Happy Ten Years Today, SWG!

[dawn_felagund]

Today, the SWG officially turned ten years old! It was ten years ago today that ford_of_bruinen and I started encouraging our friends to join our nascent Silmarillion group. Ever since then, we have grown in ways that I would not have imagined possible on this day ten years ago, when I recall reaching ten members on our Yahoo! group and feeling such a giddy sense of accomplishment.

I recorded a video in honor of our birthday. It's pretty short, and you can see my dusty study and hear my Baltimore accent! What's not to love! :)

This last decade has been simply incredible to me. I never imagined the group taking off like it has. So many people have made the SWG what it is. You are to credit with what the group has become. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for all that you have given to this community over the past ten years. Here's to many more!

(Also, a gentle reminder that the birthday cards will be closing soon. On August 1, I will take down the form and begin sending out the albums to recipients. If you want to send birthday cards and have not, our birthday card page can be found here.)

Comments

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Dawn. Great job. You know I always tell everyone that the SWG is my fandom home. It represents my heart. What can I say except that I don't know what I would do without it. I appreciate everything that you do and the efforts of everyone else who has worked so hard to make it what it is. Further, I do not regret a minute of the time I have put into it myself (and it's been a few hours--cough, cough). I've received so much more back that what I spent. Very proud of it too--the quality of the fiction, the dedication to the source material and resulting resources, and just the whole set up of it (dare I add the lack of drama--knock on wood!). It makes everyone connected to it look good--a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Oh. Wow! I'm not done with my birthday cards yet either! Where does the time go? (Trying to get started on my bio tonight also.)

Love your presentation. Can't see any of the dust in your study, don't if that is my poor eyesight or quality of my viewing apparatus. No worries there.

[dawn_felagund]

I definitely angled the chair, too, so that the visible spiderwebs on my walls weren't in the background. My study wasn't even habitable up till about two weeks ago, when Bobby felt sorry for me and cleaned it for me one day, since he is off for the summer: "cleaned" as in removed the junk and piled-up books and swept up the leaves from the plants we overwinter in there. He didn't touch the dust and spiderwebs, which probably have some kind of historical value by now.

I hoped for all of the things you listed, but most of all, for a site where people feel comfortable and welcome, no matter their ability level. I didn't like the sense that places in the fandom had when I first joined, that if you didn't meet some bar in terms of your skill as a writer or knowledge of the "canon," then you weren't welcome. You know me: I am a soft soul who can't stand seeing people hurt. And I was such a rank beginner in terms of the canon and so young as a writer that I hope I am proof that even young movieverse fans are worth taking seriously. :)

I think I've only done three birthday cards myself. Of course, I have the advantage of being able to skip the middleman and just upload mine directly. Although you might be heartened to know that I've forgotten which I've already sent, so some people will probably get duplicates! :D

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Although you might be heartened to know that I've forgotten which I've already sent

I am laughing! Not at you. That was an unholy mess I made for myself. The organization genius here. I was shorted the gene for organizational logic.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I forgot about how not pretentious it is. I go ape-shit when I meet someone new and they say they haven't posted there because they feel insecure. I just thought of my new answer to that--point out to them my first Silm story. What a useless little drabble and I made you edit it. You probably don't even remember it (and that is a good thing). And you were just as kind and welcoming as you would have been if it had been really something!

[dawn_felagund]

I can understand insecurity, since I spent most of my twenties in a chronic state of insecurity. (Well hidden.) But really! I think Tumblr is light years scarier than the SWG.

I have my share of cringe-worthy early stories too. I started posting them last year on the SWG; you left nice comments on a lot of them! So I think you are harder on your work than I would ever be.

I forgot to mention two things: One, your reply to my comment yesterday made me smile. So consider yourself successful! Also, I actually do have a ukulele, inherited from my maternal grandmother, so be careful what you offer. ;)

Second and most important: You have been one of the backbones of this group across the years. Thank you so much for everything! *hugs*

[independence1776]

Happy Birthday, SWG!

I, too, hope that the next ten years keeps the SWG's culture alive: the welcoming atmosphere, the focus on loving rather than hating, and the support and enthusiasm the members have for the site and each other. It's my fandom home for all of those reasons.

And like you, I want to thank all the mods, the volunteers, and every single person who has written, reviewed, or simply just read. It's the community that makes SWG what it is.

Here's to the next ten years!

[dawn_felagund]

It really is a special place. And I'm biased but also convinced that's not just bias talking! :D

I'm of the opinion that when people feel comfortable and safe someplace, they're going to take more creative and intellectual risks. It's interesting because, at the start of Internet Tolkienfic, a lot of archives that wanted to have a standard of quality tried to enforce it, not always with great results. I think we're proof that one can achieve that without being exclusionary.

