It is if we're arguing that using real people in fiction is something Writers Shouldn't Do.

Honestly, I thought we were debating the ethics of RPF, not the use of real people in other works of fiction, particularly great works of literature. That also seems to be the assumption of most of the others taking part in this discussion. I'm thinking that this difference in the subject of the debate is likely the reason many of us are challenging your arguments, Hec.

One of the novels on my mental backburner is about a time traveler who becomes a baseball player--just your basic goofy, fun, little love story. I'd never thought of it wrt RPF before, but I've wrestled with the issues of how closely my invented major league should tie to the real one. Obviously, I'm going to sufficiently fictionalize the actual team he plays for (the Mariners, natch)--e.g. my version might have a Japanese star player, but he won't be a finesse-hitting outfielder, and I'll give him a different personality than my perception of Ichiro Suzuki. But after that, it gets complicated--do I use real players from other teams, or fictionalize them, too? I'm leaning toward fictionalizing, not least because many of them are ex-Mariners or might be Mariners by the time I actually get around to writing the book.

But OTOH, I'd feel silly changing the entire history of baseball, and not have my time traveller learn all about Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. Maybe I'll just set some arbitrary cutoff, like no real people who played or managed after 1980, but I haven't come up with a solution I really like yet.

t not an apology for RPS.

Here's a question I've never had satisfactorily answered, in spite of having this discussion > 10 times. Why do people use real names?

I mean, wouldn't it be safer to have a story about a teeny tiny actress with long blond hair, on a TV show about butt-kicking, whose name is Heather Jean Glaser? Or, say, Destiny Stabs the pop singer, and her mad passionate affair with all five members of Five Boys N*Hair Gel? And if enough writers of this barely-disguised fiction got together, and all used the same code names for the objects of their affections, wouldn't it be the same pleasureable effect for the readers in the know?

See, I think this is a Very Good Question Indeed. From what I can gather, it IS to all intents and purposes original fiction far more than it's any sort of fanfiction - I've always thought of the key part of fanfiction being the whole business of interaction with an existing narrative.

RPF - no narrative. Colour me foxed.

Only, from what I've gleaned, the name/appearance/speech patterns/biographical details/whatever of the RP in question are being appropriated in the manner of players of Fantasy Football. I may be misunderstanding it all, but that's my understanding - that it's a community-binding thing to have these shared points of reference to use as a springboard for whatever original fic they write, using the individuals as characters.

It is, however, entirely possible that I'm talking out of my ass.

t /not an apology for RPS

Only, from what I've gleaned, the name/appearance/speech patterns/biographical details/whatever of the RP in question are being appropriated in the manner of players of Fantasy Football.

But Fantasy Football pretty much just uses the players' performance on the field. The players' personalities, private lives, sex lives, etc., don't make any difference in which team wins.

I dunno, if he got laid the night before it could have a big influence on how he plays.

Edit: Sorry, just a drive-by quip. Continue the thoughtful debate.

(Is that true? Does sex really affect that? Maybe I've been having the wrong sex)

If it were really, um, athletic sex, he might be tired.

(good for him. but he needs to work on his conditioning)

It should be part of the conditioning routine. Umm, in a perfect world. Which is not my world.

In Fantasy Football, aren't the players paid for the use of their likeness? Or am I smoking monkey crack?