#Or sbb's as I will call us from now on

[calmasyoghurt]

Please send help to all Swedish baby boos that get payed tomorrow and even more help to the sbb's that get their study aid in a week. We need merch too you know😢🤟

[cowboyjen68]

Dear Jen--

I'm writing to ask you if you ever felt pressure to be a "good butch" or a "good masc". If there was a ever a time when you felt there was one specific way to present yourself, how did you go against that? I'm a stone butch, I'm sensitive and kind and I know that all of these things have to exist within me at the same time so I can be myself, but sometimes I feel like I'm not being a butch the "right way". I know there isn't one way to be anything, especially queer, but I never got any advice when I was young, any consolation when I realized I was a lesbian and was too scared to accept it. I never had an "elder" to guide me. At least no one like you. I hope you've been enjoying your spring.

When I first heard the word “butch” I was intrigued because so many of the traits fit me. Being mistaken for “not a woman”, being told “you should have been a boy” and how I related to women was a shared thread from the bits and pieces of stories I heard from older butches.

I was handed a copy of Stone Butch Blues while camping at a  women’s festival and it made me sad rather than comforted. I thought perhaps I could not be butch because I just did not relate to Leslie, (the book is NOT an exact autobiography but is often mistaken as such).   I had not experienced much of the trauma nor the harshness in life Leslie dealt with, both in real life and the character in the book. 

It was another year before someone, besides my girlfriend, referred to me as butch. Having a stranger call me that truly changed how I saw myself. All my friends were like “yeah.. Duh”.    I was told by one elder butch 20 years my senior that SBB is the story of ONE butch, not the story of ALL butches. That helped me understand we are not all the same in all ways. We share certain experiences and those differ based on location, upbringing and, most importantly, our personalities. We are as varied as any part of the lesbian (and human) population. At that point I really started to embrace being butch and using that part of my lesbian story to inform my life, to do what made me happy and not what I was “supposed to do” as directed by my culture or even by other lesbians who were not butch. 

I am so glad you reached out. It makes me sad that so many young butches do not benefit from the real life community of lesbians and butches who have live through and been where you are right now. I want you to know, you are not alone and we understand. I understand. What you are feeling is not unusual for butches. You are not bound to reach some “standard” of butchness.  There is no scale, except for fun and to sort of bond over the humor of our shared stories. 

You can be masculine and mistaken for a man, and called “unapproachable:” or perceived as rough or scary or told you are not “like other women” but the fact is you are like many other women and you are allowed to have your own personality. YOU are allowed to be  Quiet, soft, gentle, vulnerable or outgoing, loud and funny or any mix of these and you can still be butch. 

I have been told I am too short and happy to be butch. Neither of those things informs my butchness but I had to learn that through the guidance of butches. 

You are great just the way you are. 

[spacerockwriting]

Some HC from my SBB universe

Just seeing all the HC fly around today make me wanna talk about some of mine, mostly specifically the ones that partain to my SBB.

Ian has baby blanket he got as a baby. It's name is Blue and it rarely makes appearances. It's the blanket that he used to carry around when it was him, Lip, and Fiona, living in the van, on the streets of Chicago. Seeing Blue out always warms Lip's heart.

Ian used to have a lisp as a little kid. He used to say Lip as Wip and Fiona was Fifi. After some patrons made fun of Ian at the Alibi, it was said by Frank and Monica that Ian needed speech therapy.

Mickey has mixtapes. The station wagon he drives doesn't have a CD player, has hand crank windows, and all the goodness of an 80's style vehicle. He creates these from the radio and they're mostly My Chemical Romance.

Speaking of his mixtapes, Mickey also has one of those yellow walk men because his brothers were too dumb to steal a CD player, according to him. ("But it's not like I could even play it in this car so whatever.")

When on their road trip, Mickey has BBQ pringles, gets stuff like a burger and fries at Wendys, and Lip gets Wendy's Chili. For their road trip.

Little Ian crushed on Justin Timberlake because it was the first time that he saw someone who had curls like him. He only started straightening his own curls because the boys of NSYNC did.

The first time little Ian met Kev, Kev called Ian Lip. This outraged little Lip.

Carl has a stuffed dog named "Dog." Despite saying he's too old for the toy, Lip insists he keeps it with him, as Carl has been seen clinging to the toy during tough times.

Trevor does make several appearances. But it's pre-T Trevor. As of right now, he has long hair. ("Ignore the name tag. My parents think I'm a lesbian. I'm a dude.")

Mickey and Ian eventually will have a matching MCR tattoo. If all according to plan, probably something from summertime or just summertime on their wrists.

Ian first started working at the Kash n Grab at thirteen.

Thats all for now, anyways. :)

[beansthathavebeenbaked]

wooooo fantrolls

In the past year or so I have developed a very intense enjoyment of riichi mahjong and since I wanted to make some fun fantrolls for my current main interest, vast error, I had an epiphany.

So here's Pahrsi Tucipi, my troll inspired by riichi mahjong!

I am now going to ramble on the design/character choices so here we go if you're interested/one of my friends:

Okay so I wanted to represent every one of the tiles/groups of tiles at least in some way shape or form, so the easiest way to do this to start off with the 3 different suits in riichi mahjong.

Each of the suits have their own outfit associated with it. There's not much of a rationale for what the function of each outfit is other than the bamboo outfit being her main outfit due to her blood color being green and her having an overall major connection to the green dragon tile, which has a special hand with the bamboo suit, so it felt fitting. That and her general vibe without getting too deep into her character feels better represented by that outfit.

For the casual/characters outfit, I really didn't know what to do with the characters other than to make 2 different patterns for a top and bottom to reflect the positioning of the characters on the tiles. Nothing too deep. The jacket is just there for added comfort/fun and I wanted to get more of her blood color onto the outfit. This is the only outfit that has any semblance of her actual sigil incorporated into it and she is not wearing her usual sunglasses to hide her eyes because it's for more personal comfortable wear and not for important public appearances.

Then there's the pins outfit which well. Idk it's just a fun little dress and boa. It felt kind of lazy just going the pattern route for this outfit also but I didn't have very many ideas like I'm ironically getting just now while writing this, and also I don't want to make any of the designs like suuuper complicated so I like it just fine. If you see the Yeshin Laevis influence no you don't. I'm normal.

So that's all the suits, then there's the matter of the winds and dragons. One of which has a very simple cop out called I made her a breath player because I didn't want to deal with figuring how else to incorporate the wind tiles, and I would not have really known what direction to take her character if I didn't just give her an aspect. The class came much later and is a very evil choice for the themes of it all but that's a story for a different time.

The dragons are all incorporated in different ways. The red dragon is the shape for her horns, the green dragon is where her blood color comes from and is also associated with her being used as a fake sigil for anonymity's sake. The white dragon is definitely way easier to miss because it's in her eyes, which is a product of her being blind. It's kind of hard to incorporate the white dragon through anything but color due to it being blank, but I tried. That being said, all of the colors of the dragons are incorporated in each outfit with the exception of the bamboo outfit only having an off-white color, but it's close enough. This is partially because with her green dragon colored blood and the red color in the mahjong set (at least the one I used as reference while doing this) is in every suit, and the tiles are all the same white color so its easy to incorporate that in somewhere.

As a slight intermission from explaining all the mahjong stuff the red (at least the darker one that you see appear a bit more subtly than the lighter shade) is part of the good old fun (and frankly, intense emotions inducing) Repitonian trend (at least with a good portion of sbb sprites, so I'm pretending that's just the norm even if it isn't) of having a little bit of your quadrants' colors incorporated somewhere in your outfit. She has a husband (/lesbian) that will someday also be released into the world that is based on darts and I still don't know what quadrant they are rocking together but they probably don't either to be fair.

Speaking of relationships, that's a good segue into the last bit of mahjong moments that are more miscellaneous than all of the tile types.

I thought it would be fun to do something with the hand called thirteen orphans, and initially I was going to do this by trying to pass off her blood shade as jade but then I was like well maybe it's more fun to have her mistaken as a jade/desperately wishing she was a jade and trying to fill that desire by taking care of children in her own manner. So there are 13 trolls that she has under her care. She is not truly a mother figure for most of them but rather she has given these trolls (that are usually a good bit of sweeps younger than her) who were at rock bottom a stable place to stay unconditionally to support them in finding their footing in the harsh capitalist society of Repiton.

Two of these 13 trolls, also the youngest of the bunch, accompany her everywhere. One of them, Chaine, is the intended heir of the fashion company Pahrsi is no longer focused on running and the other, Marino, is the baby of the bunch and is with her so that he is not without supervision and also because he assists her with daily tasks and movement due to her disability. She refers to them as her interns officially and it is imperative that they receive the same respect that she does while out doing #shadygirlbusiness. These little guys are ocs of my friends @sesmifi and @snzical and they also have very cool little themes to them but that is their fun bits of info to share if they so desire.

