And a few more of your least favorite things

[exsequar]

I don't quite understand why bandom is looked at with such disdain by so many people. Never before have I felt so supremely judged simply for taking part in a specific fandom. I don't see this one as any different from any of my others - in fact, it's kind of Jsquared to the nth power. And I thought we were all gay friendly around here? So what is it about boys acting somewhat feminine that freaks people out? I just don't understand it. Does the music somehow not come up to some obscure standards? Are they too young? What is it that makes this fandom the subject of so much persecution? I've never been reluctant to post about a fannish obsession of mine before, and I kind of hate it.

This is just another set of boys. Another set of boys who love each other a lot, a lot a lot, and aren't afraid to show it. Another set of boys to write beautiful, funny, heartbreaking, gorgeous stories about, stories that reach out and touch you. Another set of boys to ogle and drool over and giggle at and flail about every time there's a new picture of them completely ignoring the concept of personal space. It's just more boys. So why does fandom at large make me feel ashamed?

I just had to get that out of my system. Moving on!

I did a lot of shopping today, and it was fun! My mom's fiance got me a $30 gift certificate to Borders, so I went and shop shop shopped, it was so much fun! I ended up with quite the haul:

• "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace - This author came to give a talk at my school last year, and oh, he was wonderful. I read one of his short stories before he came and he's so FUNNY! Incisively brilliant, too. This is his long novel and it was at a really good price so I couldn't resist.
  
• "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman - I've been wanting to read this one for a long time. I loved lyra_wing's Supernatural AU based on this, so I bet I'm going to love the book too.
  
• "Invisible Monsters" by Chuck Palahniuk - Damn you Ryan Ross! I probably won't like it, but who knows.
  
• Sci Fi magazine, with Katee Sackhoff on the cover (KATEE! ♥) and containing the fall TV preview.

Yay! So essentially I'm set on reading material for the next, oh, year. I've been reading so slowly lately, sigh.

I also took my sister to Staples for her school supplies, and then to various clothing stores for school clothes. I got myself some cute long sleeved things for Ireland, including a couple hooded tops because hoods = love. Even if they're not quite hoodies *g* So that was a fun afternoon, just us girls!


EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

*deep breath* Okay. Okay. So videos are simply exploding onto the internets from the two Decaydance fest shows recently - Cologne (on my BIRTHDAY) and Paris! And at Paris, Brendon fucking Urie dedicated a song to Ryan fucking Ross, who proceeded to look embarassed and pleased and then pull Brendon in for a hug. YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP YOU GUYS. OH MY GOD I LOVE THEM SO MUCH I MIGHT COMBUST. The audio on the video is absolute SHITE, and I'm looking for a better version, but HUG, GUYS, HUG. The beauty starts about 1:05 in. I love how shy and pleased Ryan looks! Eeeeeee!

Other highlights: BRING IT with Gabe William and Travis! Who are all so snuggly together! It's ridonkulously adorable.
Panic! covering The Band's "The Weight" (?) - They do such a beautiful job with this song, I love it.
Panic!'s new song Middle of the Summer - Soooo good. Can I has new album naow? Kthx.
Panic!'s new song Nine in the Afternoon - Ryan introduces it (!) and that's what he calls it! Brendon sounds even better hear than he did at Virgin Fest, and I reeeeally love this song. Like a lot.
Build God Then We'll Talk - It's strange seeing them performing without their costumes and vaudeville troop and elaborate set design, but it's fun to just focus on the boys. You can't hear Ryan very well, alas, but they're as great as always! I love Ryan saying thank you to Paris near the end, and Jon coming over to Brendon's piano at the conclusion. Yay boys!

God, I can't even imagine how I would react to going to one of these shows. RYAN BRENDON JON SPENCER PETE PATRICK JOE ANDY WILLIAM CHIZ SISKY BUTCHER MIKE GABE TRAVIS VICKYT AND MORE ALL IN ONE NIGHT???? *dies* They must be having SO MUCH FUN traveling together!! If we don't get some priceless behind the scenes TAI TV or other videos, I will be muchly disappointed! I love all these boys (and girl!) to such a ridiculous degree. Whee!

