b2mem | B2MeM 2018: Music of the Waters

It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen.
~ The Silmarillion, Ainulindale

Welcome to Back to Middle-earth Month 2018!

As a reminder, our home base is now Dreamwidth; our Tumblr and LiveJournal communities are admin posts only.

We’re running a 31 x 31 x 16 challenge this year. 31 prompts have been posted now for participants who prefer more time to create. Another set of prompts will be posted in March. The March prompts are divided into two categories--fanwork and comment. The fanwork prompts will be posted daily; the comment prompts every other day. Fanwork prompts are for the creation of any type of fanwork. Comment prompts are for leaving feedback on Tolkien-based fanworks, whether written for B2MeM or not.

As always, you may use as few or as many prompts as you wish to. Let us stress that: creating one fanwork using one prompt is just as welcome and valuable as creating something daily. Using one of the comment prompts to comment on one fanwork is also just as valuable.

If you finish creating your fanwork(s) early, we ask that you please wait until the event begins in March to post them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can participate?

Anyone! It doesn’t matter if this is your first time in the Tolkien fandom or your fiftieth year; everyone is welcome. All genres, formats, and ratings of fanwork are also welcome.

How can I participate if I don’t have a Dreamwidth account?

If you wish to leave comments on fanworks posted on Dreamwidth, you may use an anonymous comment. However, we do require anon comments to be signed. (For example, if your AO3 username is Frodofan1, please sign your comment Frodofan1.) Anonymous comments are automatically screened before they appear in the community, and unsigned comments will not be unscreened.

We welcome participation on other platforms if you do not wish to post fanworks here. We welcome links pointing to them. We also have an AO3 collection and the SWG has a challenge listing for B2MeM 2018.

If you do wish to post fanworks on Dreamwidth or link to fanworks posted elsewhere, you will need a Dreamwidth account. You can sign up for a free account here. There is also OpenID available that allows log-in through Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LiveJournal.

What sort of things do you consider to be fanworks?

It’s simple: if you consider it fanwork, so do we. We’ve had stories, artwork, cosplay, crafts, rec lists, fanmixes, and more. We welcome everything.

We only require that responses have a significant basis in Tolkien’s works. Crossovers and AUs are welcome, as are movieverse fanworks.

Is there a minimum amount of words, time spent, etc. in order to particpate?

No! We want people to be as free to create as possible, whether this means writing a lone haiku or working on an epic novel, creating a single icon or a batch of a hundred, a sketch or a detailed painting, or whatever else you wish to work on.

What are your restrictions on content? Do you require warnings?

We welcome all Tolkien-based fanworks. There are no restrictions on content; the B2MeM community accepts all forms of fanworks from low-rated gen fluff to explicit incest. We do have a header that participants are required to use in order to allow people the ability to choose whether or not to view your fanwork. ETA: The header post can be found here.

We require warnings for reasonable things that fellow fans might wish to avoid, such as violence, gore, explicit sex, incest, etc. OR you may use Choose Not to Warn. Choose Not to Warn indicates that the work may contain anything, including potentially triggering or explicit content. Participants who wish to avoid certain content should make their own decisions on whether to read or view CNTW entries.

Do I need to create something using all 62 fanworks prompts?

No! You may choose to use one prompt or you can use as many as you wish.

Can I combine fanworks prompts into a single work?

Yes! How you do this is up to you.

Do I have to use all the comment prompts?

No. Like with fanworks prompts, we recognize that not all the comment prompts will work for everyone.

Can I use one comment to fulfill multiple comment prompts?

No. The point of the feedback prompts is to reach out to creators, so using one comment for multiple comment prompts goes against the point of the prompts.

Do I have to take the prompts literally?

No! We welcome any interpretation of the prompts; we encourage outside-of-the-box thinking. How you respond to the prompts is up to you.

Can I use works begun in previous years or other Works in Progress?

Yes! WIPs of all sorts are welcome to be continued with one or more B2MeM prompts. They do not have to be previous B2MeM works.

I signed up for a previous B2MeM event and didn’t finish. Can I still participate?

Yes! We do not penalize people.

Do I have to wait until after March to post my fanwork outside of B2MeM spaces?

No. We encourage crossposting to whatever sites you normally use.

What do I do if I feel that someone is harassing me in the comments to my fanwork(s)?

Please contact the B2MeM moderators at b2mem.mod@gmail.com.

What if I have a question that isn’t covered by the above?

Please ask us in the comments or email us at b2mem.mod@gmail.com.