Elfscribe's Den

Questing writer. Inveterate lover of all things Tolkien

[arofili]

Tolkien Fandom Event Calendar

Recently I’ve received some asks about events/weeks in the Tolkien fandom, so I thought I’d compile a list of those that I know about. This is not exhaustive, and dates are subject to change by the organizers of these events!

Other blogs you can check out are @tolkieneventsblog and @tolkienfandomevents, though I’m not sure how active those are. The @silmarillionwritersguild Discord also has a channel dedicated to signal boosts for all sorts of Tolkien-related & general fandom happenings, which is another excellent way to keep up with fandom goings-on.

If your event is not on here and you’d like it to be, let me know and I can add it :)

~

JANUARY Screw Yule My Slashy Valentine @myslashyvalentine — work time Lord of the Rings Secret Santa @lotr-sesa — reveals Thorin’s Spring Forge @thorinsspringforge — signups Second Age Week @secondageweek

FEBRUARY Hidden Paths My Slashy Valentine — reveals Thorin’s Spring Forge — claims Maedhros and Maglor Week @maedhrosmaglorweek

MARCH Back to Middle-earth Month @spring-into-arda Thorin’s Spring Forge — work time Fëanorian Week

APRIL Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang @tolkienrsb — signups Silm Remix @tolkienremix — signups & assignments Gates of Summer Exchange @gatesofsummerexchange — signups Thorin’s Spring Forge — reveals

MAY Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang — claims Silm Remix — reveals Gates of Summer Exchange — assignments Aspec Arda Week @aspecardaweek Angbang Week @angbangweek Gondolin Week @gondolinweek (last run 2021, but I know the mod has plans for a 2023 event)

JUNE Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang — work time Scribbles and Drabbles @fall-for-tolkien — signups Tolkien South Asian Week, run by @arwenindomiel Tolkien Ekphrasis Week @tolkienekphrasisweek Gates of Summer Exchange — weekly prompts & reveals

JULY Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang — work time Scribbles and Drabbles — claims Tolkien Gen Week @tolkiengenweek Tolkien Appreciation Week @tolkienweek Tolkien Latin American & Caribbean Week @tolkienlatamandcaribbeanweek

AUGUST Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang — deadlines Scribbles and Drabbles — art reveals Innumerable Stars Exchange @innumerable-stars — nominations & signups Tolkien of Colour Week @tolkienofcolourweek Silvergifting Week @silvergiftingweek Tolkien OC Week @tolkienocweek

SEPTEMBER Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang — reveals Scribbles and Drabbles — work time Innumerable Stars Exchange — signups & assignments Finwëan Ladies Week @finweanladiesweek

OCTOBER Innumerable Stars Exchange — reveals Scribbles and Drabbles — work time Half-elven Week @halfelvenweek

NOVEMBER Tolkien Secret Santa @officialtolkiensecretsanta — signups & assignments Scribbles and Drabbles — fic reveals

DECEMBER Tolkien Secret Santa — advent calendar & reveals My Slashy Valentine @myslashyvalentine — signups & assignments Lord of the Rings Secret Santa — claims Khazad Week @khazadweek

MONTHLY EVENTS: These events have prompts/challenges occurring every month. Teitho Contest Tolkien Short Fanworks Silmarillion Writers’ Guild @silmarillionwritersguild

LEGACY EVENTS: These events used to occur, but have not happened within the last year. Arda Needs More Pride @ardaneedsmorepride (bimonthly; last run 2020) Kiliel Week @kilielweek (timing variable; last run 2021) @oneringnet monthly events (last run 2021) Atani Week @ataniweek (January; last run 2021) Legendarium Ladies April @legendariumladiesapril (April; last run 2020) Arafinwëan Week @arafinweanweek (July; last run 2019) Nolofinwëan Week @nolofinwean-week-blog (August; last run 2019) Fëanturi Week (August; last run 2019; no official blog and the creator has deactivated) Imladrim Week @imladrimweek (November; last run 2019) Doriath Week @doriathweek (November; last run 2020) Tolkien Family Week @tolkienfamilyweek (November; last run 2021)

~

Want to run your own event? Here’s some of my tips!

[stellaluna33]

I can't believe we live in a world where there's an AI company unironically called "Palantir," and it isn't a parody. It's a real thing. I remember seeing a picture of an advertisement on here and thinking, "This HAS to be a joke. This is too on-the-nose to be real. They wouldn't honestly name an AI company Palantir, after the Seeing Stones from Lord of the Rings that are supposed to offer knowledge, but famously also might be feeding you misinformation from evil sources because 'we do not know who else may be watching.'" But then here I am listening to the BBC News discussing why the CEO of Palantir just published a Manifesto that sounds like it was written by a supervillain.

[beardedmrbean]

[theman]

I GOT A FUCKING RAISE THE POTATO WORKED WTF

[tattooedzombigirl]

This potato works. Every. Fucking. Time.

[secondlina]

Reblogging because it’s a damn potato and I want to encourage people to assume potatoes are magical.

[flygutzz]

imma do anything atp why not

[biposi]

Fuck it

[nugster25]

screw it

[soooonotsketchy]

Oh russet of fortune... Please just make the months go quickly and with no qualms.... And may all my fandoms be plentiful to help me cope.

