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

Spotlight: A thriving cosplay club gathers every few months in the park around a certain branch library near me. (I fence rapier-and-dagger weekly at that same time and place.) Usually, they're there to party, 30 to 50 people, mostly twenty-somethings by my guess, with upwards of 75% of attendees in costume. They play games (always including trivia and a piñata) and eat goodies (on picnic blankets), and are a delight. I love recognizing costumes when I can! Every now and then, one asks about fencing, and we chat. Recently, they held a rummage sale, selling each other used costumes, supplies, and fannish miscellany, and I suddenly realized that you might enjoy knowing about them. I also thought that, if you didn't already know, you would enjoy learning about "causeplay" -- cosplay for charity. Apparently, it's a big and growing thing, cosplayers visiting hospitals, shelters, and schools to boost children's morale. ♥

Ficathons, fests & communities

• Create & engage
  • 3weeks4dreamwidth continues through 5/15.
  • fkficfest, the annual Forever Knight event, has prompting through 5/16 and stories due 7/18.
  • joseimuke is a new community celebrating "girly Japanse(ish) fiction" ("non-live action media with the heart of shoujo manga").
  • ahorseofcourseexchange, a fic exchange for horses and horsemanship, has nominations through 5/10, sign-ups through 5/18, and works due 6/08.
  • fanfictionfesta, an event to promote reading, sharing, and commenting on fic, runs through 6/30.
  • galorechallenge, a crossover fic challenge resuscitated from LJ, holds its Round 1 through 6/30.
  • fandomdoestzedakah, a fanwork auction charity fundraiser for various Jewish organizations, has creator sign-ups through 5/22, bidding through 6/15, and works due on 9/11.
  • Watson Birthday Promptfest, a celebration of all Watsons in all Sherlock Holmes versions, runs through 8/07.
  • sweetandshort is a low-pressure challenge community for weekly small works.
  • fic_promptly is a low-pressure community for daily prompts and fills.
  • whatif_au's annual "AU Bingo" game runs through 7/31.
  • allbingo's May theme is "Greek myth."
  • trope_of_the_month's May theme is "forced proximity."
  • pinchhits is a community for needed fills for exchanges. For example, whumpex is currently seeking pinch hitters.
  • whenisitdue tracks many more events than I note here!
• Enjoy & share
  • fancake (themed fanfic recs); May theme: "journey & travel"
  • gensplosion (gen fanfic recs)
  • het_reccers (m/f fanfic recs)
  • fanart_recs (fanart recs)
  • recthething (fanwork recs)

Sidelight: I've been looking for new-to-me Dreamwidth folks to read and interact with. I really appreciate that Dreamwidth sorts its lists of journals with certain "interests" by how recently they've posted. It can be dispiriting that various interests have few folks who have posted in recent years. Yet it's really helpful that someone built the sorting that way in the first place! Excellent call.