Challenge 86: behind the scenes
Thursday, April 9th, 2026 12:08 am

LITTLE WOMEN;
https://i.postimg.cc/tTQjm9v7/BTS1.png
EMMA;
https://i.postimg.cc/G2wCSbgH/BTS2.png
BRIDGERTON;
https://i.postimg.cc/G2wCSbgB/BTS3.png
https://i.postimg.cc/yd4Hr7pD/BTS4.png
https://i.postimg.cc/50BMhDDb/BTS5.png
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Icons
Wednesday, April 8th, 2026 09:08 pm"Some secrets cannot be contained...." for
"I'm Keiko Miura. And you may call me Doctor Miura...." for
"If we can’t put the greater good before our own desires, we risk losing everything....." for
Post-Deadline Pinch Hits
Wednesday, April 8th, 2026 10:39 pmDue Fri 10 Apr 17:00 CEST (in your timezone | countdown) negotiable. To claim, comment on this post with your AO3 username and the pinch hit you want to claim.
PDPH #1: ( Imperial Radch, Murderbot - Wells, Alliance-Union, Chanur, Machineries of Empire, Teixcalaan )
PDPH #3: ( Phantasy Star, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Live a Live, Infinite Space, Legend of the Galactic Heroes )
PDPH #5: ( The Lost Fleet, Sins of a Solar Empire, FTL, Mass Effect, Hyperion Cantos, SG-1, Babylon 5 )
PDPH #6: Claimed!
Prompt 2812: Hug
Wednesday, April 8th, 2026 09:51 pmToday's prompt is: hug
• You have 2 days time to submit an icon for this prompt (in other words, until prompt 2814 gets posted)!
• Prompt 2810 has been closed.
• If you have any questions regarding the prompt, feel free to ask in a comment.
• To submit an icon you simply reply to this post with the following information:
Icon:
Claim: (only necessary if it's a specific claim)
Status: (e.g. #1/10 - number of icon completed/table size)
April: This and That
Wednesday, April 8th, 2026 08:39 pmIn April, the main theme is Light vs. Darkness.
Allowed are fics up to 500 words, small poems such as haiku or tanka, icons (100 x 100px), and graphics (maximum 500 x 500px). All fandoms, genres, and ratings are welcome. Original works and real-person works are fine, too.
Please tag your work with all relevant tags.
This challenge runs until April 30, midnight in your timezone.
Challenge Reminder: 10 out of 20
The March Madness Semi Final is here! Vote now!
Wednesday, April 8th, 2026 01:48 pm
The final battles have been fought within the four regions, and now we reach the semi-final in this year's Middle-earth March Madness - Clash of the Collectibles. Who were the winners in each of the categories?Let's take a look:
Connecting to Middle-earth through favourite figures
The final in this region saw the Argonath bookends take on Prime 1's Balrog vs Gandalf, a piece which had been a surprise victor over Weta Workshop's Master Collection 'The Fellowship'. This time, however, its luck had run out - the Argonath bookends won, though with a margin of just 8%.

Experiencing Middle-earth in Print and Music
This seemed a little unfair: DVD Box Sets vs the movie soundtracks. If you have the DVDs, you get the films AND the soundtrack, so surely it's no contest? Maybe - but even so, almost one third of votes placed were for the soundtracks. Howard Shore's music is beloved indeed. Nonetheless, the Box Sets move on to the Final Four.

Inhabiting Middle-earth through Environments and Replicas
Weta Workshop's Rivendell took on the Red Book of Westmarch prop replica - two stunning pieces, but only one can make the Semi Final. It was a very tough battle - votes went almost 50/50, and in the end there was just 2% in it! The Red Book (West)marches into the Final Four.

Playing in Middle-earth with toys, games and other curiosities
That Hobbiton Green Dragon mug is absolutely lovely - but Geek Orthodox is on a roll, and proved victorious once again, securing three fifths of the vote.

How the bracket looks now:

It's Argonath against Argonath - bookends vs DVD box sets with statues. The outcome of that dual is obvious, surely...? The other semi final sees two mighty masterpieces face off - the Red Book prop replica from Magnoli vs the stunning stained glass of Geek Orthodox. That is a tough choice indeed! Which would you want to see in the Final?
Time to vote! But how does it work, I hear you ask. Simple! Click on the button below. This will take you to the voting site, where you can view the entire bracket, region by region. Click on FINAL FOUR (at the right hand side) to open the semi final pairings - and there place your vote. Let's get voting!
You have until the end of the day Friday April 10th to vote in Round Five; Saturday April 11th we'll launch the GRAND FINAL, the winner of which will be revealed on TORn Tuesday next week. Which of the Final Four do you want to see as Grand Champion? Place your votes now!
Let us know YOUR thoughts - join the discussion with fellow fans, at the Collectibles channel on our Discord.
Interest check
Wednesday, April 8th, 2026 11:27 amWe're in April already! I figured I'd check to see if there's interest in running 3 Weeks For Dreamwidth again this year, and also ask if anybody would like to host some activities in their journals or communities.
Also a good time to start thinking of posts you might want to make, for your hobbies or fandoms or those book reviews you've been meaning to write. After all, the whole point of the fest is to get more activity on DW.
Feel free to sound off and idea storm in the comments :)









