#RBB and SBB

[hoovesandfloorpaws]

Oh that RBB/SBB post you reblogged makes me so sad 😔 I know it’s been a long time since the start of 1D but I really hope Louis is okay. It’s almost like Louis’ campiness/flamboyance has been masked over time while Harry has fully embraced that side of himself (which I LOVE!!) but I’m still just sad about Louis. I wish we could have seen him blossom like Harry in that way.

Of course this is all just speculation. Maybe Louis’ current outward public appearance/behaviour is exactly who he is now and/or how he wants to be perceived in the world. It’s probably not just black and white.

Oh, anon, I'm extending a warm hug to you 🥺🫂💖 and huge same; it massively tore at my queer little heartstrings to read that post.

It was so incredibly insightful and well-written and these parts were so painful:

"We can’t know why consciously camp Louis shined so briefly [...]. But I believe (I think it’s a reasonably common belief) that somewhere between auditioning on X-Factor with a girlfriend and the UK media blitz of autumn 2011, Louis Tomlinson became someone who was quite comfortable with being seen as gay. I’d go further and say that part of this was embracing the conscious, coded, queerness of camp British culture. [...]

But he only got the briefest window to share that part of himself. It was one of the first things that got taken away, [...]   There’s a huge sad irony there – that this code, that was developed specifically so that gay men could be visible in a time when they were completely marginalised, was taken away from a young gay man, because it was too gay, in a supposedly more liberal time. [...] The bears' elaborate queer codes are tucked away from the stage. Because their owners cannot (yet) be visible in the way that the people they put in frames have been."

I'm not nearly as eloquent as the author of that post, @dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram, but I will try. -- To what you wrote, dear anon, I want to say you are so valid!

I think the process and inner workings over the last 14 years were very complex and we only have crumbs of puzzle pieces here and there, so that leaves room for a lot of speculation. (which can be maddening sometimes, but also good to ponder different perspectives).

The second they were put into 1D together, they were supposed to make many people a fuckton of money. I cannot even begin to fathom the immense pressure they were under; during and also post-1D. at least they had each other as support, as well as the other 3 boys and a few close friends and family, yet ultimately it was always them who were going to be the most impacted. At least they could go through it together.

(side note: can you imagine the gigantic strain all of the closeting and stunts must've been on their relationship? and they still came out on top! that's a huge testament to their communication and commitment to each other. 🥹💙💚)

I always felt it remarkable how differently the angles of closeting were approached, certainly because of Harry's and Louis' different marketed images, but perhaps also because they are different characters who come from different backgrounds and maybe also because of their relationship dynamic and slight age difference (which is always a bit more remarkable during the teenage years they were in at the beginning).

Ultimately I can only guess why exactly it was Louis who was the one to always verbally respond or make a statement about Larry; why it was only Louis' Twitter account who was used for the denials; why it was Louis who never touched a rainbow flag during a 1D show, not even after Harry had started in 2015 -- all this while Lou did and said a LOT of stuff that clearly showed who he really is, who he's in love and in a steady longtime relationship with; all this while RBB and SBB spoke to us so clearly it sometimes still feels like a fever dream.

I can only speculate, but -- when it comes to their closeting, I think the sad reality is that Harry and Louis were never truly set up to benefit from deals that were struck. While I can imagine it was even sold to them as a positive thing at first; a white lie, a protection of their privacy perhaps, etc, they were both so young when they entered into those probable agreements (even while I hope they both had some kind of legal representation!), it was still ultimately their own choice to say yes or no, but in an industry where you are still a near-nobody and you get the offer of a lifetime plus there's the career fate of three other boys on your shoulders as well, that "choice" becomes an illusion. the power-imbalances were just too great.

As written in the OP's post, in 2011 "Louis [...] became someone who was quite comfortable with being seen as gay. I’d go further and say that part of this was embracing the conscious, coded, queerness of camp British culture.", but then it "[...] was one of the first things that got taken away.", because it was still considered "too gay".

