One Direction recs
More updates here and added to the masterpost. Behind the cut: 3 Harry/Nick, 1 Louis/Nick, 2 Liam/Louis, 1 Niall/Bressie, 2 Louis/Niall, 2 multiship, 4 threesomes/moresomes.
Harry/Nick
titanium (we bleed in whispers), by femmequixotic, 19k. Harry's in LA when he hears Nick's been in a car accident; he rushes back to London, wondering if he waited too long to make a commitment. In addition to the great Nick/Harry stuff, well-written as always, this has a lot of detail about how their friends and family support them through it, which was nice. If you're a little leery about fics in hospitals, this doesn't have the level of detail that some others do, so it might be worth checking out anyway.
Talk To Me About Dildos, by lxurygoods, 4k. Harry sees a dildo on Nick's bed after Nick has a one-night stand, which gets Harry's mind running about sex toys, even though Nick doesn't really want to talk about it. Super hot, with tons of the kind of weird Harry details that I love, and great prose.
untitled, by ymorton, 0.5k. I know you're looking for a little bite of angst, right? Just a little ficlet of Harry coming home after tour and being with Nick; they're not together, though the relationship is the obvious emotional center of the piece. I ended my personal notes with the single-word sentence "Ow," for what that's worth.
Louis/Nick
so impatient when you're not mine, by captaindicktionary, 4k. Vignettes of Nick and Louis in a long-distance relationship. This felt very realistic to me--the way things aren't perfectly happy; the way it's hard to talk about some of what they're going through; how they have to negotiate publicity. Very sweet at the end, too.
Liam/Louis
Love in Slow Motion, by hapakitsune, 24k. AU where Louis has become a YouTube star by posting his project to propose to Liam 100 times, in 100 different ways. They're not together, but the problem is that Louis's been falling for Liam as this goes on (it's taken a couple of years); this fic starts as Louis's on his way to proposal 100, as he tries to figure out how to get Liam to understand that it's real, so we get some pining and some plotting at the same time, and some nice Louis characterization stuff. Also, as part of his video series he got the attention of Nick Grimshaw who starts hanging out with them and then especially with Harry--it's not important enough that I'd call this a multi-ship story, but it's a largeish subplot.
Only Hate the Road When You're Missing Home, by sunsetmog, 49k. I don't want to give too much away with this summary. Suffice to say that Louis and Liam had been in a relationship when they were teens, then broke up, and this fic is set when they meet again years later. There are some nice bits where one character doesn't really downplay the seriousness of the actions that broke them up, but is still willing to work to move past them; they're obviously still really in love throughout the whole thing even if you're not sure they'll be able to make it back together. Heartbreaking in parts, but well worth the read.
Niall/Bressie
Point A and Point B, by ferritin4, 5k and 21k. The first fic is Niall coming to terms with the fact that he's queer; the second is Bressie pining for him. The first one is lovely and hot and hopeful as Niall goes on a journey of self-discovery: there's no actual Niall/Bressie in it, but a lot of Niall's realization is centered around his relationship with Bressie. The second one has a kind of a lived-in sense of love, as Bressie realizes Niall's the one he wants. I ended up really rooting for them to get together, more than I do in some other stories. This also neatly walks the fine line between being very romantic and being more realistic about how people handle relationships when they think their feelings are unrequited. Really good stuff.
Louis/Niall
but i've made up my mind, by annemari, 9k. Niall's sick, and Louis gets volunteered to take care of him. A pretty sweet fic of Louis trying to do his best and be selfless, even though he's not always succeeding; some nice conversations with the other boys, too.
let the dog decide, by stigmata, 17k. Niall's a werewolf, but everything else is the same as our universe. Not actually super heavy on the werewolf stuff, though it is discussed a bit; it's more just a slow-burn Louis/Niall relationship, where their growing closeness is mediated by Niall's wolfy things. Plus a sex scene that is, er, very much my sort of thing.
Multiple ships
The Honeysuckle Arch, by junkshopdisco, 47k. Niall's gay, and ends up going home (platonically) with Nick one night, only to continue to run into him over and over. Lots of internal conflict for Niall: over what and who he wants, over how he feels now that Zayn's left; a large part of the emotions of this fic are echoes and ripples from Zayn leaving, in fact. There's Niall/Nick things, of course, but also Niall/Harry and implied/discussed Harry/Nick. I'm not sure I'm adequately describing how wonderful this fic is: parts of it are pretty tough, but there's not a single scene that rings anything other than completely emotionally true. I kept thinking about it for a long time after I finished reading it.
