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celiabowens · 5 years ago

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Adult SFF edition

High/Epic Fantasy

The Lies of Locke Lamora: heist fantasy following a band of misfits! It has morally gray characters, fun banter but heartwrenching moments and a pretty complex plot. It’s a classic to say “if you liked Six of Crows and want to try adult SFF try this” and it’s probably true.

Kushiel’s Dart: a political fantasy tome loosely inspired by Europe in the Renaissance. Pretty heavy on romance and erotica (with BDSM elements) as it follows a courtesan navigating the political scene. It has an amazing female villain.

A Darker Shade of Magic: probably the easiest way to approach adult fantasy. It has multiple Londons and a pretty unique magic system and concept, plus a crossdressing thief, knives and great banter.

The Poppy War: grimdark fantasy (TW: abuse, self harm, rape, drug abuse), inspired by Chinese history. It’s adult, but follows younger MCs and the unique blend of different historical periods/inspirations makes it extremely interesting. The characters are extremely fucked up in the best possible way, plus the use of shamanism is awesome.

The Sword of Kaigen: if you liked The Poppy War you could like this one. The Sword of Kaigen is an Asian-inspired militaristic fantasy, with elemental magic, a badass housewife dealing with her past and hiding a sword in her kitchen’s floor. It has interesting and nuanced family dynamics and a great reflection on propaganda and the use of narratives.

The Priory of the Orange Tree: high fantasy, featuring dragons, a F/F romance and pretty complex world building. The author reuses typical fantasy tropes and roles in a fresh way. Very readable in spite of its length.

Empire of Sand: inspired by Mughal India, this one focuses on culture and religion and has great slow burn romance (TW: abuse, slavery). It’s pretty slow paced, but the payoff is great. Also a good "YA crossover”.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms: first book in a companion novel trilogy, following a young woman who finds herself at the center of a vicious political struggle, as she’s suddenly become the heir to the throne.

Black Sun: first book in a new series by Rebecca Roanhorse, inspired by pre-Columbian societies and cultures. It mainly focuses on religious and political conflicts. TW for abuse, mild body horror and suicide (not very graphic). Nice inclusion of lgbt rep across the whole cast + one of the main characters is blind. Great world building!

Historical Fantasy

The Night Circus: perfect transition from YA to Adult for a reader, The Night Circus is a gorgeous historical fantasy romance. The author’s writing is amazing, the descriptions and the subtlety of the main characters’ relationship are to die for.

The City of Brass: political/historical fantasy tome featuring Middle Eastern mythology. It follows younger MCs (honestly another series that could be a good way to approach adult SFF) and has great character growth throughout the series. The first book has some more trope-y elements, but the payoff is worth it.

The Golem and The Djinni: historical fantasy (if you loved The Night Circus you could like this one), following two mythical creatures as they navigate New York in 1899. Slow burn romance, rich descriptions, fascinating combination of Jewish and Syrian folklore.

Gods of Jade and Shadow: a fantasy bildungsroman set in Mexico during the Jazz age. Another great way to approach adult SFF as it follows a young girl on a life changing adventure. It features Mayan mythology and a god slowly becoming human.

The Ghost Bride: set in Malaya in 1893, it follows the daughter of a ruined man as she receives the proposal to become a ghost bride. Lovely setting, rich in culture and extremely atmospheric.

The Bear and The Nightingale: a coming of age story inspired by Russian folklore. Another great way to start reading adult SFF: it’s very atmospheric and fairy tale-like. Also frost demons are better than men.

Queen of the Conquered: first book in a fantasy duology(?) set in an alternate version of the Caribbean at the time of Scandinavian colonisation. It follows Sigourney, a biracial woman (her mother was a slave, freed by her father) and the only islander who is allowed to own and use kraft and therefore has a position of privilege, which she constantly abuses, while telling herself she’s doing it for the islanders’ benefit. The book is hard to read, because the MC is no hero and her POV can be quite challenging to get through, but if you’re up for it I’d totally recommend this. (TW: slavery, abuse, death).

The Lions of Al-Rassan: this one has minimal fantasy elements, much like other Kay books, as it reads more like an alternate history. Using Moorish Spain as a template, it deals with the conflict between Jews, Muslims and Christians. Much like Under Heaven and most of his historical fantasy it shows common people being swept up in dramatic events.

Urban Fantasy

The Divine Cities trilogy: starting with City of Stairs, it follows a female diplomat and spymaster(!!). The whole trilogy features an interesting discussion about godhood, religion, fanatism, politics, without ever being boring or preachy. It has complex and rich world building and a pretty compelling mystery.

Foundryside: heist fantasy following a thief as she’s hired to steal a powerful artifact that may change magical technology as she knows it. Also, slow burn F/F romance.

Jade City: a wuxia inspired, gangster urban fantasy. Great family dynamics, very interesting political and economical subplots.

One for My Enemy: sort of a modern Romeo and Juliet, but set in New York, starring two magical gangster families. The female characters are to die for.

Trail of Lightning: inspired by Native mythology and the idea of subsequent worlds. It has a kickass MC and a good mix of original elements and typical UF tropes. You could like this if you liked the Kate Daniels series.

American Gods: a classic of the genre, pretty much brilliant in how it reuses old mythology in a modern setting.

Retellings

Spinning Silver: a very loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, with a gorgeous atmosphere. It mainly follows female characters from different social and economical backgrounds and reuses the original tale to challenge the antisemitic ideas around the role of the moneylander.

The Queens of Innis Lear: fantasy retelling of King Lear, very atmospheric and gorgeously written. Slow paced, but very satisfying build up, lots of backstabbing and miscommunication. (heads up though, one of the MCs is coded as aroace and I found the rep pretty bad on that. The book does feature casual bisexual rep though, which was great)

Lady Hotspur: genderbent retelling of Henry IV, set in the same world as The Queens of Innis Lear. Lesbian and bisexual rep. Heavy on political subplots, features ambitious women growing into their roles.

Deathless: sort of a retelling of Koschei the Deathless set in the first half of the 20th century. Brilliant reuse of Russian folklore to weave together politics and history. It does have pretty brutal descriptions of war, morally gray characters, unhealthy relationships and overall a lot of mindfuckery.

Space Opera

A Memory Called Empire: space opera inspired by the Mexica and middle period Byzantium. It focuses on topics like colonialism and the power of narratives and language. It has one of the best descriptions of what it’s like to live in between spaces I’ve ever read. Also very interesting political intrigue and has a slow burn F/F romance (and a poly relationship recalled through flashbacks).

Ninefox Gambit: a Korean-inspired space opera with a magic system based on math. It’s honestly quite convoluted and difficult to follow, but it also features some of the best political intrigue I’ve ever read. Plenty of lying, backstabbing and mind games. It also features lesbian and bisexual rep and an aroace side character (TW: mass shooting, sexual assault).

The Light Brigade: militaristic space opera set in a not-so-defined future in which corporations rule Earth and space in general. The book follows a newly enlisted soldier as they go through gruelling training and experience the side effects of being broken down into atoms to travel at the speed of light. It’s a heavy book, featuring raw descriptions of war, and quite difficult to follow (non-linear timelines...) but it’s also an amazing critique of capitalism and political propaganda (TW: death, mass shooting).

Gideon the Ninth: pretty much lesbian necromancers in space. Very loose world building, but a fun mystery full of banter. Can be quite confusing in the beginning, but a relatively easy and fun way to approach science fiction.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet: character driven space opera featuring a found family journeying through space. A fun read, that also deals with topics such as sexuality and race. Quite easy to go through, as the world building and plot aren’t particularly complex themselves. Also features a F/F romance.

Science Fiction-Fantasy that I can’t fit anywhere else

Vicious: college roommates put themselves through near-death experiences to obtain super powers, only everything goes wrong. Follows a great band of misfits (and pretty much everyone is morally gray).

Middlegame: a brilliant and complex tapestry of alternate timelines, following telepathically connected twins trying to escape the alchemist that wants to use them to obtain godhood (TW: attempted suicide).

Piranesi: the long awaited return of Susanna Clarke, Piranesi is an odd, mysterious book set in a house with infinite rooms and endless corridors, apparently inhabited by only two people.

Bonus Novella recs: novellas are amazing and don’t sleep on them!

The Empress of Salt and Fortune: an Asian-inspired fantasy novella, it gives a voice to people usually silenced by history. It follows a cleric (non binary rep) as they chronicle the story of the late empress, retold through objects that she used in her life. It focuses on bonds between women and the power that lies in being unnoticed.

The Black God’s Drums: an urban fantasy novella, based on Orisha mythology and set in an alternate, sort of steampunk, New Orleans.

The Haunting of Tram Car 015: alternate steampunk Cairo populated by supernatural entities. It has a compelling mystery, starring a great lead.

This Is How You Lose the Time War: epistolary set during a time-travel war, F/F romance and gorgeous prose.

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls: a novella set in the Xuya universe (a series of novellas/short stories set in a timeline where Asia became dominant, and where the space age has empires of Vietnamese and Chinese inspiration), but can be read as a standalone. It’s a space opera featuring a disappeared citadel and the complex relationship between the empress and her daughter as war threatens her empire.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate: an incredibly heartwarming and yet meaningful novella about research and the meaning of it. It’s the tale of 4 astronauts on a crowdfunded mission to explore space, to observe and report without conquering. It’s written in lovely prose and is very casual in its lgbt rep.

