narya_flame

24/08/25 - This letter is a WIP. I will continue to update it throughout signups.

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Dear IS creator,

Hello and thank you so much for making a gift for me! I can’t believe it’s this time of year again and I'm slightly terrified by the speed time is passing, but I am SUPER excited to see what you make. I like lots of canons and characters and all kinds of fanworks so you really can’t go wrong.

I am aware that this is a very long letter for a low-pressure exchange with a 500 word/nice sketch minimum. If you’re not interested in lengthy lists of likes and lots of specific prompts, then here’s the critical information up front:

DNWs

General DNWs:

- Anything to do with stuffing, starving, disordered eating, or food kinks
- Focus on bodily functions or fluids (blood from injuries is fine)
- Focus on pregnancy, childbirth or babies (fine to mention these things or include them as part of a larger narrative, but I would prefer not to have the whole gift be centred on these things)
- Parent/child incest
- Unrequested/unprompted AUs that significantly change the canon setting (canon divergence AUs, time loops, immortal characters in modern times etc. are fine, but DNW modern AUs, Space AUs and so on unless specifically prompted by the WB tags or letter prompts)

Characterisation-specific DNWs:

- Evil Noldor (in-universe belief that a character is evil/a monster is fine, but DNW this as a mouthpiece for the author's own views)
- Perfect Valar (as above re: evil Noldor)
- Characters being made to atone/grovel/repent for their sins, beg for forgiveness etc. Hard DNW any kind of grovelling or guilt-induced wallowing from the Noldor who went to Beleriand.
- Maglor (if he appears) depicted as mad/broken/weeping by the sea forever more/turned into a crab or rock etc./is secretly Tom Bombadil or some other character.

SOME THINGS I LIKE

- Objects and places with special significance – a “sense of history.”
- Hauntings (literal and metaphorical). Horror of all flavours.
- Setting as character - literally, if you like.
- The juxtaposition of the everyday with the wondrous and magical.
- Fusions of science and magic.
- Myth, folklore and fairy-tale. Arthuriana. Medievalism in general.
- Old English and Old Norse literature.
- Liminal places; portals; the borders of the numinous
- Shining a light into places canon doesn't show us, or barely touches on – going off the edge of the map.
- Quiet moments between people who care about each other.
- Explorations of permanence and transience, and mortality/immortality.
- Canon divergence AUs.
- Immortal characters in history; objects from Middle-earth/Faery etc. turning up in our world.
- The Noldor as tragic heroes (including Fëanor and his sons); the Valar (particularly Varda, Manwë, Mandos and Oromë) as somewhat alien/morally ambiguous by human standards, and probably quite frightening as well as beautiful/compelling.
- Rebirth and renewal (and the occasional necessity of destruction/death to achieve these things). Hope. Characters choosing to love/live/make the world better in seemingly small ways, despite all indicators pointing steadily towards tragedy and doom.

A WORD ABOUT MY PERSONAL PREFERENCES AND CANON INTERPRETATIONS

Please write or draw the occupants of Tolkien's worlds in any way that you wish – share your precious headcanons with me! Diverse skin tones; non-Western cultural influences; disabilities; neurospiciness; different body types; trans, intersex and genderqueer headcanons – go for it.

I am open to unrequested relationships as long as they don’t contradict a DNW.

I am more than happy for you to mix and match prompts and character groups across requests.

OCs are great. Add them in wherever you like.

If you want to push the boundaries of traditional fic/art, I am absolutely your person. Want to create abstract art to represent a character’s state of mind, splice photo manips of supernatural beings into the diary entries of your modern OC, or reimagine the tale of Sir Orfeo as a pixel art game? I’m here for it.

There are a few things that, while perhaps not canon in the purest sense, are either canon to me or a very strong preference. Absolutely fine not to mention these things if your take is different, but just for reference…

Maedhros/Fingon. I don’t need them to be monogamous or for their relationship to be straightforward, but I don’t buy that their relationship was purely platonic and I prefer not to have them married to other people, unless as a political convenience.
Maglor survives at the end of the First Age and sticks around for a good long time afterwards.
LaCE is not a biological imperative or the default stance among all Elves.
The experiences, opinions and agendas of the in-universe narrator(s) (e.g. Pengolodh, Ælfwine) significantly influenced what they recorded and how they worded it - and what they left out.

For those who do find “like lists” helpful, here’s the longer version of mine...

DETAILED LIKES LIST

General Likes

A sense of history and wonder
Animals, either wild or companion
Candlelight and starlight
Communication and travel between worlds and across time
Detailed depictions of villages, towns and cities, especially their unusual defining features, like Esgaroth being constructed on wooden piles in the middle of a lake
Elves/Ainur/immortal beings in history
Fic, art etc. inspired by my own fanworks: remixes, based on, set in the same 'verse, using the same plotline, borrowing an OC, podfic recording, etc.
Fog and mist – as a contributor to atmosphere; as a plot device (“oh no, we can’t see, we will have to make camp here/stay in this scary crumbling building, what could possibly go wrong...?”); as a character (friendly sentient mists transporting characters between worlds/less friendly mists aiding and abetting the forces of evil...)
Food, drink and celebration
Forests; rivers; the sea
Fusions of science and magic
Games, contests and competition
Ghosts, hauntings (literal and metaphorical)
Learning a craft. The value of craft. Crafting as a step towards healing/the remaking of self.
Libraries, archives and other knowledge repositories
Liminal places; portals; the borders of the numinous
Music and musical instruments. The power of song, of melody and rhythm. Music as a memorial. The weight of heritage carried by a beautiful instrument. Instruments holding on to echoes of those who have played them before.
Myth, folklore and fairy-tale
Objects and places with special significance
Pubs and inns; depictions of bonding over a long drinking session
Setting as character - feel free to take this literally, I love sentient nature and architectural horror
Scenery porn. Give me your intricate, detailed drawing of a forest. Spoil me with paragraphs of description of the light striking the white chalk of the cliffs.
Shining a light into places canon doesn't show us, or barely touches on – going off the edge of the map
Storytelling, riddles and poetry
Suggestion and implication, whether this is hints of backstory, a figure hiding in the shadows, or a slightly ambiguous ending – I love it when my imagination can get to work filling in the gaps
The supernatural and the uncanny
Weather and seasons – characters stretching out in the sun together, or tucked away inside out of the snow and wind. The poignancy inherent in seasonal change and the passing of time.
Witchy, fey and eldritch beings
Worldbuilding details – my old Worldbuilding Exchange letters are here if you want inspiration in that direction.

