Around the World and Web

Around the World and Web includes announcements and items of interest from beyond the SWG.

Week of Kiliel

Welcome to Week of Kiliel! 

This event will be held May 17-23! The goal of this week is to celebrate and be creatively inspired by the relationship between Tauriel and Kili Durin! We want to encourage The Hobbit community to make Kiliel art, fanfiction, edits, crafts, and more!

Rules:

• There are prompts for every day to inspire your creativity! You can pick one or multiple from each day, and they can be followed as loosely or as closely as you would like!

• Please use the tag “#week of kiliel” so we can reblog your entries! You can also tag @weekofkiliel! We are so excited to see and support all of your work!

• Late entries are fine, though we ask that you do not post earlier!

• If you have an existing work that fits one of these prompts that you would like to submit, that is fine, but please repost about it with the hashtag on the day it corresponds to! While we accept already existing works, we really want to encourage new Kiliel content as that is one of the goals of Kiliel week!

• NSFW is allowed! While none of the prompts are explicitly NSFW, NSFW is permitted as long as it is properly tagged!

• While the main ship and characters should be Kiliel, background ships and characters are welcome! However, for this event we do not accept Durincest or other incest ships.

NO AI WILL BE PERMITTED FOR THIS EVENT, ANY AI ENTRIES WILL BE UNOFFICIAL AND WILL NOT BE REBLOGGED OR ENDORSED

Prompts

Day 1 - Modern AU, First Kiss, Dating, Fluff

Day 2 - Courting, Erebor Never Fell AU, Wingman, Khuzdul

Day 3 - Sickfic, Poison, Angst, Healing

Day 4 - Mirkwood, Culture Shock, Meetcute, Sindarin

Day 5 - Height Difference, Cuddling, College AU, Bed Sharing

Day 6 - Crossover AU, Fake Dating, Arranged Marriage, Confession

Day 7 - Afterlife, Everybody Lives, Scene Rewrite, Alt First Meeting

Aspec Arda Week 2026

Aspec Arda Week: May 10th-16th, 2026

This event celebrates asexual and aromantic spectrum interpretations and headcanons of Tolkien's Legendarium.

Any creations about the aromantic and asexual spectrums are welcome! You can create edits, gifs, fanart, fanfic, fanmixes, and more! All versions of canon/fanon and characters are included, be it from the books, movies, TV, OCs, etc. Please tag your posts with #aspecardaweek AND @ mention this blog @aspecardaweek so that your work can be easily found. If you are posting your submission to AO3, we will have an event collection! This is not an event for generative AI works.

The prompts below are a guideline for the week’s events, though you are not obligated to stick to them when participating. They’re completely optional, and more of a source of inspiration than a mandatory guideline. Feel free to explore them however you’d like; an explanation for each is given, but you can interpret them differently if you want to.

Day 1 / May 10th: Asexuality || Hope 

Day 2 / May 11th: Aromanticism || Community 

Day 3 / May 12th: Across the A-Spectrum || Loneliness 

Day 4 / May 13th: Worldbuilding || Dragons 

Day 5 / May 14th: Relationships || Linguistics 

Day 6 / May 15th: Intersectionality || Found Family 

Day 7 / May 16th: Freeform

For further clarification, check out our FAQcode of conduct, and prompts pages! Happy creating!!

Detailed Prompts

DAY ONE: Asexuality

What characters do you see as asexual? Why? How does that impact their lives?

Alternative prompt: Hope

DAY TWO: Aromanticism

What characters do you see as aromantic? Why? How does that impact their lives?

Alternative prompt: Community

DAY THREE: Across the A-Spectrum

“Asexual” and “aromantic” are umbrella terms encapsulating a wide spectrum of identities. From grayromantic to demisexual, and aroace to lithromantic —there are many other labels on the a-spectrum. This is a day for exploring those identities and the characters you associate them with.

Alternative prompt: Loneliness

DAY FOUR: World Building

How does acceptance and prevalence of aspec identity vary over both cultures and species?

Are all elves really baseline demisexual? What’s up with one third of dwarven populations focusing on their craft instead of taking a spouse? How do soul bonds work between elven couples who don’t want to have sex? Did Númenor get aphobic when they started distancing themselves from the Elves? Do aspec hobbits feel pressure to settle down and have large families?

Alternative prompt: Dragons

DAY FIVE: Relationships

Aspec people can have many different kinds of relationships, including romantic and sexual ones— but some kinds of relationships are more unique and common to the aspec communities, such as queerplatonic ones. Today is a day for exploring all these different kinds of relationships!

