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matan4il · 6 years

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Some Eurovision 2018 thoughts

Because I promised @isabellaofparma I would post these, that’s why. I should note, I wrote most of this before the rehearsals and saved it as draft, so there are only a few added touches before posting. Also, can’t believe it’s almost a year since ESC 2017. @beautifulhusbands, remember when we chatted about last year’s competition? Good times. OK, here are a few thoughts about some of the songs by country... Hungary - thing for me is, I love rock songs at the ESC, so a rock song has to work really hard for me not to like it in this competition. Still, this one feels particularly authentic, so major kudos, it’s my fave rock song this year (sorry, @i-want-messed-up-with-you-4-ever, though the Netherlands’ country rock entry is nice too. @letthebluerain we also have a cute light rock song from Romania, but I have to admit I’m always disappointed when I don’t get a song in Romanian from the country I was born in. But I actually adore that we have more than one rock song this year, I like this diversity). @isabellaofparma, I still love last year’s Hungarian entry more, but that’s because it became one of my fave ESC songs ever, not because this year’s offering isn’t good. FYR Macedonia - I saw some people saying this song is a mess of genres, but I don’t think that’s the issue. You can throw in five different musical genres and as an idea, it could still work well. For me the problem is every time I get into a particular portion and genre and I start enjoying myself, the song switches over. So I’m left unsatisfied by the whole thing. Greece - I like this song. I adore all songs that are in their country’s native language rather than in English, even though I get why so many choose to perform in the latter. So this song gets points for that, has an ethnic sound to it which I also like and generally, it seems like Israelis tend to like the Greek songs. So yeah, one of my faves this year. I think it has a real shot at being the winner. (isn’t @nvrtickleadragon Greek? I like relating songs and countries to people. So go you!) Belarus - this may be weird but the singer reminds me of the guy who played the (more) openly gay teenager on Witness (I miss that show so much). That does things to me. So I like this entry, but it may not be for the right reasons. I think how this will do will greatly depend on how it’s executed on stage. Italy - I have to say, I adore the Italian tendency to send songs in Italian as it’s one of my fave languages. This entry is nice musically, though I think one of the singers is not as good as the other one and the disparity takes away some of my enjoyment. Also, I’m not fond of the tendency to send 'from the headlines’ songs, though relatively to the genre, this one is nice. All in all, my feelings are it could have been better and it could have been worse. At least the hook is catchy. (I believe @robertjacobsugdens is Italian, right? Again, me with the relating stuff to people thing. I do believe you guys will do well this year even if this isn’t my fave entry this year, nor my fave Italian song to the ESC) Also, technically, I wanna rant over the fact that there actually ARE pacifist bombs. For example, there are bombs used specifically to destroy other bombs in a controlled manner that saves lives. So. I don’t know. I don’t like an oversimplified message is what I’m saying, I guess. Kinda makes you wonder why I listen to ESC then, right? ;p France - This is another one ‘from the headlines’, so once more, I’m a bit meh. It’s a nice, lovely tune, I adore that France always sing in French, but the song becomes too familiar too quickly in my opinion. I’m sorry, @iamarobronniffler, I think you guys will get a high score, but I don’t think it will win... I also think it was sort of hurt by being one of the first songs to be released, which means people had loads of time to get used to it... Personal pet peeve is that the singer pronounces ‘Mercy’ not like the English word the name derives from, but like the French word ‘merci’, which is a nice touch, but it starts bothering me towards the end of the song, when the name is repeated (and mispronounced) so much. Denmark - ok, so on first listen? It’s a really strong entry. The drums are epic, the staging is good, the production of the song is tight, the legend behind the song of Vikings who decided not to fight is cool, it is a catchy song, Rasmussen has stage experience so the odds of him faltering on the night are slim, thus this song has SO MUCH going for it. Usually, if you have a song like this and you come from one of the two blocks (the Soviet or the Scndinavian ones) I feel like you have it in the bag. That’s how I felt about Sweden’s Heroes and Denmark’s Only Teardrops and they both won. But I feel like one thing that works against the song is that it has something about it that’s almost too serious and in a year where a lot of things are less so, plus this year is very innovative while this song is classically epic, that may work against it. Also, I feel like years when the Scandinavian countries send more than one strong entry, that end up splitting the Nordic vote and negates the block advantage. This year, you have Finland with a strong entry too, plus Sweden being Sweden. Basically, I feel like this could have been the winner in a lot of years, but probably not this one. Portugal - feels like an attempt to send a song in the same genre of their winner last year and I think the odds of the same country winning twice in a row with the same type of song is slim to none. That being said, I think this year’s offering is lovely and way better in this genre than last year’s Portuguese song. Sorry, I still don’t think that guy should have won. Sweden - hmmm, this will do well, first of all because it’s Sweden (really, @stulot, it’s ridiculous what an empire you are in this sense) and because it has a nice, young Michael Jackson vibe. But I really don’t think it’s gonna win. It doesn’t stand out enough in my opinion. Plus, the Danish and Finnish contenders are stronger IMO, so my guess is a lot of Scandinavians votes are gonna go there rather than to Sweden. It’s a good song, it’s just not enough of a competition when even within Scandinavia, it’s only the third strongest song. Ireland - the song is sooooo sweet, it’s almost too much