bulletprooflarry

🎵 time flies either way 🎵

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The origin of “Larry Stylinson”

What’s the origin of the phrase “Larry Stylinson”? 

We all know Harry tweeted this on 22 November 2010:

So I wondered when the first mention of the phrase on Twitter really was, and the results surprised me. 

There’s only 1 previous mention on Twitter and it was nearly a month before this tweet on 28 October 2010:

The phrase “Larry Stylinson” was a Tumblr term, not a Twitter creation. In fact, when Harry tweeted his tweet mentioning the phrase, most of the replies were asking what it was or saying how cute the name it was. Many people hadn’t heard it on Twitter until that day.

The @Larry_Stylinson twitter wasn’t even created until a day after Harry’s tweet on 23 November 2010:

The link in the first tweet on Twitter leads you to a tumblr that is no longer in the 1D fandom, but was active in the early days of X Factor. They are noteworthy because they reblogged a lot of gifs and pictures of Harry and Louis from X Factor. At the time, many tumblr blogs focused on the group as a whole or on Harry or Liam. The emphasis on the early concept of “Larry” is noticeable.

The twitter post itself leads to this picture posted on 28 October 2010 (taken 4 October 2010 in Week 1):

With this caption:

So the first Tumblr to use the phrase appears to be the “fuckyeahharrystyles” tumblr, nearly a month before Harry & Gemma’s phone conversation. This is funny to me, because that’s the tumblr I linked to the 3 of the 5 pictures Harry posted to his yfrog on 19 November 2010 but never tweeted. 

What does it mean?

I’m not sure, but I have a theory. So in a 3-hour window, someone uploaded 4 Harry pictures (some of them edits to include just Harry in the picture, and 1 edited picture of Harry and Louis). 3/5 pictures came from fuckmeharrystyles.tumblr.com, and one of the pictures included that watermark. I think it’s possible Louis did it as a bit of a flirty prank on Harry. He knew he would see it when he logged back into yfrog. Otherwise, Harry was trolling tumblr sites about himself uploading pictures of himself and never tweeted them. That seems a bit odd to me. I think, given the context of their time and relationship and age, that it’s possible this was one more way Louis was flirting with Harry.

So what does this all mean about the phrase “Larry Stylinson”? A couple of things.

Harry’s tweet did, in fact, light the “Larry Stylinson” engines on Twitter, ground zero of the fan base at the time. This happened in week 7 of the show, and everyone around it at the time was genuinely in love with the flirty relationship being played out on the cameras. 

However, the origin of the term was tumblr, meaning Gemma most likely was around tumblr at the time, and told Harry about the term and the way fans there had noticed the special connection between Harry & Louis. 

It’s clear that the early phrase and concept didn’t bother anyone in or around the group (and, in fact, didn’t until @Louis_Tomlinson called it “bullshit” almost 2 full years later). They knew about the context of the phrase being used on blogs posting pictures of Harry & Louis they found on facebook, cropping group photos to just Harry & Louis photos that Harry (or Louis) posted to Harry’s own yfrog, and posting gifs and edits like this:

There were certainly less “believers” back in the early days. The fandom, in its infancy, was much less rigid and divided. But on tumblr, especially, there were several blogs that noticed the less platonic and more romantic behavior of Harry & Louis at the time, and these blogs were the creators of the “Larry Stylinson” phrase. 

To argue Gemma, who didn’t hear about the “Larry Stylinson” phenomenon on Twitter, didn’t understand the context around the phrase is unlikely. 

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

(Lies, Damn Lies and) Louis Statistics

Since 10 December 2017 and until 10 June 2018: 

Louis was seen on 23 separate days/occasions (12% of the time period) 

That means he was not seen 88% of the days in that time period

Of those 23 occasions, 10 were selfies posted by Louis (43%), so he was in control of almost 50% of the Louis content we even got.

Without the selfies, fans encountered Louis/posted pictures only 13 times in the last 7 months (7% of the time period)

For comparison, during the same time period in the first half of 2016, Louis posted to Instagram 63 separate times, compared to 10 in 2018.

That’s about 35% of the time period in 2016, compared to about 5% in 2018.

I just wanted to put some numbers behind this. If it feels like nobody is seeing him, that’s because nobody is seeing him. 

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

There it is.

@bromanceshmomance pointed this out. We all assumed this when the picture of Louis and Steve was posted, but here’s the actual proof.

Here’s the Steve and Louis picture from the X Factor in 2016 when they sang “Just Hold On” immediately after Jay’s passing.

The arrow is Harry’s arm. Here’s the Harry picture Steve just posted today from the same night and corner of the room:

Note the angles.It looks like Steve wanted a picture of with both of them and after Harry and Steve took their’s, Harry stayed in place where he was. Then Steve stepped between Harry and Louis and into the corner of the room to get his picture with Louis.

Just wanted to point out what stoic supportive spouses look like to piss off the assholes on this website who say Harry didn’t care about Jay/doesn’t talk to Louis.

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

In New York…

A little context for the picture. 

At the end of March 2012, they did the Kid’s Choice Awards in Los Angeles. Eleanor had unexpectedly returned to be photographed with Louis at the Grove in LA and go to the KCAs with Jay and Danielle Peazer. She went back to the UK from LA, while Louis and the rest of the guys flew to New York City to do promo for SNL. The flew out the afternoon of April 4th Los Angeles time and arrived in New York late in the evening. 

They stayed in the London again. This picture is from the fireplace in the lobby of the hotel:

It has been remodeled since 2012, but it’s the same fireplace. You can see the bar in front of it. The large reflective item in the above picture is the same as the dark, perpendicular item in the picture of Harry and Louis.

So, this picture was taken at some point on 5 April 2012 in the London hotel. This was the same day as their SNL photoshoot.

It was also the same day this MTV video was filmed. When Harry shoved his knew into Louis’ and plastered himself to Louis’ side when they got asked about all the “starlets in Hollywood” who loved them, meaning Taylor Swift loved Harry at the KCAs. [gif credit]

So basically, Eleanor was gone again, they were leaving for Australia at the end of the week for 3 whole weeks, and they were in love and couldn’t help themselves. Friendly reminder that this is the best Eleanor and Louis could do just 2 weeks prior to this. 

This next part is pure speculation. But I want to point it out. Harry and Louis both appear to be wearing the same outfits as they were in the photoshoot for SNL taken on April 5th. This could have been taken before they went to the shoot, or it could have been taken after. 

On April 5th, we know Harry also went to a video shoot for a music video by the band Scissor Sisters. A photo of him with one of the members was posted at 11AM on April 6th. So it’s entirely possible that Louis also went to the video shoot, as well, which was most likely in the late afternoon/evening of April 5th. They had a day off on April 6th. 

This photo could be them waiting for the other boys to come down to leave for SNL or it could be them waiting to go to the video shoot together. We’ll never know, but I like the thought of Louis also being at the video shoot, given the Scissor Sister’s connection to the LGBTQ community in New York. 

Either way, these are 2 happy boyfriends in New York City on 5 April 2012. 

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

Happy Anniversary?

More context for your unseen Harry & Louis pictures!

So this picture was posted yesterday (28 June 2018). I believe it was taken in September 2011, likely between the 1st and 9th when they had several days off and were not quite as busy with promo and travel as they were in the rest of the month.  It was taken at Caraffini Restaruant in Chelsea, London (thanks to all the anons and people who messaged me). 

Caraffini is an upscale Italian restaurant with entrees around $20-$30 per person. Most reviews are about family lunches and date nights. 

I was searching Twitter for any mentions about the restaurant and Harry and/lor Louis in 2011 and came across this tweet from 7 July 2011. 

This is a fan who was about 14-15 at the time of this tweet, someone who had been tweeting all the boys often since X Factor days. Just a typical twitter fan. I don’t think she’s anyone the boys know. 

2 minutes before this tweet, “Louis” tweeted:

He then went on to tweet several fans about X Factor promo and going to the the McDonald’s drive thru. 

At about the same time, Niall tweeted he wanted to go to Nando’s and Liam tweeted he needed some “bk” meaning Burger King. July 2011 was also the same month Louis was reprimanded for saying on Twitter than they weren’t always tweeting from their accounts. Given the heavy handed promo of the 3 tweets and fan service that followed, I think it’s safe to assume they were not tweeting themselves.

This is where the speculation begins.

I think the girl who tweeted back to him “tell the staff at Caraffini to hurry their asses up ;)” may have heard elsewhere/through other fans that Harry and Louis were at Caraffini this day. It’s a strange thing to say, especially given the picture of Harry and Louis outside the restaurant a few months later that we can now somewhat date.

