#and louis in his husbands tour merch

[w0lfkller]

some self indulgent loustat kisses x

[alarrytale]

I guess I’m selfishly excited to see what Louis will do next and maybe lean more into the indie/pop punk type of genre. FITF is a gradual shift to test the waters a bit and maybe even prepare his existing fanbase for more to come. I don’t think he’ll completely cut out songs that border pop though because I believe he said once that his favorite is Saturdays. Even how he performs that one, you can tell he loves it. I also agree fully with you that he and/or his team dropped the ball with WAOYF. That one is clearly a hit. I’m looking forward to also seeing how these festivals expose his music more. It’s a good alternative to the radio, since he’s struggled to have his music played. I think since people’s musical tastes shift all the time, him trying something new is not a bad thing. I’ve always been more of an indie/punk fan though so I’m a bit biased. With music being such a personal experience it’s hard to say what will or won’t do well these days. Sometimes artists just have to take a leap to see what happens. I didn’t connect with Harry’s last album for example but I did with his 1st 2, so I think my musical taste just shifted. I’ve sort of noticed both pop and indie have their own struggles. For pop you have the revolving door aspect. One day you could be on the top of the world as an artist and the next you could crash because the next new shiny act comes along or an artist can be so overexposed that the public literally gets sick of them. With the indie genre, breaking into that music is tough (especially as an ex-boybander) but once you’ve gone over that hurdle it can be longer lasting. I think Louis including smaller indie singers/bands as openers and in his own festival is a way to help him a bit with that. Just a little added note, I loved how Louis thanked the people watching his concerts thru livestreams. It was nice to be acknowledged that way since I haven’t been able to go to a concert this year.

Also, what happened with TZP? I was offline a bit so I must’ve missed some of the drama.

Hi, anon!

I'm excited for LT3 too, the problem is i don't trust him. I don't trust him to know which songs to make a single, which songs to include on the album and which direction to take his album in. He's dropped the ball too many times. I think i'm of the same opinion as you, that FITF was a stepping stone album from one genre (pop) to another genre (indie/punk rock). That's why i'm expecting LT3 to be even more indie/punk rock than FITF. As i've said plenty of times by know, i think that's a mistake business and career wise (even though that's the direction the label (and maybe himself) want to take to seperate him from competition).

I'm excited for new music, but not if that means less streams and album sales, the tour not selling, and catering his promo and changing his image to appeal to potential fans he'll never be able to convince. I already see the way this is all heading with the anarchy tattoo. He's a multimillionaire white man in his 30's, who's never been political in his life. It's so cringe and if he leans into that image even more he's going to be a laughing stock to the people he wants to make his fans.

For FITF he did "boyband promo" geared towards early 20's females (signings, pop up store, merch, puzzles and fan video for a single). That's not promo that will work on his new target audience. So what's he going to do for promo?

I haven't kept up with the TZP drama that much, i only registred that he liked a "neutral" post about the conflict, attended a show or something with his husband by a zioni*t and is friends with zioni*ts. He's shown himself to be both uneducated on the subject and to not know the consequences of his actions affects his own fandom (no one is taking this well). Not knowing your own fandom is a cardinal sin (and every celebrity should know that). So people are upset and calling him out (he's in China (that's problematic in itself) not seeming to know what's going on).

[larrylimericks]

1Feb22

Soppy Shit Edition A moment two years in the making: Lou’s Dallas debut was breathtaking! We’ll cut the soppy shit— Lou, you fucking smashed it! We’re crying, screaming, shitting, shaking.

Pride Pit Edition Roses are red, Dallas was gay, The livestream hit 85K! “PRINCESS PARK!” broke our ears, Been two long fucking years, But Tommo’s World Tour’s underway!

Chewsday, Innit? Edition From Teletubbies to Beyoncé, The world wished H a happy birthday. He turned 28 (Delighting his mate) On this, a very special Chewsday.

[lovemebitxh]

ummm guys?

Crazy idea here

(but i mean is it really?)

[awesomefringey]

It is true what zot3 anon said about Louis getting to audition after being rejected twice because of Jay's connections in the music and film industry? Is it true he was an extra in a movie? Never knew that Jay had connections in indutry before Louis auditioned in 2010

I’m not sure nonnie, if I know who zot3 is and I wouldn’t know if their anon is credible either. Louis was in a movie once as a kid, and yes, Jay was a chaperone for kids on tv sets that’s why she knew James Corden and asked him to check in with the boys when they moved to London.

I think this seems like an attempt to discredit Louis’ vocal skills and talent back in 2010 which is a bit ridiculous now that he’s touring the world solo, a sold out tour, creates his own festivals, has his own merch/clothing brand, and soonish his own music management, and LT2 currently recorded and ready to be published. I mean obviously he deserved a spot, obviously he’s immensely talented, obviously he can even hold his own without the band.

