New Challenge: Epic 80s
This month's challenge features hundreds of fresh prompts from the bodacious decade of the 1980s.
SWG News
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 Challenge: Scavenger Hunt
In this Matryoshka-with-a-twist, you will solve clues that point you to the challenge prompts.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] Eä's Redemption by AaronAzrael
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…
[Artwork] A private audience by skywardstruck
After wandering through the forests of Oromë, Maitimo and Makalaurë discover a quiet clearing, stopping to rest. With lyre in hand, the private audience begins— for this song, Makalaurë will only allow his brother to hear.
[Writing] A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray
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.
[Writing] Is it raining with you? by AdmirableMonster
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!)
[Writing] Nasyalossë by Lovimmy3365
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…
[Writing] From That Rubble by StarSpray
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…
[Writing] Wrensong and Roses by Isilme_among_the_stars
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.
Current Challenge
Epic 80s
Create a fanwork using on of our righteous prompts based on popular culture from the 1980s. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Strangers in Strange Lands
Your character arrives for the first time in a new place. Maybe he journeyed there with a purpose, or maybe she ended up there by accident. What does she perceive? What new experiences and conflicts will he have? This month's challenge asks you to bring a character to a new, strange place for the first time and to develop a story around his or her experiences there. Read more ...
New in References
Communities Do Comment: Expanding the 3C's of Commenting with SWG Data by Dawn Walls-Thumma
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.
Grief, Grieving, and Permission to Mourn in the "Quenta Silmarillion" by Dawn Walls-Thumma
In a book as full of death as the Quenta Silmarillion, grief and mourning are surprisingly absent. The characters who receive grief and mourning—and those who don't—appear to do so due to narrative bias. Grief and mourning (or a lack of them) serve to draw attention toward and away from objectionable actions committed by characters.
Featured Themed Collection
Beyond the Silmarillion
[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…
[Artwork] The Mirror of Galadriel by skywardstruck
Smoke rises from the Mirror, where the Lady of Lothlórien awaits to share its visions.
[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.
Around the World and Web
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.
Fanworks Tagged with Adult
Of Things Left Unspoken by Raiyana
The Halls of Mandos is both prison and place of healing... but not always.
In some walls, there are cracks.
And through cracks, enlightenment might find a way.
Out of the Great Sea by Lyra
Vëandis, formerly Lady of Andúnië, has been shipwrecked in Middle-earth. Now she and the other survivors of the Downfall have to find the strength to carry on.
Rated Adult for some upsetting content, mentions of death (animal and human), and suicidal ideation.
The Song of Our Making by Tilperiel
The tale of how four left the hidden city of Gondolin and only three returned.
Aredhel thinks she's got everything as she wants it, but Turgon has his reasons for allowing her to leave the city and he's not above using manipulation. Glorfindel and Ecthelion are caught in the middle of a political ploy and poor Egalmoth is dragged along for the ride. Throw in some giant spiders and everything was bound to go to hell.
Golden Hair. by hennethgalad
Glorfindel is surprised on the way to Ezelloha.
We Kiss in a Shadow by Narya
A stolen moment for Voronwë and Elemmakil. Shameless smut, written for B2MeM 2019 in response to the prompt 'Haste, Haste.' The title is taken from the Rodgers and Hammerstein song of the same name.
nightshade morrowless by kimaracretak
Melian and Galadriel share a moment alone.
Aftermath by Independence1776
In the brief period of calm between the end of the War and the Valinorean army sailing home to Aman, Maglor makes a decision.
And in the End by Ivare
Maedhros and Maglor realise the price they have paid for the Silmarils.
Absinthe-minded by Sleepless_Malice
At a party, Maedhros meets Maglor’s (awful) artist friends and is quite shocked by their openly displayed brazenness.
– written for Fëanorian Week 2018
A Love Like Darkness, Like Light by Sleepless_Malice
In the Halls of Awaiting, Fëanor and Fingolfin meet again in exceptional circumstances.
Comfort and Joy by Narya
It's the festive season in Gondolin, and Voronwë finds himself intrigued by the Captain of the Guard of the Secret Way.
Embrace by chrissystriped
Melkor is in a rare gentle mood and grants his slave a wish.
Cradle of Stars by Dawn Felagund, Elleth
After the Darkening of Valinor, Anairë is sent to Alqualondë to offer aid and allegiance after the horror of the kinslaying. There, she finds Eärwen, her lover of old and beloved friend, left to care for her people amid her own inconsolable grief. Anairë and Eärwen will care for each other as they mourn the myriad ways their lives have changed forever with the Darkening and the exile of Anairë's family. It may be the rekindling of their ancient love that is the only force with strength enough to save them--and their people. Anairë/Eärwen; written for the 2018 Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang.
The darkening of hearts by Nuredhel
When Fëanor realize the truth about his son's realtionship with his cousin he tries to break the two apart by forcing Maedhros into a marriage. What he fails to realize is that he by doing this is introducing an innocent third person into the family, a young nis who does firmly believe that this will be the end of everything. How can she survive when hearts turn dark and cold and the light itself is stolen from them. Can she ever find true love? And will the truth about her unusual life ever be revealed?
Eglairaith. by hennethgalad
Fingolfin sends Hador away before Nargothrond lest he fall in love with Finrod.
(Assumes that Finrod loves Glorfindel. See 'Eithel Ivrin' if you like, though it’s not necessary)
A herbal disaster by Nuredhel
When a small bottle of shampoo takes a plunge through space and time and end up in a war meeting during the war of wrath the forces of the valar are given a most terrible weapon....
Of storks and elflings by Nuredhel
When King Oropher arranges a marriage for his son Thranduil he does to his horror discover that the elleth he has chosen is so uninformed and innocent she still believes that elflings are delivered by the stork. Something must be done! Be prepared for a piece of bizarre education and a letter of enlightenment.
running down to the riptide by RaisingCaiin
It is dawn, early dawn, when Voronwë slips away from Sirion, letting the briny tang of salt and the soft murmur of distant waves guide him west along faint paths through the shivering reeds. After near on twenty years lived in the City of Refuge he knows full well the direction in which the Sea lies, and how to best reach it, but it is good to have his senses – and darkness take him, the world – confirm that he is going the right way.
And so Voronwë lets himself be guided, his bare and calloused feet nudged a certain way along the sandy trail, and it feels appropriate, somehow. For what has come and what has yet to come, all at once.
[cross-posted from Ao3]
Ard-galen. by hennethgalad
Part two of 'Children of Ilúvatar'.
The expedition of Fingolfin crosses the plain to the Halls of Angrod.
F*ck Me When the War Is Done, and Other Poems by Ninnachel by Elwin Fortuna
A series of poems written by Ninnachel, mostly dealing with love and war.
Children of Ilúvatar. by hennethgalad
Fingolfin meets Hador Lórindol, and Gildis.
Spider Silk by Nibeneth
“I am not going to… to use you,” he protested. “I could not!”
“Then tie me lovingly and command me gently, if that suits you better,” Fingon said. “But the crown I wear is heavy, and for once I want someone else,” he curled his fingers in Maedhros’ hair, “to decide where I will go and what I will do.”
The Threads We Weave by Ulan
Their story might not be as great as the ones that make it into legends, but Glorfindel would still not have any other.
The Road We Never Wanted by FactorialRabbits
There's no dragon in their lands, but the commanders of Angband are playing the Lords of Aglon like a fiddle. Celegorm would rather fight a dragon than this. When it is distinctly not a dragon, well, that's when everything goes to hell.
Alternatively: Celegorm tries to lead their people to safety as the trauma of Dagor Bragollach wears upon Curufin.
