#i've written a 100k fic that has gotten not very big attention so i give that attention to myself

[lunar-system]

Making of Fortuna

This is an ungodly long ramble about my Good Omens fanfic series Fortuna. I don’t expect many will find this interesting, but I had fun while writing it (both the fanfics and this monstrosity) so here you have it! A fake interview from me to me. 

What is Fortuna anyway?

Fortuna was my sanity project during 2020. I started to write it to escape all the anxiety that lock-downs caused, and never stopped.

Actually, in a way Fortuna is also a reaction to the Good Omens lockdown video. I wrote 100k about Aziraphale breaking some rules because I got pissed at him insisting he can’t see Crowley because of the rules. (Though, of course, he was only hinting that Crowley should break them for him.)

But literally Fortuna is the love story of Scrooge McDuck and Goldie O’Gilt with a Good Omens paintover. Just the narrative structure is from the Scrooge comics, and everything else is Good Omens.

Where did the crossover idea come from?

I loved the idea of combining two great love stories written by my childhood favourites. Neil Gaiman was a newer name for me, but Terry Pratchett and Don Rosa have always been in my life. I grew up together with Terry’s Tiffany Aching. 

The fantasy element of Good Omens is what I think made the combination work. Many aspects of the comic are fantastical, and it would have been hard to bend it into a realistic narrative. But with Crowley and Aziraphale I could skirt away from realism as much as I wanted! Aziraphale could absolutely beat up a saloon-full of people and ask a moose to give him a ride. It lined up perfectly with the kind of absurd action and humor that Don Rosa filled his comics with.

The very first thing I wrote was the little scene where Aziraphale saves Crowley from the bear and clips a part of her hair. For some reason I was very concerned of whether or not that scene could be pulled off in a convincing way. It is a very visual little scene and works well in a comic format. When it seemed like it could work in writing, I greenlit the fic for myself.

One big inspiration for the series was the song Last Sled by Tuomas Holopainen. He wrote it to match Scrooge’s and Goldie’s story, and I decided to match my fic to it as well. I loved the idea of writing a fic that would match the songs so well that the songs became its soundtrack!

The songs affected the fics in many ways. I picked the name of Crowley’s saloon (and the name of the fic series) just because the song Last Sled has that saying in there, Fortuna Favet Fortibus. I kept the name White Agony Creek because the name got mentioned in the song. I made drinking coffee a recurring thing because it’s mentioned once, and added rainbows as a conversation point. And, ultimately, the last part of my series began because I needed to match the fics to the song: “Can’t leave behind what’s in this sled.” (Part 3 was meant to be just a short fix-it. Ha ha.)

I do wonder whether or not the Disney Ducks tag makes people skeptical to begin the story. To me the story of Scrooge and Goldie is simply a really good romance in a unique setting, and I loved the idea of putting Crowley and Aziraphale in their story. 

Conflict & characterisation

One of the first things I wrote was for the series was the ending of part 2: the scene where Aziraphale abandons Crowley's letter in the snow. The rest of the series more or less happened because I needed to find out what could drive Aziraphale and Crowley to a point of such hurt and distrust. 

The ending of part 1 was an important puzzle piece for that. Crowley and Aziraphale had enjoyed their time together at the claim. Why would they fall apart so badly? Both needed believable motivations for why they were so hurt and why they acted in so hurtful ways. I didn’t want to make either the bad guy.

What came up was queer people in different stages of their journeys. Those stages might not always be compatible with each other, even though both are as valid. But different stages mean very different needs. 

At that point of the story, Aziraphale is still firmly in the closet. He has only begun experimenting. He needs the safety of hiding who he is, and cannot be forced out of the closet if he is not ready for it. So for Aziraphale closet means safety.

But for Crowley it means prison. Crowley is already out and cannot let Aziraphale drag her back into the closet with him. What she needs instead is validation and acknowledgement of her choice of being out. 

This is why they clash. Crowley cannot give Aziraphale the safety of the closet, and Aziraphale cannot give Crowley the freedom of being out of it. But – and this is what I was balancing with a lot – neither of them are wrong. They just have different needs. This would not necessarily mean conflict, but without proper communication can lead to it. And it does.

