Fandoms I Have Loved 1: Lord of the Rings

[thefourthvine]

Note: This is the start of an ongoing series that will take a look at the fandoms I read - what I think of them, what I want from them, and how you can read FF in them even if you don't know the canon. I've had this series waiting for a while; I've been hesitating to post any of the essays, because I know that's not why people come here. Ardent (

Comments

[thefourthvine]

I like the other characters. I just don't, for the most part, ever ever ever want to think about them doing anything even remotely sexual. Hobbits being Exhibit A.

With Legolas, it isn't so much that I don't want to think about him having sex. It's that I find the idea that he might really funny, which tends to inhibit my enjoyment of your average Legolas-intensive PWP.

I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in my strange non-attraction to Bloom. We must band together for mutual support and rallies. We are the People Who Find Orlando Bloom Oddly Asexual! We're here! We're weird! Get used to us!

[thefourthvine]

I, myself, cannot do RPS, although I encourage those who can to read it. It just makes me feel all ooked out. But if I could read RPS, I'd be like you - comfortable with hobbit actor RPS, disgusted by hobbit slash. Nothing will ever make me able to read hobbit slash with an easy mind (not to mention an easy stomach). At least, I hope nothing will.

And I think teasel is a brilliant writer, too. So many of my favorite authors write mostly hobbit slash or RPS that I really wish I could get into the stuff. Sigh.

[thefourthvine]

You started in HP? Yeek. I thought starting in LotR was bad because rape, torture, and unbelievably revolting pairings are something of a specialty of the fandom. But at least LotR never has chan. (Though that's mostly 'cause Tolkien really seemed to resent the whole concept of sexual reproduction; I think, if he could've, he would've created the whole of Middle Earth without any women or children at all. As it is he came very, very close to that. I always found that tendency of his annoying, but it does make the FF a bit safer.)

And, yes, I do think one must know the canon to write the fan fiction. Totally. Read what you find. Write what you know. That is the creed of the responsible fan.

[thefourthvine]

Thanks! And, yes, your life is easier. But we non-hobbit-slashers have our pride. Ours is an austere and lonely road and a noble calling.

(Eeek. I just described pairing preference as a calling. Yes, in jest, but I'm starting to scare myself here.)