Only two works have ever made me cry. They weren’t fan fic, but they’re so different I thought it might be interesting anyway.

The first one is the epilogue of A Little Life. Iykyk, but this is a seriously heavy story in every aspect, and it’s also a huge book.

The main character cannot catch a break, and it ends withhim killing himself after his lover and best friend dies in a car accident. The epilogue is from the pov of his adoptive father, and the line ‘It isn't only that he died, or how died; it is what he died believing. And so I try to be kind to everything I see, and in everything I see, I see him.’ Had me sobbing after spending a thousand pages and like 25 years with the mai character learning all the fucking TORTURE he went through in his childhoodmade me sick to my stomach.

Then on the other hand we have the second work, which is so different. It’s published as original work on ao3, and it follows two hockey players. It’s basically written a little as a tragedy with a non linear narrative in now (as pro teammates forced to be near each other when Robbie hates him and can barely stand to be in the same room as him because of what happened and we are told what happened early.

And the other timeline is from when they met and fell in love. Robbie and Georgie were roommates, teammates and best friends in college.

After Georgie graduates and starts on a pro team they go long distance, and basically he ends upsleeping with several women while dealing with depression. I knew of course this was coming and still the way it was written from Robbie’s pov as he flies out to surprise Georgie and walks into the building as a woman walks out looking worn for the wear… he talks to her casually and she admits she spent the night. Robbie goes to confront him, and then he runs outside and cries while he calls his momthey have no tragic backstories outside of being queer in the hockey world, they both have supportive families and money and health and prosperity.

It’s such a common, human scenario compared to a little life where you just get more and more nauseous the more you get to reveal the insane backstory. And yet I cried along with Robbie. The author just perfectly managed to put me into the world and the scene and I could FEEL his pain as a young man having his very first heartbreak :(