so. It gets a bit better once you realize it’s actually about a relationship that has ended, it gives the idea behind it a bit of a twist than if it were just a declaration of sickeningly sweet love, but the real gem for this entry is the clip. It’s openly showcasing a same-sex couple and I am SO happy about that! Despite its gay reputation, ESC is actually more heteronormative than you’d expect, so that clip made me really happy. I want it to do better than it might have otherwise for that alone. I'm glad they’re bringing it to the stage in Lisbon too. I’m annoyed (though not surprised) that Russia said it would cut this song out. Thing is, Russia is allowed to do that in the semi-final, but not in the final, so for that reason if nothing else, I want Ireland in the final. (person from fandom that this made me think of, @dannymiller-irish-fan. Promise I’m done with the tagging now... I think) Cyprus - this is a very typical ESC song, it’s fun and tightly produced so it will do well, but I’m not happy about the lack of originality, plus the pushing of the ‘sex sells’ angle is not something that I subscribe to. Bulgaria - this song feels very current, easily a pop hit you could hear on the radio rather than on the ESC stage. I enjoy it, I think a lot depends on the live performance, how the staging will go, how will their voices blend live, but I think it can be the winner. Estonia - it’s weird, I think her voice is stunning beyond measure, the song is perfect opera pop, I enjoy it whenever I hear it and yet it’s not a song I can see myself listening to outside of the competition. Maybe because it’s not exactly one you can sing along to. All the same, another possible winner IMO. Finland - So this is the strongest Scandinavian contender in my book (so @youslicetheginger, I think you guys have a shot). The song is classic ESC, it’s also well produced and performed, which is really important, so that takes a bit away from the fact that it’s not that original. However, you gotta add in two more advantages, both originating in Saara Aalto being the one performing it (beyond the fact that SHE CAN FUCKING BELT). One is that she was on singing reality shows in both Finland AND the UK before the contest, which probably makes her the most established artist of the whole lot before the competition. That matters because while the Scandinavian vote is split up this year, she can make up for it through fans of hers from outside Finland and Scandinavia. The other is her being open about her engagement to a woman. This, together with the possible LGBTQ reading of her song, I think can also get her a lot of votes. So basically, out of the Nordic countries, I believe she’s gonna place highest. And I’m definitely a fan. Iceland - the most interesting things about this clip and its video: the church you can see in the clip, the streets Ari (the singer) walks down in it, are ones I’ve seen and walked too, which was pretty cool to me. Ari means Eagle in the Scandinavian language, which is a cool coincidence with the fact that in Hebrew, the same name means lion. ‘But Alice, these interesting tidbits have nothing to do with the song!?’ you say? Exactly. Sorry, Ari, you look like a lovely guy, you damn well can sing, but this is the biggest bore fest this year. You deserved a better song. Norway - This is the definition of “don’t know when to call it quits”. What’s worst to me is Alexander tried to make it better by saying kids keep asking him how to write a song and this was his reply to them. Either he’s lying and just trying to get the audience to go all ‘awwww’ over his very banal song, an inferior version of the song he had won with in the past... or he’s honest, in which case, STOP LYING TO THE KIDS, Alexander. That is NOT how you write a song. Ukraine - I think this is such a cool, different song performed by a cool, different artist, it’s upbeat, it’s not preachy, it’s unique, it’s catchy, I love it. I don’t think it will win, but it’s another one of my faves. Spain - this love song made me think of @imre-gr, of course. It is sweet and lovely. It was the first song I heard that made me smile, so how could I not think of you? But then, I have to admit that it is very much the typical ESC love duet and while it’s a very good version of it, in a year full of unique and different songs, I don’t think it stands a chance to win. Sorry. :( Israel - honestly, my first reaction when the song was first released was, ‘ok, so we will not win this year either’. I still think it’s too divisive to win (I know the bookkeepers disagree, but I think they mainly rely on how many views the song clips get on YouTube and that is NOT a measure for which one will win the ESC), I think the song’s too original, too creative and TOO out there, not enough people get why the chicken bits were included, too many people started arguing about whether this is a feminist song or an anti-male one, but I was happy to see it was less divisive than I anticipated and that a lot of people have responded so positively to the song, to its message of self-empowerment and to Netta. I can’t think of anything better than so many people seeing a woman who is clearly nothing like the thin ideal of beauty in our society singing “I’m a beautiful creature”, getting that she means it and agreeing with her. Netta in simply who she is conveys a real message and spirit of change for the better. The song itself tries to tackle a serious issue but without being preachy or heavy about it, make it fun for people when they sing about feminism and embracing yourself and your strength as you are. I feel like this attempt sometimes means the lyrics aren’t clear enough (as the song is inspired by the #metoo movement, ‘stupid boy’ doesn’t feel like a harsh enough term for the sexual harassment the song refers to, plus it can too easily be used to make it seem like the song is anti-male, because people take it as if ‘stupid boy’ is referring to all men rather than to jerks who take advantage of women), but I still appreciate what it tries to do. And at the end of the day, I think Netta is fabulous, I think she got her message across, I think her song became popular way beyond the bounds of the competition, so in my eyes, even if she won’t win the contest, she’s a true winner and wonder woman. I’m proud of you and thank you for representing in such an amazing way a huge part of the beauty of my country on its 70th anniversary. <3

