#@anon about Louis’ image changing

[releaseholiday]

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[daisiesonafield-blog]

A

[louehvolution]

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[statementlou]

https://www.tumblr.com/louisupdates/754934426217152513/goodbye-faith-in-the-future-world-tour-272024?source=share

did he or did he not lose fans then?

I will answer this because this anon actually brings a concrete question to the table rather than just "hurhur but you're a larrie??" (tell me you can't actually refute any of our points…). Anyway this post shows the decrease in Louis instagram followers between the screenshots taken directly after the release of Faith in the Future in Nov '22, when he changed his bio to promote that album and the tour tickets, and now, when he changed it again to mention the current release. But I'm putting that response under a cut because I'm tired of the actual POINT of all this nonsense getting lost in a sea of made up things people insist are important:

There is no rational argument you can make to say that Louis has less fans now than he did 2, 4, or 6 years ago. You don't need a spreadsheet of details you need to USE YOUR EYES! He has gone from filling theaters to filling arenas and stadiums. His second album made a higher chart position than his first album. His festival has doubled in size EVERY year of its existence. And for that matter: his insta post engagement numbers remain about the same (despite the fact that older posts should have way MORE likes due to having been there longer, even aside from follower counts.) SO WHO FUCKING CARES ABOUT HIS INSTA FOLLOWER NUMBER???? Serious question: what does the word "fans" mean if these things aren't what matters? ALL of this quibbling about what he should do to make things better and people can't even see that THINGS AREN'T BAD.

Anyway to address the specific question- (con't......)

NO- HE DID NOT LOSE FANS. HE LOST SOME INSTA FOLLOWERS. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME THING. As I said above, literally what does it mean to lose fans if that number change coincides with him having higher sales, more audience members, and higher engagement than ever before? Whatever he lost ISN'T FANS. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant factor was something like a bot purge, but also yes: I'm sure a lot of casuals followed him around the time of his big album release and later unfollowed him. That's extremely normal because that's how casual engagement works, and why the definition of fan really matters. Louis and his team understand this and have referenced it repeatedly, talking about how lucky he is to have *us* specifically, to have the kind of dedicated fanbase he has, to have the KIND of fans he does who will allow him to do what HE wants. @dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram named the issue of depth vs breadth with regard to fans a long time ago, and pointed out why having DEPTH is so much more important. It's like this- artists who are on top 40 radio have more numbers on things like insta follows, and for a time on sales and tickets. But those aren't FANS- they're people with a casual interest. And as soon as that person isn't being forced in their ears 10x a day, those people lose interest and stop supporting them, stop buying stuff and unfollow, and those artists end up doing the 'opener on the jingle ball' circuit rather than their own tours. One Direction as a whole, and Louis maybe most of all or near to at this point, have something MUCH MORE VALUABLE than that- DEPTH FANS. Louis has fans who will support him even if he takes years to release music, or stops parading around with a pretend girlfriend to stay in the headlines at least once a month, or completely changes his image and genre, and that is UNHEARD OF. It's ASTONISHING and worth SO MUCH MORE. And they get that! THAT is why he always bragging about us, why industry people he works with are always so agog about us, why he will do anything for US- not for randos. He is also growing his breadth- and it's OBVIOUSLY WORKING whatever his follower counts are, but that is always going to be secondary to doing things for THE FANDOM because that is his sustainable business model. That is what keeps him onstage and reaching number one. And not coincidentally, the things they do are also working to grow that- much more valuable- commodity. So the fact that that's exactly what these chuckleheads complain about- that he does things that are just fandom facing or serving rather than everything being aimed at recruiting casual fans- does nothing but betray how completely they, unlike Louis and his team, misunderstand the actual drivers of his (actual, existing, happening) success. Luckily for Louis, he and his team rely on their own data harvesting (they do a LOT of it) and growth metrics (they're off the charts) rather than the smug assumptions of random (mostly quite new to this) fans and the few bitter people leading the complaining about everything Louis does.

