Cultus Dispatches: Six Demographic Takeaways from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey
Ten years of demographic data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey show consistencies in who reads and writes fanfiction, as well as a few key demographic shifts.
Founded in 2005, the Silmarillion Writers' Guild exists for discussions of and creative fanworks based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion and related texts. We are a positive-focused and open-minded space that welcomes fans from all over the world and with all levels of experience with Tolkien's works. Whether you are picking up Tolkien's books for the first time or have been a fan for decades, we welcome you to join us!
Cultus Dispatches: Six Demographic Takeaways from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey
Ten years of demographic data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey show consistencies in who reads and writes fanfiction, as well as a few key demographic shifts.
New Challenge: Epic 80s
This month's challenge features hundreds of fresh prompts from the bodacious decade of the 1980s.
Cultus Dispatches: Communities Do Comment
Comment data from the SWG underscores community as an essential component to a robust commenting culture.
Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
[Playlist] Yacht Rock Silmarillion by Dawn Felagund
Have you ever wondered what would happen if the characters in The Silmarillion were smoooooth like they were sippin' a Sex on the Beach on a party barge in the harbor at Alqualondë? The "Yacht Rock Silmarillion" retells The Silmarillion as though the characters all had perms…
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"Move farther north," Caranthir says to her a month after the attack, gaze steady on her even as his hands continue briskly gutting fish. "There is plenty of land closer to my fortress, and my people can help protect yours if there is another attack."
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Fëanor shrugged, studying the contents of his wine glass. “Something must be done about that house. It will fall down eventually.”
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“It’s not as though I…
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A new star shines in the sky. They claim it brings hope.
Epic 80s
Create a fanwork using on of our righteous prompts based on popular culture from the 1980s. Read more ...
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Create a fanwork using one of our quotes from a woman in leadership. Read more ...
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Data from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows demographic changes in participant gender, age, and education and new revelations about neurodiversity.
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Expanding on my 2018 article "Why People Don't Comment," comment data from the SWG underscores community as an essential component to a robust commenting culture.
Fandom Draws the Line: Fanworks, AI, and Resistance by Dawn Felagund, Grundy
By definition, fanworks fandom does not draw a lot of boundaries, but community archives and events have taken a strong stance against AI-generated fanworks due to ethical considerations and member input.
[Writing] Down the Long Years by Isilme_among_the_stars
Bilbo, the strange old hobbit with the wandering feet, senses something special in young Frodo the first time he sees the lad; as they become close, they find in each other a cameraderie not well understood by other hobbits. Five poignant moments between Bilbo and Frodo Baggins over the course…
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[Writing] Bar-en-Eladar by Gabriel
Out of the shadow, light is born anew.
A Chieftain is dead. And whilst the events surrounding his death are unclear, a son tries to come to terms with his loss.
Celedriel Week 2026
A Tumblr event week focusing on the relationship between Celeborn and Galadriel.
Esoteric Tolkien Week 2026
A fandom event dedicated to the strange, otherworldly, and inexplicable in Middle-earth and beyond.
Tolkien Gen Week 2026
Tolkien Gen Week will run from July 6-12, 2026 to appreciate all of the incredible characters and relationships within Tolkien’s legendarium that fall under the broad category of “gen.”
Tolkien Disability Pride 2026
This Tumblr event focuses on ALL creative works focusing on disability in Tolkien's universe.
Scribbles and Drabbles 2026
Scribbles & Drabbles is a fic and art exchange with a minimum word count of 100 words.
This is an impressive effort. You managed to find light within the darkness of your plot line. And courage under thralldom. I'm a coward when it comes to reading violence; it was a little on the dark side for me. OK, I am trying not to laugh at myself, if you did this stuff to a man, it probably would not have bothered me much at all. In my life, I have found more tenderness and compassion with women, a desire not to hurt (of course, there are plenty of women who enjoy hurting people also). I think that is one reason the violence repelled me--therefore, it was effective within the construct of your story. Another may be that we are accustomed in our fandom existence to run across more m/m stories than f/f stories and, therefore, have become more inured to violence and torture in the m/m stories.
The title is very good and especially moving given the source.
I am so sorry that you found the violence in my story so unsettling and I adjusted the rating for violence accordingly prior responding, I thought it would fit the moderate category since it was not explicitly shown (rating a story is not my strongest thing) - I did had that planned initially, to tell the story from Morwen's point of view as she lived through those long twenty years. However the story ended up differently and I opted for letting the character tell what she did want to tell, through my storytelling.
To write a story about a woman claimed for spoils of war as requested by another woman, with domination to any degree: I can imagine that it can be read as very disturbing... Also it is writing about a very sensitive issue because it is nowadays considered as a war crime and to dive into those details throughout history made me feel uncomfortable as well. It still happens though, sadly enough. Since Ludovica gave it as an option to write it in our history, I considered writing it during either the roman age or dark medieval age, but as I was reading bits of Children of Húrin and knowing what happened after the Nírnaeth in Dor-Lómin... the bit where Turin finds out when Brodda speaks so brashly made me wonder... if Morwen intimidated the male incomers, how could she serve as a thrall then? Together with the parts where it is said too often how cruelly the people of Morwen were treated, being held as cattle in Brodda's mead hall, I decided to weave in many Saxon-Anglo elements like Acca the peace weaver - yet with middle eastern/Arabian influences. I hope that that shone through though and that the violence used didn't throw you that much off the story. If so, my apologies: that was not my intent.
By the way, I never said: I really like this first part of the story and it made a strong impression on me.
I'm afraid I found the rest of the story too difficult for me. I can be rather a wimp, on some subject matters!
I remember that once I got the assignment to write this request, I wondered how far I should go in describing thraldom/slavery, combined with the other elements. It is one thing to read about slavery and women being claimed as spoils of war - even into present day - but to write about it... that was an entirely different matter. But this was the fate of those men in Dor-Lomin after the fifth battle, and it shaped Morwen's fate and that of her son. For me to write it was a journey, because I wanted to have it a meaning for her in the end and also that Húrin's words shortly after she died would carry that extra meaning.
Thank you for taking your time to read and review it, I know it is an unsettling story for some and you have my utmost respect for making it so far, and to admit that it was hard for you shows that what I wrote hit to close home. I hope that one day these war crimes will no longer be committed against women and children alike, but I am afraid we're not there yet.
Your drabble today led me here, and wow, what a rollercoaster of emotions this story gives! It is so dark in places, with such palpable relief when Morwen is safe in Doriath, and of course, the concluding scene is hot as hell. :) There is such ambivalence too that makes the story unsettling (in a good way and as a way that seems very honest about how a woman in Morwen's situation might have felt) in her simultaneous attraction/love/desire for Acca and the terror and loathing that accompanies her mutilation. Then, of course, discovering that the mutilation was itself a work of art, which itself has unsettling implications.
I also liked what you did with the motif of kneeling throughout the story, much in the same way.
I thought your characters were great: Morwen so strong and unbroken, Melian so peaceful and ethereal, but Artanis I just loved and thought you did such a wonderful job in capturing her character in relatively few words.
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