So Much of My Heart, by nicalyse, 23k. Louis's having some trouble after Eleanor left. He's friends with both Nick and Niall; he ends up sleeping with both of them, and then telling both of them. They both agree that it's all right, but there's still some negotiating that must happen. This is kind of an unusual polyamory fic compared to the ones I'm likely to read: it's not a threesome, and sometimes the characters find the poly arrangement difficult, though the rewards outweigh the challenges for all of them. That makes it sound more angsty than it is! It isn't, really, it's just that those are the parts I found especially notable--a lot of it's just some nice Louis/Niall and Louis/Nick scenes.
Threesomes and moresomes
The water to quench my throat, by balefully, 10k. Nick and Harry are together, but Harry's free to do what he wants when he's on tour. Nick goes to visit him, as a surprise, and comes across Harry and Niall having sex; he joins in, but he can see something about their relationship that Harry can't. I really appreciate fics with sensible adult conversations about relationships, which this has; it also does a very good job at letting you know what all the characters are thinking and feeling without giving up the kind of tight third-person voice that I like best.
tied to the shifting ground, by brokendrums, 51k. Niall's been adopted by the London Irish Crew, and gets especially close to the trio of Niall Breslian, Eoghan McDermott, and Laura Whitmore. Eventually, he finds he's falling for all three of them. This is very much a pining fic; having written one of those recently, what impressed me the most is that how none of this feels repetitive, even though a fair amount of it consists of Niall wishing he was in a relationship with one or more of them--there's a continual escalation, slow but steady, throughout the fic. (We won't discuss how late I stayed up reading this, whoops...)
chest full of birds, by hungerpunch, 9k. Nonfamous AU; Niall moves in across the hall from Marvin and Rochelle, and is immediately taken with both of them. This one's neat because Niall is a stranger to Melvin and Rochelle, so some of the fic involves Niall being good at things to impress them (and vice versa)--I like fics that work hard to make me understand why the characters are together. Plus, normal adult communication things!
bang bang bang, by tirewrite, 9k. Harry and Nick run into Mark Ronson at a party and end up having a threesome. Quite hot: there's a nice push and pull between Mark and Nick, who are both domming Harry with very different styles. Double penetration, if you're into that kind of thing.
Harry/Nick
titanium (we bleed in whispers), by femmequixotic, 19k. Harry's in LA when he hears Nick's been in a car accident; he rushes back to London, wondering if he waited too long to make a commitment. In addition to the great Nick/Harry stuff, well-written as always, this has a lot of detail about how their friends and family support them through it, which was nice. If you're a little leery about fics in hospitals, this doesn't have the level of detail that some others do, so it might be worth checking out anyway.
Talk To Me About Dildos, by lxurygoods, 4k. Harry sees a dildo on Nick's bed after Nick has a one-night stand, which gets Harry's mind running about sex toys, even though Nick doesn't really want to talk about it. Super hot, with tons of the kind of weird Harry details that I love, and great prose.
untitled, by ymorton, 0.5k. I know you're looking for a little bite of angst, right? Just a little ficlet of Harry coming home after tour and being with Nick; they're not together, though the relationship is the obvious emotional center of the piece. I ended my personal notes with the single-word sentence "Ow," for what that's worth.
Louis/Nick
so impatient when you're not mine, by captaindicktionary, 4k. Vignettes of Nick and Louis in a long-distance relationship. This felt very realistic to me--the way things aren't perfectly happy; the way it's hard to talk about some of what they're going through; how they have to negotiate publicity. Very sweet at the end, too.
Liam/Louis
Love in Slow Motion, by hapakitsune, 24k. AU where Louis has become a YouTube star by posting his project to propose to Liam 100 times, in 100 different ways. They're not together, but the problem is that Louis's been falling for Liam as this goes on (it's taken a couple of years); this fic starts as Louis's on his way to proposal 100, as he tries to figure out how to get Liam to understand that it's real, so we get some pining and some plotting at the same time, and some nice Louis characterization stuff. Also, as part of his video series he got the attention of Nick Grimshaw who starts hanging out with them and then especially with Harry--it's not important enough that I'd call this a multi-ship story, but it's a largeish subplot.
