Nolly
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Neil Amin-Smith/Olly Alexander |
| Alternative name(s): | CleanYears |
| Gender category: | m/m |
| Fandom: | Clean Bandit/Years and Years |
| Canonical?: | yes |
| Prevalence: | minor |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Nolly is the smushname for the real-life relationship between hot violinist Neil Amin-Smith of Clean Bandit and lead singer Olly Alexander of Years and Years.
Ship History, Etc.
Neil and Olly met when Years and Years opened for Clean Bandit's late 2014 tour and were dating soon after: an interview with Attitude magazine on April 10, 2015 references Olly's "boyfriend of nearly six months".
As the relationship is fairly new, so is the fandom. The first Neil/Olly related post in the nolly tag on Tumblr was on March 25, 2015, though the ship didn't get busy in the tag until mid-April 2015, presumably after the Attitude interview confirmed it. The first work tagged Neil/Olly on the Archive of Our Own was on May 12, 2015.
The ship is, for the most part, the only ship with any following in the Clean Bandit or Years and Years fandoms.
Their fans seem to often cross over from other Music RPF fandoms like One Direction and Bandom.
Olly and Neil are very public with their relationship on Twitter, Instagram, in interviews, and, memorably, on stage. It is unknown whether they are aware of and what their thoughts are on fanworks based on their relationship.
Fannish Resources
- Olly & Neil masterpost by louistomlinsonz (March 22, 2015)
- bb boy you stay on my mindddd, a (nolly) masterpost, part one and part two by shamelesskings (June 11 & August 9, 2015)
- CleanYears Fandom Primer by LittleMousling (August 27, 2015)
- Neil Amin-Smith Primer by fuckyeahneilaminsmith (July 15, 2015)
- Neil/Olly on AO3