Art Likes

Abstract art
Action shots
Anything that plays with colour, light, shadow, space and movement
Art as character study, or illustrating the dynamics of a relationship
Beams of light; strangely shaped shadows
Calligraphy/illumination/runework
Close ups of tiny details like stitching, beading, engraving, etc.
Clothing, jewellery and hair
Comic panels; sets of linked drawings that tell a story
Craft and sculpture
Depictions of the natural world; tiny characters in vast landscapes
Facial expressions conveying more than one emotion at once
Fanmixes, with or without ‘cover art’; musical compositions
Fashion design
Focus on a part of the body that isn't the face, e.g. a character's fingertips lightly brushing their lover's ear
Group shots
Intricate detailing on weaponry, armour, buildings, engravings, musical instruments...
Limited colour palette; jewel tones; monochrome
Maps, architectural drawings, floor plans, designs for a toy or new invention, etc.
Moodboards, stimboards
Portraits
Unusual perspectives – through a window, over a gate, down a tunnel, from a distance...
Vids

Fic Likes

Adventure and peril
Anything to do with languages, linguistics and alphabets
Canon divergence AUs
Capable/competent characters being casually excellent
Complex character dynamics
Conflicting motivations
Curious characters who just want to know things
Fables
Fairy tale motifs
Found families/families of choice
Grief and tragedy
Hope and reconciliation
In-world myths and legends
In-world meta (see section below)
Mercy/pity/kindness
Mysteries and investigations
Philosophical musings; academic discussions and debates
Politics, on any scale
Solace
Unexpected friends/allies/relationships
Unreliable narrators and quirky narrative structures – for example, epistolary, fragmented narratives, stories told through found documents, framing devices, stories told out of chronological order; playing with canon narrative bias/intent
Unusual perspectives, minor characters and textual ghosts
Wry humour; finding something to smile over when times are bleak

In-Universe Meta Ideas

“Filling in the gaps” e.g. fragments of documents complete with in-world commentary
Bestiaries and spellbooks
Catalogues
Contracts and agreements
Diary entries; project journals
Essays
Etymology
History
In-world scholarship
Instructions and recipes
Laws and proclamations
Letters
Literary criticism and analysis
Maps
Marginalia
Working papers and project notes

Relationship Likes (Gen/SFW)

Ambiguous relationships
Banter and teasing
Bedsharing; huddling for warmth
Characters being utterly fascinated by one another (doesn't have to be romantic; could be admiration of craft/skill, or being impressed by someone's intellect, or something else altogether)
Developing friendships – especially unlikely friendships
Emotional reunions after long separations
Enemies/rivals to lovers/friends
Fierce loyalty and devotion, to the point of stubbornness, recklessness or even stupidity
Fighting back-to-back
Forehead kisses
Grey relationships that don't sit neatly in a box
Hurt/comfort
Loyalty
Quiet moments between people who care about each other, especially during or after huge events shaking their world
Situational relationships – enemies having to work together, or people who wouldn't normally be drawn to each other forming a bond through circumstance
“The little things” - light brushes with fingertips, smiles across a room...
Tempestuous, complex or unhealthy relationships (see section on darker stuff)

Smut Likes

Aftercare
Banter in bed
Bathing
Biting and scratching
Blood play
Breath play
Comfort sex; sex between friends who are just having fun
Differing experience levels
Drinking wine in bed together
Enthusiastic consent
Gags; blindfolds; light bondage
Hair brushing/washing/braiding
Helplessness
Knifeplay
Neck kissing; collarbone kissing
Nipple play
Orgasm delay/denial
Piercings
Pillow talk
Porn as character study
Reading erotic literature together
Sensation play
Sex exploring power dynamics and/or deeply informed by characters' history together
Sex in or near water
Specifically for ships involving Ainur, I love sex scenes that lean into their otherness and perhaps play with non-human aspects of their physicality
Swimming
“Thank god you're alive” sex; sex after serious injury

More ideas in my old Smut4Smut letters if your muse bends that way!

Darker Stuff

Apocalypse
Apotheosis, consensual or otherwise
Abandoned places; ruins; haunted houses/objects
Being trapped in a small dark space, possibly with something terrifying lurking nearby
Body horror. Especially pretty body horror, like flowers growing out of bodies, or being consumed from the inside by starlight.
Body modification
Canon divergence that initially seems like it will fix things but then makes everything worse.
Dark fairy tale elements
Dark magic and curses
Dreams and nightmares bleeding into reality
Dubious consent
Folk horror
Incest
Malevolent ghosts and hauntings
Memory loss, or memories being fake/unreliable
Murder - mysteries; studies of killers; any of it
Possession
Resurrection and necromancy
Ritual and sacrifice
Seances
Sentient nature, especially if it loves you and also wants to eat you or drown you
The road to hell being paved with good intentions
Torture
Trauma and survivor's guilt
Unhealthy relationships/relationships with troubling dynamics, including obsession, jealousy and co-dependency
Vore

Linking my Darkest Night, Trick or Treat and Goreswap letters for those who are inclined towards darker fanworks and desiring further inspiration.

And now onwards to the requests and fandoms!

REQUESTED FANDOMS, CHARACTERS AND PROMPTS

I can only apologise for the number and disparate nature of prompts here. My approach to sign-ups was a bit grab-bag – the tag set was just so good this year! Still, when I sat down and took a fresh look at what I picked, I realised there were a number of sub-themes coming out of the tags for each fandom. To try and organise my thoughts a bit I’ve arranged my requests by fandom, then added prompts by theme within each fandom, together with some tags that may work for that theme. As always, though, the prompts are for inspiration only, so only use them if they are helpful; if you have different ideas for the character or group we’ve matched on then by all means follow your heart.

Usual housekeeping...

The number of tags requested and the volume/length of prompts says absolutely nothing about how much I want a given fandom or character.
All requests are for art or fic. I am not particularly good at art prompts; I have tried to include some visual ideas (or at least prompts that could be interpreted in a visual manner) but if I haven’t managed anything sensible and you’re stuck, please know I will be delighted with a sketch of any of my requested characters or groups, or a moodboard inspired by their stories/aesthetics. Working in a worldbuilding tag or two is a bonus but absolutely not required.
Any medium is welcome if you are kind enough to be considering a treat, including podfic, rec lists etc.

The Silmarillion

The Nature of the Valar and Valinor

Suggested tags:

Denethor of the Nandor (Silm)
Eru (Silm)
Group: Círdan & Lenwë (Silm)
Group: Elemmakil/Voronwë (Silm)
Group: Nessa/Vána (Silm)
Group: Nienna/Thuringwethil (Silm)
Group: Original Character/Original Character (Silm)
Group: Sauron & Yavanna (Silm)
Group: Vampires (Silm)
Original Ghost Character (Silm)
Original Star Character (Silm)
Quennar i Onótimo (Silm)
Nienna (Silm)
Yavanna (Silm)

Worldbuilding: Ainur in history (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Autumn (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Bioluminescence in Valinor (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Cosmic Horror (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Light-based Horror (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Relics of Middle-earth surviving into modern times (Silm)
Worldbuilding: The Nature of Time (Silm)

