#.this comes from certain posts i saw when making the blog for zayne. and because i was doing dailys and just remembered it. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

twopoppies · 3 years ago

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What’s it like when a mutual or someone who was a huge part of the fandom becomes an anti? Is it awkward? Is it a sudden moment of realization where you stop giving them the benefit of the doubt or smth expected, like there were several signs and you saw it coming? I don’t mean to be annoying, it’s just bc I heard that an infamous anti was once one of us, and it was really weird, like what?? I’m not sure if I’d be sad, or a bit resentful, perhaps “wtf, you’re not making any sense, love” and if I’m not abusing your kindness, what was it like in the old days compared to nowadays?

Well, if you’re talking about E*mie, she went from being a big part of fandom and making tons of proof posts and timelines proving Larry, to many people recognizing that she was a bully and unfollowing/blocking her, to being pretty obvious that she only cared about Harry and was obsessed with him. Then one day she made a long-winded statement about how she was renouncing her ways and being a Larrie was bad and she deleted everything on her blog that had to do with Louis and Larry. Now she’s a solo harrie.

If you’re talking about S*a, she went from being a big part of fandom and making tons of song analysis posts and absolutely adoring Harry and being certain about Larry, to saying that maybe they’d broken up but still respected and loved each other, to they definitely broke up but still cared about each other, to Harry has been orchestrating his takeover of the music industry since 2013 and is the evil overseer of Louis’ suffering and she deleted everything from her blog pertaining to Harry and Larry. Now she’s a rad louie.

Really, just two sides of the same coin. There’s generally a pattern if you pay attention.

But there are also people who just decide that they’re more interested in one or the other of them, or think they broke up and just become solo stans. It’s sad sometimes, because they were nice to have as mutuals or just because I liked the content they created around Larry, but if you’re not being a dick about Harry or Louis (or Larries), then that’s just the way it goes. No big deal. I still have mutuals who no longer are Larries. But they’re still nice people. Not every former Larrie is an “ex-larrie”.

As for what was it like in “the old days”, I’m assuming you mean in the fandom in general? When the band was active, it was amazing. So much constant content and so much inspiration so there was great art and manips and edits and gifs and videos (RIP FIMQ) and fics all the time. Fandom was united and powerful. There were antis and neutrals, but most of the time we didn’t care much about them because the Larrie fandom was constantly fed. The rainbow bears lit us on fire, concerts were like an online party. We had things like project no control and rainbow direction. It was a lot of fun.

On the negative end, there were definitely cliques who did a lot of gatekeeping, and tons of indirecting posts if someone didn’t ascribe to the current accepted head canon. And always there was homophobia from antis. And there was bullying (a lot of the main nasty people are gone, but there are still a few around). Zayn leaving, babygate, and hiatus were the nails in the coffin. Prior to that, maybe I wasn’t aware of it because I was a new fan, but overall things just seemed fun.

#fandom dynamics

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dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram · 5 years ago

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hi, I'd like to read the sun interview with louis, but don't want to click or go to their website. you tagged one of your responses with "Thanks Jen for the transcript", can you please point me to the blog of this person, so that I can read it? thank you

Hi Anon,

@jlf23tumble didn’t post it on her blog, but she did message it to me - so here it is:

AS a cheeky teenager in One Direction, Louis Tomlinson conquered the world – performing in stadiums around the globe and amassing a multimillion-pound fortune along the way.

But while he achieved pop superstardom, few 28-year-olds have suffered more trauma in their relatively short lives than the Doncaster-born singer.

In the four years since the group’s “hiatus”, Louis has faced unimaginable tragedy with the passing of both his sister Felicite aged 18, last year and his mum Johannah in 2016, before choreographing an impressive comeback with a debut solo album, Walls.

His personal journey back to full strength has been nothing short of remarkable — with the singer forced to deal with loss of his younger sibling and his mum in the full glare of publicity.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Louis explains: “Initially, when the news broke (about Felicite) last year, I was bitter about the fact that everybody was talking about it.

“Loads of people were speculating online about what might have happened. I was just told that it was the reality of the situation, which it is, and I had to accept it.“So that’s the negative side to it, but a positive side to it and something I wasn’t prepared to feel was the love from my fans.

“I wasn’t ready to feel like that, but I really needed it at the time.

“What was difficult was people speculating about details straight away, discussing online what might have happened when nobody really knew, and talking about my family. But actually when I looked further almost all of it was kind, and I felt loved.”

Just over two years before Felicite’s death from an accidental drug overdose, Louis’ mum Johannah tragically passed away, aged 43, following a long battle with leukaemia. It is a loss that continues to shape his life.

But he tells how, over time, he has come to learn from the experience — and now hopes to support others through his own experiences.

He adds: “I’m still getting asked about my mum now, but I’ve grown to understand it I suppose, and I feel like I can maybe help others.

“When I wrote a song called Two Of Us, I had fans talking to me about a loss they’d had, and they listened to the song and told me I’d helped them in some way. That makes it all worthwhile.“Despite how difficult it can be to deal with these things when people are watching, if I have the possibility to help even one person, that’s massive.”

Today, Louis is calm, reflective and down-to-earth when we meet in a low-key west London pub — despite him having sold more than 50million records globally with One Direction.

Louis talks with a broad Doncaster accent, and laughs as he reflects on his career, which began when he found fame with 1D at the age of 18.

He admits he has “f***ed things up” plenty of times in the past but hopes to have learnt from his mistakes.

His new single, Walls, recounts his experiences of love and loss. It is a clearly autobiographical reflection on his life over the last decade, which has seen him fall in love with his childhood sweetheart, Eleanor Calder, before splitting in 2015, and reconciling two years ago.In the years in between he fathered his first child, a son, with a US stylist but the pair soon separated and his romance with model Eleanor is now so strong marriage rumours have begun to swirl, although he’s quick to insist they are premature.

He explains: “Yeh I saw some of that. It isn’t true, but the luxury with Eleanor is I’ve known her since before our first single What Makes You Beautiful, so she’s felt the whole growth of everything.

“As I’ve got to understand it, she has too, and I have the benefit with her that we’ve seen it for what it is.”

So is marriage a possibility? He adds: “One day, yeah, I’d imagine so. If you’re asking me if I’m going to marry her? Yes, I think so! And more kids, I’d say so.”

His lyrics reflect on the ups and downs of his time in the spotlight, as he explains: “It’s about overcoming some of your problems and learning from your mistakes.

"It’s looking back at a certain time of my life and I’m sure there’s lots of people who can relate to that idea of being alone and waking up, being used to having someone there, then they’re not.“It’s a bit of, “Oh no, I’ve f***ed it up, yeah. But I’ve understood that now and I’ve come back stronger.

“You learn from your mistakes, and the song is about owning them, putting your hands up and saying ‘I know what I did was wrong, but I understand it a bit better now’”.

While in One Direction, Louis earned himself a reputation, alongside some of his other bandmates, as a party boy.

Today he’s learnt to control himself, but jokes that he can “still put a few beers away”. He’s keen to expand his mind now after missing out university when he found fame with One Direction on The X Factor.

He says: “I’ve been very lucky but one experience that I know I would have loved is university, mobbing out and meeting new people.

“Someday it will happen. I’d study psychology. And I’ve just started reading again, I just picked up this Beatles book, so I’m trying to educate myself a bit more.

“I just thought I’d pick up a few books, because I realised that I don’t read at all — and for a songwriter that’s pretty criminal.”

With a huge bank balance and global fame, there’s appears to be little to achieve. For Louis, fame has come first — but now he’s determined to prove himself as an artist in his own right, even if he is never able to achieve the enormous record sales One Direction enjoyed.

The album has been almost four years in the making. He scrapped a huge quantity of material and started over after he realised his first efforts had failed to fulfil his own ambitions.

He adds: “I’ve never been driven by money, but I’ve got a point to prove to myself. I think I was frustrated before, because I was in a few writing sessions where no matter what I said at the start of the session, the concept at the end was always something different. But after a while I decided to scrap all of that, and own this myself.

“I struggled with it for the first couple of years. I was trying to work out exactly what my sound was.

"I didn’t have the luxury every other developing artist has of making mistakes in the background until you land on that one you get excited about and that’s why it took me a second go to get it right.”

However successful his solo efforts may prove to be, alongside those of 1D bandmates Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik, the question of a prospective reunion will always loom large for Louis — who remains in contact with his former bandmates but admits they are very different people.

He adds: “I used to feel more pressure about matching up to anything any of the others do, but the reality is we have different skill sets and different fans.

“Harry’s a star, there’s no two ways about it. I’m much more reserved. If I carry myself in a slightly different way, I might be able to get a different market but it’s all about staying true to you and that’s what we’re all doing.

“I spoke to Liam a couple of days ago but haven’t spoken to Niall in a couple of months. Me and Harry don’t speak quite as much but he sent me a text about the single and I sent him one about his, and there’s a mutual respect there, definitely.

Louis debut solo album, Walls, is released January 31. His single, also titled Walls, is out now.