Now, why is 7 July 2011 significant? The boys flew to Los Angeles the afternoon of 8 July 2011 and were there until about the 15th when they flew to Sweden. 

10 July 2010 was the day Harry and Louis auditioned for the X Factor in front of the judge’s panel. Jay tweeted about it on the 9th. 

So, I think it’s very possible Louis and Harry went to Caraffini’s on this date to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of their X Factor audition. And finding each other. They did it at a nice restaurant, alone in a posh part of London. Keep in mind this was also the exact same time Louis and Hannah were “breaking up” according to the implications of Hannah’s own tweets. And about 3 weeks before they started with the Caroline Flack and Eleanor bullshit narratives. 

So while Louis is ~breaking up with a bitter Hannah, courting Eleanor at the same time and Harry and Caroline are supposedly flirting, Harry and Louis had a late lunch date at a nice restaurant in London on the closest day to the X Factor audition anniversary that they could logistically pull off in London. 

Sorry Hannah, Eleanor and Caroline. 

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THEY WENT THERE WITH THEIR PARENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jay tweeted on 7 July 2011 at the same time Louis tweeted about wanting food:

There’s no way they were waiting at a McDonald’s drive thru for Louis to arrive. Harry, Louis, Anne, Robin and Jay all had lunch together on the 7th. I think it was likely Caraffini’s.

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Happy Anniversary?

More context for your unseen Harry & Louis pictures!

So this picture was posted yesterday (28 June 2018). I believe it was taken in September 2011, likely between the 1st and 9th when they had several days off and were not quite as busy with promo and travel as they were in the rest of the month.  It was taken at Caraffini Restaruant in Chelsea, London (thanks to all the anons and people who messaged me). 

Caraffini is an upscale Italian restaurant with entrees around $20-$30 per person. Most reviews are about family lunches and date nights. 

I was searching Twitter for any mentions about the restaurant and Harry and/lor Louis in 2011 and came across this tweet from 7 July 2011. 

This is a fan who was about 14-15 at the time of this tweet, someone who had been tweeting all the boys often since X Factor days. Just a typical twitter fan. I don’t think she’s anyone the boys know. 

2 minutes before this tweet, “Louis” tweeted:

He then went on to tweet several fans about X Factor promo and going to the the McDonald’s drive thru. 

At about the same time, Niall tweeted he wanted to go to Nando’s and Liam tweeted he needed some “bk” meaning Burger King. July 2011 was also the same month Louis was reprimanded for saying on Twitter than they weren’t always tweeting from their accounts. Given the heavy handed promo of the 3 tweets and fan service that followed, I think it’s safe to assume they were not tweeting themselves.

This is where the speculation begins.

I think the girl who tweeted back to him “tell the staff at Caraffini to hurry their asses up ;)” may have heard elsewhere/through other fans that Harry and Louis were at Caraffini this day. It’s a strange thing to say, especially given the picture of Harry and Louis outside the restaurant a few months later that we can now somewhat date.

Now, why is 7 July 2011 significant? The boys flew to Los Angeles the afternoon of 8 July 2011 and were there until about the 15th when they flew to Sweden. 

10 July 2010 was the day Harry and Louis auditioned for the X Factor in front of the judge’s panel. Jay tweeted about it on the 9th. 

So, I think it’s very possible Louis and Harry went to Caraffini’s on this date to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of their X Factor audition. And finding each other. They did it at a nice restaurant, alone in a posh part of London. Keep in mind this was also the exact same time Louis and Hannah were “breaking up” according to the implications of Hannah’s own tweets. And about 3 weeks before they started with the Caroline Flack and Eleanor bullshit narratives. 

So while Louis is ~breaking up with a bitter Hannah, courting Eleanor at the same time and Harry and Caroline are supposedly flirting, Harry and Louis had a late lunch date at a nice restaurant in London on the closest day to the X Factor audition anniversary that they could logistically pull off in London. 

Sorry Hannah, Eleanor and Caroline. 

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

Family Lunch.

or @bromanceshmomance who wanted this emphasized.

So, Louis is on his way to meet his parents and his spouse (Harry) at a nice Italian restaurant in Chelsea known as a good spot for “family lunches” around 2PM in the afternoon on 7 July 2011. I think they had a work thing, like a photo shoot or something, where they got done at staggered times.

Harry went on to meet their parents at the restaurant and wait for Louis.

Louis began tweeting about needing food at 1:53PM, en route to the restaurant.

Jay tweeted she was waiting for Louis with Robin, Anne and Harry at 1:57PM.

Annecka Griffiths then tweets Louis at 2PM:

Louis replied to her tweet at 2:01PM: 

I don’t think that makes a lot of sense, because I think he was rushing to get to the restaurant to meet Harry and their parents after a work thing, not feeling lazy and deciding to run out and get some food at a fast food joint.

Annecka tweeted him back at 2:03PM:

Louis never responded. His last tweet was at 2:01PM and he arrived at the restaurant, according to Jay, around 2:15PM.

So I don’t think Louis was “feeling lazy” about getting to the restaurant when he was meeting people and so hungry. 

In conclusion, I swear to God you don’t have a Thursday afternoon lunch date at an upscale Italian restaurant in Chelsea with the parents of someone who is just your bro pal wing man roommate. That’s what you do with your spouse. 

They married.

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17-18 October 2011

I just want to make it very clear that Louis and Harry went to the Ed Sheeran show at the Academy 2 in Manchester together and I don’t think Eleanor was there.

This is hilarious because Eleanor went to the University of Manchester at the time and the show was ON CAMPUS.

But she did not go.

Harry and Louis went.

It was standing room general admission only. No private boxes. They could have stood on stage, but they were pictured near the toilets and bar:

They went to this show because it was the only time they had 2 days in a row off and Ed was within reasonable driving distance of London. He played London on this Fall UK tour on 3 October 2011, but the band was in Milan for Bring 1D to Me that day.

They had the 17th and 18th off. The show was the night of the 17th. They went up, saw Ed, and weren’t seen again until the next evening at 9:30 PM when they picked up milkshakes near their flat.

It’s especially funny to me that Eleanor appears not have been there because Harry and Louis went back up to Manchester on Saturday, the 22nd, so Louis and Eleanor could take the train to Doncaster and get their pictures taken in front of Jay’s house (Jay invited fans to come, even).

You’d think a pretty cool concert date at your girlfriend’s uni would be more believable, but this was  a Harry & Louis date, and one I think they had planned for at least a few weeks since they managed to squeeze it in like they did.

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UPDATED WITH MORE INFORMATION

Yes, hello! I want to update this post but Tumblr won’t let me anymore, so I’ll add it here.

I do not believe they went to the get milkshakes the evening of the 18th. I think they went on their way out of town on the 17th around 2:30PM local time. They had some stuff to do in the morning. There’s nothing concrete placing them in London on the 18th or 19th. So they left London, milkshakes in hand, on their way to see Ed in Manchester the night of the 17th. 

Furthermore, I just realized very randomly that this interview Harry did with Nick Grimshaw on 19 October 2011 was conducted as he was driving around in the car with Louis on their way back to London from the AnchorCert party in Birmingham. Nick asked “What are you doing? Where are you?” and Harry answered vaguely “We’re in Birmingham. We’re looking for somewhere to eat. We’re just going through Birmingham.” At the time, Nick was doing the late night show. He tweeted he was in the car with Louis around 9PM local time.

I’ve always wondered why it appeared Harry and Louis drove separately to the party if they were all in London that morning and going to the same place at the same time. 

So what if they weren’t together? What if Harry and Louis went to Ed in Manchester the afternoon of the 17th and stayed presumably with Anne and Robin the 18th and 19th as it was only an hour to the event from their house. They could have done the radio interviews by phone from wherever. We know Harry was doing his in the car at the very least. 

TL;DR: I think it’s very possible Harry and Louis went to see Ed in Manchester and hung out at Harry’s parents house for a couple of days before doing the event in Birmingham and heading back to London the evening of the 19th. 

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

17-18 October 2011

I just want to make it very clear that Louis and Harry went to the Ed Sheeran show at the Academy 2 in Manchester together and I don’t think Eleanor was there.

This is hilarious because Eleanor went to the University of Manchester at the time and the show was ON CAMPUS.

But she did not go.

Harry and Louis went.

It was standing room general admission only. No private boxes. They could have stood on stage, but they were pictured near the toilets and bar:

They went to this show because it was the only time they had 2 days in a row off and Ed was within reasonable driving distance of London. He played London on this Fall UK tour on 3 October 2011, but the band was in Milan for Bring 1D to Me that day.

