Larry Stylinson

Pairing
Pairing:	Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Alternative name(s):	Larry, Lourry, Houis, HL, Hario & Louigi, Oops/Hi[1][2], Larents[3]
Gender category:	m/m
Fandom:	One Direction
Canonical?:	no (some say yes)
Prevalence:	popular
Archives:
Other:
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Larry Stylinson, a portmanteau of Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, is the pairing name for the most popular ship in One Direction fandom. This ship is notorious even outside of 1D fandom for the faction of Larry shippers who believe that Harry and Louis are secret boyfriends in real life. However, the portmanteau itself is notorious for confusing non-1D fans into thinking that "Larry Stylinson" is one of the members of the band.

Ship Appeal

As of January 2015, Harry/Louis is the most frequently occurring ship in 1D fanworks on the Archive of Our Own. Of note, a July 2014 analysis showed that it was the fourth most popular ship on the archive overall.

Like the other slash pairings within the band, the canon basis for Larry is the camaraderie and physical affection that Harry and Louis displayed in public, often captured in photos and videos. Given that Harry is the fan favorite, it was inevitable that the most popular pairing would involve him. Harry and Louis also lived together at one point in 2011, and 1D fans have commented that at that time they appeared to be the closest and most affectionate of the band members:

Harry and Louis were the only ones to move in together after forming the band, and they tweeted about being domestic together and cuddling up in bed watching TV or whatever, and their moms and other people talked about how inseparable they were. Of the possible pairs they seemed especially snuggly and close. Also, there's no graceful way to say this, but, well, I think Louis pings quite a few people as gay (or he fits some of the stereotypes). Harry struck a lot of people as potentially gay or bi because he seemed to go out of his way to use gender-neutral pronouns when the group got asked the typical boy band questions, like "What do you look for in a girl?" and he comes across as pretty laid-back about sexuality in general.

Harry and Louis were also aware that fans were shipping them together (they explained the Larry portmanteau in interviews) and may have played up their friendship early on.

However, at some point in 2012-2013, fans noticed that slashy canon moments between the two had decreased compared to the others. (Many fans speculated that management was to blame; other fans argued that this was the fault of fans who made too big a deal of their friendship. See Larry is real.) In fact, Harry and Louis were very rarely seen to touch each other (or even stand next to each other) until 2015 when fans started reporting excitedly that they seemed to have relaxed slightly. But the disappearance of canon support never affected the popularity of the ship; Larry remains the most popular ship in the fandom, slash or otherwise.

Tropes in Fanworks

This article or section needs expansion.

Example Fanworks

Cover of the fanzine It's Okay; art by kotihiiri (2012)

digital art by Karukara (2014)

Fanart

• AU gifset by payvne (posted December 21, 2012). Set of two gifs with fake captions (paparazzi shouting homophobic slurs). This one had 300K notes as of June 29, 2014, likely due to the fact that the bolded FICTIONAL label got lost in reblogs and many users thought it was real.
• untitled Tumblr gifset of a young Harry and Louis swaying together by ggrint (posted February 5, 2014)
• untitled Tumblr edit of Punk Louis/Flower Crown Harry[4] by linslaylohan (posted March 22, 2013)
• "My talented, song-writting, football-playing, heart-warming, pop-rock star boyfriend" (direct link) art by karukara (posted May 27, 2014)
• h+l by eleadore on DeviantArt, on Tumblr (posted June 8, 2013)
• How They See Us (direct link) by dudebropalz, fancomic about how Modest and the rest of fandom sees Larry shippers (January 13, 2013)

Fanfic

• Hiding Out in the Kitchen, fic by LittleMousling. AU where Harry is in a different boyband, and Louis works in a coffee shop. (posted 2012-06-05)
• Spin Me Like A Record, fic by zarah5. College AU where Louis poses as Harry's boyfriend sometimes. (posted 2013-12-22)
• 2012 'Verse, fic series by ashavahishta. Canon compliant series, based on the author's extensive timeline-keeping research. (first part posted 2013-7-2)
• These Inconvenient Fireworks, fic by mdasch and everydayslike. From the masterpost, "Future AU in which nobody tries out for X Factor but the boys end up finding one other eventually anyway." (posted 2012-12-10)
• things have gotten closer to the sun, fic by starseas. Future Apocalypse AU where the five members of One Direction are brought back together during their last days facing an impending solar flare. (posted 2013-03-02)
• as loud as lions, fic by likecharity. Canon compliant fic where, after an intimate photo is leaked, Harry and Louis are forced out of the closet. (posted 2012-05-19)
• Tend Me Black And Blue, fic by hostagesfic. S&M exhibitionism fic with Larry within OT5. (posted 2013-02-13)

Fanvid

• "It just kind of happened" by freddieismyqueen

Fandom Resources

• Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson fanworks on Archive of Our Own
• Harry/Louis podfic at Audiofic Archive
• masterposts by hisweetcheeks on Tumblr
• Top 10 Larry Fics As Voted By You! at The Larry Library on Tumblr

"Larry is real"

Main article: Larry Is Real

Some Larry shippers, known as Larries, believe that "Larry is real". Larries have developed the theory that One Direction's management company (Modest! Management) has forced them to remain closeted because gay bandmembers would bring down the monetary value of a boyband. In the early years, before Louis was publicly in a relationship with a woman, thinking they were in a relationship did not contradict what little fandom knew about them. But as more counter-evidence appeared, the secret-boyfriends theory became an increasingly elaborate conspiracy theory. The similarities between the relationship narrative constructed by these fans and the story promulgated by the Domlijah tinhats in Lotrips fandom in the early 2000s have led to these Larry shippers being called tinhats by other fans.