Seasons in Valinor! Explorations of how Valinorean seasons differ from Middle-earth? Art or long descriptions of the flora and fauna, maybe with some of the Ainur or the Elves tending to the land, or just wandering the landscape? Seasonal ceremonies and rituals? How are these different from Beleriand?
Elves reborn in Valinor/making a new life there after sailing – could work for Denethor, Elemmakil/Voronwë, OCs...what do they think of it/how do they feel about it? How do reactions and emotions differ between those who lived in Valinor before vs those who have never seen it? How has Valinor changed since the Valar withdrew it from the physical world?
When did Círdan eventually sail (if he goes at all)? What would he make of Valinor after so many Ages in Middle-earth?
I love weird/freaky/horrific/horror-adjacent depictions of the Valar. I don’t necessarily think they’re evil (though I have eternal Issues with Námo) but I really enjoy fanworks which lean into the idea that they aren’t from this world and fundamentally just Do Not Get the Elves (or Men). I think some of them (of the characters I’ve picked, Yavanna and Nienna in particular) are better at understanding the Elves and empathising with them, but I adore interpretations where the Valar are Very Other.
How do the Valar relate to Eru? What IS Eru? (Maybe too big a question for an exchange where the minimum is 500 words, but if you want to go there then feel free!)
The Valar/Eru from the point of view of the stars…?
Hauntings in Valinor? Possible? Scary? Friendly? Sad? Rare? Common? Discuss!
Highly specific but can we talk about the fact that BoLT!Nienna’s hall had a roof made of bat wings!? What if that carried through to canon as per published Silm? Is she guarding against something/someone – a long-estranged lover with fangs, perhaps, and bat wings of her own…? What might a relationship between the Lady of Mercy and the Lady of the Night look like? Are the vampires fallen Ainur or something else entirely?
A random thought if you’re making art – bioluminescent Yavanna could be absolutely bloody beautiful…

Autumn/Fading/Transience/Mortality

Suggested tags:

Denethor of the Nandor (Silm)
Group: Círdan & Lenwë (Silm)
Group: Elemmakil/Voronwë (Silm)
Group: Nessa/Vána (Silm)
Group: Nienna/Thuringwethil (Silm)
Group: Nimloth of Doriath & Nimloth the Tree (Silm)
Group: Original Character/Original Character (Silm)
Group: Sauron & Yavanna (Silm)
Group: Things That 'Live' in the Void (Silm)
Group: Vampires (Silm)
Nienna (Silm)
Original Ghost Character (Silm)
Yavanna (Silm)

Worldbuilding: Ainur in history (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Autumn (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Denethor of the Green-elves Lives (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Relics of Middle-earth surviving into modern times (Silm)
Worldbuilding: The Nature of Time (Silm)

Autumnal art, poetry or literary reflections featuring any of my chosen characters would be delightful – potentially extra poignant if you went for the OC/OC tag and made it a mortal/immortal pairing…?
I have sort of amalgamated some of my supernatural/potentially scary tags – ghosts, vampires, things that ‘live’ in the Void – in here given Autumn as the season of transience and therefore of all things liminal and spooky. (Something something boundaries between life and death, inevitability of passing and change, necessity of death for renewal etc.)
Autumn from the point of view of Nimloth of Doriath, shared centuries later with Nimloth the Tree? (Something something names have power names create connections?)
How the Elves and Ainur perceive (and feel about) change and fading and the falling of leaves and the rotting of old worlds and the birth of the new.
Ainur ladies in Autumn! Yavanna surrounded by ripening fruits and reddening trees! Nessa and Vána running and dancing together through changing landscapes and being in love!

Scholarship

Suggested Tags:

Group: Beings that inhabited Arda before the Ainur came (Silm)
Group: Inhabitants of other worlds beyond Arda (Silm)
Group: Nienna/Thuringwethil (Silm)
Group: Sauron & Yavanna (Silm)
Group: The Ainur who shaped worlds beyond Arda (Silm)
Group: Things That 'Live' in the Void (Silm)
Group: Vampires (Silm)
Original Ghost Character (Silm)
Original Scholar (Silm)
Quennar i Onótimo (Silm)
Yavanna (Silm)

Worldbuilding: Autumn (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Cosmic Horror (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Relics of Middle-earth surviving into modern times (Silm)
Worldbuilding: The Nature of Time (Silm)
Worldbuilding: The tea trade in Middle-earth (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Bioluminescence in Valinor (Silm)

I would LOVE some in-world meta! Some suggestions…

Nature and classification of in-world hauntings? (A tag I nominated but couldn’t fit into my sign-up.)
Academic notes from Quennar or one of his students? (He was a scholar of Time and the Firmament, I would love to know what he researched/concluded. Actually I would love to know more about Quennar full stop.)
Trade records from First Age Beleriand, and a later scholar’s views on what they told us about relations between the various peoples?
Drawings of calendars, or maps of trade routes? A contemporary academic (or a scholar from somewhere in known history) finding a famous object or objects from Middle-earth, their working sketches of it, and/or their research notes into what it could be and what it might mean? (Bonus points if Maglor or anybody else turns up to tell them just why their research is wrong.)
Sauron trying to discover the secrets of the universe (or multiverse…)?
Academic speculation about what lies beyond Arda? (Or more than speculation – by all means hint at encounters with Lovecraftian Void-dwelling horrors and depict the poor scholars trying to make sense of it all…)
A scholar from a later Age speculating on the nature of vampires and the legends about them?
A young Elf trying to understand why, on certain nights of the year, the shores of Aman glow?

Trade Relations

Suggested tags:

Denethor of the Nandor (Silm)
Group: Círdan & Lenwë (Silm)
Group: Original Character/Original Character (Silm)
Original Scholar (Silm)

Worldbuilding: Autumn (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Denethor of the Green-elves Lives (Silm)
Worldbuilding: The tea trade in Middle-earth (Silm)

I asked for the tea tag as 1) I love tea (seriously, if you gave me an excerpt from a catalogue of teas available in Middle-earth I would be so happy) and 2) I love the worldbuilding and character development possibilities inherent in moving valuable goods across boundaries – physical; cultural; social; religious; maybe even supernatural. But there’s no need to stop at tea: you could do the same thing with the bounties of an autumn harvest, precious metals and jewels, herbs, spices, tobacco…

Middle-earth is Our Earth

Suggested tags:

Denethor of the Nandor (Silm)
Group: Círdan & Lenwë (Silm)
Group: Original Character/Original Character (Silm)
Group: Nessa/Vána (Silm)
Group: Nienna/Thuringwethil (Silm)
Group: Sauron & Yavanna (Silm)
Group: Vampires (Silm)
Original Ghost Character (Silm)
Original Scholar (Silm)
Nienna (Silm)
Original Star Character (Silm)
Quennar i Onótimo (Silm)
Yavanna (Silm)

Worldbuilding: Ainur in history (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Autumn (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Denethor of the Green-elves Lives (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Relics of Middle-earth surviving into modern times (Silm)
Worldbuilding: The Nature of Time (Silm)

See the ‘modern scholar examining Middle-earth artefacts’ prompts under ‘Scholarship’ above. (Although feel free to ditch the in-world meta aspect if that doesn’t appeal – straight fiction or art would be equally delightful.)
A ghost, vampire, or other immortal character (or characters) who has hung about through the Ages, throughout history and into modern times, observing, participating and withdrawing by turns, interacting as far as they can. Forming bonds? Falling in love? You decide.
Denethor, Quennar, Círdan or Lenwë would all make interesting switches from the usual ‘Elf in History’ suspects…
What would the Ainur make of modernity? How would Yavanna respond to the climate crisis? Would Nienna still believe in pity and mercy and salvation? Does Nessa still run with the deer? Does Vána still dance at the flowering of Spring?
How does our Earth look when seen through the eyes of a star…?