#esc #eurovision #Eurovision 2018 #netta #netta barzilai #toy #Israel #Israeli Music #what am i doing with my life

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wickymicky · 5 years

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i got tagged by @chuukitten like a month ago lmao oops

rules: answer 21 questions and tag 21 people (im too lazy lol im sorry i just like to talk about myself so thats what im gonna do HAHA)

im gonna put this under a read more cause it got long

1. nickname: my bf calls me cube

2. zodiac: i dont do zodiac shit lol sorry

3. height: i dont actually know, im bad with remembering things like that

4. hogwarts house: the “fuck jk rowling” house (okay fine im hufflepuff)

5. last thing i googled: farmersonly… dont worry about it

6. favorite musicians: i mean yall know my kpop ones haha… loona, dreamcatcher, fromis 9, pentagon, exid, red velvet, twice, eyedi, weki meki, etc……. outside of kpop oh man where do i begin… its tough cause ive basically only listened to kpop in 2019 but okay so i’d say the band idles, death grips, grimes, streetlight manifesto, huh idk i have a lot that i like but i dont know who else i would consider my “favorites” at the moment

7. song stuck in my head: right now its pirate king by ateez

8. following: 1800 lol

9. followers: on this blog 264, but 724 on my main

10. do you get asks: occasionally

11. amount of sleep: i should sleep way, way more than i do

12. what are you wearing: pajamas

13. dream job: hmmm. i mean i dont dream of working, i dont have a dream “job”, but if the question is about my dream “thing i wanna do a lot of in my life” then i guess my answer is… idk… something where i can just engage in whatever is interesting to me at the moment. like in the vein of my tumblr blogs where i can just post and talk about stuff im interested in. idk if that means being a youtuber or journalist or just someone who does something else and engages in my interests as a hobby, but yeah. or something to do with linguistics of course. though like i dont wanna be a teacher and thats basically the only path lmao (that i would even consider, anyway)

14. dream trip: you know i dont actually have a lot of interest in travel. idk, it stresses me out. i cant think about going places without worrying about how i’ll get around, what i’ll be doing, what i’ll be able to eat since i have a lot of food anxieties… idk. if someone i love wanted to go on a trip with me i’d probably be down, but i dont really know on my own.

15. instruments: i wish i could do music lol

16. languages: are amazing and i love them. okay fine lol i only speak english, but i took german in middle and high school, i took latin in high school as well, then took latin and ancient greek in college, and then after college i did a lot of looking into hungarian, vietnamese, a little bit of indonesian, turkish, and polish, and then recently i’ve been pretty focused on korean for obvious reasons. i speak none of those languages tho, lol. if i heard someone speaking some of those i could get the gist of what types of things theyre talking about most likely, but honestly my whole thing with languages is that im more interested in learning about the intricacies of how languages work and especially how they change over time than i am in actually learning the language. i’d love if my dumb adhd brain allowed me to focus hard enough and really commit to becoming fluent in a second language because so far i’ve only steadily approached being barely conversational, i’ve never actually reached even that point yet lol. and being only fluent in english makes me feel like a stupid american lol. i pick up bits of language really easily, but the rigor of learning ALL the vocab and ALL the little details you need to become actually fluent is where i fall off.

like whenever i go through an anime phase, i pick up lots and lots of japanese. like if they keep using a word i’ll see it in the subtitles and figure that it must mean that, and then i’ll pay attention to the endings they use and how they inflect it and i’ll make little inferences about what those signify, so then when i hear a word that i dont recognize but it has a grammatical ending that i know, i can infer the meaning of the word from context, and im going through this same learning process with korean now and it’s super super fun and i’m loving how much progress ive made (though i could have been making progress like three times as fast if i was actually taking a korean class)… but the actual work of learning common phrases, learning the sheer volume of vocab, all that stuff… yeah that’s where i fall off. so idk how fluent i’ll get in korean, but i’m down to find out, lol. maybe this is the one i’ll really try to focus on and achieve it with!

17. 10 favorite songs as of now: of all time????? um okay i cant possibly do that without spending a looong time thinking about it, so i’ll just do the first ten songs that come to my mind when i think of songs that i adore more than most others

keep the streets empty for me by fever ray

colossus by idles

watch it crash by streetlight manifesto

lucky girl by fazerdaze

realiti (demo) by grimes

egoist by loona (olivia hye)

picky picky by weki meki

mother by idles

peekaboo by red velvet

hi high by loona

18. if you were an animal: red panda maybe haha

19. favorite food: pizza cause im a garbage trash person

20. random fact: idk... if yall couldnt tell and didnt already know this, i’m a linguist haha. i went to school for linguistics, i majored in linguistics and classics (latin, ancient greek, etc) though honestly i was only into the languages, roman and greek history is cool and all but not really what i’m most into. majoring in classics was a mistake lol but oh well. i didnt end up graduating though because of unrelated reasons.... adhd, depression, just a general sense that the way the whole system works just wasnt made for me and it didnt click with me and ive never been good at forcing myself to be good at school... and like i was tired of hearing from professors that i have “a very organized mind when it comes to linguistics stuff” (something a greek professor said that meant a lot to me) or that i “understand how language works better than most other students my age” and that im a natural and that its impressive how nuanced my understanding of these concepts is.... while also failing or almost failing all of the classes whose professors said that about me. like basically all those statements were followed by a “, but” or a “, so if you just-”.... sigh. so i guess i’m not “actually” a linguist. whatever “actually” means there.