[skepticalarrie]

H's contract is expiring/has expired. but he is no longer the boybander who had to turn into a soloist and who Sony had quite a hold on. its bargaining power has increased enormously. Can't it be that, among the new contractual clauses required to renew the contract, there are non-economic clauses, and the two of them in the same photo are proof of this?

This is an interesting perspective, anon. For context: Around 2014, there seemed to be massive restrictions on HL being photographed together outside the band context, even creating speculations about a possible photo ban in the UK preventing pictures of both of them from being shared in the media. Which is something I personally always believed.

I just wonder 2 things: 1) Does it make sense for Harry’s solo contract to restrict his relationship with Louis? If it included clauses about his closeting, I would expect them to focus on preventing him from coming out and maintaining a certain image. So this sort of contract change might come from old One Direction contracts, not his solo one. Does Harry have enough bargaining power to negotiate that? Would that even be possible? 2) Is that something he wants? Over the years, I think the most plausible theory was that HL chose to keep their relationship private, and it wasn’t necessarily a contract thing. I personally believe that. So I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this possibility. We're so in the dark about their contracts and certain decisions, it’s hard to speculate even. So, who knows? Anything is possible.

[pynkhues]

https://www.tumblr.com/pynkhues/763021215378079744/httpswwwtumblrcomnalyra-dreaming762934616351

I love how you mention in your tags here that Lestat is somewhat powerless in s2- or how he is used in the narrative and how different characters use him against each other. Sometimes it feels like Lestat is almost being objectified, if that’s the right word, or maybe things are projected on to him because he’s desirable and has such intense charisma. I do feel like loss of autonomy is such a big theme for him, especially in TVL but also QoTD and beyond, and I’m very interested to see how the show presents that and how seriously they take it (I expect very tbh). It’s pretty unique for a male character to go through some of the things he’s gone through, so I do sort of see the comparison to some gothic heroine characters for that reason, though I think ultimately he goes far outside that as a vampire.

(x)

Oh, he's absolutely objectified in s2, anon. Mm, so there's kind of two things happening, right? On the one hand, you've got Louis genuinely trying to tell this story authentically as he experienced it, but there is also this reality that Lestat has no genuine voice in it beyond a few tokens of love that Louis' held onto - a calling card, a record, a letter. Hell, even Claudia has more than that with her diaries, and so from the get-go we're seeing an impression of Lestat, but what the show does really well is that it lets different intent come into play in the second season.

Louis' retelling of Lestat in the modern timeline is one thing, but he has two alternate retellings, right? One is the goading, provocative, mean one that he tells Daniel in 1973, and the other is Dreamstat who is neither ghost nor memory, but rather a fantasy Louis can control. While it feels like he just pops up, we know a part of Louis does it intentionally because he lets him go intentionally. I've said it a few times, but it's his desire from the s1 finale wrought true - he wanted Lestat dead and he wanted him all to himself, and now he has both. This is a Lestat that he can seek comfort from, that can tell him what he wants to hear, and! Pointedly! Devastatingly! Fuck and kill again! It's not all sweetness for Louis, he wants to project Lestat's image onto other men - a process that's dehumanising not just for the men Louis fucks and kills, but for Lestat too.

At least Louis' is understandable if not justifiable as a trauma response, but Armand has a lot of intent in how he chooses to recount his time with Lestat in Paris, something I think the show does pretty pointedly by including Nicki but having Armand drop Gabrielle. The fact that he and Lestat only almost have sex in the books before Lestat's badly triggered with memories of Magnus, which I talked about a bit here, feels too relevant to the themes the show's exploring for them to change it much? The fact then that Armand would re-write their history so explicitly sexual, even beyond any other edits, definitely lends not only to the literal objectification of Lestat, but feels pretty icky to put it mildly. Again though, he's a fantasy.