Elsewhere/Outside/Beyond

Suggested tags:

Eru (Silm)
Group: Original Character/Original Character (Silm)
Group: Beings that inhabited Arda before the Ainur came (Silm)
Group: Inhabitants of other worlds beyond Arda (Silm)
Group: Nienna/Thuringwethil (Silm)
Group: Sauron & Yavanna (Silm)
Group: The Ainur who shaped worlds beyond Arda (Silm)
Group: Things That 'Live' in the Void (Silm)
Original Star Character (Silm)
Original Scholar (Silm)
Quennar i Onótimo (Silm)

Worldbuilding: Ainur in history (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Cosmic Horror (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Female Eru (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Light-based Horror (Silm)
Worldbuilding: The Nature of Time (Silm)

There is some delightful stuff in Morgoth’s Ring (and elsewhere, to be fair) that hints at possibilities outside the Arda we know. I would adore anything that explores this. Lovecraftian cosmic horror; contact between worlds; depictions of the Ainur in their earliest days, before they entered Arda...I don’t have many specific prompts for this sub-group of tags and I’m not picky about genre, but if you wanted to poke at the very edges of what canon shows us, consider this your invitation to do so.

The Butterfly Effect

Suggested tags:

Denethor of the Nandor (Silm)
Eru (Silm)
Group: Círdan & Lenwë (Silm)
Group: Elemmakil/Voronwë (Silm)
Group: Nienna/Thuringwethil (Silm)
Group: Nimloth of Doriath & Nimloth the Tree (Silm)
Group: Original Character/Original Character (Silm)
Group: Vampires (Silm)
Original Scholar (Silm)
Quennar i Onótimo (Silm)

Worldbuilding: Denethor of the Green-elves Lives (Silm)
Worldbuilding: Female Eru (Silm)
Worldbuilding: The Nature of Time (Silm)

This is your carte blanche for canon divergence – one of my deep and abiding loves! There’s the obvious option of ‘Denethor Lives’ & what that changes, but here are some other possibilities…

Thuringwethil redemption arc/Thuringwethil picks the other side, or changes sides partway through the First Age
Would things play out any differently if the One God was explicitly female, or just Not Male? What if the interpretation of Eru as All-Father was just a linguistic misunderstanding? (Cf. Finnish Tolkien fans interpreting Eru Ilúvatar as female because of the suffix.) Would society look different? Would Varda rule the Valar instead of Manwë? Please go wild!
Time travel shenanigans/characters getting another chance to change something. Maybe an OC figures out the one thing that will ‘fix’ the future and change the course of history – but at what cost? (Maybe Nimloth the Tree is a focal point for time-magic?)
An Elemmakil/Voronwë romance in which Gondolin doesn’t fall, or Idril betrays her people instead of Maeglin, or Aredhel doesn’t die, or…or…or…
Honestly, any other point of divergence that strikes your fancy!

The Lord of the Rings

Hobbit Happenings/Shire Shenanigans

Suggested tags:

Goldberry (LOTR books)
Group: Bree-Hobbits (LotR books)
Group: Entwives (LOTR Books)
Group: Huorns (LotR books)
Original Character (LotR books)
Original Fallohide Character (LOTR Books)
Original Harfoot Character (LOTR Books)
Original Stoor Character (LOTR Books)

Worldbuilding: Bonfire Glade (LotR books)
Worldbuilding: Differing tea preferences between Elves & Hobbits & Dwarves (LotR Books)
Worldbuilding: Magic and Mystery on the Far Downs in the Shire (LotR books)
Worldbuilding: The Forsaken Inn (LotR books)
Worldbuilding: The Third Age Before the Quest of Erebor (LotR books)

Lots of opportunity here to explore early Hobbit culture and/or the settling of the Shire.
How does Hobbit life in Bree differ from the Shire? Are Bree-hobbits more adventurous, or less?
Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits in the Common Room at the Prancing Pony (or perhaps the Forsaken Inn before it was forsaken), drinking tea and arguing about the correct way to do it?
Speaking of the Forsaken Inn...why was it abandoned? What lurks there? Do some daring Hobbit lads and lasses perhaps venture out to spend the night every once in a while?
I threw the Entwife and Huorn tags in there in case anybody wants to play with the idea that there are Huorns in the Old Forest, and explore that in conjunction with the Bonfire Glade tag – OR, on a more lighthearted note, perhaps the wandering elm tree mentioned in passing is an Entwife, who makes a young Hobbit friend...?
Tom and Goldberry don’t seem widely known in the Shire by the end of the Third Age, but perhaps the earlier Hobbit-kinds had more to do with them – and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil seems to suggest they socialise with the Maggots. I would love something about Goldberry befriending young Hobbit lasses, or perhaps seducing a pretty Hobbit maid on a May Day morning...

Magical Forests and Rivers

Suggested tags:

Glorfindel (LOTR books)
Goldberry (LOTR books)
Group: Entwives (LOTR Books)
Group: Glorfindel/the Lady of the Blue Brooch/the Last Prince of Cardolan (LotR books)
Group: Huorns (LotR books)
Group: Original Entling Character(s) & Radagast (LotR books)
Lady of the Blue Brooch (LotR books)
Original Character (LotR books)
Original Character with Rohirric and Dunlending Ancestry (LotR books)
Original Fallohide Character (LOTR Books)

Worldbuilding: Bonfire Glade (LotR Books)
Worldbuilding: Ents becoming Tree-ish and vice versa (LOTR Books)
Worldbuilding: How was Goldberry created? Are there other River-daughters? (LOTR Books)

Forests as queer spaces! Forests as portals and places of magic and possibility!
Building on the Shire/Hobbit-themed tags above – something about the attack on Buckland by the trees of the Old Forest?
In-world stories about walking trees, perhaps an old Rohirric or Dunlending tale about Fangorn?
Explorations of what became of the Entwives – in-world meta, or perhaps an OC has a magical encounter.
Huorns – I kind of love the idea that even our modern day woodlands have Huorns. I’d love some creepy art or fic of the trees closing in on an unsuspecting hiker or dog walker, who perhaps even knows the old legends, but can’t quite bring themselves to believe...
Of all the three early Hobbit-kinds, the Fallohides feel like prime candidates for getting lost in the woods. Whether their adventure is dark or delightful is entirely up to you.
Similarly, I can see a reborn Glorfindel seeking quiet/solace among the trees and crossing paths with something/someone unexpected.
I am ALWAYS up for different interpretations of Goldberry, and I enjoy both benevolent and somewhat creepy/eldritch takes on her and her origins. Where did she come from? Who are her parents? Where has she been and what has she seen/done?
I had literally never given this somewhat cracky idea a thought until I whacked their tags into the same subgroup, but has Glorfindel had interactions with Goldberry before? Was he maybe even present at her creation/birth? No basis for a connection whatsoever apart from the etymological link of ‘gold’, but if you want to take this route then please do; I am now intrigued!