They had the 17th and 18th off. The show was the night of the 17th. They went up, saw Ed, and weren’t seen again until the next evening at 9:30 PM when they picked up milkshakes near their flat.

It’s especially funny to me that Eleanor appears not have been there because Harry and Louis went back up to Manchester on Saturday, the 22nd, so Louis and Eleanor could take the train to Doncaster and get their pictures taken in front of Jay’s house (Jay invited fans to come, even).

You’d think a pretty cool concert date at your girlfriend’s uni would be more believable, but this was  a Harry & Louis date, and one I think they had planned for at least a few weeks since they managed to squeeze it in like they did.

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

STILL THE ONE: A timeline.

October 2013 was when Harry first began to publicly mention “Still the One.” It was an exhausting time, for them and for fandom. The end of the Take Me Home Tour, another album and tour on the horizon, break-up rumors, drug rumors, the beginning of public separate travel for Zayn and Louis. They were tired, we were tired, everybody wanted a break. And then Harry…

16 October 2013 - During Twitter questions on the Take Me Home tour in Melbourne, Australia, the boys were asked “What one song did you listen to growing up that you still love to listen to now?” and for some reason at 5:12 instead of saying what his song would be, Harry walks over to Niall and whispers it in his ear, while Louis watches closely I might add, and then Niall turns to look at Louis and then back to Harry and says, “Go on and tell ‘em.” but Harry doesn’t seem to want to say it or something, and Louis is looking at him, and Niall says, “Do you want me to tell ‘em for you?” and Harry agrees, so Niall says, “Harry says “Still the One” by Shania Twain.” and Harry kinds of smiles this cute smile.”

28 October 2013 - During Twitter questions in Melbourne, Australia on 28 October, the boys were asked what embarassing songs they had on their iPod. “Harry said “Well, I have one - I’m not embarrassed though, I’m not embarrassed!” and Niall prompted him to continue so Harry was like “Okay, it’s Shania Twain.” Niall responded and Harry said, “Have you HEARD ‘Still The One’ though??” and wanted to talk about how good it was. Then Louis did that adorable you’re-too-cute-for-this-world head-tilt, smiling really widely, and said something about how Harry was really into her lately. And Harry just kept agreeing and going on about how good the song was. It was all very, very cute.”

Since that time, it’s been a Thing ™ for larries.  

Then in Fall 2017, he brought it back…

15 September 2017 - Harry played the song on a kazoo onstage at the Greek Theatere. 

11 June 2018 - “Still the One” was played during the soundecheck for the show in Atlanta.

18 June 2018 - Audio of Harry singing “Still the One” during soundcheck in Boston is posted online.

So Harry…

22 June 2018 - HE FUCKING SANG “STILL THE ONE” ON STAGE AT NIGHT 2 OF MADISON SQUARE GARDEN.

30 July 2018 - Kacey Musgraves says Harry insisted on singing “Still the One.” 

Radio host: Whose idea was it to do the cover of “You’re Still the One?”

Kacey: Well…I texted him like “We have to do a Shania song.” And he was like “I’ll think on this. Let me have a think and I’ll get back to you.” And he was like “Alright, ‘You’re Still the One.’ It has to be that one. It has to be that song”  

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

TOP 100: Take Me Home Tour H/L Moments 2013

Lisa, Jess and I have been getting super excited for the WWA tour and thought a great way to get even more excited would be to go through every H/L moment from the 2013 tour and put them into a top 10 list. 

As you can tell by the title of this post, that did not happen. Because guess what! This is the hardest post I've ever had to make because I couldn't pick 10 or 20 or even 50 "essential" moments from this tour. 

THINK ABOUT THAT. 

We all pine for the days of yore when the Up All Night tour was going strong, and there were a lot of moments I love from that tour. But it was also a much shorter tour and took place over a shorter period of time. It was a case study in teenage love affair: flirting, sex and hearteyes. The Take Me Home tour was different (obviously lol) in that it was much more subdued (partly for unhappy reasons).

But after going through this, I think I might like this tour better, which seems crazy, but once you go through this list (and Lisa's), you'll see that this tour was all about being settled, domestic and fond in the face of what appeared to be pretty extreme measures to have us believe they weren't even friends anymore. 

But once you go through this list, I think you'll agree, that nothing that matters has changed.

(gif credit)

Let's do this.

These are in chronological order, because if I had to rank them, I'd stroke out from the pressure. Going by date is a fun way to see that this tour was CONSISTENT. There were more cute moments in the first half of the tour than the last half, but overall, they were always there. They never went away. 

Harry checking out Louis an hour into the first show | London | 23 February 2013 - x x

Louis making Harry laugh | London | 23 February 2013 - x 

"They could never shut us down." | London | 24 February 2013 - x 

But Louis would really like to shut Narry down | London | 24 February 2013 - x 

Louis did a cartwheel and Harry was cheering him on before he even started it and then wolf whistled and was so fond | London | 24 February 2013 - x x

Louis saving Harry from being crushed by the stage | Glasgow | 26 February 2013 - x 

This picture | Glasgow | 26 February 2013 - x

Harry staring at the sun Louis | Cardiff | 3 March 2013 - x

Harry shows Louis the clitoris sign | Dublin | 12 March 2013 - x 

Louis shares his crisps with Harry | Manchester | 16 March 2013 - x 

Louis touches Harry's hip gently & fondly | Manchester| 16 March 2013 - x 

Playground crushes | Manchester | 16 March 2013 - x

Louis admiring his boyfriend | Liverpool | 17 March 2013 - x

Dancing together in Teenage Dirtbag | Sheffield | 19 March 2013 - x

Louis' fond scrunched up face | Birmingham | 22 March 2013 - x

Louis makes Harry laugh so hard he can't sing | Birmingham | 23 March 2013 - x 

Louis sees Heaven Harry | Birmingham | 23 March 2013 - x 

Louis thinks Harry might be hurt & crushes our souls with The Head Tilt | Birmingham| 23 March 2013 - x  [Jess' favorite]

This picture | Birmingham | 23 March 2013 - x 

This whisper | Birmingham | 23 March 2013 - x

"Oh, I'm not alright." | Liverpool | 31 March 2013 - x 

"You were mine and we never said goodbye." | London | 1 April 2013 - x 

Mirroring | London | 1 April 2013 - x 

Harry touches Louis' shoulder & his soul | London | 2 April 2013 - x

The Signal Reappears Briefly | London | 4 April 2013 - x x

Then Harry grips Louis' shoulder in their bow | London | 4 April 2013 - x 

Harry's Fond Face | London | 6 April 2013 - x

Harry deep throats a banana at Louis causing Zayn to check on Louis' well being | Sheffield | 13 April 2013 - x

Harry really laying it on thick with his Louis thirst | Sheffield | 13 April 2013 - x x

Harry pretends not to know how to do a handstand even though he knows how to do a handstand just to let Louis win | Sheffield | 13 April 2013 - x 

8 weeks in and Louis is already over the Zarry | Nottingham | 16 April 2013 - x 

Harry spins Louis | Birmingham | 17 April 2013 - x

Cracking each other up | Manchester | 20 April 2013 - x 

Louis taps his heart and looks at Harry during "Over Again" | Amneville | 30 April 2013 - x x

"They could never shut us down." | Oslo | 7 May 2013 - x 

Louis sings "Hot In Here" and Harry gets excited | Stockholm | 8 May 2013 - x

Their hands as they look at a fan book | Denmark | 10 May 2013 - x

These M&G pics | Denmark | 10 May 2013 - x 

Louis doesn't care if Harry's sick, he'll drink his tea if he wants to because they share everything else | Denmark | 10 May 2013 - x [Jess' favorite]

Louis makes Harry smile and is adorably smug | Berlin | 11 May 2013 - x 

Louis attempts to become the personification of the word "fond" | Berlin | 11 May 2013 - x 

Whisper Whisper | Munich | 16 May 2013 - x x

"They could never shut us down." | Milan | 20 May 2013 - x 

The Dream Team in action | Madrid | 24 May 2013 - x 

Harry likes what he sees | Mexico City| 9 June 2013 - x 

Harry is just really fond of Louis | Mexico City | 9 June 2013 - x x

H/L on a mothafuckin' boat | Miami | 11 June 2013 - x 

Holding hands at the M&G | Miami | 14 June 2013 - x 

Louis' extreme concern at Harry falling | Louisville | 16 June 2013 - x

"I'm in love with you, and all your little things." | Columbus | 18 June 2013 - x 

Louis in the Gibson shirt Harry got in Nashville and holding hands in a M&G | Raleigh | 22 June 2013 - x

