A series of posts with the top five fics of each category by kudos plus five more hidden gems from that category! Remember to leave kudos and a comment on the fics you enjoyed to show your appreciation! You can find the library's other recs here.
1ď¸âŁ Tired Tired Sea by MediaWhore / @mediawhorefics {M, 113k}
As a B&B owner on the most remote of all the British Isles, Louis Tomlinson is used to spending the coldest half of the year in complete isolation, with his dog and the sea as sole companions. Until, one day, a mysterious stranger on a quest to rebuild himself rents a room for the winter.
2ď¸âŁ got the sunshine on my shoulders by @hattalove {E, 124k}
five years ago, harry styles left his tiny home town to make it big as a recording artist. he didn't have much regard for what he left behind - a life, a family, and a husband, who woke up one morning to find him gone.
now, harry has everything he could possibly want: he's rich, famous, and adored by everyone he meets, including his boyfriend. but when said boyfriend proposes to him, he's forced to face the uncomfortable facts of his past - and louis, who's spent the last five years returning every set of divorce papers harry sent him.
(or, an au based on the movie sweet home alabama.)
3ď¸âŁ Collision by itjustkindahappened / @tequiladimples {E, 226k}
Mythology/Fairytale!AU in which Louis is a dainty fairy with a temper who wants to be intimidating and Harry hurts people. Naturally, they hate each other.
(Featuring Liam, the big and not-so-bad wolf whoâs got a thing for humans, Zayn, a human with supernaturally good looks, and Niall, the cupid who just wants his job to be easier.)
4ď¸âŁ Flightless Bird by audreyhheart {E, 97k}
AU where Louis Tomlinson is a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. When his rival from ballet school, moody dance prodigy Harry Styles joins the company, old wounds are reopened and old passions reignited. During the company's production of Swan Lake the secret that doomed their love is finally revealed, but will it be too late?
5ď¸âŁ Shake Me Down by @agreatperhaps12 {NR, 208k}
Harry's new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization.
đ This Multiplicity of Powers by @helloamhere {E, 149k}
Maybe in another universe he isnât different. Maybe he hadnât been given an impossible choice. Maybe he wouldnât have lost everything and broken everything and then fallen impossibly, irrevocably in love with the first next thing that was kind. Maybe in that universe he doesnât feel like heâs never breathing, always pretending, teaching the kids even though they all have to learn alone, trying hard not to read the headlines, and so afraid, every day, that he wonât be a good enough teammate to the superhero he canât live without. He knows that love isnât supposed to feel this way, slid secret under your skin like a surgical razor, an invisible war held close over the tender vein that keeps you alive. On the other hand, Louis wonders, had he ever known how to do it any other way?
Maybe thereâs a universe where he doesnât have to keep all his secrets on the inside.
But this isnât that universe.
đ ghost of you by beckywritesthings / @beckydoesthings {E, 109k}
As a rule, Mandalorians and Jedi do not get along.
So when Harry Styles, esteemed Jedi Knight, finds out he has to work with the hot-tempered Mandalorian Duke, Louis Tomlinson, heâs prepared for it to go poorly. But it doesnât, testing both of their boundaries of what they deem acceptable for a partnership.
Itâs the start of something, and as the galaxy dissolves into war, they find themselves clinging to each other, even as it drags up things better left in the past. As it turns out, nothing between them has changed.
Or, a Star Wars AU where Harry is Obi-Wan, Louis is Satine, and somehow thereâs a love story between the cracks where there shouldnât be.
đ don't be afraid to love (and love again) by localopa / @voulezloux {T, 83k}
All Louisâ life, heâs known heâs been different. Thereâs always been something at odds about how he felt.
As the eldest daughter of seven kids, he knew something was wrong with his body. Something was off, he just couldnât quite put his finger on it. His mum dressed him in dresses and tights, plaits in his hair as he wandered around with the local neighborhood boys. They called him a girl, called him she and Rosemary when his name is Louis. He had told the boys as such, but they would tell him Louis is a boyâs name, not a girlâs.
Louis is a boy. He knows he is.
or the one where louis is trans and afraid, harry is cis and brave, and being 100% yourself is easier said than done.
đ Gemma's Dad (Could Use A Guy Like Me)Â by @lululawrence {NR, 83k}
The summer before Louis and Gemma's senior year of college was supposed to be their last big hurrah before they graduate college and become Real Adults in the workforce. They had it all planned and it was going to be filled with mornings skateboarding, afternoons at the pool, and evenings hanging out with as many of the neighborhood kids they grew up with as they can.
Of course, Louis wasn't planning on getting home and learning that Gemma's dad had gotten the house in the divorce and was dealing with things by focusing on work, the house, and his newly planted garden. It becomes obvious early on that Harry is a bit lost and Gemma is worried about him. To help both of them, Louis is more than happy to help Harry find himself again.
As the summer goes on, the adventures and day to day happenings allow Harry and Louis to spend a lot more time together than either of them ever anticipated and Louis finds it more difficult to keep his growing feelings in check than he ever thought it would be. After all, there wasn't a chance that Harry would ever be interested in Louis... right?
đ When the Lights Go Out by thelarenttrap / @antidotetogo {E, 79k}
âLouis, what do you have to say about how last week ended?â the reporter asks.
Thereâs a moment of silence. Harry is looking at the reporter, but eventually gives in and looks down the table at Louis.
Heâs looking straight ahead, as if Harry isnât even in the room.
âIf you canât take the heat, then get out of the kitchen.â
Harry leans forwards, placing his arms on the table and leaning onto them to get as close to his microphone as he can while looking at Louis.
âAnd whatâs that supposed to mean?â
Louis turns to him, his icy blue eyes meeting Harry's. âDriving is your fuckinâ job, act like it.â
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.
aka the one where Louis and Harry are childhood friends to enemies to lovers over the course of 15 ish years.