The Deep: very good novella set in an underwater society built by the descendants of African slave women that were tossed overboard. It’s not an easy read at all, as it deals with trauma, both personal and generational ones.

Bonus short story collections recs

A Cathedral of Myth and Bone: 16 short stories featuring myth, legend and faith, that mainly focus on women reclaiming their agency.

The Paper Menageries and Other Stories: features plenty of different fantasy and science fiction subgenres. The Paper Menagerie in particular is an extremely moving tale.

Conservation of Shadows: science fiction-fantasy short stories that focus on topics like colonisation and the role of art and language.

Graphic Novel

Monstress: series set in an alt 1900s matriarchal Asia, following a teenage girl who survived a war and shares a connection with a monster that’s slowly transforming her. (TW: slavery, death).

#book rec #book recommendations #adult sff #book list #book recs #science fiction #fantasy #may add more later on rip #also i hope there's no typos lol #also this one will flop skjnkf

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thedamageofherdays · 3 years ago

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Sacrifice by Lise [Steve/Loki, 5,6k words, Explicit]

There's a curse on the village, and none of the traditional gods are responding. There's another one that might listen, but he requires an offering.

Steve volunteers.

[Tags/Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Alternate Universe - Vikings, Pre-serum Steve Rogers, God/Mortal Sex, Worship, Anal Sex, Oral Sex]

Lightning Strikes Twice by Hanitrash @hanitrash [Steve/Thor/Bucky, 6,7k words, Explicit]

Steve, Bucky and Thor get sex pollened on a mission. That's it. That's the fic. (AKA the A/B/O sex pollen threesome that nobody asked for)

For the Hell Yeah Bottom Bucky Bingo fills: Alpha/Alpha, Heat Sex, Rare Pair, Shrunkyclunks, Sex Pollen, Size Kink

[Tags/Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Sex Pollen, Come Marking, Bottom Bucky Barnes, Top Steve Rogers, Bottom Steve Rogers, Top Thor, Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha Thor, Omega Bucky Barnes, Alpha/Alpha Sex]

The Wolf by ipoiledi [Steve/Brock + Steve & Natasha, 5,1k words, Explicit]

So it started that way: a harmless joke.

[Tags/Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Daddy Kink, Dubious Consent, Violent Sex, Gaslighting]

Of Mischief and Love by Kimmy @kimmycup [Steve/Loki, 1,1k words, General]

No one has ever looked at Loki like that. Steve didn't draw him the way royal painters did. His attention was just as intense but instead of clinical and unfeeling it was... gentle, and caring.

[Tags/Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Getting Together, Humor, Fluff, Warning: Loki, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts]

Steve Rogers and the Accidental Honeypot by Lauralot [Steve/Hydra Agents + Steve/Brock + Brock/Jack + Steve/Bucky, 8,1k words, Explicit]

Steve didn't mean to be so good at sex that all the HYDRA agents switched their allegiance. It just sort of happened.

[Tags/Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Crack, Humor, Valentine's Day, Covert Pervert Steve Rogers, Intercrural Sex, Fucking Machines, Multiple Orgasms, Jealousy, Redemption, Polyamory, Orgy, Internalized Homophobia, Homophobia, Trans Character, Asexual Character, Bisexual Character]

Show Me Where My Armor Ends by fallendarlings [Steve/Thor, 3,9k words, Teen]

"You're allowed to hurt, Steven. But you have friends now, too. And we will not- I will not let you suffer alone any longer. It is only through helping each other, that we remain strong."

When Steve finds himself breaking, unable to sleep and miserably lonely, he also finds Thor on the roof.

[Tags/Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Post-Avengers (2012), Depressed Steve Rogers, Lonely Steve Rogers, Sharing a Bed, Fluff and Angst, Body Dysphoria, Panic Attacks, Depression, Sharing Clothes, Nightmares, Hand Holding]

#fic recs #rec list #marvel fic #marvel fic rec #steve rogers #rare pairs #steve/loki #steve/brock #steve/thor #thundershield #stevethor #steveloki #stoki #frostshield #stevebuckythor #stevebrock

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godinvent · 2 years ago

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My OC Stella Busana’s profile! Backstory will be in another post!

TW // mentions of death, knives, scars, kidnapping, stabbing/slicing

Full Name: Stella Erebus Busana

Name in Original Language: Στέλλα Eρεβος Μποσάνα, Stélla Érebos Bosána

Nicknames: Stelly, Auntie (by Roxy, her nephew), Star, Batman (by my friend Mythos)

Name Meaning:

Stella: means “star” in Latin

Erebus: means “darkness” in Greek, is the name of Stella’s father (a lot of ancient Greeks took the name of their father as part of their own name)

Busana: means “night girl of the moon” in Israeli (I just liked the name she’s not Israeli at all)

Sex: Female

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Sexuality: Bisexual

Mental/Physical Disorders: ADHD, Anxiety and Autism. She also has anger issues.

Birthday: September 4th

Age: 14 (start of story ), 25 (end of story)

Zodiac: Virgo Sun, Cancer Moon, Gemini Rising, Taurus Venus

Species: Winged Goddess (she only sprouts her wings when she’s 16)

Mythology: Greek 🇬🇷

Race: White

Ethnicity: Greek 🇬🇷

Nationality: Greek (specifically, a citizen of Tartarus) 🇬🇷

Title: Protector of the night and darkness

Magic: Dark magic, charm magic

Weapon: Knife (she has a huge collection of them)

Fighting Stats

Physical Attack: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️

Physical Defense: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️

Health: ⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️

Speed: ⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️

Magic Attack: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️

Magic Defense: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️

Range: ⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️⚪️

Other Stats

Intelligence: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️

Charisma: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚪️⚪️

Dexterity: ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️

Animal Form: Black wolf

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　Appearance　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Height: 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) (start of story), 5 feet 8 inches (173 cm) (end of story)

Weight: 223 pounds (101 kg) (start of story). She is plus sized throughout the entire story!

Skin tone: Pale white. She sunburns very easily!

Hair style and color: Long, voluminous dark blue hair, with yellow dots resembling stars in a night sky

Eye color: Yellow

Glasses or contacts?: None

Body modifications?: Has pierced ears. She would probably get a tattoo later in life, although it wouldn’t be that big.

Scars?: Large, star shaped scar between her eyebrows and eyes. She got this scar when her parents were kidnapped, and her assailant sliced her forehead. When she’s 17, she receives large burn scars on her left arm from saving a family from a fire. Obtains small scars on body from fighting.

Fashion: Dark academia, alternative, elegant dark wear. She wears jasmine scented perfume, and wears a golden locket around her neck, which has small pictures of her parents inside. For her 17th birthday, she gets a golden cross necklace from Solaris Kitrinos, which is blessed with light magic and can protect against beings such as gorgons.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　Personality　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Likes

•anime

•manga

•watching movies

•mythology and cultures

•pop, rock, alternative, and music in general

•video games

•muscles

•animals (especially cats and dogs)

•tonkotsu ramen

•chocolate chip cookies

•hot chocolate

•coffee, especially mochas!

•fried chicken

•pasta

•pita bread

•singing

•writing songs

•chocolate

•sightseeing

•fanfic and other works she shouldn’t be allowed to watch-

•art, and almost every form of art

•going to museums and arcades

•history

•perfume

•fashion

•interior design

•the color pink (but she won’t admit it because aesthetic reasons, she’s goth-)

•giving people gifts, helping people

Dislikes

•spoiled brats

•lazy people

•injustice

•sweet potatoes

•bananas

•the cold

•lightning

•crowds

•working in groups

•small talk, especially with adults

•burdening others

•people who mess with her family and friends

•those who prey on the weak

•people who underestimate her

•most fruits and vegetables

•lasagna

•nuts

•death (it’s her greatest fear)

Good Traits

honest, humorous, imaginative, independent, individualistic, intelligent, compassionate, laid-back, loyal, open-minded, passionate, creative, confident, mature, affectionate, nerdy, unique, curious, generous, responsible, dexterous, a quick learner, adventurous

Bad Traits

quick to anger , awkward, dirty minded, stubborn, can be very aloof and apathetic if she wants to be, indecisive, forgetful, lazy, impatient, insecure, violent, smug, judgmental, nervous, condescending, unpredictable

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　Relationships　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Mother: Nyx, goddess of the night

Father: Erebus, god of darkness

Sibling(s): Aether, Hemera, Moros, Apate, Dolos, Nemesis, the Keres, the Moirai, the Hesperides, Oizys, Momus, the Oneiroi, Hypnos, Thanatos, Philotes, Geras, Eris and Charon. Roxy, Hypnos’ adopted child, is technically her nephew, but she and Roxy treat each other like sisters. Thelma Milas, the daughter of Eris, is another nephew of hers she treats like a sister, but they practically hate each other.

Crush/lover(s): She also has crushes on Siko Kikelomo and Omorfia Triantafyllo, as well as Kanagawa Arashino. Her biggest crush, and her longest lasting relationship however is Solaris Kitrinos. She develops a crush on him when she’s 17, and that’s the same age they started dating. They date for at least 3 years before they get married in their 20s.