#There's some really interesting comparisons between this interview and the indepedent #you get a sense of what Louis' talking points were #and also how this interviewer got more out of him #Anonymous

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larriefails · 6 years ago

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First off, I’m not a rad nor a larrie, I’m a louie who hates both. I was just commenting on that because I’ve been in the fandom since 2013 and the de facto leader comment not only came from the boys but also during a billboard interview. In the billboard interview, they highlighted how Louis was the one taking the business calls and talking to their team about certain things. Also it’s not completely impossible to believe that once the 1d train ran out the big producers/names didn’t care to +

Work with him, because he was no “harry styles” liam is the same he even said that Simon didn’t want him on his label as a solo artist despite him having a great rapport with him. But there were other times louis’ business contacts were brought to light such as when he went to the Brits in 2016 and a reporter commented on how he was constantly on his feet to greet big name record executives and businessmen. He has the connects in the business that’s all I was trying to state.

Look, 99% of the time when I reply to an anon “you sound like a conspiracy theorist” it’s not because I think they believe in Larrie or because they’re rads, it’s because they fucking reason like conspiracy theorists

And your reasoning here is just… conspiracy theory mess. I don’t care which parts of it you believe or not, I don’t care what your personal feelings on these specific sets of conspiracy theories are. It doesn’t matter, the point is that you’re reasoning like a conspiracy theorist

I was gonna put this in a separate post, but I think it fits here very well (I might still make a separate post about it who knows)

A few days ago, I saw this video on twitter of a woman talking about her own death like it was nothing in a very matter of factly way, wearing a wig and using a very funny tone. Someone in the replies linked to her IG page so I went to look at it, and when I saw comments telling her “thank you for accepting my follow request” I realized she was usually on private and I’d just been very lucky to find her profile to be open, so I followed her just in case with the intention of watching her funny videos later

Since she was a new follow she continuously appeared on my recent IG feed and I soon realized how relevant what she was saying was to my interests

This is the woman

One day she posted this, and my alarms went off

Let me clarify that I don’t care if she’s a professor or a therapist or not, I followed her because I thought she was funny and that she’d go on private soon, this was all a complete surprise to me. The DM rang close to home to me, seeing as I’ve read Larries for a while now, it was all too familiar, her reply was too

Then she posted this

Once again, I said it before and you can read it here X it doesn’t matter if she’s a professor or not, if their suspicions are real or not, if she’s lying or not, because going through UCLA’s professor roll call is a step too far, and confronting her about it, even more so. And the way she presents it.. she’s right. She just linked the website, she never claimed to work there. If you go to her page, she’s very careful with the information she provides, so the people that want to prove she’s lying have very limited resources. They go with the preconception that she’s lying so they try to find ways to prove their preconception

You have the preconception that Louis was the de facto leader of 1D, so you’re working your way backwards to prove it. You’re looking at bits and pieces of interviews that will prove your theory right, but that’s just not what reality is

“The de facto leader comment not only came from the boys” .. no it didn’t, though? They didn’t say this. Do you know where the “the boys say Louis is the leader” comments come from? Stuff like this

Context for that interview? The Hot Desk, August 2011 X

One Direction had exactly ZERO songs out, this interview was recorded before they even released WMYB. All 5 of them had written on 3 songs of their first album that would come out in November. Savan Kotecha was still running the show. Louis was still 19 and he hadn’t been in show business for a year. How much of a leader that conducted business meetings do you think he was? I’m not gonna watch the entire interview to see the context, but this is not Zayn saying Louis was the de facto leader, this is Zayn kidding

What to even say about this, which is from the video diaries in X Factor?

Or this?

What? No, no they’re not, like, they’re just not, they’re standing in a circle and looking forward

This is just ridiculous

Does the person that created this gif set not realize that this is the performance where Louis doesn’t sing at all? It’s Torn at judges’ houses. It’s infamous for the fact that only Liam Harry and Zayn sang. This is all for dramatic effect because X Factor was a reality show

Louis liking motivation chants means he’s the leader? That he goes to business meetings? I’m so confused

That’s not because “he’s the leader” that’s because he’s the class clown

If accepting an award means he’s the leader then I guess this meme fits 1D very well

They all accepted awards, Christ

Anyway….

And that’s an entire gif set that was solely engineered to show that Louis was the leader and that “the boys said so”…. but they actually didn’t? The only two times it comes up they answer jokingly and it’s before Louis could do anything remotely leader like. But that gif set is so popular, created by a Larrie but that spilled out to the general fandom enough that I saw it on my dash reblogged by non CT blogs X

And it created this notion among some people, especially those who have Louis as their fave, that the other members of 1D had in fact said that Louis was the de facto leader, when they didn’t. It’s conspiracy talk, scouring through hundreds of MILLIONS of milliseconds of footage to pick 9 of them and put them in a gif set to prove a point they’d already decided on

There are also three news articles linked (copying and pasting directly from the source, sorry for the weird formatting idk how to take it off)

1: That’s the number of hotel rooms in Mexico City used for dance rehearsals. The guys locked down a room for three hours. Louis took control of the rehearsals and even helped conceptualize some of the routine.

That’sabout 1D learning the choreography for Best Song Ever

How exactly does it prove that Louis is the de facto leader for him to take over 1 dance rehearsal when everyone in 1D had confessed they couldn’t dance a million times at that point? Louis had some musical theater experience, so that’s that..

Harry: Louis is still loud and mischievous - he likes to test the boundaries. He’s quite outspoken. You need someone like that, because he’s great at standing up for us as a band.

That’s perhaps the most “leader like” comment any of them have ever made about Louis, and it’s not really about him being a leader once you put it by itself instead of surrounding it by “look at all the times they said he was the leader,” right? It’s just more of a testament about the fact that Louis was louder than the rest, which we already knew. If someone had asked me six months into my journey in the fandom who I thought was the loudest in band meetings I would’ve said Louis. That doesn’t mean he’s the leader. A leader has SO many more characteristics than being loud and outspoken. In fact, a lot of leaders aren’t loud or outspoken at all

The last link they put is once again, what How I Met Your Mother explained as the cheerleader effect X which taken away from the time period sounds quite misogynistic but let’s not dwell on that. Basically, it’s when a group of women appear hot when they’re all together but not individually. When you have the gif set all together, it looks like “wow, these are hot arguments as to why EVERYONE thought Louis was the leader,” but look at them individually, see their context and they’re not as hot now, are they? Especially when you realize, once again, that these are very very small morsels of time taken from very very large portions. That’s how Larries operate

Several people in your management and inner circle have described you to me as the unofficial businessman or leader of the group. Is that a fair assessment? I’ve sometimes felt like that, but to be honest most of the time I’m the immature one who needs to be told to get focused. I’m a bit of a perfectionist so I have to be kind of be on board with every minor detail and [I’m] quite opinionated.

And that last link is also the Billboard interview you mention in your ask. Do you know when it’s from? December 2012. One Direction had just released Take Me Home, their second album, which according to the interview that Larries love the most to base their sabotage conspiracies, didn’t very much involve 1D’s input at all

Savan Kotecha: I think by album 3 (Midnight Memories), yeah, not all of them, there was definitely one or two-one especially-that was like, kind of bitter about the fact, that, you know

Ross Golan: They were a boyband?

Savan Kotcha: And he was not the talented one. He wasn’t the singer, and he wasn’t the star. And you know which one I’m talking about…

Ross Golan: Of course.

Savan Kotecha: And he then started having something against me and against that process, I think. And, you know, maybe we could have been more inviting in the creative process during album 2 (Take Me Home) and not been so…authoritative.

At that point, Louis STILL wasn’t in a position where he could really be the leader. None of them were because the creative process wasn’t inviting still. It wouldn’t be until the third album

The conclusion here isn’t that Louis isn’t outspoken, or that he didn’t care about business or that he didn’t defend the band, or that he didn’t want to write more, or that he didn’t want to make connections. No one here is arguing that he didn’t care at all or not giving him credit for anything. The point I‘ve been making for days now and that people don’t seem to get (one way or another, because I’ve gotten very unpleasant messages about how he’s not equipped to be a businessman and shit like that that I’ve just decided not to publish at all), is that things don’t have to be black and white

I don’t think ANYONE was the leader of 1D. I think that Louis’ personality made him stand out more in certain aspects (such as meetings with their team), and because people need to label everything all the time, instead of describing it as it was, it took the position of “de facto leader”

The problem here isn’t even that people believe he’s the de facto leader, that wouldn’t concern me at all in and of itself because who cares? It’s not hurting anyone… The problem is that it puts an excessive amount of weight on Louis’ shoulders, I also explained this. It’s this dichotomy of a person who basically carried the whole band during its five years but that also is completely defenseless and at the mercy of binding contracts to even choose the socks he wears

These sort of preconceptions aren’t harmful by themselves, they wouldn’t be harmful in a normal band. I wouldn’t have a problem with this preconception if Louis was Calum Hood and this was 5SOS, my problem is that this is One Direction and preconceptions and conspiracies have tormented these guys for YEARS. No conspiracy and no preconception is innocent, they all have to be dismantled, we have to examine EVERYTHING that leads to absolutes if we want a chance at healing the fandom, and I don’t mean the 1D fandom because that’s gone now, it’s never gonna heal, I mean Louis’ specifically

If we want a chance at him being left alone from Larries these things have to go. Stop seeing him as this commodity that you can just paint over and start seeing him as a person, not a caricature

