#2021 Larry moments

[twopoppies]

😍

https://x.com/vadastylinson/status/1851543964945379833?s=46&t=HJNgJeyaKbaPu8DTunwOUA

Oh my god he’s too much. 🤣

x

[shitapril]

very often see posts about how the one direction fans grew up to be formula one fans, and the more I think of it, the more it makes sense. putting aside the fact that almost all my f1 friends were 1d fans (were ? are lol), it makes sense that a fandom who's fuel was hyperfixating on boys living out their dreams shifted from one form of it to another.

tha being said, it got me thinking - how do the girlies translate to f1 ? and by girlies i mean what your kpop fan would call a "bias". for example, if i was a niall girl - who's my favourite now ?

so here's a silly little non-sensical analysis and comparison that should not be taken seriously at all :

firstly, the zayn malik girlies are definitely lewis hamilton girlies. both zayn and lewis come from humble backgrounds, were subject to vile, inhumane racial discrimination and hate - all while being arguably the most talented in their respective fields (I mean, you've heard zayn's high note in you & I, and seen lewis' 7 world championships). they're hardworking, pet-loving, very fashionable men who stay out of unnecessary spotlight for the most part, and step out once in a while to remind the world they're drop-dead gorgeous. the zayn girls are safe with lewis.

next comes liam payne - and here on you'll have to hear me out with my comparison of every racer and bandmate. liam and george russell are both aggressively british, unapologetically goofy and true to themselves (and i'm talking about liam in 1d not the one on logan paul's podcast). they're both very talented, highly regarded in their boss' eyes (toto wolff and simon cowell - this post is going to be interesting wow) and still somehow not an immediate fan favourite. this comparison also goes wonderfully well with the whole ziam and britcedes parallels.

thirdly, louis tomlinson. easy peasy. max verstappen. both incredibly blunt, dry humour, pr nightmares, do not give two single hecks. people either love them, or hate them - no in between. both incredibly talented individuals (louis wrote majority of 1d's discography, max has 3 world championships under his belt) and yet are discredited ("louis is only famous cuz of his bandmates and the band itself" and "max just had a good car"). the zayn and louis fued also parallels abu dhabi 2021 quite well aye ? (i'm going insane)

harry styles, no debate. charles leclerc - regarded as the pretty boys (the prettiest, their fans would insist i'm sure) and the most popular, the well-liked. both extremely talented without a doubt, but a little bit overrated, and victimised to glorify and support fan narratives. i know i sound like a hater - forgive me, not my intention. i like them both as individuals - their fans on the other hand (and no, not all, i know) are so blind-sided, so insane and cause so much unpleasantness on the internet. almost ironic, how the most amicable ones have the least liked fans lol. that aside though, if you were a harry girl, chances are you went from one fan-favourite to the other. i also just realised - this supports the larry and lestappen narratives - am i genuinely, honestly onto something here ? (i absolutely am not)

lastly, niall horan. now this one i'm sure will divide you all, but here you go anyway. lando norris. both babied immensely by their fans and bandmates/teammates alike - churchboy persona. the moment they shed the insecurity, suddenly bam everyone hates them (niall's mofo t-shirts, lando's frat boy tendencies, and saying things that the internet will not find funny), promising at a young age, yet somehow grew up to be called overrated. their fans are stubbornly loyal to them, defending them through all their rights, and wrongs. it makes sense to me. one smiley boy to another.

this probably makes no sense - but feel free to add your own comparisons, theories, and notes ! there's 5 of them and 20 on the grid, obviosuly disparity for me to go on and on and on about (for example, I see a little zayn girls to carlos girls pipeline, louis to fernando - oldest boy syndrome and all that) so let me know ! let's yap :)

[cooloddball]

I have been in a sour mood since I saw a post alleging that Lestappen is the new “Larry” and that’s why Max deleted his “you are looking sexy out there” tweet to Charles and Esteban.

Not that you asked but I could use some cutesy Lestappen moments 🥹

the monaco gp hug (like hello they were so soft there and the way charles’ head laid on max’s shoulder. the way max was grinning after and how Charles couldn’t stop smiling after too 🥺)

the whole las vegas gp 2023; the joint interview, the car ride, the podium

them riding in the same car during the miami gp this year and they both had their own cars assigned like ???

charles narrating inchident saying ‘this i will never forget’

max apologising to charles last year for turn 1 when everyone on earth and the outer cosmos knows max emilian does not in fact apologise to anyone. the max literally almost pushed icon for messing up his race. in 2021 he said ‘that’s what you get…’ about his and lewis ’ incident in monza . calling George a d*ckhead 😬 he truly does treat charles differently

max choosing to film charles when his sole job was to film for mclaren

the paddle date

the 2022 f1 secret santa; charles’ reaction when he got max’s name, charles picking a kazoo for max, max’s reaction to the gift charles got him

charles saying that the biggest prize (can’t recall the exact wording) was max being okay after silverstone 2021

the way the look at each other

i could go on forever but these are just off the top of my head

[kiwikiwiandkiwi]

H+L moments in 2022

I’ve seen these recaps before so I thought I’d make one with my favorite moments of 2022 since it was such a special year for them (and for us too):

1) I’m gonna start with probably my favorite moment (and this was just the beginning of everything) Louis wears the same blue and green shirt for his shows in Houston and Seattle (aka HS) 28 days apart of each other:

