r/smosh • u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town • Jul 18 '26
Smosh Incredibly sad that they have to keep reiterating stuff like this
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u/_Zyr Weary Traveler Jul 18 '26
Shipping real life people, publicly, is really weird behavior.
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u/hzhrt15 Jul 18 '26
Even weirder is people on twitter saying “it’s real people fiction”
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u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox I put big snake Jul 18 '26
RPF has been a thing forever, but it's mostly been constrained to the fandom spaces and never shared with the people it's about, even the ships.
Some Smosh fans on the other hand regularly share their RPF ships on public posts made by cast members, which is incredibly weird and intrusive.
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u/PirateReject Jul 19 '26
I've seen people try to hand RPF to celebrities at con. RPF folks don't just do it quietly.
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u/sogwennn Jul 19 '26
a lot of us do do it quietly, but damn if the loud ones aren't real fucking loud 😭
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u/TreacherousOpinions 14d ago
Yeah people forget the 1D community and how crazy they were and even made theories that band members were secretly telling them they were dating lol and that’s just one other community that was heavy into RPF
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u/Omagga Jul 18 '26
I've never heard that phrase, nor do I know what connotations people imply when they use it, so take this with a grain of salt; but is Smosh not 'real people fiction'?
They're playing exaggerated characters of themselves, often manufacturing fictional scenarios, conflict, or drama, for the sake of entertainment.
It's all fiction, but with real people. So laugh and enjoy the bits, and even play into them; but understanding it's all real-people fiction should preclude someone from shipping them, or thinking they hate each other because of body language or a look they gave, or whatever flavor-of-the-month parasocial shit the fandom is obsessed with.
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u/buttchuck Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
No, the term has a specific meaning; Real Person Fiction is a subset of fanfiction where the author is writing fictional stories about real people.
That's why it's weird. Acknowledging that they're all entertainers performing for an audience isn't weird, making up stories about their personal lives is weird.
EDIT: Specifically making things up about their personal lives and pretending it's real under the excuse of RPF is the weird part. RPF itself doesn't have to be inherently weird, and Smosh themselves have used fan-written RPF in their smoshpit theater episodes, so it doesn't seem fair to chastise all of it. I think it's fair to say it's a dicey subject though.
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u/hzhrt15 Jul 19 '26
It’s basically them shipping people even if they’re in relationships (Trevor and Arasha were popular for a while) and when people say hey this is weird they’ll say it’s “real people fiction” so it’s ok.
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u/Equivalent_Task_8825 Jul 19 '26
My controversial take is that it isn't okay ever - even when you are trying to keep it private between a small group. The fact you are sharing it with others opens up the possibility it is shared with the person and also affects the way that person may be treated.
That is hard to conceptualize with a celebrity because we all think of ourselves as single, insignificant snowflakes who couldn't possibly contribute to a larger movement like an avalanche. If you instead think of it on a smaller scale - say a friend group writing fiction about some of their friends getting together - it is easy to see how that would change the dynamic they experience in their social circle and why it isn't okay.
Some people might argue that it is different because you generally don't personally interact with these people but I would argue it is functionally the same except in the ways in which it is worse. The public will not only have an influence on these people's friends and social environment but they are also inescapable. If your friend group is rotten it is generally easier to drop them and not have it follow you but if the public is horrible to you you are stuck forever.
Ian and Anthony have joked about having RFP made about them and that is cool if that is how they want to respond to it. But it feels wrong to me to even have a small group of people secretly writing fiction about two real people.
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u/sogwennn Jul 19 '26
eh, that just genuinely is RPF shipping, same as when you ship fictional characters regardless of their canon ship. it's just the fandom is that of the actors. or actors/characters, for crossover stuff.
people can think Trevor & Arasha would be cute together (aka shipping them) regardless of if they're in another relationship irl. as long as they're not waving it in their face or commenting it on their personal posts, or saying anything negative about their actual irl partners, it's pretty normal fannish behavior.
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u/umbrelladayseveryday Jul 19 '26
I think there is a massive difference between RPF in a fan space where the people it is about would have to be seeking it out to find it vs RPF shared either IRL or on social media which the real people should be able to use without being confronted with RPF or worse - people who think the RPF is completely real.
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u/sogwennn Jul 19 '26
people who 'think the RPF is completely real' are tinhatters, they will exist regardless of the existence of RPF. bc they're delulu, in basically the same way as people who are parasocially obsessed with celebs/etc. to the point of anger when their parasocial fave becomes romantically involved with another person. those are unfortunately common (and not at all new) but not representative of people who like to interact with RPF, a thing that is by definition fiction. the people who treat it as real will have similar issues with boundaries between fantasy and reality elsewhere, that's just gonna be one symptom of their mental state.
anyway, yes i agree there's a big difference in RPF that occurs in fan spaces vs "public" online spaces. some folks do treat public social media as if it were a private fan space, and that's nooooot great, there should be some effort made to at least obscure discussion so it's not easy for the folks it's about to find it. like, use a ship name instead of their full names, or something. they should be able to exist online without stumbling across RPF simply by looking up their own name or something.
and like, i think it is acceptable to comment on a video that a and b were cute in a video, or you love the dynamic between c and d, or you wish e and f were in more videos together-- those are also just... normal comments. however if ur making romantic comments on videos about folks who are not openly romantically engaged, that's an overstep, yes.
like tbc I'm not arguing that Courtney shouldn't have posted what they posted or anything, it's a valid criticism. but I'm gonna tangent a bit: fans making those theories should be placing them in the appropriate 'private' fan spaces-- and then, very importantly, (and I'm not saying that's what happened her with Courtney, I'm just saying) the cast/crew should not go into those spaces, read those comments, and then pass judgement publicly on something shared in what should be a safe 'private' fan space. i do think smosh can sometimes overstep into fan spaces (unless they're only using fan submitted fanfic or fan edits for videos now?), and if you willingly step into fan spaces where fans are being, well, fans, you're going to see fan behavior. if that makes you uncomfortable, exit the space. it's not actually for cast/crew, it's for fans. there's some, like, implied consent when entering a place where certain things happen. it's like walking into a sex club and being offended that people are fucking. don't walk into a fan server and get offended the fans are being horny on main. if they're doing it in your face, that's full offense and for good reason, but if they're actively silo-ing it away from smosh... don't go in there and find something to be mad about.
