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glorious_spoonSo, I've been doing my yearly re-read of Lord of the Rings (yes, I know. Shut up.), which naturally coincides with my yearly quest to find some decent fic. I keep doing this, even though I have a tiny handful of fics that I keep returning to because most of what's out there (at least for the characters I want to read about, namely hobbits) all seems to pretty much suck.
There's a fair amount of slash out there, of course, but I'm not really partial to any slash pairings involving any combination of Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Partly, because three of the aforementioned hobbits are cousins and even after all this time in SPN I tend to find incest more squicky than romantic. In the case of Frodo/Sam, I just can't seem to see it in their relationship, although I've seen a handful of fics that handle it well (also, more generally, I find it annoying when the main argument for the pairing is 'but they're so devoted to each other; they MUST be screwing!' Like a pairing or don't like it on its own merits, but it's possible for two people to love each other fiercely without sex ever entering into the equation).
The problem, of course, is that there's this whole other side of LOTR fandom where the attitude is more...archaic. Like, 'This takes place in Ye Olden Days, therefore it's impossible for any of the characters to be gay, and also it's an insult to Tolkien's memory if you suggest they are.'
If there's a middle ground between hobbit orgies and gen writers who are defensive liek whoa about their TOTAL LACK OF ANY GAYNESS, I have yet to find it.
There's a fair amount of slash out there, of course, but I'm not really partial to any slash pairings involving any combination of Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Partly, because three of the aforementioned hobbits are cousins and even after all this time in SPN I tend to find incest more squicky than romantic. In the case of Frodo/Sam, I just can't seem to see it in their relationship, although I've seen a handful of fics that handle it well (also, more generally, I find it annoying when the main argument for the pairing is 'but they're so devoted to each other; they MUST be screwing!' Like a pairing or don't like it on its own merits, but it's possible for two people to love each other fiercely without sex ever entering into the equation).
The problem, of course, is that there's this whole other side of LOTR fandom where the attitude is more...archaic. Like, 'This takes place in Ye Olden Days, therefore it's impossible for any of the characters to be gay, and also it's an insult to Tolkien's memory if you suggest they are.'
If there's a middle ground between hobbit orgies and gen writers who are defensive liek whoa about their TOTAL LACK OF ANY GAYNESS, I have yet to find it.
