The Professor!
Jan. 3rd, 2026 05:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shireboundHappy birthday, sir. Your memory and inspiration go ever on and on.
"Courage is found in unlikely places. Be of good hope!"
Gildor, The Fellowship of the Ring
"Courage is found in unlikely places. Be of good hope!"
Gildor, The Fellowship of the Ring
Snowflake Challenge #1
Jan. 2nd, 2026 12:02 pmindependence1776Challenge #1: The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.
I'm Independence1776, Indy for short. I've been in fandom since 2003 and am very much a Fandom Old. (The things I have seen, Gandalf.) I don't have any patience for gatekeeping and bad behavior; I believe in "don't like, don't read." I tend to be gen focused and I like hurt/comfort and whump. I also really love canon divergent AUs.
I updated my profile and pinned post, mostly to say I’m no longer in Tolkien fandom. That is incredibly weird for me to say, much less think, because I’ve been in it for most of my life in fandom. But I’m not anymore. I’m still a part of Star Wars fandom— there are fics I absolutely want to finish writing and to write— but I’m also very quiet there. I've read a lot more published books than fic recently. It’s a strange place for me to be in, both in fandom and not in fandom at the same time.
As far as Snowflake goes, what I'm hoping to get out of it is to feel less disconnected with fandom and maybe start figuring out my place in it as I am now and not who I was in the past.
I'm Independence1776, Indy for short. I've been in fandom since 2003 and am very much a Fandom Old. (The things I have seen, Gandalf.) I don't have any patience for gatekeeping and bad behavior; I believe in "don't like, don't read." I tend to be gen focused and I like hurt/comfort and whump. I also really love canon divergent AUs.
I updated my profile and pinned post, mostly to say I’m no longer in Tolkien fandom. That is incredibly weird for me to say, much less think, because I’ve been in it for most of my life in fandom. But I’m not anymore. I’m still a part of Star Wars fandom— there are fics I absolutely want to finish writing and to write— but I’m also very quiet there. I've read a lot more published books than fic recently. It’s a strange place for me to be in, both in fandom and not in fandom at the same time.
As far as Snowflake goes, what I'm hoping to get out of it is to feel less disconnected with fandom and maybe start figuring out my place in it as I am now and not who I was in the past.
![[admin post]](//www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/entry/admin_post.png)
Admin Post: Annual Amnesty Challenge: New Year's Resolution
Jan. 1st, 2026 11:24 am![[admin post]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/entry/admin_post.png){kind=small}
dawn_felagund posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
silwritersguild
A new year often brings resolutions to achieve big changes. Our Resolutions challenge is much more moderate: reach for a creative achievement, no matter how small. Maybe it is a single drabble, a sketch, or a new chapter—the point is to begin a new year with an act of creativity and imagination!
Our annual amnesty allows you to pick from any of the previous year’s challenges. You do not need to use a new prompt to be eligible for this challenge. Participants can choose to complete any of the previous year's challenges. Did you miss a challenge you wanted to complete? Do it now. Did you start a fanwork for a challenge but never completed it? Here is your chance to finish. If you didn't leave any unrealized or unfinished projects behind you (congratulations!), choose from any of our 2025 challenges and start something new.
You can find the complete amnesty challenge guidelines and a list of 2025's challenges here.
You will receive a stamp on your 2025 collection for any challenges that you complete now, as well as a stamp for the New Year's Resolution challenge on your 2026 collection. When you post to the SWG archive, please make sure you select the 2025 challenge you're completing and the New Year's Resolution challenge.
This month's banner and stamps use images from the 18th-century “Chinese Arabesques” by Jean-Baptiste Pillement and Anne Allen, which plays with the theme of striving to reach the fantastical.
In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 15 February 2026. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.
Admin Post: January Challenge
Jan. 1st, 2026 10:55 amhhimring posting in tolkienshortfanworksHappy New Year! All the best for 2026
Thank you very much for your engagement with this community over the last month!
This month, I am bringing back the challenge we had in January 2023:
The thematic prompt is: "lamp or lantern".
There are many lamps in the Legendarium!
Starting from the Two Lamps, Ormal and Illuin, and the silver lamp on top of the Mindon Eldaliéva in Tirion, all the way to lamps in Lothlórien in the Lord of the Rings and onwards.
Some bonus prompts from Tolkien's verse (filched from Tolkien Gateway):
till his blue lamp magic-kindled, where flow the shadowy rills
beneath enchanted alders, found that Gate beneath the hills
(From: The Lay of the Fall of Gondolin)
Fire and lamp, and meat and bread,
And then to bed! And then to bed!
(From: Lord of the Rings)
O! the swinging lamps in the starlit globes
(From: Goblin Feet)
The formal challenge is a type of short poem of five lines also called "Lantern" or "Lanterne" (or "Lanturne"), because its shape is like that of a hanging lantern or lamp, when it is centre-aligned on the page.
The syllable count is 1-2-3-4-1.
