#Why are people interested in this. -Larry

[charliegyrth]

Larry the Model

A Weight Gain Romance

“Look at you! Big City Brad!”

I smiled. Carly made it sound like I’d just gotten back from New York or London, not freaking Cincinnati. “Glad to be back,” I said.

I guess I meant that. Flaws and all, this was my hometown. While I was already getting annoyed by the summer heat and lack of trees, I had this weird sense of comfort knowing that Hardyville had barely changed in the last decade. Sure, there were more apartment buildings near the river, and yeah, they’d added a bunch of traffic lights to handle the bigger population. But the atmosphere, the dusty desert vibe of the town, felt lost in time.

Carly slurped her Frappuccino obnoxiously (an annoying habit from high school that she sadly hadn’t kicked). She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. After two hours of catching up, it seemed like we had officially run out of things to talk about.

I’d already told her about my new apartment (one of the new riverside ones) and my work craziness and the best stories from my life back in Ohio. In turn, she’d filled me in on all our high school friends who never left. In a small town like Hardyville, few people leave. And just as few actually change from their teenage selves, apparently.

“Well,” I said, “it’s so awesome to see you again. You’ll have to come over sometime.”

“Of course,” she said.

Even as we both got up to leave, I could see the conflicted look on her face. There was something else she wanted to tell me. Something awkward, maybe?

“Just spill it, okay?” I said. With Carly, it was always best to be direct.

“Spill what?” she asked coyly. “Ugh, fine. I’m supposed to deliver a message.”

“Okay? Cryptic.”

“Larry wants to see you again.” She flinched as she said that.

Larry was my high school boyfriend, and things did not end on good terms. The short version: He was deeply closeted. I wasn’t. We dated for almost three years, and despite all the great times we had together, he always ignored me when there were people around.

He planned to finally come out at graduation, and since he was giving the salutatorian speech, he told me that he was going to publicly thank me, his boyfriend, in front of everyone. He chickened out at the last minute. I felt betrayed, of course. We argued. I ended things. And then I moved away.

I haven’t thought about him much in the last ten years, but I knew he was still in town. I knew there was the possibility that we’d run into each other again.

And honestly, I was ready for it. I’d changed a lot since high school, so maybe he had, too.

“Yeah. I’d like to see him.”

Carly’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Why’s that so surprising?” I tossed my cup into the trash.

Carly did the same. “You know about his modeling career, right?”

Modeling career?

No. I definitely did not. I mean, he definitely had the body for it. He was the hottest guy in high school. Tall. Built. Blond. Athletic without trying to be. Definitely model-handsome. I felt so lucky to date him, even if he made us keep our relationship in the shadows.

After graduation, if I hadn’t ignored Larry’s calls and blocked him on all social media, I would’ve known that he’d grown up to be a model.

I didn’t want to admit to my obliviousness, though. If I did, that would be admitting to Carly that our breakup had messed me up more than I wanted to admit. So I said, “Of course. Yeah. Good for him.”

“Okay. Well, if you’re interested, I’ll let him know.”

***

An hour later, after I’d gotten back to my apartment, Larry called. I was sitting on the balcony, looking out at the Colorado River. I didn’t expect him to reach out so quickly.

“Hey, Brad. It’s Larry. Carly told me you’re back in town.”

“I am,” I said. I hated how fast my heart was racing. I did not want to sound nervous over the phone. “How’ve you been?”

“Great. Finally living the life I’ve always wanted. No more hiding anymore.”

That was so good to hear. In high school, Larry was amazing in every way except his own self-doubt. If he’d been strong enough to come out back then, if he hadn’t been so worried about people finding out about us, then we’d probably still be together. I really believed that.

“That’s great,” I said.

“Listen, I know I messed things up back then, and I totally understand why you didn’t want to hear from me after graduation, but I’m glad we’re talking now.”

“Me too.”

“And, um, you know about my modeling now, right?”

“I do. I think you look incredible.” That last part just came out. I hadn’t seen any of his photos, but I wanted him to think that I had.

“Thank you very much,” he said, a bit surprised. “It’s a lot of work.”

“I’m sure it is.”

He paused for a few seconds before asking, “Would you like to come over sometime? My place?”

“How about tonight?”

***

I wore my favorite outfit, a collared shirt that was tight enough to accentuate my shoulders and red, slim-fit slacks that helped lengthen my average legs.

I looked pretty good.

Definitely better than I did in high school. I wasn’t model-handsome, of course, but I also wasn’t an ultra-skinny nerd anymore. I gelled up my long-ish brown hair and headed downstairs.

In the three hours since my phone conversation with Larry, I’d tried to look him up online. All I found were photos from his high school days. I assumed he used an alias for his modeling career, but I was too embarrassed to ask.

Didn’t matter. I’d see him in the flesh soon enough.

Larry also lived on the river, but his house was at the other end of town. I got there a few minutes late (didn’t account for Hardyville’s increase in traffic) and nervously knocked on the door.

“One second!” Larry’s wonderfully deep voice called from inside.

It took him much longer than one second to open the door.

“Holy crap! Brad? You look amazing!”

Have you ever been so shocked that your brain glitches? You can’t speak or move. You just stand there with your mouth hanging open and your pulse thudding loud enough to echo in your skull.

That’s exactly what happened to me when I looked at what had become of Larry.

I recognized his happy eyes and sun-kissed hair. I recognized his wide, full-lipped smile. But everything else was unrecognizable.

He was insanely fat. Not just chubby, but so far beyond obese that I was surprised he was still able to stand without leaning on something. His wide hips barely fit through the door. His stomach bulged out of him in a soft, low-hanging apron. His arms, spread out in expectation of a hug, had sacks of dangling fat. And his once-square jaw was now melded into his neck with a single roll of chin fat.

How could this guy be Larry? How could he be a model?

“You’re surprised,” he said, his smile fading. “I thought…”

Crap. I’d told him over the phone that I followed his modeling career. I said he looked “incredible.” That was the word I used.

“No, I just… It’s crazy to see you in person. That’s all.”

Larry bought it. He lumbered forward, the edges of his hips literally touching the doorframe, and he wrapped me in a soft, warm hug. “It’s so freaking good to see you! Come inside before I get all sweaty.”

He already was.

I followed him into his house, watching his massive ass cheeks rub against each other—up and down, down and up—as he gave me a tour of the place. “This is the living room. That’s where I watch TV. Just got a new couch. That’s where I do my online work. And that corner is where I do my OnlyFans videos and mukbangs and stuff.”

The place looked pretty normal at first glance. Clean, modern, lots of bright colors. But with a closer look, I saw the bowls of brownies and cookies positioned on all the tables and shelves, ensuring that no matter where you stood, there was always something sugary in arm’s reach. I also saw all the filming equipment in the corner.

And on the walls were framed posters from some of Larry’s photo shoots. They showed him in various states of undress, his flab spilling out of unbuttoned shirts and leather harnesses and even swimwear. Some were taken from magazine covers (Bear Time Weekly and Body Positive Plus, for example).

