Sold to One Direction

Tropes and genres
Tropes and genres
Related tropes/genres	Self-Insert • Slavery
	Related articles on Fanlore.
	Contents 1 History 1.1 Pre-One Direction; 1.2 One Direction; 1.3 Containment Breach; ; 2 Commentary; 3 Examples; 4 Resources & External Links; 5 Notes; 6 References;

"Sold to One Direction" is a trope related to One Direction fan fiction that originated on Wattpad involving self-inserts or the reader being sold to the group. The trope broke containment and has become a meme in wider fandom, including other bandoms like BTS. Crack fics are also written about real-world figures being sold to said band.

History

Pre-One Direction

Fics featuring kidnapping and characters being sold to fictional characters or celebrities pre-date One Direction. In studying the phenomenon, YouTuber Strange Æons speculated that the trope may predate the internet altogether, though this cannot be conclusively proven.^[1] Her video "Sold to One Direction" found examples of the trope in the Lord of the Rings fandom in 2002, Harry Potter fandom as early as 2006, in the Supernatural fandom in 2007, and in the Twilight fandom around 2007/8.^[1]

One Direction

In the early 2010s, many young fans of the band One Direction incorporated the trope of being sold to the band. While this did eventually devolve into parodying the trope, it is likely that at least some of the earliest versions were sincere. There is not one specific story known to exemplify or to have originated the trend. Often, the trope involves a teenage girl whose parents sell them to One Direction, often for drug money. The use of a reader-insert (y/n) point of view is also commonly referenced when speaking about this trope.

The trope is most commonly associated with fanfiction posted on websites such as Wattpad and Quotev. The trope is known to have existed on the former as early as 2012 and on the latter as early as 2013.^[2]

The trope was also known to appear in contemporary fandoms such as 5 Seconds of Summer. ^[3]

Containment Breach

Eventually, the trope reached memetic status within the One Direction fandom and outside of it. Many of the more recent works featuring and referencing the trope are poking fun at the trope instead of genuine portrayals.^[1] ^[2]

it was the morning after the big move (a/n idk where she moved too lol) and you swept your messy dark brown hair that was slightly wavy with sun kissed blonde streaks in it up into a messy bun and swiped mascara across your thick lashes that brought out your shining blue ocean colored orbs before throwing on the large frumpy sweatshirt that i had thrown on the floor the night before. i heard the doorbell ring from downstairs. “y/n!” your mom yelled “get down here quick!” “what is it mom?” i yelled back, she was so annoying sometimes. “your new owners are here,” she stated. “my- what?” you stammered, perfect pink lips opening in shock. “yes honey, how else do you think i was able to pay for this house and my alcohol addition? now open the door” you opened the door and saw them on the doorstep, one direction. they looked mostly bored but harry opened his arms and gave you a brilliant smile, his pearly white teeth glistening in the sun. “hey princess get your stuff.”
dear-ao3, 2023 (providing a reference to the common features of the trope) https://www.tumblr.com/kneesheee/725000591668117504?source=share

Eventually. parodying and making jokes about this trope spread past the One Direction fan community, officially breaking containment. This seems to have by 2019 and the early 2020s.^[2] On AO3, fics featuring this trope are almost entirely satirical. ^[3]

Commentary

This is a trope you see satirized a lot in modern day (its canon tag on AO3 is almost all satire, interestingly enough, compared to the mix you find on Wattpad. Fanfic.net was so frustrating to search that I gave up) and I'm really interested in finding where it came from. A lot of satirizations use the same basis- MC is a teenage girl with a troubled home life, if the story takes place in modern day she's into the band she gets sold to, she is sold by a parent in order to fund a vice. Because of this I'm assuming that these were probably three main plot points that were almost always hit in the older, non-satire fics, but it's also very possible that they were picked up from popular shitposts later on and became a staple that way. I'd also like to know how popular these fics actually were back in the day. I'm not a huge Wattpad user anymore but 5000 doesn't seem like a lot to have garnered over the years, when you see other fanfiction centric tropes like hanahaki or omegaverse pull in way more. This is making me wonder if the trope was only really popularized in recent years as the satirizations began to show up. Which would also explain why it's been so hard for me to find anything on the origins of the trope, if nobody thought it was worth documenting anywhere.
ThothTooth, c. 2022 https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/whd1fa/origin_of_sold_to_boyband_trope/

This definitely predates boyband RPF fanfiction. It predates the modern concept of a band. The trope of being sold into slavery as a part of a romance plot is a very old trope. Off the top of my head, I can think of examples from thousands of years ago. It would not surprise me if the trope predated the written word. It showing up in boyband RPF is merely a very old romance trope being adapted to a new niche genre. I can't say exactly when it entered RPF because I'm not involved with that area of fanfiction, but it definitely didn't start there.
Crayshack, c. 2022 https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/whd1fa/comment/ij55fe1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

From what I can remember, this trope was around in the MCR fandom occasionally so I would say it predates 1D and 5SOS. However, I remember exactly when this trope became well known.
I was innocently scrolling through tumblr one day in like 2012, when I came across a post from a user exclaiming how they could not believe what they had just read and had copied a part of one of these fics in the post. That post became very popular and the site exploded into a cringefest for a hot minute. From then on, this fic and trope were cemented in the Meme Hall of Fame.
And luckily for you, a few days ago, I was once again innocently scrolling through social media (though this time it was tiktok) and I came across the writer of the OG sold to One Direction fic confessing to their crime so to speak.
The fic was called SOLD and was originally posted on Quotev in 2010. The writer was thirteen and was bullied and doxxed in response to the fic. They deleted it but it lived on as a copypasta and the trope became a mainstay in the fandom. The user is foxtomes on TikTok and they have a few videos on the situation if you want to check it out!
sticky-tooth, c. 2022 https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/whd1fa/comment/ij5yo4r/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Examples

"Sold to Wonder Woman (by my evil adoptive father Batman)" AO3 link^WBM by JeanjacketCarf (2022), in which a young Jason Todd writes a badfic in this vein
Joe Biden Gets Sold to BTS. AO3 link by meowmeowspartyworld & vanessa_doof_was_my_gay_awakening (2022)
The Nuns Sold Me To The Orkneys? AO3 link by aggravain, a variant where the reader is a fandom character instead of y/n
Sold to One Direction!! Wattpad link by citrusdarling7 (2020) parodying the classic tropes found in older fanfiction on the same site
'do you ever watch videos of youtubers reading[...]' (Aug 2023) - Tumblr thread started by dear-ao3
"AITA for selling my daughter to One Direction" (2022) - Reddit shitpost

Resources & External Links

Notes

References

Related Concepts, Fandoms, Terms, Fanworks
See also

[:0-1] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7A-xMHGCZY

[:1-2] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/u0h2kw/the_original_soldtoonedirection_fic/

[:2-3] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/whd1fa/origin_of_sold_to_boyband_trope/

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