And I think if someone hasn't lived it, they can't imagine the toll it takes on an impressionable teenage mind when they are told again and again that their sexuality and relationship are a liability, a danger, something better kept under wraps, something that the public will not accept or endorse; something that might or will ultimately ruin things for them and the other boys. Maybe those things were ever said out loud or bluntly, maybe they were expressed in more cunning ways, but those things are simply everything a forced closet implies.

What was done to them was manipulation of the most sinister kind, of this I am sure. I remember Harry saying often in recent years how scared he was back then to "make a mistake" and mess things up for the other boys. (I think we can all imagine what he meant by that) And how he recounted crying in disbelief and relief when he finally signed his new contract after they announced the hiatus. Him covering up his "Things I can't" tattoo with an eagle (which is a symbol for freedom) in Dec 2015 (1 month before the start of the hiatus) feels pretty significant to me, too.

Still, it takes years to unlearn and re-learn certain conditioning and I want to make it a point to say the closet is never the fault of the closeted person. I can only speculate, but it seems to me that parts of that conditioning and a closeting mindset still live inside of the choices that are being made for their respective careers. Holivia, Elk and babygate-still-not-ended are three of the most glaring examples. Without insight, it's hard for me to gauge reasoning, though, so I will leave these topics at this.

Also Louis apparently got the short end of the stick post-1D, with him still(?) being blacklisted by the powers that be (*clenches fist* fucking SC). But I cannot say much more to that, because I haven't caught up enough on it, yet. To me personally it always felt like SC tried to keep an iron fist especially on Louis and I can only hypothesise why. Maybe Louis was always most defiant to SC verbally, behind closed doors? Maybe it's got to do with SC's own suspected closeting? Maybe Louis had to make some sort of deal with him years ago? I shudder to even think about why SC is still "allowed" to insert himself into the boys' business so much (as evidently last seen at Liam's funeral). He's such a powerful asshole.

But back to Harry and Louis -- they do (to this day) present themselves differently to the general public in regards to their sexuality and relationship -and I share your feelings, anon, of wishing that things would've gone differently for Louis. 🥺 I think this is a very valid wish to have; for the people you admire to be as free and happy and seen as possible. For them to gain their full freedom and happiness on their own terms. For them to get to be their most authentic selves (*Louis voice* "Flamboyant!"). And eventually, maybe, for them to get to come out together (because if they do, I personally don't think they'd want to do it separately), if ever / whenever they want to and ideally, with a level of publicity they chose. Their potential coming out is a very multi-facetted discussion that I'm too sleepy to get further into, though.

To conclude my too-long-answer (sorry!!) -- I am still catching up on the past 6 years of Harry and Louis, but from what I have seen of the recent years, I have a feeling Louis does feel very seen..

..and that he's responding the most that he currently can / is comfortable with 🥹🏳️‍🌈

(melting at this decor of Louis' tourbus in 2022: another bear with a Louis smiley rainbow flag 🥹🧸🏳️‍🌈) (source post)

And I feel the same way about Harry. ("Feelin' myself. 😌🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️")

Harry and Louis have both been brave -- together and individually - in so many ways over the last 14 years. It left them at different points in their public images and just like you, anon, I sometimes ask myself "Maybe Louis’ current outward public appearance/behaviour is exactly who he is now and/or how he wants to be perceived in the world." - it's not impossible. It's all a journey, for every member of our community. And Louis and Harry are still on it and have not reached the final destination, yet.

Harry's taken a more public road in 2015 than Louis was allowed to do and from the way Louis looked at Harry while he was bounding across the stage with the flags every night, he loved seeing his boy like that and likely silently cheered for him; knew Harry was doing it for him also. After all, they are a package deal est. 2010.

I'm secure in my belief that we will one day see Louis feel ready to pick up a rainbow flag on stage; that he'll raise it and lift a middle finger to everyone who ever doubted; that he'll let that flag hang from his mic stand for himself and Harry and all of us who always support him; who see him -- now and also back in the earliest days, where a 19 year old very camp Louis adopted British gay code for himself and happily sung his heart out at the G-A-Y next to the boy he's in love with.

