hi anon! if you don't mind, i'll answer your "what do you think about rpf" question together with this rps one, since i think my opinion on both are too closely intertwined to separate them into different responses c:

to me, rpf/rps are just things that you do in fandom, and there is no great distinction between rpf and rps... rpf is really just a form of rps output; rps thoughts strung together in pretty words, a story format, and occasionally a fictional or alternate setting. you can probably tell from my account, but i have zero issues with either! 💗 one of my main fandoms right now is rps, and i'm a writer who has written plenty of rpf over the years.

of course, rps/rpf isn't for everyone, and i understand that! people are entitled to dislike it, just like they are anything else on the internet.

but it makes me sad to see that they've become subject to so much thought policing in fandom, where people view you as lesser or "disrespectful" or "a bad fan" for engaging in rps/rpf. the thing is: rps and rpf are not inherently the problem!! they have never been!!!!

my take is instead of asking "is rps/rpf good/bad/ethical/etc.?", we should change the question to "am i engaging in rps/rpf responsibly?".

rps and rpf have existed since the beginning of time — when people were thinking up fantasies watching onscreen couples in old hollywood, or when people were writing What Used To Be Called Lemon (!!!) on fanfiction dot net. it's not a new development by any means, and people have never really had an issue with that until recently.

imo the discourse that has come out of it in recent years can be attributed to how social media — the constant sharing; the omnipresence; the entitlement into every aspect of someone's life, whether you are on the giving or receiving end — has changed how people engage in fandom. (i wrote about this in more detail here!) social media collapsing distance between people and information means that it's now also easier to dismantle the boundaries between idol and fan. it's easier for people to misjudge distance in interpersonal relationships and feel like someone is closer to you than they are, or to feel some entitlement to having a say in an idol's life, like you would a friend. that's why you encounter things like interviewers straight up showing fanfiction to celebrities, or fans being disrespectful to real-life partners because they "ruin the fantasy" of the rps.

and herein lies the real problem: that rpf/rps have bled out of the fandom spaces where they belong, sometimes into something that has real effects on the real people involved.

by all means: ship your ships! make them kiss! write your fics! draw your art! scream with your group chat of friends! analyse everything they do! think up your elaborate theses and fun ppts! go insane about it on twitter dot com or ao3 or quotev or wattpad! think about them having filthy sex!!! THIS ISN'T TOP SECRET GOVERNMENT INFORMATION, BE UNSERIOUS ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!! but i've always believed there is a place and time for everything, and as rpf/rps is a fandom activity, it should be kept within fandom spaces unless the people involved dip their toes into the water themselves :')

to be clear, i'm not saying that rps/rpf is something to be hidden away from the people involved, like it's something to be ashamed of. all i'm saying is that we should engage in it more responsibly; we should all try to mind boundaries a little more, and not let something that is meant to be fun and enjoyable and, at its core, a celebration of love cause real-life consequences/discomfort for the stars we claim to support ♡

(("but we still shouldn't do it! what if they still find out and are disgusted by it?"

you know that tweet that says "if i was an idol searching up stories about me having nasty sex with my bandmate then that's on me"? yeah. that.))