That interview also doesn’t say anything about him taking any calls business or otherwise. I don’t think anyone has ever said it and I have no idea where it came from because I’ve found zero sources. The interview doesn’t mention him “talking about certain things“ either, it’s just what I pasted here. That’s all of it. Everything else comes from years and years of stretching this one question out of this one interview done when Louis was still 20 and 1D had less than 2 years in the music industry. It’s no exactly the smoking gun y’all think it is, guys. Same with the Savan Kotecha podcast

Then the rest of what you say is just noise, man. IDK what to tell you. It’s just noise. If Louis had ran the show BTS for five years, then he’d have access to the best producers and writers on speed dial, why would he not being Harry Styles hinder how he’s perceived by the people that work backstage? They’d recognize the person that was “the backbone of 1D” for who he is because those things spread in the business. If LOUIS said that wasn’t happening, then it’s because your preconception was wrong and you took a bunch of things out of context to create a “narrative” that simply wasn’t real. Louis was dedicated to the band and wanted to write for it and involve himself in the creative side and he GENUINELY WAS IMPORTANT for the band, but he wasn’t its backbone or its de facto leader

Simon didn’t wantt Liam on his label probably because he couldn’t afford him, btw. He decided to stick with Louis because they’ve been thick as thieves since 2014 and those contracts cost money and Syco is a very small label with very limited resources, so they couldn’t offer anything to more than one member. I’m aware that I’m making assumptions here, but they very much align with reality, especially now that Syco lost so many other acts and now that Fifth Harmony disbanded and Syco landed only Lauren (Camila being like Zayn) and having to leave Ally, Dinah, and Normani go to other labels. That doesn’t mean they saw no value in them (in fact, I think Lauren is the one faring the worst), it’s just that they can only afford so much

And how much can you grin on one report written by the HUFFINGTON POST in 2016?X I’m talking about the “Louis hugged industry people that one time” comment you made. Once again, I’m not saying he doesn’t know anyone. I’m saying I BELIEVE WHAT HE SAYS. If he says he can’t easily get the producers and writers he wants, then I’m going to believe him. And that one report doesn’t really change anything for me. It’s, once again, very conspiracy theorist behavior to put more weight on an isolated report from an untrustworthy source three years ago than on Louis’ own words. If he really had enough reach to be friendly with everyone in the industry, then he’d be able to get any producer he wants

You can’t have this dichotomy that you present in this very ask of “they’re not picking up the phone because he’s Harry Styles” but he was the de facto leader of the biggest band on the planet for five years and everyone in the music industry knows him. It just doesn’t mesh together. You’re placing him in the same impossible position Larries are placing him and that’s harmful. He needs fans that see him as a person and you, I’m sorry to tell you, do not. You see him as a caricaturesque figure that can both be incredibly important and incredibly subjugated

“He has the connects in the business is all I was trying o state” 1. no that’s not all you were trying to state. 2. According to himself, he doesn’t have all the connects. He’s clearly close enough to be friendly with Rob Stringer, but that doesn’t mean that Rob Stringer will lift a finger for him and according to Louis, he’s not.. But that doesn’t mean that Louis can’t get ANYONE or that he’s being sabotaged. As always, truth lies somewhere in the middle. The only reason it’s harder to spot in this case is that people stretch it on every possible side so much

I know this is long as fuck and I probably lost any person that was willing to read my drivel in the first place, but I just really think it’s important that you start taking what LOUIS SAYS ABOUT LOUIS as fact, instead of twisting it around to present alternative facts that would present a reality that will please you more. It starts at “Louis was the de facto leader” and it ends as “he’s been faking fatherhood for three years and lied about his mother’s last few days” Sick..

#debunked #leader Louis

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missytearex · 6 years ago

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Hi! So I’m combining my October and November favourites here, as I never made a post for last month! Oops. Anyway, I’ve started making fic boards! I’ll link to those throughout. Here you go!

Larry

Boiling Blood Will Circulate by whoknows | @crazyupsetter (42k)

The wait isn’t long before something starts rustling in the bushes. Harry takes aim, squeezes the trigger, body moving unconsciously. They’re motions he’s done a thousand times before, and his body knows how to do it without the input of his brain now. It’s what makes him such a good shot.

He misses. The shot misses.

Something howls in the woods, a pretty clear indication that Harry hit it, but there’s no telltale sounds of a big body dropping, no animal charging out at him to take him out before he can finish the job.

Something does turn and run, though. “Fuck,” Harry spits out, scrambling to his feet and slinging the rifle back over his shoulder, giving chase. He’s not going to lose this hunt.

The trail of blood goes on longer than Harry thought it would. He doesn’t know how long he runs for, but his muscles are burning, chest heaving with exertion, until the trail just - goes dead. No more blood, just like that.

“Fuck,” Harry says.

deleted your number (so i can't call you) by tofiveohfive | @tofiveohfive (9k)

Harry wakes up to a voicemail.

It’s Saturday morning and it’s raining, a barely there drizzle. He sees the notification as soon as he picks up his phone from the bedside table, bleary eyes making it hard to distinguish the words. He’s got a few instagram mentions, a couple unread texts, but what really stands out is the “Missed Call and Voicemail”.

From Louis.

Or the ten hours before Harry comes home to Louis, and the five hours after he does.

Lilo

don't you hear me howling by theamazingpeterparker (13k) - [my board]

Liam turns and looks at him for a while. A scruffy, sleep-warm Louis Tomlinson curled up in a Star Wars blanket, asking what’s for breakfast after a night of running around the upstate forests. Werewolf or not, Liam had almost forgotten what a goddamn menace Louis Tomlinson was.

Louis has seen An American Werewolf in London enough times to know that city living isn't an ideal lifestyle for a new werewolf. He moves back home to find that Liam never left.

i'm never gonna fall (but i'm never hard to catch) by carissima (5k) - [my board]

TFLN: we were supposed to fuck one time, but ended up fucking for 2 years

“You’re fucking ridiculous,” he mutters, hooking his fingers into the waistband of Liam’s boxers and shoving them down past his knees. He’s inordinately pleased to find Liam’s dick is just as nice as he remembers. He curls his hand around him and hums happily as Liam fattens in his grip. “You know that, right? Who cooks breakfast for their one night stand? And then washes up afterwards? I feel like I should send your mum a thank you note or something for raising such a polite young man.”

“God please don’t,” Liam says fervently.

Lirry

the stars look very different today by colourexplosion | @jessimond (5k)

Harry's an alien who blogs about aliens. Liam's a human. Or is he?

an AU

Narry

just a little rush, babe by theamazingpeterparker (10k) - [my board]

“You know everything they say about Dracula? All that stuff I wrote in my paper?” Niall asks as he rips one of the glazed donuts in half. Harry hums. “It’s all bullshit. Real vampires do tomato juice cleanses and do yoga. Fuck.”

Harry's a vampire who's awful at parallel parking, being scary, and being alone. He meets Niall walking home alone one night.

Niam

Building Castles in the Air by el_em_en_oh_pee | @dulosis (10k) - [my board]

Liam is overwhelmed by his bootcamp roommate, who is loud and friendly and so totally up-front about what he wants out of this competition.

"I plan on winning," Niall says, twenty seconds after introducing himself, slinging his duffel bag down on his bed. "Touring. Playing my guitar, you know. Selling albums. Maybe working with Justin Bieber, if I'm lucky."

Lately I've Been Taken In by el_em_en_oh_pee | @dulosis (53k) - [my board]

Niall is the youngest in family of vampire hunters that extends back, generation after generation, for the thousands of years since St. Patrick brought vampires to Ireland to get rid of all the snakes. He's been well-trained in the fine art of slaying practically his whole life, racking up over eighty kills by the time he leaves the motherland to join a boyband.

His new bandmate, Liam, swears up and down that he’s not a vampire. But Niall’s senses never lie.

Nouis

Ask If You Know The Answer by disarm_d | @onedisarmed (4k)

It takes them longer than it should to realize that something is up. Telepathy.

Zarry

baby I'll never leave if you keep holding me this way by estrella30 (10k)

“Does he have your mark?” his mum asks. Zayn shakes his head. He’d looked at Harry’s wrist explicitly for the edgings of Zayn’s family crest but couldn’t find anything. Not that that means Harry’s not the one; it might need a touch or connection to come to the surface. Zayn’s not sure he wants to find out though. He doesn’t know if he’s strong enough to know for certain.

“Ah, well. It could be coming,” she adds, and Zayn shrugs. She’s silent for another moment, before quietly adding, “You could pick him, you know.” She sounds thoughtful, distant even. Zayn wonders what she’s thinking about, what she’s remembering. “If you want to that is. I know you’ve not been looking for your mate Zayn, but maybe this was what you needed. Maybe you needed your mate to find you.”

or - Zayn is an immortal modern times non evil sexual incubus who is reluctant to find his mate. And then he meets Harry.

Ziall

our names are written with starlight by softzindagi | @softzindagi (7k) - my board

After four years of failed attempts, Niall is still hopelessly single with no match to his soulmark in sight. But just because he can’t find his soulmate, doesn’t mean he can’t find love.

Got fire for a heart, i'm not scared of the dark by geewhizmo | @sleepymouses (45k)

“I dunno,” Zayn mutters. “I just think you’re much more in the business of flying than falling, y’know?”

That’s not entirely true, Niall thinks. I’m falling for you, aren’t I?

Niall leaves home for the first time and moves to a big city. There, he meets a group of people who will shape the course of the rest of his life. He tries (and fails) not to fall in love with one of them.