so other random fact i guess, which is still related but anyway... i have a conlang! that’s a constructed language. ive been working on a language for like 6 or 7 years. its at a state right now where it’s not really something i can just like... speak? it was at one point, maybe. but basically what i like to do is try out various ideas i have about language and phonology and morphology, so my language is kind of like a sandbox lol. if youre a scientist you conduct experiments, if youre a linguist i think you should try making a conlang. its not a common hobby but its something i spend an unconscionable amount of time thinking about lol. like basically 24/7. i’m almost always thinking about my word for x thing im seeing or thinking about, or like some sound change i heard that some language had, and how that would sound if applied to the words in my language...

like the reason my language isnt at a point right now where i can speak it is because getting into korean has made me think about massively reconfiguring how the grammar works. its always been kinda like latin and german, cause those are what i was taking when i started, and then it got kinda like ancient greek, so the grammar has/had a lot of complicated conjugations that are just honestly so superfluous... its such a mess lol... i have a much better understanding of how those systems come about in language now, so even if i remake my language to have verb conjugations like latin or greek, it’d be a much more coherent and natural system than the one thats existed in my language for years... but after learning about hungarian and korean in particular, i really wanna try making it a lot more logical like those languages are. but my big thing is phonology (speech sounds), so i just get hung up on sound changes and cool new consonants and vowels to add, so i keep putting off actually fixing my language lol. also ive become attached to my awful, amateurish words haha. im so bad at this... a real conlanger like tolkien or the dude who made the languages for game of thrones would look at mine and scoff haha. most of my words are just straight up stolen from words in latin, german, many others, but predominantly... english. i just mangle english words and call it my own lol, and ive been trying to replace those words with original ones that i made up arbitrarily... like my word for nose is just “nass” and my word for dog is “handir” which is just based on english “hound” and german “Hund” and stuff lol. i wanna change those

21. my aesthetic: if you actually read this long ass post, you know that my aesthetic is just “too much information” but not in a sexy way or even an interesting way

#personal #kitty #long post #writing #idk i should have a tag for stuff people tagged me in #tagged

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lila-cherryblossomtree · 7 years

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Tagged by @burritalks, thanks I really wanted to do this!

Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag people

THE LAST:

1. Drink: Water

2. Phone call: My mom

3. Text message: I think my sister

4. Song you listened to: Thousand Foot Krutch - Push

5. Time you cried: I have no idea, I cry from stress all the time... Maybe when I had a panic attack 2 weeks ago??

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: I haven’t dated someone once, not even twice

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: Yeah, no I didn’t had that

8. Been cheated on: Well, no relationship, no cheating

9. Lost someone special: Yes

10. Been depressed : I mean... When I’m not

11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: I wasn’t even drunk before... I kinda have a good tolerance

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12-14.Purple, Black and maybe Orange, or like Magenta or Crimson or I don’t know....

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: I doubt...

16. Fallen out of love: I have never been in love, my social life is 0!

17. Laughed until you cried: I think I did

18. Found out someone was talking about you: Yeah, surprise!

19. Met someone who changed you: Hmmm... In the last year? Nope

20. Found out who your friends are: Well, I always knew who were they

21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: Still hasn’t had my fist kiss

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: Almost all of them

23. Do you have any pets: 5 cats

24. Do you want to change your name: No

25. What did you do for your last Birthday: I cried until my parents gave in... How heroic.

26. What time did you wake up: Today? Or all the time? I woke up today at 11:15, I usually around 5:15

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Reading manga

28. Name something you can’t wait for: Summer vacation? Any school break? Also until I have finally time. Until I draw better. Until I have motivation to write. Until that jerk hopefully gets kicked out of my school. Until I have time to y’know live?

29. When was the last time you saw your mom: I think 10 minutes ago

30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: a lOT jesus christ

31. What are you listening to right now: Like song? Then nothing really. Other than songs, the sound of the washing machine

32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Well, the Hungarian equivalent is good or no?

33. Something that is getting on your nerves: Hehe.... Just one thing? Just one? SCHOOL! OrBÁn fucking ViCtor!!! Oooppsss

34. Most visited website: Ugh,,. YouTube?

35. Mole/s: I was tried to count it. It was exactly 100. Now you see. That’s probably fake.

36. Mark/s: Molls, and stretch marks.

37. Childhood dream: Vet or teacher. Y’know like every other kid,

38. Hair color: Dark brown, that could count as black

39. Long or short hair: Short

40. Do you have a crush on someone: Uhm? Fictional characters?

41. What do you like about yourself?: Ohhmm... I guess....

42. Piercings: Noe

43. Blood type: Dunno, maybe B... probably B

44. Nickname: Don’t really have one. I sometimes I use Lina

45. Relationship status: Poly amorous relationship with Saeyoung Choi, Jumin Han, Hyun Ryu and Saerann Choi... Does this count? Probably not. Single

46. Zodiac: Taurus, though I don’t believe in it really *asks her friend’s astrologist mother to do a full picture because she is still curious*

47. Pronouns: I don’t bother with that stuff, in my native language there is no such a thing. I don’t get mad if you say he. However I’m female so she I guess?

48. Favorite TV Show(s): Brooklyn Nine Nine, Adam Ruins Everything

50. Right or left hand: Right

51. Surgery: Nope

52. Hair dyed in different color: I once had red and purple hair, but we did it with Henna on my dark hair... It was almost invisible

53. Sport: PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFf..... I used to play basketball.

55. Vacation: What do I do with this? Last time I went to Czechia....

56. Pair of trainers: Purple and black??? What the hell?

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating: Right now? An apple

58. Drinking: Currently? Nothing

59. I’m about to: Either die or continue my studying. JK, I will probably watch youtube videos and read manga or webtoons

61. Waiting for: My death, the summer break, any break, to have time, that punk to be kicked out, have a language exam, to lose weight, to suddenly become beautiful, the end of school I dunno man...