Well that's certainly enough out of me, so shutting up now.

Comments

[inlipstickred.livejournal.com]

invisible monsters is one of my absolute favorite books, and was before i even knew ryan ross existed, for whatever that's worth.

DECAYDANCE WEEEEEEEEEEEE.

BOYS WEEEEEEEEEEEE!

don't let anyone give you shit about loving those shiny boys, dude. srsly. ♥

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

It's so hard though, I'm at odds with at least two people that I like and respect a great deal because of my involvement in bandom and I just. I don't know. Fellow fangirls were always the ones I could trust to let me do my thing, and now some of them are criticizing me for my interest? That makes me feel uncomfortable and unsafe in my own little haven. Sigh.

DECAYDANCE OH MY GOD. This whole tour is the best idea EVER, except how it happened a month too early for me to see it. But whatever, VICARIOUS LIVING FTW.

Well I'm certainly willing to give the book a try! I hope I like it!

[rain-dances.livejournal.com]

I don't quite understand why bandom is looked at with such disdain by so many people.

I know, it's quite sad. BUT SCREW THEM. IF THEY DON'T WANT TO LOVE THE SHINY PRETTY BOYS THEN THEY'RE THE ONES MISSING OUT ON INFINITE JOY.

I can't wait to get home so I can watch the Decaydance vids! *squeals* \O/!!!!!!!

[winterweathered.livejournal.com]

I really don't think it has to do with the boys acting feminine. I'd be really surprised if that's the case... since every time Jared wears pink or, you know, wears pigtails, everybody's panties explode.

I think it's the nature of the fandom - specifically, that it's music. People's tastes in music vary SO MUCH. Part of it is also probably about the fact that the bandslash boys are very 'mainstream' at the moment. They're on TRL, etc. I'd bet that when *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys were at their height, popslash got looked down on quite a bit. A lot of fandom favorites tend to be cult hits - like SPN and Veronica Mars - as opposed to MTV-friendly stuff.

This, obviously, is just my personal opinion. I am definitely guilty of giving people crap (in jest) for being in bandom. But for me, it has absolutely nothing to do with the boys acting 'feminine,' and more to do with me being grumpy because all my favorite authors are writing about people I know nothing about.

I've actually never seen a fandom take so many people by storm so quickly! It really seems like in the last six months or so a HUGE portion of my friendslist has gotten into bandom.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

Thank you for answering me candidly and honestly, that's helped clear it up for me a lot. I've had one unpleasant encounter with a good friend who was pretty much strongly offended by the entire bandom aesthetic, so that's why I latched onto that as a sort of turnoff of the fandom. But in a general sense your reason makes much more sense - the mainstreamness turns people off. I, personally, kind of love that they're mainstream because we get interviews and material galore \o/ But I also understand the kneejerk "popular = bad" reaction because I've definitely had that in the past.

But the thing is that we're the *fandom* of these guys. And that is a cult group - we're not the teenyboppers screaming so loud your ears bleed at TRL or whatever. We're treating these guys just like we would any other fandom, and god is it FUN. I definitely understand that their music isn't for everyone, but. There just seems to be such a widespread active antipathy. And it makes me sad in my heart because, god, they're such precious and wonderful people and everyone dismisses them out of hand :(

It really has kind of swept through, hasn't it? I think it's partially the hiatus phenomenon, and bandom doesn't HAVE hiatuses, so it's a good temporary ship to jump to. But there's also their precious little faces! I couldn't resist, myself.

[crediniaeth.livejournal.com]

You are right, bandom is like JSquared. I'm not sure why it has the kind of stigma it does, 'cause it's not like it hasn't been around for years, just different names and faces.

I know I'm not into it because I'm just not into that music, so when my flist pops up with MCR or Panic! or FOB (the closest I ever got was All-American Rejects), it's just another opportunity for me to say "oops, can't participate" and move on.