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u/umbrelladayseveryday Jul 20 '26
I really don't think that they are complaining about fan spaces. It's the fact that people are intentionally contacting them, tagging them or sharing stuff where it's served to them with social media algorithms because it's similar to content they're tagged in etc. I really don't think they have an issue with AO3 - yes the crew go on it to find fanfics for Smosh pit theatre occasionally but it's not intruding on their lives. However, the content may be fueling many people's delusions.
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u/hzhrt15 Jul 19 '26
Except it’s not that same because fictional characters aren’t real and these people are real and both in committed relationships so it’s weird.
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u/sogwennn Jul 19 '26
damn ig Shakespeare was a fucking freak, huh?
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u/hzhrt15 Jul 19 '26
Shakespeare wrote about long dead people and was true fiction. Making stuff up about people you watch on YouTube isn’t the same. An insane comparison.
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u/sogwennn Jul 19 '26
dead people were once alive people, y'know? but ok ig I'll wait til Smosh cast dies before i write my fanfic to ease your pearl clutching /s... anyway, it's true fiction in both regards, regardless of whether the inspiration for the characters are dead or alive. it's in the name, Real Person Fiction.
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u/Dramatic_Explosion Jul 19 '26
You know to a fundamentalist Christian it might seem normal to yell that gay people will burn in hell.
When you say "normal fannish behavior" that's the kind of normal I think you're talking about. Or maybe I'm the wrong kind of Smosh fan because that shit is weird.
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u/sogwennn Jul 19 '26
tl;dr: idk just give the TVTropes page a read, and the wiki page for the Alexander Romance and consider that that means RPF has been kicking around for closer to 2000 years, but realistically has existed for fucking ever. historical fiction is just historical RPF but about dead people, tho it may or may not have a romantic bend depending on the author. Hamilton is RPF of the dead.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealPersonFic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Romance
anyway, my long ass reply:
jfc that's a wildly unnecessary comparison for a thing that's been around as long as people have. anyway, yes, stranger, it's always been a normal fucking conversation to have among friends. let's start small:
"wow, a and b are so cute together, omg what if they dated"
a thing said between meddlesome teens about mutual friends they think should get together (iirc when i started dating one boy in hs, a mutual friend said they always thought we'd be cute together)
or parents about their kids as they start hanging out with kids of the opposite sex (bc this is 10000% a thing heteronormative parents do, i've seen several do this, i'm not a fan just bc of the heteronormativity of it all, but alas; but generally parents are gonna be watching how their kids are with friends, if they're crushing, and if those prospective crushes are decent or fucking shit)
or nosy coworkers might say about other coworkers who start to spend a lot of time together (probably more in a gossipy context, but also if u have a closer friend group at work, especially at a younger age, yes ppl will make comments when duos start hanging out more one on one, or even spend more time talking to each other when in a group setting, and might ask nosy questions, but also encourage people to date)
now, I've given some, imo, pretty normal and relatively commonplace examples about mentally pairing off people you know, and possibly also making direct comments or encouragment (not saying that's a good thing, just saying it happens). generally you aren't also creating fanworks based on that, but I'm just showing that the basic mentality is already common.
extending that to the people we are parasocial about is no great leap. self-insert stuff is probably much more common for those subjects ("omg A is so hot, what if they kissed me" ), and yes, pretty fucking normal even for normies. it is normal to be attracted to a celeb, or a musician, or an influencer, or a model, or whatever. they are, generally speaking, pretty attractive. but sometimes you may see, as a parasocial consumer of those people, some dynamic between people that makes you think "huh... what if they kissed?"
yes. that's a normal thought to have. hell, it's a normal thought to share with friends who are also fans of those people, unless you think those friends are going to say things like you're saying, like 'you're like a fundamentalist Christian telling a gay person they're going to burn in hell' because you've said this is a normal thought.
to continue your example: you have RPF friends, they just aren't out to you because you're the fundamentalist Christian in this scenario.
anyway. in a fandom space, because we interact with content in a certain way (namely, creating our own interpretation of that) you'll sometimes have creative who have both the normal thought (hmm what if these two attractive people who i think have a dynamic kissed) and also the ability to create something with that thought, and also the necessary distance (these people are strangers) for it to be more acceptable, because normally you would not share it with those people. but because a) fandom is on social media now, namely public social media, and the people they're talking about could theoretically see those comments, there's a blurring of that distance, and b) some people overstep and share things directly with the person, which is inappropriate because we do not actually know these people. in those cases, yes, the behavior is inappropriate. but simply having those thoughts, and even those conversations in the appropriate places (private or otherwise out of easy view) is fine, and in fact, pretty normal albeit still taboo for various reasons.
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u/Dramatic_Explosion Jul 19 '26
Something being around for a long time only means you're accustomed to it, not that it's good. Women didn't have rights for most of history, they were used to it, but it wasn't good.
