Louis Tomlinson -- one-fifth of boyband One Direction -- doesn't want to hear any more references to "Larry" in comments on his Instagram site.

 

Now, if you are too cool for school, you may not know that “Larry” is short for “Larry Stylinson,” which is a mashup of Tomlinson’s name with that of bandmate Harry Styles (pictured, inset). The name is part of a popular online activity known as shipping (or fan fiction or slash fiction), which is the writing of a fictional relationship between two famous people, usually both men. (They can be real, like Harry and Louis, or made-up, like Captain Kirk and Spock from Star Trek.)

 

Rumors that the two boy banders have been in a relationship started when they met on the talent show The X Factor, before One Direction was even created. It didn't help that as recently as 2012 the two shared a £3 million rented flat; something soured in the friendship and when they decided to go their own ways, they would only speak to each other for work-related matters.

 

At the time, Tomlinson took to Twitter to complain about the name. He tweeted: "Larry is the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard. I'm happy, why can't you accept that[?]"

 

Tomlinson went on to date model Briana Jungwirth; the two had a baby together, but separated earlier this year.

 

Since then, "Larry" has begun to gain traction online once again.

 

Instagram allows users to ban certain words from comments on their profile. Louis, it appears, has poo-pooed "Larry." However, so-called fans have worked around the band using the name "Lerry" or "L arry."

 

Maybe these "fans" could just lurk the poor boys' Twitter and Instagram accounts and keep their fantasies on the zillion or so fan fiction sites out there?