62. Want: Motivation, talent and yeah,y’know time

63. Get married: I don’t think that will happen

64. Career: Writer, webcomic artist.... Y’know what I’ll never be

WHICH IS BETTER

65. Hugs or kisses: Both is horrible

66. Lips or eyes: Eyes

67. Shorter or taller: What? Well, I guess taller

68. Older or younger: What should I associate this? I guess older.

70. Nice arms or nice stomach: Who the fuck cares? Uhm, I don’t know, stomach

71. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive

72. Hook up or relationship: Relationship... best if romantic but not sexual

73. Troublemaker or hesitant: ?? Well, I’m hesitant so I would kinda need a troublemaker

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a Stranger: Nope, I hadn’t had my first kiss yet, and probably never will.

75. Drank hard liquor: Yes, vodka, whiskey and pálinka

76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: I have a great eyesight so I don’t need this stuff

77. Turned someone down: No one ever asked me out

78. Sex on the first date: Noooo. I wasn’t even on a date yet!

79. Broken someone’s heart: Hahaha... Only in Mystic Messenger....

80. Had your heart broken: Doubt so

81. Been arrested:: I honestly never seen police in my life. Well, maybe like 10 times.

82. Cried when someone died: Yes,my grandpa, my cats

83. Fallen for a friend: No

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. Yourself: Why should I, this bitch is useless.

85. Miracles: Kind of?

86. Love at first sight: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooohohho

87. Santa Claus: Never did

88. Kiss on the first date: Uhm... Like I never went on one

OTHER:

90. Current best friend name: Anna

91. Eye colour: Dark brown

92. Favourite movie: Blues Brothers and Struck by Lightening

I tag @lawlietinblue, @weebbitch, @zelo-s, @weirdo-has-a-blog and you know what? Everyone who sees this post....

#tag #tagged

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totaldramafan-lauri · 6 years

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Eurovision 2018, final thoughts

And so it ends! This should hopefully be my last post about this for a long while.

I let the results sit with me for a few days, but not because I didn’t like them, because I’ve been tired and lazy.

Honestly, this year was a godsend. It’s not like it’s the absolute best Eurovision I’ve ever watched or anything, but it was still really enjoyable, and the best part? It wasn’t a repeat of last year, where I disliked the winning song so much that it soured the whole show for me despite liking a lot of the songs. THANK GOD that didn’t happen again. Because....I love Eurovision. I love watching it, and I love talking about it. I’d hate for me to whine and complain about the results like a huge sourpuss for two years in a row, and have the people who read my posts think “Why is she even watching this?” XD

That ended up not happening. Eurovision 2018 was a really fun ride, from beginning to end.

So, here are my extended thoughts!

Before, I had said that the unofficial theme of this contest was rare languages. And yeah, that was definitely true! We had Albanian, Hungarian, Slovene, Greek, Georgian, and Armenian, all from countries that normally send songs in English. Not all of those qualified for the final, but still, I found it pretty cool! But after it was over, I think a better theme was surprises. Because this show was absolutely FULL of surprises! And I think that made it more fun to watch!

The surprises started with the semifinals. Before this year, there were five countries with 100% qualifying records. Now, there are only two. THAT was quite the shocker....

There really isn’t a lot to talk about besides the songs this time around. Nothing else really stood out all that much. The presentation was good, the hosts were good enough, the comedy skits didn’t make me laugh all that much, the intervals were....Well, the first one was pretty alright, but then Salvador sang his music, which sounded exactly like I thought it would, so there was absolutely nothing for me there.

But the SONGS were awesome! This was a VERY solid final song-wise! So many great, well-staged songs! A lot of Eurovision-brand wackiness was there, including from the winner, proving that this is still about having fun, “real” music be darned. One interesting thing to me is that I kept drawing parallels to 2014 in my head during the semifinals, and then in the final, Ukraine performed first. JUST LIKE IN 2014. XD

The voting was really exciting, because there was no runaway winner! And then there was the sheer difference between what the juries liked and what the public liked.....HOOOOOLY crap, was that the craziest thing about the whole show. The juries’ favorites were songs that no one payed THAT much attention to, while they also ignored songs that the public loved. It was so weird watching everything unfold. By the end of the jury vote, Austria were in the lead. Did ANYONE see that coming?!

But let’s get to the final results.....

Like I said before, Israel was not one of my personal picks to win (ESPECIALLY compared to Cyprus). I thought of it as just another quirky, fun song. The apparent message of it was lost on me at first, because the wacky tone distracted me! I personally like the song, and I think it’s a worthy winner, but I’m actually still surprised that it got so big. This seems like the kind of song that would be majorly divisive.....as in, easy for people to find annoying! I haven’t been in the tag since the final ended, but I’m guessing there’s at least some people mad that it won while being such a silly song, and complaining that Eurovision has gone down the toilet or whatever, and I’m not gonna try and change the minds of those people....But I’m personally just glad that a fun song won, even though it wasn’t one of my favorites.

In a year with a lot of upbeat, cheery songs, it makes sense for one of those to be the victor.

....I was still cheering for Cyprus all the way to the end, though. “Fuego” has been in my top five favorites since the very first time I heard it, so when it became the bookies’ favorite, I was PSYCHED! Cyprus have NEVER won before, and I would’ve been so so thrilled if they did it with such a good song, and such a good performance....Not to mention, the last few years, Cyprus really seem to have been trying their hardest to take it, sending AWESOME entries. Watching them finally take it would’ve been so cool!

But they didn’t. Instead, they’re the runner-up....which is STILL the best they’ve ever placed in Eurovision yet, so that’s definitely something to be proud of! Good work, Eleni!

Then there’s Austria....Holy CRAP, Austria.....I think it’s safe to say that NO ONE expected them to do so incredibly well! Don’t get me wrong, their entry was a very solid song by a great singer, but to be the juries’ favorite!? He must’ve been REALLY strong in rehearsals or something, because....WHOA....Third place....I’m fine with it, just surprised! But like I said, this was a Eurovision chalk full of surprises, and this was one of the bigger ones.

Seriously, seriously great showing from Germany. They really haven’t had great luck the past few years, so it’s great to see their entry get so much attention this time around. DESERVED attention, too! “You Let Me Walk Alone” is such a beautiful song, and it was staged extremely well on top of that. Seeing it do so well makes me happy.

Also not complaining about Italy making the top five. Not only was their entry a unique song, but it’s a song that hits HARD. I was iffy about having a song about that....subject....in this show when I first heard it, but it’s still a great song, and I frankly would’ve been surprised if it placed any lower than it did. I’d dare call it one of the most powerful songs this year, if not THE most. The lyrics appearing on screen in multiple languages was a really neat touch, too.

The Czech Republic came sixth, which is BY FAR the BEST they have ever done in this contest. I predicted that would happen, and they were one of the early favorites, but I’m still....a LITTLE bit surprised they placed so high? It seems like an easy song to hate, though I do like it....Huh, kinda repeated what I said about Israel there. XD But still, they should be VERY proud of how well they did, and who knows? Maybe they’ll keep it up next year.

In my opinion, one of the craziest things about the voting was seeing how low Sweden were in the televotes compared to how much love they got from the juries. I mean, the juries placed them in SECOND! And, like with the Austrian entry, I did NOT peg Sweden’s entry as a potential winner. I mean, it’s getting to the point where I should never discredit Sweden - they know what they’re doing....But the amount of 12s they got still kinda baffled me. At least the televotes knocked them down to a more deserving place though. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good song, I just don’t think it was one of the absolute BEST. It had some of my favorite staging, though! (Maybe that’s one of the reasons it did so well...)

I totally expected Estonia to make the top ten, so they didn’t surprise me one bit. Even though their entry wasn’t personally my thing due to genre preferences and stuff, I conceded that it’s a darn impressive song, and it was performed extremely well.

But then we come back to the surprises for Denmark. Hoo boy, let’s talk about Denmark. Why the CRAP did the juries ignore them so much!? It makes no sense! Did they not like the viking theme or something!? Did they think it was too over-the-top!? I just don’t get it! Maybe I’m biased, since they were my third favorite, but Denmark deserved to do SO much better.....OK, fine, they came in the top ten ANYWAY thanks to the televotes, which I’m extremely grateful about, but I still think they should’ve done better, because their entry was honest-to-god perfection. But, they’ll have to settle for ninth, and all because of the juries.

And rounding out the top ten is Moldova! While I personally would’ve switched them and the song that came in eleventh, I’m still happy they did so well. Moldova had a string of bad luck that ended with Sunstroke Project last year, and this year, they actually managed yet another great showing with another catchy song! While “My Lucky Day” is no “Hey, Mamma!” I still find it a lot of fun, and the staging was really clever.

Coming in eleventh is my personal favorite in this final, Albania. This is probably the ONE instance in which I agreed with the juries more than the televotes. Just like with my favorite song last year, the jury vote had them in the top ten, only for the televotes to knock them JUST out of it. But, unlike last year....I’m not gonna complain about it one bit! Nope! While I saw “Lights And Shadows” as a masterpiece that deserved no less than the top ten, with “Mall” I’m actually surprised that it did as well as it did. I went into this show expecting to be in the minority in loving it so much! Heck, I was surprised in managed to make it to the final, so I wouldn’t have even minded all that much if it placed near the bottom (like “Round And Round” my favorite song in 2014′s final) But....here we are! Eleventh place! For Albania, that’s GREAT! I’m so happy for them! Such an awesome song.....I shouldn’t have doubted it! <3

Lithuania was yet another surprise. I absolutely did not expect their song to sound so good live, but.....it was great! I’m glad that such a sweet, emotional song resonated with so many people.

Then there’s France. While I admit that “Mercy” grew on me a bit after learning the meaning of its lyrics, I still didn’t see it as a standout song. I think thirteenth is a good enough place for it, though....Well, I would think that if they didn’t place over Bulgaria and Norway! I really think those two deserved better! They were some of the pre-contest favorites, and ended up not reaching the left side of the scoreboard! Why!? Norway had really fun staging! Bulgaria just had a dang awesome song! I don’t get it! There’s a lot I don’t get this year....but it doesn’t bug me that much, since it was to make way for other good songs.

Ireland ended up doing LOADS better than I expected. I didn’t even think they’d make it to the final, so to see them not at the bottom of the board......Honestly, I’m not sure I like it. I’ve always found their entry boring as heck. I don’t DISLIKE it, but it was hands-down my least-favorite song in the final, so of course I don’t wanna see it place above two of my top five favorites. I will admit that it was really well-staged, but staging shouldn’t carry a song!

