#for me personally I'd way rather be in a regular hectic fast paced barricade situation even if the touches were a little hard

[statementlou]

Hi~ can I add something to your tag #Louis being so emotionally intelligent makes me jealous? Tbh, I'm in awe that Louis didn't not react about this like the fan touch him ever so gently and he isn't bothered by it at all, he's just "I'll let them have this" and that's it... I cannot fathom it at all

it wasn't me who tagged that! maybe someone else on my post? But in any case, I love the gentle patting so much, I love that Louis can put trust out there and have people rise to meet the occasion you know? I feel like he understands that when you indicate that you trust people, rather than acting like you expect them to fuck up, they will be motivated to live up to it, which makes sense cause it's such a dealing with kids skill and he's got those as we know. TBH there are a lot of ways I feel like he views and treats the fans as a big undifferentiated mob of younger sisters, and seeing him at barricade just reinforces it for me- I know people want to see it as a sexy thing, but I don't see Louis acting that way at all, I see him giggling like he's being mauled by puppies and just generally treating everyone the same indulgent way he does kids.

Anyway I think Louis loves getting into the crowd, gentle or otherwise (when he's sound enough to tolerate more vigorous contact), rather than it being a thing he allows us as a treat. I can't really imagine what it would feel like to be the focus of that kind of mass adoration, but based on experiences I do have I know the way being physically embraced by a crowd feeling extremes of joy and excitement and connection can be an unbelievable high. Being onstage and everyone loving you is too, I'm sure, but there's something about the physical contact- I don't think he does it for the fans at all, but for himself, and he's said so besides. That rush of communal joy and adrenalin, there's nothing like being physically in the middle of it and carried by it and I imagine being the focal point of it besides, the epicenter, is just amplified x100. He's said it's his favorite part of the show and I think he just really wanted to do it even if it was a watered down version or risked a little pain because he knew it was going to be ages til he could again and he wanted to!