#pinning this so i can rb stuff about this without people believing im either clowning or being totally hopeless

[anchorandrope]

I need your absolute serious opinion on Louis and Harry together in Berlin because I've seen sooooooo many I feel lost and confused. I'm excited but also I'm hopeless but also afraid and happy, help

hi dear !! i feel you, i think we all feel you at some point. i'll be honest with you, so im sorry if this answer is too long but i wanna explain everything well (and only one time too). everything under the cut because it's A LOT, sorry 🙏🏻

first i wanna recap, not only for those who are lost but to show better the points i'll make at the end. (disclaimer: im not including every single update of louis and harry, just the main ones related to this event. check this UA tag for more).

context: saturday - july 14, 2024: it was the final match of the euro tournament (uefa). spain vs. england played in berlin (germany) at the olympiastadion stadium (spain won 2-1).

timeline of events in chronological order

before july 14, 2024:

july 12, 2024: harry joined stevie in a performance of "landslide" and "stop dragging my heart around" at BST hyde park festival (london, UK). - added it mainly to highlight that harry was in london two days before.

july 14, 2024 - before the match:

louis spotted in berlin (pic with a fan).

louis posts an IG story (of the official tournament programme).

louis was spotted with ed sheeran at the stadium. we started joking about all along and that harry was gonna appear there in a different VIP section.

july 14, 2024 - during the match:

louis posts an IG story (of the field).

an IG story of louis waiting for the match to start is posted (the video was taken before ofc but posted during).

harry is spotted in an IG story in the stadium. we automatically notice that the person behind louis in the pic with ed sheeran was probably harry (not only because of the outfit but because if ed was with louis and harry was there too, they surely were all together).

more pics of harry in the stadium are released.

july 14, 2024 - after the match:

harry is spotted leaving the stadium.

a pic of harry (with james corden) watching the match is posted, along with a video of him celebrating the goal. - cute note: by this time "adore you" hits 1.7B streams on spotify (we all saw them together and went and streamed that song at the same time, didn't we?).

louis is spotted with fans.

articles about them together there began to be released.

after july 14, 2024:

a pic of louis at his sector of the match is released as well as a pic of harry in his respective sector.

more articles and some changes in old ones.

stuff to highlight

there isn't a valid logical reason to interpret that the person with ed and louis wasn't harry.

they didn't share the exact same vip sectors, however they were extremely close.

funny coincidences: exactly 9 years ago (july 14, 2015), the article that confirmed babygate was released - and 9 days from now (july 23, 2024) are four years since louis followed harry and zayn on IG.

it was the first time since 2016 (just hold on the x factor performance) since they were publicly together in the same place at the same time and the probably the first time since late 2011 they are at the same place at the same time and both of them publicly single. (see these timelines for more).

why is this so important? why this might be so important?

obviously the fact they were in the same place at the same time publicly AND confirmed is a huge step. we know and have some solid proof they were together at other events too but this is the first time in almost 8 years that the media confirmed it.

we have always speculated about how louis and harry are gonna come out and one of the most common theories is that they are gonna slowly "reconnect" publicly by these type of "random" situations (as the beginning of the end). then some people believe they're gonna "fell in love" and come out without saying they were always together and other who believes they are gonna come out after "reconnecting" and later explain or as life goes or not explain at all. just theories, ofc, but is as old as larry stylinson itself basically, so its something we have to have in mind.

it's mid-2024: it's been 14 years since one direction was formed and 9 years since babygate started. next year will be 15 and 10 years respectively. i talked about contracts in this recent ask and if they have term clauses, some of them might be end soon. as we don't know whats happening, i cannot tell if it's correlated, but exactly mid-july 2024 it's an interesting time to do this.

even though i personally really skeptical about this and im inclined to think that it means nothing, i don't think in this particular case that thinking everything that happened was a random coincidence or that is "simply louis and harry living their lives hidden from the public but always together etc etc", as we usually do, its the best we can do. these two run rbb and sbb... im not saying these coincidences mean something (i don't know!) but we really need to stop pretending these two aren't capable of "coincide" in the most crazy ways.

some conclusions and - personal - opinions

now i explained everything let's get to the "im gonna be honest with you man" part. as a fandom (im talking exclusively about larries here) i feel there are two types of people: the one who could watch louis and harry go for a walk holding hands and would be like "yeah that means absolutely nothing" and the one who could watch a blue and a green sticker in louis or harry's water bottles and be like "larry is coming out tomorrow". yeah im well aware im taking it to the extreme and exaggerating it, but my point still stands.

i personally mostly identify with the first one since my mindset is like, i don't expect anything at all, so i don't get disappointed; and if something nice happens, i'd be surprised instead of "yeah that's what i originally expected". i feel this mindset is like the "calmer" way to deal with the situation, by not getting your hopes up for everything, surprises are always more pleasant. but this is just what i enjoy most since it takes a lot of time and energy to be invested in this, but if people adore enjoying fandoms that way, i think its great as long as they understand that they cannot be mad if that expectations don't fulfill every time, since they are theories and speculations after all.

with this situation i see these two exact mindsets in everyone, like you either believe they are coming out or it means absolutely nothing. and why? like genuinely. not everything is black or white and i really feel some people are so combined in their respective mindset that they cannot see beyond. what if it means something but not a coming out? i don't see people asking that question, for example.

im more inclined to think this means nothing, due to the amount of times we genuinely had proof something was changing and nothing happened, therefore im choosing to not get any hopes up, but to continue to analyse and follow the situation closely, just to see if this actually means something. if this means something, we are not gonna know it now, or probably not anytime soon. but i know i have to understand that even thought we lived a lot of other situations where we "clowned", that is not actually a valid reason to say "this entire situation mean absolutely nothing" as every situation is different and as time passes, even the "same situations" change.

regarding feelings about this: every emotion you have is valid, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. this can be overwhelming, this can be exciting and scary at the same time, this can make you feel a lot of ways in different moments, maybe you are "they are confirming larry tomorrow" at 4pm and "this means nothing" at 5pm. literally. its because it was huge, really huge. and took us by surprise. we are shocked! that's the conclusion, we are so shocked that even though we acknowledge the situation, we are clearly not processing it yet. so don't be hard on yourself nor other fans :)

some questions we may need to start thinking

and finally, to end this damn rant (again, sorry) i wanna ask questions, but not for people to actually answer directly, but to encourage to start thinking about this whole circumstance.

was this a "husbands living their life normally but hidden" moment where they didn't mind the media knowing they were in the same place at the same time because its just a football match, or it means more?

if you believe its #totally awkward random, why do you believe they decided to appear publicly in the same place at the same time for the first time in years at that place and that time when they could have not done so, or chose another date and place?

if you believe this means more, what do you think is actually happening? do you genuinely believe this is coming out or is it something else? a 1d reunion? why?

if you believe this is the beginning of the end, what do you think is gonna happen to babygate? the date wasn't randomly chosen?

i could make a lot of these, and im not making them because i need the answers, im making them because i think a lot of people are asking themselves the wrong questions (or not asking themselves anything at all) and that is why there is chaos lol. sometimes its easier when someone asks you directly, at least for me.

and sorry if i got you even more confused, but i didn't want to just say "black or white" as an answer, yk? form your own conclusions always <3