Around the World and Web includes announcements and items of interest from beyond the SWG.
Forgotten Ground Regained Features Tolkien-Inspired Alliterative Poetry
In late July, issue 11 was released of Forgotten Ground Regained: A Quarterly Journal of Alliterative Verse, containing 22 poems by 18 poets on the theme, "Alliterative Verse in Arda" (poetry on or about J.R.R. Tolkien and Tolkien's Middle Earth).
The current issue is one of a series of thematic issues. Past themes include "Poems of Love and Loss", "Images of the Natural World", "Mythic Tales and Sacred Truths", "Protests, Prophetic Truths, and Poetic Battles", "Norse and Icelandic Forms", and "Psalms and Meditations". Forgotten Ground Regained is edited by SWG member and Mereth Aderthad presenter Paul D. Deane. (You can view his Mereth Aderthad presentation on alliterative verse in Tolkien here, in addition to alliterative poems created to accompany his presentation in the Mereth Aderthad fanzine.) Several members and friends of the SWG appear in the magazine, including Paul, Himring, Zdenka, Dawn Felagund, and Savannah Horrell.
You can read the "Alliterative Verse in Arda" of Forgotten Ground Regained here.
Forgotten Ground Regained is always open to Tolkien-based poetry, so aspiring scops should check out the submission guidelines here!
Sindar Week 2026
Welcome to Sindar Week 2026!
This year’s event will be from Monday September 7th to Sunday September 14th
The prompts are:
Day 1 — Firsts & Lasts | Doriath | Thingol & Celeborn
Day 2 — Water & Air | Falas | Círdan & Lúthien
Day 3 — Sorrow & Grief | Mithrim | Daeron & Nimloth
Day 4 — Friends & Rivals | Mirkwood | Thranduil & Legolas
Day 5 — Earth & Fire | Lothlórien | Celebrían & Amroth
Day 6 — Joy & Celebration | Edhellond | Nellas & Mablung
Day 7 — Language & Memory | Cuiviénen | OCs & Unnamed Characters
As always, the prompts are only optional and inspirational, and there is no requirement to stick to them. Mix and match, use none, one, all of them. Happy creating!
Finwean Sibblings Prompt Fest 2026
2026 schedule:
Prompting: September 1st-14th
Publishing of prompt list: September 19th (at latest)
Claiming Begins: September 21st at 18:00 UTC
Works due: November 20th
Posting starts: November 27th
Full Rules & Requirements can be found here: Desktop | Mobile
Tolkien Sapphic September
Tolkien Sapphic September is a month long event focusing on Sapphic relationships and characters in Tolkien and adjacent materials.
This is an ANTI-AI event- ai created, assisted, or concept built pieces are NOT ADMISSABLE.
This includes: canon characters, lotro characters,ocs, imagines, x readers, and self inserts.
This event is FULLY FOCUSED on Sapphics this INCLUDES ALL 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 identities!
Past works, works in progress, and late submissions are WELCOME!💫
Submissions to the blog and reblogs here from the Tolkien Sapphic September tags will begin the 1st of September and go throughout the month.
We have an AO3 collection which is happily accepting submissions
Basic rules:
- No AI
- No incest
- Main ship MUST be sapphic.
- Any sexual works must be 18+
- Appropriately tagged for readers
Prompts
These are totally optional and can be altered and combined!!! Think of this year as a custom tea blend all for you!!!
Tea chart
Pine
Old lady yuri
Snowed in
Winter
Lemon balm
Hate sex
Enemies to lovers
One bed
Strawberry
Devotion
Kink
Lust
Basil
Pining
Childhood friends
One bed
Earl grey
Arranged marriage
Letters
Royalty
Books
Rosemary
Modern au
Meet tragic
Adoration
Instrument/art
Valerian
Tragedy
Good bye
Last kiss
Hope
Berry
Horror
Hunter/hunted
Survival
Dandelion
Forbidden love
Loyalty
Resiliency
Hope
Rose
Toxic (to sweet or not)
Opposites attract
Rivals to lovers
Mint
Pride
Gift
Three kisses
Chamomile
Meet cute
Friends to lovers
Fluff
Ginger
Yearning
Indirect kiss
Confession
Smut with feelings
Catnip
Crossover
Self insert
Indulgence
Around the World and Web Archive
Events listed here are no longer active but are listed on the site for historical purposes.
