The Rec Center #513
Hello all! this week we’ve got articles about the Criterion Closet, queerness in IWTV, and a new comic reclaiming the Mary Sue. Also some cool Frankenstein fanart, and our final list of Halloween fic recs! — Gav
new stuff
“Reclaiming the Mary Sue” by Meghan Fitzmartin at Fansplaining
Fansplaining’s latest piece is part essay, part excerpt from the new comic Mary Sue, about a fanfic writer for a CWesque vampire show whose Mary Sue comes to life. (See the “Final Thought” for more on this!)
“Criterion’s Mobile Closet Wasn’t About The Van—It Was About IRL Friendships We Made Along The (Five-Hour) Way” by Isaiah Colbert at Aftermath
A great piece about the film fandom around the Criterion Closet and especially the IRL connections fostered by the mobile version.
“I Love Being a Monster” by AJ at Autostraddle
There’s a piece out this week about IWTV that you may have seen discussed—don’t waste a click on it! Instead, read this essay about queerness and monstrousness on the show. “I love being so powerful it’s frightening. I love being so uncaring about this world’s conventions that it resembles the grotesque disregard of creatures shown only in whispered tales of horror.”
Designer: all right Mr. Del Toro here’s those Frankenstein’s monster designs, real sexy just like you asked for. Del Toro: (nodding) this is exactly as sexy as I asked for.
— Chris Person (@papapishu.bsky.social) October 26, 2025 at 3:23 PM
older stuff
“The Scream Fandom’s Enduring Divide” by Michael Boyle at Fansplaining
Last fall, this piece took a deep dive into the state of the Scream fandom a year after lead Melissa Barrera was fired for pro-Palestine social media posts. This week, the new Scream trailer came out, and from the reactions, it seems those divisions are as entrenched as ever.
tumblr & beyond
Frankenstein fanart by Avara
“employment cannot rob my fertile mind of its vivid yaoi scenarios”
Synchronized Roller Coaster Tycoon animation of Defying Gravity!
love this insight into the cameo price difference for the two identical twin actors from Breaking Bad.
“getting into star trek tos and falling headfirst into the spirk of it all is so obvious its embarrassing.”
fanfiction
And finally, the big day is upon us! For Halloween itself, our fifth October list is Halloween fic (including some fluffier stuff), plus a few bonus supernatural fics thrown in. If you missed our previous lists this month, we had:
Thanks to everyone who sent in a rec! — Elizabeth
“Wunderkammer” by dear_monday, two_ravens. 44K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives; Ship: Edwin Payne/Charles Rowland
Recced by: laiqualaurelote
Backstory: In canon, Edwin and Charles are ghosts who were murdered by their friends at the age of 16 in 1916 and 1989, respectively; they now run a detective agency that solves supernatural cases while on the run from Death, whom they fear will separate them and return Edwin to Hell. In this AU, Edwin is the curator of the London Athenaeum, an archive-cum-repository-cum-museum of artefacts from the demi-monde, housed in what was formerly the London Necropolis Railway (a real place); Charles begins working there to escape his abusive family situation, and ends up staying for the next 30 years.
Rec: This is simultaneously both a delightfully eerie haunted-museum tale and a hilarious workplace comedy. The world of the Athenaeum is wonderfully, eerily detailed with supernatural lore, from the corp criadhach under the leak in the bathroom or the Hands Resist Him painting, the number of hands of which the employees have to keep counting. The authors make excellent use of the epistolary format, and there is also some really lovely art by dontoffendthebees. I honestly can’t think of a more perfect Halloween read.
Content warnings: Mild body horror, brief drowning scene
“See You Yesterday” by Glyphic. 138K words (WIP), rated Mature.
Fandom: MDZS; Ship: Lan Wanji/Wei Wuxian
Recced by: Watergaw
Backstory: Fusing MDZS and Russian Doll, a time-loop fic set on Halloween night brings Lan Wanji and Wei Wuxian into each other’s orbit in present-day Manhattan.
