honestly, I think itβs extremely depressing that like 80% of the fics in the hudcon tag on ao3 are unlocked. I just read one of the locked ones and it was really cute, and then I went to that personβs twitter that they linked at the bottom and they were tweeting rpf shit about the guys openly, with like 4k likes on a recent tweet. ???
rpfing very publicly on twitter or posting unlocked fics seems to be the new norm now for rpf and I hate it. when Iβve called people out on Twitter they often have some bullshit excuse, like that itβs not a big deal, or even worse, that probably the guys like it! (so youβre completely disconnected from the real world, thatβs what I hear)
but overall I keep getting the impression that these guys are not real to these people. theyβre like characters, but itβs a bridge too far to put themselves in their shoes and wonder what it might be like to have someone write fics about them that incorporate so many aspects of their personal lives.
and yes, overall with rpf in the aggregate, iβm sure there are a range of ways the people on the receiving end react to these fics and the shipping, if they ever find out. but itβs basic empathy to ASSUME that they might find it uncomfortable, and to try to hide it from them for that reason.
in the end, rpf doesnβt work for me if itβs not going to be private and if people arenβt going to respect the fourth wall. iβm getting more and more disillusioned with each fandom that does this, i think specifically because these are real people and part of the parasocial process of learning stuff about them means that it actually hurts me WORSE when people act like theyβre not actual humans with feelings and emotions. Iβm like thatβs my fellow queer person and blorbo, but now youβre tweeting with glee that he must be helping his costar cheat on his girlfriend? then iβm like EXTRA mad because for right now at least, i think these guys are pretty cool and they actually havenβt done shit to all the people acting like those tweets will be really cool for them to see.
and thatβs why I want to rpf them in part, because I parasocially care about them as humans! and itβs so weird to me that people are obsessed enough to learn about two actors, their personalities, why they might like each other, and then have an attitude like oh I donβt give a fuck if this bothers them. it truly doesnβt make sense and something there doesnβt line up for me psychologically.
idk, Iβm just mad that rpf fandoms are getting ruined and that people are acting like they have no empathy at all. it feels cold and depressing and makes the whole conceit of rpf actually feel kind of messed up.
















