2025... To say it was a lot would be an understatement, but it also brought moments of calm and stories that moved me. The following selection is (for entirely personal and subjective reasons) deeply tied to my year, to all the sparks of intrigue when being pulled into a new universe, to the delight over the same two (or sometimes three) people falling in love. Wishing you all a smooth transition into a hopefully gentle 2026 <3
â¨ď¸ a little, then suddenly by @holdingontochaos [E, 34k, friends to lovers]
Written for the Aro/Ace Fest 2024.
Prompt 12: Gray-Asexual (demisexual) Harry falls in love and gets attracted to his best friend Louis after fifteen years of friendship.
â¨ď¸ You Only Fall In Love Twice by @beanno28 [E, 57k, polyamory]
Louis meets popstar Harry Styles while he is working at a festival and they hit it off right away. When he is introduced to Harryâs boyfriend, Zayn, Louis is invited to learn about their world of Polyamory. Will he decide itâs not for him or will he embrace the new lifestyle? This could be the start of something newâŚ
â¨ď¸ feed a fever, starve a heart by @insightfulinsomniac [E, 12k, omegaverse]
When Louis turns twenty-one, he receives a call from the National Secondary Gender Services alerting him to prepare for his first rut. Everyone presents two to three days after their twenty-first birthday, and all heats and ruts require medical supervision just in case one thing goes wrong:
Louis is certain his first rut will be normal. He hasnât seen the only person he ever had a crush on in childhood in nearly three years, and besides, they were only ever best friends.
Everything will be fine⌠right?
â¨ď¸ Too Young by @jaerie [E, 18k, omegaverse]
Accidentally bonded as 8 and 10 year olds, Louis starts resenting Harry once they were old enough for him to realize what had been taken away from him and now they're roommates who fuck out of obligation,
â¨ď¸ Chaos by @haztobegood [100 words, mature, drabble]
Against the barricade, itâs complete chaos.
â¨ď¸ incalescent by @eleadore [E, 5k, omegaverse]
The onset of heat is something Louis still hasnât learned to recognize.
â¨ď¸ Habits by dead_tobeginwith / @dedtobeginwith [NR, 1.7k, monastery au]
Sex, food, friends, and growing thingsâvignettes of a simple little monastic life, because our bodies are ours to enjoy, now and always.
â¨ď¸ through the jungle through the dark by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf [E, 12k, ex-friends to lovers]
đ§ podfic read by the author
Louis and Harry were best friends, until they werenât. Five years after they last spoke theyâre forced to drive cross-country to visit an injured friend. If they canât get over the past, it will be a very long week together.
â¨ď¸ I'll Still Feel the Same Around You by @crinkle-eyed-boo [E, 2k, masturbation]
đ§ podfic read by PodBee
Louis finds the cure for his insomnia in the form of his husband.
â¨ď¸ Torn On The Platform by Conscious_ramblings [M, 27k, tube au]
đ§ podfic read by frecklebombfic
AU where harry and louis are strangers but they always get the same train to work in the morning and one day harry falls asleep on louis' shoulder. louis wants to be annoyed because harry just broke at least seven rules of tube conduct but he looks so soft and peaceful that he just lets him sleep and wakes him ever so carefully when itâs his stop. it happens again and again until it becomes a regular thing where louis will let harry snooze and then gently nudge him awake, hand him the cup of coffee he took from him so it wouldn't slip and spill everywhere and send him off with a âhave fun at work, loveâ and after the tenth time harry isn't even embarrassed any more.
â¨ď¸ leave it to the breeze by @hattalove [E, 81k, reality tv]
đ§ podfic read by frecklebombfic
 A great british bake off au in which louis cares about winning and winning only, harry is made of sunshine and rainbow sprinkles, and niall sticks his nose into other people's business. also featuring liam as louis's best friend-slash-concerned mother, and zayn as a macaron connoisseur.
â¨ď¸ All You Want's Under Your Nose by @wishingforloushair [E, 3k, porn without plot]
Louis decides to treat himself to a new sex toy, but is perplexed when he sees a man in the shop placing each vibrator against the tip of his nose and sneezing. Curiosity gets the better of him, and it turns out the man, Harry, is a sex-god who knows far too much about sex toys and promises Louis that if a vibrator makes him sneeze it will definitely make him come. Of course there's only one way to find out for sure...
â¨ď¸ all the sins you didn't have by Brooklyn_Babylon / @twopoppies [E, 99k, historian au]
Itâs 1880, and premier danseur Harry Styles is running out of time. At twenty-five, heâs fast becoming too old for the lecherous benefactors who frequent The Paris Opera Balletâs infamous backstage, and the only way to ensure he isnât left penniless or rotting away in a brothel is to secure a permanent patron.
Enter Lord Louis Tomlinson: wealthy, young, handsome. And, unfortunately, a notorious rake. Harry strikes him and his gigantic ego off the list immediately⌠At least until they realize they have a common set of enemies and a common goal: revenge.
Though their ruse starts smoothly enough, the decadent freedom of Belle Ăpoque Paris gives way to the rigid social rules of aristocratic Victorian London. Can a relationship that started as a calculated deception withstand the harsh realities of societal expectations and family duty to become a love more honest and profound than either has ever known?
â¨ď¸ the fear in the unknown by lightswoodmagic (sarah_writes) / @lightwoodsmagic [E, 30k, Bones AU]
As the worldâs most renowned forensic anthropologist, Dr Harry Styles is used to dealing with the dead, taking comfort in the silence and isolation.