The most revealing was above his TV. He was posed on the beach, smiling into the camera, literally pulling up his belly to reveal red speedos squeezing into his crotch. It was a catalog page for BXL, the plus-sized clothing store.

So Larry was a model after all. Just not the kind of model I ever would’ve expected.

He caught me staring at the speedo picture. “Yeah. I know it’s a little tacky to have so many framed photos of myself, but these pictures help for motivation sometimes, in case I lose focus and accidentally drop a couple pounds. You don’t know how hard it is to maintain this size.” He looked up at the clock on his wall. “Speaking of.” He waddled toward a bowl of brownies and shoved two of them into his mouth.

“Uh huh,” I muttered. None of this made sense to me. At all. Larry used to be so damn hot. Not only did he choose to get to this size, but I guess he had to keep working to maintain it. I couldn’t imagine how much he had to consume every single day.

“Sit, Brad.” He gestured toward the couch, his arm flab swaying.

I sat and he joined me. It took him a few seconds to position his body over the couch, bend his knees just a little bit, and let gravity flop him down. “So you musta been pretty surprised the first time you heard about Lardy Johnson, huh?”

So that was his model name. He’d gone from Larry Johnson to Lardy Johnson. Damn.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, still not admitting that I had no idea about his body changes until minutes ago. “So like, what happened?”

He laughed. “After graduation, after I lost you, I finally said, ‘Screw it. I’m going to live how I want now. No shame. No holding back.’ So I finally came out of the closet. The world did not end, just like you kept saying. Everyone was happy for me. I’d made that decision too late for… you know, for us. That was a little hard.”

I thought back to freshman year of college. All the times Larry had tried to contact me. I really should’ve answered his calls.

“Anyway, live and learn, right?” he continued. “So after I came out and everyone more-or-less accepted me, I decided to tell people about my other secret, my hidden urge to get fat.” He sounded so casual as he said that, as if it was something I’d always known about him. “I’m sure you knew though, right?”

What?

Of course I didn’t know that he wanted to be fat! If that topic had been brought up, even once, I definitely would’ve remembered.

“Why would you say that?” I asked.

He smiled. (His cheeks didn’t have dimples back when he was thin. Those were actually kind of cute.) “Oh, right. Like you don’t remember all those times you encouraged me.”

I really didn’t.

“You know, I never would’ve considered gaining weight if it weren’t for you. All of this…” He grabbed his moobs and squished them together. Proudly. “Is partly because of you. I’ve never properly thanked you for shaping my life.”

I felt my brain glitch again. He was blaming me for how he looked? I “encouraged” him? I didn’t even know what that word meant in this context.

But again, I couldn’t just come right out and say that. “Right. Good times. Can you, um, tell me the moments that really affected you?”

His smile shifted into a very flirty half-grin. With his eyes locked on me, he reached toward the table and grabbed another brownie. He stuffed it into his mouth and swallowed without chewing. “Oh. There are so many. Remember Christmas Eve? Sophomore year?”

Nope.

“Do I!” I said, pretending to know what the hell he was talking about. “What a great moment. Why don’t you describe it for me?”

Emboldened by my question, he placed his hand on my thigh. His already-deep voice got even deeper. “We were in your room, sitting just like this. Your parents were gone and we stole some of their eggnog. We had two massive mugs of the stuff. So freaking rich. You took one sip of yours and said you hated it. So you gave it to me and said, ‘You gotta finish ’em both, big guy.’ God, I loved when you called me that. You said that we couldn’t leave any evidence behind for your parents to find, but I knew what you were doing. You just wanted to fill me up.”

“Uh huh,” I mumbled. I remembered everything he was saying, but he got it all twisted in his head. I never forced him to drink all that eggnog. I was planning to drink my mug before I realized how disgusting the taste was. And calling him “big guy”? That didn’t mean anything. He was bigger than me.

“And then afterward, you gave me a big platter of cookies that you’d made for me. And we didn’t leave until I ate every one. It was so freaking hot.”

I gulped. I remembered that part, too. But I didn’t force him to eat those cookies. I was just proud of myself for baking them without my mom’s help and I wanted to treat my boyfriend. That was it.

“That was the first time I suspected that you wanted to fatten me up,” he continued. “I didn’t really get it at first, but when you pulled off my sweater and started rubbing my belly… That’s when you convinced me.”

I rubbed his belly?

No! I’d remember rubbing someone’s belly. I would never…

But then I remembered. Yeah. I totally did. He was clutching his stomach, and I thought he was having trouble processing all the alcohol from the eggnog. My parents were going to be home soon, and I didn’t want them to see Larry drunk and bloated. So I held him and rubbed his stomach.

But it wasn’t sensual! It was just to help him process the alcohol!

Larry glanced at the clock and dutifully shoved another brownie into his mouth. “So tell me about yourself. I’m sure you have a line of guys you’ve helped fatten back in Cincinnati.”

I did not. I had one boyfriend throughout most of college. Then three more long-term boyfriends since then. I was a serial monogamist, falling in love very quickly and then watching things inevitably fizzle. Every single one of my exes was as thin as me. I didn’t think I had a preference, per se, but my dating history told a different story. Larry had been the only out-and-out muscular guy that I’d ever slept with, and I had never even considered hooking up with a chub. The thought had never crossed my mind.

“Not really,” I said evasively.

“What a shame!” Larry said, scooting a little closer on the couch. “I’ve been with my fair share of feeders, but none were as good as you.”

“Yeah?” He couldn’t have just been talking about that Christmas Eve, right? There had to be other times that I wasn’t remembering.

“All those times you took me to Denny’s. God, you were so forceful.”

Back in high school, we went to Denny’s a lot, but that was only because he liked the food there. I really didn’t.

Looking back, I could see where he’d gotten the wrong impression. I never finished my meals, so I always slid my plate over to Larry. And when he was finished with both our plates, I always asked if he wanted dessert. (Out of politeness!) But yeah, I could see how those little actions could be interpreted as encouragement. But I wasn’t forceful about it.

Was I?

I was starting to feel really oblivious. “You didn’t gain anything in high school, right?”

“No,” he answered with a note of embarrassment. “My metabolism was too strong. I didn’t get over that hump until I was 19, after you were gone. After I really started… going for it.” He squeezed my thigh. “So? Do you wanna see how much I’ve changed, Brad?”

“Yes,” I said immediately. That answer came from curiosity, but I couldn’t ignore the sense of growing excitement in the pit of my gut. Not arousal or attraction, of course. But a definite thrill. Larry, my first love, was back in my life. And he’d transformed himself because of me, even though I had no idea I’d affected him so much. Even though I didn’t like how he looked, I felt a sense of ownership over his body.

He grabbed my hands and placed them on the lowest roll of his stomach. He wanted me to peel off his shirt.

I did.

We stared into each other’s eyes as the shirt came off. His sea of flab rolled out like a tidal wave. I wasn’t surprised by his shirtless appearance because the pictures on the walls had already shown me what to expect. The deep-red stretchmarks were surprising, though. I guess his photographers had photoshopped those away.

