Fanfiction Fanatic: Complicity
Because every ending is just a new beginning
Welcome to the new series I am calling Fanfiction Fanatic, where I make all of you read about my love of fanfiction (specifically Harry Styles fanfiction). Now, this is a topic you’ve heard me discuss here before, but I want to explain a few things before we dive into today’s fanfiction.
What Is Fanfiction?
Fanfiction is, quite literally, fiction written by fans. It typically features characters and places from specific source materials (such as Harry Potter or Star Wars) and either expands on an already developed storyline, or creates alternate storylines. This can be as simple as a character making a different choice or as far as removing them from the context of the property altogether and forging a new path. Fifty Shades of Grey famously originated as Twilight fanfiction, where Ana was actually Bella and Christian was actually Edward.
In another corner of the internet is celebrity fanfiction. While I am a veteran fanfiction reader (and one-time writer), I had never ventured into the realm of celebrity fanfiction. This is mostly due to not being that invested in a celebrity. Shockingly, I missed the boat on One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer, and the like in high school. Therefore, I was completely ignorant to the ground swell of incredible writing that was happening in this community.
In my experience, celebrity fanfiction (at least the popular ones) is not grounded in truth. By this I mean, no one is terribly interested in reading about how Harry Styles has fallen in love with a fan and then brings her on tour with him. It’s weird to take a real person and try to manipulate them into this story. No, truly good celebrity fanfiction actually has little to nothing to do with the person at all. By and large the celebrity has been “fan-casted” into an original work of fiction. And that is where my story begins…
Kiwi by Hitterj: A Slippery Slope
Last February, my best friend (also named Sydney) texted me saying she had just read a great fanfiction and that I should give it a try. “It’s about Harry Styles,” she explained, “but it’s not really about him. Trust me, you’ll like it.”
And like it I did. Kiwi currently has 14 million reads on the popular fanfiction site Wattpad and averages an approximately 26 hour read time (fyi, that is longer than Dune). It is a friends-with-benefits-to-faking-dating-to-lovers romance and very spicy (because we came for the spice and stayed for the plot). I devoured it.
Soon after the TikTok algorithm decided to put me at the cross section of Harry Styles and BookTok, which is squarely where fanfiction lies. I started to get videos about something called “Duplicity”. At first I thought this was an inside fandom joke so as a baby fan I turned to Sydney who was older and wiser in the ways of Harry Styles.
But no luck. She had no idea what Duplicity was. I investigated further and found that it was an extremely popular story on Wattpad with members of One Direction fan-cast as members of a mafia, using their band Duplicity as a cover for their illegal business. Since everyone else was reading it, I thought I should to…
Duplicity by HappyDays1D: How It Started…
Duplicity currently has 75 million reads on the Wattpad and averages an approximately 57 hour read time. As of this week, it has been marked as “completed”, with 100 chapters to show for itself. It is an enemies to lovers mafia romance with extra spice. Oh how young and innocent I was in March 2021. Little did I know that opening up that little orange app and typing “Duplicity” into the search bar would lead to such emotional distress.
I am never quite sure what is going to trigger my OCD, but this obsession hit me hard and fast. I barely slept the first 3 days after starting the book because I couldn’t stop reading. I quickly started making TikToks about the book and joined the online conversation around the book and its mysterious author known as @julez_jpg on Twitter. My videos found their intended audience and in their most successful form garnered over a quarter of a million views with tens of thousands of likes (not to brag, but like…).
The year dragged on with the updates coming fewer and far between, but nevertheless exciting when we got them. Julez followed in our lord and savior Taylor Swift’s footsteps and took to teasing us with elaborately planned and executed Easter eggs, both in the book and on Twitter.
All of this came to a crescendo on January 5th 2022 when she announced on Twitter that the sequel, Complicity, would be published on January 7th, seemingly skipping the final chapter of Duplicity all together (don’t worry, she posted chapter 100 two hours before the release of Complicity).
If you’d thus far under estimated the power of the Duplicity fanbase, just know that Duplicity began trending in the US almost immediately while both Complicity and her moniker (Julez_jpg) were trending worldwide. The show was about to begin…
Complicity by HappyDays1D: How It’s Going…
**Spoilers ahead if anyone cares**
The end of Duplicity we painfully read as Aven was kidnapped by her father and Harry is left in a broken mess, vowing to find her wherever she is. The penultimate chapter of Duplicity had me sobbing into my pillow. Harry loves Aven so much.