2) Louis pointing nonstop to a Larry sign during his show in Washington (here's the moment in different angles x, x, x):

3) Louis, during his Pittsburgh concert on Valentine's day, wears pants with a butterfly logo on them - a butterfly that was inspired by the movie Papillon, the same movie which inspired Harry’s butterfly tattoo:

4) Louis, on his Reykjavik show, wears a shirt that's written Maison - home in french - on the same day Harry announces his new album, Harry's House:

5) Ok, maybe this is my favorite moment. Harry, during his first concert of 2022, sings You're Still the One while wearing a rainbow jumpsuit (knowing exactly what this song means to us after singing it in 2018 and fonding way too hard while looking up at the VIP box):

6) Harry doodles an "H" and a subtle-ish “L” on his shoes while stunting in Italy:

7) The peace ring makes a comeback in May and then for a few days in September (worth mentioning that the first appearance in September was on the 7th, the exact same day the ring made a comeback in 2021:)

May 19th:

Sep 7th 2021 and Sep 7th 2022:

8) Louis and Harry being in Italy at the same time and Louis pretending he is not aware of it:

9) Harry dresses up as Danny Zuko (making him look a lot like Louis) aka a character from Grease aka one of Louis' favorite movie aka a character Louis played when he was young (a play so important to him that he still has the jacket he wore in it):

10) which leads me to this moment, because while wearing a Danny Zuko costume, Harry sang Hopelessly Devoted to You, a song that speaks for itself but that later on, Louis said was his favorite song from Grease:

11) After years of Harry telling us he's the little spoon, Louis finally confirmed that he is in fact the big spoon:

12) so many songs and lyrics from Harry's House and Faith in the Future (big, big, big, biiiiiig shout out to Keep Driving, Daylight, Written All Over Face and Lucky Again)

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Steven Beschloss at America, America:

On January 6, 2021, 147 members of Congress refused to certify the 2020 election which Joseph R. Biden won. This despite a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol earlier that day. This after two months of constant lying by Trump and his enablers that the election was stolen and he really won. That election denialism didn’t fade, neither has the desire for a coup that would subvert the will of the people and reinstall the 2020 loser in office. Fast forward to May 30, 2024. Twelve ordinary citizens unanimously determined that Donald Trump was guilty of 34 felony charges after five grueling weeks of detailed evidence. This followed dozens of the defendant’s enablers in Congress appearing inside and outside the courthouse to insist that this trial was rigged, nothing more than a political show trial, and that their beloved leader didn’t do anything wrong or illegal. The jury’s verdict of guilt didn’t change their rejection of justice and the legitimacy of the judicial system. In fact, the trial denialism only grew louder, more insistent—and more dangerous.

We should not be surprised. The same people who rejected the factual reality of Trump’s loss in 2020 have only grown more extreme in their need to ignore the truth as their hunger for power by any means has grown stronger. Accepting that the court proceeding was legitimate and the jurors’ conclusion was fair and true would puncture the bubble of lies that have propelled Trump toward the 2024 nomination for president. If he is guilty now, then maybe it means he really lost then. If they accept that he is genuinely a convicted felon and doesn’t belong anywhere near the White House again, they would have to doubt their decision to stick by him and his lies dating back to the 2020 election and before.

[...]

We can count on the trial deniers to keep digging, led by the convicted felon who had already succeeded in convincing them to embrace election denialism. Their chosen leader will continue to provide them an endless stream of contempt—toward the trial, toward the judge, toward the Manhattan District Attorney, toward the court system, toward the president, toward anyone who sways from their dangerous message.

And if a Republican refuses to go along? Then they devour him. After the verdict, former Maryland Gov. and now Senate candidate Larry Hogan dared to post this rational statement: “Regardless of the result, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process. At this dangerously divided moment in our history, all leaders—regardless of party—must not pour fuel on the fire with more toxic partisanship. We must reaffirm what has made this nation great: the rule of law.” In response, election-denying and trial-denying Republican National Committee chair and Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump went on the attack. She said Hogan “doesn’t deserve the respect of anyone in the Republican Party at this point, and quite frankly anybody in America, if that’s the way you feel.” Chris LaCivita, a Trump campaign advisor, was more direct in defining the consequence of Hogan’s lack of fealty. “You just ended your campaign,” he wrote in response. The insurrection did not end on Jan. 6, 2021. Since then, the rejection of factual reality has only intensified. 

Steven Beschloss’s America, America column on how the anti-reality MAGA Cult's election denial has extended into trial denialism is a must-read.

The MAGA Cult is all about showing fealty to the 34x convicted felon and domestic terrorist cult leader Donald Trump, facts be damned.

[haztobegood]

Oops & Hi!

Happy 28th! Here is a collection of fics where Harry and Louis say the Oops & Hi! This has always been one of my favorite fandom easter eggs in fics. Remember to leave the authors comments and kudos when you read!

💙 If You Find Yourself Here by @lululawrence G, 2k, Wrong apartment, Meet cute

Harry accidentally wanders into Louis' apartment. They've never met. Oops.

💚 Skate Into Your Heart by wabadabadaba @bigxrig G, 2k, Girl Direction, Roller skates, Puns

the one where Harry orders custom skates and runs into Louis at the skatepark, literally.

