Also Appearing

Banner reads Silmarillion Writers Guild Creative Challenge June 15 - July 15th Also Appearing

There's something about fanworks that invites putting our favorite characters and storylines into completely unexpected settings. Alternate universe (AU) is one of fandom's most storied genres, with hundreds of characters meeting at coffee shops, college dorms, or out in space.

Below, you will find sixty AU setting prompts and sixty AU genre prompts. You can select your one or more prompts from the list below. As always, we encourage creative interpretation and use of the prompts we provide.

Is AU not your thing? In honor of our two new fanwork types, new link collections or playlists added to the archive before the challenge deadline will receive special stamps. (Please do not select the Also Appearing challenge for playlists and link collections unless your fanwork is an AU playlist or link collection!)

In honor of Pride Month, there will also be a special stamp for fanworks that feature LGBTQIA+ characters.

This challenge opened in .

Prompts

Choose your prompt from the collection below.

View Prompts

Setting

  1. Outer Space
  2. Coffeeshop
  3. High School or University
  4. Age of Sail
  5. The Middle Kingdom
  6. Video Game
  7. Under the Sea
  8. Office
  9. Abandoned Mall
  10. Haunted House
  11. Theme Park
  12. Rainforest
  13. Farm
  14. Dude Ranch
  15. Carnival/Circus
  16. Mali Empire
  17. Aztec Empire
  18. Mughal Empire
  19. Tang Dynasty
  20. World War I
  21. Hospital
  22. Prison
  23. Pool Party
  24. Sound Stage
  25. Tattoo Parlor
  26. Bounce House
  27. Mount Olympus
  28. Silk Road
  29. Casino
  30. Chinatown
  31. Times Square
  32. Stadium
  33. Lighthouse
  34. Tourist Trap
  35. Museum
  36. Police Station
  37. Steamship
  38. Trailer Park
  39. Valley of the Kings
  40. Machu Picchu
  41. Sahara Desert
  42. Bus
  43. Speakeasy
  44. Airship
  45. Deserted Island
  46. Uranium Mine
  47. Bodega
  48. Factory
  49. Ecumenopolis
  50. Antarctica
  51. Department Store
  52. Pyramid
  53. Abandoned Lot
  54. Underworld
  55. Steppe
  56. Cruise Ship
  57. Laundromat
  58. Souk
  59. Necropolis
  60. All You Can Eat Buffet

Genre

  1. Science Fiction
  2. Western
  3. Bollywood
  4. Steampunk
  5. Noir
  6. Romcom
  7. Murder Mystery
  8. Slasher Horror
  9. Hardboiled
  10. Detective
  11. Pulp Fiction
  12. Thriller
  13. Bodice Ripper
  14. Cookbook
  15. Memoir
  16. Self-Help
  17. Dystopian
  18. Young Adult
  19. Ghost Story
  20. Folktale
  21. Magical Realism
  22. Bedtime Story
  23. Children's
  24. Travel
  25. True Crime
  26. Bildungsroman
  27. Fable
  28. Urban Legend
  29. Satire
  30. Psychological Thriller
  31. Political Thriller
  32. Swashbuckler
  33. Lost World
  34. Burlesque
  35. Caper
  36. Wuxia
  37. Rock Opera
  38. Urban Fantasy
  39. Grimdark
  40. Isekai
  41. Superhero
  42. Weird Fiction
  43. Gothic Horror
  44. Splatterpunk
  45. Space Opera
  46. Mecha
  47. Superhero
  48. Saga
  49. Buddy Comedy
  50. Vampire
  51. Sports Drama
  52. Medical Drama
  53. Musical
  54. Courtroom Drama
  55. Utopian
  56. Biography
  57. Telenovela
  58. Docudrama
  59. Mockumentary
  60. Kung Fu

Fanworks Tagged with Also Appearing

This is a Writing fanwork

The Burninator by Grundy

After the events at the Morannon, Sauron may be weak, but he has a pressing question only Morgoth can answer... (Daughters of Celebrian ficlet.)

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

Hier, mit dir im Dämmerlicht by daughterofshadows

Sometimes life creates the most beautiful symmetries.
Or two times, Túrin and Beleg sat together during a blackout.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

Tapestries and Fate by ArizonaPoppy

Finrod visits Andreth at her museum, where she works as a conservationist.

A museum/magical realism AU retelling of the Athrabeth for the "Also Appearing" Monthly Challenge.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Series fanwork

Into the Unknown - Welcome to the Beleriand System by daughterofshadows

Welcome to the Beleriand System!
Join me as we traverse space stations and ships great and small, meet characters from all across the legendarium and explore new and exciting parts of the Arda Galaxy!

Fanwork Information

This is a Writing fanwork

Calls from the other end of the galaxy by daughterofshadows

Sometimes you just need a little help with a code from the author, even if you've been working with it for decades. If only they would answer their dang phone!
So, instead Maeglin calls an old friend, hears an amusing anecdote and passes on a message.
It's all in a day's work.
Except for the autopilot. That took a lot longer.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

Walking in the Woods by daughterofshadows

Welcome to Eryn Lasgalen, the only space station with trees.
Yes, you heard that right. Actual, real life, full-sized trees.
Not the tiny shrubs they have over on Balar.
They may not quite reach the glory of the forests of old Doriath (before it all burned, of course), but what truly can?
Join Thranduil's spouse Alcarinna for a walk in the woods as she contemplates the past, meet Oropher and his husband, Ethuilass, newly returned from their diplomatic mission and despair with Legolas' older brother, Beriathal, and Tauriel over younger siblings who cannot stay in the same spot for longer than a minute, dammit!

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

Illegal Noldorin Immigrants by Himring

On Mount Olympus, Zeus receives a puzzling report about unusual activities among the Amazons.

His female relatives appear to know more about these than they let on.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

The Nargothrond Cordial by jamcake_muses

A recipe from Finrod's cookbook "From the Pans of Beleriand".

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This is a Writing fanwork

✓ Seen by polutropos

Present day. Daeron has a boring office job, Maglor works for a children’s theatre school. They read dirty slash about themselves. Rated for the dirty slash.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

In Dreams by grey_gazania

Fingon visits Maedhros before the Third Kinslaying. Is he a dream, or is he a ghost?

A fixed-length ficlet.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

Steppe Ghost Story by Lferion

Love endures, and nothing is truly forgotten if even one person remembers it. A triple drabble.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

Touch The Stars by cuarthol

Sacrifices must be made, but there seems to be some lingering disagreement on exactly who it is that is going to be making them.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

Down Through the Ages by StarSpray

Five times Daeron meets Maglor by accident, plus one time it happens on purpose.

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This is a Writing fanwork

Antarctica by elennalore

Thou shalt lead and I will follow. Saying those words, Nolofinwë had not guessed that his brother would lead him all the way to Antarctica.

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents

This is a Writing fanwork

A System of Messages by AdmirableMonster

A wandering storyteller meets with a group of cowboys and tells his family's history around a fire; the mysterious Center (of the system of messages, perhaps) features prominently.

For the "Western" prompt of the Also Appearing challenge with a slight admixture of something akin to "uranium mine" or perhaps "pyramids"

Fanwork Information and Table of Contents