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daily: check in

WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 29 -- Sunday

Hello on Sunday! What kind of a writing day has it been so far today -- or if today hasn't gotten going yet, how did you fare yesterday?

- I thought about my fic once or twice

- I wrote

- I did some planning and/or outlining

- I did research and/or canon review

- I edited

- I've sent my fic off to my beta

- I posted today!

- I'm taking a break

- I did something else that I'll talk about in a comment

Sunday Discussion: It's a new writing week, and the last week of the current month. How are you doing so far with meeting writing goals for the month?

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daily: check in

Daily Check-In: Day 28

Hi everyone! What are your plans for next week?

Starting a new fic
Working on a current draft
Editing it myself/with my beta reader
Going to post it somewhere in the week
Taking a break
Working on something else
Life has other plans at the moment

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daily: check in

Daily Check-In: Day 27

How's the writing session going?

Great!
Good
Alright
Could be better/could be worse
Poorly...
I haven't written today.
I have thought about it here and there.

It's a birthday!

Happy Birthday,

leianora! I hope you're doing well, my friend.

Entry tags:

daily: check in

Daily Check-In: Day 26

So, have you written today?

Yes
No
I have thought about it.

Current Mood: anxious
Current Music: Law & Order

The new memorial to lives lost at sea at Porca Quay which is at the very far end of the beach beside Fittie and Silver Darling restaurant. I took these really early this morning, I was out of the house by 7am for a very long run which was mostly in the rain.

Behind the cut is the seven photos I took and I've added alt-text as much as I can but only underneath because using the alt='' in the image embed code borks somehow and gah!, thumbnail to 600x600 and as always clicky for bigger if you want to do that.

( I could drop all my lines, I could throw my ropes into the water I could change my mind now today looks the same as tomorrow )

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mereth aderthad 2025

Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Anérea and Shadow

Mereth Aderthad 2025 Interview with An�rea and Shadow. Featured artist and author for "How to Make a Star From a Tree: The Science of Telperion and Laurelin."

Anérea and Shadow are the featured artist and featured writer, respectively, for Zhie's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation, "How To Make a Star From a Tree: The Science of Telperion and Laurelin." They sat down together to chat about their work on Zhie's presentation and on Mereth Aderthad more broadly, as both are involved as volunteers for the event, and Shadow has also written a story for Maglor's presentation "Gil-galad was an Elven King: Kingship and Personhood in the last High King of the Noldor." They spoke about the appeal of light in Tolkien's world, about achieving freedom from perfectionism and imposter syndrome, and the special role that fanworks and fan communities play in so many of our lives.

You can read and listen to their conversation here.

Entry tags:

daily: check in

Daily Check-In: Day 25

Good morning! Where are you at in your fic?

Plotting/planning/outlining
Writing
Editing
Sending it to a beta reader
Proofreading
Posting it right now
I didn't write today.
I have thought about it here and there.

(no subject)

Just checking in. I'm still here and hanging in there. I do hope you're all doing well!

Entry tags:

daily: check in

Daily Check-In: Day 24

Hey everyone! How's the writing coming along?

Great!
Good.
Alright.
Could be better, could be worse.
Poorly.
I haven't written anything today.
I have thought about writing here and there.

It's a birthday!

Happy Birthday,

debris4spike! I hope it's a lovely day.

Entry tags:

daily: check in

Daily Check-In: Day 23

Good evening, everyone! Did you write today?

Yes!
No.
I thought about it.

Entry tags:

daily: check in

Daily Check-In: Day 22

Good afternoon! How did your writing session go?

It was great!
It went well.
It was pretty good.
Could be better.
I didn't get any writing done. (whether life was hectic, taking a break, or writer's block)
I thought about writing this week.

Discussion: What writing program/material is your go to when writing fanfiction? It could be for your first draft, jotting down ideas and plot points, or the final version of your fanfic; doesn't matter as long as it was written down.

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mereth aderthad 2025

Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Tang Wen Xi by Dawn

Mereth Aderthad 2025 Interview with Tang Wen Xi by Dawn. Featured artist for "Kidnap Fam and the living Legendarium"

Few episodes within the legendarium inspire the tormented emotions as the third kinslaying and the aftermath between Maedhros, Maglor, Elrond, and Elros. The featured artist for polutropos' Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation "'Kidnap Fam' and the Living Legendarium," Tang Wen Xi creates artwork, including martial scenes, with a bold, vibrant style that often seems to leap and move within the page. Dawn recently spoke to Tang Wen Xi about his inspirations within the legendarium and how he creates his one-of-a-kind art.