Fictober 2023
This event is open to all fanfiction and original fiction.
Start October the First. You do not have to do the prompts in order. Tag your posts with #fictober23. Please state if your entry is original fiction or fanfiction and what fandom at the top. State common warnings and triggers at the top and tag accordingly. I reserve the right to not reblog fics that I find inappropriate. I will reblog things here on @fictober-event, follow this blog to see all the entries.
Check the rules for any questions.
- "It's not too late, let's go."
- "Don't worry, I got you."
- "Okay, show me."
- "Do you even know what this means?"
- "You're the smartest person I know."
- "I can't wait for you."
- "Do you recognise this?"
- "Give me that, before anything happens."
- "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
- "It's alright, I'm here now."
- "You lost it. Well, we lost it."
- "I'm not saying I didn't like it."
- "Come with me, hurry."
- "If you don't stop now —"
- "Fine, explain it to me."
- "Do you know a way out of here?"
- "I never said it would be easy."
- "We can't do this on our own."
- "What if we're wrong?"
- "This better be good."
- "Just in case this doesn't work."
- "Who takes care of you?"
- "No, you won't understand, ever."
- "Is it over? Is it really over?"
- "Do I look like I knew that?"
- "Honestly, why would I care?"
- "I don't know if they will accept this."
- "I may not get another chance to say this."
- "That's all? Easy."
- "Are you with me?"
- "It's not your fault."
Panfandom Hanukkah Bingo 5784
WHAT: A fanworks bingo celebrating Jewish (and Jew-ish) characters across any and all fandoms. Write fanfiction and/or create graphics (moodboards, edits, vids, whatever you like) to fill prompts on this overall bingo card. During the 8 nights of Hanukkah, submit your fills to the AO3 collection and/or post them on Tumblr to be reblogged and added to the Bingo Masterpost.
WHY: Jewish characters and Jewish fans are often overlooked or erased during the Winter Holiday Season in favor of “Secret Santa” exchanges, Christmas-themed fics, and the idea that ~Hanukkah is Jewish Christmas~ (which spoiler for all fics in this bingo: it’s not). This panfandom Bingo challenge is to celebrate Hanukkah on its own terms and give Jewish characters and fans a place to breathe. :)
Signing up is totally optional. If you want to sign up and get an individualized Bingo Card, then you have between 10/1/2023 (October 1) and 12/1/2023 (December 1) to do so. If you want to use the GENERAL Bingo Card, which will be posted on Tumblr on 10/7/2023, then you do not need to sign up to participate. You can sign up to receive an individualized Bingo Card here.
Participation is open to anyone! You do not need to be Jewish to participate in the Panfandom Hanukkah Bingo! If you are not Jewish, though, we request that you have a Jewish sensitivity reader or beta reader before posting your piece and that you reblog and promote the work of Jewish creators in the event. MESSIANIC STORIES ARE NOT ALLOWED.
Please let us know of any character(s) or fandom(s) we should promote this event to, and please feel free to promote this event yourselves on Discord, Twitter, Instagram, whatever! We would love to see this event grow this year.
Whumptober 2023
We’re very excited to see the community come together once more and be a wild, chaotic bunch of creators and consumers of whump. Go wild with the prompts, and support your fellow creators—we wish you all the fun!
Please make sure to read the Event Info carefully, as most of your questions will be answered there already. For everything else, you are welcome to come to our ask box or ask questions in our Discord server here.
This year’s AO3 Collection can be found here.
October challenge at tolkienshortfanworks
The tolkienshortfanworks challenge for October has been posted to the community on Dreamwidth.
The thematic prompt is : sound versus silence, to be interpreted in any way you like.
The formal challenge is to write a tanka (link goes to Wikipedia entry).
Like the haiku of the September challenge, this is a Japanese-inspired poetic form, although a bit less well known.
The pattern is:
5-7-5-7-7
(Some examples written in the Tolkien fandom from AO3.)
Historically it is the longer form from which the haiku evolved.
If you like the idea, your characters could do a kind of renga or linked poem, dividing the tanka between speakers:
One speaker provides the 5-7-5 lines and the other speaker completes the tanka by adding the 7-7 lines.
