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maydaymemer · 5 years ago

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Reviewing every Hitman level - Part 2: World of Assassination

Part 1 here: https://maydaymemer.tumblr.com/post/635416983034380288/reviewing-every-hitman-level-part-1-the-ps2

WoA1 (2016):

ICA Facility - 3/5

Both Freeform Training and The Final Test are okay. There’s just enough there to be enjoyable, but I wish Freeform had Contracts mode since I think that would bolster replayability. As infamous as Final Test is for newbie Contracts some of them provide more interesting gameplay scenarios than Jasper’s basic route.

The Showstopper/Paris - 4/5

In most of these reviews for WoA levels I’m judging both the mission and location at the same time. As for Paris there’s level design when it comes to the geometry itself but I think the targets leave a lot to be desired. I’m a little harsher on Blood Money and WoA because their rating systems are a lot less flexible than previous games, so they have to make up for that with highly manipulatable targets. Sure I can kill either target anywhere I want but due to Victor standing in a lot of crowds that’s not going to get my SA unless I use accidents, which even then can backfire if a non-target gets caught under them. Victor and Dalia are likeable assholes but I couldn’t find many good ways to manipulate them and break their scripting. There’s still ways sure, the coin is a godsend, but not as many as say Robert Knox in Miami. If IO brought back the escalations this could be bumped up to a perfect score based on level design alone, but right now it’s way too simple and reliant on doing what the devs want. It was their first true attempt at this new style so it’s understandable they were a little squeamish at giving total freedom.

Holiday Hoarders - 3/5

This is a fun little distraction. Unfortunately Harry and Marv don’t react to distractions but their routes are long and they’re alone most of the one which makes up for it. It’s easier to get SA with these guys without using opportunities than it is with the main mission targets. The challenges are also fun, requiring you to stop the targets from stealing from the palace then becoming Santa to kill them.

World of Tomorrow/Sapienza - 5/5

The first masterpiece of the new style. Highly manipulatable targets, great level design and great potential for Contracts. I’m still finding new things about this level, from kills I’ve never done before two areas I didn’t know I could go to. It took a while to grow on me but it’s definitely one of the best maps IO has ever made.

The Icon - 3/5

This bonus mission relies a little too much on scripted kills. There’s still ways to break that scripting but the level is really pushing them as something you need to try. Not a bad thing, they are fun kills, but it’s not a level that holds up and gets better on replays like the main mission. You’ll still find ways to kill Bosco without the Rube Goldberg routine, but not as many as the near limitless possibilities of Francesca and Silvio have.

Landslide - 4/5

This is much better, less of a reliance on the mission stories/opportunities and the scripted moments themselves have lots of variants. You can snipe Marco in the graveyard from afar rather than setting up the electrocution kill, you can drop a chandelier on him as a bodyguard while he meets the lawyer rather than becoming him yourself. You can also just hit him with the Sieker and plant an explosive on the toilet and book it. Great bonus mission.

The Author - 3/5

Getting the targets to meet is a good way of creating your own kills, either partaking in the meeting, watching from afar or letting Craig Black flee. But the routes themselves around up to snuff. Akram stays in his tiny apartment until you ring the bell and Black spends way too much time reading.

A Gilded Cage/Marrakesh - 5/5

This level has really grown on me. I used to say “it’s okay but it is a bit of a disappointment compared to Sapienza”, then “it’s a pretty good level it’s a little unfairly maligned” to “this is one of the best maps in the series and I don’t understand why people don’t like it.” The map does have the big problem of its middle section being pointless but the routes of the targets themselves, their synergy, how manipulatable they are and how easy it is to kill them in all kinds of different ways suit only is an absolute treat. You can snipe Zaydan in his office and no one will find him, you can lure him into the room next to the prisoner and strangle him and you can lure him into the toilet and push him to his death. With Strandberg you can electrocute him sure, but that’s intended, instead you can follow him into his office (keep in mind, in the suit) and when he’s in that area no one goes in you can strangle him, or you can toss a coin into the toilet and if he hears you can drown him. The mission is criminally underrated and I think it’s on par with Sapienza.

A House Built On Sand - 3/5

It’s alright but it suffers from a lack of suit only options for manipulating targets via Mission Stories. The rooftop meeting is actually good for getting non-story related kills like dropping the cafe sign on Kwang, or you can just strangle him when he gets there. It’s neat. You can do something similar with getting rid of the guy the fortune teller is talking to, enabling a suit only kill by distracting the fortune teller when he talks to Mendola. That’s what I like about the scripted kills, when you can do shit with them the devs might’ve not directly intended, or are just secret ways to do them. I love missions that give me a lot of either that or ways to create my own kills, which you can do with AHBOS but since it’s a bonus mission and one set around the crowd it’s a lot more difficult with the rating system we have currently, so having more ways to use mission stories/opportunities for the purpose of getting different kills they weren’t meant for would’ve improved this level.

Club 27/Bangkok - 4/5

This level is really poorly designed but I like it anyway. I think it’s the atmosphere but also Jordan Cross as both a character and a target. He’s really interesting but he’s also fun to manipulate and try to take out suit only, of which there are multiple ways to do so without using stories. Even then I do like using the USB story occasionally for suit only runs because it’s so cool. Ken Morgan is a pretty terrible target, not that manipulatable, personality wise he’s really generic and his short route is out in public a lot so it’s a bitch to get him. I’ve gotten an SA kill on him in that little table he phones at but it wasn’t easy. Jordan makes up for it, however, even if getting to him is overly linear due to a lack of climbing in this very vertical location the options you have for actually killing him are numerous and you can really make a suit only run your own with him.

The Source - 2/5

This mission, on the other hand, is just bad. Every time you start you have to jog up flights of stairs to get to the targets, and while they have decent routes good luck intercepting them before they do that ritual that takes ages to finish and come back down. The targets also suffer from being too close to eachother, it’s almost pointless. At least there’s some cool challenges, I’m pretty sure you can use a sniper rifle on a gas canister from the other side of the hotel and get SA but don’t quote me on that.

Freedom Fighters/Colorado - 1/5

The entire location is garbage, I’ve played some pretty neat contracts but overall it’s a boring place whether you’re in the main mission or not. Rose and Graves have decent routes but Berg and Parvati are terrible targets. Sure you can manipulate them if you’re doing suit only but that requires a lot of movement and stealthing via an area that’s hostile to you without a disguise. Almost everything interesting is given to either Rose or Graves, which makes me think this would probably be a lot more fun as a mission if Berg and Parvati were just used as people for those two to interact with as part of their route or mission stories. It’s a very flat map with lots of walking, WoA 2’s maps have a large amount of movement too but they have shortcuts and verticality to remain engaging. Easily the worst map of the trilogy.

The Vector - 3/5

The map lost a lot of its flow with the WoA 2 changes to explosions, but it’s still a pretty fun, frantic mission with random targets to spice things up. It’s also go bushes and accidents everywhere leading to a lot of flexibility, even if you use up a kill there’s always more nearby since the targets can be pretty much anywhere - even clumped together - which is randomness done right considering the short long of the mission.

Situs Inversus/Hokkaido - 4/5

Pretty good mission and a great location. Erich has tons of ways to kill him despite not even being an NPC and more of an objective according to the logic of the engine, and Yuki has a pretty good route with lots of variance, my favourite kill method being sniping her in her private area of the restaurant. I discovered it recently, usually no one sees her. I would say the level design is better than the target design, which is good because Hokkaido is a great jumping off point for secondary content.

Patient Zero - 4/5

This is a great experimental mission. Like Vector but on a larger scale this mission could go different every time. The Virus means anyone in the mission could become an additional target and your playstyle can vary from subtle and sneaky to panicked to mass murderer depending on how much you fuck up or don’t handle the virus effectively. I’d say that WoA 1’s version was a little bit better, I think WoA 2 changed something about like guard placement or just general glitchyness which can make it a pain sometimes. Hopefully H3 fixes it.

Hokkaido Snow Festival - 2/5

This was a free mission made for WoA2 so I’m not going to shit on it too hard, but it’s not very good. It’s overall way too easy to finish this level in under a minute by starting as the ninja, going to the helicopter, shooting an icicle over the target and leaving immediately. That creativity I love about Hitman isn’t really encouraged here, which is a problem with bonus missions in general but it’s at its most pronounced here.

2 God-tier Levels 2 Missions

3 Good-to-Great Levels 5 Missions

1 Average-to-Good Level 6 Missions

0 Bad-to-Mediocre Level 2 Missions

1 Really Bad Level 1 Mission

0 Horrible Missions

For the WoA games I’ve split up levels and missions in the totals. I think it gives a better indication of the quality of each game. WoA part 1 is a good start for this new style but I feel it suffers from inconsistent level design. While Part 2 can feel like they played it safe by basing the design philosophy off of Sapienza for almost every location, WoA 1 has some levels with outright sloppy design like Bangkok, wasted space or locations that are just plain bad. Something the sequel fixes and more.

WoA2 (2018):

Nightcall/Hawke’s Bay - 3/5

Hawke’s Bay really suffers from one exit and a mandatory objective. If you could exit via a car or if some guards were posted at the house before you got in it’d make the rest of the mission up to par with the actual assassination of Alma, which is great but unfortunately a small part of the mission. It’s a neat little puzzle box location ruined by some forced tutorialisation and sloppy story integration.

The Finish Line/Miami - 5/5

The perfect Hitman level. Everything from the geometry to the target routes is perfect. Hitman levels have a problem where sometimes one target is better than the other, this is one of those rare exceptions where both targets are equally fantastic with a balance between scripted kills and having a route that’s ripe for manipulation and creating your own kills even without doing so.

A Silver Tongue - 2/5

As good as Miami is it can’t save this boring target. His route is a small triangle which is a giant missed opportunity when he’s right next to bar area which is mostly unused in the main mission.

3-Headed Serpent/Colombia - 4/5

I’ve made an effort recently to play this level a whole bunch because it used to be my least favourite. I think after really getting familiar with it this is one of the times the rating system used in Blood Money and the new games really lets down a great location. There are cool ways to snipe the Rico and Jorge, poison Jorge with a cocaine brick, blow Andrea up and kill Jorge in the bushes that make this level so much more fun to play, but the rating system discourages bodies found or collateral accident which instead force you to do a lot of walking to each target to get up close and personal. I like how interconnected and intricate everything is, but I don’t like being forced to use that every time I play. It should be a rare luxury rather than a require part of dealing with the level.

Embrace of the Serpent - 1/5

Terrible terrible terrible. A target with a shit route in a small area that’s “repurposed” by just covering it in guards. Not to mention the missed opportunity of making the target a poacher but not giving us a way to make an animal kill him, when there’s an animal in the main mission that can kill a target. For shame, IO.

Chasing a Ghost/Mumbai - 5/5

Another God-tier level and an atmospheric masterpiece. The Maelstrom has one of the best routes in the series and the other two aren’t so shabby either, with ways to get them out of their fortresses for manual kills like the smoke and the laundry foreman. Having a target not locatable via instinct is so cool, and the Maelstrom goes places I don’t expect him to sometimes. It fits his character that his behaviour is as mysterious and varied as he is, leading to lots of ways to kill him. The only problems level design wise I have other than the rating system is the fact that there’s no big area you can climb up to survey and snipe the whole area due to its weird horizontal layout, and there’s lots of disguise swapping that doesn’t make sense. Why can’t I go into the Crows’ hideout as Vanya’s guard? They’re on the same side. The mission also has mission stories with lots of variance and experimentation, which wouldn’t save the mission if it did have bad routes and experimentation without that but it’s the cherry on top to have scripted kills that can feel unscripted with how you do them. Like suit only Kashmirian strategies, poisoning Dawood’s glass as the actor or using the script opportunity to blow him up in the bathroom. And not to mention that Dawood Rangan is one of the best targets in the series personality wise. He’s so awesome.

Illusions of Grandeur - 2/5

Basil Carnaby’s route is actually not bad, making the chawed a hostile area is kinda neat but all that is thrown out the window when the dude offers to hypnotise you. He takes you upstairs alone, you jab a poison syringe in his back then you leave the level. I don’t know what IO was thinking. What a waste of a pretty reskin of Mumbai.

Another Life/Whittleton Creek - 5/5

A brilliant sequel to A New Life. The clues thing can get old but I won’t let that get in the way of two fantastic targets. Nolan’s route is filled with accidents whilst Janus can be lured out of his home with a couple of coin throws, even then I would say Janus’ house in general I would single out as being one of the best single areas of gameplay in the trilogy. Guard placement, security cameras and enforcer choice is perfect.

A Bitter Pill - 3/5

This mission’s okay. It’s basically just a full level version of Janus’ house but security is way too easy to get past. If they just locked the basement door this mission would be so much better.

The Ark Society/Isle of Sgail - 4/5

Mediocre targets let down some fantastic vertical level design. Sgail is very fun to stealth through and explore but the Washington twins are kind of boring compared to Janus from the previous mission. They’re not outright bad, there’s lots of non-story kills you can do since they’re highly manipulatable, but their routes are usually taken through crowds and take to long to get to those areas. It’s great for Contracts mode however, with the most markable NPCs of any level, in fact the Constant has a pretty good route which is unfortunate since the whole point of the level is NOT to kill him.

Golden Handshake/New York - 3/5

Great level geometry that’s fun to sneak around, this level is also great for Contracts mode, but I feel the actual objective while fun is mostly there to make up for a mediocre target route. You can kill Athena anywhere anyway with some knock outs or items so manipulating her to go someplace else to try new kills isn’t that attractive an option. Plus her route is very short.

The Last Resort/Haven Island - 4/5

This is one of my favourites level design wise, all three targets have enjoyable routes with even Tyson being manipulatable via coins to get him out to his balcony. However what kills the levels for me is the viewcones. To give some context IOI decided to change sightlines for NPCs just for this level in order to accommodate the wide beaches of the map. As it wouldn’t make sense for a guy not to see you jogging on an empty beach you’re not supposed to be if he’s looking into the distance. This was a terrible idea and means you’re never sure when you’re going to be seen doing something or not. I understand the reasoning but some areas like the villa were clearly designed for smaller viewcones, and I think consistency of mechanics trumps realism any day.

The Last Yardbird/Austria - 3/5

The first of WoA 2’s three sniper missions. It’s decent but due to it being the first they made it’s a bit too simple and becomes very repetitive on replays. Most target manipulations are cryptic and slow, and a larger problem with Sniper Assassin is due to it being a shooting gallery you tend to just pick one strategy that works and stick with it, you don’t tend to experiment like you do the main game.

Pen & the Sword/Hantu Port - 3/5

This one is my least favourite of the sniper maps. While manipulations this time are faster and simpler the map being so wide and open means you’re going to get caught when you don’t think you should’ve. I played all three sniper maps again recently and this was the one I gave up getting silent assassin with. The strat I usually used for grinding just didn’t work consistently like the ones for Himmelstein and Siberia

Crime & Punishment/Siberia - 4/5

This is the one where they finally go it right. Crime and Punishment is a legitimately great mission, sniper or otherwise. The riot mechanic gives way to a lot of variance and experimentation that actually consistently works, there’s lots of ways to change target routes in subtle ways that make sense (like killing a guard that was meant to get someone for the target, so the target walks over there himself) and the design isn’t so wide bodies are getting found left and right. Whether you’re starting a riot or playing it quiet it’s an excellent Hitman-style shooting gallery.

3 God-tier Levels 3 Missions

4 Good-to-Great Levels 4 Missions

4 Average-to-Good Level 5 Mission

0 Bad-to-Mediocre Level 2 Missions

0 Really Bad Levels 1 Mission

0 Horrible Missions

As you can see where Hitman 2 excels in pure level design it flops hard when it comes to the bonus missions. Hitman 2 is still my favourite game in the series, I’m very biased towards it and its specific levels, but I’m not close minded and I hope IO can take the little failures and huge successes of Hitman 2 and deliver the magnum opus of the series with upcoming third part of WoA.

And that means the totals for the whole franchise are (and if you want to correspond this to a tier list it basically means S, A, B, D, E, and F, respectively):

12 God-Tier Missions

29 Good-to-Great Missions

21 Average-to-Good Missions

8 Bad-to-Mediocre Missions

5 Really Bad Missions

1 Horrible Mission

#hitman #hitman20years #io interactive #hitman 2 #hitman 3 #project 007 #reviews #video games

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babymyleopard · 6 years ago

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Hey do you have any Madonna recs?

Hi there!

you wanna Madonna recs? you came to the right place!

I really am a big fan of hers, so I’d say everything she has done in 37 years is fantastic and worthy a try. So I’ll put my takes on all her albums under the cut bc I’ll write a lot (sorry), from my ultimate favorite to the least favorite.

Bedtime Stories (1994) this album is so special! It is deep, personal... she is reflecting on her life and career (especially after the Sex Book controversy). Each song represents a part of myself as well, I always say that if someday they make a film of my life, this album would be the soundtrack.

Erotica (1992) what can I say, really? The sound are great, I think we have her best vocals, the aesthetic is really sexy and dark and beautiful. My favorite track is Fever -- a cover from a 1950′s song --, Erotica, Deeper and Deeper, Waiting and Where Life Begins, but the whole thing is a masterpiece.