But yeah! More to your point, haha, I think s2 did a lot about showing Lestat's perceived power and then deliberately undermining it in a way that both emphasises how much we don't know the real Lestat yet, but as you said, emphasises this throughline with him as not really having a lot of genuine autonomy. Which makes sense! The fact that Rolin wanted the writers to read at least the first four books when starting IWTV I think goes to your point about that, as it really is such a huge part of his arc, like:

IWTV: Voiceless and without a point of view as it's entirely Louis' recounting

TVL: His lack of autonomy in his mortal life then his turning as an abduction and rape allegory, that gets revisited as a trigger point over and over.

QOTD: Akasha abducting him to use him in her plot (and I believe assaulting him too? I'd need to re-read it before I feel I can dive into that tbh).

TTOTBT: Has his physical body literally stolen under misleading terms.

I wrote in my Byronic Hero post that I was going to go into this and then didn't, haha, but this is kind of what I'm talking about with the female gothic vs the male gothic. While rape and physical violation is a huge part of the male gothic subgenre, often being used pretty maliciously as a symbol of corruption and to amplify horror, the violation and desecration of the body is still a really central part of the female gothic too, and it's often explored in different ways.

The female gothic is generally considered to include elements of terror / dread more than horror, and it builds to things like loss of autonomy because it's an experience women know. Lestat's not 'woman-coded' as a character, and he's not a gothic heroine, but he is a protagonist in a female gothic narrative. The result of that is that Anne has included things in his arc that are specifically the most frightening to women, because that's what the female gothic is about, and I think that's what a lot of people get confused in the gothic heroine debates.

Some of Louis' horrors are going to resonate with women. It's not because he's the beaten down housewife, it's because Anne was writing for a female audience, and to build dread and terror for women readers is to utilise things that women specifically understand and find frightening. That's what the female gothic means, and it's why Louis and Lestat are both victim and perpetrator as male protagonists of a female gothic novel series.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi nalyra!

Different anon here but based on the conversation about ghost claudia! I am feeling kind of wary about it. I do believe they will have claudia show up for sure next season as a manifestation of lestats guilt, the problem with her presence however -especially if they make her into an actual ghost- is that everything that she will be saying will be valid.

In the books that wasn't entirely the case, the accusations were mostly based on lestats own perception of his wrongs.

In this case however, they've made lestat actively mistreat her, lock her up and choose louis over her to the point that it led to her actual death. They've made reconciliation unachievable, she will forever be wronged by him and dead. That was not entirely the case in the books and it changes the characters dynamics and arcs in ways that will become apparent in later seasons. What do you think?

I think Louis glossed over a lot (understandably so, and also edited by you-know-who), and Lestat has not had his side of the story yet.

Arguably, Claudia has not had her story told in full yet, either.

There's still parts missing, parts the writers said would be revisited, and which have not been, yet.

Claudia was failed, and mistreated by everyone around her - Lestat... but also Louis, and especially Armand. People always pull up the gif of Lestat holding her by her throat, but Louis and Armand did that as well.

The diary pages that were cut out and ripped out... are still missing, are they not. Murder Night has not been revisited. I would bet real money the trial went quite differently, too. And the train scene cannot have happened as told either. For example.

(Also when did he lock her up? When she went on a hunger strike? And out regardless? Or what do you mean.)

Easy with the final judgments. We have only seen a deliberately distorted image so far.

That was what the reveal in 2x08 was all about after all.

Given context, there is no telling yet what Claudia's ghost will say... the ghost in the books is actually quite understanding (and scathing, yes, but... well. Let's wait and see.).

[alarrytale]

https://www.tumblr.com/alarrytale/762609138761072640/your-answer-was-so-interesting-it-made-me-think?source=share

yikes. you should try to get to know Louis.

he was always an oasis/green day guy, into indie brit rock.

not surprised a larrie is looking down at him, but still. the way you people think so little of him, as if his taste and choices dont matter unless they're exactly like harry.

I just need to understand. Do you think Louis have chosen this indie kind of music style to support his laddy image?