(This can evolve into a longer string, if the occasion allows!)
As always, both of these prompts can be filled independently and freely combined with other prompts. New participants are welcome; all that is required is a Dreamwidth account.
More details on the challenge at the linked post.
Silm Smut Week 2023
The aim of Silm Smut Week is to foster a positive, inclusive, and fun culture around the creation and enjoyment of smut, porn, and erotica. It will run Sunday, October 1, through Saturday, October 7, 2023 on Tumblr and AO3.
How to Participate
- Create something that narrates, depicts, or considers sexual activity involving the characters of The Silmarillion.
- Post it on Tumblr and/or add it to the AO3 Collection and mention this blog (@silmsmutweek) and tag #silmsmutweek.
- We will reblog posts daily.
- If you do not see your post reblogged after 24 hours, please send us an ask or DM mods @polutrope or @ettelene. Please! You are not annoying us.
- The themes and prompts for each day are just suggestions. You can post anything any day of the week and we will reblog it.
- Late submissions for the event are welcome and we will try to reblog those as well but cannot guarantee that we will.
- Engage with other creators! Enjoy their works!
All genres, tropes, and kinks are welcome: porn without plot, porn with plot; fluff, humour, angst, dark; slash, het, femslash, poly, solo; canon-compliant, alternate universe; reader insert, incest, etc. And, of course, every imaginable kink.
All forms of creative engagement with the Silmarillion and the Silmarillion fandom are welcome: writing, visual art, meta/analysis, headcanons, playlists, music, video, podfics, cosplay, etc.
Daily Prompts
Click the links to find each day's prompt collection!
Day 1: Wind (Ainulindalë)
Day 2: Mountains (Shaping of Arda)
Day 3: River (The Great Journey & Noontide of Valinor)
Day 4: Fire (The Unrest of the Noldor)
Day 5: Unlight (Darkening of Valinor)
Day 6: Forest (War and Peace in Beleriand)
Day 7: Sea (War of Wrath)
TRSB Is Looking for a New Mod
The Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang is looking for a new mod for their 2024 event. Founder and moderator Raiyana describes the job as follows:
We are searching for a new addition to the TRSB mod team, preferably someone who Arts and can bring that perspective to our writing biased group. An ability to read spreadsheets is also useful and enough patience to get through emails from people who definitely did not read the faq because the answer is right there. In return, we offer vent space, boozy voice chats post-claims and a fair number of terrible but funny jokes along with the chance to see and influence the event behind the scenes!
Interested or need to know more? Contact the TRSB mods here. If you're on Tumblr, their ask box is here.
Flufftober 2023
Flufftober offers thirty-one prompts and some extras to fill the month of October with as much fluff as possible on Tumblr and AO3.
Guidelines
- Incest or pedophilia won’t be reblogged.
- No hate or ship bashing - we’re all different and we all love different things. As long as it doesn’t go against rule #1, it’s allowed.
- Tag correctly! Trigger warnings (including cheating!), ships, ratings, (pure) smut, etc - it’s all fine as long as you tag it.
- There’s absolutely no word count restriction, write as little or as much as you like.
- In regards to art, anything goes: drawings, paintings, collages, mood boards, gifsets, videos, playlists… the sky’s the limit (though not really…)
- While we can’t force you to write fluff or create fluffy art, please try to keep in mind that this is a fluff event.
- You can start writing and/or arting as soon as you see this - but please refrain from posting before the respective day.
- You can participate on as many days as you like, even if it’s just one; you can also create multiple entries for the same day.
- You can replace prompts from the original list with either or all of our prompt extras; you can also mix them with the original prompts or create for them in addition to the 31 original prompts, that's completely up to you.
- It’s okay to write one story/a series for all the prompts as long as it’s separated into chapters and the respective chapter/work is posted on the given day.
- You do not have to stick to one ship or even one fandom - switch as often as you like to or even write for multiple ships for one day.
- The ship does not have to be a romantic one! Friendship and family feels are more than welcome (but this is not a way to get around rule #1!)
- This event can be combined with other events as long as the other event allows it.
- Late entries are always welcome, even if it is months later.
- All fandoms and ships are welcome - fanon and canon - as long as they’re of age (in case you want to add smut) and not related.