Also, they all have superpowers.

Ziam

Heart of Stone, Life of Fire by SoftlyandSwiftly (96k) - [my board]

A war with the city of Banshia and its conquering King threatens all of the Cities on the continent of Kiza. Young Zayn Malik finds himself hopelessly entangled in the web of the war, his future rewritten in the span of a morning as allies and enemies shift. Traded for the promise of an ally, Zayn finds himself among the warrior tribes of the Nakizi people, where he must carve out his own place and take his fate into his own hands.

For All the Stars We Cannot See by iambluehead | @iambluehead (30k)

Zayn grins sheepishly, the light hitting his face and making him squint, his fingers curling around the strap of his bag and his other hand rubbing at the back of his neck, a habit of Liam’s own that he recognizes on the other boy. “Yeah,” he finally says. “Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow?” “Yeah,” Liam says, letting out the breath that he’d been holding in his lungs until it burned. “Yeah, see you then.” The door slams shut, and Liam watches him walk up to his front door, wondering what would have happened if in that moment, he would have just leaned forward and— “The boy’s in bloody love with you,” Louis says bluntly, pulling away from the house and slamming around a corner at the speed of light. “You should get over your fear of everything and just kiss him already.”

(This is the high school AU where Liam plays football and is afraid of failure until someone puts Zayn in his life and he learns to be brave. There’s music Liam’s never heard of, eventful rides home from school, and drunken toasts to the stars they can’t see from Wolverhampton.)

Zouis

all the stars were crashing by sarcangel | @sarcathlon (25k)

“We should practice,” Louis says. He’s got a faraway look in his eye that doesn’t bode well for anyone, based on Zayn’s newly-formed knowledge of Louis. “Find a place, set up a schedule, all that.”

“What?” Zayn says, not sure where the conversation is exactly headed anymore.

“You know, in a movie - like, this would be our montage sequence,” Louis says, hands everywhere, gesturing wildly. “There’d be some song playing in the background while we spar and gain strength and -”

(and lick sweat off of each other’s necks, Zayn thinks, and then you knock me to the floor and lay on me and)

“Yeah, that’d be sick,” Zayn says, instead, not knowing if he’s more surprised that anything coherent comes out of his mouth or that he’s actually agreed to Louis’ awful plan.

In A Small Town I Saw You by zouee | @louiswmalik (153k)

Zayn nods a few times, judging whether or not he should just fucking spit it out. He should rip off the band-aid, jump into the cold water, throw this earth-sized weight off his shoulders and look Louis in the eye. “You should’ve remembered me.” He feels like saying. “I’m the reason you couldn’t.”

Zayn Malik spends the past eighteen months alone - using whoever and whatever he can to take his mind off of the one person he regrets leaving - and it’s not until he finds himself residing in a small town called Hillside when he finally remembers what peace feels like. Louis Tomlinson spends the past eighteen months surrounded by people - he’s coddled, fawned over, and most sickeningly; sympathised with - until he finally breaks away from the suffocation and finds himself face to face with someone who instantly hates him. Cue: endless angst, devastation, pathetic pining and Disney references mixed together in a pot full of misunderstandings and one-sided memories. The end result is ghastly. Proceed with caution.

Gryles

hold this thread by disgruntledkittenface | @disgruntledkittenface (26k)

The air is heavy between them as they both watch Nick’s clumsy fingers mend the fabric. It must only take a minute, but it feels like ages. Beads of sweat form on Nick’s forehead and he can’t tell if it’s from the panic of the moment or the way the man seems to be waiting for something. He’s done a bad job of it, but finally the hem is stitched up. Nick loops the end of the thread and can’t stop himself from lightly poking the man’s skin again, next to the dark ink smudged on his hip that Nick is currently dying to ogle in full, just to… see.

The man shudders this time and luckily Nick is still looking down or he would have missed the man’s cock very clearly twitch in his bloody loose trousers.

Fucking hell.

On his way to visit Henry getting ready for his London Fashion Week show, Nick bumps into a (stupidly pretty) model and pulls a loose thread on the sample he’s wearing. Horrified, Nick tries to mend the simple mistake, but it may just unravel into the best thing that ever could have happened to him.

Tomlinshaw

Lost and Found by shiftylinguini | @shiftylinguini, Writcraft | @writsgrimmyblog (31k)

In a year when things are coming to an end for Nick, an unexpected chapter begins at the start of a long, hot summer.

An accidental romance in Malta. Featuring Annie on the decks, Nick and Louis below deck, a handful of bad nautical puns and weather that's far too hot for trackies.

OT5

The Youth Branch of Magical and Fairy Tale Creatures and Beings Anonymous (Volume One) by sunsetmog | @magicalrocketships (5k) - [my board]

Sometimes trying to pass for human is hard. Monthly meetings of the Youth Branch of Magical and Fairy Tale Creatures and Beings Anonymous offers them the chance to be themselves, have an agenda, and work on some life goals. Just so long as Zayn can stop asking people to marry him after just one kiss, Harry can turn his Veela powers down, Louis can stop pre-emptively trying to usurp the god of mischief, and Niall can stop turning things into scythes. Liam just wants some orange squash and a biscuit.

steal my heart tonight by ThankYouMerlin | @thankyoumerlin (40k)

Niall rips off his ski mask, it was cliche and stupid (and totally Harry’s idea) anyway. “This is my mission.”

“We know,” Liam says, pulling his own mask off. Niall thinks they’re all wrapped a bit too much around Harry’s finger, maybe. “We just like watching you work.”

or,

An OT5 international thieves AU that contains very little actual stealing because I have no idea how to break into vaults in real life and lots of friendship and feelings from five boys in love.

Lilourry

only because you know (that you wanna feel the same) by words_unravel (34k) - [my board]

Liam may be able to catch glimpses of the future, but he never saw this coming.

Shiall

After All, You're My Wonderwall by alienharry | @aceniall (7k)

Guitar Prick: best eagles song, hands down, is peaceful easy feeling. they knew their stuff.

And Niall can't hold in his outrage. He's pissed. The Eagles are his thing, and how dare Shawn think he can message Niall, only nineteen years or so of experience under his belt, and shove his shitty musical concepts and overall terrible taste in Niall's face.

Niall: victim of love is clearly their best song. ya really ought to get your head out of your ass and educate yourself before running your mouth lad.

Niall's used to being the center of attention, so when a bright, musical boy with a charming smile starts routinely stealing his spotlight, he decides then and there to do everything in power to put an end to it.

#monthly favourites #fic rec #my recs #one direction #my lists

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blazinginbus1 · 7 years ago

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M new to the Zouis fandom..quite late actually (but not too late I hope) And I liked your blog alot so was hoping if you could share what got you invested in Zouis ? And also if it's not too much if you could tell me how Zayn treats Louis differently from the other boys and vice versa. Thanks so much for posting so many things :)) You're great for being a Zouie even though we don't get to see them together these days.

Don’t be silly! You’re never too late to the Zouis party, sugarplum! We’re all here, just chillin, waiting for the Zouis candids to drop eventually. So I hope you enjoy indulging in more Zouis. I know it makes me so happy, so I hope it does so for you too!

As for how I became a full-blown Zouie? It felt like it was a really easy progression. I came into the fandom at the tail end of 2012, right after their tour ended. (Of all times, right?! hah I know…) And I do love them all, but I was somehow that little bit more drawn to Zayn at first, so my eyes always kinda would end up on him. So, becoming a Zayn girl, I would watch the interviews, and watch the concert footage, and saw all the videos or gifs there was to see in the fandom. And the more I saw Zayn, the more I noticed how drawn he was to Louis; how his mood would shift to a happier one with him, so that was an easy hook. I always saw Zayn turn towards Louis in interviews, I always saw them right alongside each other on stage, and off stage. We would hear of fans meeting them both, because they were seemingly always together, so it was an easy connection to see that; YES, Zayn and Louis—in whatever magnitude you think they’re connected—are perfect for each other. The joy they have for one another is so simple and so easy, yet it feels so natural. Then I came across some lovely Zouis blogs on here (some of whom have moved on to greener fandom pastures), but I had so much fun in exploring all the Zouis content I hadn’t noticed before.

Now, I’m as happy as ever as a Zouie. Because Zouies, more than any other group in the fandom (i’d say), had dealt with the real wonder of, “Will we ever see them back together and happy again?” for TWO, long years. Even when everyone else doubted it’d happen. I have to remind people that Zouis…yeah…they had a really publicized rough patch, but have faith, they’re working on it. Their love runs too deep and rooted too intertwiningly for them them to not work it out.

As for an answer to how Zayn treats Louis differently, I think it all comes down to interpretation and how someone sees it. I may see something different than someone else does. And any example I give could be interpreted vastly differently than someone else. But I always saw a draw in Zayn’s eyes for Louis. I know I say it all the time, but, like, In any given interview they’ve had, Zayn just… he’ll either always direct his response looking directly at Lou for some sort of reassurance, OR he’ll listen intently to whatever Louis’ going on about. In any case, Louis does love Zayn’s attention on him, and Zayn loves to impress Louis as well. I think the energy in Louis strokes Zayn’s flame and pushes him to own that fire and charm Zayn naturally has. And I feel like the calmness in Zayn soothes Louis’ energy down when it needs to.