American Life (2003) the most underrated of her works, even fans don’t get it, but I love. She reflects on the American Dream, of which she herself is a symbol. My favorites are Mother and Father, I’m So Stupid, Nobody Knows Me and Nothing Fails.

Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) if you’re gay and love ABBA and dance music in general, well, you found your dream piece! Everything is gorgeous and shiny and amazing. I love Sorry, Hung Up, Jump and Like it or Not more than my life.

Ray of Light (1998) basically, Madonna invented electronic music. My faves are Drowned World/ Substitute for Love, The Power of Goodbye, Frozen and the title.

Madame X (2019) what a dream. So real, so different, she sings in my language (portuguese) for the first time and I just cannot stress how much it means to me. Faves are I don’t Search I Find, Killers Who Are Partying, God Control, Batuka, Looking for Mercy, I Rise and Crazy.

Music (2000) country girl, party girl, sad girl, you choose. The beat is there, the lyrics are there, this album is so great! I’d pick Gone, Don’t Tell Me and Music.

Hard Candy (2008) many people don’t like this one, I love. It’s fun! I love Miles Away, Candy Shop, Heart Bit, Beat Goes On, Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You and Voices.

Like a Virgin (1984) classic, the image of Madonna most people will think of. Shoo Bee Doo, Angel, Love Don’t Live Here Anymore, Material Girl, Dress You Up, the title track... everything is great.

Like a Prayer (1989) Iconic. J. D. Considine said that it was the closest that pop music came to art on his review. My faves are Keep it Together, Cherish and the title (but this album has the only song of Madonna that I can’t listen to, Oh Father).

Rebel Heart (2015) a great work, but should have been release as a duble album -- as she wanted -- as a whole album it’s a little confusing. But I love the title track, Ghosttown, Best Night and Heartbreak city.

True Blue (1986) this album was a mark on her career, putting her on a more adult place (and expanding her fanbase). I absolutely adore the title track, Papa Don’t Preach, Open Your Heart and Live to Tell.

Madonna (1983) the beginning. It’s all street fashion and club songs. Holiday, Burning Up, Physical Attraction and Think of Me come as faves.

MDNA (2012) another fun album that many fans don’t like. I find many songs great, such as Masterpiece -- she won a Golden Globe for this one btw --, Girl Gone Wild, I’m a Sinner and Beautiful Killer.

Also, she have two “greatest hits” albums, The Immaculate Collection (1990) and Celebration (2009), they can be a nice start.

And I would recommend for you to watch her music videos and concerts -- there are many things on youtube so you don’t have to download unless you like them (and I hope you will). My fave tour is The Girlie Show (1993) which is the show for the Erotica album, the aesthetic is amazing and gay -- I mean it --, also I love this tour bc it’s the year I was born and it was the first time she performed in Brazil.

Thank you so much for asking me this! Sorry it is long, but I hope you like the recs and of course, I hope you like Madonna. She’s a great artist and human being

#madonna #ask #music #music recs #I could review each song from each album #but poor thing you anon #really hope you enjoy her music #thank you again it was fun to do #Anonymous

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iwillgiveyoumyhappiness · 5 years ago

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Song Tag

Song game!

Tagged by @bae-minseung

Thanks for tagging me, luv!

Rule: You can only repeat one artist and song only one time, so we can all kind of spread new 🎶to the people we tag. Try to listen to at least one of the song’s people rec here.

1. Song you 💛ed the first time you listened to and never got tired of?

Universe by Minhyun

When ‘Universe’ came out on April 3rd of 2019, I already knew it was going to become one of my favorite songs ever. How did I know that? I can’t really say. The first note tickled my ear and made me feel fuzzy inside, but also a little sad. I don’t know if there’s anyone else out there that likes standing in the rain and feeling it trickle down your cheeks, but it felt like that��only better. It felt like the cold water was warm, and instead of it being clear, it was dye and it was coloring me beautifully. That song felt like first love to me. Thrilling and beautiful, but also a little heart-wrenching and sorrowful. I think that’s why I love it so much, and still love it to this day. I can always go back to that song to fill me with the color that I lack. In the words of Minhyun: “You have to be happy, my universe”.

2. One song you 😭 every time you listen or makes you emotional?

The Last by Agust D

‘The Last’ is such a painfully honest song, and I admire that honesty. Since BTS debuted in 2013, I remember looking at Min Yoongi through the eyes of a relatively thoughtless nine-year-old and thinking, “What kind of person are you? Who are you?” I thought it was a funny question, at the time. I knew who he was. He was Min Yoongi—Suga from BTS. He was a cool Korean guy I saw on the internet. Though, as time went by and I got older, I realize it.

“You’re me.”

“You’re older than me, and we’re different people.”

“But that doesn’t matter.”

“You’re me in another body.”

When I came to that realization, I cried for hours without making any noise. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t. Up until that point, I was someone who locked her door and screamed until she felt better, but at that time, I realized that it felt better to scream in my head, because then I could do it whenever I needed to. I could be in a room full of people, and I could still be screaming. For whatever reason, I felt comforted by that. I always used to scream and throw tantrums so that people would hear me. So they would know what I was thinking, and what I did or didn’t like. I needed to be heard; I desired it. But after coming to my ‘realization’, I didn’t need to scream to be heard anymore, because there was already someone out there that understood me.

I’m incredibly blessed that ‘The Last’ came out around that time that I developed my ‘Yoongi-ness’, for lack of better term that doesn’t sound too over-dramatic. I’ve never been depressed—I’ve just been really sad or couldn’t feel anything at all, but I’ve felt less really-sad (or at least more comfortable with my really sad), because I knew that I could come back to this song and feel like someone understood.

And that made me happy. That’s one reason why I’m so happy now.

He understood me without hearing a word I said, knowing my face, or knowing my name. Without knowing of my existence, I felt treasured and that’s why ‘The Last’ is always the song that can make me emotional/cry.

3. One song that always makes you happy/😁?

Get Cool by Stray Kids

I have no reason for this whatsoever. I think it’s just the way they sing it or the meaning behind the lyrics, but I always feel cheered up when I listen to this song. Like nothing can bring me down and I can just be unashamed about how freakin’ happy I am.

4. One song you would dedicate to your best friend and/or family?

P.O.P (Piece of Peace) by J-hope

I think this one is pretty self explanatory. If I care for someone, I want to be their strength and their light. I want to make their dreams brighter and their nightmares disappear. I want to be a safe place for them. Therefore! Piece of Peace.

5. One song with production (the sounds, the beat, the mood) you 😍?

Manitto by Villain

This song!! This song always makes me feel like I’m in an MV, ‘cause no matter where you are, it somehow fits every. Single. Situation. It makes me feel like a suave criminal that walks by people on the street and everyone’s just like, “Daaaaaamn, is that a snack? ‘Cause all of a sudden, I’m hungry”. I always feel 50% more confident once I listen to this song. I’m not someone who swings their hips when they walk, but Manitto has that effect on me. It unlocks my inner zest. I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it and it’s been stuck in my ear eternally ever since. The vibe, the mood, the production—all of it is outstanding and totally underrated. Plus, Villain is probably one of my biggest vocal inspirations. I don’t necessarily follow his style (mostly because I don’t think I’m capable of his abilities), but I admire him so much because he’s always had his own voice color that is just incomparable.

6. One song with perfect, amazing, outstanding lyrics?

My New World by CIX

Oh my goshhhhhhh, where to start with this one? There’s nothing I don’t love about this song, particularly the lyrics. Everything from Yonghee’s falsetto to Seunghun’s power to BX’s and Hyunsuk’s shared rap part to Jinyoung’s “heyyyy~” (only those that have listened to it will understand)—it always hits me in a strong, powerful way. It’s a song all about carrying your light along with your darkness, and that’s always a lesson I’m try to teach myself every single day. I think one of my favorite lines is: “Take the bumpy road”, because it reminds me of something I told myself once. I was sitting on my bed at 4:30 in the morning, watching the sunrise. I was in a really nostalgic mood and I was alone in the house, so I just sighed, laid down and started crying for no reason, telling myself, “It’s hard to be a good person”. I think ‘My New World’ has become a source of strength for me, because it makes me feel like I’m more capable of going through the struggles of trying to be the best version of myself.

7. One song that you would recommend to anyone?

go, just go by eli

I think if you listen to it, you’ll find out what I mean without me even having to say much. I remember putting this on my friend’s ‘Calm Down and Chill’ playlist and then that same day, he called me and said, “What the heck is this?” and I was like, “...what?”. He explained to me that he meant the song, but I didn’t understand why he was so adamant about it until he said, “You can’t put stuff like that on my playlists. It’s too beautiful and it makes me cry”. I think that’s pretty powerful.

8. One song you don’t understand why you like so much but you do anyway?

BLACKWHITE by CORBYN

Corbyn (ex member of 24k) is a little-known self-producing soloist under 28Laboratory and BLACKWHITE is my favorite song by him. I love the classy-old-film vibe it has, despite it being a hip-hop song with hard rap. I’m not sure why I like, but I think it has something to do with how clever and almost punny the lyrics are. Not to mention, I always gets chills whenever he says, “Y’all don’t amaze me”. Another thing that probably helps in adding to my love for this track is that his producing feels familiar to me since he produced a lot of my favorite 24k songs, like Super Fly and Bonnie N’ Clyde.

9. One song that you think people in general wouldn’t like, but you do?

TOP Gang by MCND

I will openly admit that this is a genera plenty people aren’t that into—hip-hop with rap-heavy vocals and a raw production quality—but I happen to love this song. Not only does it impress me that all the members are so young (Win has been my baby since Under19), but also because the members took part in the writing and producing of the song. Castle J helped in producing it, and he wrote the lyrics for it, along with Win and BIC. They really have so much talent and they put so much effort into it, and I find the way they structured their rhyming to be very addictive. I find myself going back to listen to it because it puts me in that “I can do anything” kind of mood.

10. One song people normally like and you don’t like or hate?

Cheerleader by OMI

...I don’t have much to say about this one, I just don’t like it. I’m not a very social person, but I remember the year that this was REALLY popular was probably my busiest year yet, so I was out all the time, and it was playing EVERYWHERE. Going to the pool with my friends? It’s playing. Dinner with my family? It’s playing. Literally just shopping for some new underwear? (TMI, I know) Yup, that’s right. It’s playing. I just couldn’t stand it by the end of the year. 😂

11. One song you would call a masterpiece?

Saturn by Sleeping At Last

‘Saturn’ is the one song I come back to over and over again. It makes me happy, it makes me cry, it makes me thoughtful and pensive. It’s everything that I would consider a ‘masterpiece’. The beginning part with the violins and the piano always reminds me of my sister and I, because that’s always been out thing. I play piano, she plays violin. For both of us, music is our first love. My sister’s lost her first love because life is busy and she’s always working and stressed, but I’m fighting tooth and nail to hold onto it and never let go, because to me, music is everything. It brings me to the stars, which are too far away for me to physically touch. It can make me feel when I’m numb, it can make me happy when all I’ve done is cry, and it makes me realize over and over again that life is literally the best thing ever. We’d have nothing without life, and music makes that apparent to me—especially this song.

12. One song you recently (30 days max) discovered and really liked it?

I’m not okay by Deadfish

I like songs that give me an atmosphere, and this song definitely does just that. It feels like brutal honesty cutting into my skin while I’m drowning in my backyard pool, and the chlorine is seeping into my wounds and it just hurts, but in such a nice way. It feels like the loneliness gets a little bit less lonely by the end of the song, and it definitely lessens your sense of self-pity, because you realize other people feel the same as you, if not worse.

13. One song you listen to to get pumped like you wanna tear down the government or something?

HIT by Seventeen

Hit fills me with a sense of excitement and hype unlike any other. Basically, everything about it—the beat, rhythm, lyrics, bass-drop, synth, the fanchant—gets me absolutely hyped up. I can’t sit still whenever I’m listening to it, and I always (ALWAYS) sing along. If I’m sitting, I’m doing this weird shoulder and waist dance. If I’m standing, I’m jumping up and down higher than a volleyball player. It’s even worse when I’m in the mood for dancing, ‘cause then I attempt the choreography, but only in the comfort of solitude, ‘cause oh my gosh, there’s some embarrassing moments. This one definitely is heightened by the fact that I’m going to a Seventeen concert in less than a week.

Thanks again for tagging me, luv! I had a lot of fun doing it, as you know I always like to share my music with anyone that’ll listen. Anyway! I’ll tag my peeps now.

@shizziebo (You always have interesting opinions, Cheya. Love to know what’s going on in that head.)

@lostmyshame (I’m curious what you’d say. You intrigue me. 👍)

@aesthetic-06-24 (I got a random sense from you; don’t know why.)

@itslilliansnow (I know you’ve been busy recently, so don’t worry too much about getting to this.)

#tag game #tag #song #song tag

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incaseyoueverfoolishlyforget · 6 years ago

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MY TOP 5 ELU FICS

I always talk about how much I love elu fics, and that’s because most of them are written marvelously and make me feel warm with their love. I only included finished works because those are the only ones I can completely rank (idk if on going fics will play with my feelings). In no particular order, with a brief summary made by the authors and my thoughts about them:

All I want is nothing more by thekardemomme. 1551 words, 1 chapter.

5 messages Eliott sent after the breakup. +1 Lucas sent in response.

This is a recent work so probably not a lot of people have read it, but it’s so good. I’m a sucker for angst with a happy ending and this fic is filled with it. I don’t tend to like short works or works with a different format (this one’s written in 6 different messages (lol present me is laughing at past me bc it literally says that in the summary) because I feel like they’re kinda rushed or not properly done, but this one I loved a lot. I’m currently at uni and working on a paper and stopped for a while to get distracted and I kid you not I’ve read it five times at least. The author’s tumblr is @elullemant and I want to thank them for this short but beautiful masterpiece.

Parisian Holiday by fkaps. 29906 words, 6 chapters.

Eliott, the jaded photographer with no principles and big dreams, is tasked by his dodgy employer to catch Lucas, Prince of Monaco, in the midst of something scandalous enough to catapult him front page center of every news media outlet in France. Lucas, on the Paris stop of his European tour, is the closeted prince afraid of the dark, and after crossing paths with Eliott, maybe even himself.

This fic is inspired by the movie “Roman Holiday”. Now, I’ve never seen it so I came knowing nothing about it just like with most works, so I don’t know if somebody’s experience will be the same or similar to mine. It’s truly one of the best works I’ve ever read, and even right now as I try to write this review I can’t find the right words to describe it. I love everything even though the ending is “shocking” (me trying not to spoil but failing miserably), and even if it was not what I expected I still liked it so much that I go back to read it from time to time. The author is @fkapsincaps and I recommend to read their other works too <3

Blue by choupichoups. 8685 words, 2 chapters.

Eliott’s world has always been black and white.

He’s not even being dramatic— he’s already seven years old, he’s too old to be dramatic.

I think this is the first long elu fic to ever exist in the fandom (and yes, it qualifies as long because of how short the firsts were) and up to this day, it is my favorite. It mixes the best tags to ever exist on AO3: childhood sweethearts and soulmates. I love it because it portrays a realistic point of view of a child who just met the love of their life. And as the story continues, you can see the development in elu’s relationship, going from being friends and idiots and having fun to understanding their love toward the other (still being idiots) without loosing their personality. As they grow they gain different traits, but still kept the ones they had when they met the other, which is so fun to read and makes you feel fond by it (I’m really trying not to spoil it even though I think most people have read it). The author’s user in tumblr is the same as in ao3 @choupichoups and you should check his other works too (even though you probably already did). Still in shock that it is his most underrated story because it shouldn’t be.

Le Toi du Moi (Lyon) by zetaophiuchi(ryuujitsu). 29580 words, 8 chapters.

He’s dreamed of Eliott in the years between. He’s dreamed of chases through chambers of ice, crevasses cracking open beneath his feet. He’s dreamed of Eliott’s mouth, cold as death, of Eliott’s eyes, frozen, sightless, frost in his eyelashes.

He’s wondered what it would be like to see Eliott again, let his mind spiral through the possibilities, but he’s never been able to decide how it would feel.

In this moment, it feels like drowning.

“Lucas,” Eliott says. “It is you, isn’t it? Lucas Lallemant.”

—Ten years after Eliott breaks Lucas' heart, they meet again in Lyon.

This is a sequel to Chamonix, which I also recommend to read but because this is my top 5 list I had to exclude it. I like how different it is from the original elu story it is, but also feels in a bit similar in a way. I don’t know if the authors (they’re two) are french or not, but they include a lot of references in french so I appreciate the effort, professionalism and seriousness they put into their work. If you have a long day ahead and don’t know what to do, read this one: it’s long, it’s entertaining, and it’s well written (unlike this post). Their tumblrs are @hallo-catfish and @xiangyu and they have other works related to this so make sure to check them out <3

show me some stars beneath this ceiling by petitepeach. 8512 words, 1 chapter.

They are something. Something serious, maybe, but they are only something. The relationship equivalent of a liminal space. And Lucas is fine with that.

or, Eliott takes Lucas on a date, things are realized, and terms are set.