I was often a bit worried on my portrayal of Crowley in part 1. She seems very confident, a bit cocky, and sometimes even bit disregarding towards both of their safety. I love reading about protective, nervous and floundering Crowley. But it turned out that I was making the origin story of that Crowley – the person Crowley ends up becoming in part 3 is very nervous and uncertain. It started to seem like when part 1 seemed to be about Aziraphale's anxieties, the whole time it was an elaborate setup for Crowley's character development. Or, in other words, breaking Crowley apart and then putting him back together.

I wish there would have been more time to see how Aziraphale overcame his anxieties. I kinda skip over that part. It happens here: "When Aziraphale's worst fears came true, he went to Hell and asked for a rubber duck." But on the other hand I like to think that that is what the canon itself is about. It's Aziraphale taking a stand. And that's where his character development happens. Once he is free of Heaven, he has the freedom to become truly himself. 

And that's also where the tragedy of part 3 comes from: once Aziraphale is ready to be out and proud, Crowley is scared shitless by him. Aziraphale never meant it, but the way he treated Crowley was truly hurtful to him. Crowley was not seen as himself when he needed it the most. Instead he kept being pushed back into the label of "demon", until he too accepted it to some extend and stopped dreaming of being seen as himself.

And even so I did not want to paint Aziraphale as the bad guy either. It really was a tricky balance. They both hurt each other. They both got hurt by the other. Neither of them was to blame, and both of them were.

One challenge for writing part 3 was to show that even though they both have been hurt, they still do actually enjoy each others company. They want to work to preserve their relationship. The same way that in part 1 I had showed that they actually enjoy living together, I tried to bring up those lighter moments in part 3 to balance Crowley's eternal misery. The short argument about whether or not to fly trans-atlantic is one of my favourites.

One smaller notion: While it’s obvious that Aziraphale has anxiety and Crowley helps him calm down from it, I like to also think that Crowley symbolises depression to some extent. At the very start life feels meaningless to him, even if he still goes through the motions of his work. Aziraphale is an anti-depressant to him and helps him find a sense of purpose. A joy to life.

Research

I did more research than I would have ever expected. I got swept into it. I listened to a Klondike Gold Rush podcast. I read Jack London's A call to the wild, the book Aziraphale reads in the final part. Most of the things I tell about prospecting is accurate (as far as I know), and there are some real historical details scattered here and there. For example, whiskey was not legally allowed in Klondike for other than medical purposes. An awful amount of horses died during the gold rush. Dawson city did burn down, and the people of it were struggling with pestilence and famine. The tower of London did not function as a prison at the time of the Gold Rush. 

One important thing was to note that the Rosa comics were not at all sensitive to the First Nation's perspective of the gold rush. I mean. It really romanticises colonialism. All that “conquering untamed wilderness” talk is there unironically. 

At one point I started to question if I was even allowed to write this story. I didn't want to make Crowley and Aziraphale into British saviours who solve everything with miracles. Racism solved with a snap of fingers! Yikes. I decided to keep them quite detached from the situation, sticking to their own worries of Heaven and Hell and let the humans figure out their own struggles. It is an extremely privileged position for them to be in. Whether or not it was a tactful thing to write, I’m still not sure. 

Character descriptions

I challenged myself to describe the appearances of Aziraphale and Crowley as little as I could. In a way it was to pay homage to the book. I do lean a bit to the TV-versions, though. Aziraphale is said to be "heavy" and "built like an ox" with "wide thighs", while Crowley is described as tall, lean, and thin. I also could not let go of Crowley’s red hair. 

One thing I spent way too much thinking about was them blushing. If I wanted the reader to be able to imagine them in any way they liked, and not only white like in the show, I couldn’t have them visibly blushing. I liked that challenge. I think often in fanfiction the “blush mechanics” are a bit overdone, though I understand that it can be used as a lovely tell-tale to someone’s emotions. But it wasn’t working for me, so I just opted out of it completely. Well, there is ONE mention in part 3 of Crowley turning "a nice shade of red." But I’m pretty sure Aziraphale does not visibly blush at all during the whole 100k!

Gender

Other omissions on character's looks are mostly things about gender. I don't describe their chests, partly for dysphoria reasons, partly so that the gender-presentations of the characters are open for interpretation. I did leave some masculine indications for Miss Crowley: broad shoulders and an Adam's apple come to mind. 

Crowley switches pronouns in the last part of the series. Especially the use of they/them in the third part was done partly just because I wanted to learn to use they/them pronouns better. There isn't a very strong narrative reason for it, other than to maybe mark a new chapter in Crowley's life. Crowley is Miss Crowley until the heartbreak, Mr Crowley while he mourns, and finally Mx Crowley once they can relax. And it is very handy that most of my smut happens when Aziraphale and Crowley have different pronouns.

