As I write this, the SWG is in the process of turning twenty-one years old—"process" because the SWG was formed on March 15, 2005 but didn't receive members until the end of July. Across a span of several days in the final week of July, ford_of_bruinen and I encouraged our fandom friends to join, and the SWG officially began.

I sometimes like to look back at the original documents and posts I made in the first months of the group's existence. Many of them were written when the SWG was an idea but not yet a group with members. (I.e., I had no idea what I was actually doing.) They're a little cringey, but I try to look at them with a fandom historian's eye as primary sources documenting an earlier era of online Tolkien-based fanfiction. As so many fanfic archives have gone offline, those sources are increasingly rare, or at least difficult to find.

While having a nostalgic walk down memory lane to when the SWG was still in its infancy, I stumbled across the SWG's original mission, which is still up on our Dreamwidth (and LiveJournal) communities. Our current mission was written in May 2008; this is truly the foundational document of the group in its current form, and the SWG's moderators always begin with this mission when writing policies and making other decisions. The original mission established my penchant for the listicle format for a mission and expresses some of the same values that are part of our current mission: "thoughtful discussion" that leaves room for multiple interpretations, creation of resources aimed at fanworks creators, and a community that offers support and feedback for creators. Interesting, "the primary goal of the group ... [to] center on workshopping members' stories and essays" was never realized, as we turned our attention to building an archive instead.

Twenty-one years from now, in 2047 (not a real year, I'm sure!), perhaps we'll look back at our current mission and again at our original mission and marvel at what has changed and what has remained the same.

A final note: remember that next Saturday, August 1, 2026 at 6PM/18:00 UTC is our monthly instadrabbling session on our Discord (find this in my timezone). All are welcome to join to create fanworks or simply hang out and enjoy what is being posted!