I'll never fault you for the fandoms you play around in, and I hope that my friends offer me the same courtesy. I know there's plenty of my DW friends who are all "SPN? The Incest Fandom? Ew!" We just agree to disagree. We all play around in different sandboxes, and if bandom floats your boat, go all in sista. :)

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

Bandom is like Jsquared on their gayest day ever, all the time. It's really quite marvelous.

I think bandom is perceived as the realm of the teenybopper, as the commenter above said, because the subjects are so very mainstream, but that doesn't mean the fandom itself is composed of those teenyboppers, you know? I think it's a mistaken conflation of two phenomena that are actually quite separate.

I appreciate your attitude dear, thank you! *huggles* And I hope I'm not boring you too terribly with my ramblings on. They're just so pretty! *g*

[cathybites.livejournal.com]

For me, this whole new era of bandslash grates me because I really don't like the bands. at all. and I fully admit it's because I'm a music snob and look down on them as pseudo-punk wannabes.

Plus I really hate the fake-lesbian ploy for attention, and that doesn't change at all for me just because it's two guys doing it.

That said, I don't really look down on the fans for getting into it. It's just really annoying when it's post after post on my f'list about it. But I've learned the beauty of Adblock, so I've been seeing a lot less of the icons, and I've pretty much trained myself to skip as soon as I see a mention of any of the bands in a post.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

Hm, okay. I guess I can understand that. It just seems odd that for everything else, all fans are content to let each other enjoy everything at will, but when it comes to this it actually offends? I suppose they are a bit extreme, but I don't know. It's not like we've got clips of their music embedded in our posts that play automatically, or something.

As for the ploy for attention...to that I would say that you don't really know them well enough to make that kind of judgment? The Panic! boys put on a fascinating and unique show with elements of vaudeville and circus and all kinds of things. They don't, like, make out with each other for gratuitous attention, far from it in fact. Other bands may be guilty of that (cough, MCR) but I don't really think it's fair to lump them all in to that kind of assessment. And for the record, I think at least Brendon Urie and Gerard Way are mostly if not completely gay, while many of the others have at least bi tendencies, and that's just a function of the scene - it's not going to attract super straight guys in the first place. So while maybe sometimes they play it up for the audience's sake (though I still maintain Panic! really doesn't that much, they just actually have no sense of personal space) it's also just who they are.

I do understand getting annoyed by its prevalence, though. I decided on the whole if-you-can't-beat-them-join-them tack, myself, but then again I've loved the music for years so it was only logical.

[keraha.livejournal.com]

:/ I know what you mean re: people looking down on bandslash. Before getting into it, I didn't think I ever would. I didn't consider myself in the demographic (although I kind of am) and Pete Wentz's dick and guyliner weren't exactly what I was looking for in a fandom. But a few months and many picspams later, here I am, and the fandom is so fantastic that I don't regret it for a second. *shrug* Regardless of genre, people who make music, who use it as an emotional and social outlet, those are people who are have passion. And, for me anyway, passion is really the most attractive thing there is. The boytouching doesn't hurt either. ;D

Aughghg. Decaydance fest! I actually haven't been seeing that many links around, but I think my heart would explode if I went. Panic! And TAI! And everyone! (Speaking of TAI, have you seen the new video for "Everything We Had"? Aside from the pretty colors, William is creepy and there is no Butcher. TRAGIC!)

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

I was trying to resist bandslash for a reeeally long time, because I knew once I caved it would all be over. I've loved the music of Panic!, FOB, and MCR for YEEEARS, and I've always had a thing for guyliner (nnngh) so it was pretty much completely up my alley, which was the problem! *laughs* And sure enough, it has EATEN MY LIFE. But I completely agree, there's so much here to love and be happy with, from those passionate boys (oh my, competence kink like WHOA) to the great fic to lots of fun squealing with friends. I love being here; I just wish there wasn't the taint of disapproval hovering over it all.

DECAYDANCE. Literally the best thing to happen ever :D

I HAVE seen the new video! Just a few minutes ago! And um, you're right, William is creeepy. He has like no emotions on his face, and I must say I thoroughly disapprove of the current incarnation of the mullet. And also, William darling? Stop pretending that song isn't about your breakup with Tom Conrad, KTHX.