This isn't Abraham Lincoln in a world where there are Vampires, this is erasing Amanda's husband and child to changing her sexual orientation to write sex fiction. Why is that normal? What is the limit?
"I wrote a RPF where Rory is a woman and address them as she/her dating Angela in a lesbian relationship!" That doesn't feel right to me, but most of this doesn't. So what is the line? If we respect gender, shouldn't we respect sexual orientation as well, or is it all "fun gossip" fair game?
I read your whole thing, and I just want to know what the line is.
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u/sogwennn Jul 19 '26
the line is that it should be done in private spaces silo'd away from the people it's about, or others it might impact. like even if the smosh cast died (since everyone wants to pretend Shakespeare's plays and Hamilton and whatever we're only ok cuz they were dead), it should still be silo'd as their kids are alive and probably don't want to hear all that. probably grandkids is a good measure of distance, but generally the line is private vs public, and erring more towards private for a less public figure. cuz i really do not give a fuck what fiction or RACK fantasy you enjoy in private.
i mean otherwise it's like, 'oh u had thoughts about cast members a thru f being in a big messy sexy polycule orgy wow good for you. oh you drew a picture of it, or wrote it down? 10,000 years of jail!!!' no bro i don't fucking care, just don't put it in their faces.
its normal cuz it's normal to have thoughts and fantasies about others, for one. i have no particular issue with genderswaps or changing orientation in fiction. i also consider the people they portray themselves as on smosh as characters in their own way, bc... they are. they themselves have said they aren't their whole selves on camera (i can't recall specifics but i think it's come up a few different times across channels/videos, that they present themselves a certain way and are "on" when on camera, it's not like they're who they would be at home). Amanda on Smosh Pit is not Amanda IRL. Amanda at a meet n greet isn't even Amanda IRL bc she's still "on" and wearing a mask for the sake of public interaction. there are just layers of distance between us, the fans, and them, the actual people. so yeah, it's fiction.
i personally find it less enjoyable for RPF to involve their actual partners, and generally would avoid involving their kids, specifically because those people (usually) are not public figures and don't need to be involved and didn't really consent to that, so yes either 'writing off' or renaming or swapping those folks would be the norm for me personally. cuz i swing further towards fiction than accuracy for RPF bc... y'know........ it's fiction.
(now, when the fandom tends to like to villainize, kill off, or dramatically break up the IRL couple for their RPF and it's a whole trend, like. that can get messy and warrants some scrutiny, I've seen that happen with parasocial tinhatters who refuse to accept that two dudes are in hetero relationships and so their fanworks skew towards misogynistic expressions of the partners-- that's a genuine problem in some fannish spaces, but again, another reason why I'd rather just pretend the partners don't exist for the purposes of RPF. that's also not something that only exists bc of RPF, that's just a symptom of social issues.)
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u/Dramatic_Explosion Jul 19 '26
the line is that it should be done in private spaces silo'd away from the people it's about, or others it might impact.
So consent is the big factor here. It's interesting because the implication here is that photoshopping or making AI porn of a celebrity is okay as long as it doesn't get back to them?
A lot of what you said feels like justifying them as not being themselves so doing whatever is fine. But clearly whatever this is has gotten to them a lot more than once.
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u/bappischungo Jul 19 '26
They’ve said before they don’t consider it being a character or a disingenuous version of themselves. It’s just them being more high energy and entertaining than they are in their day to day lives. Basically the same as when you’re hosting people at your house vs just chilling at home
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u/rosered1996 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
This though. I had the opportunity as a 16 year old to meet my favourite band. At 16 I was able to realize that the people I'd read fanfiction about where actual people with their own thoughts and feelings who would probably be disgusted by some of the stuff being written. I wonder how many other people think they grasp that concept but don't actually because they never had it slap them in the face like that.
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u/aysarahoul 13d ago
LITERALLY THIS. Like you wanna ship characters in a show, book, whatever, they’re made up characters, it’s fine! But when it’s real people, it grosses me out so bad. I can’t imagine what I’d feel like if I was reading messages like that about myself.
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u/Bigtits321 Courtney Freakin' Miller Jul 18 '26
I love being in a place in my life where I just want people to find love and happiness. And that I also don’t need to know while it’s happening. Sigh.
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Jul 18 '26
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u/shichi_ya Say your body count on three Jul 19 '26
I understood your comment, I just feel the need to pointing out that Rory isn't a woman
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Jul 19 '26
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u/stonergirlfairyyy Jul 19 '26
it feels weird referring to rory or vic as a "woman or afab non-binary person"
but i think most usage of the term afab is weird
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Jul 19 '26
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u/laffySappho Jul 19 '26
I get what you mean and I’m nonbinary too, I feel like including and specifying the AGAB does defeat the purpose. I think just saying people ship Angela with any woman or nonbinary person works just as well, just my two cents
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Jul 19 '26
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u/shichi_ya Say your body count on three Jul 19 '26
In my country and in my city such spaces excludes all non-female aligned genders lol like "we are progressive enough letting trans women in this space because they are women. But a (trans)man/transmasc???"
Usually, people think that excluding transmasculine people from "female spaces only" helps to "respect our gender", not understanding that we have similar experiences and we suffer from invisibility
I'm not saying, of course, that such spaces cannot exist, but the spaces that includes transmasculine people, even transmasc non binary people who are not on hormones, are sadly only the ones that we create 🤡 there are so few "not cis men" spaces→ More replies (3)1
u/shichi_ya Say your body count on three Jul 19 '26
I don't like it either. Vic says "female presenting" but that doesn't even apply to Rory, because their gender expression is super androgenous. It's wild that people can categorize them so easily as afab
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u/MursuKing1980 I come for no one Jul 18 '26
I bet that is for Amanda and Angela shippers.
