NecroNOMNOMicon

I've seen a YouTube of two of the singers from Pentatonix, Scott and Mitch, reading aloud fan fiction about themselves. Both young men are openly gay, and went to school together. They're great friends, but not otherwise involved, unless you read the fan fictions, in which case they're definitely a couple. They were laughing and the fiction was actually rather sweet, but obviously, even minor celebrities are well aware of the potential of the Internet and fan interest.
For the shiggles, the video.

So, like JD above, BronxWench, you hit on something that I probably have been repressing in my thought processes: the idea of the real person or her actual family and friends reading the stories. I may not have taken that into serious enough consideration before. If you happen to have read my Vanessa story (and if you did, then my apologies for the squick) you can see it's pretty easy to be upset by it if you were her friend or family -- even though that was never the intention of the tale (quite the opposite, in fact).
Suddenly, I'm seeing real-person fiction in a whole new light. Which is sort of what I was hoping for when I started this topic -- but not like this. My immediate reaction is to swear off the stuff and change to original fiction or perhaps writing about film characters played by my favorite actresses.
Lots to think about before publishing my next story. Thanks!
Which doesn't mean I'm no longer interested in hearing from devoted celeb fic writers! In fact, more than ever I'd like to read something from a dedicated RPF writer, please! Tell me why you like to use real people in your stories.

Interesting points, JayDee. I particularly like hearing from a "reformed" RPF writer... I am especially struck by the idea of the star in question reading the fic. I never really stopped to consider that fully because I simply assumed it was just about impossible. But yeah, it suddenly seems less and less impossible and even somewhat more likely. As I said, I consider my stories to be positive things born out of affection, but it's not hard at all to picture Vanessa's feelings being hurt by taking one of my stories at face value.
Also, from my Writer's Pride perspective, you made me re-examine my idea that using celebrities is a shortcut to connecting with the audience. Mabe instead of a shortcut it's a crutch? And of the stars I'm writing about, Vanessa is the only one with any sizeable following, so it's not like those fans are going to inflate my readership numbers.
I need to think about all this.
Thank you for such a thoughtful response!

...and I'm probably the user you've seen being somewhat anti-real person fanfiction from a personal perspective. I used to write it. I think I had 12 or 13 stories at one point. Internet being the internet, they're still out there somewhere. I did a couple since then that my muse made me write and those you won't find. They're at the bottom of a well, guarded by a girl with long black hair.

Initially I stopped because of various lawsuits and criminal prosecutions against writers of real person stories in various worldwide jurisdictions that made me feel it was not worth the hassle, later I stayed stopped because of things like this, and this, and similarly, with Twitter and the rest of social media it is ridiculously easy for those fics now to be sent to the subject of the story in question by trolls. general nutjobs or anybody with access to Sony's email server.

Hell, Jimmy Kimmel has the subjects of rude tweets read them out, and you can go on youtube and see other hosts get the likes of Daniel Radcliffe to read slash. So that's another reason, I just don't like to think how celebrities would feel if they read something I'd written. Especially as many of my stories were at the, uh, less romantic end of the spectrum.

Still, other folks have fun writing and reading them and I don't have any problems with that so it's fair to say my opinion is fairly self centred.

For me, it's definitely the real person being involved that stops me. Take them out and I'm pretty fine with most content. I'll avoid things with characters below 16 in sexual situations but beyond that I'll try most things. I've even re-written one or two of my old celeb stories into non-celeb stories to re-use the better descriptive passages (that's relatively speaking, of course, better for me is still trash!).
Any fantasy that needs to be shared feels, to me, like it can be written with a fictional character, even an "OC" with strong similarities to a famous person. Apart from a RPF gaining additional readers from fans of a specific celebrity, which writing hobbyists always enjoy, there don't seem to be other benefits except, well, folks enjoy writing real person fiction. I did. And that's why, although for my own personal reasons I've stopped I don't hold anything against folks who do still write them or share them, or have them tattooed across their back so that Nathan Lane can read them in that long fantasised chance encounter in Broadway men's room.
Look! A RPF ref! Aren't I the most awful hypocrite!
Anyway, good luck with your celeb fics and I wish you all the best.

There are a few things that would leave me equally squicked be it a celebrity or a fictional character, and that's just to be expected, I think. We all have our personal likes and dislikes, after all. But I will admit that my threshold is lower when I know that the subject of the story is an actual person, with actual family and friends out there who might read something less than wholesome.

VOTE HILTON/SORVINO IN 2038.
Don't Let "It" Happen Again.
[/Eagle Flying Past Fluttering Flag And Scenes From WW3 Battlefields]

I like your reasoning here, BronxWench, setting the bar for real-person fic AU at something that is outside the realm of possibility. It's simple and easy to apply. I am pondering a couple of stories that I wasn't sure where I was going to put them. Now I feel confident about where they belong.
Thanks for your input.

If you think about it, isn't all celebrity fiction set in an alternate universe? Specifically, an alternate universe in which the celebrity protagonist interacts with you or me or with the antagonists we writers set for them? I guess what I'm saying is, Isn't it understood that a celebrity fanfic is set in a different universe because we all know Celebrity X never did this or that, so it's clearly made up?
Or do you believe the alternate universe tag is reserved for a world in which, say, Jennifer Lawrence never got famous, or Ariana Grande was always a singer who never dabbled in acting, or Jena Malone and Jamie Chung never became friends, or Mira Sorvino was elected the first female president?
What do you think?

Nice to hear from you. For the record, I'm not worried about your impartiality as a mod. I am curious, however about your yearning for a shower after reading some celeb fic. If you read the exact same story starring an OC, would you still feel the need for a stiff drink afterward? In other words, is it the use of a real person as the protagonist that squicks you, as opposed to the events of the story?
And I am also very eager to hear from other writers of celeb fic!

As a fledgling writer of real person fiction myself, I cannot help but notice that celebrity fiction doesn't seem to be all that popular around here. Judging by number of posts in the form and general lack of discussion, it feels like celeb stories are the poor relation in the fan fiction family. I even remember one of the mods here (it doesn't matter which one) mentioning he or she doesn't like dealing with celeb stories.
So, given that -- assuming it is true, and not just my fevered imagination -- why do you, gentle writer, continue to employ celebrities as characters in your stories? Surely it is easy enough to change your protagonist's name to something fictional. So why do it?
I'll kick off the answering with a couple of reasons of my own:
1. It's a tribute. I only write about celebrities I like/admire, so to me inserting her into a story is a kind of tribute. I never want anything unfortunate to happen to my faves in real life; this all just my imagination working overtime for people I really like. And I consider it a compliment, no matter what happens in the story.
2. The stars are well-known. When I write about, say, Vanessa Hudgens, everyone knows what she loiks like, so every reader is picturing her in the same way (within reason) in their minds while reading, so that, to me, suggest more of a communnity experience and shared bond and sense of community among readers. It's almost like we're seeing the story in our heads the same way. We all give the Vanessa in the story the same look (based on the story's description) and we hear her voice the same way. I think it helps, anyway.
So that's me -- but I'm sure everyone has reasons of his/her own, and I'm interested in hearing what you have to say!

::raises hand::
I would be that mod, and I'm not actually shy about admitting it. However, that doesn't mean I can't be impartial when sweeping that archive. I just occasionally feel the need for a long, hot shower and a stiff drink afterward.
In truth, I'm actually interested in hearing why people choose to write this particular form of fan fiction. It's always useful to see other people's points of view, and I would really appreciate seeing this from a new perspective. So I do hope some writers of celebrity fiction will chime in.