The last little bit of miscellaneous mahjong, other than the all greens hand related to the bamboo outfit that I mentioned is just simply Pahrsi's namesake which is just: I took riichi ippatsu and made it an anagram. That's literally it lol. I took out one of the is because there's 13 letters there and even without that there's 3 is so, easiest one to take away. I definitely could've used some other term like daburu riichi which is the perfect amount of letters but I like what I have. I love to name with anagrams and just play around until it sounds/looks nice.

But yeah, I think that's about everything without getting tooooo deep into the complexities of her character or hidden lore things that would be "spoilers" if she was a major character in a popular media or something so I'm going to pretend like I have to keep it all a secret.

If you read this far I hope you had fun getting to learn about my little guy/my thought processes on creating her. If for whatever reason you have any interest in asking questions about her or drawing her feel free to reach out about it, that would literally be so cool and awesome. I will see y'all in the next very long, but surely not as long as this, fantroll explanation after I finally get to drawing some of my other ones. o7

[alarrytale]

Are there any larrie theories you think are just total nonsense? Like you took one look and were immediately embarrassed to be in the same fandom?

Harry wearing the The Wall shirt reminded me, because mine was a few years ago when Louis played a famous venue that Pink Floyd also played back in the day, so people went through their discography for clues. There are more than a few songs in there literally about being a musician abused by the industry, but for some reason they focused on songs about rising facism in the UK and anxiety about nuclear war. Call me a fake fan but i don’t think babygate is as bad as state-sponsored hate crimes.

Call me a fake fan but i don't think babygate is as bad as stat-sponsored hate crimes.

Anon, you crack me up 🤣

Well most of the theories i disagree with are to do with interpretation of song lyrics, or hearing Harry sing "you" as "Lou" from grainy videos and so forth. Finding meaning and connections in rings, clothes and numerology i don't always agree with. Some times i see people trying to interpret one thing and finding meaning that they interpret into another thing they've already stated as fact. I also see alot of confirmation bias. Most of the fans doing that are newbies desperately searching for clues that (1) larry is real (2) babygate is fake (3) they are coming out. They need 'new' evidence of this, beause they missed out on all the fun things before they came into the fandom. A lot of is down to insecurity.

For us who's been here awhile we were used to looking for signals and hints (because they were really signaling ie. with rbb and sbb). We were trained FBI agents. Now that HL don't do that anymore (to that degree at least) people are looking for things that, many times, aren’t there. I can't really blame them because we were trained to pick up on subtle signs and because the newbies really missed out on a lot. I've never been ashamed of fandom when it comes to creating theories. It's just a handful of people who interpret things a bit wrong. I don't sweat the small stuff. It's harmless. Let them have fun (being wrong 🤣).

[every-marveler-ever]

What I Think A Hallmark Stucky Movie Would Be

Stucky Bingo Round 4 | 🥀 @stuckybingo | AU: Hallmark/Lifetime

Tony Stark Bingo Mark VI | 😒 @tonystarkbingo | Vessel

Steve Rogers Bingo 2022 | 🌭 @steverogersbingo | Holidays

masterlist :: (ao3 link)

A/N: So this is just backstory and the build-up but it was super fun to write and I kinda wish I could direct something like this, obviously they eventually fall in love and the movie ends with Buck’s family crying as Steve asks for Bucky’s hand in marriage and his mum says “you’re already our family steve.” It’s cute. 

Bucky is a lawyer, Steve works for ends meet, Bucky moves his parents into a new home and never visits, and Steve is their next-door neighbour and makes himself helpful. Christmas is slightly awkward when you haven’t been home in years and you are fairly sure you’re parents are replacing you. | bucky barnes/steve rogers

sbb 🥀 round 4 | tsb 😒 mark vi | srb 🌭 2022

When Bucky Barnes was younger everybody used to tell him that his hard-working attitude was a great thing, it would get him far in life. Working his way through college people would tell him that C’s get degrees and that he should be spending his 20s having fun, instead, he got an internship at Stark and Rhodes Law, 1 out of the thousands of candidates that applied. People threw him parties, alcohol was provided, and there was cake and sparkly banners to celebrate the extensive achievement working so hard to get to this point, Bucky didn’t attend a single one.  

He became a vessel of knowledge proud to know random laws and stake out points, including himself in meetings. Tony Stark would call him a vessel rather than the shark comments that used to be made during law school. Vessels hold themself with grace, filling up to be clean and precise, not messy and scared as the shark analogy pursues. 

Now that he’s a top lawyer running his own department at Stark and Rhodes, a member of the board and referring to himself as James now, people call him a workaholic instead. There is much less celebration when he’s named head of family law and invited to move out to Malibu to be closer to Stark and Rhodes headquarters. He travels all over the world the exact thing he always wanted to do, solve problems, and situate family messes, staying in luxury hotels, in penthouse suites. 

He brought his parents the house of their dreams, not that he ever visited.

Steve Rogers never had the luxury of moving out of his childhood home or going to college he didn’t even have a brilliant job, he instead had multiple ends-meet jobs. He worked hard all his life pushing through his schoolwork and creating art that got him scholarships and memberships to brilliant communities. All until his mother got sick, despite Steve’s scholarships and the small money he had made from art, no money truly compared to how much hospital bills cost, especially without insurance or cover.

It all went down the drain so he could help his mother, taking on jobs, and rejecting his chance to get out of the town of Rosehill, so he could be his mother's primary carer. Once his mother had finally passed he was too lost in Rosehill to ever leave, all of his opportunities had been stripped away to instead keep making ends meet at the cafe and then the Christmas tree farm to make some extra money during Christmas, as well as helping out the Kenner family in the garage when needed. 

Rosehill is a community and so when the Barnes moved in next door Steve was happy to help them move in, hearing them talk about their kids and the son that had brought them the house. They didn’t smile the way Steve would have expected them to when talking about a son that had turned into great things.

The holidays came and Bucky never planned on going home, but Tony was very involved with his own family and gave all his employees the weeks of Christmas until the New Year free. Tony gave him plane tickets to go visit his family with strict requirements from Rhodey to take an extended break. 

The Barnes family invites Steve to celebrate Christmas with them and their children, so Steve puts up their Christmas tree and decorates it with the people that have slowly become his parents.

It's a shocking surprise for them all when Bucky turns up on the porch Christmas day just to feel like he was replaced by the boy next door. It’s a great reminder that vessels also blow and spill over the edge.

[mulwark]

Basic Introduction to Auto Diagnostic Tool Development History

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Till to the 20 century 40s, the auto analyze however had applied some basically gadget yet fundamental actually relied upon the individual's natural judgment and assessment.

Star from the 50s, progressively fostered various gadget could artificially analyze, consequently lead to particular auto indicative working area and symptomatic station be laid out. Japan, Britain, America and other a few regions even affirmed the foundations which cause the yearly or fix period to direct and assessment to auto and rule the detail investigation thing and content. 70s middle period started show up in progression the self-loader symptomatic framework and full-programmed analytic framework.

In the vehicles which prepared the full-programmed analytic framework have the middle demonstrative fitting base, use the electronic PC control checkout gear and get the checking information from inside car self-actually taking a look at circuit to show the gauge. This analytic way as of now enters the reasonable stage. This entire auto indicative instrument and method creating brief presentation. We can obviously know that alongside the vehicle turned into a far and wide exist and, surprisingly, a fundamental in the life. Human as of now totally adjust to this world with creating traffic and transportation.

sbb key developer, vas 5054, etc all are auto analytic apparatus in like manner use. The expense to purchase an auto symptomatic device apply to your vehicle without a doubt cost-productive than drive the vehicle to the carport. Regardless of whether the car turn out badly on midway likewise might Do-It-Yourself auto at any point fix instead of ask the assistance.

I think the Do-It-Yourself auto fix could get start on these auto analytic apparatuses, for some explanation if the drivers the majority of can do the auto fix without anyone else numerous things would be basically more, and accord to the auto symptomatic method advancement in my shrewd this conceivable is perfect.

For more info :-

Handheld Power Tools

Metric Tape Measure

Pocket Hole Jig

Scraper Tool

[so-idialed-9]

Hey :) I recently listened to Harry's "Oh Anna" and was wondering what you think it's about? I haven't really found any discussions about it. Do you know if there are any theories? I kinda feel like it's about Brianna ... it would just make so much sense to me. "Every time I see your face, there’s only so much I can take" and "I don’t want your sympathy, but you don’t know what you do to me" are rather obvious. But also "Well I guess it would be nice if I could touch your body" makes sense since Harry really wants kids and she is supposedly carrying Louis child. Also since it's a line from "Faith" by George Michael which already gives it a queer meaning. Also gives it a kinda cute meaning like Faith in the future that someday he could touch someone's belly who's actually carrying Louis'/his child?

