With Mereth Aderthad 2025 now a week away—which means we're approaching twenty years since the SWG opened for members—I've been thinking a lot about starting things and Bilbo's observation that it's dangerous business to go out your front door. Twenty-three-year-old me—a newly minted adult, recently out of university and living on my own for the first time—had no idea, when I set up a Yahoo! Group and LiveJournal community for what I planned to be a writer's workshop, what lay on the road ahead and that I'd still be caring for this group in middle age. Dangerous business, indeed!

But that initial "dangerous act" has in fact been amplified many times over by the "dangerous individuals" who populate the SWG. Do you know that you all have created and posted 6,100 fanworks on the SWG? (It's actually many more, as I know I am not the only one who collects shorter works within a single "story.") That's more than 6,100 acts of saying something about Tolkien, channeling the creative energy to bring your ideas to life for someone else to experience, and then having the bravery to put it up in public for commentary by others.

When the SWG formed in 2005, the Tolkien fandom was not always very kind, and it was especially unkind to people from marginalized groups. I don't want to pretend that we've since entered a fannish utopia where everyone is happy all the time and people are always nice to each other, but things are better, and while the SWG was only part of the shift toward change, there are more than a few fanworks among that 6,100+ that did their part, representing the perspectives of characters and groups of people who weren't always heard and doing this at a time when it was risky to do so.

Then there are those for whom sharing their writing or creative work felt terrifying, but they did it anyway. In talking with SWG members, I am constantly surprised at the number of creators whose work I adore and who were scared to put it out there. Am I ever glad they did! (And I shouldn't be surprised, as I was frightened to share my early fanworks as well.) Likewise for lurkers (and there is nothing wrong with lurking!) who take the step of speaking to a fellow fan, whether in a comment or in joining a discussion. All of you contribute toward making the SWG and the Tolkien fandom a lovely place to be.

As the year settles into the doldrums of the more extreme seasons—baking in the North and shivering in the South—if you can, grab a moment to escape to Middle-earth and continue doing dangerous things:

• We are wrapping up our Gates of Summer challenge. We keep our challenges intentionally low-key at this time of year due to the number of big fandom events. Remember that you can work our challenges into fanworks for other challenges and events, and if you will miss the deadline for the creator stamp due to the rules of the other event, just let us know, and we'll award the stamp when you are able to post with us.
• A new challenge will debut on Tuesday!
• If you don't make fanworks but enjoy reading on our site, consider signing up for an account and letting your favorite creators know you enjoy their work.
• If you want to join in discussions about the legendarium and fanworks, consider joining our Discord!
• And we are always looking for volunteers, for those who have some time to donate to keeping the SWG running.

And hopefully we will see many of you at Mereth Aderthad next week! Virtual and in-person reservations are still available! Register here.