b2mem | B2MeM 2014: Seasons of Middle-earth Review Challenge Guidelines

As part of this year's Back to Middle-earth Month challenge, we are encouraging our readers to show their love to our writers and artists by leaving comments on the stories, poems, and art they enjoy! To encourage reviewing, part of B2MeM 2014 will include a review challenge.

Below, you will find 15 different review challenges to complete throughout the month. You can do one or do them all! If you don't want to complete any of the specific challenges, the comments you do leave on B2MeM 2014 pieces still count toward the grand prize. At the end of the month, add up all the comments you leave on B2MeM 2014 stories, poems, and art and collect your grand prize.

Guidelines

Any comment left on any piece of writing or art created for B2MeM 2014 counts toward the challenge. Comments on compilation and non-compilation B2MeM 2014 pieces count. (For challenges #12 and #13, you may review pieces created for past B2MeM events.)

A comment cannot count for more than one review challenge. The exception is the grand prize: All comments you leave on B2MeM 2014 writing and art will count toward your total for the grand prize.

Some B2MeM 2014 pieces may be posted on sites other than the b2mem community. You are welcome to leave comments on any site where B2MeM 2014 writing and art are shared.

As always, we are operating on the honor system as far as prizes claimed for the review challenge. However, if you'd like to report your review, brag about your accomplishments, or squee more over the piece you just commented on, you can leave a comment to the thread below for the challenge you completed.

Once the month is over, we will put together the review challenge stamps you earned into a single graphic if you want us to do so. Comment here when you complete a challenge, or contact us at the end of the month with the challenges you have completed.

Review Challenges

This year, in the spirit of using comments to send encouragement and love to our writers and artists, we are offering Tolkien-themed postage stamps for completing the various review challenges below! You can use the HTML code beside each stamp to display your prize wherever HTML is acceptable, or right-click to save the image to your computer and share it on the image host of your choice. At the end of the month, we will put together all of the stamps you earn onto a collector's page for you to display.

Challenge	Stamp	HTML
1. Review an author or artist who is new to you. [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp1.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
2. Review a genre or medium you do not normally read/view. [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp2.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
3. Review a piece of writing or art from a time period you do not normally read/view. [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp3.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
4. Review something featuring a character or group (e.g., Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits) you do not normally read/view. [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp4.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
5. Review something that was recommended to you. (Find recommendations on the weekly roundup posts.) [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp5.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
6. Write a review that is 100 words or more. (The word count should not include quotes from the piece.) [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp6.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
7. Review a story in your favorite genre or artwork in your favorite medium. [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp7.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
8. Review something set in your favorite time period. [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp8.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
9. Review something set in your favorite location on Arda. [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp9.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
10. Review a piece that you think handled canon in an unusual or thought-provoking way. [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp10.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
11. Review a piece that demonstrated excellent characterization. [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp11.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
12. Review a piece with three or fewer first-level comments. (Comment replies do not count! You may comment on any B2MeM piece for this challenge, even if it was written for an event prior to 2014.) [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp12.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
13. Review a piece created for a past B2MeM event (2008-2013). [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp13.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
14. Leave a review in the form of one of your favorite characters writing a letter/note to one of the characters in the fanwork. [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp14.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />
15. Review a work that evokes a strong personal feeling or connection for you or that you cannot stop thinking about. [Report your review!]		<img src="http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/images/b2mem2014/stamp15.jpg" alt="B2MeM 2014 Review Challenge" />

Grand Prizes for Reviewing

Once the month of March is over, you can collect your grand prize based on the total number of comments that you leave on B2MeM 2014 pieces. Remember that the reviews you write for the challenges above also count toward your total for the grand prize. Banners and icons for the grand prize will be posted to the community at the end of the month. The grand prizes will be as follows:

60+ reviews: Silmaril
50-59 reviews: mithril
40-49 reviews: platinum
30-39 reviews: gold
20-29 reviews: silver
10-19 reviews: bronze

Page 3 of 10 << [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] >>

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

heartofoshun.livejournal.com

The Firstborn of the Firstborn (http://archiveofourown.org/works/720760) by tehta (http://archiveofourown.org/users/tehta/pseuds/tehta) Written for B2MeM 2013. Proof that lots and lots of prompts and stories every day mean that they do not get read. This one is by one of my favorite writers (and herself a Silm fandom legend) and had few hits or even kudos on AO3. I improved that. I hope others will read it also.

From:

tanis2014.livejournal.com

Oshun recommended Firstborn of the Firstborn, a story by Tehta in response to a note left about reviewing a Linda Hoyle story. I read and reviewed at Ao3. Since it doesn't say it has to be a current B2MEM piece, may I please have this stamp?

:-) And do we have to wait to use these, until the end of the month? Can we use them now, as LJ icons? There's nothing in the notes above that say we can't, but I thought I should ask at least.

From:

tanis2014.livejournal.com

Ruins & Silence by Astris - Elwing and the refugees of Sirion don't get any air time in my featured play lists. An interesting AU take on the plight of that last plague-y jewel.

