Yeah, I do know that definitely happens, but (correct me if I'm wrong), from what I saw the term 'demon' was adopted from other fandoms (1d, maybe others) so it would have already had both positive and negative connotations for the phandom.obsessivelymoody wrote: ↑Fri Aug 10, 2018 4:36 pmTo address the positive/negative connotations towards demons, I've seen multiple people refer to demons or phannies (or demon phannies) as "the worst part of the phandom who have no respect for Dan and Phil or any proper human decency" (I'm paraphrasing, but I'm not exaggerating at all because when I read/heard people say stuff like that I was taken aback because I didn't think it was actually seen as a bad thing). People have also said that demons are why outsiders hate the phandom so much, so yeah, it's definitely used negatively.whatdoiknow wrote: ↑Fri Aug 10, 2018 4:24 pmHmm, I don't know. My first experience with the 'demon' thing was in the 1d fandon, which I then saw spread to the d&p fandom (kind of like 'larries' spread to 'phannies' etc). I'm sure these kinds of specific words were used before 1d, but since my first experience seeing them was there, and demon was first used as a negative against 'larries' and then turned into more of a positive by 'larries' themselves, I assume that's kind of what happened with the 'phandom' too. But actually, side note kind of, did demon ever really start off as a negative in the 'phandom'? From what I saw, it looked like actually d&p shippers took on the more 'positive' interpretation of demon from other fandoms, and it was always kind of used in that way in the phandom specifically. Or am I completely wrong with that?Templeofshame wrote: ↑Fri Aug 10, 2018 3:57 pm I don't want to sidetrack the conversation, but I think it's really interesting when people talk about Dan and Phil "being demon." I assume that "demon" started out as a derogatory term for the "craziest" of shippers, but the way I'm used to it now, in my (demon) circles, is to mean someone who believes that Dan and Phil are in a committed romantic (and sexual) relationship. If Dan & Phil are being demon, does that mean they're playing to the demon crowd, or just saying/doing things that might be perceived as supporting the demon perspective? (Presumably, they know whether or not they're in a relationship, so they can't "be demon" in exactly the way that I can.) Or is my understanding of "demon" not necessarily how people use it?
Anyways, my interpretation of people referring to dan and phil as demon would just be that they're acting kind of 'extra' (in a good way), like that they're acting in ways that are a bit out of the box and wild for them while also being things that phan shippers enjoy. I don't know if this actually made any sense lol so I'm interested to see others explain their thoughts in a more articulate way
I think this kind of discussion is so interesting (maybe that's the language nerd in me), and I'm really curious to see how it progresses.
So, I guess I shouldn't have used 'positive', and 'neutral' maybe would have been a better term. Like, as in, the word was adopted into the fandom, and people started using it in whatever way the saw fit, but that it didn't start out as strictly a negative thing, so the inherent negative connotation wasn't attached to the word from the beginning of its use in the fandom.