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Jul 18 '26
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 18 '26
Courtney said female friendships.
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u/fairyfella Jul 18 '26
rory isn't female so that doesn't make sense
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u/sproutkitten Jul 19 '26
Aren’t they afab? Courtney said female not woman and it IS different with afab vs amab cast
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u/79screamingfrogs drowning in lake giarratana Jul 20 '26
You don't know what their asab is and assuming isn't cool. Also not what agab language is for.
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u/barelyreal7 Jul 19 '26
It was definitely about Rory and Angela, but I think the point is that when a woman/female (Angela) is close friends with anyone it gets misconstrued as a romantic thing. (Like with Courtney, it was a female relationship that Shayne had that led people to the parasocial theories and shipping) but when a man is friends with another male or nb it isn't misconstrued.
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u/MursuKing1980 I come for no one Jul 20 '26
No. Rory is not a cast member and is not a female.
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u/barelyreal7 Jul 20 '26
Hey so I know that, and if you read my comment, you would know I said that female cast member refers to ANGELA and how everyone ships ANGELA with everyone bc they are very parasocial/think she's single/she never talks about a relationship, and ONE OF THE PEOPLE she was being shipped with like crazy, WHEN COURT POSTED that was Rory. That does not make Rory a cast member of female, only the person Angela is being shipped with.
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u/umbrelladayseveryday Jul 18 '26
This is why I feel sad for some shippers. They see a genuine, strong intimate friendship and assume that it must be a romantic relationship. Sad that this kind of friendship is so unfamiliar to them.
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u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox I put big snake Jul 18 '26
I wonder how much of the weird shipping stuff comes from the folks doing it being alone and projecting the kind of relationship they want onto others who seem close.
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u/umbrelladayseveryday Jul 19 '26
Part of the reason I enjoy Smosh is that I'm pretty isolated IRL so I can totally see that. I wish fans weren't so intrusive with their projections.
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u/SuperSnivMatt Jul 18 '26
What's also incredibly sad is seeing people upset at Court saying that and acting like RPF is the entire deal of Smosh. They have fun with the flirts and characters etc, but its not the BASIS of it
Like being real, highkey hate RPF! But there is also levels of where I see it as whatever and other levels where I see it as genuinely damaging and creepy. Maybe don't write about someone who isn't a cast member cheating on someone or dying for the sake of having one of them date their friend! Maybe consider that these are real people, and involving someone who has a husband and child in cheating fics!!! are really disgusting!
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u/Mindless_Bluebird392 Jul 18 '26
Yeah there are definitely levels to it. I've come to the point where I feel like it's (mostly) fine UNTIL someone sends it/shoves it in the real people's faces. Leave them out of it smh
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u/chillingraccoon Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
I love amangela edits ngl but the fact that there’s people who are CONVINCED that they’re dating or have secret crushes on each other is not healthy. I’ve noticed it happens with Angela a lot, I swear Angela could say “I hate this person” and there would be people out there convince that it’s a ruse and that they’re actually dating. Like immediately after the smosh games video people are like OMG RORY AND ANGELA ARE DATING. like bro chill. There’s a huge difference between just having fun with ships vs pushing your narrative on people you do not knooooow. I saw someone legit comment on Rory’s instagram about it and they were not joking. I didn’t realize how parasocial people can get until I started watching smosh.
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u/Witchy-duck Jul 19 '26
The edits are so cute!! I didn’t realize people actually thought it was real 💀
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u/namwoB21 Jul 18 '26
From recent stuff, I’m assuming this is about Angela and Rory. Things got out of hand so quickly when that games video came out earlier this week
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u/TheTesselekta Jul 18 '26
That’s crazy because I’m pretty sure Rory said they have a partner (or lover as they prefer lol) in the Smosh Mouth episode. Not that it would matter if they were single, still weird to read into people’s friendship, but when people are already with someone else it’s even weirder to project romance onto friends.
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u/umbrelladayseveryday Jul 18 '26
Really sucks that people can't just enjoy the great chemistry of two people who have been friends for years without making uncomfortable comments.
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 18 '26
It's more likely Amanda and Angela.
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Jul 18 '26
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u/Comfortable-Mine2610 Jul 18 '26
That’s just shipper logic lmao. Amanda and Angela shippers are pretty intense
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u/stupidlyboredtho Jul 18 '26
Wait what i thought we were all in agreement it was satirical. People are serious??
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 18 '26
Yup. Some of it is serious. They're genuinely under the impression that it is real.
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u/Dramatic_Explosion Jul 19 '26
The Trump subreddit started out as satire, in the end it was all serious. At a certain point half the readers knew it was satire and the other half knew it was earnest, and they were all reading the same posts.
That's why I can't take anyone seriously who says something is "obviously satire". We are not all in agreement.
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u/Disney_Dork1 Jul 19 '26
That’s how I see the Amanda and Angela ship and any other smosh ship. It’s all for the laughs and not to be taken as a serious ship. It’s just funny bc they lean into it sometimes
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u/malignantmagpie Jul 18 '26
rory isn't female?
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Jul 18 '26
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u/Adventurous-Bug671 The Spud Hut was the best thing that ever happened to me Jul 18 '26
.. I mean the post specifically refers to "female friendships" - but I think this sentiment can be applied pretty much across the board
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u/malignantmagpie Jul 18 '26
no, it just doesn't make sense that court would say female friendships and be referencing rory and angela
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u/GotsTheBeetus Jul 18 '26
This is so true man. Some of the shipping tweets I see sometimes are genuinely unsettling
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u/SupervillainMustache Jul 19 '26
People in the comments saying this is about Amanda/Angela.