I probably have a thing for one shots but this one is really good. iT’S FULL OF FLUFF (I didn’t mean to write it in all caps but destiny wanted it that way). It has hopelessly romantic Eliott and oblivious Lucas and if that’s not wholesome content I don’t know what is. I really like it because while it is an alternative universe, you can imagine canon Eliott and canon Lucas doing and feeling what is written. I really like it and I need all of you to read it. The author’s tumblr is @lepetitepeach and you should check her other works out (also filled with fluff).

#skam france #if it doesnt show up in the tags im suing tumblr #rn im going back to finish my paper #it took me a while to write all of this #i had written it a while ago but due to season5 being announced and new fics appearing i edited it #also i didnt include any on going works but check altereliott's chasing stars #also check yashalex fic crash and burn baby crash and burn #ALSO sorry for any spelling mistakes

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dustedmagazine · 6 years ago

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Listed: Tomás Nochteff (Mueran Humanos)

Mueran Humanos, an Argentinian duo now based in Berlin, mixes post-punk, industrial-inflected synth explorations, garage rock and psychedelia. Carmen Burguess and Tomás Nochteff share vocal duties and play a very basic line-up of instruments: bass, synths, drum machines and samplers. In his review for Dusted, Andrew Forell called their latest, Hospital Lullabies, “a thrilling concoction of electronic, industrial, bass-driven body music fueled by the transgressive spirit of a DAF or a Psychic TV.” Here, Tomás presents his list of visionary music.

A list of visionary music

What is a visionary? Visions can come in dreams, in journeys to other worlds, in hallucinations. They can be the product of will, of a derangement of the senses, or they can come uninvited to save you or to haunt you and destroy your mental balance, even your life. It can be heavenly, or hellish, but to be authentic visions they have to be otherworldly. And to be visions rather than just imagination, they must have an element of truth. Not literal truth, like “that wall is green,” but a different kind of truth, the one that´s expressed in symbols, in metaphors, in omens and obsessions. In “Heaven and Hell,” Aldous Huxley analyzed the visions of people under the influence of psychedelic drugs, the visions of mystics and the visions of schizophrenics. He found fundamental parallels and concluded that they must have been visiting the same places. These people are not merely hallucinating, but they are perceiving another reality, visiting a different world, or maybe they are perceiving the world as it really is. And he quotes Jung on this: “schizophrenics and mystics are on the same ocean, but schizophrenics are drowning and mystics are swimming.” A visionary could be a mix of all these archetypes. Like Philip K Dick: was he on drugs? Yes. Was he mad? Yes. Was he seeking enlightenment? Yes. Had his visions an element of truth? No doubt about it. Were his visions revelations? To some extent, yes.

On our last album, Hospital Lullabies, the songs deal with all these different experiences on the journey to another world and on the invasion from another world into everyday life, with its horror and its beauty, the agony and the ecstasy. And how one copes, or doesn´t, with it.

So to celebrate it, I made a list of music that I do consider visionary. There’s madmen, there’s mystics and there’s psychonauts, all possible combinations of the three archetypes and everything in between.

Pharoah Sanders—“The Creator has a Masterplan” (Impulse)

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I don´t know much about cosmic jazz, or any jazz for that matter, but what I know is that this record is pure bliss. “Harvest Time,” on Pharoah is another masterpiece. Alice Coltrane and Don Cherry are also incredible. This is music of the spheres; it has the touch of God.

Rudimentary Peni—CacophonyI (Outer Himalayan Records)

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One of the few perfect punk bands ever, for lots of reasons. The bass lines are extraordinary, for example. But they belong here because of schizophrenic member Nick Blinko: incredible artist & novelist, obsessed with Catholicism and the supernatural horror. A guy who stopped his medication to force himself into a psychotic crisis just to write an album. Hero. Martyr.

Nico— “Janitor of Lunacy” (Cherry Red Records)

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For me, Nico was the best and more underrated of all Velvets (and we love Velvet Underground as much as anyone). Also, the production from John Cale on her records is probably his best work too, or at least among his best. I feel that she is not appreciated enough. Iggy said that meeting her changed him. I suspect that´s true for all her famous friends: Bowie, Lou Reed, John Cale, Leonard Cohen, etc. They were all larger-than-life characters. And we know there is an element of self-built mythology on all that, a bit of acting. There is nothing wrong with that; rock and roll at its best is a complete artform and we must appreciate this self-built mythology as part of their craft. But with Nico you don´t get that feeling. She seemed that she didn´t care about her image, she was born Nico and I suspect that in that sense she inspired them all to no end. She was the genuine article. One of our main loves in music. Essential with a capital E.

Coil—“I Don’t Want To Be The One”

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Jhonn Balance wanted to be a magician, and he died trying. I think he succeed in building a shamanic body of work with the help of the great late Sleazy and a myriad of brilliant contributors. Coil´s music at its best it´s like a plasma between worlds, or a very, very good psychedelic drug. My most beloved electronic/industrial/post-industrial project ever and one of our main influences. This performance is superb.

Lungfish — Feral Hymns

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I´m not interested in DC post hardcore per se, and I don´t have any tattoos. I shouldn´t care about Lungfish the way I do, but they knock me out every single time. Daniel Higgs is a seer. I don´t know what he is talking about, but at the same time, my gut knows exactly what he is talking about. He speaks in images, like Tarot, like the religious painters, like Rimbaud and San Juan de la Cruz. His delivery is supreme. Raw and fragile, yet powerful and precise. Over circular, repetitive, minimal structures of music that have a haunting, arresting effect. Hypnotic, magical, devotional music. Either you get it, or you don´t. I can´t explain it. That´s the beauty of it, I suppose. And the truly mark of the visionary artist.

Ghedalia Tazartes—“Une Éclipse Totale De Soleil Part 2”

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Ghedalia for me represents the pure, untouched, sui generis artist. Applying the techniques of musique concrete to the ancient folk music of the Sephardic Jews with a raw energy that usually you can only find in punk, or blues. I see in him an archetype, the Fool card in the Tarot. The madman that opens the gates of heaven and hell, gives himself to these supreme energies and survives only because of his perfect innocence.

OM—“Sinai (live at Sonic City)”

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Maybe the greatest rock band of the last 20 years. Here with Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe to maximum effect.

Charlemagne Palestine—Live in Holland 1998

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Like Ghedalia, Charlemagne Palestine is a Jewish artist that works in the avant garde field but subverts it with the tradition of his folk music instead of sticking to the cold, cerebral, rational program of academia. He has his own world. Watch this and you will understand what I am talking about.

Virgin Prunes—Excerpts from Sons Find Devils/“Walls of Jericho”

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There is a VHS tape called Sons Find Devils, comprised of live shows and short experimental films (some of them made by Balance, from Coil). I had it as a teenager and watched it countless times. Sadly, it is not complete on YouTube or elsewhere but here are some small extracts. With their heretic mix of Irish Catholic imagery, Irish Paganism, Bataille, performance art and post punk, the Virgin Prunes made a unique and extraordinary body of work. A testament of its importance is that Gavin Friday was guest singer of two bands in this list: The Fall and Coil. And Mr. Scott Walker himself invited him to sing on a play. Maybe the historians ignore them, but Mark E. Smith, Scott Walker and Coil knew where it’s at, didn´t they? Their record If I die I die is a masterpiece. Produced by Colin Newman from Wire, no less, if you need more validation.

Boredoms—Vision Creation Newsun

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I like some of the more comical, early work of Boredoms, but with Super AE and this one they got me. They got serious and spiritual, channeling Alice Coltrane, tribal drumming, kraut rock and noise into a glorious, euphoric sound. Maybe they are not visionaries, but their music can produce visions. I saw them around 2005 (on acid) with the three drummers line up, still in this phase. I remember thinking “this is what cavemen had in mind when they invented music.” I actually saw it, with my eyes closed. Early humans. In caves. Inventing music. God bless LSD.

Aphrodite´s Child — 666

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The one record I bought for the cover only, it cost me 50 cents, best deal of my life. A concept album about the apocalypse. Easy contender for the best psychedelic rock album of all time. Pet Sounds? Get outta here. An absolute masterpiece.

Tim Buckley—Starsailor

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Tim Buckley is a mystery. He died too young. How he went from his L.A. folk rock first album to the absolute unique sound of Starsailor and Lorca is impossible to understand and a miracle of music. All six records in between are masterpieces. He was possessed by genius and has the most beautiful voice. I don´t know much about him, but his music put me out there.

Sun Ra—Night Music 1989

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Watch this. Space is The Place, indeed.

Pescado Rabioso—Artaud

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This guy, Luis Alberto Spinetta, is considered by many to be the most important rock musician in my country. So being an arrogant teenage punk, or whatever, of course that alone was enough to reject him altogether without even thinking. But a couple of years ago I was blown away by a book of poems he published in 1978. Incredibly beautiful, unique and sophisticated poetry. I recently started, too late, to listen to his music. This is one of his most famous and revered records. It´s dedicated to, and inspired by Antonin Artaud, who tried and failed to reach the mystic enlightenment, generating a body of work in the process which is a testament to his spiritual ambition, his radical rejection of the material world and his pain. Spinetta understood this, he said the record was trying to find an answer to Artaud, a way out of it, a way out of the pain. It´s psychedelic music of the highest order. The lyrics are incredible but you can enjoy it even without understanding them.

Dead Can Dance—Dyonisios

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I kept forgetting this band exists. This new album is great. I listened to it non-stop during last Winter/Spring. It´s the perfect time because the record is about Dyonisios, so as a soundtrack for the rebirth of Nature it´s perfect. Probably their best work in years. Sublime.

The Fall—“Garden” (Live at the Hacienda, Manchester, UK, 1984)

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No list of visionary rock and roll would be complete without Mark E. Smith. Famously he said, “I used to be a psychic but I drank my way out of it.” Indeed, there was a time, between 1978-1990, when he was possessed by something, injecting realism with mysticism, mixing high and low planes, exposing the supernatural forces that hides in the cracks of everyday life. He never talks about hell neither heaven, but rather the way they mix and manifest here on Earth. You’ve got countless of bands using occult/mystic imagery, and you know it´s nice but it´s just a game. You’ve got thousands of bands referencing Burroughs and the cut-up technique, but no one can write as Burroughs did. MES did it. MES wasn´t playing. He was a realist of the augmented reality, he told it like it is, in his fragmented, hallucinatory, unpretentious, visionary prose poetry.

There is a lot in his lyrics that can be read in a mystic, occult way. He left a lot of clues for the ones that can read them. His texts are kaleidoscopic, and they reflect what´s in your mind, really. I think he will be recognized with time as the great experimental writer that he actually was rather than merely an angry Mancunian punk. He had more in common with someone like Iain Sinclair than with any other rock musician. One of my favorite web sites is The Annotated Fall, where fans analyze his lyrics in depth. Pay a visit if you can, I can´t recommended it enough. In many ways, he was too intelligent for rock and roll, and that´s why he was misunderstood, but he didn´t care, he believed in constant work, never explain, never apologize. The Fall took all the best things in rock and roll: Can, Velvet Underground, punk, Captain Beefheart, and pushed it to the next level. Our favorite rock group ever.

Huun Hur Tu — “Prayer”

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I tried to stick to Western, modern music but I can´t help including this.

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literallyprentissstwin · 7 years ago

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Week 7: Monday, June 25th to Sunday, July 1st 2018

bonjour y´all and welcome back to a new week of my reading list. it´s tuesday when i´m typing this and i already have like 18(!) up until now, so prepare for an ass long list hahah.

as usual, i picked out my fav stories i read over the week. please don´t be sad if you didn´t make it on the list. it´s just a little sneek of what i read in a week, this is far from everything i read during one week, these are just the fics i loved the most. every writer is unique and awesome in their own way, so shoutout to all of us writers!!!

i really hope you´ll enjoy the list & don´t forget to leave some love and feedback to the authors!

- aileen

1.) Secrets Don´t Deserve Funerals II JJ by @alittlelessthanfandomimagines

cute perfect ugh. i don´t have any words bc i´m speechless. thank you for adding a new part, i´m in heaven. i love emma´s and jj´s relationship a lot & i really hope spencer gets his sh*** together! great work :)

2.) Survivor - Chapter 6 & 7 by @docspencerreid

ugh okay part 6 hurt me so so good and i just love penelope with my whole heart. it´s so so heartbreaking, but so so good. spencer broke my heart as well. and then, part 7...holy shit. why are you doing this to me? like they finally “confessed” their feelings for eachother and then BOOM. i´m crying. can´t wait for the second part :) great job :)

3.) It Should´ve Been Me by @tenaciousarcadeexpert

this was a fabulous fic for my challenge :) and wow wow wow my poor heart, i mean who needs a heart anyway? the angst oooooooo god, i was at the edge of my seat. SO.GOOD. i´m beyond speechless. great work & well done! i loved evrey second of it :)

4.) Petrichor by @dontshootmespence

cute as fuck. i love when he talks facts and statistics. beautiful, just perfect. my ice cold heart is happy. also RELATIONSHIPGOALS.

5.) Nightmares by @doctor-daddy-spencer-reid

this was so beautiful oh my gossshhhh. the emotions, the angst, hurt/comfort = perfectly combined. spencer is such a good boyfriend ugh and you´re so talented, i´m gonna brb crying.

6.) When We Were Young - Spencer Reid by @playlist-reid

aw aw are you all trying to kill me with your fics? it´s only tuesday and i already died multiple times (i wrote this part of the list on tuesday hahah). perfect, golden, a must read.

7.) Later // Spencer Reid by @spencerthepipecleaner

ANGST OH YES!!!!! but death ugggghhhhh....it´s still so so so good and i loved reading it so so much! you are all so talented!

8.) Losing Faith and Family by @alittlelessthanfandomimagines

this is another fic for my challenge thihi. god this was so good, like you really had me. the angst was def there and i was so sad but then i read the end and ugh awww my heart. great work!

9.) What are You Doing? (Luke Alvez x Reader) by @dedeimagines

cute cute cute. adoreable. i love me some good Luke fics and this was a really good one. also Garcia was pretty amazing in it :) well done!

10.) Drowning by @moonlit-martyr

masterpiece. i mean it. masterpiece. you are so so talented, this fic was so well written & so good! every emotion was covered. god, so good!

11.) A Secret Rival by @abcreid

the end = savage. also i loved how spencer always interrupted her = jealous????? the team was hilarious. great job!

12.) Sleepless Nights // Spencer Reid by @itsmeedee

DAD!REID!!!!! *runs around screaming in 20 different languages* this was everything & more. cutenesss overload. though the flashbacks make me sad, please tell me you didn´t kill off the baby´s mom ugh.

13.) Article of Faith - Chapter 16 & 17 by @dontshootmespence

aw it´s still so underrated, GO READ THIS SERIES I BEG YOU. okay so part 16: this moment between PG and Pretty Boy was everything. also the relationship between Billiw and Reid makes me happy; they are so cute fml. part 17: he goes to visit the team ugggh. and also the reference to the donuts and when emily came back omg. i like how he continues to support her and how he nevertheless shows interest in what she is doing although he might not like it. such a good bf. i love it so much! great work!

14.) Chinese Takeout by @inkstainedfanfics

i loved this fic. it was so so cute and so well written. the end tho :) great work!

15.) Coffee by @therealtrashhere

cute cute cute. also, the team was hilarious. can I have someone in my life who also brings me a cup of coffee everyday? maybe spencer himself? thank you! loved it a lot :)

16.) Number One by @ionlyreadfivebookslastweek

you had me at angsty. like i´m always there for angst. no matter what. this was so good, like for real. but please don´t fight babes :(((((

17.) Infiltrated: Part 7 by @stunudo

i think it was beyond time that i add this series to my list. i just needed to do some catching up first, before adding it and let´s just say that this series deserves an award. it only gets better and better from part to part. it sometimes gets confusing but just bc i am so dumb, but it´s so good. go read it!

18.) question for question by @uncomfie

you are literally the queen/king of the derek morgan fics. you´re so so good and talented, it hurts. teach me please! i loved it so much ugh. i love a protective derek morgan and i miss him a lot. great work :)

19.) I´m Sorry by @xocriminal-minds-imaginesxo

this was a fic for my challenge and i loved it so so much. the angst, omg. my heart ugh. aaron boi ugh what are you doing? but seriously, this boy is too precious for this world. he always wants to protect everyone from this cruel world. you can only love him. the end holy shit. i did not expect this. i hate scratch. well done!

20.) target - part two, three & four by @uncomfie

ok folks, if you´re looking for a really good series, this is it! recommend 10/10. this is giving me life istg. one of the best angst series i read so far. they are one hell of a couple, i´m in love. it breaks my heart to see derek so devasted and lost and helpless, my poor baby. but the end was making up for everything. the suspense, and angst, i´m in heaven. def gonna reread it soon. go check it out. it´s so good! well done!

21.) Long Day? (Spencer x Reader) by @ourhappylies

cute cute cute. i loved the relaxed reactions of the team & how they all already knew. profilers ahahahhaa. also spencer is so cute, it hurts. well done :)

22.) Broken // Emily Prentiss by @itsmeedee

this has been an entry for my challenge. i gave you my fav prompt i had on this list and you used it so well. omg you played the ian doyle card. when i read it, i swear my heart stopped for a minute. my heart broke for emily omg, how could you do this to my baby? preach you for an amazing fic. i loved reading it a lot. the end was soo goood! recommend 10/10!!!

