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Lauren & Celeste got “friendship rings”, they really are a parody of themselves. (They also have matching wedding bands).

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hockey trending on tumblr, congrats we finally did it babes, this is officially the hockey rpf webbed site now

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i’ve gotten a bunch of asks about that blog, so i wanted to share my thoughts here (gently, because i know this is a sensitive topic). fair warning, this is going to be kinda long because i wanted to unpack it carefully.

disclaimer: i did read the full blog, to try and make sure this was coming from an informed mindset.

EDIT: i deleted the tldr bit because it felt mean lmao

first: deactivation does not mean guilt

a couple of blogs have been publicly accused of using ai and then deactivated soon after. it’s important to me that people understand this doesn’t mean “proof.” what most likely happened is that author was being harassed and essentially pulled the plug so they wouldn’t have to deal with it. when you’ve got one person pointing fingers and a crowd ready to echo them, the atmosphere can become very unbearable very quickly. So accounts like orangepeelknives and maxenceandrebisset removing all their stuff really shouldn’t be viewed as a confession, it’s people walking away from a hostile situation created by the accusation itself. and i think that’s important to sit with. because if the result of a callout is that someone feels so hounded they leave entirely, then the damage has already been done, whether or not the original accusation had merit.

second: personal bias and unreliable checkers

let’s unpack the metrics this blog uses to spot ai. they don’t rely on ai checkers because they are unreliable (something i agree with!!), and instead base everything on breadcrumbs: anecdotes, overlapping character voices (which to me is kind of a core pillar of fandom anyway), and even em dashes. em dashes! something half of tumblr is guilty of every single day. the crucial thing to remember here is that this writer is actively looking for ai. their system isn’t neutral, it’s built on a personal bias, and selective vision where any quirk that could fit their theory is treated as evidence. this means that there’s a very high chance they’re “finding” ai where there isn’t any, simply because they go into fics assuming it’s there. unfortunately belief doesn’t make a method reliable. this system is neither robust nor foolproof, and it’s certainly not something anyone should treat as definitive proof. it feels a lot like watching someone follow footprints in the sand without noticing the tide has already washed half of them away. it might look convincing in the moment, but it doesn’t actually lead anywhere.

third: ai learns from people, people learn from people

i have been a part of ‘fandom’ since i was 12. 12. ai may learn from humans, but humans also learn from humans. my writing would not sound the way it does today without every single one of the amazing works I’ve read over the years, same as every other fandom author. influence is the skeleton of creativity. believe me, the difference between human learning and machine learning is real, but the moral panic around “learning from others = theft” collapses if you apply it to us, too. we are all products of each other’s art. that’s not shameful, that’s natural.

fourth: this blog might be right, but it doesn’t mean its not wrong.

now, here’s the tricky one. i don’t doubt that the person running this blog has probably found at least one author who has used ai. statistically speaking, they almost certainly have. so, in that very narrow sense, they are “right.” however, being right about one or two people doesn’t automatically justify the way they go about it. the problem isn’t whether they’re correct sometimes, it’s that their methods create a cascade of fear and harassment that’s impacting writers who don’t deserve it. it’s the difference between catching someone doing something wrong in a private, careful way, versus holding a megaphone and pointing fingers at dozens of people who haven’t done anything wrong, just because one person might exist in the space they’re policing.

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who mows the lawn in the willmack household

my arguments for both

mack: likes being outside, uses it to sneak in another workout

will: mack doesn’t want to do it and he refuses to spend money on it

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I fear we’re not putting enough bottoms in crop tops in hrpf. Or jockstraps. Or lingerie? These are athletes! Their freak has been stunted by being surrounded by straight men all their life, you know they love some of that basic shit.

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Controversial nhl poll blog where it’s just a picture of a player and the poll says cut or uncut

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Everyone talks about how WSH is a girl, but hear me out. Trans Masc!Will. He started Testosterone, and now he’s gaining all this muscle and all this scrappy ass facial hair. And Macklin? Macklin is enabling the fuck out of it. Telling him how fucking big he is, and how tough he looks. Losing in fights and wrestling matching with Will. And Will keeps telling Macklin to stop letting him win. But, he’s not. Will actually has just gotten that fucking strong. And don’t even get Macklin started on the facial hair… he may or may not love the way it leaves beard burn all over him…

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when I first heard about the edmonton polycule™️ I was like oh that’s just some rpf on twitter but every day that passes ESPECIALLY since the draisaitl wedding I'm like holy shit you four are NOT fooling ANYONE

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🐧🐧

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this hand eye...... amongst other things.......

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hrpf delusion warning

Let’s talk Queer NHL propaganda, specifically the aces, the enbies, and the fluid folk.

We have our resident ace jocks:

Connor Mcdavid is your factory-settings autistic ace. He’s all hockey and just doesn’t have the energy to look at people in a sexual way. Except every now and again he’s like “hey let’s get married” or has the sudden urge to pounce on Leon. Shout out to the Edmonton Polycule for helping meet everyone's needs. HC: Greysexual

Nathan McKinnon gives us a different vibe of jocktism, pan horn-dog who genuinely struggles with “feelings”. Knocks on your door at 1:30am to blow your mind and then takes you to hang out with the guys the next morning. Most times the door he knocks on is one of the guys; because the logistics are easier. And then there’s like his men: SidCros, Cale, Dru. They get dedication and undying loyalty. HC: Pansexual Aceromantic

Maybe controversially, Jake Oettinger is peak non-binary in a male dominated environment vibes. The beanie/cap and hoodie combo is our uniform. You get in it in the mail the first time someone asks you for your gender and you shrug at them. The goalieness of it -- being so covered in gear that it is almost impossible to see your body -- only adds to the vibes. Why be a man or a woman when you can be a goalie? HC: Agender.

Then we have the general vibes of sexual and gender fluidity in hockey:

The inherent homoeroticism of ice hockey that has given many straight men a selective kind of sexual fluidity. Notable examples: Jamie Drysdale (for Z), David Pasternak (for Willy).

The spectre of narcissist aromanticism at the core of toxic white masculinity. Notable examples: most of the league, unfortunately.

The Blond Jock Twinks™️, constantly pushing the boundaries of physical affection with the teammates that tower over them. Notable examples: Cole Caufield, Jack Hughes, Yanni Gourde.

The "For the Homies" femboys who are happy to be a buddy's bitch (for line/team chemistry, bro). Notable examples: Trevor Zegras, Brad Marchand, Tyler Seguin.

The legions of goalies who can't fuck when everything hurts and you have 3 injuries on the go. Notable examples: Thatcher Demko

The utilitarian nature of some professional athletes marriages/relationships (platonic). Notable examples: SidCros.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

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Tzjd butchfemme realness

He/him jd and she/he tz !^_^

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likely place for marchand to be

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Truly insane levels of codependency happening here.

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obsessed with how this looks like lauren and celeste are going to get connor and leon married. to each other.

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posting shit you had to dig to find on tumblr: beautiful, ethical, your crops are thriving, your hens are laying eggs

posting shit you had to dig to find on public twitter: disgusting, will result in us getting less content, embarrassing for the rest of us, your crops are dust, your hens are barren