alarrytale

[alarrytale]

Marte, I appreciate your answers and all the asks you received regarding baby gate, but in this case we need to be realists rather than optimists. Since you yourself have mentioned that Louis closet is intertwined with Harry’s, we shall consider of the possibility that Brianna’s recent activities and Louis new stunt aren’t related to Louis at all. It might sound like a stretch but I believe that Harry’s next album is playing a big role here. Maybe Harry is preparing something *extra gay* and Sony had to take the lights off of Louis (enter Z and B) The unfollow is a little suspicious and made me raise my brows but at the end of the day I can’t fully raise my hopes up. It’s hard to think that the documentary and everything surrounding it is part of a bigger plan to bring baby gate to an end. Louis closet specifically has been so complicated that I don’t think there’s a way out of it and babygate (Not soon at least) I hope I’m wrong though and everyone else getting their hopes up is right haha

Hi, anon!

I haven't seen anyone actually being sold on the idea that this means bg is ending. I haven't seen anyone getting their hopes up. I've only seen people say that they won't get their hopes up. We are just brainstorming ideas and theorising to try to explain and make sense of what we're seeing. Nothing is really definitely pointing one way or another, so since it's all so uncertain still, i haven't seen anyone claim to know what's going on. So it's really not about being either realistic or optimistic, it's more about what's logical.

What you are proposing here is one theory that can explain what's going on. Since everything is still so uncertain, there's arguments to be made for every theory that's been proposed.

It's too early, and we don’t have enough information to say what's going on. We can only wait and see what will happen.

[alarrytale]

This stunt isn't selling tickets for Soccer Aid, in fact the event is very far from sold out which might be a wake up call for Louis. There are plenty of cheap tickets at £20 each and even these are still available.

Louis' fans just don't want to see Zara in VIP or the commentator talking about Sam Thompson and Louis being ''at loggerheads". None of the Louies I know in the north of England are going.

https://socceraid.seetickets.com/event/soccer-aid/old-trafford/3353012

Hi, anon!

This is a celebrity filled event where Louis isn't expected to be the celebrity who puts people in seats. It will sell out, but probably not until closer to match day. The event is also televised.

People turn up to see old football players show some of their old magic, to see celebrities making a fool of themselves and too cheer on England when they're playing the World. The love triangle drama won't draw entise anyone to watch. It's not something Soccer Aid wants focus on either, it will only draw attention away from the charity event and the sport.

[alarrytale]

Every Monday, Louis has been releasing content

1. Pap Louis and Zara

2. Articles where she met Louis' family, etc...

3. Pap B and F

Waiting for the next monday 🤡

Hi, anon!

Well, that's tomorrow so we'll have to see if this trend continues and what they have in store for us if it does continue. How many mondays until Soccer Aid? 😬

[alarrytale]

larries are not the minority as your previous anon implies

most of his solo fans came from 1D and Larry, meaning they discovered the band and the “lore” in the recent years, because those two things are literally the only way for the GP to find Louis and his music

Loui’s team’s PR strategy relies on 1D and 1D lore (larry is part of that lore) since they have made no effort to promote his music to anyone outside of that group

Hi, anon!

I agree with you that most of his solo fans came from 1D and larries. Slowly most of the 1D fans have left, some larries have left and the one's who's become a fan between 2017-2025 have either turned into larries or are so called solo louies. Most have turned into larries. Larries remain the largest group (1D larries and solo louie larries). There hardly is a solo louie fandom. They don't produce much fan content (are there louis/yn fics being written?), there isn't a tight community and they don't share a lore (except eating the public narrative up).

I don't agree that LTHQ's PR strategy relies on 1D and 1D lore or that they've made no effort to promote his music to anyone outside of that group. In the later years, the effort has been focused on getting alt/indie/punk rock fans on board and men in general. It hasn't been successful and the effort has been at the detriment of catering to his existing fans. So he's bleeding fans, especially from the 1D and 1D larries group. There simply isn't enough solo louies becoming fans to replace the one's leaving. And considering most new solo louies turn into larries, because they seek community, because there aren't really a solo louie fandom, then idk what his plans are going forward.

[alarrytale]

The problem is that we know he’s lying. Even the ones who believe him don’t really believe him, they’re scared of being blocked or called out by him. The thing I have trouble understanding though is if these lies are the result of his closet or just a tool to get the GP (who don’t seem to care) to defend him against Briana when (should I say if?) baby gate ends. Lately Louis Tomlinson TM is coming off as someone who takes advantage of his fans for money. Music is never the main topic of discussion and in my opinion it’s pretty far down the list. I remember how happy and hopeful everyone was when he left Syco his posts were getting so many likes only for it not to lead to anything. We see so many random aspects of his life but when it comes to his art it’s silence, nothing. The drop in his monthly listeners didn’t come out of nowhere. I’m assuming that most of his fans were disappointed and left and at this point I hope these choices are being made by Louis tm because I can’t imagine why the real Louis would want to sabotage his own career. To me, it feels like he’s playing a character that no one cares enough to stan and make fan edits for. He’s playing a role but who’s his audience? I don’t think there is an audience to begin with. That may sound harsh but after everything that has happened in the last 3 years I don’t know what to believe anymore

Hi, anon!

