The twt fans are so disturbing, going to multiple Atta Boy shows and behaving the way they do. I wonder how much longer the band will be able to do this with how weird and parasocial people are.
okay, because i received an ask about it, i’m going to say something.
i think things have been majorly blown out of proportion. yes, some fans do cross boundaries, i get that. but some are just a little overbearing and that’s it. many of them are young and while that isn’t an excuse, i think back to how i behaved in fandom spaces in my early 20s and i was also that way. again, not an excuse, but it’s just the way things are and i don’t foresee that ever changing. people act how they act, no amount of callout posts will change that. the issue is, i’m seeing a lot of hearsay and accusations that are not backed up with proof. just because you see something doesn’t mean it’s true. and that’s what i think happened with the discord, either people made jokes or comments that others perceived as “parasocial” or they took the comments seriously when they actually weren’t that serious. therefore, things got a bit overblown. i think it comes from a place of protectiveness toward lew and the band, which is a noble intention for sure, but the thing is…they’re fine. in fact i think that we are more concerned than the band themselves are. they know people are going to approach them. otherwise they wouldn’t hang out in the area before shows and eat dinner outside where they are fully visible. but i digress.
that being said, i have seen a lot of gatekeeping behavior in regard to the band, complaining that people are only there for lewis. and no doubt that many people are there for him specifically, but if they are, so what? the band is still receiving support, people are still paying for tickets. so what’s the problem? i will be fully honest when i say the only reason i know the band exists is because of lew. and that is the case for many others, so i’m not sure why this holier than thou mindset is being touted when the reality is most of us wouldn’t know atta boy existed if we weren’t into lew. personally i believe the band knows that lew is part of the attraction. but that’s a different point altogether.
i also want to say that being excited about meeting lewis isn’t a bad thing, but i’ve noticed that people are villainizing these young fangirls for just wanting to meet the guy they adore. to my knowledge no one threatened lew, no one tried to hurt him. he gets awkward fan interactions all the time, i’m sure he’s used to it. if he was truly uncomfortable he would stop doing it. he’s a big boy who can handle some discomfort, it won’t kill him. besides…people are generally very respectful, the vast majority are not weird to his face. there’s only a few weirdos at each show and he seems to handle them very gracefully.
i will say that the behavior i’ve seen online has freaked me out much worse than fans being awkward to him in person. callouts, cyberstalking, outright lies (about lewis himself and about other fans), badmouthing other fans to the gossip blog…it’s all just as bad, if not worse, as the behavior they’re hellbent on calling out. when we start infighting and pointing fingers, it fractures fandoms and pits people against each other. i renounce that behavior and will not participate in dogpiling or badmouthing other fandom members who are just a little overly excited to meet their favorite blorbo.