23.) Happy Ending by @xocriminal-minds-imaginesxo

cramps are shit, worst part of these special weeks yk. but it was so cute and aww spencer, how are you a genius hahahahhaha. also this convo between emily & Y/N and the sarcasm, i´m loving it. the end was so cute, my heart melted.

24.) Thalassophobia I Matt Simmons x Reader by @youvebeenwinchesterd

yes, an amazing matt fic <333 there was a little bit of angst, a lot of suspense and some cute shit at the end. the perfect mix. my emotions were in overload. this was so good. i really liked it. matt is so cute. well done :)

25.) Please be okay (Spencer Reid x Reader) by @dedeimagines

angst & fluff = AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. my poor spencie. he´s so scared :(((( but the end turns out to be happy thank god! it was a shorty, but really good !:)

26.) High School Rom-Com by @xocriminal-minds-imaginesxo

angsty stuff omg. i´ve been blessed this week. the team is so adoreable and caring and comforting omg. also, I loved Luke a lot in this fic. the end made me swoon :)))))

27.) Have It All by @ionlyreadfivebookslastweek

relationship goals, for real. the reader is so understanding & supportive. caring. this was so freaking cute. i can´t cope.

28.) Redamancy Pt. 3 by @xocriminal-minds-imaginesxo

i love this tension between Ella and Luke. and i also love penny in this story a lot. also protective luke is my religion. this is so good!

29.) I Love You >> Spencer Reid by @eideticreid

wtf this was so freaking cute???? i´m shook. like really. was this even real? i also cried happy tears while reading this. well done! very well written:)

30.) A Reunion // Aaron Hotchner by @literallyreid

another fic for my challenge, y´all are blessing me with your talent. okay, this was really good. like really really. i loved reading it a lot. it also made me miss Hotch an extra lot more, but that´s okay. great work :)

31.) eleven blocks by @uncomfie

she did it again. another awesome derek fic. why are you so good at this????? i loved reading this a lot. it was perfect ugh. the end was everything! well done :)

32.) Alive or Not by @abcreid

and another fic for my challenge yey :) this was so perfectly angst holy hell. the open end, omg really???? btw i think i swear too much but i can´t help myself. oh and btw your english is really good, so don´t worry!!! :)

33.) Jealousy by @boywondxrreid

this was so good. i love how blind reid is. the team was so cute and supportive, understanding and caring. also reid at the end, worrying about the reader. but i´m happy everything turned out well :)

okay, this has been this weeks list! i really hope you liked it! leave some love to the authors and their stories. we´ll see each other again next sunday! have a good week!

- aileen

#aileen´s reading list #week 7 #criminal minds #fandom #fanfiction #criminal minds fanfiction #love #spread positivity #support eachother

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detainedengineers · 4 years ago

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10 Hindi Underrated Movies of the Decade

Hindi Underrated Movies

We have all been through some very great Bollywood movies since 2010, and many of them got financial success. Some of the most recognized and Best Hindi Movies include Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Rockstar, Kahaani, Ram Leela, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Queen, Sanju, Andhadhun, Padmavat, Dangal, Raazi and more.

But there are many other movies that did not get the recognition it deserved even with the best of ratings by audiences and critics. So here are the Best Hindi Underrated Movies. These can be considered as box office failures as they deserved better collection but couldn’t get any. Mostly the reason for these movies being called underrated is due to either bad marketing or no big name attached with the movie cast which makes the collection drown. Let us go through the list.

So here are the list of Hindi underrated Movies:

Udaan

Story of a Widow man living with two of his sons gets abusive slowly to them. The story showed the reality of the society where the fathers can get a little too strict for their children and the children feels trapped. They have nowhere to go and when they set free, the world is open for so many opportunities and this is counted as the most Hindi underrated movies.

Bhavesh Joshi

How often we complain that we don’t make good superhero movies like Hollywood, but today in 2020, many of us haven’t even heard of Bhavesh Joshi. It is a movie of a group of friends who went through a series of events ultimately one of them transforming to a superhero character. Harshvardhan Kapoor was phenomenal in the movie and deserved a better screening.

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy

The story of a Spy who went through extent which was none less than Sherlock Homes was kept in the list of Hindi Underrated Movies in so many levels by the Bollywood bullies that only a handful of people know about the movie. The lead cast was Late Sushant Singh Rajput and directed by Dibakar Banerjee.

Go Goa Gone

Another modern-day comedy movie, three friends go for a trip to Goa to enjoy their weekends and become a victim among Zombies. Yes, Indians tried making a movie about Zombies and could make the market and then we blame Bollywood to not make good movies. Though the music (Especially Babaji Ki Booti) in the movie was recognized, very few of us know that the movie and the concept.

Trapped

Now tell me frankly, how many of you know about this masterpiece by Rajkumar Rao? The movie is based on a person who gets trapped in a house and all the attempts he makes to set free of the house. Rajkumar’s performance here is praised due to the method actor he is, as he lived on just Coffee and 1 chapati per day for around a month to work on this role. This is not recommended to do but he wanted to lose weight fast for this role.

Shahid

You might think I am a fan of Rajkumar Rao but the guy deserves it. Shahid is a movie of a criminal lawyer who was a former militant turn to be a lawyer and fights for the falsely accused ones who are treated as terrorists. The movie hits us hard with our judgment, religious fundamentalism, flawed investigations and injustice.

Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota

A story of a boy who has a condition where he doesn’t feel pain and later transforming to become a fighter is something we should witness. A decent cast with Abhimanyu Dasani, Radhika Madan, Mahesh Manjrekhar and Gulshan Devaiah, The film is the perfect combination of comedy and action with a decent storyline.

Newton

Another Rajkumar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi movie, in which an election commission employee from has to go to tribal areas of Chhattisgarh. The focus of the movie is to get the tribal also included into democracy and voting system is a story which is not found in the mainstream. It is a must-watch movie for every Indian to understand the real lives of the tribal population living in deserted regions of the country and how they are afraid of Naxalites.

Sonchiraiya

Name all the good actors of the generation and they are in this movie, Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Tiwari, Ashutosh Rana, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey and many such. The plot of the movie revolves around a group of dacoit from the central parts of India. How the group commits a mistake and the proceedings they do to erase their sins.

Jagga Jasoos

One of the most Hindi Underrated Movies is Ranbir Kapoor’s Jagga Jasoos. The movie was a musical, James Bond-style storytelling where a spy goes through various ups and downs to solve a case. It was very much of Hollywood styled movie ahead of its time leading many to not like the movie at first. It deserves a second watch for all those who didn’t grasp the plot in the first go.

Read more about Bigg-Boss Winners: CLICK HERE..

#Hindi Underrated Movies

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doggodysk-blog · 7 years ago

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I seriously underrated The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

**Some minor spoilers contained in this review**

I won’t beat around the bush, BOTW isn’t just the best game I’ve played this year, it’s the best game I’ve played in a long, long time. Maybe ever. This is coming from someone who was skeptical of an open-world Zelda game, as Ocarina of Time was my favorite Zelda game before this, I really enjoyed the traditional dungeon and progression.

I don’t say “potentially the best game I’ve ever played” lightly. I went into this game critically, looking for things it didn’t do well. And, of course, there are some things it doesn’t do quite as well as others. However, overall, the game is a true masterpiece and a testament to everything Nintendo’s creative minds are capable of. I truly think that nearly everything implemented in this game is implemented nearly perfectly.

The Not So Good

This is all I can think of for negatives. While this seems like a long list, a lot of critical thinking about the game went into this, and, for the most part, these are all very minor. I cannot stress this enough, these negatives DO NOT even come close to detracting from the overall experience of the game. I am only listing these to try to be as objective and honest as I can, as I believe calling it a “perfect” game would be disingenuous.

Graphics and Art

The game can drop in FPS pretty significantly, particularly when there are a lot of particles or in large fights.

Some character models aren’t very visually appealing. Compared to the beauty of the world, character models are somewhat lackluster, particularly their faces.

Enemies

Enemy difficulty can be a little low. The first time or two, Major Tests of Strength or Hinoxes or Lynels were tricky. However, after those times, I never really struggled to fight them and win. I’m sure my thoughts on this will change once I start my Master playthrough.

There isn’t an enormous amount of enemy variations.

Puzzles

Some puzzles can be a bit finicky, especially motion control puzzles. Usually it’s not too bad and just requires a few tries, but it can be bothersome at times.

While they were fun and well designed, the Divine Beasts really didn’t take much time to get through compared to the rest of the game. I would have liked to see them take a tad bit longer.

Considering how there is no way (that I know of) to locate Korok Seed puzzles via the map/Shiekah Locator, it can be somewhat tedious to expand your inventory. Perhaps it would be better if you needed an extra seed every two upgrades instead of one, or implement a way to find the seeds.

*Further reading has shown that this problem is solved by one of the DLC’s which I have not read yet.

Weapons and Items

While the weapon durability system is a lot better than I expected it to be, and I actually think the system as a whole adds to the game, I think weapons should all have a bit more durability.

Special arrows are a bit expensive, and hard to find from chests and enemy bases. I would like to see them show up in chests a bit more often, especially considering the amount of basic swords and bows I find. This affected me more than it may affect other people, because I have been going for a stealth-archer style character.

Mechanics and Systems

Link is weirdly bad at swimming, considering how good he is at climbing. There have been times where I was feet from shore and drowned. This can be pretty frustrating.

The Shrine locator is a bit noisy.

In some areas, it rains just a tad bit too much.

Personal Complaints

This is a personal preference and not objective nor does it really detract from the game, but I don’t like the fact that there is voice acting. I prefer Zelda games to only have the unintelligible noise when you interact with someone and background music.

This is a complaint of mine personally but also a testament to the scope of the game: there’s a bit too much to do. I’m a completionist and really like to complete games I play 100%, especially if they are games I really enjoy. There is just so much. The most tedious is the astounding 700 Korok seeds. I plan on completing everything but the Korok seeds, but the fact that there are so many of them is a bit annoying to me as a completionist.

The Good

As I’ve already said, this game is astounding. One could write a book about how incredible the game design of BoTW is. It’s simultaneously intricate yet simple, easy yet with an infinite skill ceiling. This game will be studied by developers for years to come.

The World of BoTW

The world is gorgeous, and huge. Everywhere I go, I am struck by the beauty and the atmosphere. Every ridge I climb up, I come across a beautiful landscape view. I personally don’t enjoy exploring open-world games that much in general, but BOTW has completely changed that. Everywhere I explore is fun and exciting.

Continuing off of the last point in the last paragraph, the world is dense. I’m very rarely bored while roaming through the world. Whether it’s needing to go quickly so that my Fire Resistance Potion doesn’t wear off, needing to stealthily navigate a field to avoid Guardians, coming across a large Bokoblin camp, seeing old chests hidden in lakes, finding interesting NPC’s and doing missions for them, or simply coming across shrines and towers, there is always something to do.

The world is fully open, but you’re never lost. In a lot of open-world games, I find myself going in a direction where I shouldn’t be and either be turned back because I shouldn’t go that way or getting lost. In BoTW, they deter exploration into later areas by putting you up against enemies that are difficult. You could push your way through, but it will be challenging, and you are usually naturally and intuitively led on a path of enemies that of an appropriate difficulty. Before going into the game, I felt I would feel overloaded with options, but I usually am able to intuitively do what seems right to me. This fully open-world also makes the game excellent for speed running, as you are only limited by how good you are.

The Beauty in the Details

The Towns and Villages are all thought out with incredible amounts of detail. They each have distinct cultures and histories that are reflected through the architecture, lifestyle, and personalities of the NPC’s. Whether it’s a laid-back beach village or a prosperous, modern town that was mostly unaffected by the Calamity, each town and village is fun and engaging to explore.

Speaking of NPC’s, they’re very well-written. Even basic NPC’s in towns and on paths all have personality quirks that make them entertaining to talk to. BoTW has perhaps the most well-written NPC’s in any game I’ve played. Every one has a witty anecdote or hints at a treasure or shrine.

The world is full of small bits of history that paint a large picture of the history of the world of Hyrule. Each book you read or slate you find tells a story, and when you put them together, you get a fully fleshed out history of not just Hyrule, but each area and each Village.

Puzzles and Quests

The quests are abundant and fun. There are few “filler” quests that I have come across, almost all of them are either genuinely fun or very short. My favorite of these quests are Shrine quests, which offer puzzles in the forms of riddles. These are very creative and often times quite tricky to decipher.

The puzzle system is well-thought and a refreshing shift from traditional puzzles. The tutorial section does a good job of introducing the basic concepts of the Sheikah Slate’s abilities as well as showing that puzzles often have more to them than meets the eye. The player quickly learns that most puzzles have a relatively basic main path following a certain theme, and side paths which offer secret rewards for taking the themes learned from the main puzzle, and making them more complex.

Mechanics and Systems

The stealth system is, surprisingly, extremely well done. I went into the game knowing stealth was a possibility, but thinking it wouldn’t be a fully-fleshed system. Regardless of that, I knew I wanted to attempt a stealth playthrough, and wow. After honing my skills for the first few hours of the game, such as landing headshots, target selection, and use of my environment, I could easily clear most camps without being detected with some thought. As someone who loves stealth games, I really appreciate this system.

Outside of perhaps Dark Souls, the sword fighting system is the best of any game I’ve played. It does an excellent job of being interactive, rewarding good timing, giving you options, and allowing for personal skill progression. At first, I was slightly concerned that the controls weren’t very intuitive and that I would struggle to implement it in fights, however, with just minutes of practice, I was able to get a solid grasp of it. The sword combat system is an excellent example of “Easy to Learn, Hard to Master.”

The physics and weather systems make the world feel alive. I haven’t played a game that has put this much attention to science details. The biology of the animals matches their terrain. Things that you think should work, work. If you have a metal weapon out in a thunderstorm, you’ll get struck by lightning. Hot air will rise, so if you set something on fire, you are able to use that to your advantage. Rain makes things slippery, but usually not impassable (if you have enough stamina).

Additional Aspects

There are a lot of fun things to do on the side of the game, such as experimenting with cooking and potions, or filling out your Hyrule Compendium. There is always something to keep you from getting bored.

I’m a sucker for games with multiple playstyles, and the armor system in the game does that very well. For instance, I played mostly with the stealth armor, but you could also use armor that helps you climb better, swim faster, or be protected from certain elements. Another thing the armor system does very well is give you collecting options. You can buy pieces of armor from stores around the land, or you can earn them from various missions.

While the game doesn’t require exploration, it encourages it in a very natural way. If you want to upgrade your health or stamina, or want to get more inventory, or want better food and potions, or want more powerful weapons, then you’ll have to explore. None of these are required to finish the game whatsoever, but are accessible and fun to look for. I believe that the natural and flawless way that they encourage you to explore the beautiful open world they have created is the pinnacle of all of the excellent game design that BoTW exhibits, and future open-world games will look to BoTW for inspiration for how to create their own worlds.

Summary

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the best thing the gaming community has scene in quite some time. It marks a positive shift not only for the Legend of Zelda franchise, but for open-world games as a whole. Despite its few minor flaws, this game is a masterpiece from the largest of scales down to the tiniest of details.

#zelda #legend of zelda #zelda breath of the wild #zelda botw #botw #breath of the wild #nintendo #nintendo switch #gaming #games #video games #review #game review

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ceridwenofwales · 8 years ago

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Also, last question 😉 Do you, for your followers, shipper pals and sisters in the Heathen army, have fanfic recommendations? (can you describe it to us, please?) Lots of love❤️❤️

Awwww. You’re inspired today, aren’t you?

Let’s see. I have an almost endless list of favorite fanfics.

From Rolisla fandom and in no particular order.

From @zoesongs:

The Princess and The Bear. This masterpiece is historicaly accurate and portrays how it would be Rollo and Gisla marriage at the time.

Nothing Sweeter will please those who watched season 4b and didn’t recognize that Rollo, a man who always dreamed of a family, happiness, wealthy and power, these last two not in a selfish manner, but as a way to bring prosperity for his people. In this fanfic Rollo is a happy father and husband. A true Duke, loyal to those who gave him a chance to prove himself worth of trust.

The Consummation. Rollo and Gisla are able to talk to each other and come to an agreement.

Ice Road Truckers. In a modern AU, Rollo is a rough and tumble Ice Road Trucker who meets a beautiful and lost driver.

From @daizydoe:

Nightfall. It’s a story in which Gisla receives a mysterious guest in her bedchambers every night, while she is trying to divorce Rollo.

The Birth of a Son. For those who wanted to watch Gisla giving birth to their first son.

Duet. If you’re curious about how it would be Rollo and Gisla consummation.

“She led him by the hand to her chambers […] If he had any say in the way his wedding happened, he would have planned it like this. Going only with her […]“.“As she drifted back to reality she stroked his back and murmured little love words she thought she would never speak to anyone.”

The Things That Bind Us. If you wonder how it would be if Gisla was taken to Kattegat, instead of staying in Normandy.

From @laure-demontety:

Crashing Waves: Drowning and Betrayal. If you like Gisla and Rollo, mermaids, Norse Mythology, then you will love it. What I love the most about this fic is that Aslaug is fairly portrayed, as a wise, caring and strong woman.