I threw his shirt to the side. I took a long moment to take in the mound of fat in front of me. It was surprisingly easy to see the old Larry underneath all that softness. He was the same person that I'd loved, just much, much bigger.

Slowly, I reached out and felt him. That was what he wanted. What I wanted, too.

He tried (and failed) to lean forward and kiss me, so I slid on top of him and kissed his expectant lips. That one bit of contact, his tongue against mine, brought back so many memories. Our first stolen kiss under the bleachers. Our secret hand-holding in English class. The love letters he slid into my locker. The dates. The inside jokes. The movies. The dinners. The sex. Everything came back.

I thought of the thrill of our secret romance, and how that thrill had morphed into frustration, then anger, then heartbreak.

This kiss was wonderful. Cathartic.

And there was something so exciting about the combination of his familiar lips and his unfamiliar belly. I loved that. I loved how I sank into him, how his arms grabbed my shoulders and pulled me deeper into him.

I liked his fat. I couldn’t deny that anymore. I liked the body he’d built for himself.

What I didn’t know was whether I’d always wanted this. As the memories came rushing back, I thought about all the times I’d encouraged him to eat. Not just the moments he’d mentioned, but dozens more. At the time, I didn’t realize what I was doing to him, what path I was setting his life on, but it couldn’t have been unintentional, right? Deep down, did I want to fatten him? Did he see something in me that I couldn’t see myself?

Maybe.

Maybe I’d never know for sure.

But the one thing I did know, with all the certainty in my racing heart, was that Larry was beautifully, wonderfully fat, and I loved that.

The kiss reached its natural end and I slowly climbed off him.

“I missed you, Brad," he whispered.

I didn’t answer him with words. Instead, I grabbed a brownie from the table and placed it against his lips.

The End.

Thanks for reading! Check out all my stories here. And if you want more stories about vloggers getting fat on camera, check out my ebook Fattening Influencers. Five stories, lots of eating.

[bulbagarden]

Larry I have to know,

Do you like men?

Yes.

I am unable to comment.

[twopoppies]

.

[bearsinpotatosacks]

I've recently realised that I have categories of favourite characters. These include:

Grumpy/sad divorced guy, usually nearing their 40s who doesn't see their kid as much as they'd like, featuring:

Mark Greene (ER), Larry Daley (Night at the Museum), Richie Jerimovich (the Bear), Leonard McCoy (both AOS and TOS)

Dead, featuring Goose (Top Gun), and Mikey Berzatto (the Bear):

Sad women, featuring Carole Bradshaw, Goose's wife, (Top Gun), Max Mayfield (Stranger Things), and Jaylah (Star Trek Beyond):

Grumpy uncle to main/important character featuring Uncle Charlie (Peaky Blinders), and Wayne Munson (Stranger Things):

Guy who needs a fucking break featuring, Ethan Hunt (mission impossible), and Tommy Shelby (Peaky Blinders):

Objectively horrible teenage boy who I like because of the ⭐ tragic backstory ⭐(who I will call an arse when they come on screen), featuring Billy Hargrove (Stranger Things), and The Delancey Brothers (Newsies):

[statementlou]

"you guys" anon literally how am I (or the millions of other larries who aren't doing what you're saying) in any way implicit in a few tweets you don't like? I'm literally just chilling here on tumblr doing my thing, do you want me to hold you accountable for every horrific and cringey thing solos say and do because BELIEVE ME THERE IS PLENTY... Also saying her song is in fact cringe because of what people are saying about it like are you defending her or also attacking her how is that her fault?! You can find fans doing any cringey thing you want to prove, and yes you can in fact find fans saying the opposite (also linked in my inbox from others), big fucking deal neither proves anything in particular. Twitter is cringey as hell generally most of the time and the culture lends itself to acting horribly and saying stupid things imo but twitter fandom isn't a monolith any more than any other segment (larries included) is, whatever. But lumping whole groups of people together and erasing individuality is a slippery fucking slope and I suggest you challenge your thinking about that right now before you get recruited by racists or qanon or to join the fucking police force, "YOU GUYS," jfc listen to yourself and get it together

[d-e-w-p]

Been thinking about pokemon Larry and why people like him sm and yhe conclusion is nothing new.

Hes just a guy. He's just a man in a world full of strange and unusual people and he is. Very easy to project onto and relate to. Battling is not his life. It is his job.

As if soemone plucked an npc with one note dialogue and shoved them into a mainline role. He is a simple basic bitch of a man without quirks and in the pokemon world that is endlessly fascinating and interesting and surely there is something underneath all that normal,something unique and freaky amd Odd?

But no.

Larry is a simple man in a diverse land and we love him just for that

[antiparticular]

1 season in and I think doom patrol is up there with my favourite tv shows already. it is so good. why haven't I watched this before.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The meritocracy to eugenics pipeline

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in PDX on Jun 20 at BARNES AND NOBLE with BUNNIE HUANG. After that, it's LONDON (Jul 1) and MANCHESTER (Jul 2).

It's kinda weird how, the more oligarchic our society gets, the more racist it gets. Why is the rise of billionaires attended by a revival of discredited eugenic ideas, dressed up in modern euphemisms like "race realism" and "human diversity"?

I think the answer lies in JK Galbraith's observation that "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."

The theory of markets goes like this: a market is a giant computer that is always crunching all kinds of "signals" about what people want and how much they want it, and which companies and individuals are most suited to different roles within the system. The laissez-faire proposition is that if we just resist the temptation to futz with the computer (to "distort the market"), it will select the best person for each position: workers, consumers, and, of course, "capital allocators" who decide where the money goes and thus what gets made.

The vast, distributed market computer is said to be superior to any kind of "central planning" because it can integrate new facts quickly and adjust production to suit varying needs. Let rents rise too high and the computer will trigger the subroutine that brings "self-interested" ("greedy") people into the market to build more housing and get a share of those sky-high rents, "coming back into equilibrium." But allow a bureaucracy to gum up the computer with a bunch of rules about how that housing should be built and the "lure new homebuilders" program will crash. Likewise, if the government steps in to cap the price of rents, the "price signal" will be silenced and that "new homebuilders" program won't even be triggered.

There's some logic to this. There are plenty of good things that market actors do that are motivated by self-interest rather than altruism. When Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed their Pagerank algorithm and revolutionized internet search, they weren't just solving a cool computer science problem – they were hoping to get rich.

But here's the thing: if you let Larry and Sergey tap the capital markets – if they can put on a convincing show for the "capital allocators" – then the market will happily supply them with the billions they need to buy and neutralize their competitors, to create barriers to entry for superior search engines, and become the "central planners" that market theory so deplores. If your business can't get any market oxygen, if no audience ever discovers your creative endeavors, does it matter if the central planner who decided you don't deserve a chance is elected or nominated by "the market"?

