https://archiveofourown.org/works/45874360?view_full_work=true
Has anyone else read this? What do you think? I'm totally hooked. I started reading it to fill in the wait for the next chapter of ELYN, and now I have not one but two in-progress stories pulling my heart strings. This one is satisfyingly angsty, but not as despairing as ELYN. I love the way Simon and Wille talk to each other, and I get the ways they don't talk to each other.
I haven't read or watched Normal People, and was only mildly curious about it before reading this fic, but I'm going to check it out now. I think I can see the parts of the fic taken from the book. It works really well as a narrative for Simon and Wille's intense longing for one another, and the complications of class, family, social pressures, and insecurities and anxieties. Sign of a well-developed story that it inspires other reading.
By - Ultramarine_BlueJean
What is ELYN?
https://archiveofourown.org/works/44482057/chapters/111883480#workskin
Everybody Loves You Now - thanks to WhenHope for posting the link! Simon and Wille are about four or five years out of high school, and Simon has become a major pop star. I quite like it, though it's very sad and rather bleak (so far... it's not over yet!).
I wasn’t sure I would like this as I haven’t watched Normal People but it is a great story and the writing is fab. Thank you for the recommendation.
Agreed! I appreciate the fic's exploration of Simon and Wille's thinking and reflections as they long for each other, get anxious, make mistakes, rinse and repeat... I love writing that really delves into characters' minds. And I appreciate that the fic is detailed and developed enough to be relatively free of cliche, though some of the conventional fanfic tropes and idioms do pop up. Not enough to be distracting, fortunately. I'm going to read Normal People now. Though I'll likely be imagining Simon and Wille instead of Connell and Marianne...
THIS FIC IS SO GOOD. I'm obsessed. The writing is top notch. I haven't seen Normal People yet, so if anyone is wondering whether that is necessary to enjoy it--no, it totally stands up on its own!
I love this one! Also have not seen normal people, but loved this fic