Hello all! This week we have articles on the NHL’s extremely misguided attempts to woo romance fans, fictional crossword aficionados, and the history of the CW. In the Fansplaining corner, we’ve got a longread on Pokémon fangames and Gav’s penultimate Lanterns recap. And down in the fanworks sections, it’s finally October!! We’ve got Vampire Hunter D fanart and our first batch of seasonal fic recs: horror and generally eerie vibes. — Elizabeth

new stuff

“The NHL’s ‘Hot for Hockey’ Campaign Completely Misses the Point of What Women Truly Want From the League” by Tamara Fuentes at Cosmopolitan
A hair-raising look at the NHL’s tone-deaf marketing campaign aimed at hockey romance fans, which centers on a series of mini audiobooks advertising hockey stars in the style of romance novels.

“Where Did Tony Soprano Get His Crosswords? The Gridspotters Know.” by Emily Palmer Heller at Vulture
“Why are we seeing this weird-looking grid again?” A charming interview with linguist and crossword fan Ben Zimmer about people who study the puzzles that appear in TV and film.

“From creating ‘crack for girls’ to superhero TV: The untold history of the CW, 20 years later” by Whitney Friedlander at the LA Times
“I’m not going to apologize for wanting attractive people.” Beginning with the merger of the WB and UPN networks two decades ago, an oral history of the CW from the executives who developed and ran the network.

accidentally opening a fandom dot com page and 50,000 pop-ups fill my screen and my phone stops working

— nym™️ (@arettee.bsky.social) October 1, 2026 at 4:18 PM

new stuff: fansplaining

“Pokémon Fangames Evolve Beyond Their Origins” by Ana Diaz
Pokémon fangames, which are often modded or borrow elements from official games, are very popular—some are played by millions. In this piece, Ana talks to the creators of some of those games about the ways their fellow fans inspire, continually shape, and even help maintain these fan projects.

“Lanterns: Inside the Failsafe” by Gav
As we approach the end of the season, Gav is increasingly skeptical about Lanterns’ ability to juggle its dual roles as a murder mystery and superhero drama. Episode 7 saw John and the Halogram leave Earth for the first time, but this mostly served to highlight the frustrating lack of detail in the show’s sci-fi worldbuilding.

FYI: In advance of the finale, all of Gav’s Lanterns recaps are now free to read!

we need to respond to gen z's success at the box office with a millennialcore Backrooms. The interior of this pop-up kitchen seems normal at first... but then you start to notice the "kiss me and feed me tacos" neon signs become increasingly twisted... the shareables become unshareable...

— lauren (@lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com) October 2, 2026 at 8:01 AM

older stuff

“Lost Recipes” by Abe Beame at Defector
“Black culture has always lagged behind when it comes to institutional support and preservation. By nature and necessity, hip-hop fans are crate diggers, but there are fewer crates to dig through.”

tumblr & beyond

Vampire Hunter D fanart by worgengel

“getting hyperfixated on a specific character is so embarrassing!”

new aphorism just dropped

happy caitvi kinktober meltdown anniversary, everyone!

“i want to see him crying in the fetal position every wednesday”

“the character should be paying rent to live in my head honestly.”

fanfiction

IT’S TIME. 🎃 We’re starting things off with recs folks have tagged horror, eerie vibes, etc. We also could use a few more recs for later in the month! We got a fair number of vampire fics, but very few about werewolves, ghosts, zombies, and other creatures. If you have a favorite, please send it in! And thanks so much to everyone who submitted this week’s recs. — Elizabeth

“The Beacon Hills Horror” by Guede. 19K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Teen Wolf; Ship: Stiles Stilinski/Peter Hale
Recced by: kimboo_york
Backstory: This is a mashup of Teen Wolf and Cthulhu Mythos, where Stiles is a graduate of Miskatonic University and comes back to Beacon Hills (after having moved away as a kid) to find his childhood best friend is a werewolf and the town is a magnet for eldritch horrors. It’s the first in an incredibly long series (if you’re in the mood to binge read), and is delightfully spooky.
Rec: This is SO full of amazing, creepy world-building! I imagine it’s lesser-known due to the Stiles/Peter pairing, but trust me, it’s a roller coaster of a ride you won’t regret! The writer is great at balancing drama, humor, and character development.
Content warnings: No archive warnings apply but...you know, Peter Hale and Cthulhu.