Child(ren): Has at least one child, a son, with Solaris Kitrinos when they’re adults. His name is Luka!

Enemy(s): Elizabeth Vermillianos, Briar Moses Silver, Shardul, Lucifer and his lab, the other villains, and is at first rivals with Solaris Kitrinos. (Somewhat) friendly rivalry with Siko Kikelomo. Unfriendly rivalry with Nikita Borisova.

Friend(s): Best friends with Thana Mikka, Aiden Agnimukha, Agua Ambu, Solaris Kitrinos and Omorfia Triantafyllo. Very close friends with Malakai Hermalao, Arian Zaman, Red Asmodeus and Yukio Ueno. Friends with Triton Zale, Mila Wisteria, Robyn Bonnibelle, Alexander Kardia, Alphonso Jelani, and Issun Boshi as well. Stella also heavily looks up to and respects her teacher Martin Ambrosius. Her demon spirit servant, Azazel, is more like a father figure to her than a servant, and she loves him like family.

Pet(s): Owns a large Newfoundland hellhound named Orpheus, who she calls “Orphie”. She uses Orpheus’s magical drool to make potions, and likes to lay on him while watching tv.

#original story #original art #character design #oc character #ocs #my ocs #my oc art #oc tag #oc #oc profile #oc backstory #oc background

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vwritesawholelothm · 3 years ago

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Percabeth parent swap

Oh boy.

I kinda got carried away, but oh well.

I'm just going to throw down the info stuff for the first work in this series:

Chapters: 22 Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Sally Jackson (Percy Jackson), Percy Jackson, Gabe Ugliano, Grover Underwood, Chiron (Percy Jackson), Luke Castellan, Clarisse La Rue, Mrs. Dodds (Percy Jackson), Minotaur (Percy Jackson), Medusa (Percy Jackson), Ares (Percy Jackson) Additional Tags: Annabeth Chase-centric (Percy Jackson), Parent Swap, Book 1: The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson), Retelling, sally jackson appreciation, Bisexual Percy Jackson, Alternate Universe - Main Character Swap, Power Swap, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Rewrite Series: Part 1 of Annie Jackson and the Olympians, and Other Heroes

Summary: Twelve-year-old Annie Jackson is on the most dangerous quest of her life. With the help of a satyr and a son of Athena, Annie must journey across the United States to catch a thief who has stolen the most deadly weapon of mass destruction mankind could dream of— Zeus’ master bolt. Along the way, she must face a myriad of mythological enemies determined to stop her. Most of all, she must come to terms with a father she has never known, and an Oracle that has warned her of betrayal by a 'friend'. The roles are reversed in this (not-so-brief) retelling of the Lightning Thief, wherein Annie is the daughter of Poseidon and Perseus is the son of Athena.

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hellomynameisbisexual · 4 years ago

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Here's a shortlist of those who realized that I — a cis woman who'd identified as heterosexual for decades of life — was in fact actually bi, long before I realized it myself recently: my sister, all my friends, my boyfriend, and the TikTok algorithm.

On TikTok, the relationship between user and algorithm is uniquely (even sometimes uncannily) intimate. An app which seemingly contains as many multitudes of life experiences and niche communities as there are people in the world, we all start in the lowest common denominator of TikTok. Straight TikTok (as it's popularly dubbed) initially bombards your For You Page with the silly pet videos and viral teen dances that folks who don't use TikTok like to condescendingly reduce it to.

Quickly, though, TikTok begins reading your soul like some sort of divine digital oracle, prying open layers of your being never before known to your own conscious mind. The more you use it, the more tailored its content becomes to your deepest specificities, to the point where you get stuff that's so relatable that it can feel like a personal attack (in the best way) or (more dangerously) even a harmful trigger from lifelong traumas.

For example: I don't know what dark magic (read: privacy violations) immediately clued TikTok into the fact that I was half-Brazilian, but within days of first using it, Straight TikTok gave way to at first Portuguese-speaking then broader Latin TikTok. Feeling oddly seen (being white-passing and mostly American-raised, my Brazilian identity isn't often validated), I was liberal with the likes, knowing that engagement was the surefire way to go deeper down this identity-affirming corner of the social app.

TikTok made lots of assumptions from there, throwing me right down the boundless, beautiful, and oddest multiplicities of Alt TikTok, a counter to Straight TikTok's milquetoast mainstreamness.

Home to a wide spectrum of marginalized groups, I was giving out likes on my FYP like Oprah, smashing that heart button on every type of video: from TikTokers with disabilities, Black and Indigenous creators, political activists, body-stigma-busting fat women, and every glittering shade of the LGBTQ cornucopia. The faves were genuine, but also a way to support and help offset what I knew about the discriminatory biases in TikTok's algorithm.

My diverse range of likes started to get more specific by the minute, though. I wasn't just on general Black TikTok anymore, but Alt Cottagecore Middle-Class Black Girl TikTok (an actual label one creator gave her page's vibes). Then it was Queer Latina Roller Skating Girl TikTok, Women With Non-Hyperactive ADHD TikTok, and then a double whammy of Women Loving Women (WLW) TikTok alternating between beautiful lesbian couples and baby bisexuals.

Looking back at my history of likes, the transition from queer “ally” to “salivating simp” is almost imperceptible.

There was no one precise "aha" moment. I started getting "put a finger down" challenges that wouldn't reveal what you were putting a finger down for until the end. Then, 9-fingers deep (winkwink), I'd be congratulated for being 100% bisexual. Somewhere along the path of getting served multiple WLW Disney cosplays in a single day and even dom lesbian KinkTok roleplay — or whatever the fuck Bisexual Pirate TikTok is — deductive reasoning kind of spoke for itself.

But I will never forget the one video that was such a heat-seeking missile of a targeted attack that I was moved to finally text it to my group chat of WLW friends with a, "Wait, am I bi?" To which the overwhelming consensus was, "Magic 8 Ball says, 'Highly Likely.'"

Serendipitously posted during Pride Month, the video shows a girl shaking her head at the caption above her head, calling out confused and/or closeted queers who say shit like, "I think everyone is a LITTLE bisexual," to the tune of "Closer" by The Chainsmokers. When the lyrics land on the word "you," she points straight at the screen — at me — her finger and inquisitive look piercing my hopelessly bisexual soul like Cupid's goddamn arrow.

Oh no, the voice inside my head said, I have just been mercilessly perceived.

As someone who had, in fact, done feminist studies at a tiny liberal arts college with a gender gap of about 70 percent women, I'd of course dabbled. I've always been quick to bring up the Kinsey scale, to champion a true spectrum of sexuality, and to even declare (on multiple occasions) that I was, "straight, but would totally fuck that girl!"

Oh no, the voice inside my head returned, I've literally just been using extra words to say I was bi.

After consulting the expertise of my WLW friend group (whose mere existence, in retrospect, also should've clued me in on the flashing neon pink, purple, and blue flag of my raging bisexuality), I ran to my boyfriend to inform him of the "news."

"Yeah, baby, I know. We all know," he said kindly.

"How?!" I demanded.

Well for one, he pointed out, every time we came across a video of a hot girl while scrolling TikTok together, I'd without fail watch the whole way through, often more than once, regardless of content. (Apparently, straight girls do not tend to do this?) For another, I always breathlessly pointed out when we'd pass by a woman I found beautiful, often finding a way to send a compliment her way. ("I'm just a flirt!" I used to rationalize with a hand wave, "Obvs, I'm not actually sexually attracted to them!") Then, I guess, there were the TED Talk-like rants I'd subject him to about the thinly veiled queer relationship in Adventure Time between Princess Bubblegum and Marcelyne the Vampire Queen — which the cowards at Cartoon Network forced creators to keep as subtext!

And, well, when you lay it all out like that...

But my TikTok-fueled bisexual awakening might actually speak less to the omnipotence of the app's algorithm, and more to how heteronormativity is truly one helluva drug.

Sure, TikTok bombarded me with the thirst traps of my exact type of domineering masc lady queers, who reduced me to a puddle of drool I could no longer deny. But I also recalled a pivotal moment in college when I briefly questioned my heterosexuality, only to have a lesbian friend roll her eyes and chastise me for being one of those straight girls who leads Actual Queer Women on. I figured she must know better. So I never pursued any of my lady crushes in college, which meant I never experimented much sexually, which made me conclude that I couldn't call myself bisexual if I'd never had actual sex with a woman. I also didn't really enjoy lesbian porn much, though the fact that I'd often find myself fixating on the woman during heterosexual porn should've clued me into that probably coming more from how mainstream lesbian porn is designed for straight men.

The ubiquity of heterormativity, even when unwittingly perpetrated by members of the queer community, is such an effective self-sustaining cycle. Aside from being met with queer-gating (something I've since learned bi folks often experience), I had a hard time identifying my attraction to women as genuine attraction, simply because it felt different to how I was attracted to men.

Heteronormativity is truly one helluva drug.

So much of women's sexuality — of my sexuality — can feel defined by that carnivorous kind of validation you get from men. I met no societal resistance in fully embodying and exploring my desire for men, either (which, to be clear, was and is insatiable slut levels of wanting that peen.) But in retrospect, I wonder how many men I slept with not because I was truly attracted to them, but because I got off on how much they wanted me.

