[Dominique]

Is the only reason why ya'll write love stories about Legolas, Frodo, Aragorn, etc, is because of the LOTR movie? Do you write about them because you like what the character in the movie looks like or just because you like that certain character?

[Ellbee]

Speaking for myself, I've been reading LotR for at least 20 years. My favorite character has always been Legolas; I loved his sarcasm, his light-heartedness, his killer instincts, his general asshole-ness. I love a flawed hero. Boromir has always been one of my favorites as well, for the same reason.

Peter Jackson made certain characters grab me by the throat when I'd had no interest in the book version, most notably Aragorn. The movies got me thinking about the whole story more, and talking with a friend (hi Jenn) is what really got me into LotR fanfic. I couldn't be more pleased with the casting choices for the movie if I had been in charge of it myself, but I can't lay my interest completely at the feet of the lovely Mr. Bloom or Mr. Bean. After all, I'm utterly obsessed with the Twins, and they don't even make an appearance in the movies.

Hm, I seem to have rambled, and now I'm not even sure if I've answered your question.

-Ell

[Gaslight]

I tried to read FOTR before the movie came out, but I just couldn't absorb it. Having the visuals of the movie helped me. I just can't visualize faces on characters that I can't see -- OK, so I'm supremely unimaginative! I went back and reread the first book and then the others with greater ease. After every movie I'll reread the book of it so that the words come alive. When I read TTT, Gollum was a big nothing - just words. Now with the loveable little guy given a face I can grasp, I'll read it again.

As for love stories, I don't write the NC-17 smut stuff, but for what I DO write, yeah, I have to admit that Sean Bean helps. I've been a fan long before LOTR anyway. It's not hard to get worked up over that face. If I wrote anything romantic with Frodo or Aragorn (neither likely), I would definitely use Elijah and Viggo in my mind's eye as I wrote, even if the words I put down stayed closer to Tolkien's descriptions than that of the actors (my Boromir has dark hair and grey eyes in my fic - mainly to avoid all the "read the books!" comments I might have gotten had I gone with Beany's features.)

[Roisin]

Well here's my personal take on the preponderance of legomances.

1) Legolas the only unattached member of the Fellowship without hairy feet or a really long beard. Except for Boromir who dies in the first book.

2) Orlando Bloom's genetic giftedness (a nice way of saying HOT) and Peter Jackson's interpretation of the character piqued a great deal of interest among the female viewers of the movie. PJ/Bloom made Legolas more of an Action!Elf.

3) Legolas is something of an enigma. We don't know if he was married or not, if he was an only child, or even his exact age.

In short, he's sort of an obvious choice for a romantic story. Plus he has a really sexy scowl. Ooh! Scowl at me, Legolas!

Roisin

[sindohte]

[Roisin]

Actually Boromir dies in the second book.

Roisin

[Maram68]

I read LOTR (a MUST for fantasy fans of my generation) in three languages. I fell in love with Legolas long before Mr. Bloom made him so lovely. There is something to Legolas not being the regular elf (but being more inspired towards the understanding and accepting humans) that always fascinated me.

Aragorn was my second choice of hero, just becasue he is so conflicted with his legacy and duty. Love the "still not King".

I found Fanfic through another fandom, and then began writing under the support of a couple of author friends.

The movies had made the whole LOTR universe just more vivid to me.

And yes Roisin, I'd love to see the twins on screen as well ... (second fave elves, those guys).

[Viv]

Um, I'm a geek. I read LoTR when I was 10. Then read it about five gazillion more times, along with the Hobbit and Silm and HoME, etc. My favorite characters are the sons of Elrond. But, strangely, I don't write about them.

I write about pretty much everybody else. PJ did change my mind on one thing though: Aragorn. See, I always thought Aragorn in the books was a bit of a priss. Always trotting around telling everybody else what to do and how to live. Boring. Now, Viggo on the other hand.... not boring. Makes me squealy.

Regarding Legolas: I wrote a lengthy angst-romance about him because he is an elf in the world of men. That's strange and lovely and provides loads of opportunities for him to display his elven wisdom and otherness. Oh, and fangirls read my story because it contains hot legosmut in the first chapter. I guess that's a reason to write about him, too.

[Gaslight]

[Hathor]

I was a fan of the three hunters before the movie came out- and I still am now.

Boring, huh? But true. Legolas always interested me as the undeveloped character. I wanted to know more, and I felt that Tolkien gave him a raw deal. The movie... well... it's not affected my fangirlishness.

What I do find interesting is that I grew as a Haldir fan when the movies came out. So they are having some kind of effect on me... although what I love about them is that they just seem to agree with all I imagined when I first read them. Is is just me that gets that? I still well up when I see the big green door and the little path leading up to it....