I believe Louis when he says the last 2 years were incredibly happy for him. And despite it being an awful and tough time (for Harry, Zayn) and him right now, he's also said something he's always had and always will have is resilience. I hope he takes all the time he needs. Luckily, Harry and him have each other in this, too. Also I can imagine that Liam's sudden passing might have shifted their perspectives on a few things, as well.. so we will see.

I definitely can't wait to see Louis on tour again, when he gets to share himself exactly the way he's comfortable with 🥹

Then..

and now ✨

(gif credit 1 + gif credit 2, both by the amazing @delicatepointofview)

additional resources aka. two of my fave tags of all time to just spend time in: the Louis and rainbows and Harry and rainbows tag and this post of Louis using Polari ("a secret language gay men used popularly in the 50s to communicate with each other in England [...] commonly used until the 90s") all by the wonderful @daisiesonafield-blog

thank you for the kind message 💖 x

[twopoppies]

RBB and SBB really were such a wild moment. Every time I think about it, I remember everything it meant and everything we learned about the LGBTQ+ community. But I also think about how much H and L must’ve needed to communicate and express themselves, and how suffocating their situation must’ve been at that time for them to use the bears. Like, people don’t realize how suffocating and mentally exhausting it can be to live in the closet, even when it seems like you have everything. And it's even worse when you have to pretend constantly.

I really hope that one day, if they ever want to, they get to tell their story on their own terms.

.

[songsofhome]

Thinking about two stuffed bears dressed up in wedding attire with a framed photo signed “Love Larry”.

[eatsleepmemerepeat]

I sent my dad (he’s a larrie) screenshots/the story of what happened today at H’s show (the unhinged bluegreening). And he told me to “stop larrying & get a job”. I can’t believe he doesn’t take my work as a full time clown seriously🤡

[so-idialed-9]

This Jade Purple Brown Build-A-Bear release is giving Louis' rose-themed 28 clothing line and leaking music Converse and Harry's Dazed photo shoot and Stones T shirt

[larriescompass]

i still cannot get over the fact that i brought rbb to the asbury show and LOUIS FUCKING POINTED AT IT, SMILED, AND NODDED???!?? literally an out of body experience.

i cried lol.

[cynicallarrie]

got me thinking about rbb again and god these fucking bears. this has been rehashed again and again but i just. whatever the truth of who ran them (and i think it's very likely that they weren't first organised by the band), the guys at the very least knew about them. on so many levels i could never agree that they didn't. the handwriting on that certificate looks astoundingly similar to harry's particularly e/g/n (pic of handwritten carolina lyrics in the cd booklet for his first album?) and their reactions in the xmas sweater interview will never not be ridiculous. i dont think that rbb is a solid indicator of a relationship at the time but if nothing else that they participated in a project that was by sep 2015 clearly fuelling people's belief in the "conspiracy". i can't get behind the idea that whoever was dressing them wasn't semiaware of how they might be and were interpreted, esp during the second period they appeared. like even without understanding the extent of "larry", the theory was publicised enough that i think it's unlikely people working regularly on 1D's tours wouldn't at least have some vague awareness of it. still, it may not have started off w any connection to H and L at all but once larries started drawing connections it didn't stop, the "references" became more pointed and the new twitter acc was created. though i also think it's possible the bears were encouraged at a higher level to direct fan attention elsewhere after the responses to L's pregnancy announcement (but i wasn't in the fandom at that time and am not sure what % larries made up or whether it's likely there would have been a coordinated effort to appease a group when the band was ending anyway). it's all bizarre but what i really end up with is that no matter the truth of it H and L have indulged larries' beliefs in some ways - and honestly i think that's their prerogative whether or not they were ever together, business is business. but it does frustrate me that people are so adamant that larries have pulled all of this shit out of thin air (and lbr that does apply to a ton of things) when there are multiple examples across the years of them playing into it. am very sorry for ranting about stuff that's a decade old lol

Well, yes, RBB&SBB were very pointedly making Larry references. They were even dressed in wedding attire at one point and posed with a framed photo of Larry Grayson that was signed in marker with a big "Larry" on it, as if whoever was behind it was trying to make it as obvious as they could that they were making a reference to Larry Stylinson.

And a lot of other things I won't go into because there are countless bear masterposts already out there.

