Rebel Rebel |harry styles| - ongoing

10 YEARS OF ONE DIRECTION

10 YEARS OF ONE DIRECTION

I’ve thought a lot about how to approach this little celebratory chapter. First and foremost, if you’re a solo Harry fan and you have no feelings for 1D or the fandom, just ignore this and enjoy the previous chapter. Now, those of you that are experiencing all the feels, like I am, on this big day… this one’s for you!

Dear One Direction (without revisiting old wounds – this includes you, Zayn, too),
I was 15 when I first discovered you lot (I’m 24 now, just for reference). It did not take long for me to get sucked into this fandom that I’m proud to call an extended family and that has brought me some wonderful friendships over the years. I think we can safely say that, in the past ten years, we’ve been through everything together. 
My high school years don’t represent the part of my past I’d generally look back on with fond memories, the classes sucked, the friends I thought I had turned out to be foes and I was very lost. My home life was a bit of a mess and I struggled to find something that would help me shut the outside noise off. That’s where you came in. No matter how shitty of a day I had, how big of a fight with my mum I got into, at the end of the day I knew I could count on you to make it all disappear. I enjoyed your music, even Up All Night (I cringe a bit as I write this, haha), always. But it was more than your music. It was the community. You bared yourselves to us in those video diaries, allowing us a private look into your personalities and friendship. WMYB was, and still is, a banger and a half and it, admittedly, did a good job of drawing us in, but it was you that kept us here. During 2011 the most wonderful thing started happening – the fandom solidified itself and it grew. It soon became an unstoppable expanding force that wrapped all around the globe. We all took it very seriously: posting photos and videos of your concerts and interviews, allowing everyone to enjoy your music (even those of us that never got to attend live shows), update accounts were born around this time and it was our one stop shop for all things 1D. That was a truly different time, something I look back on with a smile on my face, knowing that it can never be the same again and feeling both pride that I took part in it from the beginning but also feeling sad for those that joined in a bit later. That initial rush, (the term would be infection, but you can see how that wouldn’t be the appropriate descriptor in 2020), is what pops into my mind when I think about being 15. Closing the door to my room, putting UAN on shuffle and floating off to my little safe space that included weird imagines, tons of reblogged Tumblr posts and obsessive retweeting of minute by minute updates of your days. It sounds a bit creepy; I’ll admit. But it was dedication at its finest.
We grew together – through your music, interviews, shows, and the message that you chose to send out into the universe. And that was always a message of love and inclusivity. One of hope and happiness. The era of Midnight Memories is probably my favourite, to this day… I have the feeling you finally opened up and decided to be unapologetically yourselves during that time and it seeped through every lyric and melody of that first-class record. You really started writing your own music! I finally got the confirmation that UAN wasn’t all that you could give us (TMH is incredible, don’t get me wrong, but I feel you properly flourished during MM). Those were some peak One Direction years. My granny always says that when you sore high, the fall is massive and painful. You never fell, but I have a feeling it felt a bit like falling in March of 2015. I know I felt like I’d fallen down an incredibly deep well and there was no way out. That day in March, the one that shall remain dateless, really hurt us all. Retrospectively, after all the initial stages of anger, sadness, grief, and acceptance wore off – I think we all feel a bit guilty for not noticing something that dramatic was happening. It was a well-kept secret, one we may never get the proper story of, but we all felt like we contributed to the massive heartache that ensued. If I’m being completely honest, I was so angry that the news of your hiatus almost got past me. But I always cared. It just felt like the fandom was taking one hit after the other, our entire carefully crafted happy universes were suddenly falling apart. At that time, I decided it was finally the moment to let you guys go and build a new identity for myself. Foolishly, I thought it was possible. I was able to live outside of the fandom for a bit, but I missed it (and my real self) too much so I joined back quickly.
I think I knew you’d never truly come back (I’m writing this a bit before the 10th anniversary, so I don’t have a clue what, if anything, we’re getting on the 23rd of July) when you started releasing your own music. It took me a whole of five minutes to realise how lucky we were to be getting five records instead of one, and five that were so vastly different but still carried the same nostalgic undertones. I’ve listened to them all, some have turned into instant favourites, others just aren’t my cup of tea, but I support them and all of you with my whole heart.
You are all grown men now. Some fathers. Some boyfriends. All rockstars in all areas of life. I’m sure it was hard swimming off into the unknown at the end of 2016 and I’m sure you were petrified about being left alone. That’s the thing: once you are a part of this family (and you are honorary members for life) we will always have your back. The fandom that was once mainly on Twitter, Tumblr and Wattpad has expanded and transitioned over to other platforms, like TikTok and Instagram. And it’s doubled and tripled in size since 2011. We are still here, streaming, reblogging, retweeting, liking, and writing. You’ve created, and continue to create, the soundtrack to our lives. It doesn’t matter if I’m fifteen or fifty years old – I’ll still cry a bit when I hear Moments or If I Could Fly. The truth is: I could probably write for a hundred pages and I still wouldn’t be able to translate how much you mean to me and how big of an impact you’ve had on my formative years.
Thank you, for existing, for being kind and compassionate, for being understanding, for bringing joy to our worlds, for creating something that excites us and for making us believe.
I love you, and true love lasts a lifetime… so, here’s to a lifetime!
P.S. congratulations to all of us for making it ten years!

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A/N: okay, we are finally here. The day has come. And as I'm writing this, staring out into the Mediterranean Sea, I have no idea what's going to happen (besides Lou resurrecting our love for Zouis and 3/5 posting something). Enjoy one of my favourite 1D songs, and imagine us all raising a glass together, in honour of the greatest rock band of all times ❤️

TPWK, always.
T.