The birds' size difference is said to represent the size difference between Styles and Tomlinson - and also, doesn't the bird on the right clearly have Styles's slanted eyebrows? The smaller bird on the left represents his fellow band member Louis Tomlinson (sometimes called Tommo). Cooper Neill/Getty Images for iHeartMedia What is Larry Stylinson? To fans like Courtney and Jorie, Styles's bird tattoo is crucial evidence in favor of one of the internet's most fascinating and convoluted conspiracy theories: the widespread belief among One Direction fans that Styles and Tomlinson are in love with each other. To understand what's happening in the One Direction fandom, you have to understand what shipping is. In fandom terms, shipping generally means rooting for two fictional characters, or in some cases real people, to get together. "Ship" in this context can be both a verb and a noun. For instance, if I really wanted Mulder and Scully to kiss when I was watching The X-Files, I might say that I really ship Mulder and Scully, or I might say I love the Mulder/Scully ship. In the post-'90s world of fandom, shippers usually label their favorite hypothetical relationships with a unique name, usually a portmanteau of some sort. If I ship Glee's Kurt and Blaine, I say I ship Klaine. The ship name is a huge part of how people self-identify in fandom.
These days, you can be part of a fandom for a TV show, film, franchise, book, or band and never interact with people outside your ship. If you combine the names "Harry" and "Louis," you get "Larry." If you combine the names "Styles" and "Tomlinson," you get "Stylinson." Which brings us to One Direction and Styles and Tomlinson. "Larry" has existed almost as long as the band itself Thus, the internet's biggest boy band ship name is "Larry Stylinson," or just Larry for short. Styles and Tomlinson have, or at the least used to have, a very obvious friendship. One Direction's members have always enjoyed an easy physical intimacy, but fans decided soon after the band hit it big in 2010 that these two were special. Indeed, the internet is teeming with Larries - as Directioners who ship Larry often refer to themselves - who've spent years chronicling every microgesture and millisecond of the way Styles and Tomlinson interact with each other: Louis and Harry in 2012.
hazzalovesboo ( Tumblr)Īlways in my heart. Some One Direction fans view this affection as an obvious sign of more than friendship.
The anonymous blogger behind Sex at Oxbridge, a well-known tell-all blog run by a 20-something student in London, found herself drawn to the Larry ship in 2013, totally by chance and purely on the strength of Styles and Tomlinson's interactions with one another. #Small gay pride tattoos girls cute tv#.