I should stop thinking...

[kaydeefalls]

I just explored a wonderful badfic site. Funny badfic, lessons for fanfic writers, etc. Good stuff. Except that one of their qualifications of a bad fanfic was the use of real people, and then they went on for two paragraphs about the evils of RPS.

Yes, I know that some people hate RPS. Hell, less than a year ago I was one of them. RPS just completely squicked me out. Invasion of privacy, these-aren't-toys-for-us-to-play-with, etc. I mean, who the hell do we think we are, forcing real people into our sick little fantasies?

A friend finally convinced me to read one, and out of sheer luck, the first RPS fic I stumbled upon was Buffett's "Surfing" series. So I ignored my RPS squick, started reading the stuff regularly, and now I even write it. Go figure.

But every now and then, that little voice in my head starts reminding me of all the reasons RPS is wrong. I can't stop reading it. I won't stop writing it. But deep down somewhere, I'm just a little ashamed of myself.

Comments

I get that too...

[andraste-oz.livejournal.com]

I feel exactly the same way, sometimes. Exactly the same way. I don't write it - that is, I've written bits and pieces which have never been finished or made public because I kind of feel that once I do that I'll be crossing a line of some sort.

I try to salve my conscience, now and again, by reminding myself that these are really just characters in a story who happen to share names and some physical characteristics with real people, but it doesn't always work. Mostly I don't think about it.

[tvillingar.livejournal.com]

who the hell do we think we are, forcing real people into our sick little fantasies?

Whoa, wait a minute! It's not like we show up on their doorstep and demand them to act out the stories. I've rambled about this before and I still stand behind it: there are always people who want to fuck Billy (for example) through the floor or vice versa. Some people put those thoughts on paper. Some people explore characterization possibilities using real people. Whatever, it's fine with me, as long as we don't bother those starring the stories. That's just plain rude.

And that said, this is the first fandom I've read RPS about. It just doesn't interest me in other fandoms. I was lucky enought to read 'Surfing' as my first story and it's just so damn good I had to find out if there's more. If the first story would have been bad, I'd probably quit reading right away.

Bandslash isn't really my thing, it just feels weird (and I'm not saying it's bad or evil). I admit I've read a couple of Nsync stories, but I don't actually know anything about the band so I could basically change the names and still enjoy the story. They're not real people to me.

I feel that as long as I don't actually start believing the stories and my own fantasies, it's ok. But if I start to believe that RPS stories are the truth and nothing but the truth... get the men in white to pick me up.

So this was long and rather aimless post and probably didn't answer anything... and if I ever met any of the LotR boys, there would probably be several stories running in my head and I would pass out of embarrassment.

[lush-rimbaud.livejournal.com]

yeah, I had this moment yesterday where I suddenly felt bad about RPS--maybe it's something that's going around--and then I wanted to smack myself, because, wait a minute, I have no shame! What's wrong with me? Then I felt better.

erm, anyway.

Oh, and that was nicely put, housemouse. ^_^

[lush-rimbaud.livejournal.com]

oh, and also, I was just going to add: it might help to keep in mind that any work of fiction involving historical figures is, basically, real-person fic. Of course if you write a novel about George Washington, he's dead and it doesn't really matter to anyone, but there are things like Joyce Carol Oates' Blonde--a novel about Marilyn Monroe which includes, among other things, unflattering descriptions of Arthur Miller and JFK. Miller is still alive and so are JFK's close relatives, but none of them seems to have been scarred by the fact that somebody is using them as creative playthings. They're celebrities; they may not like it, but it comes with the territory.

[gabbyhope.livejournal.com]

They're celebrities; they may not like it, but it comes with the territory.

Sorry, couldn't resist... yes, fans fawning over them comes with the territory, though not all celebrities have to cope with people writing about explicit frolicking in twisted bed sheets about them and their co-stars. Whenever there is a debate about RPS, should we or shouldn't we, there is always a point of morality. Always whether we as slashers would want OURSELVES to be written about.

Hmm, I know I had a point somewhere.

I read and write slash, I've been reading RPS in odd fandoms here and there for a couple years. The first LotR RPS fic I read was Shawna's Orli/Lij/Dom/Billy foursome back at the end of December, so I sort of started off with a bang (or FOUR, har har) you may say. And to soften it a bit, I guess, I try to think of it as it being flattering to the actors I admire so damn much. Well, that and merely loving it to pieces. It's artistic liscense. Just because the people that we write share names and certain characteristics with real life people, does not mean that we are in any way forcing these things down people's throats... interpretation, that's all that it is. People can take it or leave it, maybe even come up with their own. MY Dom is completely different than yours. So rock on. Just characters that we fortunately continue to receive fresh information on ;)

End of rant.