I have now spent two years loving and being exhausted by a certain boyband!
What I have also loved (and honestly sometimes been exhausted by but like, the luxury!) is the amount of incredible fics that I’ve read in this fandom. So I’ve put together a list of some of the works that have carved their own little spot in my heart and that I will cherish forever. The fact that I can call some of you my friends is quite astounding and the rest of y’all should come be friends with me already! I’m right here!
List under the cut cause this is pretty frickin’ long!
(Take Me Home) Country Roads by Awriterwrites
The writing in this fic left so much room for me to just experience the story without being distracted and it left my heart BLEEDING ON THE FLOOR OK. The story treats the characters with so much respect and love and I love the take enemies to friends to lovers that never feels forced or random. This fic happens in the grand gestures as well as the tiniest of details and I feel like I could never describe it in a fair way with such few words. Just. Fuck. Read this because like – brilliant writing, lgbt pals!!!, gorgeous setting, WEST VIRGINIA!, complex and beautifully written characters and because I say so because it’s one of my favourite fics ever.
A Word We've Only Heard by lululawrence
I loooove historical fics, especially when the writer manages to capture the era not just in text but in spirit. It’s such a beautifully built story about love that should be impossible but in the end is the only thing right. About finding your place in the universe so that even when you’re not with them you still belong. It’s a story about a journey that starts in two places and ends as one.
Atlas At Last by louisandthealien
Can we just put aside the beautiful writing and the brilliant story arc and wonderful characterizations for just a mo? And talk about THE SPIRIT THIS FIC CAPTURES??? How you feel like you’re right there in that disgusting van (with a bunch of kind of clueless boys) and you love Queen more than anything and you’re falling in love for the first time and you’ve got the whole world in your hands? And at the end you’re left trembling because your heart is bursting in your chest? Yup, let’s talk about that.
Back To You And Tennessee by rippedgloves
I don’t even know what to tell you. This gave me goosebumps several times just by the way the writer describes Louis’ love and want for Harry. How is that even possible. This fic is so painful but it’s so so so soooooo worth it.
Barefoot in Blue Jeans by indiaalphawhiskey
A second after having finished this I went over to tumblr to declare my love to the writer. This fic saved my life. (who are you calling dramatic?) I’m obsessed with stories where they are so completely gone for each other that it could be seen from the moon and yet, yet! Oh god. The relationships in this story are everything. The friendships, companionships and family dynamic is so so wonderful and you have to read this because it will save your life too. Just sayin’.
Been Together Since Way Back When by alivingfire
Now this is the fic I want to live inside. Like make my own little home there and hang out with my pals (Louis, Harry and everyone else) and I’d be so so happy. It’s not a fluffy cotton cloud of a fic, the characters struggle and fight their inner battles, but that never makes them any less beautiful and I love that so so much. Reading this is like finding new friends, everyone has their own shit to deal with, but together you’ll make it out alright in the end (and you might have the best time while getting there as well). READ!
Black with Autumn Rain by whimsicule
I’m amazed by people who manage to create a new world without ever losing the connection to ours. This fic is eerie, creative, utterly fascinating, gentle and so so beautiful. I was scared, my belly was fluttering, I held my breath, had my mind whirring and my tears streaming. It’s stories like this that makes me loose my breath with what people can come up with and how they can put words to those magical thoughts inside their heads.
Cancel your reservations, no more hesitations by 14hrflight (25postcards)
Okay so. For those of you who don’t know – I fucking love ABO. Like. Love it.What I love even more is when people come up with new, norm breaking and challenging ways of writing it and this does that in the best way ever. This story is so incredibly intense, so sweet and hot and gorgeous. Writing ABO can be tricky because there’s a lot of “traps” to fall in to and this fic manages to avoid those while also remaining so wonderfully human. God. Just read it. Please.
Caught By the Sun by metal_eye
This fic is like a dream. It’s what happens between the lines, it’s the tears streaming down my face and my belly aching and me smiling so hard my face hurt. You read this and you don’t know what is happening to you, but you know you never want it to end. It’s so absolutely gorgeous and nostalgic and perfect.
Do Not Go Gentle by afirethatcannotdie
Ya know when a writer takes you on a journey? And lets you experience the ups and downs of real life struggles, about how you’re so passionate about your job that it takes up almost all your time and emotional capacity and yet somehow your life is happening simultaneously and when love appears to be an obstacle but turns out to be exactly what you need? And afterwards you feel all empty because you realise this was just a story and now it’s ended? Yeah. That.