It doesn’t even matter if Louis had better chances to get into recall than others. He still made it into One Direction, he still made it beyond. So if they’re trying to say he had no talent or didn’t deserve to be in One Direction, they forget that half of 1D’s discography was Louis’ input, his voice carried the band on stage and off, his relationship with Harry helped them both survive the harsh closeting they endured.

If the anon thinks their bitterness might hurt Louis, the worst that’ll happen is that he might chuckle into his luxury bed’s satin sheets, at his huge house in London or LA, eventually stumbling out of it, passing all of their awards, walking into the kitchen, and cuddling into his husband’s back who’s frying some bacon for breakfast while telling him about funny fan signs he responded to and Louis telling him how many fans told him how his music saved their lives.

[wishingicouldfly]

My thoughts on AS IT WAS on April 1, 2022

Harry's new single dropped today. AS IT WAS. This is not lyric analysis. I'll leave that to people smarter than me.

My first reaction (as I snuck into the ladies' room during a dinner date with friends) was that I love H in red. I couldn't have the music up loud in the toilet stall, so it was really just the visuals. Glass Closet. Reverse Motion. Harry dancing. Running in Circles. Harry wearing the banana penis necklace. Frustration on H's face that he didn't seem to be able to catch up to his partner in blue. Harry dancing! (did I mention Harry dancing!)

I'm thinking it's a corollary (corolarry?) to the music industry, the rat race, and not being able to be in the same place as his partner for long stretches at a time. But as I said, this is not lyric analysis.

This gets long, so a cut.

A little melancholy, but dancing! And he's happy at the end.

I've now listened to the song a dozen times and watched most of the morning interviews (why we ever thought he'd be MIA this morning, I'll never know).

Sadly, I've seen a lot of people really depressed over some of the song lyrics. A few saying this is making them UnLarry.

And I get that this is a roller coaster we are on. We are up. We are down. It's difficult. We can't SEE them together. But overall, I have no Earthly idea why this would make anyone stop believing in Larry.

I mean, they send coded messages constantly. Since the beginning of H's tour (and honestly LONG before that going back more than a decade), it's been clue after clue. (and Harry said this morning, we get most of the clues right).

Nothing is proof on its own, but Louis has been blue/greening all week, playing highly suspicious outro songs after his shows, flashing the shape of windows/a house outline behind him this week on tour. They are both using Alice in Wonderland/Wizard of Oz references in merch, portals/doors, and fishbowl photography.

And look, Louis in Oslo on March 27, and H today on his round of radio interviews (April 1). By the way, H's shirt says "Love" below the smiley.

(thanks to @tomlinson19913 on Twitter for this mashup)

It's always worth remembering that these two men are still closeted artists. If anyone expected H to come out with this song, I'm sorry. That was never going to be an option. I think there's a plan in place, but that we're many moons away from it still. We are moving in that direction, for sure. H wearing gender fluid clothing, and L using gender neutral pronouns, for example.

H is a genius when it comes to double meanings (as is his husband). This song can be about gender epiphany, relationships, the music industry, breaking out of the glass closet and probably a half-dozen other things.

Here's my previous post about Larry not being straight, should anyone wonder where I stand on that issue.

I'm so proud of Harry being able to wear whatever the hell he wants to wear. He looks and sounds amazing. I'm quite confident that his husband is proud and that they both will continue to allude to their relationship in their clothing, coded language, and behavior.

[louis-in-red]

It’s way to early for this, but I just can’t be happy about Louis’ instragram story... it would have been fine if he also promotes his music, his album or merch or something!

And to top it all... I saw yesterday one of the haters blog’s because it appeared in my dash, and they say horrible things about Louis... like... “he is not handsome enough to be with Brianna/Danielle/Eleanor” (so they are/were obviously a PR relationship because they are way to good looking for Louis...like what?) ... and that since Louis is still in a relationship with Harry, he most certainly will be following him on tour (backstage obviously) and that is why he is not promoting his music nor rescheduling his own tour because he wants to be a “good husband” for Harry... I mean... doesn’t this sound so fucked up? If Louis were a girl, this would be straight up misogynist (machista en español no estoy segura si es la correcta traducción :S) like, why does Louis need to sacrifice (for love apparently) his career in order to support Harry and that’s ok in their eyes, but Harry can’t do the same thing for Louis??

I’m mad today.

[berlinini]

"Yet this idea that he doesn’t want a solo career is SO INGRAINED in fandom and it’s actually tragic because it’s the complete opposite." Pure BS. Haven't seen a larrie who says Louis doesn't want a career. Larries are delulu as they believe their larry conspiracy theory but none of them say he doesn't want a career.

They'd rather talk about "stunts" and "threaten" to boycott Louis' merch if "babygate doesn't end soon".

Show me a big larrie blog that discusses Louis' music, what LT2 will look like, what Faith in the Future mean, what the fuck happened with the lack of promo for AFHF, how come we don't have the Veeps numbers...

