Fannish options & enthusiasms | May 2025

[brightknightie]

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
In the end, it was more fun to have been caught up in the event and moment, with the news and fandom, then it was frustrating to have come away empty-handed. So all is good.

I believe I've previously mentioned that I'd set aside some work bonus/award money specifically for a Switch 2, and that I've been planning on it since last summer. So on the night pre-sales opened to order a Switch 2 in the US -- midnight Eastern / 9pm Pacific -- I, like apparently everyone else, tried promptly and repeatedly, and experienced constant site malfunctions. I managed to get a Switch 2 (or a Switch 2 + Pro-Controller bundle) into my cart 3 times! Each time, it vanished, just vanished, after about ~20 minutes on a screen telling me that I was "in line" to check out. After 3 hours, the erratic malfunctions turned into a "Sold out" or back to the original "Coming soon."

(Reportedly, all three authorized US sellers' sites that went live that night were disasters. Apparently, Best Buy was the worst and Walmart the best, with Target between, for baseline functionality that night. Gamestop didn't open theirs until 11:00 the next morning, when their site bombed even worse than Best Buy's had, but at least they still had brick-and-mortar opportunities. The one person I personally know who snagged one went to Gamestop in person.) (No, Amazon is not an authorized seller for pre-orders in the US. They didn't exactly advertise this, so some folks were stymied by that, too.)

I wasn't prudent/dedicated/desperate enough to be trying on multiple sites on multiple devices and in dedicated apps as well as in browsers. And I didn't take time off work to go to Gamestop in person. I did continue trying periodically, refreshing a store site most times I sat down at my computer for a week after, because there were ongoing reports of new "drops" as the companies tidied up, cancelling obvious bot orders, or seeing folks who secured multiple orders cancelling the extras. But, after a while, it became clear that the sites were just done with pre-orders.

Maybe I will be able to get one later in the summer or fall. Or maybe there won't be any more for the US for a long time, or scalpers will take them all, or prices will be untenable. That's okay. I don't have a Switch 1; I haven't personally lived in a household with a console of any type in decades. Nothing changes for me. I'll continue watching games over a friend's shoulder and on YouTube, watching theory and music vids, and reading fansites, fanfic, and manga.

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.