I don't think there is an audience for what he's trying to sell us of his image and persona. I also think this current and more extreme image and persona is making fans unengage and slowly lose interest. It's all too disingenuous, obvious lies and hypocritical. We're not buying it, and we're tired of making excuses for him and defend him to others. It's too over the top.

The only thing that makes sense to me at this point is that he changed his image and persona to fit with ZMcD, because it's the only type of woman who are desperate enough to fake date Louis, and he needs to make the union somewhat believable. Louis needs to fake date her, because bg is ending, and he doesn’t want to be catapulted out of the closet without having control. Bg ending would mean all eyes on Louis, on larries (who are proven right) and even on Harry. It's a fragile time for Louis' image and reputation and they need control of it. Since H is currently single, L needs a fake relationship even more. If that's what's happening here, then i fucking hope LT3 will drop in the wake of bg ending, so he can use the publicity and the sympathy of the gp to have a successful album run.

If this is not what's happening at all, then i don't fucking know what the hell is going on and what he's trying to achieve here.

[alarrytale]

But see you refer to his larry corner of the fandom as “his fanbase” but i’m pretty sure larries are in the minority now as a lot of larries left the fandom in recent years and most new fans become solos. And that might be exactly what he wants, and it’s not from ignorance like your previous anon suggested, but actually very intentional. I don’t think he wants to get rid of larries completely as it would be too much damage for his career. But i think he definitely wants a majority to be solos and antis and perhaps he just wants to cater to them now. If this stunt ends up having no greater purpose (like ending bbg) then there would be no other explanation than just him appeasing his het fans (and creating new ones)

Hi, anon!

I define "fanbase" as fandom + casual fans from the gp, and "fandom" as the fans who buys everything he sells (music, merch, tickets) and participates and engages in fandom activities (fan fiction, streaming parties, fan art etc.).

I think figuring out Louis fanbase composition is really hard. Because he's got a lot of dormant and unengaged fans who he could potentially tap into and engage if he catered to them. It's hard to tell what engages them and what doesn’t. Will they buy his next album or tickets to his tour or not? I think it depends. His fanbase is very volatile, and most of those who dip in and out of engagement are us larries. Just look at the difference between the Euros and now. So the size of the fanbase at this point in time vs. at another point in time varies.

I still think his fanbase and fandom are majority larries, but we aren’t as vocal anymore, engaged or interested in this new image and stunts as we used to be. The fans he is currently engaging are solos of a young age. They scream after getting a like on their AOTV part 18 ass licking comment from Louis HQ, and turn jealous when others get noticed but them. They're vocal, they're engaged daily, but not many in numbers and they aren’t united enough or have the power to influence and lead other fans in the same direction. They're 14-22 years old and are unaware about so many things in regards to how things work and that they're being gaslighted.

I think the only people who Louis could fool into becoming a fan with this current image are 14-22 years old. Because everyone else can see right through him. His issue is that he's a 33 years old, greying man who's trying to revive the britpop '90s and pretend to be a stoner chav. His general appeal, even to that age group, is very limited. I also don't think these new solos are going to stick around if fandom evaporates, because it's held together by larries, and if Louis doesn’t have the same ambitions and goals as these new solo fans have on his behalf.

He had around 13 million monthly listeners when he started his career and now he's at 2.4 million and still bleeding fans. He's losing more fans than he's able to gain. He will end up only having solos and antis as fans, at a point, if that's the strategy here, but his fanbase will be miniscule, and gone is the international touring artist with the powerful fandom.

Either way you look at it, it's a strategic and tactical mistake. He can't recover from that either.

[alarrytale]

Today’s fic is OUT NOW

Thanks @pointerbrotherblog for sharing this story with us!!!!

Link: archiveofourown.org/works/62655895

Don’t forget to leave a comment, a kuddo, share it and spread the word!!

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[alarrytale]

hello marte, i hope you are very well. a question, do you think Harry’s friendship with Xand*er is real? because i have seen that he will go to his brother’s wedding and well we know that X is not the great friendship that one can have, in my opinion i think they are friends but anyway. who am i to judge their friendships 🥴

Hi, anon!

It's hard to tell. They're also working together, so it could be just as much a working relationship as a friendship. Or it's kind of like his relationship with JC and BW.

