#wherewillyoublaze

11: “We could get arrested for this” and 15: “Was that supposed to hurt?”

~*~

Bloomsbury is lovely this time of year, Draco thinks to himself as he strolls across the streets with his hands in his pockets. The cherry blossom trees on Marchmont Street are blooming, a sea of pink in the otherwise drizzly and grey neighborhood. It’s not a particularly pretty neighborhood, but it’s home; it’s where he’d disappear off to once his father dropped him off at King’s Cross too early, and Draco sneaked off, not ready to fall back into the role of who he was supposed to be at Hogwarts. It had been his favourite ritual, and once the Dark Lord had moved into the Manor his favourite home away from home had become out of bounds; his freedom to roam had gone, and he’d die before he would allow the Death Eaters to know his favourite part of London was Muggle.

It’s why Draco pops in whenever he can these days, but especially now before term starts and he has to go back to teaching Defense. A tradition that makes him feel settled within his skin has become a necessity at this point.

Draco can feel the raindrops fall down onto his face, but he can’t be arsed to cast an Umbrella Charm at the moment; he feels alive, his veins burning with the pleasure of not being recognised for once and blending together with everyone around him. Even if he’s much more fashionable than the average Muggle Londoner, of course. Key being average: in the past few years, he’s met more than enough blokes who absolutely do know how to dress themselves, and he’d even incorporated an idea or two into his own wardrobe.

He pops into the queer bookshop called Gay’s the Word around the corner, shaking off the raindrops from his face, and lets his fingers trail across the spines of books filled with stories that are not unlike his and yet not at all similar to what he’s been through.

“Morning,” he greets the clerk, who he’s familiar with at this point, and watches as he explains to a shaggy-haired customer that Virginia Woolf lived around these parts, and if he ever wants to take a stroll, there’s a route she always used to take.

What the clerk doesn’t know, nor the customer, is that Virginia Woolf herself was a witch, and the Bloomsbury Set had been a group of witches and wizards alike who could not care less about being proper or being inconspicuous. They did whatever the hell they wanted, and Draco aspires to be more like them; to give into what it is he wants, rather than making measured decisions for every single aspect of his life. 

The cobblestones in Marchmont Street quiver with their magical memory. It’s why he loves being here. He can’t explain it, but this part of Muggle London feels freer than Soho has ever felt; something Blaise has never been able to wrap his head around. 

“Thanks! I might, when it’s stopped raining,” the mop of hair says and the tone is familiar. Draco’s body knows who it is before his brain does. Before he can catch up with it and figure out what Harry bloody Potter is doing in a queer Muggle bookshop, there’s a smash behind him, and a brick soars through the window and lands right in front of Draco’s feet.

“Fucking fags!” a voice shouts from outside, and Draco feels chilled to the core.

“Oh, I think the fuck not,” Potter snarls and storms outside, and though Draco doesn’t want to follow, his feet have a will of their own, and he runs after him as Potter chases down the man, past the laundry shop and turning the corner. Where the cobblestones usually quiver with the energy of the Bloomsbury Set, this time, the air is shaking with Potter’s bombastic magic, rolling off of him in waves and overwhelming Draco and surely, everyone else within a twenty-mile radius.

The power this man has is absolutely ridiculous, and Draco is addicted to it, wants to breathe it in and let it engulf him if he thought he’d be able to survive it.

I was tagged by @rainberrycurses, @watermelonsugarhii and @halosboat in three ask games, thank you so much! 😘💞

First, I made illustrations of myself using this and this picrew, with the idea of going for modern-day mage/sorceress looks inspired by The Witcher (which didn’t end up working so well, but the intention was there haha) ✨  

Playlist prompt challenge

Rules: shuffle one of your playlists and for the first 3 songs that play, you have to write 3 fic prompts around those songs

Unsurprisingly, I picked Harry and Louis as my pairing ❤️ 

1. Orville Peck - Turn to Hate

A roadtrip AU in the southwest of the US. Harry and Louis are in their early 30′s and meet at a motel or a gas station. There’s immediate attraction between them, and they quickly develop a reluctant but intense love-hate dynamic with great sex and poor communication. They eventually part ways on a stony note (with lots of repressed feelings and pride involved), and the story ends with a concluding shot where one of them catches up to the other on the backtrop of a beautiful sunset in the desert. They both get out of their cars and look at one another as the sky turns red and purple behind them.   

2. Shuggie Otis - Strawberry Letter 23

Something soft, bubbly, colourful and vibrant, probably involving quite a bit of nature and a little fantasy and/or magical realism. Harry and Louis are 10-15 years old and fall in love. They meet often in the forest close to where they live and make it into their secret spot: they pick fresh strawberries, listen to the cheerful chirping of birds, bask in the sunshine, lie down in the grass and peck each other’s faces with kisses sticky from having eaten too many sweets. Whenever forced to be apart (usually not for long), they send each other letters without fail. The letters Louis gets from Harry always smell sweet and are signed with the imprint of a smooth, glittery lip gloss. 

3. Cannons - Talk Talk

A modern slow-burn fic with heavy angst and a happy ending. Harry and Louis are in their early 20′s and have been best friends for years; Boy Nr. 1 is in complete denial and is starting to date around a little, while Boy Nr. 2 (our POV) is pining and suffering terribly. The Cannons song makes me picture a scene in a club / at a party where Boy Nr. 1 is dancing with some girl and Boy Nr. 2 watches them while nursing a drink, his heart thick with longing, sadness and doubt because Boy Nr. 1 keeps sending him mixed signals before pushing him away all over again. At the end of the night, they both confront each other and end up exchanging a long, passionate, desperate heated kiss. 

................................ friendship literally cancelled wtf ??????? how can i make those decisions eline? 

we unfortunately all know how i feel about george mackay (***** is how) so he’s # 1 (i am but a feeble woman, i see his hands and jawline and i am gone) but then it’s really hard to decide between the other two. we all remember the 2 pints of lager episode incident in which sam barnett really Looked and Acted Like That. but richard madden is hot AND scottish ???? but sam barnett says gay rights by existing and playing so many queer roles which is [fire emoji] if only on an emotional level. ok ok let’s go with richard madden first because i wouldn’t **** sam barnett lbr. he’s my mlm brother, if in thoughts alone. 

titanic-leo and titanic-kate is literally my dream threesome BUT it has to be kate. im sorry hot young & androgynous leo, i love you forever but she’s just that beautiful. 

finally you’re really gonna expose by ***** *** kink like that with that bonus uh ???? i mean, alan rickman has The Voice but peter capaldi all the way. ALL THE WAY. 

hmmm yes def a few !! i have a ~reincarnation sci-fi fantasy concept i’ve been saving for years that still needs a story. but i love it a lot. i’ve got a ya novel about a medium third-wheeling hardcore when her ghost bff falls in love with the ghost whose ~mysterious death they are trying to solve so he can ~move on. there’s my 1920s queer detective story that i’ve already told you a bit about. the only one i’m slowly working on atm is the last one. 

i’ve been told that i always seem really put together when im a mess. i’m often told that i’m always in a good mood (which... lol). i’ve also been told that i’m really sweet/motherly/trustworthy and idk about that. 

humour !!!! i love people who make me laugh. passion!!! i love people who love things & people. knowledge !!! i love people who are hungry to know & understand things. kindness!!! i love people who treat others well. 

i’m trying to think of widow harry fun facts but his backstory is so sad :((( he’s quite close to his sister in law ? and even tho it doesn’t replace the relationship he has with his sister (who lives far away and he sees rarely) it does help that there is one member of his husband’s (well... late husband when the fic starts) family who doesn’t see him as a bad investment and a fool who can’t live up to their ridiculous standards. 

babe how long do you HAVE ?! i would have loved loved loved more of ianto and his sister. i think that tiny glimpse into their past & their relationship that we got in coe was fascinating and it’s a shame we never got more. i would have loved to see more of his friendship with tosh. they're the two most underrated characters and their dynamic was stellar. they’ve both got more of a ... calculating edge? let’s call it that, than the rest of the team which is really really interesting. and they have so much in common?? jack murdered their lovers for the sake of humanity’s safety and they managed to forgive him/maintain a loving relationship with him (which tells you A LOT about them as people i think). they’re both bi. they’re both really quick and clever. they’re both often underestimated. they’re both often the ones ~left behind/not as often on the field. i don’t know. i just feel like there’s so much untapped potential in that relationship which is why i’m !! there’s an audio coming with them. i also would have loved/would love more of ianto’s relationship with owen. just because they are fucking hilarious and i could always use more giggles in my torchwood. also ???? ianto jones is literally one of what? 30?? survivors of the battle of canary wharf??? (i don't remember the exact number) and that’s BARELY touched upon in the tv show. we’ve had a bit more in audios thankfully but i would have loved loved loved loved to see that addressed more fully in the show. he was so young to have something so traumatic happen to him and it truly must have shaped who he is so much. i’m also really curious as to what the other members of team (esp. the ones who were working for torchwood at the time) thought about it. because he’s obvs treated like the teaboy/knows nothing at the beginning and then a traitor when they discover lisa but... isn’t he a torchwood veteran in some ways?? don’t they get curious about tw 1/his experiences there? do they feel sorry for him? i don’t know. it’s such a fascinating and heartwrenching back story and they literally barely did ANYTHING with it which ???? what a waste. what a waste. i would have loved to know more about his ~queer journey and how growing up in a working-class welsh environment would have affected him. i would have loved for him to be canonically bi (but i don't trust rtd with that anyways) and for that to be explored more explicitly. 