“Midnight Society” by Tashilover. 9K words, rated Teen
Fandoms: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda) - Fandom; Ship: Gen
Recced by: gnomedrawing
Backstory: This story is set in the Linked Universe AU, a fan comic where versions of Link from all the Legend of Zelda games go on an adventure together. In this fic they are telling spooky stories around the campfire.
Rec: The stories are snappy and varied and just the right amount of spooky for me.
Content warnings: N/A

“The Dragon” by Aristide. 41K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Sentinel; Ship: Jim/Blair
Recced by: kormantic
Backstory: Tumblr and the gang recently reminded everyone that the Sentinel/Guide trope originated with this ridiculous 90s buddy cop show about a guy with heightened senses who needed an emotional support anthropologist within arm’s reach at all times in order to snap him out of sensory overload so he wouldn’t go into a trance and get hit by a garbage truck. Each episode featured a car chase, an explosion and, usually, an ardently sincere conversation between the two male leads, who would clutch at one another whilst looking deeply into each other’s eyes, breathless with (entirely brotherly!) concern.
Rec: This story fulfills the brief of Spooky Shit, with a side of pining so deep it almost kills one of them, thanks to a supernatural twist. This is an extraordinary read, with sharp characterization and atmospheric writing. Also, it’s molten hot.
Content warnings: Short but upsetting description of a suicide and super atrial psychological violence

“Acadia” by Rivkat. 40K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The X-Files; Ship: Dana Scully/Fox Mulder
Recced by: Dori
Backstory: Mulder and Scully track a killer in the woods, while struggling with the various issues unresolved between them. Fourth season, between Demons & Gethsemane.
Rec: Rivkat was my fandom hero (and a cofounder of ao3!). Her creepy take of Mulder as slightly obsessed with Scully, very mentally ill in an unsexy way, and her Scully who is standoffish combine to make a deliciously unhealthy pairing. Goes well with chardonnay.
Content warnings: Serial killer violence

“birdsong” by ScarlettSwordMoon. 23K words, rated Mature.
Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics); Ships: Gen, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Robin (DCU)
Recced by: Rosemarycat5
Backstory: Following Dick Grayson, formerly Batman’s sidekick Robin and currently solo-hero Nightwing, as he gets dosed with fear toxin, a chemical designed to harm someone by inducing an intense fear response often including hallucinations.
Rec: This fic was recommended as THE fear toxin story, and it is absolutely that. What a brilliant character study. Every nightmarish description is beautifully visual and intensely visceral. Brilliant.
Content warnings: Suicidal ideation, body horror, graphic depictions of violence

“Down the Rabbit Hole” by hypnoticwinter. 225K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Mystery Flesh Pit National Park - Trevor Roberts; Ship: Gen
Recced by: lacksley
Backstory: Mystery Flesh Pit National Park is a horror ARG about, well, a mysterious pit of flesh that is discovered in Texas and turned into a national park, which is shut down after a disaster in 2007. This novel length fic explores the story of a reporter searching for a miracle and is drawn in to the mysterious, now-closed park.
Rec: I genuinely got chills down my spine the further into the story I progressed, and could not put this down. The world building that is incorporated from the main tumblr blog is explored in loving, horrifically disgusting detail.
Content warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, major character death, body horror

[GENTRIFIER WHO MOVED TO TRANSYLVANIA] “Amanda, call the cops, they’re out there doing the Mash again.”

— one dozen bats at a keyboard (@panasonicdx4500.bsky.social) October 30, 2025 at 8:59 PM

FINAL THOUGHT

The latest Overinvested episode is on Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma—a film that is in many ways about fandom. My co-host and I had mixed feelings on it (I enjoyed myself; she didn’t), so hopefully there’s something in here for everyone.

Have a great weekend! — Gav