💙 Who'd You Rather - Larry Stylinson Edition by jetblackromance G, 3k, Talk Show Game, Celebrity Crush, Famous/Famous

the one in which Harry has a celebrity crush on Louis and the world knows about it after a game of Who'd You Rather on Ellen's talkshow

💚 The One With the Lemur on the Fire Escape by zita17 @louisandtheaquarian T, 4k, Neighbors, Fluff

Louis is an overworked bartender hoping to save up enough extra tips to buy a new air conditioner before he literally melts during a scorching NYC heat wave. Harry is the new neighbor that wakes him up by moving in his sole day off at 6am. An NYC enemies to neighbors to friends to lovers AU featuring a rickety fire escape, the 2021 Euros, Lirry bickering like a divorced couple, and enough OT5 clichés to rot your teeth. (If Harry's pastries don't get them first.)

💙 We're Getting Better With Time by @haztobegood T, 5k, Social Media, Second Chances, Older Larry

The one where Louis is single, Harry is recently divorced, and they reconnect on Facebook forty years after they first met.

💚 come on, jump out at me by g_uttertrash T, 7k, Halloween, Witch Harry, Vampire Louis

Harry is a witch who carries around a stuffed pumpkin, Louis is a vampire with too much time on his hands, and their best mates Zayn & Niall aren't exactly what they seem...

💙 You Came Along And Moved Me, Honey by @fairytalefem T, 8k, Youtuber Harry, ASMR, Candle Reviews

Louis was gone for Harry from the moment they met, already planning their wedding and picking out rings in his head, and after months of living in each other's pockets they knew almost everything about each other. The one thing Louis didn't know about Harry was what he did for a living. Faced with vague answers and question-evading, Louis begins to imagine scandalous and dangerous secrets that Harry must be keeping - but maybe Harry's secrets aren't so sinister after all.

💚 A Small Matter (A Matter of Trust) by @kingsofeverything E, 19k, Grindr, Coworkers, Tiny Penis

Harry knows he and his Grindr hookup would be perfect together, if only he could convince him to give a relationship a chance. Or Harry has a thing for jockstraps and Louis likes to wear them.

💙 Someone to Fly Home To by kingsofeverything E, 35k, Exes to Lovers, Pilot Louis, Older Larry

Louis and Harry’s marriage ended more than a decade ago, but fate keeps bringing them back together.

💚 There's Such a Lot of World to See by @crinkle-eyed-boo E, 125k, Doctor Who au, Angst

Louis has seen a great many things throughout his travels in time and space, but only one he can’t explain: He keeps meeting the same boy, who says the same thing to him each time. The boy should be impossible. Maybe he is. A love story that defies the boundaries of space and time. Doctor Who AU.

💙 Now In A Minute by thealmightyavocado @avocadolouie M, 150k, 13 Going On 30 au, Childhood Friends

13 feels like yesterday for many people, but for Louis it actually was. More than anything in the world, Louis Tomlinson dreams of growing up. Simply skipping over all of the awkward, embarrassing years of teenage existence and getting on with life. Real life. So when thirteen-year-old Louis wakes up in the body of his thirty-year-old self, he expected everything in his adult life to be picture perfect. And maybe it is. He has it all…or so it seems. Except his favorite person and lifelong best mate, Harry Styles, is totally missing from the equation and Louis doesn’t understand why. He has a lot of catching up to do and as adult life turns out to be more than what he bargained for, Louis can’t help wondering why a life that seemed so perfect, feels so empty.

[mariacallous]

Forget for a moment all the potential foreign-policy implications of a second Donald Trump presidency. What are the implications for U.S. foreign policy if Trump loses the election, denies its outcome, and tries to overturn it? How would the United States, longtime champion of democracy promotion abroad, be able to continue doing so when it has become clear that so much of the country has so little support for the actual exercise of democracy?

If Trump performs as he did in 2020 and narrowly loses the upcoming election—and polls suggest the race remains a toss-up—the likelihood of a repeat of the “Stop the Steal” campaign and a concerted effort to subvert the outcome again appears high. 

Both Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, have repeatedly refused to say whether they’ll accept the outcome of the election (unless they win). The mechanics for a similar challenge to the election’s outcome, focusing on replacing legitimate state electors with fraudulent electors, which was invented on the fly in late 2020, has been significantly built up. Election experts fear Trump has a more robust plan to overturn the election than his ultimately failed bid after the 2020 vote. And he’s already saying as much, launching broadsides in late October against allegedly fraudulent ballots in Pennsylvania, a critical state for both candidates.

His first effort to subvert a presidential election, culminating in the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was harmful enough to the image of the United States as a bastion of democracy. 

“Our soft power, our ability to attract and inspire, has already been damaged by all this—by the threats that Trump made in 2016 that he wouldn’t accept the election unless it went his way, and then what he did in 2020,” said Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.

But the Biden administration nevertheless made democracies-versus-authoritarians a guiding principle of its foreign policy during its first years in office, even convening a handful of democracy summits. It seems to be a losing battle. Illiberal and authoritarian regimes are growing in number (most recently in the republic of Georgia), while democracies and freedom are in retreat. Those regimes are banding together, whether through bilateral ties (such as Russia and North Korea), multilateral groupings (the expanded BRICS is taking an anti-Western tilt), or even inside the European Union (Hungary’s prime minister has become Russia’s new Vyacheslav Molotov).

