44caps:

44caps:

really random but i do think if we as “rpf-ers” started to distinguish between “real person fiction” and “shipping” it would make a lot of discourse easier to parse. like i think it is perfectly possible to write rpf and then maintain a level of rational separation of fiction and reality, where you can say “yeah this is my fictionalization of narratives i’m perceiving from real life that may or may not even be there, the point isn’t that its true, the point is the creative outlet”. versus with shipping there is a collapse between fiction and reality, because you are actively parsing through reality to bolster and prove your fiction. and i fully believe the latter has more negative effects on the fan-celebrity dynamic and fandom as a whole than the former.

like to take f1 as a case study, sure there are issues of people posting ao3 links to twitter/tiktok or the mercedes twitter account acknowledging ao3 in a fan groupchat. but the reality is most of the boundary blurring issues we’re facing right now stem from shipping culture and not necessarily rpf culture. the mercedes tiktoks playing into gax or galex aren’t referencing specific fanfictions, they’re referencing the general shipping culture thats looking for evidence from an authority figure. and like the issue with landoscars on other platforms being excessively loud in the face of oscars family isnt them like, sharing ao3 links, its them again looking for evidence from an authority figure. the current issue we’re facing is a feedback loop of “fictional hypothesis im trying to prove irl”, “someone with perceived authoritative knowledge of my celebrity pandering to my hypothesis because its good for socials”, “i’m emboldened by this pandering and precede to go to other authority figures for the same treatment”. and i dont think this is a feedback loop we can easily solve by solely saying “rpf needs to stay private”, we can only really start to solve it between ourselves if we emphasize the fandom cultural difference between “people who enjoy rpf” and “shippers”. and there’s nothing we can really do about the cynical marketing tactics from brands and corporations. but also i dont really know anything sooo