Well. I'm batting 1000 today, so...
Apparently, I've affronted people across fandoms with my opinion that male rape =/= slash. Further, apparently, a story that contains male rape cannot possibly be gen, because there's M/M sex involved (because, apparently, the "consensual" part of "relationship" need not apply). Any M/M sex, consensual or rape, is slash.
Okay, great. So all those gen rape fics out there, written by gen writers? Well, guess what? You're all slashers guys! Gen M/M rape doesn't exist! Bet ya didn't know that, did ya? Yeah, neither did I. Guess I know now.
So since I'm doing so well with my personal opinion this morning, I'm gonna go way out there and ask something that's been bugging me for a long time. And I'm not asking to offend, and I'm not saying anything about the people who do this. I just want to understand, because frankly, right now? I don't. I don't get it. I can't wrap my head around it. No matter how hard I try, and no matter how much I love people who do this (and rest assured, I do love you and I don't hate you and I don't think you're wrong/evil/perverted/whatever), I just don't understand.
What is the appeal of fictionalizing the lives of real people?
The reason I'm asking should be fairly obvious - the sheer amount of RPF/RPS in my shiny new fandom just blows my mind. Maybe I've not been around fandom in general long enough, or deep enough, to have seen this before... but in the 12+ years I've been around online fandom, I never have. In fact, it's always been the opposite, I guess. I'm sure there were RPF lovers in my other fandoms, but they were covert about it.
SPN, the whole J2 thing? Yeah, not covert.
And I just don't get it. It just seems to me like it's crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed, blurring a boundary that exists for a reason. Sam and Dean - do whatever you want to them. They're fictional characters; they're not going to feel any of it. Sam and Dean don't exist outside of fiction, so I have no problem with anything that happens to them within it.
Jared and Jensen? Not fictional characters. Two real people - living and breathing and working and dealing with real life just like the rest of us.
Why fictionalize them? And not just fictionalize them, but... egads. Some of the stuff I've seen written about them - and believe me, I don't go looking for it - scares me. I can't even imagine what it would do to them.
So, please, someone... explain this to me. You like it, I get that. What I don't understand, and what I want to understand, is why.
Okay, great. So all those gen rape fics out there, written by gen writers? Well, guess what? You're all slashers guys! Gen M/M rape doesn't exist! Bet ya didn't know that, did ya? Yeah, neither did I. Guess I know now.
So since I'm doing so well with my personal opinion this morning, I'm gonna go way out there and ask something that's been bugging me for a long time. And I'm not asking to offend, and I'm not saying anything about the people who do this. I just want to understand, because frankly, right now? I don't. I don't get it. I can't wrap my head around it. No matter how hard I try, and no matter how much I love people who do this (and rest assured, I do love you and I don't hate you and I don't think you're wrong/evil/perverted/whatever), I just don't understand.
What is the appeal of fictionalizing the lives of real people?
The reason I'm asking should be fairly obvious - the sheer amount of RPF/RPS in my shiny new fandom just blows my mind. Maybe I've not been around fandom in general long enough, or deep enough, to have seen this before... but in the 12+ years I've been around online fandom, I never have. In fact, it's always been the opposite, I guess. I'm sure there were RPF lovers in my other fandoms, but they were covert about it.
SPN, the whole J2 thing? Yeah, not covert.
And I just don't get it. It just seems to me like it's crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed, blurring a boundary that exists for a reason. Sam and Dean - do whatever you want to them. They're fictional characters; they're not going to feel any of it. Sam and Dean don't exist outside of fiction, so I have no problem with anything that happens to them within it.
Jared and Jensen? Not fictional characters. Two real people - living and breathing and working and dealing with real life just like the rest of us.
Why fictionalize them? And not just fictionalize them, but... egads. Some of the stuff I've seen written about them - and believe me, I don't go looking for it - scares me. I can't even imagine what it would do to them.
So, please, someone... explain this to me. You like it, I get that. What I don't understand, and what I want to understand, is why.