I guess it's all relative. I started out in HP, and so RPS (nice consensual kinky RPS with wuv and stuff, my favorite flavor) seems like NOTHING after all the torture!fic, chanfic, bestiality, and general wierd-ass shitt floating around HP. I am not media-savvy, either, so it helps that I have almost no idea who the RP are.

As for canon ignorance - I'm all for it...unless you're WRITING the slash. Then you need to know it (I was fucking horrified by the emergence of Master and Commander movieslash, augh!) inside and out, really you do. I never read anything without a rec anymore, because. *shudder*. OMG Leggolas!