I very much think it’s actually the music style Louis likes and he’s finally confident and free enough to make the music he really wants? It’s not a secret to anyone that he wasn’t a big fan of the first 1D albums and he did what he could to get their music in another direction.

Yes the music style goes well with his laddy bro image, but I doubt that he chose the music style because of that.

Hello, anon (yes, these two asks are from the same anon)

First of all, "he was always a oasis/green day guy" is simply not true and i'm pretty tired of this attempt at rewriting history. If you go back and actually look at the evidence and what Louis has said himself you will see that.

Jay said that Louis was obsessed with S club 7 from a young age. On Louis' own bebo account he had a list of his favourite artists and bands. Do you remember which one's he mentioned? I do. He was in a band the Rogue which did covers of hit songs. Do you know which songs they performed? Songs like I got a feeling by the Black eyes peas. Louis is also into musicals, he played Danny in Grease and has mentioned that his favourite movie is Grease and his favourite song from Grease is Hopelessly devoted to you. He's got a tattoo of a Nickleback song, he and H went to the same the Script concert. His guilty pleasure music is Abba. He covered Look after you by the Fray and didn’t sing anything Oasis, britpop or indie at his xft auditions.

He has mentioned being a Green day fan, but there is zero evidence from 1991-2020 (ish) that Louis has ever been into britpop. I can buy that he was a casual fan (like 99% of the british population in the 90's.). But this "Oasis is my inspiration, i've always been a massive fan" thing? That's a narrative they've created recently, to match his change in image and sound. He's never had an Oasis poster in his bedroom, or worn an Oasis t-shirt. He's never been to an Oasis concert. He was 4 years old when Wonderwall came out. I honestly think he's more of a 00's music kid than 90's, because that's what all the evidence suggests.

I think that Louis and his team felt he needed to find himself as an artist and find his sound. Who is Louis Tomlinson the artist? The pop world is hard to compete in, and i think he gave up trying to make it in that genre (with that note he posted about redefining what success means to him). He also needs to appear straight and like a lad that's into women, and he's northern, so his label probably suggested that he'd lean into his northern, common lad, chavvy style roots and northern common lad music. They probably suggested he'd go back to the 90's glory days of northern, common lad music and replicate that. It's something he is able to do, it doesn’t feel foreign to him and like pretending, and i don't think he dislikes the music.

I think Louis music style is still very much pop, with elements of indie, punk rock and alt. Music. But it's still too pop to be classified as something else. Matt Vines can say that Louis is indie and has always been indie with his full chest. That won't ever make it true. You can’t rewrite history.

[twopoppies]

‘I've had a very hard time with my feelings towards Louis for a long time now. I don't really vibe with his music, image, or behavior, and I'm just not sure what to do about it’ that was me starting 2017…it was a really weird time and I was confused and sad about it. I wanted to like him still so badly. But at some point I only felt irritation and annoyance towards him no matter how hard I tried 😭 took me a while to accept it and now I stopped being a fan, and seeing his videos or pics now I know why I stopped even more. It’s just not my cup of tea or type of person I feel affection or support towards. It’s okay. People and things change. I found new people I felt good about supporting them 🤍 anon it’ll be okay! My tip is not to try so hard and hold onto it for so long. It’s too painful and tbh a waste of time. Trust your gut and what feels right for you.

I totally get what you mean. I think for a lot of people, the problem stems from being in fandom and not wanting to let go of what you love about supporting an artist as part of a group of fans. And obviously, there are people here who feel this way about all the guys. But, I think for Larries, it can be a little rougher because we tend to look at Harry and Louis as a pair.

[pilferingapples]

Hi I was the liminal space anon— I’m thinking there’s a universal translator situation that covers language but not cultural norms (you also still have to explain plastic and dinosaurs, etc), and he can definitely bring people home with him (if you try to use a camera in the house though nothing from 1832 will show up in the photos, and if one of the people Enjolras brings by is Louis Daguerre nothing from 2024 will show up in what would probably be his first ever prototype images).