Here's how self-proclaimed market enthusiasts answer that question: all Larry and Sergey are doing here is another form of "capital allocation." They're allocating attention, deciding what can and can't be seen, in just the same way that a investor decides what will and won't be funded. If an investor doesn't fund promising projects, then some other investor will come along, fund them, get rich, and poach the funds that were once given to less-successful rivals. In the same way, if Google allocates attention badly, then someone will start a better search engine that's better at allocating attention, and we will switch to that new search engine, and Google will fail.

Again, this sounds reasonable, but a little scrutiny reveals it to be circular reasoning. Google has dominated search for a quarter of a century now. It has a 90% market share. According to the theory of self-correcting markets, this means that Google is very good at allocating our attention. What's more, if it feels like Google actually sucks at this – like Google's search-results are garbage – that doesn't mean Google it bad at search. It doesn't mean that Google is sacrificing quality to improve its bottom line (say, by scaling back on anti-spam spending, or by increasing the load of ads on a search results page).

It just means that doing better than Google is impossible. You can tell it's impossible, because it hasn't happened.

QED.

Google wasn't the first search engine, and it would be weird if it were the last. The internet and the world have changed a lot and the special skills, organizational structures and leadership that Google assembled to address the internet of the 2000s and the 2010s is unlikely to be the absolute perfect mix for the 2020s. And history teaches us that the kinds of people who can assemble thee skills, structures and leaders to succeed in one era are unlikely to be able to change over to the ideal mix for the next era.

Interpreting the persistent fact of Google's 90% market-share despite its plummeting quality as evidence of Google's excellence requires an incredible act of mental gymnastics. Rather than accepting the proposition that Google both dominates and sucks because it is excellent, we should at least consider the possibility that Google dominates while sucking because it cheats. And hey, wouldn't you know it, three federal courts have found Google to be a monopolist in three different ways in just a year.

Now, the market trufans will tell you that these judges who called Google a cheater are just futzers who can't keep their fingers off the beautiful, flawless market computer. By dragging Google into court, forcing its executives to answer impertinent questions, and publishing their emails, the court system is "distorting the market." Google is the best, because it is the biggest, and once it stops being the best, it will be toppled.

This makes perfect sense to people who buy the underlying logic of market-as-computer. For the rest of us, it strains credulity.

Now, think for a minute of the people who got rich off of Google. You have the founders – like Sergey Brin, who arrived in America as a penniless refugee and is now one of the richest people in the history of the human species. He got his fortune by building something that billions of us used trillions of times (maybe even quadrillions of times) – the greatest search engine the world had ever seen.

Brin isn't the only person who got rich off Google, of course. There are plenty of Googlers who performed different kinds of labor – coding, sure, but also accountancy, HR, graphic design, even catering in the company's famous cafeterias – who became "post-economic" (a euphemism for "so rich they don't ever need to think about money ever again") thanks to their role in Google's success.

There's a pretty good argument to be made that these people "earned" their money, in the sense that they did a job and that job generated some money and they took it home. We can argue about whether the share of the profits that went to different people was fair, or whether the people whose spending generated that profit got a good deal, or whether the product itself was good or ethical. But what is inarguable is that this was money that people got for doing something.

Then there's Google's investors. They made a lot of money, especially the early investors. Again, we can argue about whether investors should be rewarded for speculation, but there's no question that the investors in Google took a risk and got something back. They could have lost it all. In some meaningful sense, they made a good choice and were rewarded for it.

But now let's think about the next generation. The odds that these billionaires, centimillionaires and decimillionaires will spawn the next generation of 1%ers, 0.1%ers, and 0.0001%ers are very high. Right now, in America, the biggest predictor of being rich is having rich parents. Every billionaire on the Forbes under-30 list inherited their wealth:

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/forbes-billionaires-under-30-inherited-203930435.html

The wealthy have created a system of dynastic wealth that puts the aristocratic method of primogenitor in the shade. Every scion of every one-percenter can have their own fortune and start their own dynasty, without lifting a finger. Their sole job is to sign the paperwork put before them by "wealth managers":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/19/dynastic-wealth/#caste

Yes, it's true that some of the very richest people on Earth got their money by investing, rather than inheriting it. Bill Gates's investment income growth exceeds even the growth of the world's richest woman, L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, who never did anything of note apart from emerging from an extremely lucky orifice and then simply accruing:

https://memex.craphound.com/2014/06/24/thomas-pikettys-capital-in-the-21st-century/

But Bill Gates's wealth accumulation from investing exceeds the wealth he accumulated by founding and running the most successful company in history (at the time). Doing work never pays as much as allocating capital. And Gates's children? They can assume a Bettencourtian posture on a divan, mouths yawning wide for the passage of peeled grapes, and their fortunes will grow still larger. Same goes for their children, and their children's children.

Capitalism's self-mythologizing insists that the invisible hand owes no allegiance to yesterday's champions. The mere fact that the market rewarded you for allocating capital wisely during your tenure does not entitle your offspring to continue to allocate wealth in the years and centuries to come – not unless they, too, are capital allocators of such supremacy that they are superior to everyone born hereafter and will make the decisions that make the whole world better off.

Because that's the justification for inequality: that the market relentlessly seeks out the people with the skill and foresight to do things and invest in things that improve the world for all of us. If we interrupt that market process with regulations, taxes, or other "distorting" factors, then the market's quest for the right person for the right job will be thwarted and all of us will end up poorer. If we want the benefits of the invisible hand, we must not jostle the invisible elbow!

That's the justification for abolishing welfare, public education, public health, affirmative action, DEI, and any other programs that redistribute wealth to the least among us. If we get in the way of the market's selection process, we'll elevate incompetents to roles of power and importance and they will bungle those roles in ways that hurt us all. As Boris Johnson put it: "the harder you shake the pack the easier it will be for [big] cornflakes to get to the top":

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/28/boris-johnson-iq-intelligence-gordon-gekko

Which leaves the servants and defenders of the invisible hand with a rather awkward question: how is it that today, capital allocation is a hereditary role? We used to have the idea that fitness to allocate capital – that is, to govern the economy and the lives of all of the rest of us – was a situational matter. The rule was "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations": "The first generation makes it, the second generation spends it, and the third generation blows it."

That's the lesson of the rags to riches story*: that out there, amongst the teeming grubby billions, lurks untold genius, waiting to be anointed by the market and turned loose to make us all better off.

In America, these stories are sometimes called "Horatio Alger" stories, after the writer who penned endless millionaire-pleasing fables about urchins who were adopted by wealthy older men who saw their promise and raised them to be captains of industry. However, in real life, Horatio Alger was a pedophile who adopted young boys and raped them:

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/horatio-alger-hundred-year-old-secret/

Perhaps your life was saved by a surgeon who came from humble origins but made it through med school courtesy of Pell Grants. Perhaps you thrilled to a novel or a film made by an artist from a working class family who got their break through an NEA grant. Maybe the software you rely on every day, or the game that fills your evenings, was created by someone who learned their coding skills at a public library or publicly funded after-school program.

