30 Days of De-Objectification: Shipping

When you read a really bad RPF with no consideration for its subject(s)

30 Days of De-Objectification:

Shipping

There are but two rules of shipping fictional characters.

1)      Ship what you like, when you like, how you like

2)      Don’t be a dick

There are an ass-ton of fictional ships that I don’t like. If they are tagged correctly, it’s easy for me to “nope” myself out of those ships. So, tag your ships correctly and sail on!

Don’t like “incest” ships between fictional siblings. That’s cool. Don’t read them.

Don’t like ships where there’s a significant age gap between the two characters?

That’s understandable. Don’t read them.

Don’t like ships where there’s heavy BDSM or dubcon between the characters involved?

I don’t either. Let’s avoid those together. However, let us also not be dicks. We can let people ship their properly tagged BDSM and dubcon ships involving fictional characters in peace.

There are fictional ships that I think are foul and abusive.

Are they properly tagged?

Cool beans. I can avoid them and let the shipper of those ships ship away.

Again, there are two rules when it comes to fictional ships. Reiterated, these rules are:

1)      Ship what you like

2)      Don’t be a dick

When it comes to shipping real people?

I’m not saying: “never do it.”

I’m saying STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT.

Really think about it.

Would your writing this material and making it available for public consumption be upsetting to the people you’re shipping?

If so, doing that is a hugely dickish move.

These are not fictional characters.

They are real people with real feelings.

Some people seem to think that, just as anything goes with fictional characters, anything goes with writing about real people. That simply isn’t true.

Even back when I was a young, stupid, lonely pothead who either wanted Scotty to beam me up or Bon Scott to take me away from it all, I knew that. If I could figure that simple concept out through the misty haze and the bipolar fuckery firing off my synapses at every little thing, anybody should be able to catch on.

The guidelines for non-sexual real people fics are pretty much the same as for fictional ships of any kind, although the emphasis on not being a dick is even stronger.

If you want to write a cool, safe-for-work kind of tale about The Beatles solving the mystery of the Queen’s missing crown jewels, it’s doubtful that Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr would have a problem with that.

If you want to write about some crass sex orgy featuring said Fab Four, Paul and Ringo would probably prefer that you jump into a pond of starving piranhas and take your nasty ideas with you. If you’re a real fan of The Beatles (or whatever band you choose), you’d want to take their feelings into consideration.

If the potential subjects of explicit fiction are the kind who wouldn’t be bothered by having explicit scenarios written about them, go for it. I once stumbled across an explicit fic starring Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor. Marilyn and Trent both seem like they’d have a pretty good sense of humor about something of this nature, and the author seemed like they genuinely liked both Marilyn and Trent and had put some thought into the work.

Sexually explicit RPF involving people who have died are always inappropriate.

Sexually explicit RPF involving real siblings are also in seriously poor taste. Why would you do that? Unless someone has come out in the press stating that they are boning their brother or doing the smoosh-smoosh with their sister, just don’t ship real siblings in anything but a platonic fashion. Would you want a bunch of idiots writing slash fics about you and your sibling? Maybe you would, but most people wouldn’t.

There are so many lovely fictional siblings you can write incestuous slash about with impunity. Don’t write incestuous slash about real siblings. It’s a real dick move, and the most important law of writing RPF is DON’T BE A DICK!

The main takeaway from this installment is DON’T BE A DICK.

Stop and think about how you’re behaving.

Would you want someone to objectify you in the same way you’re objectifying your subject?

Would your subject be upset if he or she were to read what you’ve written?

If your subject can only respond to you via a Ouija board, would his or her family be upset about what you’ve written?

When your subject is a real person, empathy is critical.

Always remember, if you feel like you really must write sexually explicit RPF and your subject isn’t the sort who would be cool with it, the Down-Low is your best friend. There’s no need to be broadcasting your questionable Fic to a broad audience, and, if you put it in the general tags for your subject, be prepared for strong backlash from protective real fans who don’t like seeing their fave reduced to being a piece of ass.

~The Cheese Hath Grated It~