Rohan & Surrounding Area

Suggested tags:

Brytta Léofa (LotR books)
Group: Brytta Léofa & Saruman(LotR books)
Original Character (LotR books)
Original Character with Rohirric and Dunlending Ancestry (LotR books)
Original Stoor Character (LOTR Books)
Scatha (LotR books)

Worldbuilding: Cold-drakes and Fire-drakes (LotR books)
Worldbuilding: The Third Age Before the Quest of Erebor (LotR books)
Worldbuilding: The History of Rohan (LotR books)

Scatha my beloved! Yes please to scary chompy dragon content, and also to dragons which are unexpectedly sympathetic. (I am partial to a female Scatha but obviously you do you.)
I am really interested in Saruman's attendance at the crowning of Fréaláf, and what Brytta made of him.
Anything about Brytta in general would be lovely; what did he do that made him so beloved?
Something which provides a different lens on the conflict between the Rohirrim and the Dunlendings would be fascinating. How would a character of dual heritage navigate whichever side of the divide they found themselves on? Or if you wanted to take the OC tag and write from the POV of the Dunlendings I would be very keen for that. (I added the Stoors tag as they were geographically and linguistically linked to the Dunlendings and I don't think I've ever actually seen that explored, so if that intrigues you then please run with it!)
Honestly, use the OC tag as your wildcard to explore any element of Rohan's history and culture that interests you. The OC doesn't necessarily have to be from Rohan; I adore outsider POV.

Arnor, Angmar and After-effects

Suggested tags:

Glorfindel (LOTR books)
Group: Glorfindel/the Lady of the Blue Brooch/the Last Prince of Cardolan (LotR books)
Lady of the Blue Brooch (LotR books)
Group: The Barrow-wights (LotR books)
Original Character (LotR books)
Original Character from Arthedain (LOTR Books)
Original Character from Cardolan (LOTR Books)
Original Character from Rhudaur (Lotr Books)
Original Fallohide Character (LOTR Books)
Original Harfoot Character (LOTR Books)
Original Stoor Character (LOTR Books)

Worldbuilding: Creation of the Barrow-wights(LotR books)
Worldbuilding: The Third Age Before the Quest of Erebor (LotR books)
Worldbuilding: The Forsaken Inn (LotR books)

I will gobble up anything about the politics surrounding the legacy kingdoms of Arnor, or depictions of their landscape, customs, food...please shine some light into this overlooked corner of Middle-earth's history!
Casting the net wider into the Third Age pre-Quest – you could explore the alliance between the Hillmen and Angmar, or the fortification of Weathertop, or the siege of Rivendell...
I’ve thrown the Forsaken Inn into the mix again – geographically it would be situated within old Arnor. What if it was forsaken because it was built on the site of some terrible deed in the wars, and is haunted by the memories/spirits of that time?
Barrow-wights! What are they? What is known about them? We know from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil that they’re part of Hobbit lore; I would love something about early Hobbits encountering them during the settling of the Shire, or in-world folk tales about their doings. (If you’re making art then I would LOVE some creepy sketches of wights reaching out of the shadows, eyes glowing...)
Who was the mysterious Lady of the Blue Brooch? Why was Tom so keen to give Goldberry her jewellery as a memento?
If you feel like getting into the aftermath of the Angmar wars, I would love to know what the Rangers got up to in Fornost, and what stories were told in Bree to make Barliman speak of it with such fear...

Glorfindel

Suggested tags:

Glorfindel (LOTR books)
Group: Bree-Hobbits (LotR books)
Group: Glorfindel/the Lady of the Blue Brooch/the Last Prince of Cardolan (LotR books)
Original Character (LotR books)
Original Character from Arthedain (LOTR Books)
Original Character from Cardolan (LOTR Books)
Original Character from Rhudaur (Lotr Books)

Worldbuilding: Differing tea preferences between Elves & Hobbits & Dwarves (LotR Books)
Worldbuilding: The Third Age Before the Quest of Erebor (LotR books)
Worldbuilding: The Forsaken Inn (LotR books)

Why yes, I gave the Golden One his own sub-section in my sign-up. He was one of my favourite characters when I first read the books – an early glimpse of what I now think of as “true” Elven power, noble and perilous at once. With his First Age memories and direct experience of death and rebirth, his perspective on events in the Second and Third Age is unique, and I’d love to see anything about him from his reincarnation onwards. Pick any event or period that interests you and use him as a means to explore it – the fall of Númenor; the Last Alliance; the Angmar Wars; the Great Plague; the attack of the White Council on Dol Guldur; rebuilding in the Fourth Age; whatever you fancy. If outsider perspective is your thing, perhaps you could create something from the point of view of an OC, and explore how they feel about encountering an Elf-lord from the ancient tales. (If they know the ancient tales, that is. There might be more comedy potential if they don’t...!) Riffing on the ‘Middle-earth is our Earth’ Silm prompts above, I would also be up for him appearing in known history/modern times.

A random Glorfindel headcanon of mine – I write him as reborn with short hair, though he grows it out later. Of course you don’t have to go with that but I’m throwing it out there as a possibility! Could work nicely for art - almost a 'before and after'?

Finally - I don’t know who nominated the Glorfindel/the Lady of the Blue Brooch/the Last Prince of Cardolan tag, but if it was you then just know that I love it, I’m here for it, I want to know all about it!

The Hobbit

Mirkwood

Suggested tags:

Group: descendants of the talking thrushes and ravens (Hobbit book)
Group: Gandalf & The Necromancer (Hobbit books)
Group: Original Woodsman of Mirkwood/Original Elf (Hobbit book)
Group: Original Woodsman of Mirkwood & Original Elf (Hobbit book)
Original Elf Character (Hobbit books) Mirkwood
Original Shapeshifter (Hobbit books)
Original Spider Character (Hobbit books)
The Elvenking (Hobbit book)

Worldbuilding: Are vampires still around in the Third Age? (Hobbit books)
Worldbuilding: Gollum as a character in Woodsman mythology (Hobbit book)
Worldbuilding: Sentient objects (Hobbit books)
Worldbuilding: Shapeshifters - history and culture (Hobbit books)
Worldbuilding: The Elvenking Turns People Who Fell into the River into Black Butterflies (Hobbit book)

That black butterflies tag is giving me major Hua Cheng vibes - if you're at all familiar with Heaven Official's Blessing then I would love a fic that leans into that kind of characterisation for Thranduil! Or maybe the unfortunate travellers being turned into black butterflies are an in-world folk-tale told by the Woodsmen? Are there superstitions about what happens if you touch one of the butterflies, or how to turn them back?
Speaking of which - the Woodsmen! Tell me more! What are their lives like? How much interaction do they have with the Elves? What stories do they tell about them, and about other creatures that live in the forest or have passed through it? (Love the Gollum tag, I would adore a scary in-world folk horror story about that - or art of him sneaking in through an open window while the children sleep on...)
Are there shapeshifters in the woods? What creatures might they turn into? Can the spiders shapeshift?
What kinds of terrible haunted objects might have existed in Dol Guldur? Or, less sinister, what sentient treasures might the Elvenking hold?
I would love anything that depicts or explores the nature of Mirkwood, its perils, its history, and its secrets. Sentient trees, art of characters lost in the woods, stories that have travelled hundreds and thousands of miles about its dark depths, in-world meta recording the corruption of the Greenwood...I'm here for any and all of it!