The presence among us of people who achieved social mobility and made our lives better is evidence that people are being born every moment with something to contribute that is markedly different, and higher in social status, than the role their parents played. Even if you stipulate that the person who cleans your toilet has been correctly sorted into a toilet-cleaning job by the invisible hand, it's clear that the invisible hand would prefer that at least some of those toilet-cleaners' kids should do something else for a living.

And yet, wealth remains stubbornly hereditary. Our capital allocators – who, during the post-war, post-New Deal era were often drawn from working families – are now increasingly, relentlessly born to that role.

For the wealthy, this is the origin of the meritocracy to eugenics pipeline. If power and privilege are inherited – and they are, ever moreso every day – then either we live in an extremely unfair society in which the privileged and the powerful have rigged the game…or the invisible hand has created a subspecies of thoroughbred humans who were literally born to rule.

This is the thesis of the ultra-rich, the moral justification for rigging the system so that their failsons and faildaughters will give rise to faildestinies of failgrandkids and failgreat-grandkids, whose emergence from history's luckiest orifices guarantees them a lifelong tenure ordering other people around. It's the justification for some people being born to own the places where the rest of us live, and the rest of us paying them half our salaries just so we don't end up sleeping on the sidewalk.

"Hereditary meritocracy" is just a polite way of saying "eugenics." It starts from the premise of the infallible invisible hand and then attributes all inequality in society to the hand's perfect judgment, its genetic insight in picking the best people for the best jobs. If people of one race are consistently on top of the pile, that's the market telling you something about their genomes. If men consistently fare better in the economy than women, the invisible hand is trying to say something about the Y chromosome for anyone with ears to hear.

Capitalism's winners have always needed "a superior moral justification for selfishness," a discreet varnish to shine up the old divine right of kings. Think of the millionaire who created a "Nobel Prize sperm-bank" (and then fraudulently fathered hundreds of children because he couldn't find any Nobelists willing to make a deposit):

https://memex.craphound.com/2006/09/07/nobel-prize-sperm-bank-human-tragicomedy-about-eugenics/

Or the billionaire founder of Telegram who has fathered over 100 children in a bid to pass on his "superior genes":

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/26/tech/pavel-durov-telegram-profile-intl

Think of Trump and his endless boasting about his "good blood" and praise for the "bloodlines" of Henry Ford and other vicious antisemites:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/22/trump-criticized-praising-bloodlines-henry-ford-anti-semite/5242361002/

Or Elon Musk, building a compound where he hopes to LARP as Immortan Joe, with a harem of women who have borne his legion of children, who will carry on his genetic legacy:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/29/business/elon-musk-children-compound.html

Inequality is a hell of a drug. There's plenty of evidence that becoming a billionaire rots your brain, and being born into a dynastic fortune is a thoroughly miserable experience:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/13/public-interest-pharma/#affluenza

The stories that rich people tell themselves about why this is the only way things can be ("There is no alternative" -M. Thatcher) always end up being stories about superior blood. Eugenics and inequality are inseparable companions.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/05/20/big-cornflakes-energy/#caliper-pilled

[chaoticwriting]

THE FATHER 2

Part 1

After the last incident, Danny totally expects the public to be afraid of him or even persecute him for killing the Joker. He did kill in front of a live stream after all. What he doesn't expect is the public giving their full support to him. Almost every single news media paints him in a good light, saying he is just protecting his children and bringing up all his previous charity.

However, there is one big problem Danny doesn't foresee. Danny doesn't even know about the problem because his children are the one that are suffering from it.

-Gotham Academy-

Emma: *Slamming her phone on the table* For the love of god, stop making thirst trap of my dad. He is too old for some of you (He is 20).

Becky: I know right. This is like the sixth thirst trap video that I see of dad.

Carl: I hate this so much. My crush just accepted my confession but on the condition I will introduce her to dad.

Larry: And you agree?

Carl: What? No! Of course not.

Emma: Ugghhh, this is the worst. Maybe we should ask Uncle Tucker to remove all of Dad's thirst trap online. I'm so done with this.

Larry: I don't know. This is the first time girls decide to talk to me voluntarily. I really am enjoying this attention.

Carl: You're happy now until one of the girls decides to confess to you and just as you thought because she likes you, it is because she has a crush on dad.

Larry: I know you just experienced it but you don't need to curse me like that.

Carl: Hmph.

Larry: Hey, has anyone seen Colin? I haven't seen him since last night.

Becky: *Whispersing* Don't you hear? Colin got shot after he went to patrol the night before yesterday. Dad grounds him cause he tries to sneak out injured last night.

Carl: Oof. Colin really doesn't learn does he? Dad has super sense. He literally can't sneak out.

Larry: Yeah. I don't even know why he wants to be a vigilante so much. I guess he is just kind of something. Couldn't be me to be honest.

Emma: Of course he is not like you. You are not even capable of waking up by yourself in the morning.

*Riiiinngggg*

Becky: Well that is our break then. Let's go to class.

Larry: Eh, it's not like Miss Brown gonna scold me if I am a little late anyway. She has been trying to get Dad's number from me for a while now.

Carl: Does dad even have a girlfriend? Or boyfriend? Hell, a partner? I never saw him gone on a date once so far.

Emma: Chances are probably super low. Like to say he is dense is an understatement. A woman tried to flirt with him once but he just replied to all the flirting with the straightest face possible.

The rest: *Giggles*

-Gotham Libraries-

Contrary to what his kids have been believing in, he actually knows when someone is flirting with him. It's just that he takes note from the dense anime protagonist and uses it in daily life whenever he is not interested in a person flirting with him. Which is like daily.

But here is the problem. He can respond to a flirt very easily. He learns a lot of that from when he was dating Sam. But he never actually flirts with someone first. And he isn't sure just how to approach the problem.

Having decided that he has stayed long enough, Danny picks a random book from the space section and brings it to the checkout table.

Danny: Hey Barbara.

Barbara: Hey Danny. Borrowing another book?

Danny: Yeah. I just finished the previous one last night. It is a good book. Thanks for the recommendation.

Barbara: You're welcome. How's the kids doing? Still causing trouble for you?

Danny: It's the same shenanigans everyday. Going to lectures, doing paperwork, taking care of the kids. What about you?

Barbara: It's the same with me. Barely any people come to the library these days. Usually it's only either you or my friends.

Danny: Oh. Errmm, Barbara.

Barbara: Yes?

Danny: Would you be free this weekend?

Barbara: Are you asking me on a date?

Danny: Depends. If it is, what would you say?

Barbara: Hmmm, let me think.

Danny fidgets as Barbara taps her finger on the counter. Barbara loves to tease Danny since he is so cute when he is nervous.

Barbara: I think I am free this weekend. So I am available for a date.

Danny's face beams a smile as he hears that.

Danny: So is that a yes?

Barbara: What do you think, big guy?

Danny: Then I will come pick you up at your apartment then?

Barbara: Come pick me up at my dad's house. I will be ready at 5.

Danny: Okay. Have a good day.

Barbara: You too.