There are several relationships in Tolkien's works that could easily be read as queerplatonic, including Frodo & Sam, and Legolas & Gimli. There is also an interesting footnote in The Nature of Middle Earth which describes something like a queerplatonic relationship and provides some Quenya words for it.

Alternative prompt: Linguistics - Many of the terms for aspec identity come from root words of Latin, can you postulate translations for aspec terminology in any of Tolkien's languages?

DAY SIX: Intersectionality

There is more to a person’s life than just their orientation. Outside of fantasy species, how does being aspec interact with a character’s other identities and experiences, such as race or disability or religion? What’s the impact of a character’s aspec identity on their gender or other orientation labels? Today is a day for exploring the intersections of the aspec experience with other aspects of identity.

Alternative Prompt: Found Family

DAY SEVEN: Freeform

Post about something aspec related not yet covered in the topics this week, or return to a prompt you have more thoughts about! Alternatively, we have some additional prompts for inspiration that did not quite fit into the other days.

  • Recommend a fic, meta post, etc. that includes aspec identity.
  • How would a particular character respond to allonormativity / amatanormativity? What kind of amatanormativity / allonormativity have they faced?
  • What is a particular character’s relationship with their aspec identity Is it a big part of their life?
  • Post about an aspec character’s family, either found family, or blood relations. Does their family support them? Does their family (or society) have expectations of marriage and children of them?
  • Post about aspec community (symbols, cultural practices, mentorship and friendship with other aspec characters) within the context a culture within Tolkien's Legendarium, or take a character and post about what parts an aspec community they would resonate with in a modern Earth AU.

 

Angbang Week 2026

This is the official blog of Angbang (or Melron) week. 

We follow the tags "#AngbangWeek" and "#Angbang Week" as well as the current year variations of those tags. We have our ask box and DMs open if you have any questions!

List of prompts for Angbang Week 2026:

  • Day 1: First meeting/Reunion
  • Day 2: Dating/Intimacy
  • Day 3: Competitions/Rivalry
  • Day 4: Eyes/Gaze
  • Day 5: Letters/Long distance communication
  • Day 6: Last day together/Separation
  • Day 7: Canon divergence

As always, there are two prompts a day to choose between. You may create any original work you feel relates to the prompt, and if you did not connect with a prompt, feel free to skip it. All previously unposted creations made by you are accepted (fic, art, moodboards, playlists, etc). For any adult content, please keep it below a read more and tag it accordingly.

When posting your works, please post them on the day the prompt appears on or on a later day and tag this blog directly by using @, or add one of the following tags (#angbangweek2026, #angbang week 2026) to your post's tag list so we know the post is for the event. Please note that the event rules have been updated to clarify that we do NOT accept any creations made using Generative AI of any sort, and as such we will not be featuring any such content on this blog. For any questions or further clarifications, feel free to reach out in the asks or DMs. Happy creating and we'll see you in May!

April/May Teitho Challenge

Our prompt for April/May is Heartbreak. There are so many possibilities with this one!

Will you go back to the very beginning with the heartbreak of Melkor’s discord during the creation?

Or will you take us to the time of Miriel and Finwë? Fëanor’s heartbreak at the loss of his mother?And later his father’s death? Or the loss of the Silmarils themselves, that led to so much heartbreak for so many?

The kinslaying. The ship burning. The Helcaraxë. Battle after battle. Betrayal. The heartbreak of The Oath itself.

The death of Fingolfin. Fingon. Finrod. The sons of Fëanor, one after another. The heartbreak of those left behind: Maglor, Galadriel, Elrond.

The tragedy of the House of Hurin.

Or will you come to the time of Celebrimbor—the glory of Eregion and Khazad-Dûm and the devastation that followed? The Last Alliance?

The travails of Frodo. The lonely travels of Aragorn. The heavy weight of duty straining the hearts of both Boromir and Faramir. Eowyn’s heartbreak in Edoras.

The doomed love stories that are woven into Tolkien’s books—Turin, Finduilas, Gwindor, to name a few.

Heartbreak can be so many things—with love, with loss, with changes that shift our entire world. But heartbreak can also be in the small moments—for a child, a parent, a friend, a comrade. It can be momentary or span years. Or even lifetimes.

Will you break our hearts with your stories and art this time? Or will you find a way to heal the heartbreak and find the hope that can endure and persist?

We can’t wait to see what you do with this prompt!

Submissions are due May 31, 2026. Please send them to teitho.contest@gmail.com

Your teitho mods

Sian22, Lotrfan, and Cassie.

Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2026

Schedule 

  • March

    1: 2025 Gallery Opens

    The Gallery for 2025 is live! Enjoy the beautiful pieces created for last year’s TRSB!