Here are lanterne poems written for the challenge in January 2023:
Silmarils, by Narya:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/50308.html
Lamp, by elennalore:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/50640.html
Starlight, by Starspray:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/51138.html
Seven Lanterns, by Zdenka:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/51275.html
An Unexpected Find, by Anérea:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/51839.html
Waiting, by Silver Trails:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/52831.html
As always, the two prompts can be filled entirely independently or combined with prompts from other challenges.
Usual reminder that although you can fill the prompts in any way you like, in order to post the fill to this community or to the related collection on AO3 (linked in a sticky post at the top), the fanwork can only have a word count up to 1000 words and must be linked to a Tolkien fandom.
Rec lists and podfics can be posted as fills for thematic prompts, as long as the fanworks concerned meet those conditions.
Also we continue to welcome other pieces unrelated to any challenge, of course, including cross-posts and older stories!
Thank you very much for your engagement with this community over the last month!
This month, I am bringing back the challenge we had in January 2023:
The thematic prompt is: "lamp or lantern".
There are many lamps in the Legendarium!
Starting from the Two Lamps, Ormal and Illuin, and the silver lamp on top of the Mindon Eldaliéva in Tirion, all the way to lamps in Lothlórien in the Lord of the Rings and onwards.
Some bonus prompts from Tolkien's verse (filched from Tolkien Gateway):
till his blue lamp magic-kindled, where flow the shadowy rills
beneath enchanted alders, found that Gate beneath the hills
(From: The Lay of the Fall of Gondolin)
Fire and lamp, and meat and bread,
And then to bed! And then to bed!
(From: Lord of the Rings)
O! the swinging lamps in the starlit globes
(From: Goblin Feet)
The formal challenge is a type of short poem of five lines also called "Lantern" or "Lanterne" (or "Lanturne"), because its shape is like that of a hanging lantern or lamp, when it is centre-aligned on the page.
The syllable count is 1-2-3-4-1.
Here are lanterne poems written for the challenge in January 2023:
Silmarils, by Narya:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/50308.html
Lamp, by elennalore:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/50640.html
Starlight, by Starspray:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/51138.html
Seven Lanterns, by Zdenka:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/51275.html
An Unexpected Find, by Anérea:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/51839.html
Waiting, by Silver Trails:
https://tolkienshortfanworks.dreamwidth.org/52831.html
As always, the two prompts can be filled entirely independently or combined with prompts from other challenges.
Usual reminder that although you can fill the prompts in any way you like, in order to post the fill to this community or to the related collection on AO3 (linked in a sticky post at the top), the fanwork can only have a word count up to 1000 words and must be linked to a Tolkien fandom.
Rec lists and podfics can be posted as fills for thematic prompts, as long as the fanworks concerned meet those conditions.
Also we continue to welcome other pieces unrelated to any challenge, of course, including cross-posts and older stories!
Happy New Year!
Dec. 31st, 2025 06:58 pmshireboundHappy New Year, everyone! I'm grateful for this brave, supportive, creative, and fascinating community of friends, writers, readers, thinkers, dreamers, travelers, nurturers, and magic-makers. You light up my life. May 2026 be healthy, happy, and gently sprinkled with unexpectedly delightful Adventures.
((((((ALL OF YOU))))))
((((((ALL OF YOU))))))
Admin Post: "The Fëanorian Zine" Available for Download
Dec. 24th, 2025 03:17 pmdawn_felagund posting in silwritersguild
We are pleased to have been able to partner with The Fëanorian Zine to preserve the zine here, on the SWG archive, where it is available to read and download for free. A passion project dedicated to the house of Fëanor, it features fiction and art from thirty different creators, edited by JoeTamy and StarsOfArda into a stunning, full-color zine with over 150 pages of fanworks.
Congratulations to the editors and creators of The Fëanorian Zine for their beautiful publication! We know it will bring many hours of enjoyment over the December holidays!
Joyous Yule, my friends!
Dec. 23rd, 2025 03:07 pmshireboundHappy Holidays to one and all, and may my precious friends enjoy a peaceful and health-ful end of year. May you be warm, safe, and loved. Here is a hobbity Yule ficlet from a while back. I hope you enjoy it. :)
The hobbits (and Gandalf) gently introduce Yule to Tol Eressëa
Characters: Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo, unnamed elves
Word Count: 440
Getting to Know You
The elves living near the hobbits' dwelling were quite puzzled at first, for even with their sharp ears they had heard no movement outside their homes. Yet in the morning they found that small bags had been hung on their posts or door latches, filled with unusual but wonderful-smelling confections. The baked goods had been fashioned in various sizes and shapes of people or trees, and decorated in bright colors. Because the anonymous gifts arrived only a few moon cycles after the arrival of the Ring-bearers, the elves hurried to the Istar, Gandalf, to consult with him.
“Ah, these are rare treats, my friends!” Gandalf informed them, peering into the bags and parcels and inhaling appreciatively. “They are gingerbread-hobbits and sugar-elves, and the trees are those most beloved by the hobbits. Frodo and Bilbo are wishing you a joyous Yule, a festival that falls about this time in Middle-earth, when their folk give thanks for the year’s bounty, and share sweets and small gifts with their neighbors.”
