Boo&Haz&Lima&Neal

One Direction  + Space 

Hey Anon, 

I’m not sure what OOC stands for (I am probably too old and pathetic to know what that is) but to answer your question: no, I’m not really inspired to write A/B/O. I think it’s a really interesting dynamic and some of the best stories I’ve read in this fandom happen to be a/b/o - but I’ve never really had the urge to write one. 

If I DID though, it would go something like this: 

Jane Eyre a/b/o verse AU in which Liam is an orphaned omega growing up in the abusive household of his hateful aunt. He is sent away to a hideous boarding school where unwanted omegas are treated as subhuman, turned into tutors and servants for the ruling Alpha and Beta classes. 

Liam gets by on the strength of his character and his innate goodness. He doesn’t think that being an omega makes him less worthy of opportunity, happiness, of advancement in society regardless of what the cruel masters of the school tell him. 

He graduates and accepts a position at Thornfield Hall, the home of Lord Zayn Malik, an alpha with a callous and uncaring reputation. 

Basically follow the plot of Jane Eyre, substituting in Jane’s struggles with misogyny  and religious prescriptivism with a/b/o class-system issues. 

Naturally Liam discovers that Zayn is a giant ball of mush on the inside with a dark past. He falls desperately in love with Zayn once Zayn becomes a person to him rather than an alpha, and Zayn falls in love with him because Liam’s kindness and genuineness makes him want to believe in happiness again. Aw. 

In place of the secret wife there’d be a mate who went mad and who Zayn has cared for for years. He doesn’t keep her locked up like in the book, but rather she locks herself up and refuses to leave the tower. Immediately after they were mated in an arranged marriage she rejected him, but because they had already marked each other she ended up sending herself mad. If she had taken him back she would have been fine, but she would rather go insane than be with a person she didn’t care about. Zayn had truly loved her, so to watch a woman drive herself out of her mind rather than love him filled him with guilt and self-loathing. 

Cue gothic horror, mystery, angst, the nature of true love, questioning what it means to truly be someone’s ‘mate’ etc. 

Liam and Zayn get together and Zayn proposes. Liam is happier than he ever thought he’d be, but on their wedding night Zayn tries to cover up the fact that he already has a mate mark. Naturally in the throws of passion (old fashioned terms for an old fashioned story) Liam finds it and is heart broken and horrified. How could Zayn have asked him to be his mate when he already had one? *tears, heartbreak etc* 

Zayn explains about his first wife, introduces Liam to her, and Liam sees first hand what rejecting your mate can do to you. Overcome with betrayal and confusion, Liam runs away into the moors, where it obviously starts to rain - because gothic romances love pathetic fallacy. 

Harry, Louis, and Niall will all of course make an appearance - perhaps Louis is the teacher who saves Liam from the moors. Louis is an omega as well, obviously in love with local alpha Harry, but convinced that it is biology which makes Harry so appealing to him and not genuine emotion. So when he finds a connection with Liam he almost breaks his own heart - and Harry’s - when he tries to make a move. Liam shuts him down (obviously) and in the end persuades Louis to give Harry a shot. 

So here Liam is thinking he could be happy living out the rest of his days with Harry and Louis in their little house on the moors. He could teach at the school and, though he’d never get over Zayn, at least he wouldn’t have to look at the man he loved every day and know that he already had another mate. 

But day by day goes by and he finds himself questioning if the bite mark on Zayn’s neck really matters that much after all. Harry and Louis are committed, passionate, and so happy together. Zayn used to try to visit his mate and she wouldn’t even let him in the room. Liam realises how much that must have hurt, how cruel it must have been for Zayn’s own mate to reject him only days after they gave each other the bite. How much of Zayn’s coldness was a result of that heartbreak? And how cruel had Liam been to run away when Zayn had begged him to stay? 

Right around the time he’s considering going back to beg Zayn to forgive him and give him another chance Niall turns up with terrible news - Thornfield Hall has burned to the ground. Zayn was badly injured, and as an unmated Alpha his chances of recovery (because magical mated strength and healing and whatever) are slim. 

So Liam and Niall go on a cross country race to find Zayn, who was blinded in the fire, left with a limp and badly scarred. He’s still the most beautiful thing Liam has ever seen. 

Not knowing how to approach him Liam sends the servants away and takes Zayn’s dinner in, setting it beside him on the table. Zayn looks at him, unseeing, but then Liam comes a little closer and Zayn scents him for the first time. Cue Zayn’s confusion, lots of sobbing, kisses, reunion apologies, professions of deep love, lots of romantic recovery based erotic massage or whatever, and a happy ending. 