The main issue I still can’t figure out is how to get around the fact that if he learns about the future of France it’ll influence his actions (I guess since Les Mis is fictional maybe their history can change without it messing up ours but it still feels dicey), so tragically I think there might also sort of object-permanence-style amnesia where both of you forget everything that happens in the apartment the second you leave it (if this was a book and not me rambling into your inbox the plot would probably be about you both trying to get messages to your selves outside of the liminal space zone in an attempt to recover your memories which will backfire spectacularly when one you succeeds and one of the Amis immediately builds a colt revolver or perhaps a small airplane in 1832 and completely changes the course of history)

HELLO I'M SO GLAD YOU CAME BACK WITH MORE

this honestly sounds like a whole novel setup, or a longrunner comic, I am loving the heck out of this whole concept

Alternately, as @adorablecrab said, I want 300 AUs On My Desk By Morning :D

I love the time-space warp shenanigans you're making out of that original one-line concept!

[louisisalarrie]

BBG contact anon here, thanks for answering! That definitely makes much more sense now, though I still lean towards it being a much shorter contract that was extended multiple times. Do you know if there are any theories on why that is? Like you, I believe it was supposed to end within the first year, but guessing that Jay may have been a reason (understandably so) that they delayed things. After that though, I genuinely can't think of any reason it's still around after several instances of things seeming to be heading that direction. If my memory is right, 2019 was a year that a lot of things seemed to be lining up. I do think ultimately we're getting there though, just slowly

Thanks for coming back for more chats! I’m glad my rambling made sense haha. I get quite carried away sometimes!

Yeah, I think that was definitely a reason as to why it got delayed. Louis went through a shit time and then dealing with headlines about that, and then bbg as welll? God, it would’ve been too much. He’s a very sensitive and gentle guy, I don’t believe he would’ve coped with that. He needed his privacy.

There are a couple theories around I’ve seen. One being that bbg was ultimately meant to be short and sweet, with louis ending up “marrying” B or getting more serious with her PRIOR to the actual kid being born, and then F wouldn’t be in the spotlight at all (because louis is so private about his family life). It was meant to end before the child came into the picture, which is why people believe this theory, because louis wouldn’t put an actual child through this shit for the sake of fame and money if he had a choice. Instead, he would be seen as a serious and mature dad and “do the right thing”. BUT he decided to go out clubbing with his friend, Tamara Bell, on his own accord. He figured that if he kept up with the image of being a party boy with girls every other night, it would dispel the rumours that he was going to be a serious and full time father and make things work with B for the kid, because that wouldn’t make sense with the narrative the media had going. It’s a certainly smart move on his behalf, but there were consequences and they extended the contract as reprimand, and threatened him. That’s one theory.

I partly believe in the above, but I do doubt a stunt marriage happening in this case, but it also wouldn’t shock me. So yeah, I’m on the fence with this one I guess. I do think maybe he did do the Tamara thing to fuck things up. It would be a good reason for such a big delay (and he loves fighting the big bosses and being cheeky as fuck).

Another theory that it got extended was simply because 2015 was FULL of louis and harry fighting back. It was the year of RBB and SBB making huge statements, after all! You can check out an excellent video all about the Big Gay War here, by the incredible Cosmic Leeds. There was crazy shit happening behind the scenes. The One Direction boys were fully fledged fighting with S*mon and that, and harry and louis were refusing to sign contracts for stunts.

Zayn literally said this in 2023, in an article that spread like wildfire. His exact quote was “I don’t want to go into too much detail,” he said, “but I knew for a minute there was a lot of politics, certain people didn’t want to sign contracts and I knew something was happening so I was like I’ll just get ahead of the curb and get out of here, I think this is done.”, which I think speaks for itself. You can read his interview here.

