Fic: Why Fanfiction is Taking Over the World

Real Person(a) Fiction: One Direction - V. Arrow (aimmyarrowshigh)

Real Person Fic, or RPF, is a world in some ways completely apart from the rest of fanfiction subculture. While all of fanfiction suffers from a stigma in the mainstream, RPF is something even other fanfiction writers often mock and deride as "creepy" and often "juvenile."  

Why? RPF, as its name suggests, is fanfiction written about "real people"--celebrities. Written, almost solely, about--well, cute boys. And nothing but cute boys, essentially--despite the pervasive idea among other fans that RPF readers and writers want to imagine themselves with their favorite stars, RPF thrives on fans imagining their favorite cute boys with other cute boys. 

Almost all RPF is slash, with the notable exceptions of Robert Pattinson/Kristen Stewart (which generated an enormous boom of material from 2008-2010 but has largely, or maybe completely, fallen off now), and David Henrie/Selena Gomez from the Disney Channel show Wizards of Waverly Place. While some RPF has become an ingrained, central part of media-based fic fandoms, notably J2 RPF (Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles) in Supernatural's fandom or "Jewnicorn" (Andrew Garfield/Jesse Eisenberg) spinoffs in The Social Network fandom, it is generally seen as an entity entirely its own, with little writer and reader crossover between it and the fanfiction about the media canon on which its cast works. And rightfully so: it is its own entity. There is a large contingent that writes Chris Pine/Zachary Quinto completely separate from their basal pairing of Kirk/Spock; the pairing of Robert Downey Jr./Jude Law, which originated in their roles as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, is written as distinct from their roles as the great detective and his assistant--despite "Johnlock" being a hugely popular slash ship unto itself, no matter the adaptation.  

However, most RPF actually revolves around pairings in fandoms that have no ties to fiction. There is fanfiction for actors, there is fanfiction for politicians, and there is fanfiction for historical figures, but the majority of RPF is for musicians. Virtually every mainstream band of the last fifty years that includes at least two men has had a slash RPF fandom, from John Frusciante/Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Brendon Urie/Ryan Ross of Panic! at the Disco; Nick Jonas/Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers (yes, even that line is not sacred in the world of fanfiction--very angsty) to, most notably and hugely right now, the members of One Direction with . . . every other member of One Direction. 

One Direction, of course, is a boy band: a prefabricated harmonic vocal group designed to align with certain archetypes rather than to produce music; fortunately, One Direction does both well. Formed in 2010 as a business venture of notorious music mogul Simon Cowell after appearing on the British TV talent competition The X Factor, One Direction is made up of five boys, born between 1991 and 1994, from different parts of the UK and Ireland. They align, as all boy bands do, very neatly into their distinct, publicity-driven personae, something that lends itself incredibly well to both writing fanfiction and, its intended purpose, courting the admiration of fans. Niall Horan, the Chill One; Zayn Malik, the Sensitive One; Liam Payne, the Mature One; Louis Tomlinson, the Funny One; and Harry Styles, the Cute One. They've been received with broad critical acclaim and financial success; One Direction was among Barbara Walters' "Most Fascinating People of 2012," won a coveted BRIT Award (the British equivalent to a Grammy) for "BRITs Global Success" in 2013, snagged two VMAs, performed at the 2012 Olympics closing ceremony, and are a favorite of the Obama girls.  

Despite this acclaim, One Direction suffers the same pitfalls as most boy bands, in terms of "respectability." RPF, as noted, carries a stigma within the larger fanfiction community. But even within RPF, there is a hierarchy of respectability, and One Direction, along with other boy bands--due to the poppy style of their music, their prefab start, and the perception of their audience as teenage girls--is at the bottom. Compared to the muddy festival circuit and close-knit inter-band connections of "bandom," and the pop-punk royalty of the Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance labels, One Direction and its fans are tion as immature, and their fic as underdeveloped fantasy. As music writer Natalie Zina Walschots pointed out in the Toronto Standard, "If men approve of an album, if they think it's . . . sophisticated enough, then that opinion has value and weight . . . On the other hand, [the] love of female teen fans is seen as something reductive and dangerous."i