Comments | thefourthvine: Fandoms I Have Loved 1: Lord of the Rings

thefourthvine

Fandoms I Have Loved 1: Lord of the Rings

May 02, 2004 17:12

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 ( ( Read more... )

[fandoms i have loved], lord of the rings

Comments 18

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thefourthvine May 2 2004, 19:31:41 UTC

Yes, I am familiar with crack_van. Tragically, hideously, addictively familiar. That community's name is definitely truth in advertising.

Hmmm. You're right, of course - the VSD really are required reading. On the other hand, you need to know the canon (or read a lot of FF in it) to get them, I think. Maybe I should have a classics or required reading section in addition to the easy stories for beginning readers (in this fandom)?

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thefourthvine May 2 2004, 23:29:55 UTC

I actually used to assume that everyone in the world had seen the LotR movies. But then I met a woman who hadn't seen the movies in the bathroom after a showing of Return of the King; she complained to me that it didn't make a lot of sense - what was the thing with the ring? why didn't the king end up with the blonde girl? I asked her how long it had been since she'd seen Fellowship and Two Towers, and she said she never had. She'd just assumed she'd be able to pick it up from the third one. And she hadn't read the books, either ( ... )

Thread 5

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thefourthvine May 2 2004, 19:36:18 UTC

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!

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thefourthvine May 2 2004, 23:32:46 UTC

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.

Thread 8

resonant8 May 2 2004, 19:05:26 UTC

Ooh, what an excellent idea! I've bookmarked some of your recs (the ones with sex in them), and can't wait to see what you'll say when you get to the fandoms dearest to my heart.

thefourthvine May 3 2004, 02:06:51 UTC

Thanks!

My next FIHL will probably be either Sentinel or Due South; I've decided not to go in chronological order now that LotR has its due - mostly, I'm afraid, because it would actually be hard to trace which fandoms I joined after LotR. Once I started looking beyond LotR, I had the world's fastest conversion from One Fandom Girl to Forty Fandom Girl.

raveninthewind May 4 2004, 17:40:58 UTC

I had the world's fastest conversion from One Fandom Girl to Forty Fandom Girl.

I don't feel so alone now. I think I won "Easiest to Pimp into a New Fandom 2003." Look at the nice framed photo I got of Krycek doing Mulder while Jim & Blair, Vic & Mac and the two Rays look on appraisingly. (Fraser just looks concerned that Mulder said "no" and was ignored. He's obviously thinking about intervention.)

ardent_muses May 2 2004, 19:18:48 UTC

This is great! I'm so glad you did post it. :)

Legolas reminds me, as I have said many times, of a My Little Pony or something - shiny, pretty, and intended only for little girls.

I'm with you on Legolas. Give me dirty, sweaty Aragorn and....and..... Well, this is why I'm not into LOTR slash. *G*

But I'm laughing because I was just referencing My Little Pony to kelliem a couple of days ago. We were talking about certain kinds of fanfic which seem to be all about making a character (Illya Kuryakin, in this case) into a eunuch with long flowing hair so you can take him out of the box and brush him and give him french braids. *G*

thefourthvine May 3 2004, 02:22:44 UTC

OK, help me out here. Who is Illya Kuryakin?

But, yeah, there is that horrible tendency. I think it's 'cause very pretty boys seem to bring very young girls into the fandom - I think they find the relative femininity of the pretties both familiar and safe - and, hey, I suppose that's a definition of early puberty: you go from dressing up dolls in your room to dressing up boys in your head.

Yikes. I think we've identified a fan fiction type that Mooncalf missed in "Every Fanfic Every Written!" - the My Little Pony Fic.

Anyway, thanks, both for the compliment and the well-timed push. (You really must be a great motivator, since you got me to post something you didn't even know I'd written.)

ardent_muses May 3 2004, 23:43:41 UTC

OK, help me out here. Who is Illya Kuryakin?

Come here, little girl... *G*

Just kidding. He's the man in my icon.
Another fairly good pic of Illya (and his boyfriend)

He's the Russian partner of Napoleon Solo, the Man From UNCLE. On the show, Illya is cold, brilliant, deadly, hard as nails, able to stand up to torture, etc.

In fanfiction, he has long golden hair like spun silk and he's a kitten-loving, sexually dysfunctional crybaby. :)

I think we've identified a fan fiction type that Mooncalf missed in "Every Fanfic Every Written!" - the My Little Pony Fic.

You're right! We need to make this official. And maybe the "My Little Pony Character" while we're at it. *G* (I love her essay, BTW. Brilliant!)

(You really must be a great motivator, since you got me to post something you didn't even know I'd written.)

LOL! I'm sayin'!

thefourthvine May 4 2004, 10:39:37 UTC

Don't think I don't see what you're trying to do with your subtle little references to oft-slashed pony boy (no, the other kind of pony boy) characters in unfamiliar canons. Let me say here and now: I am not acquiring another fandom. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not. And I am immune to all temptation to do so.

Although I admit my past behavior makes that immunity sort of hard to believe.

Ooo. I just had a dreadful thought. I think Draco Malfoy is the pony boy in the HP fandom. My god, what hideous depths for the scion of a noble, pure-blood house to sink to.

Thread 5

Pretty Pretty Pony men anonymous May 4 2004, 07:37:30 UTC

I wrote something about the Unthreatening Young Male in my journal here - http://genibee.diaryland.com/020114_2.html and especially here - http://genibee.diaryland.com/020116_57.html, talking specifically about Elijah Wood and sort of tying him into Donatello's David. It's not anything in depth, but some might find it of interest.

Genibee

Re: Pretty Pretty Pony men thefourthvine May 4 2004, 11:02:25 UTC

Those're some excellent posts, Genibee. And I think you've identified the ultimate pretty-pony-boy: Donatello's bronze David. From now on, I will be picturing the pony boys of every fandom in that pose. And, you know, giggling. A lot.

And, really, I think you're right about the whole nonthreatening young male thing, and your sister is right, too - they're the safety choice for girls who are starting to explore the whole sex thing but aren't ready for actual men.

One thing I hadn't thought about before I read your post is that Frodo is another pony boy in the LotR movies. In fact, with his small stature, his relatively passive role in the movie, and his huge, huge eyes, he's even more the archetypal pony boy than Legolas is. What a pity they didn't give him long golden hair to, as ardent_muses would say, french braid in fan fiction ( ... )

Re: Pretty Pretty Pony men anonymous May 5 2004, 08:29:02 UTC

I think my point (if I had one, truly) is more or less what you say, except I think it was more about worldy experience and less about education, per say. Donatello's David would have a second, sensual meaning primarily to the educated, but it was a very specific type of education in a very specific, small group of wealthy males interested in NeoPlatonic philosophy, history, and poetry. They were adult, homosexual, (or homosocial) men writing about a pure love that they believed existed only between two men. See http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv3-64 and http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/ficino_m,2.html for more in-depth info.) The sensuality of the David stands for sex, but it also stands for a bunch of other things, all bundled into it. The audience for the PB these days seems to be primarily young women, looking for a way to ( ... )