Watching the video led me to the new Foo Fighters video though, which meant the new SONG, which OMG LOVE. I think the Foo Fighters are my favorite band of all time, and I reeeeeally love this new song \o/ However, what's hilarious is that in their video, they're performing the song in a big open space, and then, towards the end.... it floods. JUST LIKE RYAN TALKS ABOUT in that one interview (is it on the DVD? maybe) where he's like "we're sick of those boring performance videos where a band plays their song and then the room floods." HAHAHA. Oh Ryan Rossss. Oh Fooooos. *loves on everybody*

[wendy.livejournal.com]

Hey listen. I don't like bandslash and I could give you 100 reasons why. But the fact of the matter is that you DO. And if you had a friend give you serious shit about it then, well. They weren't much of a friend to begin with. That's the real issue here. Not YAY bandslash or NAY bandslash.

Anne, don't let people treat you badly. This obviously has upset you. You have many friends who accept you just the way you are. Isn't that what friendship is about?

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

You've actually kind of hit on what I'm really worried about, that my friends here are only my friends when our interests converge. And that kind of sucks. But it obviously isn't true for the majority of my friends, just the select few, but those few do hurt. I'm glad I said something, though, I'm really appreciating all the reassurances. *hugs* Thanks hon.

[wolfling]

Well I'd never slag anyone's fannish interest, but for me the reason it holds no appeal is the it's real people but it's not thing. I really don't get into RPS of almost any type because there isn't really the same kind of canon you can sink your teeth into for emotional motivations and all. It's pretty much all fanon or surface stuff.

(And yes, I do read some J2 and I have no idea why that particular pairing seems to be the exception that proves the rule of my complete disinterest in RPS.)

But I'm always happy that other people have found things to be squeeful about; bandslash just isn't my cup of squee. ;)

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

Aha. Well that I can certainly understand. I would argue with the emotional motivations thing but that's obviously a matter of opinion and it's certainly true that there isn't as much in depth "canon" material as there is for a show or whatever.

Thanks for not being all judgey :)

[impertinence.livejournal.com]

Fans mocking other fans for the fandoms they choose makes me laugh, because, damn. To the rest of the world, we're all freaks.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

Haha, excellent point. Pot, meet kettle! Or something.

[black-regalia.livejournal.com]

I don't really get how people who like RPS would look down on bandslash...

That's a little weird >>

For me, I'm just kinda creeped out by RPS in general. I don't like JaredxJensen, etc. I don't say bad things to people who like it or bandom, though. I just stay over in my incestuous corner of fandom.

...It's obviously not like I have some kind of moral high ground >>

I can imagine that in interacting with people who don't really get RPS, you might get the feeling they're looking down on you by not participating in your squee -- I often get that feeling, when I'm squeeing and being all dorky, and someone else is over there giving me the 'wtf' eye.

But if there're people out there who write RPS and give you stink over bandslash...Well. That's queer.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

I really don't think it's the RPS factor that people are reacting to negatively, not at all. It's more a combination of things - people disapprove of/strongly dislike the music itself; people think the whole thing's too mainstream; or people only know of Pete Wentz's reputation, which is unfair and terribly skewed by the stupid tabloids. It's a unique blend of things that you either love or hate, I guess.

[mona1347.livejournal.com]

Dude, what? People are actively shitty about the bandom thing? That's lame.

I mean, you know this, but I'm not into it. I'm really picky about RPS in general (b/c I'm oldskool and it still makes me feel a vague sense of stalkery shame - yeah, I know, I'm trying to get over it) and bandslash just doesn't "service" me. But those are MY tastes. I could give a crap what people do, and actually find the whole NSync/Backstreet and now Panic/FOB/etc to be wildly endearing in my fannish sistren. I GET why people are into it, I'm just not.

Jesus, come ON, fandom. THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE! We're big porny geeks who like freaky shit The Mundanes don't understand! Who the hell cares whether it's fictional characters or actors or bands or boybands or boybands who wear eyeliner and glitter or whatthefuck ever? See my icon for more details.