The handwriting thing is too weird to me, and it's also weird that 1D and their team not only refused to talk about the bears even when questioned but that 1D themselves seemed startled and nervous in that interview. Like, "what do we do in this situation?" and looking to one another for guidance.

The bears felt like a protest of some kind, but then again no one in management did a thing about it. Maybe they let them get away with it because it was essentially just memes.

Except I think the social media account got pulled after the notorious countdown? "Bears coming out of hibernation"? That's the closest I think we ever got to a coming out, if you ask me.

[ashleyyroses]

Sometimes I’m just sitting here and then my mind goes “Omg the rainbow bears” 🌈

[hoovesandfloorpaws]

then 💙💚

and now 😌💛💙

[twopoppies]

Ginaa, why is Harry RBB and Louis is SBB? I thought it was the other way around. I remember back in 2016 people were saying Louis was rbb because he was the mastermind behind the bears.

I never saw anyone saying that. They did the bears together. Why does RBB have to be the mastermind, though?

RBB had green smiley face stickers, SBB had blue. RBB had the wedding dress, SBB had the suit. Over and over again RBB had props that related to Harry, SBB had props that related to Louis. Just look through the masterposts, it’s really not that hard to decipher.

[louisisalarrie]

And the bears. How crazy was that? How did you feel having to work out what was going on each show, or tweet? And do you ever feel like the fandom missed something they were trying to say? If I ever think maybe all this is just nuts, and I should ignore it all and stick to the narrative we’re being fed, I think of the rainbow bears, and that sets me right! 😂

THE BEARS literally like how do we even explain that like… what???? “The crew did it” THE CREW DOES NOT HAVE TIME TO FUCK AROUND WITH GAY BEARS I can promise you that. Crew at shows are busy as hell. I see it literally every day. There is no WAY they are bothering to dress up 2 bears with gay messages and also run a Twitter account for them. It’s just not plausible. But the interview about it is so telling I’m obsessed with it HAHA

^ harry looking straight at Louis during this question

And niall breaking his neck to see louis’ reaction is my absolute favourite thing HAHAHAH like how could you POSSIBLY believe the gay bears weren’t larry?????

[28littlethings]

[larriescompass]

right after kmm, louis came over to my side and i held rbb high in the air. here is the video of louis pointing at me and rbb 😭

NOT MY VIDEO

[cynicallarrie]

different anon I’m sorry but in terms of compelling evidence, the bears aren’t that much better than astrology since so much of them are up to interpretation. Sure they make very explicit gay references, but the stuff fans associated with babygate especially could just as easily been flat references to a baby existing, rather than some covert exposé on how fake it was. There’s too much wiggle room. Me personally I don’t think there’s enough evidence to 100% say it was HL controlling them the whole time. That isn’t to say there’s zero evidence, I simply have reasonable doubt. Maybe there’s more I haven’t seen, but so much of the fandom treats everything about the bears as settled facts everyone already knows about, it’s gotten to the point where newer fans like me trying to ask questions about things we weren’t there for get treated like antis for not just accepting everything second hand, no matter how little sense it makes. I want to be logical and live in reality like you said, and I’m not saying the bears should be debunked or thrown out or whatever, I’m just saying there’s too many holes for me to consider them some of the best evidence we have.

And if you’re just going to tell me I’ll never understand/be a real fan because i wasn’t there from the beginning, please just don’t. I get enough gatekeeping from older larries from the rest of the fandom, i don’t want to get it from a blog i actually like.

Don't worry! I totally get what you're saying. I think for every piece of Larry evidence, there is usually wiggle room like you say. It's when you consider it all accumulatively rather than individually that you realize it's far more likely that Larry is real than not. Like, you could see that clip of Harry saying he'd like to "marry someone from another planet" while looking at Louis right after Louis said he'd like to have a "hit single on another planet", and you could brush something like that off as a joke and say it isn't enough evidence to conclusively say that there's an entire secret relationship going on there; that's actually what I did a lot as I combed through masterposts when I was first introduced to Larry. It's good to try to debunk things. That's kind of how science works anyway. You're supposed to try to prove your hypothesis wrong, and if you are unable to prove it wrong, then that means your hypothesis is probably right.