My attraction to women comes with a different texture of eroticism. With women (and bare with a baby bi, here), the attraction feels more shared, more mutual, more tender rather than possessive. It's no less raw or hot or all-consuming, don't get me wrong. But for me at least, it comes more from a place of equality rather than just power play. I love the way women seem to see right through me, to know me, without us really needing to say a word.

I am still, as it turns out, a sexual submissive through-and-through, regardless of what gender my would-be partner is. But, ignorantly and unknowingly, I'd been limiting my concept of who could embody dominant sexual personas to cis men. But when TikTok sent me down that glorious rabbit hole of masc women (who know exactly what they're doing, btw), I realized my attraction was not to men, but a certain type of masculinity. It didn't matter which body or genitalia that presentation came with.

There is something about TikTok that feels particularly suited to these journeys of sexual self-discovery and, in the case of women loving women, I don't think it's just the prescient algorithm. The short-form video format lends itself to lightning bolt-like jolts of soul-bearing nakedness, with the POV camera angles bucking conventions of the male gaze, which entrenches the language of film and TV in heterosexual male desire.

In fairness to me, I'm far from the only one who missed their inner gay for a long time — only to have her pop out like a queer jack-in-the-box throughout a near year-long quarantine that led many of us to join TikTok. There was the baby bi mom, and scores of others who no longer had to publicly perform their heterosexuality during lockdown — only to realize that, hey, maybe I'm not heterosexual at all?

Flooded with video after video affirming my suspicions, reflecting my exact experiences as they happened to others, the change in my sexual identity was so normalized on TikTok that I didn't even feel like I needed to formally "come out." I thought this safe home I'd found to foster my baby bisexuality online would extend into the real world.

But I was in for a rude awakening.

Testing out my bisexuality on other platforms, casually referring to it on Twitter, posting pictures of myself decked out in a rainbow skate outfit (which I bought before realizing I was queer), I received nothing but unquestioning support and validation. Eventually, I realized I should probably let some members of my family know before they learned through one of these posts, though.

Daunted by the idea of trying to tell my Latina Catholic mother and Swiss Army veteran father (who's had a crass running joke about me being a "lesbian" ever since I first declared myself a feminist at age 12), I chose the sibling closest to me. Seeing as how gender studies was one of her majors in college too, I thought it was a shoo-in. I sent an off-handed, joke-y but serious, "btw I'm bi now!" text, believing that's all that would be needed to receive the same nonchalant acceptance I found online.

It was not.

I didn't receive a response for two days. Hurt and panicked by what was potentially my first mild experience of homophobia, I called them out. They responded by insisting we need to have a phone call for such "serious" conversations. As I calmly tried to express my hurt on said call, I was told my text had been enough to make this sibling worry about my mental wellbeing. They said I should be more understanding of why it'd be hard for them to (and I'm paraphrasing) "think you were one way for twenty-eight years" before having to contend with me deciding I was now "something else."

But I wasn't "something else," I tried to explain, voice shaking. I hadn't knowingly been deceiving or hiding this part of me. I'd simply discovered a more appropriate label. But it was like we were speaking different languages. Other family members were more accepting, thankfully. There are many ways I'm exceptionally lucky, my IRL environment as supportive as Baby Bi TikTok. Namely, I'm in a loving relationship with a man who never once mistook any of it as a threat, instead giving me all the space in the world to understand this new facet of my sexuality.

I don't have it all figured out yet. But at least when someone asks if I listen to Girl in Red on social media, I know to answer with a resounding, "Yes," even though I've never listened to a single one of her songs. And for now, that's enough.

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neacle · 3 years ago

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*cracks knuckles*

Greaseball, Electra and C.B.?

(no I can’t just pick one okay, I need all three 🖤🖤🖤)

Greaseball

Sexuality headcanon: newly out as pan most likely, but thought he was straight lmao

Favorite ship(s): GREASED LIGHTNING HNGGGG, but i like GreaseDinah a lot too (and a little trash goblin is slowly but steadily pulling me towards Rustball too agsfsssd)

Brotp: Greaseball and C.B, and Greaseball and his gang

Notp: Don't really have one? Let him fuck whoever lmao

A random headcanon: King of headbutts, both the aggressive kind and the cuddly kind

General opinion: B I G MAN, benchpress me 👀👀 Protect me, hold me tight. You're an asshole but i love you, i thirst

Electra

Sexuality headcanon: Bisexual, duh <3

Favorite ship(s): GREASED LIGHTNING HGGGG, Electraboose too, but more on the Elektranoose side of things lmao, Pearlectra, and Fast Food (electra x dinah) and ofc Electra and his components

Brotp: Electra and Purse, they are besties. But also Electra and Dinah

Notp: Electraboose if they like, crash trains and bury them together or something lmao Thinking about Electra killing someone or assisting with that makes me sad and bummed out lmao

A random headcanon: Only one? D: Hmmm, craves that spanking, no no ! Is a cuddle slut, noo you already know that too argh okay okay, he actually really enjoys flowers, he likes to recieve boquets lmao he knows jack shit how to take care of them tho

General opinion: MY MUSE, MY BELOVED, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ALL, MY SOUL CHARACTER

C.B

Sexuality headcanon: Gaaaaaay

Favorite ship(s): Electraboose lmao, i guess i like C.B x Dinah too but in an alternative universe where he ain't gay lol I can get behind Greaseboose too

Brotp: Greaseball and C.B, 🎵What a race, what a team🎵

Notp: None I guess? lol, i guess the same for what I said with Electra? If they murder and crash together i don't like it lol

A random headcanon: What haven't i already shared...shit, eh does it count if it's Canoose? (he hides his red curls under the bandana because he thinks it's embarrassing, but Elektra LOVES them) But yeah, lol C.B doesn't really like sweets and candy, it hurts his tummy and brain

General opinion: Small gremlin man, I find him super interesting pre-2018, like is he just fucking unhinged or what's his deal? Is he genuine with Dinah? Why does he crash trains? We don't know, and we will never know and I love that

#starlight express #stex electra #stex greaseball #stex cb #stex headcanons #my headcanons #thank you jenny <33

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gameofdrarry · 4 years ago

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Wizards Hearts Recs: Modern AU/Non-Magical

Wizards Hearts was a four-month-long Drarry reading fest. Players were given a playing deck of 52 tropes, and were asked to find 52 different fics to read and comment on to fill their decks. To prevent the same few fics from being read, fics were restricted to only being used for the game three times before being considered ineligible for further points. The tropes and submissions list can be found here.

Check out the masterlist of fics for this trope below the cut!