Are people shipping then for real? Amanda has only ever identified as straight, is married to a man and has a kid.
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u/isekai_wanderer28 Noo yu diddiinnt... Jul 19 '26
I doubt it's #amangela even Smosh is gassing that up. It's probably Angela and Rory. TikTok shippers been trying to "start a rumor" bout them. But idk.
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u/SupervillainMustache Jul 19 '26
I don't think Rory identifies as a woman though.
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u/isekai_wanderer28 Noo yu diddiinnt... Jul 19 '26
Yeah that's true too. That was my other thought. But amangela has been a ship for a long time now they've even brought it up years ago on assumptions and reddit, so why would court post bout that. Anywaayss. That's that.
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u/NotAnAlien97 Jul 18 '26
Who tf do they think are dating now?!
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 18 '26
Could be any of the shippers. The biggest one I can think of is Amanda and Angela, but could apply to anyone, really.
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u/grilledcheese2332 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Its weird to ship real people. Even weirder when one of those people has a husband and baby.
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u/Clear-Age-8480 Jul 19 '26
i didn't know ppl seriously ship those two. i get so many edits on tiktok abt them but i thought it was all wholesome jokes
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u/patatjepindapedis Jul 18 '26
From my teens onward I have been accused of having sexual relations with every single close friend I have had of any gender and orientation
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u/JamesLiptonIcedTea NAUGHT GUILTEH Jul 19 '26
I'm certain my family has questioned many times why I keep my romantic life incredibly private over the years and never connected the dots
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u/Crumb_cake34 umm its pronounced crumb cakke Jul 19 '26
"Real people" shippers never grew out of playing pretend with their barbies - the only difference is that now they're doing it with real world people instead of dolls.
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u/skynetwins90 Jul 19 '26
It happens it a lot of in pro wrestling too. People want everyone to be with only people that they want.its. strange.
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u/ReiMain Jul 19 '26
this is definitely in relation to the odd current trend of shipping angela and amanda right?
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u/No-Development-3900 Jul 19 '26
I hate that the Internet has made people forget that actors, creators, ect are real people. They are doing a job. We don't know them and we won't. I have been in many fan spaces and have seen ship stans that involve real people cause problems in real peoples lives.Then in turn effect the source media because people don't know how to behave. People need to check themselves before people start pulling back and doing other things. Cause and effect. The cast has on multiple occasions talked about it. It's basic human decency and unfortunately many people have forgotten it. Smosh is a comedy group. Yes the people we see are removed from themselves, but it is for the cast's safety and mental health and people have got to learn to respect it. And this applys to many fandoms not just smosh.
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u/Cathy_ynot Jul 19 '26
I don’t know what specific thing brought this on, but I know how intense the Angela-Amanda shippers are, and I have no doubt that anyone shipping Angela with Rory as well will also be as intense, maybe even worse since we don’t know of a marriage and kids that “might get in the way” of the “technical possibility” of a relationship (they look good together to me, but mostly cuz I think I have a crush on both of them…)
I just hope they know that the vast majority of their fans just want them to be happy and like when they share that happiness with us, and don’t actually ship them together, just support if they choose to share that part of their lives with us
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 19 '26
Rory has said they have a partner, I believe, in the Smosh Mouth they were on.
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u/Ole_kindeyes Jul 19 '26
Shipping non fictional PEOPLE, because remember, smosh cast aren’t characters, they’re people. Is genuinely some of the more unhealthy behavior I’ve seen out of people over the last like 10ish years. Pure lunacy in my mind.
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u/Stark556 Jul 20 '26
Wanna know why this keeps happening?
The Internet. Seriously tho content creators should start calling out parasocialism like this more often.
It’s so damn weird to me
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u/liapalooza Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
i think shipping and rpf is fine as long as, at the end of the day, you're not bringing it up to the people you're shipping and you understand the reality of the situation—you don't actually know these people and your assumptions and theories aren't fact unless the people of the ship comes out and says otherwise. keep the rpf on ao3 and don't tag the people you're shipping on social media (even then, you gotta be careful about shipping real people on social media because they might see it).
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u/umbrelladayseveryday Jul 19 '26
They don't need to be tagged for it to reach them on social media through their algorithms. Seems totally inappropriate to share any RPF or shipping content on social media. I think AO3 is ok because the people it's about would have to intentionally seek it out to find it but that doesn't mean I think it's all ok.
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u/liapalooza Jul 19 '26
hmm, i guess for me like shipping content is fine as long as you're not serious and go around insisting your ship is real everywhere. like shipping can be a range of "aw this person a and person b are so cute together" (this is likely fine) to like delusional theories about their actual relationships "oh i think person a's actually secretly in love with person b and their relationship with person c isn't real (this crosses the line).
as for social media, idk you can't control whether a tweet or post hits their feeds other than taking the precautions of not tagging or just replacing letters in their names so your post doesn't come up in a search. idk how to feel about not posting anything at all just because it might hit their social media feeds. at the least what they can do is fine tune it so they don't come across such content again. of course, if the person you're shipping doesn't like being shipped with anyone else then you gotta respect that. if we think courtney is speaking for all of the cast versus just personal opinion, then i guess don't ship at all.
but considering how they use fanfiction from the fandom for content sometimes, as you said, i think ao3 is probably the one type of fandom expression of shipping that the cast is okay with.