    22: Suggestion Form Opens

    This form gives potential authors (or anyone else who wants to play!) the opportunity to suggest characters, places and scenarios they would like to see in the submitted art. We will post a link to the form on our Tumblr and here on the website. The answers will feed into a publicly available spreadsheet listing the ideas submitted; artists can peruse this to get inspired!

  • April

    12: Sign-ups Open

    We post links to our sign-up form on all the usual platforms. You can then sign up as an artist, an author, a beta, a cheerleader, a pinch hitter, or as two or more of these. Please see the ‘Sign-ups’ section of the FAQ for more details on what these terms mean.

  • May

    3: Artist Sign-up Deadline

    9: Art Draft Due

    Participating art submissions must be sent to the mods by this date to be eligible for the Claims Gallery. 
    For more details on how to do this, see the ‘Art Submissions’ section of the FAQ. Artists may submit up to two pieces of art, for claiming by two separate authors.

    10: Discord Server Opens

    Come hang out with your fellow participants!

    15: Art Previews Open

    Our online gallery of art prompts will be visible to signed-up participants only.  Signed-up authors can browse the artworks and see which pieces appeal to their muses!

    16-17: Discord Art Talks

    These are live chats on Discord with mod presence – start times to be announced – where we go through the beautiful gallery and admire the work of our artists. It has been great fun in past years!

    20: Author Signups Deadline

    23 (Saturday) 17:00 UTC: CLAIMS

    Authors submit a ranked list of the artworks they would like to claim to write fic for. Claims are on a first-come, first-served basis. One artwork will be allocated to each claiming author; the mods will email you to confirm which piece you have successfully claimed and how to get in touch with your artist. See the ‘Claims’ section of the FAQ for more information.

    What time is that for me?

    TBA – Additional Claims

    If any artworks are left unclaimed, we will hold one or more additional claiming rounds as needed. Generally, there will be 24 hours between rounds, but the timing is at the mods’ discretion. The additional round(s) will be announced to signed-up participants by email and on the TRSB Discord.

    31: Post-Claims Check-in

    The mods will email each artist/author pair to ensure that you have successfully established contact – even if you are not planning on a close collaboration, it is polite to check in with your partner, say hello, and make sure you’re both clear on must-haves and do-not-wants. One person from your pair must respond and confirm that you have done this!

  • June

    14: Free Rein Art Due

    We know some artists like to give their authors as much creative freedom as possible, and we have a dedicated collaboration option for this (see ‘Art Submissions’ FAQs). However, this means we require these artists to share the final art with their authors much earlier than artists who are prepared to be more involved.

  • July

    12: Check-in #2

    The mods will email each pair to ensure everything is on track. One person from your pair must respond – see ‘Check Ins’ in the FAQ.

  • August

    9: Final Art Due

    Artists must share the final art with their authors – but don’t post it yet!
    Don’t email it to the mods.

    16: Final Check-in (#3)

    Deadline to abandon your fic to a pinch hitter. There will be no penalty for dropping out on or before this date. This year we ask both collaborators to contact the mods at the final check-in.

    The mods will email all participants beforehand to ensure everything is still on track. We will ask you to confirm:

    • Whether the art is complete (Artists: did you share it with your author? Authors: have you seen the final art?)
    • Whether you have discussed posting logistics (ie, have you talked about how the art will be posted (embedded and/or posted separately to the collection), who will handle promo posting, any specific posting needs)

    26: Art Can Be Posted

    Artworks can be posted to your preferred platform on or after this date (but before they are due in the collection).  Hype your collab wherever you like and get the excitement going! Artists should ensure that their author has received a link to the art for embedding or linking in the finished fic as agreed upon before August 30th (deadline for posting the fic to the collection).

    30: Fic Due In Collection

    Authors should post their stories in our AO3 collection with the artwork embedded or linked. See the “Posting fic” section of our FAQ.

  • September

    5: COLLECTION REVEALS


Around the World and Web Archive

Events listed here are no longer active but are listed on the site for historical purposes.

Fandom Trumps Hate Sign-Ups Open

Fandom Trumps Hate is an online auction of fanworks, with the proceeds going to small, progressive nonprofits that are working to protect marginalized people. Fandom Trumps Hate has raised over $135,000 for a range of amazing organizations.

Sign-ups for this year's auction are now open and close on February 13. Bidding runs February 23-27.

See this post on Tumblr for more information on how to sign up as a creator (here is the sign-up post on Dreamwidth).

Awesome Ladies Podfic Anthology XII

It’s time for the twelfth annual Awesome Ladies Podfic Anthology! As always, we'll be collecting short lady-centric podfics by different readers in different fandoms to release as an anthology and as a collection of individual files.

