Fannish options & enthusiasms | June 2026

[brightknightie]

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

Spotlight: In May, I finished The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on Switch 2. I haven't been sure how to sum it up. On the one hand, it's great; if I could have played [my way] longer than the ~120 hours I did, I would have. The story and characterizations really are among the best in the series, the painterly art style is inviting and comfortable, and several dungeons felt amazing. On the other hand, I couldn't play my way any more at a certain point, and at that point I felt almost glad to flee out through the finale. Spoiled by open-world-ness, perhaps?

When I'd completed all the side quests and only the endgame, minigames, and too-hard-for-me boss rush remained, Skyloft felt ... extraordinarily empty. Suddenly deflated and exposed as the facade-and-jack-braces set it is. I felt like I fled that emptiness rather than Link turning bravely to the next chapter in fulfillment of the story. (Not that whacking Ghirahim wasn't satisfying, mind.) I wonder whether I might have felt more compelled at the end if Headmaster Gaepora had been begging Link to catch up with Zelda and otherwise anxious for his daughter and/or his civilization, not serenely expressing his confidence that everything would be just fine. A little more of the "Don't fail her, boy" energy that Impa brought to the early game could have been effective? On reflection, I think this Link would agree that the ability of Skyloft at large to barely notice Zelda's disappearance -- never mind what happened with the goddess statue -- is unsettling at best, and all the more reason for Link, Zelda, Groose, and some other bold souls to live on the surface after.

Addendum: When I finally mastered the controls adapted from the Wii, I actually loved them. No button mashing, but actively reacting to the directions of the foe's movements? Love, love, love.

Ficathons, fests & communities

• Create & engage
  • beagoldfish, a "microbang" fanwork celebration, runs 7/01-8/31.
  • fkficfest, the annual Forever Knight event, comes due 7/18.
  • launchtheship, the annual challenge to write the first story for a relationship, comes due on 7/20.
  • allbingo's June theme is "Pride Month."
  • trope_of_the_month's June theme is "historical AU."
  • pinchhits is a community for needed fills for exchanges. For example, worldbuildex is currently seeking pinch hitters.
  • whenisitdue tracks many more events than I note here!
• Enjoy & share
  • fancake (themed fanfic recs); June theme: "just like canon"
  • gensplosion (gen fanfic recs)
  • het_reccers (m/f fanfic recs)
  • fanart_recs (fanart recs)
  • recthething (fanwork recs)

Sidelight: The Nintendo eShop has a sale through 6/09 that, unusually, includes a few first-party games (all Mario, it looks like). I picked up Spiritfarer (2020) by Thunder Lotus Games for a 90% markdown to just $2.99 USD (!) (Wikipedia entry). Its storyline is about Stella and her cat, who take over as psychopomps from Charon. Yes, it is indeed a cozy management game about dying, and I've had it on my wishlist since I learned about it.