#i donut get the tragedy over louis's career as a solo artist

[jlf23tumble]

jen, can i have some advice? how dont i get to involve with fandom till it gets too toxic? tbh i dont care anymore about stunts or hearing about it but something that really worries me is Louis having success. Like i worry about his sales and eventhough its not about #1's and beating records Im afraid that as a solo artist he wont get to do great things, he deserves all the succes in the world and seeing him not get the recognizition that the other boys get makes me upset, Especially when (1/2)

you compare it with Harry's number and how incredibly wide there gap in sales are. And I saw how vile people were to Liam and how they cheered eachother on when they did (twits were getting a ton of traction cause they managed to make it to my nonfandom twitter trending page) with ton of rts and likes so Im afraid that if he doesnt get that success he wont get to do stuff like tour more or do more albums...i just dont think its fair what he's been handed when i think that he deserves more (2/2)

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Hello! I actually have some amazing advice for you:

Time to clean your dash and replace the hand-wringing wankfest with blogs that are genuinely supportive of Louis’s career (I have recs if you need some, any blog that’s complaining or despairing on Louis’s behalf right now...idk what you need, man, the good stuff is happening??).

Ditto twitter...there are a lot harries trolls who crow triumphantly when they perceive anyone in One Direction “failing” because they need that validation on some level, but the sooner they overcome the boyband fan stigma, the better for everyone (twitter is garbage, but you can follow people who celebrate Louis, you can follow fans of the rest of them who aren’t dicks, I never pay attention to what’s “trending” on twitter because it’s targeted at you and your self-selected interests, not the world, believe me, the world isn’t that tuned into who said what about Liam).

Don’t compare Louis to anyone else, especially anyone in One Direction, he doesn’t deserve it, and it’s not fair to him, them, OR you. All five of them are in different stages of their careers, all five have different goals, problems, setbacks, audiences, teams, demographics. Yes, HS2 is making great numbers, actually a lot more than HS1...so zooming out, what do you think will happen with LT2? (I don’t remember HS1 being no. 1 in so many countries in its first 24 hours, but even if I’m wrong, Louis’s success in one fucking DAY has been incredible).

You don’t get paid to worry about charts and numbers, and it doesn’t sound like it’s a hobby you enjoy for fun, so why are you torturing yourself over it? Why does it even matter, you can prove ANYTHING with charts and stats, and Louis himself has said he’s not focusing on that, so why should anyone else?? Especially people not paid to care on that level!

I’m going to remind everyone AGAIN that Louis has dealt with not one but two unspeakable family tragedies, both of which set back his career and his life. Nobody seemingly likes to acknowledge it, but the fact that he’s out there and WINNING is major, and he’s had a big delay vs. everyone else, but that’s okay??? Like, Louis in 2020 is where Harry and Niall were in 2017, and I don’t know how to tell you how time works, but you gotta keep that in perspective and maybe have some empathy.

I feel like there’s a chunk of this fandom that lives in some bizarro world where up is down and green is blue because there’s no way Louis Tomlinson is not going to get the chance to do more albums and tours, he’s not a struggling indie artist, he’s an incredibly successful musician and songwriter (both in a band and on his own) who has made millions of dollars for himself and billions of dollars for record companies. He’s a known commodity, he has a loyal fanbase, he’s hit no. 1 all over the place, this is actually a slam dunk? I mean, what the actual fuck, in what world is any of that a negative??? Hello??

Again, this feels like it comes back to comparing Harry and Louis, and making it seem like Harry is untouchably successful while Louis weeps in his threadbare sweaterpaws because he only sold 10 million copies instead of 11 million, and that’s simply not the case. If you want to avoid toxic, terrible feelings, 2020 is your year, bb, if you’re seeing this kind of neg talk, unfollow, step away. Louis *does* deserve the world, he also deserves fans who can see and appreciate what he’s overcome and who are ready to support him as he starts his solo career, which starts now, not in 2017. Well, actually, it started yesterday, but the point is, he hasn’t “lost,” so it’s time to drop that kind of thinking. I’m literally so happy that none of the five members of One Direction are carbon copies of the rest of them, but I guess that’s an unpopular onion, lmao