It's hard though, to admit that Harry is really friends with unsavoury and coattail riding people, because it reflects back on Harry. At the same time, these "friendships" are very public, so there is a business element to it at least. I tend to always give H the benefit of the doubt, and hold on to the thought that these "friendships" are more business networks he wants to keep than actual friendships. I just can't picture H being actual friends with, friends who he love and trust, with a man who sent unsolicited dick picks to a young fan or a man who treats service staff like they're beneath him. It just doesn’t compute with the perception and understanding i have of Harry.

[alarrytale]

hi, marte! you say that louis knows that his fans hate his stunts but he does it anyway so he doesn’t care. but i’ve been thinking maybe his view of the fandom is just really warped like that (remember his team claiming in some article a couple years ago that his main audience is teenagers lol). i don’t believe he’s really across everything like he says he is because who would even have time for that, and he mainly follows solos on twitter so it creates this bubble maybe? and solos looove the stunt just like anything that counters larries.

do you think it’s possible? that he and his team might just be delusional like that?

Hi, anon!

I did say that Louis knows his fans hate his stunts, but i've never said that he does it anyway because he doesn’t care. I always think his stunts are either forced on him, or they have a purpose that justify the means. Like if Mcdomlinson is necessary in order to end bg, or DC was necessary to stop BJ, a stunt that was forced on him.

I do agree that i don't think Louis nor his team knows his fandom all that well, and knows how to manage us in a way that incites the response they want from us. I think it's hard for them though, because there are things that would work, if it hadn't been for the baggage he comes with, his image he needs to uphold and his relationship with his fandom. They're not knowledgeable enough to know when to push and when to pull, and when to use the whip and when to use the carrot. Our fandom is complicated, fractioned into different groups and we all have strong beliefs. It's imperative to understand the fandom they're dealing with, and they just simply don't.

I think we're a hard fandom to influence, to fool and to control. We're loyal to Louis, not Louis Tomlinson tm. We don’t always buy what they're trying to sell us. Louis fandom also exist pretty much parallel to Louis, he doesn't lead the fandom, we run things completely seperately and we decide what we want to support or not. I don't think i've ever seen someone being stanned that has so little influence over his own fandom. Louis says larry isn't real, mock us and gaslight us so hard, meanwhile fandom is busy writing larry fanfic number 44k on AO3, or doing lyric analysis while ignoring Louis' own interpretation of his songs.

Our loyalty at this point is to Louis and to our fandom community, and not Louis Tomlinson tm. We don’t trust Louis for shit, but us fans trust each other and help each other understand the truth and what's going on.

I think in order for Louis to take some control back of his own fandom, and to be able to influence us and get us to do his bidding, he needs to gain our trust back. He's currently doing the opposite of that, so he's losing us again.

[alarrytale]

I'm seeing Niall and Harry stans saying that Louis was a bit of a bully in the band and picked on Niall because he was the only one smaller and thinner than Louis. They show several gifs of him slapping Niall round the face and twisting his nipples, and Niall doesn't react as if it's a joke, he backs off with his face twisted in pain. There's no videos of the other guys playing tricks on Louis like that, interestingly.

I don't like to see this but came to you because you usually have a good explanation 🧡🩷

Hi, anon!

Of course they're saying that... No, Louis wasn't a bully. Louis was the funny guy, the boundary breaker, prankster and a little shit. It was the role he took on in the group. It was all well meaning and harmless. When things got too serious, too dark and too hard, he took it up on himself to create levity and to distract them and get them all out of their heads. He also made sure none of them got big headed or took themselves too seriously.

He did that with Liam on stage when Liam stuggled with his demons. It was waterfights, leg pulling, jokes etc. He also did that with Zayn to distract him from his anxiety and stuggles with fame. Niall was prone to be moody and too serious sometimes, and Louis would then sometimes slap him, twist his nipples or joke with him to get him out of it. He did that with all of them, including Harry with the love bites (always gentle with him) (up until the mortal enemies narrative started).

So no, Louis was not a bully. He was the social worker of 1D that made sure everyone was okay and happy, and that the group stayed together as a team. They all appreciated that he took that role and knew why he acted this way.

[alarrytale]

Hi Marte, I'm a fairly new Larrie and I was browsing the Louis Tomlinson tag on here when I came across photos I'd never seen before, of Louis looking very comfortable with Danielle Campbell in a private pool. He actually takes off her bikini and she's topless, then they make out in the pool on an inflatable.

Are these manips? Because why on earth would either of them agree to this?

Hi, anon!

Not manips! A staged pap stunt. Lmaoo he doesn’t look comfortable, neither does she, don't even try.