Tagging
- Please use the tag #flufftober2023
- Since tags are sometimes wonky, make sure to also add @flufftober in your post
- We will try to catch them all, but please don't be mad if we miss a post or if it gets reblogged a bit late
- If you're absolutely certain a post has slipped past us, feel free to send an ask with the link to your post
- To make reblogging easier for us, make sure to add the following tags: #flufftober2023 #day [xy] #[fandom] #[ship and/or main character(s)]
- If you're using a prompt extra tag it as #alt [number]
You can add your creation to the collection flufftober2023 or flufftober_2023. Late entries are always welcome, on tumblr as well as the ao3 collection!
Prompts and additional information on the Flufftober event can be found here.
Finwëan Ladies Week 2023
This is a week-long event celebrating the ladies of the line of Finwë! There have been events within the Silmarillion fandom focused on the sons of Finwë and their descendents, and to add to the fun this week was established to give his wives, daughters, and other female descendants their own time to shine.
Finwëan Ladies Week began in 2019 and has run every year since. We are back for more in our fifth year, this time from September 18-24, 2023!
Any content and creations about the ladies of Finwë’s line are welcome! You can create edits, gifs, fanart, fanfic, fanmixes, and more!
Below are some prompts for each day of the week. They are not mandatory, but they are here to inspire you. This page will lead to a detailed explanation for each one.
DAY ONE: Míriel Þerindë and Indis
DAY TWO: Findis and Írimë Lalwen
DAY THREE: Aredhel and Galadriel
DAY FOUR: Later Generations
DAY FIVE: Ladies Who Married In
DAY SIX: Original Characters
DAY SEVEN: Freeform
This event is being organized by mods Anna @arofili and Elle @elesianne. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to message this blog or reach out to Anna on their main blog. Anna runs on Pacific Standard Time, and Elle runs on Eastern European Summer Time, so we will be active and modding on those schedules, although you are free to post your content at the time most convenient to you!
For further clarification, check out our about, FAQ, and prompts pages! Happy creating!!
Mobile links are accessible here.
Spook Me Multifandom Ficathon 2023
When the chill winds of autumn rattle the bare limbs of the trees, and dark clouds race across the face of the moon, the veil between worlds lifts to reveal:
The Spook Me Multi-Fandom Halloween Ficathon 2023!
All fandoms are welcome. Stories can be Gen, Het, Slash or Femslash. All ratings are accepted.
We have TWO new Creatures this year: MOTHMAN and PLAGUE DOCTOR!
Dates to Know
September 5: Sign ups start.
September 15: Sign ups end.
September 17: Prompts sent out.
October 20: Reminder posted here - please friend if you want to get the reminder.
October 26: Master Post opens, stories are due!
Participants choose a creature from the list and will be sent two spooky images, with the option to use any or all of them as prompts.
Full details on how to participate can be found on the Spook Me Dreamwidth.
Half-Elven Week 2023
Half-Elven Week is a Tumblr event dedicated to appreciating some of Tolkien's beloved characters. To note – as half-elven, we count all characters who have the blood of elves and some other race, no matter if they are called so in the canon.
This week is organized by @armenelols and @yellow-faerie and is held on September 11th – September 17th 2023.
Prompts
Day 1 - Being Different; Doriathrim - Lúthien, Dior, Eluréd, Elurín, Elwing
Day 2 - The Choice; People of Sirion - Elwing, Eärendil, Elrond, Elros
Day 3 - Heritage; Númenoreans - Elros, his children and descendants
Day 4 - Power; People of Rivendell - Elrond, his children and descendants
Day 5 - Legacy; Princes of Dol Amroth - Galador, Gilmith and their descendants
Day 6 - Loss; Parents of half-elves - Melian, Thingol, Tuor, Idril, Beren, Nimloth, Celebrían, Elros's wife, Imrazôr, Mithrellas, and others
Day 7 - Freeform
Rules
- prompts aren't mandatory, only a source of inspiration
- OCs are welcome - children of Caranthir/Haleth, Aegnor/Andreth, any elf/other race pair
- tag your work #halfelvenweek and tag us @halfelvenweek so we can find your post
- if you have any questions, asks are open!
Have fun!