Yes, they can be wild and free, causing trouble and pulling hijinks. But they also vibe so well intellectually and emotionally, that a night of video games and lounging around is just as ideal to them. They’re both actually very thoughtful people, so they had grown a trust and understanding that they can let their walls down together. I’m sure they were all trusting and loyal to one another in the band. That’s what makes 1D so special, their connection. But for Zouis specifically, they seem on the surface to look the least compatible. But in reality, they’re probably the most compatible. It’s no wonder they’re off drawing so many parallels in their lives, whether together or apart. I like to think they’re soulmates in some magnitude. Whether you take that as a romantic title or not, Zayn and Louis were absolutely meant to cross paths, I’m certain. With how in tune they are, and how in sync they clicked into each others lives for years, they are a wonderful pair. And I think that has shown. Its no surprise to people who really paid attention to Zouis these years.

I know I went on a bit of a tangent, and I’m not sure I answered your questions too well, but I hope it made some sense, lol. I think all the boys have their own bonding moments, I just think Zouis’ was a natural merge, so to say. Anywho, thank you for the question, and I hope you enjoy Zouis the more you find out about them. They’re quite the cheeky little pair.

#answered #anonymous

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decoding1432 · 8 years ago

Text

The Art Behind Manipulating & Guarding a Fandom (p. II)

Here it’s the second part guys, take time to analyse it...

NOTE: *Most of the posts I direct you to, are SHORT & in my opinion not too dense to read. In fact, the great majority are Q&As. I’ll identified every post with a letter, it means that throughout the various parts you’ll see them repeated, so no need to read one twice*

If you missed or want to re-read the first part here it is: The Art Behind Manipulating & Guarding a Fandom (p. I) – decoding1432.

Now, the astroturfers & how to identify them.

I would say that identifying some astroturfers with exactitude is very hard to do, I mean we are talking about professionals. Not even the directioners who have spent years dealing with them are able to fully assure when they are being invaded by some. Nevertheless they have learned to recognise them & some types are obvious.

*link A*

Basing it on an article by The Consumerist, astroturfers are primarily known for two things:

Vague or anonymous identities. The identities of the people, or group of people, are very minimal or completely anonymous. Their profiles would either be generic, unorganised or have few or no posts. If you’re tech savvy and use tools such as Statcounter, you might notice that they frequent certain pages that cater to certain topics and/or suspicious recurring IP addresses.

A specific discussion path is followed/repeatedly brought up. Since one of the main goals of astroturfing is to support one side and discredit another, most astroturfers usually follow a certain discussion path,

ie. Opening -> Segue -> Main Topic Being Pushed

I’ll be using their examples to show you. I’m sure Camren blogs will be like: “relatable”. A lot of shipping involved. Try to exchange “Larry” for “Camren” & “Ziam” for another ship– Laucy, Norminah, Tyren, whatever you want– I promise it won’t become tedious (I’ll keep it the OG way, to avoid confusions). Here I present you what could be the various types of astroturfers (a.k.a. sneaky little bitches):

Example 1: *link E*

“You astroturfing trotters with your generic anti messages are such a fail. If you really read this blog you would also know I don’t “ship”. Never have. I support two couples I believe have been harshly closeted. Why would that upset anyone? Even if you disagree, I’m all about the love baby. I’m all about consenting adults being able to love each other openly, happily and free from hate and discrimination. What kind of a monster takes issue with that? You can ponder that while you lick your wounds and trot to the next blog to spread your venom. You’re a real credit to humanity making excellent use of your time”

As I see it, our first specimen is the aggressive type. During my research, I found several bloggers talking about this kind of astroturfer. Apparently, it’s a very common one & usually driven by hostility but SOMETIMES WITHOUT BEING RUDE. Pay attention to the description below:

*link F*

“I follow a bunch of Ziam blogs, and I heard talk about aggressive Ziam astroturfing of two kinds: (1) asking for masterposts and analyses, and (2) asking very specific factual questions. I talked with that-regular-chick about it, and she described it like this:

“…today we chatted and realized we all got very specific asks from the same “dummy” tumblr account: REDACTED. This account hit at least four of us in the past day. Each time they asked for our analysis and masterposts. Friday, I was blitzed with anon asks about Ziam, Zerrie and Sophiam. Initially, I was answering. But as I progressed through my Inbox, I noticed a pattern: careful not to offend so they throw some false praise in, a few “xx” or sometimes “thank you”. Always very specific about what they want know. Several claimed they were new to the fandom. I got so many, I felt they were really being aggressive and definitely had an agenda.”

Personally I tend to receive these type of anons on a daily basis. I would consider it’s the hardest one to recognise since I understand there are fans out there who tend to be very gentle when asking & simply with the purpose to learn & no one wants to be disrespectful toward any anon when answering, right? Nonetheless this is an advantage they take to camouflage. Note also how that-regular-chick said, ironically enough, the aggressive astroturfer is careful not to offend. Nonetheless I’m also aware that at times there are pretty intense anons which break that pattern of softness & jump straight ahead into using a harsh approach like the one shown in the first pic. Just look at the way that-regular-chick clarified she’s a victim as well despite not being about shipping. I know most Camren blogs get the infamous “why do you assume someone else’s sexuality when it’s none of your business… SO ANNOYING OMG” anon. Well now you know it’s an anti message mainly seeking for you to stop. Since now it’s all about killing Camren no wonder why we’ve seen many of these lately.

Example 2: *link G*

“Both my suspected astroturfers have responded, and their messages are overlapping under the two different URLs in question. And neither likes to use capitalization, coincidentally enough. And if you can’t send asks under your sideblog, why not just change the settings? Also, why is your main blog hella inactive? And why do you think you need a blog to lurk on tumblr? So many questions…”

Our next kind, is the non-anon type. These shameless astroturfers couldn’t bother less in going unnoticed.

Not all of these are about not using capitalization, this ultimate aspect is a pattern the blogger found in that particular case. Here are a few elements you could lean on to identify them:

*link H* (THIS LINK IT’S NECESSARY TO BE OPENED .IT SPEAKS ABOUT FANDOMS MONITORING IN GENERAL. Apparently t’s explained by an insider the directioners had contact with but I’ll address this with more detail almost by the end. If you want to read it now, by all means go ahead.)

“The best way that I’ve seen to get a handle on tumblr is to set up what basically amount to burner accounts. You create a tumblr account with an unassuming username and do nothing to the actual account. You leave the layout at default, don’t change the icon, don’t make posts, and don’t reblog or favourite anything. But you use the account to follow the blogs that control the conversation in whatever fandom you’re trying to monitor.”

Funnily enough, I was followed by a burner account (or maybe more but I did spot one) in the past 24 hours, LOL:

Example 3: *link I*

“People also ask questions they could easily google, like what's Zayn’s Instagram? I mean, you can google that faster than I can answer you. LOL”

Our third type, is the lazy astroturfer. I believe this one is pretty self-explanatory. The description provided is more than sufficient. Characterised by a lethargic tone & vibe.

Another example I could add is: “What is Dinah’s full name?” It’s the first thing I came up with since it’s something you can type in the google searcher… Besides a fan knows DJ’s full name it by heart, right? Lol

You might be wondering, why would they send these type of generic questions, why do they obtain with a generic answer. Well they come with three different objectives, it depends: Either gathering information or steering the conversation or merely keeping an eye on the blog (as in fan engagement).

Example 4: *link J*

I would classify this astroturfer as the… the Inception type, maybe? Excuse me, I’m getting Inception teas here (fun fact: Inception is my favourite film lol). As I understand an idea is put on a target (blog) by this specialised team (astroturfers) just like in the movie. Here I leave you a scene of the film to illustrate it better, min 1:05- 1:32 :

youtube

Saito (Ken Watanabe): If you can steal an idea from someone’s mind why can’t you plant one there instead?

Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt): Here’s me planning an idea in your head, I say to you, don’t think about elephants, what do you think about?

Saito: Elephants

Arthur: Right but it’s not your idea, because you know I gave it to you. The subject’s mind can always trace the genesis of the idea. True inspiration is impossible to fake--

Cobb (Leo DiCaprio): *interrupting Arthur* It’s not true.

What we can appreciate in the scene is how DiCaprio contradicts Levitt’s statement of how the subject can’t remember the origin the thought seeded. As I understand this example of astroturfing works like this. The target will not be able to remember where the original question came from since it’s supposed to be passed to others. If I put into perspective this is the way I imagine the original OT4s & Cnizers were created. A constant brainwash pulled by the same negative comments, to an extent that they can’t tell who were the first accounts that influenced them. “The virus got to them & they’re spreading it”.

Example 5: *link K*

Blind astroturfing. How many times we’ve seen repeated questions on another blog? Or from one day to another? Or when we just answer the same thing a couple of asks ago?

Example 6: (if I were you I wouldn’t bother in opening this link since the rest is about their timeline & I didn’t understand what they were talking about but if anyone is curious enough *link L* )

“astroturfing anons will usually give us a heads up that something is coming down the pipe too (that happened with haige 2.0 - people got anons about her for weeks and then she popped up again in her weird mainly one sided stunt with harry). it happened again with babygate but none of us wanted to believe it.”

This is a very weird but not entirely foreign type. If I can call it the “physic” astroturfer. Raise your hand if you have received the “next month (x ) will do (x) thing… bla, bla, bla” sort of message in your inbox more than once? Yep. I see several hands raised in the back lol. It doesn’t mean all it’s necessarily fake, like we saw with the 1D blogger above. BUT it doesn’t mean it’s ALL true either. Watch out for that.