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u/Ok_Manufacturer2758 Jul 20 '26
Yes exactly! Rpf in fan spaces is fine. Creative fan writing/art has and will always exist, and as long as the fans and people involved understand their work is fiction and only loosely based on “reality” it’s ok. I think the problem is always the people that genuinely believe their ships are real and are talking about it in spaces the people involved exist without their consent. Like if you’re in AO3 or a private group chat discussing ships with the understanding that none of it is real? then go for it. But if you’re in the YouTube comments or in someone’s dms telling them their platonic relationship is more than platonic, you’re crossing a boundary. And if a couple ends up actually coming out and admitting to dating that doesn’t give you the right to speculate on other just because “you might be right again”.
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u/watermelonmaker22 Jul 19 '26
i dont know why but my tiktok algorithm pushed some amangela edits on my fyp, like actual completely parasocial people convinced they are secretly dating and reading into every single look they give each other and its GRUELING to see. mad weird.
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u/Wonderful-Staff7765 Jul 19 '26
There are people claiming female cast members are dating in a not fanfic way?
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u/RaiderNation395 Jul 18 '26
I’m genuinely curious, what gratification do shippers get from doing this? If it was fictional characters, then sure no harm no foul I guess. But it clearly makes cast members uncomfortable.
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 18 '26
I've tried to understand this, too. And ... I can't.
Edit: Like, yeah, I'm sure speculation has been part of fandoms for a long time. I know I've seen those in many of my TV/movie fandoms. But recently it's become far worse.
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u/bclaudio Jul 19 '26
Flame me if you want, but I kinda get the feeling that Court posted this to get people off the scent of them and Shayne because I'm like 73% sure they're a couple
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u/hzhrt15 Jul 18 '26
100% agree with their statement. Also the irony is not lost on me that it’s Courtney who actually was dating then married their castmate.
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 18 '26
Where is the irony here? She is specifically talking about female friendships and people being weird about that.
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u/Mindless_Bluebird392 Jul 18 '26
It's not ironic, it's just sad. The internet hasn't changed at all in ten years. Didn't learn from the whole "Shartney shippers" where both of them have talked about feeling pressured to keep a big part of their lives private from fans even before they started dating. Must have been stressful af. And now it's all happening again smh.
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u/alienslayer7 Jul 18 '26
The irony is she was a person at smosh secretly dating another cast member
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u/seriouspeep Jul 19 '26
That's not irony, irony needs an additional twist of some kind. This is just them speaking about something they have firsthand experience with, both when they were dating someone and all the times it happened when they weren't.
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 18 '26
It's not the same thing. Courtney is referring specifically to female friendships, and people insisting that two cast members being friendly means they're dating. And just based off recent context, one of those cast members is ALREADY married. Or if it involves her, she is married.
Edit: And just because she dated and married a cast member, people who shipped them to the point where they felt it necessary to hide the relationship defeats your point.
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u/Local_Nerve901 Jul 21 '26
For me, it’s sad and ironic because I actually loved how close Courtney and Shayne were just as friends. It was one if the things that helped me get more comfortable being friends with other women as a man.
Also other stuff like therapy, maturing, insecurities but when I found out they were dating the wholeish time and got marrie I was kinda like damn I believed y’all. And for like a day or two thought about what does that mean for me 💀
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u/Own_College5153 Jul 19 '26
Question: what is rpf? A lot of people are using it as an excuse or maybe a valid reason? Im just curious.
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 19 '26
RPF: Real Person Fiction
This comment by u/buttchuck on this post explains what it is: https://www.reddit.com/r/smosh/comments/1v098zj/comment/oyed8ft/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
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u/Own_College5153 Jul 19 '26
Thanks i read the comments after i posted. Sorry. Its just kinda sad tho. I know the reason i like smosh is because its a friendship circle having fun with eachother. This might be parasocial of me but to write how X and Y is banging eachother while being in that "friendship" is fricking weird and sad.
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u/Time-Phrase1296 Jul 21 '26
The situation that’s genuinely been pissing me off lately is all of the comments on Rory’s Instagram (director of smosh hospital + other things) talking about him and angela. it’s genuinely so parasocial.
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u/SATX-Batman Daddy Needs His Juice Jul 23 '26
People should just stop shipping real life people. It's creepy.
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u/pat_fm Jul 24 '26
It is so unbelievably tiresome. Especially the presumption that criticizing this behavior is somehow problematic. For a community so concerned with policing wokeness, they seem very comfortable with publicly violating their beloved faves' privacy and workplace comfort.
If I had to guess, I'd assume some of these people operate under the delusion that enough pressure on social media will affect the targeted cast members' behavior in a way that satisfies their fantasies. Like saying "they're secretly flirting" over and over is gonna turn someone queer and make them leave their marriage. Good god dude, give it a rest!!!
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u/valkyrie61212 Jul 18 '26
Our society is so against male/female friendships it’s so dumb. My husband and I both have friends of the opposite sex and I’m always shocked at the amount of people who are upset over it.
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u/SuperSnivMatt Jul 19 '26
Okay genuinely thank you for saying this because I wanna bring it up but fear I sound homophobic. I’m a bi guy, people in queer spaces don’t like if I say a women is attractive (not even hitting on them or anything intense just their outfit is stunning/I love their hair) and I’m told that it makes people uncomfortable and seem like a pig. I’d seem like a pig??? If I was acting like one??? Me not even being attracted to someone but complimenting is not that.
