These Are Their Stories

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Part of a series on Law and Order. [View Related Entries]

About

"These Are Their Stories" is a memorable quote from the opening sequence of several procedural drama television shows in the Law & Order franchise. On Tumblr, the phrase is often used to caption photographs of actor Chrisopher Meloni in bizarre or sexually suggestive poses.

Origin

From 1999 to 2011, Meloni played the role of Detective Elliot Stabler on the procedural drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.^[1] During the show's opening sequence, a narrator introduces the show's police unit, followed by the phrase "these are their stories":

"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York city, The dedicated detectives that investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories."

On March 10th, 2015, Tumblr user gracefulswansofnever^[3] highlighted a photograph of Meloni posed against a lamppost with the caption "these are their stories" (shown below). Within nine days, the post gained over 91,000 notes.

Spread

On March 14th, Tumblr users Abs0luteb4stard^[9] (shown below, left) and Angstasy^[8] (shown below, middle) posted photos of Meloni with the caption "These are their stories," garnering more than 4,800 and 2,100 notes respectively. On March 16th, Tumblr user mens-rights-activia^[10] highlighted a candid picture of Meloni stretching over a railing, accumulating upwards of 4,500 notes in 72 hours (shown below, right).

In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the Tumblr meme, including BuzzFeed,^[4] Zimbio,^[5] MTV News^[6] and Vulture.^[7]