From:

with-rainfall.livejournal.com

http://b2mem.livejournal.com/253489.html?view=3364913#t3364913

When I have no idea what I'm saying and get caught up in long convoluted sentences that hardly make sense, you *know* I loved your story. :P

From:

heartofoshun.livejournal.com

I have been looking for them in a desultory manner on and off for two days and cannot find them by scrolling (or looking at the tags here). I must be scrolling over them or on the wrong LJ site or something.

From:

independence1776

The tags for stories this year are compilation and non-compilation.

Edited Date: 2014-03-05 11:05 pm (UTC)

From:

heartofoshun.livejournal.com

Thank you so much! I finally found a few scrolling, but this is a so much better.

From:

independence1776

You're welcome!

From:

dawn_felagund

Except for challenge #13, the stories should be from B2MeM 2014:

1. Any comment left on any piece of writing or art created for B2MeM 2014 counts toward the challenge. Comments on compilation and non-compilation B2MeM 2014 pieces count.

But the month is young, so there's plenty of time to pick up something recced from 2014. :) We'll also be having weekly round-up posts beginning this Sunday in which we specifically ask people to rec their favorite pieces so far to help out with #5.

And you are welcome to display the graphics wherever you would like! :)

From:

ladyelleth.livejournal.com

Done!

http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/reviews.php?type=ST&item=1902

From:

tanis2014.livejournal.com

Okay, I will reclaim when I've read something recommended from this years B2MEM -- but I'm not sure I asked the graphics question correctly. I was certain we were allowed to use the current B2MEM participant graphic, but may we use the stamps we've earned thru reviewing, now? Or wait until April?

:-)

From:

dawn_felagund

Yep, you can use them whenever you would like! :)

From:

ladyelleth.livejournal.com

And here's the second piece that just did that. :)

http://b2mem.livejournal.com/254489.html?thread=3397145#t3397145

From:

ladyelleth.livejournal.com

Jenn Calaelen's "A Summer Dream" swept me away just a little, and when I read over the review again I noticed it'd become a bit longer than usual, and it clocked at 149 words. :D (Now why isn't it just as easy to type up a drabble and a half? XD)

http://b2mem.livejournal.com/254200.html?thread=3397880#t3397880

From:

ladyelleth.livejournal.com

While I'd be hard-pressed to determine a "favourite" medium in terms of art because there are so many ways to transport meaning, I have a huge respect for anybody who can do traditional art (you know my Photoshop hackjobs, and that's really the best I can do to contribute to the artsy part of the fandom), so here's a review for a piece of traditional art (I'll go out on a limb and say it counts, because otherwise nothing will). http://b2mem.livejournal.com/253836.html?thread=3398284#t3398284

From:

ladyelleth.livejournal.com

Fadesintothewest's Evergreen was precisely such a piece: http://b2mem.livejournal.com/253284.html?thread=3399012#t3399012

From:

ladyelleth.livejournal.com

I've been very remiss in reading LotR-based fic for a while now (something I've been wanting to fix, anyway), and Linda's Midsummer Magic falls into that category, I think.

http://b2mem.livejournal.com/252406.html?thread=3400950#t3400950

From:

tanis2014.livejournal.com

Linndechir's Summer Games is not a story I would normally have read based on the warnings. But I made a commitment to read and review everything posted here - at least until I'm overwhelmed and it becomes a chore rather than something I'm having fun doing - and so I read it last night. I couldn't review it right away because it kind of made me a little queasy.

But the story kept playing in my head; I went to bed thinking about it, and woke up thinking about it this morning. It's churned away in the back of my mind all day today, until without my really realizing it, my mind figured out why the story had elicited such a strong response.

And I went back and left a review this afternoon.

From:

zdenka

I have hardly ever read a story set during the division of Arnor into three kingdoms, but I am happy that I read this one by

jenn_calaelen:

http://b2mem.livejournal.com/254200.html

From:

ladyelleth.livejournal.com

First! :D

http://b2mem.livejournal.com/254766.html?view=3406382#t3406382

From:

zdenka

I don't usually seek out fic about hobbits, especially when at home in the Shire, but this story by

rhymer23 was truly beautiful, both sad and hopeful.

http://b2mem.livejournal.com/254766.html

From:

with-rainfall.livejournal.com

What a sheer joy to read this piece, one of the few LotR fics submitted so far. Though I love Silm pieces, there is always a special joy for me that comes with reading LotR fic, and particularly one as flawless as this one:

http://b2mem.livejournal.com/254766.html#comments

From:

tanis2014.livejournal.com

So this morning I woke up thinking about this post, and I feel like I need to add a little more here. To anyone else reading these stamp collecting posts, while it might stretch your comfort zone, this is a story worth reading because it gives quite a different spin on the family of Feanor. For me, it opened up a world of reasons for why seven grown immortal sons would swear such an insane oath. Well - insane imho anyway. :-)

From:

tanis2014.livejournal.com

Last Summer by Rhymer. The hobbits of the Fellowship just spring off the page in this beautifully rendered story sharing the highlights of a couple of summers in The Shire. Not only does she get the characterization perfectly, she captures the essence of each of them and their role in the Great Adventure that wasn't.