This is an older fic and I’m honestly surprised it doesn’t have more hits. I know some people have read it but it you haven’t check it out!! It’s one of my early favorites and one I come back to again and again.
Summary:
“If you don’t meet your spouse at Watford, Penny says, you could end up alone – or going on singles tours of Magickal Britain.“
Ten years after Watford, Simon is lonely and magic-less, and ends up doing exactly what he vowed he would never do - going on a singles tour of Magickal Britain. The only problem is that out of all the mages in England, he’s been matched with Baz Pitch, who seems just as moody, rude and annoyingly attractive as he used to be.
This is a post-Wayward Son fic that imagines the gang back at Watford after their return from America. It tenderly confronts the idea that Simon retains some residual magic, explores his Salisbury family connections, and gives such a lovely snapshot of this found family, and the depth of love between Simon and Baz. It’s a very healing fic. Canon divergent now that AWTWB is out but oh so worth the read. Just lovely.
Ok, full disclosure, I am so fond of reading domestic fluff and this totally hits the domestic fluff buttons, but it also is a very healing fic to read? It’s like an epilogue to AWTWB. It addresses some of their past Watford-era conflict and it features body worship and intimacy and just go read it! (Also, it’s this author’s first fic in the fandom and I’d like to see more from them.)
Summary:
A night at home a week after events of AWTWB. Simon and Baz in bed. An exploration of scars. Memories of their time at Watford. Confessions. Boys in love. Mostly fluff but a little hint of more. AWTWB spoilers.
It lit me up like a torch on a pitch black night Like an ember in the needles of a dried out pine It lit me up and I burn from the inside out Yeah, I burn like a witch in a Puritan town
So… I read Carry On by Rainbow Rowell - it was the first book of her’s I picked up, and I did so because Kevin Wada did the cover.
Of course, I loved Baz, 10/10, would die for him. This portrait is presented by the pining of the first half of the novel as well as my associative mind and my ongoing obsession with Brand New (the band).
(Also why yes I sketched this the same night as the previous drawing).
More impressions of CO under the cut!
I really love the experience of starting up a book without fully knowing the genre, let alone anything relating to the plot (the last time I really did was Let the Right One In, which was also ultimately a queer love story with vampires, haha) and I was jus blown away by how much I enjoyed every second of reading. Is it a groundbreaking novel in terms of its literary value? I don’t think you (sorry Ms Rowell) butit was thrillingly bold in its contryuction as what seems to be the last installment in a H*rry P*tter-esqu series without any of th previous novels. That’s wild but also so effective. And the chaotic narraive voices… a joyride. The magic system was a love letter to language and touched me personally, I can’t stop thinking about it. I didn’t even mind the cheesy way vampirism was portrayed, I just had a really, really, really good time reading it. I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I’d give anything to be able to experience it for the first time again.
