we need to talk about Pathetic! at the Disco
I'm realizing that Pathetic at the Disco might be responsible for way too much of the inaccurate info & misperceptions in the modern P!ATD fandom.
I know this isn't a Big Issue in the grand scheme of everything going on in the world, and maybe people have already addressed Pathetic's account elsewhere idk, but I still want to leave this post here on my account just in case it can maybe help a few people avoid the unnecessary mess of confusion that Pathetic's posts might create. If their account didn't have many followers or if people weren't citing their posts like legit info about the band, then I would say who cares what they're doing. People are free to say whatever they want and I don't want to sound like some kind of mean gatekeeper (because that sucks the fun out of a fandom and none of us are perfect). However, this particular situation is different. Pathetic's main "lore" posts have thousands of notes. Here was their follower count in 2019:
They appear to have started their account in 2017 and openly admit that they were not around during the pre-split years, yet are attempting to educate others about that time period. Not a big deal. I don't even think it's that big of an issue that their research is absolutely terrible because it's easy to fix inaccurate facts. But sometimes there aren't many actual facts & real-life info in their posts to work with! Their posts are often a bunch of assumptions and wrong conclusions loosely tied together in an attempt to further the emotional impact of whatever dramatic narrative they decided to create. Here are a couple examples of their posts... some of them I reblogged and then added my thoughts onto:
they literally changed the plot of spring 2009
Lollapalooza was not a tragic trainwreck wtf
re: their take on Myrtle Beach
their VMA post is an odd angle
Normal events in real life usually won't have a tidy plot arc with a battle to be won, or people who fall into the simplistic roles/tropes of characters. The Panic guys irl are complex, multifaceted humans who change & grow. But they seem to have been reduced to caricatures on Pathetic's account and cast into some kind of soap opera roles basically??
So their main Pathetic at the Disco account links to their other accounts:
Up first, we have Brendon. Their account for him is literally called "Psychopath! at the Disco" and has decided that the main categories for Brendon should be "misogyny, abusive tendencies, and boundary issues:"
So... that's a choice. They've created an extremely narrow presentation of a simplistic villain character (who ironically is reduced to some of the very labels that a chunk of the fandom would have categorized Ryan in during 2009. I'm not saying that's at all true btw — just pointing out the irony). Even if this particular account is somehow all just a joke that I'm missing, it's still a very strange choice since Pathetic acts like they're giving you real & unbiased info about the band. Like this is the actual header:
Definitely no agenda there haha. My personal opinion about Brendon isn't affecting my judgement here; this particular account is just really poorly done no matter what. There's also no substance. I reblogged a few of their posts to add onto, but in general this account kind of discredits itself with no effort.
Ok moving on to Jon & Spencer, who for some reason have to share an account? 😂
So Jon & Spencer seem to have been reduced to the sidekick characters whose main traits are being funny & a troll... like some kind of comedy duo in the background? That is so sad omg. Also, why is Pathetic trying to recap pre-split events, yet they view Jon & Spencer as being under-appreciated?? I guess they're projecting their own perceptions from years after the split? Anyways, this is the header:
Ok moving on to Ryan. It seems like Pathetic at the Disco is their Ryan account? And here's the header:
The whole tone is SO weirdddd. After going through their posts, it seems like they're portraying Ryan like some kind of poor, fragile child who has very little agency? Like an underdog who's been perpetually victimized or something idk. There's a clear angle.
Again, a complex reality is thrown out the window in favor of whatever simplistic dramatic narrative that they want to create. I'm starting to understand how people who were looking for info around 2017-2018 might have concluded that Brendon was the villain, Jon & Spencer were neglected sidekicks, and Ryan was some poor mistreated hero who needs to be saved.
And that's not even taking into account Pathetic's actual POSTS that are full of misinformation and flagrantly irresponsible assumptions. Those posts have directly shaped part of the modern fandom's understanding of P!ATD members and events... so this matters.
Here's my tag for some of their other posts that I've added onto.
