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[romasquerade]

Here, have some of my thoughts on the One Direction fandom tonight and how generally terrible I think it is.

Comments

[harriet_vane]

I am horrified by the children and maybe MORE horrified by people who I know are actually adults who are being asssholes about Harry and Louis and Eleanor. I just want to scream these are real people and point out that if they keep this shit up even Harry and Louis will probably stop being quite so adorably HarryandLouis all the time together. They are ruining their own fun. It's gross and it's ruined the pairing in fic for me because I can't read it without getting really really upset about other stupid people.

Blargh. Anyway.

One time I posted in my lj "Hey tumblr kids, can we stop referring to them as these faggots or these homosexuals" and got told I was oppressing them because Louis has never called himself straight. And then I wished everyone on the internet were dead. Dear Louis Tomlinson, I am really, really sorry about some aspects of your life. Stay strong.

Hey, but Harry has a great face!

[romasquerade]

I honestly can't even think about the fact that there are adults who act like this. How would you feel if approximately a zillion people were out there absolutely convinced and trying to convince YOU that you and your best friend were dating? And that your ACTUAL significant other was nothing but a joke? I can't imagine there are a whole lot of people who would think that was a fun or exciting experience. I just.... I mean you're just so right, they're going to feel like they CAN'T be themselves anymore and that really sucks, not only for us few who know how to respect them but even more importantly for THEM, because as a band they all go on about how their thing is being who they really are, being able to act like themselves all the time and how great that is for them, and the thought that their FANS, the people who are supposed to be so supportive of them, are the ones who are making it so that they can't be as touchy feely and adorable and close -- I can't really stomach it sometimes. People are horrible

[harriet_vane]

It absolutely kills me. I'm trying really hard not to get angry with all of fandom, but I have absolutely lost my ability to read or enjoy Harry/Louis in any format, and I WORRY about the real boys and their enjoyment of life and their jobs. The fact that Louis has said twice now by my count, explicitly, "I AM NOT DATING HARRY," and that otherwise sane people reply with "well, it's not DATING, is it?" or "he HAS to say that," or other bullshit makes me crazy. I run my school's gay-straight alliance and our #1 rule about making it a safe space is that NO ONE gets to decide anyone else's sexuality. We don't guess, we don't speculate. You are what you identify as end of story. Louis has a girlfriend and says he isn't dating Harry. The fucking end.

...sorry, that was a rant. It's just that you seem sane, and I'm so MAD and I'm trying not to feel >:( about a fandom that brings so much joy.

[romasquerade]

Rant away, dear! (Btw- I apologize if pet names aren't your thing! They're super natural to me, but I absolutely understand if that's not something you're interested in being called/if we aren't personally on a level where you're comfortable with that, please let me know!) I... I have had a LOT to say about this fandom today, which mockturtletale can attest to seeing as we've spent more or less all day ranting about fandom and this fandom and how these are really spectacularly not okay practices that are being practiced by the majority of fandom. I definitely share your anger

[makesomelove]

In reality that interview and the fanfic part especially was adorable to me for some reason, because Louis basically, case closed, but when you think about it any deeper than that it's H O R R I B L E. Having so many flashbacks, but nothing compares to this. This fandom is literally the worst I have ever been in. Bless Twitter because I love it, BUT CURSE TWITTER FOR ALLOWING THESE THINGS TO HAPPEN, and tumblr is even worse. Tumblr is the genesis of this as far as I'm concerned. Everything is so accessible and there are SO MANY PEOPLE and it is SO VAST that these tweens don't learn manners or sense, they just GO NUTS. MAYBE I'M OLD BUT I LEARNED HOW TO DO FANDOM AND HOW TO NOT BE AN ASSHOLE VIA LURKING AND BEING QUIET. There's just no opportunities for them to learn what's OK and what's not. The adults are really bad, too. NOBODY HAS TO COME OUT. GIRLFRIENDS AREN'T BEARDS. MANAGEMENT IS NOT LEGION FOR THEY ARE MANY. CALM. DOWN.

[romasquerade]

I mean there's never really a time when I DON'T find them all adorable, so I feel you. I wish I could see the rest of the interview, because I haven't heard anything else about it except for that preview where Louis is like 'no I did not insure my ass for 160,000 pounds, why would I DO that, that doesn't make sense!!' and his confusion there is probably the most hilarious and adorable thing ever. Is the rest of the interview like that, or is it mostly bad

[mockturtletale]

WHAT INTERVIEW WHAT HAPPENED WHY DIDN'T YOU UPDATE ME ABOUT THIS SITUATION IMMEDIATELY

[mockturtletale]

In an ideal world we would all be able to do fandom the way we want to do it and we wouldn't need any kind of example set for us, but in reality ... I honestly think people need to be kept in check by their fandoms. I think people need to be TOLD that the way they're behaving isn't alright because it reflects badly on that fandom as a whole. And I think that sense of consideration for EVERY FAN is something almost completely extinct these days. There's a huge selfishness in fandom right now that things like twitter and tumblr and their facilitation of purely one-on-one contact with bands and artists are completely responsible for

[romasquerade]

I absolutely agree with what you're saying here. Fandom is so much about community and groups of individuals setting examples and everyone learning and growing from that. I'm with you in believing that that's an integral part of fandom, I really think that the community of it should be the #1 appeal. I mean it's.... Fandom is a lot of things. Fandom is me meeting you, my best friend and soulmate. Fandom is me being inspired to write in ways that I've never before experienced. Fandom is me finding a group of people, with whom I have a lot of things in common, and growing closer to these people and making friends

[romasquerade]

Basically I want to shout THIS THIS THIS at everything you're saying?? Except DUDE, I am YOUNGER THAN YOUR SISTER, I feel like you forget that all of the time

[mockturtletale]

Oh god I just watched like thirty seconds of the part of the interview where that idiot woman asks them about fanfiction and I can honestly say that this is the very first time in my 8 years of fandom participation that I've felt truly ashamed of what we do.

[romasquerade]

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