Shield Wall and Coffee. It’s a modern AU with Gisla and Rollo. I miss this fic. Please keep writing it. ^^

From @ladyofglencairn. The absolute goddess. If you love tv shows, you should follow this cutie. ^^

Beauty and The Beast. Gisla is stubborn, but Rollo is decided to win her over.

From @swimmingfoxsticks. If you like A Song of Ice and Fire too, you should follow her.

Hati and Sköll. Gisla and Rollo wedding night.

“Her bottom lip was as fat as a pot-rabbit. Carefully, he put his hand up, ran his thumb along it. The feeling of her – as if her whole weight and strength was just under the skin. He traced the line of her jaw, and it was the underside of sheepskin, the down of yellow chicks. Her eyes were accusing, and yet he saw the seer in them, and his words again. And he saw his gods, and maybe hers.He leant down, kissed her. Kept his hand on her neck. Her breath came into his face as if from behind a big rock, reluctant. A little tremor of her back teeth, chattering together.”

From @literatigeek, well known as the one and only Princess Gisla in the RP community, @aprincessoftheblood.

Things Forgotten. Michael Hirst didn’t show us how Rollo and Gisla relationship developed. If you miss those moments. I highly recommend you to read this fanfic.

An Intimate Announcement. It takes place in season 4x08, we can see how Gisla would announce her pregnancy to her husband.

What say you? It’s another fic about the consummation of Gisla and Rollo marriage.

From @amkatepet:

The following fanfiction is about a not popular character from Vikings: Erlendur.

The Fate The Gods Wove Us is an outstanding fanfic that deals with Erlendur’s story after his divorce from Torvi. The author managed to make an underrated character more relatable.

From Ivar’s Heathen Army:

Some of the fics are available on Archive of Our Own, others are only posted here. Anyway, follow these cuties. We swear that we are not dangerous. We are totally normal. @shesafreesoul, @lottak, @underthenorthstar, @ivarthebonelessx, @pokeasleepingsmaug, @whenimaunicorn, @rosepetaldream-blog, @mizzvengenz6661, @anniemar, @ivartheboneme, @ivartheheathen, @pagan-raider, @thenorns-themoirai, @devilrydaily, @synnersaint, @captainpoopweinersoldier, @neverlands-little-lost-girl. We have more members, but I’m still “meeting” them.

Little voices, by @ivartheboneme. If you wonder how Ivar would be as a father. Of three, hahahaha. That’s your fic. Warning: Sweetness overload.

Control, by the @mizzvengenz6661. It’s a really different story. Alex and Ivar are one and the same. Modern AU.

Feed You The Sky by the adorable @pokeasleepingsmaug. Her original character is truly amazing, fierce and daring. Kára is everything Ivar dared to dream of and vice versa. I’m addicted to this fanfic. But, I’m not going to rehab. No, no, no.

Turn the Tide, by @anniemar. A new seer arrives in Kattegat. She must choose if she will be part of Ivar’s legend or help Lagertha to avoid the prophecy that she will be killed by a son of Ragnar.

The Cripple and The Hellcat and Raising The Stakes, by @underthenorthstar. Ivar is not only craving for glory, he dreams of a woman.

Hold Me Down and Watch me Drown from @whenimaunicorn. The original character is Sigrunn, King Harald’s daughter, she is a hostage in Aslaug’s household to avoid treachery from her father.

Did you miss me? from @ivartheheathen. The OC’s loyalty is divided between Ivar and Lagertha.

And then I have my fanfics. But, you already know them and support me.

The Fox and The Maiden Fair. I’m basing the storyline on the Annals of Ulster and Ivar’s saga He is married to an Irish princess, Emer. It takes place before my another fanfic.

The Saxon Rose and The Ouroboros. In this fanfic I’m writing about The Great Heathen Army and how Sigurd and Blaeja got married.

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totaldramafan-lauri · 8 years ago

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Eurovision 2017 Opinions, Predictions, and Rankings

It's that time of year again! Eurovision starts next week, so here's my post where I talk about what I think of each of the 42 songs!

This took quite a while, and is very long, as per usual. XD

Now, if you were here at this time last year, you'd probably remember that I was a HUGE fan of last year's Eurovision. I didn't expect this year to reach that level, and for the most part, I was right

This is a solid collection of songs, but like I said before, it's not as good as last year. There are some real gems in here, and most of them are at a consistant quality, and with the withdrawal of Russia, I'm left with four "indifferent"s and one "dislike", as opposed to last year where I had FIVE "indifferent"s and one "dislike"...but for the most part, the good songs aren't as good as last year's good songs, and the bad songs are worse than last year's bad songs. But that's just opinion, like everything else in this post. Yeah, I have to emphasize this even more than usual: THESE ARE ONLY MY OPINIONS. The opinions of an American who can't vote, at that! I'm saying this because there are a certain few popular opinions that I....don't really agree with....>__> So, sorry in advance

But anyway, here's what I think of the year of EDM. Let's go!

(In alphabetical order by country)

Song: World Country: Albania Thoughts: Last year, I noted that for a while, Albania's entries have been good, but not GREAT, and that they needed some extra "oomph". That changed this year. BIG TIME! At least for me! This song is so....BIG. There is so much POWER in this song. I hesitate to call it a ballad, but I assume to most people, it is, so......best ballad of the year. Hands down. I'm rooting for Albania this year! Yeah, I can't believe it either! I wish people talked about it more. And sadly, this isn't the only instance of a song I consider underrated.... Prediction: I'm not counting on this to qualify, but I wish it would....but at the same time, there are songs I like more, and if those songs qualified and this one didn't, I'd be fine. But if it surprises me, well....that'd be nice!

Song: Fly With Me Country: Armenia Thoughts: I really like this one. This is a cool song! I had to wait a week after starting my first impression posts for this song to be released, and it was well worth the wait. I LOVE the beat here, especially once it builds. I can't explain it, but this song manages to be infectious without necessarily being upbeat. It's unique! After the contest is over, it'll be burned into my brain. It's not one of my absolute favorites, but it makes my top ten. I can definitely see why it got so popular Thoughts: Yeah, this one's a qualifier. Popular song + country that almost always qualifies = guaranteed spot in the final. And in the final, I predict it'll at least finish on the left side of the scoreboard. I'm one of its fans, so I don't mind! In fact, if a couple of my top seven don't qualify, then this song is one of my backup favorites! I'll probably be rooting for it to do well!

Song: Don't Come Easy Country: Australia Thoughts: As much as I hate to say it, this is the weakest entry Australia has sent so far. And the reason I hate to say it is because I DO like this song. I think there's a lot of emotion in it, which is the highlight, and there's nothing else this year that has this kind of "message"...That sometimes it's hard to open up to someone after you've been hurt before. That's pretty....deep. And I realize that saying this is Australia's weakest entry when it's only their third one is NOT saying much, especially when I'm comparing it to the awesomness that is "Tonight Again" and the overrated yet still powerful "Sound Of Silence". I guess I was expecting more, and that's what made me think it was underwhelming the first time I heard it. But it grew on me a lot. I can actually see this playing on the radio over here, and me not minding it Prediction: There's no doubt this song will qualify. In fact, in the coming years, I can see Australia becoming the same as Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Romania: a country that always qualifies no matter what. As for the final....My opinion from last year has not changed: I don't want Australia to win. I can see this in the top ten, but not winning

Song: Running On Air Country: Austria Thoughts: This is a cute song! It doesn't give me much to talk about, but I like it! Yeah, I like happy songs in Eurovision....no duh =P I don't have any problems with this song, but I can't rank it higher simply because there are songs I like more. "If you let me drown, I'll swim like a champion~" I like that lyric for some reason... (I also like the censor pause XD) Prediction: I kinda want this song to qualify, but I'm not rooting for it over my favorites. It's in the stronger semifinal, so it's got some strong competition. I won't be surprised if it gets lost in the mix. Then again, that's what I thought would happen to Austria's last entry, and I was wrong....

Song: Skeletons Country: Azerbaijan Thoughts: And so we come to the first of my top seven favorites - the songs that I absolutely and unquestionably love. And I'm not surprised that one of them is Azerbaijan's, considering their track record of sending awesome entries. From the first time I heard this song, I was in love. Those delicious, delicious synths, man! This type of music has always been my thing! So, yeah, I'm a bit biased here, but I love it SO much! Funny fact is that for the first week or so of listening to it regularly, I had no idea what most of the lyrics were. The chorus especially - besides "Have my skeletons" and "Bad boy", it sounded like gibberish to me. AND I STILL LOVED IT. I eventually looked up the lyrics, and now I like singing along to it. But to me, this song is about the beat, not the lyrics. Not to discredit the singer, of course! Also, this is an example of this year's lineup not being as good as last year's - even though I ranked "Miracle" as number 5 last year and this song is my number 4 this year, I'm still pretty sure I like "Miracle" a tiny bit more Prediction: Well, at least I won't have to worry about at least one of my favorites qualifying! Yeah, this one is no doubt gonna make it in the final. But will it get Azerbaijan back in the top ten? Hmmm....maybe. It'll at least come close

Song: Story Of My Life Country: Belarus Thoughts: A unique song, not only for being in Belorussian (which like....never happened before, I don't think) but also because nothing else really sounds like it this year. However, it doesn't QUITE do it for me...I've been really enjoying Belarus' entries lately, so this one kinda feels underwhelming. I still like it, the vocals are good, but it's not something I'd listen to after the contest. Not that it's a bad song at all. I always say that more happy songs in Eurovision, the better, plus this year's slogan is "Celebrating Diversity".....So, yeah, this is a song I wish I could like more than I do Prediction: Even though it's ranked pretty low odds-wise, I'd still say this has a decent chance of qualifying. It depends on how it is live. I can actually see this song having cute staging. But if it does qualify, I can't see it doing all that well in the final

Song: City Lights Country: Belgium Thoughts: Four words: I don't get it. I simply do. Not. Get. It. What do people like so much about this song? I've heard it so many times now, trying to understand, hoping it would grow on me....and it didn't. At first, I thought it was boring, and now, I think it's boring. So....what's so special about it? I don't wanna put down the people who like it, I just.....don't. I don't even dislike it! That would mean it gets SOME reaction out of me. But no, this song gets nothing out of me. It's just.....there. Maybe calling it "nothing" in my first impression post was a LITTLE harsh, but...I just can't get into this at all. When it comes to slow songs, there are many that I like more. This song just bores me. Sorry...The only nice thing that I can say about this song is that I'd much rather have a song that gets no reaction out of me than one that I outright DREAD listening to, like Portugal's song, which I'm gonna get to later (Oooooh, the things I have to say about that one....) Prediction: When I found out that this song, which was previously ranked in the top five in the betting odds, had dropped down to tenth place, below Denmark and Azerbaijan, I was SO happy! Looks like I don't have to worry about this song winning. However, no doubt we'll be hearing it in the final....I REALLY hope people wake up and realize there are more interesting songs, but that's wishful thinking. Belgium may be looking at their third top ten placement in a row

Song: Beautiful Mess Country: Bulgaria Thoughts: This is a fine song. Yeah, it's a massive step down from last year, but I expected that anyway. If you're new to Eurovision....Bulgaria are usually preeetty bad at it. Last year was only their second time qualifying. But anyway! This song....Like I said, I think it's fine. However, its apparent popularity....like with the Belgian entry, I don't get it at all. I've seen people call it a "masterpiece", and I'm like "....Are you listening to the right song?" (This isn't the Dutch entry) I at least like THIS one, but I'm not gonna act like I can see it WINNING like some people do. I don't even LOVE it, I just like it. I think it has some of the best lyrics this year. But a winner? Not in a million years could I see a song like this win Eurovision Prediction: Will qualify and do well in the final, but if it wins, I'll be VERY shocked. And NOT in a good way. I won't hesitate to say that, even though I like the song, I WILL root against it in favor of the more worthy potential winners like Italy and Sweden (AND THE NETHERLANDS). Sorry to fans of this song, but I simply cannot see Bulgaria 2018

Song: My Friend Country: Croatia Thoughts: This is....an interesting one. And trust me, I mean interesting in a good way! For me, this was the biggest grower this year. When I first heard it, I kinda liked it, but I knew I had to give it time. And OH BOY did it grow on me, especially when it hit me that this is ONE GUY singing. This guy can sing in TWO VOICES! That's incredible!! And the two voices singing in two different languages is such a neat touch! (Though I'm still kinda scratching my head at why Italian is the second language) It also gains this song uniqueness points, because have we EVER had a Eurovision entry like this before? I don't think there has been! I can think of NOTHING to compare this song to! That's a good thing. Add on the uplifting lyrics, and you get an unforgettable song Prediction: I do think Croatia deserve to qualify with this, but I'm not sure that's gonna happen. I can see interesting staging going with this song, so maybe that'll help it stand out more than it already does, but....will it qualify? Hmmmm...I'm gonna say....no. Yeah, I'm pessimistic, but they don't qualify all that often. But I'd be happy to be proven wrong!

Song: Gravity Country: Cyprus Thoughts: Oh my GOD do I love this one!! I can't get enough of it! It's flipping awesome and SO underrated! The lyrics, the beat, it all flows so well...I-I dunno what else to say, it's just excellent! And should I be surprised? It's this year's G:son song, after all! Has he EVER written a song that I disliked? OK, maybe I'm a LITTLE surprised...Because the fact that this song is written by the same guy who wrote "Alter Ego" last year. You would NOT have known that unless you looked it up, I swear. But anyway....When I first heard this song, it was love at first listen, and I was hooked ever since. If it wasn't for the masterpiece that is the Dutch entry, this would be my favorite song this year, and I GUARANTEE that if this were the entry of Sweden or Norway, more people would be going nuts over it. This is the highest Cyprus have ever been on a list of mine, and I don't think they'll be able to top it any time soon! Man, it is an unwritten rule that every song titled "Gravity" in Eurovision is gonna be awesome? Prediction: OH MY GOD AM I WORRIED ABOUT THIS SONG. I obviously REALLY want them to qualify, but it's a fact that it's not very popular compared to other songs in the first semifinal. If it doesn't qualify, I would be pissed, but I wouldn't be overly surprised....Of all my favorites in the first semi, I think this one has the slimmest chance of qualifying and I HATE that. The thought of Belgium and Portugal getting through and Cyprus not.....ugh....Please please please qualify, PLEASE sound good live, PLEASE. Cyprus deserve it so much....OK fine, you can have Belgium in the final as long as this makes it too

Song: It's My Turn Country: Czech Republic Thoughts: Yikes....and I thought their last entry was boring! This one is even MORE boring! There is absolutely nothing interesting about this song, but at the same time, there's nothing terrible about it, either. It's not annoying, and it's at least modern-sounding, unlike a certain OTHER snorefest. I guess if I give it something else, it's that the lyrics are good? But for the most part, this song's just....there. It's there, and I dunno why it is. Did the Czech Republic just have no other options? I mean, "I Stand" at least had good vocals....But this one? I have absolutely no feelings toward this song. It's dull, but harmless. It doesn't deserve anything more than indifference Prediction: If this song qualifies, I wouldn't know what to say. I mean, the only song I'd take this over is the Portuguese entry....which is in the same semifinal....But for the most part....Yyyyeah, we're not gonna see the Czech Republic in the final again this year

Song: Where I Am Country: Denmark Thoughts: Another one of my favorite songs this year! I absolutely adore this song. I thought it was gonna be in my top three at first, I love it that much. To me, this song works so well because of one main thing - Anja's AWESOME voice. The way she belts out that chorus like it's nothing just blows me away every single time...and sometimes gives me chills! This song NEEDED strong vocals, and it has them! It's a powerful song. I feel so emotional while listening to it. The desperation, the determination, the vow to make things right again.....This is a darn good song. I only have one problem with it, and it's a nitpick...Apparently, the lyrics are "Laying down my armor, laying down my guard". WHY is it not "gun"? I thought it was "gun" when I first heard it, because it just makes sense! Mainly because it actually RHYMES with "done"! But that's a tiny complaint. XD Overall, Denmark's best entry since "Only Teardrops". Prediction: Pretty much guaranteed to qualify. I already know she sounds amazing live. I can see Denmark in the top ten this year, or even top five, but I don't think this'll be their year to win

Song: Verona Country: Estonia Thoughts: Sleeping all alone, you wake up with a bottle in your hands~ *shot* Sorry, sorry! I'm not gonna type the whole thing, I just wanted to bring attention to how much I've been singing this song recently! Because MAN, I thought it was good the first time....and I thought it was AWESOME by the sixth. No question, this song belongs in my top three! In what I consider to be the spiritual successor to "Goodbye To Yesterday", the first thing I noticed is the Romeo And Juliet comparison and how, for once, it WASN'T to regard them as the pinnacle of romance. It's really becoming a pet peeve of mine when songs and stories do that, because THEY WEREN'T. It's like no one actually paid attention in ninth grade English class! Even disregarding the crap their families put them through, resulting in them DYING because of they insisted on getting married while barely knowing each other, Romeo was 19 years old. Juliet was ONLY 14!! C'mon, that's so wrong! And Romeo was a ladies' man who was JUST swooning over another woman before meeting her, and....Sorry, I went on a tangent. But yeah, this song brings up Romeo And Juliet....comparing themselves to them as a RECKLESS TYPE OF LOVE! How refreshing! And it's also just an awesome song in general! I think the moment it started to grow on me is when I realized how awesome the "Reckless type of love, reckless type of love / We never said 'I'm sorry', we never said 'Enough' / This western type of woman, western type of man / Disappeared in Verona" part was, and the rest of the song followed. Overall, I dunno why we got so many songs about unhappy couples this year, but this is the best of those. The lyrics are great, it sounds great, it's just excellent Prediction: Look, I didn't care about "Play" that much, so I didn't mind when it didn't qualify. This is a different story. This had BETTER qualify OR ELSE. And it probably will, but...I dunno, I'm still kinda worried. But I think I'll get over it. Yeah, I just checked the Wiki page to confirm - It ranked number five in the OGAE poll. People are recognizing its greatness. I don't need to worry, it's fine. Back to worrying about Cyprus, then