The submission deadline for podfics is February 14th, and we will post the anthology on February 28th.

The theme for this year's anthology is exploration. It's optional—all podfics are welcome as long as they follow the rules laid out in the Submission Guidelines—but feel free to let it inspire you if you'd like.

If you are not familiar with this project, you can see the previous eleven anthologies here.

To Podficcers: Interested in participating? We'd love to have you. This should be a low-stress project, even for people who are new to podficcing, due to the word-count: 1500 words or less (with many being as short as 1-2 minutes). If you'd like to record something for this anthology, please fill out this quick google form and we'll send you the link to the spreadsheet where we'll be keeping track of all the podfics. If you would prefer to interface via email instead of using the form/spreadsheet, you can email klb at sekritproject@gmail.com, and she will reach out to get you set up.

Complete guidelines for the Awesome Ladies Podfic Anthology can be found here.

Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2022 Schedule Posted

The 2022 schedule for the Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang is as follows:

  • 1st April - suggestions spreadsheet opens
  • 15th April - sign ups open
  • 8th May - artist sign ups close
  • 15th May - art drafts due
  • 20th May - gallery open
  • 22nd May - author sign ups close
  • 29th May - claims
  • (***TBA - additional claims***)
  • 5th June - post claims check in
  • 12th June - final art due from artists who chose the “free rein” collaboration option
  • 26th June - check in #2
  • 31st July - check in #3
  • 7th August - final art due from all other artists
  • 14th August - final check in / deadline to abandon your fic to a pinch hitter
  • 4th September - fics due in collection
  • 9th September - reveals
  • 12th September - staggered Tumblr reblogs begin

Note that this year's bang will only allow two submissions per artist in order to keep numbers manageable.

To keep up with the 2022 event, follow TRSB on Tumblr or @TolkienRSB on Twitter.

Squidge Restoration of Lost Podfics

The fandom archive Squidge has hosted the Jinjurly audio/podfic archive for a couple of years now, but have only recently taken control of the day-to-day stuff that needs to be done.  Furthermore, a hack of the Jinjurly archive resulted in the loss of many, many podfics. Site moderators have recovered a number of files for the archive.

They are asking the podfic community who may have used Jinjurly if they have replacement files. They also need volunteers to help with the immense task they are undertaking to restore these fanworks.

For now, there is a Google Form for submitting replacement files or new podfics for the archive.

The Squidge Status Dreamwidth has much more information on the project and ways to get involved to help.

Second Age Week, January 17-23

Showing  love and appreciation for the Second Age in all its facets. From proud Númenoreans to deep digging Dwarves, to the last High King of the Noldor, and the Dark Lord of Mordor - this week is dedicated to all of them and more!

A list of non-mandatory prompts below:

Day 1 Elves - Gil-galad, Oropher, Celebrían and many others - Lindon and Belfalas, Imladris and Eregion, Lórinand and Greenwood. What were the elves doing in the Second Age? This day is dedicated to them and their many endeavours.

Day 2 Men - What made Drúedain leave Númenor? What occurred in the East where the Blue Wizards journeyed? What was the situation on Númenor under Ar-Gimilzôr’s rule? On this day of Second Age Week, we explore the race of Men - from proud Númenoreans, through those who would come to be known as Dunlendings, to the Haradrim in the South.

Day 3 Dwarves - From Ered Luin through Khazad Dûm to the Eastern Realms, dwarves played an important role during the Second Age. On this day you can explore their history and culture, events they participated in, prominent characters such as Durin IV. or Narvi and more!

Day 4 Sauron and his minions - Annatar, Zigûr, Tar-Mairon, Gorthaur - in the Second Age, Sauron was at his strongest. With his lies and deceits, he weaved his way into the court of Númenor and the forge of Eregion and began a reign of terror from his fortress in Mordor. This day is dedicated to him and his many followers.

Day 5 Artefacts and Symbols - The Second Age was full of prominent artefacts and symbols - from the Rings of Power to the White Tree of Númenor, their history and fate - there’s plenty to explore!

Day 6 Impactful events - The rise and fall of kingdoms; councils and meetings, battles and wars - during the spam of 3441 of this Age, history books could easily be filled.

Day 7 Freeform - Did we forget about something or is there a prompt you want to revisit? Feel free to use this day for any Second Age related content!

The week will  run on Tumblr during January 2022 - 17th to 23rd - and will be hosted by @iminye​ and @armenelols. ​ 

More details about tags, etc. in the linked post.