Cryptids and Creatures

Suggested tags:

Group: descendants of the talking thrushes and ravens (Hobbit book)
Group: Stone-giants (Hobbit books)
Group: The Necromancer & Smaug (Hobbit books)
Group: Trolls (Hobbit books)
Group: Trolls With Multiple Heads (Hobbit books)
Group: Took descendants with traits very obviously inherited from their fairy ancestor (Hobbit books)
Group: Were-worms (Hobbit books)
Original Shapeshifter (Hobbit books)
Original Spider Character (Hobbit books)
The trolls' talking purse (Hobbit books)

Worldbuilding: Are vampires still around in the Third Age? (Hobbit books)
Worldbuilding: In-world legends about were-worms (Hobbit books)
Worldbuilding: Shapeshifters - history and culture (Hobbit books

A leather-worker's notes about how to craft a sentient purse? In-world tales of the stone-giants or were-worms? Elladan and Elrohir hunting a three-headed horror in the hills above Rivendell? If you're making art then maybe Took fairy descendants with very fay-looking traits (wings...?) or a Beorning or other shapeshifter mid-transformation? I'm here for any and all of it!

Gandalf: Ultimate Wind Up Merchant

Suggested tags:

Gandalf (Hobbit book)
Group: Belladonna Took & Gandalf
Group: Gandalf & The Necromancer (Hobbit books)
Group: Took descendants with traits very obviously inherited from their fairy ancestor (Hobbit books)
Lobelia Sackville-Baggins (Hobbit book)
Original Elf Character (Hobbit books)
The Elvenking (Hobbit book)
The Old Took (Hobbit book)

Worldbuilding: Gandalf enlists Lobelia on the Quest instead of Bilbo (Hobbit book)
Worldbuilding: Gandalf actually sends someone else on the Quest instead of going himself (Hobbit book)
Worldbuilding: Gandalf goes on a Vacation (Hobbit book)

I just find these worldbuilding tags so entertaining and i would love someone to create a fill. Somebody on the SWG discord mentioned Lobelia striding into the trolls' clearing with her umbrella...I would be delighted to see that illustrated or written about! Or if not Lobelia, who else might Gandalf send? A very strange and fay-looking Took descendant? A random tra-la-lally Elf? Thranduil?? And what might Gandalf get up to in the meantime? (I would love art of him wearing Lobelia's bonnet and tending her garden.)

Inheritance

Suggested tags:

The Old Took (Hobbit book)
Lobelia Sackville-Baggins (Hobbit book)
Group: Took descendants with traits very obviously inherited from their fairy ancestor (Hobbit books)
Group: descendants of the talking thrushes and ravens (Hobbit book)
Original Shapeshifter (Hobbit books)
Group: Belladonna Took & Gandalf
Group: the Woodsmen of Mirkwood (Hobbit books)
Original Elf Character (Hobbit books) Mirkwood
The Elvenking (Hobbit book)

Worldbuilding: Gollum as a character in Woodsman mythology (Hobbit book)
Worldbuilding: The Old Took's Magic Cufflinks (Hobbit books)
Worldbuilding: Shapeshifters - history and culture (Hobbit books)
Worldbuilding: Sentient objects (Hobbit books)
Worldbuilding: Are vampires still around in the Third Age? (Hobbit books)

This prompt is all about the things we carry with us through the generations - objects; family history; our culture's stories; powers and abilities; in the case of the Elves, their own deeds from thousands of years ago. Some suggestions...

The story of the Old Took's cufflinks - where did they come from? Were they a gift or were they stolen?
How fairy ancestry manifests in the Took line and what this means for them
The stories of the Woodsmen, and which ones carry a kernel of truth
For Thranduil or the original Elf, how the deeds of the First Age echo into the present
How shapeshifters such as Beorn got their abilities
Straying into LotR territory, but why is Lobelia so desperate to get her hands on Bag End? What does it represent to her and why?

Tolkien (2019)

Queerness

Suggested tags:

Original Oxford Classicist (Tolkien 2019)
Original Genderqueer Oxford Student (Tolkien 2019)
Original Female Oxford Student (Tolkien 2019)
Original Oxford Archaeologist (Tolkien 2019)
Original Demisexual Character (Tolkien 2019)
Original Asexual Character (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Original male character/original male character (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Original character + original character (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Christopher Wiseman + Edith Bratt (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Geoffrey Bache Smith/J. R. R. Tolkien (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Geoffrey Bache Smith + J. R. R. Tolkien (Tolkien 2019)

Worldbuilding: Gender and Class Discrimination in Oxford (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Tolkien was biromantic and demisexual (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Romantic friendship (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Queer relationships at Oxford (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Parson's Pleasure (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Dame's Delight (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Aspec and arospec experiences in early 20th century Britain (Tolkien 2019)

I would love to see some queer joy (or angst) in early 20th century Britain! The film leans heavily into Geoffrey's feelings for JRRT but there are loads of options here. I love original characters and I would be delighted if you used them to explore any of the worldbuilding tags explored - or, for something a bit more left-field, I am intrigued by the dynamic between Edith and Christopher in the film. I would love to read something about them that plays with the romantic friendship tag. For art, characters of your choice wearing not very much while taking a dip at Parson's Pleasure or Dame's Delight?

Oxford Life

Worldbuilding: Hauntings (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Handwriting (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Gender and Class Discrimination in Oxford (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Queer relationships at Oxford (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Parson's Pleasure (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Dame's Delight (Tolkien 2019)

I haven't pulled out specific characters for this one as it could work for almost all of them!

Oxford has more than its share of ghosts...a spooky tale or art in which a character has a supernatural encounter would be very welcome.
For the handwriting tag, perhaps frustrated students deciphering lecture notes, or letters? Tolkien trying to make sense of an ancient manuscript in the Bodleian, or even his own notes on his created worlds?
A jolly day's larks by the banks of the Cherwell?
If you want to dig into something meatier/grittier - yes, Oxford is a beautiful, storied city but it does have a history of privileging certain characteristics and backgrounds. If you want to explore a character's struggles there, the cognitive dissonance of being simultaneously inside and outside, then by all means do - I was thinking of Joseph Wright especially for this (look up his life story, he's fascinating!) but OCs or other characters could work well too.