If Trump wins the election outright, fears of another Jan. 6 are moot, and major concerns can revert to issues such as the future of NATO, the fate of Ukraine, and the promised global trade war. But a Trump victory would also severely diminish U.S. democratic credentials, Diamond argued.

“If Trump wins, particularly after the campaign of racism, misogyny, authoritarian threats and intimidation, xenophobia, and so on, if he wins after that, the damage from that compared to the fallout from a contested election will be far greater,” he said.

If Vice President Kamala Harris wins the vote—and takes office next January after a prolonged campaign to delegitimize the election—how much could U.S. democratic credentials suffer on the global stage?

“It’s a very plausible outcome, another period where we look like the problem when it comes to democratic practice,” said Richard Fontaine, chief executive of the Center for a New American Security, a D.C.-based think tank. Fontaine recently published a joint call for the next administration to revitalize democracy promotion to bolster U.S. national security.

“It would make it harder and be a major distraction. The world has become less democratic over the last 15 or so years, and I think that is a more dangerous world than otherwise,” he said. “The degree to which U.S. policy and leadership can influence that direction one way or the other is important for the world, and for our own security.”

For some 80 years, Washington has sought to promote democracy abroad as a way to boost its security and prosperity at home. More democracies generally means a more stable international order, with fewer threats to U.S. prosperity or core interests. The issue has become especially acute as illiberal and authoritarian states attempt to promote an alternative vision of the international order that would have both as its goal and its consequence a weaker United States. Democracy in disarray at home would only blunt that longtime fixture of U.S. diplomacy.

Democracy promotion “is in our DNA, so it should be part of our toolbox and a natural component because of who we are,” said Derek Mitchell, nonresident senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former president of the National Democratic Institute, a nongovernmental organization that promotes democracy globally. Mitchell also just wrote a piece underscoring the importance of democracy promotion.

“More than that, it is, I think, our comparative advantage right now in the defining question of the 21st century: What norms will guide the world in the decades ahead? The question is, are we going to be reaffirming those democratic norms both at home and abroad as something in our interest?” Mitchell said.

That’s why the risk of a repeat of a contested election, coming in a deeply polarized and paralyzed American society, would be problematic in that bigger contest.

“Obviously the brand is degraded, and the autocrats will be able to use what is happening in the United States as a cudgel against America’s pretension—I think real support—for democracy,” Mitchell said.

The other risk from a contested election and a repeat of January 2021 is the power of example. Diamond noted that former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s effort to stay in office after losing in Brazil’s October 2022 election “was completely inspired by what Trump did and even the methods. So it’s not just that our soft power will be damaged by another post-election crisis, it will also have demonstration effects.”

Perhaps concerns over the tarnish left by another messy election are overblown. After all, Woodrow Wilson pledged to make the world “safe for democracy” while championing segregation, and before women’s suffrage was real. Succeeding presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump officials all championed democracy abroad while grappling with democratic deficits at home.

“The United States has always had flaws in its democracy even while maximally promoting democracy and human rights,” Fontaine said.

History suggests that not even overt shows of support for authoritarianism and disdain for democracy can derail that train. Just two years after the first mass Nazi rally in New York City in 1939, Freedom House was created to promote democracy around the globe—the start of a decade that culminated with Roosevelt’s “arsenal of democracy,” the creation of the United Nations, and the birth of the Marshall Plan.

The United States’ own travails with democracy could, in the event of an eventual Harris win and successful inauguration, even give Washington the ability to more effectively promote democracy abroad tempered by the experience. That could make it better able to relate to fragile democracies that struggle against the seemingly never-ending attacks they face, Mitchell said.

“The U.S. struggle only points to how difficult it is,” he said. “Institutions are vitally important—that was the lesson of 2020, and maybe of 2024.”

[becomingflynn]

“I love it [The Dig] as a history geek, for connecting these two moments in the past: the summer of 1939, when there’s this sense of impending doom as Europe starts to dive into its own version of the Dark Ages [and the early medieval period],” Flynn says. “They unearth this kind of portal to another time that allows them to see beyond the horizon of their own very dangerous situation in that temporal moment. I found it profound and weirdly moving for that reason.”

Johnny talking about The Dig (2021), on Variety Magazine. Picture by Larry Horricks/Netflix. (x)

[fuckyeahmarkgatiss]

The recent Times article on Mark & Ian

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mark-gatiss-and-ian-hallard-i-asked-him-to-marry-me-the-afternoon-we-met-339v55jw2

The article is behind a paywall but I still had some access so here you all are!

Mark Gatiss & Ian Hallard: ‘I proposed on the afternoon we met.’

The League of Gentleman star and his actor husband on dating at the dawn of the internet and coming out to their parents.

Mark

Ian and I met online back in 1999, long before Grindr, when online dating still had a certain stigma attached to it. “Poor you! You can’t find anyone in the real world, so you have to go scrabbling around on the internet.” I didn’t tell my family how we’d met for several years.

You also have to remember that gay men didn’t necessarily go on dates in search of eternal happiness. Dates were fun and exciting. So, when we met in the glamorous surroundings of Finsbury Park Tube station and went back to my flat, I didn’t think it was anything serious. But it was. Ian loves to tell people that I asked him to marry me that afternoon. With hindsight I think I was probably joking, but I certainly had high hopes: “Maybe he’s ‘the one’.”

Having said that, it did take a while to get used to the idea of being a couple. All my previous relationships had sort of … fizzled out. With Ian it was the opposite; we seemed to grow closer and closer. We’ve even collaborated on several projects and I’m directing his first play at the moment [the Abba-inspired The Way Old Friends Do, which Ian wrote and stars in], but there’s never been any sense of rivalry. We get asked if it’s difficult living and working together, but why would it be a problem to spend time with the person you love?

I grew up in a working-class town near Durham, my dad worked at the pit. Telling people you were gay in that situation wasn’t easy. I came out to my friends when I was 15 and there were a few comments at school, but I was never bullied. The real problem for me in the Seventies and early Eighties was that I had no idea what to do about being gay.

Apart from the occasional storyline in [the drama series] Play for Today, the only gay men on TV were John Inman and Larry Grayson. I play Larry in the new TV drama Nolly [about Noele Gordon, a star of the soap Crossroads] and understand why John and Larry were regarded as torchbearers. But some gay activists in the Seventies saw them as the enemy: screamingly gay, but at the same time a sort of neutered Saturday-night camp.

Somehow I managed to put off telling my parents to the point where my mam was the one who brought it up. I was home from university and she simply asked me. It was a huge relief. I said, “Hadn’t we better tell Dad?” Mam looked at me. “Oh no! It’ll kill him.” So we didn’t.

A couple of weeks later I was talking to Mam on the phone and she said, “I told your dad. Ooh, we had some snow overnight.” Initially I thought that had saved me from having to talk to him about it, but it had just been popped at the back of a drawer.

Dad struggled at first, but considering his background it could have been a lot worse. Although it was a bit awkward when he met Ian, we never had “issues”. Sadly we lost him in 2021. The weird thing is that as he got older he became much more tolerant. Even after he lost Mam — his loneliness seemed to soothe his prejudices. He understood that love is where it falls.

It sounds like a complete cliché to say, “We make each other laugh all the time,” but it’s absolutely true. Our shared sense of humour has become the glue that has bonded us. Ian’s definitely more together than me when it comes to admin, and I’m pretty sure he did most of the organising when we had our civil partnership in 2008. The main problem is that, left to our own devices, we can be as bad as each other. We make all these grand plans, then we decide to take Bob [the labrador] for a walk instead.

Ian and I did have a brief period of broodiness, then we quickly realised that neither of us was responsible enough, so we got a dog. The ideal scenario would be that a fully formed, well-educated, extremely polite grown-up knocks on our door and declares that they are the fruit of my overeager teenage loins. We get to be parents without the hard work!

The couple in 1999, the year they met

Ian

Remember when Stelios from easyJet started his internet cafés? Without Stelios I wouldn’t have met Mark. I didn’t have the internet at my flat in London, so I would go to a Stelios café every day to check emails and log on to gay.com. Back then online dating didn’t involve pictures; it was just messages and a phone call. When Mark and I finally clapped eyes on each other, there was that awful moment of tension, trying to decide if we fancied each other. If not, I guess we would have headed off on our separate ways.

Mark was only the second man I’d made contact with online and the first one I’d met. I did sort of recognise him because The League of Gentlemen had been on telly, but I hadn’t actually seen it. That was probably a good thing. Had I been a massive fan, I’m not sure things would have worked out.

Mark’s career has taken a different trajectory to mine. He has been involved in a lot of high-profile projects and around the time of Sherlock [Gatiss was co-creator, co-writer and appeared as Holmes’s brother, Mycroft] things did go a bit crazy. That one-sided success can cause havoc in a relationship, especially with actors — lots of arguments and jealousy. Some relationships seem to thrive on that constant drama. Not us! I’ve never seen Mark have an argument with anyone. He’s unfailingly polite to the point of diffidence.

I hit my teens when TV was full of adverts about Aids — huge icebergs, tombstones. My parents were your typical easy-going, middle-class Brummies. There was no hint of homophobia but, in that climate, you can see why they might be concerned about having a gay son. What kind of future did I have? I was either going to die of Aids or kill myself out of loneliness and depression.

When I eventually told them I’d met someone and talked about bringing him home to meet them, they were very happy. I told them he was in this fantastic programme called The League of Gentlemen and proudly told them it had won a Bafta. Unfortunately they decided to watch it. They saw this collection of psychopaths and monsters and thought, “What’s he got himself involved with? Is it a cult?” Mum rang me up and said, “Please tell me it’s not him who plays that weirdo Mickey.” I paused for a second and then said, “Yes, Mum, that’s the man I’m going to marry.”

The Way Old Friends Do, Lyceum, Sheffield, Tue-Sat; Park Theatre, London N4, Mar 15-Apr 15; and touring until Jun 10; thewayoldfriendsdo.com

Strange habits

Mark on Ian

He’s incapable of keeping his side of the bed tidy. I call his pile of dirty clothes “the Bedroom Monster”

Ian on Mark

He worries about us travelling in the same car in case something happens to us both and Bob becomes an orphan

[twopoppies]

Hi Gina so I’m showing my friends a thread full of Larry proof from 2010 to 2021/22 but I can bearly find anything from 2023/24 apart from the euros do you have a masterpost or thread you could lend me please , it would be awesome and thanks !!!

