Tolkien fan fiction is fantasy fiction, often published on the Internet, by Tolkien fans, in enormous quantities. It is based either directly on some aspect of J. R. R. Tolkien's books on his fantasy world of Middle-earth, or on a depiction of this world, especially in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film series or other film depictions of that world. A wide range of types of writing have resulted, such as homoerotic slash fiction and several strands of feminist storytelling.
Much fan fiction, including slash, is written by women. They often select as subjects Tolkien's minor female characters, where the limited detail provided affords them wide freedom to write as they please. An alternative is to invent non-canonical characters, again often women; a danger is of creating Mary Sue characters embodying their personal wish-fulfilment. Scholars have discussed the validity of fan fiction, given Tolkien's apparent dislike of the genre, but noting that he had indicated the possibility of "other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama."[T 1] Scholars have begun to accept fan fiction as one of multiple genres within the Middle-earth tradition.
Early fan fiction was published in fanzines, followed by mailing lists and other Internet platforms. The genre accelerated with the arrival of the World Wide Web and specialised websites for fan fiction. These had rules governing what could be written, which may however have helped to ensure that writers were well read and insightful. Much fan fiction is potentially in breach of copyright law, even on non-commercial websites.
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