I've met a number of the subjects of RPS that I've written, and it's 100% not weird for me at all.
Why?
Because when I'm writing, or reading, I'm fully aware that the character I'm sketching out is just based on a real person. Yeah, I do my research -- like anyone writing TFA fic SHOULD be doing, making sure you're not fucking with canon in unreasonable ways -- and I like to ground my fics in reality, but I know that what I'm writing is fiction. Is it likely the guy will stumble on my fic? No. Could it happen? Certainly. Does that worry me? Not really. Two RPS fandoms I'm active in have been "outed" in mainstream media, and in one, one of my stories was exposed. I didn't face any negative backlash -- all of the sudden, one of my fics was getting WAY more hits than any others. Thanks, Jezebel! Your attempt to shame me gave me more readers. ;)
Are there people in RPS/RPF fandoms who are unhinged? Yeah. But they're everywhere, not just writing RPS/RPF, and there are people not writing anything at ALL who are actual stalkers. I know a lot about my subjects, that's true, but when I go to a baseball game I'm generally the most knowledgeable fan in my section, and all my friends (even the ones who don't know I write fic ...) ask me all the questions they have about the Olympics. It's not harmful knowledge.
If it's not your thing, it's not your thing. No need for anyone to get all up in arms about what others like. And if shit like the 1D fandom freaks you out -- don't read 1D fic. Avoid Supernatural RPS if you want. That's really not that difficult. I've met SO MANY kind souls due to writing and reading baseball RPS, and the idea that people could be missing out on genuine community because of a tangential brush with the heightened crazy in specific fandoms is pretty sad.
Re: What's the appeal of RPF?
Why?
Because when I'm writing, or reading, I'm fully aware that the character I'm sketching out is just based on a real person. Yeah, I do my research -- like anyone writing TFA fic SHOULD be doing, making sure you're not fucking with canon in unreasonable ways -- and I like to ground my fics in reality, but I know that what I'm writing is fiction. Is it likely the guy will stumble on my fic? No. Could it happen? Certainly. Does that worry me? Not really. Two RPS fandoms I'm active in have been "outed" in mainstream media, and in one, one of my stories was exposed. I didn't face any negative backlash -- all of the sudden, one of my fics was getting WAY more hits than any others. Thanks, Jezebel! Your attempt to shame me gave me more readers. ;)
Are there people in RPS/RPF fandoms who are unhinged? Yeah. But they're everywhere, not just writing RPS/RPF, and there are people not writing anything at ALL who are actual stalkers. I know a lot about my subjects, that's true, but when I go to a baseball game I'm generally the most knowledgeable fan in my section, and all my friends (even the ones who don't know I write fic ...) ask me all the questions they have about the Olympics. It's not harmful knowledge.
If it's not your thing, it's not your thing. No need for anyone to get all up in arms about what others like. And if shit like the 1D fandom freaks you out -- don't read 1D fic. Avoid Supernatural RPS if you want. That's really not that difficult. I've met SO MANY kind souls due to writing and reading baseball RPS, and the idea that people could be missing out on genuine community because of a tangential brush with the heightened crazy in specific fandoms is pretty sad.