📜 Black Coffee on a Lonely Night by Femme (femmequixotic) Rated: Mature Words: 21658 Tags: Cricket, British Politics Summary: Draco owns a café in the city. Harry's a MP who comes in every morning, newspapers in one hand, BlackBerry in the other, and orders a triple espresso macchiato. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Scribbled Confessions by MotherBooker Rated: General Words: 9185 Tags: past Harry Potter/Fred Weasley, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Diary/Journal, POV Third Person, POV First Person, Pining Harry Potter, Fluff, Teacher Harry, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Implied/Referenced Homophobia Summary: Draco finds a diary and discovers that the latest entries are all about him. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 And They Were Roommates by sithsanidala Rated: Mature Words: 21547 Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Roommates, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Eventual Romance, Bisexual Harry Potter, Physical Abuse, Light Angst, Coma Summary: Harry Potter has college life all figured out: athletic scholarship, good-looking girlfriend, and his bestfriends by his side. His only problem? His roommate is the most stuck up person he's ever met. And Harry thinks he's falling for him ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Seeking: pet carer for Bartholomew (four-year old rescue greyhound, no special needs) by GallifreyisBurning Rated: Explicit Words: 14694 Tags: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Dog Carer Harry Potter, Lawyer Draco Malfoy, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, No Angst, Oblivious Draco Malfoy, Running, Pet Ownership - Freeform, Past Draco Malfoy/Blaise Zabini, Getting Together, Mentions of Canonical Character Death, Not Canon Compliant, (in basically any way), Minor Original Character(s), Explicit Sexual Content, Anal Sex, Shower Sex, harry works for draco, but I promise there's no power dynamic involved in their relationship, There's nothing unethical at all I swear, just read it you'll see, HP Fluff Fest 2020 Summary: When Draco’s boyfriend ends their relationship rather abruptly (and, frankly, extremely rudely), he leaves Draco with full-time responsibility for their rescue greyhound, Bartholomew. Draco loves his dog with all his heart, but the long hours he works at his law firm mean that he can’t possibly be home as much as Bartholomew needs. Enter Sirius Pet Care, an app designed to solve this very problem! When Draco books Harry, he’s relieved at how quickly the man and his dog bond. He’s less relieved by how unexpectedly, distractingly attractive Harry turns out to be… and how Draco’s afternoon meetings keep being “mysteriously” cancelled, meaning that he JUST HAPPENS to be home when Harry comes by. After all, it’s not appropriate to ogle one’s employees… right? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Worlds Apart by QueenyMidas Rated: Explicit Words: 30561 Tags: muggle, Muggle AU, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Gaming, World of Warcraft - Freeform, Falling In Love Summary: In a muggle AU, Draco and Harry are left looking for magic in much more virtual places. For the both of them, the PC game World of Warcraft provides an outlet from their lives at school (where they’re both still nasty rivals). When their characters meet in game and a romance blossoms, it’s only a matter of time before they figure out who’s on the other side of the computer screen. You really don’t need to know anything about WoW to read this. Explicit in later chapters. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 We Built This Right by Remy_Writes5 Rated: Explicit Words: 15344 Tags: Inspired by Yuri!!! on Ice, Alternate Universe - Skating, Ice Skating, French Draco Malfoy, Desi Harry Potter, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, First Time, Fluff, Light Angst, Smut, Getting Together, Enemies to Lovers, Homophobic Language, Draco Malfoy & Pansy Parkinson Friendship, LCDrarry, Anxiety, strained relationship with parents, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Minor James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Minor Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical Summary: At last year's Grand Prix Final, Harry had an accident that left him with a lightning scar on his forehead, a concussion and a twisted ankle. Now everyone is waiting to see if his career is over - including former rival, Draco Malfoy. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 You Give Me Feelings That I Adore by rosejoongs Rated: Teen and Up Words: 2235 Tags: Humor, Alternate Universe- No Magic, modern!AU, Embarrased!Draco, Flustered!Draco, Teasing Slytherin Girls, smitten!Draco, Teasing, Kissing, Flirting, Terrible Innuendos, Aaaand I've Nothing Interesting To Tag, ooh wait, confident!harry, Flirtatious!Harry, Kinda Fluffy, shy!Draco Summary: There’s a gorgeous brunette standing at the table opposite theirs, grinning and taking the orders of the group of girls sitting there. He’s clad simply in a toga (the uniform here is strange) but damn is it raising Draco’s- And with that his brain comes to a screeching halt. Nope. No. He is not going to become another one of the predators sitting at his table. He is not going to lust after that guy and imagine taking him home and pinning him against the- “Having a nice reverie there, are you, Malfoy?” OR The one where Harry works as sexy-ass waiter in a strip bar and Astoria Greengrass can still bully Draco into going to such bars. Of course, it's not like Draco is exactly left wanting to complain about the ambience when he spots said Greek God in a toga... ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Songbirds of Avebury Manor by Tessa Crowley (tessacrowley) Rated: Explicit Words: 18237 Tags: Omega Verse, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Omega Draco Malfoy, Alpha Harry Potter, Class Differences, Soulmates, Sexual Tension, Mating Cycles/In Heat, First Time, Knotting, Implied Mpreg, Victorian Attitudes, Well sort of Victorian attitudes, Like Victorian attitudes except A/B/O, It makes sense in context I swear Summary: Harry Potter presents as alpha at fifteen, and it is supposed to change his life for the better. Instead, it leads him to a beautiful noble omega he cannot have, a political plot he cannot escape, and a threat on his life. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Catfish by QueenyMidas Rated: Explciit Words: 49525 Tags: Underage, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Catfish - Freeform, MTV Catfish, Falling In Love, travelling, Investigations Summary: After having gone to high school together and parted bitter rivals, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter find themselves reunited under professional circumstances. They’re hired to host MTV’s hit show ‘Catfish’, a program dedicated to finding out the truth about online romances when one partner is desperate to meet offline and the other has avoided every attempt at real-life interaction. Fake profiles, lies, and surprising love stories run amuck with Draco as the classic skeptic and Harry as the hopeful believer when they travel the country for the show and become invested in their cases and in each other. American muggle AU. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Dial Tone by firenxe Rated: Teen and Up Words: 34699 Tags: Texting, text fic, Drarry, non-magic au, AU Summary: Harry Potter decides to text the number on his arm. Draco Malfoy finds himself woken up by messages. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Boldly Go by ChristineP Rated: Teen and Up Words: 1895 Tags: Alternate Universe, Non-magic, American!Harry, Humor Summary: Harry was sure the scowl would have had more force to it if the blond wasn’t dressed in a catsuit reminiscent of Seven of Nine. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Consort: Hummingbird Cirus by Gold-Snitcher (Revenant) Rated: Mature Words: 78568 Tags: Alternate Universe, no-magic, harem/slave fic, Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Betrayal, fist time, Loyalty, Love, Non-Graphic Violence, Romance Summary: When a rebellion is crushed on the outer-edges of the empire Draco finds among the captives an intriguing youth who joins the men and women of the harem. Can this quiet boy who refuses to admit his name be worthy of the role of Consort? Or is he as scheming as the other occupants of the harem? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Unexpected Turn by Oakstone730 Rated: Explicit Words: 26812 Tags: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, United States, Road Trips, Mechanic Harry, real estate developer draco, tow truck sex, One Night Stands, American Harry, past Draco/Krum, South Dakota Summary: English real estate developer Draco Malfoy is in America to find his long lost cousin and escape a scandal. When his car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, his trip takes an unexpected turn. Non-Magical AU. (Fleeting mentions of Neville/Ginny and past-Draco/Krum) ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 A Surprising Christmas Present by 100SleeplessNights Rated: General Words: 6632 Tags: Harry Potter's Cat, Fluff, Meet-Cute, First Meetings, harry has a cat, Christmas Eve, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, First Dates, kind of, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Christmas Fluff, Artist Draco Malfoy, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, New Year's Fluff, First Kiss, Artist Harry Potter, Artist Lily Evans Potter, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Meeting the Parents Summary: Harry's cat disappears on Christmas Eve and he goes to find her. In the end he also finds something else he has searched for. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Incurable by Warholhp Rated: Explicit Words: 119473 Tags: Angst, Alternate Universe, First Time, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Smut, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Explicit Language, Sexual Content Summary: Non-Magic AU. Harry Potter was not sent to Hogwarts at age 11 as his parents intended. Instead, when an altercation with his uncle turns violent, he is sent to St. Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys. But four years later, he has the opportunity to attend Hogwarts, where he learns to live a life he never thought possible for himself. H/D and a bit of mentor-Snape. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Give Me a Quiet Mind by calrissian18 Rated: Teen and Up Words: 16260 Tags: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical Summary: Draco is Weasley’s assistant. Except for the week he’s not. Whose brilliant idea was that again? Featuring offices in Edinburgh, an epic Measley Bromance (that no one will admit exists), several unrequited crushes, fantastical revenge scenarios, coffee snobbery, the dreaded – yet adorable – toddler terror, promises of organ swapping, a play about Scottish history (no one cares), sequins, and the League of Snarky Secretaries! ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 There's No I In Team by JulietsEmoPhase Rated: Explicit Words: 13389 Tags: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Alternate Universe - Office, Parent-Child Relationship, Babysitting, Getting to Know Each Other, Past Character Death, Smut, Fluff and Smut, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Dom/sub Undertones, Dom/sub Play, Romance, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Time, Praise Kink, Coming Out, Top Harry, Bottom Draco Summary: When Draco's babysitter cancels on him, he has no option but to bring his son to work, despite the fact he has an extremely important day ahead of him. Rescue comes from the most unlikely of places, and Draco ends up having a day he never could have planned, or hoped for. Muggle AU, smut. Birthday present! ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Synthetic Bonds by mypetelephant Rated: Mature Words: 116270 Tags: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Arranged Marriage, Drapple Summary: Harry has always been the golden boy of Malfoy Corporation, earning the respect of Lucius and the resentment of his high school rival, Draco. But Lucius has a business proposal that involves Harry becoming a Malfoy..by marrying Draco. Non-magic AU ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 When Trust and Truth Collide by silvergalaxy Rated: Explicit Words: 47374 Tags: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Office Romance, Banter, Mistaken Identity, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Harry Potter, Fluff and Angst, Insomnia, Power Imbalance, Boss/Employee Relationship Summary: Harry meets Draco for the first time in the employee break room on a boring Wednesday morning and they immediately hit it off. Chance encounters turn into dates, and dates turn into feelings. Oh, yeah. Draco's also Harry's boss. Harry has no idea. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 To the Memory of Love by jamesilver Rated: General Words: 55952 Tags: Major Character Death long fic, Amnesia, but not, Coma, i really don’t know how to describe, AU, Alternate Universe - Voldemort Wins, kinda ya know like in the beginning, Angst, So much angst, Fluff, Muggle Life, harry in the muggle world, background hermione x ron, background sirius x remus, because this is an au i can do what i want so i day sirius didn’t die okay okay, Hogwarts Eighth Year, But also not, Past Child Abuse, don’t worry the major character death isn’t like draco or harry but it is other people, Horcrux Hunting, alphard black is alive, Happy Ending Summary: The light was bright as he blinked open his eyes. He was vaguely aware of the steady sounds of beeping. And he felt weird. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton. Strange. He was in a hospital. But it wasn’t St. Mungos. It was muggle. All the technology, it was muggle. “Mr. Potter, you’ve been in a coma for the last seven years. When you were eleven, you took a terrible run face-first into a wall at King’s Cross.” “No, but. But Ron. Molly was there and she...she directed me to. And Hagrid. Hedwig. Diagon.” This was a mistake. This was all a terrible mistake. ____ Or, in which Harry wakes up from a coma in a muggle world at 18, but with all the memories of Voldemort and the war. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Man with the Purple Umbrella by Moood Rated: General Words: 2251 Tags: Fluff, Drabble, Drarry, Muggle AU, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés Summary: Draco Malfoy works in a coffeshop. One day, a man with a purple umbrella walks in, and Draco's life change forever. ❤️ Read on AO3

#game of drarry #drarry #drarry recs #wizards hearts #wh masterlist

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erisbaek · 4 years ago

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Stucky Fic Rec [Part One]

So I decided to split the fic recs up into parts because they will be too long otherwise. In each part I will link the Google Doc that I am typing them up in, which is where I will constantly update as I read. Within these fic recs, they’re mostly my preferences, so very few (if any) Shrinkyclinks, and ABO fics will be within them, as well as shorter fics, since I actively seek fics out that are longer than 10k (and completed)!!

The Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10wqr5s-CzkFzLidQgt-y4-cjudHWwVeVPWCedMjK7t0/edit?usp=sharing

The first part is formatted under the cut, if you’d prefer to stay out of the doc!

Lightning in a Bottle

Word Count: 63k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Shrunkyclunks, Road Trip!AU, Angst with Happy Ending Warnings: Smut, Smoking Synopsis: The problem, Steve thinks, isn’t so much his motorcycle giving up the ghost on a lonely stretch of highway through a lonely stretch of the country. He doesn’t mind stretching his legs or the prospect of hitchhiking. The problem is the roiling black blanket of storm clouds slowly spreading itself over the landscape headed his direction… Steve Rogers is looking to hitch on a highway abandoned by everyone smart enough to avoid a looming storm. Bucky Barnes is the professional storm chaser who offers him a ride.

It gets more complicated from there.

Perspective and Truth

Word Count: 16.7k Rating: Teen and Up Notable Tags: Bodyswap!AU, Emotional Hurt/Comfort Warnings: None Synopsis: Bucky and Steve end up swapping bodies and learning a lot more about each other in the process

Carbs and Conversations

Word Count: 48k Rating: Teen and Up Notable Tags: Hockey!AU, No Powers Warnings: None Synopsis: Bucky was just looking for a chance. A chance to get on the ice and play. A chance to escape from Hydra. A chance to redeem himself. He didn't include 'A chance to be friends with Steve Rogers' on the list. That would be ridiculous. Lucky for him, Steve seemed determined to be ridiculous.

So Loud and So Clear

Word Count: 26.6k Rating: Mature Notable Tags: Get Together, Slow Build Warnings: None Synopsis: Bucky had been careful, after all, leaving no trace of his comings and goings. It was horrendously disappointing to know that Rogers had found him. Bucky was a lot better than getting caught by a guy who wore the American flag as a onesie. He just really was. “Don’t you – Bucky – Bucky,” Rogers started, and to Bucky’s growing horror, it looked like Rogers was on the verge of some type of emotional eclipse. Anger, sadness, something, and Bucky wanted nothing to do with it. “Hate to break it to you, bud, but I don’t remember ever living here and I don’t remember you.”

A Loyal Viewer

Word Count: 36.1k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Camboy!Steve, Punk!Bucky, No Powers, Long Distance Relationship Warnings: Smut Synopsis: At almost exactly eight thirty in the evening, Steve settles on the bed before his camera and the computer. He signs into his account on Chaturbate and clicks the button that starts his stream.

In My Conditions, Love’s the Best Physician

Word Count: 9.1k Rating: Not Rated Notable Tags: Shrunkyclunks, Pharmacist!Bucky, Russian!Bucky Warnings: None Synopsis: ”This situation is a little more delicate because I don't even know if he speaks English and I'm tired of going down to the pharmacy for constipation medication and allergy pills when I haven't sneezed since 1941.” Steve shouts. The room falls silent, and he turns back around to find four pairs of stunned eyes watching him. Tony, as always, speaks first. “He?” - Or the one where Bucky is a hot pharmacist and Steve keeps making up bullshit reasons to go see him.

Rare Is This Love (Keep It Covered)

Word Count: 66.7k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Shrunkyclunks, Mechanic!Bucky, Slow Burn Warnings: Smut, Canonical Character Death Synopsis: It's 2014. Captain America has been out of the ice for three years and is trudging along, saving the world and trying to get used to living in the future. Steve thinks he knows how the rest of his life is going to pan out – a life of duty, which he chose when he signed up to be Erskine’s science experiment. But then, he meets Bucky Barnes: the out-of-this-world-gorgeous mechanic and war vet, who turns Steve’s life upside down and makes him question everything he thought he knew. Slowly, Steve comes to realize there is more to life than duty and punching Nazis. Just one problem though: how on earth does a 96-year-old virgin who only just realized he may not be entirely straight make the transition from crush to relationship? Cue healthy amounts of self-doubt, awkward flirting, pretty blushing, existential crises, emotional growth, and maybe, possibly, a sexual awakening.

Looking For A Place To Hide

Word Count: 33.3k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Endgame Fix-It, 2012!Steve Warnings: Smut Synopsis: It's 2012 and all Steve knows is that another version of himself said Bucky is alive. Steve will do anything to get his friend back, even if it means time traveling to 2023. He expects Bucky to be happy to see him, but instead he's wary, hurt. Turns out his Steve had left him for Peggy. How? Why? Steve can't believe it. Now he'll have to find a way to make sense of it all, and convince Bucky that it's the two of them to the end of the line.

The Wolf and the Sheep

Word Count: 50.5k Rating: Teen and Up Notable Tags: Shield Agent!Steve, Winter Soldier!Bucky Warnings: None Synopsis: Steve Rogers is a SHIELD agent who is recruited for a secret project: Becoming a handler for the Asset. Steve’s world is thrown for a loop when he discovers the Asset is an actual person and he needs to figure out who he is and what he’s going to do.

All Those Little Pieces

Word Count: 40.5k Rating: Mature Notable Tags: Alternating POV, Post CATW Warnings: Smut, Panic Attacks Synopsis: Steve has never forgotten Bucky Barnes. Not their childhood together, not the horror of the moment Bucky fell too far for him to reach, and not the way he's loved him all the while. Bucky has forgotten everything about Steve, at least at first. But there's still a feeling there, warm in his chest—and maybe now that he's found his way back to Steve Rogers and his sunny apartment, there's a chance it might turn into something more.

My Dear

Word Count: 29.9k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Post CATWS, Recovery Warnings: Smut Synopsis: The Soldier stares down at the floor, breathing hard through his nose. “And you still wanna fix me,” he says. Steve shakes his head. “There’s nothing to fix, Buck. I just want to bring you home.”

Living On My Own

Word Count: 26.1k Rating: Mature Notable Tags: Vigilante!Bucky Warnings: Blood and Gore Synopsis: James Barnes is back in the world and finds that not only has there been 1) an alien invasion, but 2) Howard Stark had a kid. One that dispenses unsolicited life advice, no less. Oh, and 3) Captain America is alive again, after getting himself killed by his own recklessness in a move so stupid only Steve could have come up with it. In which James learns to do laundry, turns into an accidental neighborhood vigilante and makes Tony Stark a happy grease monkey, all while he figures out where to stake his claim.

Chase the Lighting From the Sky

Word Count: 39.4k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: No Powers, Age Gap, Farm!AU Warnings: Smut, Past Character Death, Animal Death Synopsis: If Bucky has to be stuck doing this ridiculous summer work program before his senior year of college, on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, then at least he’s got a hot as hell cowboy for a boss and host. Steve Rogers, owner of the Truth & Justice Ranch, is what Bucky’s completely theoretical but very imaginative bisexual fantasies are made of. Steve’s a widower though, and a nice guy in need of help, and no doubt 100% straight… so Bucky’s gonna work his ass off and keep his head down. But neither Bucky nor Steve are prepared for the friendship that forms between them as they work side by side. And they certainly aren’t expecting the budding feelings, confessions, and passions that summer heat and the loneliness of the great open plains stirs in each of them. What rages to life between them will shake each man to his core and will linger long after the storms and the summer have passed.

Cinder and Smoke

Word Count: 51.7k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Sheriff!Steve, Blacksmith!Bucky, Old Western Warnings: Smut, Period-Typical Homophobia, OC Death Synopsis: “They say there’s no law in Parasapa. Is that true?”

Art Thief, Heart Thief

Word Count: 58.8k Rating: Mature Notable Tags: FBI!Steve, Thief!Bucky Barnes Warnings: Smut Synopsis: Agent Steve Rogers is facing a series of art thefts that has him stumped, and looking for a break in the case. Convicted art thief and general high end criminal Bucky Barnes wants to make parole and happens to know all of the right people who could make Steve's job easier. So they strike a deal, mutually beneficial and entirely business. But a few days undercover, an undeniable growing chemistry, and some ill-timed Feelings entering the mix, and all bets are off.

Laws of Thermodynamics

Word Count: 14.6k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Post CATWS, Recovery Warnings: Smut Synopsis: He never had to relearn how to love Steve Rogers. It might be the one thing he never forgot.

Abstract Art

Word Count: 26.6k Rating: Teen and Up Notable Tags: Friends to Lovers, Artist!Steve, Ex Sniper!Bucky Warnings: None Synopsis: They survive almost a year of torture together, cells side by side, banter and teasing and stories. They keep each other alive. Then everything changes. They tell Bucky that Rogers's been killed. He tries to piece his life together, to move on. Steve owns an art store. He's given up looking. It's over. Except it's really not.