Hi! This is my first Ask, thank you so much, I'm very excited.

I'm also deeply sad to say I don't have a ton of insight on the Anna lyrics. It isn't one of my favorites so I never pay attention to it. I think your theory is a good one.

Other possibilities -

It was released basically at the same time as Medicine, Harry's queerest anthem (so far). He performed them both on tour.

The media called Medicine "a bisexual anthem." They got a lot of the more explicit lyrics wrong, more watered down. They seemed quite confused by it (lol at that in 2021).

So perhaps Anna was a stunt song or a compromise song to lessen the definitive queerness of Medicine.

As you noted, Anna is heavily influenced by George Michael's Faith. Harry is a huge fan of George Michael - he has lyrics from Careless Whisper tattooed on his ankles, and he has talked about him and sung his songs.

RBB/SBB referenced George Michael multiple times. 1.6.2016 - the Bears changed their Twitter icon to George Michael from the album cover of Faith - where he is in a black leather jacket and aviator sunglasses. RBB wore this look a lot, usually with a studded collar - like the collar Harry has worn in several photo shoots, that people mistakenly thought was a lil necklace.

Harry has even been on camera several times wearing the Choose Life shirt which GM famously wore in Wham!

Here Harry is checking out George Michael's art, taking it very seriously with the catalogs under his arm. I like to think he bought something and went home very pleased with himself, and hung it up immediately.

One of the lyrics on Anna that jumps out for me is:

Don’t know where you’re laying

Just know it’s not with me

Don’t know what I’d tell you if

I passed you on the street

Don’t know how you taste when

There’s smoke in your perfume

Chew me up and spit me out

Nothing left to lose

Hope you never hear this

And know that it’s for you

I don't know what I'd tell you

If you asked me for the truth

Laying could be read as lying down or as in "to get laid." It's either emotionally or sexually intimate. Possibly both. And is now pining for it.

Louis sings something similar in Just Like You. A song entirely centered on how the headlines are all bullshit - and disclosing how forced closeting and other abuses have always been used by the entertainment machine and media to control artists. It contains exactly and approximately ten billion LGBTQ references per square second. Including, of course, George Michael's forced closeting...and forced outing, and how that impacted his career.

If I had it my way, pub lunch every Sunday

Cheap beer and it's okay

I wanna lay where she lays

I wanna stay in these days

Gonna smoke and it's okay

In Anna, the singer doesn't smoke - but the person they're pining after does. In JLY, the singer smokes.

So TWO parallel references - one to laying and the other to smoke.

Harry also covered Girl Crush for BBC, and it's one of the most heart-rending covers I've ever seen. It is not just pining. Not even pining 2.0. It's pining infinity.

An incredible longing to just bury themselves in their lover's hair, breathe them in. Scent is one of the strongest triggers for memory in humans.

There is a lyrical parallel here too:

I want to taste her lips

Yeah, ‘cause they taste like you

I want to drown myself

In a bottle of her perfume

I want her long blonde hair

I want her magic touch

Yeah, ‘cause maybe then

You’d want me just as much

I've got a girl crush

Of course here, the play on words is the crush isn't ON the girl. It's OF the girl who has access to the lover he actually wants.

It also makes me think of when Louis said his favorite thing about Harry was his curls or his smell. And how he was is probably constantly playing with Harry's hair.

The Faith riff and repeat of the line from the song

Well I guess it would be nice

If I could touch your body

Has the same longing for their missing lover's body, hair, scent, everything.

But in Faith the song goes on to say, basically, I need a break, I want you but I am sick of games and having my heart tossed on the floor, even though you're begging me I'm not sure if it's real and I want devotion and faith:

Well, I guess it would be nice if I could touch your body

I know not everybody has got a body like you

But I gotta think twice before I give my heart away

And I know all the games you play because I played them, too

Oh, but I need some time off from that emotion

Time to pick my heart up off the floor

Oh, when that love comes down without devotion

Well, it takes a strong man, baby

But I'm showin' you the door

'Cause I gotta have faith

I gotta' have faith

Because I gotta have faith, faith, faith

I got to have faith, faith, faith

Baby, I know you're askin' me to stay

Say "Please, please, please don't go away"

You say I'm givin' you the blues

Maybe you mean every word you say

Can't help but think of yesterday

And another who tied me down to loverboy rules

Before this river becomes an ocean

Before you throw my heart back on the floor

Oh, baby, I reconsider my foolish notion

Well, I need someone to hold me but I'll wait for somethin' more

Yes, I gotta have faith

Ooh, I gotta have faith

Because I gotta have faith, faith, faith

I gotta have faith, faith, faith

Faith in the future perhaps??

Harry once said he wrote Two Ghosts during 1D days and he also said he wrote it "the first time he broke up with me." So I imagine he has experienced quite the rollercoaster of heartbreak and reconciliation and begging and love and confusion.

He kind of talks about this in The Kitchen Table oops! excuse me oBviOuSLy I meant From The Dining Table also -

Why won't you ever be the first one to break/

Why won't you ever say what you want to say

Maybe one day you'll call me

And tell me that you're sorry too

But you, you never do

Woke up the girl who looked just like you

I almost said your name

No shade to Louis, absolutely not, I am a total Louis Tomlinson worshipper, even more than I am for Harry. 💙 and he was doing his best at such a young age under incredible pressure and closeting and industry abuse and stunts and being told who he was hurt other people he loved and how who he was was something to fix, and he raged back at the machine the best he could. I absolutely believe he is still doing so and I look forward to anything I can do to help his master plan. Fuck the system. Louis Tomlinson world domination forever.

Oh Anna could also be a play on words, like Olivia is it an emotion? we don't know...

It does sound like Ohana, which is related to Harry's management company. Or Johanna. Or even Anne.

If the former, it could be his version of fuck the system song. I think that's a stretch, but lyrics can be stretchy and these would fit:

Chew me up and spit me out

Nothing left to lose

Hope you never hear this

And know that it’s for you

I don’t know what I’d tell you if

You asked me for the truth

I don’t want your sympathy, but you don’t know what you do to me

I have also seen people say it's a song for Zayn and Anna is really Ana, codename for anorexia. That could fit if you believe in Zarry perhaps. I'm a Larrie but also a Ziam hopeful because it would be so nice and I love their nerdiness and their kindness towards each other. I do think it is interesting people don't obsessively ask Zayn to define his sexual orientation because I think everyone just assumes bi or pan, even though he is always in public relationships with women. His whole vibe is like he is so cool it would be offensive to label him or ask him to define himself, and you need to rise to his level, and that is not easy to pull off when your coolness is 85% shyness and you are in love with the adorableness of Minions, while also singing Pillow Talk and being rhapsodized over as beautiful and a sex symbol and even more offensively, "exotic" all the time.

So those are my unhelpful thoughts. But your idea is intriguing - although many people think Brianna didn't actually have Louis' baby, your interpretation could still fit either view.

I am tagging in @ialwaysknewyouwerepunk who has the best lyric analyses I know of but I didn't find one for this song. Maybe they'll have some insight for you.

[1ddotdhq]

Wed 27 Jan ‘21

Lets start with the twitter/insta/finsta/FUNNY part of today: Olivia unfollowed Harry’s old finsta (was: colazione8), which also changed both its profile picture (was: a kitten, is now: Steve McQueen) and its insta username (is now: scottysakamoto), which set the fandom off in a flurry of speculation over what it MEANS and what could be COMING NEXT? Fans quickly began to do research on what it all means. ‘Sakamoto’ is an old Japanese name tied to nobility, which means “one who lives at the bottom of the slope”, and Steve McQueen is the actor who played Henri in the 1973 film, Papillion, from which Harry and Louis have copied many of their tattoos (as we know not just from, you know, looking at them, but also because the artist that did one of them said so), specifically from Steve McQueen's character. Papillion is about two ‘friends’ named- wait for it - Henri and Louis and their struggle for freedom, and ends in an epic jump from a cliff reminiscent of the one in the end of the WMI trilogy! To add a bit of tongue and cheek to the already hilarious wink - and - nod, the picture is one of Steve McQueen undressing (read: taking his underpants off) by next to a sign that says “Anyone Caught In Here Better Have A Damned Good Reason”, so how’s THAT for subtlety. The bio, which used to read “breakfast, lunch, dinner” in Italian, now reads “SS” (as in...a ship??). Why did Olivia unfollow her gay boyfriend’s finsta? Don’t know, couldn’t tell ya! But I’ll say this: if there was any pretense that she wanted to, uh, see the content of the instagram, that’s as long gone as Henri is from that cliff. That is, at the bottom of the ocean. ANYWAYS, welcome back, RBB, always a pleasure, can’t wait to look back years from now and be like AH SO THATS WHAT THIS MEANT! And, to round out the wonderful insta shenanigans, Louis popped on while H was making profile changes to like Helene Horycke’s new book announcement (Just Sing!). Well, hello to you, too, SBB! 