Living With Grief and Trauma

Group: Christopher Wiseman & Edith Bratt (Tolkien 2019)
Ruth Smith (Tolkien 2019)Joseph Wright (Tolkien 2019)
Edith Bratt (Tolkien 2019)
Mabel Tolkien (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Edith Tolkien & Ruth Smith (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Christopher Wiseman + Edith Bratt (Tolkien 2019)
Group: J. R. R. Tolkien & Ruth Smith (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Geoffrey Bache Smith/J. R. R. Tolkien (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Geoffrey Bache Smith + J. R. R. Tolkien (Tolkien 2019)

Worldbuilding: Hauntings (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Handwriting (Tolkien 2019)
Worldbuilding: Creation as Elegy (Tolkien 2019)

A less literal form of haunting - a character remembering someone they have lost, thinking they see or hear them...a sense of being followed around by our own history; how the past echoes into the present...
Mabel Tolkien was a huge influence on her son and had famously tiny, beautiful handwriting...if you want to combine art and fic maybe you could recreate one of her letters to the boys, or to someone else?
World War One changed the world forever - how do characters cope with having lived through that, both those who were in the trenches and those who remained at home?
I love the idea of Ruth Smith becoming a family friend after the loss of Geoffrey, and Tolkien showing her the latest versions of the poems and legends he shared with her son.

The Fall of Arthur

Destiny and History

Magic Old and New

The Fear of the Beautiful Fay

Fealty and Friendship

The Once and Future King

Ham and Jam and Spamalot

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún

Angels, Elves and Gods

Spells

Life in the Old North

Ideas of the Monstrous

The End of the World (As We Know It)

Roverandom

Spirited Away

Dreams and Reality

Innocence and Experience

Wizards and their General Nonsense

The Wide and Magic World

Sir Orfeo

Orfeo (Orfeo)
Heurodis (Orfeo)
Original Hare Character (Orfeo)
Group: Soothsayers (Orfeo)
Original Ghost Character (Orfeo)
Group: the Dead (Orfeo)
Group: Creatures of the Otherworld (Orfeo)
The Fairy King (Orfeo)
Group: Heurodis/Orfeo & The Fairy King (Orfeo)
Original Character (Orfeo)
Group: Orfeo & The Steward (Orfeo)
Group: Heurodis/Orfeo (Orfeo)

Worldbuilding: Modern AU (Orfeo)
Worldbuilding: Hauntings (Orfeo)
Worldbuilding: Cup and Ring Markings (Orfeo)
Worldbuilding: The significance of the grafted tree (Orfeo)
Worldbuilding: Role reversal- Orfeo is taken instead of Heurodis (Orfeo)
Worldbuilding: Orfeo stays in the Otherworld with the Fairy King and Heurodis (Orfeo)
Worldbuilding: Are there aftereffects from having lived in the Otherworld? (Orfeo)
Worldbuilding: Queering the Canon Relationship (Orfeo)
Worldbuilding: Kamikakushi (Orfeo)
Worldbuilding: Loss of your true name in the Otherworld (Orfeo)

I’ve struggled to pull out specific sub-themes for this one. Really this whole request is about depictions and interpretations of the Otherworld/Faery, its powers, its inherent queerness, how it simultaneously disrupts and anchors reality, how it haunts us, what it does to our sense of self, why we need it, and what we gain and lose by going there. If you want to lean into non-Western aesthetics and folklore then please do; I pulled out the 'Kamikakushi' tag with that in mind. I am also very here for horror takes on this canon - playing with the permeability of boundaries, our illusion of control, our limited sense of reality, is very much encouraged.

Finn and Hengest

Politics of the Old North

Poetry and Storytelling

Daily Life

Linguistic Echoes and Puzzles

Crossover Fandom

May Day

Suggested tags:

Daeron (Silm) is the May Day Lutanist (Poems)
Entwives (LotR books) in a setting of your choice
Gawain (Arthur) is Glorfindel (Silm)
Goldberry (LotR books) in a setting of your choice
Group: Goldberry (ATB)/Nimue (Arthur)

Worldbuilding: ‘Dark’ supernatural creatures finding a welcome in unexpected places (crossover)
Worldbuilding: Cup and Ring Markings (crossover)
Worldbuilding: Gramarye (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Holloways (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Kamikakushi (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Pubs and Inns and Taverns (Crossovers)

Bonfires! May poles! Flower crowns! Music and dancing! Rituals of protection! A time of transition between summer and spring, the celebration of life and plenty...
Goldberry and/or Nimue as May Queens?
Glorfindel as Gawain taking part in May Games?
Daeron, singing songs of the old days, looks to the past and the future
A lost child is sheltered by the Entwives and learns about the power of the seasons, and change?

The North Pole

Suggested tags:

The Girabbit (Bliss) at the North Pole (FCL)
Group: Fëanor (Silm) & the gnome holding a torch (TFCL)

Group: Original Geologist Character(s) (NCP)/A character of your choice from Arda before the fall of Númenor (Silm)
Group: Original Modern Academic Character(s) (NCP)/Original Númenórean Academic Character(s) (Silm)
Original Ghost Character (crossover)
Original Hare Character (Crossover)
Original Star Character in the setting of your choice
Group: Oromë's Hunt (Silm) & The Faerie Hunt (Orfeo)

Worldbuilding: the North Pole was once Illuin (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: ‘Dark’ supernatural creatures finding a welcome in unexpected places (crossover)
Worldbuilding: Cup and Ring Markings (crossover)
Worldbuilding: Discussing Linguistics Across Universes (Crossover)
Worldbuilding: Linguistics and Lámatyávë (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Gramarye (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Kamikakushi (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Pubs and Inns and Taverns (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: What Happens If You Call Fëanor a Gnome? (Crossover)

I know that strictly speaking some of these groups don't include characters or elements from The Father Christmas Letters or use the generic crossover disambiguation, BUT this is Innumerable Stars, the home of wild fusions and boundary pushing.

Very genuine question about the power of language and the nature of belief - exactly what does happen if you Fëanor a Gnome? (Cf. Penny Dreadful - "you have to name a thing to make it come to life"...)
Where do the residents of the North Pole go to wind down when all the festive hard work is done? Do they all pop off to a tavern for a nice relaxing drink together?
Academics getting caught up in something far bigger than they imagined possible! Academics (or Fëanor) deciphering goblin scripts!
The Girabbit causing chaos! Where does it come from? Does a hopeful child wish it into existence by writing it into their Christmas letter? Does someone eventually adopt it (is this how Mr. Bliss acquired it in the first place?)
I am up for stories that explore the dark and bloody roots of Christmas. Festive horror, the inherent grief of a celebration that is about togetherness and hope, the strangeness of the whole thing from an outsider's perspective, the hints of the older, scarier things that lurk at the boundaries of Father Christmas's world...please get into that side of things if you wish!