We Discovered Gold

Word Count: 18.7k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Post CACW, Fix-It, Wakanda Warnings: Smut Synopsis: “So you got these safe houses scattered all over Russia?” Steve jokes into the soft hair over Bucky's temple, not pulling away, “Or did we just get lucky?” Bucky shakes his head and then replies, “Got myself a few. It’s been a long two years.” “Yeah pal,” Steve nods, burrowing further, “I hear that.”

Never Mind to Hold

Word Count: 21.6k Rating: Mature Notable Tags: Soulmate!AU, Not CACW Compliant, Soulmarks Warnings: Brief Suicidal Ideation Synopsis: Steve didn't know the name of Bucky's soulmate. He wasn't even sure when it had appeared across Bucky's heart. But Steve knew it wasn't his name hidden under that patch.

Where There’s Smoke

Word Count: 95.1k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Firefighter!AU Warnings: Smut Synopsis: Steve is a Brooklyn firefighter who is about to be saddled with a new, rookie crewmate. James Barnes is that rookie, just looking for a fresh start at a new station. Steve's friends think they know what's best for him...start dating his new crewmate. Steve thinks they're crazy...or possibly right. But events from James's recent past may pose a threat to any designs they have on each other.

Let Them Eat Cake

Word Count: 31k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Shrunkyclunks, Pastry Chef!Steve, Sommelier!Bucky Warnings: Smut, Drug Use Synopsis: Steve picked up the piping bag and returned to the ramekins. Bucky left, though not without shooting one last look at Steve's wide back. Bucky could already tell Steve Rogers was trouble, not even counting the near-religious experiences he inspired among the staff. It wasn’t that Bucky didn’t appreciate him as well; he did. He just tended to appreciate people he found attractive from afar, because explaining the metal arm was hard, and because he didn’t really know how to handle letting someone in close. But that wasn’t why Steve was trouble, not really. Bucky wanted to know why their new pastry chef had gun calluses on his right hand.

Adrenalize Me

Word Count: 58.5k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Vampire!Steve Warnings: Smut, Blood Synopsis: Leaning against the side of a wall, taking an indolent drag of a cigarette, there he stood. Watching Bucky with an inscrutable gaze. Staring at Bucky for long seconds, the blond seemed to consider him before breaking the silence. “You know, nice guy like you walking alone at this hour – people might think you were looking for trouble.” Trying not to shudder at the sound of that voice, which wrapped around him like smoke, Bucky managed a smirk, lifted a brow. “Well, if I was, it looks like I found it.” Two strangers meet in a dark club. One just happens to be a vampire.

The Change in Us

Word Count: 23.4k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: N/A Warnings: Smut Synopsis: “I’ve found your BFF,” Stark says without preamble. “My… what?” “James Barnes. Winter Soldier. Bucky. I don’t know, I don’t care, but right now he’s perched on the roof of the next building with a gun on me, and it’s not so much my idea of a relaxing afternoon, so could you get down here?” Steve hangs up and starts running.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

Word Count: 38.2k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Shrunkyclunks, Ex Army!Bucky Warnings: Minor Smut Synopsis: Many an odd critter and item have ended up on the front porch of the property Bucky house-sits in the Middle Of Nowhere, but a bleeding blond man is a first. A short inspection reveals the man to be none other than Steve Rogers; ex-Captain America, vigilante, and a wanted fugitive. Steve’s stay of a few days of recovery is prolonged, under instructions for him to lie low until the Avengers can sort out the mess that has become the Sokovia Accords. Bucky is pretty sure that he’s committing an act of treason by providing Steve a place to stay. He is also pretty sure that lengthy interaction with Steve makes one prone to impending headaches and possibly ulcers. And he is certain that he is, very assuredly, in danger of falling in love with Steve.

The Soldier’s Revenge

Word Count: 76.4k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Canon Divergence, Enemies To Lovers, Slow Burn Warnings: Smut Synopsis: Bucky Barnes turns himself in to SHIELD two years after dragging Captain America out of the Potomac River. He was deprogrammed in Wakanda and has been hunting down Hydra ever since, but he needs help if he wants to take proper revenge on his captors. He turns to his old enemies: SHIELD and the Avengers, but it'll take more than a few words to win their trust after the Winter Soldier brought SHIELD to its knees not long before. Now at SHIELD's mercy, the only thing that stands between Bucky and his revenge is the approval of Captain Rogers: a self-righteous asshole that Bucky barely knows.

The Best Way to Wake

Word Count: 42.2k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Canon Divergence, Slow Burn Warnings: Smut Synopsis: James Buchanan Barnes lay in a glass pod in the middle of the table, frozen since he fell. Steve’s hands were on the glass before he realized he’d moved. “Wait, Captain!” “Get him out,” Steve whispered, his hands searching for a clasp, a keypad, something. “Captain, we need to keep him in stasis—“ “I said get him out!” In which Bucky Barnes lay frozen in the Alps for seventy years only to be woken up a year after Steve Rogers was uncovered from the Arctic.

Latte Art and Slow Dancing in the Dark

Word Count: 89.5k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Age Difference, CIA!Steve, Barista!Bucky, Sugar Daddy!Steve Warnings: Smut Synopsis: Bucky is a somewhat well-adjusted former army sniper that got his shoulder blown out. He took his discharge and went home to finish school and is working on his international relations masters. His best friends and roommates (Nat & Clint) are CIA agents and tip him off that their local Sbux is hiring. He gets a job there and meets none other than the hottest guy on earth. So how does one get a date in the most top secret government location in the US? What happens when that guy is more than just a hot dorito and wants to give Bucky everything he wants? Bucky is going to have to figure out his shit and fast. That's what's up.

Laughter Lines

Word Count: 100.2k Rating: Mature Notable Tags: Bodyguard!AU, Slow Burn Warnings: None Synopsis: Bucky Barnes is a rising Hollywood star with a tragic past and a reputation for driving his bodyguards away. Steve Rogers is a veteran with the same tragic past and the need to get back out in the world. The two of them have been estranged since they were teenagers, so when Steve joins SHIELD as a bodyguard, he is less than thrilled when he finds out that Bucky is his first assignment. But how bad can it be? They're both professional adults, right?Wrong.

From Hydra with Love

Word Count: 21.2k Rating: Mature Notable Tags: Spies!Steve and Bucky Warnings: Smut Synopsis: Captain Steve Rogers is one of the best spies in the world - a marksman, a martial artist, an expert in strategy and tactics. There's not a lot he can't handle. Heck, he's even saved the world once or twice. So why does every run in with the mysterious Winter Soldier leave him feeling like the Bond Girl?

Goddamn Electric

Word Count: 67.8k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Bodyguard!Steve, Musician!Bucky Warnings: Drug Use, Alcohol Use, Smut Synopsis: Steve Rogers works for a discreet private security company and gets assigned to James Barnes, a musician who takes the idea of 'sex, drugs & rock 'n roll' just a little too seriously.

There Was Something About Steve Rogers

Word Count: 46.7k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Post CATWS Warnings: Smut, Panic Attacks Synopsis: The Winter Soldier knows Steve Rogers has deep feelings for Bucky Barnes, and decides that he can use that to his advantage to gain protection from the Hydra agents still trying to find him. What he didn't bargain for was actually starting to care about the man they call Captain America, or the strength of Bucky Barnes' memories as they begin to resurface.

Through the Mist

Word Count: 14.5k Rating: Teen and Up Notable Tags: Soulmate!AU, Post CATWS Warnings: None Synopsis: He usually kept it covered. Whether it be with long sleeves, a cuff of some sort, or make up Natasha skillfully showed him how to apply. He didn’t cover it up because he was ashamed or because he was one of those people who didn’t like others knowing who his soulmate was- no. He covered it up out of respect. Respect for his fallen partner, and respect for himself because he knew looking at those swoopy lines of James B. Barnes on his wrist always made him crumble like his legs were kicked down. When he crashed into the ice all those years ago he thought he was going to see Bucky again- he thought he was finally going to be with Bucky without people giving them ugly looks and throwing slurs their way. He thought he was going to be happy again.

Take Me Home

Word Count: 78.1k Rating: Mature Notable Tags: Shrunkyclunks, Veteran!Bucky Warnings: Smut, Torture, Referenced Suicide Synopsis: “I’m so sorry, I’m gonna help you I promise, just don’t move, fuck, I ran over Captain America–” the man apologized, over and over, and all Steve managed to say was, “You’re really attractive,” before passing out on the guy’s lap in the middle of the road.

Where the Circle Ends

Word Count: 29.8k Rating: Mature Notable Tags: Zombie Apocalypse!AU Warnings: Smut, Gore Synopsis: In which the world has gone to hell in a zombie apocalypse handbasket and, in the middle of it all, Steve finds the one person he never thought he'd see again. Angst and feelings (amongst other things) ensue.

