Tomlinshaw

Tomlinshaw is a crossover RPF slash pairing between BBC Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw and One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson. Within 1D fandom, it is a rarepair, with less than 2% of 1D fanworks on the Archive of Our Own, though it represents a larger piece of the Radio 1 RPF pie.As of July 29, 2015, Nick/Louis was 2% (834 of 40096) of all 1D fanworks on the AO3, but 38% of tagged Radio 1 RPF fanworks (577 of 1506). As of 21 April 2024, the percentages are similar: Nick/Louis is 2% (1,165 of 72,042) of 1D and 42% (851 of 2005) of Radio 1 RPF. Numbers via the Radio 1 RPF and One Direction sidebars. Tomlinshaw is sometimes described as a crack ship, as the canon basis is limited (confirmed Louis/Nick interactions are relatively few) and even its shippers don't treat it as very plausible (compared to other 1D ships, which tend to attract tinhats). For a comprehensive and updated primer (last updated 2018), check out Tomlinshaw: A Ship Primer by Writcraft.
In 2012 yetistyles (nuukacola) explained the appeal:
Fandom appears to have invented Tomlinshaw around September 2012; the earliest AO3 fic was posted September 13Tear You Down by Randominity. Posted September 13, 2012., and the earliest post in the tomlinshaw tag was on September 15flimsi. September 15, 2012 post. (Accessed July 4, 2014), but the tag didn't get busy until September 24, Nick's first day on the Breakfast Show.
Nick and Louis had a rather infamous spat in late 2013. Highlights of the drama include Nick calling Louis a "complainy popstar" on air, Louis insulting Nick on twitter, Nick retaliating and offended 1D fans sending a barrage of "charming homophobic death threats" Nick's way. The two seem to have made up since, being perfectly civil during a Radio 1 interview in 2015. The two shared a hug backstage at the X Factor in late 2016.
There was a resurgence of interest in Tomlinshaw in 2017, following Louis's appearance on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. 
==Tropes and Themes==
According to early fanon (the validity of which has been disputed in meta discussions)Tumblr post by diangelo: I’m pretty sure none of us know either of them enough to be able to affirm that Nick HATES Louis no matter the amount of obvious sarcasm and probable dislike there is at both ends and thillia: Nick doesn’t actually hate Louis. Sure, maybe they’re not best friends but neither has ever mentioned hating or even disliking the other. Nick and Louis supposedly hated one another; as a result, fic written about them features a lot of enemies to lovers and hatesex.
Many Tomlinshaw fanworks could be categorized as crackfic, but even if they are not crack, they are often humorous, playing off of Louis' and Nick's sarcasm and sharp wits. 
Because there are so few canon interactions between them, many fics are AUs or futurefics, or in canon-compliant fics, their lack of interaction is explained by keeping their relationship a secret, sometimes even from the rest of 1D. These fics can feature closeting/coming-out angst or drama.
Harry Styles is often featured heavily in Tomlinshaw fics, sometimes as a catalyst for the two to meet, as he is good irl friends with both Louis and Nick.
==/tagged/tomlinshaw==
At one time it was popular in some Tumblr circles for users to tag a variety of posts with "tomlinshaw" not because they actually are about the ship, but because they are antagonistic or ridiculous posts embodying the spirit of the ship. In 2014 fans used some of the tagged posts as prompts for the /tagged/tomlinshaw ficathon. See the prompts page, challenge info page, and AO3 collection.
See also taggedtshaw on Twitter.
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfic===
* I Had Rather Hear My Dog Bark At A Crow by sunsetmog (2014-01-04). Nick and Louis don't like each other, not even a little bit, not even at all. Angsty Nick/Louis epic where Louis is closeted.
*Kissing in the Rain by Writcraft (2017-07-02) It starts at a party with shitty cocktails, a DJ that's definitely not as good as Nick and some 'that only happens in the movies' kissing in the rain.
* Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better Than You by aliferuined (2012-09-24) Basically, Louis and Nick have grumpy sex and ignore their feelings.
* Three Cheers for Involuntary Attraction by checkthemargins (2012-10-18) The one where Nick is accidentally dating Louis.
* where you lead (i will follow) by mozartspiano (2014-01-26) with podfic by ofjustimagine (2014-04-24). Gilmore Girls fusion: Louis is Lorelai, Harry is Rory, and Nick is Luke.
* saudade by velvet_tuberose (2015-3-19) Louis has been the leader of the anti-Government group for years; the Government is bringing Nick Grimshaw - who Louis most decidedly never dated - back on air to help their cause. (Fic now deleted)
*I'll surrender up my heart (and swap it for yours) by clairdeloune (2016-03-24) When Louis got a text from Harry saying ‘hey so I kind of need you to do something for me’ he didn’t expect it would lead him to standing at Nick Grimshaw’s doorstep with a bag full of groceries, medicine and a box of takeaway.
===Podfic===
* My Darling, You're Not Falling by ofjustimagine (Nov 2014) Louis and Nick have been married for almost six months. It's a secret. Well, it was. OR Louis and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month (1hr 7mins)
* The Disgruntled Novelist's Bodacious Pornographer (or, that time Nick and Louis were rival romance writers) by greedy_dancer (Dec 2014) The day Nick releases his latest novel, Velvet Abyss - the very same day - Louis Tomlinson drops an unannounced online novella. It’s called The Pearl of the Pirate’s Booty, and it’s about nudist pirates living on a space station on one of Saturn’s moons. (58 mins)
===Fanart===
*untitled Nick/Louis art by karukara (June 21, 2014)
*untilted art by imbeelingwithit (November 30, 2015)
*untitled art by otp-hedgefrog (April 23, 2016)
==Fandom Resources==
===Primers and Recs===
*Tomlinshaw: A Ship Primer by Writcraft (2018)
*Tomlinshaw is a good ship and you should ship it: the manifesto by nuukacola (2015)
*Why Tomlinshaw Is A Fab Ship by infinitylourry (Jan 9, 2013)
*a guide to the tomlinshaw hug by hiatusniall (2016)
*a terrible guide to tomlinshaw and part 2 by lipringed
*tomlinshaw: the ship of death by quitealotofhair. Original post hidden; reblog here. (October 19, 2012)
*thetomlinshawlibrary - Tumblr fic recs (and some art)
===Fic and Podfic===
*Nick/Louis fanworks on AO3
*Nick/Louis podfics on Audiofic Archive
*tomlinshawficlets - reblogs ficlets posted on Tumblr
===Challenges===
*tomlinshaw ficathon on LiveJournal, 2013
*/tagged/tomlinshaw ficathon, 2014: tumblr account, AO3 collection
*tomlinshaw fic exchange, 2014: tumblr account, AO3 collection
*The Tomlinshaw Fic Exchange, 2017-2019: tumblr account, AO3 collection
*30daysoftomlinshaw challenge on Tumblr
===Other Blogs and Communities===
*fuckyeahtomlinshaw - Tumblr that reblogs Nick/Louis content
==References==
Category:Slash Pairings
Category:RPF Relationships
Category:One Direction Relationships
Category:Radio 1 RPF