I actually discovered that writing smut can be very difficult for me. I suppose I'm a bit of a prude – that's where the decision to omit all the words for genitals in the first part comes from. On the other hand, I liked that their bodies were just bodies, with some more or less strongly implied parts. It lines up nicely with their general gender presentations being left quite vague. But on the other hand it dulled the trans representation, when I couldn’t use phases like “her cock” and “his vulva.”

At some point I was quite worried about making Crowley a seductive woman and Aziraphale the brooding man. I had seen a post somewhere saying that it's boring to always see Crowley as the femme. It kinda stuck with me. I'm nonbinary and bisexual myself, and I would hate it if my story was seen as me forcing them in a hetero narrative. Well, Scrooge and Goldie was a story about straight ducks (???), so maybe there is something to say about that. But I did my best to queer up everything I could. I wanted people to be able to see Crowley with masculine features even if she went with she/her pronouns. There should be nothing in the story that would contradict Aziraphale being a he/him lesbian, if the reader wanted to see it so. Writing Good Omens fic has been an excercise of deconstructing gender for me, and it goes hand in hand with my own coming out story as well. 

Homages

There are nods to Terry Pratchett's writing here and there in the text. Some metaphors of wordings I've straight out borrowed ("a clang well done" and the silence that follows birdsong that was always there are straight from The Wee Free Men, my favourite book always forever). 

There was originally meant to be more foot notes, but I had to admit they tended to distrupt the pacing more than add to the story. So now there are three.

It was a happy accident that I ended up quoting the book word to word when Fortuna burned down. Crowley in a burning building that was important to one of the main characters, mourning the loss of Aziraphale in some way? It was too good of a coincidence. And at the same time, even though I quote the book word by word, that scene is also taken picture by picture from the comic. It's the scene were I merge two works merge into one the clearest. 

And, this is no news for the ones who are familiar with the comic, but did you notice that in part 2 Crowley and Aziraphale literally do not interact? They just spend the whole part thinking about each other obsessively and manage to avoid each other the whole time. It's ridiculous, I love it.

The parts that just happened

The action plot with Ligur and Hastur wrote itself. There are some aspects that are recycled from the comic – like the three heroic humans coming to rescue and their "local" guides who are actually the bad guys. But Crowley's near-death just HAPPENED. And the fact that she was a snake and could brumate! And that Aziraphale could literally warm her back to life! I didn’t do it, it wrote itself.

Another thing that just clicked was Aziraphale’s assignment. For the longest time I had no clue why Aziraphale would have been ordered to dig gold the human way. I figured the joke would have been that I just never explain in. It's a fanfic after all. It can be "just an assignment." But when I realised that Heaven actually HAD GOLD IN THEIR FACE, it suddenly clicked into place. How horribly insulting to order Aziraphale dig it up for them! He's treated like an errand boy, with no respect to his rank or abilities. And he is so ashamed of it that he doesn't even want to tell Crowley the reason for the assignment.

Them sensing each other started because I needed a plot reason for Aziraphale to know that Crowley was hurt when she got frozen. The mechanic of how it all works is very vague, and I kinda only use it when it's useful for the plot, which is not a super solid thing to do. I also say that Azi can sense the viles of Dawson. It makes more sense to me that he would sense that nasty stuff rather than love, cause that's the stuff he should focus on fixing.

Btw, at the very beginning of the story, Crowley totally had sensed that Aziraphale was coming to the saloon. She had forbid all the waiters from serving him, only to seem cooler when she herself stepped in.

Side characters

I loved writing the occasional other perspectives than Aziraphale's and Crowley's. Eben, Tim, Jack, Ligur, Steele, and eventually Alice. It gives a chance to point out the strangeness of our protagonists. But, outch, writing that lists shows that it's a bit of a sausage fest. Damn. I do my best to queer up Azi and Crowley, and then end up writing most of my side characters stereotypical men. I blame partly the heritage of the Disney Ducks comics, which are unbelievably male-centric.

There is the background plot of the women of Saloon Fortuna. I am very fond of the scene where Crowley's legacy is revealed in the modern day. Her work at Saloon Fortuna was never in focus during the story, only implied. Maybe it was because she didn't think it was anything special. Or maybe because it is just the way she lived her life, helping people off-handedly, not drawing attention to herself. But the trouble of being immortal is that you will leave traces of you behind. And it will bite your butt if you show your face around again.