And in this theory, it’s that louis took one for the team. He reluctantly agreed on bbg to give harry a breather from stunts (well… not exactly a breather, but take the heat off of him a little so he’d have more freedom because harry is Louis’ baby and he’d do anything for him), but decided to fight harder and harder as things changed in the contract like delays and involving an actual kid etc. So, yeah, I’m pretty on board with this one, because there was so much proof of it all with the wild year of 2015, and I think zayn was referencing exactly that.

Bonus theory that I love so much so I need to include it: for the sake of privacy for a minor in the spotlight, Freddie Reign isn’t his real name. Louis “named” him that to take the piss, and obviously refer to our lord and saviour, Freddie Mercury (who just so happened to make quite the repetitive appearance with RBB and SBB).

Wow sorry this became very long again hahahah. As for 2019, it certainly seemed that way, but I was a bit more out of the fandom at the time unfortunately. If anyone has seen any other theories, please feel free to jump in!

[cbrownjc]

i think you're right people came blind for the romance and i was maybe too harsh. i've been sideyeing people's reaction to this show and themes since half the fandom called daniel a voyeur pedophile for... demanding proof that claudia's diary actually said what louis was claiming. like this fandom is sensitive AS HELL and if/when louis chooses dick over claudia/it turns out episode five went way different i'm kind of scared how people will react

Hey Anon,

It's okay, I don't think you were harsh or intended to be.

The Daniel situation is interesting. I get people who sided with Louis and the idea that he was protecting Claudia when that episode first aired. Even I did, in theory. (Having to care for my mother, who had Parkinson's, for 10 years made me completely unobjective about Daniel slapping Louis when Louis manipulated Daniel's Parkinson's, however. I personally would have punched Louis for that one, even if it would have gotten me killed.)

But in my head, I also knew what Claudia's diaries, even being around, and a thing in the show, actually meant. Because I knew their significance in the book Merrick and what Claudia had written in her (one) diary that was found - and that was her hatred for both Lestat and Louis.

And so, I couldn't shake the feeling that Claudia's diary was being edited not just because Louis was trying to protect what had happened to her.

And as we see by EP7, Daniel was right to question the pages that were taken out. Because even though Louis took the pages of the SA out to protect Claudia, we see that even more pages than just those have been taken out of her diaries.

One section, in particular, where Daniel can clearly tell Claudia hated Louis' guts. Which matches up with her diary in Merrick.

Investigative Journalists aren't there to be friendly and sometimes can lack tact. And they aren't there to reinforce a story you want to tell yourself. I really don't know what to think of people who thought Daniel was being a voyeur pedophile for asking for the missing pages, because wow for missing the point. Daniel was asking because he could sense something was off when it came to the story Louis was telling and Claudia's diaries - which were being used to reinforce Louis' story - were not being presented unedited to do that, and he was right.

If you look closely at this image, you can even see pages have been taken out of where Claudia recorded Lestat's last words:

Armand is likely the one who's been editing the diaries when the edges are clean-cut like that. But the main point is that Claudia's diaries are being edited. Claudia's story, which she told for herself, is being changed to suit whatever story Louis has been needing to tell himself about everything that happened.

Daniel is being told an account of the events to suit what Louis needs to believe and removed of the things he can't face up to. Particularly when it comes to his own choices and actions.

Spoilers Below For The Second Half of the Book IWTV and Possibly Season 2:

I know much of the non-book fandom will flip out when Louis goes off with the man/vampire who orchestrated Claudia's death. Not gonna lie, when I read that in the book years ago - after having seen the 1994 movie when it first came out, which changed that bit - I was side-eyeing Louis hard for that one.

But Louis isn't supposed to be some heroic figure. He's tragic, with some maddening faults.

This whole story is a tragedy. IWTV ends tragically, not happily. And I just don't know if the part of the fandom that doesn't know the story will be able to deal with that fact.

These vampires are monsters. They love deeply and passionately and crave love like they crave blood, but they are monsters, each in their own way. And they are all going to do some awful shit, in season 2 and any others seasons we might get. Because that is the nature of their story over the course of the chronicles.