Example 7: *link M* (IMPORTANT TO READ)

“It’s becoming harder for fans to hold onto the illusion that the internet is a secret club and that the management team of a multi-million dollar boyband that built on its success on social media wouldn’t be interested in what fans say on social media.

So it’s awfully funny that there are now anons popping up heavily dropping implications that if we talk openly about what we see on the internet, that management will punish the boys and it’ll all be ~our fault~ and so we need to shut up if we truly love the boys....

Guilt trips–everything is your fault and your responsibility, including the actions of the management and record companies with clear motive and power for their actions–are just another form of attempts at control and manipulation. 'Don’t you care about the boys? You don’t want to hurt them, so if you care about them you will protect them and shut up and say nothing’. That is emotional blackmail. Bullshit.”

When I read this the first time, I was not surprised that they would reach this level. In all seriousness, I had already thought about this. What if one day an anon pops into my inbox & claims the girls will get in trouble due to my “big mouth”? Let me tell you something *starts getting heated* if that happens in the nearest future, I’m going to send them right straight to hell. THAT IS UTTER BULLSHIT. I’m not allowing anyone to use my girls in order to bribe the fuck out of me & my blog. If anything it just proves the amount of manipulation they are willing to carry on in order to save & cover up their asses because they’re threatened. & I don’t want to have to say this ever again… Listen carefully, NOTHING WILL HAPPEN TO THE GIRLS BECAUSE OF US. So if anyone receives or has already gotten this type of anon, IGNORE THEM, BLOCK & MOVE ON.

Just look at the date that post was written: 2014… 3 years later & the directioners are still there. Hell, stronger than ever. We are NOT GOING TO TOLERATE THAT EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL ON OUR TERRITORY. Their biggest weakness is seeing us fighting harder against them, let’s not give them the power & satisfaction of witnessing us falling one by one like dominoes.

Example 8: *link N*

This one seems slightly tricky to me. I don’t know if can be considered a “normal” example or standard in this list since it’s reversed-astroturfing but I’m taking the time to mention it, it’s important.

“...astroturfers infiltrate with the ultimate end goal of dumping stuff on us, and monitoring how we’d respond to it, whereas (real) shady anons infiltrate with the intention to /warn/ us of stuff they know we’d respond negatively to…

the fake ones are always so ominous, and “be ready” or whatever but the real ones are just straight to the point and cautious-sounding and it’s crazy because many things we’ve been warned about are literally things we probably shouldn’t even /know/, much less prepare for...”

I’m still trying to process this last one tbh. I interpret it as the astroturfers (the fake ones) test our reactions but we can tell it’s them because we get this feeling that something is wrong. On the other hand, the real shady anons are to direct with the way they approach, it’s like if they were slapping us in the face but without harming us because they know how are we going to respond. Is it clear? Cause I have to admit, I even confused myself…

Example 9: *link O* (& last example lol)

I’m not sure if we could classify the following as part of astroturfing exactly. I would consider so because it’s so similar & incredibly interesting the way these work that I had to include it:

“Plant blogs”. What is a plant blog? This is the name directioners have christened with those blogs that are sent by the team in order to plant seeds (info) with the purpose of spreading it & ultimately achieving their goal which could be to distract, separate or influence the fandom.

“it means that we believe her blog was ‘planted’ by someone behind the scenes working for/with the boys rather than being an organic blog run by a real fan.”

Not all plant blogs are poisonous since not all the people behind them have bad intentions. I know it’s hard to believe this latter but from what I was seeing the 1D fam had once a blog on their side educating them & never disrespecting or influencing them to hate on any of their boys:

*link P*

“yes a ‘plant’ blog in the way that we’re using the term would be someone who joins the fandom with a deliberate agenda.

in our case, the agenda was beneficial to us as we learned a lot (especially about image manipulation in the press and how to limit the effect of astroturfers on us/the fandom conversation).

there are also hypothetically negative plants whose main role and goal would be to gaslight the fandom from within and make us doubt ourselves/our own observations.”

So...

This were some examples that I consider we have already encountered in the past. I believe the list can continue to go on & on but we’re beginning to study this new concept. I guess with time the experience will shape the “astroturfy” messages adequately enough so we can recognise them with more ease.

Don’t worry, on Part 4 I will give you recommendations I found on how to deal with them...

DON’T BE NAIVE KIDS.

#astroturfing #this is how they monitor us #part three will be about their methodology #sneaky little bitches #stay woke #5h blogs #camren blogs #camila blogs #read & spread

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yoongisgoawaydoormat · 8 years ago

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Is it Harry you don't like or how he's been branded since the early 1D days? How the media pegged him as the front man when clearly there 5 great guys in the band? I'm just curious because I like Harry and the four other guys equally in terms of music, even before they started making solo music.

im gonna kinda combine this answer with an anon i should have responded to weeks ago “i've noticed you dislike harry, especially recently with him promoting his new music, but i'm not sure how/why it started exactly. could you explain??”

for me now it’s that i don’t like harry and that’s a position i’ve come to over the course of the past 2-3 years and i think i can break that evolution down into two broad categories: his relation to zayn (both pre- and post-march 2015) and how he has approached going solo (again both pre- and post-1d going on a break).

and what’s most important about these two for me is that it is hard to explain away his actions in these categories as Harry Styles™; these are HIS choices, HIS words, HIS actions thus forcing me to dislike harry styles the person

for the sake of people’s dashes i’m putting a read more, but for those interested i’ve written a novel explaining these categories in more detail below (deadass i just copied it all into word and it’s 1500 words long..... im-.....)

1) how harry relates to zayn

i list his relation to zayn first because i truly believe this says something about his character. he has done things specifically re: zayn that have nothing to do with how he’s been branded in 1d or how the media has portrayed him; his actions that im going to discuss and that have most negatively affected my view of him are all on harry styles the person

it really started in the summer of 2014 when he waved the inflatable hammer of israel around at a concert during a time of heightened tensions between israel and palestine (and by heightened tensions i mean more war crimes and atrocities committed by the apartheid-esque occupational regime of israel). he asked those fans for that hammer, he is the one who has multiple zionist connections and could easily be considered a zionist himself. that’s on harry styles the person. meanwhile zayn tweets #FreePalestine shortly after that and is abused off of twitter. i recognize that the (racist) double standard here is not coming directly from harry but he benefits from it (and always has) and he plays into it and i can’t even imagine how zayn felt as a muslim man having to sit and watch his bandmate get a free pass for supporting a genocidal regime while he is eviscerated for one tweet of support. harry’s role in all this was the first moment i truly began to dislike him as a person

then we have his actions after zayn left. i will never claim to know what went down. im not sure we will ever know the whole ‘truth’ of zayn leaving and i’ve always said there’s shades of grey, no clear right and wrong, good and bad. it was messy but the bottom line is that zayn left (at least in part) because he was in an unhealthy state both mentally and physically and no one deserves that. so for all that the remaining four may have been justifiably hurt, confused, angry, etc. at things we can’t even possibly know about or understand re: zayn leaving, zayn deserves to be happy and healthy and people need to respect that. i do not think harry (nor his fans) respected that or zayn himself at all in the wake of him leaving. harry’s actions during mitam promo was, in my opinon, the most egregious and blatantly disrespectful. all four of them demonstrated sadness and/or bitterness at times but harry’s behavior (such as saying the ‘paperwork’ was the hardest part of z leaving, kicking a z mask off the stage, etc.) came across to me as petty, immature, spiteful and mean-spirited. it was not a spite that i saw in the other three. as a ztan (and also just a decent human?) i lost a lot of respect for harry in those months. i think these actions showed his true colors and those are not colors which i like very much.

also i’ve discussed this a bit on this blog but with the benefit of hindsight i do believe that a lot of those bitter actions re: zayn came from a selfish place of anger at zayn for ‘beating’ him to the solo game and from a place of ‘i’m going to villainize this person in order to make myself look better now and down the line.’ i think that was ‘proven’ for me when the build up for harry’s solo material included a LOT of very intentional mentions and comparisons to zayn. obviously that was something the media and people were going to do anyway but it was to a degree that felt sanctioned and encouraged; i think that comparison and that emphasis of ‘zayn as the evil judas who left, harry as the one who stayed until it was time’ was part of harry and his teams promo strategy (that backfired when SOTT flopped compared to pillowtalk, hence why i think those comparisons in big outlets have ceased, but i digress)... that’s a lot more of my own interpretation and my own reading of the info i have so it’s not as concrete as the stuff above but it does factor into my personal view of harry annnnnd it also connects nicely to my second point

2) his solo approach

now this is a more complex issue, and more of it *could* be attributed to Harry Styles™ but im going to preface my discussion by saying that harry chose his team. he’s been hanging with the azoffs on his personal time since 2013, his friendship with jeff has always been in our faces, he’s very clearly in the driver’s seat of his career at the moment, just as niall and liam appear to be (louis is a different and extremely nuanced conversation). he’s been angling towards his solo career for YEARS and while i don’t necessarily think that in and of itself is a bad thing (everyone in bands esp boy bands does that kind of forward thinking), i think the way he has gone about it is by stepping on his four bandmates in one way or another and i think that’s really fucking shitty. he has leveraged the existing Harry Styles™ frontman, standout image to catapult himself into this weird realm of ‘im above everything, im too cool, im already a legend’ promo.

