The beginning of No Stunts magazine goes back to December 2020 when Harry Styles posted this picture on Instagram with the iconic words, “Bring back manly men.” I would stumble across the post with an explanation about backlash for Harry wearing a dress in April of 2021. It was a short trip from, “This guy seems funny,” to “What is Larry?” My first Larry video was Mario Kart. It didn’t take much decoding to figure out Larry was real.
As a fan of Rise Against, Greenday, and Social Distortion, I never listened to One Direction or any of the solo albums. I listened to Harry’s “Sunflower, Vol. 6” in reverse before I ever heard the song in the normal direction, but that wasn’t the song that pulled me into their music. Louis’ “Only the Brave” was my first love. It took him less than two minutes to steal my heart, just like he already owned it. I sifted through hours of clips, read over lyrics, and fell deeply in love with Louis and Harry. As I learned more about the reasons they were closeted, I felt the all too familiar sparks of rage towards society and the helpless feeling that comes with them.
Stan Twitter gave me a safe place to talk about the boys, about my anger, and make friends with people who seemed to experience music the same way I do: as a life force.
There were several moments leading from Harry and his banana to the moment I decided to launch the magazine. The defining moment involves a lovely article from 2022 Better Homes and Gardens followed by a rampant release of copycat articles with quotes taken out of context from BHG in order to tie Harry closer to a stunt relationship and cishet image. After screaming into the void, I decided to make a move. I put out a call to action on Twitter in May 2022 and collected a group of Larries to create something we could use to fight back against the mainstream media.
In a few weeks, we had a website, articles, and graphics. We set up a Twitter account before the first release. With tactics learned from Louis and Harry, we teased the fandom for 12 days leading up to the website launch. The day of the launch the site promptly crashed from too much traffic, and I knew we were on the right path.
Amazing pic.twitter.com/v701Qbe3q0
— No Stunts (@nostuntsmag) June 1, 2022
Since the launch, we have worked hard to provide articles about Harry, Louis, the music industry, and LGBTQ+ issues. We put out information on closeting, PR relationships, and an article from Mark Boardman, an entertainment journalist, about the vile ways artists are treated in entertainment. We also keep close to our roots, covering Harry and Louis’ careers, their music, tour, and Larry-related information about the Peace ring, RBB, and September 28th.
I won’t be able to choose a favorite article from the last year, or even a favorite issue. In the most cringe fashion, I can say, without a doubt, every single issue is my favorite issue. I will admit to being most proud of the Rainbow Railroad interview and my interview with Mark Boardman. Both of these articles brought important information to the fandom, exposing us to harsh truths and giving us ways to help.
We are working towards press passes for concerts and potential interviews with crew members from certain solo artists. Keep up with us on Twitter and Instagram where the content will always be freely available. If you want to support the team, writers, artists, and graphic designers, please consider buying a print copy of the magazine.
One of the most important things you can do is share on social media. Share the articles, post about the magazine, and share the posts we put out. This is a free option that exposes us to more and more people.
If you are interested in contributing there are many opportunities. You can submit an article idea or share your fanart, and we are always looking for testimonials from fans and concert pictures we can add to articles. Send a dm to @nostuntsmag if you’re interested in working with us.
Finally, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to every single person who has worked on this magazine, and thank you to every reader. I could not have done any of this without all of you.
“You need me and I need you and I fucking love that” – Louis Tomlinson