Don’t want shelter by FullOnLarrie
Following this fic as it was posted is one of the most incredible reading experiences I’ve had since I started reading fic (15 or so years ago). It’s no secret that I love stories about “older Larry” and this story beautifully captures the perspective of how time both heals and rips up new wounds. The story is loud and harsh but also manages to be one of the most vulnerable and openhearted stories of love I’ve ever read.
Dress you up in my love by LucyStarkid
MAAAAH!!! I get a little teary eyed (okay A LOT) just thinking about this fic. I was still so new in the fandom and Lucy was one of the first people in the fandom I ever spoke to and reading it is just a very very fond memory. OKAY. The Louis and Harry of this story are some of the most gentle and loveable and beautiful characters ever. My heart cried with happy tears from how much they love each other, how brave they are and how they have FINALLY found the person for them. It’s just. God. I love this fic so much.
Far Away. by dimpled_halo
When it’s not right until it’s right and your heart has to break a few times along the way and you have to find yourself and the other person needs to find themselves but in the end – it’s right. This story is so gorgeously written, the flashbacks tie in so beautifully with the present. I love it when they both struggle and they both fuck up but it is so so apparent through out the story that they love and support each other above everything.
Here In The Afterglow by fondleeds
Screw the “classics”, THIS is it. This is the classic of classics. This is all that should be taught in school and it’s one of my favourite stories ever. It’s the coming of age story we all deserve. It’s got groovy music, nostalgia, lgbtq politics, trying to exist in a world that hates you, falling in love for the first time and finding the place where you belong (it might be a person). You will cry, laugh and fall in love through out this story and you will be endlessly sad when it ends because you never want it to.
If I Had Three Wishes (They'd All Be For You) by phdmama
-insert incoherent screaming for five years or more- Don’t you just love it when you read something and afterwards you feel ATTACKED because the writer changed something within you? They just went ahead and made themselves a permanent spot in your heart? RUDE! This story is so heartfelt from the first letter and I laughed and cried and loved so so so hard throughout the whole thing. There’s so much love and chemistry between Louis and Harry you can basically touch it. Add fucking cabaret, the ocean, beautiful self discovery and a setting so gorgeous you never wanna leave? Yeah.
knives don't have your back by turnyourankle
Oh god, we all love a good thriller right. When your nerves are on high alert and you keep racking your brain to figure out what the fuck is going on and then right smack in the middle of that you add one of the most emotional and tender love stories ever? MY JAM. This is it. You will bite your nails and you will clutch your heart and you will love this as much as I do. That I promise.
Let Me Touch You Where Your Heart Aches by rosegoldhl (MoonlitLarrie)
Okay if there’s someone who hasn’t caught on yet – I’m an emotional mess and I love nothing more than fics that makes me feel so much which. This. It left me a sobbing mess, made me want to smack the characters around (looking at you Lima), made me fall in love and made me laugh so hard because Ri has one of the sharpest snappiest sense of humour I know. I love this fic so much, it’s intense in all the best ways and right in the middle of that is always the most important thing – their love for each other.
like a boomerang by youwilll
This fic is literally about a supernatural event but it still captures so much of what I see in real life Louis and Harry. How the universe could simply never accept them being apart. It’s so clever and brilliantly told, so so beautifully written and I’m so in love with the characterisations and the small but oh so important details.
Little Technicolor Things by tekhnicolor
The first time I read this I had to stop halfway through the first chapter because I could not for the life of me understand how this could be a real thing that existed in the real world. I was crying the whole way through and it was part because it’s an absolutely breathtaking story with gorgeous characters, and part because it’s some of the most stunning words anyone has ever put together ever. Ever.
Little White Lies by xxSterre
MAAAAAAAAH. You want to read something that makes you laugh and makes your heart beat faster and makes you sweat with nerves while the characters have a connection that it so strong it literally sparkles? Yes you do. And you want to read this because this is that and so much more. READ!
Mutability by haloeverlasting
Okay so. This fic. I once said Birbie’s writing makes me want to lie down and rest in their words and that is so true. This fic is so multi-layered, intelligent and beautifully written, but first and foremost it’s so heart achingly, breathtakingly human. It’s about growing, about relearning what happiness feels like in your bones, with a side of poetry and strong opinions about fictional characters. This is fic is my comfort.