Liam’s third of eight FIFA podcasts dropped yesterday, featuring two Nigerian celebrities, Asisat Oshoala (a player on the Nigerian national team) and Tiwa Amadi (aka Tiwa Savage, a singer with UMG), who were talking about changing their respective scenes in Nigeria. Liam talks about the responsibility he feels as an artist, particularly because his fanbase is made up of “young females”, to “give them a chance to make it in the industry and to play with these people”. His own start was with a very supportive (read: pushy) family, and a father who knew (read: insisted) that he would one day be put in from of Simon Cowell “and see what he thinks of your voice”. Warning: results may Vary! These days, though, Liam treats studio sessions like “a therapy session, in a way...We’re making songs for your moments, and that’s what those songs will remind you of: that person, that time”. Yeah, it’s all these little things that add up to you, Liam! 

Niall ALSO had a sports thing drop today along with many golf posts as he shifts into full on sports manager!Niall mode for a minute. Niall/ Modest!Golf have partnered with the R&A (the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of Saint Andrews. Yes. That’s the real name. I promise) to create “a series of future grassroots programmes aimed at inspiring more young people into golf.” You go, Niall! Good luck with that! I’m...gonna sit this one out, but YES Niall LIVE YOUR DREAM! He sat down to chat with amateur golfer Mia Baker about this program, saying he really wants to make the game “more inclusive and accessible”. Well, good luck!

And, in a Very Special Intern’s Lightning Round: harries on twitter pretended to be “industry insiders” only to reveal that, nope, they’re uni students with no connections, Louis replied to Bonehead from Oasis about Dig! (a documentary on two bands’ very different paths to fame), Niall liked Halsey’s Pregnancy announcement (surprise! The old teahouse will have a *real* baby! Also. she’s VERY pregnant!), and Roman Kemp and the Capital One Crew decided that One Direction was better than another boyband bc “larry” (Roman, seeing the oncoming train wreck: “no, don’t say that”), a Harry Styles themed BAR called fine line opened in Argentina (NO ONE does it like LATAM fans!), and various Walls-related memes and tags flooded twitter today after the album surpassed 350 million streams, including, by the way, one of Bernie and his cute little mittens on the cover instead of Louis’ power stance.

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

I have yet to see one explanation for the Rainbow Bears that makes actual sense. Therefore, I have a question for you: Is it POSSIBLE that the bears were some sort of weird promo/fan service thing? I ask because two things stick out to me: The elaborateness and the duration. How could the Sound Guy or H&L, even with help, pull this off??? (Like, the spotlights on RBB and SBB??? Security guards???) And why was it allowed to continue for so long??? At the same time, why would 1DHQ (and H&L) feed the Larry narrative so explicitly if they were truly so frustrated by it?

Here’s my take on the bears.

TL;DR: the rainbow bears were Sony-sanctioned (maybe even label-driven) fan service/ promo, with participation from Harry and Louis, and the rest of the band knew. The bears weren’t “Mark/Matt/Mike the band guy.” They weren’t “the Big Gay War.” They were promo, picked up by the label because it sensed the fandom engagement, monitored our reactions from social media, and played us accordingly.

In short, the bears were an early version of “Eroda” and “Louis the fish.”

(The question is who gave the green light— was it Simon Cowell? Was it Rob Stringer? The bears went along throughout the OTRA tour with the boys, throughout America and Europe, but especially the UK. Stringer was not yet Sony Music CEO, only the CEO of Columbia Music.)

To me, it is indisputable that Louis, Harry, Niall, and Liam knew about the bears, and that Louis and Harry actively participated.

I believe this interview showed us they were participating in the bears, and felt a bit guilty about it. The individual reaction of the band members makes complete sense now.

Louis once said that he didn’t like to talk about his personal life, but he found freedom in expressing himself through creative work, namely his songwriting. I believe that the bears also gave him (and Harry) a chance to tell the fandom a lot of things that they couldn’t otherwise.

They educated the fandom on LGBT history in entertainment, particularly in homophobia and closeting. They were funny and sassy and persistent, continuing to present the same closeted entertainers until fandom identified them. There is still a feeling of affection from the bears. Some of the figures that the bears mentioned— George Michael, Judy Garland, Elton John, and especially Freddie Mercury— appeared later in Harry’s and Louis’ solo careers and lives, sometimes in both of their lives. (E.g. Harry’s “Elton John” Halloween costume, Louis putting Elton John’s music on his playlists, Harry incorporating George Michael’s Freedom into his song Oh Anna, Harry naming Freddie Mercury as his inspiration, the naming of Freddie Reign Tomlinson, to name a few things.)

The bears don’t “prove” that Louis and Harry were together at the time, but I believe they worked in conjunction with each other, and everyone (Niall and Liam) understood that. I believe the educational and rebellious part of the bears were their signatures. But it was undoubtedly marketing - cynical to an extent.

Now Harry calling a section of his fandom “toxic” and “hateful” while baiting them constantly… lol the man has no morals.

[3pirouette]

Fic: The Good Doctor: Learning Curve (1/1)

Title: The Good Doctor: Learning Curve

By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

The Good Doctor Series on AO3

Learning Curve on AO3

Story Summary: Peggy didn’t realize that she’d put her foot in her mouth when she’d asked Barton if he was a father.

Satisfies the Clint Barton Square for my Steggy Bingo Bash and Day 5 of Steggy Week: Favorite Trope/Genre. Usually the “getting used to the future” trope is saved for Steve, but I thought we’d turn it on its head a little.

A/N: Clint is… a mystery to me. He’s one of the characters I rarely write because I don’t feel like I have a good hold on who he is internally. As a square for my SBB, this is a challenge, but I really liked this idea, and I love this universe, so… Also, I now really like this soft, Daddy!Clint.

~*~

Peggy hated crying.

She hated showing anyone any kind of weakness.

She especially hated crying in the shared kitchen where anyone could come in and just see her standing in the middle of the kitchen, crying. Even though she knew she was alone, that didn’t make it feel any less public or exposed.

But she didn’t really have much of a choice, not when every single thing she’d tried to accomplish today had felt like a struggle and just out of her grasp and Steve was off somewhere and she was here, alone, trying to figure out just when to give up and try to talk to the disembodied voice in the ceiling or call Tony’s girlfriend who was currently all the way across the country.

She reached out to the counter, sniffling, eyes filled with tears from both the smoke of her burnt chicken and the emotional release she was having. She pulled at the slip of paper, trying to make out the number.

“You could just call her, you know.”

She jumped at the voice, warm and soft and male and very much not the AI she’d been expecting. She swiped at her eyes, sniffing away the tears. “I’m sorry?”

“Pepper. She wouldn’t mind.” The man gestured at the paper. “She’s pretty nice, once you get past that outer shell of cold-hearted CEO. She’s actually pretty down to earth.” He shrugged and moved past Peggy into the kitchen. “I mean, you could ask Friday for help, too, but she’s not as good as Jarvis was.”

Peggy watched as he moved around her, seemingly glued to the spot as he pulled her ruined chicken from what she thought had been an oven. “I mean, it’s not your fault everything around here is suped up to eleven.” He shrugged and tossed the chicken in the trash before he ran water in the tray and set it in the sink to soak.

“Who…”

Peggy didn’t even get out the whole sentence before he held his hand out to her. “Clint Barton.” He smiled, but it faded when she didn’t take his hand. He let it drop and moved back to the cabinets. “Picking up some tech and meeting the team in Hungry in the morning. Steve said you’d be here.” He started opening cabinets and picking through the cupboard. “Figured I’d see if there was anything worth scavenging here before we’re on freeze dried protein bars for the next few days.” He turned to her, face scrunching up. “They’re so dry.”

Peggy watched as he walked past the oven and flicked a switch, the overhead fan turning on and pulling the residual smoke from the air.

“Looks like there isn’t much… Wanda make any of that Pepper-stuff?”

“Paprikash?” Peggy stuttered out, still shocked at the ease he was moving around.

“Yeah!” He smiled and pointed at her, moving to the refrigerator. “I have no idea what’s in it, but it’s good.” He pulled out a glass container and smiled. “Bingo! Want some?”

Peggy nodded, shaking herself out of her stupor. “I’m afraid I’ll be of little use lest I burn down the kitchen.”

“Nah,” Clint moved around swiftly, barely looking as he pulled pots and spoons and bowls and set the stew to warm on the stove. “Friday’d activate the fire suppressants first.”

