i think people are missing that if they submit early, they won’t be revealed on the last day or something. they’ll still be revealed on the first or second or third day or whatever is closest (or the “correct” day) to their submission date. besides, people can change published dates, too. fests have been tweaking posting orders for years, it’s to help balance the reveals because you don’t want five fics that are 30k+ on the same day