I hope the next ten years continue to show that! This is kind of a great experiment for me! :D

And thank you, of course, for all of your support and help over the years. You're one of the people who is always there, and much of what we have accomplished would be lessened without you.

[independence1776]

'm of the opinion that when people feel comfortable and safe someplace, they're going to take more creative and intellectual risks.

This. One of the reasons I'm taking a long hiatus from Tumblr is that it caused me to question everything about my writing. I feel far more safe on SWG.

Yeah, I remember those days-- gatekeeping archives, gatekeeping comments on ff.net (which is where I hung out in my early years in the fandom), gatekeeping behavior up the wazoo. I'm truly grateful large areas of fandom seem to have moved past that and yes, I think SWG's open posting (and policy of no flames) has helped it happen.

You are very welcome! I can't just sit by and not try to help, not when SWG means so much to me.

[hhimring]

Congratulations, Dawn, and thank you to everyone!

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you, Himring--for the good wishes and for your support over the years! :)

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you! :D

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

Happy Birthday, SWG!

[binkaslibrary.livejournal.com]

What can I say? Well, I too want us to remain us. I want the SWG to keep on being positive, encouraging, friendly, and the kind of place people always want to return to.

Thank you to SWG people!

PS. I think I know the person behind that question you mention in the vid ;)

RE: Happy Birthday, SWG!

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you, Binka--for the well wishes and for being with us all these years! I think you might be one of the original members; if not, you're darned close! :D

I hope we can continue all of that too. The good thing is that it's the group's culture by now (has become more prevalent as the fandom culture too, in some ways), so it is not the upstream swim it sometimes felt like in the beginning.

*hugs*

[spiced-wine.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, and many happy returns. The SWG has become known as the home of quality Silmarillion fanfic and articles (and character biographies of course ) and here is to another amazing ten years to you all :)

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you, Siân! I have appreciated your support over the years and also collaborating with Faerie, another fandom treasure. :)

[pandemonium-213.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! Although I have been pretty much on hiatus lately, the SWG remains a solid fixture in my life. It's a fantastic archive, and you, Ford of B, Russandol, Rhapsy, Angelica, and other volunteers have set the tone for this expansive-of-thought and welcoming archive. To echo Oshun, the SWG is my fandom home.

Ironically, the SWG is, in part, responsible for my recent detachment from ficcish writing and other fandom activities. Thanks to writing first for the Chimp Refuge (and being picked up by SEED magazine) and then writing for the SWG, I gained the confidence to transition to my current career as a professional writer - although NOT fun fictional writing! Still, it pays the bills, and well, I love the work. :^)

Also, a gentle reminder that the birthday cards will be closing soon.

GAH! I need to get cracking. Between my personal laptop being in the shop (until 31 July) thanks to something stupid I did and to a lot of work with responses to questions from the FDA (OMG! That has been intense), I am behind. I aim to torment you and the other mods by sending in a flurry of greetings over the next two days. :^p

[dawn_felagund]

Please, torment me! ;) There has been a major uptick in card requests today since my friendly reminder yesterday, but I do not mind at all. Getting to read them is a regular dose of collateral happiness (some direct happiness since I get to read all of mine too :), and uploading them is smooth sailing now that most of the albums have been set up.

I never realized the extent to which the SWG played a role in your becoming a professional writer. I suppose I always thought you knew you were an awesome writer and took in professional opportunities accordingly! Although I miss your stories ... well, that's a pretty fine honor to have. :)

We share that commonality since success with my Tolkienfic and the SWG are what encouraged me to go for my English teaching certification and now my MA in humanities. Even though I probably would have always named writing as my best skill, I never saw it as something that I could make my life's work. It was a hobby and nothing more. Who knows what dull as dirt job I'd be doing if not for all this.

Thank you so much for all of your support over the years! :D

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Congrats, Dawn! So many people have benefited from your brainchild, myself included. Cheers!

[ysilme]

Many happy returns, SWG, and congratulations on the awesome community you are! (And I don't care if this is correct grammar or not ;p ) I'm a latecomer, and particularly as a such it's such a joy to see a community thriving and alive, instead of dying out, and to see the commitment of you mods and administrators, but also of so many members. I hope I can be much more active myself and contribute a tiny bit to keep SWG what it is! :D *clinks teacup*

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday, SWG! Hard to believe you're almost a teenager!

It's definitely my #1 archive, and I don't see that ever changing.