I'm dismayed, though not shocked, especially now at the end of hiatus season, that people are crappy about it. *sighs and eyerolls* You post what you want, babygirl. If they don't like it? They don't have to read it.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

*snuggles into your arms* Yeah they are :( But I don't let my squee get TOO harshed. BECAUSE OMG MY OTP HUGGED ON STAGE LAST NIGHT SERIOUSLY WHAT. Sorry sorry, kind of bursting with joy here ;) Ilu babygirl, and I will keep singing my fangirly song to the heavens, don't you worry.

[(Anonymous)]

For me, the problem with bandom is multi-layered. For one, I find the whole scene and the boys within it to be extremely misogynistic and macho. I don't think dressing up misogyny in eyeliner and tight t-shirts makes it better or any less offensive. Acting gay and being anti-homophobia is all well and good, but the scene itself is fundamentally male and extremely hostile towards women (in every song the girl is either a whore or a goddess, there is no in between), and it seems to be all about privileging the fragile emotions of the sensitive male who has to deal with such "evil bitches". Or worse, privileging the male experience over the general human experience (there have been several good essays on this, including "Emo: Where the Girls Aren't" by Jessica Hopper). I think many people reacting against these boys aren't reacting against them because they act feminine, but because they hide their egotistical macho persona behind a thin veneer of femininity and expect to be called progressive for it.

Secondly, there is the issue of the music itself. Personally, I find it offensive. Music should aspire to be something, to evolve, to achieve something with the language of music itself. Crashing power chords, dynamic range compression, the absence of melody and harmony and structure and anything other than the simplest three chords, and untrained voices set to "whine" is just plain unmusical. It is horrible to me, as a musician, that anyone would make this and pretend it's music, much less that it would be bought and celebrated.

Third is just the image in general. That broad goth/vaudevillian aesthetic lacks any subtlety or self-awareness. It's embarrassing and garish and lacks artistry or thought of any kind, much like the "black paint on my soul" lyrics. I find the scene anti-intellectual, as well.

And I think part of the reason people feel more free to denigrate the idea of bandom is not because they are trying to be mean or judgmental, but because they find these things offensive as well.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

If I know you, well, good job on going anonymous, because I'm not sure I'd want to associate this comment with a friend of mine. If not, please get off my journal and stop implying that I am retarded. Thanks.

[enoughoflove.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I wouldn't know where to find all the happy sparkly glee if it weren't for you.

I wish the sound was better on that Ryan/Brendon one, but it's the best thing ever even with crappy sound.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

Oh you're welcome!! They just make me spin in circles for joy. And we get, what, WEEKS of this amazingness? WTF BOYS. STOP IT YOU'RE GONNA KILL ME.

I hope another video will pop up! Because I want to know if Brendon really dedicated the song to Ryan! And aaaaagh their little FACES and the awkward hug and Ryan's swoony precious happiness and WHAT HOW ARE THEY REAL.

[musical-emjay.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I've seen this sentiment all over my friendslist too. I can take the mocking from my closer LJ friends because I know it's just mocking and it's totally fine, but I see the WTFBANDOM stuff everywhere and it's just...not cool.

I mean, I have absolutely no ground to stand on whatsoever because I WAS one of those WTFBANDOM people for the longest time, so who am I to complain? But, it still kinda kills your squee when you start hollering about something and people are like WTF WHY? And I'm like WTF WHY NOT? And then we hit an impasse and no one is really happy :/

Based on my own reasons for resisting/not understanding bandslash, I'd say it has a lot to do with the music, and the certain image associated with that music. Now, my music taste is admittedly pretty all over the goddamn place, but I've always sort of maintained a pretty fierce hate for most country, rap, and really hardcore nothing-but-screaming metal. "Emo Music" was kinda lumped in there too; not that I hated it, but that I didn't respect it and thought it was pretty ridiculous.

