#entire new album release of anyone else's but i also don't pretend to know the Whole discography of anyone's at all lol)

[unproduciblesmackdown]

speaking of rotating tayston. adjudged this peak [rotating tayston] lmao

[ruinedbygaysstylinson]

Part 1: Hello, I've frequently lurked on your blog, first time sending an ask. I saw your 'overdue rant' and want to explain the other side respectfully. I used to stan Liam. I don't anymore, not that I don't appreciate what he did and how he and Zayn had (maybe have?) a great relationship. I think there is a difference between seeing something written in print and hearing it said. I like Z the most, I'll be honest so the fact that L dragged him 3 times (IRLnot print) doesn't sit right with me.

Part 2: So I’m disappointed by what Liam said, and if he/his team just admitted they were shitty things to say, me and most Ztans would be cool with it. But what he said was so unnecessary and could’ve been avoided? Hell Niall did it with grace in billboard. I would never talk shit abt Liam or try to change people’s minds abt him but that’s what you’re all doing now, trying to excuse what L said instead of calling him out. 1 can still stan people and see why someone might have a problem w them!

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Hello! First off, thanks for sharing your concerns and feelings with me so politely. I enjoy hearing the thoughts of people outside my corner of the fandom. I agree that there is a difference between print!Liam and live!Liam, and it definitely upset me to hear how Liam’s team incorporated Zayn into Liam’s promo tour. However, after moping around for a bit, I was able to step back and consider the biggest motivating factor to all this controversy.

Liam has mentioned Zayn multiple times in the past month. A few were references to his appreciation for Pillowtalk, and the other 3 were the comments in question. Let’s break them down one by one.

1) Liam Payne sat down for a chat with our old pal Dan Wootton. Dan is a longtime friend of Simon, and has broken literally every exclusive for Liam’s latest relationship with Simon’s close friend and XF judge. How convenient. Dan also has slammed each of the boys individually and as a band on multiple occasions. Regardless of that, he has still received solo exclusives from Zayn, Niall, Harry, and Liam (and I’m sure Louis’ moment is coming as well). In this interview, Liam apparently forgot that several times in the 2 years from April 2015 on, he revealed that he had spoken with Zayn and everything was good between them. Let’s recall the infamous elevator pap clip where Liam said he loves Zayn with his own mouth, and would never rule him out of a future 1D reunion. Poof. That’s gone now, and replaced with Liam “confiding” in Dan that he isn’t sure what Zayn’s problem was, and there won’t be an OT5 reunion. Keep in mind, this interview was recorded without video, so we don’t even know if the final cut included Liam’s original words on Zayn. He may have had to “repeat” himself to get Dan’s point across. In my opinion, considering the close relationship between Dan and Simon, and Simon’s dislike of Liam following his solo signing and the 2017 Brits, I think this interview is highly suspicious at best. Moving on..

2) Shortly after the interview with Dan was released, we got footage of Liam playing a twisted game where he had to choose one of his close friends to condemn. First of all, this question should NEVER have been asked. It’s highly inappropriate and his team should’ve screened it out. The fact that it was allowed to be asked is interesting, and I will get to that in a bit. If you haven’t seen the clip, Liam has to choose between Ed Sheeran, Harry, or Zayn to leave behind, like in a scenario similar to the Titanic. Breaking down the choices is tough, because there is no good answer. Ed has been publicly friends with the boys for years, and helped write Liam’s new single. Ed also has a ton of fans who wouldn’t take kindly to the thought of Liam abandoning him after he generously helped launch Liam’s solo career. Harry was in the middle of his own album promo tour, and Liam had already said that Harry’s style of music isn’t his favorite. I doubt he wanted to make multiple negative comments about one of his closest friends. Zayn and Liam did not continue their public relationship after March 2015, and everyone is aware that he left the band. Liam also complimented Zayn’s music in interviews before and after this clip. Choosing Zayn was the lesser of 3 evils as far as the public is concerned. Still technically evil, but the best choice in the face of an extremely loaded question. As far as how Liam answered the question, I don’t think Liam was being malicious. His wording was very specific. Liam’s sense of humor can be dark at times, but he didn’t actually say he would leave Zayn for dead. For all we know, he meant leave him behind with a life ring or something. I don’t think it’s wise to assume that Liam was purposefully trying to hurt Zayn in a pretend game that was obviously setup to make him cast a negative light on their relationship.

3) This Tuesday Liam attended the Glamour awards and presented James Corden with an award. In his speech, Liam spoke of how James wanted to be in a boyband, and shared that James was in a band of his own that even boasted a slogan. Liam commented that maybe if 1D had a slogan, Zayn wouldn’t have left, and he would keep that in mind for next time. There are a couple things that I would like to draw to your attention. First, Zayn did leave the band (whether you believe it was willing or not), but that doesn’t seem to be the issue. From what I’ve gathered, people are mad that Liam basically claimed that Zayn’s depature could’ve been avoided with something as small as a slogan. In other words, Liam seems to be oblivious to how difficult Zayn’s time in the band was. Let’s turn back the clock a bit. Liam and Zayn were extremely close friends for the entireity of OT5’s existence. They shared interests such as the world of superheroes and comic books, and commented multiple times on their similar taste in music. They also most likely shared far more personal subjects, such as difficulties with public opinion or lack of musical input. If you weren’t in the fandom for March 2015 and the following months, you may not realize that Liam was literally devastated by Zayn’s sudden departure. He cried on stage multiple times and was generally less enthusiastic for weeks following the incident. The fact that Liam is able to joke about something that upset him greatly tells me that some of his scars are healing. Liam is making light of what was clearly a very difficult situation for everyone involved, not trivializing what Zayn went through. Second, let’s all ponder what “keeping it in mind for next time” means. The next time one of your band members decides to abruptly leave mid-tour, or the next time Liam is in a band with Zayn? Of course, there’s no way to know for sure, but one of those two options is way more likely than the other. Take from it what you will.

So what we wind up with upon further inspection is a couple offhanded comments and a questionable interview with Simon’s bestie. All of it was unnecessary, I agree, and that raises the question, why is Liam talking about Zayn so much after 2 years of near radio silence? His team is obviously on board with this bizarre strategy, but why? I don’t know the specifics of why Liam’s team is continuing to associate Zayn and Liam, but I have a couple ideas. Perhaps it’s to perpetuate the idea that Liam is completely free of 1D. We could be led to believe that Liam was not allowed to discuss Zayn while in 1D, but now he is. This idea is limited by the elevator clip I mentioned early though. Why else would he randomly change his stance on one of the most controversial situations involving his best friend of 5 years? Perhaps in the future there will be a public reconciliation in which Zayn and Liam have a heart-to-heart, and that leads to an OT5 reunion. Who knows? But from what I do know about Liam, suddenly bashing Zayn after all they shared together is extremely out of character, and something that I refuse to take at face value.

I hope that this helps you understand how I worked through my feelings towards this unfortunate round of promo. I personally don’t see Liam apologizing for any of the above instances because none of them were truly meant to hurt Zayn. I think they were meant to reassociate Zayn and Liam in the press, but it was poorly planned and the attempts at humor fell flat. In my mind, there is no bigger Ztan than Liam himself, and I completely understand why this has thrown a lot of people for a loop. Here’s hoping for a better round of promo in the coming month.

If anyone wants to continue this discussion, feel free to shoot me an ask or message me! I may take a bit to respond but I will answer eventually!