#rpf etiquette

[disast3rtransp0rt]

So OP must have blocked me or turned off reblogs, but last week I had the following interaction with an RPF author (no shade to RPF authors who can behave like normal people btw, we're all in this together):

And as if like magic, Swell Entertainment made an excellent YouTube video regarding the very same subject:

I think she sums it up best when she says: "If you wanna write fanfiction about me, fine, but never include another real life person. Not even other YouTubers, I don't care if I'm friends with them, they did not consent."

This is about CONSENT. It always has been and always will be. Real people deserve real bodily autonomy, even within fandom. I've been writing fanfic since the late LiveJournal era (around 15-16 years at this point) and that's ALWAYS been the standard. Twitter really did ruin some peoples' understanding of boundaries and it's a damn shame.

[ef-1]

he was so ahead of his time 🫶

[28ms28]

So I saw that many people are genuinely sad about this whole George and Max fight...like its okay to not feel great about it and it's okay to feel too much about it yk its the last race of the season as well so obv there are emotions and stuff and your favourite drivers fighting is not very nice but you have to remember that this shit happens man. it happened with Max and Esteban in 2016 and look at them now no bad blood, hell even Lewis and Max are friendly now and have been for a while. look at George and Max they had kind of a falling out in baku last year but they were best pals last week before all the Quali drama. They are grown-ass adults man they will deal with this in their own way...YOU wasting your time being distraught, writing long ass paragraphs about how your driver is the better of the two will not change that because I don't think the rich millionaires care about some person on Tumblr or Twitter or X or whatever its called now.

The biggest consequence that this will have on their lives is that they'll stop playing padel together lol

[lost-my-sanity1]

can people plspls please tag properly in ao3 i wanna read the characters having nasty sex rn I DON'T wanna read the actors looking at each other PLEASE

[charles-leclerc-official]

becoming compelled by the sebmark haunting the choscar narrative … also bc i read a ficlet ab them the other day that was the most insanely compelling sexual tension rivalry … i need more of them and NOT just people tagging choscar on landoscar posts. if charles isn’t in it idc

I need at least a full essay on this immediately.

This is the problem with rare pairs. They get lost in the larger ships more often than not. I am working on doing my part to bring more attention to Choscar as a dynamic because yes, it's so compelling and there is also a lot of nuance to mine there.

Charles did not serve this look in Baku for us to do nothing with it

Like??? Hello

Also criminal to mention said ficlet and not include a link!

[valyrfia]

I mean this the nicest way possible but have you considered the fact that you just .. hate RPF? Wich is fine, like you said it's a gray area. It's not everyone's cup of tea, actually! It's not even mine because I actually came across those trailers you said! And I instantly went "ew wtf" and I clicked not interested, and then I another showed up, and clicked not interested, and then the algorithm went ok got it, and it's been a while thankfully, that hasn't showed up. So, what I mean is, there is content in the internet that is weird, that's for sure, but there's like... Ways to avoid it? And the way that this has been a persistent subject in your blog in such a deep way makes me think that you suffer it more than anyone, wich is fine but just, don't look at it anymore? I don't know what to say honestly because, again no to be rude but youre making the MOST out of it. And it's like you're treating fandom culture like this deep dark secret when its as public as it can be and I promise you the most a person can do is feel weirded out and mute that content, and hope it doesn't show up.! But for example, I hate povs content, and that has to be the most persistent content I've seen so far on F1, full of "you're the wife/girl/sister" blah blah and I'm a lesbian, I've clicked not interested so many times I lost count and IT KEPT showing up (until i figured muting y/n, driver x reader helps) so if it keeps you more calm there are ways to avoid content you dont like!

I get where you’re going with this but also, nah. I’ve always loved RPF and will keep consuming it whenever I can. I just make a big stink out of seeing it outside of tumblr and ao3 because of algorithms and the way I was taught to interact with RPF about fifteen years ago in which….these things have to stay within their intended circles at all costs. This is back when fandom content was not cool and mainstream and unless you kept your fandom life and your actual life very separate you get bullied to hell for it. Now, I often feel like the pendulum has swung a little too far the other way and there’s such a massive influx of new people because fandom culture is trendy that fandom etiquette is starting to collapse. The treatment of RPF being one of them.