Clint leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms, looking her over. “Please tell me you weren’t crying over just a burnt piece of chicken?”

She cleared her throat, feeling suddenly caught. “Well, I…” she let the sentence drift off, not sure if she could get it all out without falling apart again.

He let the silence hang for a moment before he softened his face as he busied himself but getting the leftovers on the stove. “Steve asked me to check on you. Said he’s been calling and calling and you weren’t answering.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “I… I…” Her hands flailed at her sides and the emotional release that had been so rudely interrupted by Barton’s appearance returned in full force.

He immediately moved forward, eyes soft, voice softer. “Hey, hey. Now it can’t be that bad.”

“I broke the phone!” She cried out, hands flailing in front of her and miming her frustrations out. “The little metal piece that goes in to charge it broke off and then I couldn’t charge it and none of the other ones would fit in it because I’d broke off the little piece inside and I tried to get it out but then I ended up making it worse because it wouldn’t turn on and I didn’t know how to fix it and then I was talking to Friday and I don’t know who Jarvis is but that woman in the ceiling knows nothing about phone and kept telling me to charge it and I couldn’t and…” She took a deep breath and dissolved into more tears.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Clint cooed, moving her over to one of the kitchen stools. “Sit. Take a deep breath,” he maneuvered away, filling a glass of water while he kept his eyes on her, “In for five, out for five, come on.” He modeled the breathing in front of her, waiting until she’d managed to even hers out before handing her the glass. “Little sips, ok?”

Peggy nodded, and he watched her as she caught her breath. When he seemed satisfied she wasn’t going to hyperventilate, he stepped back around and stirred the simmering paprikash.

She was quiet until she was no more than breathing heavy, swiping at the tears still falling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. That was… I’m sorry.”

“You know,” he started, almost ignoring her apology, “If I’d been pulled out of green goop and found out it was seventy years later in an entirely new world and my clone had ruined everything I’d try to build, I’d be a little upset, too.” He looked up at her, a half-smile on his face. “No one expects you to understand everything right away.”

She didn’t even have to think about her response. “I do.”

“Yeah, well,” he ladled out the stew into two steaming bowls, “Maybe you should give yourself some slack, too.”

She watched as he slid the bowls over than moved around the counter, gesturing to the seat next to her. “You mind? I won’t get much company the next few days.”

“Not at all,” she whispered, taking the warm bowl in her hands. She breathed in the warm, spicy steam but didn’t move to taste it, instead watching cautiously as Clint started taking heaping mouthfuls.

“You should eat,” he murmured around another spoonful. “You’ll feel better.”

Feeling like a chided child, she took the spoon and dipped it in. She hated to admit that he was right: after a few mouthfuls, she started to feel more like herself. “You must have children,” she said softly. “You were really quite good at stopping that tantrum.”

She noticed immediately the way he stiffened up, the way he carefully didn’t look at her and the way he deliberately took another mouthful of the stew. Peggy didn’t realize that she’d put her foot in her mouth when she’d asked Barton if he was a father. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It’s none of my business.”

“No,” he replied softly, setting his spoon in the bowl and wiping his mouth off with a napkin. “It’s just….” He turned in his chair, leaning on the counter as he looked at her. “I’ve worked with these people for so long, and not one has ever picked up on that. Five minutes and you’re pinning me down.” He smiled and laughed through his nose, turning back to his stew. “What do ya know.”

Peggy kept her eyes glued to him. “What do you mean?”

He laughed for real this time and turned back to her, smiling. “They used to say that Peggy Carter was sharp as a tack. That she could look at you and know everything about you. But when Shield fell and everything with Zola came to light…” Barton shrugged. “People didn’t seem to tell the war stories anymore. Just kinda, phased Director Carter out of Shield’s history. But here you are, in the flesh, and in less than five minutes you’ve got me pegged.” He laughed lightly again, playing with the spoon in his bowl. “You really are that much larger than life, aren’t you?”

Peggy didn’t really know what to make of all he’d said, she was still catching up with all she’d missed, and had steadfastly stayed away from information on the other her. She shrugged. “I’m just an agent, Mr. Barton. A spy. One that takes pride in her craft.” She pointed at him. “You stayed calm in the face of a crying woman, something that not many men can do, I assure you. But not only that, you moved about and settled the situation without any muss or fuss. You’re kind. And Intuitive. And have clearly dealt with toddlers before.” She laughed a little at the last part. “It’s not a hard jump.”

“Three kids. Two boys and a girl,” he whispered, pride exuding from him. “And I do everything I can to make sure as many people know as little about them as possible so they can stay safe.”

“I’d say that’s a smart move in your line of work,” she replied softly.

“Yeah,” he said, daydreaming as if he could see his children before him. It was a long moment before he turned back to her, his melancholy gone and the confident, nearly hyper man she’d first met back. “Let’s get this cleaned up and I’ll help you get set up with a new phone, ok?” He pulled his out of his pocket and started pressing the glass screen before handing it to her, the rings loud in the quiet space. “But first…”

“Barton?” Steve’s voice carried between them loud and clear.

“Here with Peg, Cap.” He smiled at Peggy. “All is well except for a few technology mishaps and a burnt chicken. I’ll get her all squared away before I head out.” He handed her the phone. “You two chat for a bit while I get all this cleaned up.” He hit another button and Steve’s voice was smaller, coming from the earpiece at the top of the square.

Peggy mouthed a thank you as she pulled the phone up to her ear, stepping away and out of the kitchen, watching as the man moved with a lithe grace to clean up as Steve rambled away in her ear.

She placated him quickly, telling him what had happened and feeling no real comfort at his reassurances that it was okay. She hadn’t been lying when talking to Barton: she expected more of herself. The pace she was moving at seemed far too slow compared to the life she’d led, and she wanted out of the invisible boundaries that constantly popped up and surprised her.

Steve was saying his goodbyes before she knew it, and all too soon she was left with a dark cell phone in her hand the faint noise of Barton moving about the small kitchen. With a deep breath she moved forward, holding his phone out to him. “Thank you.”

His smile was small but sincere. “You’re welcome.” He turned, waving his hand over his shoulder for her to follow him. “There’s always an extra phone or two down in storage, between me and Friday we’ll get it all set up for you.”

She followed him wordlessly to the elevator and slipped in next to him, shoving her hands in her pockets to keep from fidgeting. “I won’t tell,” she blurted out somewhere between floors 28 and 22.

Clint smiled, but didn’t turn his head to look at her. “They all know now, anyway. But I appreciate that.”

“I know how hard it can be,” she nearly whispered, turning her eyes to the numbers instead of his profile, “to find people you can trust. To feel like you’re safe. To feel like you have something of your own.” She nodded. “I won’t tell. Ever.”

The door opened with a soft chime, but he didn’t move to exit, just turned at her and smiled a little. “You really are that good, aren’t you?” He extended his arm and tipped his head, waiting for her to step out of the elevator before he did, quickly moving next to her to lead the way. He stopped at the first storage room and let his fingers fly over the keypad. “You know, I’m glad he has someone.” The door slid open and he disappeared, Peggy rushed to follow as he moved down the shelf lined room. “I’m glad you have someone, too, for that matter. This does get lonely.” He stopped, scanned a shelf, and picked up a box, flipping it in the air theatrically before turning and presenting it to her. “We’re a bit of a mish-mash of misfits. The weird kids.” He shrugged, but didn’t seem all that bothered by his own description, “But if you need a friend? Back-up? There’s no one else I’d want to have my back than these people.”

Clint smiled at her as she took the box. “You’re a part of that now, like it or not. You call, we’ll come running. And once you’re ready, I have no doubts you’d do the same for any of us.”

Peggy looked down at the box then back up at Clint, still standing there smiling at her. She couldn’t help it if her eyes watered a little. “Well, that’s quite the tall order to fill.”

He didn’t answer, just smirked and patted her on the shoulder as he passed her. She watched as he walked back down the hall for a long moment before she ran to catch up, quickly realizing she neither knew how to get back upstairs through the labyrinth of the tower nor how to set up the new phone.

She also had the distinct feeling that somehow, she’d made her first real friend since being in the tower. Someone that saw her, not what she’d been through.

“We’ll start with using a cell phone,” he let his voice ring out in the space, “then we’ll work on being an Avenger.”

Peggy smiled, feeling like that was a feat she might actually be able to accomplish one day now that she knew she had more than just Steve on her side.

[trainsinanime]

With the recent german long-distance rail news, I have seen some people getting confused, so here a quick overview over the versions of the InterCity Express (ICE) 3 high speed train:

ICE 3: Class 403, but from 1997 to 2006 in two sub-series that differ mostly in air conditioning (the second one had good air-conditioning out the gate, the first one had weak air conditioning that was upgraded later). Single system, can only run in Germany (and up to Basel SBB). 50 sets built.

