Homosexual relationships have no place in LotR. Period. I can understand how people would still write them for the "what-if" aspect, but that doesn't keep me from feeling that those types of stories are extremely inappropriate. Go slash another fandom. Or keep those stories on a slash-only site, where the more canonical fans don't have to look at them.
I think that slashing a story is, to a degree, like 'Sueing it. You make the characters act completely OOC to conform to your little idea or "storyline". Some people do this worse than others. Considering how swiftly people are ready to absolutely crucify a 'Sue story really makes you wonder why some of these same people turn right around and support slash fics, as they're written with something of the same principle. Just the slash aspect makes it 'Sue a bit, but, as with any writing, a lot of it hangs on the author's skill. You have well-written slash, and poorly written, grammatical-and-spelling-nightmare slash. But, of course, you also have well-written canon following stories and poorly written ones. Some people, sadly, have a hard time with writing mechanics and basic story formatting.
I don't believe homosexual relationships to be appropriate in any way. I'm not a homophobe; and I believe that people are free to make their own choices. But homosexuality contradicts nature. Why? Because what is the purpose of it? To get off, to avoid discomfort caused by consorting with the opposite sex, to be "different"; take your pick. The reason people have sexual feelings is to, basically, continue the human race. Yes, it feels good; no one would do it if it didn't. Homosexuality removes those feelings onto something else, making them become useless and unnatural.
The morality of same-sex relationships is not the point of this post; there are as many opinions on the matter as there are humans to voice them.
My point is this: Tolkien's work is set on a higher intellectual plane than most things. Some people, failing to grasp the subtle messages about these higher matters, subconsciously feel the need to add in their own interpretation of events and emotions to simplify the text and bring the work down to their level. Thus come the slash fics. Those canon-minded of us can ascend to the plane and see what Tolkien really meant, instead of imposing warped ethics onto his work, dragging it down into the gutters where so many people's minds reside. I'm not presuming to be better than anyone. It just seems to me that dragging down what you don't understand to a baser level is a sign of immaturity; it means you cannot push your own intellectual limits to achieve access to a higher level. You may just be happy where you are, and that's fine. But is it really so much trouble to try to enlighten yourself just a little, to realize that just because a small group does somthing it must be "normal" and unwaveringly accepted. As Tolkien fans, I thought you would have more sense than that.
It takes more effort to climb out of a hole than to drag someone down with you. Frankly, I'm sure none of us want to be stuck at the bottom of a hole, no matter how much company we have.
Abedithon le,
~ Saphy ~
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The Hitchhiking Ghost
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