I think at the time of the bears, I had been in the fandom since around October 2014. I had read the masterposts and I'd seen everything that went down in 2014 and early 2015 in real time. I had already been fully convinced at that point.

Then when the bears started happening, they just kept making obvious Larry references, references to RBB being Harry and SBB being Louis, and then for me the real kicker was the "Love, Larry" photo frame with the bears having a wedding. But the main point definitely needs to be "were Harry and Louis behind them?", and, like I said before, there's never going to be huge evidence for them being behind it. It's not like we're going to catch a video of them dressing the bears up since naturally they would do that in private, and it's not like they'll admit to it either. That goes for pretty much everything in regards to Larry, otherwise we would have caught them kissing on camera in 4K by now (and I've said before that it isn't hard to hide a relationship, though Louis and Harry have done a not-so-great job of hiding it aside from not kissing publicly lol). You have to consider everything accumulatively and try to think of what outcome is the most likely.

So let me compile a few links if you want to read through/watch them. These are pretty much the main reasons why I'm convinced it was Harry and Louis behind the bears:

Source 1

Source 2

Source 3

Source 4

Source 5 (Watch their individual reactions and listen to the way in which Harry responds.)

Source 6 (SKIP TO 6:30 AND WATCH UNTIL ABOUT 7:07) [Listen to the way in which Louis responds and note the duping delight on his face (which is when a liar smiles in a way as if they're about to laugh) when he says "no" near the end. It's easy to conclude that he's lying rather than telling the truth, because of his overall body language, anxiousness to defend himself (this can happen to even innocent people when accused of something falsely, but that's usually only when the thing they are being accused of is something serious, such as cheating on their partner or something that could put their job on the line; if being behind the rainbow bears could put Louis's job on the line, it's safe to conclude that it would have put WHOEVER was behind it's job on the line, which adds less fuel to the notion that it was the sound engineer behind them, who was just there to do a job and was getting paid well to do it), and his word choice.]

If we looked through an entire list of every Larry proof in order to find the best evidence, in my personal opinion, RBB&SBB would at least make ~the top three. But that's of course only my opinion.

[hoovesandfloorpaws]

an ode to RBB and SBB 🧸🏳️‍🌈🧸

inspired by this beautiful post by @holyshit 🌈

i just rolled around in bed again yelling to myself out loud, because THIS ALL HAPPENED!!

So I want to talk about Rainbow Bondage Bear and Sugar Baby Bear (RBB and SBB) for a little bit. (link leads to a post of all pictures of them that had been posted to their twitter account @Rbbsbbofficial, before it was deactivated)

A timeline for RBB and SBB going up to Dec 12th, 2015 can be found here: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 (i might add links here, because I'm sure a timeline post with screenshots exists here on Tumblr, too)

The second picture?? I had forgotten there weren’t just blue and green stickers with the daily emojis :) or :( on it, but also always TWO GIANT BLUE AND GREEN LIGHT BEAMS POINTED DIRECTLY AT THEM. like, you see how dark it is pre-show start. and those blue and green beams shine down there on those queens in the fur like the second coming of gay jesus - that was so iconic!

and then THIS happened???

and then the official RBB and SBB Twitter account tweeted this??

and then the number remained active for years!

PR-Louis: "Honestly, i'll tell u nao, hOnEsTlY! god's honest TrUth [...] no, honestly! i don't fink i've ever seen it in the.. in the flesh?" LMFAO Louis, love, if you say honestly 3 more times you might summon HIM:

but for real real -- i will never get over RBB and SBB and everything connected to it and this post is absolute emotional whiplash in the BEST way.

Harry and Louis (and everyone who helped them with it), y’all are legends for that. They knew we support them and they did ALL THAT and went those extra miles all the time to communicate back to us - to people who see them; understand the signs they send; who love them for who they are and support them through it all, in whichever small or bigger ways we can.

and I want to highlight, that sourcing all these different small props while almost constantly being on tour in different cities, countries, and continents took time and dedication. knowing tour life myself, the people who usually have the most (but still not much!) free time, are in fact the artists, not the crew. I want to make a point of this, because I saw some people back then saying Harry and Louis "wouldn't have time to do all this". They did.