Harry "Fond" Styles | Washington, D.C. | 23 June 2013 - x 

Running into each other and Louis' sweet reaction | Philadelphia | 25 June 2013 - x

Hand holding at the M&G | Boston | 26 June 2013 - x  

Louis' private Harry smile | Boston | 26 June 2013 - x

These smiles | Jones Beach | 28 June 2013 - x 

Harry checking to see if Louis is watching him and Louis fonding away | Jones Beach | 28 June 2013 - x

This really adorable fan account | Jones Beach | 29 June 2013 - x

Making each other laugh | East Rutherford | 2 July 2013 - x

In a room full of people, you're the only one around... | East Rutherford | 2 July 2013 - x

Hand holding at the M&G | Hershey | 5 July 2013 - x

Louis kills the spider for Harry who can hardly believe his husband is that considerate and amazing | Hershey | 5 July 2013 - x x 

Racing down stage together | Hershey | 5 July 2013 - x

The fond is unleashed | Hershey | 5 July 2013 - x

Harry causes widespread pain by changing the lyric to "They can never hurt us now" | Hershey | 5 July 2013 - x

Harry looks after Louis and gets him a throat lozenge | Hershey | 6 July 2013 - x 

Over Again | Hershey | 6 July 2013 - x 

Magnets | Toronto | 10 July 2013 - x 

The way Louis laughs at Harry when he killed the bug | Chicago | 13 July 2013 - x

The way Louis gently held Harry's wrist during their bow | Chicago | 14 July 2013 - x 

Niall brings up the First Meal Louis Ever Cooked | Kansas City | 19 July 2013 - x 

"Here cutie, have a nacho." - Louis to Harry probably | Dallas | 22 July 2013 - x x 

Liam messing with Louis by messing with Harry | Dallas | 22 July 2013 - x

Hand holding at the M&G | Oakland | 31 July 2013 - x 

Louis finally snapping at fans who kept throwing things at Harry on stage throughout the entire tour | Las Vegas | 2 August 2013 - x

The gentle touches | Las Vegas | 2 August 2013 - x

Harry's favorite part of Chop Suey the human face is still the eyelashes | Chula Vista | 4 August 2013 - x (chop suey) 

Harry barely restraining his pride and love for Louis as Niall announced Louis had just signed to play football with the Doncaster Rovers | Chula Vista | 4 August 2013 - x

Louis looking at Harry and wiggling his eyebrows as Niall announces Louis had just signed to play football with the Doncaster Rovers | Chula Vista | 4 August 2013 - x

Harry really, really likes Louis | L.A. | 7 August 2013 - x

Louis really loves Harry | L.A. | 9 August 2013 -x 

These pictures | L.A. | 9 August 2013 - x x

The way they talk to each other | L.A. | 9 August 2013 - x

"You were mine and we never said goodbye." | L.A. | 10 August 2013 - x

Harry is incredibly amused by Louis | L.A. | 10 August 2013 - x

The Cake Licking Incident of 2013 | L.A. | 10 August 2013 - x x

Harry openly teasing Louis after the Cake Incident | L.A. | 10 August 2013 - x

Flirting via microphone stand stealing | L.A. | 10 August 2013 - x

Harry will do anything Louis tells him and they both love it (the Goldfish Moment) | Adelaide | 23 September 2013 - x

This heartbreakingly fond face Harry made when Louis' voice cracked in "Over Again" | Adelaide | 25 September 2013 - x

Harry watching the sun rise Louis finish "Over Again" | Melbourne | 2 October 2013 - x 

Harry does his favorite yogo pose for Louis | Melbourne | 3 October 2013 - x

I'm not over Haylor and neither is Louis (99 Problems) | Christchurch | 10 October 2013 - x 

Harry turns our hearts inside out  by saying "Still the One" | Melbourne | 16 October 2013 - x 

Whatever was going on during "I Would" | Brisbane | 20 October 2013 - x

This angle | Brisbane | 30 October 2013 - x 

Fist bump | Brisbane | 30 October 2013 - x 

"I think you know what's coming, Louis...ganbarimasu!" | Tokyo | 2 November 2013 - x

"If in doubt, say it fast." | Tokyo | 2 November 2013 - x

These Flirts | Tokyo | 3 November 2013 - x

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

Haylor: Let's Appreciate the Humor

So it's been just about 6 months since Haylor ended. I think that's enough time to let those wounds heal and find some appreciation in all the hilarious shit it brought us. I've never laughed as hard in any other fandom.

And for that, we thank Harry and Louis, especially.

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

Jay’s Tweets: Harry & Family vs. The Other Boys

Jay's tweets to and about Harry and his family are well-documented. But how do they compare to her tweets to/about the other boys? Let's take a look. 

Zayn (3):

Liam (3):

Niall (6): 

I've always felt like Jay's tweet to Harry in 2012 was ~special~ and sweet because of the "poppet" and "mummy jay and the girls" but turns out, that's Jay's standard birthday tweet. While she has tweeted Niall a little outside of birthday tweets, by and large, her tweets to the other boys are comprised almost entirely of standard birthday tweets. 

Now, on to the good stuff.

Harry (Notable Tweets): 

So the big difference that jumps right off the page at you is the words she throws around to describe Harry: she's his "adoptive mother," Harry is "family." 

And beyond that, she describes Harry's relationship to Louis as inherently romantic when she calls him Louis' "husband." That is either the God's honest trust or the most socially-confused, flat-falling joke in the history of the entire world. There's no way a mom tweets that about her son's BFF without a wink or a "haha j/k they're just bros" or "platonic husband" or anything to indicate that it was not meant as a serious description.

And husband? Husband? Not boyfriend, even. Fucking husband. 

So they're family and possibly married (at least in their minds and the eyes of their family). Which brings me to the next section.

Jay's tweets to/about Harry's family:

There are too many to list. Jay & Robin were tweeting from the XFactor on. Jay & Anne tweet regularly.  

[NOTE: These 2 tweets came 2 days after Harry & Louis got back from their skiing holiday (they shared together) and less than a week before the "my son returns to his husband" tweet. Anne, Gemma nd Jay were also drinking champagne at their pajama party. That gives me a lot of feels. ALSO: This is Hannah's birthday. So instead of going to Doncaster to see her, Louis was in London with his inlaws.]

AGAIN: The difference is pretty clear: Harry & Louis are each other's family and therefore, their families are family. See this for more on that.

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

Louis Twitter Analysis: Comparative Notes

Looking at the 2011 and 2012 analyses separately provides some insight into the changing dynamics of the band, Harry & Louis and their increasing fame and modest!'s control. 

But perhaps the most damning evidence of the publicity-driven scheme going on behind-the-scenes of @Louis_Tomlinson's twitter, his girlfriend's twitter and even his mother's twitter is only fully understood when comparing the patterns over time.

In 2011, Louis' tweets were a little erratic. There was no consistent tweeting pattern. It should stand to reason, then, that as the band got bigger and busier, the pattern might hold or become even more pronounced. However, that is not the case. The 2012 trend line shows a more consistent tweeting pattern, especially in the final 3 months of the year, the busiest 3 months the band has ever experienced. 

The dip in July 2012 is interesting as this has been suggested as the time in which Louis gave up most of the control of his Twitter account to PR. This graph supports that theory given the increased consistency of the Tweets which suggests a social media campaign, rather than organic thoughts Tweeted to the masses as they occur. 

In 2011, Louis' tweets to Harry tended to follow his total tweets. They were about 10% of his tweets every month. In 2012, they were less than 1% of his total tweets the entire year. Interestingly, 10% of Louis' tweets in the last half of 2012 were to Eleanor and about dispelling the "crazy Larry conspiracy." 

. 

This is a graph showing Louis' tweets to/about his girlfriends vs. Harry spanning January 2011-December 2012. The differences are obvious. 

In 2011, Louis tweeted almost exclusively to Harry in comparison to girlfriends. The spike as Elounor began is telling.

The break in the patterns truly begins in December 2011, which is when I believe a social media campaign was drafted and implemented. This included Eleanor getting a Twitter account, an apparent ban on Harry & Louis tweeting directly to or about each other and a plan to use Louis and Eleanor's accounts to promo certain products and artists.

Now here's where it starts to get really interesting.

Lookie there. Immediately following the first Eleanor article, the spike in promo tweets from @Louis_Tomlinson begins. And it spikes and spikes and spikes again.

The first spike coincides with the first month Louis began tweeting about Eleanor in earnest.

The second spike comes immediately following April 2012 and coincides with the all the gay in Australia/New Zealand. 

There is another, smaller spike that comes the month Louis allegedly gave up most of the control of his twitter. Imagine that. 