Worldbuilding Exchange (Final Year)

This will be the final year of the Worldbuilding Exchange. See their Dreamwidth page for more details on how to sign up, information about this being the last year for the exchange, and relevant links: https://worldbuildingex.dreamwidth.org/

Seasons of Drabbles: Winter Round 2022

Seasons of Drabbles is an exchange for the creation of drabbles and drabble variants. It will run once per season. The current round is for winter 2021-2022.

Schedule:
Nominations open: January 3 (will remain open through signups)
Signups open: January 9
Signups close: January 16 @ 11:59pm Eastern time (Countdown)
Assignments out by: January 19
Assignments due: January 29 @ 11:59pm Eastern time (Countdown)
Collection opens: February 06 @ noon Eastern time (Countdown)
Authors revealed: February 8 @ noon Eastern time


AO3 Collection | Tagset | Nomination guidelines | Mod email: seasonsofdrabbles@gmail.com

Tolkienshortfanworks challenge for January

The tolkienshortfanworks challenge for January has been posted at the Dreamwidth community.

The thematic prompt is "beginnings or fresh start" and the formal  challenge is alliterative verse.

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien chiefly uses the form to render the poetry of the Rohirrim, but he also composed long narrative poems and shorter descriptive pieces in it.



Tolkien's most famous alliterative lines (based on an Old English model) are probably these:

 

Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?

Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?

New joiners to the community are always welcome. More details at the linked entry.

Call for Papers: Popular Culture Association Conference Tolkien Studies Area Deadline Extended!

The Tolkien Studies Area (TSA) welcomes proposals for individual papers, paper sessions (with four proposals), and roundtables (with five-seven participants) in any area of Tolkien studies. All PCA sessions are scheduled in 1.5-hour slots. Individual presenters should plan for fifteen minutes to present, and roundtable participants should plan for 5-7 minutes each.

We welcome scholars in all period specializations, from any disciplinary perspective, including interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, and using any critical theory. Tolkien studies includes but is not limited to: the Legendarium, adaptations and transformative works, reader reception and fan studies, source studies, literary studies, critical race studies, cultural studies, tourism studies, medieval and medievalist studies, media and marketing, religious studies.

Academics, independent scholars, and graduate students are invited to submit through the online submission page. At this time, we are not accepting proposals from undergraduate students.

For individual paper proposals, please submit contact information (name, institutional affiliation if an, e-mail addresses, and telephone number), a title and a 300-word proposal that includes information on the topic, theory or method, and relation to relevant scholarship.

Possible Topics

Adaptation Studies

Games, Films, Art, Amazon’s Tolkien

Cultural Studies/Reception Studies/Fan Studies

  •           Race & Tolkien
  •           Queer Tolkien
  •           Gender & Tolkien
  •           Class & Tolkien
  •           Intersectional Tolkien
  •           Tolkien & Religion or Spirituality (Catholic, Buddhist, Neo-Paganism)
  •           Tolkien & White Supremacy (then and now)
  •           Tolkien’s Fandoms (fanfiction, fan art, fan vids, cosplay, collecting, tourism)
  •           Tolkien Fanzines (Marquette or other archives)
  •           Tolkien & Contemporary Fantasy (examples: N. K. Jemisin, G. R. R. Martin, Terry Pratchett)

Literary Studies

  •           New Tolkien Publications
  •           Tolkien & Genre
  •           Tolkien & Romanticisms
  •           Tolkien & Medievalisms
  •           Tolkien & Modernisms
  •           Tolkien & Postmodernisms
  •           Tolkien & the Sciences

Possible Roundtable Topics:

  •           Games, Gaming, Gamers (Online or Tabletop)
  •           New Disciplines, Methods, Pedagogies
  •           How and Where To Publish
  •           The Question of Tolkien and Theory
  •           Digital Tolkien (Digital Archives, Corpus Projects)

Fandom Snowflake Challenge

Ever other day, starting on the first and running through the twenty-ninth of January, one of us will post a challenge or idea or prompt. We will also be hosting a friending meme on the thirty-first, to close out the fest.

Participants use your own space to respond to that challenge in whatever way suits you best. If you like, you can drop a comment on the challenge post and link to your response, so that you can share your thoughts with other fans. Please comment, interact, and celebrate each other, as all together we are what make up fandom!

There is no minimum for the number of challenges you have to do. One is a complete acceptable number, as is zero, as is all fifteen. You do not have to do them on the day they're posted, and you can do them in any order you please. You are free to interpret "fandom" as widely or as narrowly as you please, and talk about any kind of fanwork or type of fandom interaction you can think of.

The Fandom Snowflake Challenge can be found on Dreamwidth, Tumblr, Twitter, and Pillowfort.