Our Souls (They Were Made to Last)

Word Count: 53.8k Rating: Mature Notable Tags: No Powers, Veteran!Steve, Doctor!Bucky, Ghost!Bucky Warnings: None Synopsis: Dr. James Barnes is too busy saving lives to actually have one of his own. When he finally agrees to go on a blind date, he gets into an accident that will change his life forever. Retired Army Captain Steve Rogers is depressed, and when he moves into his new apartment he finds it already occupied....with the ghost of its last tenant. To make matters worse, the ghost is adamant that he's not dead. As they navigate their way through their new living arrangements, can they save each other, before it’s too late? Or have they missed their one shot at a happy ending?

By Any Other Name

Word Count: 36.9k Rating: Explicit Notable Tags: Assassins and Hitmen!AU, Spies and Agents!AU Warning: Smut Synopsis: Steve was a good spy. It turned out one good spy didn't stand a chance against a rival security firm, a contract killer, and his own heart.

#stucky #stucky fic rec #stucky fic #stevebucky #stevebucky fic #starbucks #wintershield #steve rogers #james barnes #bucky barnes #the winter soldier #captain america #marvel

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ao3feed-coldflash · 5 years ago

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Ice and Lightning

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2WIMcz5

by vomitingwords

Barry Allen. Seventeen year old Junior champion figure skater. The fastest, most graceful skater in his division, or so that's what the judges say. Everyone, the judges and his fans all call him “The Flash” if you blink, you might miss him. He goes from one move into the next as fast and fluid as lightning. Everyone loves him.

Leonard Snart. Twenty-one year old, national champion figure skater. Cold, hard and calculating he makes every jump with the precision and determination of a winner and it earned him the nickname “Captain Cold”. It's his last year to qualify to go to the Olympics before he’s deemed too old. Twenty-one may seem young but there were fourteen to sixteen year olds winning gold medals at the Olympics now and Leonard just couldn't compete. His bad luck doesn't end there. Thanks to his “Win at all costs” attitude, people have been viewing him as not someone to make friends with. Of course, he still has fans and manages to get the crowd every time he competes, people just don't generally like him for anything other than his skating.

That is, until he met Barry Allen.

Words: 1841, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: The Flash (TV 2014)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Barry Allen, Leonard Snart, Iris West, Caitlin Snow, Joe West

Relationships: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart, Barry Allen/Caitlin Snow, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Barry Allen & Iris West

Additional Tags: FigureSkating!AU, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Skating, Ice Skating, Minor Barry Allen/Caitlin Snow, Barry Allen & Iris West Friendship, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Leonard & Lisa Snart Sibling Feels, Nicknames, POV Alternating, Coming Out, Gay Leonard Snart, Bisexual Barry Allen, Rivalry, Rival Relationship, Getting to Know Each Other, theyre supposed to hate each other but they dont, Competition

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2WIMcz5

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #coldflash

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borisbubbles · 5 years ago

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Eurovision 2010s: 95 - 91

95. Duncan Laurence - “Arcade” the Netherlands 2019

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2019 will forever go down as the year where Europe learned all about piano ballads and bisexuality, which we have Duncan to thank for! Inclusive icon <3 And let us be honest, “Arcade” was pretty awesome. It’s a wonderfully immersive moody ballad that connects deeply on a personal level, peppered with instantly memorable gutpunchers (”Loving you is a losing game” is both an amazing line and painfully relatable). Excellent backdrop and camerawork gave the song a vibe of palpable desolation. Major props of this camera shot near the end:

^ this is a moneymaker. Well done, Hans Pancake.

And the most important thing is, ummm, hello, the Netherlands will host Eurovision 2020, meaning I can attend next year in person without bankrupting myself. 😍

However, despite the fact that “Arcade” is a pretty great entry overall, it has one GIANT problem: The act is terrible, and I *will* ::cracks knuckles:: proceed to roast the shit out of it. 🤜😤🤛

Now, I understand what Hans was going for his usual tryhard pseudo-cinematic spiel. However, -and independendly from my general distaste for the ‘White Guy With a Piano’ trope (this is 2019 how is anyone still gushing over them like they’re a fucking novelty O__O)-, sitting down is always a losing game. It is a momentum-slayer, and therefore never a good idea. The fact that they kept on tweaking the camera angles during the rehearsals says enough, honestly. The Dutch tried to amend the lack of dynamism with that stupid glowing orb and I mean:

Duncan is actually a fairly attractive dude but that lightning makes him look as if he’s terminally ill. You know when you DON’T get bad lighting angles such as this? When you stand up, like a normal fucking person. 😤

Many others also critically panned that (let’s be honest) ugly-as-sin piano. The Dutch delegation responded with the usual pretentious rubbish:

um sorry wrong shitpost, hang on... ah, found the right one:

and I mean, who the fuck cares? Just because it’s ~vintage~ doesn’t mean it’s not ugly. Just because it’s ~vintage~ doesn’t mean we have to like it? Not a single casual fan will recognize that piano as a vintage prop, just as an hideous one, WHICH. IT. IS. The pretentious elitism/glaring stupidity behind it all just makes me wanna SPITT!! 😤 Karma quickly caught up with the Dutch arrogance however when their 56% or whatever ridiculous winner odds they had amounted to... Third place with the juries and Second Place with the audience. 😈 and “Soldi” becoming the europe-wide summer hit instead of “Arcade” 😈 In the immortal words of Kim Kardashian, #ItIsWhatSheDeserves.

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94. Lucie Jones - “Never give up on you” United Kingdom 2017

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[2017 Review here]

It seems the UK is limited to ONE great entry per decade, but Lucie definitely deserving of love. “Never give up on you” transformed from the most boring song ever into a genuinely gripping support song and well, it’s really great? Lucie is a cherub-voiced seraph who carries this song into the highest powerballad eschelons and that’s no easy feat!

Unfortunately, the UK, like always, fell victim to anti-Brexit sabotage causing them to flop!!

Damn’ you Remainers, will the bullying EVER END???? and that was the UK,

Honestly, I expected much worse given how blasé the BBC usually is towards Eurovision? It’s really not the fault of their entrants though, who always give their all and get screwed over through circumstance. Yes, “Brexit” is the buzzword being tossed around as a humorous excuse for the non-stop British failures, but let’s be honest we all know it’s just the BBC’s attitude towards ESC. Perhaps the Big 5 should have a Brexit of its own...x

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93. Amir - “J’ai cherché” France 2016

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Shock boot? Well, no I think #93 is actually a really good spot for Amir. After booting most glorious trashfests that are bad songs, it becomes time to slowly boot the good songs that aren’t trashy. 😭

However, I do recognize Amir as a well-deserving ~Legendary~ French entry. It feels like a long time ago, but France was one of the most underperforming countries in Eurovision until Amir strolled along to capture everyone’s hearts with his irresistable magnetism <3 “J’ai cherché” is an infectuously cheerful song, with it’s toe-tapping goodness brightening up my day every time I listen-listen.

That said, I DO have to put my big boy panties on and make a big boy decision: We’re closely making way towards the god-tier and the further we go, the less “this is a good song and little else” is going to cut it. THANK YOUOUOUOUOUOU FOR MAKING-MAKING FRANCE STRONG AGAIN, THOUGH ^__^

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92. Sunstroke Project - “Hey Mamma” Moldova 2017

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[2017 Review here]

GLORIOUS MEMELORDS <3

It came as a surprise at the time, but retroactively we all should’ve seen Sunstroke’s top 3 finish from lightyears away. Other than Olia, “Hey Mamma” has all the ingredients that made “Runaway” good, but improves them. There is EPIC SAX

There is instant hilarity of their trademark non-English (”I AM NOT THAT UNFOUNDED BOY” lmao what???)

There is a ridiculous underlying storyline (song about an angry mother-in-law / pre-marital sex <3)

There are wacky visuals, such as this ICONIC leg choreography

or the JUST AS memorable bridesmaid twist:

It really just is the old Moldovan adage of transforming nothing into EVERYTHING using a few very clever stage-hacks, but brought to a whole higher level. 😍 Sometimes I wonder whether we are worthy of their presence, but as long as Moldova continue blessing us with their staging magic, Eurovision will be a better place.

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91. Malcolm Lincoln & Manpower 4 - “Siren” Estonia 2010

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One of the things that make Estonia my favourite country in Eurovision (as well as a top 5 country in *general*), is that they are MASTERS of the alternative genre. 😍 Eesti Laul is so fun because of... um well, mostly because of all the ridiculously named bands that compete in their NF (Vanilla Ninja <3 Tenfold Rabbit <3 Facelift Deer <3), but also because it’s a place for refuge for indie darlings, quite unlike any other ESC country.

However, “Siren” marks the only time one of said indie darlings actually won Eesti Laul and that makes them very special to me. The song is a beautiful, haunting, touching ethereal soliloquy on how lame life has been and the yearning for the strength to carry on... which, I don’t know about you, but GOSH SO RELATABLE!!!

Further enhanced by the fact that Robin Jukhental is a lovable dork, hopping around the stage as an avatar of social anxiety, as his second-in-command absolutely WRECKS that piano <3. In other words, the exact type of entry the audience would despise but I am smitten by. ANGELS <3

#Eurovision #Eurovision Song Contest #Estonia #Moldova #France #United Kingdom #Netherlands #Duncan Laurence #Arcade #Lucie Jones #Never give up on you #Amir Haddad #J'ai cherché #Sunstroke Project #Hey Mamma #Malcolm Lincoln #Siren

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