We'll see how those new to the fandom deal with that. But not all of it will be well, I can already tell.

[gracefullou]

What would your dream album aesthetic be for LT3? Like colour pallette, album cover, promotional vibes, song vibes? (That last one is not quite an aesthetic question but I'm curious if there's a sound from his previous work you'd like to hear more of?)

(I'm definitely doing soooo well with the potential wait, not already dreaming of LT3 at all!!! 🤣)

Hi, anon. I'm not doing well with the wait as well. I was really hoping for a new single for the festivals 😩. Just something to take the edge off and give us a little more patience while we wait for him to "let life in" and finish his album in peace. (who am i kidding even then, i could never be patient for a new Louis album) . For the color palette, i would LOVE a purple/ pink themed album but i'm not too picky as long as he goes with soft pretty colors (the 28 clothing color palette always eats, he should take notes for the album 👀). As for the album cover, i can't give you an exact image bc the ideas are endless. My only request is that they do a lighter one than the walls and fitf covers. And just like the cover, i want the songs to be happy ones 😭. It's ok if he squeezes a couple of heart wrenching songs in, but as a whole i want a happy album and with new themes (pls i don't want another song about the toxic relationship that he keeps referencing to in songs like defenceless and habit and waoyf...). For the sound, as long as he doesn't try to fit in "the indie" persona and allows himself to experiment (or not) with the sounds, i'm more than happy with anything he comes up with (fitf is proof of that). BUT ngl, i think the man has the special gift of making pop perfection, so i would love a full on poppy song à la always you. All this time, she is beauty and written all over your face are such good songs but more importantly so unique to his voice and fit his voice to PERFECTION. I mean he always sounds heavenly but all this time and waoyf are something else. For promotion, it's really naive of us to expect any good promo atp (his team sucks 😔) and i'm not really keeping up with that stuff but i think it's all about payola nowadays (which he doesn't have AT ALL) and some selective public appearances and viral segments. Those interviews with the same 5 questions (at least two of them 1 dead related. The 1dead questions NEED to be banned btw) are almost useless. Ideally, i think he should do the fun segments/ interviews with potential viral moments like that chicken shop date and hot ones (let me dream ok 🤣) and some ladbible segments, a Zach Sang interview ( i mean a long, honest interview where he talks about everything while being his funny witty self. Could be another interviewer i only mentioned Zach bc Louis seems to open up to him and he did give us two amazing interviews), an interview on his YouTube channel where he talks about the album as a whole with details about each song like the breaking down walls and fitf ones (but perferably with a different interviewer), one or two podcasts bc they're really popular rn and they do ask questions that celebrities aren't asked about often and sometimes give you a glimpse of their true personality. A couple of tv appearances with performances at late night shows. That's all that comes to my mind rn but even then, without payola and with the media blacklisting it's very hard for his music to truly reach the gp and get the smash success it deserves. Anyway, regardless of the promo he is (or not) going to get i can't wait for LT3. That's all i can do as a fan. I can never put into words how much that first listen to a new album of his mean to me 🥹. Life changing that's for sure! I look forward for this man to change my life for the third time soon (fouth if we count LIVE).

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

Regarding anon describing Louis’ interview answers as unidimensional…

I blame this on his management. Dont they review what questions to expect and help craft answers that will align with the promo goals? We don’t need him to ramble while looking at the cieling contemplating an answer about whether he wrote for the new album. Some might say he is being authentic but I think he sometimes comes across as unprepared. This isn’t lunch with an old friend— it’s a multi country promo tour— how about you make sure there are interesting things to say and that those things will help advance the ball as far as your brand and career goals?

Btw I LOVE Louis and am a full-on Louis fan so this is coming from a place of love because I wanna see him have more success. I wanna see quotes or clips go viral so new people get interested in him, his music, his plans.