on top of that kind of broad stroke stuff, some of his specific actions are just......... eye-roll worthy. i mean think about what the FIRST thing he did was after 1D went on a break? yachtgate. you can brush that off as a stunt all you want (and obviously in many ways it was) but it was a stunt that encouraged a certain solo harry narrative. it helped solidify him as the a-lister of the band hanging with jenners on fancy boats. it helped solidify him as a ‘star in his own right’ signing contracts and paperwork with jeff. it was a stunt that HELPED harry.

this is kind of a digression but i do think it’s important to note the nuanced difference between harry and louis’ ‘stunts.’ totally disregarding conversations of ‘real or fake,’ if we look at the major ‘stunts’ harry and louis have undertaken in their careers (and within this im including anything that could be construed as their ‘personal life’ being projected publicly i.e. eleanor, danielle, babygate, taylor swift, kendull jenner, etc.) harry’s stunts have always boosted his public image while louis’ have always hurt his. i know that’s an EXTREMELY broad and generalizing brush to paint with and im not trying to say that harry’s image has always been ‘good’, i remember the womanizer days i cant even imagine how much that hurt him and it sucks. but basically harry’s stunts have always made him more famous, putting him in an increasingly better position to convert Harry Styles™ into solo success. louis’ stunts have consistently done the opposite, giving him a SERIOUS uphill battle when it comes to the general public and mainstream media acknowledging his solo endeavors.

this is a discrepancy that exists between harry and ALL the boys, not just with louis (though the gulf between them is the most... extreme i’d say). harry has always been positioned above liam, niall and zayn too, and what i have a problem with is how that is being leveraged and leaned into rather than dispelled. harry could easily take the approach niall has which is constantly recognizing the good that one direction did for him. even if he didn’t want to be so overt he could have at least tried to be as polite and gracious as zayn was, who while recognizing that he wanted to do his own thing and his own music was very conscious to acknowledge the good bits of 1D. instead we have this weird almost antagonistic approach in his (sparse) interviews wherein it feels like harry treats 1d as this thing that was holding him back, something he is now free of. it’s a pretentiousness that i dont appreciate

the final thing i’ll add in this section is in how he and his team are treating the fans that he does have. i am not one of those people but at times i feel quite bad? and sorry? for harries who are investing their time and money and effort into an artist who seems hell bent on ignoring them. this aloofness is demonstrated on his social media, i mean has he taken time to interact with or thank fans once????? the whole tour ticket debacle sounds horrendous and im sorry for fans that don’t get to go because harry and his team bungled it. there’s just a distinct...... disrespect for the fans he was bringing with him from the 1D days and that’s frustrating.

#good lord this got long and out of hand #im glad to have written it down tho #feel cathartic haha #Anonymous

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bl0nd3-amb1t1on · 7 years ago

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Blog Post #3

In this blog I will be covering the last third of the semester which includes chapters seven to chapter 10 and the corresponding reading assigned. The point of this paper is to pick out the main points discussed in all the readings and how they can be applied in a real life setting, also to explain how they have made an impact on our daily lives.

Starting with the terms and ideas covered in chapter 7 and Kim’s article titled the influences of sporting viewing conditions on enjoyment from watching televised sports: An analysis of the FIFA World Cup audiences in theater vs. home. In this chapter we focus on the reception context which refers to both a physical place and the web of interpersonal relationships and interactions that occur within that space (Sullivan p. 163) and the rituals in which people use media. A media ritual can consist of the time, place and atmosphere in which audiences consume media (Sullivan p. 178). An example that I have that relates to media rituals is that certain days of the week and at certain times, a television series I am interested in while premiere a new episode. I plan my day around watching the new episode. I make sure I am at home either comfy on the couch under a blanket or even in my room lying in bed with the television on. If for some reason I cannot be home during the time the show is playing, usually because I have class during that time I PVR the episode and watch it as soon as I get home. This example also relates to the idea of spatial or physical context as this is known as the concrete, physical dimensions of the location in which the audience consumes media (Sullivan p. 163). In the example given, for watching Television or movies my preferred physical context is somewhere I can be comfortable while consuming media, such as at home. In the case where not being able to watch the show as it is being aired relates to the term time-shifting, since the integration of new web based technologies there is the rise of the digital video recorder where one can record the show and watch it whenever they have time (Sullivan p. 165). Along with spatial context there is the idea of social contexts, the multifaceted space that includes people typically loved one and friends, relationships and memories of past experiences (Sullivan p. 163). An example of this could be when my mom and I get together on certain nights of the week to watch certain television shows. Currently it is a ritual that we get together on the couch on Wednesday nights and watch the new episode of Survivor.

According to the Kim’s article there is a certain impact on the physiological response made by the atmosphere in which an audience consumes their media. In their study they take an approach to see how different venues of watching sports, give the audience different viewing experiences (Kim, K., et al. p. 390). They consider the multiple factors involved in a viewing experience between watching sports in your home versus in a theatre, this considers not only technological factors but also the social factors that drive sports viewing. These factors include “the screen size, image quality, and audio quality […] also social factors such as cheering atmosphere” (Kim K., et al. p. 390).

In chapter 8 we discuss the idea of fans and fandoms and how the impact audiences. The fan by definition is often used to describe a religious member, belonging to the temple, a devotee (Sullivan p. 192). And often seen in media there are several genres that appeal to many different types of audiences. A way to increase a fans devotion to a franchise is to find ways to involve the fans, either from the franchise themselves or fans create ways themselves and get the idea out using social media. According to Sullivan, this can be referred to as social aspect of being a fan in which fans of the media come together in either a formal or informal structure to share their mutual interest (p. 195). An example from an informal structure of fans getting together is back in 2015 when Zayn decided to leave the band One Direction, the rest of the group continued with the tour and finished what they had started. Since the fans are connected via social media that most common one is Twitter we could easily share information and contact other fans. We had made a group for the Toronto tour date and agreed to make signs to hold up during a particular song that would be played during the concert. Some fans even made extras to make sure that everyone had one, once we entered the venue there was a sign placed on every seat. The band saw the signs and was very grateful that we stuck with them during this hard time. Another theme that follows fans and even applies to the example of One Direction is fan fiction, original stories about media texts written by fans that often include actual characters from the text. The two types of fan fiction is where the writer writes themselves into the story to interact with the original characters, and the second being where the writer explores sexual relationships among the characters (Sullivan p. 204). Any franchise has these types of fan fiction, looking at the TV show Supernatural Fans of the franchise are obsessed with a sexual relationship between one of the main characters Dean and an angel Castiel. Most of the fan fiction relating to the show is what the internet world often refers to as ‘smut’ in which the writing is very graphic between the characters. Others could be where the writer allows themselves and the readers to insert themselves in the lives of the characters. For example, there are short stories called Imagines where the writer gives the audience a potential scene that could happen to them involving their favourite characters.

Fans often have a collection of merchandise and memorabilia related to the franchise (Sullivan p. 208), they can collect action figures, comic books, and many more items. Every time I go to a concert before the concert starts I make sure to bring enough money with me to buy merchandise at the concert hall, whether it’s t-shirts or jewelry, it’s something to help remember the night later on, and where the shirt after the concert is a way of finding other fans.

Fans play a crucial role in the creation and continuation of a franchise, according to Booth “Fans’ engagement at multiple nodes within the production process portends a consequential role in the production of the media object” (p. 151). It’s because of fans that there is a financial gain to creating more material. For example Doctor Who originally aired in 1963 and continued into 1989, with only 2 episodes airing between then and the revival in 2005. Since the revival there has been a large demand for the show to continue, between the original fans from when the show first sired to new fans that started with the newer episodes and eventually watched all of them.

In chapter 9 we focus on interactive audiences and how digital media has changed the way in which fandoms work. Since the widespread digitization of media Sullivan discusses two major trends are shifting for audiences: audience fragmentation and audience autonomy. Audience fragmentation occurs because audiences are being separated into smaller and smaller groups due to the increase in media channels, and audience autonomy refers to contemporary characteristics of media, ranging from interactivity to mobility to on-demand functionality increased the capacity for user-generated content; all serve to enhance the affect that audiences have over media content (Sullivan p. 217). In audience autonomy we came across the term user-generated content which is where audience can interact with the media and create their own experience, often used in video games such as World of Warcraft. Even on other media platforms there is ways that user-generated content can be created. YouTube being one of the largest platforms where users can meld their own individual ideas of popular media by using small portions of existing media and creating new and interesting media, this is often referred to as remixing (Sullivan p. 221). It is also where users can upload vlogs (Sullivan p. 221), where the user talks directly into the Camera with little editing. They often include comments from previous videos or even other social media platforms or can even show video clips from previous video the user has posted.

Twitter according to Wasike is particularly worth studying because of its uniqueness for interaction and its prowess as an adept news breaking tools (Wasike, p. 7). While many social media platforms have the ability to reach large audiences, Twitter is best for interactional purposes. It also allows social media editors to post to multiple readers and have them respond with information in a short period of time (Wasike p. 7). An example of this would be the terrorist attacks in Paris November 13th 2014. I was sitting on the couch while my parents were out for dinner, when the news broke of the tragedy that had struck a concert in Paris. While I had the news playing to give me updates I also had Twitter up on my laptop because I was receiving updates a lot quicker from Twitter than I was from the news stations. There were people living tweeting as the attack was happening to let any family, friends or followers that were checking in on them, that they were safe. It was a fast and easy way to communicate with people all over the world to get access to the news as it was happening.

