One Direction recs
More updates here and added to the masterpost. Behind the cut: 4 Harry/Nick, 2 Liam/Louis, 1 Harry/Zayn, 1 Niall/Bressie, 1 Louis/Zayn, 1 Niall/Zayn, 1 multiship, 1 threesome.
Harry/Nick
What Happens in Ibiza and Means of Communication, by LittleMousling, 21k total. Nick goes to Ibiza and Harry's there, too, years after they more or less cut off contact. Once they're in the same place, though, they fall back into old habits. There are some fics that take a particular emotion and kind of draw it out, examine it from multiple angles, as the dominant emotional punch of the story, and that's how I felt about this: an interesting exploration of connections you have with people and how you can give into them even though you think it's going to hurt. (Also, er, lots of sex, if that's your thing.) The sequel is a nice bit of roleplay sex, some amount of time later, if you'd like to catch up on how the characters make things work later.
untitled, by ymorton, 2k. A short Nick and Harry conversation, just before Nick's wedding. Basically nonstop angst with some really incisive views of the characters.
begin again, by anonymous, 16k. Nick ends up in hospital due to an illness, and Harry was halfway across the world and didn't find out until later; Harry decides to come back to London, but there's a lot of history they have to deal with if Harry's going to get what he wants. This is super lovely: well-structured and beautifully written. I also appreciated that it didn't shy away from some of the less palatable aspects of Harry's characterization; a happy ending isn't a foregone conclusion here, the way it sometimes is in fics where there are some difficulties getting the characters together.
all my luck could change, by anonymous, 8k. Nick has a vacation coming up, so Harry makes some plans. A sweetly angsty morsel of Harry and Nick alone together trying to work it out, with beautiful serene imagery.
Liam/Louis
Don't Take Love Off the Table Yet, by harriet_vane, 26k. Louis's a wedding planner, hired to do Liam and Danielle's wedding. Only Danielle's off touring, so it's actually Liam and Louis meeting up all the time to plan things and, eventually, to just hang out. I sort of thought I knew how this plotline was going to go, but there's a bit in the middle that's definitely sideways from what I was predicting. (Still great, though!)
These Streets Are Yours, by sunsetmog, 5k. Liam and Louis were friends in school; Louis confessed he was romantically interested in Liam after graduation, and Liam freaked out and stopped talking to Louis. Then Louis's at uni where Liam also is, and they keep running into each other--sometimes accidentally, sometimes not. Very angsty, but that gives some extra punch to the ending.
Harry/Zayn
Fractured, by thisonegoes, 33k. Zayn gets hit by a car and Harry is his nurse in hospital. I've never been in the situation, so I can't say how sugarcoated it really is, but it felt mostly realistic to me--there's some nice Zayn and Harry stuff, but also some things like, for example, Zayn getting depressed because it's really boring to lie in a hospital bed for months at a time. I often have trouble with fics narrated by Zayn, just because I don't connect to his personality particularly well, but this one was a notable exception: I found it very easy to slip into his head.
Niall/Bressie
What turns on your lights, Full moon is calling, and Coming right behind you, by balefully and mediaville, 27k total. Bressie comes to join the boys for a few days on tour, as friends of 1D often do, but in this case Bressie's being a little weird, and eventually reveals that he's interested in Niall as more than friends. Niall decides he's down with that, and the rest of it is them starting on a new relationship. I liked watching the development of a relationship where both parties are well aware that one of them is more invested than the other to begin with, as well as the negotiations around that difference.
Louis/Zayn
only fools rush in, by anonymous, 22k. This is a nice friends-with-benefits-to-lovers fic, where all the boys are housemates at uni and Zayn and Louis start sleeping together. One thing I particularly appreciated about this fic was that they actually stopped and had a discussion about the feelings when they happened, rather than avoiding the subject and having it blow up in their faces (which can be fun too, of course, but I enjoyed the contrast here). And the ending is very cute.
Niall/Zayn
all the stars align, by countthestars, 9k. Magical realism AU, where your soulmate's name appears like a tattoo somewhere on your body. I wouldn't exactly call this an inverted trope, but it does play out somewhat differently from any other soulmark fic I've read, and has some nice pining in the middle.
Multiple ships
down for the count, by ymorton, 16k. Niall's gay but closeted, and uses trips to Australia as a chance to get soundly shagged by one of his friends there. Lots of sex, but also some angst, as Niall deals with the fact that he doesn't want to be out; he's more closeted here than most characters in most slashfic I read (partially by selection, of course, as it's not usually my preference). Eventually Harry learns about it, and starts sleeping with Niall too in a kind of half-fuckbuddy half-emotionally-entangled way. The push-pull of Niall getting what he wants while he also denies himself what he wants is pretty interesting. I'll also mention that this was originally posted in bits and bobs on tumblr and not all of those pieces are in the version on ao3, so if you like this you could go through that tag as well.