I had Ligur be in charge for no other reason than the George & Fred effect. When I first started reading GO fanfics, I often accidentally mixed Ligur and Hastur up. I think it helps to switch them up. Also it is nice to give a darker skinned character a bit more screen time, if you can call it screen time. 

I loved to bring in Famine and Pestilence in part 2. I also loved to purposefully leave Gabriel out from the whole series. Funnily enough there was never a moment for Beelzebub to even be mentioned, even though I'm very fond of them.

And I loved to include some fanon favourites, such as Oscar Wilde, Freddie Mercury and Jane Austen!

Other curiosities

It was an inside joke of mine that I never specify what it means that Crowley is a showgirl. In another version of this story there would definitely have been a scene where Aziraphale sees Crowley perform and realises he's in love because of that. But there just was no fitting place for that scene here. I also felt like it would have rocked the balance of the two of them. They are equals. Aziraphale seeing Crowley perform might have made Crowley into object to be gazed at. But yes, maybe she is a stripper. Maybe she is a sex worker. I like to think that Aziraphale never found out what the exact job description was. And Crowley never thought there was anything to clarify, because it was literally just a job like any other.

The nicknames, Cat's-eye and Knockout, were quite a late addition. Klondike Gold Rush podcast told me that everyone there had an outlandish nickname, so I added them. And I liked it! Crowley felt like a part of the community when she had a name given by the crew of her saloon. It also made Crowley's eyes part of the story more than I thought they would be. She always has to hide them, and in the end it does turn out she was a bit insecure of them. And Aziraphale's name, well, that's just a joke on what a bastard he actually is, even if he doesn’t want to think of himself that way. 

The smut in part 1 and part 3 are meant to mirror each other. In part 1 Crowley is in charge, helping Aziraphale along. In part 3 Aziraphale is in charge, helping Crowley along. The shared thing is that Aziraphale sucks Crowley off in both of the fics. I have no other reason than that he loves doing it. He does. Very much. From my notes app: “have aziraphale's pov of him savouring and devouring crowley's dick, because HELL YEAH”

There is also nice symmetry that in part 1 Crowley freezes and Aziraphale saves her, and in part 2 Aziraphale freezes and Crowley saves her. Or did she? She didn't really tell me.

Accuracy

Any mentions of moon phases are astronomically accurate. Crescent moon setting soon after sunset in the Northern hemisphere? Waxing crescent. Almost full moon rising late in the winter night long after sunset? Waning gibbous. My biggest pet peeve is the moon done wrong. It has rules! You wouldn’t have two sunsets in a row without a sunrise in the middle just cause it fits the mood!! 

Also, I couldn't just have them have midnight sun because Dawson is not that far in the North. And northern lights are quite rare at that height. Literally no-one cares about whether or not I portray moon and midnight sun or the northern lights accurately in some obscure crossover fanfic, except that I myself very much do. I have waited my school bus in -30 celcius too many times. It is personal!

I am also very sorry that I have presented a Wrong Moose Fact in this work of fiction. Aziraphale rides a moose, it is spring, and that moose is told to have gigantic antlers. But mooses don’t have antlers in the spring. They grow them during the summer, have them biggest during the autumn, and they fall during the winter. This is my biggest crime. A Wrong Moose Fact. I did it for the drama. 

[nottooldforthisship]

Hi! Can I ask what are your top fics of 2017 so far? The fics I've been reading for the past week(s) were all from 2015/16.. So I've been wanting to catch up with the new ones. :) Thanks looove

Oh shit, that’s a hard question ^^

(I’ll update this until the end of the year)(last update on Dec.14th 2014)

(also this is mostly in chronological order of my reading) (and fair warning, I haven’t read a Larry fic since Nov.17th)

- Fall At My Door , by @fullonlarrie : A-list actor Harry Styles and award-winning musician Louis Tomlinson have an acquaintances-with-benefits relationship, so whenever their busy professional lives happen to land them in the same city, they meet up. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.And that’s all it is. Until it isn’t. (30k, E)

