LOTR Rants | Mostly Aralas

is the lotr fandom toxic??

"oh you've read the silmarillion?  name every single family member of  finwe, olwe, elwe and ingwe in descending order up till aragorn or you're not a rEaL fAn"

"oh you're excited for rings of power? FAKE FAN FAKE FAN"

"oh you're a tolkien fan? you probably haven't even read history of middle earth 🙄✋"

LIKE UNIRONICALLY IVE HEARD ALL OF THESE BEFORE

AND ISTG THEIR FAV MOMENT FROM THE MOVIES WILL ALWAYS BE THE "for frodo" SCENE LIKE AKLKJDAGSFKJASLKFGALFGUIFQEITFG

and y'all when i say "fanBOYS" i don't nessessarily mean that all these ppl are men noooo ofc not. i'm using this term to distinguish between those who LET ppl have their own opinions, don't gatekeep the shit out of lotr and people who DO.

THOSE ARE TOXIC FANS YALL.  THATS ALL I MEAN WHEN I SAY FANBOYS. TOXIC FREAKING FANS

if you are a boy in this fandom and you dont do any of those things then you're in most ppl's opinions not part of that term.

and ofc the term fanboys was picked for this instead of fangirls bc it's only men who could be immature enough to do this shit istg 🙄✋

2) the lvl of gatekeeping in this fandom is ASTRONOMICAL

FR THO

immediately once you enter the lotr fandom its like walking into a room and all eyes IMMEDIATELY turn to you and start judging you

out of the dozens of fandoms i'm in, the tolkien fandom is UNDOUBTEDLY the most gatekeepy of them all

people think they get to decide who is and isnt a fake fan based on OPINIONS, not to mention the gatekeeping of the lore ("oh you've read the appendices?? NAME EVERY SINGLE DESCENDANT OF NUMENOR IN ORDER THEN") and the gatekeeping of conventions like frodo and sam being straight, etc

this contributes the majority of the toxicity/toxic SIDE of the tolkien fandom.  do we, in this fandom, really feel so above others that we feel the need to gatekeep so much?? live and let live, people!!

3) ppl taking the lore too seriously

OKAY NOW THIS IS A BIG ONE

the controversy surrounding Rings of Power wouldn't even EXIST if some ppl *ahem* fanboys *AHEM* stopped taking the lore too seriously!!!

NOT EVERYONE IN MIDDLE EARTH WAS WHITE.  POINT ME TO WHERE IN THE APPENDICES IT SAYS THAT KYLE.

lore is up for INTERPRETATION. people REALLY need to stop reading so far into it. and if we're talking cinema adaptation aka rings of power (dude i just realized im calling it by its name now and not just "the lotr show") then its REALLY a case in point.

the content material for rings of power is essentially all notes and appendices.  if speculation is correct, the silmarillion, etc, is hardly gonna be used as source material - so if we could stop the intense pRotEctIng oF tHe wOrKs oF tOlKieN aka 1.8M dislikes on the rings of power trailer, that'd be great thanks

AND TAKE INTO ACC THAT I HAVE A WHOLE ASS CHAPTER ON THINGS IM NOT HAPPY ABT IN RINGS OF POWER. 

im definitely not a huge supporter of the show, it has its faults, yes, but i feel like that this point the toxic side of the fandom is just using it as a punching bag and an excuse to pour out all those gatekeepy opinions that we dont need

4) racism and sexism in the fandom/diversity in the fandom 

its no secret that the tolkien fandom is pretty heavily male and white dominated. i cant even tell you why. 

maybe bc it was written in the 50s in england, and conventions carry on throughout the decades?? maybe its bc as so many fanboys like to remind us the actual UNIVERSE of lotr is male and white dominated (which is ofc bullshit)??

i dunno. but what i DO know is that now the fandom is much more diverse, which is amazing <3

so.... how did this toxic side of the fandom react to this??

again, its no secret that female lotr fans are taken a lot less seriously than male fans. same with fans of color. gatekeeping is applied a lot more strongly to us.

again, is this 50s conventions making their way into the 21st century?? maybe. is this just racism and sexism in the WORLD in general flowing thicker in the fandom itself?? also maybe.

either way, this fanfic is a safe space for people of all genders and all races, specifically in this fandom.  while the toxic fans may still be surviving, WE, my children, are THRIVING.

so fuck those toxic fans - keep simping over eowyn and galadriel, keep reading your aralas fanfiction, keep shipping frodo and sam to pieces - this is what lotr is FOR.

lotr is an expression of identity and opinion. it is PART of who we are, among those who love it as much as us. the toxic fans don't get to take that away from us 

5) tokien enthusiasts who r rly just overly conventional

basically this is a summary of everything i've said so far

a) not everyone in middle earth was cishet and white - you're not pRoTecTinG tolkien's works, toxic fans, by saying that, you're dehumanizing them and shoving lotr into a black and white cadre that it's literally been trying to break through FOREVER

b) the accuracy of the lore/ppl's knowledge of the lore ISNT ALL THAT THERE IS TO LIFE. love the lore all you want, hell I LOVE IT, but stop gatekeeping it let others enjoy it too!! let us as the good side of the fandom interpret it how WE want and don't shame ppl for not knowing every single tiny detail abt the lore!!!

c) lotr and the tolkien fandom is constantly evoloving and changing. fotr was originally published in 1954 and it's been 68 years since then. some people in this fandom need to stop hanging onto ANCIENT IDEALS. let it go!!!!! and what's more, don't BASH PPL for having diff opinions on a literal FICTIONAL WORLD than you!!!!

d) and lastly and most importantly - appreciate everyone in this fandom equally AS LONG AS THEY DO THE SAME. meaning fanboys who gatekeep an declare ppl fake fans for no reason other than their own assholeness DONT DESERVE THAT SAME LVL OF RESPECT. but everyone else IS EQUAL in this fandom. apparently the toxic fans just don't get that

6) conclusion (ooooo fancy)

so yeah. one side of the tolkien fandom is DEFINITELY toxic. right now, it's arguably at its MOST toxic bc of rings of power.  

i mean u all heard abt the tolkien expert, a literal teacher who talks abt lotr lore for a living, being FIRED by the fandom bc he praised rings of power??? TOXIC

it's up to US, YOU, as the lovely readers of this fic, to cleanse the negativity and bad vibes the toxic fans cast on the glory that is tolkien's universe and the fandom that surrounds it

to use the fanboys' own quote (I SAY OWN QUOTE NOT TOLKIEN QUOTE BC ITS NOT EVEN A REAL TOLKIEN QUOTE) against them:

"Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin good forces have invented or made."

That's what the toxic fans are doing rn. that is NOT what people who have diff opinions than is "conventional" in the fandom are doing. in fact, we are doing the exact opposite

***

ALRIGHTTTT AND IMMA CALL IT THERE

so i hope that made sense and wasn't overly ranty and overdramatic but like i said im VERY passionate abt this topic

thank you all so so so much for giving this fic this much love, all your comments and votes and reads bring me an indescribable amount of joy <33

THIS fic is still very much ongoing!!!! leave any requests you have in the comments as usual <33

alright that's it

out ✨