The fact of the matter was that I hadn't actually, seriously listened to it, but I took it all at surface value and took a lot of stock in what other people were saying and let that make the decision for me. Which is a shitty, shitty way of doing things. But now I'm listening to it, and now that I have the context, have the interviews and the live footage and everything, and I can see how much these guys fucking LOVE what they're doing, that they have an utter PASSION for it, for making great music with great people and yeah, maybe even helping people out through it, there's just no fucking way I can't want to be a part of that, even in a peripheral, fandom-y way.

So, yeah, that was a really longwinded way of saying, it's the music. Music is the one arena where the gloves are fucking off and people get a little crazy. But if people are going to use their violent hate for a certain kind of music to beat other people down who are in a fandom that revolves around that type of music, yeah, NOT COOL. *hugs*

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

I think that's a lot of the problem with it. It's so mainstream that necessarily there is going to be an image projected, and certain people will take in certain pieces of that image and make of it what they will without having all the facts. It's like when something is out in the public domain as thoroughly as these bands are, then everyone has to have a strong opinion on it, regardless of if they actually know what the fuck they're talking about. I've always loved this music, it's always been my happy place, and oh god oh GOD do I hate the label emo. None of this music is particularly "oh my life sucks I'm going to go slit my wrists" at all - if anything it's kind of silly and nonsensical and just plain. goddamn. fun. What the hell is the harm in that?

Okay okay I'm done, I'm sorry, no more ranting! Also, thank you darling for your comment to the super lovely comment above - I appreciate it. *hugs*

RYRO SAYS RAR.

[darksylvia.livejournal.com]

I know! What is with the hate! My sister like, has pre-judged all of them and hates them irrationally and if I try to talk her out of it she rolls her eyes and walks away. The amount of hate they inspire totally baffles me. They haven't DONE anything. All I can think is it must be a combination of ageism and homophobia combining into a new and awful thing.

[teaspoon.livejournal.com]

the bandom hate bemuses me, largely because, regardless of your feelings on the bands, i do not understand the impulse to try and make someone else feel bad for being into it. i can take good-natured ribbing on the subject, but when people are serious about it, it makes me pretty angry.

as for anonymous up there: I find the scene anti-intellectual, as well.

that is one of the most snobbish, ridiculous things i've heard in a while. the scene is literate in its own way -- even, some might say, pretentious -- and really? anti-intellectual? because, clearly, it is important that all good musicians hold university degrees in philosophy, history, or the classics in order to create music that moves people. nice.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

I don't understand that either! I find things like One Tree Hill and Smallville kind of ridiculous, but I would never belittle my friends for enjoying them. Never! You never see this kind of behavior about pretty much any other fandom, and it's baffling. Somehow bandom has gotten a big red target painted on its ass, and I don't know how it happened. It makes me sad :( Especially when I think about, you know, Brendon and his little FACE, or darling darling Patrick, or Sisky Businesssss! What the fuck did they do to deserve any of this hate? They just. Argh.

Yep, Ryan Ross sure has never picked up a book in his life, nosiree. *SIGH* I don't quite get why I was selected as the target for that particular vitriolic rant. What the hell, get off my journal. (Er, not you, dear. Anonymous. Obviously.)

[beatperfume.livejournal.com]

Invisible Monsters is one of my favorite books of all time. It's been my favorite book probably since long before Panic! existed. Which should make me feel old, but. It's a good book.

Oh, god, Ryan and Brendon hugging. Ryan's little look and smile. I die. Sometimes I'm sure I love them as much as it is possible to love them, and then they do something and I love them more.

Also, I haven't encountered any anti-bandom stuff really, and I'm sorry that you have. Don't let anyone harsh your squee or make you feel bad, or think twice about posting about these boys. Fans hating on other fans just because of their fandom is just plain ridiculous. I mean, come on. You don't like their music? That's fine, you don't have to listen to it. But I could see the appeal and thoroughly enjoy popslash even though I despised Nsync's music, so that's not really an excuse. Certainly not to make someone feel bad about what fandom they're into. (Also, if SPN fans are calling bandom or "the scene" misogynistic, they need to sit the hell down. Pot, Kettle, etc.)

You know, I decided a long time ago that I won't let people make me feel ashamed for liking music that makes me happy. (I know too many pretentious indie kids, apparently.) And the same goes for fandoms. Especially if they're kinda the same thing.

