Xarry
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Harry Styles/Xander |
| Alternative name(s): | Xarry |
| Gender category: | m/m |
| Fandom: | One Direction |
| Canonical?: | no |
| Prevalence: | semi-popular |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Harry Styles/Xander, also known as Xarry, is a slash pairing inspired by the real-life friendship between Harry Styles and his friend Xander, who is a private citizen. It appeared on the fandom scene in 2015, around the time fans noticed that Xander was attending many One Direction shows and spending a lot of time with Harry. The ship has a relatively minor following in 1D fandom overall, representing less than 1% of all 1D fanworks on Archive of Our Own as of 2023, but it is notable for being well-liked on Twitter and Tumblr among Harry Styles fans who are not Larries, and for its prevalence in blind items of the mid-2010s.[1][2]
As with many RPF fandoms, there exists a contingent of vocal Xarry tinhats who believe the ship to be, or have been, an actual romance. Like Gryles, the ship may be unusual in that speculation existed outside of the fandom, and was often encouraged by the blind item website Crazy Days and Nights (CDAN). Larries who are aware of Xander tend to view him as a rival, and sometimes claim that his existence is a public relations stunt to make Harry appear bisexual instead of gay (which obviously Harry would need to be for Larry to be real).[3][4] This led to widespread harassment and rumor-mongering about Xander in 2015, which eventually led him to permanently lock all of his social media accounts.
For reasons that are unclear, many Xarry tinhats believe in the Harry is a Girl conspiracy theory.
Ship History
Harry and Xander met in late 2014, and spent a lot of time together (including touring the United States with One Direction) in 2015. They were spotted by the paparazzi and by fans with smartphones numerous times and the photos they took circulated widely. A particularly infamous photo of the two men attending a July 4 party in Malibu was printed in the Daily Mail.[6] Numerous (fairly invasive) Xarry ship explainers and timelines started popping up on Twitter and Tumblr that summer. The first Xarry fanfiction was published on August 28th, 2015 - the author is unknown, as it was orphaned. On August 29th, Harry posted an artistically blurred photograph of Xander on his Instagram account.[7] In October 2015, Harry allegedly responded to a fan's sign that said "I'm here for Xander" with "Me too!"
Near the end of 2015, a fan named Jordyn alleged that she had catfished Xander on Snapchat in order to figure out whether he was only close to Harry so he could have sex with his female fans.[8] Jordyn claimed that this catfishing led to Xander sending her intimate photographs.[9] The alleged screenshot also provided "evidence" of Xander saying he believed Harry to be straight and of a willingness to have foursomes with One Direction fans.[10] As One Direction fans had been bothering Xander on social media for quite some time already,[8] it is unknown whether this specifically led to his decision to lock all of his social media accounts in 2015. Fortunately, Harry's intense fanbase did not seem to impact their friendship, and they appear to remain friends to this day. On August 27, 2022, Harry wished Xander happy birthday during his Madison Square Garden residency for Love on Tour, calling him, "one of my closest friends in the entire world."[11]
Fanworks
On the Archive of Our Own, Xarry is a rarepair, and some fanworks have been deleted; a look at the Wayback Machine shows that in 2021, there were 61 public fanworks in the tag[12], whereas by early 2023, there were only 46 public and 59 total remaining. As of February 2023, 22% of Xarry works are archive-locked[13], meaning users need to login to see the fanworks. This may suggest a reluctance to share the stories publicly due to Xander's status as a private citizen; only 8% of 1D fanworks overall are archive-locked on AO3.[14] The first story in the tag was posted in August 2015 and was later orphaned.[15]
References
- ^ https://xanderftharry.tumblr.com/post/128364934378/blind-item-2-crazy-days-and-nights
- ^ https://gay-harry-styles.tumblr.com/post/134320244196/blind-item-11-crazy-days-and-nights
- ^ Why I believe Xarry was supposed to be a stunt - and why it didn’t work out, Archived version, tumblr post by caralara, Jul 29, 2022.
- ^ ask answered by cassandraatthegates, Archived version, posted to tumblr, Sep 19, 2019.
- ^ https://queensgaybeach1d.tumblr.com/post/186891963824/im-not-a-larrie-im-a-harrie-non-het-and-ive
- ^ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3149970/Harry-Styles-celebrates-July-4th-style-star-studded-bash-Malibu.html
- ^ https://www.instagram.com/p/6-6Dd2DCSa/?hl=en
- ^ a b https://web.archive.org/web/20171010235715/http://zobothehobo.com/post/160748200780/okay-but-ive-always-wondered-why-you-like-xander
- ^ https://greedy-queen.tumblr.com/post/682728658292621313/okay-im-new-and-totally-curios-so-please-please
- ^ https://twitter.com/HLNewsItaly/status/671433152632659968?s=20
- ^ https://twitter.com/hsdlot/status/1563704896892837888?s=20
- ^ Wayback Machine capture, 26 January 2021
- ^ Xarry tag, 19 February 2023. 46 are not archive-locked out of 59 total.
- ^ One Direction tag on AO3, 19 February 2023. Logged-in count: 69,229. Logged-out count: 63,631.
- ^ Let this hell be our heaven, 2015-08-28.