RPF differs from POV content in two ways. The first is that POV content is a little more accepted than RPF in the general consciousness, usually because it’s het but also because it’s very obvious this is a self insert fantasy which while I imagine is awkward for drivers to see, can be easily laughed off as being so obviously just a fantasy. RPF on the other hand builds off of pre-existing relationships and lore and is usually slash, which already introduces an awkward element (and you can say the men shouldn’t have toxic masculinity all you like, it’s not just them that’s the issue it’s everyone who perceives them and the content), also it’s more difficult because people DO talk about these pairings platonically. In order to not experience Lestappen on my tiktok FYP, I can’t interact with any video that mentions those two in the same breath ever because the algorithm will eventually push me ship content even if I don’t want to see it and I click not interested. This happens over and over again.

I love RPF which am just on super high alert about RPF safe spaces being breached because I know from lived experience that it doesn’t bode well. This is also just personally not the way I was taught to interact with fandom, and again I’ve seen enough shit in my time to understand why that etiquette had to be enforced.

[fansplaining]

Episode 222: Ask Fansplaining Anything: Part 19

Flourish’s final “Ask Fansplaining Anything” episode follows the format of the previous 18 (!!), with a new batch of (thoughtful as ever!) listener letters and voicemails. Topics discussed include people bringing a prior adaptation’s fandom baggage to a new version, writing RPF about people who aren’t actually famous at all, the tropification of fanfiction, and whether multiple versions of a character can feel true simultaneously.

Click through to our site to listen or read a full transcript!

[abigailthedreamer]

Quick Rant: Real Person Shipping is weird and we should’ve already known that.

(Rant Under Cut)

(Because I'm tired and I wanna get back to my normal self-ship business, This has just been bugging me.)

Summary: You can ship what you like, so long it's legal, You're not being weird about it, you're not being an ass over which is better or more canon, AND you’re not shipping the real actors (vas, etc).

'Lol It's not that deep though, it's not like they're actually fucking' Congratulations, your braincells are actually making a spark against each other. Let's put this into perspective now, Imagine if someone were to ship you with say, your closest mutual or your friend in real life. Yeah, it'd be funny at first, you care about your mutual a lot I'd imagine. But then, they start implying that any time you talk to or hang out with your mutual is a 'date' or you were flirting with each other. Not so funny now is it? You wouldn't wanna hang out with said mutual because no one can read any interaction you'll have as anything but romantic. Oh, but it's not that deep right? you guy's weren't doing anything romantic, you guys can still be friends.

^ These guys could still be friends, couldn't they? that whole Septiplier ship craze was just a ship, so it wasn't that deep. There totally isn't a reason why they never Collab anymore. (Forgive me for having to curse you all with this, it's under the cut for a reason.)

'Oh, it's not like they actually see it, They're celebrities for crying out loud they got better things to do.' Yeah...That's probably what you assumed with the Harry Styles X Louie Tomlinson ship huh? Yeah we don't forget.

To those who are Luckily, not in the know, Larry Stylinson was huge back in the day. Some one directioners would swear on their lives, student loans, probably their future firstborn child that Harry and Louie were secretly dating and had to keep it hidden because of their, supposedly, homophobic management. And yes, both of them have found it very uncomfortable and had to deny it many times. Sadly, it didn't stop the shippers, if anything, made it worse. Some examples include but not limited to (Because I wanna wrap this up soon):

Pressuring them to come out as gay.

(The fact that it was on my birthday is crazy)

The ship itself making their friendship feel uncomfortable, Gee doesn't it sound like I'm repeating myself.

