Elounor
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Louis Tomlinson/Eleanor Calder |
| Alternative name(s): | Elounor |
| Gender category: | Het, f/m |
| Fandom: | One Direction |
| Canonical?: | yes |
| Prevalence: | controversial |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Elounor is the ship name for the relationship between One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson and Eleanor Calder. In real life, Tomlinson and Calder had a four-year relationship that ended in March 2015; they got back together again in early 2017 and were reported to have split in late 2022.
The earliest mention of the ship name on twitter is October 1, 2011, but the name saw more mentions starting in early 2012.[1][2] Early mentions of Louis and Eleanor included some fans saying they missed Hannah, Louis' previous girlfriend before Eleanor.[3][4][5] Many fans said Louis and Eleanor looked cute together.[6][7]
Later Elounor became extremely controversial in the fandom because many Larry Stylinson tinhats claimed and have repeatedly tried to prove that the relationship is/was purely for public relations, and that Eleanor is/was a beard. Various theories exist regarding Eleanor's "real" identity (as the daughter of a media mogul, or as a pair of twins or even triplets, etc.), despite overwhelming evidence of her sincerity and the reality of their relationship.
In Fanworks
As of December 1, 2022, 1221 fanworks were tagged Eleanor Calder/Louis Tomlinson on AO3 (compared to 41K stories tagged Larry). Elounor is rarely the focus or the endgame pairing of the stories: when Harry/Louis is filtered out, only 450 stories remain, and even within those, the stories often focus on another member's relationship. Only 49 fanworks feature Elounor as the only pairing.
Although in a great number of Elounor stories the ship is discarded (infidelity, breakup, etc) so that Larry can end up together, Elounor does not necessarily exist in opposition to Larry or other slash Louis pairings; they can co-exist in the same universe, for example, in poly verses, in verses where Larry is unrequited, where m/m is brought up as a fantasy within the couple, etc. Eleanor can also feature as a side (or main) character in other ship stories as an ex, or sometimes even paired with another 1D member's girlfriend.
As with every f/m pairing where a juggernaut fanon m/m pairing exists, fanworks might feature vitriol and misogyny towards the female character.
Elounor is a more popular ship than Louis/Hannah (48 AO3 fanworks total; 0 as the only pairing).
Apparent Popularity
Elounor has sometimes appeared to be a more popular ship than it is due to One Direction fandom's loose use of the word shipping to mean support for or belief in a relationship. For example, in her 2016 essay on Crazy About One Direction, documentary filmmaker Daisy Asquith claimed that "Approximately half the fandom ship Larry, the other half preferring Elounor".[8] Half the fandom in 2013 may have been happy that Louis was dating Eleanor, but they were not necessarily creating fanworks about it.
In later years, anti-larries have commented that larries have a mistaken belief that antis ship Elounor.[9][10]
Example Fanworks
- What you're missing by becka, angsty pegging fic with past Harry/Louis. (2012)
- All These Secret Places by randominity, a BDSM series where Eleanor doms Louis. (2012 - 2015)
- A Vicarious Occastion by randominity, a Harry/Louis/Eleanor poly series. (2012)
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fannish Resources
Evidence Arguments
Pro-Elounor
- Family and Friends Denial of Larry and Confirmation of Elounor, Jan 2015 Tumblr post doing what it says: compiling statements from Louis and Eleanor's friends & family confirming their relationship and denying Larry.
- the "Calder triplets", a 2013 Tumblr post debunking the Triplets Theory by stoppostingintheelounortags.
- oops louis seriously always looks so uncomfortable around eleanor, Archived version, tumblr post by cantgetnoworseee parodying anti-Elounor arguments, with pictures of Louis and Eleanor smiling (Jan 29, 2014)
Anti-Elounor
- Elounor getting-together timeline by worshippedlove.
- "elounor is fake" Tumblr tag
- larries making fun of supposed evidence for Elounor being real that is a conveniently weak argument, a 2017 tumblr post by eleanorcalderconfessions reblogged by wholelotofhislarrie.
- Elounor VS Larry, Archived version, tumblr post by larrealydirection with pictures of unsmiling Elounor vs. smiling Larry (April 1, 2013)
References
- ^ forever shipping elounor~, Archived version, tweet by achoogeorgia, 1 October 2011.
- ^ until:2012-02-01 elounor, Archived version, twitter search 5 December 2021.
- ^ "My infinite creys. Amo Elounor pero esto me hizo llorar u_u" reblog by harryp4siva of a screencap of a facebook post by Louis' former girlfriend, Archived version, reblogged 30 January 2012 (Facebook post dated October 26, 2011). As of 5 December 2021, this tumblr post has 5473 notes.
- ^ until:2012-02-01 eleanor miss hannah, twitter search 5 December 2021.
- ^ @hotlikezarry I agree with u. Eleanor doesn't interact with fans like hannah did! Fans like hannah more than eleanor Not being horrible. Xx, tweet by _chloe_milton_, Feb 28, 2012.
- ^ @Louis_Tomlinson & Eleanor are soo cute together!!, Archived version, tweet by skintightlove, 3 October 2011.
- ^ I miss Hannah and louis :'( but louis and Eleanor do look cute :'), Archived version, tweet by LiamsLadies, 2 October 2011.
- ^ Asquith, D. (2016). Crazy About One Direction: Whose Shame Is It Anyway?. In L. Bennett & P. Booth (Eds.), Seeing Fans: Representations of Fandom in Media and Popular Culture (Ch 7, pp. 79-88). Bloomsbury Academic & Professional.
- ^ Episode 14 - Wait, WHO'S surviving on crumbs???, Archived version, Shit Larries Say on youtube, 18 October 2017. (Accessed 1 December 2022.)
- ^ submission, Archived version, tumblr post by back-to-louis, 1 June 2021. (Accessed 1 December 2022.)