Rec: This is a WIP, and probably always will be, but it’s impeccable. Beautifully written and haunting, with its own incredible world-building and mythology.
Content warnings: Major character death, angst
“A pity she does not exist (A shame he’s not a—)” by Bessyboo. 11K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Men’s Hockey RPF; Ship: Macklin Celebrini/Will Smith (b. 2005)
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Mack is a young superstar in the NHL and Will is also a highly regarded player. They play for the San Jose Sharks and immediately became BFFs during their rookie year.
Rec: Watching these two idiot boys’ minds melt when Will loses a bet and has to wear a dress to a Halloween party is hilarious and their internal dialogues feel very realistic.
Content warnings: N/A
“i’ll be your girl” by plonk. 30K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)魔道祖师- 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù; Ship: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian
Recced by: Toshokanin
Backstory: At Nie Huaisang’s Halloween party, Wei Ying hits on noted heterosexual Lan Zhan. Successfully. While dressed up as Britney Spears.
Rec: Wei Wuxian’s conviction that he is getting away with something, combined with Lan Wangji being deeply confused by the bit but being willing to go along with it anyway is just so chef’s kiss.
Content warnings: Nobody knows what is going on with Wei Wuxian’s gender in this fic, certainly not him.
“Somewhere Else, Farther North Than You Remember” by FruitViking. 57K words, rated Mature.
Fandoms: The Magnus Archives, Hello From The Hallowoods; Ships: Mainly Jonathan Sims/Martin Blackwood and Diggory Graves/Percy Reed
Recced by: Noah
Backstory: This fic is a crossover between two of my favorite horror podcasts (The Magnus Archives and Hello From The Hallowoods) where the Somewhere Else Jon and Martin end up post episode 200 is the Hallowoods.
Rec: This is such a cool idea for a crossover! I love Jon and Martin finding a community at the Scoutpost and some of the interactions between these characters are just so... aaahhh!!
Content warnings: Spoilers for The Magnus Archives episode 200 and Hello From The Hallowoods episode 24 and beyond
“‘I will climb to where you are’ or: the bunny book” by ladyofrosefire, NotAFicWriter. 41K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Untamed/Mo Dao Su Shi/The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation; Ship: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian
Recced by: Chalionkat
Backstory: The canon story is very spooky, ghosts, and necromancers and murderous conspiracies. This fic is a very fluffy romance between Lan Wangji, introverted children’s book writer, and Wei Wuxian, outgoing single father and illustrator, as they collaborate on a series about two (male) rabbits in love. The Halloween vibes here come in via a Halloween birthday party and trick or treating.
Rec: Fluff! Very warm but with depth, as they both work out how to portray their (canon backstory) traumas in a way which will be helpful for the children reading the books.
Content warnings: Mention of food insecurity, parental death, fear of dogs (none graphic)
I'll say it: I think its rly annoying and frankly amateurish that writers are constantly told their villains must be understandable or have sympathetic motivation to be interesting or realistic when all our big villains irl are in fact rich, stupid, selfish, trickster dillweeds and always have been
— Kayleigh McKee, Cheerer for the Dolls (@ghaspey.bsky.social) October 13, 2025 at 12:55 PM
FINAL THOUGHT
As noted up top! This week I was very pleased to publish an essay from Meghan Fitzmartin, who I first met IRL when she was on my SDCC panel this summer.
Meghan works in TV, comics, podcasts, and more: she wrote on SPN, and has done a ton of stuff for DC Comics (including making Tim Drake canonically bi!). She’s also a longtime fic fandom person, and her new indie comic reflects that—it’s about a fic writer and her (vampire!) Mary Sue, the first issue of which came out earlier this month:
When Meghan told me about Mary Sue—which she describes as “a love letter to fandom”—I immediately thought The Rec Center had the perfect audience to share it with. So if you’re at all interested, check out the article: it’s part essay about Mary Sues more broadly, including, as always, an audio version, and part excerpt from the first issue of the comic. And don’t miss the link to a special sneak peak at the end!
Happy Halloween, everyone! Stay safe tonight. 🎃 — Elizabeth