You can read Dawn's interview with Tang Wen Xi here.

Scribbles & Drabbles

Scribbles & Drabbles announcement on the fall-for-tolkien Tumblr blog:
https://www.tumblr.com/fall-for-tolkien/784516339734806528/were-back-for-another-year-come-join-us-for-the

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monthly: hosting volunteers

Volunteers for July

Week 1: 6th to 12th
Week 2: 13th to 19th

linaewen
Week 3: 20th to 26th

glitteringstars
Week 4: 27th to 2nd

miscellaneous_section

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monthly: sign up

July sign up

It's time to sign up for the July WIP challenge! Some people join the challenge mid month, or comment on check-in posts without signing up, which is fine -- I'm glad there's a way for the challenge to be useful in a variety of ways. For those of you who find the commitment of signing up useful, please leave a comment with the below information.

Sign-ups will be open until the end of July.

Level of challenge:

Fandom(s) involved:

What you're looking for from the challenge:

What you could offer other participants yourself:

How people should contact you:

Time zone:

Copypaste below:

The post for hosting the daily check-in is here and thanks to everyone who helps out with this. If you're interested in helping out and there are still slots available the post remains open until the last week of the month and we generally run our week Sunday to Saturday, I'm happy to chat via PM on DW for anyone who might need it.

If you have ever completed a fic through this challenge we have a collection on AO3 and on SquidgeWorld both collections are open and unmoderated. Should there be an issue with adding a work, let me know and I'll see if there's a fix for it.

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Help launch Hangsaman!

My "Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson: Exploring a Gothic Campus Mystery" one-month module with SPACE (Signum Portals for Adult Continuing Education) online via Signum University is currently "on the launchpad" for potential launch in the autumn of 2025.

Here is the official description:

"Shirley Jackson is rightly celebrated as a master of Gothic storytelling thanks to her most well-known novels such as The Haunting of Hill House (1959) and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962). In recent years, however, her earlier novel Hangsaman (1951) has received new attention and critical appreciation from fans and scholars alike.

"Far ahead of its time when it was published, Jackson’s deeply personal Hangsaman is many things: a psychological study of a young woman’s coming of age; a haunting Gothic mystery; a pointed critique of gender roles, family dynamics, and higher education; a meditation on trauma and mental illness; and an ancestor of today’s dark academia storytelling. Shirley Jackson drew inspiration from a variety of sources to craft this remarkable campus novel, from folk ballads and the Tarot, myth and ritual, to a real college campus and an unsolved New England cold case of a missing sophomore student.

"In this module, we will unpack this gem of a Gothic story, following freshman Natalie Waite as she searches for her 'essential self' and discussing why Hangsaman feels freshly relevant and important to many readers today."

Here is more information on the Hangsaman module.

To help launch this module, please go here, log in, and put this module on your launchpad short-list. Thanks!

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mereth aderthad 2025

Admin Post: Mereth Aderthad RSVP for Meals Needed No Later Than June 22!

If you are attending Mereth Aderthad in-person and want to join us for dinner on Saturday and/or breakfast on Sunday, Mr. Felagund and I are working on getting reservations made and need a headcount.

Please use this form to RSVP no later than Sunday, June 22 if you would like to join us!

Dinner: Saturday, July 19, 6:00 PM at the Farmhouse Tap & Grill in Williston

Breakfast: Sunday, July 20, 9:00 AM at The Pour House (scroll down to Sunday Brunch Menu)

You are responsible for the cost of your own food and drinks at these gatherings.

We will have additional gatherings that do not require reservations and where virtual attendees can join. The schedule will be posted within the week!

Visit Mereth Aderthad 2025 for more information and to register for the event.

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Will you join me in Panem?

My "The Hunger Games" module with SPACE (Signum Portals for Adult Continuing Education) online via Signum University is currently a candidate for September 2025. This is a proposed first module of five, one for each of the five Hunger Games novels by Suzanne Collins. Each week will include one recorded lecture and one live discussion section. Voting runs through August 1. I hope you will join us as we explore the lessons we may learn from Panem.

May the odds be ever in our favor!

More information is here.