Danny then walks out of the library, skipping a little. He has been gathering courage to ask Barbara out on a date for a long time now. They first met when Danny first borrowed a book from a library. It's nothing crazy. Just interaction between two people. But after meeting up a few more times, Danny realizes that he might have a crush on her. After getting convinced by Tucker and Sam, Danny decided that today is the day he asks her out. And he succeeded.

Now, it is just to make sure that the date goes well.

-Clocktower-

Batman: That's it for tonight. Everyone returns back to the cave.

Black Bat/Spoiler/Red Robin: Roger.

Oracle: Hey, B. Can I have a day off this weekend?

Batman: Why?

Oracle: I have a date that night.

Spoiler: You are dating someone?

Oracle: It's not official yet. He only just asks me out on a date this morning.

Batman: Yes. Keep your comms up. In case a breakout happens your way.

Oracle: Okay.

Red Robin: Who are you going on a date with?

Oracle: Danny.

Spoiler: As in that Danny?

Oracle: Yes.

Spoiler: Oh wow! You work fast. How do you know him?

Oracle: He always comes to the library to borrow books. I met him long before he became famous so it is not so hard to talk with him.

Black Bat: Is he nice?

Oracle: He is very nice. It's very hard to even make him mad. The only time I remember him being in a slightly bad mood is at Christmas. He doesn't like it apparently. Wait, Hood is entering the line.

Red Hood: Oracle, you betray me!

Oracle: Tough luck loser. How do you know anyway?

Red Robin: I told him just now.

Red Hood: Yeah! You dare ask him out on a date first before me? I will remember this.

Oracle: He is the one that actually asks me out. We are going on an official date this weekend. I'll take a very nice picture of us together so that you can see from afar.

Red Hood: But your status still isn't official yet. I still have a chance.

Oracle: Over my dead body.

Red Hood: Oh, I will.

Spoiler: Errr, guys. What is happening?

Red Robin: They have a bet on who will get to date Danny first. Apparently Hood gets a massive crush on this guy after what happens in the livestream. Oracle gets the news and they quarrel a little bit. After that I propose a competition between the two.

Spoiler: But both of you don't know that Oracle is already close with Danny. Girl, that's dirty.

Oracle: All is fair in love and war.

Batman: What is his background?

Red Robin: As far as I can see, he is pretty clean. There is even what I suspect some vigilante works that he might have done because he is related to the disbandment of GIW that were supported by both his parents and his godfather. But after some digging into the old GIW files, there are traces of Danny and his friends helping the local ghost hero fighting either other ghosts or the agents themselves. There was also the unexplained money that he suddenly had early on in his career as CEO but so far, it doesn't seem like anything bad.

Robin: Hmmm.

Red Robin: What is it brat?

Robin: I feel like his face is very familiar.

Batman: Explain.

Robin: I need to confirm this with mother. But I am fairly certain that his ancestors have connections with the Al Ghul.

Red Robin: As in blood related?

Robin: No. But there is a book that mother finds about a man who has a very similar appearance to him. The book tells the tale of a kind immortal who spends his lives helping others while learning stuff from them.

Spoiler: A cult of assassins teach young children to be kind?

Robin: Shut it, Brown. I am not finished. The part of the story that interests me is the tale called The Beheader of Demon.

Spoiler: I take it back. That sounds like something a cult of assassins will teach young children.

Robin: The tale tells a story of the immortal meeting a demon who kills people just to find immortality. When the demon finds out that the immortal is well, immortal, he pursues the immortal, trying to kill him and forces the immortal to give away his immortality to him.

Red Robin: What happened next?

Robin: The Demon's head is severed and the Demon's subordinates run away bringing the Demon's body to the pool of revival.

Spoiler: So is this a true story?

Robin: Mother confirms it is a true story. I do not know whether he is a true immortal or not. However, I do know that his ancestors or maybe even him, is good enough to beat grandfather even if he has backup.

Red Hood: What about the other tales?

Robin: There is nothing of note. Some mention of the immortal's supernatural ability, like summoning the dead or the ability to move mountains and divert rivers.

Red Robin: That is not something to take note of?

Robin: No. Because in those stories, the only consistent thing about him is that he is kind. Never harm someone unless provoked.

Batman: Compile all the tales into a file. Red Robin, lists out all the possible powers of target.

Oracle: Oh wow. My date is now a target. How could this get better?

Red Hood: If he is really dangerous, I volunteer to stalk monitor them while they are on the date.

Oracle & Batman: No!

Red Hood: Tsk! Party pooper.

Batman: Red Robin and Spoiler, follow them. Priority is keeping Oracle safe.

Red Robin & Spoiler: *High five* Let's go.

Oracle: Ugghhh, you all better don't mess with my date. Or else I'll make sure you regret it.

Part 3

[prezaki]

One core trait of Phoenix Wright as a character that I rarely see discussed is how utterly evasive he is about his private affairs. It sticks out the most in AA4 when we see Phoenix from the outside, but "Phoenix won't tell anyone anything important unless he absolutely has to (and even then, he probably won't)" is by no means a new development for him.

From AA1 onwards, we see Phoenix dodge people's questions about his personal life time and time again. In part, this is by narrative necessity - Phoenix knows more than the player is meant to know in order to achieve the optimal tension curve. But AA takes his narrative shortcut and turns it into a real character beat.

Phoenix Wright is the most cagey fucker on the planet.

At the end of 1-1 Mia asks him how he came to befriend Larry and Phoenix dodges the question with a vague promise to tell her later - this also means that in all of his time working with Mia, he's never actually disclosed his full motivation for becoming a lawyer to her.

In 1-2, Maya asks him how he knows Edgeworth and he dodges, because of course he does. The same song and dance repeats at the end of 1-3. And despite Maya's repeated prodding by 1-4, Phoenix still has not told her a thing about his past. That's from October until December that Maya is left going ??? and her questions go nowhere.

Then, between AA1 and AA2, Edgeworth is presumed dead by suicide. Does Phoenix tell Maya about this? Absolutely not. He does not tell her in letters nor is he clear about it when they see each other again in person, months later.

What Maya gets once it's inevitable to talk is a vague 'he's gone' and no elaboration other than the request to not speak about him again.

This is Phoenix's default coping mechanism.

In AA3, there are numerous instances where he mentions forgetting Dahlia, not speaking her name again, etc. Edgeworth is 100% getting the 'person who hurt me too deeply to think about' treatment here.

But to not even tell Maya a vague overview on the matter, when Maya knew him too? Rough. And it just keeps going.

It's six months between telling Maya that Edgeworth is 'gone' in 2-2 and her finding out that 'gone' seemingly means' dead' in 2-3.

Maya complains about it, too. This isn't a matter of 'she never asked again', it's a matter of 'Phoenix is dodging all questions'. Gumshoe has to intervene in order for Maya to finally find out.

And finally in 3-5, does he tell anybody why he's going to Hazakura temple and why he seems interested in Iris? Absolutely not!