The final and most pronounced spike came the month of the VMAs, Taylor ramp-up and the "bullshit" tweet. It was also the beginning of the X-Factor season in the UK. We learned shortly after this spike in promo tweets for the X-Factor that modest! had lost that account. 

While there appears to be a slide down into December, October and November still had the 2nd and 3rd highest number of promo tweets in 2012. 

Most importantly, note how the tweets to/about Eleanor almost exactly mirror the trend line for the tweets to/about promotional things. This correlation suggests that @Louis_Tomlinson and @eleanorjcalder tweet each other during important promotional events. Does that sound like a genuine relationship to anybody? No. It doesn't. It's contrived and easily manipulated. If they go to these kinds of lengths to make it appear they are together in blatant coordination with promotional events and periods of time, that suggests, to me, that the relationship isn't a real one. 

Wow. All the lines mirror each other exactly. Again,I don't think modest! controls Jay's Twitter account. But I think Jay does participate in the promotional aspect of this relationship, even more so than Louis. While this doesn't prove Louis and Eleanor's relationship is not real, it does incite some very serious questions about why Louis' mother only tweets her son's girlfriend when it's convenient for modest!'s bank account.

Now, here is a Google Analytics graph showing the trend line for searches of "One Direction" in the U.S. in 2012:

This graph also mirrors the trend line for the promo tweets and tweets to/about Eleanor from Louis and Jay's accounts, showing that, as interest in One Direction increases and wanes, the tweets from Louis and Jay seem to adjust accordingly. Sounds like someone (read: modest!) is monitoring the search trends and site analytics and adjusting their social media plan accordingly. 

So there you have it. 

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

Louis Twitter Analysis: 2012

Last week, I posted my 2011 analysis of Louis' Twitter account. That one was fun and fluffy and full of adorable boyfriends living in what I like to call "their bulletproof weeks" (see my URL). 

NOTE: I've actually updated that analysis after the lovely genderblinditem sent me a bunch of tweets pre-June 2011 that informed some deeper analysis. So check it out. :)

2012 was not so fun to go through. The stark reality of being hastily shoved back into the closet for all intents and purposes cannot be ignored when you look at the graphs I've created. 

Thanks again to lapelosa for humoring my excitable numbers flails in her askbox. :) 

We ended 2011 with @Louis_Tomlinson beginning to tweet about Eleanor in earnest in November 2012. This came on the heels of increased and consistent tweets to and about Harry in October. 

General Observations:

In 2012, Louis tweeted to/about Harry 5 times, less than 1% of his total tweets. Compare that to 2011 where it was 86 times and 10% of his total tweets

The May tweets to Harry were during the DVD watch party (a management-sanctioned event) and were not overly personal. Cute to be sure, but not significant and that should be considered when looking at this graph.

Eleanor:

Eleanor got a Twitter account on January 28, 2012. The first 2 months of the year, Louis tweeted about her (not directly to her) 4 times total.

IMPORTANT: Louis first tweeted directly at Eleanor March 17, 2012. HE TWEETED HER “Miss you! x” MERE HOURS AFTER HARRY SAID HIM & LOUIS WERE DATING.  Now, this seems too quick for a social media counteraction, in my opinion. My new theory is this: This tweet came smack in the middle of

The Kiss 95.7 Interview with in-interview love bite (1st)

Z100 Interview—see my analysis here (10th)

New York signing with “Where do you want to sit?” “Next to You”  (12th)

The Pallisades Mall interview  (13th) 

The New York City Date day (soccer in park, lunch, shopping, show, dinner) (15th) 

Vevo livechat with “Why doesn’t Harry kiss Lou?” (16th)

The New Jersey signing with “Are you and Harry dating?” (17th

TWEET (17th) 

 Dallas with the first “denial” (24th) 

So it seems pretty obvious to me that they were reprimanded  BEFORE this tweet, sometime earlier in the week. They saw the way things were going and sat them down and said cool it. Louis was pissy in the New Jersey signing video and I think Harry might have just been too annoyed to care what he said in response to the girl’s question and voila. 

In April, the Eleanor tweets spiked while Harry tweets were non-existent. This is significant as this is the month the tickets for the Up All Night American Tour went on sale.

Louis didn't tweet to/about Eleanor at all in June, perhaps a final stand against management.

In July, tweets spiked again. 

The funniest thing about this graph to me is the obvious ramp up during the months leading up to Haylor, Take Me Home release & MSG.

Harry:

Louis did not tweet Harry for his birthday in 2012. He tweeted every other guy in the band, Josh Devine (the drummer), Perrie, Lou Teasdale, Jimmy Carr, Eleanor and 15 random fans but not Harry.

Louis tweeted "his curls or his smell ;) x" on March 3, 2012 in response to a fan's question about what his favorite thing about Harry was and didn't tweet him again until May 31, 2012.

After May 31, 2012, Louis didn't tweet about or to Harry until he thanked him, Liam and Niall for coming to the charity football match in October. 

Putting this together, I asked myself what other variable I was missing and it struck me: Jay. People (myself included) get annoyed when Jay tweets Eleanor because it always feels like the least organic thing on the planet, y/y? So I went through her Twitter and this is hilariously obvious graph is the result:

Right off the bat, her spike in January 2012 to/about Harry and then the rapid slide into non-existence takes effect in May. 

Please note the hilarious way in which the Jay and Eleanor trend lines seem to mirror each other. I'm not saying that Jay's account is entirely management-controlled. In fact, I really don't think that's the case. But I do very firmly believe (based on this graph) that she gets fed the things she tweets about/to Eleanor to coincide with Eleanor's Twitter usage. Looking at this graph...it almost appears as if Jay is carrying the bulk of the load in terms of bearding starting in (surprise) July. So while we all get annoyed with Jay, it really doesn't appear her relationship with Eleanor is organic (based on Twitter usage). In short, this does not appear to be a loving relationship between two people (Eleanor & Louis), but rather a carefully orchestrated publicity-fuelled social media campaign. 

Remember how Louis tweeted Eleanor for the first time March 17th? Well guess who tweeted her the first time on March 23rd! Seriously, I can't make this stuff up. The day before the first "denial." 

She first tweeted about Eleanor January 5, 2012. She also first tweeted Yorkshire Tea the day before to tell them Louis loved it and was out. SERIOUSLY I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP.

Jay's last direct tweet at Harry was for his birthday on February 1st. 

Perhaps the most telling and just plain sad statistic was this: in 2011, Louis tweeted about products/artists in a promotional manner 30 times (3% of his total tweets). In 2012, that number rose to 121 times and 20% of his total tweets. The numbers and trend line also follow his tweets to/about Eleanor exactly. I'll talk more about that in my comparative analysis soon.

So this isn't earth-shattering information. This is stuff we all talk about and have felt either from real-time observations or gut instinct. But to have it laid out like this has been eye-opening for me to say the least.

My comparative analysis (coming tomorrow) will shed some light on just how manipulated this entire scheme is and maybe even make some predictions based on it. 

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

Louis Twitter Analysis: 2011

I know "analysis" can sometimes be a dirty word in this fandom, but this is what I'm about to do. If that isn't your cup of tea or if you think I'm a crazy tinhatter, that's cool. This is what I do for a living. I'm a numbers geek. Combine that with my crazy boyband obsession and we're off to the races.

I went through Louis', Harry's and Hannah's twitter accounts for 2011. Hannah's timeline only reaches back to June 1, 2011, but I think the data I've gathered is still significant. 

I will be doing one for 2012 next week, and then a comparison post with lots of fun graphs soon.

Special thanks to Angela (lapelosa) for encouraging this and then taking it to the next level. 

Overall Observations: 

Obviously, 2 striking things here: 1) The spike at the beginning of 2011. Louis tweeted Harry or talked about him 28 times in about 16 days. 2) He tweeted Hannah twice (and never mentioned her/a girlfriend) in the first 7 months of the year, and 1 of those 2 tweets was the "always, always best friends" tweet.

An interesting thing I found was that while Louis' total tweets and his tweets to/about Harry fluctuated a bit, they were always about 10% of his total tweets/month the entire year. Compare that with Hannah.

Hannah: 

September 2010-May 2011

Between September and December 2010, Hannah tweeted to/about Louis 41 times compared to Louis, who tweeted to/about her 6 times, 3 of which were in September. 

Hannah tweeted Harry directly only one time. It was December 3rd, in response to the infamous "Louis' first ever cooking experience" tweet that Louis later called the "most romantic thing he's ever done." Hannah tweeted in reply to Harry "I hope nobody ate it :|" 

Despite saying she got along the best with Harry, Harry never once tweeted Hannah, and Hannah only directly tweeted him one time in December 2010. 