“What are we to give in return?” the elves queried anxiously.
“The hobbits expect nothing, I assure you,” Gandalf told them. “It is their joy to give of what they have, and I am certain it gives them comfort to continue a tradition that reminds them of their home. Merely convey your thanks and wish them a blessed Yule when you see them...” He paused, then smiled knowingly. “Wait, there is one thing more that they might like.”
That evening, Frodo and Bilbo sat together on the small bench outside their dwelling, as they did each night after supper. They sipped warm drinks and talked quietly, enjoying the bright stars as they appeared and the perfume of night-blooming flowers. After awhile, Bilbo laid his head on Frodo’s shoulder, and Frodo stroked his white curls very gently.
As the night grew darker, they saw with surprise and great joy that their neighbors had set candles in every window of their homes, and were lighting them one by one. The multitude of soft, flickering lights shone with warmth and a peaceful glow. And the hobbits' attention was caught by strings of colored jewels that had been hung amidst the branches of a noble fir tree, interlaced into the shape of a star. As the brilliance from Elbereth's stars hit each faceted surface, the gems sparkled brightly.
“It's lovely here, isn’t it?” Bilbo asked happily. “I did so hope it would be.”
“It is lovely,” Frodo agreed softly, and he smiled. “Good neighbors make for a good home, as Aunt Dora would say. Happy Yule, Bilbo."
“Happy Yule, dear boy,” Bilbo said with a sigh of contentment.
** END **
The hobbits (and Gandalf) gently introduce Yule to Tol Eressëa
Characters: Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo, unnamed elves
Word Count: 440
Getting to Know You
The elves living near the hobbits' dwelling were quite puzzled at first, for even with their sharp ears they had heard no movement outside their homes. Yet in the morning they found that small bags had been hung on their posts or door latches, filled with unusual but wonderful-smelling confections. The baked goods had been fashioned in various sizes and shapes of people or trees, and decorated in bright colors. Because the anonymous gifts arrived only a few moon cycles after the arrival of the Ring-bearers, the elves hurried to the Istar, Gandalf, to consult with him.
“Ah, these are rare treats, my friends!” Gandalf informed them, peering into the bags and parcels and inhaling appreciatively. “They are gingerbread-hobbits and sugar-elves, and the trees are those most beloved by the hobbits. Frodo and Bilbo are wishing you a joyous Yule, a festival that falls about this time in Middle-earth, when their folk give thanks for the year’s bounty, and share sweets and small gifts with their neighbors.”
“What are we to give in return?” the elves queried anxiously.
“The hobbits expect nothing, I assure you,” Gandalf told them. “It is their joy to give of what they have, and I am certain it gives them comfort to continue a tradition that reminds them of their home. Merely convey your thanks and wish them a blessed Yule when you see them...” He paused, then smiled knowingly. “Wait, there is one thing more that they might like.”
That evening, Frodo and Bilbo sat together on the small bench outside their dwelling, as they did each night after supper. They sipped warm drinks and talked quietly, enjoying the bright stars as they appeared and the perfume of night-blooming flowers. After awhile, Bilbo laid his head on Frodo’s shoulder, and Frodo stroked his white curls very gently.
As the night grew darker, they saw with surprise and great joy that their neighbors had set candles in every window of their homes, and were lighting them one by one. The multitude of soft, flickering lights shone with warmth and a peaceful glow. And the hobbits' attention was caught by strings of colored jewels that had been hung amidst the branches of a noble fir tree, interlaced into the shape of a star. As the brilliance from Elbereth's stars hit each faceted surface, the gems sparkled brightly.
“It's lovely here, isn’t it?” Bilbo asked happily. “I did so hope it would be.”
“It is lovely,” Frodo agreed softly, and he smiled. “Good neighbors make for a good home, as Aunt Dora would say. Happy Yule, Bilbo."
“Happy Yule, dear boy,” Bilbo said with a sigh of contentment.
** END **
Westmansweed, by Himring
Dec. 23rd, 2025 02:50 pmhhimring posting in tolkienshortfanworksAuthor: Himring
Title: Westmansweed
Characters: Elrond, Frodo, Gandalf
Pairing: n/a
Text type / Format: drabble
Source / Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Rating: PG
Warnings: allusions to nicotine and Mordor
Word Count: 100
Summary: In Tol Eressea, the success of a small joint project is celebrated.
Notes: To be honest, this was originally meant to become a mini fill for someone's request, but it has gone astray from the potential giftee's specifications. So I will just claim it for the December challenge on here instead.
( Read more... )
Title: Westmansweed
Characters: Elrond, Frodo, Gandalf
Pairing: n/a
Text type / Format: drabble
Source / Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Rating: PG
Warnings: allusions to nicotine and Mordor
Word Count: 100
Summary: In Tol Eressea, the success of a small joint project is celebrated.
Notes: To be honest, this was originally meant to become a mini fill for someone's request, but it has gone astray from the potential giftee's specifications. So I will just claim it for the December challenge on here instead.
( Read more... )