Song: Blackbird Country: Finland Thoughts: There are two words I'd use to describe this song: "atmospheric" and "relaxing". A huge mood whiplash from Finland's last entry which was basically Happiness: The Song, but I'm not complaining at all! I like this song a fair bit. There may be other slow songs this year, but nothing quite like this. The lyrics are very poetic, as well. I will admit, though, that my opinion of this song may be a bit soured by the fact that most of the time I've been listening to the playlist, it's been as background music while I'm playing Splatoon, so having a song that sounds like a lullaby come up while playing a high-energy video game doesn't really fit....It kinda kills the mood. But I'm not holding that against this song, it's still very pretty and a case of a slow song that's not boring! Prediction: I think Finland may qualify with this! This song stands out! Will I be surprised if I'm proved wrong, though? Maybe a little, but I won't be MAD unless it's to make way for Portugal. Every other song in the first semifinal deserves to qualify more than Portugal

Song: Requiem Country: France Thoughts: A nice, solid song. I pretty much have the same things to say about it that I said about Austria's entry - it's happy, upbeat, and I like it but I don't love it. It also grew on me a little bit. In my first impression post, I said that I liked it about at much as I liked "J'ai cherché", but after repeated listens, I now like this song more! Prediction: France will most likely not do as well as they did last year, but will still do reasonably well

Song: Keep The Faith Country: Georgia Thoughts: I like this one a lot. Songs about staying optimistic during tough times have always been things I've liked. This song kinda reminds me of "Peace Will Come" from back in 2008 (also a Georgian entry), which has a very similar message. I do like that one more, though, because it also had a great beat, but I'm getting sidetracked! Anyway, that's what keeps me from giving it the "too heavy for Eurovision" stamp - the optimism. This is what Hungary 2015 SHOULD'VE been. Yeah, I said it, and I'm sticking to it! The lyrics are enough to make me like it, but this song also has strong vocals and a buildup, which is what I love in my ballads. Not in my top ten, but definitely a song I enjoy! Prediction: I'm like.....99 percent sure this will qualify. Eurovision usually loves songs like this. It'll get overlooked in the final, though

Song: Perfect Life Country: Germany Thoughts: Another grower, and another German entry I find underrated. Is this song a bit on the generic side? Yeah. But there's something about it that just.....WORKS. Is it the vocals? The lyrics? I'd say both. This lady does have a good voice, I can hear the emotion, and "I'm not afraid of making mistakes"....is a message I WISH I could live by. So, this song gets a thumbs-up from me, and not JUST because I want Germany to stop getting undeserved last place. Also, apparently there are many people who think this song is a ripoff of Sia's "Titanium", and I find that absolutely ridiculous. Just because parts of a song sound like parts of another song doesn't mean it's a ripoff. It could be just a coincidence! This reminds me of in 2013 when people kept called "Glorious" a ripoff of "Euphoria"....Germany really haven't been able to catch a break in Eurovision.... Prediction: NOT LAST PLACE. I'd honestly be content as long as they DON'T end up in last place. My prediction is still that they'll place rather low. This song is one that has to grow on you, and will most likely not do much to stand out. And I'm fine with that! It isn't even on I'm in love with...it's just....a solid, good song. But speaking of love....

Song: This Is Love Country: Greece Thoughts: I could see some people calling this song generic....I am not one of those people. Yeah, this is another one of my favorites. This song is just AWESOME! Such high energy! Really captures the feeling of being in love. I'd compare it to "Falling Stars" from last year (which I had compared to Cascada). The chorus isn't as strong as "Falling Stars"', but the song as a whole is more well put together. The instrumentals in this song are SO good. The one before the last chorus, with the horns....it all sounds so grand! And tying it together is a singer with a good voice. Well, Greece are back in my favorites for the first time since "Aphrodisiac" in 2012 - but will they make it back in the final? Prediction: If the betting odds are to be believed, they will be back in the final this year. Unless it flops live, this should be another favorite I won't have to worry about. As for the final....It'll finish around the middle of the board, I'll say

Song: Origo Country: Hungary Thoughts: This is SUCH a grower! I remember having little to no reaction to it when I first heard it, but now I enjoy it every time it comes on. Even if I don't understand the lyrics, even if I can't sing along....even if it has a RAP....something about this song makes it enjoyable to me. Is it the synths? Usually, uniqueness points aren't enough to make me like a song (see Belarus above), but this one is different. A solid entry from Hungary once again! Prediction: There's no doubt in my mind this'll qualify. I can even see it do decently well in the final. Maybe not top ten well, but close?

Song: Paper Country: Iceland Thoughts: Whenever I haven't listened to this song in a couple days, I find myself thinking "Is this song REALLY one of my favorites?" And compared to my six other favorites, it does fall short, but....When I listen to it again, I can't help but keep loving it. And the reason is the chorus. It starts out slow, but that chorus just brings SO much life to it. And I dunno why, but I really like her voice. It's not one of the BEST voices in the contest, but her voice really suits this song. I never knew that shouting "PAAAAAAAAAPEEEEEERR!" could sound so awesome...The chorus as a whole has so much force to it. But I'm not gonna say this is a song everyone will enjoy. It is rather slow Prediction: After getting utterly robbed last year, I wish I could say that Iceland deserve to make up for that, but....Like I said, this isn't a song for everyone. I love it, but I think "Hear Them Calling" was objectively a better song, and it that couldn't qualify....can this? Hmmmm....I'll say no, but this being one of my favorites, I'm gonna root for it anyway. Plus, it's in the first semifinal, so the thought of it getting pushed out in favor of Portugal....No please....Maybe a miracle can happen?

Song: Dying To Try Country: Ireland Thoughts: A basic, boring ballad, but I'll take it over Portugal's and the Czech Republic's songs. At least this one picks up toward the end and has a big finish. It did grow on me a little bit, and yeah I do like that last chorus, but not enough for me to say I like the song as a whole. Overall, it doesn't get that much of a reaction out of me, nor does it give me much to talk about Thoughts: Sorry, Ireland, you've been screwed over in Eurovision the last few years, but this isn't gonna be a song strong enough to break that losing streak

Song: I Feel Alive Country: Israel Thoughts: Israel have been on a roll and they're not slowing down! This song is such a burst of energy, and is so much fun to listen to because of it! The reason I don't rank it any higher is because of strong competition, mainly from songs that do the same thing but better. But whenever I hear it, I WISH I could rank it higher. The song is called "I Feel Alive" and it makes you feel alive, how fitting! Prediction: This will be the last song performed in the second semifinal. Usually, people already have their minds made up on what they're gonna vote for by that point....either that, or it'll end the show on a good note and will be hard to ignore because of that! And I'm guessing this song will be the latter! So I think it'll qualify, yeah. But in the final, it won't do as well as Israel's last two entries did

Song: Occidentali's Karma Country: Italy Thoughts: This is the current favorite to win, and goshdarn it I can see (or hear) why! This song may have a music video that I'm surprised I haven't seen more complaints about (that's a good thing), but it's just impossible to hate. I pretty much love this song for the same reasons I like Israel's entry - whenever I hear it, I feel like dancing....and I'm a TERRIBLE dancer! But this song has so much energy! Such a great beat! THAT INSTRUMENTAL, OH MAN! I've said it once and I'll say it again - if all Important Songs were this much fun, I wouldn't be against them in Eurovision at all. I really wanted to rank this higher, but there are songs I like more in the end. But you can tell that Italy are in it to win it! Prediction: Do I even NEED to say that this is a potential winner? I've been in the Eurovision tag a few times this past week, and this is by far the most talked about song ON TOP of being the betters' pick. I have no problems with Italy 2018 at all! I'd consider this compensation for Ill Volo's loss two years ago. And considering their main competition is apparently Bulgaria, Belgium, and *shivers* Portugal....Yeah, consider me on Team Italy. NAMASTE...ALE!

Song: Line Country: Latvia Thoughts: Good, but not great. That just about covers it, because it doesn't really give me much to talk about. Not to say that it's not interesting, but I feel like I've said my opinions on this song about other songs. It's got a good beat, but there are better beats this year. It starts out slowly - maybe a bit too slowly - but it makes up for that at the end. I don't think about this song a whole lot, but when it come on, it's definitely enjoyable! My favorite part is the instrumental after the first chorus Prediction: I have NO FLIPPING IDEA about this one. If I had to guess, I'll say that I think it'll qualify, but I won't be surprised if it gets overlooked (because it's an overlooked song). I'm not rooting for it, but it won't hurt anyone by being in the final. Oh, and since it's in the first semifinal, if its qualification means no Portugal in the final, then I'll be happy

Song: Rain Of Revolution Country: Lithuania Thoughts: I like that name. It doesn't make sense, sure, but it sounds cool! But the song itself? ....Eh, it's OK. I guess I like it, but it's not a stand-out entry. Her voice is fine - not great, but it grew on me after a few listens. I like the "Dance to the rhythm of a song" part. I'm not gonna deny that it's a forgettable song when compared to the others, but it's my favorite of the "forgettable" songs because at least it has energy. I can't call it boring. That's a plus! I don't think it deserves the hate Prediction: Hmmm....Lithuania have surprise qualifications a lot, but I'm still gonna say they won't qualify this year. They had an excellent contest last year, but that was last year. In fact, even though I kinda like this song, I actively DON'T want it to qualify. It's in the same semifinal as countries with MUCH better songs, and its qualification could be at the expense of one of those. No please >.<

Song: Dance Alone Country: FYR Macedonia Thoughts: A good song, but nothing phenomenal. There are better dance songs this year - heck, there are better energetic songs in GENERAL this year, so I kinda find this one forgettable. I'd actually call it Macedonia's weakest entry in a while....But nothing against it! It just has stronger competition. To me, this song is good background music. For a better take on this title, check out Love Generation's song from Melodifestivalen 2011 Prediction: Highly, highly doubt this will qualify. If Kaliopi couldn't bring Macedonia to the final last year, then this definitely won't. But hey, if I'm proved wrong, I won't complain!

Song: Breathlessly Country: Malta Thoughts: This is a nice ballad. I thought it was boring at first and thought it'd end up as one of my least-favorites, but I find myself liking it more each time I hear it. It's still not anything special, of course, there have been WAY too many songs like this in Eurovision, and I can see why people wouldn't like it, but....I dunno, I can't bring myself to join that majority. Maybe because there are MUCH more dull and boring songs this year that this one feels full of life in comparison.... Prediction: This doesn't seem to be a well-liked song, so I don't think it'll qualify. If it does, it'll probably be because of the juries

Song: Hey Mamma! Country: Moldova Thoughts: Hooooly crap did this song live up to what I expected from the return of Sunstroke Project - A super catchy, fun song complete with the one and only Epic Sax Guy! When I first heard this song and the sax solo came on, I LAUGHED. I couldn't believe my ears! Epic Sax Guy, back in Eurovision! But he's not the only good thing here. When I called this song catchy, I MEANT it. This is THE catchiest song this year, and probably has spent more time stuck in my head than any other song recently. That chorus, man! Get it out, get it ooooout!! This isn't even one of my favorites, but it's just so unforgettable! Even now, sometimes I can't resist rocking along to that sax solo! Also, I don't think I like this song more than "Run Away", but I will say this much - their English has gotten a LOT better since then! Prediction: I'll say this right now.....If this song doesn't qualify for the final, Moldova might as well quit Eurovision. Seriously, the past three years, they've been screwed over despite sending genuinely good songs, and this year, if flipping Sunstroke Project can't get them in, I dunno what will. I know it's low in the betting odds, but I still have faith that they'll do it. This is an infectious song with THE Epic Sax Guy, c'mon! That's gotta get votes! So go, Moldova! You can do it!

Song: Space Country: Montenegro Thoughts: BEHOLD! The only Eurovision entry to ever mention a wet dream in its lyrics! That would normally be a small detail, and it kinda still is, but it's one of the first lyrics in the song and it definitely sets the mood. Because this is an....interesting song. And NOT interesting in a bad way! Repeating myself from what I said about Croatia’s entry there...I actually quite enjoy this! But it is NOT for everyone, as the massive amount of dislikes the official video has on YouTube show. It's ridiculous and cheesy, and I like that about it. It makes me smile, so....Even if part of my enjoyment is ironically, that's gotta count for something. The staging for this is gonna be fun, I can tell. XD Geez, it seems like Montenegro's entries are always super serious or super ridiculous with almost no in-between, huh? And they only qualify when they're taking the serious route... Prediction: Yeah, no qualification here

Song: Lights And Shadows Country: The Netherlands Thoughts: I'm gonna start this off with a question: WHY. THE CRAP. IS THIS SONG NOT GETTING MORE RECOGNITION!? Is the Italian entry distracting everyone!? I mean, I know that's a good song, but THIS song is a masterpiece! Yeah, I'm sticking to that! This is indeed my number one this year. Figures that in a Eurovision mostly populated by dance music and some ballads, that my favorite would be neither. And from a country that hasn't had a number one favorite of mine since 1998, no less! Just....my GOD, this song. From the first time I heard it, I knew it'd be my favorite. The first thing I noticed was how awesome the vocals are. The way these ladies harmonize with each other is just incredible. Then there's the uplifting lyrics, and the way it keeps building....Every direction this song goes in makes it better and better, and it all adds up to a song that makes me so happy. Whenever I'm listening to it, I can't feel anything other than happy. And that's the mark of a good song to me: emotional connection. I just LOVE this song and I hope it has the same magic when performed live, because I really really REALLY want it to start picking up momentum so it'll get votes. This is winner material, and I want people to recognize that. You can tell the Netherlands are trying to stand out this year, and they DESERVE to do well. I stand by that Prediction: QUALIFY QUALIFY QUALIFY. QUA-LI-FY!! If "Slow Down", a country song, could do it, then a masterpiece like this will! And it BETTER at LEAST finish on the left side of the board, or else! But even then, I think anything below a top ten finish isn't doing it justice! (.....I really like this song. I don't think I made it obvious enough)

Song: Grab The Moment Country: Norway Thoughts: A good, solid entry from Norway once again! This is quite the grower, but I still don't think it's anything outstanding. But it's still fun! I like singing along to it! If you like EDM, you'll like this song. There's nothing wrong with it, and it's a good song to listen to if you, well.....wanna kill that voice in your head! Haha, see what I did there? Of course you did, I'm not subtle....Anyway, thumbs up! Prediction: Ooh, I dunno....I know that Norway usually qualify, and that this isn't a bad song, but....The competition is strong, and it's not like there's a shortage of this kind of music. In the same semifinal as this song are Israel, San Marino, and Estonia, to name a few. So, Norway may struggle to stand out among the crowd, but it's not a lost cause, because they're....well, Norway. So, I'm gonna say no on them qualifying, but I would not be surprised at all if I'm proven wrong, nor will I mind (as long as my favorites still make it)

Song: Flashlight Country: Poland Thoughts: After Albania's entry, this is my favorite slow song this year. I love the lyrics, how it builds, and the atmosphere it creates. And the way that the beat it's built on sounds like a heartbeat is a neat touch. But the big finish is definitely my favorite part. My only real complaint is that the way it ends feels kinda abrupt, but I can overlook that. It's just a solid song, and I can't think of anything else to say! Next! Prediction: I could see this going either way, but I guess I'll predict it'll qualify. I won't be surprised if it doesn't, though. It has some strong competition, and there are songs I think deserve it more

Song: Amar Pelos Dois Country: Portugal Thoughts: UUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH. OK, if you like this song, do not read any further, because I'm not holding ANYTHING back. I've been WAITING to talk about this song, so here goes. This is my least-favorite song this year. BY FAR, I might add. While some songs may grow on me the more I listen to them, or at least I gain the ability to tune them out...this song is different. I dislike it more every time I hear it. Now, look, I know I might sound hypocritical by calling something "dated", given that I've liked songs like Moldova 2015 which sound like they were made twenty years ago, but here's the thing - some things age gracefully, and other things do not. 80s and 90s music can be really fun! But then there's stuff that isn't fun at all. Like, say, grandpa music that sounds like it came from the very first Eurovision ever. Now, I have an honest question: WHO watches Eurovision for stuff like this!? WHO!? People who actually like this kind of music would NOT be watching Eurovision, and people who watch Eurovision should NOT be saying "Hey, I really like Eurovision, with its happy, campy music, but you know what it needs more of? THIS!" It's not fun at ALL, it sounds ancient, it doesn't take any exciting turns, it's just.....DULL and BORING! And whenever this song comes on when I'm in the middle of a match and I can't skip it, just.....UUUUGGGHH. I can't learn to like this song! It makes me groan every single time! And part of me KNOWS that I shouldn't hate this song - that this is a song that isn't worthy of hate, or any emotions whatsoever. It doesn't hurt my ears, it's not obnoxious in the most traditional sense....it's harmless. And yet it pisses me off, just thinking of the thought process behind sending something like this to flipping Eurovision. I KNOW that the reason Portugal only compete every other year is because of financial troubles and that they likely don't wanna WIN the contest for those same reasons, but why this? At least send a GOOD ballad! Y'know, those exist! I mean, look at the Finnish entry - That's even slower, and yet it still manages to be INTERESTING! *sigh* ....I'm sorry....Like I said, I know this song is harmless, but for the life of me I cannot find a SINGLE thing about it that I like. I don't care if the singer's good! The song sucks! It's boring as sin! I don't care if it's not in English! It's boring as sin! Every time it comes on, it kills the mood. So good for you, Portugal - for the first time in years, one of your entries finally got an emotional reaction out of me. But in the worst possible way Prediction: And you know what annoys me? Apparently people like this song. Apparently people LOVE this song, in fact. So much that it made it to FOURTH PLACE in the betting odds. THIS SONG made people wanna bet on PORTUGAL winning Eurovision - Portugal, who are one of the most unlucky countries in the contest's history. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!? All signs are pointing to them qualifying, and UGH it sucks! Chances are, it's gonna be at the expense of a song I like! I wish I could predict that it'll come dead last in the semi like it deserves, but I know it won't....I want it outta the final so much...I guess the next best thing is that all my favorites in the first semi still qualify, and that'll cancel out my disappointment....