There's an interesting lack of activity in Hannah's twitter history when it comes to Louis February 12-20, 2011. February 12 was the day Harry tweeted the Bruno Mars lyrics "it's a beautiful night, we're looking for something fun to do. Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you." Louis retweeted a tweet on the 20th that said "retweet if you love Harry Styles." 

Hannah's tweets always, always reminded people 1) Louis was her boyfriend 2) she loved him and 3) she knew him better than anyone else. Every. single. tweet. Louis' tweets to/about Hannah, on the other hand, hardly ever acknowledged her as a girlfriend. He hardly ever spoke romantically about her via Twitter on the X-Factor (with the exception of one tweet September 18 in which he said "I love Hannah"), and ceased entirely in January 2011 until they broke up in July. 

June

Hannah tweeted to/about Louis 178 times in 30 days in June 2011. This included everything from saying when she was with him, what they were doing and where they were going to his shoe size, sleeping habits and how he likes his tea. My favorite from this month might be the time Louis said he was going to TGI Friday's and Hannah replied to a fan (who didn't really ask her) what she and Louis ate when they went to TGI Friday's together. It's hilarious. 

She also made fun of Louis' cooking. Let's assume Louis made HER the romantic dinner he talked about a couple of times. If he did and she made fun of him for it on Twitter, you have to think that's a little cold and uncalled for. Therefore, I have to assume she didn't get the romantic meal and was just being a teasing friend. (Harry would NEVER make fun of Louis' meal/cooking). 

Perhaps the most telling thing was when Hannah told a fan her and Louis' 1 year anniversary was March 18th. Louis didn't tweet at all that day, but imagine my shocked glee when I realized it was the day Harry retweeted "Retweet if you love Louis Tomlinson." (Louis' "RT if you love Harry Styles" tweet was March 16th). YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP!

She tweeted a cryptic tweet about Harry this month, too. She said an allergy medicine advertisement about "act before you react" reminded her of Harry and his hayfever.   If Harry does have hayfever, then it wouldn't be weird for that ad to remind Hannah of Harry, right? So it sounds like she’s saying she doesn’t want to be reminded of Harry.

June 23rd is where Hannah's tweets abruptly turn bitter-sounding and dropped way off in frequency. Which happens to be the same day Harry replied to the wrong louis with "put me on the floor." The 24th Harry tweeted "I'm sitting opposite you on the sofa. You look sexy" to which Louis replied "I'm being seduced by your curls." And my favorite thing of all time, Harry's reply "I know. That was my plan." However, I don’t think this has anything to do with her bitter-sounding tweets. If we assume she was bearding, then she would not be offended by the open flirtations.

July

In July, Hannah implies Louis is with her in Doncaster and everything is "hunky dory" again (her phrase, not mine). She tweeted significantly less about him. 58 times in 24 days. She got bitter again around the middle of the month when Louis was home but hung out with all his “male friends” and didn’t see her.  Then, on 7/17, she says she’s deleting her twitter account. She didn't tweet again until the 24th when she implied her and Louis had broken up. She retweeted one of his tweets about fan safety on August 8th and never tweeted or mentioned him again. 

Fans DID ask her at one point why Louis never tweeted her and if he DMed her instead. She said no, he texted. 

Harry: 

There are a couple of dips in the graph for Harry, but that matches up with particularly busy times for the group, so Louis tweeted less overall.

Note: I always assumed the eggs Benedict tweet was tweeted from the Larry flat, but it was tweeted from Los Angeles when the boys were there to record for Up All Night. So I think Harry ordered Louis room service while Louis got in the shower. This is a little cuter to me for some reason. 

I found it interesting that during their busiest months of the year (September, October, November) right when Elounor was beginning, Louis made it a point to tweet about Harry more consistently, openly rebelling in the only way he could. 

I also love that their trend lines pretty much follow each other the entire year.

The last day he tweeted Harry in 2011 was November 22nd, the day they were watching Top Boybands in bed together. He started tweeting Eleanor in earnest November 20th. 

After going through the twitter accounts (and putting together the Larry X-Factor timeline) I cannot logically accept that Hannah watched this all go down and remained a "real" girlfriend. To directly tweet your boyfriend in the volume in which she did and never receive a public acknowledgement from Louis all while Louis is, for all intents and purposes, openly flirting with and dating Harry, does not seem a logical conclusion when presented with these facts. 

So what does this tell us? On the face of it, Louis pretty much appeared to not give a fuck about keeping up appearances. He literally had only 3 fucks to give in 7 months, all while he tweeted to/about Harry a total of 86 times, ranging from the overtly romantic to playful to subtlely sexual. The times Hannah implied Louis was with her that I can tell from her limited timeline (beginning of June and beginning of July), Louis went silent on twitter (and Harry was at home in Cheshire). Harry, by the way, never tweeted Hannah. Harry and Louis basically didn't participate in their own closeting and let Hannah do bulk of the work (at least on social media). 

To be honest, without Harry's weird and hysterical laughter at the mention of "Hannah wants to know" only 2 weeks after the break-up (7:50), I might not be as convinced this was a bearding operation from X-Factor on. But I cannot put Harry's reaction into this narrative and not spit out that Harry was just happy to be DONE with the bearding. Otherwise, he was just a blatant dick to his best friend who was nursing a broken heart. And we all know Harry knows what a broken heart feels like.  

The 2012 stuff will paint a starker picture of the commercialized closeting and product promo his relationship with Eleanor is, and hopefully reveal some additional patterns about Louis, who tweets from his Twitter account, and how much it has changed in the last year. 

[bulletprooflarrybackup-blog]

TIMELINE: TATTOOS TO DATE

This is organized by date. All tattoos are linked to photos, unless they are major tattoos I want to talk about, in which case I have inserted the photos into the post. (Special thanks to thelegohouselove and their wonderful tattoo masterposts with pictures)

Dates are dates I believe they actually got the tattoos. If I can't find a date they got the tattoo, I have indicated it with a "*" which is the first date we saw the tattoo. 

Before we begin, fun facts that might blow your mind:

Harry has 56 tattoos that we know of.

Louis 38 tattoos that we know of. 

Harry got 30 of his 56 tattoos between June and October 2012. That's, on average, about 8/month.

Louis got 10 of his 37 between October and December 2012. That's, on average, about 5/month.

The most Harry ever got on one day is 4. He got 13 in a 7 day period in October 2012. The most Louis ever got on one day was 5 on February 25 of 2013.

Artist counts for Harry: Tom Atkins (10); Liam Sparkes (10); Freddy Negrete (8); Kevin Paul (3). 

Artist counts for Louis: Skunx (7); Liam Sparkes (4); Freddy Negrete (4).

Some of this stuff isn't an exact science. Some of it is me making an educated guess, especially involving some of Harry's tattoos in October and Louis' "The Rogue" vs. "It is what it is" and Harry's 3 Nails. So bear that in mind. 

Over all, this should give you a good idea of just how much the tattoos seem to be an outlet during highly-closeted and stressful times (Harry's June-October spree that gave way to the birds, ship & compass and butterfly and Louis' October-December Haylor spree), not only in date alone, but also in the subject of the tattoo.

Thank you to Kerry, Jess & awesomeanonfriend for the cheerleading and fact-checking and Angela for her insight. 

Let's do this.

Artist Key:

FN: Freddy Negrete, Shamrock Social Club (LA)

LS: Liam Sparkes, Shangri-La Tattoo (London)

KP: Kevin Paul, Kevin Paul Tattoo (London)

TA: Tom Atkin, friend of Harry & Louis', fiance of Lou Teasdale (London)

Skunx: Skunx Tattoo (London)

DC: Maryland tattoo shop where Zayn and Louis went

February 1, 2012:

Star outline (Harry) - FN

June 15, 2012: 

Wont' stop til we surrender (Harry) - Paul Nguyen

Harry got this tattoo about 10 days after Eleanor left the U.S. for the first time on the U.S. leg of the Up All Night tour. It was 2 days before she returned. It was at the beginning of the heightened closeting and increased Elounor pap shots. 

It is also important to note that this is a modified version of the song lyric from "Sweet Disposition" by Temper Trap. 

The song lyric as it is actually written/song:

We won't stop 'til it's overWon't stop to surrender

Harry made the lyrics "won't stop 'til we surrender," using parts of each line to make it about more than one person in a struggle against something or someone else. 

The next day, on June 16th, Ed did the show where he said Harry was "taken" and answered "innit?" when a fan said "By Louis." 

June 23, 2012*: 

Hi (Harry) - Unknown

A for Anne on forearm (Harry) - Unknown

We did not see these two tattoos until June 23 at the Dallas show. Zayn has said in an interview that he "drew" the A on Harry's arm. This might mean he actually tattooed Harry himself. 