The 100th chapter and subsequent sequel sees a 9 month time jump where Aven (who is now going by her birth name, Marianna) has settled nicely into her new roles by her father’s side at the head of the mafia. This left fans with whiplash since the last time we saw Aven she was fighting tooth and nail to stay with Harry and as far away from her father as possible. This spurred a load of theories on TikTok and Twitter about what went down in those missing 9 months.
Complicity Weekend, as Twitter called it, saw the release of the first 7 chapters of the book. Like Duplicity, this one also flips between Aven and Harry’s point of views while. also introducing chapters from the perspective of some of their friends. We see a different side of Harry through his journal entries to Aven; a side where he has changed from the womanizing drug addict rock star to a devoted, sober, loving husband to his missing wife. On the flip side we see Aven has been seemingly brainwashed as she does her father’s bidding all over New York City.
The rest of the band are hunkered down in the basement of a restaurant, being hidden away by a kind older woman named Mei. Liam is dutifully keeping Harry sober. Niall is fronting as his typical self, but what once felt like an honest expression now feels like a mask held firmly in place. Louis has gone completely off the deep end for reasons I can’t even begin to get into here, but trust me when I say it’s not good.
Chapter 7 left us on a cliffhanger where Harry and Aven finally come face to face after months of Harry looking for her… and she shoots him! Right in the LEG. NOW, I personally would have interpreted that as fuck off, but dear simpy Harry does not. Instead, when confronted by his bandmates about how he got shot, he insists that she still loves him. The proof? She sho him in the leg, not the head.
I cannot wait to see where this story goes and I truly do encourage anyone who is a fan of mystery, thriller, or romance books to give Duplicity a chance. It’s just a truly fun and emotional journey.
Shit We’re Loving: WATCH
Sydney’s Pick: After We Fell
The After series is a another series that had its start as fanfiction, and not just any fanfiction: Harry Styles fanfiction. A series that was originally published with names of the One Direction band members was later re-published to erase any affiliation with Harry or the guys (but that didn’t stop Harry from getting a restraining order against the author or Liam from going to see the film with his girlfriend).
After the success of the newly published paperback books, the series went to the big screen and saw the release of three feature length films, the third being released in 2021. Make no mistake, these movies are bad, and maybe the only people who like them are the ones followed this fanfiction journey, but they are hilarious to watch. My recommendation is not because I think these films are good. In fact, I think they are quite bad, but that’s the fun in watching them!
Show Your Support: International Spay/Neuter Network
Back in October, Sydney and I went to Jamaica for a friend’s wedding. This wasn’t the first time I had been to the gorgeous island (the last time I was international before the pandemic was actually in Jamaica in 2016), and if you’ve ever visited a popular Caribbean island/resort, then you may be familiar with beach cat colonies. Stray cat colonies are popular at resorts—they keep down the mice/rat population, they’re relatively antisocial towards the guests, and then they’re also cats which are great! However, without getting into the politics of it all, if you’ve visited any of these islands then you might also be familiar with the very real poverty present. With little funds and assistance for the people, it is not surprising that the animals on these islands tend to suffer alongside their people.
International Spay/Neuter Network is exactly what it sounds like. ISNN is an all-volunteer, 501(c3) nonprofit working in Jamaica specifically to reduce the overpopulation of unwanted animals by offering free sterilization of stray dogs and cats, as well as pets whose owners cannot afford traditional veterinary care. Throughout the year, they hold Community Spay/Neuter Clinics with the help of both local and foreign veterinarians and technicians.
ISNN’s goal is to provide comprehensive, cost-effective, humane solutions to the overpopulation of companion and stray animals. Humane education is also essential to ISNN’s mission. With people like them, we can create a more compassionate society where all animals are respected, protected, and help inspire care and kindness. In the 2022 OTF fashion, we have already donated $50 to ISNN and encourage you to participate! Check out their Facebook to see current events too!
Daily Intention:
Today I will…
Be intentional with my time.
Here’s some nifty buttons for you to press, enjoy: