Fic:You open always (petal by petal)

[birdsofshore]

I still have no idea how to use Dreamwidth and I forgot half the html I knew, so if I cock this up just ignore me, please! I don't think my spoiler cuts worked, or maybe they worked too well because I lost a lot of the post?? I'm so sorry if this looks awful on your feed.

Here's my erised fic. It's long and full of tropes and quite ridiculous in places, (plus! Bonus pretentious title!) But there's also rimming and sentient Grimmauld Place and plenty of fanon!Draco. \o/

Title: You open always (petal by petal)
Author: birdsofshore
Recipient: bixgirl1
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco, background Ron/Hermione
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~65,000
Warnings: Homophobic slurs and attitudes, internalised homophobia, derogatory attitudes to sex workers, some mentions of sadistic violence, brief thoughts of sexual activity with a sleeping partner, rough sex, brief mention of Harry with a woman (past relationship), mentions of dubious consent in connection with sex work
Content/Enticements: Post war, Rent boy!Draco, down-and-out!Draco, top!Harry, inexperienced!Harry, Grimmauld Place, house magic, house-elves, portraits, first times, antagonism, hurt/comfort, coming out, antagonism, pining, angst, UST, kissing, wanking, frotting, blow jobs, rimming, intergluteal sex, anal sex

Summary: Harry’s not the kind of person who pays for sex. He really isn’t. Until he is.
Author's Notes: bixgirl1 , I was equal parts delighted and intimidated to receive my assignment to write for you. Your sign up was a treasure trove of inspiration and I dearly hope you find plenty to enjoy here.
Thank you so much to my betas, lq_traintracks , and dicta_contrion , for their extraordinary patience, kindness, and skill. Any remaining mistakes are entirely down to me. Thank you also to the mods for their support and their tireless work running this beloved fest.
The title comes from e.e. cummings’ poem, somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond.

You open always (petal by petal) on AO3

I wanted to say a very heartfelt thank you to everyone who left comments on this. I appreciate it so much.

I also wanted to blether a little bit and basically post pretty pictures I found inspiring while I was writing.

I know he's not blond enough, but this guy's face is amazing to me:

And as for this gentleman, oh my word. Cheekbones / lips / nose / haughtiness / jaw/ tweed / legs / handsssss asdfghjklasdfghjkl.

And I can't tell you the embarrassing amount of videos I watched of models walking on the catwalk. I got a few new crushes, I can tell you. If you want to lose a few hours watching men walking while wearing ludicrous clothes (who knew this would be so addictive?) I can recommend googling Simone Nobili and Jon Kortajarena. I'll start you off with this one:

Watch on YouTube

 

I'm still reading through the erised fics, and loving everything, and everyone in it seems to be astonishingly talented and wonderful! I was lucky enough to get pretty art as a gift this year, which you can see here:

 

Guard My Heart by matsuocop. It's got lovely antagonism, gorgeous uniforms, and a hot kiss. ♥ Please leave the artist lots of love if you take a look. 

Comments

[firethesound]

THOSE CHEEKBONES MY GOODNESS I CAN SEE WHY YOU WERE INSPIRED and that video haha I love that you find these and then share them with us afterward. I think I've still got the shaving one bookmarked somewhere lol

I am all ::flail:: about this fic just based on the summary/tags. It is at the very top of my to-read list :D :D :D :D :D :D

[birdsofshore]

Ah gosh I blame those cheekbones for the fact that this went twice as long as I intended. INSPIRED? I was possessed :DD

There were more videos. Just let me know if you want more. I can get you the BEST walking men videos. Don't thank me, it's a public service.

Awww I'm so glad you are tempted by the tags! \o/ I think it's the kind of subject you either run from or are very keen on!

[magpie_fngrl]

I love looking at pics that inspired writers, and I can totally see your Draco as either of those blokes, with that face structure and haughtiness :)

[birdsofshore]

Ah, I love having reference pics to think about. Sometimes they just distract me, but other times they really work. I can't quite believe either of these guys' faces are REAL, but apparently it's true. I'm so glad they feel fitting for you as well!

[dark0feenix]

Your post looks just fine on the feed, no worries. I'm slowly catching up with erised fics and art so I'm looking forward to reading this one. :) Also, the art you got was just lovely!

[birdsofshore]

Thank you, I think for some reason quite a lot of my post got swallowed, but it's maybe for the best, hah! I can still see it in the html when I go to edit, so i have no idea what I did, but I'll learn, I'm sure.

[lq_traintracks]

Honestly, no actual man can do justice to the beautiful person you painted on the inside of my brain with your words. ♥

[birdsofshore]

I'm swooning at this comment, you glorious person, you!