Until Special Agent Louis Tomlinson of the FBI comes crashing into his life, causing chaos and confusion wherever he lands.
Despite Harryâs best efforts, working murder cases together brings Louis further and further through the walls heâs spent years carefully building.
Until a case that changes everything.
â¨ď¸ The Half-Life of Mercury by croisblue / @forwhatiam [M, 7k, omegaverse]
Harry Styles is a feral omega residing in an intermediate care facility for people like him. Louis Tomlinson is the direct support professional working with him. Things are complicated.
â¨ď¸ the moon knows, a series by @kitchendancefloors
Falling for You [G, 100 words, young love]
Just two young guys feelinâ it out.
Oh Starry Night, May I Be Bold [G, 100 words, strangers to lovers]
Harry knows that museums are ideal for whiling away an afternoon during muggy NYC summers. Luckily, Louis discovers the same.
I've Been Havin' Dreams [T, 100 words, friends to lovers]
The summer between semesters holds an infinite universe full of promise for Harry and Louis.
Sweet Calamine [M, 100 words, established relationship]
The promise of moonlight shenanigans lands Louis in an itchy situation that only Harry can help him out with.
Fake Tan Lines [M, 100 words, friends to lovers]
To woo and be wooed.
Soon. [M, 100 words, established relationship]
Harry and Louis get carried away during a fireworks display under the cover of darkness.
Do you remember? [M, 100 words, established relationship]
Two silver foxes not letting a moment pass to remind each other theyâve still got it.
â¨ď¸ Consequences by @allwaswell16 [E, 78k, amnesia au]
Two years ago Harry let his powerful family come between him and the love of his life, something he deeply regrets. Louis has tried to move on from their devastating break up. Sometimes, he even thinks he has. It only takes one moment to freeze them back in time.
â¨ď¸ the trail provides by whatabadchoice / @lydiejo [E, 13k, hiking au]
Itâs just that this stranger is really quite (very, extremely) pretty. And Louis knows it isnât some magical effect of dehydration or delusion because he is present enough to notice the stars and stripes pattern adorning his head. A US flag as a headscarf. This would have had Louis running in the opposite direction in normal circumstances. The Northwestern lilt in his British accent helped somewhat, but Louis might have actually fucked a Texan in any case.
â¨ď¸ gamled our souls to the summer by staybeautiful / @harruandlou [E, 60k, frenemies to lovers]
It's the summer of '99 and, after helping Harry run away from his wedding, Louis has one week on a secluded Maine island to get the second chance he's always wanted.
â¨ď¸ Full Moon Dreaming by jacaranda_bloom / @jacaranda-bloom [E, 43k, soulmates]
Every month, Full Moon Dreaming reveals a personâs soulmate. Sometimes itâs an object or a place, or for the lucky ones, the love of their life.
Louis has given up hope of dreaming of a person, resigned to living a life devoid of that kind of all-consuming love for another and receiving the same in return.
But when a new neighbour descends on Louisâ beloved Hanson Bay and moves into the other beach house, could all that be about to change?
â¨ď¸ Thirsting by yeah_alright / @uhoh-but-yeah-alright [E, 3k, vampire au]
Louis is finally ready for his vampire boyfriend to feed from him, but when Zayn worries Louis is still too nervous to enjoy it fully, he calls on Harry for help.
â¨ď¸ Proper Little Tease by larry_hiatus / @emilarry [E, 5k, pwp]
Harry decides that he wants to dress up pretty to make dinner for his husband and friends. Louis, however, is having a bit of difficulty staying calm seeing his babygirl in a ruffly dress outside of the bedroom.
â¨ď¸ hot chocolate by @kingsofeverything [E, 6k, masturbation]
đ§ podfic read by Panda Podfics / @red-panda-28
Harry wants to make something new for Hot Chocolates, his small batch chocolate shop. Louis offers to help.
â¨ď¸ Far Afield by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird [T, 11k, witch, flower shop]
Harry Styles is a witch who owns the best flower shop in Manchester. Lottie Tomlinson is planning her wedding, and brings her brother along to her first appointment. Both men have been having a bad day and sparks fly.
â¨ď¸ with love on the line by @disgruntledkittenface [E, 7k, omegaverse, polyamory]
Harry and Louis have always been Harry and Louis. Then they meet Nick.
A relationship in three snapshots.
â¨ď¸ Send Someone To Love Me by @louislittletomlintum [E, 58k, omegaverse, shifter]
the one where louis rescues a wolf and gets a lot more than he bargained for
â¨ď¸ Etched in Salt (is a cathedral of the world) by @helloamhere [E, 24k, telepathy, crime solving au]
Louis asks for very few things in life, and they are: to solve cases, to keep bad people from doing their bad things, to get good coffee, to go home to a spacious apartment with nobody else in it, and to manage his stupid telempathy powers with minimal interference. And now he's stuck in a tiny cabin in a snowstorm in the middle of god-awful-nowhere with Harry Styles. Because of course he is.
â¨ď¸ When the Lights Go Out by thelarenttrap / @antidotetogo [E, 79k, friends to enemies to lovers, F1 racing]
In its near eighty years of existence, Formula 1 has never had an out gay driver. In 2017, Harry Styles signs a contract with Scuderia AlphaTauri alongside his childhood friend and competitor, Louis Tomlinson. The next decade of their careers is some of the most tumultuous press--on and off the track--Formula 1 has ever seen.
