Indeed, after news broke in that Tomlinson's friend Briana Jungwirth was pregnant with his child, nine months of intense speculation followed that the pregnancy was fake. When the birth of Tomlinson and Jungwirth's baby was announced in January, fans switched to arguing that the baby itself was a surrogate, a doll, or a complete fabrication, going to staggeringly elaborate lengths to uphold the conspiracy.
They would have you believe all those things than just be like, "Look, that guy loves that guy. Sorry for the confusion. For her part, SAO describes falling so deeply into the Larry ship that she created a BuzzFeed Community account and posted an infamous ship manifesto for the pairing, which BuzzFeed eventually took down, along with all of her previous contributions, after she wrote separate posts insinuating that Tomlinson's baby isn't real.
SAO told Vox that the evidence of Styles and Tomlinson's relationship is so compelling that she's never seriously considered any other possibility:. I have never thought "Okay, well maybe this is all fake. The stark contrast in public narrative vs actions is too disparaging to ignore. I'm a very literal and logical person and I have looked at this situation every which way and each time I do I come to the same conclusion, which is that Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are in love with each other.
Any Larry shipper will tell you that homophobia is the main reason Styles and Tomlinson are still in the closet. And one of the main reasons Larry shippers are so vocal is that they hate the idea that these two men can't openly express their love. SAO told Vox she stays invested because "I feel it's a harsh injustice not only to them, but to their young followers, to make it seem like being gay is wrong or somehow makes you lesser.
SOA added that the One Direction fandom is full of younger queer and questioning individuals who have been alternately helped and hurt by the Larry phenomenon. But these good intentions have led to some unfortunate complications.
Most of the support for Larry being real is rooted in the way fans interpret the physical intimacy between Styles and Tomlinson. But those who keep the closest eye on such things also note that there's been a sharp drop in their level of physical intimacy.
Since , Styles and Tomlinson have gone from joking about posing for photos "with our arms around each other" to rarely standing next to each other in public. In a interview with Tumblr's now-defunct Storyboard, Tomlinson was blunt about blaming the Larry Stylinson phenomenon for changing his public behavior:. People look into our every move — it is actually affecting the way me and Harry are in public.
In other words, fandom's insistence that Styles and Tomlinson's ability to comfortably share physical intimacy with each other means they must be gay resulted in the sad but predictable drop-off of said physical intimacy between them.
Ironically, the movement attempting to liberate them from the closet has essentially forced them to behave unnaturally — to conform to rigid standards of masculinity in order to quash the rumors. The Larry ship also trades in perpetual misogyny: While Louis was dating longtime former girlfriend Eleanor Calder, she and her family were subject to constant backlash and harassment from fans convinced she was serving as a beard.
Some Directioners were so committed to the Larry cause that they even began harassing a record producer and his son who happened to share Calder's last name. The reason? They believed he was the key to unlocking proof that Eleanor had a secret identical twin that Management was using to help fake photos of her relationship with Tomlinson.
In the waning years of the One Direction fandom — Malik left the band last March; the remaining members kicked off a long hiatus last fall; Styles is starring in an upcoming Christopher Nolan World War II epic with more rumored movie roles on the way; Tomlinson is, however unwittingly, starting a family; and the idea of the other band members moving on has begun to seem inevitable — the misogyny accompanying Larry Stylinson has faded, though belief in Larry is still weirdly as strong as ever.
Neither Styles's many girlfriends nor Tomlinson's new girlfriend, Danielle Campbell, has suffered from the deep level of harassment that Calder and her family withstood for many years. But the belief in the conspiracy still overrides everything else. Courtney and Jorie told Vox unequivocally that the Larry ship had brought them closer together and given them a community of friends. The two recently began making YouTube videos to document their concert-going life and explain the basics of Larry Stylinson, and they are totally unfazed when I ask them about some of the more problematic aspects of the One Direction fandom.
And she's quick to note the kicker that brings the entire conspiracy into sharp relief: "If these actions [by which she means Styles and Tomlinson's friendship, their physical intimacy, their tattoos, and many other so-called hints of their love] were happening between a boy and a girl, no one would ever question the legitimacy of their being in a relationship. And maybe that's what Larry Stylinson is really about, beyond all the debates over whether the One Direction fandom is delusional or misogynistic, beyond the worry over whether Larry Stylinson has made it harder for Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson to simply be themselves as individuals and friends.
Prior to Larry Stylinson and perhaps the age of internet culture itself, the media could craft and carefully produce narratives about celebrities and boy band members; the popularity of the Larry Stylinson theory is, perhaps, a testament to the unprecedented agency that fans now have with regard to shaping those narratives. It's a byproduct of their ability to question and challenge the media they consume. Jorie points to the recent news that Malik was forbidden to grow his beard or dye his hair while he was a member of One Direction, and that the band was prevented from experimenting with different musical styles and genres.
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One Direction at the American Music Awards. Styles and Tomlinson are on the right. Now, it may be a coincidence that this turns into what seems like a 'sweary gesture', or it may be Taylor cursing Harry right down the camera while smiling sweetly. We hope it's the second one. Okay, we said we don't know much about Harry's style choices but we do know one thing - boy loves to don a beanie.
And here Taylor is wearing a beanie. This, incidentally, is what sparked the rumours that the '22' vid is about Harry in the first place. So, massively subtle dig or just head-warming sensibleness? You decide. We know One Direction well enough to know that they love a beach. Just look at the video for 'What Makes You Beautiful'. Well anything Harry can do Taylor can do better, so she's organised a trip to a much nicer seafront to show him how it's really done.
I mean, look at these pictures - this could totally be the female One Direction, right? Okay, they might look more like promo shots but go with us.
This one isn't that subtle. Taylor lifts up a massive heart and then throws it on the floor. And then kicks it. And then she jumps on it. Okay, we're starting to stretch things with this one. Maybe Harry really likes cats.
Or maybe it's just Taylor reminding him how hot she is. Because, I mean, she looks really good. Classic post-break up move from Taylor, here - throw a massive party and have an amazing time with all your friends.
Us regular people would probably post a bunch of pictures on Facebook showing how much of a Fun Time we were having Without Him, but if you're Taylor Swift you can plonk the whole thing in a video and remind him of it whenever he turns on MTV.
This is also related to the next piece of evidence Absolute classic. As if Taylor needs Harry when she has these other guys.
The 'I Knew You Were Trouble' singer donned a Styles-esque green beanie and grey top while filming the promo for new single '22' in Malibu, according to recently-published candid snaps. In more images from the shoot, Swift is held in the air by a female co-star in a manner that resembles how Styles lifted her for a dance to ' I've Had The Time of My Life' at a party in December. Swift was also seen riding a shopping trolley and indulging in brightly-coloured ice cream with a gaggle of extras in other shots for the video.
X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos was dragged into the situation today February 13 when she was forced to deny that she warned Swift to "never mock my lad" on Instagram.
Swift is also believed to be working on a song about her split with Styles. Speaking about her tendency to pen tracks after break-ups, the year-old explained: "It's me sitting on my bed feeling pain I didn't understand, writing a song, and understanding it better.
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