one direction

Purportedly, One Direction means something to some people.

So when The Cute One/The Bad Boy/The Muslim One Zayn Malik announced he was leaving mega-popular 1D, the earth stopped on its axis and the nuclear winter that descended reflected the insides of our souls.

Here's what that looked like on social media:

Over the weekend, Liam Payne tweeted at Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson thanking him for upholding "family values." However, for the Robertson family, "family values" include having a tragically bigoted attitude toward homosexuality. That didn't seem to bother Payne much, although he'd be wise to remember that One Direction has a substantial gay fanbase.