Anyway, I’ll leave A/B/O verse to the pros! Check on Ao3 because there are some really fantastic stories there I’m sure you’ll love. And if you’re after Ziam ABO then definitely contact your favourite abo authors and ask if they are keen on writing some. 

Thanks Anon! 

yeah sure! sorry i’ve dragged my feet for like a month about answering this. -_-

PLANNING

a lot of this happens in my head at first. if an idea hits me, i flesh it out during any free time i have by just thinking/lying on my bed listening to music/while i’m trying to fall asleep/in the shower/on public transportation/daydreaming in class. i might make a textpost or two about it if i’m really excited.

then if i’m very sure i’m going to write something and it’s going to be longer than 10k, i write it down on paper. i either plan it chapter by chapter or essential scene by essential scene. i do this either on loose printer paper or my moleskine notebook.

if it’s an out-there AU i’ll make character bios during this phase as well (ie instruments and backstory for the MarchingBand au, superpowers for my xmen au)

i do any research necessary for the fic before i start. i did a lot of this for the inception AU (every restaurant, hotel, etc. was real and researched) and i did a shit ton of it for the lord of the rings AU. if you do this beforehand it’s beneficial to the writing process VS if you try to do it as you write it can slow you down a lot.

i plan for a really goddamn long time in my head so that when i finally start to write, i don’t have to spend much time thinking about what i’m going to write (like i’ll have whole scenes of dialogue and actions mentally planned out etc). this doesn’t always work out but it’s the strategy i try to stick to.

KEEPIN’ ON

this is obviously the hardest part. anyone who’s ever tried to write anything knows this.

if i’m having an off day or writer’s block, i take a break and do something else productive like clean my room or do some notes for class. there’s no point in writing if you’re forcing it out because then it’s not going to end up like you want anyway (unless you’re writing to a deadline)

actually, if you’re writing to a deadline, admit to yourself that the fic might not turn out exactly like you pictured it in your head because you might not have time to make it perfect. accept that this is okay and it’s still going to be a beautiful piece of work. set an everyday writing goal for yourself (1k is what i usually do) and try to stick to it.

going back to freewriting, experiment with different writing spots. i can’t write well in my apartment sometimes - especially if my roommate is home/in the room - so i like to go to starbucks or another local cafe a lot. make sure you get a seat that backs up to the wall though or else you’ll be self conscious and that’s even worse than regular writer’s block!

try not to check tumblr or other social media every two minutes. maybe use “stayfocusd” or a similar extension for your browser that blocks certain websites if you need help sticking to your writing plan. it helps for other work as well!

if you’re really stuck, try writing by hand. this usually helps me so much - i’ll write in my moleskine for a couple of pages and then type it out into the document, and usually it gets rid of the block enough that i can keep typing once my handwriting runs out!

FINISHING TOUCHES

i usually (read: always) use song lyrics for my fic titles. inspiration can strike at any time throughout the writing process, so listen to radio stations or your itunes library and you might be surprised what speaks to you!

i don’t use a beta so i like to do a read-over of my fics and attempt to catch any weird grammar/continuity errors or typos before i post, but i also do this after i post as well and simply edit the fic and hope too many people haven’t seen it yet.

there’s this weird psychological thing that happens to you after you post a fic where you really can’t do anything for more than a few minutes without refreshing your fic and seeing if anyone new read it/liked it/commented on it, so choose your posting date wisely. DO NOT POST FIC THE DAY BEFORE AN EXAM or anything else important because it will render you incapable of studying and also a little oddly depressed that you let your baby out into the world and it’s no longer exclusively yours.

to link to your tumblr or anything else in the notes of a fic, type the following but replace the & sign with a space. whatyouwantthelinktosay

for tips on smut, check this post out :)

The photoshoot is supposed to tie in with their Stockholm Syndrome video, so they have to wear shimmery silver clothing while draping themselves over various pieces of machinery.

“Imagine you’ve been kidnapped by robots, and you’re very sad, but you’re taking the opportunity to get to know each other better,” says the photographer, through a translator.

“What kind of robots?” asks Zayn. 

It’s Ed Sheeran :3

THAT IS THE SINGLE BEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE FUCK

harry would get that “why is it rubbish” offended face as Louis told him he wasn’t leaving, then stare at Louis agog for a long minute, then just turn and walk away. Then he would start trying to fight back by walking around naked and wanking really loudly in the living room and basically trying to mortify Louis out of his home but naturally that just makes Louis even more determined to stay.

Too much booze on the tour bus for one night :o

Someone’s gonna have to deal with 5 very grumpy puppies soon.