Ukraine is kinda in the same boat as Denmark for me, but not nearly as fortunate. They were one of my favorites, and got MAJORLY screwed by the juries. The televotes got them out of last place, at least.....but I would’ve loved to see them do better. It’s a great song, it sounds great live....I just don’t get it.

I expected the Netherlands to do a bit better, since their last two country songs placed in the top ten, and in my opinion, this was the best country song they’ve sent YET....but, welp, I guess it got overshadowed. It doesn’t bug me that much. I really like the song, but that kind of music isn’t for everyone. It really puts into perspective just how baffling “Slow Down”’s success was for me. XD

Serbia, yeah, I’m not surprised about that one. Good song, but strong competition. At least they qualified! But you know what was MAJORLY surprising? Australia coming dead last in the televote. At least they didn’t get nul, but.....still, they got LAST!! No joke! With a decently well-known singer, and such a good song! I remember them being in the betters’ top five before the show! And they got outright rejected! I didn’t see anything wrong with the performance at all! I mean, I GUESS she was trying a bit hard, but not to an annoying level at all! Can someone tell me what happened!? This is one of the most baffling parts of the results to me...

Hungary did about as well as I expected them to. Rock/metal songs in Eurovision have a history of doing about that well. It’s not exactly the kind of thing a lot of Eurovision fans would be into. Slovenia also did about as well as I expected....heck, maybe even a little better. Am I the only one who was surprised they even qualified for the final? XD It was a fun performance and everything, but I thought for sure it’d get on more people’s nerves.

Spain, cute song but I can see why people would find it dull. Not surprised at their placing either. Then.....there’s the UK. OK, can I talk about how it’s 2018 and Eurovision is STILL getting stage invaders!? There was one last year, too...(I actually didn’t catch that one when I was liveblogging last year because it was during the interval when I looked away) At least the lady was very professional about it and continued singing as if it never happened....(Apparently, she was asked if she wanted to perform again and she declined?) Anyway, putting that aside, I liked the UK’s entry a lot. I find it very uplifting. So I’m kinda sad to see them so close to the bottom. I wouldn’t say I’m too shocked, though, I mean....it is the UK. They barely ever catch a break...

In second to last is Finland, and....what the HECK, Europe/Australia!? THEY DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER!! I didn’t have any complaints about Albania’s placement, but I do about this one! This was my second-favorite song, and it BOMBED!! WHY!?!? It was such a good song! I was about overcoming you inner demons! It was about triumphing over hardships! It had a killer chorus, and great vocals! And it BOMBED! Are Finland like the UK, and just have bad luck in getting votes? I hope it’s not that! Such an awesome song should not have been overlooked, dang it!!

And finally....in last....is Portugal. Of course, when they FINALLY send a song I like, this happens. XD Oh well....I can kind of understand why. It’s a slow song, and it has to grow on you. I was indifferent to it when I first heard it, but now I like it. I would’ve liked to see it do better, but it’s far from the worst thing ever.

....Geez, I had a LOT to say about these results, didn’t I? XD

But that’s it. Overall, a really fun final, with a lot of surprises, most of which I didn’t mind. I’m not gonna throw stones at anyone. The day that Eurovision becomes completely predictable is the day it stops being Eurovision.

I’m glad Israel won, I think their entry was a lot of fun, and I hope they put on a great show next year.

So see you then!

#eurovision #opinions

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katemarley · 7 years

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Fanfic Asks!

I was tagged by @gummyboots.

Why/how did you get into fanfiction?

Even before I was actually able to write, my granny and preschool me made up our own stories about things we had watched together on TV and about fictional adventures of the dachshund that belonged to my granny’s friend. I suppose that’s how I got into fanfiction? I didn’t know it was fanfiction at the time, of course, and neither did my granny. It was just something that we did. I only learned there was a thing called “fanfiction” when I was, like, 13. At that time, I wrote two Ranma 1/2 fanfics I sent to my penfriend, but that was about it for quite some time.

Why did you get into writing?

Honestly, I have no idea. I just ... sort of started to write my own stories as soon as I was able to hold a pen. Perhaps it was because I liked the stories, fairytales and such, that my granny and my parents had either read to me as a preschooler or made up for me before I had to go to bed; perhaps it was because of the stories my granny and me had made up together. I’ve just been ... writing stories ever since.

How long have you been writing?

See above. Ever since the time I was about five, six years old.

Do you think you’re a good writer?

I think I both see some of the aspects that are okay at the moment and some that still need improvement in my writing while I don’t see others in which I’m either good or bad. That’s where constructive criticism comes in handy!

Do you think you’ve improved?

Yes. Definitely. I mean I was a five-to-six-year old when I started writing and I’m a twen now. It’d be extremely sad if my style, lexis, and intellectual range hadn’t improved since that time!

Name one thing that helps you write

I suppose most people will say “music” here, but since I love writing Historical Hetalia and historical AUs, I’ll mention something else: My uni’s library, access to digital essays and such via my library account, and Google Books. Nothing is more useful than a good history essay/book, even more so if it is searchable via keyword search.

Have you ever gotten hate related to fics?

Yup. I’ve written a story called “(De)Fences” in September 2015 in which Austria and Hungary talk about refugees. Some Hungarian nationalist who called themselves “Attila’s Nation” felt the need to tell me among other things, and I quote: “You’re not a Hungarian citizen, you know nothing, so sweep before your own door, and shut - the - hell - up about our business!”

