[lissaselves]

Over the past months, I've read many Haldir-related fics as well as forum threads - here and elsewhere - and have noticed an interesting thing:

Haldir is always mentioned in connection with sex (any kind of sex - people seem to see him as, ehh ... versatile).

This leads me to believe that I may be onto something very original in attempting to write a Haldir-story without sex! Yes, you read correctly - I apologize for the possible trauma.

However, to get to the point: I'd like to know why everybody seems to think Haldir so sexy. And are we talking about Craig Parker (with or without the blonde wig) in which case I'll have to agree with you?

Or are we talking about the conscientious, friendly Elf from Tolkien's book? The one who speaks so passionately about the Wood and of the Elves leaving Middle-earth, the one Frodo likes so much?

I'd love to hear your opinion.

[eiranae]

My guess is that it's Craig Parker.

I know what you mean about Haldir and sex fics though. There's one on this site I read that isn't about sex...

http://www.openscrolls.net/fanfic/story.php?no=512

I'm sure there's more. I look forward to reading your take on the Lorien Marchwardern.

[lissaselves]

lol - well, Craig Parker is rather cute, I agree.

Thanks for the link, Eira: it is proof that there is at least one non-sexual Haldir-fic out there. I'm much relieved!

Still, the other type of fics are the vast majority and it puzzles me to no end.

Won't stop me from reading them, of course ....

[NeumeIndil]

Maybe a combination of the two, at least for those of us who have read the books?

I think the mystery of having a recognizable named character from canon with almost nothing limiting you to when he was born/died, if he left Middle-earth or stayed, if he married and had children, can be very appealing to a writer. Yes, he's tall blond and handsome, but he's also a blank slate, and sometimes those are pretty fun.

[lissaselves]

[NeumeIndil]

[Alassante]

I've never been a Haldir person and I couldn't tell you why I'm not when I'm an elf person. I use his brothers a lot in fanfiction but I've steered clear of him. Maybe its because of the way he's been portrayed so much in fanfiction. Like 'evil' Thranduil. Its hard to shake that feeling about some characters. Or maybe it was because of the movie - I'm not sure. I don't like Faramir much because of the movies even though the actor was great. He just didn't have the same 'grrr' 'umpff' 'hubba hubba' feeling that Aragorn, Legolas, and Eomer did.

[lissaselves]

[NancyBrooke]

[Viv]

[lissaselves]

lol - you're all obsessing (pro et con) about movie-Haldir!

Well, if that means that I have book-Haldir to myself, it's ok with me.

[Haleth]

If I was stuck in the lost in the middle of the forest I'd prefer book Haldir for company over movie Haldir. Book Haldir was far friendlier.

[eiranae]

I think the movie elves (Craig Parker, Orlando Bloom, etc) really changed how people thought of elves in general.

Most of it is what Nancy said. Rabid fangirls writing lust fulfillment stories. I can't say I haven't enjoyed a little romance fulfillment myself, but I'm less into the fics that throw LACE to the wind. It's too easy to just dismiss LACE for the sake of instant gratification IMHO.

This question actually reminds me of one I saw on another site which questioned why more females write fanfic compared to males. I guess we all want our perfect elf, man, dwarf .

[NeumeIndil]

I think, NB, my frustration with many arms of fan fic comes from the way people twist those wonderful blank slates from canon into the victims of juvenile wish fulfillment. That's probably why I hide here. There's nothing inherently wrong, in my mind, with filling in the history of a mostly unknown character, as long as it's done with respect to the parent works and some class. It's that last bit, I think, that people don't expect when they hear "fan fiction".

My pet peeve, even worse than turning Legolas (who was pretty kick ass in the books) or Haldir (again, prone to the kicking of asses) into spineless wussy poofters for anything with a phallic symbol, is bad Boromir/Theodred 'shipping. Is a 'romance' between the two canon plausible? Insofar as Tolkien didn't really comment directly on homosexuality, yes. But where people get off turning one or the other of Middle-earth's strongest warriors into weepy, moony pseudo-women carrying the other one's unborn infant is beyond me. (I'm not even a huge fan of Boromir and I realize he should be written with more cojones than that!) That said, I've read some very powerful romantic stories involving the two of them, but for every good one I've read, there are a dozen that make me want to brain someone with the hardback printing of the Trilogy (and maybe the collected volumes of HoMe just to reinforce the point).

[NancyBrooke]