Fannish options & enthusiasms | April 2026

[brightknightie]

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

Spotlight: I went to see Stand By Me on the big screen during its fortieth-anniversary return to theaters in March. I'd actually never seen it before, though I knew almost everything about it through cultural osmosis and felt, watching, almost as if I had seen it before. It's an excellent movie, of course. Well-crafted, well-acted, challenging, and satisfying. At this end of history, it was sometimes difficult to see the characters through their famous actors, like when the character played by River Phoenix vanishes as the narrative switches from past to present and the moment packs a doubled punch. It would not be made the same way today, and I think it would be the less for that. (Everyone knows the Pokémon Stand by Me trivia, right?)

In the Gen 1 (Kanto) games, the male player character's mother is watching the movie on TV. "There's a movie on TV. Four boys are walking on railroad tracks. I better go too," notes the character. (In the remakes, which add the option to choose a female avatar, choosing her makes The Wizard of Oz play instead.) Both are fantastic conceptualizations for one's Pokémon trainer journey, but... very, very different.

Ficathons, fests & communities

• Create & engage
  • fkficfest, the annual Forever Knight event, has prompting 5/03-16, with stories due 7/18.
  • 3weeks4dreamwidth, an annual celebration of DW, runs 4/25-5/15.
  • allbutromance, a gen exchange, has nominations through 4/16, signups 4/20-5/03, and works due 8/14.
  • bitesizedfandomsex, an exchange for canons that can be consumed in 8 or fewer hours, has sign-ups through 4/12 and works due 5/30.
  • whumpex, an exchange for stories in which characters hurt, has nominations through 4/18, sign-ups 4/21-5/04, with works due 6/02.
  • seasonalremix, a match-by-trope remix event, has sign-ups through 4/11, with the original story due 4/18, and a matched remix due 6/20.
  • whatif_au is hosting its annual AU bingo through 7/31.
  • seasonsofdrabbles, a quarterly drabble exchange, has nominations and sign-ups through 4/12.
  • spring_renewal, an open promptfest (panfandom + original works), has fills 4/10-30.
  • bookclub_dw is a monthly reading club (one month to read the elected book, one to discuss it).
  • allbingo's April theme is "flower fest."
  • trope_of_the_month's April theme is "fake dating."
  • pinchhits is a community for posting needed fills for exchanges. For example, goreswap is currently seeking pinch hitters.
  • whenisitdue tracks many more events than I note here!
• Enjoy & share
  • fancake (themed fanfic recs); April theme: "arranged marriage"
  • gensplosion (gen fanfic recs)
  • het_reccers (m/f fanfic recs)
  • fanart_recs (fanart recs)
  • recthething (fanwork recs)

Sidelight: Last year was my year of re-reading Lois McMaster Bujold. This year, I think, will be Rex Stout.