So don't let people give you shit. You deserve to be happy and goddammit, it's your journal. If these boys make you happy, then post away.

My two cents, anyway. <3

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

Oh well, good! Sounds like I made a good choice, I'm excited to give it a try :)

Ryan looks so BASHFUL. It's kind of the most precious thing ever. They just keep raising that damn bar, gosh, how are they REAL? If Frank and Gerard are breaking the gay meter (which they completely are, like, wow) then Ryan and Brendon are breaking the so-cute-I-could-die meter. *happysigh*

I haven't encountered this much, hm, censorship for something I've loved before, so it's a little hard to adjust. Mostly I keep the squee train rollin' on, but occasionally I am genuinely hurt. Or, irrationally, I'm hurt FOR Ryan or Brendon, etc, because they are so close to my heart and people hating on them for no good reason just makes me want to throw things. Sigh. But I have you and lots of wonderful friends to keep me going, so there's no sinking this little tugboat :)

<3!

[sevenfists.livejournal.com]

Yeah, word. I am already really fucking tired of people being all, "Bandom is ruining my flist! MY DELICATE SENSIBILITIES! OH NOES!" Just scroll on by, motherfuckers. Gerard doesn't approve of that bullshit.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

SERIOUSLY! God, everyone's like "wah wah everyone on my flist has gone over to the DARK SIDE, woe betide me!" They're all just jealous we have reams of gorgeous new canon and they don't. Bitterness does not become you, my friends. Gosh.

(I finally have an MCR icon! Frankie ftw!)

[candidlily.livejournal.com]

Aww, I'm sorry you're getting flack about your shiny new fandom. I'm not sure how direct people are being about it, but I know from my standpoint it's just foreign to me so I skim any posts about it and keep going. I already love Panic!'s music, so I have no doubt I'd like the related bands' music, and after that if I happen to run across enough pictures and videos I'm liable to tip right over into fandom. I've been trying to avoid such a thing, though, because I honestly don't think I have time to get into a new fandom right now. I don't even know who is who in Panic! at this point in time. :P But I understand how you're feeling... when I abandoned lost faith in Smallville and moved on to Heroes, I was scared to death about losing everyone on my flist. But luckily, the people I really care about have stuck around, and I've made new friends too. :) Keep going with your beautiful boys, and try not to listen to the negativity.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

*Points at header* From left to right, that's Jon Walker, Ryan Ross, Brendon Urie, and Spencer Smith! And they each own a piece of my soul! :D And there in my icon is JWalk being better than anyone ever. Ever. No really. :D

Sorry sorry I'll stop ;) I know exactly what you mean about resisting, I was in your exact position about, oh, three weeks ago. It was inevitable, really, but I wish you best of luck in staying strong! *g* This is a terribly time consuming fandom, simply because there is so MUCH of it, I'm a bit overwhelmed! Luckily I have an entire month essentially free which I can while away with pretty band boys to my heart's content \o/

I'm always nervous about talking about new fandoms, but they do always end up working out so well. Atlantis has brought me some amazing new friends, and so has bandom already! That's the beauty of LJ, man. :)

[mybabyangel.livejournal.com]

I don't quite understand why bandom is looked at with such disdain by so many people.

NOR DO I. It displeases me greatly. If I want to oogle pretty boys in a band, I will oogle those pretty boys in that band! WTF is wrong with that? Especially when they fucking ship THEMSELVES together.

But on a less frustrated note: OMG DECAYDANCE FEST. HOW I WISH I COULD SEE THEE. ♥ *is at least seeing FOB in September*

[jillenhall.livejournal.com]

I know you've had so many other comments abut this and I'm about to basically say the same thing but never mind. First off, Hi! *waves*

I've always loved Fall Out Boy and I used to get ripped to pieces for liking them (this was back when FUCT first came out and Sugar... was everywhere) and then when I fully got into the whole bandom thing it got worse. But as much as it bothered me at the time, I grew into not really caring what anyone else thought. I'm happy in my own little bandom filled bubble. Now it's perfect because the friends I have now just think it's cute whenever I stop to bounce around to a song or to flail over new Pete pictures.