my ultimate ~cheering up song is david bowie’s magic dance from the labyrinth soundtrack. ALWAYS puts a smile on my face/makes me want to dance. 

4. are you an adventurous reader?

uhhhh that’s a very good question? i like to think that i am ?? but i also very much know what i like and what i don’t like and i take that into consideration when i pick up my next read haha. 

10. what was the last book to surprise you?

probably ‘coming out under the fire’ that i finished a few weeks ago, the book about gay men & women in the us military during wwii? it was just SUCH a fascinating read and came for me in so many ways. i don’t know if ‘surprising’ is the right word, but a lot of the information i learned from it was illuminating so i like to think it applies ? going a little further back i think probably ‘the watchmaker of filigree street’ ? i didn’t expect to like it as much as i did and i COMPLETELY fell in love with it so that was a surprise ??  sorry i don’t have a better or you but i talk to you about most of the stuff i’m reading already anyways so nothing would be super surprising for you !

13. how do you feel about marking your books? (writing your name on them, dog-earing them, annotating them, etc)

pro!!! pro!!!! pro!!! pro!!!! pro!!!!! pro!!!!!!!! i fucking love it. well loved and well used book are some of the most sacred objects that exist and i love it SO MUCH. 

14. what’s the oldest book on your to-read list? when did you add it?

the first book on my to read list on Goodreads is ‘the invention of Hugo Cabret’ and i added it at the end of july  2014. 

19. which book were you nervous to begin reading?

2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

that’s such a big question i legit have nooooo idea. probably a storyteller i admire so we can talk about that? someone like neil gaiman or ve schwab or guillermo del torro. who writes fantasy and stuff. 

lowkey maybe harry so i could give him a hug and thank him because god knows this man has given me serotonin when i’ve needed it. 

20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

asking me not to be self-deprecating is like asking me not to breathe tbh !!! but i think i’m very hard on myself. and i think i can be a bit arrogant. i think i can be a bit too opinionated. and i think i can be harsh with people. “my good opinion once lost is lost forever” etc etc. well not quite, but im a very forgive but never forget type which :///. as for strengths? i think i’m creative. i think i’m resilient. i think despite how harsh and critical i can be, i also have no judgement and can receive people how they are. 

27: What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?

i dont super love whispering tbh ? it very much depends on the person but stuff like asmr kinda freaks me out. like people creeping up next to me and whispering, or whispering at me when i’m not paying attention. i HATE. i also hate squeaky sounds. i love the sound of REALLY strong wind. like… one of the things i miss the most about scotland is lying in bed at night and hearing the crazy strong wind whistling through my window. i love the sound of rain and thunder. i love the sound the sound of tapping on a computer or typewriter. i love the sound of tapping fingers in general tbh. like on a table or something.  

35: To you, what is the meaning of life?

so fun story, apparently when i was 3 yo i woke up one day, looked at my mum very seriously and said: okay, let’s not joke around and pretend we don’t know what’s going on. earth is a school and we’re only here in this life to learn, right? and i truly don’t know what toddler me was thinking or dreaming about, but i like to think she was onto something.  

63: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

prayers? naive hope i won’t be too annoying for them? i jest. i jest.

i don’t know if i have a “weapon” that makes it sound so calculated haha.  seriously tho i guess paying attention? if i like someone and want them to like me, i’ll pay attention to what they say, to what’s going on with them, to what they’re interested in, and try to remember the stuff what they’ve told me. that and make jokes.