I mean, there’s very little because Harry was MIA most of it and Louis was on tour. But here you go:

2023 LARRY MOMENTS

2024 LARRY MOMENTS

2024 LARRY RECEIPTS

Any other years can be found using the same formula

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hi BPP, How will I know when the implosion begins? Is there an inverted yield curve for fandoms? Point form answers are are acceptable! Happy D-DAY!! 💜💜

Thank you for all the work you’ve put into this blog. It’s been a super interesting and enjoyable part of SM for me!

***

Hi @babyyourelemonade

An inverted yield curve for fandoms! Now that's a brilliant idea. I'd personally pay to contribute to funds for research on that topic honestly. And it could have implications outside of fandom too, such as for whole countries since many fandoms now work like splintered political communities more than anything else. I imagine it would be an upgrade to the theory on what caused the fall of Rome, or something like that.

I think I'm alone (mostly) in my opinions on the fandom imploding, and I don't want to talk much about it because I genuinely hope I'm very wrong, and because I don't have a lot of evidence to back up why I feel this way, so there's little point in going on about it.

But you've asked so I'll be brief:

Personally, I think the implosion has already started lol. The moment the fandom decided that taekookers were someone else's problem and should only be ignored, the seeds for implosion were already set. In my opinion. Think about Larries and the 1D fandom. Shipping is one thing but as I've said before, there are theories unique to taekook shipping that are inherently subversive to the very idea of BTS, and all it takes is someone crazy enough to do real damage. But that risk was somewhat contained so long as BTS was active and things were predictable. After the 2022 Festa Dinner and the fandom now experiencing Chapter 2 where so much is now unpredictable, where indulging in competition between the members is more permissible, the control on that risk has reduced somewhat. Solo stans, akgaes, and toxic shippers are like an immuno-virus that weakens from within because they're just as passionate and involved as regular fans, they're just twisted enough to prioritize their desires over everyone else, including the members they claim to stan.

The second problem is ARMYs. Lol. Specifically the ARMYs who have tied BTS's worth to the records and titles they hold, because those are the people most likely to do stupid shit when they feel threats to those records are imminent. At some point in 2021, I noticed when people would discuss what BTS means to them and to the industry, they'd just rattle off only records and accomplishments as if that was it. Before then, at least in my experience, people would talk about the lyrical impact of BTS's songs, they'd talk about the stylistic choices made in this or that album that relative to the other albums out at the time, and so on. There's nothing wrong with gloating about BTS's records because frankly that's the only thing that shuts up some antis. But it becomes a problem I think, when those records become the primary reason you think BTS have the status and caliber they have, and you’ve tied it to a central part of your identity.

Because records will always be broken.

And in Chapter 2 that is nearly guaranteed to happen. So the ARMYs who make that both their identity, and BTS's, will expose BTS to even more ridicule than they would've faced otherwise and will be disproportionately affected. If another group gets a Grammys nomination this year for example, or *gasp* actually wins the award next year, lol just pack it all up and give it to God. It will be bloody in these purple streets. Because too many ARMYs have tied BTS's worth to their achievements and only heightened the risk for implosion before 2026.

I've got a few more reasons but I've already written enough, and like I said I don't have much evidence for what I'm thinking anyway. But I suggest anyone who calls themselves a fan of BTS, reflect sometimes on why they're a fan, why they spend time in fandom spaces, and think about how to build real, honest community with people here while trying not to take too much personally.

[alarrytale]

Hiiiiiii, the first thing I want to tell you is that I love your account, I have only recently started following you because I didn't have Tumblr before, but since I found your account my experience in the fandom has been better.

I've been in the fandom since 2021, at first I was a 1D fan but Louis made me fall in love from the first moment. Before I thought Larry was fake and all those theories and "coincidences" that the fandom said seemed absurd to me. Until one day I saw the video of Louis touching Harry's arm in an interview (I think in 2012) and there was no turning back JAJAJAJJAJAJ. And since then I've read everything I could about the closeting and about the industry (I love researching and learning new things). The thing is, since I've been in the fandom I've always heard that Louis's personality changed a lot from 2013 onwards and the truth is that watching videos of him in 2010-2012 it is very noticeable compared to 2013 onwards. And I don't know if you were there at the time, but was Louis' change noticeable at that moment? Thank you very much and sorry for my English 😅

Hi, anon! 🧡

Thank you for your kind words! And your english is nothing you should worry about on this blog. I understand you perfectly well. The Palisades Mall interview (the arm touch interview) from march 2012 has made many a skeptic into a larrie, so you're not alone.

I came into fandom in august 2012 so i saw the transformation of Louis. It was very noticable after the bullshit tweet in september 2012, because the whole fandom imploded and Louis knew he was the cause of it. I think Ha*lor was also an awakening for him. He was so miserable and you could tell he was hurting. I think he became jaded and felt the full power of the industry for the first time. We still got glimpses of the cheeky, happy go lucky, smart boy, but he drew further and further into himself, as he was reprimanded for fighting against his imposed closet, and we saw less and less of the person he used to be. When the mortal enemies narrative started, it's like he was a different person alltogether. Reserved, careful, stoic, going through the motions and relying more on the others.

