Changes

After Domlijah, the term ''tinhats'' was adopted by fans in many fandoms to describe similar conspiracy theorists and believers. The term is more likely to be used by nonbelievers than the fans in question, though it depends<ref>''I was a hardcore tinhat for a few horrifically embarrassing months in 2009 and proudly identified as such (we all had tinhats on our icons D:).'' Anon comment in [[Fail fandomanon]], [http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/95794.html?thread=469075762#cmt469075 19 July 2014]. (Accessed 27 July 2014)</ref>. Fans sometimes use the tinhat terminology ironically or self-deprecatingly; when they are [[squee|squeeing]] especially loudly over some piece of celebrity gossip or a new [[leakk]] of an upcoming season, they may type ''*dons tinhat*'' or ''*polishes tinhat*''. These fans seldom mean they really believe that their preferred [[OTP]] is a couple in real life.

After Domlijah, the term ''tinhats'' was adopted by fans in many fandoms to describe similar conspiracy theorists and believers. The term is more likely to be used by nonbelievers than the fans in question, though it depends<ref>''I was a hardcore tinhat for a few horrifically embarrassing months in 2009 and proudly identified as such (we all had tinhats on our icons D:).'' Anon comment in [[Fail fandomanon]], [http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/95794.html?thread=469075762#cmt469075 19 July 2014]. (Accessed 27 July 2014)</ref>. Fans sometimes use the tinhat terminology ironically or self-deprecatingly; when they are [[squee|squeeing]] especially loudly over some piece of celebrity gossip or a new [[leakk]] of an upcoming season, they may type ''*dons tinhat*'' or ''*polishes tinhat*''. These fans seldom mean they really believe that their preferred [[OTP]] is a couple in real life.

The term is not synonymous with being an [[RPF]] shipper, despite many people's misconception that it is, as most RPF shippers of non-canon celebrity [[pairings]] do not believe that the ship is real. Many RPF [[fanfic]] contain an explicit [[disclaimer]] in the [[header]] emphasizing that the story is fiction and denying any implication that the writer thinks the people in question are actually a couple. It's actually considered poor etiquette in many RPF fandoms to mention the topic of [[shipping]], in order to preserve the [[fourth wall]], which is why ''tinhat'' is often considered a derogatory term.

The term is not synonymous with being an [[RPF]] shipper, despite many people's misconception that it is, as most RPF shippers of non-canon celebrity [[pairings]] do not believe that the ship is real. Many RPF [[fanfic]] contain an explicit [[disclaimer]] in the [[header]] emphasizing that the story is fiction and denying any implication that the writer thinks the people in question are actually a couple. It's actually considered poor etiquette in many RPF fandoms to mention the topic of [[shipping]], in order to preserve the [[fourth wall]], which is why ''tinhat'' is often considered a derogatory term. And, independent of the fourth wall, some fans consider the term to be objectionable on the grounds that it is often accompanied by negative perceptions about those suffering from clinical paranoia, persecutory delusions, or anxiety.<ref>{{source| url = https://nooradeservedbetter.tumblr.com/post/112705016956/fandom-and-ableist-language | title = Fandom and abelist language| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20170807221825/http://nooradeservedbetter.tumblr.com/post/112705016956/fandom-and-ableist-language | archivedate = 2017-08-07 }}</ref>  Others  disagree, pointing to tinhats' long history of being used to describe conspiracy ''theorists'' and firm believers in non-proven, fictional or far-fetched ''theories'', and is not used to describe mental health difficulties. <ref>{{source| url = https://hellolarries.tumblr.com/post/109381628972/just-a-reminder-that-the-term-tinhat-stems-from | title = Tinhat is not abelist| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20190928235319/https://hellolarries.tumblr.com/post/109381628972/just-a-reminder-that-the-term-tinhat-stems-from | archivedate = 2019-09-28 }}</ref><ref>{{source| url = https://lrambling.tumblr.com/post/145608761931/you-linked-to-a-worshippelove-post-where-she | title = The only people saying it’s ableist are Larries| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20190928235624/https://lrambling.tumblr.com/post/145608761931/you-linked-to-a-worshippelove-post-where-she | archivedate = 2019-09-28 }}</ref> 

Much as tinhatting in an RPF fandom often involves the narrative of celebrities being forced to be closeted, tinhatting in fictional media such as [[TV]] and [[film]] is most often the result of fans buying into [[queerbaiting]] subtext and declaring it to be text. This is also true of [[het]] pairings where fans will read romantic subtext into relationships between characters and then declare those ships to be real.

Much as tinhatting in an RPF fandom often involves the narrative of celebrities being forced to be closeted, tinhatting in fictional media such as [[TV]] and [[film]] is most often the result of fans buying into [[queerbaiting]] subtext and declaring it to be text. This is also true of [[het]] pairings where fans will read romantic subtext into relationships between characters and then declare those ships to be real.