Rant on After and Anna Todd

There was a time I used said that I had nothing against Anna Todd as a person because she had given me no reason to feel animosity towards her, just towards her writing.

Three major things have changed since I started this project:

The first is that in late 2014 I became a One Direction fan Of course, by now (2017) I'm a bit burnt out, but that's a topic for another time. See, fandom likes its tropes. And that's all fine, I'm not going to tell anyone "you can't write that!" But the thing is the tropes they like for Harry are the whole Christian Grey-esque characterization, and Real Life Harry Styles? He is pretty much the furthest thing from that!

Harry is one of the nicest, cutest, most genuine, most loveable celebrities out there. He is the kind of guy, who wears flower crowns, supports feminism, speaks out against misogyny especially in the way female fans are treated, and enjoys bending gender norms. He is the guy who apologized to a dog for stumbling over it; the guy, who hugged a fan who stalked him than cussed at him for not saying "hi"; the guy who texted a fan's dad, when she threw her phone on the stage during the "Where We Are" Tour of 2014.

And you know, if fandom wants to portray him as an abusive stalker and borderline-rapist, that's whatever. I'm not the fandom police, I'm not going to put anyone in fandom jail. I might roll my eyes and make a rant post about it, but I don't care what other fans do, as long as it stays in the fandom.

But "staying in the fandom" is the key to it all, because Anna Todd decided to take her horrible fan fiction and publish it! She may have slightly altered the names, but it's not as if "One Direction fan fiction" wasn't plastered all over the promotional material for it. There are plenty of people who don't know what fan fiction is and that you don't have to write everyone "in character" and since they don't know much about Harry, they will read After and probably assume he is like Hardin.

The second thing is that I found out what kind of a person Anna Todd really is. Under her sweet, light and positivity facade, she is actually just your an immature coward, who blocks people in Twitter when they ask her valid questions, stalks people through their tweets to find out what the person has said about her (yet refuses to respond to it), and then passively-aggressively attacks a teenage girl, over ten years younger than her, through her own writing. She is is in her mid twenties and married.

So, after that information came to my attention, I myself sent Anna a very mild non-offensive tweet and she ignored it. A few days later, I sent her another three tweets, which she ignored again. And then I asked her why would she respond only to cutesy fangirl tweets, but not to people who have valid questions for her and I still haven't gotten an answer. She hasn’t blocked me yet, but - well, you get the point.

And the third thing is that Todd has now released a jewelry line based on After. (Yes, you read that right. She’s charging that much money for those cheap-looking things.)

A JEWERY LINE?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!

So not only is she tarnishing the image of someone who is actually a really nice person, but she is actually profiting from his name and image?! Anna Todd got famous through no means of her own! The only reason people ever paid attention to her fucking awful story (which, just for the record, is clichéd, badly written, badly characterised, badly plotted, badly doing literally everything, not to mention just stuffed with problematic content) is because she used Harry’s name in the first place! And she’s not even doing a fair representation of him or anyone from One Direction!

And with that said, I have a little message to adress to some people, even if most of them won't ever see this.

To Anna Todd: Anna, girlfriend, I honestly think that your fanfic is one of the worst writers on the planet right now. But at least, as long as it’s just a fanfic, it’s not that big of a deal. You can write as badly as you want, and you can turn Harry into a jackass if that’s what gets you off. Good for you, for getting that popular! But here’s the thing: when you decide to publish something, you really need to think about it. And your decision to publish After is telling me that you are okay with profiting from Harry's name and image and that you are okay with teaching young people, especially young women that these behaviours are healthy and romantic. Frankly, my dear - you suck!

To Harry Styles: Hi, babe! I’m so sorry for this. I know it must be mortifying to to see yourself "represented" like that. This is probably is just a blip on your radar in the grand scheme of things, but I know you've struggled with image issues for a long time and this isn't helping. The new album is smashing it, loads of love and hugs! <3 p="">
To Liam Payne: Hey, babe, I'm sorry you are written as this one dimensional Mr. Goody Two-Shoes. Most of us know that while you are smart and responsible, but also funny and goofy. Strip That Down is such a bop, love it! Keep up the good work! xxx

To Zayn Malik: Zayn, my feelings for you are currently very complicated and I know some shit went down bts, but I still think you deserve better than this second-best, borderline racist and islamophobic portrayal. Good luck with your projects in the future! :)

To Niall Horan: Nialler, one day we need to sit down so you can tell me about the inspiration behind Temporary Fix. In detail. :D In all seriousness though, you are the best and you deserve so much better than... whatever this is. xxx

To Louis Tomlinson: Lou, love. There's so much I want to tell you and most of it has nothing to do with After. Unfortunately, I don't think I can cover it all in a couple of sentences. so I'll try my best not to cry and I'll just say: I'm sorry! You deserve so much better! <3 p="">
To One Direction's Legal Team: Have you guys just been twiddling your thumbs all this time? You can at least threaten to sue Anna if she doesn't stop using your clients for her promo. Or do you think After is actually good promotion?

To the 1D fans who hate After for the right reasons: I’m sorry that this is what we have to represent our fandom in the mainstream. We I know we deserve way better and have created amazing works of fanfiction that will never get the attention that this piece of crap did.

To anyone who isn’t in the One Direction fandom, but knows about After: Please do not take this story or it’s fandom as a meaningful representation of our boys, our fandom or even our fanfiction.

To all of Anna Todd’s fangirls who see no problems with her story whatsoever: I seriously hope that you see these books just as mindless entertainment aren't aspiring to find a relationship like Hessa, because I can promise you that you do not want that!

To the United Talent Agency and Anna Todd's agent: I know you are hoping to make loads of money from this, and you probably will, but the fact that you are willing to sign authors like Anna, is why many people have lost faith in the publishing industry.

To Simon & Schuster Publishing: I know business is business and I should be blaming the game not the players, but... how do you honestly sleep at night?

To the Hollywood team that may be adapting After into a movie: I have lost faith that Hollywood has any integrity whatsoever years ago, but I will say that I hope you at least try to tone down the abuse as well as Tessa's whining. And you better not try to relate this garbage to One Direction.

To the girl, who was the inspiration for Molly’s character: Honey-buns, I don’t know you, but I know Anna Todd, and you are probably a much better person. I hope you don’t care about any of her bullshit, and if you do, you shouldn’t. Here’s a cookie! *throws cookie*

And last but not least, to anyone who hates After, just because they don’t think fanfiction of any kind should be published, and that it’s a terrible story with or without One Direction: Thank you! I already like you!