo_Kim. 6.2K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System- Mòxiāng Tóngxiù; Ship: Shen Yuan/Luo Binghe
Recced by: Dori
Backstory: Shen Yuan meets another transmigrator: a woman, in the body of one of Luo Binghe’s many destined wives. Don’t worry, shippers, she wants nothing romantic with either of these men.
Rec: Hilarious scenario in which we get to see the world of Proud Immortal Demon Way through the eyes of a modern woman, and she is not impressed with Airplane’s sexist writing, Cucumber’s obliviousness, nor Luo Binghe’s habit of collecting women.
Content warnings: Copious jokes about sex and human anatomy

“Reports of Witches Falling” by raven (singlecrow). 2.5K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: good luck roomba witch - ofsparrows (Artwork); Ship: Gen
Recced by: AirgiodSLV
Backstory: This is based on an artwork of modern witches riding vacuum cleaners instead of broomsticks. It’s described by the artist as: “tfw your folks replace the (perfectly serviceable!!!) old hoover with a roomba and you don’t have a god damn clue how you’re gonna fly the thing.”
Rec: This story takes a very cool piece of art and fleshes it out in so many ways—worldbuilding, character studies, relationships, family and found family, cultural heritage and values. I became so invested in these characters and their lives; there’s so much packed into such a short story.
Content warnings: N/A

“Desires” by starboardtack. 14K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Sex and the City; Ship: Samantha Jones/Charlotte York
Recced by: anon
Backstory: It had never occurred to me that there’s Sex and the City fanfiction—and why not?? Samantha and Charlotte had amazing chemistry, and this is how it should have gone!
Rec: An opening line for the ages: ‘It’s brunch, because it’s always brunch.’ Breaks open the good, the bad, and the ugly of these characters, their lives, and their privilege in the tastiest way.
Content warnings: N/A

prompt: make something that would violate the updated wattpad content restrictions

— muse ✨ (@muse.bsky.social) August 18, 2026 at 10:25 AM

FINAL THOUGHT

It’s time for another call for recs! For a few upcoming lists, we’re looking for:

• Stories in/about summer (especially end of summer!)
• Fics in educational settings of all levels (AUs or canonically related)
• Job-specific AUs, especially ones that feel fairly specific/the job is a major component

Generally, we’d also love more:

• Poly ships
• Gen stories
• Character studies
• Unusual forms or POVs (e.g., anthropomorfic)

As always, please submit your faves via our handy form. We thankfully haven’t had an issue with hitting the Jotform limit since that flare-up in the spring! But as a reminder, please fill out all the fields, including the rec and the content warnings, otherwise we’ll have to discard your submission. — Elizabeth