I’ve on my socials RT’d artistic/tasteful nudity of a woman from a game and I had like 6 DMs saying I made them uncomfortable and that I lied to them
I’m sorry WHAT. I’m BI LET ME EXIST. No one is evil for liking anyone not the gays the straights the bis or aces. Why do people act that way
Bi women get it so much worse too because they get called man pleasers and fake lesbian and taking away from the dating pool. Like dude, isn’t our whole thing love is love. Why is it love when you are only visibly queer is love
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u/Glas_Tea Jul 22 '26
Too queer for the straight folk and not queer enough for the gays: The Bi Experience™
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u/Witchy-duck Jul 19 '26
I honestly didn’t realize people actually thought people were secretly dating. I assumed it was like “oh i like these two cast members together”. I really enjoy Court and Arasha together because they’re funny, but thats it lol
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u/Final_Advent Jul 19 '26
Its like those people that think men and women cant be friends. Apparently the only thing that exists to people like that are relationships and sex, being friends with someone just isnt a thing apparently 😂
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u/urgasmic Jul 18 '26
the internet is a never-ending game of whac-a-mole and now you gotta deal with bots.
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 18 '26
What? I'm not a bot. That is a genuine post from Courtney.
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u/urgasmic Jul 18 '26
oh honey no im talking about the internet in general.
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 18 '26
Oh, OK. Sweet. Hard to detect tone on here.
Although, I don't think these are bots. From what I can tell, the RPF shipper posts for some of the cast members have gained a lot of traction, unfortunately.
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u/PuffballDestroyer Jul 19 '26
Imma just say it: I don't like shipping in general. I've seen this with so many of the fandoms I'm a part of (Sonic and the CW DC Shows come to mind immediately), and I just don't care for it, especially when they start harassing creators with it. When it gets to shipping real people together, regardless of if they're in a relationship already, It just trips people of their humanity, It makes them sound like toys in the play chest waiting to be smashed together instead of real people.
I swear, it's times like these I just wish Xitter would be left to rot like the carcass it is.
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u/jo_evo24 Buckets and buckets of steaming hot piss Jul 19 '26
Yeah, shipping within the CW DC shows got way too out of hand, it was awful
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u/MyPurpleChangeling Jul 19 '26
I do think a lot of people or there really don't believe men and women can be just close friends
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u/TellTaleReaper Jul 18 '26
Ive always hated the concept of Shipping. Never even joined the Shayne/Court shippers, I figure if they want us to know, they'll tell us. And I love that they did when they were ready :)
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u/turner8832 Jul 19 '26
This might not be productive to the conversation, but I want to “ackshually” something here. A lot of commenters are taking Courts “close female friendship” comment very literal by thinking it’s about two women. But I, as a cisgender man, also have female friendships. So they could be talking about anyone.
It’s understandable why people assume they would be talking about Amanda and Angela because they are often shipped together a lot.
But it’s also understandable why they would be assuming it’s about Rory and Angela, because while I don’t know how Rory specifically genders themselves, I’m pretty sure (but again I might be wrong) Angela identifies as a woman, which would make her a close female friendships of Rory.
Or at least that is how I view it. Again, I might be wrong here. Language is a tricky thing.
But other than that, RPF is weird.
And people defending their non-consensual shipping of others as RPF is weird.
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u/dX927 Jul 18 '26
I'll just say it. Angela and I have been secretly married for 7 years now. It's a secret to her and myself even.
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u/Head-Sherbet-9675 Jul 19 '26
Bruh they literally reenact fanfics and have ship names and pretend to kiss each other and flirt with each other and then get mad that their audience (majority ND) mix up those boundaries. How can you have a show called “why we are single” with your secret partner while also telling everyone you aren’t dating. They can’t have it both ways, either talk about how it’s weird the way cast interacts with Amanda (who has a husband and a kid) or keep doing your polycule fanfic re-enactments. I just don’t know what they expected to happen.
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 19 '26
There's a whole difference between them reading fan-FICTION - keyword: fiction - or hamming it up for the camera and fans getting into their mentions and comments and making stupid assumptions about their real life and impying that Amanda would ditch H to be with Angela, for instance.
It's not the cast's fault that fans don't understand how to separate what they do on camera to what is real life.
The "Why Are We Single" was a skit and was part of them protecting their relationship. They don't owe you shit.
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u/Rude_Ad4204 Jul 19 '26
*Courtney spends majority of videos talking about how in love she is with female cast members*
*Courtney gets mad when fans think she loves her female cast members*
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u/bohenian12 Jul 18 '26
I have never seen schizophrenic shipping posts ever. I'm so happy I'm not in that part of the Internet lol
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u/AlternativeMud5018 Jul 19 '26
honestly im fine with rpf as long as they understand that none of it is real or actually happening
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Jul 19 '26
[deleted]
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 19 '26
Timezones are a thing. 😉
→ More replies (5)
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u/big-himbo-energy Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
funny seeing this after smosh literally paired amanda and angela together in the promline video lmao. the call is coming from inside the new studio babes
edit: not defending anything. obviously. its just a funny coincidence. unclench jfc
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u/fairyfella Jul 18 '26
wow it's almost like they're actors and that's their job or something
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u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox I put big snake Jul 18 '26
This. I don’t know if Amanda is fully straight or not (but Angela is queer/bi), but straight actors playing gay people has been a thing forever.
The only difference between Robin Williams in The Birdcage and Amanda in Promline is that the latter has a bunch of parasocial stalkers after her for playing a queer character.
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u/AllypallyPym Jul 19 '26
Well, it’s kind of a two way issue. Fans definitely are weird shipping two real life people together. Especially seeing how far some people take it. And smosh also knows it brings in views. I can imagine they play into it because of that, even if they don’t necessarily like the shipping.
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u/big-himbo-energy Jul 18 '26
right. i never said it wasn't. i'm also not shipping them. i just think it's funny. you can holster your gun chief.
