This is a very long and incoherent rambling on shipping culture. 

I've been around the fanfic community for a long time. Maybe too long. And it must sound naive that I never knew KPOP or Real Person shipping was frowned upon and/or controversial. 

I think there's a very skewed idea of how KPOP fanfic operates. There's a misconception that it's all delusional fans trying to force their ideals on idols via fanfiction writing. Although that does happen sometimes, I would be hardpressed to think of them as a majority of writers and readers. 

Stories are exploratory and fanfiction is no exception. We become enamored with idol personas and become inspired by their conceptual comebacks, photos, videos, and other artistic expressions. It stirs something creative in our minds and we go seek out others who may have created something in response to their own feelings about the idols.

For example, when Super Junior released Opera back in the day, and that entire concept just screamed for AU interpretations and stories. Or when BTS released Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Although I'm not an ARMY, the visual concept in that MV was so striking and has so much potential for creative expression as fans. The same can be said for almost any music video in KPOP, honestly. There's so much beauty, drama, and open-ended storytelling to play off of.

The same can be said with the "ships." We see them share choreography, a few lines in a song, smiles and hugs at public events, and listen to their stories about one another. We grow to appreciate their relationship and that dynamic speaks to many of us on a very general level. It's not necessarily the people themselves, but rather the dynamic they represent. We want to believe in healthy and loving relationships--platonic, romantic, and other forms. We're drawn to powerful bonds and affection which is something KPOP can sell really well (at least, in the Super Junior sphere this is true). 

Isn't that the way it is with other fanfiction as well? We read or watch something and become fascinated with a particular aspect that maybe could be rewritten, expanded, or taken into a whole new AU. Or, we find characters who have personalities that might play off one another well but is left unexplored in canon. 

It's just a very narrow-minded, ignorant, and generally condescending perspective to believe all Real Person Fiction is toxic and delusion. And then, to believe that completely dropping a fictional character in horrendous torture is somehow less disrespectful than any and all RPF stories because those are fictional creations and not "real people". To say RPF is a hard limit without ever trying to understand the community is terrible. It makes you just as awful as the people who think all fanfiction is poorly written by 12 year olds. There's nothing mature about condemning a creative art you never took the time to understand.

Our stories grow into something else. The characters we create often only resemble their real life counterparts in subtle details or appearance. Sometimes they don't carry any resemblance. We try to preserve these bonds we see in shipping or we try to challenge them, reinvent them, and so on. It's a creative process that's launched by the ones we look up to. Furthermore, in terms of creative freedom, writing a KPOP story tends to allow for the same freedoms as original fiction. You aren't tied to canon or characters for the most part, unless you're writing an AU of their group dynamic. Even then, there's so much space to toy with fictional concepts. 

Anyway, this has simply been bothering me and I needed to get it off my chest before I go off to write my wonderfully indulgent Vampire AU about Super Junior.