At this point we get Edgeworth openly acknowledging that Phoenix keeps his emotional cards extremely closely to the chest. When he states that he wants confirmation on whether or not he has met Iris before, this exchange happens:

Even as Edgeworth directly calls him out on being evasive and never actually speaking to people, all Phoenix can do is acknowledge that this is how he is by apologizing - but he won't change his ways.

AA4 Phoenix is really just a natural evolution of Trilogy Phoenix - Trilogy Phoenix is already evasive, already hates telling people about his struggles or accepting help... It's really no wonder that he'd isolate himself instead of reaching out once he gets disbarred.

[bomber-grl]

SAL FISHER RELATIONSHIP HC ! ₊˚⊹

₊˚⊹ PAIRING(s): Sal fisher x Gn!reader

He’s so sweet it hurts

Honestly, Sal is the best boyfriend ever, he’s always there for you and he always knows the perfect things to say when comforting you.

The two of you met because of the ghosts and the whole cult thing while at high school.

You were the more outspoken one out of the two of you since Sal was mostly against violence even when Travis was brought into the convo.

I can definitely see Sal being the first one to approach you.

It all started when Sal started becoming increasingly interested in you to the point that Larry and even ash started teasing and encouraging him to talk to you.

He would fluster, occasionally and say the wrong words out of nervousness however with luck, he managed to get your number.

It was hard not to fall for him, especially with how lovable he is.

He’s so genuinely nice and actually cares for others.

Of course, you eventually see his face, and although he was neutral about it since he trusted you he was still a bit nervous.

Definitely warms his heart when you not only accept his face but also kiss it.

He flusters and stutters so badly afterwards.

Continuing from that, he’s definitely the type to tease lightheartedly

Definitely not in the beginning though

So when you first started teasing and provoking him, causing him to get super flustered

He wouldn’t really know what to do except accept it, so imagine your surprise when he turns the tables once day and makes you a blushing mess

Most times when you hang out, you usually hang at the apartments in his room, or when sals an adult you’d hang out in his room in the house

During these hang outs you guys would usually listen to some music or just enjoy each others presence

Most times it’s just you and sal cuddling and ngl he smells rlly good

Like I’m not even joking and when you mention this, he can’t help but laugh and just tells you do too

However, when you guys hang out with Larry (which is more often than not) you guys end up in more than sus situations 😭😭

Then Larry is all like “I’ll leave you guys at it” and dips

Like??? We’re not doing anything 😭🗣️

Anyway

While you’re at high school ofc Travis has something to say, and if you’re a guy then he obviously calls you the f slur and a lot of homophobic nonsense

And if you’re a girl Travis still calls y’all homos in a negative way, and always says shit about you two

And I don’t think I need elaborate further about how Travis would probably hate crime you if you were non-binary, gender fluid, or basically anything under the trans umbrella

(Basically any gender identity that isn’t your assigned one 😭

Larry, ash, and Todd all get pissed at Travis , and they always come to the both of your guy’s defense

And ofc Sal is bit lenient towards Travis, well only ever when Travis is talking shit about him

If Travis talks shit about you he’d be pissed

But ofc younger Sal is less violent and more open so he’d obvs be kinder

Anyway, we all know what happens at the apartments and if you live there-

Let’s just say it pains Sal so much to have to kill you

I mean him having to kill all the people he grew up with and the people he cares for is horrible but he knows he has to

However, if you don’t, well let’s say you know about the cult and why he did it

Still doesn’t stop you from trying to find a way to get a lower sentence and from trying the convince ash of the truth

When sal dies, let’s just say you feel so alone

Of course you have ash by your side but it’s just horrible

Eventually you’re the person that sals soul would enter and you’d defeat the cult that way

But let’s all pretend that they were able to defeat the cult without having to kill the innocent tenants

Making sal a free man

Well if it were that way, you and Sal would be together for a long time, and if you both wished it, married too

———

Art credits : @/toasterdoodle22

[clubclassixs]

hi, so i decided to make an updated version of these two lists made by indomies and bayrut a few years ago; there's also an old list of people that was willing to rb fics made by @twopoppies, however, most of the blogs listed in those are no longer active or have been deactivated; so why not make an updated version of it.

louis

#dailytomlinson by @dailytomlinson

#louistomlinsoncouk by @louistomlinsoncouk

#tomlinsonedits by @tomlinsonedits

#tomlinsoncreations by @tomlinsoncreations

harry

#stylesnews by @stylesnews

#stylesedits @styles-edits

niall

#dailyniallnews by @dailyniallnews

#apureniallsource by @apureniallsource

liam

#liam93productions by @liam-93-productions

#liamnews by @liamnews

zayn

#zaynjmsource by @zaynjmsource

#keepingupwithzaynmalik by @keepingupwithzaynmalik

1d

#trackinghome by @trackinghome

#zouiamtracks by @zouiam

#1d-fanart by @1d-fanart 

#hldaily by @hldailyupdate – harry and louis

for fan fiction

#1dficvillage tracked by @1dficvillage

#hlficlibrary tracked by @hlficlibrary

#thelarriefics tracked by @thelarriefics

@1dmonthlyficroundup via submission

@1dcommunityficrecs via google forms

there is an ongoing fic promo squad, if you'd like to join feel free to do so, all it involves is reblogging larry/rare pair fic posts when you're tagged; or/and use the #1dficpromosquad tag so everyone can see them!

*note: the ones that have already joined are tagged in the comments, thank you guys!

some users who track

#allwaswell16 tracked by @allwaswell16

#userkah by @iamnathanscott

#esmetracks by @itsallaboutzayn

#grateful-for-zayn by @grateful-for-zayn — Zayn

#usersunflowers by @sunflowersmoon

#useranki by @alwayssharry

#signofcomfort by @signofcomfort

some other accounts you can tag for gifs and edits

non 1d accounts

#dailytypographyedits by @dailytypographyedits — typography edits

#paleresource by @paleresource — pale and b/w edits

#usersource by @sourceblog — pop culture edits

#clubgif by @clubgif — gif edits

#dailycolorfulgifs by @dailycolorfulgifs — colorful gif edits

#usercreate by @usercreate — music, tv, film and people edits

#dailymalestarsedit by @dailymalestars — male edits

#dailycelebs by @dailycelebs — hq celeb edits

#popcultureds by @popcultureds — TV, film, music and celebrities edits

#dailymusicians by @dailymusicians — musicians edits

#dailyreblogs

#gifmakersource

note: if you're interested on being added to the list, let me know!

[kanmom51]

https://www.tumblr.com/kanmom51/783693358602371072/burn-double-burn-triple-burn?source=share I don't understand what or whom you meant here...if you don't mind can you please explain it. If u meant tkkrs here, I think they're so happy that Jungkook kept on mentioning tae and them talking on the Phone. Am I missing something???

Good for them I guess. Being oblivious is a thing too.

When that is what makes them happy, JK having a laugh at Tae, then not answering his call and telling us he isn't. And when he finally does laughing at how Tae is cursing him only to hang up on him and tell us he did, then the pickings are real slim.