And, I wish I was making this up, Baby Gate. To summarise. Larries couldn't dare fathom the concept of Louie having a biological child with his partner at the time Brianna Jungwirth. So Larries made up the theory that the pregnancy was fake and manufactured by his management to keep up his 'Straight Image'.

(Go watch the full video if you'd like, I've gotten most of my info there, think of it as a crash course of what NOT to do with shipping.)

SO! What have we learned? Shipping fictional characters? That's fine! completely normal even. But next time you see the two actors of a ship from your favourite show and movie posing together, Maybe slow down, and remember that they do have lives outside of the stuff they make. They're not your dolls.

[cinder-rose]

Me (not an Finnish speaker) watching Jere's insta updates, not understanding a single word but appreciating the general vibe

[edwardsissyhandsthtdanceslikeabb]

this is fandom discourse so my tangent is probably relevant nonetheless, but i've noticed a very disconcerting and frankly horrific trend of both normies and antishippers abstracting real life people and it confuses me bc ppl will have all this moral conjecture and posturing over fiction but somehow think its ok to sexualize real, cognizant, autonomous people without their consent? idk if yall realize this but making overtly sexual content or remarks abt ppl without their consent or knowledge is harassment lol. like that's sexual harassment, no? why are we collectively cool with infringing upon people's boundaries in such an intimate and explicit way despite not knowing them or getting their permission??? i hate to use buzzwords like "weird and gross" but those frankly undersell how invasive and predatory it is to sexualize someone in such a way if they haven't indicated they're fine with it. somebody granting you access to their personhood ≠ consent. being above the age of majority ≠ consent. nor does mainstream desirability :)

Ok. Real talk.

[nb2000]

Stop putting RPF in the character ship tag. I do NOT want to see that.

[intothegreat-wide-open]

just when you think you've seen it all

[theyogs]

we are all in an agreement that what happens on tumblr stays on tumblr right? please keep Everything i say on this blog strictly on tumblr and away from the boys they should never have to read anything we say

btw likes and follows come from theracs25

[dittaturamonegasca]

it's pure madness to me that this HAD to be said

Ok. A little something I want to put out there.

Lestappen has been blowing up for a good while now and I for one am thoroughly enjoying it BUT. But. Let's please keep it and other rpf ships confined to tumblr, ao3 and the like.

They do have wags, almost all drivers do. The ship related content on insta and tiktok are very easy for them to come across, and for someone who is as chronically online as charles (as seen in the insta pfp fiasco) there's no way he's not seeing this stuff.

The thing with tumblr and ao3 is that they have a proper tagging system. Tiktok does not have that (I'm not just talking about TikTok btw), we don't know how these types of shippy content will make them and their wags feel. They are not characters they are real people.

Also, please stop making weird AI videos of drivers kissing. I got jump scared by a Simi one yesterday.

Tldr: Please practice proper fandom etiquette. Especially when it comes to RPF's. And stop using AI for creepy shit.

[morose-marble]

Assad's incredible little rpf tirade has this wonderful "i'm new to having insane people be obsessed with me online" hubris that can only come from either the naïveté of not having been in the fandom trenches ever OR genuinely being equally as unhinged as the people writing the freakiest shit that a single tweet can contain

Babe, you are supposed to demurely pretend that you are not perceiving the vulgar lengths individuals will go to to express their fantasies of seeing your co-star's prostate be pulverized!!! Etiquette !!! Have some couth!!! Are you not a lady??!!! I need to see into his brain

[ternaryflower53]

Hi, I had a few questions about your beta offer for Fandom Trumps Hate. Are you ok with RPF? If it makes any difference, I'm writing a complicated friendship and romance for people who were actually involved with each other that way in real life--it's a fix-it for everything that went wrong between them.I was especially interested in working with you since my story revolves strongly around queerness, hurt/comfort, found family, trauma recovery, and a poly relationship. It sounds like we 1/2

hi nonny! i think your second ask got eaten by the tumblr gods, feel free to resend if needed!

anyway, yes, i am okay with rpf! i'm not actively engaged in any rpf fandoms but i think rpf is cool and fun