okay making this post for newbies to tumblr fandom, particularly willmack fans who might have come here from other places (especially if you discovered willmack via heated rivalry) and don't understand some of the words you're seeing get thrown around as there are A LOT of wrong definitions out there.
rpf: (short for real person fiction): specifically this means writing fan fiction about real people, typically celebrities/public figures, but can also include any fandom activity - putting together lore posts to make fictional speculative theories, making up fun scenarios to discuss with people, even shippy video edits. the emphasis with rpf is on the F for FICTION and the shared understanding that it's all for fun and no one seriously believes that the people involved in the ship are romantically involved in real life.
tinhatting: there's a lot more definitions of what tinhatting means out there, so let's go with wiktionary's definition to get on the same page:
tinhatting is not the same as rpf; tinhatting means you've crossed the line from fiction and now believe the speculated relationship is real. posting and discussing "evidence" of why you believe it's a real relationship is the conspiracy theory part.
does this difference make sense?
rpf = fiction. for fun. not real. make believe.
tinhatting = you think it's real. other people on the rpf side of fandom will think your beliefs are delusional and that you're crossing the line with your behavior. it's not cool to do this in fandom
hockey rpf - fan fiction about hockey players - has been posted on ao3 with works backdated to 2003. that is how long people have been fictionally shipping hockey players, since before will or mack were even BORN. it is not new, and while it's fine to be new yourself to fandom, learning about how hockey fandom works is important, because the tinhatting stuff and talking about shipping on unlocked twitter, for example, is how it ends up being discussed on spittin chiclets, which leads to negative attention that none of us want.
this is important: will and mack are not in a secret, closeted relationship that can be proven by observable behavior by outsiders. if you believe this, you are engaging in tinhatting and delusional thinking. this is not a new phenomenon; people have tinhatted many other celebrities. dominic monaghan/elijah wood from the lord of the rings movies, louis tomlinson/harry styles from one direction; there are even conspiracy theories that taylor swift is secretly a lesbian. tinhatting typically leads to stalking and harassment, and eventually the people involved in the speculated relationship pull back from the public eye or even stop interacting with one another. this sucks! we do not want this!
please, if you are new to hockey fandom and enjoying willmack, try to understand the difference here. rpf is really fun and enjoyable, but tinhatting behavior can lead to really ugly things.
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