Grieving and Fading and Haunting

Suggested tags:

Daeron (Silm) is the May Day Lutanist (Poems)
Elf of your choice (Silm) enters the Pool of Forgetfulness (Poems)
Entwives (LotR books) in a setting of your choice
Gawain (Arthur) is Glorfindel (Silm)

Group: Dírhaval (Silm) & Totta (HBBS)
Group: Elf of your choice (Silm) & Joseph Wright (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Elves (Silm or LotR) in Medieval Scandinavia (Beowulf/FH/LSG)
Group: Fëanor (Silm) & the gnome holding a torch (TFCL)
Group: Geoffrey Bache Smith (Tolkien 2019) & W.H. Auden - For W.H.A. (Poems)
Group: Original Geologist Character(s) (NCP)/A character of your choice from Arda before the fall of Númenor (Silm)
Group: Original Modern Academic Character(s) (NCP)/Original Númenórean Academic Character(s) (Silm)
Original Ghost Character (crossover)
Original Hare Character (Crossover)
Original Star Character in the setting of your choice
Group: Oromë's Hunt (Silm) & The Faerie Hunt (Orfeo)

Worldbuilding: the North Pole was once Illuin (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Cup and Ring Markings (crossover)
Worldbuilding: Pubs and Inns and Taverns (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Gramarye (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Holloways (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Kamikakushi (Crossovers)

Auden reminding Tolkien of Geoffrey Bache Smith and the friendship they shared; JRRT's grief opening some sort of psychic/inter-dimensional link between GBS and WHA? Or, more straightforward, WHA reading GBS's poems and reflecting on the dreams of the young poet, the land and mythology he loved, and how much was changed and lost in the trenches Auden was too young to fight in. (I am very much a fan of a romantic or queerplatonic relationship between GBS and JRRT if you are inclined to explore that.)

Ancient Landscapes

Suggested tags:

Entwives (LotR books) in a setting of your choice
Gawain (Arthur) is Glorfindel (Silm)

Goldberry (LotR books) in a setting of your choice
Group: Goldberry (ATB)/Nimue (Arthur)
Group: Geoffrey Bache Smith (Tolkien 2019) & W.H. Auden - For W.H.A. (Poems)
Group: Original Geologist Character(s) (NCP)/A character of your choice from Arda before the fall of Númenor (Silm)
Original Ghost Character (crossover)
Original Hare Character (Crossover)
Original Star Character in the setting of your choice
Group: Oromë's Hunt (Silm) & The Faerie Hunt (Orfeo)

Worldbuilding: Cup and Ring Markings (crossover)
Worldbuilding: Holloways (Crossovers)

Ghosts, echoes or phantoms of wild hunts cantering past modern characters as they travel along an ancient holloway
Honestly I just really love the idea of holloways as places both within the world and hidden from it, where ghosts and memories accumulate, and the history of journeys and transition weaken the boundaries between realities and realms, past and present, life and death...
Glorfindel-as-Gawain reflecting on the changing landscape as he journeys to meet (or journeys with?) the Green Knight
Cup and ring art marking the site of portals between worlds and realms
The ghost, hare or star character observing the world changing through the years
Geoffrey Bache Smith, W.H. Auden, and images/ideas of England and its ancient past

What Makes A Monster?

Suggested tags:

Goldberry (LotR books) in a setting of your choice
Group: Goldberry (ATB)/Nimue (Arthur)
Group: Dírhaval (Silm) & Totta (HBBS)
Group: Elf of your choice (Silm) & Joseph Wright (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Elves (Silm or LotR) in Medieval Scandinavia (Beowulf/FH/LSG)
Group: Fëanor (Silm) & the gnome holding a torch (TFCL)

Group: Grendel's Mother (Beowulf - J. R. R. Tolkien) & Ungoliant (Silm)
Group: Guild of Venturers (Silm) & Sirens - The Sirens (Poems)
Original Ghost Character (crossover)
Original Hare Character (Crossover)O\
riginal Star Character in the setting of your choice
Group: Oromë's Hunt (Silm) & The Faerie Hunt (Orfeo)

Worldbuilding: ‘Dark’ supernatural creatures finding a welcome in unexpected places (crossover)
Worldbuilding: Gramarye (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Holloways (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Kamikakushi (Crossovers)

Dark and scary takes on Goldberry and/or Nimue! (Or in-world dark and scary beliefs about them when the reality is much more nuanced.)
Dírhaval and Totta reflecting on the responsibilities of the chronicler, whether they can ever treat their subjects fairly/objectively, and what evil and monstrousness mean to them both
How othering creates/feeds ideas of monstrousness (could be an interesting one with Joseph Wright and his very non-traditional route into academia)
Characters facing dragons and demons and finding them more human than they expected
A version of Grendel's mother who is descended from Ungoliant??
An OC from the Guild of Venturers haunted by the cry of a siren they heard at sea long ago?
I love Alan Garner's writings on the Wild Hunt in his Weirdstone trilogy and would love to see a dark and dangerous take...

Linguistics and Academia

Suggested tags:

Group: Elf of your choice (Silm) & Joseph Wright (Tolkien 2019)
Group: Fëanor (Silm) & the gnome holding a torch (TFCL)
Group: Geoffrey Bache Smith (Tolkien 2019) & W.H. Auden - For W.H.A. (Poems)
Group: Original Geologist Character(s) (NCP)/A character of your choice from Arda before the fall of Númenor (Silm)
Group: Original Modern Academic Character(s) (NCP)/Original Númenórean Academic Character(s) (Silm)

Worldbuilding: Discussing Linguistics Across Universes (Crossover)
Worldbuilding: Linguistics and Lámatyávë (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: Gramarye (Crossovers)

Homely Houses

Suggested tags:

Gawain (Arthur) is Glorfindel (Silm)
Group: Elves (Silm or LotR) in Medieval Scandinavia (Beowulf/FH/LSG)
Group: Fëanor (Silm) & the gnome holding a torch (TFCL)
Daeron (Silm) is the May Day Lutanist (Poems)
Elf of your choice (Silm) enters the Pool of Forgetfulness (Poems)
Group: Geoffrey Bache Smith (Tolkien 2019) & W.H. Auden - For W.H.A. (Poems)
Group: Guild of Venturers (Silm) & Sirens - The Sirens (Poems)
Group: Original Geologist Character(s) (NCP)/A character of your choice from Arda before the fall of Númenor (Silm)
Group: Original Modern Academic Character(s) (NCP)/Original Númenórean Academic Character(s) (Silm)

Worldbuilding: the North Pole was once Illuin (Crossovers)
Worldbuilding: ‘Dark’ supernatural creatures finding a welcome in unexpected places (crossover)
Worldbuilding: Pubs and Inns and Taverns (Crossovers)

OCs finding an Elf who entered the Pool of Forgetfulness and willingly gave up their memories, but now needs looking after/re-orienting in the world (up to you whether they regain their memories or not)
Academics relaxing and arguing over a glass of ale
Father Christmas's house as a place of shelter and healing
Hyper specific idea, but - characters from the Guild of Venturers befriending a siren who lost or willingly gave up her voice and powers?