Fanfiction Book Club

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SWG Challenge April 2020 Block Party

Have you ever wanted to discuss fanfiction more deeply? Do you see fanfiction as literature just as worthy of serious consideration as the latest New York Times bestseller? Today's event will give participants a chance to dive deep into stories to think about what makes them work.

Important Dates

April 20: Last day to sign up a story for discussion
April 21: Discussion schedule posted and discussion sign-ups open
April 24: Last day to sign up for discussion slots if you have a story being discussed
April 26: Fanfiction Book Club discussion event on our Discord!

How It Works

At this point, sign-ups for stories to discuss are closed.

Discussion Schedule

This is a draft schedule for now so that participating authors can confirm that their times and information are correct. Here is the form to sign up if you want to let us know you'll be attending the discussion.

All links point to the SWG or AO3. For more information on SWG stories (characters, warnings, etc.), click the "Table of Contents" link at the top of the story. If you need to convert the schedule into your own timezone, here is a timezone converter. As always, email the mods with questions or for help at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org.

Saturday, April 25

Time Story
8 PM UTC
20:00 UTC		 In Silence and in Song by Idrils Scribe
Welcome to Mereth Aderthad, the Feast of Reuniting! The High King of the Noldor is throwing a truly spectacular party. Tables are set with silver, Beleriand's finest wines sparkle in crystal glasses, and Fingolfin eagerly awaits his guests. Invitations were sent far and wide, but how many will turn up? And is that a dark, terrible secret tucked away behind the festive greenery?


Sunday, April 26

Time Story
11:30 AM UTC
11:30 UTC		 Companions in Many Journeys by Nienna
Fëanáro and Nerdanel meet, and quickly grow close. They travel along the coast of Aman to watch the cranes take off across the sea. They learn about themselves (and each other) along the way.

“After all, if you could fly beyond all borders, wouldn’t you? If you could see everything, be everything?”
1 PM UTC
13:00 UTC		 The Staff Dancer by Calendille (AO3)
"Fëanaro and I lived in different worlds that did not mingle until the Pink Robes incident: that evening when Fëanaro came to our family dinner dressed in girl’s clothes."

Lalwendë, from childhood to Alqualondë, or how Dancing Like A Vanya can pave the road to killing.
1:30 PM UTC
13:30 UTC		 Loopholes and Choices by Amy Fortuna
Fëanor and his sons come up with the wording of the Oath in a family meeting.
2:00 PM UTC
14:00 UTC		 Comfort and Joy by Narya
It's the festive season in Gondolin, and Voronwë finds himself intrigued by the Captain of the Guard of the Secret Way. (NSFW)
2:30 PM UTC
14:30 UTC		 memento mori by Fernstrike
In which the winds of change are sweeping through Númenor, and Míriel does her best to stand steady in the storm.
3:00 PM UTC
15:00 UTC		 A King Unkinged (For the Love He Bore Feanor) by Himring
Finwe arrives in Formenos.
3:30 PM UTC
15:30 UTC		 Away to the Wood by Bunn
If Melkor could not create, but only corrupt, might dragons have their origins with Yavanna and return to her one day? A tale of the rehabilitation of dragons, and of the relationship between the Valar of Life, Death and the Hunt.
4:00 PM UTC
16:00 UTC		 there is only wanting this to last, and the unbearable lasting, before it passes by Monica (Victoryindeath2)
“You are but love streaming out the wrong way.”

Maitimo will be a better king than anyone.
4:30-5:00 PM/16:30-17:00 UTC: Mod break! :)
5:00 PM UTC
17:00 UTC		 Us Two by Grundy
"Dior was slain also, and Nimloth his wife, and the cruel servants of Celegorm seized his young sons and left them to starve in the forest."

Maedhros was not the first to look for the missing twins. Nor did he ever learn that they had been found.
5:30 PM UTC
17:30 UTC		 Nothing Collapses by StarSpray
Dor Firn-i-Guinar did not sink with the rest of Beleriand, and it is a place heavy with memory.
6:00 PM UTC
18:00 UTC		 The Ship of Light by Dawn Felagund
Elwing is a troubled child, acting out to avoid facing the trauma of her past. During the survivors' first Yule at Sirion, mariners from Balar bring gifts to the refugees, and inspired by their benevolence, Elwing and Eärendil remake an old tradition into a new symbol of hope.
6:30-9:00 PM/18:30-21:00 UTC: No discussions scheduled.
9:00 PM UTC
21:00 UTC		 The Long Knife by Chelsea/Mythopoeia
Death will be instantaneous, with no time for suffering. A merciful shot, if Findekáno were slaying an animal.

But this is not an animal.
9:30 PM UTC
21:30 UTC		 Father to Son by Anna / starlightwalking
Elros and Elrond and their fathers - and their father's fathers - and their sons.
10:00 PM UTC
22:00 UTC		 news, breaking by thelonelybrilliance
My sons sprout like young saplings, brilliant and more delicate than they know. But I know, and I will keep them from the frost.


How to Discuss a Story

Discussing a story in this format can feel pretty intimidating. A good starting place is always what makes the story effective for you. What caught your eye, kept you reading, or made you think deeper or differently about something than you did before?

Below is a list of questions that can help guide that thinking. We are not going to follow these questions during the discussion, you certainly aren't required to answer them all (or any of them!), and they are not the only approaches to a story. They are intended to only help distill out the reasons a story works from the wordless adoration that often follows reading a story you love.