Fannish options & enthusiasms | May 2025

Here are some recent fannish things I've happened to see and would like to share!

Spotlight: No, I didn't manage to snag a Switch 2 pre-order
( I did try... )

Ficathons, fests & communities

• Create & engage
  • fkficfest, the Forever Knight challenge, comes due May 24. (I'm the mod!)
  • saturdaymorningex, the cartoon/anime exchange, has sign-ups through May 9, with works due June 20. (I'm signed up!)
  • earlybirdgetstheword, an exchange for small, inactive fandoms, has sign-ups through May 14, with works due June 22. (If it didn't overlap with others, I'd like to do it!)
  • allbutromance, focused on platonic relationships, has nominations through May 5 and sign-ups through May 24.
  • sholio is running a May Multifandom Commentfic Promptfest. Check it out!
  • genprompt_bingo's 28th round has sign-ups through June 30, with indefinite posting.
  • rewrite_a_fic, a challenge to rewrite one of your own works, comes due November 30.
  • lyricaltitles's "album challenge" asks participants to write a story for each song on an album of their choice.
  • summerofhorrorexchange, multifandom and multimedia, has nominations through May 5 and sign-ups through May 14.
  • monstersmashexchange, focused on relationships with monsters, has nominations through May 5 and sign-ups through May 17.
  • justunrequitedex, focused on unrequited feelings, has sign-ups through May 9.
  • domaystic, a promptfest for domestic themes, runs through May 31.
  • fic_promptly is an ongoing promptfest community.
  • trope_of_the_month's May theme is "gender or sex swap."
  • allbingo's May theme is "colors."
  • pinchhits is a forum for pinch-hits in exchanges. For example, sakuraexchange is seeking pinch hitters.
  • whenisitdue tracks many more events than I note here!
• Enjoy & share
  • fancake (themed fanfic recs); May theme: "angst (with a happy ending)"
  • gensplosion (gen fanfic recs)
  • het_reccers (m/f fanfic recs)
  • fanart_recs (fanart recs)
  • recthething (fanwork recs)

Sidelight: The MCU is on an upswing (no spoilers)

• I'm happy to say that Thunderbolts*, seen in a theater last night, was much better and more appealing to me, personally, than I'd expected, with strong theming, a coherent plot, no visible executive notes, and the best post-credits scene in years.
• Daredevil: Born Again is still much too violent for me, personally, so I hide my eyes a lot, but it is also still well-written and getting better and better as it leans away from its [mis]conception under the previous Disney leadership and back into being a direct continuation of the original series. I love/hate its current relevance.
• The trailer for Fantastic Four: First Steps makes me feel all the feelings that the best of the MCU ever brought me, including tearing up a little at the end. Edge of my seat. Fingers crossed.