The Middle Distance

The prissy gatekeepers are mostly the Worst of Tumblr (tm), domain of self-righteous teenagers who like to make rules for how other people ought to do fandom properly.

Ten years ago, I was definitely a Tolkien canon snob, in the sense that any fic that didn't show evidence of knowing the books made me scornful. But a control freak invested in the sacredness of the canon? No. My first or second fic I ever posted was this. (Formatting's awful, I need to fix it - I c&p'd from Library of Moria).

I was...not a teenager. Nor was I in my 20s. XD I did think LOTR was kind of a bitchy fandom, but not to anyone who really devoted themselves to the story and the universe of it. More to the endless sea of swooning over Orlando Bloom/Legolas (bland actor, bland character).