- Feels Like Coming Home, by @phd-mama​ : The last thing Harry Styles expects when he’s hanging out at the Someday Cafe in Somerville one rainy October day is for his ex, Louis Tomlinson to walk through the door, but that’s exactly what happens. After a spectacularly ugly break-up three years prior, Harry hasn’t heard one word from Louis, and he’s moved on. Gotten over him. But having Louis back in his life, not to mention working at the restaurant where he’s a chef, isn’t easy, and the feelings that Harry thought he’d left turn out to be not so easily forgotten. This is a story about love and the power of forgiveness, and how the hard choices we make define us, and change our lives.(60k, E)

- Saved Tonight, by objectlesson : Harry is the world’s most persistent seduction-baker, a questionable dog-sitter, and Louis’s biggest fan. Louis hasn’t written in years, is trying to pass loneliness off as cynicism, and absolutely hates his fans. It’s probably destiny. (30k, E)

- Just Breathe, by @a-writerwrites and @dimpled-halo: Louis pops his head into the kitchen, “You alright?”Harry smiles shaking his head, “Just my clumsy arse at it again,” he says laughing.“I oughta put you over my knee and give you a good spanking,” Louis mutters, chuckling.Harry freezes.  His pulse races so hard he can feel the blood rushing fast and hot throughout his body, like a livewire, zinging through him in a delirious rush.  His mouth goes dry, and his eyes are wide.  And when Louis turns around to look at him after being silent for so long, it’s like Louis just knows.  He understands.  Harry loves him so fucking much.  **** OR the one where Harry and Louis are on a journey through life together — one that includes discovering dark, hidden parts of themselves that only the other can find. (50k, E)

- Then We Talk Slow , by @letsjustsee : (…) A famous/non-famous AU in which Louis banters back and forth with his new record company on Twitter, only to find out that Harry is the man behind the tweets. (20k, E)

- Riptide , by FlyingAlwaysInColor : AU in which Louis loses his amazing mum, and is sent on a forced holiday to a luxury spa resort where he meets a green-eyed butterfly-angel and an adventurous Irishman who help him start to heal by administering equal doses of love and laughter. (91k, E)

- Reduce Me To A Pleading Cry (Break The Skin and Tantalize), by @taggiecb : As the CEO of Styles & Styles, Harry Styles cuts a brooding and handsome figure at the helm of a very successful business. His reputation for intensity is well known, but you would be intense, too, if you had to work numbers all day, give countless orders, and conduct endless meetings. When all you really want to do at night–ache to do–is give away the reins, let someone else make the decisions, be ordered around for once, just–let go. Harry has reached his breaking point when one touch from a man whose very stance commands attention leads him back to a place he thought he’d never return. Or Harry is a broody submissive boss, Louis is a natural dom who works in the mail room at Styles & Styles, Niall is a matchmaking oracle, and a slender, dark haired man stands mute at the coffee stand encouraging others to spill their secrets. (33k, E)

- Resist Everything Except Temptation, by @domestic-harry :   (…) The one where Louis is the commodore’s son who is forced to become a part of Harry’s crew when he is captured. (100k, E)

(more under the cut, this list is gonna be so long …)

- Them Butterflies , by @gaycousinlarry  : To sum it all up - Louis is beautiful. Breathtakingly so. And Harry can’t find it in himself to even question the fact that he thinks so. Louis is mesmerising, nearly magnetic with all the energy bouncing off of him. Harry doesn’t know what to make of it, but he knows he doesn’t want this night to end.  This is the extraordinarily ordinary AU where Harry falls in love for the first time and Louis learns how to fall in love all over again. (68k, E)

- When We Were Younger, by @dinosaursmate: About a week after Harry started visiting this particular chat room, he was watching some kid argue with the whole room about football, personally disinterested as he tipped a bag of crisps into his mouth. He happily chomped on the crumbs, taking a swig from a glass of Ribena to wash them down, glancing at the screen and very nearly spat the squash back out again. His heart was pounding wildly. The display icon of the argumentative newcomer had caught his eye, and not in a good way. He gulped as he clicked the picture, and when it popped up in full resolution, his heart nearly fell right out of his arse. - Sixteen year old Harry Styles’ world turns upside down when he logs on to gay teen chat to discover somebody has stolen his photos and used them as their own.  (76k, E)

- Fool’s Gold , by @freetheankles : Or the Arnacoeur AU in which Harry is scheduled to be married to Liam in 10 days and Harry’s mother hires Louis and his team to break them up.  (55h, E)