The "hi" tattoo appears to be in Louis' handwriting. Just days after the tattoo appeared, Louis appeared very interested in a radio host's tattoo, asking twice if it was in her handwriting. The interview took place in Tampa on June 29. 

Harry: “what does this say?”.Boring stuff about this girl’s tattooed arm.Louis: “did you write it yourself?”.Everyone: “…”.Louis: “is that your handwriting?”.

In Miami, on July 1st, Harry revealed it said "Hi" but was very coy about it. Liam then declared it his favorite tattoo (out of 4 at the time, but it counts god damn it) and looked right at Louis.  

Same, Liam.

The "hi" tattoo seems especially poignant as it came in the middle of a heavy Eleanor presence and Elounor push and Harry had Louis possibly tattoo a word on him in Louis' own handwriting. At the very least, he got a word in Louis' handwriting tattooed on himself. Almost like a brand. 

July 27, 2012*:

I can't change (Harry) - LS 

Birdcage (Harry) - LS

I think Liam Sparkes did the "I can't change" tattoo which we first saw July 27, 2012 because the lettering and tone is identical to these kinds of tattoos that Liam Sparkes does:

I think this is also most likely the day Harry got the birdcage tattoo, which I think is a Liam Sparkes design. 

This is significant because it places Liam early in Harry's tattoo timeline, making the stuff to come in October more important. 

August 9, 2012*: 

Hanger (Harry) - Unknown Artist

I think it's possible this was done by Liam Sparkes on July 27th, as well. 

The "I can't change," birdcage with no door and hanger are the most obvious and heavy-handed series of anti-closeting tattoos Harry has gotten to date. All 3 came between very public Elounor appearances: the France trip in early July and the Olympics on August 10th-12th. 

August 13, 2012:

Padlock (Harry) - Ed Sheeran

17 Black (Harry) - KP

Pingu (Harry) - KP

Iced Gem (Harry) - KP

Ed & Harry got tattoos together the night after the closing ceremonies of the Olympics.

In this article from August 14, Kevin Paul (the tattoo artist) says:

I did a couple of bits on him last night […] They’re really personal to him - the reasons he had them done and stuff, so he doesn’t really want to announce what they are […] One was something from his childhood, and another one was something really important in his life.

I think it's possible the "iced gem" for Gemma is the "something from his childhood." I think the 17Black is the "something really important in his life" because I doubt a matching cartoon-themed penguin tattoo he got with Ed is important enough to be coy about. Ed did the padlock, so Kevin wasn't talking about that one.

August 21, 2012:

Never Gonna/Dance Again (Harry) - TA

"Big” on big toe (Harry) - TA

September 4, 2012:

"Gemma" in Hebrew (Harry) - FN

Shamrock (Harry) - FN

Freddy Negrete posted a picture of Harry from the night of the 4th to his instagram the next day on September 5th.

September 8, 2012:

Green Bay Packers logo (Harry) - FN

Drama Masks/SMCL (Harry) - FN

Filled in star (Harry) - FN

You can see the same flash sheets in the mirror next to Harry's arm as in this picture from Freddy's instagram account.

Louis was most likely with him on this night.

Louis is in the far right side of the picture. You can see his butt, legs and shoes with his rolled jeans. Here he is carrying the shoes from around the same time:

(the shoelace is not important to this...it was the only pic I could find)

Louis also tweeted "ouch :(" on this night:

After this trip, Freddy Negrete responded to a fan via instagram that Harry wanted "a big [tattoo]" on his chest when he was in LA again. 

Late September 2012:

2 Cross with K & M (Harry) - LS

Love Banner (Harry) - LS

These were done in late September, I think. It was after the drama masks but before the "Kiss You" video shoot which was late October. 

If Harry did, in fact, have a large chest piece in mind in early September, it's possible he may have been thinking of the birds by this point. It then might make sense that he would get the "Love" banner and then cover it up so soon afterwards. It could have been a part of his design. This is a Liam Sparkes design that includes birds placed similarly to Harry's with banners and the words "true" and "love" beneath:

October 12, 2012:

Aquarius lines (Harry) - Dublin

99p (Harry) - Dublin

Key/Fish skeleton/arrow? (Harry) - Dublin

Things I can/Things I can't (Harry) - Dublin

Screws on ankles (Louis) - Dublin

October 15, 2012:

Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon Album Cover Art (Harry) - Skunx

Stickman on skateboard (Louis) - Skunx

Quote marks (Louis) - Skunx

Far Away (Louis) - Skunx

Harry had the Pink Floyd tattoo by November 8, but did not get in L.A. that day. He did wear a Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon shirt on October 18, so I think it's quite possible he got that tattoo on the 14th, as it was professionally done (I think).  

This photo was released/found on October 17th, which was after Louis got his tattoo. He appears to be wearing Harry's shirt. Kevin Paul then retweeted an article about Louis getting the tattoo, seemingly implying that he was the artist. But he was not, as that is not his shop. His shop has wood floors, while Louis appears to be in a chair at Skunx.  

We first saw Louis' stick man tattoo on October 16th at a radio interview, but on October 15th, Louis tweeted they were on a video shoot at 1:30 PM (I believe it was "Little Things"), so I think it's most likely he got the tattoo on the morning of the 15th.  You can see in this gif from the video shoot he has that arm wrapped as one would when they just got a tattoo. You do not keep the wrapping on for long, so it was most likely on the way to the shoot.

We first saw the quotation marks on October 22nd and the "Far Away." on October 29th (though it was rumored he had this one as early as October 22nd as well), but I think he definitely got them before then, so the 14th seems most likely given their schedule that week.   I believe the "Kiss You" video was shot October 18-19th in London, and Louis had all 3 tattoos and Harry had all 9 new ones in the video. So my best guess is October 14th for all of them, but definitely in the window of October 13-17. (Sidenote: Shooting these videos so close together makes their surprise at "Little Things" being the next single off the album a little clearer. Perhaps "Kiss You" was meant to be the next one but plans were changed.) P.S. If Louis did get the stickman on the 15th and wore Harry's shirt, Harry then wore it on the 16th to a radio interview, but they totally don't live together anymore. 

October 17, 2012:

3 days after Louis began getting tattoos in earnest, Harry posted this photo of a couple's tattoo to his instagram and said "Siiiiiick." 

It is most likely that Harry found this picture by googling "best couple tattoos" where he found this slideshow of 75 couple's tattoo pictures. This photo is 62 of 75 and is found on the 5th page.  The same day, during a radio interview, Louis indicated the "it is what it is" and butterfly tattoo combo may have already been in the works as he looked at Harry and raised his eyebrows when someone said the phrase "It is what it is." Video here at 7:22. 

Louis made a joke during Haylor by saying "it is what it is" which Harry found hilarious in December 2012:

Maybe the butterfly/"it is what is is combo" was the first of many "couple's tattoos" plans they've had, but the last executed. 

October 18, 2012*:

LDN (Harry) -TA

NY (Harry) - TA

LA (Harry) - TA

Home Made (Harry) - TA

Guitar (Harry) - Unknown

Can I stay? (Harry) - Unknown

Might as well... (Harry) - Unknown

Black heart (Harry) - Unknown

November 8, 2012:

Birds (Harry) - FN

November 9, 2012:

4 Birds (Louis) - FN

Oops! (Louis) - FN

December 6, 2012:

Camera (Louis) - NYC

Stereo heart (Louis) - NYC

December 19, 2012: 

Ship (Harry) - FN

Compass (Louis) - FN

Technically, they got these tattoos about 18 hours apart. Harry very late the 18th/early morning of the 19th and Louis the night of the 19th. So I'm counting both as the 19th. I think we all know why these are important, and if not, please see this tag.

January 23, 2013:

Handshake (Harry) - LS

Butterfly (Harry) - LS

Large bird on arm (Louis) - LS

Paper plane (Louis) - LS

78  (Louis) -LS  I'm putting this here as we may have seen it in Japan through his shirt. Recently, Roxy and Shay figured out he had it at the wax figure sitting which was in January or February based on Harry's tattoos. I think it was January 23rd, because I think Liam did it based on style and it would have looked very fresh in the wax figure footage if he got it right before the tour started, which it does not. Therefore, I think it was the 23rd. 

On January 23, Harry was outside Shangri-La tattoo parlour in London getting money from an ATM.  This was posted to Twitter:

Then, the 24th, we saw Louis' bird for the first time:

This was just 2 days after the got back from Japan and just 2 weeks after the end of Haylor. I think it's clear from Louis' references to "it is what it is" as early as October that the butterfly and "it is what it is" tattoos were planned for several months. But to start the process so soon after Haylor and the loveliness that was Japan seems especially poignant. They made it through the darkest months together. The tattoos almost seem like a brand. 