Hmmm at the risk of fandom anger, I have to say that this is on Louis to manage his own image.

I think he worries about his negative media image and doesn’t want to rock the boat too much.

I run across random tweets from non-1D fans that say, “I don’t like the guy but…” But what? Why does the negative image persist, and why allow it to persist?

And if it’s due to poor public relations, then do something about it?

You can’t give rote interviews, continue having a bad PR firm, and expect a miracle. Louis can’t expect fandom to be his proselytizers. No one believes young women anyway; no one will change their minds because of screaming fans.

The co-promotion with F1 and football is really good, but it never carries to fruition. Meet the players. Go to the events. Have cross-promotional events of value. Get them to promote 28 Clothing (not just young influencers).

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I think Harry could easily play arenas being out as a bi artist for some years. The question for me is why he doesn't, and while I believe he wants to be out in a way, he (or his team/label) could just think it to be not possible. There might be a tipping point where the risks vs. the baiting image risks will change. Or Harry doesn't want to be out without living his partner. And being out with Louis/a male partner is not an option if he wants the arenas, that I'm sure about.

This is basically what I believe anon. I think there's a path where Harry comes out and keeps most of his touring audience. However, it's quite narrow in terms of what he could and couldn't do.

If you think Harry is queer (and obviously I do) - I think it's worth wondering about the path not travelled - and there are two main options when it comes to why.

As you say - the first reason is that Harry and his team may well disagree with us. Just because we think things are possible doesn't mean that they are. There's so much we don't know - and they have information we don't.

More interesting are the possible personal reasons - and here I think there's a lot that could be going on.

I think when Harry's talked about his sexuality and personal life not being anyone else's business - there's a lot of truth in that. Harry's views about being out - and giving people access to more of him - they're probably really fucking messy at this point.

There's also the question of whether he wants to come out in the path that is available to him - whether that involves anything that is true or meaningful for him. I don't know that performing being queer in a way that isn't true is always preferable to performing heterosexuality.

And that's even before you get to the question of a partner. Obviously if he is with Louis it is particularly difficult. But any male partner is complicated in many different ways (not just how it influences the story Harry is telling, but also the impact on both the person and the relationship).

The only thing I'd say is that I think it's very hard to tell how real people saying shit on-line is. Sometimes online chat is meaningless, at other times it has huge consequences. I tend to think that people saying that someone is queerbaiting is pretty inconsequential and not high risk. I may be wrong - or I may be right and its still influencing people. But I think fandom tends towards catastrophising anyone criticising an artist - and it's important to have counter balancing tendencies.

[skepticalarrie]

Speaking of social media boundaries , does anyone else get bothered by Lottie Tomlinson posting the sonogram images of her child while the baby is still in the womb ?? Like is it just me who feels these images should be incredibly sacred and personal and private, the child hasn’t even fully developed and been born yet but she’s so desperate for followers to see her every move that she clearly doesn’t worry about posting her unborn child’s face all over the internet . That will forever be my biggest gripe with Louis family (or siblings really) is that they do not value or care about privacy and rather exploit whatever they can because their entire lives need to be documented and seen for them to feel validated . It’s just really sad to me honestly , they treat their lives like they’re on a reality show.

I’m not really sure about the sonogram picture itself, that's a first for me. It doesn’t bother me at all, and it’s honestly the first time I’ve seen anyone upset by it. But I guess it’s a personal thing.

I don’t think you’re wrong, anon. For me, I just don’t appreciate their content, so I don’t watch it. Otherwise, I’d find myself getting annoyed every single time. I mean, I respect Lottie for starting her own family and she has her business and stuff... good for her. But their lifestyle and the way they monetize every little thing, as you said, isn’t my cup of tea. It feels like a waste of time to get so attached to what their families or friends are doing. They’re not going to change it, and just because they’re related to Louis doesn’t mean you have to follow them closely. Honestly, I often forget they exist, and life is so much better that way! So I’d say free yourself from that burden, anon.