Larry Stylinson

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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:
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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.[1]

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.[2]

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.[3] 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.

Fandom

"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.[4]

Tropes in Fanworks

This article or section needs expansion.

Media Depictions

An Argentina Coca-Cola commercial released in April 2015 depicted two actors who bore resemblance to (and was later confirmed to represent)Harry and Louis. It played over Clouds, a One Direction song that was considered by some fans to be related to Larry.

One fan tweeted:[5]

NOT TO LOOK A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH BUT WHAT PROMPTED COKE TO MAKE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL LARRY HIGH SCHOOL AU COMMERCIAL @ZIAMIN18

Pepsi later released a commercial seemingly in response[6]:

I was just watching this commercial with two ladies, one was standing in front of a Pepsi vending machine and her friend was in front of a Coke vending machine. The announcer was talking about how you can win tickets to concerts of your choice, but only with Pepsi. The girl with the Pepsi bottle was happy, but her friend had a Coke bottle so she said at least it has your name on it. Coke girl replied “do I look like a Larry to you”. I laughed so hard there were tears in my eyes.

In 2019, the series Euphoria revealed that one of its characters was a Larry fanfiction writer, then proceeded show an animated scene from the fanfiction where Harry Styles gives Louis Tomlinson a blowjob backstage, giving rise to widespread backlash from fans. See One Direction Fanfiction Controversy.

Example Fanworks

Cover of the fanzine It's Okay; art by kotihiiri (2012)
digital art by Karukara (2014)

Fanart

Fanfic

Fanvid

Fandom Resources

References

  1. ↑ See this 14 July 2014 Tumblr post (archived) by centrumlumina. In August 2013, Larry was ranked seventh. See Stage 3: Making A List posted by centrumlumina to Tumblr 17 August 2013.
  2. ↑ anonymous comment in Fail Fandomanon, 2013-08-07 10:24 pm (local). (Accessed 11 June 2014)
  3. ↑ 1Dreport. "It's a big deal when Harry and Louis interact as they haven't really since 2012, it's not even about larry, it's about their friendship" 14 May 2015 tweet.
  4. ↑ For example, Aja, who wrote One Direction Fans have trouble separating their 'Larry Stylinson' fantasy from reality, The Daily Dot, posted August 22, 2012. See also Tumblr fan im-on-fire-now's post Pay attention, archived, posted June 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ "NOT TO LOOK A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH BUT" Accessed 2 Sep 2019.
  6. ↑ "Coke did a thing... Again" Accessed 2 Sep 2019.
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