Bandom and the Fourth Wall

The Fourth Wall in Bandom has been described as being "more like a fringe curtain."gibson-fic, Meta: What About RPF? There exist numerous occurrences of bands acknowledging fandom and commenting on fan activities, as well as extensive debate amongst fans as to appropriate behaviour relating to maintaining the Fourth Wall - or not.
== Band Member Reactions ==
=== Positive ===
==== Empires ====
On New Year's Eve 2007, a post from the Empires official Myspace to drummer Ryan Luciani consisted solely of a direct quote from a (now-friendslocked) NC-17 Tom Conrad/Bob Bryar LiveJournal fanfic. Furthermore, the timestamp of the Myspace comment corresponds to an anonymous comment left on the fic, containing only the phrase "Just beautiful." It is generally thought that it was Tom Conrad (Empires guitarist, ex-TAI) himself who left the comments, though it conceivably may have been anyone who had access to the account.kalpurna. Just beautiful. 4 January 2008. (Accessed 23 January 2011.)
==== Cobra Starship ====
Vicky-T and bassist Alex Suarez discussed fanfiction in a 2007 interview:
In February 2008, Victoria left a comment from her official LiveJournal on an NC-17 Greta/Vicky-T femslash fic, saying:
See also Gabe Saporta captioning a picture with pairing smushname "Gabilliam."
==== All Time Low ====
=== Live and Let Live ===
A number of Bandom members have reacted to fanfiction and shipping in an "as long as I don't have to see it" manner, sometimes acknowledging that fans themselves might prefer to maintain the fourth wall. For example:
==== My Chemical Romance ====
Frank Iero, Mikey Way, Ray Toro
In an interview about their responses to fanfiction:
Gerard Way
Gerard has reacted to questions about fanfiction on Twitter emphasizing that he didn't mind as long as it remained fiction and "non offensive" (which obviously is subjective.)
File:Gerard_way_fanfiction_replies.JPG|Gerard's 2013/2014 fan fiction Twitter replies.
On April 26, 2016, Gerard changed his twitter avatar to a carton of milk, and his name to "Milk Friend." This must have prompted followers to talk to him about infamous P!atD shock fic "Milk", also known as "The Milk Fic." Gerard responded by seemingly reading the fic and giving further opinions on fic and shipping:
==== Fall Out Boy ====
* Patrick Stump
Patrick Stump of FOB has addressed fanfiction and shipping in many tweets, usually to reinforce how fake it is and even to enforce the Fourth Wall himself against fan questions, often in a humorous, meta way.
File:Patrick fanfic replies collage.png|Examples of 2012-2014 Twitter replies on fanfic, shipping, etc.
File:Patrick 4th wall Twitter search.JPG|Twitter mentions of the "4th wall" specifically
==== Panic! at the Disco ====
* Brendon Urie:
Around the time Brendon began using Vine, he began to interact very directly with fans online through livestreams, on which he read comments and took questions. Coupled with a resurgence of fandom interest in Ryden, this resulted in an extreme breakdown of the Fourth Wall. Many fans had no qualms about asking Brendon if Ryden had been real (which he denied repeatedly), about his awareness of fanworks and his views on them, strange fan interactions, and much more.
The fourth wall around the extremely popular Ryden epic fanfiction The Heart Rate of a Mouse and the many people who appear in it has been broken multiple times. It has been mentioned on twitter by Dallon Weekes,@DallonWeekes have you ever read The Heart Rate of a Mouse, DEC 2015 Jon Walker,...what is Throam?, JAN 2018 Vicky TThe heart rate of a mouse ... 😈, MAR 2018 and others.citations needed Vicky T and Keltie (Ryan's ex-girlfriend) are said to have read the fic. The writer, Anna Green has asked that fans of THROAM respect and not deliberately breach the fourth wall. Ryan Ross's Instagram comments are frequently inundated with references to the fic and comments about Ryden.
=== Silence(?) ===
It can be speculated that all popular Bandom members are getting the same kind of questions about fandom and fanfiction, and that those who have not responded publicly have done so by choice. However it's obviously impossible to know whether this means they disapprove or hope that the questions will go away if they never respond.
== Fan Attitudes ==
Excerpt from a 2008 meta post posted by olivia-circe in reaction to Vicky-T's comment on her story:
Meta to be developed:
* Self-policing:
* Fan debates: are 4th wall breaks a big deal?
On the one hand: flattered/excited/happy fan comments (cf "you're a hero for asking this", "i love it when bands talk about us," "I wanna know if they've read one of my fics" etc.) in original post of original Alex Suarez discussing fic post
On the other hand:
=== Character Distinction ===
=== Adjusting Fandom to Tumblr ===
Tumblr user sailorstkwrning on the difference between LJ communities and Tumblr in terms of the Fourth Wall (specifically P!atD fandom):
See also: Brent Wilson asked about Ryden & delighted/horrified reactions in reblogs; ughbandoms tumblr; comment to RPF meta about ICH community
==Fanworks==
Some band members created their own fanfiction parodying their perception of Bandom fans. 
*Gabe Saporta's Fanfiction
Some Bandom fans responded to all the fourth-wall-breaking incidents by writing fanfiction about it.
* The Pete Wentz Fic Clublater posted to AO3 by secrethappiness (2007-11-26)
== References ==
Category:Bandom
Category:My Chemical Romance
Category:Fall Out Boy
Category:Panic! at the Disco
Category:Cobra Starship
Category:Empires
Category:Scandals
Category:Bandom Glossary
Category:Social Media Feature-Wank Wednesday