February 19, 2013:

February 23, 2013*:

3 nails (Harry) - LS

Harry had the 3 nails by February 23 (the first day of the Take Me Home tour in the UK). I think he got it sometime during the week of the Brits and the first show in London. 

February 25, 2013:

Cup of tea (Louis) - Skunx

Globe (Louis) - Skunx

Horseshoe (Louis) - Skunx

Louis and Liam got tattoos at Skunx in London before going to Glasgow. Louis posted the "cup of tea" to instagram that day, but we saw the others at the show the next day.  

March 23, 2013*: 

"G" for Gemma on shoulder (Harry) - Unknown

"A" for Anne on shoulder (Harry) - Unknown

March 25, 2013: 

The Rogue (Louis) - LS

"It is what it is" (Louis) - LS

April 24, 2013: 

Stag (Louis) - AKA London (Michele Servadio)

Modified stereo heart (Louis) - AKA London (Michele Servadio)

5 lines (Louis) - AKA London (Michele Servadio)

AKA London is affiliated with Liam Sparkes. I'm not sure if he tattooed Louis there himself, or if someone else did his design for him, but the stag and modified stereo heart designs are Liam Sparkes, I believe. 

June 24, 2013: 

Bomb (Louis) - DC

Lit match (Louis) - DC

Spider web (Louis) - DC

Rope/Infinity symbol (Louis) - DC

July 1, 2013: 

Cross on hand (Harry) - NYC

August 9, 2013:

Tic-Tac-Toe board (Louis) - FN

Band with card suites (Louis) - FN

Bus 1 (Louis) - FN

Louis went to the tattoo parlor very late Friday night/very early Saturday morning (August 9/10). He went with Eleanor, Zayn, Liam, Liam's mother and several other people. Zayn also has the "Bus 1" tattoo (as does their bus driver).  It is interesting to note that the heart on the band may be turned toward Louis intentionally as the club and spade face outward. The diamond makes it difficult to tell.

September 10, 2013*:

Rose Tattoo (Harry) - Unknown L.A.

October 11, 2013:

Pacman Tattoo (Louis) - Unknown Auckland, New Zealand

October 26, 2013*:

Spider web (Louis) - Unknown 

January 11, 2014*: 

Anchor (Harry) - Unknown L.A.

The anchor is yet another tattoo from this website, which is nothing definitive but something to file away because wow, that's a lot of tattoos coming from the same website that Harry & Louis both have. Most anchor tattoos are done with a rope, but Harry's doesn't have a rope. Guess who has a rope. In the same mirrored position on the opposite wrist. Yes. This is real life. 

(sample rope and anchor tattoos)

To add insult to injury, the first time we saw Louis in England in 2014 was miraculously the same day we first saw Harry with the anchor tattoo (there is cause to believe Louis was in LA the previous week).

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, Louis showed up in England wearing a shirt with a giant anchor on it, much like when he wore the "it is what it is" shirt after he got that tattoo in 2013 but before we could tell what the tattoo said. 

In short, Louis Tomlinson is a Harry Styles-loving troll.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHY.

January 16, 2014*: 

Book (Harry) - Unknown L.A.

February 18, 2014:

Anatomical heart (Harry) - LS

Laurels (Harry) - LS

I put the laurels here on the same day as the anatomical heart, because we know Harry was at Liam's shop that day and got the heart.  Liam recently posted this image on his instagram of laurels he did and they are very similar to Harry's design, as well. I think it's most likely Harry got them this day, as well. 

March 8, 2014: 

Arrow (Louis) - FN

So a little over 2 weeks after Harry got the heart, Louis got an arrow. Much like this concept except spread over 2 people.

May 8, 2014:

Brasil! (Harry) - Unknown (Brazil)

August 15, 2014: 

Skull & Crossbones (Louis) - East River Tattoo (NYC)

September 7, 2014*:

Smiley face on left thigh (Louis) - Unknown

November 10, 2014:

Mermaid (Harry) - LS

You Booze, You Lose & Liquor Bottle (Harry) - LS

November 25, 2014:

Dagger (Louis) - Bondi Ink

Smiley Face on wrist (Louis) - Bondi Ink

Given a Chance (Louis) - Bondi Ink

After the ARIA Awards, Louis (and Zayn) went to Bondi Ink in Sydney where Louis goot 2 new tattoos (picture).  The dagger is in the exact same place as Harry's rose on the opposite arm. It is also from this website and is something we have been talking about happening for over a year. 

A little over 2 weeks after the bullshit 2.0 tweets, Louis went and got the dagger tattoo. It's significance cannot be overstated.

April 17, 2015*

Tiger (Harry) - Unknown

Fans first saw the tattoo in Australia on the On the Road Again Tour in February 2015, but it’s possible he’s had it since July 2014. Harry confirmed it was a tiger on the Radio 1 Breakfast interview filmed on 12 November 2015.

December 4, 2015

“Late, Late” (Harry) - Boo Boo Negrete (FN)

Harry got the words “late, late” on his arm by the heart after playing (and losing) a game on the James Corden show.

December 19, 2015

28 (Louis) - Nick Colella (Great Lakes Tattoo)

Ass tattoo (Louis) - Nick Colella (Great Lakes Tattoo) 

Beer Mug (Louis) - Nick Colella (Great Lakes Tattoo) 

Louis was in Chicago to be seen with and near Danielle Campbell’s family. In the middle of a hilarious fan service tour of the greater Chicagoland area, Louis went to Great Lakes Tattoo near Noble Square and got “several” tattoos according to the artist and fans he later met. As we see the tattoos and confirm the location and design, I’ll update this portion of the timeline.

December 29, 2015*

Eagle (Harry) - Unknown UK

Sometime between 7 December 2015 and 23 December 2015, Harry got the eagle tattoo, covering the lone tattoo on his right arm: “Things I Can.”

The timing appears symbolic as they group heads into their much anticipated break, with many fans speculating they are leaving Syco Music and modes! management. Eagle tattoos are often symbols of freedom.

January 31, 2017*

Arlo & Jackson (Harry) - Unknown

Harry was seen with 2 new tattoos in LA, but a stalker fan from the UK knew what the “Arlo” tattoo said before anyone saw it, so it is presumed he got both tattoos sometime while in the UK in late 2016 or early 2017. 

On April 20, 2017, Harry said on the Graham Norton show the “Jackson” tattoo was for his godson, though it is unknown who the child or parents are. 

March 25, 2017*

Insect & “R” (Harry) - Unknown

Is it a bee? Is it a fly? Is it some ambiguous insect metaphor he’ll wax poetic about at a later date? Or is it just a “fat bug.” The world may never know for sure.

Turns out, IT A BEE.

In a radio interview Harry did with the BBC 1 Breakfast Show on 7 April 2017, Harry was asked about the tattoo but declined to comment, instead deflecting to his “Jackson” tattoo. All he had to say was “It’s a fly,” but he didn’t. 

The antennae of flies are very close together and short as seen here:

The antennae of bees are set further apart and longer, as seen here:

Harry’s tattoo clearly has the widely set attenae of bees:

So we can conclude Harry either doesn’t know what bees look like and meant to get a fly tattoo but - darn the bad luck - got a bee tattoo, or he INTENTIONALLY GOT A BEE TATTOO.

FURTHERMORE, this is a guy who has a “thigh-ger” tatoo (tiger on his thigh) and a butterfly on his stomach and “big” on his big toe and he just got a bee on his ARM, at essentially the same time Steve Aoki referred to Louis’ dedicated fans as an “army of bees.” 

So basically, when asked, Harry wouldn’t comment on it, it anatomically appears to be a bee, Steve called Louis’ fans an ‘army of bees’, and then Harry got a tattoo of what appears to be a bee on his arm. 

11 May 2017*

Cross with B on chest - Unknown

27 Jul 2018

X on arm - Robbie Williams

Unknown

Screws on ankles (Harry) - We first heard about them October 12th when Louis and Liam got matching screws. I think Zayn did them in a hotel room. 

Triangle ankle tattoo (Louis) - Possibly done in Dublin or in London at Skunx. 

Like I said, this isn't an exact science. I've tried to figure out when they actually got the tattoos vs. when we first saw if it was at all possible. Some of it may be off by a day or a few days, but these are pretty good ballpark guesses. Let me know if there's anything glaringly wrong and I will be happy to fix it. 

I'll update this as long as they continue to get tattoos.