Show me a big larrie blog whose first reaction to Louis potentially being in LA was that he was there to work on his upcoming album and not follow his husband on tour in Dallas.

Their focus on Louis' personal life and their obsession with linking Louis to Harry... that's the opposite of celebrating Louis' solo musical career. I mean, apparently you don't need to love Louis' music to be Larry, so....

[lunar-winterlude]

Tour ramblings below. :)

I’m not going to write a show summary since cool folks like @chellann-nicollares have written excellent posts about the whole thing. I will say that the show didn’t present much of anything I hadn’t already seen before, BUT it was all put together in a package that felt fresh and entertaining. I was never bored and left feeling very happy. ^^ Got to meet @rhettandlinkarelife who was super nice. :D I'm only sorry I wasn't able to get a VIP pass.

Got there early enough to see them briefly through the upper windows outside. Cole and Rhett’s parents were chatting up there for a while. I saw Rhett’s nieces and nephews and let’s just say that the Mclaughlin family resemblance is Strong with the nephews. They’re both quite tall.

After we got inside, I stopped by the merch table before going to my seat (after checking that there WERE seats and it wasn’t a mad dash to stand at the front). Rhett’s parents, Link’s mom and her husband Louis (I’m assuming) were all sitting together. I saw Link’s dad a little bit later.

Jessie was sitting with Cole’s fam in the middle section over, and Stevie was sitting in the row behind them. As I said before, I was Shook. I wasn’t sure if it was Jessie at first, but I had a moment of “oh ...!!! OHHH!!!” when I saw her going to her seat. XD Didn’t see the kids or Christy anywhere, but I thought I heard someone say they saw Lando? Not sure.

At the start of the Q&A, Link said he was battling a sore throat but honestly it didn't seem to have affected his singing at all. Their harmonizing voices were beautiful. They seemed to be enjoying themselves very much. Rhett moves very gracefully. Link moves like he's auditioning to pop n lock for a hip hop group. XD

When Rhett started checking out Link’s mom in her Project Lionel picture, Link just said, “She’s here.” And Rhett made a big show of apologizing and feeling awkward. XD It was too dark to see Link’s mom’s reaction, though.

The two volunteers for the Project Lionel demonstration were sisters and both very good sports. :D The guy they brought up for the pineapple demonstration was a ham and cracked everyone up. The audience was pretty responsive throughout. :D

Rhett had me howling with his Ken Burns’ documentary-like reading of a letter to Jessie. XD

Q&A

Someone asked if they realize what impact they’ve had other people, etc. Rhett talked about the relationship that internet creators have with their audience, etc. and how much it means to them.

A girl who’d just graduated from Harnett Central asked who their favorite teacher was. Rhett’s fave was her fave, apparently. Link said that he slept through every minute of French class, but he somehow remembered a lot.

A girl asked about their upcoming Will It’s and Rhett said something like, “Oh we gotta clear that with Stevie. Good thing she's in the audience.” The next Will It is meatloaf apparently. Link mentioned the possibility of Will It potato chip. They asked the girl if she had any suggestions, and she basically suggested Will It house, which is something I can wholeheartedly get behind. Rhett asked if she was looking for a job and told her to fold her resume into a paper airplane and throw it down to the stage.

A guy proposed to his girlfriend, which I didn’t see since they were up on the balcony. Afterwards, Rhett said, “For anyone who didn’t realize what happened, somebody just got engaged.” He said he explained this because he saw his mom look at his dad and ask what happened. XD

Someone asked if they’ve learned anything about each other on the tour. Rhett talked about how there’s sometimes just “comfortable silence” between the two of them. <3 He repeated what he’d said before about how he doesn’t greet his own reflection in the morning, so why should he greet Link? Old news but I love hearing how he FREAKING CONSIDERS LINK A PART OF HIMSELF LIKE HIS OWN DANG REFLECTION.

Link said in one fancy hotel, he found a remote control in the bathroom and was confused by it. When he pressed it, a screen turned on in the mirror?? I think? Then Rhett had to point out that he encountered the “sink remote” as well and was NOT surprised by it. XD

A kid asked if Link considered his new haircut to be going up or down. Link said it was more sideways.

A guy with a man bun asked Rhett how he felt about having one for Buddy System. Rhett said he hated it for the first two weeks since it was itchy, but felt much better once he switched from the weave to clip-ons. The guy asked if he should keep his own man bun. Rhett said yes. Link said that if he’s dating someone, it should be up to them.

Link mentioned how, when they were doing the sound check, his grandparents came in so they could get their seats early. He said it was just like back in the Rhettandlinkast days when they were the only in-person audience. :’)

Another little kid asked how old they are. Rhett said he was 27 and Link was 26. When they gave their real ages and asked how that made the kid feel, he said it was weird. That really cracked Link up.

(btw, the only reason I remember anything from the Q&A is because I yelled most of this post into my phone while driving home.)