The Scavenger Hunt challenge is winding down, but there are still over two days, as of this writing, to get a fanwork in if you want one of Grundy's beautifully crafted creator stamps! This is our annual Matryoshka challenge, which means that there are levels of difficulty to choose from, and the easiest level requires only two prompts ... and if you've been deterred by not having had the chance to solve the clues needed to find prompts, keep reading for a special prompt—then you only need to solve one more! (And the #monthly-challenges channel on our Discord server is your go-to for help and hints if you get stuck! There may even be solved prompts spoilered there ...)
As far as I know, the SWG is the only group that uses this challenge format, which was inspired by the concept of nesting dolls, where each doll (or prompt) is lifted to reveal the next. Traditionally, Matryoshka challenge requires opening subsequent prompts as you create your fanwork, resulting in a fanwork that is shaped by the prompts as it unfolds. This year's challenge, given the scavenger hunt component, does allow participants to collect all prompts first rather than opening them mid-fanwork.
We may be the only group that does these challenges (we do one per year), but the Matryoshka concept originated with Back to Middle-earth Month (B2MeM), where it was developed as a possible format to use for the annual event. After it was passed over a few times, we fished it from the pile of B2MeM rejects to try here, as one of our monthly challenges, and it has hung around since.
So, given that, if you're working on the challenge and need a prompt: add an element to your fanwork involving a comeback.
Remember that we welcome offbeat interpretations for our challenges (and very often craft prompts that can be read multiple ways), and if you can find a loophole, you should absolutely duck through it! So you are not required to interpret that prompt in the context of the history of the Matryoshka format. "Comeback" can mean many things ...
Furthermore, you can collect as many prompts as you want and don't have to use them all! So even if you have a full slate of prompts you're working through, you can discard one and use this one instead if you wish. (Nor does being aware of this prompt obligate you to use it!)
In other challenge-related news, Anna (IdleLeaves) will be hosting another round of instadrabbling on our Discord server over the next three months, on the first Saturday of each month! (Join here if you're not with us already!)
- July 4, 2026 at 6PM/18:00 UTC (find this in my timezone)
- August 1, 2026 at 6PM/18:00 UTC (find this in my timezone)
- September 5, 2026 at 6PM/18:00 UTC (find this in my timezone)
And look for the next challenge early morning European time on the 15th!
SWG News
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.
New Fanworks
Is it raining with you? by AdmirableMonster [Writing]
In the last days of Númenor, two very different men meet in Umbar and fall in love.
(Please note that while this work is heavily inspired by Disco Elysium, no knowledge of the game is necessary to read the fic!)
Read more ...Wrensong and Roses by Isilme_among_the_stars [Writing]
Concerned by his responses to the paraphernalia of healing, Fingon steals Maedhros from his room for an impromptu garden excursion. Maedhros battles with dark thoughts.
Read more ...Bon(e)fire by Fuin [Writing]
On the night before the battle, Caranthir and his ally share thoughts about their peoples' traditions:
Burning bones ward off evil.
Read more ...McShady by Babblecat [Writing]
Melkor has himself a bad time in the Void.
Read more ...
Updated Fanworks
A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray [Writing]
When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.
Read more ...Nasyalossë by Lovimmy3365 [Writing]
Erestor lay up against a tree, brown washed to black in the wet of the snow. The black disc of the new moon sailed across the dark sky. Erestor wished it were gone. He had no need to look into dark eyes any longer.
He was dying.
(AKA Erestor unwittingly travels back in time to the days between the Dagor Bragollach and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, meets the sons of Feanor, Thingol and his ilk, many Laiquendi, many Dwarves, and Men besides, and THEN decides to solve the drowning of Beleriand himself. This has nothing to do with his personal problems. Nope. Not at all. Erestor is having regular feelings.)
Read more ...Until the Stars are All Alight by Dagstjarna [Writing]
Reembodied in Aman, Celebrimbor decides to return to Middle earth to help heal the darkness and hurt wrought by the ring.
Read more ...From That Rubble by StarSpray [Writing]
Fëanor shrugged, studying the contents of his wine glass. “Something must be done about that house. It will fall down eventually.”
“It does not follow that it must be you that tears it down single-handedly. Are you sure you do not want help?”
“It’s not as though I have much else to do. I need to build something new there,” he said after a few moments. “To do that, I must first clear away the old and broken things.”
Decades out of Mandos, too many things in Fëanor's life remain broken. He can't do anything except wait for his sons to come to him, but he can do something about the old and crumbling house where they once lived.
Read more ...The Mirror Crack'd by AdmirableMonster [Writing]
Rescued from a brutal Angband hunt, an ex-thrall with a strange and powerful artifact embedded in his spine is brought to Himring, for it is one of the only places in Beleriand which welcomes such folk. Though he has no memories of his life before, Anniavas slowly becomes accustomed to his new life and finds he has a queer connection with Maedhros, Himring's lord. As their intimacy grows, however, so do the dangers surrounding them, both without and within. What secrets are hidden inside the depths of Anniavas's lost memories--and how will those with whom he is forging and deepening bonds react, when those secrets are at last revealed?
Read more ...Eä's Redemption by AaronAzrael [Writing]
This is my new poetical attempt to add my own interpretation to Tolkien's Cosmology as to Eru's Creation and the Valar's minds and behind-the-scene providence reasons and mechanisms.. I often review Eä as part of our own world, just in another dimension, this is why I have always seriously thought on the matter who the Ainur are, who Eru is, how he matches our own religious pantheon, and this has been conducted after serious research of many esoteric teachings of our own planet's heritage.
Read more ...Around the World and Web
Scribbles and Drabbles 2026
Scribbles & Drabbles is a fic and art exchange with a minimum word count of 100 words.
Tolkien Disability Pride 2026
This Tumblr event focuses on ALL creative works focusing on disability in Tolkien's universe.
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.”