Well, I’m a citizen of the European Union, so I was minding my own business. And even if I hadn’t been: There’s something called “freedom of speech”... As for “shut the hell up”: About one month later, I got the idea for “Remember That You’re Not Alone”, another story that touches upon the same topic and in which Austria and Hungary are main characters. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Fanfiction or books?

Both. It’s all just stories. There are both books that are written extremely well and fanfics that are written extremely well, just like there are badly written fanfics and books that make you wonder why the heck that got published.

Do you want to professionally write? If not, what would you like to do/what do you do?

I’d love to see some fictional book I wrote get published one day (and by that I don’t mean self-published; I’m just not willing to pay any money for that), but I don’t have any intention to attempt to pursue a professional career as a writer of fiction. We’ll see. If it happens, then fine; if it doesn’t, that’s also fine. I actually don’t want to post what I’d like to do in this moment of time even though I know what that is. Right now, I’m still a student.

Have you ever been published professionally?

I’ve done an internship at a local newspaper once, and the articles I’ve written for it got published. No idea if that counts. Anyway, that was the time I decided that certain aspects of community journalism are definitely not for me.

What is your favorite story/ies you’ve written?

I’ve already answered this here, actually.

Why is it/are they your favorite(s)?

See the link above.

What is your least favorite story/ies you’ve written?

I don’t like anything I’ve written under the age of 16 anymore, but I never posted any of that stuff online. 😉 Among the stories that I posted, it’s “Autumn Roses”.

Why is/are they your least favorite(s)?

The idea of taking “On Monsieur’s Departure” Queen Elizabeth I wrote about the Duke of Anjou and using it to mirror Hungary and Austria’s situation at the end of 1918 was better than the actual realisation. Too much poem, too less story.

What is something you expect from a fanfiction?

I ... don’t expect anything? I just hope it’s well written and the characterisation is all right.

How do you feel about troll fics?

If the person who writes them does it properly, they may be extremely funny. If they’re bad at trolling, troll fics can be pretty lame. It’s ... sort of contrary to the idea of a troll fic, I guess, but there’s a brillant one in the SatW (Scandinavia and the World) section on fanfiction.net: Click at your own risk.

What is your favorite writing style?

I don’t have any. There’s a huge variety of great writing styles, from using indirect speech in order to convey irony (that’s what Daniel Kehlmann does in “Measuring the World”) to flamboyant and flowery writing that is great as well (Oscar Wilde, for example).

Do you write things for the sake of popularity?

If I was, I’d certainly not write historical SpAus fanfiction in the Hetalia fandom. 😂

I write things because I want to write them—because there are some ideas I just need to get out of my brain. I share my stories with others because I believe there might be a few people out there who enjoy reading them. If somebody tells me they like my stories by leaving kudos, likes, and sometimes even comments, I’m very happy! But I’d never write a story I don’t feel the need to tell just because I think it might get popular.

My impression is that longer Human AU stories with popular pairings like USUK, FrUK, and Spamano (those are the current Top Three in the “Relationship” tag on AO3) get most of the attention in the fandom. Well, I prefer sort of a “foster father and wayward son” relationship for APH England and APH America as well as for APH Spain and APH South Italy. APH England and APH France are frenemies with a tendency towards enemies in my opinion. That’s why you won’t get any USUK, FrUK, and Spamano fanfics written by me.

Do you think fanfiction is a good way to get into writing?

Writing is a good way of getting into writing. It doesn’t matter what you write. All right, you should write fiction if you intend to improve on writing fiction, of course, essays if you want to become good at writing essays, etc.

Reading helps a lot, too. It both broadens your vocabulary and your awareness for different styles of writing, different ways to make up plots, etc.

What is something you like about the fanfiction world?

There are no boundaries, no limits to the human imagination. You’ll find literally anything.

What is something you dislike about the fanfiction world?

Just that. 😉

Also mpreg (I just ... always loved biology as a subject, and mpreg is biologically impossible), A/B/O (except for the occasional fanfic that manages to twist that trope into an struggle-for-independence story, such as this one), and soulmates AUs (I’m a multishipper, so this idea is disturbing to me).

Just for fun!

What is a pairing you’re currently shipping?

SpAus, PruAus, and AusHun in the Hetalia fandom.

What is something canon you’ll never ship?

Honestly, I don’t have any idea what to write for this question at the moment.

What is something fanon you’ll never ship?

There are lots of ships in the Hetalia fandom, to stick only to this, that I’d never ship because I see the relationships of those characters differently from the people in the fandom who ship them. Sticking to one of the examples I already mentioned: APH Spain and APH Romano will always have kind of a foster father/foster son sort of relationship for me. I just can’t bring myself to see them as a couple. APH Austria and APH Switzerland are cousins to me who squabble a lot with each other, but deep, deep down, they care for each other a lot because they’re both relatives and childhood friends.

In conclusion:

Any writing advice?

Just two basic things: 1. Read a lot and pay attention to how the plot is structured, what kind of writing style the author uses, etc. 2. Keep writing. Attempt to try out different writing styles, plot structures, etc. Skill comes with practice.

What is something a writer should always remember?

It’s just fiction.

An important thing to remember when someone (whether a professional author or a fanfic author) writes something about a character you love that you don’t approve of. 😉

It’s just fiction.

I tag (and of course you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to)

@salytierra @ilaaer

#gummyboots #personal #fanfiction #writing #//thanks for the tag!#i love talking about fanfiction and the fandom <3

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