What we got from them was that JM and JK listened to Jin's song together. We got confirmation that they are together again. We got them giggling together having a good laugh at JK being bratty as shit towards Tae, frustrating the shit out of Tae.

But you know, doesn't surprise me that they don't get it. They haven't gotten it for years now, how JK is not and will never be interested romantically in Tae. They don't listen to the two of them. Actually listen to things they say and said through the years. They don't observe actual interactions between the two in original content. And when they do see it, they make excuses to explain the distance and at times the passive aggressive interactions between the two.

And talking about not getting it, or maybe getting it but faining ignorance, with their 'haha JK ignored JM during the whole comment interactions". Like seriously? Are they actually being serious? The two are literally sitting together taking a crack at Tae having a good laugh TOGETHER, did I mention them at the very least sitting side by side while this was happening? JK ignoring JM? While the two literally chose to and went through joint enlistment, are servig together, singing together, showering together and sleeping together. But I guess this is a win in their book, JK not directing comments to JM in that live, again, with the two literally at each other's side. And why would he when he is too busy taking a stab at Tae, all while making his favourite person in the whole wide world laugh, when we know that's his favourite passtime (making JM laugh - fact)?🤣🤣

It's either lack of experience, not knowing what a healthy loving relationship actually looks like, or obsessing on 2 members they NEED to be together, so much so that they make up this entwined warped reality where nothing the two do, including both actually being with another person, will divert them from their obsession. So, I guess at the end of it, me saying burn does mean nothing, because no matter what any of these 3 young men do or say, including an official statement of them being with another, these people will continue to create stories, narratives, theories that will suit their obsession, no matter how untrue they are. Larry's 0.2!!

Anyways, who cares about some delusional unhinged assholes when the clock is counting down and we are approaching the 3 week mark in a hop skip and jump?

24 days to go!!

[statementlou]

x

[watermelonlicker]

I am back!!!!  Sorry for the little hiatus—been feeling uninspired and honestly didn’t know what to say. I’ve just been staring at this PR mess like… what’s even left to analyze? It’s so boring and predictable that even dragging it feels repetitive. (But if you catch me theorizing about Louis’ shoelaces next week, just mind your business. A girl needs some material.)

That said, coming back to this space after a break really reminded me why I even care to keep talking: this isn’t just about stunts or press cycles. It’s about watching someone you admire, someone whose work and heart you believe in, get pushed into things that feel so far removed from who they are. It’s hard not to want to speak on it. Even if it’s the same cycle. Even if no one’s listening.

Anyway. Right now, it feels like we’re in a cause-and-effect era—or maybe more accurately, a domino effect. Louis is in Costa Rica, working on the album (as he should be). Zara’s not. And this stunt hasn’t really been pushed by anyone but his sisters since early April. So we’ve moved past the “early stages” and into something more… passive-aggressive.

The GP still isn’t buying it. And I still think that’s intentional on Louis’ part. It’s so clear he’s not trying to sell this. He’s not even renting it. If anything, he’s leaving the front door unlocked and hoping people walk out on their own. The comment on Zara’s post read like it was required. Like a box someone made him tick off before they let him get back to the studio. 

And look—Louis sees everything. He always has. So he knows the response is lukewarm at best. I genuinely think that gives him some peace. Because for him, it’s not about making people believe it—it’s about doing the bare minimum to keep up appearances. The bare minimum to stay safe. But even that? It’s exhausting. And it shows.

He’s out living his life, surrounded by friends, working on music, interacting with fans, generally having a good time. None of that involves Zara. That says more than any public comment ever could. But when he gets too comfortable, when the disinterest becomes too visible, they push the narrative again. It’s a pattern. Every time he distances himself, there’s a new push to balance it out. And that’s what makes it feel so manufactured.

So here’s the rhythm:

Stunt is lightly pushed (following, liking posts, “romantic date,” Stereophonics appearance)

→ Quiet period (a few days or weeks of nothing)

→ Stronger push (his arm visible on her insta story, kissing pics, staged checkout moment)

→ Quiet again (he’s ignoring it, focusing on music, tweeting about the album and unrelated things)

→ Another push (the Instagram comment, maybe a “reunion” of the “loved up couple” soon)

→ And then… rinse and repeat.

 It’s all PR muscle memory at this point.

It’s also emotional manipulation, let’s be honest. The kind that’s subtle enough to deny but pointed enough to control the narrative. That’s why people say Larries are delusional—because it’s all crafted to create just enough ambiguity. Just enough to gaslight. Just enough to write off anyone who sees the cracks as “obsessive.” But those cracks are there. The discomfort is mutual. It’s visible in the photos, in the body language, in the awkward silence between “pushes.”

the longer this goes on, the more damage it does to both of them. Zara is benefitting more—this keeps her name in circulation, even if it’s messy. Louis doesn’t need this. He never did. He has the music, the fans, the presence. This isn’t helping him—it’s tethering him to something that feels small and dishonest.

So yeah. It’s still unnecessary. Still painful to watch. Still predictable. Still bland. Still boring.

And still… happening.

But I’m here again. And I’ll keep being here.

Because watching is one thing. Caring is another. So keep watching. Keep questioning. keep loving. keep supporting. Always.

Even when it’s frustrating. Even when it hurts a little. Even when it’s quiet.

(Also, what I’m more interested in is the fact that RBB is back.)

—LFA ❤️

LONG FORM YOU ARE ALWAYS THERE WHEN I NEED YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS ONCE AGAIN EVERYTHING YOU’RE SAYING IS ON POINT

[twopoppies]

In an earlier post you mentioned Gabi’s blog being deleted. I’ve read others saying the same thing but I’ve never been able to find the story of what happened. I’m assuming Gabi had a bunch of Larry information. Did she delete her blog or was it deleted by another party?

Oh, Gabi had a very popular blog here for about eight years. She was extremely detail-oriented and thorough and had the best tagging system of anyone. It was organized in a way that new fans or antis or whoever could just scroll through and see, point by point, why we believe the things we believe. And there were photos and links backing EVERYTHING up.

When the pandemic hit, I was literally getting hundreds of new followers a day for a while. I'm sure Gabi was getting more. And any time someone had a question people couldn't easily answer, we would just say, "Check out Gabi's blog and then come back if you still have questions."

Anyway, at some point during that period, there was a renewed interest in Babygate (because so many new and bored people were discovering it), and something from Gabi's blog was featured in an article on it. One day after that Gabi's blog was gone. She couldn't log in. She messaged Tumblr dozens of times. Her friends messaged. Tumblr was super helpful until we told them what blog we were trying to recover. Then it was crickets. Gabi eventually just gave up and went on with her life.

It was some time later that @daisiesonafield-blog and I realized all of her posts were missing. Tumblr would have no reason to do that. And that's not what naturally happens when a blog deactivates or deletes; their posts still exist on the blogs of everyone who reblogged them. But not Gabi's. They were wiped.

It's the same thing we've been saying about Larry all these years: If you want us to believe it isn't real, stop trying to make us believe it isn't real. Stop being so fucking shady about everything.