- Dance Me (to the End of Love), by @phd-mama​​ : You would think that it’s a simple process - you meet, you fall in love, you get married. But when you add one lawyer and one overly-competitive high school teacher to that equation, it’s no longer a straight line from beginning to end. Or the story of how a simple proposal becomes a competition where no one loses in the end. (19k, E)

- Life Was a Song, You Came Along, by @rainbowninja​ : It’s embarrassing how long it takes Louis to recognize his own song. Niall had sung it as a bright, hopeful love song, and that’s honestly how Louis had always assumed it should sound. But this new voice, slow and rough, stripped of any backing instrument, has infused the lyrics with just the tumultuous mix of fear and defiance that Louis can remember so clearly from the night he wrote them. It’s not a comfortable thing, to feel like someone is singing all your secrets back to you.  Louis is a songwriter trapped in a lie that could ruin his best friend’s career. Harry owns a record store, distrusts everyone in the music industry on principle, but loves Niall Horan’s newest album. A modern retelling of Singin’ in the Rain.(37k, E)

-  Wholehearted, by TheMagicWord : AU. When superstar singer and winner of The Voice Louis Tomlinson tweets “Nothing worse than waking up with no milk for a cuppa !! Gutted” he doesn’t expect someone to bring him some. And he really doesn’t expect that someone to have bright green eyes, long curly hair, and (fucking) dimples. (77k, E)

- Looking Through You, by @allwaswell16 : Just as Louis and Liam were starting out in the music industry, writing and producing for up and coming artists, a fateful meeting with new pop singer Harry Styles changes everything. Four years later, just as Harry is set to embark on his next world tour, a drunken confession causes a rift between once inseparable friends. As Harry tries to make sense of his feelings for Louis, he begins writing his next album to express them as it may be the only way to break through the walls that Louis has built between them. (41k, E)

- Love’s Truest Language , by @smrwine :  The first part was meant as a joke. He didn’t really expect Harry to buy anything. It was just Louis’ way of softening the ‘get the fuck out’ blow.  “Where’s your order forms, then?”  “I don’t want your flowers.” Louis chided before directing all of his attention to the arrangement in front of him.  Harry laughed under his breath as he stood to his full height, “Who said anything about them being for you, love?” (48k, E)

- got the sunshine on my shoulders , by @hattalove : 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.)(124k, E)

- Never Let Me Go, by @loveisalaserquest17​ : Harry and Louis have been friends forever, but they couldn’t be more different. One night, with a little too much alcohol, they make a pact to marry in ten years if they’re both still single.Now, one month before the deadline, Louis is willing to do whatever it takes to avoid ending up with his best friend. But is he, really? | Loosely inspired by The 10 Year Plan  (55k, E)

- Don’t Want Shelter , by @fullonlarrie : Louis and Harry have known each other all their lives. Friends as children, they danced around each other as teenagers, and have spent the last twenty-five years either screaming at each other or not speaking at all. Except for that one time ten years ago…When Hurricane Nicole threatens the coast, they end up stuck together in their families’ old vacation home that they begrudgingly co-own.During the storm, and in the months after, they’re both forced to reevaluate their history and what they mean to each other. (76k, E)

- Turning Page, by @daisyharry : AU: Harry Styles tries to get lost in a place he’s never been.  Louis Tomlinson has been perfecting the art of being lost for years. What they don’t expect to find is each other. (67k, M)

- No One Like You   , by @myownsparknow : Where Liam and Niall are art historians discovering the truth about two nineteenth century painters on opposite sides of an artistic divide. (20k, M)

- Paint Me In A Million Dreams  , by @greenfeelings : Harry’s one of Hollywood’s biggest actors, has made a name for himself in prestigious films and lives the life of a superstar. There’s just one thing missing to make it picture-perfect, but the one Harry’s in love with is completely out of reach for him. Enter Louis, one of Hollywood’s biggest actors himself, who just came out of the closet and taps new genres in the industry. When Louis sacks the role Harry auditioned for in Scorsese’s next big film, their irrational feud starts. Who could have guessed it would get even worse when for promo season, their teams decide to present them as a couple for publicity?  (110k, M)

-(Take Me Home) Country Roads, by @a-writerwrites : OR a Northern Exposure AU featuring Louis as the big city doctor, Harry as a natural healer, Niall as a secretive barkeep, Liam and Zayn head over heels for each other but they don’t know it and a lot of hurt, comfort and moonshine in between. (86k, E)