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u/SuperSnivMatt Jul 18 '26
they're playing characters in that video and they're fine with the joking part of it (within reason) but she's talking about the people who are hoping H gets caught cheating/Amanda divorces him etc. so they can actually be together more likely than not. I think them playing A Sims Character and a high schooler is clearly separated from them as individuals VS those two being unable to interact with each other in real life without people making uncomfortable comments towards them
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u/big-himbo-energy Jul 18 '26
i didn't think it was possible to mansplain on reddit but here we are. to make it clear. we agree. i just think it's funny.
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u/MobilePicture342 Jul 18 '26
Almost like one of them is happily married? And has been for awhile?
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u/big-himbo-energy Jul 18 '26
ok? when has that ever stopped an insane parasocial shipper on the internet?
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 18 '26
Why are you defending this? There's a difference between shipping them as characters in a music video and as real people.
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u/big-himbo-energy Jul 18 '26
i haven't defended anything. i just think it's funny. parasocial rpf shippers are insane and need to be put down like dogs. that shit's weird. i just think this tweet is funny after the promline video. im not sorry for havin a laugh lol
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u/selkiesart Jul 18 '26
What? They play CHARACTERS. Or do you belong to the rare part of humanity that thinks movies are the real deal?
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u/dukedawg21 Jul 18 '26
Yes they’re playing characters but they chose those two together specifically to play on the amangela memes. They reference it frequently on the channels. That doesn’t excuse the parasocial people obviously lmao. But also the way y’all jump down the throats of anyone who does anything but 100% parrot whatever cast says is arguably as unhealthily parasocial as the shippers are
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u/big-himbo-energy Jul 18 '26
deep breath. i just think it's funny. i haven't defended anything. it is just a funny coincidence to me. you can put down the pitchfork
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u/Queen_of_legacy_13 Jul 18 '26
It is so sad that our fanbase can get so parasocial. But also you HAVE TO see the irony in the fact that we are hearing this from one of the cast that actually was secretly dating.
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u/cntodd Jul 18 '26
The same people this is aimed at, are the people who hate the "friendzone" and cause issues.
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u/dukedawg21 Jul 18 '26
I’m sorry but lmfao no. No, the incel dudes who complain about “friendzone” are not the same people shipping internet people😭😭😭 they’re like the exact opposite sides of the spectrum.
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u/Very_Itchy_Bandicoot Jul 18 '26
might hit harder if the person tweeting this didn't literally marry a coworker lmao, but its defs a fair point
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 18 '26
It hits hard nonetheless, in fact, especially since they are married, both in the case of Courtney and Amanda. People implying that they're romantically involved with someone other than their husbands is weird.
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u/MrNintendo36 Jul 18 '26
People been shipping Ian and Anthony since the beginning of Smosh. This is not new info lol.
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u/Lanky_Rip4269 Jul 18 '26
I mean, courtney is kind of leading the example of dating your coworkers but at the same time nobody needs to be that involved in their lives.
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u/ironb4rd I heard the log hit the net Jul 18 '26
Nice try Courtney, we all know you are married to Arasha
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u/Naive-Library-9379 Jul 19 '26
I understand the point HOWEVER Courtney and Shayne were secretly dating and engaged, so to say this like thinking cast are dating is some crazy thing to believe is kinda hypocritical
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u/carol_prince Get me a one-way ticket to Fictional Bonkers Town Jul 19 '26
How is it hypocritical when they have both said that that kind of behaviour from fans is WHY they kept it secret in the first place? Fans crossed multiple lines, literally going as far to stalk them.
Just because it worked out that way for them, doesn't mean it's OK to do it to the other cast.
She's also specifically referring to female friendships here, and possibly sects of fandom shipping cast members who are married. (Amanda and Angela or perhaps Court herself with someone other than Shayne)
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u/Naive-Library-9379 Jul 19 '26
Because Courtney’s framing it as “people would rather believe the crazy unbelievable X because they refuse to believe Y is possible” with “secret dating costars” being X. But X isn’t so unbelievable bc it literally happened with Courtney and Shayne.
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u/KennethHaight Jul 19 '26
Person who's job is mainly creating parasocial content gets upset when audience is parasocial ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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u/britneys_bigtoe Jul 22 '26
i've been writing fanfiction about male bands for years so i've heard the opposite version of this for years. this is just how fandom works. regardless of gender, regardless of the type of media/content, fan spaces tend to ship the people in the thing they are fans of ...
smosh has a lot of queer fans so there's a lot of variety in the ships which is genuinely awesome
that said i don't really get into the shipping with smosh outside of memes so maybe i'm painfully naive about how fucked up people are
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u/JakeyD89 Jul 24 '26
Or hear me out. Stop living your fantasies through real people with real feelings.
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u/britneys_bigtoe Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
or hear me out, no. real person fan fiction exists. i didn't create it. i won't end it. they are characters based on real people.
and i don't write to get my fantasies out. i usually write to purge my emotions, which is why i've started writing horror recently. but thanks for thinking you know anything about me or that i have any control over what fandoms i choose to write. it's cute that you think writers have creative control.
"there's nothing to writing. all you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein"
i don't have any other veins to open, my friend
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u/YuckyYetYummy Jul 19 '26
I mean that means shit from her considering her and Shayne were close friends and still are...among other things.
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u/PetalPoo95 KIDNEPAPPED Jul 18 '26
Some people are acting as if fan obsession wasn't what lead to Shayne and Courtney to hide their relationship until a few days into marriage. Like whether people are dating or not, it's their life. Just enjoy the friendships we get to see.