[Lyta_Underhill]

No fic writer I've ever seen has shown the talent of Sophocles, in other words, I've yet to see a Tolkien fic that is so well written, be it slash or no, that the sheer artistic merit of the work would justify its 'non-canonicity' (if that's a word )

I personally do not believe that a work need be a perfect copy nor be flawless to be "justified." A fanfiction does not need to ask justification from the primary author. I simply prefer those that ring true to the style and outlook I perceive to be "Tolkienesque."

There are degrees of canonical bend, and the way I imagine Tolkien, he would have hated slash fics, be them well-written

There is a danger in this as well, as the "what would Tolkien think?" impulse could conceivably hamper an individual's creative impulses. In fact, I think this is one thing that keeps my nascent fanfictions incomplete. In the world of Middle Earth, Tolkien reigns supreme in my eyes and I have the desire to at least respect his presented outlook and model my words upon his expressed ideas. However, the danger arises when we start to say "Tolkien would not have approved of this or that" and the second-guessing and uncertainty sets in for a would-be writer.

If the writer discards the need to remain true to Tolkien's conception in every particular, then there is more freedom to create. And since I consider all fanfiction to be "non-canon" anyway, I see no need for the restriction to be placed. There are so many uncertainties in Tolkien's world that the creative spark is endlessly struck. Many hidden realms exist within his sub-created and delineated one, and once another writer touches it, it becomes a variation, an interpretive work, and the individual view of truth within the sub-reality may be stretched for some and violated for others.

Non-canon fic is a hurricane which shatters this delicate balance simply to see where the uprooted pieces would land and what the overall effect would be. The problem is that, by uprooting these pieces, (read characters), they lose their initial meaning, therefore all their world loses meaning.

I can see how this effect occurs, but I always attributed it to bad writing, a jarring of the reader outside the carefully woven subrealm. Personally, I think a well-written fanfiction can enrich the realm, even if it is non-canon (which in almost all cases it is, leaving out the sticky wicket of CJT). The badfics do not, in my opinion, have enough power in them to wield hurricane strength destructive force. They become simply a child's view of a larger realm, an imperfect or blurry picture, a heavy filter through a brain that has not adequately communicated or word-painted the aspects that make Middle Earth appealing to the reader in question. But to attribute approval and/or disapproval to the maker himself is a dangerous thing. For all judgement filters through the mind of the one making this assertion. Thus, this topic is highly subjective. It would be good for all to remember that this is inevitable and allow for it.

Cheers!
Lyta