Song: Yodel It! Country: Romania Thoughts: Romania returns with a silly song that's impossible to hate! When I first heard it, I laughed, but I was also worried that it would get old after a while (due to all the yodeling). But it didn't! In fact, this is a song that SHOULD be annoying - I mean, it's half rap, and half yodeling. Sounds like a horrible combination, right? Well, it's unexpected just how well it flows! And it's just so HAPPY...It's far from a favorite, but I'm happy it exists. What would Eurovision be without a song like this? When it comes to silly Romanian Eurovision entries, I'll take this over Cezar any day Prediction: It's Romania, so it'll qualify. I have zero problems with this. It's one of the more popular songs, I've yet to see hate for it, but I can see the juries not caring for it, so it won't place VERY high in the final

Song: Spirit Of The Night Country: San Marino Thoughts: So, Valentina Monetta has returned. I was never a major fan of hers. "Crisalide" was my favorite of her three previous entries. Good song, but I remember finding it overrated during the 2013 contest. So, I wasn't super excited to listen to this new song.....And DANG did it pleasantly surprise me! This is the CATCHIEST song this year (aside from Moldova's)! I have no idea who the man is, but he apparently compliments Valentina very well. This is BY FAR my favorite Sanmarinese entry yet, and it saddens me how underrated this song is. I was THIS close to putting this in my top seven, but it lacks the forceful vocals I love about a lot of my favorites. So, eighth place it is! Prediction: Not gonna qualify. Like....done. And it SUCKS, because the one time San Marino qualified, it was with an incredibly boring song, and the fact that THAT made it and this won't....ugh. MAYBE I'll be surprised, maybe it'll get some love, but I highly doubt it. Especially when it's in the stronger semifinal. Ah well....at least I'll get to enjoy it once....

Song: In Too Deep Country: Serbia Thoughts: Like Iceland's song, this song takes until the chorus to grab me. To me, the highlight here is the lyrics. I'm just a pure sucker for songs like this...I absolutely LOVED Armenia's "LoveWave" from last year, and this song may not be a fraction as good as that, but it'll do! Music-wise, it's fine, but the lyrics are what keep me from forgetting about it. I-I dunno what else to say here! Prediction: Could go either way, but I'm betting it'll qualify, because Serbia usually do. No one's really talking about it, but I'd still call it a strong entry.

Song: On My Way Country: Slovenia Thoughts: This is a fine song. I like it. What keeps it from being boring is the drums. It's not a stand-out entry, but I do like whenever it comes on. But at the same time, it's also not very interesting, and I can see people tiring of it. It's good background music Prediction: It's very close to being dead last in the betting odds, so if it qualifies, I would be quite surprised. It'd be quite the underdog, but I don't think it'll happen. Not that I don't like it, but there are many songs that stand out more

Song: Do It For Your Lover Country: Spain Thoughts: .....It's "The Lazy Song". It's the flipping "Lazy Song". Don't try to argue with me on this. It's, like....EXACTLY the same. Well, except this one is partially in Spanish. I thought it would grow on me, and I guess it did a LITTLE, but then I happened to hear it one day right after rewatching an old review of "The Lazy Song", noticed the similarities, and my view on it was tainted forever. XD Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike this song. I'm not gonna act like it outright annoys me. I'm simply indifferent to it. And how fitting how similar it is to "The Lazy Song", because, well....it IS a lazy song! It's like the bare minimum required to be a Eurovision entry. “Cute” guy, simple tune that sounds like it's been done before, and lyrics that are, let's be honest, repetitive. Do it for your lover, do it for your lover, clap your hands and do it for your lover, do it for your lover, do it for your lover. JUST DO IT, JUST DO IT FOR YOUR LOVER ALREADY!! No, SHUT UP, what if I don't wanna!? Wait, what AM I doing for my lover anyway!? XD Prediction: Sorry for anyone out there who likes this song (I can see some people finding it cute), but this is my pick for last. Or close to last. Depends on who qualifies from the semifinals....

Song: I Can't Go On Country: Sweden Thoughts: Welp! Sweden are at it again! They're back in my good graces after "If I Were Sorry" with this catchy tune! I can't go on~ I can't go on~ When this song keeps getting in my head! Heh, sorry....But I enjoy this song every time I hear it. Gotta love that combination of dancey and synthy. Have Sweden sent better songs in the past? HECK yeah. But this song is just fun fun fun. And unlike the Belgian entry, I can definitely see the appeal here and agree with the popularity. If Sweden were to win AGAIN, they'd tie Ireland's record of seven wins, which is interesting....well, for me. XD Part of me wants to rank this song higher, but fact is, there are many songs I enjoy more than this one. If this were a weaker year, this would've been top ten material for me Prediction: Everyone knows they're gonna qualify! But as for the question of "is this a potential winner"....I think it might be! While I think there are better songs, this is still a good solid energetic entry that I wouldn't mind winning as long as my ACTUAL favorites still do well. I mean, Sweden hosted a GREAT show last year....They really know what they're doing with Eurovision....Maybe going back there would be a good choice!

Song: Apollo Country: Switzerland Thoughts: This is another song that I wish I could like more. It's a really good song with a great singer, but here's the thing: I'd like it more if I didn't have to compare it with the other songs. Because well....it's a lot like Denmark's entry. Which is one of my favorites. So, nearly every time this song comes on, I think "This is good, but I'd rather be listening to 'Where I Am' right now". Because well....that's pretty much the same thing, only better! They even have similar lyrics, both being about the singer worrying that her relationship with her partner is getting weaker and her not wanting it to. And, to me, the Danish song is just....MUCH stronger. It's more powerful and has an even better singer than this song does. Not to discredit this song at all, because I do like it, and it's great to see Switzerland sending a good song after having an off-year last year Prediction: It's in the same semifinal as Denmark, even! Though I doubt I'm the first one to notice the similarities, I'm not gonna base my prediction off of that because I KNOW there's people who HAVEN'T. It is a strong song. So, I'm gonna say this song has a chance at qualifying, but I won't be surprised if it doesn't. Maybe if it sounds good live?

Song: Time Country: Ukraine Thoughts: I didn't expect this to be as good as the last Eurovision entry called "Time", and I was right. The only rock song this year, it's....It's OK. There's nothing wrong with it. I will admit that the lyrics sound....improvised....It's kinda like the guy didn't have time to write lyrics, so he had to make them all up on the fly. "The song's called 'Time', so I'll just say the word 'time' a lot!" But I'm forgiving of that because it's VERY likely that English isn't a language that most Ukrainians are fluent in. XD What makes up for it is that admittedly awesome guitar solo, that is pretty much the entire reason I'm not indifferent to this song. I normally like rock music, and I don't mind it in Eurovision! I still love "Alter Ego" and "Midnight Gold"! But this one is just....missing something special. I can't explain it very well Prediction: Won't do too well, but I can't see it flopping either. So, around.....20th place?

Song: Never Give Up On You Country: United Kingdom Thoughts: Last year it was "you're not alone, we're in this together" and this year it's "I will never give up on you"....The UK really like this kind of song, don't they? Well, it seems like it....But anyway, this song is....fine. Just fine. It's sweet, it has good vocals, it has one specific part I like a lot ("The mountains CROOOOOooooOOoooossed!") but it's a bit outclassed compared to similar stuff. I still like it for what it is, but it doesn't do much to stand out. At least for me. A lot of people really love this song, and I can kinda see why Prediction: It's doing pretty well in terms of betting odds, but you know what other UK entry did well in that? "Children Of The Universe". And after seeing how that did, it's hard to make predictions for the UK. The televoters just don't care for them most of the time....Maybe this will be different, but like I said, this song doesn't stand out all that much. I can at least see them doing better than they did last year, though. That's my prediction. Better than last year

And with that, that's all the songs! As always, if you managed to read all of this, I'd tip my hat to you if I were wearing a hat. I love Eurovision, I love music, I've been holding back my opinions on these songs for a while and it's great to finally share my thoughts, yadda yadda yadda. Here's the most important part, my final rankings!

Favorites:

1. Netherlands 2. Cyprus 3. Estonia 4. Azerbaijan 5. Denmark 6. Greece 7. Iceland

Borderline Favorites:

8. San Marino 9. Italy 10. Armenia 11. Albania

Like:

12. Israel 13. Moldova 14. Sweden 15. Poland 16. Germany 17. Croatia 18. Norway 19. Austria 20. Hungary 21. France 22. Georgia 23. Serbia 24. Romania 25. Switzerland 26. Australia 27. Finland 28. Bulgaria 29. Macedonia 30. Montenegro 31. Ukraine 32. Latvia 33. Malta 34. UK 35. Slovenia 36. Belarus 37. Lithuania

Indifferent:

38. Ireland 39. Spain 40. Czech Republic 41. Belgium

Dislike:

42. Portugal

#eurovision #opinions

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musicvoyage · 8 years ago

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Ray of Light by Madonna, 1998

For the 19th anniversary of this gem, I decided to dedicate my first album review to the record that changed me as a person and gave me a completely different outlook on the world.

I remember when our Philosophy teacher asked us to bring something that makes you happy. A possession that you look at and gives you immediate joy. I immediately thought of bringing a physical copy of my all-time favorite album Ray of light, simply because this album changed my life for the better.

Not only is Ray of Light Madonna’s biggest comeback album to date but it also inspired many artists such as Adele with her recent hit 25. This Avant-dance perfection is considered to be Madonna’s best work for several reasons.

We all know Madonna as the versatile and fearless queen who is not afraid to take risks and never fails to surprise us with each era. In Ray of Light, you can hear her opening up to the world. Ray of Light, the song that is also the album title, is about rebirth from a former Material Girl. This song truly reflects what the album is all about; Life.

In the first title track Drowned World/Substitute for Love Madonna does not hold back as she talks about how motherhood has changed her perspective on fame and fortune, she used to yearn for. It is a perfect introduction to the album as you get a preview of what the concept of Ray of Light is all about. The woman who once lived so selfishly has found the missing piece in her life. Lourdes has made her see that all the stardom in the world could never substitute the love she longed for. It is evident that the major influence on this album is Lourdes, as many songs were dedicated to her. To some people, Little Star seems like a repetitive song. To me, however, this is truly a beautiful tribute to her daughter.

Other than motherhood, another door opened up for Madonna which is spirituality. Everybody knows by now that the Vogue-singer has been practicing Kabbalah for two decades now. Here is what Madonna once said about finding her spiritual path in 1997:

The thing about Kabbalah is that it has similarities with, say, Buddhism, the whole idea of cause and effect. For every action there is a reaction, you are the absolute master of your destiny and you have to take responsibility in your life. It’s like you pull in what you pull out, basically. If you want to have goodness in your life, then you have to give it.

Many songs on Ray of Light were influenced by Kabbalah, such as the underrated EDM-hit Nothing Really Matters, the dance masterpiece that gave me goosebumps the first time I listened to it Sky Fits Heaven and the harmonious and cosmic-like gem Swim. Shanti/Ashtangi was another track inspired by her new-found spirituality, which was written in Sankrit. However, even though the song is melodious and can be applauded for Madonna’s effort in stepping into a completely different lyrical and musical direction, I do not find the song to be memorable. The same can be said for Candy Perfume Girl, the song I did not care about when I heard it for the first time, considering it has no intriguing parts except for the catchy guitar riff. On the other hand, once I’ve listened to it several times I realized what a brilliantly written song it truly is. People who assumed that Madonna completely distanced herself from her raw sexual persona with this album were wrong. Candy Perfume Girl and Skin are songs that give you a certain sexual vibe to it, however, what differentiates those tracks from her earlier sexually explicit songs is that they comprise depth and make you think. Is Madonna’s lyrical intention in Skin about love at first sight and the intense rush you feel once meeting someone new or maybe about the manic confusion someone goes through once they inject drugs into them? This song can be interpreted in many different ways, yet the magical production of William Orbit is very clear.

William Orbit is a Grammy-winning, Electronica/Trip-hop oriented composer and thanks to Madonna, he has received worldwide acclaim and started working with several famous musical acts like Mel C, No Doubt, Britney Spears etc. His impact on this record is strong and applicable, as it can be heard in tracks like the masterpiece of a ballad Frozen, which included a somehow controversial music video. Because the video seems so dark and obscure, people did not even bother acknowledging the brilliance of this song, but rather linked with a ‘satanic propaganda message that Madonna tried to spread’. Madonna never shied away from sparking controversies and pushing people’s buttons, but to think that people can be that naive is truly upsetting.

The last few songs after Shanti/Ashtangi are definitely more mellow and in my personal opinion the best part of the album. It sickens me to this day that two of Madonna’s best ballads were left unnoticed; The Power of Good-Bye, a hauntingly beautiful song about being stuck in a toxic relationship or situation which is hard to get out of because your spirit is stuck. However, the path is in your hands as only YOU are the one who is capable of putting yourself out of your misery by willing to free yourself from the things that cause you harm. Just like many of Madonna’s songs, the statement she tries to make in it is truly empowering. Another song with a similar Dilemma is To Have and Not to Hold, it talks about the person you adore, admire and care about not giving you the love and recognition back. Many of us can find this song relatable because many of us were in love with a person who was never able to give the love back. You feel abandonment, but you are also aware that you’ll never be the object of their desire. Madonna closes up the album with Mer Girl, which many people do not find enjoyable to listen to. I believe that this song was not meant to hear but rather felt. When I listened to it for the first time, I could not help get teary eyed. Dedicating this song to the death of her mother, Madonna lets herself be vulnerable. After her mother’s death, she runs away to discover life, going through different journeys and learning about herself as she tries to find herself. This specific song is always somehow being completely ignored by the general public simply because it is not melodious like the other songs. But once you pay attention to its lyrical content, you will truly be amazed at how lyrically gifted Madonna is.

I personally believe that this is Madonna’s finest work, as it is not only musically impressive but also lyrically. Madonna was never able to be this open to her fans and after listening to this record, I felt like I knew her so much better, that I could relate to this person who has been ridiculed by the media for years, who has been called a ‘Bitch’ ever since she became a prominent figure. This record does not only prove Madonna’s versatility, but also her longevity of being able to put out successful quality content.

I recommend every person with an open and curious mind to listen to this album at least once in their lives. Try not to think of her as the Madonna that every media has made her out to be, but to understand and feel the message that she is trying to spread across the world. Once you do that, you will feel like your perspective on the world and the people around you has changed positively.

#madonna #rayoflight #1998 #ray #of #light #swim #drownedworld #substituteforlove #skin #littlestar #mergirl #skyfitsheaven #tohaveandnottohold #shanti #ashtangi #frozen #candyperfumegirl #nothing really matters

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brendanmoviedate · 8 years ago

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"Nobody will ever notice that. Filmmaking is not about the tiny details. It's about the big picture."

All through 2015, I’d been hearing about people doing a new-movie-a-day challenge starting January 1st and ending December 31. It seemed like a great idea for clearing through my watch list and an excuse to get out to the theatre more.

So for 2016, I decided part way into January that I was going to go for it. By that point, I was only a few movies behind, so how hard would it be to catch up and get to 366 (I just had to pick a leap year for this) by December 31? Well, by April, I was about 15 movies behind, and this was with watching three or more films every Saturday while my girlfriend was in class. Still, I was confident - my girlfriend would be going to school in London starting in September, so I’d have lots of free time to cram in some extra movies.

Flashforward to October, and an outdoorsy summer and month-long trip to the UK found me around 80 movies behind pace. Not good. I thought about giving up, but I’m too stubborn and foolish to let go of stupid things like this. October was rough. I watched movies all weekend, every weekend. I found the movies on my list that were less than 90 minutes, so as to pile on an extra film or two. By the end of the month, I had watched 100 films in 30 days. Halfway through December I reached 366, capping out at 374.