[atrashgoblin]

yknow what if the potato works im officially starting spellwork next week

[cleo-the-creature]

praying this potato works

[balrogballs]

FINROD FELAGUND

latest instalment in the Hot Elves By Balls™️ series features Finrod in an outfit I would probably actually kill people to wear… commissioned by the wonderful @justdrowthings, whose brief for this portrait included the phrases “peak why do we talk about ANYONE when this guy exists” and “major art directive - break me”, and agreeing entirely, I was only too happy to oblige 😌😌😌

commission details etc

[tolkien-fanfiction-survey]

Saturday Data! Tolkien Fandom Is Getting Old

I will be sharing a snippet of data each week from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey here and on the Tolkien by the Numbers Substack. Let's start with demographics!

All three Tolkien Fanfiction Surveys asked participants about their age. Quick conclusion: Tolkien fandom is getting old!

Let’s just look at the median for that data:

In 2015*, the median age of participants was 25.

In 2020, it edged up a little to 27.

In 2025, it leaped to a median age of 33!

Put another way, in the last decade, the age of the average Tolkien fanfiction reader/writer has increased by eight years.

I suspect this is explained by the lack of influx of new, young fans of the sort who were drawn in by the Hobbit films around the time of the 2015 survey. It also likely speaks to the relative lack of attrition among Tolkien fanfiction readers and writers. I’m curious to see what the numbers look like for the years participants have been involved in the fandom. I suspect the median will have increased here as well.

Although I have not looked at data about the Rings of Power show yet, I suspect we’ll also see that it does not have the same draw as the Hobbit films did.

(*For those of you who have known the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey for a long time and have a very good memory, note that I’ve dropped the under-18 data from the 2015 set. The IRB in 2015 allowed us to accept responses from minors, but it was not allowed after that, so to make the three sets compatible, I’ve removed it from the 2015 data.)

[a-bungle]

Forodwaith Sauron. Commission for @memesringsofpower (IG)

[katyamondfische]

King Findaráto Ingoldo Felagund of Nargothrond

[huariqueje]

Tree 25 , Pink beech - Arjan van Helmond , 2022

Dutch, b. 1971 -

ink, gouache and acrylic paint on paper , 113 x 62 cm.

[transformativeworks]

Spotlight on Omegas at AO3

In a society that values alphas and betas, omegas can often be overlooked. This April 1st, we're placing omegas front and center at AO3. Check our latest news post for details: https://otw-news.org/7ehh7trb

[lemoneyshipz]

wip 🚧 the fairest lil maia

(idk if i keep the glowy eyes i kinda like both👀)

melk is up next promise 😩

[persefoni-art]

Fëanor

[cogentriii]

There are my sweet pookies, Tyelpe and Anna!!! I'm starting this tumblr account with silvergifting 'cause they're my favorite ones, my dear children, I love them with all my heart.

They even have the same earrings🥹✨ Do you see this love in Tyelpe's eyes? My stupid boy's in love! Annatar when I catch you Annatar!😡

[thatlittleegyptologist]

Since some of you don't seem to understand how this 'new notes' thing works, I'll break it down:

I'm the OP. I'm making this post. If you like, comment, reblog (without comment) on this post, then I'm the one who will see all those notes in my activity page.

However...

If you reblog (with comment), I will get a notification that you did that, but any likes/comments/reblogs (without comment) you get on that reblog will only be shown to you. As OP I won't see them.

If someone adds a reblog (with comment) to your reblog...as OP I won't see that. I won't see any of those notes in my activity page.

Basically, if someone with a large following makes a comment, then they will get all the notes and OP will see nothing. If OP has said something silly because they're, y'know, 21 and it happens, and then someone reblogs it onto the dash of someone with a large following who then dunks on them for fun? OP doesn't see it, doesn't get notes for it, but they're gonna get the harrassment for it in their inbox.

If I, someone with a 5 digit follower count, reblog something to correct misinformation on Ancient Egypt, then OP will never see it unless it was on the original post, but I will continue to get notes on that post even though it's not my post. If I reblog fanart, or just art in general, with a comment like 'Oh this is so lovely!' then OP will not see any of the notes from people reblogging it from me. They'll only see my reblog. So it's possible for an art post by someone else to have 200 notes for them, but 9000 for someone who reblogs it with a comment, and the OP artist will have no idea it's been seen by that many people.

It's killing blow to the community we've built here, by someone higher up who doesn't understand that being able to see all the comments and reblogs is what makes this site the place I keep coming back to.

That's what sucks.

I encourage people to go to tumblr's support page, select contact support, and then in the dropdown menu select 'Feedback' and leave polite and constructive feedback (for those of you who enjoy 'emails worded politely but are a strong 'are you an idiot?', try that way of wording it). They're more likely to listen to you if you're not an asshole about it. I've already gone and done this, and I hope others will too.

[ratbastarddotfuck]

"if we can't remove people from a space based on sex or gender, how do we make sure people in the group stay safe from assholes?" if you can have an enforceable "no men" rule in a queer space you could probably have an enforceable "no assholes" rule instead. it's pretty easy actually. it's actually easier to tell if someone is an asshole based on their actions than their gender, in my experience.

[akitasenseidraws]

can I offer you some Fingolfin in this trying time?

[sallysavestheday]

Kindle, flash, my soul...

For this year's @poetry-fiction-challenge, I dug a little into the minds of Tolkien's women, in conversation with Christina Rossetti's An "Immurata" Sister.

Have some Miriel, Aredhel, Lalwen, and Elwing, musing bitterly on/wrestling with/challenging assumptions about their fates. Each finding a different way to escape.

Find them all together here on AO3.

Super fun event, always! Give it a try next year.

[originalleftist]

If Voting Didn't Matter, They Wouldn't Try So Hard To Take It Away.