ICE 3M: Class 406, delivered at the same time. Multi-system capable, can also run in Belgium and the Netherlands. Three (originally four) are owned by dutch railway NS and have corresponding logos, but that’s more a financial thing and has no operational relevance. 17 built; two half trains were destroyed beyond economical repair in different accidents, so after a bit of reshuffling, 16 are left.

ICE 3MF: A sub-series of the 406 that used to be adapted for running into France. These could not run into Belgium and the Netherlands. All of them have now been converted back to normal 406s and the France services taken over by the 407. Six were converted from the normal 406, but all of them have been reverted back now. I’m just mentioning them here to confuse you.

Der neue ICE 3/The new ICE 3: Class 407, built between 2009 and 2012. Multi-system capable and approved for Germany and France. While it has the same length and overall concept, it is in many ways a completely new design with all-new internal components. This is now part of a train platform called Siemens Velaro, which has also been sold to other countries in more or less similar forms. A total of 17 were built.

ICE 3neo: Class 408, ordered in 2019 with first runs in service later this year (2022) if everything goes well. Functionally a class 407, but with an additional door with a built-in wheelchair lift, new seats, bike racks and similar enhancements. The trains will probably take over the running to Belgium and the Netherlands, and the 406s will be downgraded to domestic duties only. The initial order was for 30, but that was just bumped up in a press event earlier today (February 1st) to 73 in total, and it is possible that this increases again.

That means the ICE 3 fleet consists of at least two different concepts, the second of which could have been called ICE 5. Thanks to DB ordering a new upgraded version of the ICE 3 roughly once per decade without ever increasing the version number, we now have two different generations of “ICE 3 but new”. Oh, and until 2030, DB will receive both new ICE 4 and new ICE 3 trains, where the new ICE 3 trains are actually a slightly newer, more modern design than the ICE 4.

The difference between (new) ICE 3 and ICE 4 is that the ICE 3 is an expensive top-of-the-line highest-speed train (can travel up to 320 km/h/200 mph in France; Germany only allows 300 km/h/186 mph), while the ICE 4, despite sounding newer and better, is actually a more low-cost train designed for only 250 km/h/155 mph top speeds (some upgraded to 265 km/h/165 mph).

In summary, DB’s approach to numbering these trains is clearly taking the piss, and if you’re confused by it, that is because, as far as I can tell, so is DB.

[bearmustard]

Hi Clare! I've been listening to your podcast and I love that there's a lot of talk about the bears there so I thought I'd ask you, right now there's a lot of accs on Twitter trying to be like them and make people think is all happening again and I know I know is all fake but like idk how to explain why?? Like why can we trust the bears but not all these accs?? My actual question is what was the one thing that made you realize the bears were actually Louis and Harry and not someone random??

Oh nonnie, you really know how to fire me up! Welcome to my favourite topic in all of Larrie fandom. Not the bears, per say, (though I love them with my entire being and they are the thing that kept me a larrie when shit got really hard and confusing) but about thinking critically about how communication is happening, what that looks like, and how we can separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, when it comes to weighing up evidence. 

A quick note - I am wary of the phrase ‘do your research’, especially since it’s become the catch-cry of conspiracy groups like Q etc etc. I believe that you should research, and consider the expert opinions (in this case, a combination of expert evidence, veteran larries’ experience, information from H & L themselves) but human beings are pattern seekers, and there is only so much ‘research’ will tell you, before your brain starts looking for patterns in the smallest things to create a narrative, and that’s not always how real life works. So you have to kind of hold two things in your mind - the first is that we will never know the full story, or even a fraction of it. (Maybe one day we’ll get a tell all, but I’m not holding my breath). The second thing to keep in mind is that real life is messy as fuck, and often stranger than fiction, and things that are TOO neat are things you want to investigate/think critically about/maintain a healthy suspicion about. 

So to your first question - how do you know all of those accts are fake in your gut? Often it’s because they are TOO neat. They line up too well with the story people are telling, which is rarely what the story is. It gets a lot of clout at the time, but long term it doesn’t make sense. I arrived in this fandom at the tail-end of the @goodbyeadulthood phenom, where anybody making any kind of sensible, evidence based theory was called a plant (mostly jokingly) (mostly) so I guess being able to see that this has all happened before gives me a bit of perspective when it comes to excitement about “insider accounts”. Accts like CBO and hscox94 have very clear patterns - they are ridiculously vague, they almost never predict (always following, not leading, events), and they conveniently change/adapt their story to the prevailing winds of fandom opinion. 

How we know the bears were the real deal then? I mean, honest answer is we really can’t ever know, but there is compelling evidence that they were. @tellmethisisnotlove has an excellent masterpost (that I just realised feature some of my own theories, lol) on how the bears link to 1D, and specifically to Harry and Louis. 

What people forget, though, because it’s been accepted fandom lore for so long, but many larries were not convinced that it was Harry and Louis themselves at the time. It’s only with hindsight that the majority agree. We knew they were connected to the band. RBB definitely started from (probably) Josh Devine, probably as a joke, because he created the first twitter acct, but it was very different in tone from what the bears would become. 

RBB really was just considered a cute tour mascot, and that only started to change in the Europe leg of the OTRA tour. Coincidently, this was after the 2 month break where BG was set up, H & L were separated, and L had a bunch of behind the scenes stuff going on with Sony and SYCO. Prior to this, H & L had been less cryptic in their resistance (big gay war of 2014 anyone?) and had paid a heavy, heavy price. 

So in Europe, RBB gets a pal, and all of a sudden, they’re being dressed up, usually in the same costume (this is why he was called Teddy Mercury to start) and was just a fun thing to watch out for. They were linked to the band (any roadie you talk to says there’s no fucking way they wouldn’t be signed off by the band) but not in a tangible way. 

It got really nuts in July (which, in my head, is when Louis takes over the bears fully, with Harry) for the US leg. This is when big money starts being spent, the scenes get way more elaborate, they start using the blue and green (and red) stickers, and they start featuring props about closeted gay artists, or famous people who had to hide a secret, or sony flip phones (you get the gist). My recollection is that it wasn’t until Vancouver, and the KD Lang book, that the fandom started thinking the Bears were telling us anything, and then we went back and with hindsight realised there were small references to events. 

Even then, there was extremely healthy skepticism in the fandom about the bears being directly from Louis and Harry until much later, when in London they had the blue and green spotlights and the ‘Love Larry’ picture. You can hear in the podcast ep the week we finally feel like we can say for sure it’s Louis (and we are hysterical about it) and that’s the week of Belfast, the countdown, the newcastle gay bar, and the reflection of Louis’ shirt in RBB’s sunglasses. That’s in OCTOBER. Nearly FIVE MONTHS of RBB and SBB leaving us cryptic clues and getting more and more elaborate. Five months of people (including die hard RBB fans like myself) constantly doubting themselves as to whether it really meant something. Moreover, the interview where they are asked about it was December, and so for many that was the final piece of the puzzle, so we forget now that there was so much uncertainty about how much we could trust it. 

Even now, there are things that we haven’t figured out about the bears, that suddenly make sense when something from the time is revealed, and that has been happening since hiatus. 

And that’s my answer - TLDR - that hindsight, critical thinking/understanding, and context are what tells us the bears are the real deal, and were orchestrated by Louis and Harry in response to events and pressures behind the scenes. That they found a way to support and encourage their LGBT fans (and allies) in a year where a lot of things were awful. Those bears were the goddamn light in the tunnel, showing us a way to understand. 

[feckin-zicons]

that's why i hate larries, i hate them with all my heart. besides being boring they are hypocrites 🙄

Hey nonnie, sorry its taken me so long to reply but if you’re following me you know I’ve been travelling lately and have been more scatterbrained than usual. Not that I’m ever not scatterbrained, but its been just a little crazier than usual!

Now I wouldn’t go as far to say I hate Larries. After all their delusions can be pretty funny sometimes!

Joking aside, I don’t hate Larries, I love Larries, I’m a Larry, so I really hesitate to tarry the whole group with the same brush. However I do strongly agree with you that there are those who are complete hypocrites. Nothing annoys more more than when Larries ™ treat the other boys, other celebrities, their friends and even family as one more side character to the Larry Show.

In particular when Larries ™ flood comment sections asking or in some cases, ordering people to confirm rumors/the couple being together. The absolute fucking disrespect. Not just because they’re flooding comment sections in videos streams, tweets, what have you, that sometimes have nothing to do with the couple in question, but because its presumptuous and rude as fuck to think they’re owed a coming out- just because they’re fans of the boys.

Stop it. Thats fucking ugly as hell.