I wouldn't say it was very noticable, because he was still himself from time to time, but the larry denials and the stunting created a chasm between him and his fans that took a while to repair. People turned on him and feared him. The trust was gone. I think the industry and label has done a number on him, that he still struggles with today. I know that boy of 2010 is still there, he's just being repressed. I hope someday we'll meet him again 💙

[adultswim2021]

Yappy Broads #1 | February 22, 2010 (online) | Pilot

Yappy Broads isn’t too complicated to explain. It’s a The View style women’s program with five “women”, four of which are men in drag doing very little to actually act like women. We got Larry Dorf, Tommy Blacha, Earthquake, and Dino Stamatopoulos all wearing freaking dresses and dang-ass woman wigs. Their straight woman is Shandi Finnessey, an actual former beauty queen. One could sexistly say that she is there to look hot, but that would suggest that anyone else involved had some other higher purpose for being there.

First they talk to a woman peddling a workout for your face called “Facersize”. There’s chatter about various topics of the day, and then Corey Feldman stinks it up by hawking his CD and his bad Lost Boys sequel. Have you seen it? I haven’t, but I bet it’s bad. The closing credits feature a close-up of Shandi holding a shaky bunny rabbit, which is pretty nice. 

The entire thing is ad-libbed, with a group of funny fellas all chiming in with attempts to be funny. There are moments that show promise, and they usually involve Dino being cantankerous. It seems highly edited down, yet the highlights are still sparse. The single defining moment of this show is Earthquake commenting on a nose exercise: “you know how much cocaine you could do with your nose like this? (no audience response) You be tore up! (no laughter).” To be fair to the show, I did laugh at that, but not in a nice way.

There’s something special about watching TV go off the rails. But this seems like it was designed to already be off the rails. I didn’t really enjoy this. I can’t tell if the problem is that they’ve edited it down too much or if they didn’t edit it down enough. I would love to see the unedited taping of these segments to judge for myself. Even if this were especially funny, it still seems a little wrong to air something like this on a weekly basis.

Anyway, Shandi Finnessey has only done one nude photoshoot and it was for Peta.

MAIL BAG

The Simpsons has killed off its beloved character Larry Dalrymple or "Larry The Barfly." Thoughts on this development? Memories to share? Comments? Questions? Dyns?

I actually watched some of a YouTube video about this and the commenter took issue with the story of the episode being about Larry being lonely and left-out Homer and his friend's fun adventures, because they observed that Larry seemed like he was friends with the hat guy, and that it was a horrible omission. Like the writers should just be presenting an episode that strives to not contradict the previous 800 episodes instead of doing a specific, interesting story. Seemed like a baby-brained way of complaining about the show. My baby-brained takes on cartoons are the only takes that truly matter.

Soul Quest Overdrive has the leader of the proud boys as a voice actor on the show. He was the one who spearheaded that whole January 6th insurrection thing back in 2021, the one that every news outlet was comparing to 9/11 when it was really more like the world's biggest temper-tantrum. He blamed the show being cancelled on the other VA's "Not being as funny" as him.

It's weird how I've hated that guy for as long as I've known about him, and him doing a 180 politics-wise did nothing to affect his standings. But January 6th is maybe the hardest I've ever laughed at anything, so I guess he does deserve some credit.

I don't really know WHY they changed them to sports equipment, this is pure conjecture, but maybe AS felt like having 2 food shows on at the same time was a bit too cheap/cash grabby, so they changed them to differentiate it a bit more. I know they've shot down shows related to hell and food when Development Meeting was still running since they hit that well so many times.

Yeah, that actually does sell the case for it being a creative decision. Maybe it's not sneaky at all, what they're doing.

As for "Eggball", if you look closely on the pinball machine you can see black shake as a decal on it, still on (HBO)max. They can erase a HNIC but they can never erase history.

I had read about black guy cup being on the machine, but I simply must admit that I did not notice it myself!!! Not sure what those letters mean there, but I'm going to assume that none of them are slurs and publish this immediately without looking it up.

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I think it's probably the stark contrast between the ways H and L approach tour and drinking/smoking that is provoking anxiety in your anons. Harry said he doesn't smoke cigarettes at all, and doesn't drink alcohol before or after a show. Instead he goes to bed and sleeps for ten hours. He made it clear that he didn't follow this routine on days he doesn't have a show and has talked about doing mushrooms and edibles and mentioned cocaine on HsH but people forget this. Louis in contrast says he drinks before the show and then stays up til dawn partying and pranks people like Harry who go to bed early. It's just too much difference for Larries to stomach.

I suspect that is some of the subtext (although I also think there are a lot of people who are just that anxious about drinking and smoking). But I want to be really clear that I think every constituent part of that particular set of anxieties is completely absurd.

First it's absurd to be so confident about how Harry navigates touring. Harry said that he doesn't drink alcohol before or after a show and he just goes to bed and sleeps for ten hours - in May 2022. This was after he had done an extensive US tour in autumn of 2021, just as touring was starting up again - in what must have been some of the hardest conditions to tour in. He was almost certainly dealing with significant isolation in order to prevent disease and that will have shaped his choices.

Since then we have seen him drink on stage (both from a shoe and not from a shoe). To me that suggests that we should take his statements from May 2022 about what he did while touring - not as a covenant set in stone where he promised to stay the same forever, but a description of how he was touring at that time. Given that we have seen him behave differently it's probably best to assume we don't know a lot about what Harry is like on tour at the moment.