In the entire context of Harry&Louis' relationship and within the inner workings of who and what One Direction was back then and still is - the queer legacy of RBB and SBB needs to be remembered.

The bears were so obviously something only between Harry&Louis and us. It was always clear who the bears wanted to communicate to. If you watch interviews of them being asked about them, you quickly realise -to this day-, they don't want to discuss them in this way.

Always ask yourself really why.

Always look for the things that are not being said; not being done.

Ask why the bears were clearly visible and there at so many shows and ALL of 1D completely ignored them, when they were so busy reading fan signs and picking up on writings on arms or flags in the crowd, making lighthearted jokes about it all, or Harry reading the "LARRY" on the arm of a fan and signalling his own arm to them like 'this, here!' and then giving multiple thumb ups? Harry and Louis (who were still very active on Twitter in 2014 and 2015) didn't Retweet or Like a single one of the bears' tweets, even though RBB and SBB were clearly linked to their shows, their locations, personal friends, live band members.

Most importantly, on Twitter and at shows, RBB and SBB were always referencing things that demonstrably exclusively tied to Harry&Louis' interests and personal lives. Sometimes even before it was made public.

RBB and SBB were an enigma that conveyed a powerful message. And they were one of the most fun and sweetest ways for Harry&Louis to communicate with us. I'm really grateful for their existence.

It should remain their personal choice to address them. I personally don't ever need to hear Harry and Louis publicly explain them to the world.

The people who know, know.

We know. 🧸🏳️‍🌈🧸

[rainbowlarentsblog]

Unfortunately now the number is no longer active, but all of this happened

Hi Hope! Do you have a favorite rbb/sbb anecdote?

• when RBB and SBB had a photo out with them for multiple shows until we figured out who it was (which just showed how they were keeping up with fandom discussion). the person ended up being Larry Grayson and the photo chosen had a signature that read “Love, Larry.” 15 minutes before the show started, the photo was gone

• when they were photographed with the drag queens

• the first time RBB was pictured reading a book which was k.d. Lang’s “All You Get is Me” which uncover’s k.d.’s deepest emotions, from commitment to animal rights that threatened to ruin her career, to her coming to terms with a sexuality that made her an unwitting poster girl for the lesbian and gay community.

• When they were sat with photos of Princess Diana and Prince Charles who suffered from rumors of unwanted pregnancies and secret relationships while the babygate news was still fresh

• when the bears had just started their twitter account, they began a countdown on October 20th. during this time they were absent from the stage. On the 22nd of October, that’s when 1D cancelled their first ever show

• when the bears reappear, they have literal SECURITY GUARDS protecting them and two stage lights colored blue and green spotlit on the bears (how the fuck did any of this happen i’m still in a daze)

• when a photo appeared of RBB with one of harry’s childhood friends and they were at a gay bar. coincidentally, louis was across the street from that bar the same night.

• the fucking CERTIFICATE for being “Fabulous” that was obviously written in harry’s handwriting

• the bears having their own phone number that is still active to this DAY

• when it was proven that the bears travel? with them? off tour? and they were in LA for jimmy kimmel. that night on Kimmel he did a dumb sketch trying to get a 1D potato account to have as many followers as possible which was obviously a dig at fans. later, RBB & SBB posted on their twitter a photo of them with angry eyebrows and a potato masher.

• everything about this fucking photo from the keys to the tabs to the home screen. the attention to detail??

• when the band went home for the holidays and the bears only changed their location to 🏡 when both louis and harry were in England.

• when the bears posted a photo of their dvd and book collection and one of the books had a library sticker that read it was from holmes chapel

• RBB being photographed in front of “The Bears Head Inn” when it was only 5 minutes away from holmes chapel.

• the day of the “birth” RBB posted a photo of him on the toilet reading a “Little Book of Calm”

• the day the boys have all announced they’ve left modest management and the bears appeared with 22 (on Harry’s 22nd birthday no less) and them eating cake without any clothes or sunglasses on for the first time. (remember SBB had a police hat for a while and there were photos where he was being held up by string)