While I have no doubt all the boys will one day be out (as referenced by their continued efforts in fighting the closet. I don’t get the sense the boys will just stop at being freed from their contractual obligations). It should and will be on their own terms. Provided they’re not forcibly outed some other way.

Coming out is a deeply personal experience and no one, no one ever, has the right to out someone else. I’ll never not be absolutely furious at the Larries ™ who posted about having ‘receipts’ that would out the boys. Which… tbh weren’t receipts at all but thats a whole other story. I’m also still angry at the reactions after Liams Attitude spread that wouldn’t have been as bad if not for the entitled fandom that peddled ridiculous claims beforehand about Liam confirming Larry to be real.

I mean… What the actual fuck. Setting aside the fandom experience of the time, and boy was it an experience. What right would Liam have confirming Louis and Harry’s relationship? I mean, get some perspective? It doesn’t help that a lot of fandom adults were the ones coming up with, and reblogging those theories and the younger fans ate it up. It would have made more sense for Louis and Harry to do it but idk maybe I’m still out of touch for thinking so. I mean, it felt like every other week someone was talking about Larry coming out. It was such a shit storm oh my god.

Biggest issue I still have with them is that the entitled behaviour hasn’t stopped. For some it seems like, Larry coming out is it for them. Like pack it up, goodbye, shows over, Louis and Harry are gay and in a relationship and everything is rainbows, we get to see cute pictures of them and everyone lives happily ever after.

Yeah, no. Coming out, for anyone, is just the beginning, can’t even begin to imagine what its like for them. They’re still going to need everyones support, and it irritates me that for some fans it seems so fucking conditional.

Time and time again, I’ve seen tweets, and posts, and videos, whatever, going on about Larry coming out and it reads like a fucking wattpad story. Not just that but its always on the assumption by the poster, on the off chance they consider the other 3/5ths of the band and Ziam being a possibility, that Larry will come out first?

What?

I’m sorry but, what?

Everything I’ve seen from the boys tells me they’re all in this together, they support each other and are working through the bullshit as a team. We have all seen the No Judgement music video yes? The merch, posts, double speak etc referencing each other, yes?

I mean, I suppose if you only look at Louis and Harry, like so many do, sure. Only Larry matters, everyone else is a side character in their life.

(Lemme just, scream for a second).

However, that kind of thinking leads them to the wrong conclusions. Like… assuming the SBB/RBB countdown was attributed to nothing, when it counted down to Liam finally being free of Sophia. In the years since, I’ve seen Larries ™ backtrack on claiming the bears had anything to do with the boys, that they weren’t behind it at all, or that they were just trolling the fandom.

You know, despite all the proof otherwise, and some really, really good posts breaking down clues about what the boys were trying to tell us. The moment something might not actually be about Louis and Harry its like all their thinking shuts off. Its frustrating. Really fucking frustrating.

Seriously, fans of the other boys as individulas, not just Ziams, have been talking about the stunts too and how they fit together. Its why we tend to be right, because we’re considering the entire group. They’re still a group. They’re not free until all of them are free.

Just for that Nialls coming out first. Lmao. I’ll call it now. Lets go Niall, whens the baby coming. We all wanna know. Its been years.

Imagine, imagine! Acting like coming out is some race to be won. The fucking audacity.

Go outside and touch fucking grass you absoulte ninny.

I get it, you want to be vindicated, you want to be rewarded for putting your faith in two celebrities being together.

Newsflash you dandelionfluff, its not a race, Louis and Harry coming out isn’t a fucking prize. Thats not what supporting a relationship looks like.

Its worse when someone admits they don’t know much about Ziam or the possibility of Niall being LGBT+, and claim they’re open to it, but then immediately tweet or reblog or sub tweet or tag comment a post or answer an ask from another Larry ™ talking about how Larries ™ are the most marginalized and persecuted group.

???

In what fucking world?

IN WHAT FUCKING WORLD?

If we wanna play that game, boohoo, the media claims Louis and Harry aren’t friends anymore because of crazy shippers. Meanwhile Zayn publicly isn’t friend with anyone and “left” the band… despite the Ziam fandom calling the stunt about either Louis or Zayn “leaving” and getting it down to the exact week (the second article coming out a week before about the Ziam kiss pretty much cemented it for Zayn leaving. Which did a lot to fan the flames of the already rabid fanbase when Ziam got two articles confirming a Ziam kiss over the years and Larry got nada. Like that actually means anything).

Not to mention Larries ™ using the hetties and management tactics against the other parts of the fandom to silence them.

Who cares what the media says anyway!  TPTB, 1DHQ, The Sun, The Mirror, Simon and his minions and their unpaid interns have used the media to split the fandom apart and it worked.

Who the fuck cares if the media calls the 1D stans delusional, you know the truth! The truth it out there and you’ve seen it! The truth is coming! Who gives a damn about what some two bit “journo” who failed out of their creative writing course writes? They get worse by the year. If it wasn’t so pathetic and hilarious I might actually feel embarrassed for them. They can’t even come up with new stories and have just taken to copying old articles, but you’re upset with them??? Give it a rest. Honestly.

The sense of disconnect, entitlement and victimhood of some Larries ™ is absolutely ridiculous.

Oh my god they’re Karens. I’m not trying to be insulting, but thats exactly who they remind me of.

I’m not going to say its a surprise to me that so many in the Ziam fandom are POC, LGBT+, and Neurodivergent and any combination of those, but I am going to say I’ve read a lot of Larry fics that just have Het sex made gay. Those in the Ziam fandom just tend to look at facts in a different way than Larries do due to their life experiences. A interfaith, interracial, relationship where one or both partners fall under the Bi umbrella (not saying Louis or Harry can’t be or aren’t Bi+ but rumors, and the way the fandom markets them, puts them firmly in the gay category) looks very, very different than gay or straight relationship. Both looking from outside and being in one. There’s just different dynamics at play that aren’t often realized or understood by the gays and hets.

Its not a bad thing. All relationships are different. The issue is that theres a lot of biphobia/racism/religious prejudice etc that arises from people being unwilling to understand the inherent differences.

Taking myself for example, I’m bi, like, bi as hell, and I don’t understand how gays and hets only like one gender. I just don’t. Can’t wrap my head around it. If someone asks me to choose one gender over the others to prefer I can’t. Its so stressful. My brain goes into panic mode and it feels like I’m being torn apart. My sense of identity is shaken- its a shit feeling. I just can’t lie to myself like that. If other people feel the same well, its no wonder bi+ have such high rates of depression and suicide. Its not about choosing who to like, there is no choice, I just feel attraction to everyone. Aces, I get. Its similar to being the opposite of what I feel, or not feeling an attraction to someone I’m not interested in. Easy. Gays and hets? I’m completely lost on.

Completely, and I know I’m not the only one who feels that way. But that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to try and understand where they’re coming from. Its alien to me, personally, but I’m not going to shut down the fact, that theres a fuck ton of people who only like one gender or try and make up reasons as to why they’re actually bi+

I digress, none of the boys fall neatly into the gay stereotypes, its just that parts of the Larry fandom have boxed Louis and Harry into certain roles to fit preconceived notions (likely do to them initially fitting in better with the white, sassy, somewhat effeminate twink thats been plastered all over Hollywood as their “LGBT+ representation” for years. Gag), they can understand better, and only look for proof to back up their theories but don’t look at things objectively.

They really need to get out more and make some LGBT+ friends that aren’t on the internet and talk to some gay elders. They need educating that’s not the often sanitized and insulting Hollywood version, that’s all I’m saying.

They made Louis and Harry more palatable for themselves and its… really gross.

I don’t know, I don’t get it.

Some Larries ™ turned the boys into their fandom and fanfiction stereotypes when they’re so much more than that. The Sony leaks should have been enough to dissuade the fandom, and prove that the brand sold to the broader audience is just that- a brand, and yet… Niall only talks about food and golf and Ireland and is only allowed to be straight or ace. If he exists at all its just to be Capt Niall. Liams slow and dumb and depending on the day he’s either Capt Liam or a horrific abusive homophobe. Zayns just The Worst, a unstable drug addict, and the boys hate each other, and they should have kicked him out of the band sooner because he never wanted to be part of them anyway, etc.

It drives me absolutely around the bend some days. They’re real people who don’t owe anyone anything, especially not coming out.

Yes, I think they will. But they’re not obligated to. They can change their minds, I’ll support them regardless of an “official” coming out or not.

Look, a part of me gets it. They wanna be right, they wanna prove the haters wrong, they want to be able to say I called it all along! The vindication will be sweet.

But like, it takes a quick look at someone other than Louis and Harry to realize theres something hinky going on with Liam, Zayn and Niall. Please listen to their fans who have spent just as much time as you have looking into Louis and Harry compiling together evidence.