My Sweetest Downfall by kiwikero
This is so spectacular. It’s so pure and beautiful and the love in this story is more magical than the fact that one of them is a guardian angel. It’s a gift to write about beings that are not of this world and still make them feel so incredibly, painfully, gorgeously human. This universe is so cleverly built and the story stabs you right in the heart. (which is the best feeling ever of course)
No One Like You by myownspark
Oh my god. I loved how this high lighted the importance of telling the stories of lgbtq people from the past while also being an incredible love story. The switching timelines between now and then, as well as between the different POVs is so clever and beautifully done and the writer manages to capture the atmosphere of both worlds so perfectly. It’s a story that makes you think of the way we see the world, of the “truths” that are being told to us by people with narrow minds and too much power.
Sounds of you sounds like love by sweariwouldnt
You know when you come across a fic that makes you feel seen and loved and cherished? Just because you get to experience the writer seeing and loving and cherishing the characters? And the characters see and love and cherish each other so much? This is it. Right here. This fic deals with mental health issues in such a respectful and delicate way. It’s a story about two people who struggle but still find each other. About how you don’t have to be in a perfect place to find love and how that other person doesn’t have to be your “saviour”. It’s a story about being brave.
Swallow My Words by YesIsAWorld
I’m absolutely obsessed with stories that show how the world is a complex, scary place and that we’re all just creatures trying to navigate, trying to find our way, and it’s not always easy – and that’s okay. This story is so incredibly heartfelt, mixing tender sweetness with fright and doubts. I love how it deals with the coming out process, so realistic and respectful. It’s not about how much you love the other person or how proud you are - there can be a billion factors to count in and that’s okay. It’s also okay to be frustrated over the fact that you want to yell about your love from the rooftops but maybe you can’t. At least for now. Read this and cry and grow so proud of the journey the characters make.
the dead things we carry by MediaWhore
I loved the perspective of what happens after the war, when it’s still so present in the minds and hearts of the people experiencing it and how you (try to) move on from that. I adored the gentle love that blooms between Louis and Harry in this story. About how love can grow even in the darkest of places. This fic is so so beautiful and heart breaking in the best way.
To Give You a Hand to Hold by gettingaphdinlarry
I almost feel disrespectful talking about this fic because I don’t think I can properly put words to how I feel about it. About how incredibly massive it is in the way the writer captures these characters, in the heavy silences and the fragile moments where love and pain and companionship can coexist. I’ll carry this story with me for a long, long time. Just. Read this and have your breath taken completely.
We’re What’s Right In This World by BriaMaria
I think I could write a novel about my love for this fic. I literally started crying within the first paragraph of reading this. With only a sentence my belly would drop to the floor and the next my heart would beat out of my chest. It’s a true talent to write something so emotional and intense yet never making feel over dramatic or unrealistic. This fic is pure emotional brilliance and it’s absolutely gorgeously written. It’s everything really.
We'll Be Seamless by dinosaursmate
AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! Gosh. Just. When you read a summary of a story and go ”holy shit” and then you read the story itself and you go ”HOLY SHIT”. Yeah. This story is so unique, so sensual, so gentle, so funny and so incredibly GORGEOUS. Just all of it – GORGEOUS! The visuals are absolutely stunning, their feelings developing and growing are so intense and sweet and perfect, the sexual tension is to die for and I love the way it portrays sexuality, love and sensuality in such a fluid gracious way. Gosh.
With a whimper by kitundercover
I read all 132k of this in 24 hours and those 24 hours were so fucking intense. This is one of those fics you’re just going to have to read to understand how immense, how impossible, how unique, brilliant and absolutely devastatingly horrifying it is. It is so so beautiful while dealing with the absolute most terrifying thing that exists – the human mind. It’s about breathtaking connections between brave people who fumble in the dark, about how terror can seem like a viable solution and how people try to exist in a world that seems hopeless. It’s about love. This story is so beyond epic. Just read it.
the wonderlands by stylinsoncity
When this fic started out I thought I knew where it was heading, but then it didn’t but instead it told me a story of how we’re all just human, and we’re scared of love, we’re scared of moving on, we’ve got motivations that are hidden to others and no matter how hard we try - we might fuck up sometimes, but at the end of the day all that matters are the people that we love. GOD. God. This fic is something else. Just. Truly. I never wanted it to end.
Wrap You Up in Daisy Chains by objectlesson
When you can recognize someone writing on the very specific way it makes you feel? Like? Yeah. Yeah. Reading this fic brought up so much for me personally and the writer manages to put words to complex thoughts that so many of us have had growing up, while simultaneously writing something so intense and hot and soft. I could barely breathe after I finished this and then I couldn’t stop thinking about girl Larry. I still haven’t stopped thinking about girl Larry. My life is now girl Larry. READ THIS!