Only Hate the Road When You're Missing Home, by sunsetmog, 49k. I don't want to give too much away with this summary. Suffice to say that Louis and Liam had been in a relationship when they were teens, then broke up, and this fic is set when they meet again years later. There are some nice bits where one character doesn't really downplay the seriousness of the actions that broke them up, but is still willing to work to move past them; they're obviously still really in love throughout the whole thing even if you're not sure they'll be able to make it back together. Heartbreaking in parts, but well worth the read.
Niall/Bressie
Point A and Point B, by ferritin4, 5k and 21k. The first fic is Niall coming to terms with the fact that he's queer; the second is Bressie pining for him. The first one is lovely and hot and hopeful as Niall goes on a journey of self-discovery: there's no actual Niall/Bressie in it, but a lot of Niall's realization is centered around his relationship with Bressie. The second one has a kind of a lived-in sense of love, as Bressie realizes Niall's the one he wants. I ended up really rooting for them to get together, more than I do in some other stories. This also neatly walks the fine line between being very romantic and being more realistic about how people handle relationships when they think their feelings are unrequited. Really good stuff.
Louis/Niall
but i've made up my mind, by annemari, 9k. Niall's sick, and Louis gets volunteered to take care of him. A pretty sweet fic of Louis trying to do his best and be selfless, even though he's not always succeeding; some nice conversations with the other boys, too.
let the dog decide, by stigmata, 17k. Niall's a werewolf, but everything else is the same as our universe. Not actually super heavy on the werewolf stuff, though it is discussed a bit; it's more just a slow-burn Louis/Niall relationship, where their growing closeness is mediated by Niall's wolfy things. Plus a sex scene that is, er, very much my sort of thing.
Multiple ships
The Honeysuckle Arch, by junkshopdisco, 47k. Niall's gay, and ends up going home (platonically) with Nick one night, only to continue to run into him over and over. Lots of internal conflict for Niall: over what and who he wants, over how he feels now that Zayn's left; a large part of the emotions of this fic are echoes and ripples from Zayn leaving, in fact. There's Niall/Nick things, of course, but also Niall/Harry and implied/discussed Harry/Nick. I'm not sure I'm adequately describing how wonderful this fic is: parts of it are pretty tough, but there's not a single scene that rings anything other than completely emotionally true. I kept thinking about it for a long time after I finished reading it.
So Much of My Heart, by nicalyse, 23k. Louis's having some trouble after Eleanor left. He's friends with both Nick and Niall; he ends up sleeping with both of them, and then telling both of them. They both agree that it's all right, but there's still some negotiating that must happen. This is kind of an unusual polyamory fic compared to the ones I'm likely to read: it's not a threesome, and sometimes the characters find the poly arrangement difficult, though the rewards outweigh the challenges for all of them. That makes it sound more angsty than it is! It isn't, really, it's just that those are the parts I found especially notable--a lot of it's just some nice Louis/Niall and Louis/Nick scenes.
Threesomes and moresomes
The water to quench my throat, by balefully, 10k. Nick and Harry are together, but Harry's free to do what he wants when he's on tour. Nick goes to visit him, as a surprise, and comes across Harry and Niall having sex; he joins in, but he can see something about their relationship that Harry can't. I really appreciate fics with sensible adult conversations about relationships, which this has; it also does a very good job at letting you know what all the characters are thinking and feeling without giving up the kind of tight third-person voice that I like best.
tied to the shifting ground, by brokendrums, 51k. Niall's been adopted by the London Irish Crew, and gets especially close to the trio of Niall Breslian, Eoghan McDermott, and Laura Whitmore. Eventually, he finds he's falling for all three of them. This is very much a pining fic; having written one of those recently, what impressed me the most is that how none of this feels repetitive, even though a fair amount of it consists of Niall wishing he was in a relationship with one or more of them--there's a continual escalation, slow but steady, throughout the fic. (We won't discuss how late I stayed up reading this, whoops...)
chest full of birds, by hungerpunch, 9k. Nonfamous AU; Niall moves in across the hall from Marvin and Rochelle, and is immediately taken with both of them. This one's neat because Niall is a stranger to Melvin and Rochelle, so some of the fic involves Niall being good at things to impress them (and vice versa)--I like fics that work hard to make me understand why the characters are together. Plus, normal adult communication things!
bang bang bang, by tirewrite, 9k. Harry and Nick run into Mark Ronson at a party and end up having a threesome. Quite hot: there's a nice push and pull between Mark and Nick, who are both domming Harry with very different styles. Double penetration, if you're into that kind of thing.