For fan fiction based on the TV serial drama The Last Kingdom (2014–), some fan fiction authors use fragments of the translations of the Psalms by King Alfred of Wessex (849–899) to firmly ground their stories in the historical reimagination of the Anglo-Saxons. In the short story "Æthelflaed and Lagertha," fan fiction writer Bandi Crawford uses an Alfredian psalm to connect The Last Kingdom to another major TV series, Vikings (2013–). By developing bisexual and biromantic story lines along the lines of Alfredian psalms, the author constructs a twenty-first-century neomedieval-based culture in which the Alfredian psalms are reinterpreted or critically reexamined through a queer lens, thereby negotiating more diversity within a favorite show's story world.

A close reading of two The Last Kingdom (2015–) fan fics hashtagged #NotMyBrexit, "One England" by BigHeartBigFart and "Under One Kingdom" by Honiejar (both 2019), shows that both authors use the (mediated character of) real-world King Alfred of Wessex (849–899) to comment on the Brexit transitional era. The authors mix contemporary references with historical associations to advocate for unity.

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From September 2018 to February 2019, the famous Victoria and Albert Museum in London hosted Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt, a major exhibition on contemporary video game design and culture. Announced as “a unique insight into the design process behind a selection of groundbreaking contemporary videogames,” this immersive exhibition was the end presentation of a project that took four years to undertake. Dutch PhD student Martine Mussies went over the Channel to take a look and write down her experiences for this first issue of the Journal of Sound and Music in Games.

This article describes how the Dutch pop phenomenon Kinderen voor Kinderen mirrors the Zeitgeist of societal changes in the Netherlands. Strongly rooted in the left-winged pillar of the system of pillarization (verzuiling), Kinderen voor Kinderen dared to address controversial topics like the fear for the atom bomb, the changing female body in puberty, homosexuality and diversity. Bespreekbaarheid is the key word for our three case studies. The first -Brief aan Ernstis an answer song for Doe Maar, a reaction to the doemdenken. The second one -Het Tietenliedbreaks the taboo of developing breasts. Lastly, the third case study -Kom erbijis about diversity and gender issues.