Threesomes and moresomes
Sparks Fly, by LittleMousling, 4k. Taylor comes over to Nick's while she's in London, since they're both dating Harry, and they all get drunk and have a friendly threesome.
Harry/Nick
What Happens in Ibiza and Means of Communication, by LittleMousling, 21k total. Nick goes to Ibiza and Harry's there, too, years after they more or less cut off contact. Once they're in the same place, though, they fall back into old habits. There are some fics that take a particular emotion and kind of draw it out, examine it from multiple angles, as the dominant emotional punch of the story, and that's how I felt about this: an interesting exploration of connections you have with people and how you can give into them even though you think it's going to hurt. (Also, er, lots of sex, if that's your thing.) The sequel is a nice bit of roleplay sex, some amount of time later, if you'd like to catch up on how the characters make things work later.
untitled, by ymorton, 2k. A short Nick and Harry conversation, just before Nick's wedding. Basically nonstop angst with some really incisive views of the characters.
begin again, by anonymous, 16k. Nick ends up in hospital due to an illness, and Harry was halfway across the world and didn't find out until later; Harry decides to come back to London, but there's a lot of history they have to deal with if Harry's going to get what he wants. This is super lovely: well-structured and beautifully written. I also appreciated that it didn't shy away from some of the less palatable aspects of Harry's characterization; a happy ending isn't a foregone conclusion here, the way it sometimes is in fics where there are some difficulties getting the characters together.
all my luck could change, by anonymous, 8k. Nick has a vacation coming up, so Harry makes some plans. A sweetly angsty morsel of Harry and Nick alone together trying to work it out, with beautiful serene imagery.
Liam/Louis
Don't Take Love Off the Table Yet, by harriet_vane, 26k. Louis's a wedding planner, hired to do Liam and Danielle's wedding. Only Danielle's off touring, so it's actually Liam and Louis meeting up all the time to plan things and, eventually, to just hang out. I sort of thought I knew how this plotline was going to go, but there's a bit in the middle that's definitely sideways from what I was predicting. (Still great, though!)
These Streets Are Yours, by sunsetmog, 5k. Liam and Louis were friends in school; Louis confessed he was romantically interested in Liam after graduation, and Liam freaked out and stopped talking to Louis. Then Louis's at uni where Liam also is, and they keep running into each other--sometimes accidentally, sometimes not. Very angsty, but that gives some extra punch to the ending.
Harry/Zayn
Fractured, by thisonegoes, 33k. Zayn gets hit by a car and Harry is his nurse in hospital. I've never been in the situation, so I can't say how sugarcoated it really is, but it felt mostly realistic to me--there's some nice Zayn and Harry stuff, but also some things like, for example, Zayn getting depressed because it's really boring to lie in a hospital bed for months at a time. I often have trouble with fics narrated by Zayn, just because I don't connect to his personality particularly well, but this one was a notable exception: I found it very easy to slip into his head.
Niall/Bressie
What turns on your lights, Full moon is calling, and Coming right behind you, by balefully and mediaville, 27k total. Bressie comes to join the boys for a few days on tour, as friends of 1D often do, but in this case Bressie's being a little weird, and eventually reveals that he's interested in Niall as more than friends. Niall decides he's down with that, and the rest of it is them starting on a new relationship. I liked watching the development of a relationship where both parties are well aware that one of them is more invested than the other to begin with, as well as the negotiations around that difference.
Louis/Zayn
only fools rush in, by anonymous, 22k. This is a nice friends-with-benefits-to-lovers fic, where all the boys are housemates at uni and Zayn and Louis start sleeping together. One thing I particularly appreciated about this fic was that they actually stopped and had a discussion about the feelings when they happened, rather than avoiding the subject and having it blow up in their faces (which can be fun too, of course, but I enjoyed the contrast here). And the ending is very cute.
Niall/Zayn
all the stars align, by countthestars, 9k. Magical realism AU, where your soulmate's name appears like a tattoo somewhere on your body. I wouldn't exactly call this an inverted trope, but it does play out somewhat differently from any other soulmark fic I've read, and has some nice pining in the middle.
Multiple ships
down for the count, by ymorton, 16k. Niall's gay but closeted, and uses trips to Australia as a chance to get soundly shagged by one of his friends there. Lots of sex, but also some angst, as Niall deals with the fact that he doesn't want to be out; he's more closeted here than most characters in most slashfic I read (partially by selection, of course, as it's not usually my preference). Eventually Harry learns about it, and starts sleeping with Niall too in a kind of half-fuckbuddy half-emotionally-entangled way. The push-pull of Niall getting what he wants while he also denies himself what he wants is pretty interesting. I'll also mention that this was originally posted in bits and bobs on tumblr and not all of those pieces are in the version on ao3, so if you like this you could go through that tag as well.
Threesomes and moresomes
Sparks Fly, by LittleMousling, 4k. Taylor comes over to Nick's while she's in London, since they're both dating Harry, and they all get drunk and have a friendly threesome.