It might take a weekend to watch the ILYSM and pterodactyl bros videos and a few more hours looking into some Niall blogs, which isn’t much compared to the hours I know they’ve spent looking into Larry. At least then they’ll have enough information to form an opinion on things.

I wonder, for some, what would happen if Larry didn’t come out, or didn’t come out first, or one of the other boys was outed against their will. Because… I don’t know. It seems like some would rather just be proven right at this point.

I get it. We’re tired. Its been eleven long years. But this isn’t a television show were everything can come to a head with a s3 or s4 cliff hanger and fixed in the series finale. Its real life, and they started off as boys trusting industry veterans who never had their best interests at heart.

Iduno. I just want some Larries ™ to take a step out of the echo chamber, realize life isn’t The Larry Show & co. And especially. ESPECIALLY, that every instance were someone, friends, family, co-works, industry peeps etc support the boys they are SUPPORTING THE BOYS, NOT THE FANDOM. They are not “confirming Larry for the fans” they’re doing it to support the couple, not to cater to the fandom. Please stop confusing the two. There’s a huge fucking difference. Learn it.

[bakagamieru]

Hi! I've been feeling really down, as well as frustrated and sad these past few days and I guess I'm here for a bit of reassurance maybe? Your blog was what opened my eyes to Ziam and also to the stunt ot4 v Zayn and all that, about a year ago, so I'm quite new. Your masterposts especially have been very informative! So basically I trust your judgement in this as someone who's been here a while and gone through it. Anyway, I completely believe in Ziam along with Larry now (been a Larrie (1)

(2) a long while) and I also believe all bbg's are fake etc. The thing I still get confused about/doubt sometimes, is the whole Harry&Louis & Zayn 'feud' thing. Most days I'm sure in my heart that all the twitter fights and post-interviews being mad at Z is all fake and part of a narrative. Zayn honestly even put lyrics to a song about a fight before actual fight for fucks sake?! Also it was all so ridiculous and public, childish, etc. it can't possibly have been real. Then his 'falling out

(3) with NB in the end. Also what ELSE (if not that 'fight') could they have been mad at him for? For 'leaving' because of his health (or whatever they said was the reason)? And after all this time still being mad/or at least bringing it up? Sounds very unlike H&L too doesn't it? Then I remember rbb/sbb, and this is something I've researched TOO MUCH honestly. Some people still refuse to even admit it was there or that it meant ANYTHING. But that goddamn yellow smiley was there several times

(4) after the 'twitter fight'. Why would that be the case? Also Ziam being together, and Louis being so close with Liam and hating on his man? It just doesn't add up anywhere. Sorry I know this is just me sounding very insecure about it all and atm I kinda am. I was having a discussion with a Larrie the other day. One of the bigger blogs with a big influence and lots of people reblogged and agreed with them, when I was trying to point out how I think 1D as a 'whole' are still being under some

(5) form of contract or image clause at the very least. They said the whole contract thing is fanfiction at this point (besides Louis essentially) and the other boys are all free to do whatever. They also don't believe in Ziam or that Zayn is friends with the boys at all. Mentioned how Harry is still 'salty' about him in interviews etc etc. They are so SURE of themselves. But yeah even though I mostly KNOW I still doubt on this because of the fucked up narratives. what if H&L / Zayn really did

(7) has been a stunt? Not saying they hang out as best friends these days maybe, what with their own lives and pandemic on top of it, but do you still think they're 'family'/ot5forever'? I honestly feel like I get gaslighted even by Larries these days and it's not much fun to follow them anymore :( Seeing Harry with Niall made me smile though! Gives me at least some hope that they still are close xx //This got very long, I'm so sorry. You can answer in tags if you wish :)

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Number 6 never seems to have made it to my inbox.  Good job numbering them, though, because I never would have realized one was missing otherwise.

Anyway, I hate to say it, but talking to Larries is a fraught prospect.  Almost all of the people who still call themselves Larries don’t believe in Ziam and it’s because they’ve never bothered to actually look at the evidence.  They don’t treat all of the boys with the same respect or interest that they treat Harry and Louis, so any time you try to convince them of a stunt related to Liam, Zayn, or Niall, they’re likely going to make their decision based on nothing but bias and refuse to budge on it no matter how much evidence you have.  Taking their word on Louis being the only one still under contract/sabotaged when they clearly don’t pay any attention to what’s actually going on with the other boys would be foolish.  You can always try to change a Larrie’s mind and maybe there should always be people that do try, but from my perspective, it’s just a depressing and infuriating situation to put yourself in.  

At best, I would have those conversations privately, especially if the blog has a lot of influence.  A blog with a lot of influence has ulterior motives to not changing their views publicly because if they do, they may well lose followers.  You may have a chance of getting them to look at evidence if you’re talking in private though.

I know the whole 1D friendship thing is hard right now because it’s been more than 5 years since they’ve really interacted.  We’ve gotten some Niam, Nouis, and Lilo here and there, but most of that is just talk even, no pics.  Because we have no immediate evidence of their friendship in front of us, all we have to rely on is interviews which we KNOW are BS-narrative machines.  It’s hard to ignore them when it’s all we have, but we should ignore them anyway because past experience has taught us just how much interviews push stunt narratives.

I would actually say the whole Narry outing recently gives us more to believe in than anything else.  If Harry and Niall hung out completely in public and we only found out about it through a picture a week or two later that could easily have never been identified by a fan, then it’s pretty likely that all the boys have managed to hang out whenever they want without being noticed, right?  Especially if they went to each other’s houses instead of to a public hiking trail.  There’s so much going on behind the scenes that we don’t have access to or knowledge of.  Zayn could have hung out with any one of the boys at any time because we hardly know where he is.  He’s almost never even on social media, so there are huge chunks of time where he’s unaccounted for.

The hiatus is hard specifically because of a lack of new information and because the status quo (in terms of the BS narrative) has had no reason to change for a long time.  I’ve said it before, but with Zayn’s situation, the only time after hiatus started that it makes narrative and business sense to reverse the “feud” narrative is leading up to a reunion.  That means we most likely WILL NOT see any improvement until a reunion approaches and with the pandemic, that’s definitely not happening this year and probably not even next.  It sucks, but the status quo of BS being maintained is what we should expect right now and just because it IS being maintained isn’t a sign of anything having worsened.  It’s just logical.  If you want to use the hype of a reconciliation to get fans excited, to sell tickets, to earn money, etc., then you need to wait until a reunion so that you HAVE tickets to sell and money to earn.

I would say hold on to the logical conclusions you can come to from the time when we had a lot of information to go off of (the OTRA tour and just after) and try not to read into anything happening now because there’s just about NOTHING happening right now and there’s just not enough data to find patterns and draw conclusions about the reality behind the fakery. 

[songsofhome]

Screw it, I’m becoming a Larry blog, I wasn’t going to but I’m not going to sit back and watch some great Larries be bullied off their blogs that they’ve spent years working on. I’m also very petty and want to be here when karma comes to bite all the antis in the ass!

So why am I here?

As I said in my bio I’m in my 40’s which just makes me older not dead!

My 15 yr old daughter and I are Larries together, we celebrate their wins and we get super aggravated when the stunts are pushed.

We believe HL are in a committed long-term relationship and have been for 10 yrs. We’ve seen no evidence of them breaking up at any stage and no we don’t accept song lyrics as evidence. Do we think it’s disrespectful to assume they are together? Nup! Everyone around them can deny it till they are blue in the face, but while HL continue to give us every indication they are together and happy, and continue to NOT convincingly deny it then we will continue to support them and fight with them. Until we hear the words ‘we are not nor have we ever been in a relationship’ directly from the horses mouth so to speak, which are words neither of them have ever said then we will be sticking around. Besides I’m a hopeless romantic and I just gotta see how this story ends.

Now babygate. Ahh yes, babygate...I’m a mother of two and I can categorically say that girl was NEVER pregnant. Just didn’t happen. The evidence is there the proof is there and I will not hesitate to call every inch of its fakeness out until it stops. I’ve talked extensively with my daughter about this, about every fake aspect. I’ve gone into all the glorious grossness of childbirth with her and despite possibly scaring her into celibacy for life she is also firmly on the babygate wagon.

We believe ALL of their public ‘relationships’ were/are pr stunts. Fake fake fakety fake! Elounor is not a thing, in fact it’s just embarrassing at this point. Hamille, Hendall, Haylor and all H’s other 247584 supposed girlfriends are also NOT a thing.

The main reason why I’m here though? RBB and SBB.... yeah two stuffed bears that appeared to communicate with the fans. WTF?!!!! We are still processing these little buggers but yeah that’s not something you see everyday.

Oh also, my daughter is an artist, so yeah, I’m gonna be THAT mother that shamelessly shows off her kid’s artwork so feel free to like, reblog, print and stick to your fridge, whatever takes your fancy.