Wow, this was a lot longer than I thought it would be, sorry! Please don't let it get you down. Anyone who claims to be a friend of yours and is giving you such a hard time over this isn't that great a friend.

[affectations.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you're feeling judged for being in bandom. That's awful that it's making you reluctant to be squee about your love for the boys. I don't really get it myself. I've never been judged actually, it's more like people don't understand. Or they're like 'I don't like the music'. I've had people say to me'oh i used to like fob until they got popular' and i don't GET that. Bandom is crazy and obsessive and full of love for the boys and THEIR love and the music means so much to me you know, and it's generally awesome. So you shouldn't feel ashamed at all.

That's so cool that you bought Invisble Monsters. I have it but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet but I want to because of Ryan Ross. :D

Thanks for the links to the vidoes. I can't wait to watch them, OMG NEW SONGS and I really liked their performance of 'The Weight' at virgin fest.

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

The judgment hasn't been so much to my face as it has just been a general attitude of "WOE IS ME MY FLIST HAS FALLEN TO THE BANDOM DARKSIDE, MY LIFE IS SOHARD" and infiltrating all those comments is the sense that bandom is less than desirable, a doom instead of just another fandom. I really dislike it, but what can you do :( As evidenced by my Decaydance squee, however, I haven't REALLY let it get me down! Can't stop the squee!

Oh Ryan Ross. Next I'll be buying fingerless gloves and a newsboy cap.

[hebrew-hernia.livejournal.com]

Oh, I LOVE American Gods. I think you'll enjoy it. :)

[girlmostlikely.livejournal.com]

And I thought we were all gay friendly around here?

You KNOW we (speaking at least for SPN/CW-RPS fandoms at any rate) are, Anne, so please don't try and turn a divergence in fandom interests into a gay issue.

*I* don't like bandom because I'm not the slightest bit interested in the music, and I find the guys really, REALLY unattractive to look at. *shudders* Yes, I'm that shallow. End of story.

However, you should definitely be able to post about your new fandom obsession without persecution. My issue when I commented to one of your bandom posts wasn't that you were posting about it; it was that you were posting uncut-tagged pics about it EVERY SINGLE DAY. I feel exactly the same way about anyone who posts pics of anything uncut-tagged every single day.

BUT. I was very rude and impolite in the WAY I commented to you about it. It was early in the morning and I was uncaffeinated and not at my best, diplomatically. I realise I was a shitheel, and I said sorry to you and I meant it. I adore you, and I'm STILL sorry about it. ♥

The thing is, you're gonna have a lot more experiences where your interests completely diverge from those of your f-list, or family, or RL friends. That's just life, unfortunately, and there's not a lot you can do about it.

Love you lots, babe. *hugs*

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

I don't want you to feel shitty, sweetheart, as far as I'm concerned we're past that. I was in the wrong too (though unconsciously - I've never minded uncut pics on my flist, so I just didn't think about it bothering others) and it's all just bygones. I wasn't targeting this at you, and I'm sorry if it seemed that way - it's more a pervasive attitude that I have noticed among many, many people... see the anonymous comment above for the extreme version of it.

It's just that my interests HAVE diverged with my friends' before, and I've always just flowed with it, but this time I've been made to feel bad for it, in a cumulative, general sort of way, and that's what bothers me.

I hope we're okay, honey. *hugs*

[adellyna.livejournal.com]

Ahahahaaha. Oh man, THIS IS AMAZING. THEY ARE ALL SO AMAZING, WTF??? God knows I'll be glued to TAI TV for the next few weeks.

That said, you must really like that 9 in the Afternoon song, since half of those links up there were to that video. Heh.

But seriously? I need their new album. I need it in my sweaty little hands ASAP because GOD I LOVE THAT SONG, WOT?

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

*blinks* Seriously? Did I fuck up the links? Um. NICE ONE ANNE. *facepalm* Why didn't anybody say anything before? Laaame!

I CANT WAIT FOR THE NEW ALBUM GAH.