Second - even if it was true that Harry never drank or did any drugs on tour and slept for ten hours every night after having an ice cold bath and Louis got drunk every night. So the fuck what? What would that mean? Why would two musicians who were in relationships have to approach their very separate tours in the same way? What is this based on? Do people really believe that people in relationships generally approach their work the same way? How does this belief survive contact with air?

I have been saying for years that the dynamics of this are super weird. People say 'oh no Louis and Harry can't be together because Harry likes Kale and Louis doesn't' or whatever trip they're on. But if this was a heterosexual relationship - nobody would be surprised if one partner like kale and the other didn't. In fact, it's an underlying cultural assumption about how the world works, which is the basic premise of sitcoms and a hell of a lot of content. There's something quite bizarre about being 'these two men can't be together, they're different in a way that is completely normalised for heterosexual couples'.

I feel like the fact that Taylor Swift is going out with Matty Healy really should demonstrate this point with pinpoint accuracy. Whatever Taylor Swift actually does before and after her shows - her image is even more clean cut than Harry's. And Louis doesn't smoke on stage. People may be saying a lot of things about Taylor Swift and Matty Healy, but they're not saying 'they couldn't possibly be together their approach to touring is to different'.

[catb-fics]

“Exploding ovaries all over the place”💀💀 literally I’m gonna have to try so hard not to pass out or throw up when he first walks on. Gonna cry so hard and also die of lust🫠🫠🫠

I can’t believe we’re all gonna be at the FIRST gig back, it’s going to be so special😭 I have such good feelings about this time round, I don’t think it will be like 2021 reading and Leeds cause there will be no sour faces and beef on stage (I’m sorry bondy still love you). There’s an album! New single! More live dates! Promo and management! It’s looking up and I’m no longer worrying about Van being okay and his wellbeing, I don’t think this would all be happening if he wasn’t in a good place, I hope not anyway.

Our boys back‼️‼️‼️‼️ I can’t wait for this new era and for us to be back on the up again and to be introduced to the new members or session musicians. I hope when it all starts up again Van has the confidence and cockiness to do interviews, radio sessions (like live lounge) q&a’s and stuff like that again❤️

I hope he knows that we genuinely missed him and happy he’s back and well. The music is amazing and I’ve missed it like hell, but I’ve missed his personally and just him more. I miss all of them but it’s not going to be how it was again and that’s okay, things change and hopefully they’ll be new friendships and bonds made and everyone (Van, Bondy, Benji, Bob and Larry) gets their happy endings no matter what🫶🏼

I’m sorry for the soppyness!! It feels unreal that I’m seeing him/them live. It’s been so long and so many of us never gave up. It’s going to feel like a proper full circle moment, the energy will be electric and so healing❤️‍🩹

I’m happy for everyone that has been able to get a ticket. If you’ve not been able too I know it fucking sucks however it’s okay! There is still the general sale and resale AND the tour with the new album when it comes out!

Aww thank you for this lovely ask, it’s genuinely made me grin from ear to ear, ngl there’s been points when I never thought this moment would come but here we are with a new single, an album on the way and gigs to look forward to.

We are back baby!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[izacore]

I'm ashamed to be a louis fan at the moment. I used to post him and his music all over my socials but some of my followers only know him for his public image and I don't want them to associate me with the kind of person that straight louis is. I don't know what happened to h and l after covid that change their perspective about the world so drastically, because they are not the same person. What happened that they now value money more than anything? And don't tell me they don't, because the last two years proved it.

And I'm not saying that you shouldn't continue with your dream and with the desire for more money, but they are already millionaires (billionaires if you use my country's currency) why are they desperate for more?

Please I'm not accusing them of being greedy or something like that I'm just stating facts here. They started to value their careers and the money it brings above more important things like health, family, rest etc.

Their way to interact with fandom has changed too once they decided to use stunts as a way to make us look more stupid to others. Before they were on our side but now it looks like they are on their management or whatever rich white guy side. Both of them. If they started to believe the lies or were convinced that this is worth is another story, the fact is that they changed their mind and we as fandom don't know if there's some big plan or if they are just lost. But what I really know is that it has always been hard being a larrie but since 2021 it's been a hell of an awful experience. I'm starting to question if I spent 11 years of my life supporting them to end up like this. I can't recognize them anymore and it's terrible and truly scary.

I'm sorry this is so long and confusing 😫

Hi nonnie, don’t apologize. I think your ask sums up all the conflicting feelings that a lot of people in the fandom are dealing with right now but are just scared to voice them publicly. I am as confused as you are about every aspect of the post-pandemic era you mentioned. And I think it's completely valid to feel that way and reevaluate if you still want to support those people whose values may not align with yours that much anymore.

In my opinion from what I talked to others, for many it just feels like betrayal in some way? The fans supported them through everything for years and years but everyone has its limits and there's only so much one can take. As much as they don't owe us anything, we also don't have to follow them without any thought. And maybe unpopular opinion, but I really don't think everything they're doing can be excused with their closet. Sometimes bad actions and decisions are being taken, that have no relation to that and it's tiring to see it be used as a wild card to absolve them from any responsibility.

I wasn't really helpful but I guess what I'm saying is that I have no idea what's happening. I'll be here cause this fandom is just interesting to me but I'm glad I am starting to detach emotionally. However I know that it's very easy for them to bring my emotions back cause if anything, larries always have hope for better times. Hang in there nonnie and feel welcome to vent anytime 🤍