Finally chapter 10, we recover some of the major themes brought up in the textbook and how they will continue to change the way in which audiences use and interact with media. Transmedia production “refers to the coordinated use of multiple platforms to craft a narrative” (Sullivan p. 241). This opens ups the option for the audience to interact with the producers of a media text. For example, while watching the live broadcasting of a television season finale, living tweeting your reactions to the events that take place has become the norm. Seeing hundreds of people tweeting their reactions and watching as the hashtag associated with the shows starts trending so you can see in real time how people react and how many people are watching. Even in some cases, with media being as accessible as it is, it also allows people to avoid certain media content that they find offensive (Sullivan p. 243). The idea that on social media if someone is being disrespectful or just has an opinion that you cannot agree with you can easily block them.

Now the idea is trying to determine where exactly media goes from here. Does the audience become even more active? Do we stay at the level we have already attained? Or do we regress into being more of a passive audience? While Astigarraga argues that “active audience of traditional media has probably been pushed as far as it can go, […] interactive media [referring to the internet] put such activity at the center of both media design and media use” (p. 135), one must agree that as it stands it hard to see how audience could be any more active, we have the ability to see media content as it happens, how could we possibly improve on this? But then again, if we were able to go back in time and tell someone how audience would behave in today’s modern era, no one would think it was possible. Ultimately there is no way to definitively tell what the future hold for audiences with media content.

#audience studies #3P18 #blog post

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geektified · 8 years ago

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The SmackDown Files: The Kevin Owens Is The NEW Face Of America By Way Of Canada Edition (5-2-2017)

By: Keila Cash

Hello everyone and welcome to another installment of The SmackDown Files. Tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live emanated from Fresno State University. Payback might’ve been a Raw exclusive PPV, but SD Live was represented as Randy Orton faced Bray Wyatt in a House of Horrors match that lived up to its namesake in the worst possible way while Chris Jericho became a member of the blue brand when he defeated Kevin Owens to become the new United States Champion.

With Jericho going on tour with Fozzy later this week, one can only assume that his reign as US Champ will be a short one. Was I proven right or did Y2J have another surprise up his sleeve? The answer to that question can be found throughout this blog. Without further ado, let’s dissect tonight’s show in no particular order.

Shane McMahon welcomed Chris Jericho to SD Live since he defeated Kevin Owens at Payback to become the new United States Champion. Jericho came out and got a hero’s welcome and vowed to defeat Owens tonight in their rematch.

AJ Styles made his way to the ring and reminded Jericho that he put SD Live on the map last year. Styles brought up their history as a short-lived tag team with a t-shirt emblazoned with Y2AJ to make things official. Y2J turned on Styles after losing to the New Day last year on Raw which resulted in a WrestleMania match between the two which saw Jericho come out on top.

Style had no problem taking the US Title from Jericho at Backlash if he was able to get past Owens tonight. Jericho was about to put Styles on the LIST for doubting his ability to beat his former best friend when KO’s music hit.

Owens insulted that McMahon, Jericho, and Styles and told the Phenomenal One to get out of his ring. Styles took his advice and attacked Owens on the ramp which led to a back and forth brawl until WWE officials broke things up as the opening segment came to an end.

This was a fine way to start the show. Jericho was entertaining on the mic and WWE did a nice job playing into the history of Jericho and Styles from last year. The odds of both men facing off the US Title is slim, but acknowledging their past was smart because it does tease a potential feud down the road.

Owens was the surly heel who hated everyone and played his role to perfection as well. Overall, this made me look forward to the main event while putting some much-needed shine on the US Title as well.

Jinder Mahal defeated Sami Zayn with the Cobra Clutch in a decent match. Mahal was in control for the most part, but Zayn had a burst of offense flurry down the stretch.

Zayn had Mahal in position for the Helluva Kick, but Singh Brother A pulled Mahal out of the way. Zayn re-thought his strategy and tried to do a flip dive on the outside, but Singh Brother B grabbed his leg which led to the finish.

Mahal’s wrestling was fine, but it’s not eye-catching or exciting. As I mentioned last week, his true test will come when he faces Orton for the WWE Championship at Backlash in a few weeks. We shall see if he steps up his game on the big stage.

Tye Dillinger made quick work of Aiden English when he pinned English with the Tye Breaker. It appears that English had a nervous breakdown after the match because he was weeping and pulling his hair out. Perhaps singing a song from Hamilton will lift his spirits.

English’s night got worse when Chris Jericho put him on the LIST for crying like a baby on his new show. Jericho also put Renee Young on the LIST for no apparent reason.

Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina Snuka attacked Charlotte backstage after she got the jump on Natalya first. They slammed her into some equipment items moments before her tag team match with Naomi. They really know how to welcome a girl to a new show by giving her an ass whopping as a housewarming gift.

Natalya and Carmella defeated Naomi and Charlotte when Carmella pinned Naomi with a roll-up thanks to a yank of the tights.

Naomi fought valiantly on her own until the numbers game caught up to her. Charlotte eventually made her way to the ring, but the backstage beat down left her at less than 100%.

She made the hot tag to Naomi and the SmackDown Women’s Champion went to work on Carmella. Naomi had Carmella beat with The Rearview, but Natalya distracted the referee which prevented him from making the three-count.

Naomi nailed Natalya with an Enzuigiri, but James Ellsworth provided another distraction which led to the finish.

Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina continued to attack Naomi and Charlotte until Becky Lynch slowly made her way to the ring.

It appeared that Lynch was going to join the heels as she shook their hands in a sign of camaraderie. Ellsworth was waiting for his handshake, but Lynch tossed him into Tamina instead.

Lynch’s decision came back to bite her as the trio of mean girls laid her out as well before heading backstage.

This was a good way to put heat on the heels once again. The babyfaces have to fight through adversity in order to take out the Bitter Brigade at Backlash.

Also, this will give fans a reason to cheer for Charlotte because she has been humbled in recent weeks. She has to cut back on The Queen speak, but I believe her improvement as a talker will make the transition from heel to face easier to digest.

Dolph Ziggler defeated Sin Cara when he nailed the high-flying Luchador with a Superkick for the win. The match was solid as Sin Cara had a chance to shine, but the outcome was never in doubt because Ziggler is being groomed for a match against Shinsuke Nakamura at Backlash.

I have to admit that The Fashion Files Segment featuring Breezango was cute.

Kevin Owens regained the United States Championship when he dropped Chris Jericho with the Popup Powerbomb in a good main event match.

Owens and Jericho told a nice story in the ring as Jericho targeted Owens’ injured hand while KO was in survival mode by escaping the Walls of Jericho on a couple of occasions.

The momentum swung in KO’s favor when Jericho slid out of the ring only for Owens to nail him with a Superkick followed by a DDT on the floor. Jericho never recovered from the spot which led to the finish.

Jericho was nursing his neck as EMTs tended to him in the ring. Noticing that he had an opening, Owens attacked Jericho and laid him out with another Popup Powerbomb before heading backstage.

Jericho was helped out of the ring, but Owens attacked him while he was heading up the ramp. KO grabbed a steel chair from behind the barricade and threatened to hit Jericho with it. Instead, he wrapped the chair around Y2J’s neck and rammed him into the ring post.

Jericho coughed up a spittle of blood while Owens marveled at his handiwork as SD Live went off the air.

This was Jericho’s farewell injury angle because he is heading back tour with Fozzy this weekend. Y2J likes to leave in a blaze of glory while giving the rub to someone else on the way out. Owens fits the bill perfectly which should give KO good heel heat moving forward.

Jericho will be back someday and one can only assume that he will get a measure of revenge on his former best friend.

In the meantime, Owens has a US Title match against AJ Styles at Backlash in a few weeks. They already have built-in heat which will serve both men well heading into the championship bout in Chicago. The atmosphere should be electric with the in-ring action pushing things over the top.

Overall, I thought tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live was decent at best. The wrestling portion of the broadcast was nothing special outside of the main event. It was a heel heavy night in terms of outcomes as the trio of Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina wiped out the babyfaces for the second week in a row. Jinder Mahal, Dolph Ziggler, and Kevin Owens picked up wins while Tye Dillinger was the saving grace in terms of a face escaping certain doom by beating Aiden English.

In many ways, this felt like a maintenance show because the crew has to catch a flight to Glasgow, Scotland to kick off the SD Live European Tour later this week. With next week being a taped show in London, WWE really has to turn up the volume in terms of hype because the following Tuesday is the go-home show for Backlash and they need to have all of their ducks in a row to make sure that this PPV doesn’t die on a vine like Payback. Let’s hope the company takes care of business because SD Live feels less must-see since the Superstar Shakeup.

On that note, this wraps up another edition of The SmackDown Files. I hope you enjoyed it and I will be back next week with a brand new installment of The Raw Exposé. See you later, boys and girls!

#AJ Styles #Becky Lynch #Carmella #Charlotte #Chris Jericho #Kevin Owens #Naomi #Natalya #Smackdown Live #Tamina Snuka #WWE #WWE Universe

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