The reason why DC agreed to stunt with Louis was because she needed exposure, but also because she was known as a girl next door who took on very PG-13 roles. She wanted to age up and get more mature and challenging acting roles, so she did the "topless" stunt to get attention by using the shock factor to be noticed by a more mature audience. It was a pretty desperate attempt and we only reacted with disgust. It also didn’t have the effect she wanted in the end. The fake relationship with Louis did nothing for her career.

[alarrytale]

He's only got three albums out, and he hasn't even outstreamed 1D yet

he outstreamed them for a while when harrys house came out.. not sure why you’re always downplaying his success

Hi, anon!

Did you click the link i provided? Harry has passed 1D in monthly listeners (1D was briefly ahead of him again when Liam passed), but in aggregated streams 1D is still ahead by 3 billion streams.

Reading comprehension is important. So are facts.

[alarrytale]

Hi Marte, I’m not sure if it’s true, but I read that apparently Briana’s social media profile was wiped at the end of 2014, which lines up when Xander started being introduced into Harry’s public image—possibly as part of a coming out plan. And supposedly, both things were part of a plan for Harry’s CO as “bisexual” without directly outing Larry, all in collaboration with the Azoffs.

It kind of makes sense, but what makes me doubt it is that the theory would mean H and L were actively involved in planning what eventually became BBG (even if they didn’t know the kid would actually exist). Also, both of them have expressed their frustration with bbg since the beginning

Hi, anon!

It's all up to you how you interpret events and how you think events relate to each other. Fans have been speculating that H and L are planning to come out since 2012. I tend to think this theory stems from confimation bias. Some fans are convinced that they were planning a coming out back then, and they then interpret every event inside that reference frame, even if it's actually unrelated.

I don't believe H nor L was involved in planning bg at all. They would never have traded that for H to come out as bisexual, even if they didn’t know the full extent of it at the time. It wouldn't be fair to Louis, and Harry is not bisexual so it would just be another lie. It doesn’t make sense to me. I also never got the sense that Xarry was pushed as a romantic narrative by H or his team, it was all fan driven, just like Bradrry. Gryles, on the other hand, was pushed as a narrative to distract and compete with larry.

I also think RBB and SBB was a sign of how gagged H and L were at the time, how many stunts they were forced into, and how much they need to express and get across to fans who they really are and what was really going on.

I don't think H and L have ever been promised a coming out, i don't think it was an aborted process like some do. I think it was H and L kicking the closet doors and then the powers that be locked the door shut and here we still are ten years later.

[alarrytale]

something about him, it's very hidden, he just needs to bring it out 🥹

https://www.tumblr.com/ladychlo/722347436817924096/you-still-remember-how-we-dancedx

Hi, anon!

Yes, seeing Louis relaxed, uninhibited, confident and uncaring about how he comes off is a rarity nowadays. Louis dancing really is a gift in wish we got to see more often 🌸

[alarrytale]

https://x.com/theHScrave/status/1907500130464329984?t=LuWmni_nUFcqWmmL372Kag&s=19

Hi Marte, can H already be considered one of the greatest singers of today?

Hi, anon!

I assume you mean recording artist, and no, not in any sense of the word. He's popular in his time, and within his generation, but he's being outsold and outstreamed by others, and he's not as awarded or lauded as other within his generation. He's only got three albums out, and he hasn't even outstreamed 1D yet (he's almost 3 billion streams behind).

He's also nr. 227 best selling artist of all time. He's behind Shawn Mendes for example. 1D is nr. 118 (but that might be due to him only having thee albums). So he's got a way to go before being considered one of the greatest.

Also this tweet is not telling the truth. He's had at least two articles in the DM this week alone, of which at least one has speculated about a new album coming. He's also taken fan photos/being pictured by fans every day in the past week that's been all over social media. That's promo and high visibility to create engagement, hype for his new album and to remind people he exists. That will draw listeners and can explain the 2.5 monthly listeners gain. It's not out of the blue and random like this tweet make it seem.

[alarrytale]

Happy Friyay Marte! Just to uplift the mood a bit, here´s something I´d like to share

https://x.com/songbirdsues/status/1906100410508624063

I know you aren´t a mustachrry fan and so nor am I but I love the fact that H would fit in this photo with his current look and why do I think he loves having mustache because it makes him more gay looking (while it´s also a repellent to his het fans who are only there for his look)?

Happy Friyay, anon! 🎉

Lmaoooo, he would snuggle right up to them and fit right in 👨🏻👨🏻👨🏻👨🏻

[alarrytale]

Hey!

So I‘ve been wondering, do you think Harry and Louis are legally married? Cause I‘ve read somewhere that in the UK, every marriage is publicly documented and that everyone can see who is married. But then some people say that H&L might have gonna to a country where this law doesn‘t apply and got married there to keep it private. But would that work? Wouldn‘t it still be public record since they are citizens of the UK?

Hi, anon!

Check out my marriage tag and my larriage tag.