What did I learn?

This type of challenge really fucks up your decision-making abilities

When trying to decide between going out and watching a movie, or reading and watching a movie, or doing chores and watching a movie, or grabbing a meal at a restaurant and watching a movie, watching a movie always seemed like the right choice, just to get me closer to that goal of 366. Every time I chose to do something other than watch a movie, I felt anxious that this could have been the one movie keeping me from reaching my goal. It was rough. I’m only now getting over this feeling and it’s already March (spoilers: I’m never going to do this again).

The “only new movies” clause really stung

There were so many times when I wanted to watch a recent favourite, but couldn’t justify it. Mad Max: Fury Road, 22 Jump Street, Nightcrawler, Sicario, et al. kept beckoning me, but I would invariably choose something new.

Peak TV takes a backseat

With only a few minor excpetions (Veep, Silicon Valley, Game of Thrones), my TV watching for the year plummeted. I was already behind on shows like The Americans, Orphan Black, and Fargo that I really wanted to watch, but multi-episode seasons would eat up too much prime movie-watching time.

You don’t always watch what’s good, only what’s available

Netflix is so diluted at this point with direct-to-video releases and Netflix originals starring Adam Sandler that finding something of quality to watch was always difficult. Often I’d find myself watching a mid-2000s action movie instead something from my iMDB list just because it was on Netflix. Other times, even if I film I’d wanted to watch was on Netflix, like Son of Saul or Leviathan, I’d watch The Book of Eli because I was already too worn out by a day’s worth of watching movies.

A movie-a-day only really makes sense for those who can watch a movie a day

Work+girlfriend+dodgeball+hockey+friends meant I had only two or three days a week to squeeze in movies, necessitating regular marathons. It really defeats the purpose of the challenge and wears out the viewer on a physical and psychological level.

Korean thrillers are awesome

I watched a number of excellent films from some of Korea’s best directors, mostly in the horror and/or thriller genres. Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of a Murder and The Host, Kim Jee-woon’s The Age of Shadows, Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing, and Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan all explored well-trodden movie tropes from fresh perspectives and made choices that North American filmmakers would normally shy away from. All of these films are classics that I can see myself revisiting over and over again. Of these films, Memories of a Murder is probably my favourite, serving as a Zodiac-like look into the futility of murder investigations. I should also mention Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden here, but I’ve talked about that masterpiece twice already.

Brian De Palma is an underrated master

Unabashedly fixated on voyeurism in his films, De Palma constructs tightly scripted, twisty plots that focus on peeping, spying, surveilling, and stalking as a means of telling a vast breadth of stories. His films are sleazy in all the right ways, but he brings to his low, almost uncomfortable, subject matter a brilliant technical understanding of film. Raising Cain, Body Double, and Dressed to Kill are all great examples of his craft, but it’s 1981′s Blow Out, starring a never-better John Travolta that is the perfect synthesis of his methods and methodology. The use of sound, split-screen, and split-diopters to focus on foreground and background at the same time is as captivating as the plot.

The worst movies were unfunny comedies

This probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me, but the worst kind of movie is an unfunny comedy. Not necessarily comedies with unfunny jokes (which, don’t get me wrong, are also nigh unwatchable), but comedies without jokes whatsoever. The films I’m talking about are those that are considered comedies because they weren’t serious enough to be dramas or tense enough to be thrillers, but instead just some stuff happens to the characters that provides a minor conflict or misunderstanding before an uninspired resolution. Fortunately, I only saw a couple of these, but they were painful enough to leave scars - The Overnight and the deliberately ironically titled The Comedy. The less said about The Overnight, the better, but I’ll at least faintly praise The Comedy for being a deliberate joke on its audience by being so gleefully unfunny.

I’m finally on board for the Fast & Furious franchise

After a meh first instalment and a horrible sequel, this franchise was as good as dead to me. With Furious 7 dominating the box office and positive word of mouth for the series finally drowning out my doubts, I decided to hop back into the franchise with the third instalment, Tokyo Drift. This film wasn’t by any means great, but it was engaging and personal in the way that the first two weren’t. When the next film cut back to Vin Diesel and company, I was slightly disappointed, as the band of thieves dynamic didn’t really meet my needs. However, it was Fast 5, when the franchise got a Dwayne Johnson injection, that it became an over-the-top superhero team-up movie. This film was absolutely insane, culminating in a getaway chase with a giant vault tied behind the vehicles demolishing half of Rio. The next two films failed to live up to Fast 5, but still featured cartoonish lunacy in the form of a wedge car vaulting other vehicles into the air and Dwayne Johnson flexing out of a cast.

The films of the 70′s and early 80′s continue to impress me

We’ve all heard that the 1970′s were the true golden age of cinema. Godfather this, Annie Hall that. But there’s so much more of value than the masterpieces everyone lauds. Sorcerer, Possession, The Warriors, Marathon Man, and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three are all vastly different films, but all have incredible performances, perfect pacing, and are utterly captivating. Sorcerer, about a group of drivers carrying unstable dynamite through treacherous jungles, and Possession, featuring Sam Neill as a spy watching his wife’s character slowing change into something else, both stayed me long after they were over, due to their incredible suspense and shocking outcomes.

Lilo & Stitch might be my favourite Disney movie

The Disney Renaissance died after the release of Mulan, with Tarzan, The Emperor’s New Groove, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire failing to capture imaginations the same way Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast did. Combining this decline with my bumbling journey through adolescence, it’s only natural that I’d didn’t give them a chance. So it’s with great regret that I did not see Lilo & Stitch until 2016. This film has all the heart and morals of a typical Disney film, but it’s incredibly funny as well. This was one of the movies I laughed at the hardest last year, mostly due to the antics of Stitch, who seems part koala and part centipede. This will easily get a rewatch over any of the Renaissance films. I wonder if a live action remake is in the works.

Return to Sleepaway Camp is as boring and tone deaf as Sleepaway Camp is fun and outrageous

Sleepaway Camp is a notorious cult classic, featuring campy performances and low tech slasher violence as well as one of the most genuinely shocking and disgusting reveals I’ve ever seen in a film. The image of it's final frame is forever burned into my brain. Naturally, the film garnered a few poorly conceived sequels with no one from the first film involved, which were easy enough to ignore. However, what I couldn’t help but be intrigued by was a “true” sequel from the original writer-director, featuring at least a handful of the original cast. If ever I regret watching a movie, it’s this one. Return to Sleepaway Camp reeked of desperation and ineptitude, from a director who had been far removed from filmmaking for the 25 years since his debut was released. It’s shrill, loud, derivative, boring, and featuring a twist so outrageously apparent for the whole film, it felt like a big “fuck you” to whomever watched and liked the first film.

The Purge movies are getting increasingly closer to being worthy of their own premise.

The first film in the Purge series was a missed opportunity. Setting up a brilliant premise, where all crime is legal for one night a year, the filmmakers foolishly decided to confine the film to within a single house for an uninspired home invasion thriller. The Purge: Anarchy brought the action to the streets for some expanded world building and introduced Frank Grillo as the new face of the franchise. But it wasn’t until the third film that real characters and an interesting plot developed. The Purge: Election Year is topical, disturbing, and more visually interesting than the previous films; if the series continues in this upward direction, I’ll be completely on board for the annual purge.

As I said earlier, this experiment was taxing, making me feel the crunch of a deadline for an entire year. But despite those struggles, I’d qualify it as a success. For each bad and mediocre film I watched, I watched two that I liked. I found a bunch of classics that I’ll be sure to return to over and over, and a bunch of directors whose filmographies I can make my way through.

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joons-expensive-gurl · 8 years ago

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Underrated BTS Songs (but ironically are the best)

So I've decided to put together a "small" list of BTS songs that I think are so underrated. I'm not really sure how many are gonna be on here, but I'm gonna try and put them all with little annotations as well. While I was writing, I realised that all of these songs don't have music videos and shit, which might be why they're so underrated. I also noticed they mostly come mid album and after, but still get a LOT of love. Anywho, enjoy~ 1 - Dead Leaves So, Dead Leaves is my ultimate favourite BTS song. However, I think the reason for it being so underrated (which it is in newer armies) is the fact that it's the very last song before the outro in TMBMiL: pt 2. I really feel that this song had the potential to be a title song, but being at the end meant it was overshadowed by other songs such as Silver Spoon. Even so, many older armies will tell you it's one of their favourite songs. It just does something to us. (I think another reason has something to do with the fan war over plagiarism of this and They Never Know. Despite Dead Leaves having another level of brilliance, I think fans just stayed away to keep away from the drama) 2 - I Like it Another one of my absolute favourites. I Like it is on their first album, and is one of our first looks at slow, more-pop-than-hip-hop BTS. It's a gorgeous song, which I really think the vocal line just slaaayyy at doing. But it's definitely underrated, seeing as many fans wanted a hip hop BTS, not more of a singing pop BTS. 3 - Circle Room Cypher This outro is BEYOND underrated. Not only is it the first BTS cypher, it also features every member having a little go over at rapping over another member's beat boxing. It's great. And if you watch a lyric video, the lyrics are actually pretty funny. It's a great outro, and I'm really upset that I only discovered it a few months ago. It's by far an amazing song which deserves more than it gets. 4 - If I Ruled the World Any song that starts with V's deep vocals is a good song. And If I Ruled the World is a very good song. It's old school BTS, on the O! R U L8 2 album. It's fun, quirky and has this weird (but cool) machine-y noise in the background, kinda like in EXO's Playboy. It's such a great song but I don't hear it often and I don't hear people talking about it often either. 5 - Tomorrow Tomorrow holds a very special place in my heart, and many other army's hearts. But that doesn't stop it from being so underrated. Part of the Skool Luv Affair album, it takes a different route from Attack of Bangtan and Jump. It's slow, with a loud beat, layered vocals and amazing rapping from our beloved rap line. It's lyrics are just amazing, ensuring you it's okay to give up but only until tomorrow when you can try again. Since it's in an older album, though, many newer armies don't get to listen to it's beauty for quite some time. 6 - Triptych (Cypher Pt 2) I LOVE TRIPTYCH. It's an amazing cypher by the boys, kicking off with J-Hope rapping (which is unusual., but we love it). Mony has a massive rapping section entirely in English which I may or may not be able to do... and Suga as usual kills it. But this doesn't stop it from being one of the most underrated BTS tracks ever. When Killer and Pt 4 came out, it was overshadowed and of course, forgotten, but if you haven't heard it, go and check it out. It will not disappoint. 7 - Hip Hop Phile I love Dark&Wild. It's my favourite BTS album, with probably the most underrated songs ever. And we'll start with Hip Hop Phile. This song is amazing. It's a song dedicated to the love of Hip Hop that each member holds. Our rap line have great flows as usual and the over song had a very dark feeling to it. It fits right in with the overall theme of the album, but I feel it definitely doesn't get enough love. 8 - Rain Rain, originally to be called Seoul Rain, is a beautiful song. It definitely does justice in being a more slow song on such a hyped album, and is easily a favourite if you finding yourself struggling to sleep in the night, it's a go to song simply for it being so calming. Definitely go and listen if you haven't all ready. 9 - Could You Turn Off Your Cell Phone? This song tackles a pandemic sweeping across the world without us knowing. The anti-social pandemic caused by cellphones (or as us Brits call 'em, mobile phones). The song is about putting our phones away for just 5 minutes to have an actual conversation with people, and that our boys are SICK of seeing people mindlessly using them to get likes on social media. But it doesn't get talked about a lot. Not sure why, but I'm guessing because of the album it's on (sadly). It hits hard to anyone who listens but it's such a fun, kinda bouncy song that will have you pressing repeat a gajillion times. 10 - Look Here THIS. SONG. IS. FUCKING. AMAZING. Easily one of my favourites for having this very summery, light hearted theme. When I listen, I imagine a beach party somewhere hot with people dancing along to BTS singing on stage. It definitely has this kind of tropical island party theme with guitars which I just adore. The bridge is literally Jimin making sex puns and the whole song is about them being into you and wanting to make you theirs so "이기 봐". However, every song on D&W is overshadowed by Killer... so yeah... 11 - Does That Make Sense? my favourite outro of all time is easily D&W's Does That Make Sense. It will make you body roll. It has such a beautiful beat and the music atop of that is slow, sensual and it all comes together with the vocal lines amazing voices. Jimin especially. There's also a part with Mony's voice all deep and kinda distorted and it honestly makes the song so much better. Howveer, Again, because it's on the wrong album (D&W being sooo underrated) it just didn't get much attention. I really can't explain the song so I'll just have to let you go listen if you haven't. (It's great it reminds me of my holiday to Whitby where I first heard it and it shocked me sm. it was and still is a gorgeous song. I really wish they'd made a full version with the rap line. That would've been e v e r y t h i n g). (Also Jimin's high notes at the end slayed me) 12 - Move This. Fucking. Song. If you haven't heard Move, go listen to it right now. Also knowing as Moving On, it's slow and sweet (which I think is why it's underrated - because it's so slow compared to other songs in the album). The lyrics are about simply moving houses and letting go of the memories there, though with Spotify translating it as Moving On, I got confused and thought it was about moving on from a relationship. Lol nope. In the right moment, it can actually make you cry, so just be weary. Overall, it is a brilliant song and takes a two back from Run and Dope with a slow, steady beat. 13 - Whalien 52 This song is MY song (lmao). It's simply about being on your own and they use the metaphor of a whale which is a solo creature to describe how they're feeling. If you don't take the lyrics literally and have a little knowledge on whales, the lyrics are easy to understand. I'm not really sure why it's underrated. It just is which is honestly so upsetting. The music itself is so gorgeous. It fits right in with the message that the song is trying to portray and I really do think that everything in this song just works. It's definitely worth listening to. 14 - Silver Spoon Silver Spoon is one of those BTS songs that once you listen to, you love (like all of them). It's old school BTS, though you can still hear their newer style. The rap line kill it as usual and with the vocal line coming in strong with the chorus, its overall a great song. The only thing that makes it even better is the dance practice. You know, where your precious lil Yoongi twerks. Seriously, the song is amazing especially if you're into rap. The beat on this song is amazing - it's really strong and at the same time blends in really well. However, no matter how much praise it gets, I strongly believe it's underrated. It doesn't get as much love as what it should do. Still, only Min Yoongi can write a masterpiece like Silver Spoon. 15 - House of Cards Or more appropriately named 50 Shades of BTS. This song takes sexy to a whole new level. I don't care who you are, if you don't body roll to this song, there's something desperately wrong. House of Cards is phenomenal. Featuring only the vocal line, it finished TMBMiL: pt 2 off right. With a piano, violin and great beat, you can't help but drown in the beautiful, sexy vibes of this song. Again, this song just doesn't get love. I think because of how slow it is, but ask any older army and they'll tell you House of Cards is one of their faves. 16 - Hold Me Tight Hold Me Tight is yet another masterpiece. Pianos and vocals. The song features this beautiful piano at the beginning which is gorgeous and transforms into this beautiful beat, with Mony's beautiful rough, whispering raps taking off. You know exactly which vocals I'm on about. The rapping overall is softer than usual, with Hobi starting off with this kinda singing kinda talking with will actually take your breath away. Suga actually sings a little and my heart dies a tiny bit every time. It's so out of the normal for BTS, seeing as the rappers are more singing than rapping, but it only adds to the song and makes it even more perfect. Fans definitely need to listen to it, since it doesn't get a lot of love. 17 - I Need U (Remix) Okay, don't kill me but I actually prefer this remix to the original. It just has this more electric, EDM-y feeling to it which is simply stunning. However, I think fans are just skeptical of remixes. Y'all shouldn't be scared this remix kills it. They've even performed it live, for fucks sake. That's when you know it's good. If you haven't yet listened, off you go. You won't regret it. 18 - First Love Whatever Min Suga produces, it should be loved and for some stupid fucking reason, First Love isn't loved! First Love is Yoongi talking about a piano. His first piano. It's a beautiful song once you get round the lyrics. And yes, it's slow, it's different to Begin and Lie. But it's fucking beautiful and if you skip it on Spotify, you're missing out. Just because it isn't normal Min Suga like ducking Tony Montana and him boasting about making you cum with his tongue technology, it doesn't mean it's a bad song. In fact, I think it's even better because it shows Yoongi can have variety. APPRECIATE IT! 19 - Reflection Okay, Mony as well?! Reflection is one of my favourite solos simply because of its slow, beautiful beat. The lyrics at the end "I wish I could love myself" hit hard to home and you know you can count on Namjoon to make you feel the feels. His rapping is flawless and he even sings a bit which only enhances the song. It's perfect and fans overlook it so much. Even though they shouldn't. 20 - Am I Wrong I have no idea how to explain this song apart from "Cowboy EDM". This song takes some cowboy-esque music and some lyrics from another singer and makes it into the song we know (and should love). Trust Yoongi to come out with something so western and yet so modern. I love it. The guitars, the beat, the drop, the vocals, the rap. It's all great. But it again, gets overlooked because it's different. Believe it or not, this song is great. It deserves all the love.

#my opinion #underrated BTS songs #this is so sad #all these songs r faves #love them and appreciate them

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